III

Wherefore also justly did the divine Elder and herald of the truth exclaim against thee in verse, thus saying:

Thou idol-framer, Mark, and portent-gazer,

Skill’d in the astrologer’s and wizard’s art,

Strengthening thereby the words of thy false lore,

Dazzling with signs whome’er thou lead’st astray,

Strange handywork of God-defying power

Such to perform thy father Satan still

Affords thee might, by an angelic Power

Azazel:-thee, by the destroyer mark’d

Chosen forerunner of the impious craft.

Thus far that Elder, beloved of God.

IRENÆUS i. 15. 6.