and shun those hags, and such heathendom,
and the devil's delusions, and worship their Lord.
Then will the devil see that ye despise him,
and it will be grievous to him, in his accursed mind,
that ye are so stedfast, and he will take indignation against you,
and will vex you with some sickness,
or suddenly kill some of your cattle,
because he must try every man,
in many ways, whether his mind will
swerve through persecution from the Almighty God.
But know ye for certain, that the cruel devil
cannot hurt men by any sickness,
neither destroy their cattle, without the Lord's permission.
God is all goodness, and He ever willeth well,
but the minds of men may be excited to evil;
then God permitteth the devil very often
to afflect men for their misdeeds.
We ought to seek, if we be afflicted,
restoration from God, not from the cruel witches,
and with all our hearts please our Saviour,
because nothing can withstand His might.
He saith in His gospel that, without God's command,
not even a bird falleth in death.
It is to be expected that He will ever watch over His servants
both in life and in death, since the little bird
falleth not into a snare without God's will.
Our Saviour drave devils by His best out of a possessed man.
There was then nigh at hand an herd of swine,
and they straightway prayed that they might go into the swine,
