Judgment (A Poem)

Judgment

When the Son of Man shall come in glory, and all his angels with him,

Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations:

And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand,

But the goats on the left, because of the smell.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,

‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you

From the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye spake to me of fasting:

I was thirsty, and ye gave me ascetical lectures:

I was a stranger, and ye told me how to get home:

Naked, and ye reminded me of the sanctity of property:

I was sick, and ye forbad me to be a tedium to my neighbor:

I was in prison, and ye were just judges and noble juries.’

Then the righteous shall answer him, saying,

‘Yea, Lord, all this and more we know,

For verily, inasmuch as we have done unto the least of these thy brethren,

We have stored up our love only for thee.’

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,

‘Depart from me, into the Consuming Fire prepared for you:

For I was an hungred, and ye spoiled me:

I was thirsty, and ye plied me with wine:

I was a stranger, and ye took no heed to your state in life:

Naked, and ye coddled me:

Sick, and in prison, and ye rewarded my errors.’

Then shall they also answer him, saying,

‘I knew thee, that thou art a hard man.’

And these shall go away into the Consuming Fire:

But the righteous into all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.