Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews

In Jeremiah the Lord says: I sent to you my servants the prophets. Before dawn I sent them, and you did not hear me, nor did you incline your ears, saying: Let every one turn from his evil way and from your most wicked pursuits; and you shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and to your fathers from of old and for ever. And again: Do not walk after strange gods to serve them, and do not worship them, and do not provoke me by the works of your hands to destroy you, and you did not hear me. Likewise in the third book of Kings, Elijah says to the Lord: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God Almighty; for the children of Israel have forsaken thee, they have thrown down thine altars, and have slain thy prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek to take away my life.

Likewise in Esdras: They have revolted from thee, and have cast thy law behind their backs, and have slain thy prophets, who testified to them that they should return to thee.

In Isaiah: Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me. The ox has known his owner and the ass the manger of his Lord: but Israel has not known me, and the people has not understood me. Woe, sinful nation, people full of sins, wicked seed, iniquitous children; you have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked to indignation the Holy One of Israel. Likewise in the same, the Lord says: Go, and say to this people: You shall hear with the ear, and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has been made fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest perhaps they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.

Likewise in Jeremiah the Lord says: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns, which are not able to hold water. Likewise in the same: Behold the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach, and they do not wish it. Likewise in the same the Lord says: The kite has known its time, the turtle-dove and the swallow, the sparrows of the field have kept the seasons of their coming in, but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord. How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? In vain has the false measuring-line been made, the scribes have been confounded, the wise men have trembled and been taken, because they have rejected the word of the Lord. Likewise in Solomon: The wicked shall seek me, and shall not find me. For they have hated wisdom, and have not received the word of the Lord.

Likewise: Render to them their recompense, because they have not understood in the works of the Lord. Likewise: They have not known nor understood, they shall walk in darkness. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God, who believe in his name.

In Isaiah: And all these words shall be to you as the words of a book that is sealed: which if you give to a man that knows letters to read, he will say: I cannot read it, for it is sealed. But in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book; and the eyes of the blind, who are in darkness and in a cloud, shall see. Likewise in Jeremiah: In the last days you shall understand these things. Likewise in Daniel: Seal up the words and seal the book until the time of the consummation, until many learn, and knowledge be fulfilled; for when the dispersion shall come to pass, they shall know all these things. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud.

Likewise in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: Their senses have been blunted until this day, the same veil remaining in the reading of the old Testament which is not taken away, because it is done away in Christ; and until this day, when Moses is read, a veil is upon their heart. But as soon as they shall be converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. In the Gospel the Lord says after the resurrection: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, and said to them: Because it is thus written, and thus it behoved a Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations.

In Isaiah: And if you will not believe, neither shall you understand. Likewise the Lord in the Gospel: For if you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins. But that righteousness stands by faith and that life is therein was foretold in Habakkuk: But the just shall live by my faith. Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed. In Genesis: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Likewise Paul to the Galatians: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Know therefore that they who are of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. But the divine Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold to Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed. Therefore they who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

In Isaiah: Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your country in your sight; and the daughter of Sion shall be left desolate and overthrown by foreign peoples, as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, as a city that is besieged. And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like unto Gomorrha. Likewise in the Gospel the Lord says: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! And thou wouldest not. Behold your house shall be left to you desolate.

In Isaiah: Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has sent away his people, the house of Israel. Likewise in his Gospel according to John: There was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world. He was in this world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Likewise there: He who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light came into the world, and men loved darkness more than light.

In Jeremiah: Thus says the Lord to the men of Juda and to those who dwell in Jerusalem: Renew among yourselves a newness, and do not sow among thorns; circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart, lest my wrath go forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it. Likewise Moses says: In the last days God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed to love the Lord your God. Likewise in Jesus Nave: And the Lord said to Jesus: Make thee knives of stone very sharp, and sit down and circumcise the second time the children of Israel. Likewise Paul to the Colossians: You are circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand in the putting off of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ.

Likewise, that the first Adam was made by God uncircumcised, and Abel the just, and Enoch, who pleased God and was translated; and Noah, who, when the earth and men were perishing on account of their sins, was alone chosen in whom the human race should be preserved; and Melchisedech the priest, according to whose order Christ was promised, and moreover that that seal of the seed profits nothing, but all are sealed with the sign of the Lord.

In Isaiah: Then shall be manifest those who seal up the Law, that they may not learn. And he shall say: I wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him. Likewise in the Gospel: All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

In Micah: For the Law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many peoples, and shall convict and lay bare mighty nations. Likewise in Isaiah: For the Law shall proceed from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among the nations. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: And behold a voice from the cloud saying: This is my most beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.

In Jeremiah: Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. Giving my laws, I will write them in their understanding, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his brother saying: Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.

In Isaiah: Therefore remember not the former things, and consider not the ancient things. Behold I do new things which shall now spring forth, and you shall know them, and I will make a way in the desert and rivers in a waterless place to water my chosen race, my people whom I have acquired, that they might declare my virtues. Likewise in the same: If they shall thirst, through the deserts he will lead them, he will bring forth water from the rock for them, the rock shall be cleft, and water shall flow, and my people shall drink. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew John says: I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. Likewise according to John: Unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

For that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

In Psalm: Why have the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew the Lord says: Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is good and my burden light. In Jeremiah: In that day I will break the yoke from their neck and will burst their bonds; and they shall not serve strangers, but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king whom I will raise up for them.

In Ezekiel: Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hands, and I will turn them away so that they shall not feed my sheep; and they shall feed them no more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, and I will feed them with judgment. In Jeremiah the Lord says: And I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you feeding with discipline. Likewise in Jeremiah: Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the islands that are far off. Say: He that scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd his flock, because the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and delivered him from the hand of one mightier than he.

In the second book of Kings: And the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying: Go, and say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in; but it shall come to pass, when thy days shall be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house in my name, and I will set up his throne for ever; and I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son, and his house and his kingdom shall obtain faithfulness for ever in my sight. Likewise in the Gospel the Lord says: There shall not be left in the temple stone upon stone that shall not be thrown down; and after three days another shall be raised up without hands.

In Isaiah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? Saith the Lord. I am full, I desire not the holocausts of rams and the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. For who hath required these things at your hands? Likewise: I will not eat the flesh of bulls, nor drink the blood of goats. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Likewise in the same Psalm: The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, and there is the way in which I will show him the salvation of God. Likewise: Offer the sacrifice of justice, and hope in the Lord. Likewise in Malachi: I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord, and I will not receive a sacrifice from your hands.

For from the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a clean sacrifice, for my name is great among the nations, saith the Lord.

Before the morning star I begot thee. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. Likewise in the first book of Kings God to the priest Eli: And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do all things that are in my heart, and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk before my anointed all days; and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall remain in thy house shall come to adore him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread.

In Deuteronomy God to Moses: And the Lord said to me: I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And whosoever will not hear whatsoever that prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance. Concerning whom also Christ in the Gospel according to John: Search the scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life. These are they that give testimony of me; and you will not come to me that you may have life. Think not that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom you hope. For if you did believe Moses, you would believe me also: for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

In Genesis: And the Lord said to Rebecca: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided from thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger. Likewise in Hosea: I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved. For in the place where it shall be said to them: You are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living God.

In Isaiah: Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry aloud, thou that travailest not, for many are the children of the desolate more than of her that hath a husband. For the Lord hath said: Enlarge the place of thy tent and of thy curtains and fix them. Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. Stretch forth yet to the right hand and to the left, and thy seed shall possess the nations, and shall inhabit the desolate cities. Fear not, for thou shalt prevail. Neither be thou confounded, for thou art accursed, since thou shalt forget the eternal confusion. So also with Abraham, when the first son was born of the handmaid, Sara remained barren for a long time, and late in old age bore a son Isaac according to the promise, who was a type of Christ.

So also Jacob took two wives, the elder Leah with weaker eyes as a type of the synagogue, the younger beautiful Rachel as a type of the Church, who also remained barren for a long time, and afterwards bore Joseph, who was himself also a type of Christ. And in the first book of Kings it is read that Elkanah had two wives, Peninnah with children, and Hannah who was barren, from whom Samuel is born, not according to the order of generation, but according to the mercy and promise of God, when she had prayed in the temple; and Samuel when born was a type of Christ. Likewise in the first book of Kings: The barren hath borne seven, and she that had many children is weakened.

Now the seven children are the seven Churches, whence also Paul wrote to seven Churches, and the Apocalypse sets forth seven Churches, so that the number seven is preserved, as the seven days in which God made the world, as the seven angels who stand and minister before the face of God, as the angel Raphael says in Tobias, and the seven-branched lampstand in the tabernacle of testimony, and the seven eyes of the Lord which survey the world, and the stone with seven eyes, as Zechariah says, and the seven spirits, and the seven candlesticks in the Apocalypse, and the seven pillars upon which Wisdom built her house.

In Genesis: And the Lord God said to Abraham: Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, and go into that land which I shall show thee; and I will make thee into a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.

Concerning this same thing in Genesis: And Isaac blessed Jacob: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field which the Lord hath blessed. And God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of wheat and wine and oil; and nations shall serve thee, and princes shall worship thee, and thou shalt be lord of thy brother and the sons of thy father shall worship thee; and he that curseth thee shall be cursed, and he that blesseth thee shall be blessed. Concerning this same thing in Genesis: But when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it seemed grievous to him; and Joseph took hold of his father's hand, to remove it from the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father: Not so, father, for this is my firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

But he refused, and said: I know, my son, I know: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be exalted; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. Likewise in Genesis: Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee, thy hand shall be on the back of thine enemies. The sons of thy father shall worship thee: Judah is a lion's whelp. From the branch, my son, thou art gone up, thou didst lie down and sleep as a lion and as a lion's whelp. Who shall rouse him? The prince shall not depart from Judah nor a ruler from between his feet until the things laid up for him shall come, and he is the hope of the nations. Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine. He shall wash his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of the grape. His eyes are fearful from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

Thence in Numbers it is written concerning our people: Behold, a people shall rise up as a lion. In Deuteronomy: Ye nations shall be for the head, but the unbelieving people for the tail. Likewise in Jeremiah: Hearken to the voice of the trumpet: and they said: We will not hearken. Therefore the nations shall hear, and they that feed flocks among them. Thou shalt make me the head of the nations; a people whom I knew not served me, at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me. Concerning this same thing in Jeremiah the Lord saith: Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee, and before thou camest forth from the womb I sanctified thee, and I appointed thee a prophet to the nations. Likewise in Isaiah: Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations, a prince and commander of the nations. Likewise in the same: Nations that knew thee not shall call upon thee, and peoples that were ignorant of thee shall flee unto thee.

Likewise in the same: And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse, who shall arise to rule over all nations; in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be glory. Likewise in the same: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, and the rest of you who dwell by the sea, and beyond Jordan of the nations; O people walking in darkness, behold a great light, ye who dwell in the region of the shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you. Likewise in the same: Thus saith the Lord God to my Christ the Lord, whose right hand I hold, that the nations may hearken to him. And I will break the strength of kings. I will open before him the gates, and the cities shall not be shut.

Likewise in the same: I come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them, and I will send from among them those that are saved to the nations that are afar off, which have not heard my name, nor seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations. Likewise in the same: And in all these things they are not converted. Therefore he shall lift up a sign to the nations that are afar off, and shall draw them from the end of the earth. Likewise in the same: They to whom he was not announced shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand. Likewise in the same: I was made manifest to them that sought me not, I was found by them that asked not for me. I said: Behold, here, to a nation that called not upon my name.

Concerning this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles Paul saith: It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. But because ye have thrust it away, and have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord hath said through the Scriptures: Behold, I have set thee as a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

In Isaiah the Lord saith thus: Behold, they that serve me shall eat, but ye shall hunger. Behold, they that serve me shall drink, but ye shall thirst. Behold, they that serve me shall rejoice, but ye shall be confounded; the Lord shall slay you. But to them that serve me a new name shall be given, which shall be blessed in the earth. Likewise there: Therefore he shall lift up a standard to the nations that are afar off, and shall draw them from the end of the earth. And behold, they shall come swiftly and lightly: they shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst. Likewise there: Behold therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall take away from Judah and from Jerusalem the strong and the mighty, the strength of bread and the strength of water. Likewise: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. Blessed is the man that hopeth in him. Fear the Lord your God, all ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him.

