Salome Page #7

Listen to them. And you speak of...

I speak of your future.

My child, your destiny.

The rabble is nothing without a leader.

Free the Baptist.

If I could make the king destroy

the Baptist before it is too late...

There is a way.

Yes, yes.

One possible way

to save the throne.

Salome,

you alone could accomplish it.

But

what can I do?

Prevail upon the king

to destroy the Baptist.

But how can l...?

You can persuade him.

How?

With your matchless beauty.

Dance for him tonight.

Dance for him?

Mother, you know a woman

who dances for the king

becomes his possession.

Yes, I know the custom.

You would have me give myself to...?

For the throne, yes.

The Baptist must go free!

Release the Baptist!

The king is a heathen!

Romans! Romans,

the Baptist must go free!

Roman heathen! Roman heathen!

Why are you crying?

Oh, take me away from here.

Claudius, please take me away.

Do you really want to leave?

Yes. Yes.

There's something I want you

to hear. Something you

must know about me.

Then we can go away together.

What is it?

Come with me.

Where is the princess?

You keep her from me.

Command her to appear.

Command her yourself.

I bear strange tidings.

Such strange tidings.

While in Jerusalem,

I heard them speak of a prophet

who performs miracles.

If true, this would be

great tidings.

I heard them say this prophet

brings sight to the blind,

heals the sick,

that he fed thousands

of the poor

with no more than

a few loaves of bread

to divide.

I went to Bethany where

I was told he had gone.

Just outside Jerusalem,

I saw a procession

such as I have never seen

following one man.

The lame, the halt,

the blind followed him.

Those whose back were bent

from years under the yoke.

Those whose heads were bowed

from years of shame.

They followed him.

And many who were sceptical,

who came to scoff at him,

they too followed him.

I joined this procession.

We followed him

to a tomb where lay

a man called Lazarus,

four days dead.

The sister of Lazarus,

who believed,

had begged him to raise

her brother from the dead.

I heard him say to her,

"I am the resurrection

and the life.

He that believeth in me,

though he were dead,

yet shall he live.

And whosoever liveth

and believeth in me,

shall never die."

He said that.

I heard him. And then

he went to the tomb.

And while others rolled back

the stone, he raised

his head and prayed.

He said...

He said, " Father, I thank thee

that thou hast heard me,

and I know that

thou hearest me always.

But because of the people

that stand by, I said it

that they may believe

that thou hast sent me."

And when he had said this,

he cried out in a loud voice,

"Lazarus, come forth."

And Lazarus came out

of the tomb. I saw him.

I saw a man who'd been dead

four days walk out of his grave!

All of us fell

on our knees.

And then he told Lazarus

to remove the shroud

and rejoin the living.

And what had been a corpse

became a man again.

Not only did I see Lazarus

raised from the dead,

but I spoke to him.

I talked to him myself.

The one who called him

back from the grave

was named Jesus.

My kinsman, Jesus.

The Messiah.

When I baptized him,

I heard a voice

from heaven say,

"This is my beloved son,

in whom I am well pleased."

I spoke to this Jesus.

I told him that

you were imprisoned.

He said he would come to Galilee.

I shall never see Jesus again.

I will free you before he gets here.

I do not fear death.

All my life I have been

surrounded by wickedness.

I have lived

by false standards.

I have held myself

unaccountable to anyone.

And I have known evil.

For the first time,

I see there is good

in the world.

To see good is to

be awakened to the Lord.

Know that my blessings

follow both of you

all your days on earth.

Go in peace.

Go.

How can you possibly save him?

I still command the palace guards.

But Herod's soldiers

fill the palace. You cannot.

It is the only way.

No.

There is a more certain way.

How?

I will dance for the king.

And I will make him free

the Baptist.

Dance for the king?

Do you realize...?

He will never possess me.

No. No, I will not have you

dance for him.

Prepare to leave.

I will free the Baptist

and then come for you.

Rebecca.

Yes, princess.

Come with me.

I have orders from

His Excellency, the governor.

Release him.

I can only release

the prisoner by orders

of His Majesty, the king.

I'd give half my kingdom.

No. Give me the head

of the Baptist.

Guards! Guards!

Away!

My mother.

That I should be

of your flesh and blood.

I never want to look

upon your face again.

Listen. Do you hear?

I can open the gates

and let the populace

tear you apart.

I could run my sword

through both of you.

But that would make

too quick an end. No.

Live. Live in torture.

May the blood of the man

you murdered rise

in your throats to choke you.

Ezra.

Ezra!

Give with us...

Ezra. Ezra.

God upon us have

mercy with us.

Love your enemies.

Bless them that curse you.

Do good to them that hate you.

And pray for them

which despitefully use you

and persecute you.

That ye may be the children

of your father which is in heaven.

For he maketh his son

to rise on the evil and

on the good.

And sendeth rain

on the just and

on the unjust.

Blessed are

the poor in spirit,

for theirs is

the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the meek,

for they shall possess the earth.

Blessed are they

who mourn,

for they shall

be comforted.

Blessed are they

who hunger and thirst

for justice,

for they shall

be satisfied.

Blessed are

the merciful,

for they shall

obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure

of heart,

for they shall see God.

Blessed are

the peacemakers,

for they shall

be called

children of God.

Blessed are they who suffer

persecution for justice's sake,

for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven.

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