The Newer Testament: TFC

Chapter II — Of Idols and Division
1. And it came to pass that the people raised up idols, not of stone alone, but of gold, of vanity, and of power.
2. They bent the knee to rulers and to coins, to voices that promised ease, and forgot Him who breathed life into dust.
3. The fear of God departed, and they arrayed themselves in garments of pride as though clothed for a feast.
4. Nations rose and nations fell, yet the sins of old became the sins of now, for man remembereth not, though the scars remain.
5. Kings sold truth for silver, prophets were silenced with profit, and the children hungered for a word that would not come.
6. The land groaned beneath deceit, and division spread like a shadow where once unity was planted.
7. Then rose the cry of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, saying, “Where is justice? Who shall stand for us?”
8. But the rulers hid their faces, fearing men more than they feared the Almighty, and their hands clutched at treasure.
9. And the people wandered as sheep without a shepherd, each seeking his own path, yet finding no peace.
10. Thus saith the Spirit: Heaven is not veiled in the clouds, nor locked beyond the grave, but waiteth among you unseen.
11. Yet envy hath blinded their eyes, and wrath stoppeth their ears, so that they pass by Heaven though it is near.
12. But to them that cast down idols, that fear God and love one another, the veil shall be lifted, and Heaven shall be revealed upon the earth.

The VV