Sentence:  And yet — you are not to confuse the thistle with the cedar that is in Lebanon ; nor to forget — if the <WSD>spinous</WSD> nature of it become too cruel to provoke and offend — the parable of Joash to Amaziah, and its fulfilment : " There passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Spine-like; spiny.