Awe

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 102 of 217 · 20 per page

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  I’ll drive, I said. Inside the car, its abrupt hush, I could still feel the last piano notes thrum, radiant: a faint light, haloing the quiet. I switched on the ignition. I hadn’t studied an instrument. For years, though, while eluding the devil’s influence, I’d listened to classical music. I owned piano recordings I loved. Lupu, for instance. Gould. Uchida. Wasn’t it Liszt, what she’d played? I was trying to establish bona fides. Once, while hiking with my parents, I’d watched a starling flock in motion, the confusion of birds mobbing about like nets full of fish until they’d lifted, all at once, shape-shifting into a braided coil that flung, agile, whip-tight, into the horizon. Pests, my father said—practical, as usual. But I’d thought it an astonishing sight, God’s design made visible, and that was what Phoebe’s playing felt like: the flight of notes rising into shape, a large purpose made plain. You should be onstage, I said. If I had a gift like that, I’d— You’d live for it, she said. You, Will Kendall, would be a celebrated pianist, a high priest of music. I don’t know why you’re laughing. No, it’s, I tried. I wanted to be a pianist. I’m not sure that’s what it is, a gift. By the time I quit, I realized I’d rather have no talent than just enough to know how much I lacked. I played tonight because he insisted. That’s all. He was telling me about his time in the gulag, and I— “He” being John, I started saying, my voice overlapping hers. I couldn’t turn him down— The gulag? Oh, she said. He was in a gulag. Oh, Will. – In the spring, two years ago— (so Phoebe explained, turned toward me, a hand hot on my thigh as I sped through emptied Noxhurst streets, past the stoplights staining the night) —John Leal had gone to live in Yanji, a Chinese city next to North Korea. He worked with an activist group, with Americans who helped North Koreans in hiding get out of China, into Seoul. It was a long, roundabout trip that required walking through the Laotian jungle, so hazardous they relied on opium mules as guides. Then, one night, he was seized by North Korean spies who took him across the border, throwing him into a gulag. He still couldn’t talk much about what he witnessed. Lives thrown out like trash, he said. A five-year-old child hanged for stealing a little rice. Gang rapes. Everyone was starving. Deprived of rations, a man had eaten the shit-soiled rags used to wipe latrines. One corpse was found stashed in ice, his missing parts marked with human teeth. He watched prison guards kicking a pregnant girl in the stomach. She curled around the swollen belly, trying to protect it. They left the girl bleeding on the ground.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Dan 7:13 ; Zech 12:10 ] 8 “I am the l Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].” [Is 9:6 ] The Patmos Vision 9 I, John, your brother and companion in the m tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, [exiled there] because of [my preaching of] the word of God [regarding eternal salvation] and the testimony of Jesus Christ . 10 I was in the n Spirit [in special communication with the Holy Spirit and empowered to receive and record the revelation from Jesus Christ] on the o Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], and send it to the p seven churches—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone q like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest. [Dan 7:13 ; 10:5 ] 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being]. [Dan 7:9 ] 15 His feet were like burnished [white-hot] bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters. [Dan 10:6 ] 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the r Shekinah glory] was like the sun shining in [all] its power [at midday]. [Ex 34:29 ] 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God], [Is 44:6 ] 18 and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead). 19 “So write the things s which you have seen [in the vision], and the things t which are [now happening], and the things u which will take place after these things.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  18 “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 “And it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear [and worship] the LORD his God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], by carefully obeying (keeping foremost in his thoughts and actively doing) all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 so that his heart will not be lifted up above his countrymen [by a false sense of self-importance and self-reliance] and that he will not turn away (deviate) from the commandment, to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may continue [to reign] for a long time in his kingdom in Israel. Deuteronomy 18 Portion of the Levites 1 “T HE LEVITICAL priests, the entire tribe of Levi, shall own [privately] no portion [of land] or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the LORD ’s offerings by fire and His portion. 2 “They shall have no inheritance [of land] among their countrymen (brothers, brethren); the LORD is their a inheritance, as He promised them. 3 “Now this shall be the priests’ portion from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 “You shall also give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine [the first of the season], and your [olive] oil, and the first sheared fleece of your sheep. 5 “For the LORD your God has chosen him, him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the LORD forever. 6 “Now if a Levite comes from any of your cities throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever b he wishes to [the sanctuary] the place which the LORD chooses; 7 then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who c stand there before the LORD . 8 “They shall have d equal portions to eat, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates . [Jer 32:6–15 ] Spiritism Forbidden 9 “When you enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. 10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead].

