16. a fierce warrior bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree,And alighted, and filled every place with death,and touched heaven, while standing upon the earth.
17. Then, at once, visions in horrible dreams perturbed themand unexpected fears assailed them;
18. And cast half-dead, one here, another there,they revealed why they were dying.
19. For the dreams that disturbed them had proclaimed this beforehand,lest they perish unaware of why they endured such evil.
20. The trial of death touched even the righteous,and in the desert a plague struck the multitude;Yet not for long did the anger last.
21. For the blameless man hastened to be their champion,bearing the weapon of his special office,prayer and the propitiation of incense;He withstood the wrath and put a stop to the calamity,showing that he was your servant.
22. He overcame the bitternessnot by bodily strength, not by force of arms;But by word he overcame the smiter,recalling the sworn covenants with their ancestors.