commanded me Make straight m the desert a highway lor our Lord, for 1 am the voice that cometh to thee from the wilderness [Prophets XXX 3 this text by collation with one in Gospel III 3, identifies The Preacher as adopting a John-the-Baptist mission] ' Recalling Prophets V 20 and similar passages The Preacher pointed to the steps beneath his feet saying "This is no lost djedida which is no more inhabited forever1 Here have we eaten the bread of heaven [Psalm CV 40] And here the noise of strangers drives us from our homes' [cf Prophets XV 5 'Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers'] They breed for us a desolation a land wherein no man dwelleth nor any man passeth thereby [Prophets XV 2] Bv ORANGE CATHOLIC BIBLE 415 ORINTHOPTER now Alia's priests were working their way through the crowd to arrest The Preacher, but he had still time to allude to Prophets XXV 1, saying "Behold our desert which could rejoice and blossom", to Job XIV 5, saying 'Behold them as they go forth to their evil work/ and finally to Revelation XIII 1, carefully misquoting "It is written 'And I stood upon the sand, and I saw a beast rise up out of that sand, and upon the head of that beast was the name of Cod1' ' Actually, the text states that what was written was 'the name of blasphemy' The Preacher held this idea deliberately and dra mancally in suspension while angry muttermgs rose from the crowd and fists were raised and shaken Then he completed his thought by turni