LXXXXI. Poena obduratorum.

LXXXXI. Poena obduratorum.

And behold, I saw a dry well, deep and wide, which had a bottom of burning pitch; and there appeared a large opening through which fiery smoke and fiery worms ascended into the well. But many sharp and fiery nails were being thrown into the same well as if by a wind from this side and that. But the souls that had hardened themselves in this world, without mercy, sat above the same foundation, and they feared to fall through its opening into the aforementioned lower fire, enduring many afflictions from the smoke and from the aforementioned worms and nails. For the wicked had been against humanity, and they sat upon the same fiery and burning foundation; for this impiety, they feared the lower fire; and because they had fled from God in their wickedness, this fiery smoke tormented them; and since they had inflicted inhuman pains on others, the aforementioned worms afflicted them, and because of their hardened minds, in which there was no mercy. They had not suffered injuries and wounds from the flames, but they endured them. And I saw, and I understood these things.