ved hand; he blesses trial, fire, death, shame, the enemy. The
people cry aloud: "Stone him! Crucify him!"--Jeremiah stretches out his
arms as on the cross. Hungry for martyrdom, he prophesies the Crucified.
He wishes to be crucified. And crucified he would be, did not fugitives
rush into the square, shouting: "The walls have fallen, the enemy is in
the town!"--The mob flees into the temple.

SCENE EIGHT

THE CONVERSION.

In the gloom of a huge crypt we see a prostrate crowd. Here and there
groups are formed round an elder reading the Scriptures. Jeremiah stands
apart, motionless and as if petrified.--It is on the night following the
fall of Jerusalem. Death and destruction are everywhere. The tombs have
been violated; the temple has been profaned; all the nobles have been
killed, save the king, who has been blinded. Jeremiah groans with horror
when he learns that his prophecies have been fulfilled. People draw away
from him, as from one accursed. In vain does he, with anguish, defend
himself from the charge of having wrought all the evil.

JEREMIAH. I did not will it! You have no right to accuse me. The word
came from my mouth as fire from flint. My word is not my will. Force is
greater than I. Above me stands He, He, the Terrible One, the Merciless!
I am no more than His instrument, His breath, the servant of His
malice.... Woe upon the hands of God! Whom He, the Terrible One seizes,
He will never loose.... Let Him set me free! No longer will I speak His
words, I will not, I will not....

Trumpets sound without, and the will of Nebuchadnezzar is declared. The
city is to disappear from the earth. The survivors may have one night to
bury the dead; then they will be carried into captivity. The people
lament, refusing to go. But a wounded man, who is in pain, wishes to
live, to live! A young woman echoes his words. She does not want to go
into the cold, to go to death. Bear anything, suffer anything; but
live!--Disputes occur among the crowd. Some say that it is impossible to
leave the land where God is. Others maintain that God will be with them
wherever they may go. Jeremiah cries despairingly.

JEREMIAH. He is nowhere! Neither in heaven nor in earth, nor in the
souls of men!

These sacrilegious words arouse horror. But Jeremiah continues.

JEREMIAH. Who has sinned against Him, if not Himself? He has broken His
covenant.... He denies Himself.

Jeremiah recalls all the sacrifices he has made for God. House, m