and then after a long rest, conclude the movement in affirmative homophony. Scene 2 Scene 2 speaks in three movements of the apparition of God. An accompagnato is based on the words of the prophet Haggai, dealing with the splendor of the temple, and of Malachi who foretold the coming messenger. Malachi's words are continued in an aria and a chorus. 5 Thus saith the Lord The bass begins the accompagnato: "Thus saith the Lord". Again the words of the Lord, as told by the prophet Haggai () are given to a single male voice. In "and I will shake all nations", the "shake" is rendered several times in downward coloraturas of more than a measure, and in "and the desire of all nations shall come" the word "desire" is rendered once in upward coloraturas of more than two measures, accompanied by exited repetitions in the strings and continuo. The music then suddenly calms to an unaccompanied line on the words of the prophet Malachi: "The Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple" (). 6 But who may abide The prophecy continues in two movements. The Air for soprano, alto, or bass, as a human reaction to the words of God, shows the trembling in the expectation of the Lord's appearance twofold in a dramatic scene. The Air begins with the pensive question "But who may abide" and continues, in a sharp shift of time and tempo "Prestissimo", with the statement "For He is like a refiner's fire". Forceful downward runs, leaps and trills of the voice are accompanied by fiery figuration in the strings. Like a da capo, the pensive question is repeated, but in a short version, giving way once more to a prestissimo section. The statement returns a final time after a rest, marked Adagio, giving the soloist the opportunity to express it in a cadenza. A prestissimo postlude concludes the dramatic scene. Handel rewrote this dramatic scene in London in 1750 for the castrato Gaetano Guadagni, after he had initially set the text as a recitative for bass. 7 And he shall purify The chorus picks up the idea in the fugue "And he shall purify", with coloraturas on "purify", which may stand for a purifying fire. The movement is a parody of Quel fior che all'alba ride (HWV 192, July 1741). Scene 3 After the rather general introduction, Scene 3 addresses Isaiah's