[Rapturously] I hear, Lord, I hear. With all my soul I listen to thy word. Unworthy vessel that I am, I wait to be filled with thy message. I vow myself to thy service, Lord, to thine alone, for my soul is athirst to serve thee. I await thy word and thy sign.
[Now close at hand and plainly recognizable] Jeremiah!
[In ecstasy] Show thyself to me, Lord; my heart is racked with the imminence of thy coming. Pour forth thy waters, holy storm; plough me up, that I may bear thy seed; make my earth fruitful, inspire my lips; brand me with the mark of thy service! Set thy yoke upon me. See, my neck is bowed in readiness, for thine am I, thine for evermore. Make thyself known to me, Lord, even as I know thee; let me but see thy glory, even as thou lookest down upon my unworthiness in the gloom; deign only to show me the way of thy will, point the way to him who is thy servant for ever!
[Her search has led her up the stair; her countenance shows anxiety, her voice is full of tenderness] Here at last I find you, my son.
[Springing to his feet in fear and wrath] Begone! Alas the voices are stilled; the way is lost, never shall I find it again.
Woe is me, why do you stand here so thinly clad in the chill night air? Come down, my son. The morning mist brings fever.
[Wildly] Why do you follow me, why do you pester me? Unending chase. You follow me without pause, waking or sleeping.
Jeremiah, what do you mean? I was sleeping below, and then I seemed to hear people talking on the roof.
You heard, you too? God's holy truth! You heard him speak? Understood his call?
[Seizing her arm] Mother, tell me I beseech you. Death or joy hangs upon your words. Did you hear a voice; did you hear it after you had awakened?
I heard a voice on the roof and went to summon you. But your bed was cold and empty. Then fear came upon me, and I called your name.
[His voice breaking] Disaster and derision! Fraud everywhere, without and within. There came an earnest call, and in my terror I thought it was God.
How strange you are! I meant no harm. Since there was no answer, I came to the roof to see if there was anyone here. I found no one.
Nay, you found a madman. The torture of these visions! Sense and nonsense join in cheating me. I am befooled by my own fantasy.