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  5. The rapid spread of Christianity by purely moral means, and in spite of the greatest external obstacles, yea, the bitter persecution of Jews and Gentiles. The anonymous apologetic Epistle to Diognetus which belongs to the literature of the Apostolic Fathers, already thus urges this point: "Do you not see the Christians exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of his manifestation."115 Justin Martyr and Tertullian frequently go on in a similar strain. Origen makes good use of this argument against Celsus, and thinks that so great a success as Christianity met among Greeks and barbarians, learned and unlearned persons in so short a time, without any force or other worldly means, and in view of the united opposition of emperors, senate, governors, generals, priests, and people, can only be rationally accounted for on the ground of an extraordinary providence of God and the divine nature of Christ. 6. The reasonableness of Christianity, and its agreement with all the true and the beautiful in the Greek philosophy and poesy. All who had lived rationally before Christ were really, though unconsciously, already Christians. Thus all that is Christian is rational, and all that is truly rational is Christian. Yet, on the other hand, of course, Christianity is supra-rational (not irrational). 7. The adaptation of Christianity to the deepest needs of human nature, which it alone can meet. Here belongs Tertullian’s appeal to the "testimonia animae naturaliter Christianae;" his profound thought, that the human soul is, in its inmost essence and instinct, predestined for Christianity, and can find rest and peace in that alone. "The soul," says he, "though confined in the prison of the body, though perverted by bad training, though weakened by lusts and passions, though given to the service of false gods, still no sooner awakes from its intoxication and its dreams, and recovers its health, than it calls upon God by the one name due to him: ’Great God! good God!’—and then looks, not to the capitol, but to heaven; for it knows the abode of the living God, from whom it proceeds."116 This deep longing of the human soul for the living God in Christ, Augustin, in whom Tertullian’s spirit returned purified and enriched, afterwards expressed in the grand sentence: "Thou, O God, hast made us for thee, and our heart is restless, till it rests in thee."117 CHAPTER IV.ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH.I. The chief sources for this chapter are the Epistles of Ignatius, the works of Irenaeus, Tertullian, and especially Cyprian, and the so-called Constitutiones Apostolicae, II. See the Literature in vol. I. § 58 (p. 481 sqq. ), particularly the works of Rothe, Ritchsl, Lightfoot, and Hatch. § 41. Progress in Consolidation.

