righteous is Thy will, O Lord of
heaven! O God of spirits, grant us help and favour! Save us, O
Holy Lord! Wrapped in flame, we pray Thee for Thy mercy on our
woe, our thraldom and humiliation.

(ll. 295-308) "As we have wrought, so hath it come to pass. Our
fathers also, city-dwellers, in pride have sinned, and broken Thy
commandments, and scorned a holy life. We are scattered over all
the spacious earth and driven asunder, cast out from grace. In
many lands and under many peoples our life is infamous and vile,
and we are subject to the worst of earthly kings, and captive to
grim-hearted men; in heathen lands we suffer thraldom.

(ll. 309-332) "Thanks be to Thee, O Lord of hosts! that Thou
hast laid this punishment upon us. Forsake us not, O Lord
Eternal, for Thy mercy's sake which men attribute unto Thee, and
for the covenant, O Lord of glory, Shaper of spirits, Saviour of
men! which Thou didst give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Thou didst promise them in days of old that Thou wouldest bless
their seed, and that a mighty nation should be born of them, a
race to be exalted as the stars of heaven that trace their
wandering courses even to the strand of ocean, and the sands of
the sea-shore that form the foundations of the deep throughout
the salt sea; even so should they be numberless for untold years.
Fulfil Thine ancient promise now, though few are living! Show
forth Thy glory and Thy word upon us! Make known Thy strength
and power, that the Chaldean race and many nations living heathen
lives may learn Thy glory under heaven, and know Thou only art
Eternal God, Wielder of victory, Lord of hosts and all creation,
the Righteous God."

(ll. 333-344) So the holy men praised the loving-kindness of the
Lord, rehearsing the strength of His might. Then was a gleaming
angel sent from heaven above, with shining face and clothed in
glory, who came to comfort and deliver them with loving favour.
Holy and heavenly bright, he cast aside the blaze of the hot
flame; with mighty strength he swept away and quenched the flame
of fire so that their bodies were not harmed a whir. But in his
wrath he hurled the fire upon their foes, because of their deeds
of evil.

(ll. 345-361) Then in the furnace, when the angel came, the air
was cool and pleasant, most like the weather in the summer
season, when rain falleth during the day and warm showers from
the clouds. As is the best of weather, so was it in the furnace
f