Page:The Apocryphal New Testament (1924).djvu/172

 3 When they heard that of Esaias, all the saints said unto Hell: Open thy gates: now shalt thou be overcome and weak and without strength. And there came a great voice as of thunder, saying: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up ye doors of hell, and the King of glory shall come in. And when Hell saw that they so cried out twice, he said, as if he knew it not: Who is the King of glory? And David answered Hell and said: The words of this cry do I know, for by his spirit I prophesied the same; and now I say unto thee that which I said before: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, he is the King of glory. And: The Lord looked down from heaven that he might hear the groanings of them that are in fetters and deliver the children of them that have been slain. And now, O thou most foul and stinking Hell, open thy gates, that the King of glory may come in. And as David spake thus unto Hell, the Lord of majesty appeared in the form of a man and lightened the eternal darkness and brake the bonds that could not be loosed: and the succour of his everlasting might visited us that sat in the deep darkness of our transgressions and in the shadow of death of our sins. 

3 Then came there again a voice, saying: Lift up the gates. And when Hades heard the voice the second time, he answered as if he knew it not, and said: Who is this King of glory? The angels of the Lord said: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. And straightway at the word the gates of brass were broken in pieces and the bars of iron were ground to powder, and all the dead that were bound were loosed from their chains, and we with them, and the King of glory entered in, in fashion as a man, and all the dark places of Hell were enlightened.

gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And again at that clear veice Hell and Satan inquired, saying: Who is this King of glory? and it was said unto ew by that marvellous voice: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

And lo, suddenly Hell did quake, and the gates of death and the locks were broken small, and the bars of iron broken, and fell to the ground, and all things were laid open. And Satan remained in the midst and stood put to confusion and cast down,