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  By then, the group comprised six members, including Eric Cho, the newest recruit. Jo had left the cult before they started using the cabin, but if I tried, I could almost see the place in June. Birch branches gleaming white, like picked bones. They lit bonfires until the sweat flowed into tears. The light tinged the circling trees with blood. They fasted, atoned. Tired bodies ached with hope. Through a haze of smoke, stars smeared like souls fleeing this fallen earth. The night chill pricked Phoebe’s bare arms, as if with pinfeathers, and she felt the rush of flight, lifting up. In that isolated place, the plausible might crack open until she had the revelation she desired, a final, ecstatic fit— But no, she wasn’t the kind to have visions, no more than I’d been. I thought of what she’d said that last night, about acting as if she believed. From the start to the finish, Phoebe’s want of Christ had been based in logic. She wished upon God’s attested promises: the dead alive, a past repealed. This flawed world would pass, yielding to a place of undivided light. Since she lacked real belief, she might have resolved to match His pledge with action, proving the faith she craved. Then, in the final instant, she’d have required but a little hope, a short leap of faith. Soldiers require months of training, years, before they’re fit to battle, while all Phoebe had to do was put a truck in a parking lot. Several minutes’ conviction, and the building falls. I wondered when they’d learned how much had gone wrong. In Phoebe’s note, she said she watched Phipps clinic collapse. Truck bombs placed, timers set, the others could have made it back to Noxhurst. They reunited on an Edwards rooftop, then opened the wine bottles. He’d have relished the call to celebrate. The building exploded. If they also noticed the whirling lights, police cars rushing toward the site, they wouldn’t have thought much of it. That night, they might have driven upstate; exhausted, they slept well. It wasn’t until the next morning that they’d have jumped from bed, running to the television. Where’s the— I have it. There! Stop! While they watched, they fell quiet. What girls? It’s Phipps. Phoebe then hid with them in the cabin. If Jo’s right, if , she lived with the added guilt of having proposed the idea. But no, in fact, the more I’ve thought about it, Phoebe wouldn’t have disputed John Leal’s approach to the clinic, not in front of his group. She valued tact. If she wanted to question him, she could have pulled him aside, in private. Docile so long, she’d have been more pliant, not less. No. He told Phoebe to bring up the idea to Jejah. With his impresario’s instincts, he staged God’s approval of his plan. She followed his script, but she didn’t like lying. In time, she doubted his use of tricks, what such deceit implied.

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  23.JOHN LEALHe wasn’t just his Lord’s child: he often had to be His substitute. Proxied liaison, latest in the line of soloist prophets. In His service, there wasn’t a single opening he wouldn’t exploit. No gambit existed that he’d have fancied beneath him; he would give, if it helped, anything. The Lord had peeled the flesh off His corpse. He had spread it as a bloodied veil upon this earth, a flailed red carpet to ease His people’s fall. Others might ask how long, but he could wait. Faith is a long patience. Minutes tremble, he told his group, with the hope of revelation. Each particle of dust breathes forth its rejoicing. The stripped Noxhurst trees spelled out the Lord’s writing, if they’d learn to see it. God is, not was. He, John Leal, had called them as heroes. The Lord had laid His hand upon their heads. 24.PHOEBEThe night I came back to Noxhurst from Julian’s, Phoebe said, I tried calling Will. He was still in his office, in Beijing. The call wasn’t scheduled, but he picked up. He asked what was wrong. Nothing, I said, and he hesitated. He thought I sounded upset. Well, it’s hot, I said. Maybe that’s what you’re hearing. If you’re sure, he said. I told him I was, but I came home the next afternoon to find boxed peonies in the hall, a gift from Will. The lush, open-lipped petals, flaring signal-red, indicated he thought I’d lied. I left the bouquet in place. Outside, the light was harsh, startling. A high-bodied bus listed past, piping exhaust. I imagined going right, angling into its path. But I wasn’t going to walk into traffic; foolish, then, to pretend otherwise. – I still had peonies spoiling in the hall the June morning I opened a one-line email from John Leal, inviting me to his house again. Since the first time, I’d declined his invitations. Instead, to be polite, I’d had a drink with him, the occasional lunch. I’m not religious, I told him. I know that, he said. I’m just hoping to be friends. This time, though, I felt alone. I said yes. It wasn’t until I attended the third house meeting that I asked what had inspired him to persist so long. The first language of God is silence, he said. You’ll have to sweep the temple steps awhile before He’ll call to you. But He will. Phoebe, believe it or not, God tells me you’ll be essential to His plan. It’s the truth. In His name, yours will be magnified. –

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  11 “Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household (the other priests), and he shall kill the bull as the sin offering for himself. 12 “He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the LORD , and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place], 13 and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the LORD , so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die. 14 “He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for [the sins of] the people and bring its blood within the veil [into the Most Holy Place] and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. [Heb 2:17 ] 16 “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place (Holy of Holies) because of the uncleanness and transgressions of the Israelites, for all their sins. He shall also do this for the Tent of Meeting which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness (impurities). [Heb 9:22–24 ] 17 “There shall be no person in the Tent of Meeting when the high priest goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place [within the veil] until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself (his own sins) and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel. 18 “Then he shall go out to the altar [of burnt offering in the court] which is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 “With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on the altar of burnt offering seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites. 20 “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task].

