The Four Books of Saint Ambrose of Milan, Bishop, on the Interrogation of Job and David.

Latin Text from public domain Migne Editors, Patrologiae Cursus Completus.

Translated into English using ChatGPT.

Table of Contents Book One. Of the Interrogation of Job, and of the Infirmity of Man. Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Book Two. On the Interrogation of David. Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Book Three. The Interrogation of Job\. Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Book Four. On the Interrogation of David. Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter XI.

Book One. Of the Interrogation of Job, and of the Infirmity of Man.

Chapter I.

In this life, there are many disturbances, many consolations, but the latter far surpass the former; which is confirmed by the examples of the saints: that David and Job interceded for our weaknesses, hence the subject of this work.

The divine scripture demonstrates to us in frequent passages that many disturbances must be endured in this life; and it provides many consolations by which the soul, capable of strength and conscious of rectitude, should absorb what are the inconveniences of the present and look upon what has perpetual delight. Consolations outweigh disturbances because they bring about the calming of present troubles and the hope of future ones. Hence the Apostle Paul says, 'The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come' (Rom. VIII, 18). Certainly unfitting for the comparison of consolation, not for the benefit of redemption.

For what life on earth is so illustrious that it can equal that heavenly glory? What is more sublime than Paul, who endured so many dangers, so much pain and weakness? In the sufferings he underwent in the name of Christ every day, as he himself says (1 Cor. 15:31), he was dying, and he considered nothing unworthy to endure in this time for the hope and expectation of such great glory. Elijah endured hunger, traps, and the terrors of death, and the bitter hardships of labours: and yet he, alone, hiding all the merits of this warfare, having been taken from the earth by fiery chariots and horses of fire, and being brought back from the earth to heaven, raised the grace of the pious ascender above all human things. But what can I say about Peter, who considered his cross unworthy of future reward, and demanded to be crucified upside down, so that he could add something to his own suffering, of which he himself did not fear to make more severe?

3. Hence not undeservedly does the holy David hasten to that glory, when in his other work, but especially in the forty-first psalm, he testifies, saying: When shall I come and appear before the face of God (Psalm 41:3)? In this psalm he clearly expresses both the disturbances of human frailty and the consolations from the Lord. In this psalm he also intercedes for us to God, because forgetting his own work and forgetting the kindness and grace bestowed upon man, which he had undertaken to protect and adorn, he abandoned him and rejected him, weak and shipwrecked, to be crushed by various afflictions. What the holy Job had done earlier, this person does it morally, while the former does it more vehemently. Therefore, it is advisable for us to consider the interjections of both; what is expressed in these is the form of human life, the cause at stake, and the prerogative being shaped. Therefore, we must observe them in their respective order.

Chapter II.

How blessed Job, having lost everything except his wife, did not yield to disturbances like a good athlete, nor did he refuse to compete.

Therefore, having lost his children and all his possessions except for his wife, who was reserved solely for his temptation, and even being afflicted with a severe ulcer, when he saw that his friends had not come to console him, but to magnify and exacerbate his pain, he understood that the power to tempt him had been given to him by the Lord's adversary. And although he felt the arrows of the Lord in his body, by which he said he was being wounded, yet like a good athlete who would not yield to pain and would not refuse the challenges of the contest, he added: The Lord has begun to inflict wounds, but in the end He will not destroy me. For what is my strength, that I should endure? And what is my time, that my soul should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? In whom then do I trust? Has help left me? Have pity on me, O Lord, for you have afflicted me.

5. Is not man's life on earth a trial, and his days like the days of a hired worker? As a slave who fears his master and seeks shelter under his protection, or as a hired worker who waits for his wages, so have I awaited empty months, and the nights have been given to me in pain. If I try to rest, I ask: When will day come? If I rise again, I ask: When will evening come? I am full of sorrows from evening until morning. My body is consumed by the rot of worms, and I melt the clods of the earth, scraping the pus from my sores. But my life is lighter than a fable, it perishes in empty hope... I would say, my bed will comfort me... You terrify me in my dreams, and you strike me in my visions (Job 7:1 et seq.)

Chapter III.

Concerning the miserable condition of man, who is daily under fear; and how foolishly he thinks that he can deceive God's knowledge of his sins: likewise, how wretched it is for us to be troubled in bed, which is given for rest, and to rise empty and naked from it, which is the image of this life.

6. How wretched is the condition of man, who labors for others like a hireling, is in need of himself, and unless sustained by the mercy of others, cannot support himself! Every day, enduring heavy servitude under fear and dread, and fearing to be discovered by the Lord, he thinks that he can hide himself in the wandering and fleeting shadow of this world. Consider him of whom it says in Ecclesiasticus: Every man transgressing on his own bed, despising and saying in his soul: Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me and the walls, which I fear (Eccli. XXIII, 25 and 26)? Does it not seem to you that he is truly a hireling who spends his own, like that young man in the Gospel (Luke XV, 13 and following), who is said to have received a portion of substance from his father, and being needy and destitute, to satisfy his hunger, began to feed swine, so that he could exercise his acquired means? But he, however, was eventually converted; for he returned to his father, and did not suppress his sins, but revealed them. But he who thinks himself hidden from Him who sees all things, and believes that his secret actions can be concealed in darkness, is pretending a shadow. But in vain does he think he can hide, for the eye of the Lord is brighter than the sun, and it perceives all hidden things, illuminates the darkness, and penetrates the conscience of the innermost heart, descending into the depths. Therefore, it is empty to think that one is safe in darkness, when one cannot avoid the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it. Therefore, like a fugitive and an evil hireling, he is apprehended, and before he conceals himself, he is recognized; because to the Lord, all things are known before he seeks them, not only things done, but also things that are to come.

7. Therefore, he who thinks that he can hide his own crime in empty hope perishes: that is a fable, not the truth. In short, the story of sinners is idle, having no fruit but lamentation. For the foolish narrative is a burden on the way. For what else is sin but a burden that weighs down the traveler of this world with the heavy load of guilt; if he did not wish to be subject to the burden, he should have listened to the one who said: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matthew 11:28).


8. But what is more distressing than when our own bed, assigned to provide us with rest, inflicts a grievous wound? For then we are accustomed to recall the things we have done, and the inner conscience is stung by the pricks of our actions. Hence, Scripture says of such people: 'What you say in your hearts, and are convicted of in your beds' (Psalm 4:5). It offers a remedy, but at the same time wounds the conscience. But suppose that sleep comes upon the weary at times, we are terrified by dreams, agitated by visions, so that rest is no longer a repose but a punishment. For so the riches of the world depart, as if the dream of one waking. Someone has awoken from the sleep of this body, and possessed nothing, and even lost what they thought they had.

9. Now, consider for me that rich man who was accumulating daily gains and various profits, and was driven by his own desires, suddenly coming to his senses and reflecting to himself that he will not take everything with him when he dies, nor will the glory of his house descend with him; and that the things he possesses in this life may have some pleasure, but not in the future: opening his eyes to heavenly things. Does it not seem to you like someone who drank in his dreams, drank; and like someone who feasted in his dreams, feasted; but upon opening his eyes, realized that his soul had hoped in vain, and still is hungry and thirsty; for greed has no limit, nor is it satisfied by seizing, but it is spurred on the more in need it becomes, the more it seeks? And here he arose, and the dream is empty.

Chapter IV.

How Job's friends, coming to comfort him, aggravated his grief: and how magnificently he expressed his sense of divine power, and designated the mysteries of redemption.

10. But let us hear him speaking again: In truth I know that it is so; for how can a mortal be just, etc. (Job 9:1-2). Those friends who had come to console him were pressing upon him like the waves of the sea with their words. One type of solace it is for those who are afflicted and suffering bitter hardship to be without guilt; so that the adversities they endure do not seem to be endured as punishment for their sins. They were eager to take this away from that holy man as well; so that he might be seen as the author of his own affliction, who had incurred the offense of the Lord with serious sins, and was enduring them on account of his impieties: describing the punishments of the wicked; so that those who sowed vices might reap for themselves sorrows, because they perished by God’s command (Job 4:8-9), and perished by the breath of his own life, who breathed into the clay houses that were inhabited (Ibid., 19 and following), and withered, and in whose thoughts the plots of the tricksters were frustrated, and the mouth of the unjust was stopped (Job 5:13-16). Indeed, these things are true about the power of the Lord; but they were not befitting the merits of such a great man.

11. So he replied: In truth I know that it is so; for how can a mortal be righteous before the Lord? If he should desire to contend with Him in judgment, He would not answer him, nor would he be able to refute even one of His words with a thousand arguments. For He is wise in understanding, strong and mighty; who then is so stubborn that he can stand before Him? He causes mountains to shake and they do not know it, and He overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth from its foundations, and its pillars tremble. He who speaks to the sun alone, and does not rise, but rather marks the stars. He alone stretches out the sky, and walks upon the sea as if on solid ground. He creates the morning and the evening, the north wind and the south wind: He performs great and unsearchable things, glorious and immense, countless in number. If He passes by me, I will not see Him; and if He goes past me, I will not even know it (Ibid., IX, 3 et seq.). How much more powerful is the trumpet blast of His dominion? But in it is the help of the just, not ruin. Finally, it seems that power is expressed, but rather the mysteries of our redemption are declared.

Chapter V.

That God caused the mountains to grow old, that is, to convert the letter of the Old Testament into a spiritual meaning: The Jews cannot be excused for not knowing this, because of the miracles that accompanied Christ's death; but especially because of the sun's eclipse which is described. Other works of Christ are mentioned, and especially walking on water; where Peter's wavering and the grinding of the ships of Tarshish, which represent our bodies, are described.


12. For who are the mountains that are made old, if not Moses, Aaron, and Elijah, Joshua, Gideon, the prophets, all the books of the old Testament? The Lord Jesus came: he brought a new Testament, and that which was old became new. The Christian has been renewed, the Jew has grown old. Grace has been renewed, the letter has grown old. He overturns mountains and turns things upside down. For he both destroys and demolishes the understanding according to the letter, and establishes spiritual understanding. Therefore, that understanding of the Law vanished, and it became spiritual. Hence the Apostle says: But we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal (Rom. VII, 14). But even he who was carnal became spiritual, as he himself asserts, saying: For I, too, have the spirit of God (l Cor., VII, 40). Therefore, Jesus has hidden these mountains, and the Jews do not know. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty: they would never have followed Jewish delusions. Therefore, they are the ones who do not know. Hence, in the Gospel, the Lord Jesus says: 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' (Luke 23:34).

13. But they are not excused because they do not know, since they did not want to know what they should have known. Certainly, we do not envy them if they follow the Lord's judgment. For the higher judgment usually absolves, not the future one. But neither is he free from guilt who crucified the author of his own salvation and did not seek forgiveness afterwards. Let it be that he did not know before whom he was persecuting; nevertheless, when he was placed on the cross, he ought to have recognized that he was the Lord of all the elements, under whom all elements trembled, the sky was darkened, the sun withdrew, the earth split, the tombs of the dead were opened, and the dead received the company of the living. And the centurion said: Truly this man was the Son of God (Matth., XXVII, 54). The centurion recognizes the foreigner, the Levite does not recognize his own: the Gentile venerates, the Hebrew renounces. Therefore, it is not without reason that the pillars of the world were moved when the chief priests did not believe. But the old pillars were moved so that new ones could be confirmed, as He himself deigned to say: I have confirmed its pillars (Psal. LXXIV, 4). Listen to which pillars He has confirmed. Peter and James and John, who were seemed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9).

14. So how then do they excuse themselves from not knowing, some of whom saw, others recognized, that the sun did not complete its daily course? And again, before the completion of the span of the night, it went out, making night into day, and day into night. Surely they should have understood that the sun obeyed the command to go out and the command to return. For the Lord had foretold (Matthew 12:40) that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights; the sun had learned this, and it observed the command. He was doubting, saying: What am I to do? I arise, and it is day: I set, and it is night. If I keep to my course, I will delay the salvation of the world. Let us also hasten to our redemption: I myself must also hasten to a new life; for by the grace of the cross, all things are renewed, and a new sun, and a new heaven. Therefore, I hasten, that I may be able to see that sun of justice, enlightening the souls of all. But what am I to do? He Himself desires to rise again after three days. I have found what to do, so that I do not delay and keep track of the number of days. I will not make a whole day and a whole night. I will shorten the hours, so that there are indeed three days and nights between the dead and the Lord Jesus: but they allow for a shorter interval than three days and nights, let him rise from the dead. Therefore, I will shorten the hours when he ascends the cross. Let night immediately come at the sixth hour; so that I may not see the passion of the Lord, but may escape the sight of a treacherous persecution. I will slay, and there will be a night of three hours: I will go forth, and I will renew the day, so that it will be of three hours: the first day has passed: the second night will follow in its own space, and likewise the day will follow: the third night will begin, the Lord will rise in the night, and there will be a day in the light of the rising; so that it may be fulfilled: And the night will be illuminated like the day (Psalm 138:12). This is that great day which Abraham saw and rejoiced in: of which David also says: This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24): in which I will perish not by the toil of service, but by the fruit of rejoicing.


Therefore, the Lord himself directs the day, and before the consummation of the world, he will be seen as the light that enlightens every man coming into this world. He is the Lord who marks and counts the multitude of stars; he is the Lord who alone extends the sky, who walked as if on the floor over the sea; when Peter saw him walking, and said, 'Lord, command me to come to you on the water' (Matthew 14:28). And the Lord commanded, but he faltered; and if the Lord had not reached out his right hand, he would have been drowned by the waves. The flesh wavered, the right hand saved. And he said to him: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew, 31). Therefore, faith walked in the Apostle, not the flesh. Finally, faith wavered, and the flesh began to feel shipwrecked. This is not said improperly; for the flesh is the ship of the soul, as it is written: Those who go down to the sea in ships (Psalm 106:23). And elsewhere: As the pains of a woman in labor, you shall break the ships of Tarshish with a vehement spirit (Psalm 47:8). For our souls, when they give birth to the Word, experience pains: but what she has given birth to, she no longer remembers the sadness on account of the joy; for a man is born to her who has redeemed the world. Ships of Tharsis, that is, intelligible things which bore gold and silver to Solomon, that is, our bodies, which hold treasure in earthen vessels, as the Apostle says (2 Corinthians 4:7): or perhaps these births are easily destroyed, according to what was said: Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing (Luke 21:23)! For when the soul is shaken, the flesh fluctuates; or when the passionate spirit is agitated within, the body is tormented. When the appointed time for resurrection comes, they will be raised up, as it is written: 'Come, Spirit, and breathe on these dead, and they shall live' (Ezekiel 37:9). Hence, Job himself also says later: 'For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God' (Job 19:25-26). But those who are raised to judgment will be crushed. But contrition is good: for God does not despise a contrite and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). And elsewhere: Heal his contritions (Ps. 59:4). But it was also said to Jehoshaphat: The ships were broken, so as not to go to Tharsis (2 Chr. 20:37), because he had involved himself in sacrilege. Therefore, contrition signifies both; because both will be present on the day of judgment: When all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will proceed to the resurrection of life; but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29). Which David the prophet also signifies saying: There are pains like those of a woman in labor: as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God (Ps. 47:8-9). For it includes both future sorrow and joy: sorrow from judgment, and joy from absolution.

