Prophecy."

Theos heard, and a dull apathy stole over him,--his recent
excitement died out under a chilling weight of vague yet bitter
disappointment.

"And this Prophecy?" he asked listlessly.. "What is its nature and
whom doth it concern?"

"Nay, in very truth it is a strange and marvellous thing!" replied
Zuriel, his calm voice thrilling with a mellow touch of fervor..
"Khosrul, 'tis said, has heard the angels whispering in Heaven,
and his attentive ears have caught the echo of their distant
speech.

"Thus spiritually instructed, he doth powerfully predict Salvation
for the human race,--and doth announce, that in five thousand
years or more, a God shall be moved by wondrous mercy to descend
from Heaven, and take the form of Man, wherein, unknown, despised,
rejected, he will live our life from commencement to finish,
teaching, praying, and sanctifying by His Divine Presence the
whole sin-burdened Earth. This done, He will consent to suffer a
most cruel death, . . and the manner of His death will be that He
shall hang, nailed hands and feet to a Cross, as though He were a
common criminal, . . His holy brows shall be bound about with
thorns,--and after hours of agony He, innocent of every sin, shall
perish miserably--friendless, unpitied, and alone. But afterward,
... and mark you! this is the chiefest glory of all! ... He will
rise again triumphant from the grave to prove his God-head, and to
convince Mankind beyond all doubt an question, that there is