| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Open Letter on Translating by Dr. Martin Luther: more clear in German to say "Him has God the Father signified
(gezeiehent)" or even "God the Father means him." But rather than
doing violence to the original, I have done violence to the German
tongue. Ah, translating is not every one's skill as some mad
saints think. A right, devout, honest, sincere, God-fearing
Christian, trained, educated, and experienced heart is required.
So I hold that no false Christian or divisive spirit can be a good
translator. That is obvious given the translation of the Prophets
at Worms which although carefully done and approximating my own
German quite closely, does not show much reverence for Christ due
to the Jews who shared in the translation. Aside from that it
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Tanach: Ezekiel 26: 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee; at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, thy walls shall shake, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
Ezekiel 26: 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people with the sword, and the pillars of thy strength shall go down to the ground.
Ezekiel 26: 12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy the houses of thy delight; and thy stones and thy timber and thy dust shall they lay in the midst of the waters.
Ezekiel 26: 13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
Ezekiel 26: 14 And I will make thee a bare rock; thou shalt be a place for the spreading of nets, thou shalt be built no more; for I the LORD have spoken, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 26: 15 Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyre: Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
Ezekiel 26: 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and strip off their richly woven garments; they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be appalled at thee.
Ezekiel 26: 17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee: how art thou destroyed, that wast peopled from the seas, the renowned city, that wast strong in the sea, thou and thy i  The Tanach |