Chapter VI.

The words of Job, which expose human weaknesses, are examined. Just as the holy man did not deny his sin, and what the difference is between sinning and acting impiously; with these words, he tries to excuse himself before God. Finally, it is shown that forgiveness is promised to the one who confesses, and to acknowledge one's own injustices.

But let us return to the series of questions that were proposed to us. He says, 'He has made many contritions to me, he does not allow me to breathe, he has filled me with bitterness; and because he is powerful by virtue, no one can resist his judgment. If I am righteous in heart, my tongue errs... His anger destroys the great and powerful. The wicked suffer in a grave death, but the righteous are mocked. For they are given into the hands of the wicked.' (Job 9:17 et seq.) See each one. The anger of the powerful is heavy on them, the wickedness of the wicked, the weakness of the just. Thus nothing is free from danger. The strength and greatness of a man are deceived by his power, wickedness is afflicted, virtue is mocked. He who has more power, falls; he who has no power, is afflicted. It is a fault of our condition, because our life is lighter than a runner. It passes by and sees nothing. Like the trace of a ship or of a flying eagle searching for food; so passes the life of a man. When we speak, we forget and no remarkable trace of our passing is found, except that it is filled with sadness and groaning. 'I am disturbed,' he says, 'in all my members. May our mediator be present to argue and judge between the two of us.' (Job 9:28, 33).

I will say to the Lord: Why do you judge me like this? Is it good for you that I am unjust; because you have rejected the work of your hands, and you have given attention to the counsel of the wicked? Do you see as a mortal sees, or is your life like that of a man, or are your years like those of a man; because you have sought out my iniquities, and you have investigated my sins? For you know that I have not acted impiously: but who is there who can be delivered from your hands (Job 10:2 et seq.)? Great faith, great authority of conscience, to summon God as a witness of one's own mind. It does not deny what is of nature, but rejects what is impious; it admits what is of weakness. To sin is of nature, for no one is immune from error; to act impiously is not of nature, but of treachery and the poison of a very wicked mind. The righteous do not recognize this, but the absolution of a person lies in God's mercy, not in the power of man.


18. 'Your hands have made me and fashioned me,' he says; 'you turned around and struck me. Remember that you made me from clay, and you will return me to the earth. Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh and fastened me with bones and sinews. You have given me life and mercy; your visitation has preserved my spirit' (Job 10:8 et seq.). What a lamentation of the holy man on account of common frailty! What an authority of argument that God made man with his own hands! The fault is excused by the excuse of weakness, grace is commended by the privilege of eternal operation, and divine protection. Concerning this matter, David also spoke beautifully, saying: What is man, that you are mindful of him; or the son of man, that you visit him? (Psalm 8:5)

19. He says: these things you have in yourself: I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible for you. For if I have sinned, you will keep me, but you have not made me clean from iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift myself up. For I am full of confusion, I am searched out like a lion for slaughter (Job 10:13 et seq.). See three things: If I have sinned, he says, you will keep me. And therefore, O man, confess your sin, so that you may obtain forgiveness: Say, he says, your iniquities, so that you may be justified (Isaiah 43:26). Why are you ashamed to admit the things in which you were born? It is a crime of the one who denies, not of the one who admits, to deny that you were born. May you preserve what you have received. Why do you think you have what you have not received? Therefore, let the sinner confess, let the wicked groan, let the righteous not raise himself up and exalt himself, so that he does not lose the fruit of righteousness through arrogance.

And he said beautifully: If I am just, I cannot exalt myself; for I am full of confusion. The just man indeed notices his own frailty more than the unjust man; and the wise man recognizes, while the foolish man does not recognize. Finally, the wise man is remorseful for his own failings, while the foolish man takes pleasure in them: the just man accuses himself, the unjust man defends himself. The just man wants to preempt the accuser by confessing his sin, while the unjust man desires to conceal his sin: the former at the beginning of his speech reveals his error, the latter wraps the sound of accusation in the verbosity of his speech, so as not to reveal his error.

Chapter VII.

Adolescence is the most slippery of all ages: we will give an account of even those sins which we could not avoid; our hardships are not adequately expressed by the troubles of the sea and land; the heavens and the earth must be renewed, and the future resurrection will not happen before the coming of him who will make all things new.


21. Again adding, he says: Why have you written evils against me, and have appended the sins of my youth? He has well seized hold of the opportunity of his age for complaint, which is accustomed to be more slippery towards vice. For childhood has innocence, old age has prudence, youth itself, neighboring to adolescence, has a sense of good reputation, and a sense of shame in wrongdoing: only adolescence is weak in strength, feeble in judgment, burning with vice, disdainful of advisers, enticing with pleasures. In such a great and turbulent whirlwind of this world, why are so many shipwrecks attributed to imprudent age? And indeed, David requested forgiveness for all his time from the Lord, saying: Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorance, O Lord (Psalms 25:7), because at that time the heat of the body burns most intensely, and the heat of the evaporating blood ignites.

22. But let us hear him again: Man, he says, that is born of a woman, is short-lived, and full of wrath; who blossomed like a flower and withered, departed like a shadow, and does not resist. Is it not for this reason that reason is sought? And you have made him enter into judgment under your gaze. But who is clean from filth? But no one, even if his life on earth is only of one day. Truly a pitiable condition, that he is compelled to give an account of his own sin which he cannot avoid, to enter into judgment, to undergo the sight of the Almighty Lord, to reveal the reasons for his actions, which he has traveled through in so many ages of his life, whereas no one can be free from sin, so that guilt creeps upon us from our very cradle before there is any sense of error. And how wretched is this, that his life is short, a sweet allure, a manifold burden, daily anger. And so in fleeting delight there is perpetual bitterness.

23. There is, he says, hope for the tree. If it is cut down, it will sprout again; its shoots will not cease growing. If its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the soil, at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a young plant. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. As the waters ebb, the sea grows calm. We have seen that the sequence of prophetic discourse concerns the two lower elements, earth and sea, which are subject to all kinds of damage and frequent storms: what powerful evidence does this provide for our distress? He said that earthly shrubs and the groves of trees, even when they are dead, rise again for vital purposes. The sea itself also is accustomed to fluctuate with the changes of the seasons. But truly our flesh always boils up, and it is its own storm, and is never affected by the motions of storms and miserable shipwrecks.

24. But when a man falls asleep, he does not rise until the heaven is sewn (Ibid., 12). This seems to indicate that until the heaven is renewed; for there will be a new heaven and a new earth, as it is written (Isaiah LXV, 17). For what is sewn is old: what is old will be changed. Lastly, listen to David saying: In the beginning you founded the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish: but you endure, and all will grow old like a garment, and you will change them as a covering, and they will be changed (Psalm CI, 26 and 27). We can also add this, that what is old is patched; what is new is forced. But from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven is forced, and those who force it plunder it. Therefore, the Synagogue was accustomed to this in few, the Church forces it in thousands. Or because now the sky seems patched with clouds and fog, with nocturnal darkness and with the diverse and variegated appearance of the rising saffron-colored day, often woven together. But then there will be no more night, and lamps will not need light, nor sunlight; because the Lord will illuminate them, as John says (Apoc. II, 23). Woe to those who take pillows to destroy the souls of the people (Ezekiel 13:18).

25. The Holy Spirit poured out upon the prophet lamenting the misfortune of our frailty, which neither had rest in this life nor retained anything in the sudden encounter with death, that humanity would not rise again until the one came who did not patch the new onto the old nor put a new piece of cloth on an old garment; but rather made all things new, as he himself said: Behold, I make all things new. For he is the resurrection, he is the firstborn from the dead, in whom we have indeed received a foretaste of the future resurrection, yet he alone has already risen with eternal resurrection.

Chapter VIII.

How Job indicated the future resurrection and wrath of the Lord in the consummation; and how he desired to escape from this life, where deceit prevails.


26. So having heard what God had said in it, and knowing through the Holy Spirit that the Son of God would not only come to earth, but would also descend to the underworld to raise the dead (which indeed happened at that time as a witness to those present, and an example for the future), he turned to the Lord and said, 'I wish you would keep me in the underworld, but hide me until your anger ceases, and establish for me a time in which you will remember me.' For if a man die, shall he live again, all the days in which I am now in warfare, I will wait until my change come. Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand. And I shall be consumed and be changed, while thou shalt look after me. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: to the works of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand. For now thou numberest my steps, but dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up my iniquity (Job 14:13-17). How sweet is the place that confirms resurrection to us; and it seems to agree with the words of the Lord, which are read in the Gospel, where He says: Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us (Luke 23:30). For in the end of the age there will be the wrath of the Lord. Therefore, the Holy One prefers to rise for judgment rather than in the time of divine anger, which is even terrible for the innocent.

27. Moreover, he is also understood to prophesy by saying: Appoint for me a time when you will remember me; which is demonstrated at the end of this book that he would be raised in the passion of the Lord; and yet he does not cease to lament: and the more he understands that resurrection is proposed to him, the more he desires to flee from this life, seeing himself handed over to the hands of his adversaries, cast into the power of the wicked, to whom even his friends have turned into enemies, who, when they should be offering consolation, inflict one ruin upon another; still, mindful of his pure conscience and pure prayer, he says: Let not the earth cover my blood (Job 16:19); so that his prayer, like incense, may be directed to the Lord and not be scattered on the earth. For the prayer of the holy penetrates the clouds; opening his mouth, the prayer of the sinner, as it was said by God to Cain the parricide, hides the earth in the blood of flesh. Cursed, he says, is the earth that opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand; for you will till the land. (Gen. IV, 11).

Chapter IX.

Those who dare to explore the depths of wisdom too curiously are criticized: it is said that wisdom is not to be sought in the abyss or in the sea, and for what reason: finally, the knowledge of it is only revealed to God alone, and to those to whom He has revealed it.


28. Sadly, thus the Holy One mourns the times of this life: I perish, he says, and I am carried away by the spirit: I beg for burial, and I do not obtain, I pray while I labor. And what shall I do? (Job 17:1-2) My days have passed in horror: the joints of my heart have been disrupted. (Ibid., 11) Yet it does not diminish the judgment of God anywhere; for He knows the profound depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God, and His judgments are inscrutable, as well as His ways are unsearchable.


29. They have not trodden on them, he says, the sons of those glorifying themselves, nor has the lion passed through them (Job XXVIII, 8). For who indeed could comprehend his ways, which have penetrated hidden things? From where, he says, has wisdom been discovered, or where is the place of understanding? Mortal man does not know its way, nor is it found among men. The deep has said: It is not in me; and the sea has said: It is not with me (Ibid. 12 ff.). It is not permissible for you to know, O man, the depths of wisdom; therefore it is written to you: Do not be high-minded, but fear (Rom. XI, 20). Why do you desire to investigate curiously what it is not advantageous for you to know, and what is not given for you to understand? Paul heard certain secrets of wisdom, which he was forbidden to disclose to others; and for this reason he was caught up into paradise, caught up even to the third heaven, to hear things that a person in the earthly realm could not hear (2 Corinthians 12:3-4). If a person hears something, is it not allowed for them to speak, just as they inquire about what they have not heard? The plans of this emperor on earth are not allowed for you to know, and yet you desire to know divine things; it is not permitted for you to investigate curiously what happens on earth, and you curiously inquire about what happens above the heavens. Why do you argue about where Wisdom is born? Human beings do not know its path, nor is perfect Wisdom found among mortals. It was not in Moses, nor in Aaron, nor in Joshua. It was not even in David himself who said: You have revealed to me the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom (Psalm 50:8). For he himself said in another place: I have become like a beast before you (Psalm 72:23). It is beyond you, O man, to know the height of Wisdom; it is enough for you to believe. For if you do not believe, he says, neither will you understand (Isaiah 7:9). You cannot know the abyss, you cannot grasp the abyss, how will you comprehend the depth of Wisdom? The abyss has said: It is not in me; and can you say that Wisdom is in you?

30. Therefore, the abyss said: It is not in me; because the Lord himself said: You will not abandon my soul in hell (Psalms 15:10). And the Apostle said: Who descended into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ out of the dead (Romans 10:7). Therefore, if the abyss is asked: Where is Wisdom? It answers: It is not in me, because it has risen. The sea is asked: Where is Wisdom? It says: It is not with me, because it has trampled upon me, nor could my waves disturb it. And therefore, in this current age, do not seek that perfect Wisdom of God in this world; for the world did not know it. But if you wish to find it, tread upon the waves of this world, as Peter did, and walk upon the waters of this age, and Wisdom will stretch out its right hand to you, as it did to Peter; for there was no one whom the waves of this age did not disturb. They disturbed Abraham, they disturbed Moses, they disturbed Peter. Moses crossed the sea and led the army on foot through the sea, but he himself was troubled beforehand. Peter walked on the water, but he was submerged in body because he stumbled on the path of weak faith. Therefore, do not seek Wisdom in the sea; for the Lord Jesus did not say that he would be with the sea, but with his apostles; so that they may know him to some extent, to whom he said: Behold, I am with you until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Blessed are those with whom he is, may he also be with us. But we have the sea with us, Peter with Christ, because he himself also walked on the sea. For us, gold and silver are dear to the heart, but wisdom is above gold, it is not in gold. Therefore, whoever desired to have Wisdom, said: I have no silver or gold; but what I have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). Because he did not have gold, he had the grace of pious action in the name of Christ. And this is said to you: Draw wisdom into your innermost being (Job XXVIII, 18); and further: It is hidden, he says, from all humans, and is concealed from the birds of the sky (Ibid. 21). Neither humans nor angels knew where it was, for they are themselves birds of the sky, of whom it is said: And I saw an angel flying through the sky (Apoc. XIV, 6).

31. No one could know Wisdom; for no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Therefore, He Himself revealed to John with whom Wisdom was; and for this reason, he said, not as his own, but what Wisdom had infused in him: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (John 1:1). Wisdom does not know destruction, it does not know wickedness. For destruction could not hold it, who said: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (I Cor. XV, 55) Evil does not know it, for it is written: The wicked will seek me, and will not find me (Prov. I, 28). They may say: We have heard of his glory. Only God knows it, for God says: He has established its way perfectly; He alone knows its place (Job XXVIII, 23). That it may be the dwelling place of Wisdom, listen to its disciple saying: The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made it known (John I, 18). For the Son acknowledges the Father, for he himself says: Just as the Father acknowledged me, so I acknowledge the Father (John 10:15). There is an equal measure of knowledge where there is a unity of power. Therefore, the Father, who made all things, knows the weight of the winds and the measure of the waters (Job 28:25). He himself saw Wisdom and proclaimed it through his prophets, for the Father proclaimed Wisdom and investigated it; just as the Son also proclaimed the Father, who misses nothing, and said: O man, what do you desire to know about the deep things of Wisdom, which are above you? To fear God is wisdom, but to abstain from evil is discipline. (Ibid., 28).

