Liber de Divinis Scripturis sive Speculum quod fertur S. Augustini

worshipping him and asking something of him. But he said: "What do you want?" She said: "That these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." Then Jesus said: "You do not know what you ask: can you drink the cup which I am about to drink?" But they said: "We can." Jesus said to them: "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to give you, but it is prepared for you by my Father." When they heard this, the other ten disciples were indignant about the two brothers. But Jesus called them and said: "You know that the rulers of the nations dominate them and exercise great power over them. It is not so among you, but whoever among you wishes to be first will be your servant: just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. But you seek to be exalted in small things, and to be diminished in the greatest. When you have entered the supper to which you are invited, do not recline in places of honor, lest perhaps someone more worthy than you should arrive and the host, coming up, say to you: 'Move further down,' and you be put to shame. But if you recline in a lower place, someone inferior to you will arrive, and the one who invited you to supper will say to you: 'Move up to a higher place,' and this will be more profitable for you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

will be exalted. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: "And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord, who lowers the high tree and raises the low tree, and dries up the green tree and makes the dry tree green again. I am the Lord; I have spoken and I will do it." LXXVII. THAT HE WHO SCORNS THE MAN OF GOD SCORNS THE LORD. In Deuteronomy: "And any man who acts in pride, so that he does not hearken to the priest who stands to minister in the name of your God, or to the judges who are in those days, that man shall die, and you shall remove the evil from Israel: and all the people, when they hear, shall fear and shall not commit injustice." Likewise in 1 Kings, the Lord to Samuel: "They do not scorn you, but me, that I should not reign over them." Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: "But the house of Israel does not wish to hear you, because they do not wish to hear me: for the whole house of Israel is contentious and hard of heart." Likewise in Exodus: "For your murmuring is not against us, but against God." Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke, the Lord Jesus: "He who hears us, hears me, and he who scorns you, scorns me: but he who scorns me, scorns him who sent me." Likewise the Apostle to the Thessalonians: "Therefore he who scorns, does not scorn a man,

despises, but God, who gave the Holy Spirit in us. Likewise in the same place II: But you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey our word, mark him by letter and do not mix with him, so that he may be confounded. LXXVIII. ON OBEDIENCE. In Exodus: If you hear the voice of the Lord your God and do what pleases him before him and obey his precepts and keep all his justice, I will not bring upon you every infirmity that I brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who saves you. Likewise in Proverbs: A golden evil in a sardius necklace, in gold a golden earring and a precious sardius, so is a wise word in the ear of the obedient. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: The sons of wisdom are the church of the just, and their nation is obedience and charity. Likewise the Apostle to the Romans: But thanks be to God that you were servants of sin, but you obeyed from the heart in that form of doctrine into which you were initiated. Freed from sin, you have become servants of justice. Likewise there: For just as through the disobedience of one man many were constituted sinners, so through the obedience of one many will be constituted just. Likewise to the Corinthians II: For I wrote to you so that I might know your test, whether you are obedient in all things. Likewise Peter the Apostle I: Therefore purify your souls to obey the faith through the spirit.

LXXVIIII. THE FAINT-HEARTED ARE NOT TO BE SCANDALIZED, BUT RATHER CONSOLED. In the Gospel according to Matthew: He who has scandalized one of the little ones among those who believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be thrown into the deep. Likewise the Apostle to the Romans: Do not give care to the flesh in its desires. Take up the one weak in faith, not into disputations of thoughts. Likewise to the Galatians: Brothers, and if a man has been overtaken in some fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness: considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus you will fulfill the law of Christ. Likewise to the Thessalonians I: But we exhort you, brothers, correct the restless, console the faint-hearted, receive the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good among yourselves and towards all. Likewise to the Romans: But we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those who are powerless and not please ourselves. Let each of you please his neighbor for good edification. But Christ did not please himself, but according to what is written: the reproaches of those reproaching fell upon me. But those things which are written are written for our instruction, so that through patience and the consolation of the scriptures we may have hope.

But may the God of all grant you to think the same thing among yourselves according to Christ Jesus, so that with one mind and one voice you may magnify the Lord and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, receive one another, just as Christ received you into the glory of God. Likewise there: But may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, so that you may abound in every hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am certain, however, brothers, concerning you, that you are filled with love and all knowledge, so that you are able to restrain one another. Likewise to the Corinthians II: But if anyone has grieved, he has not grieved me, but in part, so as not to burden you all. That rebuke, which comes from many, suffices for one who is of such a kind, so that on the contrary you may rather give and console, lest perhaps one who is of such a kind be swallowed up by greater sadness. For this reason I beseech you, that you confirm charity toward him. For I have written thus, that I may know your obedience, if you are obedient in all things. But if you give anything to anyone, I also give. For what I have given on account of you in the person of Christ, so that we may not be possessed by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his thoughts. Likewise to the Colossians: Therefore clothe yourselves as the chosen of God, so that as holy and beloved, you may have bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness,

justice, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against someone: just as the Lord forgave you, so also do you. LXXX. ON THE PRAISE OF VIRGINS. In the book of Wisdom: For blessed is the barren and undefiled woman who knows not the marriage bed in sin! She will have fruit in the love of the soul. And the eunuch who has not wrought iniquity with his hands nor thought the most wicked things against the Lord. For to him will be given the chosen gift of faith and a more favorable lot in the temple of God. For the fruits of good labors are good repute, and a root of wisdom that does not fall away. Likewise the apostle Paul to the Corinthians I: Concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give advice as one who has obtained mercy, that I might be faithful. I think, therefore, that this is good because of the present necessity, since it is best for a man to be thus. Likewise there: But this I say, brothers, the time is short: it remains that those who have wives be as if they had none, and those who weep as if they did not weep, and those who rejoice as if they did not rejoice, and those who buy as if they did not possess, and those who use this world as if they did not use it: for the habit of this world passes away. I want you to be without anxiety. He who is without a wife is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please God. But he who has a wife thinks about the things of this world, how to please his wife. The woman and the virgin are separate.

She who is not married meditates on the things of God, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married meditates on the things of this world, how to please her husband. Likewise there: Therefore, both he who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not give her does better. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: But I say to you, that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, makes her commit adultery. The disciples say to him: If such is the case of a man with a wife, it is not expedient to marry. But Jesus answered them: Not all grasp that word, but only those to whom it is granted; for there are eunuchs who were born from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom. He who can grasp it, let him grasp it. LXXXI. ON MARITAL HARMONY AND THE BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN. In Ecclesiasticus: Three things have pleased my spirit, which are approved before God and man: harmony among brothers, love of neighbors, and a husband and wife agreeing with each other. Likewise the Apostle to the Colossians: Men, love your wives and do not be bitter against them. Women, be subject

Be men, as is fitting in the Lord. Likewise to Timothy I: Therefore I wish men to pray in every place, raising holy hands without anger and disputation. Similarly, women are to adorn themselves with orderly dress, with modesty and chastity, not with curled hair or gold or pearls or costly garments, but with what becomes women promising chastity through good works. Let a woman learn in silence in all subjection. Do not permit a woman to teach, nor to rule over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced and was in transgression. But she will be saved through the generation of children, if she remains in faith and truth and holiness with sobriety. Likewise to Titus: But you speak what befits sound doctrine. Let old men be sober, chaste, prudent, sound in faith and charity and patience. Let old women likewise be in holy habit, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teaching well.

that they may teach prudence; and the young women, that they may love their husbands and love their children. Let them be prudent, chaste, keepers of the home, kind, and subject to their husbands. Likewise exhort the young men to be prudent in all things. Likewise the apostle Peter in his first epistle: Women, be subject to your husbands: from among whom, if any do not believe this word, they may be won over without a word through the conduct of their wives, considering your chaste conduct in fear. Let their adornment be not the external arrangement of hair or the placing of gold or the style of garments or ornaments, but that hidden man of the heart, the incorrupt one of a gentle and modest spirit, which is magnificent in the sight of God. For thus once holy women, who hoped in the Lord, adorned themselves, subject to the stronger vessel of the man, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters you are to be, speaking well and doing well, and fearing no disturbance. Likewise men dwelling together according to knowledge, imparting honor to the weaker vessel of woman, as co-heirs of grace and life, to the end that your prayers may not be hindered.

LXXXII. ON THE HOLINESS AND WORK OF WIDOWS. In the third book of Kings: And the Lord said to Elias: Arise and go to Sarepta of Sidon: behold, I have commanded there a widow woman to feed you. And he arose and went to Sarepta of Sidon. And when he came there, behold, at the gate of the city that same widow woman was gathering sticks. And Elias called out after her, and said to her: Pour me a little water into a vessel that I may drink. And when she had gone to take and bring water, Elias called out after her again, and said: Bring me bread that I may eat. And she said: As the Lord your God lives, I have no cake except a little flour in a jar and a little oil in a vessel. And behold, I am gathering these two sticks so that I may go in and make that for myself and my sons, and we shall eat and die. And Elias said: Be of good cheer: go in and do according to your word. But first make me a little cake from it; for yourself and your sons you will make afterwards. For thus says the Lord: The measure of grain

the jar of meal did not fail, and the cruse of oil was not diminished until the day when God would give rain upon the earth. And he went and did so, and he himself, the woman, and her sons ate: the jar of porridge did not fail, nor the vessel of oil, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through the hand of Elias. Likewise in the book of Judith: And Judith was a widow in her house for three years and six months. And she made for herself a tabernacle on the roof of the house, and put sackcloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of her life except on the sabbaths and new moons and festivals of the house of Israel. And she was very beautiful of face, and there was no one who brought an evil word against her, because she greatly feared the Lord. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: And there was Anna the prophetess, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser, and she was advanced in her days, who had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And this widow of eighty-four years, who did not

he did not depart from the temple, serving with fasts and supplications night and day. Likewise: And Jesus, looking on, saw those who were placing their gifts in the treasury, the rich. He also saw a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins, and said: Truly I tell you, this poor widow has given more than all the rest; for all these gave to the gifts of God from their abundance, but she gave from what she lacked, her entire sustenance. Likewise the Apostle to Timothy I: Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let her first learn to manage her own household piously and to reward her parents; for this is acceptable before God. But she who is truly a widow and desolate hopes in God and persists in prayers day and night. But she who lives in luxury is dead while living. And command these things, that they may be blameless. But if any of her own and

She does not have care especially for her household, she has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be chosen not less than sixty years of age, who has been the wife of one man, having testimony in good works, if she has raised children, if she has received guests, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has ministered to those suffering tribulation, if she has followed every good work. But avoid younger widows. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: In Joppa, however, there was a certain widow named Tabitha, which interpreted is called Dorcas. She was full of good works and alms and many acts of mercy, which she performed. It happened in those days that she fell ill and died. When they had washed her, they placed her in an upper chamber. And when Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there. They sent two men to him, asking and saying: Do not delay to come to us. And Peter, rising up, came with them. When he arrived, they led him to the upper chamber, and the widows stood around him weeping, and showing the tunics

and the rest of her garments told him how much she had done while she was with them, Dorcas. But after all had been cast out, Peter, kneeling, prayed and, turning to the body, said: "Arise in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!" And she immediately opened her eyes, and when she had seen Peter, she sat up, and giving him her hand, he raised her up alive. And summoning the saints and widows, he assigned her living. This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. LXXXIII. BY APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE, ONE MUST WORK WITH ONE'S HANDS. [Likewise] the apostle Paul to the Ephesians: Do not give place to the devil. He who used to steal, let him no longer steal: but rather let him labor by working at what is good, so that he may have something to give to those suffering need. Likewise to the Thessalonians I: For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship: wearied night and day, working so as not to burden any of you, we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and God, how holily, justly, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves among you who believe: as you know how we besought and consoled each one of you like a father his sons, that you might walk worthily before God, who has called you into his kingdom and glory. Likewise there: We exhort you, brothers, to abound more and to have zeal for silence and being quiet, and to work with your hands at what is good, as we have instructed you, so that you may walk honorably among those who are outside and desire nothing of anyone.

