The Pilgrim's Progress - Part One
The Author's Apology for His Book | Introduction
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
| 11 | 12 | 13
| 14 | 15 | 16
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
| 21 | 22 | 23
| 24 | 25 | 26
| 27 | 28 | 29
| 30 | 31 | 32
| 33 | 34 | 35
| Conclusion
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The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death;
and CHRISTIAN must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay
through the midst of it. Now this valley is a very solitary place; the prophet Jeremiah
thus describes it: "A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought,
and of the shadow of death; a land that no man (but a Christian) passeth through,
and where no man dwelt".
"Neither said they, Where is the
LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow
of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?"
~ Jeremiah 2:6 ~
Now here CHRISTIAN was worse put to it than in his fight with APOLLYON, as by the
sequel you shall see.
I saw then in my dream, that when CHRISTIAN was got to the borders of the shadow
of death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report
of the good land, making haste to go back,
"And they brought up an evil report of the
land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through
which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants
thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature."
~ Numbers 13:32 ~
to whom CHRISTIAN spake as follows:
Chr. Whither are you going?
The Two Men. They said, "Back, back; and we would have you do so too,
if either life or peace is prized by you."
Chr. "Why, what is the matter?" said CHRISTIAN.
Men. "Matter!" said they; "we were going that way as you are
going, and went as far as we durst; and indeed we were almost past coming back, for
had we gone a little farther, we had not been here to bring the news to thee."
Chr. "But what have you met with?" said CHRISTIAN.
Men. Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death;
"Though thou hast sore broken us in the
place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death."
~ Psalm 44:19 ~
"Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction
and iron;"
~ Psalm 107:10 ~
but that by good hap we looked before us, and saw the danger before we came to it.
Chr. "But what have you seen?" said CHRISTIAN.
Men. Seen! why the valley itself, which is as dark as pitch. We also saw there
the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit; we heard also in that valley a continual
howling and yelling, as of a people in unutterable misery, who there sat bound in
affliction and irons; and over that valley hangs the discouraging clouds of confusion;
death also doth always spread his wings over it; in a word, it is every whit dreadful,
being utterly without order.
"Let darkness and the shadow of death stain
it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it."
~ Job 3:5 ~
"A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death,
without any order, and where the light is as darkness."
~ Job 10:22 ~
Chr. Then said CHRISTIAN, "I perceive not yet, by what you have said,
but that this is my way to the desired haven."
Men. "Be it thy way, we will not choose it for ours." So they parted,
and CHRISTIAN went on his way; but still with his sword drawn in his hand, for fear
lest he should be assaulted.
I saw then in my dream, so far as this valley reached, there was on the right hand
a very deep ditch; that ditch is it into which the blind have led the blind in all
ages, and have both there miserably perished. Again; behold, on the left hand there
was very dangerous quagmire, into which, if even a good man falls, he can find no
bottom of his foot to stand on. Into that quag King David once did fall; and had
no doubt therein been smothered, had not he that is able plucked him out.
"Deliver me out of the mire, and let me
not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters."
~ Psalm 69:14 ~
The pathway was here also exceeding narrow, and therefore good CHRISTIAN was the
more put to it; for when he sought in the dark to shun the ditch on the one hand,
he was ready to tip over into the mire on the other; also when he sought to escape
the mire, without great carefulness, he would be ready to fall into the ditch. Thus
he went on, and I heard him here sigh bitterly; for besides the dangers mentioned
above, the pathway was here so dark, that oft times when he lift up his foot to set
forward, he knew not where, or upon what, he should set it next.
About the midst of this valley I perceived the mouth of hell to be; and it stood
also hard by the wayside. Now, thought CHRISTIAN, what shall I do? And ever and anon
the flame and smoke would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises
(things that cared not for CHRISTIAN's sword, as did APOLLYON before), that he was
forced to put up his sword, and betake himself to another weapon, called "All
Prayer".
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints;"
~ Ephesians 6:18 ~
So he cried in my hearing, "O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul!"
"Then called I upon the name of the LORD;
O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul."
~ Psalm 116:4 ~
Thus he went on a great while; yet still the flames would be reaching toward him.