The rich have wanted and have hungered: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good. Likewise in the Gospel according to John the Lord saith: I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. Likewise there the same: If any man thirst, let him come and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Likewise there the same: Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye shall not have life in you.

In the Gospel the Lord saith: Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall go out into the outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In Isaiah the Lord saith: I will no longer forgive your sins. When ye stretch forth your hands, I will turn my face from you; and if ye multiply prayers, I will not hear you. For your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, be clean, put away iniquities from your souls before the sight of my eyes, cease from your wickedness. Learn to do good, seek judgment, preserve him that suffereth wrong, judge for the orphan and justify the widow, and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and if they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool. And if ye be willing and hearken to me, ye shall eat the good things of the land. But if ye be unwilling and will not hearken to me, the sword shall consume you. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: The Lord founded me at the beginning of his ways, in his works before the ages he established me. In the beginning before he made the earth and before he set up the depths, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled, before all the hills the Lord begat me. He made the regions and the uninhabited places and the uninhabitable bounds under heaven. When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him, and when he separated his seat. When he made the strong winds above the clouds, and when he set firm the fountains under heaven, when he made the strong foundations of the earth, I was beside him ordering. I was she in whom he rejoiced. And daily I rejoiced before his face at all times when he was glad in the perfected world. Likewise in the same in Ecclesiasticus: I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before all creation.

I caused an unfailing light to rise in the heavens, and I covered all the earth with a cloud. I dwelt in the high places, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud. I compassed the circuit of heaven, and I penetrated into the depth of the abyss, and I walked in the waves of the sea, and I stood in all the earth, and in every people and in every nation I held the primacy, and by my own power I trod down the hearts of all the excellent and the lowly. In me is all hope of life and of virtue. Pass over to me, all ye that desire me. Likewise: And I will make him my firstborn, the highest among the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for ever and my covenant faithful to him, and I will establish his seed for ever and ever.

If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they profane my justifications and observe not my commandments, I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes. But my mercy I will not scatter from them. Likewise in the Gospel according to John the Lord saith: And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now do thou glorify me with thyself with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Likewise Paul to the Colossians: Who is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. Likewise there: The firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might hold the primacy. Likewise in the Apocalypse: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that thirsteth of the fountain of the water of life freely.

That he is both the wisdom and the power of God. Paul to the: Because the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: Wisdom hath built herself a house, and hath set up seven pillars. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine in the bowl, and prepared her table, and sent her servants calling with a loud proclamation to the bowl, saying: Whoso is simple, let him turn aside to me. And to them that lack understanding she said: Come, eat of my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. Forsake foolishness and seek prudence, and correct knowledge in understanding.

My heart hath uttered a good word, I speak my works to the king. Likewise: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth. Likewise in Isaiah: A word consuming and cutting short in justice; for a shortened word shall God make upon the whole earth. Likewise: He sent his word and healed them. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, judging and making war in righteousness; and he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and his name is called the Word of God.

In Isaiah: Is the hand of God not strong enough to save? Or has he made his ear heavy so that he does not hear? But your sins separate you from God, and on account of your sins he has turned his face away from you so that he will not have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers in sins. But your lips have spoken wickedness, and your tongue meditates injustice. No one speaks true things, nor is there true judgment. They trust in vanities and speak empty things, who travail with sorrow and bring forth wickedness.

Likewise there: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of God been revealed? Likewise in the same: Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me? Or what is the place of my rest? For all these things my hand has made. Likewise in the same: Lord God, your arm is high, and they did not know it; but when they shall know it, they shall be confounded. Likewise in the same: The Lord has revealed his holy arm in the sight of all the nations. All the nations shall see the salvation from God at the very ends of the earth. Likewise there: Behold, I have made you like the wheels of a threshing cart, new, turned back upon themselves; and you shall thresh mountains, and shall grind hills to powder, and shall make them like chaff and shall winnow them, and the wind shall take them up, and the storm shall scatter them.

But you shall rejoice in the holy things of Israel, and the poor and needy shall exult. For they shall seek water, and there shall be none. For their tongue shall dry up with thirst. I am the Lord God, I will hear, the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them; but I will open rivers among the mountains and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will make the deserts into watery groves, and the thirsty land into water-channels. I will set in the waterless land the cedar and the box-tree and the myrtle and the cypress and the elm and the poplar, that they may see and know and understand and believe together that the hand of the Lord has done these things and the Holy One of Israel has shown them.

In Genesis to Abraham: And the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he said: Here I am. And he said: Do not lay your hand upon the boy, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you fear your God, and have not spared your most beloved son for my sake. Likewise there to Jacob: And the Angel of the Lord said to me in dreams: I am the God whom you saw in the place of God, where you anointed a stone pillar to me, and made a vow to me. Likewise in Exodus: And God went before them, by day indeed in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, but by night in a pillar of fire. And afterwards there: And the Angel of God who went before the army of the children of Israel moved forward.

Likewise there: Behold, I send my Angel before your face, to keep you on the journey, that he may bring you into the land which I have prepared for you. Observe him, and obey him, and do not be disobedient to him, and he will not fail you. For my name is in him. Whence he himself says in the Gospel: I have come in the name of my Father, and you have not received me. When another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. And again: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Likewise in Malachi: My covenant was with life and peace, and I gave him fear that he should fear me, that he should depart from before the face of my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found in his lips. In peace of tongue he walked with us correcting, and turned many away from injustice.

For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the Angel of the Almighty.

In Genesis: And God said to Jacob: Arise, and go up to the place of Bethel: and dwell there, and make there an altar to that God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. Likewise in Isaiah: Thus says the Lord God of hosts: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabaeans, men of tall stature, shall pass over to you, and shall be your servants, and shall walk after you bound in chains, and shall worship you, and shall make supplication to you; because God is in you, and there is no other God beside you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Saviour. All who are adversaries to you shall be confounded and ashamed, and shall fall into confusion. Likewise in the same: A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and all crooked things shall be made straight and the rough places into a plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be seen, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, because the Lord has spoken.

Likewise in Jeremiah: This is our God, and no other shall be accounted beside him, who found out all the way of prudence, and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. After these things he was seen upon the earth, and conversed with men. Likewise in Zacharias God says: And they shall pass through the narrow sea, and shall strike the waves in the sea, and shall dry up all the depths of the rivers, and all the iniquity of the Assyrians shall be confounded, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be taken away, and I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and they shall glory in his name, says the Lord. Likewise in Hosea the Lord says: I will not act according to the anger of my indignation, I will not suffer Ephraim to be destroyed, because I am God and not man, the Holy One in you, and I will not enter into the city, I will go after God.

Likewise: Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of equity, the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved justice, and hated iniquity. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. Likewise: Be still and know that I am God. I shall be exalted among the nations and I shall be exalted in the earth. Likewise: They have not known nor understood, they walk in darkness. Likewise: Sing to God: sing praises to his name, make a way for him who ascends into the west, God is his name. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Likewise in the same, the Lord to Thomas: Put your finger here, and see my hands, and be not unbelieving but believing. Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord and my God. Jesus says to him: Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

Likewise Paul to the Romans: I myself wished to be anathema from Christ for my brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, whose is the adoption and the glory and the covenant and the giving of the law and the service and the promises, whose are the fathers, from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Likewise in the Apocalypse: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that thirsts from the fountain of the water of life freely. He that shall overcome shall possess these things and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Likewise: God stood in the assembly of gods, and in the midst discerning gods. And again there: I have said: You are gods and all sons of the Most High; but you shall die like men.

For if the just who have been obedient to the divine commandments can be called gods, how much more is Christ God the Son of God? Thus he himself says in the Gospel according to John: Is it not written in the Law that I said: You are gods? If he called them gods to whom the word of God was made, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, You blaspheme, because I said: I am the Son of God? But if I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe me; but if I do and you are not willing to believe me, believe the works, and know that the Father is in me, and I in him. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: And you shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us.

In Isaiah: Be strengthened, you slack hands, and you feeble knees, take courage. You who are faint-hearted, fear not. Our God will render judgment, he himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall be plain: because water has burst forth in the desert, and a stream in the thirsty land.

Likewise there: Not an elder, nor an Angel, but the Lord himself will deliver them; because he will love them and spare them, and he himself will redeem them. Likewise there: I the Lord God have called you in justice, that I may hold your hand, and I will strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant of my people, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the bound from their chains, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord God, this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues to graven images. Likewise: Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths, and lead me in your truth, and teach me, because you are, O God, my saviour. Whence in the Gospel according to John the Lord says: I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Likewise according to Matthew, the angel Gabriel to Joseph: Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife. For that which shall be born of her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. Likewise according to Luke: And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has looked upon the redemption of his people, and has raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant. Likewise there, the Angel to the shepherds: Do not be afraid. For behold I announce to you that there is born to you today a saviour, who is Christ Jesus, in the city of David.

In Psalm: The Lord said to me: You are my Son, this day I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: And it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Likewise Paul to the Galatians: But when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son born of a woman. Likewise in the Epistle of John: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. But he who denies that he has come in the flesh is not of God, but is of the spirit of antichrist.

In Isaiah: And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from God your Lord, in the height above or in the depth below. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord my God. And he said: Hear therefore, O house of David. Is it a small thing for you to contend with men, since God furnishes the contest? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall receive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat before he knows to refuse evil and choose good. This seed God had foretold would proceed from a woman, which would crush the head of the devil. In Genesis: Then God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the kinds of beasts of the earth. On your breast and belly you shall creep, and earth shall be your food all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers. He shall watch your head, and you shall watch his heel.

In Jeremiah: And he is a man, and who shall know him? Likewise in Numbers: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel. Likewise there: A man shall proceed from his seed, and shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted as Gog, and his kingdom shall be increased, and God brought him out of Egypt; as the glory of the unicorn is to him, and he shall devour the nations of his enemies, and shall suck out their marrow, and with his darts shall pierce the enemy. Lying down he rested as a lion and as a young lion. Who shall rouse him? Blessed are they that bless you, and cursed are they that curse you.

Likewise in Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because of which he has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to captives and sight to the blind, to call the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of retribution. Whence in the Gospel according to Luke, Gabriel to Mary: And the Angel answered and said to her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. Therefore that which shall be born of you shall be called holy, the Son of God. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: The first man from the clay of the earth, the second man from heaven. As is he who is of clay, such also are they who are of clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly.

As we have borne the image of him who is of clay, let us also bear the image of him who is of heaven.

In the second book of Kings: And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go, and say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to dwell in; but it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall be of your womb, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house in my name, and I will raise up his throne forever. And I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son; and his house shall obtain faithfulness, and his kingdom before me forever. Likewise in Isaiah: And a rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him.

Likewise: God swore to David himself in truth, and has not rejected it: Of the fruit of your womb I will place upon my throne. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: And the Angel said to her: Fear not, Mary. For you have found grace before God. Behold, you shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw a book in the right hand of God sitting upon the throne, written within and without, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to receive the book and to open its seals?

And no one was able, neither in heaven, nor upon earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor even to look upon it. And I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the book or to see it. And one of the elders said to me: Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose its seven seals.

In Micah: And you Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, you are not the least, so as to be established among the thousands of Judah. Out of you shall proceed one for me to be a prince in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Likewise in the Gospel: And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and we have come with gifts to adore him.

In Isaiah: Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have proclaimed before him as children, as a root in thirsty ground. There is no form in him nor glory; and we saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness, but his form is without honor and deficient beyond other men. A man set in a plague and knowing how to bear weakness; because his face is turned away, he is dishonored, and is not accounted. He bears our sins, and grieves for us, and we thought him to be in grief and in a plague and in affliction; but he was wounded for our transgressions, and was weakened for our sins. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, every man has strayed from his way. And God delivered him for our sins, and because he was afflicted, he opened not his mouth.

