Verse 1
Alas, for us, who need beware
Of men that sit in Moses’ chair,
And should to heaven the people guide!
Men with the pomp of office clad,
In robes pontifical array’d,
But stain’d with avarice and pride:
They love to be prefer’d, ador’d,
Affect the state and stile of lord,
And shine magnificently great:
They for precedency contend,
And on ambition’s scale ascend
Hard-labouring for the highest seat.

Verse 2
The church they call their proper care,
The temple of the Lord they are,
Abusers of their legal power:
Greedy the church’s goods to seize,
Their wealth they without end increase,
And the poor Widow’s house devour.
O what a change they soon shall know,
When torn away by death, they go
Reluctant from their splendid feasts,
Condemn’d in hottest flames to dwell,
And find the spacious courts of hell
Pav’d with the skulls of Christian Priests![1]

[1] Wesley added the footnote: “A saying of Chrysostom.”