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Gen 27:30–40 ] Contrast of Sinai and Zion 18 For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging windstorm, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them. [Ex 19:12–22 ; 20:18–21 ; Deut 4:11 , 12 ; 5:22–27 ] 20 For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A WILD ANIMAL TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN , IT WILL BE STONED [to death].” [Ex 19:12 , 13 ] 21 In fact, so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FILLED WITH FEAR and trembling.” [Deut 9:19 ] 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], 23 and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], 24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance]. [Gen 4:10 ] The Unshaken Kingdom 25 See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven? [Heb 2:1–4 ] 26 His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH , BUT ALSO THE [starry] HEAVEN .” [Hag 2:6 ] 27 Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. [Ps 102:26 ] 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire. [Deut 4:24 ] Hebrews 13 The Changeless Christ 1 L et love of your fellow believers continue. 2 Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  9 Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance [of tribal land] with his brothers; c the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God d has promised him.) 10 “And I stayed on the mountain, like the first time, forty days and nights, and the LORD listened to me at that time also; the LORD was not willing to destroy you. 11 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey ahead of the people, so that they may go in and take possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.’ 12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear [and worship] the LORD your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being], 13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 “Behold, the heavens and the highest of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth and all that is in it. 15 “Yet the LORD e had a delight in loving your fathers and set His affection on them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 “So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer. 17 “For the LORD your f God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show g partiality nor take a bribe. 18 “He h executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and i shows His love for the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) by giving him food and clothing. 19 “Therefore, show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 “You shall fear [and worship] the LORD your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect]; you shall serve Him and cling to Him [hold tightly to Him, be united with Him], and you shall swear [oaths] by His name. 21 “He is your praise and glory; He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which you have seen with your own eyes. 22 “Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy persons [in all], and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. Deuteronomy 11 Rewards of Obedience 1 “T HEREFORE YOU shall love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His precepts, and His commandments [it is your obligation to Him].

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  l e CtU re 5 | aB raham, the f ather of three f aiths 29 Sacrifice of Isaac , Caravaggio The Meaning of the Story In Islam, the story is almost identical. The only difference is that it is the other son, Ishmael, and the events take place not in Jerusalem but at Mecca. Commemoration of this story is the central element of the Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of every Muslim once in their lifetime. Christian tradition very quickly read this story through the lens of Jesus’s death. The first Christians, as Jews, knew this story very well. Christians naturally read this as foreshadowing God willingly offering his son Jesus, who, like Isaac, ends up alive at the end of the story. In one sense, this is allegory, but in another sense, they merely applied what they had always learned reading the story as Jews to a new situation. For Israelites, the story reinforced the kind of faith Abraham had. It was also a reminder that God provides. Understanding the o ld testament 30 Questions to Consider Y What are the issues one must grapple with when applying the land promises to Abraham today? Y If God knows he’ll tell Abraham not to kill Isaac at the last minute, how is he not a brute playing mind games? Suggested Reading Freedman, “Divine Commitment and Human Obligation.” Thompson, The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives . MOSES AND THE EXODUS LECTURE 6 Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament and the second book of the Pentateuch, or Torah. The Exodus is also an event, the act by which Moses—or God—brings the Israelites out of Egypt, which occurs in Exodus in chapters 12, 13, and 14. This lecture addresses key events in the escape. The Burning Bush The call of Moses occurs in the episode of the burning bush. This takes place after a baby boy is found floating in a basket. He is given the name Moses and raised in the pharaoh’s court. He discovers his Hebrew identity and flees Egypt after killing an Egyptian. 6 Understanding the o ld testament 32 He is living in the land of Midian, where he’s married a Midianite woman, when Chapter 3 begins. It states: Now Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, priest of Midian. He led the flock into the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. Moses and the Burning Bush , s ébastien Bourdon

