Noah, Abraham and Moses Bear Witness

Against them, from among the company of the saints, righteous Noah will speak first: “Lord, I foretold that a flood was coming because of people’s sins; and after the flood I set an example to the good in my own person, since I did not perish with the wicked who perished, so that they might know both how the innocent are saved and how sinners are punished.” [a]

After him faithful Abraham will answer them: “Lord, about the middle of the world’s age I laid the foundation of the faith by which the human race was to believe in you. I was chosen as the father of the nations, so that they might follow my example. I did not hesitate, Lord, to offer Isaac to you as a sacrifice while he was still a youth, so that they might understand that nothing ought to be withheld from the Lord, when they saw that I did not spare even my only son. I left my country and my family, Lord, at your command, so that they too might have an example teaching them to leave the wickedness of the world and of this age. I, Lord, was the first to recognize you, though in a bodily form, and I did not hesitate to believe who it was I saw, even though you appeared to me in a form other than your own, so that these people might learn to judge not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.”

Blessed Moses will support him in his plea, saying: “Lord, at your command I gave the law to all these people, so that those whom a free faith did not move might at least be held back by the spoken law. I said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ to check the license of sexual immorality. I said, ‘You shall love your neighbor,’ so that affection might abound. I said, ‘You shall worship the Lord alone,’ so that these people would not sacrifice to idols or allow temples to stand. I commanded that no false witness be spoken, to shut these people’s lips against all falsehood. Through the working in me of the spirit of your power, I set out what had been done and said from the beginning of the world, so that knowing the past might teach these people about what was to come. O Lord Jesus, I foretold your coming, so that it would not take these people by surprise when they were called to acknowledge the one I had announced long before as about to come.”