Also to the Thessalonians, second letter: But we have commanded you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which they received from you. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us: since we have not lived restlessly among you, nor have we eaten bread for free from anyone, but in labor and fatigue, working night and day, so as not to burden any of you. Not as if we lacked power, but so that we might give ourselves as a pattern for you to imitate. For even when we were among you, we announced this to you, that if anyone does not wish to work, neither should he eat. For we have heard that some among you walk restlessly, doing nothing, but acting curiously. To those who are of this sort we announce and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they work in silence and eat their own bread. But you, brothers, do not fail in doing good. Also in the Acts of the Apostles: But Paul was known to Aquila, because they were of the same nation and the same trade, and he stayed with them working: for they were artisans by trade. Also there, the apostle Paul: I have coveted no silver or gold or clothing of any of you. You yourselves know that for those things which were necessary for me in all my use and that of those who are with me, these hands have been ready.

I have shown to all of you that those who labor in this way ought to help the weak and be mindful of the words of our Lord Jesus, because he himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. LXXXIIII. THAT HIGHER THINGS OUGHT NOT TO BE SOUGHT INTO, NOR HERETICS HEARD. In Deuteronomy: You shall not add to this word, which I command you today, nor shall you diminish from it. Likewise in the Apocalypse: I testify to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these, God will inflict upon him the plagues that are written in this book: and if anyone takes away the words of the prophecy of this book, God will remove his portion from the tree of life and from the holy city. Likewise in Proverbs: Drink water from your own vessels and from the well of your own springs. And let no stranger share with you. Likewise there: He who trusts in falsehoods feeds the winds: and the same himself follows flying birds: for he has abandoned the path of his own vineyard and has strayed from the furrows of the cultivation of his own field: he wanders through dry and desert places and land set in droughts. He gathers sterility with his own hands. Likewise there: Therefore withdraw from alien water and do not drink from an alien spring, and you will live a long time, and years of life will be added to you. Likewise there: He who pursues vain things lacks senses. Likewise there: Do not add to his commandments, lest you be reproved and be a liar.

Again in Ecclesiasticus: Seek not things higher than yourself, and do not scrutinize things stronger than yourself: but always think upon what the Lord has commanded you; and be not curious about his many works. For suspicion has led many astray, and has held their senses in vanity. Again there: Do not fan yourself in every wind, and do not go every way, so that the word of peace and knowledge may follow you. Again there: Who is sufficient to proclaim his works? It is not to diminish nor to add nor to discover the great deeds of God. Again in the book of Wisdom: We judge with difficulty those things which are on earth, and we find those which are in sight with labor: but what things are in the heavens, who will investigate? But who will know your mind, unless you give wisdom? Again the Apostle to the Romans: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who first gave to him and will be repaid to him? Since from him and through him and in him are all things. Glory to him for ever and ever.

LXXXV. On Fasting. In Ecclesiasticus: He who is baptized by a dead man, what does his washing profit? So also a man who fasts in his sins and again does the same things, what does he profit by humbling himself? Who will hear his prayer? A salutary sacrifice is to attend to the commandments, and to depart from all iniquity. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: There is no rejoicing for the impious, says the Lord. Cry out vehemently, and spare not: like a trumpet raise your voice, and announce to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people who have done justice and have not abandoned the judgment of God: they now demand from me a just judgment, and long to approach God, saying: What of the fact that we have fasted, and you have not seen? We have humbled our souls, and you have not known? For in the days of your fasts your desires are found, and you will prick all those subject to you. Do you fast for judgments and quarrels, and do you strike—

persecute your neighbor unjustly? And why do you fast for me, so that today your voice may be heard in clamor? I have not chosen this fast, says the Lord, that a man should humble his soul. Not even if you bend your neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth and ashes beneath you, will you call that fast acceptable. I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord: but loose every bond of iniquity, dissolve the obligations of powerful exchanges, release the broken into rest, and tear up every unjust bond. Break your bread for the hungry, and lead the needy without shelter into your house. If you see someone naked, clothe him: and do not despise the household of your own kin. Then your timely light will burst forth, and your healings will quickly arise, and justice will go before you, and the majesty of God will surround you. Then you will cry out, and the Lord will hear you: while you are still speaking, he says: Behold, I am here. If you remove from yourself the bond of iniquity and the obligation and the word of murmuring, and give your bread to the hungry from the heart, and satisfy a humbled soul, then light will arise for you in the darkness, and darkness will be to you as midday. And your God will be with you always, and you will be satisfied as your soul desires, and your bones will grow fat, and they will be like a drunken garden and like a spring whose water does not fail. And your deserts will be built up, and your foundations will be eternal for ages of ages. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: When

when you fast, do not be like the sad hypocrites: for they disfigure their face, so that they may appear to men as fasting. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men as fasting. But to your father, who is in heaven: and your father, who sees hidden things, will repay you. LXXXVI. A MAN OUGHT TO WORK WITHOUT LAZINESS AT THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE GOOD, BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE ANT OR THE BEE. In Proverbs: Go to the ant, O lazy one, and emulate, seeing its ways, and be wiser than it: for it, when it possesses no field, nor has anyone compelling it, nor is under a master, how does it prepare food in summer, and make a plentiful store at harvest! Or go to the bee, and learn how laborious it is, and what holy work it earns: whose labors kings and commoners offer for health: it is pleasing to all and glorious, and though it is weak in strength, it has been brought forth proclaiming wisdom. How long, O lazy one,

you lie down? But when do you rise from sleep? You sleep a little, you sit a little, you doze a little, you clasp your hands a little to your breast: then poverty will come to you like a bad traveler, but want like a good runner. But if you are diligent, your harvest will come to you like a fountain, and want like a good runner will flee from you. Likewise there: Fear casts down the lazy: but the souls of the effeminate hunger. Likewise there: The lazy man, when rebuked, does not blush: likewise he who borrows wheat at harvest time. Likewise there: Desires kill the lazy: for his hands are not destined to do anything. Likewise there: The lazy man seeks excuses and says: there is a lion on the roads, and murderers in the streets. Likewise there: As a door turns on its hinge, so the lazy man turns on his bed. Likewise there: The lazy man thinks himself wiser than he who fully delivers a message. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: The lazy man is stoned with a clay stone: and everyone speaks of his contempt. The lazy man is stoned with ox dung: everyone who touches him will shake his hands.

LXXXVII. The Commands of God Are to Be Preached Without Fear of Men. In the prophet Ezekiel: "And you, son of man, do not fear them, nor be terrified at their countenance, for they will rage and gather against you in a circle. Do not fear their words, and do not be terrified at their countenance, for the house is provoking." Likewise there: "Behold, I have made your face powerful against their faces, and I will strengthen your constancy against their contentions, and your constancy will be stronger than rock." Likewise there: "And do not fear them, nor be terrified at their countenance, for the house is provoking." Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: "What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the rooftops and in the streets. And do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot destroy the soul; rather fear him who can kill both soul and body in Gehenna." LXXXVIII. Concerning the Fool.

In Proverbs: A foolish and iniquitous man goes on ways not good; he himself winks with his eye and signals with his foot. Likewise there: A foolish man builds evils for himself, but in his own lips he stores up fire. Likewise there: Faithful lips do not suit a fool, nor lying lips the just. Likewise there: Why do riches abound for a fool? For an insensate man cannot possess wisdom. Likewise there: A foolish son is anger to his father, and sorrow to his mother. Likewise there: He who lacks sense does not desire wisdom; for he is led more by imprudence. Likewise there: The mouth of a foolish man is ruin to him, and his lips are a snare for his own soul. Likewise there: The folly of a man destroys his ways, but he accuses the Lord in his heart. Likewise there: Folly is in the heart of a youth, but the rod and discipline are far from him. Likewise there: A stone is heavy and sand is scarcely bearable, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both. Likewise there: An insipiens man is like a field, and a man who lacks is like a vineyard.

Of prudence: if you abandon it, it will be filled with thorns and become hay and be deserted, and the walls of its enclosures will be undermined. Likewise there: As a dog, when it returns to its vomit, becomes hateful, so a fool, turned back in his wickedness to his sins. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: Do not take counsel with fools, for they will not be able to keep it. Likewise there: He who is deficient in heart thinks of vain things, and an imprudent and erring man thinks of foolish things. Likewise there: From the mouth of a fool comes an unseemly proverb, for he does not utter it at the right time. Likewise there: The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and it will hold no knowledge. Wisdom is a closed house to a fool, and the knowledge of a senseless man consists of inexpressible words. Likewise there: Fetters on the feet of fools are doctrine, and like a chain on the right hand. A fool raises his voice in laughter, and a wise man will scarcely smile silently. Likewise there: In the mouth of fools is their heart, and in the heart of wise men is their mouth.