Likewise in the same: I am not rebellious, nor do I contradict; I gave my back to stripes, and my cheeks to blows, but my face I turned not away from the foulness of spitting, and God was my helper. Likewise in the same: He shall not cry out, nor shall anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, but in truth he shall bring forth judgment. He shall shine and shall not be shaken until he establish judgment on the earth, and in his name shall the Gentiles believe. Likewise: But I am a worm, and not a man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All who saw me despised me, and spoke with their lips, and shook their head. He trusted in the Lord, let him deliver him; let him save him, since he wills him. Likewise there: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue is cleaved to my jaws.

Likewise in Zechariah: And the Lord showed me Jesus that great priest standing before the face of the Angel of the Lord, and the devil stood at his right hand to be his adversary. And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments, and they stood before the face of the Angel himself, and he answered and said to those who stood before his face, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold, I have taken away your iniquities. And clothe him with a long robe, and set a clean mitre upon his head. Likewise Paul to the Philippians: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and found in habit as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has exalted him, and has given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

In the Wisdom of Solomon: Let us lie in wait for the just man, because he is disagreeable to us, and is contrary to our works, and upbraids us with transgressions of the law. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself the Son of God. He has been made a reproach to our thoughts; he is grievous to us even to behold, because his life is unlike that of others, and his ways are changed. We are esteemed by him as triflers; and he abstains from our ways as from uncleannesses, and he prefers the latter end of the just, and boasts that he has God for his father. Let us see therefore if his words are true, and let us test what shall befall him. With insult and torment let us question him, that we may know his reverence, and prove his patience. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death. These things they thought, and they erred. For their own malice blinded them, and they knew not the mysteries of God.

Likewise in Isaiah: See how the just man perishes, and no one understands, and just men are taken away, and no one recognizes it. From the face of injustice the just man is taken away, and his burial shall be in peace. Concerning this same thing, it was foretold beforehand in Exodus: You shall not kill the innocent and just man. Likewise in the Gospel: Judas, moved by repentance, said to the priests and elders: I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.

In Isaiah: As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer without a voice, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who shall declare his generation? For his life shall be taken from the earth; for the transgressions of my people he was led to death, and I will give the wicked for his burial and the rich themselves for his death, because he committed no transgression, nor any guile with his mouth. Therefore he shall obtain many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was delivered unto death, and he was reckoned among the transgressors. And he himself bore the sins of many, and was delivered for their transgressions. Likewise in Jeremiah: Lord, make it known to me, and I shall know; then I saw their devices.

I was as a meek lamb that is carried to be a victim; they devised a device against me, saying: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us cut off his life from the earth, and his name shall be no more in memory. Likewise in Exodus, God to Moses: Let each one take for themselves a lamb by the houses of the tribes, a lamb without blemish, perfect, male, of one year it shall be for you. From the lambs and from the kids you shall take it, and the whole assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel shall kill it at evening; and they shall take of its blood, and shall put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they shall eat it; and they shall eat the flesh that same night roasted with fire, and they shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs.

You shall not eat of it raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted with fire, the head with the feet and the entrails; you shall leave nothing of it until morning, and you shall not break a bone of it. But whatever remains of it until morning shall be burned with fire. And thus you shall eat it. Your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands; and you shall eat it in haste, for it is the Passover of the Lord.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a lamb standing as though slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent throughout the earth. And he came and took the book from the right hand of God sitting upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb, each having harps and golden bowls full of the fragrance of supplications, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song saying: Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive the book and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us a kingdom to our God, and priests also hast thou made us, and they shall reign upon the earth.

Likewise in the Gospel: On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: Behold the Lamb of God, and behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

In Isaiah the Lord speaks thus: Behold I lay in the foundations of Sion a precious stone, chosen, chief, cornerstone, honoured; and he who believes in him shall not be confounded.

Likewise: The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This was made by the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it. O Lord, save therefore, O Lord, direct therefore. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Likewise in Zechariah: Behold I bring forth my servant. Orient is his name: for the stone which I have set before the face of Jesus, upon that one stone there are seven eyes. Likewise in Deuteronomy: And thou shalt write upon the stone all this law very plainly.

Likewise in Joshua the son of Nun: And he took a great stone and set it there before the Lord, and Jesus said to the people: Behold this stone shall be a testimony to you, for it has heard all the things which were spoken by the Lord, how many things he spoke to you this day; and it shall be a testimony to you in the last days, when you shall have departed from your God. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter says: Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, hear: Behold we are questioned today by you concerning a benefit done to a sick man, by which he has been saved. Be it known to you all and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him this man stands before you whole, and in no other. This is the stone which was despised by you builders, which has become the head of the corner.

For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. This is the stone in Genesis which Jacob places at his head, because the head of man is Christ; and sleeping he sees a ladder reaching to heaven, upon which the Lord was stationed, and angels were ascending and descending; which stone he consecrated and anointed with the sacrament of anointing, signifying Christ. There is the stone in Exodus upon which Moses sat on the top of the hill, when Joshua the son of Nun fought against Amalek, and by the sacrament of the stone and the steadfastness of his sitting Amalek was overcome by Joshua, that is, the devil was conquered by Christ. There is the great stone in the first book of Kings upon which the ark of the covenant was placed, when the oxen brought it back on a cart, returned and restored from the Philistines.

Likewise this is the stone in Kings with which David struck the forehead of Goliath and slew him, signifying that the devil and his servants are thereby laid low, namely because that part of the head which they do not have sealed is overcome. By which sign we are always both protected and live. This is the stone which Samuel set up when he had conquered the foreigners of Israel, and called its name Ebenezer, that is, the stone of the helper.

In Daniel: And behold a very great image, and the aspect of that image was fearful and lofty and stood before thee; whose head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, but its feet partly of iron and partly of clay, until a stone was cut from a mountain without hands of those cutting it, and struck the image upon its feet of iron and clay, and ground them to pieces utterly, and the iron and the potsherd and the bronze and the silver and the gold were all made together; and they became small pieces like chaff or dust on a threshing floor in summer, and the wind scattered them so that nothing remained of them; and the stone which struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

In Isaiah: In the last times the mountain of the Lord and the house of God shall be manifest above the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall come upon it, and many shall walk, and shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he shall announce to us his way, and we shall walk in it. For out of Sion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they shall learn war no more. Likewise: Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? The innocent of hands and pure of heart.

He who has not taken his soul in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully to his neighbour, he shall receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his saviour. This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

In Joel: Sound the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, and proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the church, receive the elders, gather together the little ones at the breast; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal room. Likewise in Jeremiah: And I will take away from the cities of Judah and from the crossroads of Jerusalem the voice of those rejoicing and the voice of those glad, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. Likewise: And he as a bridegroom going forth from his bridal chamber. He exulted as a giant to run his course. His going forth is from the height of heaven, and his circuit even to the height thereof, and there is none that can hide from his heat.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: Come, I will show thee the new bride, the wife of the Lamb; and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem descending from heaven, having the glory of God. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: You yourselves are witnesses to me that I said to those who were sent from Jerusalem to me, that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. For he who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom is he who stands and hears him and rejoices because of the voice of the bridegroom. The mystery of this matter was shown in Joshua the son of Nun, when he was commanded to take off his sandal, namely because he himself was not the bridegroom. For it was in the Law that whoever refused marriage should put off his sandal, but he who was to be the bridegroom should be shod.

And it came to pass when Jesus was in Jericho, he looked around with his eyes, and saw a man standing before his face and holding a drawn sword in his hand, and said: Art thou ours, or of our adversaries? But he said: I am the captain of the host of the Lord, now am I come. And Jesus fell upon his face to the ground, and said to him: Lord, what dost thou command thy servant? And the captain of the host of the Lord said: Loose the sandal from thy feet. For the place on which thou standest is holy ground. Likewise in Exodus Moses is commanded to put off his sandal, because he too was not the bridegroom: And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from a bush, and he saw that the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed.

But when he saw that he drew near to see, the Lord God called to him from the bush saying: Moses, Moses. Who said: What is it? And he said: Draw not near hither, unless thou loose the sandal from thy feet. And he said to him: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Now this was made manifest in the Gospel according to John: And John answered them: I indeed baptize in water: but in the midst of you stands one whom you know not. For this is he of whom I said: After me comes a man who was made before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. Likewise according to Luke: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and you like men awaiting their lord when he shall return from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him. Blessed are those servants whom the lord when he comes shall find watching.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: The Lord God Almighty has reigned; let us rejoice and exult, and give him glory and brightness, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.

In Isaiah: I have spread out my hands all the day to a stubborn and gainsaying people, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own sins. Likewise in Jeremiah: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us cut off his life from the earth. Likewise in Deuteronomy: And thy life shall hang before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not trust thy life. Likewise: They have dug through my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones. But they themselves looked on and saw me, and divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help far from me, attend to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of the unicorns my lowliness. I will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the church I will praise thee.

Likewise: Pierce my flesh with nails out of thy fear. Likewise: The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Concerning which sacrifice Zephaniah said: Fear before the face of the Lord God, for his day is near: for the Lord has prepared his sacrifice, he has sanctified his chosen ones. Likewise in Zechariah: And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced. Likewise: I cried to thee, O Lord, all the day, I stretched out my hands to thee. Likewise in Numbers: God is not hanged as a man, neither does he suffer threats as the son of man. Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in the Son may have eternal life.

In Habakkuk: His virtue covered the heavens and the earth is full of his praise; and his brightness shall be as the light, there shall be horns in his hands. And there was the power of his glory established, and he set a strong love. Before his face shall go the word, and it shall go forth into the plains according to his steps. Likewise in Isaiah: Behold, a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose dominion is upon his shoulders; and his name is called the messenger of great counsel. By this sign of the cross, Amalek was conquered by Jesus through Moses. In Exodus Moses said to Jesus: Choose thee men, and go out, and set in order against Amalek tomorrow. Behold, I will stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God in my hand. And it came to pass that when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when Moses let down his hands, Amalek waxed strong.

But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Ur held up his hands on this side and on that, and the hands of Moses were steady until the going down of the sun, and Jesus put Amalek and all his people to flight. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it into the ears of Jesus, for with blotting out I will blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

In Ezekiel the Lord says: Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou shalt mark a sign upon the foreheads of the men who groan and mourn for the iniquities that are done in the midst of them. Likewise there: Go and smite, and spare not your eyes. Have no pity on elder or young man or virgin, and slay the little ones and the women, that they may be utterly destroyed. But every one upon whom the sign is written, touch not, and begin from my very sanctuary. Likewise in Exodus, God to Moses: And the blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses in which ye shall be there; and I will see the blood, and will protect you, and there shall be no plague of destruction upon you when I smite the land of Egypt. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw the Lamb standing on mount Sion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, and they had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.

Likewise there: I am α and ω, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they who keep his commandments, that their power may be over the tree of life.

In Amos: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall go down at midday, and the day of light shall be darkened: and I will turn your feast days into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. Likewise in Jeremiah: She that hath borne is dismayed and her soul is weary. The sun went down upon her while it was yet midday; she was confounded and put to shame. The rest of them I will give to the sword in the sight of their enemies. Likewise in the Gospel: But from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

O Lord, thou hast brought back my soul from hell. Likewise: Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Likewise in Psalm: I lay down and slept, and I rose up, because the Lord helped me. Likewise according to John: No man taketh my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. For this commandment have I received from my Father.

