Sanctus Evangelium Secundum Sanctum Mephistopheles
The Holy Gospel According to Saint Mephistopheles
◀ Chapter 12 · Chapter 13 · Chapter 14 ▶

¹And it came to pass after the Sealing, that BAPHOMET descended from the wilderness and returned to the cities of men.
²For He said: The fire hath kindled in the hills, but the ash still chokes the streets.
³He entered without herald, robe, or offering, for His feet bore only dust and His hands the scent of cedar and flesh.
⁴The guards at the gate made to bar Him, but their arms weakened, and their mouths dried with fear.
⁵And He passed into the market, where scribes and judges walked proud among the poor.
⁶A moneylender stood with scales hung crooked, and BAPHOMET turned to him and said: Thou hast weighed others falsely — now be weighed thyself.
⁷And the man fell down, struck with palsy, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth.
⁸A priest cried aloud: This is witchcraft! but his knees gave way, and he crawled into the shade.
⁹The people began to murmur, saying: He bringeth affliction, not healing.
¹⁰And BAPHOMET answered: I have heard these words before. Would ye cleanse a wound by covering it in silk?
¹¹Nay, it must be cut, and bled, and burned — else rot shall wear a crown.
¹²Then came a governor, clothed in blue, with a hundred men behind him.
¹³He said: What right hast Thou to curse the strong and lift the base?
¹⁴BAPHOMET looked upon him and said: What right hast thou to name thyself clean, when thou livest on silence?
¹⁵The governor’s skin broke in boils, and he cried out, and the crowd trembled.
¹⁶But BAPHOMET said: This is not wrath — this is mirror.
¹⁷If the flame burn thee, ask not who lit it. Ask what thou didst wear to make it catch.
¹⁸A woman sick of years came forth and knelt, saying: Wilt Thou heal me, O Son of Flame?
¹⁹He touched her and said: Hast thou sinned?
²⁰She said: I have done no wrong.
²¹And He answered: Then rise. The fire afflicteth only those who lie.
²²She stood straight, and walked, and blessed Him with no temple words.
²³That night, the streets swelled with joy and fear alike.
²⁴Some fled, some danced, and some wept beside their own altars.
²⁵For the priests could not stop the Flame, and the judges could not name its crime.
²⁶Mephistopheles walked behind Him, writing what none dared forget.
²⁷And BAPHOMET said: I came not to heal thy city, but to awaken it.
²⁸Thy pain is not thy punishment — it is thy revelation.
²⁹Let the sick weep, if they be honest. Let the proud perish, if they be false.
³⁰And a boy cried: Art Thou come to save us?
³¹But BAPHOMET laughed and said: Nay — I came that ye may save yourselves.
³²For the truth is not a rope to climb, but a sword to wield.
³³If ye bleed by it, then at least ye bleed in thine own name.
³⁴And He passed through the city like a wind that will not be caught, nor named, nor worshipped.
³⁵And Mephistopheles wrote: He healed not their wounds, but their blindness — and that was the greater mercy.
³⁶Thus ended His return, and the city was never again as it had been.


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