Likewise there: It is easier to carry sand, salt, and a mass of iron than an imprudent, foolish, and impious man. Likewise there: The covering of the body, the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of a man proclaim what he is. Likewise there: The heart of a fool is like a cartwheel, and his thoughts are like a revolving axle. Likewise there: He who teaches wisdom to a fool is like one who glues a potsherd. Likewise there: The speech of a fool is like a burden on the road. Threats trouble the heart of a wise man; but a fool is flogged and does not feel it. He who teaches a foolish boy does an injury to equity. Likewise in Proverbs: In his laughter the fool does wicked things. Likewise there: From the mouth of fools comes a staff of insult, but the lips of the wise protect them. Likewise there: All things are contrary to an unwise man, but the arms of understanding are the lips of wisdom. Likewise there: The wise man, by fearing, declines from evil, but the fool, trusting in himself, mingles with the wicked; but the fool will serve the prudent. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: For a fool will speak foolish things, and his heart understands vain things, so that he may accomplish wicked deeds and speak error to the Lord, to scatter hungry souls and to make thirsty souls empty. For the counsel of the wicked has devised iniquity, to destroy the humble with wicked words and to dissipate the words of the humble in judgment. For the pious have thought of justice, and this counsel will endure. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: The gift of a fool will not be useful to you; for his eyes are sevenfold.

he will give little and reproach much, and the opening of his mouth is a puff of air. 89. THAT ANGER MUST BE RESTRAINED. In Proverbs: A blessed soul is wholly simple; but a passionate or angry man does not act honorably. Likewise there: A fool proclaims his anger on the very same day, but a cunning man conceals his insult. Likewise there: An angry man acts without counsel, but a prudent man endures much. Likewise there: Anger will destroy even wise men, but a humble response turns away anger. Likewise there: An angry man stirs up quarrels, but a patient man soothes even future ones. Likewise there: Do not be a friend to a passionate man, and do not dwell with an angry friend, lest you learn his ways and take up a snare for your soul. Likewise there: A fool pours out all his anger, but a wise man dispenses it in parts. Likewise there: A passionate man digs up contention, and an angry man will heap up sins. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: An angry man kindles a quarrel, and a sinful man

he will disturb friends and cast slander into the midst of those who have peace. Likewise there: Jealousy and anger will shorten days, and thought will bring on old age before its time. Likewise in Ecclesiastes: Do not hasten in your spirit to become angry, because anger rests in the bosom of fools. Likewise the Apostle to the Ephesians: Be angry, but do not sin: let not the sun set upon your anger. Likewise there: Let all bitterness, anger, indignation, shouting, and blasphemy be removed from you, along with all malice. Likewise there: Now, however, put away from yourselves all anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and loquacity. Likewise James the Apostle: Let every man be quick to hear and slow to speak, slow to anger: for the anger of a man does not accomplish the justice of God. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: He who becomes angry with his brother without cause will be guilty before the judgment. But whoever says to his brother "Racha" will be guilty before the council. And whoever says "Fool" will be guilty of the fire of Gehenna.

XC. That a person is said to be of that kind or nature whose work he has imitated, whether of God or of the devil. In Deuteronomy: Have you repaid the Lord like a foolish and unwise people? Is not this same he your father who possessed you and created you and made you? Likewise there: You have abandoned the Lord who begot you and have forgotten the God who nourished you. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptist: But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Offspring of vipers, who showed you how to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance. And do not say among yourselves: We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able to raise up sons of Abraham from these stones. For already the axe is placed at the root of the tree: therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Likewise there: Amen, I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But a slave does not remain in the house forever; a son remains forever. Therefore if the son has freed you, you will be truly free. I know you are of the seed of Abraham, but you seek to kill me because my word does not take hold in you. I speak what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have seen with your father.

Also there: You are from the father the devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father: for he was a murderer from the beginning, and he did not stand in truth, and truth is not in him. Also there: He who is from God hears the words of God. Therefore you do not hear, because you are not from God. Also the apostle to the Ephesians: And you, when you were dead in your faults and sins, in which you once walked according to the world of this age, according to the prince of the power of this air, the spirit which now works in the sons of unbelief, in which we also all once lived in the desires of the flesh and of thoughts, and we were by nature sons of wrath like the rest. Also to the Colossians: And you, who were once alienated and enemies of his sense in evil works, but now reconciled in the blood of his flesh through his death, show yourselves holy and immaculate and without crime before him. Also there: Do not lie to one another, stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, and put on the new, who is renewed in the knowledge of God according to the image of him who created him. Also Peter the Apostle I: Grace and peace to you be fulfilled in the recognition of our Lord Jesus.

of Christ, who now has given us all things pertaining to divine life and piety through his own divine power, by the knowledge of him who called us by his illustrious power, through which honorable and greatest promises are granted to us, so that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature after the escape from the world which is in the lust of a lost life. Also John the Apostle, first: Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does justice is just, just as he is just. He who does sin is from the devil, because from the beginning the devil sins. And in this the Son of God appeared, that he might undo the works of the devil. Everyone who is born from God does not sin, because his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born from God. Hence appear the sons of God and the sons of the devil. Everyone who is not just is not from God, and he who does not love his brother. XCI. THE WISE ARE TO ANSWER A WORD TO THE ONE ASKING. In Ecclesiasticus: Be gentle in hearing a word, that you may understand: and speak a true answer with wisdom.

Item Tobit: "Pay attention, my son, in all your works, and be wise in all your words." Item to the Colossians: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom and all spiritual understanding: teaching and correcting yourselves with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing in grace in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Item there: "Let your speech be seasoned with the salt of God's grace, so that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Item to the Corinthians I: "And since you are emulators of spiritual things, seek to abound for the edification of the church." Item there: "When you assemble, each one of you has a psalm, has teaching, has interpretation. Let all things be done for your edification." Item the apostle Peter in his first epistle: "Be always ready for confession to everyone asking you for a word about the faith and hope that is in you: with modesty and fear, having a good conscience, so that in what they detract from you they may be confounded, seeing your good conversation in Christ.

XCII. On the Faithful and Prudent Servant, and on the Admonition of Masters. In Proverbs: A prudent servant will obtain the imprudence of masters, and divides a portion among brothers. Likewise there: A deceitful son will have nothing good; but for a wise servant, his deeds will be prosperous. Likewise there: A prudent servant mitigates the anger of a man; but a man who is a brawler, who will endure? Likewise there: Do not harm a servant who works in truth, nor a hireling who gives his life. Likewise there: Let a sensible servant be dear to you as your own soul: do not defraud him of liberty, nor leave him destitute. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: If you have a faithful servant, let him be to you as your own soul: treat him as a brother, because you have obtained him at the cost of your life's blood. If you wrong him unjustly and he departs in indignation, whom will you seek? and by what way will you seek him? Free men will serve a sensible servant, and a knowing man will not murmur. Likewise the Apostle Paul to the Colossians: Masters, provide what is just and fair to your servants, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

a just judge. Likewise to the Ephesians: And you, masters, do the same to them, putting aside threats, knowing that both your and their master is in heaven, and that there is no favoritism of persons before God. Likewise in Deuteronomy: You shall not hand over a slave to his master who has fled to you, but he shall dwell with you in every place wherever it pleases him, and you shall not oppress him. Likewise in Proverbs: Do not hand over a slave into the hand of the master, lest he curse you and you be destroyed. XCIII. On the Admonition of Servants. Paul the apostle to the Ephesians: Servants, obey your carnal masters with fear and trembling in the simplicity of your heart as you would Christ: not serving for show, not as pleasing men, but as servants of Christ doing the will of God, serving with your whole heart and with good will as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that each one, whatever good he has done, will receive this from the Lord, whether slave or free. Likewise to Timothy I: Those who are under the yoke of servitude should consider their masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of the Lord and the teaching may not be blasphemed. But those who have faithful masters should not despise them because they are brothers; rather, they should serve more, since they are faithful and beloved who are partakers of the benefit. Likewise to Titus: Servants should be subject to their masters in all things, and please them, not contradicting, not defrauding, but showing good faith in all things, so that they may adorn the teaching of our savior God in all things.

Likewise the apostle Peter, I: Slaves, obey your masters with all fear, not only the good and moderate, but also the difficult. For this is grace before God, if for the sake of conscience one endures injury suffered unjustly. For what glory is it, if you are tormented and suffer when sinning? But if you do good and suffer injury while enduring, this is grace before God. XCIIII. KINGS AND SECULAR AUTHORITIES MUST BE OBEYED. The apostle Paul to the Romans: Be subject to all higher powers: for there is no power except from God, and those that are from God are ordained. Therefore, whoever resists the power resists the ordinance of God. But those who resist bring damnation upon themselves. For princes are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you wish not to fear power? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it. For it is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, fear: for it does not carry the sword without cause. God’s minister is the avenger in wrath against him who did evil. Therefore, be subject not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. Therefore, pay your tributes, for the ministers of God are serving for this very purpose. Render to all what is due: tribute to whom tribute is due, tax to whom tax is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due. Owe nothing to anyone, except that you love one another. Likewise to

Admonish them to be subject to princes and powers, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to blaspheme no one, not to be quarrelsome but modest, all showing gentleness towards all men. Likewise the apostle Peter, I: Be subject to every human ordinance for the Lord's sake, whether to a king as preeminent, or to leaders as sent by him for this very purpose, for the punishment of the wicked and the praise of the good — since such is the will of God, that you who do good may silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free men, not having freedom as a cloak for malice, but as servants of God. Honor all, love brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king. XCV. THE LIGHT OF OUR JOURNEY IS THE LAW OF GOD. In Psalm XVIII: The Lord's commandment is bright, illuminating the eyes. Likewise in Psalm CXVIII: Your word is a lamp for my feet, O Lord, and a light for my paths. Likewise in Proverbs: For the commandment of the law is a lamp, and the light of life, and reproach and discipline. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: By night my spirit watches for you, O God, because your precepts are light upon the earth.