In Hosea: He will revive us after two days, on the third day we shall rise again. Likewise in Exodus: And the Lord said to Moses: Go down and charge the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and be ready against the day after tomorrow. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon mount Sinai. Likewise in the Gospel: A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

In Daniel: I saw in a vision of the night; and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of man came and came even to the Ancient of days, and stood in his presence, and they that stood by brought him near; and there was given to him royal power, and all the kings of the earth by race, and all glory serving him; and his power is everlasting, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. Likewise in Isaiah: Now will I arise, saith the Lord, now will I be glorified, now will I be exalted; now shall ye see, now shall ye understand, now shall ye be confounded. Vain shall be the strength of your spirit, fire shall consume you. Likewise: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The rod of thy strength shall God send forth from Sion, and thou shalt rule in the midst of thine enemies.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his hairs were white as wool or snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if burning in a furnace of fire, and his voice as the sound of many waters; and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his face shone as the sun in his strength.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me saying: Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one who had been dead; and behold I am alive for ever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of hell. Likewise in the Gospel the Lord after the resurrection says to the disciples: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

In the Gospel: I am the way and the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Likewise there: I am the door. If any man enter in through me, he shall be saved. Likewise there: Many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that ye hear, and have not heard them. Likewise there: He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life. He that is disobedient to the Son hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him. Likewise Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians: And when he came, he preached peace to you who were far off and peace to them that were nigh, because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Likewise to the Romans: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God: but they are justified freely by his gift and grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Likewise in the Epistle of the apostle Peter: Christ once died for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might offer us to God. Likewise there: For to this end was the gospel preached also to the dead, that they might be raised up. Likewise in the Epistle of John: He that denieth the Son hath not the Father either. He that confesseth the Son hath both the Son and the Father.

In Malachi: Behold, the day of the Lord cometh burning as a furnace; and all the strangers and all the wicked shall be stubble, and the coming day shall set them on fire, saith the Lord. Likewise: The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth. From the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, out of Sion the beauty of his comeliness. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him, and round about him a very great storm. He shall call the heaven above and the earth to separate his people. Gather to him his just ones, those who set his covenant in order with sacrifices, and the heavens shall declare his justice, for God is judge. Likewise in Isaiah: The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and shall crush the battle. He shall stir up strife, and shall cry out over his enemies with strength: I have held my peace, shall I always hold my peace?

Likewise: Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him flee from before his face. As smoke vanisheth, let them vanish. As wax melteth before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God, and let the just rejoice and exult in the sight of God and be glad with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to his name, make a way for him who ascendeth into the west; God is his name. They shall be troubled before his face, the father of orphans and the judge of widows. God is in his holy place, God who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house, who bringeth forth the bound in strength, likewise those who provoke to wrath, who dwell in tombs. O God, when thou wentest forth in the sight of thy people, when thou passedst through the wilderness. Likewise: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all the nations.

Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: What have we to do with thee, son of David? Art thou come hither before the time to punish us? Likewise according to John: The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father who sent him. Likewise in the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of his own body according to what he hath done, whether good or evil.

In Zechariah: Say to the daughter of Sion: Behold thy king cometh to thee just and saving, meek, sitting upon an unbroken ass. Likewise in Isaiah: Who will declare to you that eternal place? He that walketh in justice, and keepeth his hands from bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear the judgment of blood, and shutteth his eyes lest he see iniquity, he shall dwell in a high cave of a strong rock. Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be faithful. Ye shall see the king in his glory. Likewise in Malachi: I am a great king, saith the Lord, and my name is renowned among the nations. Likewise in Psalm: But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, declaring his commandment. Likewise: All the ends of the earth shall remember and shall turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship in his sight; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he shall rule over all the nations.

Likewise: Take away your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the king of glory shall enter in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Take away your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the king of glory shall enter in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of virtues, he is the king of glory. Likewise: My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing swiftly, beautiful in form above the sons of men. Grace is poured out upon thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. In thy comeliness and thy beauty attend and prosper and reign for the sake of truth and meekness and justice.

Likewise: My King and my God, for to thee will I pray, O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice; in the morning I shall stand before thee, and shall behold thee. Likewise: The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice, let many islands be glad. Likewise: The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded raiment, clothed with variety. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house, for the king hath desired thy beauty, because he himself is the Lord thy God. Likewise: But God is our king before the ages, he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, in the days of king Herod, behold, magi came from the East to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him.

Likewise according to John, Jesus said: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate said: Art thou then a king? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

O God, give thy judgment to the king, and thy justice to the king's son, to judge thy people in justice. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw heaven opened; and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon it was called faithful and true, he judgeth and fighteth justly. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and upon his head were many diadems, and he bore a name written which no other knew but himself. And he was clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God; and the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he might strike the nations which he himself shall rule with a rod of iron, and he shall tread the winepress of the wine of the wrath of God almighty.

And he hath upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. Likewise in the Gospel: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and all nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the King say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you brought me in; naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.

Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry and fed thee, thirsty and gave thee drink? When did we see thee a stranger and brought thee in? Naked, and clothed thee? When did we see thee sick and in prison, and came to thee? And the King answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.

Then shall he say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which my Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and you brought me not in; naked, and you clothed me not; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? And he shall answer them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least ones, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting burning, but the just into life everlasting.

CYPRIAN to his son Quirinus, greeting. In accordance with the faith and devotion which thou displayest toward the Lord God, most dear son, thou hast asked that, for thy instruction, I should excerpt from the holy Scriptures certain chapters pertaining to the religious discipline of our way, seeking a concise and diligent acquaintance with divine reading, so that a mind devoted to God might not be wearied by long or many volumes of books, but, instructed by a compendium of heavenly precepts, might have a wholesome and great abridgement to refresh its memory. And because I owe thee the full service of love, I have done what thou didst ask, that I might labour once, lest thou shouldst always labour. As far therefore as our modest ability could encompass, certain precepts of the Lord and divine teachings have been gathered by me; which may be easy and useful to those who read them, since, arranged in brief compass, they are both quickly read through and frequently repeated. I wish thee, most dear son, always to fare well.

In Isaiah: Cry out, he says, with strength, and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, announce to my people their sins and to the house of Jacob their transgressions. They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that hath done justice and hath not forsaken the judgment of God. They ask of me now just judgment, and desire to draw near to God, saying: Why? Because we have fasted and thou hast not seen, we have humbled our souls and thou hast not known. For in the days of your fasting your own wills are found. For either you goad those subject to you, or you fast for lawsuits and contentions, or you smite your neighbours with your fists. Why do you fast unto me, that your voice may be heard this day in clamour? This is not the fast that I have chosen, unless a man humble his soul.

And if thou bend thy neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth and ashes beneath thee, not even so shall it be called an acceptable fast. I have not chosen such a fast, saith the Lord; but loose every knot of injustice, undo the strangleholds of oppressive dealings. Let the bruised go free to rest, and scatter every unjust bond. Break thy bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into thy house. If thou see one naked, clothe him; and thou shalt not despise those of thine own household. Then shall thy light break forth in due season, and thy garments shall rise up quickly. And justice shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall encompass thee. Then shalt thou cry out, and God shall hear thee. While thou art yet speaking he shall say: Behold, I am here. Concerning this same matter in Job: I delivered the poor man from the hand of the mighty, and I helped the orphan who had no helper.

The mouth of the widow blessed me, when I was the eye of the blind, and I was also the foot of the lame, and the father of the weak. Concerning this same matter in Tobias: And Tobias said to his son: Go, and bring whatever poor man thou shalt find of our brethren, who nevertheless hath God in mind with his whole heart. Bring him, and he shall eat together at my meal: Behold, I wait for thee, my son, until thou come. Likewise there: All the days of thy life, my son, keep God in mind, and be not willing to transgress his commandments. Do justice all the days of thy life, and walk not in the way of iniquity: for if thou act in truth, there shall be regard for thy works. Of thy substance give alms, and turn not away thy face from any poor man. So shall it come to pass that the face of God shall not be turned away from thee. According to what thou hast, my son, so do.

If thou have abundant substance, give alms more abundantly from it. If thou have little, even of that little be willing to give a share. And fear not when thou givest alms; thou layest up a good reward for thyself against the day of necessity: for alms delivereth from death and suffereth not to go into darkness. Alms is a good gift for all who give it before the most high God.

Concerning this same matter, in Solomon in Proverbs: He who has mercy on the poor lends to God. Likewise there: He who gives to the poor shall never be in want. But he who turns away his eye shall be in great poverty. Likewise there: By almsgiving and faith sins are purged. Likewise there: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; and if he is thirsty, you shall give him drink. For in doing this you shall heap live coals upon his head. Likewise there: As water extinguishes fire, so almsgiving extinguishes sin. In the same author in Proverbs: Do not say: Go and return, tomorrow I will give, when you are able to do good at once. For you do not know what may befall on the following day. Likewise there: He who stops his ears so as not to hear the weak, he himself shall call upon God, and there shall be none to hear him. Likewise there: He who walks without reproach in justice leaves his children blessed.

In the same author in Ecclesiasticus: Son, if you have means, do good to yourself, and offer offerings worthy of God, remembering that death does not delay. Likewise there: Enclose almsgiving in the heart of the poor, and it shall pray for you against all evil. Concerning this same matter, that mercy profits also one's posterity: I was young, and indeed I have grown old, and I have not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. All the day he has mercy and lends, and his seed is in blessing. Concerning this same matter: Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor; in the evil day God shall deliver him. Likewise: He has distributed, he has given to the poor; his justice shall remain for ever and ever. Concerning this same matter in Hosea: I desire mercy more than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Matthew: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled.

Likewise there: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Likewise there: Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not dig through and steal. For where your treasure is, there also shall your heart be. Likewise there: The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls; but when he found a precious pearl, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. That even a small work profits. Likewise there: And whoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, his reward shall not perish. That almsgiving is to be denied to no one. Likewise there: Give to every one who asks of you, and from him who wishes to borrow do not turn away. Likewise there: If you wish to come to life, keep the commandments. He says: Which?

Jesus says to him: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not speak false testimony, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man says to him: All these have I observed. What do I still lack? Jesus says to him: If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.

Likewise he: When the Son of man shall come in his majesty and all the Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him. And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then the King shall say to those who are on his right hand: Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the just shall answer him saying: Lord, when did we see you a stranger and take you in; naked and clothe you?

But when did we see you sick and in prison and come to you? And the King answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Then he shall say to those who are on his left: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me not in; I was naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer saying: Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?

And he shall answer them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least ones, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting burning, but the just into life everlasting. Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Luke: Sell your possessions, and give alms. Likewise there: He who has done what is within has also done what is without. Nevertheless give alms; and behold all things are clean to you. Likewise there: Behold, half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore fourfold. But Jesus said, that salvation has come to this house today, because he also is a son of Abraham. Concerning this same matter in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: Let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also may supply your want, that there may be equality, as it is written: He who had much did not abound, and he who had little did not want.

Likewise there: He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows in blessing shall also reap of blessing. But let every one give as he has purposed in his heart, not as it were out of sadness or of necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver. Likewise there, As it is written: He has distributed, he has given to the poor; his justice remains for ever. Likewise there: And he who ministers seed to the sower will both furnish bread for eating and will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your justice, that in all things you may be enriched. Likewise there: The administration of this office not only supplies what is lacking to the saints, but abounds also through much thanksgiving to God. Concerning this same matter in the Epistle of John: He who has the substance of this world, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his bowels from him, how does the charity of God abide in him?

Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Luke: When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, nor your brethren, nor your neighbors, nor the rich, lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and a recompense be made to you. But when you make a feast, call the poor, the feeble, the blind and the lame, and you shall be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you; but it shall be repaid to you at the resurrection of the just.

In the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: If the will is ready, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one has not; nor should there be ease for others and hardship for you.

In Malachi: Did not one God create us? Is there not one father of us all? Why then has each of you forsaken his brother? Concerning this same matter according to John: Peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you. Likewise there: This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no one has, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Likewise there: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Likewise there: Amen I say to you, that if two of you shall agree on earth concerning any matter whatsoever that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them.

