Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/389

 and shun  those  hags,  and  such  heathendom,

and the  devil's  delusions,  and  worship  their  Lord.

Then will  the  devil  see  that  ye  despise  him,

and it  will  be  grievous  to  him,  in  his  accursed  mind,

that ye  are    so   stedfast,    and  he   will  take   indignation    against you,

and will  vex  you  with  some  sickness,

or suddenly  kill  some  of  your  cattle,

because he  must  try  every  man,

in many  ways,  whether  his  mind  will

swerve through  persecution  from  the  Almighty  God.

But know  ye  for  certain,  that  the  cruel  devil

cannot hurt  men  by  any  sickness,

neither destroy  their  cattle,  without  the  Lord's  permission.

God is  all  goodness,  and  He  ever  willeth  well,

but the  minds  of  men  may  be  excited  to  evil;

then God  permitteth  the  devil  very  often

to afflect  men  for  their  misdeeds.

We ought  to  seek,  if  we  be  afflicted,

restoration from  God,  not  from  the  cruel  witches,

and with  all  our  hearts  please  our  Saviour,

because nothing  can  withstand  His  might.

He saith  in  His  gospel  that,  without  God's  command,

not even  a  bird  falleth  in  death.

It is  to  be  expected  that  He  will  ever  watch  over  His  servants

both in  life  and  in  death,  since  the  little  bird

falleth not  into  a  snare  without  God's  will.

Our Saviour  drave  devils  by  His  best  out  of  a  possessed  man.

There was  then  nigh  at  hand  an  herd  of  swine,

and   they    straightway    prayed    that    they    might    go    into    the swine,