XCVI. ON THE DEATH OF THE JUST. In the book of Wisdom: But if the just man is overtaken by death, he will be in a place of refreshment. For old age is venerable not because it is long, nor is it reckoned by the number of years: for the gray hairs of a man are his senses, and the age of old age is an immaculate life, which, having become pleasing and beloved to God, while living among sinners, was translated. He was snatched away, lest malice change his understanding, or lest deceit beguile his soul. Likewise there: But one who is perfected in a short time has filled long ages: for his soul was pleasing to the Lord. For this reason he hastened to lead it out from the midst of iniquity. But the people, seeing and not understanding, and not placing such things in their hearts, because of the grace and mercy of God toward his saints and his regard for his elect. But the dead just man condemns the living impious, and a youth more quickly completed condemns the long life of the unjust. For they will see the end of the wise man, and will not understand what God has planned concerning him, and why the Lord has fortified him. But the Lord will mock them: and afterwards they will fall, without honor and in disgrace among the dead forever. Likewise there: But the just will live forever, and their reward is with the Lord, and their thought is with the Most High. Therefore they receive the kingdom of glory and the crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord: for God will cover them with his right hand, and will defend them with his arm. Likewise Job: For death gives rest to a just man. Likewise in

Revelation: And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Also, the Spirit says, that they may rest from their labors. For their works follow them. Likewise there: Weep little over the dead, because he has rested. Likewise there: Mourning for the dead is seven days. XCVII. ON THE DEATH OF THE WICKED. In Ecclesiasticus: For when a wicked man dies, he will inherit serpents and beasts and worms. Likewise there: A gathered synagogue of sinners is like tow: for their end is the underworld and a flame of fire. The way of sinners is smooth to the foot, and their end is the underworld and darkness and punishments. Likewise in the book of Wisdom: For they will see the end of the wise man, and will not understand what God has thought concerning him, and why the Lord has fortified him. But the Lord will mock them. And after this they will be fallen, without honor and in disgrace among the dead forever. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: There was a certain rich man, and he clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and feasted splendidly every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate full of sores, desiring to be filled from what fell from the rich man’s table, and no one gave to him. But dogs also came and licked his sores. And it happened that the beggar Lazarus died and was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham. But the rich man also died and was buried in hell.

and raising his eyes while in torment, he sees Abraham from afar, and Lazarus resting in his bosom. And he cried out in a loud voice, saying: Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, and let him dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Remember, son, that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things: now, however, he is comforted, while you are tormented. And beyond all this, between you and us there is a great chasm, and those who come to us cannot cross over to you, nor can they pass from there to here. And he said to him: I therefore ask you, Father, that you send to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them. And he said: No, Father Abraham: but if someone who has risen from the dead should go to them, he will persuade them, and they will do penance. But Abraham said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe him if someone rises from the dead.

CHAPTER 98. On Avarice. In Proverbs: He who hoards wheat in time of scarcity will leave it to his enemies. He who raises the price of wheat among the people will be cursed. But blessing is upon the head of him who shares. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: There is one who grows rich by being sparing, and this is part of his reward, when he says: I have found rest for myself, and now I will eat of my goods alone; and he does not know that time passes and he will leave everything to others. Likewise in the prophet Habakkuk: O he who acquires evil avarice for his own house! You have planned confusion for your house, your soul has sinned. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: A certain man from the crowd said to Jesus: Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But Jesus said to him: Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said to them: See and beware of all avarice, because no one's life consists in the abundance of what he possesses. And he also told them a parable of a certain rich man whose estate brought forth abundant fruits, and he thought to himself, saying: What shall I do, for I have no place to gather my fruits? And he said: I will do this: I will destroy my granaries and make them larger, and there I will gather all my fruits, and I will say to my soul: You have many goods for many years, feast. But God said to him: Fool, this night your soul is demanded from you; but what you have prepared, whose will it be? So it is with him who hoards for himself and is not rich in God. Likewise

The Apostle to Timothy I: We brought nothing into this world; truly, because we can carry nothing away. But having food and clothing, let us be content with these. For those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and the snare of the devil and many desires, which profit nothing, and harm, which plunge a man into ruin and perdition. For the root of all evils is covetousness: which some, pursuing, have suffered shipwreck from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. But you, man of God, flee these things. CHAPTER 99. On Spiritual Sacrifice. In Psalm 4: Sacrifice the sacrifice of justice, and hope in the Lord. Likewise in Psalm 49: Sacrifice to your God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High: call upon me in the day of your tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. Likewise there: A sacrifice of praise will honor me: there is the way, which I will show to him, my salvation. Likewise in Psalm 50: A sacrifice to God of a troubled spirit, a contrite and humbled heart God does not spurn. Likewise in Psalm 95: Offer to the Lord, of the nations of the fatherland, offer to the Lord glory and honor, offer to the Lord glory to his name. Take up the victims and enter into his courts. Worship the Lord in his holy hall. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: A salutary sacrifice is to attend to the commandments and to depart from all iniquity. Likewise in Proverbs: The beginning of a righteous way is doing good: these are acceptable before God more than sacrificing victims.

C. That Each Person Is Judged by His Own Work. In Psalm 9: The nations are fixed in the destruction which they have made; in that snare which they have hidden, their hope is caught. The Lord is known by the judgments He makes; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands. Likewise in Proverbs: By their own impiety they destroy their own soul. Likewise there: Iniquities seize men; each one is bound by the ropes of his own sins. He dies here with countless others, because he is without discipline; but from the multitude of his own life he is cast out and perishes on account of folly. Likewise in Proverbs: As a sour grape is harmful to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is iniquity to those who practice it. Likewise in the Book of Wisdom: That they might know that by what a man sins, by that he is also tormented. Likewise there: But a man kills himself by his own malice. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Likewise according to John: He who does not believe is already judged. Likewise in Leviticus: From among your brothers, the sons of Israel, let no one oppress his brother with sighs. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: Do not despise a man turning away from sin; remember that we are all subject to correction. Likewise there: As flying birds and sparrows, so a vain curse will not come upon anyone.

CI. That the Lord Has Left Man to His Own Free Will and Does Not Wish Anyone to Perish. In Ecclesiasticus: The Lord established man from the beginning, and left him to his own free will. He added commandments and precepts, if he should wish to keep the commandments and make his faith pleasing. He set before him water and fire: stretch forth your hand to whichever you will. Before man are life and death, good and evil: what pleases him will be given to him. Also there: He commanded no one to act impiously, and gave no one license to sin. Also the Apostle to Titus: For this is good and acceptable before our Savior God, who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Also James the Apostle: Whence wars? Whence quarrels among you? Are they not from your own wills, which war in your members, and are most sweet to you? CII. Concerning the Sadness of Sin. In Proverbs: As a moth to a garment and a worm to wood, so sadness harms a man's heart. Also there: A joyful heart makes for good health; but the bones of a sad man wither. Also in Ecclesiasticus: Blessed is the man who has not slipped with a word of his mouth and has not been stung by the sadness of sin. Fortunate is he who has had no grief and has not fallen from his hope.

CIII. That in Baptism All Sins Are Forgiven and That One Must Walk in Newness of Life. The Apostle Paul to the Romans: But God commends his love to us: because, if when we were still sinners, Christ suffered for you, much more now, reconciled in his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, reconciled, we shall be saved in his life. Likewise there: Do you not know, brothers, that whoever of us are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ rose from the dead, so also we may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be of the resurrection: knowing that our old man was crucified together, so that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer serve sin: for he who has died is justified from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ, rising from the dead, dies no more, death will no longer have dominion over him. For what died, died to sin once; what lives, lives to God. So also consider yourselves dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus. Likewise there: Therefore I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore nothing

now of condemnation is for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. Likewise there: But I beseech you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living, holy, God-pleasing sacrifice, your reasonable obedience. And do not conform yourselves to this world, but reform yourselves in the newness of your mind, that you may prove to yourselves what the will of God is, and what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. Likewise to the Corinthians: Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge the old leaven, that you may be a new mixture, as you are unleavened. For our Passover is Christ, who was sacrificed. And so let us celebrate the solemnity not in old leaven nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Likewise there: Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor effeminates, nor adulterers, nor men who

concubitors, nor thieves, nor the greedy, not drunkards, not slanderers, not plunderers will possess the kingdom of God; and these indeed you were, but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. Likewise to the Ephesians: This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk in such a way as the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having their intellect blinded by darkness, alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance which is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, despairing, have delivered themselves over to unchastity in the operation of every impurity and avarice. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and are taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you lay aside according to your former way of life the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of error. But be renewed by the spirit of your mind: put on the new man, who is created according to God in justice and sanctity and truth. Likewise Peter the Apostle II: Grace and peace to you be fulfilled in the recogni-

of our Lord Jesus Christ, who now has bestowed upon us by his divine power all things that pertain to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his illustrious power, through which honorable and greatest promises are granted to us, so that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature after escaping that which in the world is in the lust of a lost life. But you also, all of you, hasten, bringing forth in faith virtue, in virtue knowledge, in knowledge abstinence, in abstinence patience, in patience piety, in piety friendly brotherhood, in the affection of brotherhood charity. These things, since they are with you and prevail, so that you may not be found empty nor without fruits in the recognition of our Lord Jesus Christ. But for him to whom these are not at hand, he will receive blindness, vanity, and forgetfulness, if he is not cleansed from the contagion of former offenses. CIV. ON THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD.

In Psalm 68: "I am fixed in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance." Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: "They did not hear the voice of substance: from the birds of the air to the beasts they fell out of mind and perished." Likewise there: "For who will stand in the substance of the Lord and has seen his word? Who has lent an ear and heard?" Likewise there: "If they had stood in my substance and if they had heard my words and if they had taught my people, I would have turned them away from their most evil inventions." CV. SPIRITUAL ARMS ARE TO BE TAKEN UP AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESSES. In Deuteronomy: "But if you go out to wage war against your enemies, and you keep yourself from every evil thing." Likewise the Apostle to the Romans: "Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, but obey it. But neither exhibit your members as arms of iniquity to sin, but exhibit yourselves to God as living from the dead and your members as arms of righteousness to God." Likewise to the Corinthians II: "For walking in the flesh we do not serve according to the flesh — for the arms of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful through God for the destruction of strongholds — destroying counsels and every exaltation raising itself against the knowledge of God, reducing every thought into captivity, leading it into the service of Christ." Likewise to the Ephesians: "For the rest, be strengthened in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Put on the armor of God, so that you may be able to resist the snares of the devil: for your struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of this world of these shadows, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Therefore put on the armor of God, so that you may be able to resist on the evil day, and be perfect in all things, gird your loins in truth and put on the breastplate of justice and shoe your feet in the preparation of the gospel of peace, in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you may extinguish all the glowing darts of the wicked one, and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying through every prayer and supplication in the spirit at all times, and in that same spirit always keeping watch in every prayer for all the saints. Likewise to the Thessalonians I: Let us not sleep, but let us be watchful and sober. For those who sleep sleep by night, and those who get drunk are drunk by night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, put on the breastplate of faith and charity and the helmet of the hope of salvation. For God has not placed us in wrath, but in the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him.