Concerning this same matter in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual persons, but as to carnal; as to little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. For while you were still little, you were not able, but neither now are you able, for you are still carnal. For where there is among you emulation and contention and dissensions, are you not carnal, and walking according to man? Likewise there: And if I should have all faith so as to move mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, but have not charity, I profit nothing. Charity is patient, charity is kind, charity does not envy, charity does not act perversely, is not puffed up, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice over injustice, but rejoices together in the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never falls away. Concerning this same matter to the Galatians: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and accuse one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another. Concerning this same matter in the Epistle of John: In this the children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest. Whoever is not just is not of God, and he who does not love his brother. For he who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him. Likewise there: If anyone says that he loves God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?

Concerning this same matter in the Acts of the Apostles: But the multitude of those who believed were of one soul and mind, nor was there any distinction among them, nor did they count anything their own from the goods that were theirs, but all things were common to them. Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Matthew: If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift at the altar. Likewise in the Epistle of John: God is charity, and he who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him. Likewise there: He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is a liar, and walks in darkness even until now.

In the Gospel according to John: No man can receive anything, unless it be given him from heaven. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: For what hast thou that thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? Likewise in the first book of Kings: Glory not, neither speak lofty things, and let not boasting proceed out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge. Likewise there: The bow of the mighty is become weak, and the feeble are girded with strength. Concerning this same matter in Maccabees: It is just to be subject to God, and that a mortal man should not think himself equal to God. Likewise there: And fear not the words of a sinful man; for his glory shall be dung and worms. Today he is lifted up, and tomorrow he shall not be found: because he is returned into his earth, and his thought is perished.

In Isaiah the Lord God thus speaks: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, or what is the place of my rest? For all these things my hand made, and all these things are mine. And upon whom else shall I look, but upon him that is humble and quiet and trembling at my words? Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Matthew: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Concerning this same matter according to Luke: He who shall be least among you all, he shall be great. Likewise there: He that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Concerning this same matter to the Romans: Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee either. Concerning this same matter: And he will save the humble in spirit.

Likewise to the Romans: Render to all men their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one another. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: They love the first place at feasts, and the first seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace, and to be called by men rabbi. But be not ye called rabbi. For one is your master. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: The servant is not greater than his lord, neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. Likewise: Do justice to the humble and the poor.

In Solomon: The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation trieth just men. Likewise: A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Likewise: The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart, and he will save the humble in spirit. Likewise there: Many are the afflictions of the just, but out of them all the Lord will deliver them. Concerning this same matter in Job: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked also shall I go under the earth. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. As it hath pleased the Lord so is it done. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all these things that befell him, Job sinned not with his lips in the sight of the Lord. Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Matthew: Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Likewise according to John: These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace, but in the world you shall have tribulation; but have confidence, because I have overcome the world. Concerning this same matter in the second to the Corinthians: There was given to me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me, that I should not be exalted. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me, and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee. For power is made perfect in infirmity. Concerning this same matter to the Romans: We glory in the hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience probation, and probation hope. And hope confoundeth not, because the charity of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us.

Concerning this same matter according to Matthew: How wide and spacious is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who enter by it! How narrow and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it! Concerning this same matter in Tobias: Where are thy acts of justice? Behold what thou sufferest. Likewise in the Wisdom of Solomon: In the places of the wicked the just groan. But at their perdition the just shall abound.

Paul the apostle to the Ephesians: Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and clamour and blasphemy be put away from you.

In Solomon, in the Proverbs: A patient man is better than a strong man. For he that ruleth his anger is better than he that taketh a city. Likewise there: A fool immediately sheweth his anger, but a prudent man hideth his dishonour. Concerning this same matter to the Ephesians: Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: You have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

To the Galatians: Having regard each one to himself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ.

In Jeremiah: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth that I am the Lord, who exercise mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth, for in these things is my will, saith the Lord. Concerning this same matter: I have hoped in the Lord; I will not fear what man shall do to me. Likewise there: Shall not my soul be subject to God alone? Likewise: I will not fear what man shall do to me; the Lord is my helper. Likewise there: It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man. It is good to hope in the Lord rather than to hope in princes. Concerning this same matter in Daniel: Then Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago answered and said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, we need not answer thee concerning this matter.

For there is a God, whom we serve, who is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire, and to rescue us out of thy hands, O king. But if he will not, be it known to thee that we do not serve thy gods, and we will not adore the golden image which thou hast set up. Likewise in Jeremiah: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man; and blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his hope. Concerning this same matter in Deuteronomy: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Concerning this same matter to the Romans: And they worshipped and served the creature, forsaking the Creator. Wherefore God delivered them up to shameful passions. Concerning this same matter in John: Greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world.

In Isaiah: Seek ye the Lord; and when you have found him, call upon him. But when he shall draw near to you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, for he will abundantly pardon your sins. Concerning this same matter in Solomon: I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity. Concerning this same matter in Exodus: And thus shall you eat it. Your loins girded, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste. For it is the Lord's Passover. Concerning this same matter in the Gospel according to Matthew: Be not solicitous saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the nations seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Likewise there: Be not anxious for the morrow. For the morrow itself will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own evil. Likewise there: No one looking back and putting his hand to the plough is fit for the kingdom of God. Likewise there: Behold the birds of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much more than they? Concerning this same thing according to Luke: Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning, and ye like unto men waiting for their lord when he shall return from the wedding feast, that when he cometh and knocketh they may open to him. Blessed are those servants whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching. Concerning this same thing in Matthew: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have lodgings, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. Likewise there: Whosoever doth not renounce all things that are his cannot be my disciple.

Concerning this same thing in the first letter to the Corinthians: Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body. Likewise there: The time is short. It remaineth therefore that both they who have wives be as though they had none, and they who mourn as though they mourned not, and they who rejoice as though they rejoiced not, and they who buy as though they bought not, and they who possess as though they possessed not, and they who use this world as though they used it not. For the fashion of this world passeth away. Likewise there: The first man from the clay of the earth, the second man from heaven. As is he of clay, such also are they who are of clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is of clay, let us also bear the image of him who is of heaven.

Concerning this same thing to the Philippians: All seek their own things, and not the things that are Christ's; whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. But our conversation is in the heavens; from whence also we await the Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning this same thing to the Galatians: But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Concerning this same thing to Timothy: No man warring for God entangleth himself with the troubles of the world, that he may be able to please him to whom he hath proved himself. But also if any man strive, he shall not be crowned unless he have striven lawfully. Concerning this same thing to the Colossians: If ye are dead with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye follow vain things?

Likewise concerning this same thing: If ye are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; mind the things that are above, not the things that are earthly. For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ shall appear, your life, then also shall ye appear with him in glory. Concerning this same thing to the Ephesians: Put off the old man of your former conversation, who is corrupted according to the lusts of deceit. But be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, him who is constituted according to God in justice and holiness and truth. Concerning this same thing in the Epistle of Peter: As strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly desires, which war against the soul, having your conversation among the Gentiles good, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, beholding your good works they may glorify God.

Concerning this same thing in the Epistle of John: He who saith that he abideth in Christ ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Likewise there: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him: because all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the ambition of the world, which is not of the Father, but of the lust of the world; and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he who doeth the will of God abideth for ever, even as God abideth for ever.

Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For also our Passover is sacrificed, even Christ. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In Solomon: A man who sweareth much shall be filled with iniquity, and the plague shall not depart from his house; and if he hath sworn in vain, he shall not be justified. Concerning this same thing according to Matthew: Again ye have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not forswear thyself. But thou shalt render to the Lord thy oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of the Lord; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king: neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be: Yea, yea; Nay, nay. But whatsoever is more than these is of evil. Concerning this same thing in Exodus: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

In Exodus: Thou shalt not curse, neither shalt thou speak ill of the ruler of thy people. Likewise: Who is the man that desireth life and loveth to see good days? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Concerning this same thing in Leviticus: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: Bring forth him who hath cursed outside the camp, and all who heard shall lay their hands upon his head, and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall stone him. Concerning this same thing in the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth, but that which is good for the edification of faith, that it may give grace to those who hear. Concerning this same thing to the Romans: Blessing, and not cursing. Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: Whosoever shall say to his brother: Thou fool, shall be in danger of the gehenna of fire.

Concerning this same thing according to the same Matthew: But I say unto you that every idle word which men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

In Job: Say some word against the Lord, and die. But he, looking upon her, said: Thou hast spoken as one of the foolish women. If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why shall we not endure evil things? In all these things that befell him Job sinned not with his lips in the sight of the Lord. Likewise there: Hast thou considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth: a man without complaint, a true worshipper of God, abstaining from all evil. Concerning this same thing: I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth. Concerning this same thing in Numbers: Let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die. Concerning this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles: But about midnight Paul and Silas praying gave thanks to God. And the prisoners heard them.

Likewise in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians: But doing all things for love without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and spotless children of God.

In Genesis: And God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Take thy only son whom thou lovest, Isaac, and go into the high land, offering him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell thee. Concerning this same thing in Deuteronomy: The Lord your God tempteth you, that he may know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Concerning this same thing in the Wisdom of Solomon: And if they have suffered torments before men, their hope is full of immortality; and having been chastised in a few things, they shall be well disposed in many, because God hath tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace he hath proved them, and as whole burnt offerings he hath received them, and in due time there shall be regard for them. They shall judge nations and shall have dominion over peoples, and their Lord shall reign for ever. Concerning this same thing in the Maccabees: Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reputed to him unto justice?

In the Proverbs of Solomon: A faithful martyr delivers the soul from evils. Likewise there: Then the just shall stand with great constancy against those who afflicted them and who took away their labors. Seeing them, they shall be troubled with dreadful fear, and shall marvel at the suddenness of unexpected salvation, saying among themselves, repenting and groaning through anguish of spirit: These are they whom we once held in derision and as a byword of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor. How are they numbered among the sons of God, and their lot is among the saints! Therefore we erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice did not shine upon us, and the sun did not rise upon us. We were wearied in the way of iniquity and perdition, and we walked through difficult wildernesses, but the way of the Lord we knew not. What did pride profit us, or what did the boasting of riches bring us? All those things passed away like a shadow.

Concerning this same thing: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Likewise: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming they shall come with joy, bearing their sheaves. Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to John: He who loves his soul shall lose it; and he who hates his soul in this world shall find it unto life eternal. Likewise there: But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought what you shall speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Likewise there: The hour shall come that whosoever kills you shall think that he does a service to God. But these things they will do, because they have not known the Father nor me. Concerning this same thing according to Matthew: Blessed are they who have suffered persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Likewise there: Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Likewise there: Whosoever shall confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. But he who shall endure to the end, he shall be saved. Concerning this same thing according to Luke: Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and shall separate you and shall cast you out, and shall speak evil of your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day and exult; for behold your reward is great in heaven.

Likewise there: Amen I say to you, there is no man who has left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the kingdom of God, and who shall not receive seven times as much in this time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Concerning this same thing in the Apocalypse: And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar of God the souls of those slain for the Word of God and for their testimony, and they cried with a loud voice saying: How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth? And there were given to each of them white robes, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a little time, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be fulfilled, who also should be killed after their example.

Likewise there: After these things I saw a great multitude, which no man could number from among them, of every nation, and of every tribe, and of every people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and they were clothed with white robes, and palms were in their hands, and they cried with a great voice saying: Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. And one of the elders answered and said to me: They who are clothed with white robes, who are they? And whence did they come? And I said to him: My Lord, you know. And he said to me: These are they who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne shall dwell over them.

They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more, but neither shall the sun fall upon them, nor shall they suffer any heat: because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall rule them, and shall lead them to the fountains of living waters, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Likewise there: To him who overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of my God. Likewise there: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Blessed shall they be who watch and keep their garments, lest they walk naked and they see their shame. Concerning this same thing Paul to Timothy in the second: I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. As for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his coming. Concerning this same thing to the Romans: We are children of God. But if children, also heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.

