Chap. x.—Continuation: audacity of Satan

Chap. x.—Continuation: audacity of Satan.

Darest thou, then, who didst fall “as lightning”[1974] from the very highest glory, to say to the Lord, “Cast thyself down from hence,”[1975] [to Him] to whom the things that are not are reckoned as if they were,[1976] and to provoke to a display of vainglory Him that was free from all ostentation? And didst thou pretend to read in Scripture concerning Him: “For He hath given His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou shouldest dash thy foot against a stone?”[1977] At the same time thou didst pretend to be ignorant of the rest, furtively concealing what [the Scripture] predicted concerning thee and thy servants: “Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the basilisk; the lion and the dragon shalt Thou trample under foot.”[1978]