Page:King Alfred's West-Saxon Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care (2).djvu/370

Hatton MS.] ofslihð on his geferan, he bið hiewcuðlice ðeow ðæm Godes feonde, ðe simle wiðbritt ðæm untruman mode ðære sibbe ðe he self forlét, & hine mid ðæm forworhte, oð he ofdune afeoll, & nu giet wilnað ðæt he ús ðone weg fordikige, ðæt we ne mægen astigan on ðone weg & on ða are ðe he of afeoll. Ongean ðæt sint to manienne ða ðe ða sibbe sawað, ðæt hie swa micel weorc to recceleaslice & to unwærlice ne don, & huru ðær ðær hie nyton hwæðer sio sibb betre betwux gefæstnod bið, ðe ne bið, forðæm swa swiðe swa hit dereð ænig wana sie ðære sibbe betwux ðæm goodum, swa swiðe hit eac dereð ðæt hio ne sie gewanod betwux ðæm yfelum. Forðæm, gif ða ðweoran & ða unryhtwisan hiera yfel mid sibbe gefæstnigað, & tosomne gemengað, ðonne bið geiced hiera mægen, & hiora yfelum weorcum gefultumod, forðon swa micle swa hie gemodsumeran bioð betwux him, swa hie beoð bealdran ða godan to swenceanne. Be ðæm wæs ðætte sio godcunde stemn cwæð to ðæm eadgan Iobe ymb ða bodan ðæs idlan fætes, ðæt is se awirgda Antexrist, hio cwæð: His flæsces lima clifað ælc on oðrum. & eft hio dyde sciella to bisene his heorðcneohtum, & ðus cwæð: Ælces fisces sciell bið to oðerre gefeged, ðæt ðær ne mæg nan æðm ut betwuxn. Swa eac ða his folgeras, swa hie unwiðerweardran & gemodran beoð, swa hie swiður hlecað tosomne, & eac fæstor tosomne beoð gefegde to godra manna hienðe. Swa eac se se ðe ða unryhtwisan tosomne sibbað, he seleð ðære unryhtwisnesse fultom & mægen, forðæm hie magon ða gódan swa micle swiður geswencean swa hie hiora anmodlicor ehtað. Be ðæm cwæð se æðela lareow sanctus Paulus, ða he geseah ðæt folc Phariseo & themselves, the bolder they will be to trouble the good. Therefore the divine voice spoke to the blessed Job about the messengers of the useless vessel, that is the accursed Antichrist; it said: "The limbs of his flesh cleave together." And again, it used scales as an illustration for his domestic servants, speaking thus: "The scale of every fish is joined to the other, so that no breath can pass out between." So also his followers, the more friendly and unanimous they are, the more closely they unite, and the more firmly they join together to annoy the good. So also he who reconciles the wicked together, supports and strengthens unrighteousness, because the more unanimously they persecute the good, the more they will be able to afflict them. Of which the noble teacher St. Paul spoke, when he saw how the sects of the Pharisees