Concerning this same thing: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who search out his testimonies.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory that shall be revealed in us. Concerning this same thing in the Maccabees: O Lord, who have holy knowledge, it is manifest that, though I could be delivered from death, I endure grievous pains of body, being beaten with stripes, but in soul I suffer these things willingly for fear of thee. Likewise there: Thou indeed, O most wicked man, destroyest us out of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life. Likewise there: It is better, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God, to be raised up again by him. For as for thee, thou shalt have no resurrection to life. Likewise there: Thou hast power among men, though thou art corruptible, and dost what thou wilt. But think not that our nation is forsaken by God.

Endure and see his great power, in what manner he will torment thee and thy seed. Likewise there: Do not err in vain. For we suffer these things for ourselves, having sinned against our God. But do not think that thou shalt go unpunished, for that thou hast attempted to fight against God.

In Deuteronomy: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole strength. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not my disciple. Likewise in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? As it is written: For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter; but in all these things we overcome because of him who loved us.

In the Gospel according to John: I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Concerning this same thing according to Matthew: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Likewise in the daily prayer: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Likewise according to Matthew: Not every one who says to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Likewise according to Luke: But that servant who knew the will of his lord and did not comply with his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. In the Epistle of John: But he who does the will of God abides for ever, even as he himself abides for ever.

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Concerning this same thing in the Wisdom of Solomon: The beginning of wisdom is to fear God. Likewise in the Proverbs of the same: Blessed is the man who fears all things through fear. Concerning this same thing in Isaiah: And upon whom else shall I look, but upon the humble and quiet man and one who trembles at my words? Concerning this same thing in Genesis: And the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. But he said: Behold, I am here. And he said: Do not lay your hand upon the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I have known that you fear your God and have not spared your most beloved son for my sake. Likewise in Psalm: Serve the Lord in fear and exult before him in trembling.

Likewise in Deuteronomy, the voice of God to Moses: Gather the people to me, and let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they themselves shall live upon the earth. Likewise in Jeremiah: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will consummate over the house of Israel and over the house of Judah a new testament, not according to the testament which I had disposed to their fathers in the day when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain in my testament and I disregarded them, saith the Lord, for this is the testament which I will dispose to the house of Israel.

After those days, saith the Lord, giving my law in their understanding I will write it, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his brother saying: Know the Lord, because all shall know me from the least to the greatest of them, because I will be merciful to their iniquities, and of their sins I will be mindful no more. If the heaven shall be exalted on high, saith the Lord, and if the earth shall be humbled downward, yet I will not reject the race of Israel, saith the Lord, for all the things they have done.

Behold, I will gather them from every land into which I scattered them in my anger and in my fury and in great indignation, and I will bring them together to this place, and I will leave them in fear, and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, and I will give them another way and another heart, that they may fear me all their days in good things with their children, and I will consummate for them an eternal testament which I will not turn away after them, and I will give fear into their heart, that they may not depart from me, and I will visit upon them to do them good and to plant them in their land in faith and with all their heart and with all their soul.

Likewise in the Apocalypse: And the twenty-four elders sitting before him on their thrones fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying: We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, because thou hast received thy great power and hast reigned, and the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come and the time that the dead should be judged and that reward should be given to thy servants the Prophets and to the saints who fear thy name, small and great, and to destroy those who have corrupted the earth. Likewise there: And I saw another Angel flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel, to preach to those who sit upon the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice: Fear God, and give honour to him, because the hour of his judgment is come, and adore him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.

Likewise there: And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire, and those feeding the beast with his lambs, and the number of his name, 144, standing upon the glassy sea having the harps of God, and they sing the canticle of Moses the servant of God and the canticle of the Lamb saying: Great and wonderful are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, O King of the nations. Who shall not fear and give honour to thy name? Because thou alone art holy, and because all nations shall come and adore in thy sight, because thy acts of justice have been made manifest. Likewise in Daniel: There was a man dwelling in Babylon, whose name was Joachim, and he took a wife named Susanna, daughter of Helchias, very beautiful and fearing God; and her parents were just, and had taught their daughter according to the law of Moses.

Likewise in Daniel: And we are humbled in all the earth this day because of our sins, and there is at this time no prince nor prophet nor leader, nor holocaust nor oblation nor sacrifice, nor incense, nor place to sacrifice before thee and to find mercy from thee: but in a contrite soul and in a spirit of humility let us be accepted, as in holocausts of rams and bullocks and as in many thousands of fat lambs. So let our sacrifice be made before thee this day, and may it be accomplished in thy sight, because those who trust in thee shall not be confounded. And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee and seek thy face. Deliver us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercy deliver us.

Likewise there: And the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded Daniel to be taken out of the den of lions; and the lions did him no harm, because he had trusted and believed in his God. And the king commanded; and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions, and their wives and their children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions seized them and crushed all their bones. Then king Darius wrote: To all peoples, tribes and tongues that dwell in my kingdom: peace be with you from my presence. I decree and ordain that all who are in my kingdom tremble and fear the most high God whom Daniel serves, because he is the living Lord and enduring for ever, and his kingdom shall not pass away, and his dominion endures for ever, and he alone works signs and wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth, who delivered Daniel from the den of lions.

Likewise in Micah: With what shall I attain the Lord and lay hold of him in sacrifices, in holocausts, in yearling calves, if the Lord be pleased with thousands of fat goats, or shall I give my firstfruits, the fruit of my womb for my impiety, the sin of my soul? It has been declared to thee, O man, what is good, or what the Lord requires of thee other than to do judgment and justice and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with the Lord thy God. The voice of the Lord shall be invoked in the city, and he shall save those who fear his name. Likewise in Micah: Feed thy people with thy rod, the sheep of thy inheritance, and those dwelling apart, tear them away in the midst of Carmel. They shall be fed in Bashan and Gilead according to the days of old, and according to the days of thy departure from the land of Egypt I will show them wonders.

The nations shall see and be confounded at all their strength, and they shall lay their hands upon their mouth. Their ears shall be made deaf, and they shall lick the dust like serpents. Those dragging along the earth shall be troubled, and they shall lick the dust. In their enclosure they shall be afraid before the Lord their God, and they shall fear thee. Who is a God like thee, lifting up iniquity and passing over wickedness? And in Nahum: The mountains were moved by him, and the hills trembled, and the earth was laid bare before his face and all who dwell therein. Who shall stand before the face of his wrath, and who shall resist in the anger of his spirit? His indignation makes principalities to flow away, and the rocks are dissolved by him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him in the day of tribulation, and he knows those who fear him.

Likewise in Haggai: And Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel of the tribe of Judah and Jesus the son of Josedech the high priest heard, and all the remnant of the people, the voice of the Lord their God, because the Lord had sent him to them, and the people feared before the face of God. Likewise in Malachi: The testament was with life and peace, and I gave them fear to fear me before the face of my name. Likewise: Fear the Lord, all ye his saints, because there is no want to those who fear him. Likewise: The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever and ever.

In the Gospel according to Luke: Judge not, that you be not judged; condemn not, that you be not condemned. Concerning this same thing to the Romans: Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. But he shall stand; for God is able to make him stand. And again: Therefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For in that wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself: for thou doest the same things which thou judgest. But thinkest thou, O man, who judgest those who do evil and doest the same things, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: And he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. And again: If any man thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

In the Gospel in the daily prayer: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Likewise according to Mark: And when you stand to pray, forgive if you have anything against anyone, that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your sins. Likewise there: With what measure you shall measure, it shall be measured to you again.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: Rendering to no man evil for evil. Likewise there: Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Concerning this same thing in the Apocalypse: And he said to me: Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is now near, and let those who persist in doing harm do harm, and let him who is in filth be filthy still, but let the just man do yet more just things, and likewise let the holy man do yet more holy things. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works.

In the Gospel according to John: I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. Likewise there: I am the door. If any man enter through me, he shall be saved.

In the Gospel according to John: Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Likewise there: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Know you not that they who run in the stadium, all indeed run, yet one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain. And they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. In the Gospel according to Matthew: Every tree not bearing good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. Likewise there: Many shall say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name do great works of power? And then I will say to them: I never knew you, depart from me, you who work iniquity. Likewise there: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Likewise Paul to the Philippians: Shine as lights in the world.

In the Gospel according to John: Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest something worse befall thee. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man shall violate the temple of God, God shall destroy him. Concerning this same thing in Paralipomenon: God is with you, while ye are with him. If ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

In the Gospel according to Matthew: Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come. Likewise according to Mark: All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies. But whosoever shall have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, but he shall be guilty of an eternal sin. Concerning this same thing in the First Book of Kings: If a man sinning shall sin against a man, they shall pray for him to the Lord. But if a man shall sin against God, who shall pray for him?

In the Gospel according to Luke: And ye shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. Likewise according to John: If the world hateth you, know that it hated me before you. If ye were of the world, the world would love that which is its own; but because ye are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word which I said unto you: The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Likewise in Baruch: For the time shall come, when both ye and they that come after you shall seek to hear a word of wisdom and understanding, and shall not find it. And the nations shall desire to see a wise man, and it shall not befall them; not because wisdom shall be lacking or shall fail from the earth in this age, nor shall the word of the law fail from the age.

For wisdom shall be among a few who are watchful and silent and quiet, conversing among themselves, because some shall shudder at them and fear them as evil men. But others shall not even believe the word of the law of the Most High. But others, with mouths agape, shall not believe, and shall believe, and being contradictors shall be contrary and hindering the spirit of truth. But others shall be wise unto the spirit of error and shall proclaim as the edicts of the Most High and the Mighty. But others shall be of a personal faith. Others capable and strong in the faith of the Most High, and hateful to the stranger.

In Solomon: When thou shalt have vowed a vow to God, delay not to render it. Concerning this same thing in Deuteronomy: But if thou shalt have vowed a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to render it; for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee, and it shall be a sin. That which shall go forth from thy lips thou shalt observe, and thou shalt perform the gift which thou hast spoken with thy mouth. Concerning this same thing: Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and render to the Most High thy vows. Call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Concerning this same thing in the Acts of the Apostles: Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, when the land was in thine own power? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. Likewise in Jeremiah: Cursed is he who doeth the works of God negligently.

In the Gospel according to John: He that hath not believed is already judged, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that light came into the world, and men loved darkness more than light. Concerning this same thing in the Psalm: Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just.

In Genesis: Multiplying I will multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings; and in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall have dominion over thee. Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: Not all receive this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made so by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Likewise according to Luke: The children of this age beget and are begotten. But they who have been accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. For neither shall they begin to die. For they are equal to the Angels of God, being sons of the resurrection.

But that the dead rise Moses signifieth when he saith in the bush: The Lord God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For all of them live. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But on account of fornication let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to the wife what is due, and likewise also the wife to the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one another, except by agreement for a time, that ye may be free for prayer; and return again to the same, lest Satan tempt you on account of your incontinence. But this I say by way of permission, not by way of commandment.

For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that. Likewise there: The unmarried man thinketh on the things of the Lord, how he may please God. But he that hath contracted marriage thinketh on the things of this world, how he may please his wife. So also the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that hath married thinketh on the things of this world, how she may please her husband. Likewise in Exodus, when the Lord had commanded Moses to sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them, and added: Be ready: for three days ye shall not come near to women. Likewise in the First Book of Kings: And the priest answered David and said: There is no common bread in my hand, but only one holy bread.

If the young men have kept themselves from women, they shall eat. Likewise in the Apocalypse: These are they who have not defiled themselves with women. For they remained virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

In the Gospel according to John: The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father who sent him. Likewise: O God, give thy judgment to the king, and thy justice to the king's son, to judge thy people in justice. Likewise in Genesis: And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven from the Lord.

In Jeremiah: Thus saith the Lord: Walk ye not after the way of the nations. Concerning this same thing, that one ought to separate himself from the gentiles, lest he be a partner in guilt and become a partaker of their plagues. In the Apocalypse: And I heard another voice from heaven saying: Come out of her, my people, lest thou be partaker of her sins, and lest thou be smitten with her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and the Lord God hath remembered her iniquities. Therefore hath he rendered to her double, and in the cup which she hath mixed, a double portion is mixed for her; and as much as she hath glorified herself and lived in delicacies, so much torment and mourning hath been given to her, because she saith in her heart: I am a queen, and I cannot be a widow, and I shall not see mourning.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one hour, death, mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who shall judge her. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication with her and lived in delicacies with her shall weep and lament over her. Likewise in Isaiah: Go ye out from the midst of them, ye who bear the vessels of the Lord.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: Say not, I have sinned, and what sad thing hath befallen me? For the Most High is a patient rewarder. Likewise Paul to the Romans: Or dost thou despise the riches of his goodness and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But thou, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, dost treasure up to thyself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works.

