“And we would feed them all with our beak, both the sluggish and the swift.”
And another publican said: “Have I not been told that you would protect the harlots of Jerusalem?”
Then in the face of Jesus I saw, as it were, the rocky heights of Lebanon, and He said: “It is true.
“On the day of reckoning these women shall rise before the throne of my Father, and they shall be made pure by their own tears. But you shall be held down by the chains of your own judgment.
“Babylon was not put to waste by her prostitutes; Babylon fell to ashes that the eyes of her hypocrites might no longer see the light of day.”
And other publicans would have questioned Him, but I made a sign and bade them be silent, for I knew He would confound them; and they too were my guests, and I would not have them put to shame.
When it was midnight the publicans left my house, and their souls were limping.
Then I closed my eyes and I saw, as if in a vision, seven women in white raiment standing about Jesus. Their arms were crossed upon their bosoms, and their heads were bent down, and I looked deep into the mist of my dream and beheld the face of one of the seven women, and it shone in my darkness.
It was the face of a harlot who lived in Jerusalem.
Then I opened my eyes and looked at Him, and He was smiling at me and at the others who had not left the board.
And I closed my eyes again, and I saw in a light seven men in white garments standing around Him. And I beheld the face of one of them.