CVI. ONE MUST FIRST ENDURE, AND THUS TEACH. In the Gospel according to Matthew: “Whoever shall loose from these least commandments and thus teach men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do them and thus teach, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Likewise there: “Not everyone who says to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Likewise to the Romans: “For hearers of the law are not just before God, but those who do the law shall be justified before God.” Likewise to the Corinthians I: “I therefore run thus, not as into uncertainty, I fight thus, not as striking the air, but I make my body livid and subject it to servitude, lest after I have preached to others, I myself be found reprobate.” Likewise to the Romans: “Therefore you are inexcusable, every man who judges: for in that wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself: for you do the same things which you judge. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. But do you think, man, you who judge those who do such things and do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

CVII. ONE MUST NOT PLACE HOPE IN MAN. In Psalm 117: It is good to hope in the Lord than to hope in man: it is good to trust in the Lord than to trust in princes. Likewise in Psalm 145: Do not trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Cursed is the man who places hope in man, and has strengthened the flesh of his own arm, and his heart has withdrawn from God. Likewise there: Those who trust in man are cursed, for God made them nothing. Likewise in the prophet Micah: Woe, for your vengeances have come, now their trials will be. Do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders. Likewise John the Apostle: Fear is not in charity, but perfect charity casts out fear: for fear has punishment, but he who fears is not perfect in charity. CVIII. THE MOURNING ARE TO BE CONSOLED OR THE SICK VISITED.

In Ecclesiasticus: Do not fail those who weep at a gathering, and walk with those who mourn. Do not be slow to visit the sick; for in these things you will be strengthened in love. Likewise the Apostle to the Romans: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep; feeling the same thing mutually. CIX. ONE MUST NOT CALL EVIL GOOD NOR GOOD EVIL. In Proverbs: He who judges the just as unjust, and the unjust as just, is abominable before God. Likewise there: He who calls the just impious will be cursed by peoples and hateful to nations. For those who reprove will hope for better things. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: Woe to those who say that what is evil is good and what is good is evil, who call darkness light and light darkness, who make bitter sweet and sweet bitter. CX. ONE MUST ABSTAIN FROM DELICACIES. In Ecclesiasticus: He who is in luxury from childhood will be a slave; in the end, however, he will grieve over himself. Likewise in the prophet Amos: You who sleep in ivory beds and take delight upon their couches, who eat kids from the flocks and suckling calves from the herds, who clap at the sound of organs, as if you esteemed them eternal and not as fleeting things: who drink strained wine and anoint yourselves with the finest ointments and grieved not at all at the destruction of Joseph. Likewise the Apostle Paul to the Romans: Therefore let not our good be blasphemed. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For he who in this serves Christ, pleases God and is approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue those things which are of peace, and let us mutually preserve those things which are of edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats through offense. It is good not to eat flesh and not to drink wine, nor that in which your brother is scandalized or offended or is weak. Likewise to the Corinthians I: But every one who contends in the contest is abstinent from all things, and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. I therefore run not as into uncertainty, I fight not as striking the air, but I make my body livid and subject it to servitude, lest, after having preached to others, I myself be found reprobate. Likewise to Timothy: But she who is truly a widow and desolate, hopes in God and persists in prayers night and day; but she who lives in delights, though living, is dead. Likewise there: Avoid younger widows; for when they have lived in delights in Christ, they wish to marry, having condemnation, because they have made their first faith void.

Likewise in the Epistle of James the Apostle: "And you have been delicate upon the earth and have been luxurious, but you have hardened your hearts on the day of slaughter." Likewise in Jeremiah the Prophet: "Those who eat delicacies have perished in excess; those who have flown over scarlet have embraced dung." Likewise Peter the Apostle II: "For if the angels, though greater in strength and virtue, do not bear the Lord's execrable judgment, these who, like beasts, are naturally born into plague and destruction, and themselves because they are ignorant are execrated, will perish in their own peril, receiving the reward of injustice, deeming malice sweetness, defiled by delights and infamous in the highest pleasures, attentive to banquets, having adulterous eyes and unceasing in delights, refiguring stable spirits and a trained heart: greedy and accursed, abandoned children, who have strayed from the path of truth." CXI. THOSE PLACED IN NEED AND IN SORROW ARE TO BE RESCUED.

In Proverbs: "Rescue those who are being led to death and redeem those who are being slain; do not spare. But if you say, 'I do not know this one,' know that the Lord knows the hearts of all: and He who fashioned the spirit of all, He knows all things, who renders to each according to his works." Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: "Free him who suffers injury from the hand of the insolent, and do not bear it ill in your soul when judging. Be merciful to orphans as a father, and to their mother for the husband; and you will be like a son of the Most High, obedient, and He will have mercy on you more than a mother." Likewise in Isaiah the prophet: "Seek justice, rescue the one receiving injury, judge for the orphan, and do justice to the widow. And come, let us reason together, says the Lord: and if your sins are like scarlet, like snow I will whiten them; but if like crimson, like white wool I will make them." Likewise in Jeremiah the prophet: "Rescue the plundered from the hand of the one doing him injury." Likewise in Proverbs: "Do not hand over a servant into the hands of the master, lest he curse you and you be destroyed." Likewise in Psalm 81: "Rescue the poor, and free the needy from the hand of the sinner.

CXII. That a Vineyard is called a Man, Peoples, or Nations. In Leviticus: "You shall not sow your vineyard for a double crop, and you shall not cover yourself with a garment of double texture, which is abominable." Likewise in Deuteronomy: "For from the vineyard of the Sodomites is their vine, and their shoot from Gomorrah: one of their grapes is gall, a cluster of bitterness in them." Likewise in Psalm 79: "You transplanted a vineyard from Egypt, you cast out the nations, and you planted it: you made a way before it, and you planted its roots and filled it. Its shadow covered the mountains, and its shrubs the cedars of God. You extended its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the rivers. Why did you destroy its wall, and do all who pass by the way harvest it? The wild boar from the forest has laid it waste, and a solitary wild beast has devoured it. God of hosts, turn now, look from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard, and direct it, which your right hand planted." Likewise in the Song of Songs: "The vineyards have flowered in fragrance, and there is fragrance in every place. Who is this that descends from the desert? Like a vine shoot perfumed by smoke." Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: "For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is a beloved new plant. I waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced thorns." Likewise in Proverbs: "Like a field is a foolish man, and like a vineyard is a man lacking prudence: if you leave him, he will be filled with thorns and will become hay and will be deserted, and—

The walls of its enclosures will be dug up. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Many shepherds have laid waste my vineyard, and have defiled my portion, they have turned my desirable portion into a desert. Likewise there: I planted you a whole fruitful true vine, how have you turned into the bitterness of another's vine? Likewise in the prophet Hosea: A vineyard in a good wall, Israel, its fruit most abundant according to the multitude of its fruits. Likewise in the prophet Joel: A strong and innumerable people has come up over my land: its teeth like the teeth of a lion, and its molars like the teeth of lion cubs. It has put my vineyard to destruction and my fig trees to breaking: it has searched and cast out, and has raised up its vines. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Jesus says: The kingdom of heaven is like a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. And when an agreement was made with the workers, that they would work for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw other workers standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them: Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you what is fair. And they went. And again he went out about the sixth and ninth hours and did the same. But also about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and said to them: Why are you standing here idle all day? And they said: Because no one hired us.

And he said to them: Go, you also, work in the vineyard. But when evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his overseer: Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first. Likewise there: And he said to them: Hear another parable. There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower in it, and leased it to tenants, and went abroad. But when the time of the harvest approached, he sent his servants to the cultivators of the vineyard to receive the fruit of the vineyard. And the tenants, having seized the servants, beat some, killed others, and stoned others. And he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise. Finally, he sent his only son, saying: They will respect my son. But they said among themselves: This is the heir, come, let us kill him and take possession of his inheritance. And having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to the tenants? And they said: He will destroy the wicked evilly, and he will give his vineyard to other cultivators who will render to him the fruit in its seasons.

113. That Holy Men Are Called in the Likeness of Clouds. In the prophet Isaiah: But now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its wall, and it will be for plunder, and I will destroy its fence, and it will be for trampling. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it. Again in Deuteronomy: Let my word be awaited like rain, and let my words descend like dew, like a shower upon the grass, and like snow upon the hay. Again in the prophet Isaiah: Let the sky delight from on high, and let the clouds drip righteousness, let the earth bring forth mercy and righteousness together. Again there: Who are these who fly like clouds and come to me like doves with their young? Again in the apostle Jude concerning the impious: Clouds without water, to be carried about by the wind. 114. That Men Bear the Image of Trees and of Hay and of Every Bird and Beast. In Psalm 28: The voice of the Lord preparing the cedars, and he revealed the thickets. Again in Psalm 51: But I, like

a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord. Likewise in Psalm 91: The just man will flourish like a palm, and will be multiplied like a cedar which is in Lebanon. Those planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, will flourish. Likewise in Psalm 127: Your sons are like new olive trees around your table. Likewise in the prophet Hosea: And I will arrange on that day a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the serpents of the earth. And judgment will arise like grass in the uncultivated land. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: And I myself will take from the chosen cedars, and from the top of their hearts I will pluck out a planting, and I will plant it on a high mountain, and I will suspend it on a high mountain of Israel and I will plant it, and it will produce a shoot and will bear fruit and will become a great cedar. And every bird will rest under it, and every fowl will rest under its shadow, and its shoots will be restored. And all the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord, who lowers the tall tree and raises the low tree and withers the green tree and makes the withered tree green again. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: All flesh is hay, and all the glory of men is like the flower of hay. The hay has withered and the flower has fallen, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Likewise there: Behold, I will make new things which will now arise, and I will make a way in the desert and a river in dry land.

the beasts of the field, the sirens, and the daughters of the sparrows will bless me, because I have given water in the desert and rivers in the dry land for my chosen race to drink, the people whom I have acquired for myself, that they might recount my virtues. For I will give water to the thirst of those who walk in dryness: and I will place my spirit in your seed, and it will spring up like grass in the midst of water, and like a willow beside the waters of the rivers. And all the trees of the field will clap their branches. Likewise in Psalm 102: A man's days are like grass, and like the flower of grass he will flourish. Likewise in Psalm 128: Let them become like the grass of the buildings, which withers before it is plucked up. Likewise in the prophet Hosea: He will flourish like a lily, and will send forth his roots like frankincense. His branches will be extended, and he will be like a fruitful olive, and his odor like that of frankincense. And I will strengthen him like a maturing juniper: from me your fruit is found. Likewise in the prophet Daniel: Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: The tree which you saw, strengthened and magnified, whose height reached up to heaven and whose breadth was in the whole earth, and its leaves broad, and its fruit abundant, and the food of all in it, and beneath it the beasts of the earth will dwell, and in its branches the birds of the sky, that tree is you, O king: because you have been magnified and have received power, and your greatness has been magnified and has reached up to heaven, and your dominion to the ends

of the earth. Also there: I saw a ram striking with its horns against the sea, the north, and the south; and all the beasts did not stand before it, and there was none who could rescue from its hand. Also in the prophet Ezekiel: Its princes in its midst are like roaring lions seizing, devouring the souls of men in their power. Also there: Its princes in its midst are like wolves seizing plunder to shed blood, so that they may be possessed by avarice. Also in Ecclesiasticus: Do not be like a lion in your own house, overturning your household and oppressing those subject to you. Also in Psalm 21: Many calves have surrounded me, fat bulls have besieged me; they have opened their mouths against me like a seizing and roaring lion. Also in the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptist: But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Offspring of vipers, who showed you how to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance. And do not say: We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you: God is able to raise up sons of Abraham from these stones. For the axe is already placed at the root of the tree. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Also there: Behold, I send you like sheep among wolves. Therefore be prudent as serpents and simple as doves.

