Selected quad for the lemma: evil_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
evil_n	darkness_n	good_a	sweet_a	3,257	5	8.2420	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01759	The epistle of Gildas, the most ancient British author who flourished in the yeere of our Lord, 546. And who by his great erudition, sanctitie, and wisedome, acquired the name of sapiens. Faithfully translated out of the originall Latine.; Liber querulus de excidio Britanniae. English	Gildas, 516?-570?; Abingdon, Thomas.; Marshall, William, fl. 1617-1650, engraver.	1638 (1638)	STC 11895; ESTC S103163	93,511	458

led to death and forbeare not to redeeme them who are murthered because as the same Prophet saith Riches shall not profit in the day of wrath but justice delivereth from death And If the just truely be hardly saved where shall the wicked and sinner appeare If thou scornest us and all these the darkesome flood of hell shall without all doubt eternally drowne thee in that deadly whirlepoole and those most terrible fiery streames that shall ever torment and never consume thee and then shall the palpable knowledge of these paines and sorrow for sinnes bee altogether to late and unprofitable unto him who as now in this acceptable time and day of Salvation deferreth his conversion unto the righteous way of of life And here truely if not before was this so dolefull and lamentable an history of the miseries of our time to have received a conclusion that our mouth might no further discourse of the workes of men But that we may not be esteemed fearefull or overwearied whereby we might the lesse carefully avoyde that saying of Esay which is Woe be unto them who call good evill and evill good placing darkenesse for light and light for darkenesse bitter for sweete and sweete for bitter who seeing see not and hearing heare not whose he●rts are overshadowed with a certaine thicke and blacke cloud of vices We will breefely set downe what and how great threatnings are denounced against these five aforesayd lascivious horses the franticke followers of Pharaoh through whom his army is wilfully urged forward to their utter destruction in the red sea and also against such others by the sacred Oracles with whose holy testimonies as with a faire roofe the frame of this our little worke may be most assuredly covered that it be not subject to the showres of the envious which otherwise would be mainely powred thereupon Let therefore the holy Prophets who have beene unto mortall men the mouth in a sort of God and the Organ of the holy Ghost forbidding evils and favouring goodnesse answere for us as well now as in that before against the stubborne and proud Princes of this our age that they may not say we menace them with such threates and so great terrors onely of our owne invention and over-busie talking rashnesse For to no wise man is it doubtfull how farre more grievous the sinnes of this our time are than those of the first age the Apostle saying Any one transgressing the law being convicted by two or three witnesses shall dye how much worser punishments thinke ye then that hee deserveth who shall trample under his foote the Sonne of God And he first of all appeareth before us Samuel by the Commandement of God the stablisher of a lawfull kingdome dedicated to God before his birth undoubtedly knowne by admirable signes to bee a true Prophet unto all the people from Dan even to Bersheba out of whose mouth the Holy Ghost thundreth to all the Potentates of the world by denouncing unto Saul the first king of the Hebrews onely because he did not accomplish some matters commanded him from our Lord in this sort Thou hast done foolishly neither yet hast thou kept the Commandements of our Lord thy God that he hath given thee in charge which if thou hadst not commited even now had our Lord prepared thy raigne over Israel for ever but thy kingdome shall no farther arise And what did hee commit adultery or any abhominable murder like to the offences of this time No truely but broake in part a Commandement because as well one of ours noteth The question is not of the quality of the sinne but of the violating of the precept Also when he endeavored to answere as hee thought the objections and after the fashion of men wisely to make defences for his offences on this wise Yea I have heard the voyce of our Lord and walked in the way through the which hee hath sent me with this reprehension was he corrected by him What will our Lord have burnt offerings or oblations and not rather that the voyce of our Lord should be obeyed Obedience is truely better than oblations and to hearken unto him better than to offer the fat of Rammes Because as the sinne of Southsaying so is it to resist and as the offence of Idolatry not to obey in regard therefore thou hast cast away the Word of our Lord hee hath also cast thee away that thou be not King And a little after Our Lord hath this day rent the Kingdome of Israel from thee and delivered it up to thy neighbour a man better than thy selfe The triumpher of Israel truely will not spare and will not be bowed with repentance neither yet is hee a man that he may doe pennance supposed ever upon the hard stony hearts of the wicked Wherein it is to bee noted how he saith that to be disobedient unto God is the sinne of Idolatry Let not therefore our wicked transgressors while they doe not openly sacrifice to the gods of the Gentiles flatter themselves that they are not Idolaters so long as they treade like swine the most precious pearles of Christ under their feete But although this one example as an invincible affirmation might abundantly suffice to correct the wicked Yet that in the mouthes of many witnesses all the offences of Britaine may bee approved let us passe to the rest What chanced to David for numbring his people the Prophet Gad speaking unto him in this sort Thus saith our Lord. The choise of three is offered thee Elect to thee one of these which thou wilt that I may execute it upon thee Either shall there befall thee a famine for seaven yeares or three monethes shalt thou flye thine enemies and they pursue thee or certainely there shall be three dayes Pestilence in thy land For being brought into great streights upon this condition and willing rather to fall into the hands of God who is mercifull than into those of men he was humbled with the slaughter of LXX thousand of his subjects and unlesse with the affection of an Apostolike charity he had desired to dye himselfe for his Country-men that the Plague might not further consume them by saying I am the same person that have offēd●d I the sheepheard have dealt unjustly these who are sheepe what have they sinned Let thy hand I beseech thee be turned against mee and against the house of my Father He should have purged the unadvised pride of his heart with his owne death For what doth the Scripture afterwards declare of his Sonne And Solomon wrought what was not pleasing before our Lord and he did not supply in his place that hee might as his Father follow our Lord. And our Lord said unto him Because thou hast thus behaved thy selfe and not observed my covenant and precepts which I have commanded thee breaking it asunder I will divide thy Kingdome and give the same unto thy Servant