Book Two. On the Interrogation of David.

Chapter I.

After Job's absolute and more vehement interpellation, a calmer interpellation by David follows. It is not unfitting to compare him to a stag, since Christ himself did not refuse to be designated by the same animal. This likeness is most appropriate for the assumption of suffering, the calling of the Church, the defeat of the devil, and the mission of the apostles, who themselves were stags.


Indeed, many have lamented the weakness of human fragility, but among them, Job and David were particularly notable. The former, superior, direct, intense, and seemingly provoked by severe pains with a higher tragic quality; the latter, gentle, calm, and meek, with a milder emotion; so that, truly, we would imitate the heart of a deer that he set as an example for us to imitate. And do not be dismayed if I seem to preach to you in the likeness of a wild beast, when you read the statement to the apostles: Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).


2. However, even though such similarities are drawn with pious examples, and the nature of deer is innocent and gentle; I think that deer is proposed here as an imitation of the Prophet, about whom Solomon, the supporter of his father's mind, said in Proverbs: 'A deer of friendship, and a foal of thanks will converse with you' (Prov. 5:19). For the true Son of God, in himself, expressed the nature which he himself bestowed on living creatures, when he came into this world as a deer: and with these he united himself in pure simplicity, by whom snares were being prepared for him. For it is reported that such is the simplicity of these deer, that when they see themselves being chased, they attach themselves to these horsemen, who, being implanted by the deceitful ministry, lead them all the way to the nets under the guise of flight and the pretense of companionship. And so, the Lord, as if unaware of the danger and unprepared, allowed himself to be mixed with the Jews who were devising a plot against him, and he enlisted the partnership of the betrayer Jew, through whose deadly pretense he approached even the noose of the cross and the nets of suffering. And turning to him, he said, 'Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?' (Luke 22:48). And in this way, he came into the nets of the Synagogue, and wanting to submit himself; but he was not caught, nor was he ensnared, who loosens all things.

3. Finally, he stood out above the nets. And because they did not receive him, he called the Church and bestowed his grace upon her, as the most holy Church herself testifies in the Song of Songs, saying: I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strength of the field; do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases (Song of Songs 2:7). Therefore, he seeks to be aroused by the fragrance of the field, which the holy Jacob smelled, that is, by that faith, that devotion, his bridegroom be stirred by the daughters of Jerusalem, so that he may hasten to his bride and be aroused by her love, or even be aroused himself, for love is the bridegroom. For God is love, as John said (1 John 4:16). But He did not allow Himself to be provoked by others; rather, He eagerly hastened forth, rejoicing like a giant to run His course. The bride saw Him and heard the voice of His coming, and immediately turned and said: Behold, here He comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills (Song of Solomon 2:8); for He leaps over the great and bounds over the small, so as not to be hindered in His loving haste. He says, my cousin is similar to a young goat or a young deer over the mountains of Bethel. He is a fine deer, whose mountain is the house of God, to which he runs with such speed that he surpasses the wishes and desires of his bride. Indeed, when he saw him coming from afar, he suddenly recognized that he was present beside him. Hence he says: Behold, he is here behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice. My cousin answered and said to me: Arise, come, my nearest one, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, winter has passed, the rain has gone, it has departed for itself, flowers have appeared on the earth. Winter is the Synagogue: the rain is the Jewish people, who could not see the sun: the apostles are the flowers. And he added: The harvest of the incision has come, the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land (Ibid. 12). That harvest is the faith of the Church: the voice of the turtledove is chastity.

And not only does Christ take the likeness of these things, but even of a stag, because when he came to earth he crushes that serpent, the devil, without any harm to himself, and offered him his heel, but did not feel his poison. Hence it is said to him: You will tread on the asp and basilisk (Psalm 90:13). Let us therefore be stags, so that we may be able to walk on serpents. We will be stags if we follow the voice of Christ, which prepares the stags and makes them not fear the bites of serpents; and if perhaps they are wounded, he takes away their pain by forgiving their sin. Concerning these deer, the Lord says to Job: Have you observed the offspring of the deer? Have you counted their months, when they give birth in abundance? Have you helped them give birth or nourished their young, so they do not fear? (Job 39:1-2). Listen to how the young of such deer do not fear. Let Isaiah teach you, saying: And a small child shall put his hand into the den of asps, and they shall not harm him (Isaiah 11:8). And to show that it seems to symbolize the children of the Church, he added: You will send forth their offspring, their young will break free and multiply in the generation, they will go forth and not turn back (Job 39:4-5). For no one, when he puts his hand to the plow and looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

5. Therefore, the deer became a Lord deservedly; so that the voice of the Lord would prepare such deer for himself, of whom he says: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them (Mark 16:17-18). For they were picking up serpents when the holy apostles, with the breath of their sacred mouth, were driving away spiritual wickedness from the hidden recesses of bodies, and they were not feeling the deadly poisons. Finally, when the viper leaped out of the branches and bit Paul, the Barbarians, seeing the viper hanging from his hand, thought that he would suddenly die. But he stood fearlessly, neither being moved by a wound, nor being immersed in poison. Therefore, seeing him, they thought that he was not born by the condition of a human, but rather brought forth by the grace of God, and considered him to be above humans. See the deer driving out vipers from its hiding places with the divine breath that was in its nostrils, as Job said (Job 27:3). Converted, Paul said in the spirit, and looking with grief, he said to the python: I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to immediately leave her. And at the same hour (Acts XVI, 18). See the deer when it comes to baptism, and, having been washed with the sacred font's blessed water, it rejects all the poisons of persecution. See the deer, the Lord Jesus, when He came to John the Baptist, and, in response to John saying to Him: 'I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me,' He replied: 'Allow it now' (Matthew III, 14 and 15). And having said this, thirsting for the salvation in the waters, He eagerly descended. But now enough for us in the beginning of the discourse, as the deer delighted the crowd at the start of the year in the usual way. Let us proceed to the rest.

Chapter II.

How David longed to be delivered from this life, fraught with countless calamities and subject to sin, in order to attain the presence of God! The land is a place of tears, but what benefit do they bring? The Prophet, lifting his soul above the weaknesses of the flesh, poured out a prayer to cover his sins, so that he might enter the heavenly court. The delights of this same court are tasted by only a few, and it is compared to the Church itself.


6. He invokes, as I said, David, saying to the Lord: As the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of God (Ps. 41:2-3)? The saint is consumed, and cannot contain himself. For the greatness of the soul is greater than the magnitude of any body; and he desires to fly safely from earthly things to heavenly things, as he says elsewhere: Who will give me wings like the dove, and I will fly and find rest (Ps. 54:7). For here are the snares, by which, although the just man is not entangled, yet he is hindered: here are pains and anxieties; there is joy, where grace is: here, finally, are the bonds of the body, which Paul desired to loose, that, being freed from all hindrances, he might be present with the Lord. This, therefore, was the desire of David's soul, that he might now see God, not through faith, but face to face; that he might no longer wander from the body, but be released from the body. For to be dissolved and to be with Christ is much better; because to die to the just man is gain. And indeed, it is a great gain to be without sin, to not be moved by the allurements of wrongdoing. For how can the world be free from filth, when not even a single day of a person's life on earth is free from the contagion of sin? Therefore, by living we incur losses to our innocence, and by death we attain an end to our errors. Thus, gain is acquired through death, but in the use of life, like miserable debtors, the name of usurers is increased to the charge of guilt. And the soul thirsts well, which hastens to the fountain, not of this water, but of eternal life, of which it was said above: For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light (Ps. XXXV, 10). Therefore, David was hurrying to reach and appear before the face of God, whose countenance is light; for all whom the Lord looks upon, he illuminates.

My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me every day: Where is your God? (Psalm 42:4) There, tears are indeed bread, where justice is hungered after. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled. Therefore, there are tears that are bread, and they strengthen the soul of man. This also agrees with that saying of Ecclesiastes: Cast your bread upon the waters (Ecclesiastes 11:1); for there is the bread of heaven, where the water of grace is; for they rightly receive the substance of the Word and the nourishment of mystical understanding, by which streams of the water of life flow from the womb. Likewise there is here the living bread where tears and weeping of repentance are. For thus it is written: 'They went out with weeping, and I will bring them back in consolation' (Jeremiah XXXI, 9). Blessed therefore are those whose tears are loaves, who have deserved to laugh; because blessed are those who weep.

Remembering these things, he says, I poured out my soul over myself (Ps. XLI, 5). The holy person collects from those things that are outside, and pours out his soul above himself, so that the soul, poured out over the body, may hide the weakness of the flesh, cover the body for penance, and extend the power of the soul and mind everywhere. Hence, in the later passage he says: I will pour out my prayer in his presence (Ps. CXLI, 2). Where prayer is poured out, there sins are concealed. But of whom does he say he is mindful? Certainly of those things which he desired, that he might come and appear in the sight of God, that he might see that eternal court of His, in which he wandered in his mind and delighted in the presumed entrance.

9. 'Since I will enter,' he says, 'into the place of the tabernacle of wonder, even to the house of God. In the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of feasting (Psalm 41:5).' He wept not without reason, because he was dwelling on earth, to whom the heavenly tabernacles should have been owed, and whom the entrance of a powerful palace should have awaited. Finally, he preferred that one alone above all the riches of his kingdom, as he himself testified elsewhere, saying: 'One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and that I may behold the delight of the Lord (Psalm 26:4).' The delight of the Lord is in the Church: the Church is the image of heavenly things; for after the shadow passed, the image succeeded. The shadow is the Synagogue: in the shadow is the Law, in the Gospel the truth. Therefore in the light of the Gospel, the image shines forth. Thus the Prophet wept; because the fullness of grace and the abundance of joy were delayed.

Chapter III.

It is not surprising that David, troubled by the hardships of this life and lacking in consolation, was disturbed; considering that Christ himself, who willingly underwent death, desired to be disturbed, and in what sense is this to be understood? Likewise, why does the Prophet say 'I do not confess' in one place, but 'I will confess' in another?

10. Finally, even in the latter words he says: Alas for me, because my sojourn has been prolonged (Psalm 116:5)! And therefore he was entreating the Lord, because he was hastening to better things. Yet in the midst of the afflictions of the world there would be great consolation in the present, hope for the future. For who would not raise his spirit, who could hope that in the heavenly tabernacle those blessed associations would be reserved for him. But because future things are often wearisome to a weak condition, present things are a vexation; therefore the soul of the holy Prophets was disturbed by the rising waves of the body.


For you should not be surprised if the Prophet says that his soul is disturbed, since the Lord Jesus himself said: Now my soul is troubled (John 12:27). For he who took on our weaknesses also took on our emotions, in which he was sad even unto death, not because of death; for voluntary death could not have sorrow, in which the joy and refreshment of all was to come. Of this he also said elsewhere: And I arose, and saw, and a sweet sleep came to me (Jeremiah 31:26). Blessed sleep that made the hungry not hunger, the thirsty not thirst, for whom he prepared the sweetness of the sacraments. So how then was his soul troubled by fear, who made the souls of others not fear? Sorrowful even unto death, until grace was perfected: which is proven by his own testimony saying of his death: With the baptism I am to be baptized, and how am I distressed until it is accomplished (Luke 12:50)?

12. Therefore, David, troubled by the slippery bends of this world, said: Why are you sad, my soul? Why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will confess to Him: He is the salvation of my countenance and my God (Psalm 41:6-7). Therefore, when we are helped and troubled, let hope strengthen us with the expectation of future things. Consider each thing: Hope, he says, for I will confess. Not, I will confess, but I will confess; that is, I will confess better then, when having beheld the glory of the Lord with His face revealed, I will be transformed into the same image.


13. Immediately when he consoled himself, he said within himself: To me myself, my troubled soul (Psalms 41:7); that is, who should be comforting others, I myself am troubled. And because I do not have strength from myself, let us seek it from the source.

Chapter IV.

Those who seek to disturb themselves for the sake of the good seek to leave Egypt, which is designated by the Jordan: through this river, Christ is also foreshadowed, namely in order to penetrate the thoughts of the heart and divide terrestrial and celestial possession for the saints. However, this is suitable for Christ, not excluding the Father; and what does it signify through Jericho? Likewise, Christ was a great mountain by divinity, small by incarnation, and when the Old Law was not sufficient to redeem humanity, he wanted to bring the Gospel, which he had undertaken.


Therefore, he says, I will remember you, O Lord, from the land of the Jordan and Hermon (Ibid.). He remembers the land of the Jordan, in which he heaps up the memory of devotion with grace. Naaman the Syrian descended into the Jordan and was cleansed from leprosy. Christ was baptized in the Jordan when he established the form of the saving washing. The name Jordan signifies descent, by which the Lord Jesus descended, for he cleansed the neighboring river Jordan from the contagion of sins. This river flows out of Egypt and divides the promised land. Therefore, if someone who is troubled seeks good counsel, they should come out of Egypt and follow the path of light. Hermonim is also interpreted as the path of the lamp. So, come out of Egypt first if you want to see the light of Christ. The Canaanite woman came out from the borders of the nations and found Christ, to whom she said: Have mercy on me, Son of David (Matthew 15:22)! Moses also came out of Egypt and became a prophet, sent back to the people to deliver their souls from the land of affliction. But the lamp is in the body of Christ. This lamp shows you the way. Therefore, Saint David says: Your word is a lamp to my feet (Psalm 118:105). The lamp illuminates the souls of all and shows the way in darkness. The Gospel is the way of the lamp; it shines in the shadow, that is, in the world. As it is written elsewhere: They shall be made white with snow on Selmon (Psalm 67:15), that is, in obscurity.

15. Moreover, Jordan himself divides the earth. How he divides, listen: And a sword shall pass through your own soul also, to reveal the thoughts of many hearts (Luke II, 35): because he is the divider of our souls, who descends into the deepest secrets of the heart and detects the thoughts of minds. This sword is the living word of God. Lastly, to the Hebrews, the scripture says: The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow (Hebrews IV, 12). Here is the fountain of Siloam, which is said to be sent, because Christ said that he was sent by the Father (John 9:7). Also, there is that division which is gathered from the fact that both banks of the Jordan were inhabited by the tribes of the Jews, because the Son of Man, who descended from heaven in later times, is the true Jordan, the true divider of earthly and heavenly things, and he gave a divided possession to the fathers: one which would be possessed in this life, and another which would be preserved for the merits of the future life. Both of these things fittingly belong to Christ alone, either to divide heavenly things or to perceive hidden things. For he divides the interior, who perceives the hidden, which is surely the sign of divinity. Finally, you have it written that the Lord said: 'I will rejoice and divide Shechem' (Psalm 60:8). This is that magnificent portion which Jacob granted to his son Joseph, superior to all. Hence he says: 'I give you Shechem, which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow' (Genesis 48:22). What is owed to the lonely Lord, which is to the Word, that is, to that spiritual, true sword of Solomon. What is the lonely? Is it the Father without the Son, or the Son without the Father? By no means. When I say only the Father, I do not separate the Son; because in the bosom and secret of the Father is the Son. When I say only the Son, I join the Father, just as the Son also joined, saying: Behold, the hour is coming when you will leave me alone: but not alone, because the Father is with me (John XVI, 32). So both the Father alone is blessed, and alone is called powerful; so that the Son may not be separated from Him, who is always in the Father. (1 Tim. VI, 13 and 16). Finally, John beautifully says: In the beginning was the Word (John I, 1), but it was not without the Father. And God the Father was, but it was not without the Word: because the Word was with God.