Also there: Either make a good tree and its good fruit, or make a bad tree and its bad fruit; for the tree is known by its fruit. O generation of serpents, how can you speak good things, when you are evil? Also in the prophet Isaiah: In tribulation and distress, a lion and a lion’s cub, and likewise asps and the offspring of asps, who carried on asses and camels riches to a people that will not profit them. Also in the prophet Jeremiah: Israel is a wandering sheep: lions drove him out; the first to devour him was the king of the Assyrians, and the last, the king of Babylon, his bones. Also there: They rose up like lions and like lion cubs. In their heat I will give them a cup and make them drunk, so that they may be stupefied, so that they may sleep an eternal sleep and not rise, says the Lord. CXV. THAT ONE MUST NOT MURMUR. In Exodus: Because the Lord heard your murmuring, that you murmured against us. For your murmuring is not against us, but against God.

CXVI. That men are called in the likeness of the stars. In Genesis: And Abraham led him out and said to him: Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them: so shall your seed be. Likewise in Psalm 146: Who counts the multitude of the stars, and calls them all by name. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: But the stars gave light in their watches and rejoiced. You will call them, and they said: We are here, and they shone with joy. Likewise in the prophet Daniel: And those who understand will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and many from among the just like stars in the world. Likewise in the book of Judges: The stars in order fought against Sisera. Likewise in the prophet Nahum: You have multiplied your merchants like the stars of the sky. Likewise the Apostle to the Corinthians I: For star differs from star in brightness. So also the resurrection of the dead. Likewise to the Philippians: Among whom you will appear as lights in this world, containing the word of life. Then the just will shine.

CXVII. That evil men are called dogs. In 2 Kings: And Abishai, son of Zeruiah, hearing Shimei cursing King David, said to the king: Why does this cursed dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head. Likewise in Psalm 22: For many dogs have surrounded me, a council of the malignant has besieged me. Likewise in Psalm 59: They will turn at evening and suffer hunger like dogs, and they will go around the city. They will scatter to eat: but if they are not sated, they will also murmur. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: What communion has a holy man with a dog? Likewise in Isaiah: See that all are blinded, they have not known how to be wise: all mute dogs that could not bark, dreaming in their lair. And dogs of shameless spirit, knowing no satiety: and they are worthless, knowing no understanding. They have all followed their own ways, each one in the same thing. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Do not give the holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and, turning, rend you. Likewise there: It is not permitted to take the bread of children and throw it to dogs. Likewise the apostle Paul to the Philippians: See the dogs, see the evil workers, see the circumcision. Likewise in the Apocalypse: Out with dogs and sorcerers and adulterers and those serving idols.

CXVIII. That a house or temple is to be understood as man himself. In Leviticus: But if a stain comes again and arises in the house, after the stones have been pulled out and after the house has been scraped and after it has been scrubbed, the priest shall enter and see: if the stain of the stone has spread in the house and is persistent in that house, it is unclean. And they shall demolish that house, and they shall cast its material and its stones and all the dust of the house outside the city into an unclean place. Likewise in Proverbs: The house of the proud the Lord will destroy. Likewise there: He who makes his house high seeks ruin. Likewise there: When a house is built with wisdom, and raised up with understanding, the granaries are filled with all precious and good riches. Likewise there: Prepare your works at the exit, and prepare in the field, and come behind me, and you will build your house. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: He who builds his house with the expenses of others is like one who gathers his stones in winter. Likewise there: If you do not hold fast to the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overturned. Likewise there: Do not bring every man into your house, for the snares of the deceitful are many. Likewise in Job: Does he not know that death will crush the earthly house, and everything that is mortal will be dissolved? Likewise in Jeremiah: Woe to him who builds his house not with justice, and the upper chambers of his dwelling not with judgment!

Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: And everyone who hears my words and does them, I will consider him like a wise man who built his house upon rock. Rain came down, rivers arrived, winds came and struck against that house, and it did not fall: for it was founded upon rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who builds his house upon sand. Rain came down, rivers arrived and struck against that house, and it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. Also according to John: Tear down this temple made by hand, and in three days I will raise it up without hands. Then the Jews said: This temple was built in forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days? But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. Also the Apostle to the Corinthians I: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone violates the temple of God, God will violate him: for the temple of God is holy, which you are. Also there: Or do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body. Also to the Corinthians II: For we know that if our earthly house of this habitation is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made by hand, eternal in the heavens.

For we groan in this, desiring to be clothed over our dwelling, which is from heaven: if, however, stripped, we are not found naked. CXIX. THAT A MAN OUGHT TO BE GIRT WITH SPIRITUAL LOINS. In Exodus, concerning the paschal lamb: But you shall eat it thus: with your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and you shall eat it with haste. Likewise in 4 Kings: And Eliseus said to Giezi: Gird your loins and take my staff in your hand and go: and if you meet anyone coming, do not bless him, but even if someone blesses you, you shall not answer him: and when you come, place my staff upon the face of his child. Likewise there: Eliseus called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him: Gird your loins and take a flask of oil and go to Ramoth-Gilead. And when you enter there, behold, there is Jehu son of Nimshi. Having entered, you shall separate him from among his brothers and lead him from chamber to chamber. And you shall take the flask and pour it upon his head, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king of Israel. And you shall open the door and flee, and you shall not remain there. Likewise in Proverbs: She strongly girded her loins, she fixed her arms for the work. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: Therefore he will raise a sign among the nations, among those far off and among those near: and he will draw them from the ends of the earth, and behold, they will come quickly and lightly.

They shall not hunger, nor labour, nor slumber, nor sleep, nor shall they loose their girdles from their loins, nor shall the thongs of their shoes be broken. Likewise to the prophet Jeremiah: And you, gird your loins and arise and speak all things whatsoever I shall command you: fear not their face, nor be dismayed in their sight. Likewise in the prophet Nahum: Consider the way, gird your loins, act manfully in exceeding strength. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: But let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and you like men waiting for their lord when he comes from the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks, you may at once open to him. Blessed are those servants whom, when the lord comes, he shall find watching. Likewise the apostle Peter: Girded in the loins of your mind, sober perfectly, hope in that grace which is offered to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ, as children of your desires, mingling yourselves with those former desires of your ignorance.

but according to him who called you holy, be holy in all your conduct, for it is written: Be holy, for I also am holy. CXX. MEN, WHETHER SAINTS OR THE WICKED, ARE CALLED MOUNTAINS. In Psalm 64: And your fields will be filled with abundance: the borders of the desert will grow fertile, and the hills will be girded with exultation. The rams of the sheep are clothed, and the valleys will abound with grain: for they will shout and sing a hymn. Likewise in Psalm 86: Its foundations are in the holy mountains, the Lord loves the gates of Zion above all the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things have been said of you, city of God. Likewise in Psalm 113: The mountains will exult like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep. Likewise in Proverbs: It is proclaimed on the tops of the mountains, but it stands at the gates of the mighty. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: And I will not abandon them, but I will open rivers in the mountains, and springs in the midst of the fields: I will turn the desert into pools and the thirsty land into rivers of water. Likewise the prophet Micah: Draw near to the eternal mountains. Likewise the prophet Joel: And on that day, the mountains will drip sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk. Likewise in Nahum: Thus says the Lord, the prince of many waters: I will destroy your carved and molten images for burial: for behold, swift feet upon the mountains evangelizing and announcing peace.

Also in the prophet Ezekiel: Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy to them, and you shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Also there: But your mountains of Israel will produce grape and your fruit, which you, my people, who are about to come, will eat. Also in the prophet Isaiah: Behold, the mountains shout for joy, and the hills and all the trees that are in them. Also there: Let the mountains burst forth with gladness, because God has taken pity on his people. Also there: For the mountains and hills will leap, awaiting you in joy, and all the trees of the field will clap with their branches. CXXI. THAT UNCLEAN SPIRITS OR VICES ARE CALLED MOUNTAINS, HILLS, BEASTS, BIRDS, ROCKS, NATIONS, STONES, AND THORNS. In Psalm 45: Therefore we will not fear, when the earth is shaken and the mountains are moved in the heart of the sea. Their waters have sounded and been troubled, the mountains have been troubled in

his strength. Likewise in Psalm 73: Because the enemy has reproached the Lord, and the foolish people have embittered your name. Do not deliver to the beasts the souls that confess to you, do not forget the souls of your poor in the end. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: As from the face of a serpent, flee sins. If you approach them, they will receive you like the teeth of a lion devouring and killing, like a two-edged sword avenging iniquities. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: And it shall be on that day, the Lord will remove the flies that rule in the parts of the river of Egypt, and the bees that are in their region. Likewise there: Cleanse the ways from his sight, and remove the stumbling blocks from the path of my people. Likewise there: Enter through my gates and make a way for my people and cast the stones from the path. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Give glory to your Lord God before it grows dark and before your feet stumble in the dark mountains. Likewise in the prophet Nahum: The mountains were shaken by him, and the hills trembled, and the whole earth feared, and the rocks were broken before him. Likewise in the prophet Habakkuk: The nations have flowed away, the mountains have been violently shattered, the eternal hills have been melted. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: That great eagle of great wings, with long extension, full of claws, which has the leadership to enter into Lebanon and take the chosen of the cedar, the highest tenderness, it tore out and brought into the land of Canaan, and placed them in a walled city.

