might."

[Footnote 1: Lit. "whale-road."]

    Straightway did Andrew answer Him again:—
  "In thee I see an understanding heart
  Of wondrous power, the gift of victory;
  With wisdom blooms thy breast, with brightest joy.
  Lo, I will tell to thee from first to last
  The words and wisdom of the noble Lord, 650
  As I have heard it oft from His own mouth
  When He conversed with men upon the earth.
  Oft did great multitudes, unnumbered throngs,
  Assemble to the council of the Lord,
  And hear the teachings of the Holy One.
  The Shield of kings, bright Giver of all bliss,
  Went to another house, where many men,
  Wise elders, came to meet Him, praising God;
  And ever men were joyful, glad of heart,
  At the Lord's coming.

                       Likewise it befell 660
  That once of yore the Lord of victory,
  The mighty King, went on a pilgrimage;
  Eleven glorious champions alone
  Of His own people on that journey went;
  He was Himself the twelfth. When we were come
  Unto the kingly city where was built
  The temple of the Lord with pinnacles
  High towering, famous 'mong the tribes of men,
  Beauteous in splendor—with reviling words
  The high priest straight began to mock at Him 670
  Insultingly, from out his wicked heart;
  He oped his inmost thoughts and mischief wove;
  For in his heart he knew we followed aye
  The footsteps of our ever-righteous Lord,
  His teachings we performed; straightway he raised
  His baneful voice infect with wickedness:—
  'Lo, ye are wretched more than all mankind;
  Ye go upon wide wanderings, and ye fare
  On many toilsome journeys; ye give ear
  Unto a stranger's teachings 'gainst our law;
  A prince without a portion ye proclaim; 680
  Ye say, in sooth, that with the Son of God
  Ye daily converse hold! The rulers know
  From what beginning his high race is sprung.
  In this land he was nourished, and was born
  A child among his kindred; at their home
  Thus are his father and his mother called—
  As we have learned by prudent questioning—
  Mary and Joseph; other children twain
  Were born his brothers in that family, 690
  Simon and Jacob—Joseph's sons they are.'
  So spake the counsellors of men, the lords
  Ambitious, and they thought to hide the might
  Of God; their sin returned to them again
  From whom it rose, an everlasting bane.

    Then did the Prince, the Lord of hosts, depart
  With all His thanes from out the council-hall,
  Strong in His might, to seek an unknown land.
  By wonders manifold and mighty deeds
  In deserts wild He showed that He was King 700
  By right throughout the world, made strong with power,
  Ruler and Author of bright majesty,
  Eternal God of all created things.
  Likewise He showed before the sight of men
  Unnumbered other works miraculous.

    Upon another journey then He went
  With a vast throng, and in the temple stood,
  The glorious Prince. The sound of words arose
  Within the lofty building; sinful men
  Would not receive the holy Savior's words,
  Though He had shown so many tokens true 710
  While they looked on. Upon the temple wall
  On either side the Lord victorious saw
  An image of His angels wondrous carved,
  Brightly adorned and beautifully wrought;
  Then to the multitude he spake in words:—
  'This is the likeness of the angel-race
  Most widely known to dwellers in this town.
  In Paradise their names are Cherubim 720
  And Seraphim; before the face of God
  They stand, strong-souled, and with their voices praise
  In holy song the might of Heaven's King,
  And God's protecting hand. Here is carved out
  The holy angels' form; the thanes of glory
  Are chiseled on the wall by handicraft.'

    The Lord of hosts, the Holy Spirit of heaven,
  Spake yet again unto the multitude:—
  'Now I command a sign to be disclosed,
  A miracle before the throng of men, 730
  That from the wall this image shall descend
  All beautiful to earth, and speak a word,
  Shall tell them truly of My parentage,
  That men throughout the land may then believe!'

    The ancient image durst not disobey
  The Savior's words, but leapt from off the wall,
  Stone cleft from stone; upon the earth it stood,
  A wonder in the sight of all the throng;
  Then came a voice loud sounding from the stone, 740
  Rebuking them in words; and wondrous seemed
  The statue's speech to those proud-hearted men.
  With tokens manifest it taught the priests,
  Warned them with wisdom; thus it spake in words:—
  'Accursed are ye and wretched in your thoughts,
  Deceived with tricks, or else with clouded mind
  No better do ye know. Ye call God's Son
  Eternal but a man—Him who marked out
  With His own hands the sea and solid ground,
  Both heaven and earth, the stormy ocean-waves,
  The salt sea-streams, and the high firmament. 750
  He is that self-same God all-powerful
  Whom in the early days your fathers knew;
  To Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob
  He gave His grace, and honored them with wealth;
  To Abraham He first declared in words
  The covenant of his race, that of his seed
  The God of glory should be born; this fate
  Is now fulfilled among you, manifest;
  And lo! your eyes can now behold the God
  Of victory, who rules the heavens on high.' 760

    After these words the crowd stood listening;
  All silent were they through the spacious hall.
  The elders then began again to say,
  Those sinful men—the truth they did not know!—
  That it was magic art and sorcery
  That made the shining stone to talk to men.
  Evil was blossoming in their hearts, and hate
  Welled hot as fire within their wicked breasts,
  A serpent, foe to joy, a poison dire; 770
  And by their words of mocking were revealed
  Their doubting hearts and thoughts of wickedness,
  With murder girt about. Then did the Lord
  Command the stone, that mighty work, to go
  Along the way, from out the open place,
  To tread the paths of earth, the meadows green,
  To bear God's message into Canaan land,
  And in God's name command that Abraham
  And his descendants twain should rise again
  From out their sepulchre, and leave their place 780
  Of rest beneath the earth, take up their limbs,
  Receive a soul again and youth's estate;
  That those wise patriarchs should come once more
  Among mankind, to tell the folk what God
  It was that they had known by His own might.

    It went and journeyed on the border-paths
  As mighty God, Creator of mankind,
  Commanded it, until it came to Mamre
  All dazzling bright, as God had bidden it.
  There had the bodies of those patriarchs 790
  Long time lain hid. It bade them straight arise