16. This is the Sicima Church. Solomon himself chose her, distinguishing her hidden affection. This is Sicima Mary, through whom the sword of God passes and divides the soul. This Sicima is rising, as the interpretation says. Listen to the Church that is rising. Who is this that rises white, leaning on her brother (Song of Songs 8:5) ? This is the luminous one, which in Greek is called ἀκτινώδης, because it shines with faith and works: to her children she says: Let your works shine before my Father, who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).


17. Therefore, remember that the Lord David is from the land of the Jordan and the Hermon mountain, a small mountain. Who is this small mountain? Let us consider whether the divinity of Christ is a great mountain. Finally, I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:24). If therefore the divinity of Christ is a great mountain, certainly His incarnation is a small mountain. Therefore, Christ is both the great mountain and the small mountain: truly great because He is the great Lord and His power is great; small because it is written: You have made him a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:6). Wherefore also Esaias saith: We beheld Him, and He had no form nor comeliness (Isa. LIII, 2). Nevertheless, He became less from great and greater from less. Less from great, because, when He was in the form of God, He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant; greater from less, because Daniel saith: And the stone which was cut out of the mountain, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan. II, 36). If thou inquire who this stone is, learn. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22). Though it seemed insignificant, it was great. This is testified by Isaiah, saying: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). All things because of you, Christ. The stone for your sake, that you may be built up; the mountain for your sake, that you may ascend. Therefore, ascend upon the mountain, which you seek the heavenly things. For this reason, the sky inclined itself so that you might be closer; for this reason, it rose to the highest peak of the mountain, in order to elevate you.

18. Therefore, the abyss was not invoked undeservedly; so that this mountain became small, of which the Prophet says: The abyss calls to the abyss in the voice of your waterfalls (Psalm 41:8). The old Testament was not able to accomplish the redemption of this world: it invoked and almost called for the new Testament as help. The Law cried out, announcing the Gospel. For it was only half-full and therefore it was necessary for the one who would fulfill the Law to come. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. He comes not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. How deep is the law, listen to the one who says 'Your judgments are like the deep abyss' (Psalm 36:7). From this, understand that both are part of one wisdom, which comes to fulfill its own. The cataracts, on the other hand, represent the profound words and the power of heavenly discourse that flow to us like rain from the sky. Therefore, Christ is the remedy for all weariness, as is divine Scripture; and in temptations, it is the one refuge.

Chapter V.

The prophet, overwhelmed by miseries, implores divine mercy, which is especially manifested in adversity. God is the creator of man, both because He has the same rights over us as a potter has over his clay vessels, and because He preserves the life granted to man through His defense.

19. Finally, when David realized that the waves of secular distractions were coming upon him, which we must necessarily experience in the sea of this life, remembering the Lord's mercies that he promised in countless oracles, he turns to God in prayer, knowing that his mercy is commanded in the light, that is, in the Law; for your precepts are the light (Isaiah 26:9): but in temptations, it is manifested as in the darkness of the night. As a traveler who desires to return home and reach his destination, but who is weary from the arduous journey of life, he calls upon a guide and pleads for relief.

20. 'In my presence,' he said, 'is a speech to God about my life; I will say to God: You are my protector (Psalm 41:10).' He seeks well-known help for himself, and he meets the author of the promise, and the provider of the usual favor; so that in helping, if he offends the merit of man, he does not offend the divine example. Someone says: When does God undertake him? In order to demonstrate this, come with me to the beginning of the Holy Scriptures (Genesis 2:7), and see how the Lord fashioned man with his own hands from clay. And here He Himself says in the later passage: Your hands have made me and fashioned me (Psalm 118:73). Like a certain potter, God has worked the structure of human flesh. And it is said to Jeremiah: Go down to the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words (Jeremiah 18:2). Certainly, it often happens to a potter that while a vessel is being shaped, it falls from his hands, and he gathers the clay again to reshape the vessel. Finally, Jeremiah also says: I went down and saw how the vessel, which he himself was making in his hands, had fallen (ibid. 3, 4). And again he says: He made another vessel as it pleased him. (Ibid.) Therefore, he is rightly called a potter, because he himself took us up with his own hands, he himself formed us. Those vessels of the human potter are some for honor, others for dishonor. We are all earthen vessels: and if anyone is a king, he is an earthen vessel; and if an apostle, he is an earthen vessel. Hence Paul also says: We have, he says, this treasure in earthen vessels. (II Cor. IV, 7). And the prophet says about the king: Jechonias has been despised like a vessel, whose work is not necessary (Jeremiah 22:28). And he adds: Land, hear the word of the Lord, write down this man as rejected (Jeremiah 22:28). Just as our God is accustomed to reject degenerate sons by paternal right; therefore, he also writes them down on the earth, because they are sons of the earth. Thus, when the Jews were accusing the adulteress, the Lord Jesus was writing with his finger on the ground. But rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20).

Therefore the Lord received us when he formed us; he also received us when he commanded us to be born. Hence the just one says: He received me from my mother's womb (Ps. 138:13). Whose mother? Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you (Jer. 1:5). He receives and forms those who come forth. And before you come out of the womb of your mother, I sanctified you. He is the receiver who receives with his hands, and is called the receiver of the human race; and he receives by visitation, in order to protect. Where the Prophet says: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, says to the Lord: You are my protector and my refuge (Psalm 90:1-2). The first reception is of action, the second of defense. Finally, listen to Moses saying: He spread his wings and took them, and carried them on his shoulders (Deuteronomy 32:11): just as an eagle carries its offspring, which it is accustomed to examine; in order to hold and nurture those who have the true nature of birth, and to observe the grace of incorruptible nature; or to reject those in whom it has detected the weakness of a degenerate origin at a tender age.

Chapter VI.

David is questioning whether he appears to have forgotten God, confessing both the merits of his own sins and his own weakness, which cannot survive without divine help. At the same time, he mourns that he has been rejected by God, whom he had previously embraced. How blessed it is to cast oneself from the womb to God, and how is that relevant to Christ?

Why have you forgotten me and why have you rejected me (Ps. 41:10)? God does not forget. It is impossible for Him to forget, as He is aware of all things that have been and will be: but our sins deserve to be forgotten by Him; so that He may forget those whom He deems unworthy of His visitation. For the Lord knows those who are His. However, when some commit iniquity, He says to them: I never knew you (Matthew 7:23). So who is there that can say to God: Why have you forgotten me? But yet this is common to the saints and to us the weak. The saint says it as if conscious of his own merits; and yet the holier he is, the more humble. And if the saint hardly says it, what should I, a sinner, say, unless I refer to this: Why have you forgotten your own work; why have you forgotten your own visitation? Lastly, why have you forgotten my weakness? For what is man, if not that he should be visited? So do not forget the weak. Remember, Lord, that you have made me weak; remember that you have formed me from dust. How can I stand unless you always strengthen this clay, so that my strength may come forth from your face? When you turn your face away, everything is thrown into turmoil; if you pay attention, woe is me; you have nothing in me to look at, except the stains of sin; it is neither useful to abandon me, nor is it beneficial to behold me; for while we are seen, we offend. However, we can estimate that he does not reject those whom he sees; for he cleanses those whom he beholds. The fire burns before him, which consumes the crime.

23. It is good for us, therefore, not to be rejected. And this is why David is asked, because he believed himself to be rejected, who had been received before. Finally, in the later [verses], it says: In you I have been confirmed from the womb (Psalm 70:6). But we also have the above written: I have been cast upon you from the womb; you are my God from my mother's womb (Psalm 21:11). It is good to be cast, but [cast] upon God. Finally, in the person of Christ, this is said in Psalm 21, who was truly cast into the Father from the womb of the Virgin; for the earthly ones did not receive him while dying. And when he was placed on the cross and was releasing his spirit, he said to the Father: Into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke, 23:46).

24. Therefore let no one say, Lord, as the psalmists do, what I have not found either in my Latin codex, nor in the Greek, nor in the Gospel, which is more evident. Finally, He had said before, Father, forgive them this sin (Ibid., 34); and therefore, like a son committing his spirit into the hands of the Father, in whose bosom the Son always is. Although, even if they add that He said, Lord, let them consider that He speaks this as a man placed in death.


Therefore he was thrown from the womb into the Father, from the womb of his mother, that is, he declared that the womb that threw him out is the mother's. But the Father said: From the womb before the morning star I begot you (Psalm. 109:3). Certainly the Father did not throw out the Son, from whom the Son has never departed, as he himself says: I am handed over, and I do not leave (Psalm 87:9). He did not throw him out, to whom he is connected by the unity of the same substance. Therefore, it can also be read as follows: 'In you I have been cast from the womb; from my mother's womb you are my God' (Psalm 22:10), so that it may be followed by: 'Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help' (Psalm 22:11). It can also be read as follows: 'From my mother's womb you are my God; for I have been placed in the womb by you and have never departed from it. Like Jonah, who was placed in the belly of the whale, I was interceding for the people. And he truly was with God in his mother's womb, as it is written: 'Before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste' (Isaiah 7:16).' And before he called father or mother, he plundered the virtue of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria (Isaiah 8:4); so that, with the nations called forth, he might acquire a kingdom for the Father with the pious worship of devotion. Let us see the rest.

Chapter VII.

While the long-awaited coming of Christ is delayed, the devil became furious, in order to crush those who would believe in Christ, and he placed his signs in them: where the discussion is about the signs that we should follow and flee. The devil places his signs in those who receive the seed of faith along the way; on the other hand, he places the faith of the devil in the open road. Finally, so that the devil does not defile the tabernacle of God, it must be provided, for which perseverance is most needed.


26. Therefore, he said, why have you rejected me? And why do I walk in sorrow while my enemy afflicts me? He breaks my bones, those who torment me reproach me, saying to me every day: Where is your God? Why are you sad, my soul? (Psalm 41:10) And the rest. The first complaint was that the goods, whose fruits were already desired, were detained for trial. The second complaint was that the long-awaited coming of Christ was delayed for the wise, whom the Law had announced, whom the prophets had promised, and the hearts of the righteous were boiling more impatiently because they knew that He would come for the redemption of all. Of all these things, through evangelical teaching he opened up the path of virtue and showed the paths of good works, as he himself said in Proverbs: The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways (Prov. 8:22). Therefore, they would say to him: Where is your God; for Christ had not yet come, but was hoped for? Therefore, the devil raged, in order to crush those whom he knew would believe in the coming of the Lord, and he afflicted them with various miseries. Therefore, let David interpellate, so that he may awaken the slumbering with prophetic complaint, hurry them on, admonish them to come to the rescue. We have a similarity of this interpellation even in later [verses], where the same prophet says: Why have you repudiated us, O God, forever (Psalm 73:1)? And there he openly bewailed that he had forgotten his congregation and cast away the rod of his inheritance; and that his enemies had risen up against the people of God, of whom he says: And those who hate you have gloried in the midst of your feast (ibid., 4). This little verse here might seem to declare the Assyrians, who triumphed over the people of Judah, unless it is followed by: They set up their standards, and I did not know them (ibid. 5). Standards are always in war, which are accustomed to go before those about to fight and to lead the military host. Each unit or legion follows its own standards. And if they have been scattered in the turmoil of war, they return to the place where they have seen their standards, no matter how far away it is. Each leader establishes these signs and prescribes what should be followed. But there are also other signs that the victorious enemy imposes and decrees should be observed as if by captives; but a faithful soldier follows his own signs and does not recognize others.

27. Let us consider more intensely and more deeply the signs of others. Christ placed his sign on the foreheads of each one; likewise, Antichrist will also place his own signs there, so that he may recognize his own. But the true confessor, who is a hidden Jew, says: They have placed their signs as signs, and I did not recognize them. The devil and his ministers have placed them, but I did not know them; because I did not agree with his followers, I did not comply with his orders. Assyrian Nebuchadnezzar placed signs for the Hebrew boys and changed their names; and he commanded them to worship his image and to forsake the customs of their fathers and follow the Chaldean rites, disregarding the Law of God. The king established this, but Daniel resolved in his heart to shun the defilements of the royal table (Dan. III, 18). Therefore, it is right for him to say, 'I do not know foreign signs.' It was commanded that the Hebrew boys worship the king's image; they replied, 'We do not worship your image.' Therefore, each one of them aptly said: They have set up their own signs, and I do not recognize (Dan. III, 18); that is, I have not experienced, I have not accepted with any agreement, I have not taken in any association. Hence, we also read about the Son of God that he did not know sin (II Cor. V, 21). And elsewhere you have: For he who keeps the commandment does not know the word of wickedness (Eccles. VIII, 3): when it is clear that it is not the knowledge of wrongdoing, but the criminal association, David himself also says in the following: But I did not recognize those who turn aside to wickedness from me (Psal. C, 4). But when the adversaries want to set up these signs, he declares: 'As on a road,' he says, 'over a high place: as if in a forest, they cut down its doors with axes, they have thrown it down with hatchet and mattock' (Psalm 73:6). What does this mean, unless it shows that our faith should not be like a road, lest the birds of the sky come and take it away, as that word which you read in the Gospel, should not be sown around roads and paths (Luke 8:5).


