John 16:2: They shall put you out of the synagogues, &c

Saviour the time is come,
And lo, as Thou hast said,
The spirit of persecuting Rome
Throughout the earth is spread.
With blind religious zeal
The formalists agree
Out of their churches to expel
The men that cleave to Thee.

Yet while Thou dost restrain
Their anger's last excess,
They dare not light their fires again,
Our numbers to increase:
Aware, that by our death
Thy church would growth receive,
They gnaw their tongues, and gnash their teeth.
And suffer us to live.