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  The car ran on along the uplands, seeing the rolling country spread out. The country! It had once been a proud and lordly country. In front, looming again and hanging on the brow of the skyline, was the huge and splendid bulk of Chadwick Hall, more window than wall, one of the most famous Elizabethan houses. Noble it stood alone above a great park, but out of date, passed over. It was still kept up, but as a show place. "Look how our ancestors lorded it!" That was the past. The present lay below. God alone knows where the future lies. The car was already turning, between little old blackened miners' cottages, to descend to Uthwaite. And Uthwaite, on a damp day, was sending up a whole array of smoke plumes and steam, to whatever gods there be. Uthwaite down in the valley, with all the steel threads of the railways to Sheffield drawn through it, and the coal mines and the steel works sending up smoke and glare from long tubes, and the pathetic little corkscrew spire of the church, that is going to tumble down, still prickling the fumes, always affected Connie strangely. It was an old market town, centre of the dales. One of the chief inns was the Chatterley Arms. There, in Uthwaite, Wragby was known as Wragby, as if it were a whole place, not just a house, as it was to outsiders: Wragby Hall, near Tevershall: Wragby, a "seat." The miners' cottages, blackened, stood flush on the pavement, with that intimacy and smallness of colliers' dwellings over a hundred years old. They lined all the way. The road had become a street, and as you sank, you forgot instantly the open, rolling country where the castles and big houses still dominated, but like ghosts. Now you were just above the tangle of naked railway lines, and foundries and other "works" rose about you, so big you were only aware of walls. And iron clanked with a huge reverberating clank, and huge lorries shook the earth, and whistles screamed. Yet again, once you had got right down and into the twisted and crooked heart of the town, behind the church, you were in the world of two centuries ago, in the crooked streets where the Chatterley Arms stood, and the old pharmacy, streets which used to lead out to the wild open world of the castles and stately couchant houses. But at the corner a policeman held up his hand as three lorries loaded with iron rolled past, shaking the poor old church. And not till the lorries were past could he salute her ladyship.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Ex 33:20–23 ; Deut 4:12 ; Ezek 28:14 ] 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the Israelites; and they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank. [Ex 19:21 ] 12 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments which I have written for their instruction.” [2 Cor 3:2 , 3 ] 13 So Moses a arose with Joshua his attendant, and he went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Remember that Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory and brilliance of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day God called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 In the sight of the Israelites the appearance of the glory and brilliance of the LORD was like consuming fire on the top of the mountain. 18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain; and he was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 25 Offerings for the Sanctuary 1 T HEN THE LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the children of Israel to take an offering for Me. From every man whose heart moves him [to give willingly] you shall take My offering. 3 “This is the offering you are to receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, fine twisted linen, goats’ hair, 5 rams’ a skins dyed red, b porpoise skins, c acacia wood, 6 [olive] oil for lighting, d balsam for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 e onyx stones and setting stones for the [priest’s] ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 “Have them build a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. [Heb 8:1 , 2 ; 10:1 ] 9 “You shall construct it in accordance with everything that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture. Ark of the Covenant 10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half f cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. 11 “You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, overlay it inside and out, and you shall make a gold border (frame) around its top. 12 “You shall cast four gold rings for it and attach them to the four feet, two rings on either side.