One Book of Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, On Naboth the Jezreelite.

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

Translated into English using ChatGPT.

Table of Contents Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter XI. Chapter XII. Chapter XIII. Chapter XIV. Chapter XV. Chapter XVI. Chapter XVII.

Chapter I.

How Naboth and Ahab, though poor, are oppressed daily by the rich; even though nature has produced everyone as equals, and the grave receives equals: Ambrose criticizes the arrogance and foolishness of the wealthy on this matter.


1. The story of Nabuthe is ancient, happening every day. For who among the wealthy does not desire another's possessions daily? Who among the very rich does not strive to evict the poor from their small plot of land and drive the destitute off their ancestral estate? Who is content with what they have? Whose heart is not inflamed by their neighbor's wealth? Therefore, it is not just one Achab who is born, but, what is worse, an Achab is born every day and never dies in this age. If one is killed, many rise up: more who take than who lose. Not only one Nabuthe the poor is killed: every day Nabuthe is struck down, every day the poor are killed. This human race, struck with fear, now yields its own lands, and with their little ones, the poor laden with their pledge, migrate. The weeping wife follows, as if she were accompanying her husband to the grave. She grieves less, however, who mourns the deaths of her own; because even though she has lost the protection of her husband, she possesses his tomb; and if she does not have children, nevertheless she does not lament the exiles, she does not sigh with heavier grief for the funeral rites of her tender offspring.


How far will you extend, rich people, your insane desires? Will you alone inhabit the earth? Why do you cast out your companion nature? And claim for yourselves the possession of nature? The earth is founded for the common use of all, both rich and poor. Why do you, rich people, arrogate to yourselves exclusive rights to the land? Nature knows not the rich, for it begets all the poor. For we are not born with clothes, nor are we born with gold and silver. He sheds naked men into the light, needy of food, clothing, and drink: the earth receives naked those whom it has given birth to, not knowing how to enclose the boundaries of possessions in a tomb. A narrow plot of land is equally abundant to the poor and the wealthy: and the earth, which did not take into its care the emotions of the living, now encompasses the entire rich man. Therefore, nature does not know how to discern when we are born, nor does it know when we are overcome. It creates all alike, it closes all alike in the embrace of the tomb. Who can distinguish the appearance of the dead? Plow the land again, and if you can, discover wealth. Dig up a little later a mound, and if you recognize someone in need, argue; unless of course it is only with the wealthy that more is lost.

Silk robes, and cloaks woven with gold, with which the wealthy adorn their bodies, are the losses of the living, not the aids of the dead. You receive perfume when you are rich, and yet you stink: you lose the favor of others, and do not gain your own. You leave behind heirs who will fight amongst themselves. You leave a deposit to your heirs, rather than a voluntary gift, which they fear will diminish and violate what has been left. If your heirs are frugal, they will preserve it: if they are extravagant, they will exhaust it. Therefore, either you constantly condemn good heirs with worry, or you let go of the bad ones, so that your actions condemn you.

Chapter II.

The richer they are in wealth, the poorer they are in affection. This is made evident by the contention between Ahab and Naboth. Soon, with the proposed text of Scripture, that request, 'Give me, how base it is,' is understood.


But what do you suppose that while you live, you abound in everything? O rich man, you do not know how poor you are, how destitute you appear to yourself, who call yourself rich! The more you have, the more you seek: and whatever you acquire, still you are in need. Greed is inflamed by gain, it is not satisfied. Desire has certain steps: the more it climbs, the more it hastens to higher things, from where the ruin for the falling one will be heavier. However, this one was more tolerable when he had less: he sought moderate wealth through reflection on his wealth; with the increase of his estate, an increase in desire also occurred. He does not want to be unworthy of his desires, poor in his wishes. In this way, he combines two intolerable things together, so that he increases the ambitious hope of the rich and does not give up the mindset of being in poverty. Finally, divine Scripture teaches us how wretched he is, begging despicably.

