After a little while he lifted up his voice with unwonted power and spake in Hebrew:--'O Lord 725 Jesus, thou who dost possess the power of judgment, thou who didst form the heaven and the earth and the sea, the broad expanse of waters, and all created things, by the might of thy glory; thou who didst measure out with thine own hands all the sphere of 730 this earth and of the firmament above; thou who dost sit in person, the King of victories, over the most glorious angel-kind; thou who in a mantle of light dost fare through space in surpassing majesty, the nature of man cannot rise in the flesh 735 from the earth-tainted ways unto the bright throng of the pure, the heralds of glory. Thou didst form that host, holy and heavenly, and didst ordain it unto thy service. Six of their number are called 740 by name in joy without end, and they are clothed about with six wings; they are adorned, and gleam brightly. And there are four of their number ever in flight that perform the service of glory 745 before the sight of the eternal Judge, and they continually sing in holiness with clear voices the laud of the King of heaven, fairest of songs, and they chant these words in pure tones--their name is 750 cherubim:--"Holy is the holy God of the archangels, the Lord of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of His majesty, and all His exceeding might is marked with His glory." And there are two among their number in the heavens, the victorious race, 755 whereon man bestoweth the name of seraphim. With flaming sword they are to keep sacred the field of Paradise and the tree of life. And fast in their grasp the drawn sword, sharp of edge, quivers, trembles, and changes its hue. For thou dost rule, 760 O Lord God, eternally, and thou didst hurl thy sin-stained foes, the workers of iniquity, from the heavens, and the unhappy host fell to the dark abodes, into the pains of hell. There now they suffer 765 the agony of death in a sea of fire, encompassed about with darkness, in the embrace of the dragon. He withstood thy kingly rule, and therefore in misery, abhorred, the vilest of the vile, shall he suffer and endure the servile yoke. He cannot there 770 neglect thy commandment; he is fettered in torture, bound in agony, the author of all sin. If it be thy will, O King of angels, that He who was on the cross, and was born of Mary into the world in the 775 form of a child, the Lord of the heavenly host, shall rule--and were He not thy Son, free from guile, never could He have wrought such a multitude of true miracles day after day in the world; 780 nor wouldst thou, O Lord of the peoples, so gloriously have raised Him from the dead before the nations, were He not thy Son in glory by that holy maid--then do thou, O Father of angels, now show forth thy sign. Even as thou didst hearken unto 785 the words of that holy seer, Moses, in prayer, when thou, O God of power, didst reveal unto the noble man in due time the bones of Joseph beneath the mountain-side, so would I, O God of hosts, if it be thy will, beseech thee in the name of that fair being 790 that thou, Creator of souls, wilt disclose unto me this treasure-house that long has been hidden from men. Do thou now, O Prince of life, let rise up beneath the span of the heavens from this smiling 795 field a misty smoke. Then shall I trust in thee better, and the more firmly establish my soul in undoubting joy upon the crucified Christ, that He is truly the Saviour of souls, eternal, omnipotent, and King of the Israelites, and that He shall rule 800 for ever in glory without end the everlasting dwellings in the heavens.'