So, the adversaries desiring to uproot the faith of this one, who does not see their signs in his heart, attempted to place them on the path, that is, in the open. But the heart is at the summit; for the eyes of the wise are in his head. And they placed signs as if in a forest of trees, which quickly burn with fire, or are cut down with axes. For fire comes out of the forest, and even the cedars of Lebanon are burned. But they thought to do this: to defile the tabernacle of the divine name, which is within us. For just as we are the temple of God, so too we are the tabernacle of God, in which the feasts of the Lord are celebrated. Therefore, oh man, guard your highest self, so that you may conquer the heads of your enemies, the top of their hair walking about (Psalm 67:22). For they walk in trivial matters, not in holy matters; on the top of hair, not on the top of devotion and faith. And if the spirit of the one who has authority over you ascends, as you have in Ecclesiastes, do not abandon your place (Ecclesiastes 10:4). Indeed, Christ placed you above, whom He made in the image of God. Therefore, hold the place of superior faith and piety that you received from Christ, so that as one who is superior, you may easily reject the wicked spirit ascending from the lower things, that is, from earthly and worldly matters, and not receive its signs in your heart. May it not occupy the entrance of your soul, nor the innermost part of your mind. And may it be like a forest consumed by its own fires, where the weak and fragile things are destroyed, or like axes cutting down the doors of your heart. Therefore, let it not be a forest but a vineyard within us; let the gate of our mouth and heart be closed more diligently, lest the enemy enter. He quickly breaks down the door if he finds it open. But truly Christ knocks, he does not cast down, he who strengthens you, O Jerusalem, the bolts of your gates. Christ knocks with his hand, that you may open, the adversary is cut down by axes; and therefore it is written (3 Kings 6:7), let not the axe and hammer of the house of God enter unlawfully. Pride and deceit should be outside, not within. For outside is the battle, and inside is the peace that is beyond all understanding. Do not let your soul be torn by iron, but let your soul pass through it like the soul of Joseph, so that your innermost being, like a dwelling place of the Word, is not destroyed by the entrance of faith and spiritual doctrine. For it is founded on use and practice, and remains steadfast, not giving place to the one who attempts to ascend to the highest, as if transforming himself into an angel of light; if he does not see his own signs in us, he cannot have the authority to resist. So that the enemy does not afflict us and break our bones, let us not fail to persevere in Christ, so that it may be said of us: They have endured with me for three days, and I do not want to send them away hungry, so that they do not faint on the way (Matthew XV, 32). Blessed is he to whom he himself has given the firmament of the heart, so that he cannot fail on the path of this life. For he does not fail who hopes in the Lord and confesses him with intimate affection; for even that knight whose horse's heel was bitten by a serpent, although he fell backward, yet he was not deceived, because he awaited salvation from the Lord.

Chapter VIII.

David demands that he be distinguished from the unjust, but not Christ, to whom all judgment has been given by the Father. It is right that the Prophet, troubled by internal and external enemies, should have sought divine help in order that the light of divine assistance might shine upon him in good time; yet he was refreshed by God with the knowledge of future redemption.

29. The third interruption of the Prophet is that, as he is stationed among people who exercise wickedness, he desires to be separated from their contamination. Many think that this refers to the Lord Jesus, because it is His alone not to fear judgment, since He conquers when He is judged. For He has a judgment from an unjust man, into which Christ willingly enters, as you have written: My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I saddened you? (Micah 6:3)? Moreover, when the father gives all judgment to him, not as if to an infirm person, but as if to a son, because he himself can undergo judgment? If they think that the judgment of the Father must be undergone by the Son, then the Father surely does not judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son; so that everyone may honor the son just as they honor the father. The father honors the son, and do you judge? We have said this so that no one would consider us as placing the person of the Prophet in the place of the Lord due to fear of questioning, when the holy David, foreseeing by the spirit that the Jews would rise up against the passion of the Lord, does not fear the judgment of his faith: he even demands that his cause be distinguished from the nation of persecutors; so that he would not be entangled with the descendants of his wicked generation and the heirs of his posterity, the lineage of the whole Jewish race.


30. Therefore, it is not without reason that he is troubled, who sees that there is a struggle against the flesh and blood, and that there is a heavy shipwreck in his own body, a storm which he is not able to withstand unless heavenly help supports him. For there is no greater enemy to man than his own household: but what is more domestic than man himself and the weakness of his own flesh? And therefore the Prophet hastens and prays with all his passion, that Christ may come as the strength of all, who takes on all infirmities and makes the two one, by removing the wall that divides the conflict between the mind and the flesh, so that they may come together in harmony. Therefore, because within himself there was a conflict, he was in danger from those who were ignorant of the law and equity, who were preparing snares of deceit and ambushes, and the hoped-for remedy was being delayed; he considered himself repelled, as if the one who had promised the remedy was refusing to come. And as if recalling from the depths of dark shadows to the dawning light of day, he prayed that the radiance of the truth would dispel the darkness of this age, and that eternal truth would be present, which would erase the deceptive image of this world.


31. God was present through their prayers, who is accustomed to assist unexpectedly and reveal himself to those who do not ask, as he himself says: 'I was found by those who did not seek me' (Isaiah 65:1). And he, favoring the prayers of the pious, swiftly surpassed the sequence of their prayers with speedy fulfillment, and suddenly led the holy Prophet into the church and his tabernacle in spirit, and placed before his eyes the sacred altar, on which the redemption of the whole world was to take place and the forgiveness of sins for all people throughout the entire world.

Chapter IX.

The prophets signify that God, who had turned away from humans because of their sins, was later reconciled to them through the passion of Christ: where God is averse to human sacrifices, it is confirmed by the testimony of Isaiah that he can still be reconciled. Likewise, in order for us to enter the house of God, we who were battered by the waves of crimes like islands, suffered shipwrecks, have been renewed in many ways by Christ.

32. Therefore, seeing in the spirit that sweetness of the heavenly sacraments, that table which repels the snares of those who would wear us down, just as he himself said in the preceding: 'You have prepared a table before me against those who wear me down' (Psalm 22:5), he says: 'And I will go to the altar of my God, to God who delights my youth' (Psalm 42:4). He has said it beautifully, as if Adam, 'And I will go.' For indeed we were cast out from the paradise of the Lord, after Adam, conscious of his sin, turned away his face from the Lord. He also added this decree: And I will go to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. For he turned his back on our offerings, when Cain the murderer did not approve of his offerings. Cain was hiding from the sight of the Lord, raging with a wild fierceness because the Lord had regarded the offerings of his brother but had not regarded his own, and in his anger he left his rightful inheritors in offense. He killed Abel, not for himself, but for all of us. No sacrifice was nearly acceptable anymore; for there was no one who could do good, there was not even one, when neither faith in God nor piety towards one's own brother was upheld. The Lord Jesus came to resurrect Adam. He was resurrected, and Abel, whose offerings pleased God. The Lord Jesus offered himself, that is, the firstfruits of his body, in the sprinkling of his blood, which spoke better than the blood of Abel on the earth. God looked upon his gifts, from which he left divine grace of reconciliation to good heirs. Therefore, the holy David rightly says, as if in the person of a reconciled man: And I will go in to the altar of my God, to God who makes joyful my youth.

33. Let us ponder this passage, if we can, following the example of another prophet, how the Lord first rejected the sacrifices of a man, and then was reconciled to him. We have it written in the book of Isaiah, with the Lord saying: 'What to Me is the abundance of your sacrifices?' says the Lord. 'I am full: (Isaiah. I, 11), that is, I abound in them, but I do not seek yours: I do not want burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, nor do you come before my presence in this way.' And indeed, Abel offered a sacrifice of the offspring of the flock, in which God was pleased, but it did not require a symbol, as it anticipated the truth of the sacrifice. The salvific passion of the Lord was anticipated. Who indeed required these things from your hands? You will not trample on my kingdom. (Ibid. 12). And further, When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my face away from you . . . . But cleanse yourselves, be clean, remove malice from your souls. Judge the orphan, and justify the widow, and come, let us argue, says the Lord (Ibid. 15 and 16). Therefore, it is clear that the Lord turned away from man's sacrifices before, and later reconciled, in order to look favorably upon our sacrifices.

34. Therefore, he who enters the mercy of the Lord enters securely. Finally, it is said to the good servant: Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21). But concerning the wicked servant, it is said: Cast him into outer darkness (ibid. 30). Therefore, Adam, cast out from his heavenly homeland and the seat of paradise, was banished to the island of sin. Thus, Scripture correctly says: Be renewed, O islands (Isaiah 41:1). For we are surrounded by the waves of sin, like islands in the sea of this world. Therefore, these islands were renewed by the coming of the Lord through the forgiveness of sins, that is, men were immersed in the water as if placed in the midst of the sea like islands, they were struck by the waves like islands, resounding with the waves of sins as if they were islands, in which, before, there were frequent shipwrecks for the simple reason that there was deceit in their hearts and flattery on their lips. But truly, after the Lord Jesus, in whom there is no deceit, came into this world, he illumined the deep regions of human minds with the heavenly exposition of his teaching, and he poured forth tranquility upon the desires of individuals, removing the hedge of discord as if they were the supports of harbors drawing near; so that each person may establish the vessel of their own peace in the affection of their neighbor or brother, and may abide on the shore in a certain seclusion of a devout mind.


35. Therefore not undeservedly does David cry out as one renewed: And I will go in unto the altar of my God, to God who makes joyful my youth; whereas he had said that he had fallen into old age among his enemies, as we read in the sixth Psalm, he here says that his youth is renewed to him out of the inveterate decay of human old age. For we are renewed by the regeneration of baptism; we are renewed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; we shall also be renewed by the resurrection, as he says in the later passage: Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle’s. To describe how we are renewed, listen: You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: You shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow (Psalm 50:9). And in Isaiah it says: If your sins are like scarlet, they shall become white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). One is truly renewed when they are changed from the darkness of sin to the light of virtues and grace: so that the one who was previously defiled by foul filth may shine brightly above the snow with a dazzling radiance.

Chapter X.

David promises to confess to God in song on the harp: the occasion on which the harp is related to our body, and what kind of sound is fitting for it, is explained.


36. I will praise you with the lyre, my God (Ps. 42:4). Our soul has its lyre. For Paul would not have said, 'I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, I will sing also with the mind' (1 Cor. 14:15), unless he had a lyre that would resound with the plectrum of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh is the lyre when it dies to sin in order to live for God; the lyre is our flesh when it receives the sevenfold Spirit in the sacrament of baptism. For when the turtle is alive, it is engulfed in mud; but when it is dead, its shell is fitted for the purpose of singing, and it speaks in seven different voices, uttering sounds modulated by numbers. Likewise, if our flesh lives for the sake of bodily pleasures, it lives in a certain mire and pit of indulgence. But if it dies to luxury and self-indulgence, then it resumes true life, then it begins to produce the sweet harmony of good deeds. Sweet is the sound of chastity: sweet is the sound of praising God: finally, their sound went out into all the earth (Psalm 19:4); sweet is the sound of the faith which is announced, as it is written (Romans 1:8), in the whole world. May this sound go forth from us to God, as it also went forth from the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:8); so that we may sing, even without singing, and proclaim the Lord with the harmony of good works, to whom be honor, glory, perpetuity from age to age, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.

Book Three. The Interrogation of Job\.

Chapter I.

Many, even wise, are moved when they see the unjust prospering here and the just being afflicted, which is the subject matter of the following books: that for the same reason Job's ignorant friends argued that he was afflicted with punishments because of the crimes he had committed.


1. Our discussion was about the intercession of the saints, and how fragile and weak the human condition is, which has no stability anywhere except in divine protection: today we must take this into consideration, as it greatly affects the common people, and even the wise are often troubled; when they see the unjust prospering, and the just frequently afflicted in this world. Truly, this is a slippery place, where even the saints could hardly maintain a firm belief. And indeed, David himself, who had said in the past: You have revealed to me the hidden wisdom (Psalm 50:8). However, he later affirmed himself and searched for the path of perfect reason. Even holy Job, along with his three old friends who came to console him, struggled in speech with this opinion (Job chapters 4 and following). Therefore, let us bring forth the arguments of both. They are deserving of teaching us how to live, for they have deserved to please God more by being placed in adversity. Let us listen, therefore, to both in their proper order.

2. The holy Job had been strongly rebuked by Eliphaz the king of the Themanites, and by Baldad the tyrant of the Sabeans, and by Sophar the king of the Minaeans, because he endured such great punishment only because of his sins. For, with their weak understanding, they did not realize that the Lord had allowed him to be tested, so that as a champion of Christ, he could become more glorious and reach the crown through trials. Therefore, they did not see the great mystery of wisdom; with the fear of narrow-mindedness, lest they appear to accuse God of injustice by afflicting the innocent with punishment, they turned Job's meritorious suffering into punishment; saying that the entire life of the wicked is lived in hardship (Job 15:20), and that unjustly gathered riches are vomited out (Job 20:15); all the heavy things that a man suffers on earth, he suffers because of his own sins: even if he is prosperous, his prosperity cannot last, but quickly vanishes like a dream, and his place is not found; however, the joy of the wicked leads to a more severe downfall (Ibid. 5); and so, even the holy Job, having been changed from prosperity to adversity, fell from the highest to the lowest because of his sins: he was accused by those who claimed to be innocent; for the fate of the wicked is such that when the Lord's wrath comes upon them, it joins in causing them pain and the destruction of their home (Ibid. 28 and 29).

Chapter II.

Job's weakness proved to be stronger for his healthy friends and even himself. How did he rebuke his accusers? Especially when his silence, as well as that of David and the Apostle, is presented to us for imitation.

Holy Job heard these things, and like a strong athlete sat in the dung, covered in sores and painful wounds, the whole body covered in dreadful ulcers, he spoke of mysteries, not seeking his own remedies for sickness, but occupied with sacred discourses. Therefore, the words of a sick man are stronger than those who are not sick. For they spoke of injustices, but not according to knowledge: they preached divine judgments, the punishments of criminals, the rewards of the saints; but they did not know how to discern the guilty from the righteous: in short, whom the Lord God pronounced righteous, they condemned as unjust, they summoned him to wickedness. Therefore, they did not know what was suitable for each person. But truly, the holy Job could discern by the spirit how he ought to speak to each one; therefore, he was stronger than those who appeared to be healthy and whole. And what shall I say? Was he found stronger than the others? He was found stronger than himself. For Job, when he was sick, was stronger than when he was healthy, according to what is written, 'For my strength is made perfect in weakness' (2 Corinthians 12:9). Therefore, even when Job was weakened, he was then stronger. For his soul was not sick, although his body was in pain: because his soul was not in the flesh, to which it did not adhere to its passions; but in the spirit, by whose power it was clothed.

Therefore, it was not the groaning of the flesh and the weaknesses of the body that spoke, but the voices of the spirit by which it was oppressed, not by which it yielded. And at first, more gently, to instill shame in them; because they unjustly accused the just man of enduring lesser punishments for his sins, and they themselves, sinners, did not blush to falsely accuse the innocent one. ‘Let it be,’ he said, ‘that I have erred, and that he who pours errors into the minds of men dwells with me deviatingly; so that I may speak words that I ought not, as you say, and my words may err, and my speech may not be timely. Why do you leap upon me and revile me, not considering that this temptation has come upon me from the Lord, who has thought it fitting to enclose me with a certain rampart of perturbations.’ (Job 19:4ff) I am exercised by adversity, surrounded on all sides by labors and dangers; and yet, you insult me, wanting to oppress whom you should help. Behold, I laugh at your reproaches, and I will not speak, nor will I respond to your insults. For it is not you who judge: but He who judges me is the Lord, and the time of His judgment has not yet come. Why shout before the judgment? It is good to be silent while awaiting the judge. It is good not to return insult for insult, lest we ourselves be counted among the detractors.


