1 _Sundry happenings in En_. 5 _The women are full of foreboding_.
10 _Concerning the Flag Days_. 14 _The men cry aloud_. 18 _And are
succoured_. 20 _Concerning lotteries_. 29 _Much money is brought by
the people_. 30 _Wherefore the rulers awaken_.
Now these things happened in the land of En, and _these are_ the
things that did come to pass.
2 And howsoever a matter fell out, then did men say, Verily, it is
_so_ because of the war.
3 Yet, it was _a reason_ for all the things that were left undone;
and the things that were done, these also it _did_ fully justify.
4 Wherefore many waxed uneasy, fearing how it would be _for them_
when the war, it should be over.
5 ¶ Now the women of the land, they were full of foreboding, knowing
not when their garments, they _might be_ taken from them.
6 And they did _make_ pretence, the one unto the other, concerning
their purple and concerning their fine linen also.
7 And they would speak in this wise, _saying_, Dost thou perceive the
poverty of mine apparel, and _how_ frugal I am become in the matter
of it?
8 Therefore do I wear these _poor_ rags that thou seest, having none
others, save only _some_. And they would shed a few tears for the
hardness of their lot.
9 Nevertheless, the vendors of apparel _did_ flourish in that day;
neither did the women of the land go naked _before_ the world.
10 ¶ Now the days that men called Flag Days, they did grow _in
number_ beyond all computation.
11 And the sellers _of_ flags, they did infest every place, so that
to escape from them, _it was_ beyond the power of man.
12 And whensoever a man did venture forth from his habitation on a
day _that was a_ flag day, assuredly, that _man_, he was lost.
13 And the damsels and the old women also, they would follow _after
him_, and they would ensnare him by the way.
14 ¶ Wherefore all the men lifted _up_ their voices unto heaven, and
they cried aloud in _their_ distress. And the rulers heard them.
15 And they sent unto the sellers _of_ flags, even unto the damsels
and unto the old women _did they_ send, and they said unto them,
16 Forasmuch as ye have harried the men of the land _beyond_ all
reason, and the fighters that were come home, _ye have_ driven them
back into battle;
17 And because ye have followed _after them_, having no pity in your
hearts, _therefore_ shall ye pursue them no more.
18 ¶ But whatsoever place shall be appointed unto you, there shall ye
continue. Verily, ye shall be even as pillars of salt, and _shall_
stand still. Neither shall ye remove yourselves _out of_ that very
place.
19 And after the rulers had spoken, it came to pass that a little
rest was vouchsafed _unto_ the men; but the damsels, and the old
women also, _they were_ sad and sore at heart.
20 ¶ Now because _there was_ need of money for to buy the munitions
of war, and because it was necessary for _other things_ also,
therefore did the rulers set them about for to get it.
21 And there were certain men and they said, Let us now make us a
lottery, and let there be a prize _to it_ also.
22 Peradventure the people will bring them a mighty weight of money
_for_ the hazard, and the treasury, it will become full up _and_
flowing over.
23 And though every man did agree that it was so, nevertheless, the
rulers, they dared not _to do_ it.
24 For they feared the Pharisees that did speak in their tabernacles
against it. And the Pharisees at that _time_, they were a power in
the land of En.
25 Nevertheless, it did come to pass in otherwise. For _there were_
two bazaars in the city of Lon; and the one was _of_ Har, and the
other, it was _of_ Sel.
26 And they set them up counters that the people might bring them
_money_ for to lend it unto the rulers; also, they made them a
lottery _of it_.
27 And when _the matter_ of their design, it was noised abroad, and
that they did scheme to make them a lottery _of it_.
28 Then all the people hied them thither _with_ one accord, and they
did lend them money unto the rulers with a very ready hand.
29 ¶ And after it was all counted up, behold, _the sum_ of it was
very great, passing all belief.
30 ¶ But when the rulers heard about it, they sent word unto the
bazaars, commanding them that they should do _this thing_ no more.
31 Nevertheless, they forbad not the hazard _in a_ race, which
profiteth only a few.
32 Yet were they loth to suffer a lottery, that was made to advantage
_the course_ of the war.