Likewise in Job: "And destroy what with the stones of the field is your covenant." Likewise in the prophet Amos: "And I took away the Amorite from before their face, whose height was like the height of a cedar and his strength like an oak; and I took away his fruit from the top and his roots from the bottom." Likewise the prophet Joel: "Because a nation has come up upon the land, a strong and innumerable nation; its teeth like the teeth of a lion, and its molars like the cubs of lions. It has laid waste my vineyard and broken my fig trees." Likewise according to Matthew: "Jesus commanded, and that demon went out, and the boy was made whole from that hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus secretly and said: Why could we not expel it? He said to them: Because of your unbelief. Amen I say to you: If you had faith as a grain of mustard, you would say to this mountain: Move from here to there, and it would move, and nothing would be impossible for you.

122. That no saint is equal to God. In Exodus: "Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?" Likewise in Psalm 88: "For who in the clouds will be equal to the Lord? Or who will be like God among the sons of God? God, who is glorified in the council of the saints, great and fearsome above all who are around him. Lord God of hosts, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your truth is around you." 123. That we are protected by the guardianship of angels. In Deuteronomy: "He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." Likewise in Tobit, the angel Raphael: "And when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I offered up the memorial of your prayer before the Lord." Likewise according to Matthew: "See that you do not despise any of these little ones who believe in me: I tell you, for their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven." Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: "They announced that Peter was standing at the door. They said, 'No, but it is his angel.'" Likewise in the Apocalypse of John: "And to the angel of the church of Ephesus write.

124. That a man is called a wall. In Psalm 61: "How long will you rush against men, knowing all to be like a leaning wall and a battered fence? Yet they thought to cast down my honor." Likewise in Psalm 78: "Why have you destroyed his wall?" Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: "And they will build a wall, and they themselves will anoint it. If it falls, say to those anointing it. And it will fall, and there will be a flooding rain, and I will give stones and clods of rock as their bindings, and they will fall, and a wind that lifts up, and it will be broken. And behold, the wall has fallen, and they will say to you: 'Where is your anointing, with which you anointed?' Therefore thus says the Lord: 'I will break the wind that lifts up with anger, and the flooding rain will be in my anger, and I will bring stones of rock and clods in my wrath to completion. And I will dig up the wall which you anointed, and it will fall. And I will lay it to the ground, and its foundations will be laid bare, and it will collapse, and you will be finished with rebukes: and you will know that I am the Lord. And I will complete my anger upon the wall and upon those anointing it, and it will fall. And I said to you: It is not a wall, nor those who anoint it. But the prophets of Israel, who prophesy in Jerusalem,'

and those who see peace with him, and there is no peace, says the Lord. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful to men on the outside, but inside are full of human bones and every filth." Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: "God will strike you, whitewashed wall." Likewise to the Ephesians: "And he emptied the law of the commandments by his judgments, so that he might unite two in himself in one new man: and dissolving the middle partition of the fence, enmity in his own flesh." Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: "And the bricks will flow out, and the wall will fall, because the Lord has reigned in Zion and in Jerusalem." Likewise there: "The height of the refuge of your wall will be humbled and will descend to the pavement." Likewise there: "And you will cast down fortified cities and bring them down to the pavement, and the feet of the meek and humble will trample them." Likewise there: "And from the pavement your voice will grow weak." Likewise there: "This people who provoke me against me always: they sacrifice in gardens and burn on bricks to demons, which are nothing, and they sleep in tombs and caves for the sake of dreams, who eat swine's flesh and the broth of sacrifices: all their vessels are polluted.

CXXV. The Saints Are Sated with Spiritual Food or Drink. In Deuteronomy: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. Likewise in the prophet Habakkuk: The just man, however, lives by my faith. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: Jesus answered and said to him: Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never thirst, but it will be for him a fountain of living water springing up into eternal life. Meanwhile, however, his disciples were asking him, saying: Rabbi, eat. But Jesus said to them: I have food to eat which you do not know. Therefore his disciples said among themselves: Has anyone brought him something to eat? Jesus says to them: My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Likewise there: And he said to them: Amen, I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which descends from heaven and gives life to this world. They said: Lord, always give us this bread. And Jesus said: I am the bread of life: he who comes to me

will not hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. Likewise there: But the Jews murmured about what he said: I am the bread that descended from heaven, and they said: Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say: I descended from heaven? Again he says: I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert and died. But this is the bread that descends from heaven, so that whoever eats of it will not die. I am the living bread that descended from heaven: if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and this bread, which I will give for the life of this world, is my body. So the Jews argued among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his body to eat? And Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the body of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. For whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink.

who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will also live because of me. This is the bread that descended from heaven, not like the manna your fathers ate, and they died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. CXXVI. THAT WATER AND FIRE ARE CALLED PEOPLES OR VICES. In Psalm 17: The groans of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity troubled me. The pains of hell found me, the snares of death overtook me. He took me from the multitude of waters, he delivered me from my mighty enemies. Likewise in Psalm 136: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows in its midst we hung up our instruments. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: I will place rivers in islands and dry up pools. And I will lead the blind on a path they did not know, and I will make them tread paths they did not know, and I will make darkness into light for them and straighten what is crooked. I will do these things and I will not abandon them. Likewise there: You are mine. Even if you pass through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not burn you. Even if you pass through water, I am with you and rivers will not enclose you: because I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, who saves you. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: And now what is it to you and the ways of Egypt, that you drink the water of Geon?

and why for you the way of the Assyrians, to drink the waters of the rivers? Likewise there: The water of Egypt said: I shall ascend and cover the earth. CXXVII. THAT ONE CALLED TO FAITH OUGHT NOT TO TURN BACK. In the prophet Isaiah: Do not remember former things, nor think of ancient ones. Likewise according to Matthew: But when Jesus saw a very great crowd around him, he commanded that they go across the region. And one of the scribes came to him and said to him: Master, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him: Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have places where they rest, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And behold, another of his disciples said to him: Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. Jesus answered him, saying: Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead; but you, go, and announce the kingdom of God. Likewise according to Luke: And another said: I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to bid farewell to those who are at home. Jesus said to him:

No one placing his hand on the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. CXXVIII. THAT THE DEVIL WAS MADE AN ANGEL BY THE LORD AND AFTERWARDS WAS CHANGED BY TRANSGRESSION. In Psalm 81: I said: You are gods and all sons of the Most High: but you will die like men, and you will fall like one of the princes. Likewise in Psalm 103: This dragon, whom you formed to mock him. Likewise in Job: By command, however, he slew the deserting dragon. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: How did Lucifer, who rose in the morning, fall from heaven? Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: You are the seal of likeness and the crown of beauty, and you were in the delights of the paradise of God. With the cherubim I placed you on the holy mountain of God, and you sinned and were wounded from the mountain of the Lord. Your teaching was corrupted along with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins I cast you to the earth; before the eyes of kings I gave you into deception because of the multitude of your sins. And you said: God of Sam, I have inhabited the dwelling of God.

CXXIX. ON THE SIMILITUDE OF THE STAG. In Psalm 17: God, who girded me with strength, and set my path immaculate, who perfected my feet like the stag, and set me upon the heights. Likewise in Psalm 41: As the stag longs for the springs of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. Likewise in Proverbs: The stag of friendship and the fawn of your graces shall converse with you. Likewise in the Song of Songs: Behold, he comes leaping over the mountains and bounding over the hills. My brother is like a hind or a fawn of stags upon the mountains of the Soccoth. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: There the stags will meet and will see each other's face. They passed over in number, and not one of them perished; one did not seek another, because the Lord commanded them, and his spirit gathered them. And he himself casts the lot among them, and his hand divided the pasture. For eternal time you will possess the inheritance, and for ages of ages you will rest in it.

CXXX. THAT THE PEOPLES ARE CALLED WATERS. In the book of Esther: But the rivers were the nations which gathered to destroy the race of the Jews. Likewise in Jeremiah: Behold, waters rise from the north into a flooding torrent, and they will flood the earth and its fullness, the city and its inhabitants. And all will cry out and wail, and all who dwell on the earth, at the sound of its onrush, at its arms and its feet and at the shaking of their chariots and at the noise of its wheels. Likewise the prophet Amos: Behold, days are coming, says the Lord: and I will send a famine upon the earth, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine for hearing the word of the Lord. And the waters will be stirred up as far as the sea and from the north as far as the south, seeking the word of the Lord, and they will not find it. Likewise in the Apocalypse of John: The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. CXXXI. ON THE FOUNTAINS OF THE LORD.

In Psalm 67: In the churches, bless the Lord God from the springs of Israel. Likewise in Proverbs: Let not the springs of the Lord fail you, but guard them in your whole heart. Likewise there: You will drink waters from your own vessels and from the source of your own wells. Let waters from your own spring overflow for you, but in your own streets let your waters circulate: let the spring of your water be your own, and let no stranger share with you. Likewise there: The spring of life is in the hand of the just. Likewise there: The law is a spring of life for the wise. Likewise there: The precepts of the Lord are a spring of life: they cause one to turn aside from the snare of death. Likewise there: The spring of life is counsel for the one who possesses it. Likewise there: But a river flows, and a spring of life. CXXXII. THAT THE WATERS ARE ABOVE THE HEAVEN. In Genesis: And God divided between the water which is under the firmament and the water which is above the firmament. Likewise there: All the springs of the abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened, and the rains of the deluge fell upon the whole earth. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: The Lord who made the earth in his strength and in his wisdom stretched out the heaven and the multitude of water in the heaven. Likewise there: In the voice he placed the sound of waters in the heaven. Likewise in Daniel: Bless, all waters above the heaven, the Lord. Likewise in Psalm 148: Praise him, heavens of heavens, and let the waters which are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord.