In the Apocalypse: And there came one of the seven Angels having the vials, and spoke to me saying: Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And I saw a woman sitting upon a beast. And that woman was clothed with a purple and scarlet garment, and was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness and the fornication of all the earth. Likewise to Timothy: Let your women be with modesty and chastity, adorning themselves, not with braided hair, nor with gold, nor with pearls, or costly apparel, but as becometh women professing chastity through good conduct. Concerning this same thing in the Epistle of Peter to the Pontics: Let there be in a woman not the outward adornment of gold or the elegance of dress, but the adornment of the heart.

Likewise in Genesis: Thamar covered herself with a veil and adorned herself; and when Judas looked upon her, she seemed to him to be a harlot.

In the Epistle of Peter to the Pontics: Let none of you suffer as a thief or a murderer, or as an evildoer, or as one meddling in the affairs of others,—but as a Christian.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: Dost thou wish not to fear the power? Do good, and thou shalt have praise from it.

In the Epistle of Peter to the Pontics: For Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his footsteps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged unjustly. Likewise Paul to the Philippians: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man, and found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore also God hath exalted him, and hath given him a name that it should be above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to John: If I, your master and lord, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash the feet of others. For I have given you an example, that, as I have done, so ye also should do to others.

In the Gospel according to Matthew: Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee. Likewise there: When thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the streets and synagogues, that they may be glorified by men. Amen I say unto you, they have received their reward.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: Foolish talking and scurrility, which are not to the point, let them not even be named among you.

In Genesis: And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Likewise in Isaiah: And if you will not believe, neither shall you understand. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? Likewise there: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove hence thither, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you. Likewise according to Mark: All things whatsoever you pray and ask for, believe that you shall receive them and they shall be yours. Likewise there: All things are possible to one who believes. In Habakkuk: But the just shall live by my faith. Likewise in Daniel, Ananias, Azarias, Misahel, believing in God, were delivered from the flame of fire.

In the Acts of the Apostles: Behold water, what hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said: If thou believest with thy whole heart, it is lawful.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Does any one of you, having a matter against another, dare to go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Or know you not that the saints shall judge this world? And again: Now therefore there is altogether a fault among you, that you have lawsuits one with another. Why do you not rather suffer injury? Or why do you not rather be defrauded? But you do injury and defraud, and that to brethren! Know you not that the unjust shall not obtain the kingdom of God?

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: We are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, we hope through patience.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Let women keep silence in the Churches. But if any of them wish to say anything, let them ask their husbands at home. Likewise to Timothy: Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced.

In Hosea: Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no mercy, nor truth, nor knowledge of God in the land, but cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed the land. They mingle blood with blood. Therefore shall the land mourn with all its inhabitants, with the beasts of the field, with the serpents of the earth, with the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea shall fail, so that no one judgeth, no one reproveth. Concerning this same thing in Isaiah: Is the hand of the Lord shortened that it cannot save? Or hath he made his ear heavy that it cannot hear? But your sins have separated between you and your God, and because of your iniquities he hath turned his face from you, that he may not have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins. But your lips have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditateth injustice.

No one speaketh true things, nor is there true judgment. They trust in vanity and speak empty things who conceive sorrow and bring forth iniquity. Likewise in Zephaniah: Let him utterly fail from the face of the earth, saith the Lord. Let man fail, and let the cattle fail, the birds of heaven and the fishes of the sea, and I will remove the wicked from the face of the earth.

He that hath not put out his money to usury, and hath not taken bribes against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall not be moved for ever. Likewise in Ezekiel: But the man who shall be just shall not oppress a man and shall restore the pledge of the debtor, and shall not commit robbery, and shall give his bread to the hungry, and shall clothe the naked, and shall not give his money upon usury. Likewise in Deuteronomy: Thou shalt not lend to thy brother upon usury of money and usury of victuals.

In the Gospel according to Luke: If you love those who love you, what thanks is that to you? For sinners also love those who love them. Likewise according to Matthew: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: Say nothing in the ears of the unwise, lest when he hath heard it, he mock at thy sensible words. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet and turning rend you.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: Extol not thyself in doing thy work. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: Which of you having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say to him when he is come from the field: Come immediately, sit down to meat? But will say to him: Prepare something for my supper, and gird thyself, and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? So likewise you also, when you shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do.

In Deuteronomy: Behold I have set before thy face life and death, good and evil. Choose life for thyself, that thou mayest live. Likewise in Isaiah: And if you will and hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you will not and will not hearken to me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: The kingdom of God is within you.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: We see now through a glass in a dark manner, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known. Likewise in Solomon in Wisdom: And seek him in simplicity of heart.

Likewise in the same: He that walketh in simplicity, walketh in confidence. Likewise in the same: Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things that are above thy strength. Likewise in Solomon: Be not overmuch just, and argue not more than is needful. Likewise in Isaiah: Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes. Likewise in the Maccabees: Daniel in his simplicity was delivered from the mouth of the lions. Likewise in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God, how incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? Because of him, and through him, and in him are all things, to him be glory for ever and ever. Likewise to Timothy: But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they beget strifes.

But the servant of God must not wrangle, but be mild towards all.

In Job: For who is clean from filth? Not one, even if his life upon earth be but of one day. Likewise in the Psalm: Behold I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me. Likewise in the Epistle of John: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

They who please men are confounded, because God hath made nothing of them. Likewise in the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

In the Wisdom of Solomon: In every place the eyes of God behold the good and the evil. Likewise in Jeremiah: I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a man shall be hidden in secret places, shall I therefore not see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord. Likewise in the first book of Kings: Man seeth the face, but God seeth the heart. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And all the churches shall know that I am he who searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works. Likewise: Who understandeth sins? From my hidden faults cleanse me, O Lord. Likewise in the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body according to what he hath done, whether it be good or evil.

The Lord chastising hath chastised me, and hath not delivered me to death. Likewise: I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes. But my mercy I will not take away from them. Likewise in Malachi: And he shall sit refining and cleansing as gold and silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi. Likewise in the Gospel: Thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.

In Genesis: Then the Lord said to Adam: Because you hearkened to the voice of your wife, and ate from that tree of which alone I had commanded you not to eat, cursed shall the earth be in all your works. In sorrow and groaning you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it cast forth to you, and you shall eat the fodder of the field in the sweat of your face. You shall eat your bread until you return to the earth from which you were also taken: for earth you are, and into earth you shall go. Likewise there: And Enoch pleased God; and he was not found afterward, because God translated him. And in Isaiah: All flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower has fallen. But the word of the Lord endures forever.

In Ezekiel: They say: Our bones are dried up, our hope has perished, we have breathed our last; therefore prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord: Behold I open your tombs, and will bring you forth from your tombs, and will lead you into the land of Israel. And I will give my Spirit into you, and you shall live. And I will place you in your own land, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and will do it, says the Lord. Likewise in the Wisdom of Solomon: He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding. For his soul was pleasing to God. Likewise: How beloved are your dwellings, O God of hosts! My soul desires and hastens to the courts of God. And in the Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians: But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who sleep, lest you grieve as others do who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Likewise to the: Foolish one, what you sow is not brought to life unless it first dies. And again: Star differs from star in brightness, so also is the resurrection. It is sown in corruption, it rises without corruption. It is sown in dishonor, it rises in glory. It is sown in weakness, it rises in power. It is sown a natural body, it rises a spiritual body. And again: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on incorruption, then shall come to pass the word that is written: Death is swallowed up in strife. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O death, is your strife?

Likewise in the Gospel according to John: Father, those whom you have given me, I will that where I am they also may be with me, and may behold my glory which you have given me before the foundation of the world. Likewise according to Luke: Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word, in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation. Likewise according to John: If you loved me, you would rejoice that I go to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

In the Wisdom of Solomon: All the idols of the nations they have esteemed as gods, which have no use of eyes for seeing, nor nostrils for perceiving breath, nor ears for hearing, nor fingers on their hands for touching, but even their feet are slow for walking. For a man made them, and one who borrowed breath fashioned them. No man, however, will be able to fashion a god like himself. For since he is mortal, he fashions a dead thing with wicked hands. But he himself is better than those he worships; for he indeed has lived, but they never.

Concerning this same matter: Neither attending to his works did they know who was the artificer, but either fire, or wind, or swift air, or the circle of stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, they supposed to be the rulers of the world and gods: of which things if they esteemed this on account of their beauty, let them know how much more beautiful than these is the Lord; or if they marveled at their powers and works, let them understand from these that he who established these things is mightier than they. Likewise: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have a mouth, and do not speak; they have eyes, and do not see; they have ears, and do not hear. Neither is there breath in their mouth. May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them. Likewise: All the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens.

Likewise in Exodus: You shall not make for yourselves gods of silver nor of gold. And again: You shall not make for yourself an idol nor the likeness of anything. Likewise in Jeremiah: Thus says the Lord: Walk not in the ways of the nations, for they fear those things in their persons, because the ordinances of the nations are empty. Wood cut from the forest is the work of a craftsman, and gold and silver beautifully composed are melted together; they have fastened them with hammers and nails, and they shall not be moved, for they are fixed. Silver is brought from Tharsis. Gold comes from Moab. All are the works of craftsmen. They shall clothe it with blue and purple. They shall utterly take them away, for they shall not go forth. Fear them not, for they do no evil, and there is no good in them. Thus shall you say: The gods who did not make heaven and earth shall perish from the earth and from under this heaven.

The heaven shuddered at this and shook exceedingly more vehemently, says the Lord. This evil thing has my people done. They have forsaken the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns which could not hold water. Your love has struck you, and your wickedness shall accuse you. And know and see that it is bitter for you that you have forsaken me, says the Lord your God, and have not hoped in me, says the Lord your God, for from of old you have broken my yoke and burst your bonds, and said: I will not serve, but I will go upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill and under every shady tree. There shall I be confounded in fornication. To wood and stone they said: You are my father, and to the stone: You have begotten me. And they turned their back to me, and not their face. In Isaiah: The dragon has fallen or been dissolved. Their carved images have become as beasts and cattle.

You shall carry them away bound on the neck like a burden, laboring and hungry and unable. And again: Gathered together they could not be saved from battle. But they themselves have been led away captive with you. And again: To whom have you likened me? See and understand that you err in heart, you who commit gold from the purse and weigh silver in the balance, hiring craftsmen by weight. Craftsmen made things made by hand, and bowing down they worshipped it and lifted it upon their shoulders, and so they walked. But if they set them in a place, they remain there and do not move; and those who cry out to them do not hear, and they shall not save them from evils. Likewise in Jeremiah: The Lord, who made heaven and earth, corrected the circle of the earth by his power, extended the heaven by his wisdom, and the multitude of waters in the heaven; he brought clouds from the end of the earth, lightnings in the clouds. And he cast forth winds from his treasuries.

Every man is made foolish by his knowledge, every craftsman is confounded in his carved images, for he has cast a falsehood. There is no breath in them. The enclosed works are emptied, in the time of their visitation they shall perish. And in the Apocalypse: And the sixth angel sounded the trumpet. And I heard one from the four corners of the golden altar which is in the sight of God saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: Loose the four angels who are bound over the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill the third part of men, and the number of the armies of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those sitting upon them having breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of sulphur, and the heads of the horses, and from their mouth went forth fire and smoke and sulphur.