5. Let us therefore imitate this man, who with his silence refuted his accusers. He showed the strength of his character, which was not moved by insults; and he displayed the innocence of his conscience, as he did not acknowledge the accusations and instead laughed at them as if they were from someone else. But we, on the other hand, when something is being accused against us, we become bitter when we want to defend ourselves, and we admit our desire for revenge; whereas the Scripture says to turn away from disgraceful speech (Prov. XXVII, 11), and to take off your garment (Ibid. 13); for the one who insults will pass by. Let us be silent, so that it passes by, lest our provoked garment be burned. For it is written: Do not kindle the coals of a sinner, lest you be burned by the fire of his flame (Eccl. VIII, 13). Therefore, the holy man is silent; and if a servant acts insolently, and if a poor man is reviled, the righteous man is silent; and if a sinner hurls insults, the righteous man laughs; and if an infirm person curses, the righteous man blesses.

David remained silent when Shimei, son of Gera, cursed him; Job laughed; Paul blessed, as he himself says: We are cursed, and we bless (1 Corinthians 4:2). For by divine teaching, the progress of human virtue has grown; for the one had already come who would make the weaker stronger, and he had heard him say: Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:28). What he said in words, he proved by example. Finally, even while placed on the cross, with his persecutors reviling him, he said: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34); so that he might pray for those who falsely accused him, whom he himself could forgive. Therefore, Job laughed, because Christ had not yet come, to whom alone the prerogative of great virtues was reserved; for he is the beginning of virtues, as it is written: The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways (Proverbs 8:22).

Chapter III.

In the contest of words, which is generally considered no less difficult, the victor is declared. How beautiful it is to laugh and remain silent in the face of accusations; and how, after responding gently, the same person has repelled more forcefully those who calumniate with more importunity.


And he remained silent while laughing. He taught why one should remain silent, saying: I will cry out, but there is no judgment (Job 19:7-8). He himself said that he wanted to endure these things. Like enclosed by wall-like temptations, I cannot escape until it pleases God to destroy the heights of my temptations. For now, if I cry out, there is still no judgment. I am still in the struggle, still wrestling, still the fight remains for me, for the crown has not yet been won. But no one is crowned unless they have legitimately fought.


He was faced with a third battle: he had lost everything he had, that is, his inheritance with his sons; his flesh was enduring wounds; he remained to conquer the temptations of words. No ordinary battle. Adam was deceived by speech, Samson was overcome by words. For nothing penetrates the soul like deceitful speech, and nothing bites as hard as harsh words. Many, after overcoming physical torment, could not endure the harshness of words. Job suffered, but endured, and carried the burden of wounds alongside the burden of words. His agonothetes saw him struggling in the cloud and whirlwind and gave him a helping hand, and declared that those struggling had fallen with a heavy fall, but he declared himself the victor and brought back the crown.

9. But what is more beautiful than laughing when we are spoken ill of? For we should rejoice if things said against us are untrue. First, because an enemy, desiring to say something against us to accuse us, did not find what is true, but composed falsehoods as if they were true. Secondly, because the Lord Himself said in the Gospel about such false accusations brought against the innocent for the sake of righteousness: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:12). Therefore, the one who recognizes the object should remain silent, so as not to worsen the wound and cause the scar to split open. And the one who does not recognize it should also remain silent, for they are hearing someone else's accusation, not their own crime. If they repeat it, they make it their own; if they keep silent, they turn it back and wound the accuser. The one who presumes upon the mentioned reward should also remain silent. For they do not suffer prejudice if there is no judgment. And even if there is prejudice in the world, there will be none in God's judgment. Finally, so that you may know that the insult does not harm a good conscience, listen to holy Job saying, a richer witness indeed than if he had attained the power of the Roman empire: Now I will be silent and depart: if there is harm to me now, then I will not hide from your face (Job 13:19-20).

10. Therefore, in the beginning, he responded more sparingly, in order to remind them of God's judgment and to make them turn away from insolence and fury as a good physician would make them repent. But after he noticed that they persisted in their insults, he repeated more forcefully and struck them as with a stronger fist, those who were throwing stones of their words at the innocent. Hear, he said, hear my words, let me not seek consolation from you: bear with me, for I will speak more forcefully: the weight of my words will be heavy (Job. XXI, 1 et seq.). I will also speak according to your opinion; because many abound in the successes of this world, while others are burdened. They are in distress, and it seems that this is deserved according to the merit of their sins. And even if I say this, do not laugh as if I agree with you; and if I am a sinner, I am not guilty before man, for he himself is also under sin and claims authority over himself concerning me. Or if I am judged as a man, that is common, I should not be reproached: it is the weakness of the condition, not a special wickedness.

Chapter IV.

Asserting that friends always suffer misfortunes for the sake of their sins, Job refutes them by asking why the wicked in this life are prosperous. However, these apparent misfortunes are shown to be true blessings. Likewise, he asks who should truly be considered happy, who sows well or poorly, and what will be the fate of the unjust in the future. He also questions why some are immune to these punishments while the righteous are considered subject to them. Finally, it is demonstrated that the wicked do not obtain eternity, but rather only a false image of it.


But tell me this: If I suffer because of my sin, as you argue, why do the wicked live? Not only do they live, but they are also filled with wealth, and their crops multiply. They even have children and their houses abound. These things may appear good on the surface, but in a deeper mystery you will find that what is thought to be good is not truly good, and what is thought to be evil is considered even more desirable than them.

12. 'They have become old,' he says, 'in riches' (Ibid. 7); 'they have grown old,' he said; so that the possession of wealth does not seem as long-lasting as the trouble caused by accumulated resources; as Ecclesiastes saw that wealth is kept to the detriment of those who possess them, which perish in extreme distress and worry (Eccle. V, 12). For what they leave behind here perishes, and it cannot benefit the dead. Therefore, the deceased had anxiety from them, and could not find rest, who left behind something to be ashamed of, and did not take with him what he held, much different from him of whom it is written: 'Blessed is the man who fills his desire from these things; he will not be put to shame when he speaks to his enemies at the gate' (Psal. CXXVI, 5). To whom the inheritance belongs, and the reward from the birth of the Virgin Mary: here at the end of wisdom, he is praised with praises, because he had nothing to be ashamed of, who desired nothing of those things which are of the world: but the adversary, having cast off the rags of the old man, wounded by the spear of self-control; so that he could not hinder him at the end of this life, being lame from the wound and confused by the admiration of virtues. Therefore, you have someone who is not praiseworthy, who is hardened in the desire for wealth, not renewed in the perception of grace.


13. Let us consider something else: Their seed, he says, is the second soul (Job 21:8), that is, they are not considered among the righteous. For the righteous sow in the spirit, and from the spirit they will reap eternal life. But those who sow in accordance with the flesh cannot reap spiritual things; for the natural man does not perceive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned. sed judicatur.

14. Their children in their eyes (Ibid.) that is, they do what they do so that they may be seen by men, not because they seek good in order to choose what will be approved in the future judgment. Therefore, Scripture frequently declares children on account of their works, because our posterity is more abundant in good deeds than in children. Hence, even Hezekiah, freed from serious sickness, says: From this day, I will beget children who will declare your justice, O Lord, the God of my salvation, and I will not cease blessing you with the psaltery all the days of my life (Isaiah 38:19-20). For indeed, the future generations of devotion and faith, which did not know how to submit to captivity, suffered as the sons of Hezekiah did.

And he added, saying: Because they have no fear, there is no punishment from the Lord (Job XXI, 9). But the just man says: For I am scourged all day long (Ps. LXXII, 14); and he desires to be scourged, so that he may be received by the Lord; and he wants to fear the Lord; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And he does not consider it a blessing if his heifer does not abort (Job XXI, 10). Like fools think. For what does the ox signify, if not the rural cultivation of the heart, which always returns in a circle, and never ceases, but when it seems to be filled up, it is called back to the beginning? These are the ones who worship Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore, those who worship Egypt and plow the land with a solid mind turn labor upon themselves, and reap sorrows. Therefore, their cattle do not miscarry but give birth, so that their work may increase and they may generate everything they have conceived without fear of God. The righteous, on the other hand, boast in a different way. For they do not boast in the abundance of riches or in the birth of livestock, but they boast in the Lord saying: In your fear we have conceived in the womb and given birth to the spirit of salvation (Isaiah 26:18). Therefore, it is said of the just, because they have begotten the spirit of salvation, which they received from the fear of God, not from the malice of this world, of which we read: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity (Ps. VII, 15). Therefore, the abortion is better than the birth of secular things. Lastly, the Preacher declared about the man who comes into this world and endures the vanity of this world and the darkness for a long time, that the abortion is better than him (Eccl. VI, 3). For to this one there is more rest than to that one; because he has not experienced the variety of the world, in which even if someone were to live for a thousand years, he could not see what is good. Therefore, it is more a matter of gratitude to have escaped these things than to have undergone them.

But perhaps that which he added may stir us: Because they abide forever like sheep; but their children play, receiving the psaltery and the harp, and delight in the voice of the psalm. Yet they have completed their life in prosperity, and in the rest of the underworld they have slept (Job 21:11 et seq.). Distinguish these things, and since you are spiritual, judge. The wicked are like eternal, but not eternal, for they cannot receive eternity from him who is not eternal. Therefore, he cannot give what he does not have, nor can he illuminate who does not possess light: but he transforms himself into an angel of light, in order to deceive the unbelievers. However, he transforms himself by the simulation of false light, not by the brightness of perpetual clarity. Hence, the Savior says: I saw Satan as a lightning fall from heaven (Luke 10:18). He is not lightning, but like lightning. Consider someone heretical who is focused on bodily abstinence and the knowledge of celestial sacraments, as he is believed to be eternal, he does not have the reward of eternal life; for he has a false imitation, who does not have the truth of faith. These little children play, just like she who, when she has grown up, wants to marry. She has grown up in the psaltery and lyre, that is, in the sound of her voice, not in the depth of the sacraments; to make it resound with her lips, not to impart it to her heart.

Chapter V.

To end life in prosperity is to be wicked, but to afterwards lack heavenly rest; on the other hand, it is desirable for us that temptation from vices and presumption of impunity reside in prosperity. This folly is overcome by the holy man, declaring that punishment is both present and prepared for eternity. Then, after listing their crimes, he shows that they cannot escape the notice of God: he describes what their portion will be, and he exhorts us to pursue the wisdom that they have abandoned.


Therefore, these people have finished their lives in the goods of this world (Job 21:13), certainly this life that they were living, not that whose reward they hoped for; and therefore they slept in the rest of hell, not in the rest of heaven. But we should rather undergo labor here, so that in the kingdom of heaven we may deserve to obtain the consolation of eternal rest. For the abundance of worldly goods is a great enticement to sin: it lifts a person up in pride and instills forgetfulness of the Creator. Consider him, a rich man in the Gospel (Luke XVI, 19 et seq.), reclining on purple and fine linen, from whose table that righteous poor man Lazarus collected crumbs. Does it not seem to you that the rich man says to God: Depart from me; I do not want to know your ways (Job XXI, 14). And truly they do not want to know such ways of the Lord; for if they did, they would understand. But because they are full of labor, they flee and turn away from the lost. Therefore, like a drunkard, he does not recognize the author of salvation (Isaiah XXII, 13). Finally, turning to his companions, he said: Let us eat and drink: what use is it if we serve him? Or what benefit if we obey him? (Job 21:15) Therefore, the abundance of worldly things makes him drunk; because the rewards for the wicked deeds are not immediately paid in this world. He was arrogant because everything was available to him for pleasure: and being aware of his impiety, from which he was separated by punishment, he thought that God did not see the wicked deeds of the impious.


18. So to this opinion of his, the holy Job responded: do not be secure and dissolute, thinking that in this very age of the Lord no punishment will come to you. Nevertheless, even the lamp of the wicked is extinguished (Job 21:17 et seq.): it shines for a time, it does not have eternal light; and even though the world may favor them, because those who have power in this world do the will of him who has dominion in this world, the turning of events often comes, and pains from heavenly anger and indignation come, to be scattered, like chaff by the wind. The unjust are scattered like chaff, while the just are like wheat. Finally, listen to the words of the Lord to Peter: Behold, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail (Luke XXII, 31 and 32). Those who are scattered like chaff will fail; but not the one who is like that grain which fell and rose again, enriched by the abundant yield of many fruits. Therefore the Prophet says: Woe is me, for I have become like one gathering straw in the harvest (Micah VII, 1)! Therefore, straw that is quickly burned is compared to impiety and to dust. Therefore, after he said: They will be like chaff carried away by the wind, he added the verse immediately saying: Or like the dust that the wind snatches away (Job. XXI, 18). Finally, so that you may know that the wicked person quickly grows weak and vanishes like dust, you have the following statement in the first Psalm: Not so the wicked, not so, that is, not like the righteous: but like the dust that the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.


And he makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Here, he says, he dies in the power of his simplicity, wholly in abundance and grace: but his inner parts are full of fat: and the marrow of his bones is moistened. But he finishes his course in the bitterness of his soul, and the feast of this life receives no good things. (Job XXI, 23 et seq.) To whom according to his merits, can anything worthy be assigned? He is laid in the tomb, and watches in his own sepulcher. Not indeed this punishment middling; to not have the rest of death, to be transferred not to the land of the living, but to the tombs of the dead. For he who lives is sought not among the dead, but in the bosom of Abraham he enjoys eternal life. Therefore, those two men in bright clothing said to the women: Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here (Luke 24:6).

Then (Job XXIV, 2 et seq.) he enumerates the wicked deeds of the impious, who would trespass boundaries and plunder the flock from the shepherd, take away the support of the orphan, pledge the widow's ox, harvest a field that is not theirs, have the feeble work in their vineyards without pay or food, leave the naked to sleep without clothes. Many of those whose souls they have taken cover themselves with the dew of the mountains; and because they lack covering, they hide themselves behind rocks. The orphans were being snatched away from their mothers' breasts, those who should have been raised were being oppressed. The hungry were deprived of food, and the souls of the infants were grieved deeply.

21. Could she have been ignorant of this, she who nothing escapes? Naked hell is in sight of her, and she is not clothed in the most wicked (Job XXVI, 6 et seq.); for they cannot hide. She stretches out the north wind as nothing: she suspends the earth in nothing, binding the waters in her clouds, and the clouds are not broken under her feet: the pillars of heaven have burst, and they tremble at her rebuke. She restrains the sea with power, and with her discipline she constructs the assembly of the sea. The gates of heaven fear him: he has put to death the rebellious dragon according to his command. Who can understand the power of his thunder? In such great wickedness, what hope is there for the impious? Can he be confident that he will be saved by the Lord? I will tell you, he says, what is in the hand of the Lord; and cease to add vain things to emptiness (Job 27:8, 11).

