10 Whence comes it, O thou
Jesus Christ, that thou art a man
so powerful and glorious in majesty
so bright as to have no spot, and
so pure as to have no crime? For
that lower world of earth, which
was ever till now subject to us,
and from whence we received
tribute, never sent us such a
dead man before, never sent such
presents as these to the princes of
hell.
11 Who therefore art thou, who
with such courage enterest among
our abodes, and art not only not
afraid to threaten us with the
greatest punishments, but also
endeavourest to rescue all others
from the chains in which we hold
them?
12 Perhaps thou art that Jesus,
of whom Satan just now spoke to
our prince, that by the death of
the cross thou wert about to
receive the power of death.
13 Then the King of Glory
trampling upon death, seized the
prince of hell, deprived him of all
his power, and took our earthly
father Adam with him to his glory.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1 Beelzebub, prince of hell, vehemently upbraids Satan for
persecuting Christ and bringing him to hell.
14 Christ gives Beelzebub dominion over Satan forever,
as a recompence for taking away Adam and his sons.
THEN the prince of hell took
Satan, and with great indignation
said to him, O thou prince of
destruction, author of Beelzebub's
defeat and banishment, the scorn
of God's angels and loathed by all
righteous persons! What inclined
thee to act thus?
2 Thou wouldst crucify the King
of Glory, and by his destruction,
hast made us promises of very
large advantages, but as a fool
wert ignorant of what thou wast
about.
3 For behold now that Jesus of
Nazareth, with the brightness of
his glorious divinity, puts to flight
all the horrid powers of darkness
and death;