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  Herein also the Apocalypse well agrees with the Gospel and Epistles of John. Christ is represented as the victor of the devil.840 He is the conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah, but also the suffering Lamb slain for us. The figure of the lamb, whether it be referred to the paschal lamb, or to the lamb in the Messianic passage of Isaiah 53:7, expresses the idea of atoning sacrifice which is fully realized in the death of Christ. He "washed" (or, according to another reading, he "loosed") "us from our sins by his blood;" he redeemed men "of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests." The countless multitude of the redeemed "washed their robes and made them white (bright and shining) in the blood of the Lamb." This implies both purification and sanctification; white garments being the symbols of holiness.841 Love was the motive which prompted him to give his life for his people.842 Great stress is laid on the resurrection, as in the Gospel, where he is called the Resurrection and the Life. The exalted Logos-Messiah has the keys of death and Hades.843 He is a sharer in the universal government of God; he is the mediatorial ruler of the world, "the Prince of the kings of the earth" "King of kings and Lord of lords."844 The apocalyptic seer likewise brings in the idea of life in its highest sense as a reward of faith in Christ to those who overcome and are faithful unto death, Christ will give "a crown of life," and a seat on his throne. He "shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes."845

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The collection of these writings into a canon, in distinction both from apocryphal or pseudo-apostolic works, and from orthodox yet merely human productions, was the work of the early church; and in performing it she was likewise guided by the Spirit of God and by a sound sense of truth. It was not finished to the satisfaction of all till the end of the fourth century, down to which time seven New Testament books (the "Antilegomena" of Eusebius), the second Epistle of Peter, the second and third Epistles of John, the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of James and Jude, and in a certain sense also the Apocalypse of John, were by some considered of doubtful authorship or value. But the collection was no doubt begun, on the model of the Old Testament canon, in the first century;866 and the principal books, the Gospels, the Acts, the thirteen Epistles of Paul, the first Epistle of Peter, and the first of John, in a body, were in general use after the middle of the second century, and were read, either entire or by sections, in public worship, after the manner of the Jewish synagogue, for the edification of the people. The external testimony of tradition alone cannot (for the Protestant Christian) decide the apostolic origin and canonical character of a book; it must be confirmed by the internal testimony of the book itself. But this is not wanting, and the general voice of Christendom for these eighteen hundred years has recognized in the little volume, which we call the New Testament, a book altogether unique in spiritual power and influence over the mind and heart of man, and of more interest and value than all the ancient and modern classics combined. If ever God spoke and still speaks to man, it is in this book. § 76. Character of the New Testament.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The same is true of the other Gospels, with this difference, however, that Matthew has a special reference to Jewish, Luke to Gentile readers, and that both make their selection accordingly under the guidance of the Spirit and in accordance with their peculiar charisma and aim, but without altering or coloring the facts. Mark stands properly between them just as Peter stood between James and Paul. The Style. The style of Mark is unclassical, inelegant, provincial, homely, poor and repetitious in vocabulary, but original, fresh, and picturesque, and enlivened by interesting touches and flickers..963 He was a stranger to the arts of rhetoric and unskilled in literary composition, but an attentive listener, a close observer, and faithful recorder of actual events. He is strongly Hebraizing, and uses often the Hebrew and, but seldom the argumentative for. He inserts a number of Latin words, though most of these occur also in Matthew and Luke, and in the Talmud.964 He uses the particle "forthwith" or "straightway" more frequently than all the other Evangelists combined.965 It is his pet word, and well expresses his haste and rapid transition from event to event, from conquest to conquest. He quotes names and phrases in the original Aramaic, as "Abba," "Boanerges," "Talitha kum," "Corban," "Ephphathah," and "Eloi, Eloi," with a Greek translation.966 He is fond of the historical present,967 of the direct instead of the indirect mode of speech,968 of pictorical participles,969 and of affectionate diminutives.970 He observes time and place of important events.971 He has a number of peculiar expressions not found elsewhere in the New Testament.972 Characteristic Details. Mark inserts many delicate tints and interesting incidents of persons and events which he must have heard from primitive witnesses. They are not the touches of fancy or the reflections of an historian, but the reminiscences of the first impressions. They occur in every chapter. He makes some little contribution to almost every narrative he has in common with Matthew and Luke. He notices the overpowering impression of awe and wonder, joy and delight, which the words and miracles of Jesus and his very appearance made upon the people and the disciples;973 the actions of the multitude as they were rushing and thronging and pressing upon Him that He might touch and heal them, so that there was scarcely standing room, or time to eat.974 On one occasion his kinsmen were about forcibly to remove Him from the throng. He directs attention to the human emotions and passions of our Lord, how he was stirred by pity, wonder, grief, anger and indignation.975 He notices his attitudes, looks and gestures,976 his sleep and hunger.977

