The state of Ierusalem is prefigured by a woman mourning, 25. and
afterwardes reioycing.
AND it came to passe, when my sonne was entred into his inner chamber,
he fel downe, and dyed: 2 and we al ouerthrewe the lights, and al my
citizens rose vp to comfort me, and I was quiet vntil the other day at
night. 3 And it came to passe, when al were quiet to comfort me, that I
might be quiet: and I arose in the night, and fled: and came as thou
seest into this field. 4 And I meane nowe not to returne into the
citie, but to stay here: and neither eate, nor drinke, but without
intermission to mourne, and to fast vntil I dye. 5 And I left the talke
wherin I was, and with anger answered her, & sayd: 6 Thou foole aboue
al wemen, seest thou not our mourning, & what thinges chance to vs? 7
Because Sion our mother is sorroweful with al sorrowe, and humbled, and
mourneth most bitterly. 8 And now wheras we al mourne, and are sadde:
wheras we are sorrowful, and art thou sorrowful for one sonne? 9 For
aske the earth, and it wil tel thee: that it is she, that ought to
lament the fal of so manie thinges that spring vpon it. 10 And of her
were al borne from the beginning, and others shal come: and behold,
almost al walke into perdition, and the multitude of them commeth to
destruction. 11 And who then ought to mourne more, but she that hath
lost so great a multitude, rather then thou which art sorie for one? 12
And if thou say vnto me, that my mourning is not lyke the earthes:
because I haue lost the fruite of my wombe, which I bare with sorrowes,
and brought forth with paynes: 13 but the earth according to the maner
of the earth, and the present multitude in it hath departed as it came:
and I saye to thee, 14 as thou hast brought forth with payne, so the
earth also geueth her fruite for man from the beginning to him that
made her. 15 Now therfore kepe in with thy sorrowe, and beare stoutly
the chances that haue befallen thee. 16 For if thou iustifie the end of
God, thou shalt in time both receiue his counsel, and also in such
thinges thou shalt be praysed. 17 Goe in therfore into the citie to thy
husband. And she sayd to me: 18 I wil not doe it, neither wil I enter
into the citie, but here wil I dye. 19 And I added yet to speake to
her, & sayd: 20 Doe not this word, but consent to him that counseleth
thee. For how manie are the chances of Sion? Take comfort for the
sorrowe of Ierusalem. 21 For thou seest that our sanctification is made
desert, and our altar is throwen downe, and our temple is destroyed, 22
and our psalter is humbled, and hymne is silent, and our exultation is
dissolued, and the light of our candelsticke is extinguished, and the
arke of our testament is taken for spoyle, & our holie thinges are
contaminated, and the name that is inuocated vpon vs, is almost
prophaned: and our children haue suffred contumelie, and our Priestes
are burnt, & our Leuites are gone into captiuitie, & our virgins are
defloured, and our wiues haue suffered rape, and our iust men are
violently taken, and our litle ones are lost, and our yong men are in
bondage, and our valiants are made impotent: 23 and that which is
greatest of al, the seale of Sion, because she is vnsealed of her
glorie: For she is also deliuered into the handes of them that hate vs.
24 Thou therfore shake of thy great heauines, and lay away from thee
the multitude of sorrowes, that the Strong may be propicious to thee
agayne, and the Highest wil geue thee rest, rest from thy labours. 25
And it came to passe, when I spake to her, her face did shine suddenly,
and her shape, and her visage was made glistering, so that I was
afrayde excedingly at her, & thought what this thing should be. 26 And
Behold, suddenly she put forth a great sound of a voyce ful of feare,
that the earth was moued at the womans sound. And I saw: 27 and behold,
the woman did no more appeare vnto me, but a citie was built, & a place
was shewed of great fundations: and I was afrayd, & crying with a loude
voyce I sayd: 28 Where is Vriel the Angel, that from the beginning came
to me? for he made me come in multitude in excesse of this minde, and
my end is made into corruption, & my prayer into reproch. 29 And when I
was speaking these thinges, behold he came to me, and sawe me. 30 And
behold I was layd as dead, & my vnderstanding was alienated, and he
held my right hand, and strengthned me, & set me vpon my feete, & sayd
to me: 31 What ayleth thee? and why is thy vnderstanding, and the sense
of thy hart trubled, & why art thou trubled? And I sayd: 32 Because
thou hast forsaken me, and I in dede haue done according to thy wordes,
& went out into the field: & behold, I haue seene, & doe see that which
I cannot vtter. And he sayd to me: 33 Stand like a man, & I wil moue
thee. And I sayd: 34 Speake thou my Lord in me, forsake me not, that I
die not in vaine: 35 because I haue seene thinges that I knew not, & I
doe heare thinges that I know not. 36 Or is my sense deceiued, & doth
my soule dreame? 37 Now therfore I besech thee, that thou shew vnto thy
seruant concerning this trance. And he answered me, & sayd: 38 Heare
me, and I wil teach thee, and wil tel thee of what thinges thou art
afrayd: because the Highest hath reuealed vnto thee manie mysteries. 39
He hath seene thy right way, that without intermission thou was
forrowful for thy people, and didst mourne exceedingly for Sion. 40
This therfore is the vnderstanding of the vision which appeared to thee
a litle before. 41 The woman whom thou sawest mourning, thou beganst to
comfort her. 42 And now thou seest not the forme of the woman, but
there appeared to thee a citie to be built. 43 And because she tolde
thee of the fal of her sonne, this is the interpretation. 44 This woman
which thou sawest, she is Sion, and wheras she told thee of her, whom
now also thou shalt see, as a citie builded. 45 And whereas she told
thee, that she was barren thirtie yeares: for the which there were
thirtie yeares, when there was not yet oblation offered in it. 46 And
it came to passe after thirtie yeares, Salomon built the citie, and
offered oblations: then it was, when the barren bare a childe. 47 And
that which she sayd vnto thee, that she nourished him with labour, this
was the habitation in Ierusalem. 48 And wheras she sayd to thee, that
my sonne comming into the bryde chamber dyed, and that a fal chanced
vnto him, this was the ruine of Ierusalem that is made. 49 And behold,
thou hast seene the similitude of her: and because she lamented her
sonne, thou beganst to comfort her: and of these thinges that haue
chanced, these were to be opened to thee. 50 And now the Highest seeth
that thou wast sorie from the hart: and because with thy whole hart
thou sufferest for her, he hath shewed thee the clearnes of her glorie,
and the fayrenes of her beautie. 51 For therfore did he say to thee,
that thou shouldest tarie in a field where house is not built. 52 For I
knew that the Highest beganne to shew thee these thinges: 53 therfore I
sayd vnto thee, that thou shouldest goe into a field, where is no
fundation of building. 54 For the worke of mans building could not be
borne in the place, where the citie of the Highest began to be shewed.
55 Thou therfore feare not, neither let thy hart dread: but goe in, and
see the beautie, and greatnes of the building, as much as the sight of
thyne eyes is capable to see: 56 & afterward thou shalt heare as much,
as the hearing of thyne eares is capable to heare. 57 For thou art
blessed aboue manie, and art called with the Highest as few. 58 And to
morrow night thou shalt tarie here: 59 and the Highest wil shew thee
those visions of the thinges on high, which the Highest wil doe to them
that inhabite vpon the earth in the later dayes. 60 And I slept that
night, and the other next, as he had sayd to me.