CXXXIII. On Drunkenness and the Cup of Wrath. In Isaiah the prophet: Faint, be senseless, and be drunk not with sicera nor with wine: for God has given you to drink the spirit of compunction. Likewise there: Therefore hear, humiliated and drunk not with wine. For the wrath of the Lord will come like a violent river with indignation. Likewise in Habakkuk the prophet: The cup of the Lord's right hand has surrounded you, and injury has come upon your honor. Likewise in Psalm 10: He rained upon sinners snares, fire, sulfur, and the spirits of storms are part of their cup. Likewise in the Apocalypse of John: Fallen, fallen is great Babylon: from the wine of her fornication's wrath all nations have drunk. Likewise there: If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, this one also will drink of the indignation of God, which is mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath, and will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the sight of angels and the lamb. And their smoke and torment ascends for ages of ages. Likewise there: And I heard another voice from heaven saying: Depart from her, my people, that you may not share in her sins and that you may not receive from her plagues. Because her sins have approached up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her, as she herself has rendered, and double the double according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix for her double: and as much as she magnified herself and was wanton, so much give her torment and mourning.

because in her heart she says: I sit as queen, and I am not a widow, and I shall not see mourning. Therefore in one hour her punishment will come, death and famine and mourning, and she will be burned with fire: because the Lord God is strong, who judges her. CXXXIV. THAT THE LORD GOD IS CALLED BY THIS NAME. In Exodus: I am who I am. Likewise there: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: He who is has sent me to you. Likewise there: And the Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name, eternal and memorable for ever and ever. Likewise in Exodus: The Lord who shatters wars, the Lord is his name. Likewise in the prophet Amos: He who summons the water of the sea and pours it out upon the face of the earth, the Lord God Almighty is his name. CXXXV. THAT THE LAND OF DELIGHTS IS CALLED THE MAN OF GOD. In Psalm 84: You have blessed, O Lord, your land. You have turned back the captivity of Jacob. You have remitted the iniquity of your people, you have covered all their sins. Likewise there: And our land will give its fruit. Likewise in Psalm 106: You have placed a desert into pools of waters, and a land without water into outflows of waters: and you have settled the hungry there. Likewise in Isaiah: That which is without water will be a marsh: and in a thirsty land there will be a spring of water. And there will no longer be a lion there, nor any of the evil beasts. Likewise there: Behold, I will make new things which will now arise. And I will make a way in the desert and a river in a dry land. Likewise

there: And they will be like a drunken garden and like a fountain whose water does not fail. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: And they will say: that land, which was laid waste, has become like a garden of delights. Likewise according to Matthew: But he who is sown upon good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands, and bears fruit: one hundredfold, another sixtyfold, another thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. CXXXVI. CONCERNING FOXES IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. In Judges: And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took lamps and tied them to the tails, tail to tail in pairs, and placed single lamps between two tails in the middle, and set the lamps on fire and let them loose among the fields of the foreigners: and he burned their ears of grain and what had been reaped, but also the vineyards and olive groves. Likewise in the Song of Songs: Catch for us the little foxes that are destroying the vineyard. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Therefore our heart has become grieved, and because of this our eyes have been darkened, over Mount Zion, because it has been laid waste, foxes have passed through it. Likewise in Ezekiel: Thus says the Lord: Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart and see nothing at all! Like foxes in the desert are your prophets, O Israel; they did not stand firm, and they gathered a king over the house of Israel; they did not rise up who would speak on the day of the Lord. Likewise

According to Matthew: Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have places where they may rest, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Likewise according to Luke: Some of the Pharisees approached, saying to him: go out and depart from here, because Herod wishes to kill you. And Jesus said to them: go, tell that fox: behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall be perfected. Go, because it is impossible for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem. CXXXVII. ON HOSPITALITY. In 4 Kings: And Elijah went from there to Carmel, and from there he came to Shunem. And the day came, and there was a great woman there, who, when she had detained him to eat bread, and when he frequently went in and out, the woman said to her husband: behold, I know that a man of God is here, who has come to us, and he is holy, and therefore let us by all means make him a room upstairs with small walls, and we will place there a table and a bed and a chair and a candlestick: and when he comes to us, he will turn aside there. And when the day came, Elijah came and went up into the upper chamber and lay down there. And afterwards, sitting down, he said to Gehazi his servant: call that Shunammite woman. And he called her: and when she stood before him, he said to her: behold, you have honored us with every honor and have prepared a dwelling for us, what shall we give you in return? And Elijah said to Gehazi his servant: what then shall we do for her? And Gehazi said: clearly she has no son, and her husband is old.

And he said: Call her. And he called her to the door. And Elisha said: This word will be a testimony, because according to this time you will live, and you will conceive a son. And the woman said: Do not, man of God, mock your handmaid. And the woman conceived and bore a son at that same time. Likewise in the book of Wisdom: Because it is necessary to be just and humane. Likewise the Apostle to the Romans: Practicing hospitality, bless and do not curse. Likewise the Apostle Peter: Show hospitality to one another without murmuring. Likewise in the book of Judges: And the elder said to the guest: Peace to you! Everything that you lack will be provided by me, only do not remain here in the streets. And he brought the man into his house and put food for his beasts, and the men washed their feet, and they ate and drank. CXXXVIII. MEN CALLED HARVEST OR FRUITS. In the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptist: I indeed baptize you in water in penance: but one stronger than I comes, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry: he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. He who has

a winnowing-fan in his hand and will clean his threshing-floor: he will gather his grain into his granary, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire. Likewise there: Jesus said to his disciples: The harvest is great, but the laborers are few: therefore ask the lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest. Likewise there: He who sows good seed is the son of man, and this field is the world, and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom: but the tares are the sons of iniquity. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The son of man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all scandals and those who do iniquity. And he will send them into the furnace of fire: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Likewise according to John: Do you not say that there are still four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you: lift up your eyes and see the regions, because they are white for the harvest. For just as he who reaps will receive a reward and will gather the fruit

into eternal life, and the one who sows will rejoice together with the one who reaps, for in this is the word of truth, because one is the sower and another is the reaper. I sent you to reap what you did not labor for: others, however, labored, and you entered into their labor. CXXXIX. A WIFE IS NOT TO BE DISMISSED EXCEPT FOR THE CAUSE OF ADULTERY. In the Gospel according to Matthew: The Pharisees approached him, tempting him and saying: Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife for any cause? To whom Jesus answered and said: Have you not read that he who made from the beginning male and female said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh? Therefore what God has joined, man shall not separate. They say to him: Why then did Moses command that a bill of divorce be given and a wife be dismissed? To whom Jesus said: Because Moses, according to your hardness, permitted you to dismiss your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, however, that whoever dismisses his wife except for the cause of adultery and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman dismissed by her husband commits adultery. Likewise the Apostle to the Corinthians I: To those who are joined in marriage I command, not I but the Lord, that a wife not depart from her husband. But if she does depart, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to dismiss his wife.

CXL. ON THE TABERNACLE. In the prophet Isaiah: Your tabernacles shall not be moved, nor shall the coverings of his tabernacle be worn out for ever, nor shall its ropes be broken: for you will call upon the great name of the Lord. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Your tabernacle has become wretched, it has perished, and all its skins are torn. CXLI. ON THE WASHING OF FEET. In Genesis, Abraham: And God appeared to him at the oak of Mamre, while he was sitting at the door of his tabernacle at midday. And when he lifted up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men were standing over him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tabernacle and bowed down to the ground and said: Lord, if I have found favor before you, do not pass by your servant: let water be brought and your feet be washed, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will bring bread and you shall eat, and afterwards you will go on your way, for which you have turned aside to your servant.

they did: "Do as you have said." Likewise in the Gospel according to John: And after supper, when the devil had already insinuated himself into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, and put down his garments, and having taken a linen cloth, girded himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to dry them with the linen cloth with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to him: "Lord, are you washing my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him: "What I am doing, you do not know; you will understand later." Peter said to him: "You will not wash my feet forever." Jesus answered: "If I do not wash your feet, you will have no part with me." Simon Peter said to him: "Lord, then not only my feet, but also my hands and head." Jesus said to him: "He who is washed does not need to wash his feet, for he is clean: and you are clean, but not all." For he knew who it was that would betray him. Therefore he said: "You are clean, but not all." And after he washed their feet, he took his garments, and when again

had reclined, says to them: "Do you know what I have done for you? You have called me master and lord, and you say well: for I am. If, therefore, I, your lord and master, have washed your feet, how much more ought you to wash one another's feet? For I have given you an example, that as I do to you, so you also should do. Amen, I say to you, that no servant is greater than his master, nor any apostle greater than the one who sent him. Knowing these things, you are blessed if you do them." Likewise to Timothy I: "A widow is to be chosen not less than sixty years of age, who has been the wife of one man, having testimony in good works, if she has raised children, if she has received guests, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has ministered to those suffering tribulation, if she has followed every good work." Likewise in Genesis: "And Symeon brought them out, and they brought water and washed their feet." CXLII. ALL THINGS ARE TO BE DONE FOR THE GLORY OR IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.

The Apostle to the Corinthians I: Whether you eat or drink or do anything, do all for the glory of God. Likewise to the Colossians: Everything you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. CXLIII. ON THE HOLY LIFE OF SAMUEL AND THE APOSTLE PAUL, THAT WE ARE CAPTURED BY AVARICE. In 1 Kings: And when Samuel had feasted with all the men of Israel to satiety, he said to every man of Israel: "Behold, I have heard your voice in all things that you have said to me, and I have set a king over you. And now behold, because a king goes before you. And I have grown old; it is fitting that I rest. But my sons are with you. And since I have lived among you from my youth until this present day, behold, I am here. Answer against me before the Lord and before his Christ, whether I have taken a calf from anyone, or whether I have taken away a donkey from anyone, or whether I have harmed anyone by power, or whether I have oppressed anyone, or whether I have taken from anyone's hand for intercession or a shoelace: speak against me, and I will repay you." They answered Samuel, saying: "You have harmed no one by power, nor have you oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from anyone's hand." And Samuel said to the people: "The Lord is witness among you, and his Christ is witness on this day, because you have found nothing in my hand.

And they said: "He is a witness." Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul to his bishops or disciples: "I have coveted neither silver nor gold nor clothing of any of you. You yourselves know that for those things which were necessary for me in all my use and that of those who are with me, these hands have been ready; I have demonstrated to all of you that those who labor thus ought to help the weak and be mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, because He Himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" CXLIIII. THAT THE LORD IS CALLED THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. In the prophet Jeremiah: "Lord, let all who abandon You be confounded: let those departing from the land be overturned, who have abandoned the fountain of life, the Lord." Likewise there: "The heaven has shuddered vehemently at these things," says the Lord, "because my people have done these two evils: they have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves worn-out cisterns, which could not hold water." Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: "For behold, a just king has reigned, and I have raised up a king with justice and a prince with judgment: he will rule, and there will be a man, hiding his words, and he will hide himself as from a stroke of water: and he will appear in Zion like a splendid river in a thirsty land." Likewise there: "Because water has burst forth in the desert and streams in a thirsty land: and what is without water will become marshes: and in a thirsty land there will be a fountain of water." Likewise the prophet Joel: "And a fountain will go out from the house and will water the multitude.

Likewise according to John: On that last great feast day, Jesus stood and cried out, saying: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as Scripture said, rivers of living water will flow from his belly." But he said this concerning the Spirit, which believers were about to receive. Likewise in Psalm 35: "They shall be inebriated from the breasts of your house, and you will give them the torrent of your will to drink. For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light.