Thy Princes are unfaithfull companions of theeves all love gifts hunt after rewards they doe no justice to the Orphan the widowes cause entreth not unto them For this saith our Lord God of hosts the strong one of Israel Alas I will take consolation upon my foes and be revenged upon mine enemies and the hainous sinners shall be broken to powder and offenders together with them and all who have left our Lord shall be consumed And afterwards The eyes of the lofty man shall bee brought low and the heighth of men hath bowed downe And againe Woe be to the wicked evill be fall him for he shall be rewarded according to his handy workes And a little after Woe be unto ye who arise earely to follow drunkennesse and to drinke even to the very evening that ye may vapouring fume with Wine The Harpe and the Lyra and the Taber and the Pipe and Wine are in your banquets and the worke of our Lord ye respect not neither yet consider ye the workes of his hands Therefore is my people led captive away because they have not had knowledge and their Nobles have perished with famine and their multitude hath withered away with thirst Therefore hath hell enlarged and dilated his spirit and without measure opened his mouth and his strong ones and his people and his lofty and glorious ones shal descend down unto him And afterwards Woe be unto ye who are mighty for the drinking of wine and strong men for the procuring of drunkennesse who justifie the wicked for rewards and deprive the just man of his justice For this cause even as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubbell and as the heate of the flame burneth up so shall their roote be as the ashes and their branch shall rise up us the dust For they have cast away the law of our Lord of hosts and despised the speech of the holy one of Israel In all these the fury of our Lord is not turned away but as yet his hand is stretched out And somewhat after debating of the day of judgement and the unspeakeable feare of offendors he saith Howle ye out because the day of our Lord is neere at hand if then neere what shall it now be thought to be in regard destruction shall proceed from God For this shall all hands be dissolved and every mans heart shall wither away and be bruised small tortures and dolours shall hold them as a woman in labour so shall they be grieved every man shall at his neighbour stand astonished burned faces shall be their countenances Behold the day of our Lord shal come cruell and full of indignation and of wrath and fury to turne the earth into a desert and breake her sinners in small peeces from off her because the starres of Heaven and the brightnesse of them shall not unfold their light the Sunne in his rising shall bee covered over with darknes and the Moone shall not shine in her season and I will visite upon the evils of the world and against the wicked their owne iniquity and I will make the pride of the unfaithfull to cease and the arrogancy of the strong I will bring full low And againe Behold our Lord will disperse the earth he will strip her naked and afflict her face and scatter her inhabitants and as the people so shall be the Priest and as the slave so shal be his Lord as the handmaid so shall be her Lady as the purchaser so shall be the seller as the usurer so shall be he that borroweth as he who demandeth so shall be he that oweth With dispersing shall the earth be scattered and with sacking shall she be spoyled For our Lord hath spoken this word The earth hath bewailed and hath fleeted away the world hath run to nothing she is weakned by her inhabitants because they have transgressed lawes changed right brought to ruine the eternall truce For this shall malediction devour the earth And afterwards They shall lament all of them who doe in heart rejoyce the delight of the timbrells hath ceased the sound of the glad●some shall be silent the sweetnesse of the Harpe shall be hushed they shall not with singing drinke their wine bitter shall the potion be to the drinkers thereof The Cittie of vanitie is wasted every house is shut up no man entring in an outcry shall be in the streetes upon wine all gladnesse is forsaken the joy of the land is transferred solitarinesse is left in the town and calamitie shall oppresse the gates because these things shall be in the middest of the land and in the middest of the people And somewhat afterwards Swarving from the truth have they wandred out of the right way with the stragling of transgressors have they gone astray Feare and intrapping falls and a snare upon thee who art the inhabitant of the earth And it shall come to passe Who so shall flye from the voyce of the feare shall tumble downe into the intrapping pit and who so shall deliver himselfe out of the downefall shall bee caught in the intangling snare because the flood-gates from aloft shall be opened and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken With bruising shall the earth be broken with commotion shall she be moved with tossing shall she be tottred like to a drunken man and she shall be taken away as if shee were a pavilion of one nights pitching and her iniquitie shall hang heavie upon her and she shall fall done and shall not attempt to rise againe And it shall be that our Lord in the same day shall visit on the warfare of heaven in the high place and on the Kings of the earth who are upon the earth and they shall be gathered together in the bundle of one burthen into the Lake and shall there be shut up in prison and after many dayes shall they be visited And the Moone shall blush and the Sunne be confounded when our Lord of hosts shall raigne in mount Sion and in Ierusalem and be glorified in the sight of his Seniors And after a while yeelding a reason why hee threatneth in that sort he saith thus Behold the hand of our Lord is not shortned that he cannot save neither yet is his eare made heavy that he may not heare But your iniquities have divided betweene ye and your God a●d your offences have hid his face from yee that he might not heare For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquitie Your lippes have spoken lying and your tongue uttereth iniquity There is not who calleth on justice neither is there he who judgeth truely but they trust in nothing and speake vanities and have conceived greefe and brought forth iniquity And a little after Their workes are unprofitable and the worke of iniquity in their hands their feete runne into evill and make haste that they may shed the innocent blood their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts spoyle and