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  (5) The group of visions in Rev 14: (a) the vision of the Lamb on Mount Zion (14:1–5); (b) of the three angels of judgment (14:6–11), followed by an episode (14:12, 13); (c) the vision of the harvest and the vintage of the earth (14:14–20). (6) The vision of the seven vials of wrath, 15:1–16:21. (7) The vision of the final triumph, 17:1–22:5: (a) the fall of Babylon (17:1–19:10); (b) the overthrow of Satan (19:11–20:10), with the millennial reign intervening (20:1–6); (c) the universal judgment (20:11–15); (d) the new heavens and the new earth, and the glories of the heavenly Jerusalem (21:1–22:5). III. The Epilogue, 22:6–21. The divine attestation, threats, and promises. Authorship and Canonicity. The question of authorship has already been discussed in connection with John’s Gospel. The Apocalypse professes to be the work of John, who assumes a commanding position over the churches of Asia. History knows only one such character, the Apostle and Evangelist, and to him it is ascribed by the earliest and most trustworthy witnesses, going back to the lifetime of many friends and pupils of the author. It is one of the best authenticated books of the New Testament.1254 And yet, owing to its enigmatical obscurity, it is the most disputed of the seven Antilegomena; and this internal difficulty has suggested the hypothesis of the authorship of "Presbyter John," whose very existence is doubtful (being based on a somewhat obscure passage of Papias), and who at all events could not occupy a rival position of superintendency over the churches in Asia during the lifetime of the great John. The Apocalypse was a stumbling-block to the spiritualism of the Alexandrian fathers, and to the realism of the Reformers (at least Luther and Zwingli), and to not a few of eminent modern divines; and yet it has attracted again and again the most intense curiosity and engaged the most patient study of devout scholars; while humble Christians of every age are cheered by its heroic tone and magnificent close in their pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem. Rejected by many as unapostolic and uncanonical, and assigned to a mythical Presbyter John, it is now recognized by the severest school of critics as an undoubted production of the historical Apostle John.1255 If so, it challenges for this reason alone our profound reverence. For who was better fitted to be the historian of the past and the seer of the future than the bosom friend of our Lord and Saviour? Able scholars, rationalistic as well as orthodox, have by thorough and patient investigation discovered or fully confirmed its poetic beauty and grandeur, the consummate art in its plan and execution. They have indeed not been able to clear up all the mysteries of this book, but have strengthened rather than weakened its claim to the position which it has ever occupied in the canon of the New Testament.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Ex 31:18 ] The Glory of God Fills the Temple 11 When the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves [separating themselves from everything unclean], without regard to their b assigned divisions), 12 and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets 13 in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the LORD , and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD , saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the LORD was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the LORD filled the house of God. 2 Chronicles 6 Solomon’s Dedication 1 T hen Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. 2 “I have built You a lofty house, A place for You to dwell forever.” 3 Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD , the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ 7 “Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD , the God of Israel. 8 “But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was a in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9 ‘Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My Name.’ 10 “Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the Name of the LORD , the God of Israel.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  And he said, “Listen carefully, I had a dream: there was a loaf of e barley bread tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his friend replied, “This [dream] is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and the entire camp into his hand.” 15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hand.” 16 He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, then do likewise. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. 