Page:Legends of Old Testament Characters.djvu/382

360 "And he will pluck up from amongst the twelve apostles the plant that they had planted, and it will fall into his hands.

"And all the powers of the world will do the will of the angel Berial, the impious king.

"At his word, the sun will shine in the darkness of the night, and the moon will appear at the eleventh hour.

"He will do all his pleasures; he will illtreat the Well-Beloved, and will say to him, Lo! I am God, and before me there is none other.

"And all the world will believe in him.

"And sacrifice will be offered to him, and a worship of adoration, saying, He alone is God, and there is none other.

"Then the greater number of those gathered together to receive the Well-Beloved will turn aside to Berial;

"Who by his power will work miracles in the cities and in the country;

"And everywhere shall a table be spread for him.

"His domination shall be for three years seven months and twenty-seven days."

Only when Hezekiah was at the point of death, did Isaiah reveal to him what and how great would be the iniquities of his son. Then the king would have slain Manasseh: "I had rather," said he, "die without posterity, than leave behind me a son who should persecute the saints."

When the prophet saw that Hezekiah loved God more than his own son, he was glad, and he restrained the king, and said, "It is the will of God that he should live."

Manasseh reigned in the room of his father, and was a cruel tyrant. He worshipped idols, and sought to make Isaiah partake in his idolatry. And when he could not succeed, he sawed him asunder with a saw of wood.

"And whilst Isaiah was being cut asunder, Melekira stood up and accused him, and all the lying prophets were present, and they showed great joy, and they mocked him.

"And Belial said to Isaiah: 'Confess that all thou hast said is false, and that the ways of Manasseh are good and just.

"'Confess that the ways of Melekira, and of those that are with him, are good.'

"He spake thus to him, as the saw entered into his flesh.

"But Isaiah was in an ecstasy, and his eyes were open, and he looked upon the spectators of his passion.