And he describes how miserable is the portion of the wicked. For although they may have many children, they are without descendants, to whom the succession of good merits is lacking (Ibid. 14 et seq.). For true posterity is not on earth, but in heaven. Therefore, for men of this kind, inheritance is poverty, and death is succession. When they have accumulated wealth, they will beg; because when they are dead, they will be in need, unable to find rest. No one will have mercy on their widows: they will remain deserted, and deprived of all consolation. Although money is gathered as plentiful as the earth, and gold is prepared like clay, their substance will be empty like a spider's web, and their entire heritage will be consumed like moths. The wealthy will gain nothing while sleeping, when they open their eyes, they will no longer exist. (Job 28:1 et seq.) They remain in sorrow. Therefore, everything that is in this world is nothing. Gold in metals, silver in metals: it is extracted from the ore, and returns to the ore. For what else is the mind of the greedy person but a metal? It holds onto whatever it has received as if buried, and hides it in the veins of the earth and its secret places; because it does not know how to use it. Every day gold is brought forth from the metals: who could bring it forth from the greedy person?

23. Therefore, since the empty craving for gold is useless, because whatever is accumulated, slips away: truly pitiable are those who have forsaken the right path, and have forgotten it to which precious stones are by no means comparable, difficult to investigate, impassable to the proud, blocked to the boastful: flat for the humble, open for the wise. And therefore we must seek wisdom, so that we may walk in the right path, through which that adversary, like a roaring and ravenous lion, who has run through this world, could not pass. But the one who wants to investigate wisdom should not search for it in the abyss (like the philosophers, who believe that they can know its depths on their own, by their own genius), nor should they seek it in the sea. For where there is a storm, where there is roaring wind, wisdom cannot be found there. But they should seek it where there is tranquility of mind and a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Book Four. On the Interrogation of David.

Chapter I.

David is often seen speaking about the vanity of the world in his songs, but most notably in Psalm 72, where he expresses his deep initial disturbance at the prosperity of the wicked and the difficulties of the righteous, but later indicates that he has been corrected. It is uncertain whether David himself is the author of the same Psalm or if it should be attributed to Asaph.


The discourse of the holy Job is concluded: now let us adore that discourse which we find in the Psalms. Indeed, David did not remain silent in many places about the vanity of the world, and frequently affirmed that the things considered good in this world are empty, especially in Psalm 38, where he says: Yet all is vanity, every living man (Psalm 38:6); and although man walks in the image of God, he will be troubled in vain, he hoards and does not know who will gather them. And elsewhere: How long, O Lord, how long shall sinners, O Lord, glory? (Psalm 93:3) They may have a shadowy glory here, where they have left the world, but they cannot find the fruit of comfort. Yet the same Asaph inserted the seventy-second psalm, in which he himself, using the name of Asaph, declares that his was the beginning of a fall; so he was greatly distressed when he saw sinners in this world abound in riches and abound in worldly things, while he, who had justified his heart, was in afflictions and hardships; nor did he lightly endure the offense at the beginning; but afterwards, being corrected by the scourges of the Lord, and enlightened by the grace of divine knowledge, he truly learned the true series of tradition.


However, nowhere do I find that the holy Asaph was ever troubled by any adversity; but indeed the holy David endured many serious and perilous situations, for he speaks of his own labors. Therefore, the psalm is inscribed not as if it were by the holy Asaph, but as if it were for the holy Asaph, as the title indicates, which is more clearly manifest in the Greek Psalter, so that it appears that David even gave this psalm to Asaph, as he had written it himself. But because it is written in the title itself that the Psalms of David have ended, how can it be that, after these ten psalms have been completed, a psalm of David should embrace the inscription of titles to the very end? Therefore, disregarding this kind of definition, let us consider the series of the psalms, and let us draw the beginning from the first verse of the prophetic interpellation.

Chapter II.

From the very beginning of the psalm, I discovered David's correction: that God is always good to the righteous, because if they are afflicted by adversity, they are revived by the hope of future reward, and they always consider themselves to suffer lesser sins, and they cannot be deprived of their wisdom by any punishments. However, God is also good to the wicked, but they do not want to experience all His goodness prepared for everyone.


How good is the God of Israel to those with upright hearts (Psalm 73:1)! The progress of correction becomes clear from the beginning. For no one can truly acknowledge God as good unless they recognize His goodness not from the successes of their own goods, but from the depth of heavenly mysteries and the heights of divine disposition: which should be considered not by the appearance of present things, but by the usefulness of future things. Therefore, God is always good to the righteous: even when the body is tormented by pains and afflicted with the harshness of punishments, He always says: If we receive good things from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure the bad things (Job 2:10)? He congratulates himself in being worn down, so that he may find consolation in the future; knowing that whoever receives good things in this life has his reward; he who has not struggled or been exercised in the contest of various battles will not be able to hope for future rewards. But he who is afflicted, whether justly or unjustly, in this world, congratulates himself either because he pays the price for his own sins, or because he knows that there is greater grace with God if he suffers anything bitter for His name's sake or for some good work, as it is written: For there is no glory if you are punished and suffer as sinners, but if you do good and endure patiently, this is grace with God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:21-23). Therefore, even if a righteous person is on the cross, he is always righteous, for he justifies God and says that he can endure lesser suffering for his sins. He is always wise, for the true and perfect wisdom is not taken away by the torments of the cross. He does not lose what he has, for he excludes fear by the desire and purpose of love. As a wise person, he knows how to say that the sufferings we endure in this body are unworthy of the reward of future glory, and all the passions of this present time cannot compare to the coming reward. Therefore, God is always a bonus to this person, who knows when to reap. And thus, like a good farmer, this person plows their field with a plow of rigorous self-restraint; they weed out vices with a cutting scythe of virtues; they fertilize the soil by humbling themselves to the ground, knowing that God raises up the lowly from the earth and lifts up the poor from the dung heap. In conclusion, the Apostle Paul, if he had not esteemed himself as dung, could never have acquired Christ. Here he guards his fruits, so that he may safely store them there. Therefore, God is always good to him, because he always hopes for good things from God.

Take another example: How good, he says, is the God of Israel to those with pure hearts! Is God not good to everyone then? Indeed, He is good to everyone, because He is the Savior of all, especially the faithful; and for this reason the Lord Jesus came, to save what was lost: He came to take away the sin of the world, to heal our wounds. But because not everyone seeks the medicine, but many refuse it, lest the force of the ulcer be aggravated by the remedies, He who desires to heal does not compel the unwilling. Therefore, those who seek medicine receive health; but those who reject the physician and do not seek him cannot perceive the goodness of the physician whom they have not experienced. However, he who is treated is also healed; therefore, the physician is good to those whom he has healed. Therefore, God is good to those whom he has forgiven their sins; but how can one estimate a good physician whom they reject, who has an incurable wound in the ulcer of their mind? Therefore, the Apostle explained excellently, as we have stated, that God is good to all, for he wishes all men to be saved (I Timothy 2:4); and this privilege of divine goodness is especially preserved for the faithful, to whom the will of God helps and the grace aids. But the Psalmist, saying: How good is God to Israel, to those who are of upright heart! related it to their sentiment, who do not think otherwise about God, except that He is good in all things and in everything.

Chapter III.

To confess that the Prophet himself was almost not lured into sin, while he was pursuing the peace of sinners; to acknowledge that there is a twofold peace, but that one which has an offense should be avoided; to recognize that there is no relief for sinners in death; to assert that afflictions do not help after death, as demonstrated by the example of Lazarus and the rich man; and to reveal how much they truly benefit in life, by citing David and Job; finally, to affirm that those who have not been afflicted here will be afflicted forever.


5. Finally, he explains what he felt in the following, saying: But my feet were almost moved, my steps were a little less steady: because I became envious of the sinners, seeing the peace of sinners (Psalm 72:2-3). By feet, he does not refer to the steps of the body, but rather the direction and progress, about which he says elsewhere: Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of sinners move me (Psalm 35:12). Therefore, it is always necessary to ask that the Lord may direct the steps of our souls, so that they may not slip, and in the slippery path of error, they may not be able to maintain their stability. But the cause of emulation is that it emulates the peace of sinners. But we ought to emulate those things that are good, not those that are full of shame; just as the Apostle Paul also expressed, saying: But it is good to always emulate that which is good (Galatians IV, 18).

6. And let it not bother you that peace was placed in evil. Finally, in the Gospel, you have that there is peace, which Christ rejected, as He Himself says: My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you (John 14:27). For there is a peace that does not have an offense, and there is one that has it: which is from love, it does not have an offense; which is from deceit, it has. Therefore, the Prophet also says: Peace, peace; but where is peace (Ezekiel 12:10)? Therefore, let us seek the refuge of peace for sinners; for they conspire against the innocent, they gather together to oppress the righteous, to destroy the widow, or to assault her modesty.

7. And therefore, there is no leaning towards their death (Psalm 72): not a leaning, as many Latin manuscripts have been written, but a reclining. For when we labor and bend ourselves to a certain work, and incline ourselves, we are accustomed to recline. But sinners, namely those guilty of grave offenses, and especially the impious, cannot recline themselves; concerning whom it is said: And their back is always bent (Psalm 68:14). For those who have not adhered to Christ do not raise themselves to the celestial things. And therefore, those who die a most wicked death do not rise again with Him, as it is written: The death of sinners is very evil (Psalm 33:22). But whoever dies with Christ and is buried with Him, not only is laid down, but also is raised up. Of whom that saying is fittingly spoken: You have turned all his bed in his sickness (Psalm 40:4); especially if he is a martyr, whose weakness is dissolved by suffering, and death by resurrection.

We saw that rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, reclining in splendor every day in this world. And from his table, the crumbs that fell were collected by the poor Lazarus, who, while in torment, could not recline in hell. But he could barely lift his eyes to Abraham, not his whole self, and he begged him to send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool his tongue (Luke 16:19 et seq.). Therefore, there was no bending to his death, nor support in his punishment (Psalm 72:4). For whips are of no use after death.

9. And therefore David, while he was in the life of this body, prepared himself for the scourge, so that the Lord would receive him chastised. Consider again to me the holy Job, who was covered with sores and was shaken in all his members, and was full of pains in his whole body, dissolving the clods of earth with the pus and moisture of his wounds, just as when he could not recline himself in this body, he found the rest of death; and therefore, aware of himself, he said: Death is a rest for man (Job 3:23). Therefore, if he was not moved in his affliction, nor did his speech waver on his slippery slope, when in all these things he did not sin with his lips, as Scripture testifies (Job 2:10), but rather found the firmament of his affliction, through which he was strengthened in Christ. So both Job and David, because they were scourged here, had firmament in their affliction; for the father scourges the son whom he receives: but those who are not scourged here, are not received as sons there. And so they are not in the labors of men, and they will not be scourged with men (Psalm 72:5-6); so that they may be scourged forever with the devil.

Chapter IV.

Sinners are clothed with their own iniquity: which garment must be rejected by us, so that we may be clothed with the garment of virtues, especially fasting; Joseph found it profitable to clothe himself with this, while Adam suffered great loss in casting it off; and, finally, the iniquity of the Jews has manifestly and deliberately emerged as if from fat.

Therefore, he says, their pride has gained control over them, they are covered in their own wickedness and impiety. Wickedness is a harmful garment, which, if anyone wishes to hold onto in us, we must forgive, lest it begin to come to judgment with us; and if anyone should try to take away our spiritual tunic that we have received, let go of the cloak of wickedness, take up the covering of faith and patience, with which David covered himself in fasting, lest he lose the covering of virtue. Fasting is a covering. Indeed, unless the holy Joseph had observed the sobriety of fasting, he would have stripped off the impudence of the adulteress. If Adam had desired to cover himself with this fasting, he would not have become naked. But because he tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil against the divine prohibition, and transgressed the commanded fasting with food of disobedience, he knew himself to be naked. If he had fasted and preserved the vestiges of faith, he would not have looked at himself uncovered. Therefore, let us not clothe ourselves in iniquity and impiety, lest it be said of any of us: And he put on a curse (Psalm 108:18). And Adam also clothed himself poorly, for while he was seeking the covering of leaves, he received the sentence of curse.

11. They have clothed themselves in the curse of the Jews, of whom it is written: Their wickedness has come forth as from fatness, they have passed into the disposition of the heart (Psalm 72:7). For from fatness, they are called fat, that is, rich. Just as the soul, nourished by good things and filled with virtues, is filled with fatness and richness, as it is written (Psalm 62:6): so wickedness, which proceeds as from fatness, is not thin and lean, but full of vices. Finally, they did not accidentally fall into error, but with deliberate intent and planning, they crossed over into sacrilege.

Chapter V.

Those who place their bone in heaven are considered above others, who attribute everything to the necessity of the stars: yet it is reserved for them to return with Israel by the grace of God; the mystery of whose return is revealed: to deny that hidden things are known by God, especially being influenced by the wealth of sins: finally, Simon the Pharisee held the same opinion about Christ.


12. They set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue went through the earth (Psalm 73:9). To set their mouth against heaven means, the younger brother teaches us, who returned to his father and said: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you (Luke 15:18). But those who believe that the authorities of their crimes are imposed upon them by a certain necessity of birth, set their mouth against heaven. They are accustomed to spare neither heaven nor earth, thinking that the life of man is governed by the movement of the stars. They leave nothing to providence, nothing to good morals. And I hope that they, like that one of the two young men, will return: may the good Lord not deny a remedy, and yet even if they themselves do not want to be healed, the Lord reserves the grace of return; so that those who were expelled from Israel through the blindness of their own heart may return through the fullness of the Church; and they may not lead empty days of this life, but have fullness of good works and faith, when the Lord fills them with spiritual grace. But let us consider how they might return. For, as it is written, 'Blindness has come upon a part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel will be saved' (Rom. 11:25-26). However, this mystery had to be fulfilled in order for God to conclude all things in unbelief (ibid., 32), that is, to rebuke and convict (for when two people contend, if one is superior, it is said that he has concluded the other), and through His mercy, the world would become subject to God. Therefore, the people have indeed returned to being heirs, but they have been led astray by quick error, not believing that God knows the secrets. But the Lord, in order that they may be sometimes redeemed, has reserved the grace of future salvation for them, saying: Therefore my people will return here (Ps. 72:10). What is here? That is, to me, to my righteousness and justice, to my worship.

13. And he will fill the days of his life. You will certainly understand this in such a way that indeed the people are redeemed, who have believed in him: in whom, although those who have not believed are not redeemed, nevertheless the prerogative of the redeemed people of God is conferred.

14. Therefore, those who are in error have said: How does God know; and if all knowledge is in the Most High (cf. Eccl. 11:21)? For they think that there is no knowledge in God; because sinners abound in worldly prosperity. And he still brings them to speak: Behold, these sinners and those who abound in the world have obtained riches (cf. Eccl. 12:34). You have this more clearly expressed in the Gospel, where that Pharisee Simon, seeing that that sinful woman came into his house and poured ointment on the feet of Christ, said to himself: If this man were a prophet, he would surely know what kind of woman touches him; for she is a sinner (Luke 7:39). But the patience of God does not prejudice the truth, and his foreknowledge and providence are the more established by the very fact that, though a person may be steeped in sin, he still enjoys the success of worldly prosperity. The stronger one observes this and laughs, the unsuspecting is led and moved.