5. King Ahab was in Israel, and Naboth was poor. The king was wealthy in the resources of his kingdom, but Naboth possessed only a small piece of land. The poor man desired nothing from the possessions of the rich man: the king seemed to himself to be in need because the poor man had a vineyard nearby. Therefore, who seems poor to you; the one who is content with his own, or the one who desires what belongs to others? Certainly, the one who is poor in wealth seems rich in affection. The affectionate person does not know how to be in need: an abundant wealth cannot fill a greedy heart. And so, the rich person is eager in the envy of possessions, and the complaint of poverty. But now let us consider the words of Scripture.

6. And it came to pass, he said, after these words, there was a vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite in Israel, near the house of Ahab the king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me your vineyard, and it will be a vegetable garden for me, because it is near my house; and I will give you another vineyard for it. But if it pleases you, I will give you money for this vineyard, and it will be a vegetable garden for me. And Naboth said to Ahab: May it not be done by God, to give you the inheritance of my fathers. And his spirit was troubled, and he slept in his bed, and he covered his face, and he did not eat bread.

7. The divine Scripture had stated above (3 Kings 19:21) that Elisha, being poor, left his oxen and ran to Elijah, and killed them, and gave the meat to the people, and followed the prophet. Therefore, as a condemnation, the story of the rich man is presented, who is described in this king, because having received the blessings of God, like this Ahab, to whom the Lord gave both a kingdom and rain through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, he violated the divine commandments.


8. Therefore let us hear what he says: Give me, he says. What other voice does a needy person have? What other voice does one demanding public assistance have, if not Give me, that is, give me, because I am in need: give me, because I cannot have any other means of living: give me, because I do not have bread for sustenance, money for drink, resources for food, substance for clothing: give me, because the Lord has given you what you should give, but has not given to me: give me, because unless you give, I will not be able to have: give me, because it is written: Give alms (Luke 11:41). How low, how base is this! They do not have the sentiment of humility, but the fire of greed. And in this very abjection, what impudence! 'Give me,' he says, 'your vineyard.' He confesses the desire to obtain what is undeserved.

9. And I will give you another vineyard in return for it, he said. The rich man despises what is his own as if it is worthless; but he desires what belongs to others as if it is extremely valuable.

10. But if it pleases you, I will give you money. He swiftly corrects his error by offering money for the vineyard. For he who desires to occupy all his possessions, does not want another to possess anything.

Chapter III.

Not so much because of the usefulness, do the rich desire the possessions of others, but rather to exclude other people. How empty that desire is, which convinces them that they are inferior even to animals: how disgraceful it is to sell paternal property for the sake of luxury: finally, how impatiently the rich bear rejection!


11. And he said to me, 'And I will have a vegetable garden.' This, therefore, was all madness, this was all madness, that the space should be sought for cheap vegetables. Therefore, you do not desire to possess it as something useful, but you want to exclude others. Your concern for the spoils of the poor is greater than for your own profits. You consider it an injury to you if a poor person has anything that can be valued as worthy of a wealthy possession. You consider it a loss to you, whatever is someone else's. What delights you in the expenses of nature? The world was created for all, yet few rich individuals attempt to defend it for themselves. For it is not only earthly possessions that are claimed, but even the heavens, the air, the sea, are claimed for the use of a few wealthy individuals. This air, which you enclose with your widespread possessions, how many peoples can it nourish? Do the Angels have divided spaces of the sky, so that you can delineate the earth with fixed boundaries?

The Prophet cries out: Woe to those who join house to house, and field to field! (Isaiah 5:8) And he accuses them of ineffective greed. They flee from living with other people, and therefore exclude their neighbors: but they cannot flee, because when they exclude these ones, they find others again; and when they push away those, it is necessary for them to come into the neighborhood of others. For they cannot live alone on the earth. Birds associate with birds, finally the sky is covered mostly by the flight of a large flock: cattle are joined with cattle, fish with fish: they do not consider it a loss, but a trade of living, when they undertake the company of many, and seek a certain protection for the solace of more frequent society. Alone you, man, exclude a companion: you include wild beasts; you build habitats for animals, you destroy humans. You bring the sea into your estates, so that wild animals do not lack: you extend the boundaries of the land, so that you cannot have a neighbor.

