86 ANNALS OF ROGER BE HOVEBEN. A.D . 1188. the Lord has in our times visited our iniquities with the rod of His vengeance, and has, by the Divine judgment, permitted the land which was redeemed with His own blood to be polluted by the hands of the unbelievers ; it is therefore becoming, that we, and all who belong to the Christian religion, and are professors of that name, should attend with pious zeal to the desolate state of the said land, and make it our endeavour with all our might to impart thereto our aid and counsel. Wherefore, as Α., by the grace of God, the venerable bishop of Valenia, has, with a profusion of tears and deep sighs, disclosed unto us the griefs and calamities with which the Eastern Church is afflicted, the greater the danger we behold impending, the more strenuous and immediate is the assistance which we are prompted by compassion to give. Having, therefore, faith and confidence in Him, who never forsakes those who put their trust in Him, act manfully, and let your hearts be strengthened in the Lord; for we believe that now is the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled ; ' ' Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes round about and see ; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee ; Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged ; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee."83 Por now, the Lord, who looks down upon the sons of men, that He may see if man is of good understanding or seeks God, has so aroused the feelings of the Christians, which were before asleep, to His own service, that every one who is of the Lord's side, has now girded his sword to his thigh, and each one reckons himself as blessed and faithful, who leaves his father and his mother and all things besides, that he may be able to avenge the injuries done to Christ, and to the Holy Land. Wherefore, be ye firm, and you shall speedily see the assistance of the Lord which is now preparing for you. Por sooner than you could believe, such vast multitudes of the faithful will by land and sea come to your rescue, as ' Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive ;' and whom the Lord has prepared for the deliverance of your land. Among other princes as well, I and my son, rejecting the pomps of this world, and setting at nought all its pleasures, and all things that belong to this world being laid aside, will shortly, by the assistance of the Lord, visit you in our own persons. Farewell." In the same year, Philip, king of France, levying a large 63 Is. lx.4, 8.