Buy for yourselves for money of the fruit of life.

52. Then all the peoples ran to him and bought and ate, until they languished; all kings from the South, West, and towards the North original: "Mittage, Abend und gegen Mitternacht" — in this period, the times of day were commonly used to denote the cardinal directions (Noon/South, Evening/West, Midnight/North). ate of the merchant's fruit, and lived in great powerlessness, for the wild tree from the North grew the more over them the longer it was, and exterminated them for a long time. And it was a miserable time on earth, such as had not been since the world began; but men thought it was a good time, so severely had the merchant under the good tree blinded them.

53. But in the evening, the mercy of God pitied the misery and blindness of humanity, and once again moved the good tree, the glorious, divine tree that bore the fruit of life; then a branch grew out of the precious tree near the root and turned green, and to it was given the tree's sap and spirit. It spoke with human tongues and showed everyone the precious tree, and its voice resounded far into many lands.

54. Then the people ran to see and hear what was there, and they were shown the precious and virtue-richThe word "tugendreich" (virtuous) here implies not just moral goodness, but "power" or "potency," much like the "virtue" of a healing herb. tree of life, of which humanity had eaten in the beginning, and they were delivered from their wild birth"Wilde Geburt" refers to the corrupted, fallen nature of humanity that is ruled by selfish desires and "grimness" rather than divine light..

55. And they were greatly rejoiced, and ate from the tree of life with great joy and refreshment, and gained new strength from the tree of life, and sang a new song of the true tree of life; they were delivered from the wild birth and hated the merchant with his peddlers and false wares.

56. But all those who hungered and thirsted for the tree of life came, and those who sat in the dust, and they ate of the holy tree; they were healed of their unclean birth and of the grimness of natureoriginal: "Natur Grimmigkeit." In Böhme's thought, "Grimmigkeit" is the harsh, wrathful, or mechanical side of nature that exists without the softening light of God's love. in which they lived, and were grafted into the tree of life.

57. Only the peddlers of the merchant and their hypocrites—those who had practiced usury with the false wares and gathered their treasures—did not come; for they were drowned in the usury of the merchant's whoredom and in