Lo, now the time appointed from of old,
The end and term of all the world of men
Draws nearer, yea, is close at hand, behold,
Signs terrible and mighty and most plain,
Great warnings to all men that see and hear,
For now the End, yea, now the End is near.
Wherefore the sun is darkened e'en at noon,
And terrors of great darkness brood and blacken,
And red like blood, and awful, glows the moon,
And Fear and Death make Life's hot pulse-beat slacken,
By night, by day, at sea and on dry land;
For lo, the End, the End is close at hand.
Wherefore the solid framework of the world,
The proud, rich cities, builded high and deep,
Are suddenly shaken and together hurled,
And broken utterly and made an heap,
That men may know the might of God, and bow,
And know the End is near, yea, even now.
Wherefore the midnight skies shed stars like rain,
Affrighting all the nations with strange terror;
Wherefore from earth are cries of wrath and pain,
Sad voices lost amid a maze of error;
Wherefore men say, "Lo, there is peace, yea peace!"—
And yet make ready war on land and seas.
Wherefore the powers of evil rage abroad,
Because their time is short, and the proud nations
Have utterly cast off the yoke of God.
Wherefore great plagues and mighty tribulations,
And famines, wars and earthquakes, slay and rend,—
For yet a little while, and lo, the End.
Wherefore beware: consider well these things,
Great signs and wonders prophesied of old,
Distress of nations and the strife of kings,
All even as God's prophets have foretold.
Happy he who is wise to understand,
For lo, the End is near, yea, near at hand.
J. R. J.