We heard the voice of a wealthy man seeking what belongs to others, let us listen to the voice of a poor man claiming what is rightfully his: 'This shall not be, he says, from God, that I give you the inheritance of my fathers. He thinks that his wealth is like a contagious disease, as if to say: Your money shall bring you to ruin (Acts 8:20); but I cannot sell the inheritance of my fathers. You have something to follow, O wealthy man, if you are wise; do not sell your field for the pleasure of a night with a prostitute: do not waste your rights on excessive feasting and luxuries; do not gamble away your house, lest you lose the rights of ancestral piety.'


14. Having heard these things, the spirit of the greedy king was disturbed: And he slept in his bed, and he covered his face, and he did not eat his bread. The rich mourn, if they are unable to plunder others: if the poor does not yield to their wealth, they cannot hide the force of their sorrow. They long for lordship, they cover their faces; so that they may not see anything foreign in the world, so that they may not know that there is anything in this world that is not theirs, so that they may not hear their neighbor possessing something, so that they may not hear the poor contradicting them. These are the souls, of whom the prophet says: Rich women, arise (Isaiah 32:9).

Chapter IV.

Why was Achab said to have not eaten his bread? An elegant comparison of the abstinence of the rich and the poor. How foolish it is to anxiously accumulate wealth for heirs; and concerning the filth of a certain rich man.


And he did not eat his bread, he said, for he sought another's. Indeed, the rich eat another's bread more than their own, who live by plunder and exercise their own by robbery. Or surely he did not eat his bread willingly to punish himself with death because something was denied to him.

16. Now compare the condition of the poor. He has nothing, and voluntary fasting he does not know unless it is for God; fasting out of necessity he does not understand. You, the rich, take away everything from the poor, you strip them of everything, you leave nothing behind: yet it is you, the rich, who endure the punishment of the poor. They fast if they do not have; you, when you have. Therefore, you demand punishment from yourselves before inflicting it on the poor. Therefore, you pay for the miseries of miserable poverty with your own condition: and the poor indeed have nothing to use; but neither do you use it yourselves, nor do you allow others to use it. You extracted gold from the veins of metal, but then you hid it again. How many lives you bury in that gold!

17. To whom are those things kept, when you read about the greedy rich man: He hides treasures, and does not know for whom he gathers them (Ps. XXXVIII, 7)? The idle heir waits, the fastidious heir scolds, because you die late. He hates the increase of his inheritance, he hastens towards losses. What then is more pitiable, when you abandon gratitude even among those for whom you work? Because of him, you endure hunger all day long, fearing the daily losses of your meals: because of him, you observe daily fasts.


18. I knew a rich man who, when setting out for his country estate, would have the loaves of bread brought to the city and counted, so that it could be estimated how many days' worth of bread would be needed in the country. He did not want to open the sealed granary, lest anything be diminished from what had been stored. One loaf of bread was assigned for each day, which could hardly satisfy a hungry person. I also found out from a reliable source that if he ever received an egg, he would complain that a chicken had been killed. I am writing this in order for you to know that God's justice is avenged by the tears of the poor through your fasting.

Chapter V.

The tables of the rich are sustained by the blood and life of many poor people; and therein, a most beautiful description is given of the pain and turmoil of a certain father, whose son was forced by a rich man to be sold; likewise, the immense hardness of the rich is shown, which the women themselves also increase with their own expenses and luxury.


19. How religious it would be if you considered the food of your banquet to be for the poor! That rich man would already be more tolerable, from whose table Lazarus desired to gather what fell, wishing to be satisfied: but even the table of that rich man consisted of the blood of many poor people; and his cups dripped with the discharge of many whom he had forced into the noose.