Chapter VI.

After the prophet had initially lost hope, he later realized that everything happens according to divine arrangement, but that wealth is not the reward for virtue, nor is poverty the punishment for sin.


15. Finally, the Psalmist says, he said: Therefore I have justified my heart in vain: and have washed my hands among the innocent (Ps. 72:13). That is, I see them abound, I see all advantages follow them, but I am worn out and tormented by many temptations. Therefore, I have given myself to innocence in vain, and directed myself to the pursuit of a sober way of life. And he says beautifully: I have washed my hands among the innocent (Ibid., 14); so that he may not arrogate to himself the highest level of innocence, but seem to diligently devote himself to the pursuit.


16. Meanwhile, he testifies that he did not speak without harm. For he recalls being whipped throughout the whole day; because he had falsely justified his heart to the Lord, but after the whips, there immediately followed a correction of his wicked opinion. For my vindicator said, 'In the morning' (Ib.), that is, in the open and clear light; for the light of truth, comprehending him, did not allow him to understand what he had said. Therefore, the light of truth overcame and refuted me, because I had spoken incorrectly: 'I justified my heart without cause.' For I spoke those things as if being set in darkness, and while remembering them, my heart was pierced: but with a pierced heart, my affection was enlightened; so that there would arise in my heart a flaming fire, which made in me a spiritual beginning of the day. Therefore, being enlightened by the rising day, and as if placed in many morning circumstances, I understood that I was made outside the order of the generation of the children of God. And when I first believed, because the creator of the world, who provides for the human generation, had made all things for the benefit of us, whether sad or those things which give little pleasure, I later lost that good opinion, being disturbed by wicked opinions.


So I considered with my heart and said to myself: If I tell it thus, that I have justified my heart without cause, the voice of God answered me, saying: Behold the generation of your sons, to whom I have given it (Ibid., 15): that is, behold, you, Adam, find in the Scriptures that I have given it to the generation of your sons; for riches are not bestowed on the wicked by chance, nor are the rewards of virtue the advantages of a treasure; nor, on the contrary, is poverty the punishment of sin, but these things come indiscreetly, like the flood of a certain age, rolling along like a river.


And I thought, and it seemed to me that I knew this to be true, that this was in accordance with divine providence and fitting; but I, on the other hand, was disturbed in vain by those things in which I should not have been involved.

Chapter VII.

Having corrected his error, David knows that this work alone remains for himself, in order to enter into the mysteries of divine knowledge. The saints, as they advance in age, desire to know their own end and who they will be. This is the first true knowledge, by means of which we believe that good things are granted to the wicked only for the purpose of excluding their excuses. The same people who are uplifted by God's blessings can be thrown down and reduced to nothing.


Therefore, since I seemed to myself to have grasped the true meaning and to have attained knowledge of the thing itself, I said to myself: This is the labor before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and understand in the end (Ibid., 17). That is, the only labor remaining for me is to enter into the sanctuary of God, where the Cherubim are, that is, the depths of knowledge, and not toil in uncertain and vain opinions; for the speech of a fool is like a burden on the road. Therefore, let us enter the shrine of sacred knowledge and the innermost depths of truth, so that there may be no labor in us; for wisdom leads us away from the sense of labor. Indeed, there is no labor in Jacob. The cause of labor, however, is ignorance; for he who does not know that rewards are stored up for the just is not refreshed by labors, but rather is bent and broken by his own foolishness. Therefore, let us enter the sanctuary of God, where the Cherubim are, in whom is the remembrance of sacred knowledge and that true and eternal light.


20. In that candlestick the image shines forth, by which we can understand the last things. For the saint, in the end, knows and attains perfect wisdom, saying: Show me, O Lord, my end, and what is the number of my days, that I may know what is wanting to me (Psalm 38:5). Who is the end, if not He who delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when the hidden things of wisdom are revealed? This is the end of our struggle that the Prophet sought, desiring to know what was lacking to his perfection; for the end of our discipline and the perfection of our studies is.


21. Therefore, this is the first true reason for knowledge; because things that happen in the world happen by chance: the second reason is that, due to their turning away, you have given them success in obtaining worldly benefits and an abundance of riches; so that they would not be blamed for being less devoted due to lack and bitterness of any sorrow and grief, and being provoked to the desire for theft and robbery by the necessity of poverty. For they were not enriched with abundant wealth or elevated by honors for the sake of tranquility of life and the enjoyment of happiness, but rather to exclude complaint and pile up suffering.

22. Therefore, such men are cast down while they are exalted. For it is not a favor, but a ruin; where neither the enduring use of the duty is preserved, nor the excuse for wrongdoing is removed. For what weightier complaint is there than that divine one which you have in the book of the prophet Micah: 'My people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you, or how have I been a burden to you? Answer me. Have I not brought you up from the land of Egypt, and freed you from the house of bondage?' (Micah VI, 3 and 4)? See how the wicked are thrown down while they are being lifted up, the complaints of the afflicted are excluded, and punishment is intensified. Indeed, invited by divine benefits, they should not have abandoned the giver of a secure and prosperous life, to whom they should have obeyed more. But just as God's justice is great, so is his severe vengeance. For when the wicked are accustomed to persevere, about whom you have seen and written elsewhere: I have seen the wicked exalted and lifted up above the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold, he was no more; and I sought him, but his place could not be found (Psalm 36:35-36). The incredible swiftness of its extinction. You see suddenly the wicked powerful in this world: while you pass by, he is no longer. How great is the shadow on the earth: how short-lived it is! Move your footsteps, and the shadow has passed. Or if he moves anything here, raise your mind's footsteps to the things that are to come, and you will find there the wicked one who you thought was here will not be, for he does not exist who is nothing. Finally, the Lord knows those who are his own; but those who are not, he does not know, because they have not recognized him who is.

Chapter VIII.

The impious are compared favorably in their destruction with a dream, because their souls are found devoid of all good things; and their dark images are erased from the light of heavenly Jerusalem.

23. Therefore, he says here: They have failed and perished because of their wickedness, like the dream of one waking up (Psalm 72:19-20), that is, the wicked fail and vanish like a dream upon waking; for they are in darkness, and they have walked in darkness, and there is no trace of any good work of theirs, but they are like those who see a dream: whoever dreams, dreams at night; but night is in darkness. The children of darkness are deprived of the sun of justice and the splendor of virtue, always sleeping and not vigilant, about whom it is well said: They have slept their sleep, and have found nothing (Psalm 75:6). For when their souls are separated from the body, like those freed from the sleep of the body, they will find nothing, they will possess nothing; and what they thought they possessed, they will lose; for when the foolish and senseless have overflowed with riches, they will leave their riches to others, and the glory of their household will not descend to the underworld with them.


24. The following also demonstrates how the wicked are not found, but perish. For his image is not found in the city of the Lord above, Jerusalem. For the Lord has painted us in his image and likeness, as he himself teaches, saying: Behold, I have painted your walls, O Jerusalem (Isaiah 49:16). If we do good, this heavenly image remains in us; if someone does evil, this image is erased in him (certainly in him who descended from heaven), and in him is the image of the earthly. And so the Apostle says: Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49). Therefore, the images of the good persist, and they shine forth in the city of God. But if someone turns to more serious sins and does not repent, their image is erased or cast aside, just as Adam was cast out and excluded from paradise. But whoever conducts themselves in a pious and honorable manner enters the city of God and brings their image, so that they may shine forth in the city of God. Lord, in your city you will reduce their image to nothing (Psalm 73:20); for those who clothe themselves in dark deeds cannot shine in the light. Let us take an example from the world. See how the images of good leaders endure in cities, while the images of tyrants are erased.

Chapter IX.

The prophet, renewed by the knowledge of divine providence, is not unlike the celestial citizens when compared to animals; however, by the grace of God, they are brought back to human dignity.


25. Considering this, and with a focused mind, the holy Prophet was delighted, who had been troubled before. Hence he says himself: \"For my heart has been delighted, and my reins have been loosened. And I have been reduced to nothing, and I knew not: and I have been made like a beast before you, and I am always with you\" (Ibid., 21 et seq.). \"When I realized,\" he said, \"that God takes care of and regards human affairs, my reins found rest,\" that is, I found rest from great fatigue of old imprudence through knowledge of the good heavenly and grace. For there are indeed certain kidneys of the soul, which are troubled in us through the labor of ignorance: these are dissolved to rest by the heavenly knowledge of doctrine, and they are nourished as if supported by a beautiful fulcrum of heavenly precepts. Then, he says, I understood that I was foolishly weary; because I did not know what is true.

26. And I became like a beast: he added beautifully, with you; for what is man compared to the heavenly beings, if not an irrational beast? For even the stars, though they are bright, fade at the rising of the sun. And Moses said: I am not capable since yesterday, from the time you began to speak with your servant: and I am meek of speech and slow of tongue (Exod. IV). Therefore, just as a beast seems mute in comparison to man, not to mention Christ or the angels. But let no one despair; for God saves both humans and animals. And therefore, because I have learned not from myself, but from you, I will always adhere to you; so that I may cease to be a beast, and you may say to me: But you stand here with me (Deut. V, 31). For a man, encompassed by the grace of God, begins to be, who through folly pretended to be without feeling and ignorant like a beast. For a man is proven to be such if he is capable of reason and grace. Therefore, he rejoices in being separate from dumb animals and being admitted into the fellowship of men, which God visits and protects. For what is man, if not because he is mindful of his Lord, or because he is visited by the Lord?

Chapter X.

If God had not been to our right hand, that place would be taken over by the devil, as happened to our first parent: when Christ played the role, he placed the devil on his right side in order to throw him down more gloriously: finally, the greatest benefits will return to those on Christ's right hand.


27. From where, as if visited by Him, he says: You have held my right hand, and in your will you have led me, and with glory you have taken me up (Psalm 72:24). Thus we have received it, and it agrees with the Greek. For the Greek says: Ἐκρατῆσας τῆς χειρὸς, that is, you have held the hand, τῆς δεξιᾶς μου, my right hand. Well is directed whose right hand God holds with His own hand. He can say: The Lord is at my right hand, so that I may not be shaken (Psalm 16:8). If Adam had desired to have God on his right hand, he would not have been deceived by the serpent. But because he forgot the commandment of God and fulfilled the will of the serpent, the devil held his hand and caused him to reach for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order to eat of the forbidden fruit. In him, judgment was pronounced on all, and the adversary began to stand at the right hand of all. Hence, that cursed form came forth against Judas: And let the Devil stand at his right hand (Psalm 108:6). If that curse is severe, then this blessing is the greatest, by which the chains of harsh curses are loosened. Therefore, the Lord Jesus placed the devil at His right hand, just as we read in the book of Zechariah (Zach. III, 1); for He had taken up the cause and place of mankind. There He stood, where the inheritance of Adam stood. Like a good athlete, He allowed him to stand at His right hand, in order to repel him backward, saying: 'Get behind me, Satan' (Matth. IV, 10). Therefore, the enemy, being thrown down, retreated from his position; but in order that the devil would not stand at your right hand, he said, 'Come, follow me' (Matthew 19:21). Therefore, foreseeing the coming of the Lord, who would come down from heaven to deliver us from the power of the enemy, David said, 'The Lord is at my right hand, so that I may not be shaken.' But the devil, who was at his right hand, was shaken. Therefore, rightly does he say, 'You have held my right hand,' that is, so that I may no longer be able to sin; so that, being unstable before on the slippery path, I may be able to stand firm with a secure station. How well the apostle said this, when the Lord saw him troubled and, extending his right hand, he did not allow him to stagger, and with fearless steps, he strengthened him (Matt. XIV, 30 and 31). Therefore, Peter, having been freed, spoke nothing else but these prophetic verses: You have held my right hand, and in your will you have led me, and with glory you have taken me up. What is the right hand if not the active power of the soul? If it is directed by the will of the Lord, it desires nothing else, requires nothing, seeks no worldly riches, asks for no assistance.

Chapter XI.

David, content with the possession of God, desires nothing except him; for earthly things ought to be erased from memory, so that heavenly things may take their place, and so that we may also approach God, who repels no one, from whom we only stray through wicked actions.

Therefore, Saint David says: What do I have left in heaven, and what do I desire from you on earth? That is, You are my portion, you abound to me in all things, I sought nothing else but to have you as my portion, I have subjected myself to no heavenly creature as the Gentiles do, I have desired no riches of this world and no allurements of pleasures. I have no need of anyone since I have been assumed by you, there is nothing more that I seek in heaven. Having nothing, I have everything; because I have Christ, whom the Most High Father did not spare; but for the sake of all of us, He handed Him over: therefore, how could He not have given us everything with Him (Rom. VIII, 32); as the Apostle said? For all things are in Christ, through whom all things are, and in whom all things consist. Therefore, having everything in Him, I seek no other reward, for He Himself is the reward of all. Therefore, He rightly said: Take up your cross and follow me (Mark VIII, 34). He who follows Him is not led to perfection by reward, but is consummated in perfection for the reward. For the imitators of Christ are not virtuous because of the hope of reward, but because of the love of virtue. For Christ is good by nature, not because of desire for reward. Therefore, He suffered because it pleased Him to do good, not because He sought an increase of glory from His passion. Therefore, he who desires to imitate Him, does so not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others. Where he rightfully falls short for himself, but grows stronger for others through an increase in virtue.

And appropriately he says: My heart and my flesh have failed, O God of my heart (Psalm 73:26). For eternal things cannot succeed unless earthly things fail. And so the flesh fails when it is mortified by rejecting worldly desires. Likewise, those who bear the death of Jesus Christ in their own flesh are also weakened; for the death of Christ works in them, so that every snare of error may die. Therefore, it is inferred that the heart of man also fails when evil thoughts, which come from the heart, are mortified; so that forgetfulness may conceal all worldly things and God may become the heart of those who are blessed with a pure heart to see God, that they may draw near to you and not separate themselves. For God, approaching is not a repulsion of those who approach; for He wants to be the cause of salvation for all, not of death. In fact, He repels no one, unless they think they should be kept away from His sight.

30. For behold, those who distance themselves from you will perish, as it is said. For each person either joins or separates themselves from your piety through their actions. For he who performs things that he fears being caught for avoids God, just as that person who is hidden by walls and surrounded by darkness considers himself unseen by the Lord God; but he is seen, as it is said, 'You have destroyed all who are unfaithful to you.' For just as a woman who commits adultery does not cling to her husband, nor does one flesh exist with her husband, nor is there one spirit; but she divides and separates herself through adultery: so too, any soul that does not cling to God, but serves in vain the worship of idols, commits adultery, separates herself through the wickedness of sacrilege, and becomes distant from the Lord, whom she should be close to. But he who is separated from the Lord perishes.

31. Hence the Holy one who fears the judgment of God always wants to adhere to Christ and place his hope in Him, in order to praise the Lord, to whom belongs honor, glory, perpetuity from age to age, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.