THE EPISTLE OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE KINGDOM OF FOVOHAM: CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

¹Hearken now, O King, and incline thine heart unto wisdom, for the days are perilous and the souls of many wax faint.
²I write not these words in wrath, but in the burden of love, as a father warneth his son lest he fall into the pit.
³The seven commandments, which the Lord Most High hath spoken by the mouth of Saint Ajora, are not grievous, yet many cast them behind their back.
⁴They that forget the law, forget also their own soul; and they that make light of the teaching of Ajora shall stumble in the dark.
⁵The sun shall not light their way, nor shall the stars be for their compass; for they have blinded themselves and chosen night for day.
⁶Woe unto the proud man, who saith, “I am sufficient unto myself,” and setteth his throne above the Flame.
⁷He shall be brought low, and his name shall be a byword in the mouths of children.
⁸And what shall it profit a man if he buildeth towers of gold, yet his spirit be empty and without light?
⁹For the riches of Ivalice are as dust before the wind, and the strength of man is as vapor before the breath of the Lord.
¹⁰Yet the word of Ajora endureth forever, and they that cleave unto it shall be as trees planted by rivers of fire.
¹¹Let not thy kingdom be counted among those that forget the covenant, lest it be plucked up and given to another.
¹²For the time draweth nigh when the seals are loosed, and the scroll of the End is unrolled before the eyes of Heaven and Ivalice.
¹³And there is a place prepared for the rebellious, deep and without end, where the light of the Lord shineth not.
¹⁴Hell is not but fire and fury, as the old men imagined; nay, it is ice without thaw, and silence without voice.
¹⁵The wicked therein gnash their teeth not for cold of ice, but for hunger of mercy that is no more.
¹⁶For Amphisbaena, who was Bezaliel before his fall, is ruler in that place, and he delighteth in the frost of despair.
¹⁷His dominion is of chains, and his throne is frozen stone; and they that come unto him shall not return again.
¹⁸They cry unto the Lord, saying, “Spare us!” but He answereth not, for the time of mercy is past.
¹⁹The prayers of the righteous ascend as incense, but the words of the damned are swallowed in the breath of the Abyss.
²⁰Therefore, O King, teach thy people to remember the words of Saint Ajora, and to walk uprightly before the Flame.
²¹Set up judges that are just, and let them deal with equity; let the scales of thy kingdom be balanced by truth.
²²Let not the strong devour the weak, nor the rich shut out the poor from the gates of justice.
²³For the eye of the Lord is upon the land, and He seeth the secret thing and the intent of the heart.
²⁴If the people build temples, yet turn away the hungry from their steps, shall their songs be heard in Heaven?
²⁵If they burn incense, yet despise the stranger, shall their offering not be as dung upon the altar?
²⁶I say unto thee, no man shall enter the Paradise promised to the faithful unless he hath loved as Ajora loved.
²⁷For it was written in flame upon the heart of the Saint: “Love is the law, and the law is life.”
²⁸The scribes and the priests shall declare the law, but if they walk not therein, they are as empty vessels sounding loud.
²⁹Let thy nobles be examples of charity and temperance; let thy captains uphold justice with the sword of mercy.
³⁰Rebuke the sin that is hidden, and cleanse the land from blood guiltiness.
³¹Spare not the rod when the soul is in danger, yet bind the wound when the sin is confessed.
³²For the Lord delighteth not in destruction, but in turning the heart from death unto life.
³³When the penitent weep, the angels rejoice; when the proud harden their neck, the demons clap their hands.
³⁴Give no quarter to the whisperers who speak rebellion in the dark corners; root them out, lest they poison the well.
³⁵Yet judge not without cause, nor condemn without witness; let thy justice be as the morning sun, which revealeth all things.
³⁶For thou art set as a steward, and the souls of thy people are thy charge; if one be lost through thy neglect, it shall be required of thee.
³⁷The Lord is not mocked, neither doth He forget; and thy days shall be measured in righteousness or wrath.
³⁸If thou buildest thy house upon the commandments of the Lord, it shall not fall, though the Heavens be shaken.
³⁹But if thou trustest in thy own wisdom, and setteth thy crown above His Word, the tempest shall scatter thee.
⁴⁰I have seen kings rise, and I have seen kings fall; but the Word of Ajora endureth unto everlasting.
⁴¹Let thy counsellors fear the Lord, and let thy scribes write truth without flattery.
⁴²Take not bribes, neither pervert judgment; for the Lord hateth unequal weights and lying lips.
⁴³Let thy law be a hedge of fire round about thy people, that they stray not into the wilderness of the wicked.
⁴⁴And let the churches of the kingdom burn bright with the Flame of His Spirit, and not with the fire of pride.
⁴⁵If thou doest these things, and walk humbly before thy God, then shall thy kingdom be established.
⁴⁶Thy children shall sit upon thy throne, and thy name shall be remembered in the gates.
⁴⁷But if thou forgettest the Lord, and makest common cause with the despisers of His word, then shall thy house be cast down.
⁴⁸For the ice of Hell doth wait beneath the mountain, and its gates shall open unto them that will not repent.
⁴⁹The frost shall take their bones, and their cries shall echo in the ice without end.
⁵⁰Let this be a warning, O King, and let it pierce as the point of a spear into thy heart.
⁵¹For I write not to condemn thee, but to stir thee unto remembrance, that thy soul perish not.
⁵²In the night I weep for the kingdoms of men, and pray that they turn and be healed.
⁵³For the mercy of the Lord is great, and His hand is stretched forth even now.
⁵⁴Turn unto Him while the gate is open, for soon it shall be shut, and none shall enter in.
⁵⁵Let not thy pride be thy ruin, as it was for them of the first cities, who mocked the prophets and scorned the holy things.
⁵⁶But be thou wise, O King, and hold fast the words of Saint Ajora, for in them is life, and light, and the promise of the Kingdom.

▷THE SEVEN SCRIPTURES OF THE CHURCH OF GLABADOS
    ▷THE EPISTLES OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE NEW KINGDOMS
        ▷THE EPISTLE OF SAINT VELIUS TO THE KINGDOM OF FOVOHAM
            ▶1—2—3—4

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