20. How many are killed so that what pleases you is obtained? Your deadly hunger, your deadly excess. He falls from the highest peaks in order to prepare ample storehouses for your grain. He falls from the lofty summit of a tall tree while exploring the different varieties of grapes to bring back, worthy of being poured at your feast. He is submerged in the sea, fearing that there will be no fish or oysters for your table. He freezes in the winter cold while searching for hares or trying to catch birds with snares. If anything displeased him, he would be beaten to death before your eyes and drench the very banquet with his spilt blood. Finally, there was a rich man who ordered the head of the poor prophet to be brought to his table, and he found no other way to reward a dancer than to command the poor man to be killed.

21. I saw a poor man being led, while he was being forced to pay what he did not have, being dragged to prison, because there was a lack of wine on the table of a powerful person; he had his children taken to an auction, so that he could postpone the punishment for a while. By chance, he found someone who would help him in that necessity, he returned to his dwelling with his poor ones, looking at everything that had been plundered, nothing left for himself to eat, groaning over the hunger of his children, regretting that he had not sold them to someone who could feed them. He returns to his plan, he takes the decision to sell. However, the injustice of poverty and the kindness of paternal duty clashed: hunger pushed towards profit, nature towards duty. Prepared to die for his children rather than be separated from them, he often advanced and often retracted this step. Nevertheless, necessity prevailed over will, and even kindness yielded to necessity.

22. Now let us consider the storms of the troubled homeland of the mind, which of the children shall I deliver first? Whom, he says, shall I sell first? For I know that the price of one is not enough for the sustenance of the others. This alone is the wealthy fecundity leading to hardship. Whom shall I offer? Whom will the auctioneer of grain gladly gaze upon? Shall I offer the firstborn? But he called me father first. This one is the eldest among the sons, whom I appropriately honor as the elder. But shall I give the younger one? I embrace him with a tenderer love. I blush for him, I pity him; for him I sigh, for him I am concerned; he already feels the pain, this one is ignorant; his pain moves me, his ignorance frustrates me. Should I turn to others? He flatters me more, he is more bashful; he is more like a parent, he is more useful; in him I sell my image, in him I reveal my hope. Woe is me! I do not find what I should do, I have nothing to choose. Faces of calamities surround me, a chorus of hardships.

23. This is a savage madness, to choose whom to deliver. The very wild animals, when they sense dangers approaching for their offspring and themselves, are accustomed to choose whom to free, not whom to offer. Therefore, how can I distinguish the attitude of nature? How can I forget, how can I shed my father's mind? How can I establish an auction for the sons? In what language shall I negotiate the price? In whose hands shall I entrust the servitude of my son? With what eyes shall I behold him as a servant? With what kisses shall I bid farewell as he departs? By what means can I excuse my actions? Son, I sold you in exchange for my own food. Therefore, the table of the poor is now more mournful than that of the rich. He enslaves others, I sell myself: he imposes necessity, I bring forth willingness. To make the cause more excusable, I will add: Son, you will serve for the sake of your brothers, so that food may be sought for them. And Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, afterwards he provided for them as well as his father. And he will answer: But it was not our father who sold him, rather he wept over the loss: but later he himself also came into the power of the rich man, and could barely be set free. Later, his son served under the riches of Egypt for a long time. Finally, father, sell me on this condition, that wealthy people do not buy.

24. Oh, I confess, what should I do? Should I sell nothing? But while I consider one thing, I see all perishing with hunger. If I give one away, with what eyes will I see the rest suspecting me of impiety, that I may not also sell others? With what shame shall I return home? How will I enter? With what feeling shall I dwell, when I have denied myself a son, whom neither sickness wasted away, nor death took away? With what conscience shall I consider my table, which, like young olives surrounding, used to clothe so many sons?