By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur which went forth from their mouth, and also in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and idols, that is, images of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders. Likewise there: And the third angel followed them saying with a great voice: If anyone worships the beast and its image, and has received the inscription on his forehead or upon his hand, this one shall drink of the wine of his wrath and shall be punished with fire and sulphur before the eyes of the holy Angels and before the eyes of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torments shall ascend for ages of ages.

In Isaiah: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. This sin shall not be forgiven you until you die. Likewise in Exodus: And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Paul to the Corinthians, first: Food does not commend us to God; neither, if we eat, shall we abound; nor, if we do not eat, shall we be in want. And again: When you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together unto judgment. Likewise to the Romans: The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel according to John: I have food which you do not know. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver. Likewise in Proverbs: He who hoards grain is cursed among the people. But blessing is upon the head of him who shares. Likewise in Isaiah: Woe to those who join house to house and continue field to field, that they may take away something from their neighbor. Will you dwell alone upon the earth? Likewise in Zephaniah: They shall build houses and not dwell in them, and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine, because the day of the Lord is near. Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but to lose himself? And again: But the Lord said to him: Fool, this night your soul is demanded of you. The things therefore which you have prepared, whose shall they be? And again: Remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in pain.

And in the Acts of the Apostles: But Peter said to him: Silver and gold I have none. But what I have, this I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up. Likewise in the first letter to Timothy: We brought nothing into this world, and truly we can carry nothing out. Having therefore food and covering, let us be content with these. But those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and a snare and many harmful desires, which plunge a man into destruction and ruin. For the root of all evils is covetousness, which some pursuing have made shipwreck of the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.

In Tobias: Take a wife from the seed of your parents, and do not take a foreign woman who is not of the tribe of your parents. Likewise in Genesis: Abraham sends his servant, that he might take Rebecca from his own seed for his son Isaac. Likewise in Ezra it was not enough for God, when the Jews were being laid waste, unless they also put away the foreign wives together with the children whom they had begotten of them. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: A woman is bound as long as her husband lives. But if he has fallen asleep, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she will be happier if she remains as she is. And again: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her?

For they shall be two in one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Likewise in the second letter to the Corinthians: Do not be joined together with unbelievers. For what participation is there between justice and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Likewise concerning Solomon in the third book of Kings: And foreign wives turned his heart away after their gods.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Every sin whatsoever a man commits is outside the body. But he who fornicates sins against his own body. You are not your own. For you have been bought with a great price. Glorify and bear the Lord in your body.

Paul to the Galatians: The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the very things you wish. Now the works of the flesh are manifest; which are, adulteries, fornications, uncleannesses, filthiness, idolatry, sorceries, murders, enmities, contentions, emulations, animosities, provocations, quarrels, dissensions, heresies, envies, drunkennesses, revellings, and such like. Of which I forewarn you, that they who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, magnanimity, goodness, faith, meekness, continence, chastity. For they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Neither fornicators, nor servants of idols, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor deceivers, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall attain the kingdom of God. And such indeed were some of you; 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.

In Jeremiah: And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed the sheep feeding with discipline. Likewise in Solomon in Proverbs: Son, do not neglect the discipline of God, nor fail when corrected by him. For whom God loves he corrects. Likewise in Psalm: Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the right way. When his wrath shall be kindled quickly upon you, blessed are all they that trust in him. Likewise: But to the sinner God says: Why do you expound my justifications, and take up my covenant in your mouth? But you have hated discipline, and have cast my words behind you. Likewise in the Wisdom of Solomon: He who rejects discipline is unhappy.

Paul in the second letter to Timothy: There will be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap up for themselves teachers with itching ears, tickling their hearing. And they will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned to fables.

Paul to the Thessalonians: But we charge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition which they received from us. Likewise: If you saw a thief, you ran along with him, and with adulterers you placed your portion.

In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Christ sent me to preach, not in wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. Since indeed the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

And again: Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks himself to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written: He will catch the wise in their own craftiness. And again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: Children, be obedient to your parents. For this is just. Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you and that you may be long-lived upon the earth.

Likewise there: And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: Servants, obey your carnal masters with fear and trembling and in the simplicity of your heart as to Christ, not serving to the eye, as if pleasing men, but as servants of God.

Likewise there: And you, masters, do the same things to them, forbearing anger, knowing that both your Master and theirs is in heaven, and there is no respect of persons with him.

In the first Epistle of Paul to Timothy: Honor widows who are truly widows. But she who is self-indulgent, though living, is dead. And again: But younger widows avoid. For when they have grown wanton in Christ, they wish to marry, having condemnation, because they have rejected their first faith.

The Apostle in the first letter to Timothy: But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. Concerning this same thing in Isaiah: If you see a naked man, clothe him, and do not despise those of your own household. Concerning which household members it is said in the Gospel: If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household?

In the first letter to Timothy: Against an elder do not receive an accusation.

In the first Epistle of Paul to Timothy: Those who sin, rebuke before all, that the rest also may have fear.

To Titus: A heretical man after one correction avoid, knowing that such a one is perverted and sins, and is condemned by his own judgment. Concerning this same thing in the Epistle of John: They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us. Likewise in the second letter to Timothy: Their word spreads like a cancer.

In the Epistle of John: If our heart does not reproach us, we have confidence toward God, and whatsoever we shall ask we shall receive from him. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Likewise: Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? The innocent of hands and pure of heart.

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus said: You would have no power against me, unless it had been given you from above. Likewise in the third book of Kings: And the Lord stirred up Satan against Solomon himself. Likewise in Job, God first permitted, and then the devil was allowed. And in the Gospel the Lord first permitted, saying to Judas: What you do, do quickly. Likewise in Solomon in Proverbs: The heart of the king is in the hand of God.

In Leviticus: The wages of your hired servant shall not remain with you until morning.

In Deuteronomy: You shall not observe omens, nor practice divination.

In Leviticus: You shall not make a rounded cutting of the hair of your head.

You shall not mar the appearance of your beard.

In Leviticus: You shall rise up before the face of an elder, and you shall honor the person of the presbyter.

In Ecclesiasticus in Solomon: He who splits wood shall be endangered by them, if the iron should slip. Likewise in Exodus: It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not carry the flesh outside the house. Likewise: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: But I beseech you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you, but that you be composed in the same mind and in the same judgment. Likewise: God, who makes those of one mind to dwell in a house.

In the Gospel according to Matthew: Be ye wise as serpents, and simple as doves. And again: Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt shall have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing, save to be cast out and trodden under foot by men.

In the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians: That no man overreach his brother in business, because God is the avenger of all these things.

The Apostle says: The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. When they shall have said peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: No man can know the time or the times which the Father hath placed in his own power.

In the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: But to those who are married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that a wife depart not from her husband; but if she shall have departed, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband, and that a husband put not away his wife.

In the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: No temptation shall take hold of you, but such as is human. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able, but will make with the temptation also a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.

In the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: There must also be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you.

In Leviticus: But whatsoever soul shall eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which is the Lord's, and his uncleanness is upon him, that soul shall perish from his people. Likewise in the First to the Corinthians: Whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: Bring not the wicked man into the dwelling of the just. Likewise in the same in Ecclesiasticus: Let just men be thy companions at table. And again: A faithful friend is a medicine of life and immortality. Likewise there: Keep far from a man who hath power to kill, and thou shalt not be seized with fear. Likewise there: Blessed is he who findeth a true friend, and who declareth justice to an ear that heareth. Likewise there: Hedge thine ears with thorns, and be unwilling to hear a wicked tongue. Likewise: With the just thou shalt be justified, and with the innocent man thou shalt be innocent, and with the perverse thou shalt be perverse. Likewise in the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: Evil communications corrupt good manners.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: Be not hasty in thy tongue, and slack and remiss in thy works. And Paul in the First to the Corinthians: The kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power. Likewise to the Romans: For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: He who shall do and so teach, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Likewise there: Every one who heareth my words and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not. For it was founded upon a rock. And every one who heareth my words, and doeth them not, I will liken him to a foolish man who built his house upon sand.

The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: Be not slow to turn to God, and defer not from day to day. For his wrath shall come suddenly.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: Let us do evil that good things may come, whose condemnation is just.

Paul to the Romans: As many as have sinned without the law, shall perish without the law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged also by the law.

In the Acts of the Apostles: Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be possessed with money. Likewise in the Gospel: Freely have ye received, freely give. Likewise there: Ye have made my Father's house a house of merchandise, and ye have made a house of prayer a den of thieves. Likewise in Isaiah: All ye that thirst, come to the waters; and as many as have no money, go and buy, and drink without money. Likewise in the Apocalypse: I am α and ω, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that thirsteth of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that shall overcome shall possess these things and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

In Exodus: And mount Sinai was all smoking, because God had descended upon it in fire. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole place where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues divided as of fire, which also rested upon each one of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Likewise in the sacrifices, whatsoever God held acceptable, fire descended from heaven to consume the things sacrificed. In Exodus: The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the bush.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: He who reproveth a wicked man shall be hated by him. Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.

In Solomon: From much speaking thou shalt not escape sin, but he who spareth his lips shall be prudent.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.

In Solomon: He who spareth the rod hateth his son. And again: Cease not to correct a child.

Say not, I will avenge myself upon my enemy, but wait upon the Lord that he may be thy help. Likewise elsewhere: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Likewise in Sophonias: Wait for me, saith the Lord, in the day of my resurrection as a witness, because my judgment is upon the assemblies of the nations, that I may receive kings and pour out my wrath upon them.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: Love not to speak evil of others, lest thou be exalted. Likewise: Sitting, thou didst speak against thy brother, and against the son of thy mother thou didst lay a stumbling-block. Likewise in the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians: To speak evil of no man, nor to be contentious.

In Solomon in the Proverbs: He who diggeth a pit for his neighbour shall fall into it himself.

In Solomon in Ecclesiasticus: Be not slothful to visit the sick. For by these things thou shalt be strengthened in love. Likewise in the Gospel: I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came to me.

In Ecclesiasticus in Solomon: A whisperer and a double-tongued man is accursed. For he shall trouble many who are at peace.

In the same: The Most High approveth not the gifts of the wicked.

In Solomon: A most severe judgment shall be made upon those who bear rule. For to the lowly mercy is granted, but the mighty shall suffer torments mightily. Likewise in the second Psalm: And now, O kings, understand, be corrected ye who judge the earth.

In Solomon: Be merciful to orphans as a father, and as a husband to their mother; and thou shalt be as a son of the Most High, if thou shalt obey. Likewise in Exodus: Ye shall not afflict any widow or orphan. But if ye shall afflict them, and they shall cry out and call upon me, I will hear their cry, and I will be angry in my soul against you, and I will slay you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children orphans. Likewise in Isaiah: Judge for the orphan, and justify the widow, and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Likewise in Job: I delivered the poor from the hand of the mighty, and I helped the orphan who had no helper. The mouth of the widow blessed me. Likewise: Father of orphans and judge of widows.

In the fifth Psalm: But in hell who shall give thanks to thee? Likewise: Shall dust make confession to thee? Likewise elsewhere that confession is to be made: I desire the repentance of a sinner rather than his death. Likewise in Jeremias: Thus saith the Lord: Doth not he who falleth rise again, or he who turneth away not return?

In Isaiah: They who call you happy lead you into error, and trouble the paths of your feet.

In the Gospel according to Luke: To whom more is forgiven, he loveth more; and to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and princes of this world and of these darknesses, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to resist in the most evil day, that, when ye have accomplished all things, ye may stand, having your loins girded with the truth of the Gospel, putting on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod in the preparation of the Gospel of peace, taking up in all things the shield of faith, wherewith ye may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, and to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

In Isaiah: This is the man who stirreth up the earth, who moveth kings, who maketh the whole world a desert.

In the second Psalm: Why have the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes were gathered together in one against the Lord and against his Christ. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is good, and my burden is light. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: It hath seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no burden beyond these necessary things, that ye abstain from idolatries and the shedding of blood and fornication. And whatsoever ye would not have done to yourselves, do not to others.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians: Be instant in prayer, watching therein. Likewise in the first Psalm: But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in his law shall he meditate day and night.