Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence

of this world, and thou hast made the kingdom of this world thy kingdom of heaven, and thou trustest only in thyself; thou makest thyself a lord over BaBel, and thou drawest the kingdom of this world to thee only by x cunning [subtlety] ; 1 tricks, and thou makest thyself a patron therein, and deceit8' ' therewith thou goest out from God ; thou supposest that thou art holy, though thou suppressest the poor Abel under thy yoke, and vexest him day and night ; he must here be thy blood-hound, and thou accountest him thy slave, though thou hast not right to the least hair of his head as thine own ; and therefore thou art no other than his driver [or hunter] in Jericho, thou art his murderer, who strippest him, beatest, and killest him.

109. Dost thou ask, Wherefore? Behold, I will tell thee, thou art Cain, the lord of the world, for thou hast made thyself so ; and now Abel is thy servant, who is entered into this world as a guest, yet he standeth and desireth to be 2 gone out * regenerated. of this world into his native country, which thou canst not endure ; thou pressest him to the ground two manner of ways, very subtly, and in selfpower. First, with thy hypocritical false doctrine, [teaching or preaching] Babel, where he shall and must believe whatsoever thou 3prescribest him, 3 or enjoinest without the spirit of God, that thereby thou mayest doT" °rth°" but strengthen thy gorgeous 4 fat kingdom, whereby < or stately thou drawest him away from God, into the spirit d(

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1 Or must esteem your artificial teaching as the means of salvation.

2 plaguest or tormentest.

3 kingdom, vengeance, or rage.

4 contempt and scorn.

8 Or spirit.

of this world, so that he must l gape upon thy prating ; and if he do not so, then thou murderest him, as Abel [was murdered].

110. And secondly, thou hast set thyself to be lord over him, and hast made him thy slave, and so bravest it over him, as the proud woman of this world, thou 2vexest him day and night, and consumest his sweat in high-mindedness, all according to the 3 fury of the wrath [or fierceness]. And so he sticketh not only in the 4 darkness, but [also] in great misery, cares, and perplexit)7, and seeketh ways to get out of them, and how to come to the light again, and escape the driver.

111. But he findeth nothing in thy gates but the way of falsehood, bribery, cunning, subtlety, lying, and deceit, also covetousness, and to wind himself about so under thy yoke, that he may but live ; and so himself murdereth his own poor soul, under thy yoke, and rendeth himself off thus from the kingdom of God, and giveth himself up to the 6 kingdom of this world, kneeling and praying before thy beast, and honoureth thy proud bride that rideth upon thy beast, as the spirit of God in the Revelation of John witnesseth.

112. Thus thou continually murderest poor Abel two manner of ways, and givest him great occasion of stumbling ; by thy pomp and power thou drawest him away from God into the spirit of this world, where he then groweth stark blind, and so he will

Ch. 20] ADAM AND EVfi's GOING OUT OP PARADISE 553