e, they despise God and men, and by
their arrogance they lead the land and the people to destruction.
These have already the judgment upon themselves that they, as God's
enemies, must be hurled down. For they have cut themselves loose from
God's kingdom and grace; and the blessings of baptism and of Christ,
with his suffering and blood, are lost upon them.

11. We have now shown how pride conflicts with the demands of the
first table of the law. Men do not employ the spiritual treasures and
gifts to God's honor nor to the good of their neighbors. Thus they
mar these gifts and, in their wicked course, go to the devil, into
whose likeness they have grown.

PRIDE OPPOSED TO THE SECOND TABLE.

12. Further, this vice is just as general in the sphere of the second
table of the law--among the common people and in the temporal life of
the world, each one boasting of himself and despising others. Prince
and nobleman think that all the world is nothing in comparison with
themselves. Commoner and peasant, puffed up because they have much
wealth, imagine they must defy everybody, and do good to nobody.
These deserve to be spit upon by all men. Such pride does not become
them better than ornaments of gold or silver would become an image of
stone or a wooden block. Finally, the women, with their foolish pride
of dress, must not be forgotten. One prides herself on being better
or more beautifully adorned than her neighbor. She is, in truth, a
finely decorated goose. She imagines that no other woman equals her.
Yea, there is scarcely a house-servant or maid but brags over others.

13. In short, we have come to the point where all men, with their
insolence and boastfulness, seek to lord it over others. None will
humble himself to another. Each thinks he has full right to act as he
does, and is under no obligation to yield to others. And the civil
government has grown so weak that there is no hope of restraining the
haughtiness of all classes, from the highest to the lowest. At last,
God must strike with thunder and lightning to prove to us that he
resists such people and will not tolerate pride. Therefore the young,
who can still be led, should be exhorted and trained, as far as
possible, to guard themselves against this vice.

14. Peter uses for his purpose a peculiar term when he says, "Gird
yourselves with humility." "Gird" has the meaning of being bound or
joined together most firmly; or, as a garment, most carefully woven
t