Also he heard doleful voices and rushings to and fro; so that sometimes he thought
he should be torn in pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. This frightful
sight was seen, and these dreadful noises were heard, by him for several miles together;
and coming to a place where he thought he heard a company of fiends coming forward
to meet him, he stopped, and began to muse what he had best to do. Sometimes he had
half a thought to go back; then again he thought he might be halfway through the
valley. He remembered also how he had already vanquished many a danger, and that
the danger of going back might be much more than for to go forward: so he resolved
to go on. Yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer; but when they were come
even almost at him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, "I will walk in
the strength of the Lord God"; so they gave back, and came no farther.
One thing I would not let slip; I took notice that now poor CHRISTIAN was so confounded,
that he did not know his own voice. And thus I perceived it: just when he was come
over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him,
and stept up softly to him; and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies
to him--which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind. This put CHRISTIAN
more to it than anything that he met with before, even to think that he should now
blaspheme him that he loved so much before! Yet could he have helped it, he would
not have done it; but he had not the discretion neither to stop his ears, nor to
know from whence those blasphemies came.
When CHRISTIAN had travelled in this disconsolate condition some considerable time,
he thought he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, "Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art
with me".
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me."
~ Psalm 23:4 ~
Then was he glad; and that for these reasons:
First, because he gathered from thence that some who feared God were in this valley
as well as himself.
Secondly, for that he perceived God was with them, though in that dark and dismal
state; and why not with me, thought he, though, by reason of the impediment that
attends this place, I cannot perceive it?
"Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him
not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not."
~ Job 9:11 ~
Thirdly, for that he hoped (could he overtake them) to have company by and by. So
he went on, and called to him that was before; but he knew not what to answer, for
that he also thought himself to be alone. And by and by the day broke; then said
CHRISTIAN, "He hath turned the shadow of death into the morning".
"Seek him that maketh the
seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh
the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them
out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:"
~ Amos 5:8 ~
Now, morning being come, he looked back; not out of desire to return, but to see
by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So he saw
more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand, and the quag that was on the other;
also how narrow the way was which lay betwixt them both. Also now he saw the hobgoblins,
and satyrs, and dragons of the pit; but all afar off, for after break of day they
came not nigh. Yet they were discovered to him according to that which is written,
"He discovers deep things out of darkness and brings out to light the shadow
of death".
"He discovereth deep things out of darkness,
and bringeth out to light the shadow of death."
~ Job 12:22 ~
Now was CHRISTIAN much affected with his deliverance from all the dangers of his
solitary way; which dangers, though he feared them more before, yet he saw them more
clearly now, because the light of the day made them conspicuous to him. About this
time the sun was rising--and this was another mercy to CHRISTIAN; for you must note
that, though the first part of the valley of the shadow of death was dangerous, yet
this second part, through which he was yet to go, was, if possible, far more dangerous:
for from the place where he now stood, even to the end of the valley, the way was
all along set so full of snares, traps, gins, and nets here, and so full of pits,
pitfalls, deep holes, and ledges down there, that had it now been dark, as it was
when he came the first part of the way, had he had a thousand souls, they had in
reason been cast away. But, as I said just now, the sun was rising. Then said he,
"His candle shines on my head; and by his light I go through darkness".
"When his candle shined upon my head, and
when by his light I walked through darkness;"
~ Job 29:3 ~
In this light therefore; he came to the end of the valley. Now I saw in my dream,
that at the end of this valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men,
even of pilgrims that had gone this way formerly: and while I was musing what should
be the reason, I espied a little before me a cave, where two giants, POPE and PAGAN,
dwelt in old time, by whose power and tyranny, the men whose bones, blood, ashes,
etc., lay there, were cruelly put to death. But by this place CHRISTIAN went without
much danger; whereat I somewhat wondered. But I have learnt since, that PAGAN had
been dead many a day; and as for the other, though he be yet alive, he is, by reason
of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his younger days,
grown so crazy and stiff in his joints, that he can now do little more than sit in
his cave's mouth grinning at pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails, because
he cannot come at them.
The Pilgrim's Progress - Part One
The Author's Apology for His Book | Introduction
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
| 11 | 12 | 13
| 14 | 15 | 16
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
| 21 | 22 | 23
| 24 | 25 | 26
| 27 | 28 | 29
| 30 | 31 | 32
| 33 | 34 | 35
| Conclusion
Back to Pilgrim's Homepage