18 “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet (ram’s horn), then all around the camp you also blow the trumpets and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’ ” Confusion of the Enemy 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the f middle watch, when the guards had just been changed, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21 Then each stood in his place around the camp; and the entire [Midianite] army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew the three hundred trumpets, the LORD set the sword of one [Midianite] against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 The men of Israel were summoned together from [the tribes of] Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. 24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and take [control of] the waters before them [thereby cutting off the Midianites], as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan [River].” So all the men of Ephraim were assembled together and they took control of the waters, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  22 Speak, “Thus says the LORD , ‘The dead bodies of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, And no one will gather them.’ ” [Jer 8:2 ] 23 Thus says the LORD , “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance; 24 but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the LORD who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the LORD . [1 Cor 1:31 ; 2 Cor 10:17 ] 25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD , “when I will punish all who are circumcised [physically] and yet uncircumcised [spiritually]— [Rom 2:25–29 ] 26 b Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those who live in the desert who clip off the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised (sinful, impure), and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” Jeremiah 10 A Satire on Idolatry 1 H EAR THE word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD , “Do not learn the way of the [pagan] nations, And do not be terrified and distressed by the signs of the heavens Although the pagans are terrified by them; 3 For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility]; It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god], The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool. 4 “They adorn the idol with silver and with gold; They fasten it with hammers and nails So that it will not fall apart. 5 “They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; They cannot speak; They have to be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not be afraid of them, For they can do no harm or evil, Nor can they do any good.” 6 There is none like You, O LORD ; You are great, and great is Your mighty and powerful name. 7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For it is appropriate and it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. 8 But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  She and Stephen would ride far afield on their mules; they would often ride right up into the mountains, climbing the hill to old Orotava where the women sat at their green postigos through the long, quiet hours of their indolent day and right on into the evening. The walls of the town would be covered with flowers, jasmine, plumbago and bougainvillea. But they would not linger in old Orotava; pressing on they would climb always up and up to the region of health and trailing arbutus, and be- yond that again to the higher slopes that had once been the home of a mighty forest. Now, only a few Spanish chestnut trees re- mained to mark the decline of that forest. Sometimes they took their luncheon along, and when they did this young Pedro went with them, for he it was who must drive the mule that carried Concha’s ample lunch-basket. Pedro adored these impromptu excursions, they made an excuse for neglecting the garden. He would saunter along chewing blades of grass, or the stem of some flower he had torn from a wall; or perhaps he would sing softly under his breath, for he knew many songs of his native island. But if the mule Celestino should stumble, or presume, in his turn, to tear flowers from a wall, then Pedro would suddenly cease his soft singing and shout guttural remarks to old Celestino: * Vaya, burro! Celestino, arre! Arre — boo!’ he would shout with a slap, so that Celestino must swallow his flowers in one angry gulp, before having a sly kick at Pedro. The lunch would be eaten in the cool upland air, while the beasts stood near at hand, placidly grazing. Against a sky of incredible blueness the Peak would gleam as though powdered with crystal — Teide, mighty mountain of snow with the heart of fire and the brow of crystal. Down the winding tracks would come goats with their herds, the tinkle of goat-bells breaking the THE WELL OF LONELINESS 355 stillness. And as all such things have seemed wonderful to lovers throughout the ages, even so now they seemed very wonderful to Mary and Stephen. There were days when, leaving the uplands for the vale, they would ride past the big banana plantations and the glowing acres of ripe tomatoes. Geraniums and agaves would be growing side by side in the black volcanic dust of the roadway. From the stretching Valley of Orotava they would see the rugged line of the mountains. The mountains would look blue, like the African nights, all save Teide, clothed in her crystalline whiteness. And now while they sat together in the garden at evening, there would sometimes come beggars, singing; ragged fellows who played deftly on their guitars and sang songs whose old melodies hailed from Spain, but whose words sprang straight from the heart of the island: