_The first._
Sion is sunk to a profound abyss.
_The second._
Sion, whose brow is in the heavens.
_The first_
What sorrowful abasement!
_The second._
What immortal glory!
_The first_
What wailings!
_The second._
What songs of victory!
_A third._
Let us cease from troubling; our God one day
Will reconcile this mystery sublime!
_All three._
Let us revere His anger; trust His love.
_Another._
God! of a heart that loveth Thee
Who can disturb the peace?
Itself forgetting ever,
It seeks, in all, Thy will supreme.
On earth--in heaven even can there bloom
Another blessing than the tranquil peace
Of a heart that loveth Thee?
{END OF THE THIRD ACT.}
_ACT IV.--Scenes I and II_
{JOAS, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, A LEVITE,
THE CHOIR.}
{SALOMITH.}
With a majestic step, beside my mother,
Near Zachariah, walks Eliacin.
What hide they, sisters, underneath their cloaks?
In short, what is that sword that's borne before them?
{JOSABET (_to Zachariah_).}
Place on that table, reverentially,
The book redoubted of our holy law:
And also you, my loved Eliacin,
This diadem place near the book divine.
Levites we must have there, Joad orders it,
The sword of David close beside the crown.
{JOAS.}
Princess, what then is this strange spectacle?
This sacred book, this diadem, this sword?
I ne'er have seen example of like form,
Since in His temple God accepted me.
{JOSABET.}
Soon all your doubts, my son, will be dispelled.
{JOAS.}
Why will you fit this diadem on my brow?
Ah, princess! keep its glory unprofaned!
Respect the memory of the king who wore it.
A wretched child abandoned to the bears--
{JOSABET (_tries on the diadem_).}
Allow me, son, I do what I am ordered.
{JOAS.}
But from your lips I hear your sobs arise!
Princess, you weep, What pity touches you?
To-day presented as burnt offering
Am I, as formerly was Jeptha's daughter,
By my own death to appease the wrath of God?
Alas! a child has nought a father may
Not claim.
{JOSABET.}
Here's one will tell you of the will of Heaven;
Fear nothing. Let us leave these precincts.
{JOAD, JOAS.}
_( Joas running into the arms of the high-priest.)_
{JOAD.}
Well, my son?
{JOAS.}
What is it, pray, that they prepare?
{JOAD.}
'Tis right my son
I should inform you, even before all,
Of God's great ends o'er you and o'er His people.
Be armed with new fidelity and zeal!
'Tis time to show this ardour and this faith,
Which to the bottom of your heart my cares
Have cultivated; and to pay to God
The debt you owe Him. Do you feel this noble
And generous aspiration?
{JOAS.}