17
Then suddenly visions of horrible dreams troubled them sorely, and terrors came upon them unlooked for.
18
And one thrown here and another there, half dead, showed the cause of his death.
19
For the dreams that troubled them showed this beforehand, lest they should perish and not know why they were afflicted.
20
Yea, the tasting of death touched the righteous also, and there was a destruction of the multitude in the wilderness; but the wrath endured not long.
21
For then the blameless man made haste and stood forth to defend them, and, bringing the shield of his proper ministry, even prayer and the propitiation of incense, set himself against the wrath and so brought the calamity to an end, declaring that he was Thy servant.
22
So he overcame the destroyer, not with strength of body nor force of arms, but with a word he subdued him that punished, alleging the oaths and covenants made with the fathers.
23
For when the dead had now fallen down by heaps one upon another, standing between, he stayed the wrath, and cut off the way to the living.
24
For in the long garment was the whole world, and in the four rows of the stones was the glory of the fathers graven, and Thy majesty upon the daidem of his head.
25
Unto these the destroyer gave way and was afraid of them, for it was enough that they only tasted of the wrath.