25. In your presence, this poor person laments and your greed blocks your ear, and your mind is not softened by the horror of your actions. The whole population groans, and you alone, rich person, are not moved, and you do not hear the Scripture saying: Lose money for the sake of your brother and friend, and do not hide it under a stone for your death (Sirach 29:13). And because you do not hear, therefore Ecclesiastes cries out saying: There is an evil disease that I have seen under the sun: riches being kept for the harm of their owner (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But perhaps you return home and consult with your wife: she will urge you to redeem what has been sold. Indeed, she will encourage you even more to engage in the women's world, from where you can rescue the poor even with a small amount. She will impose on you the necessity of expenses; that she may drink from a gem cup, sleep on a purple bed, recline on a silver couch, burden her hands with gold, and adorn her neck with necklaces.

Women are delighted by chains as long as they are made of gold. They do not consider them burdensome if they are precious; they do not think of them as chains if they sparkle with treasures. They are also delighted by wounds; so that gold can be inserted into their ears, and pearls can hang. They also have their own weights, and their own cooling garments. They sweat in gemstones, and freeze in silks; yet prices please them: and greed advocates what nature abhors. They eagerly seek emeralds, hyacinths, beryls, agates, topaz, amethysts, jasper, sardonyx with the utmost frenzy: even if half of their inheritance is sought, they do not spare the expense, as long as they indulge their desire. I do not deny that a certain splendor belongs to these stones, but they are still stones. And they themselves remind us that, contrary to nature, they are polished, so that they rid the stones of their roughness, rather than polishing the rigidity of the mind.

Chapter VI.

How ineffective wealth is! And why are they called riches! It is more miserable to be rich than to be in the bondage of slaves. This is the place for the Gospel, What shall I do... I will tear down my barns, etc., is explained piously and eloquently.

27. Which artist could add one day to a person's life? Who redeemed his wealth from the underworld? Whose sorrow did money alleviate? Not in the abundance of riches, he said, is his life (Luke XII, 15). And elsewhere: Treasures are of no use to the unjust, but justice frees from death (Proverbs X, 2). The Prophet rightly cries out: If riches increase, do not set your heart on them (Psalm LXI, 11). For what use are they to me if they cannot save me from death? What use are they to me if they cannot be with me after death? They are acquired here, they are left here. Therefore, we are talking about a dream, not an inheritance. Hence the same Prophet rightly said about the rich: They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands (Psalm 75:6); that is to say, the rich have found nothing in their works, as they have not given anything to the poor: they have not helped anyone in need, they have not been able to find anything that benefits them.


28. Consider the name itself. The pagans call him the ruler of the underworld, the arbiter of death and the wealthy one, because unless he knows how to bring death, he is not able to bring wealth to the dead, nor have control over the realm of the dead or the underworld. For what is wealth, if not an insatiable abyss of riches, an insatiable hunger and thirst for gold? The more one drinks from it, the more it burns within. Thus the prophet admonishes: 'Those who love money will never be satisfied with money' (Ecclesiastes 5:9); and further: 'And indeed this is the worst disease.' For as he was, so he also went away, and his abundance labors in the wind. And indeed all his days are in darkness, and sorrow, and much anger, and weakness, and wrath (Ibid., 15 et seq.); so that the condition of slaves is more tolerable. For they serve men, he serves sin. Thus the Apostle says (Rom. VI, 16): For he who commits sin is the servant of sin. Always in snares, always in chains he is: never free from fetters, because he is always in crimes. How wretched is servitude, to serve sins!

29. Nature itself does not know its duties, nor does it understand the changes of its own sleep, nor does it perform the function of food with its sweetness, for which there is no immunity from servitude. For sweet sleep serves as a slave, whether it consumes little or much; but for one who is satisfied with wealth, there is no one who allows him to sleep. Desire excites him, worry harasses him about stealing others' vigils, envy torments him, delay vexes him, barrenness of income disturbs him, abundance troubles him. Hence, for that wealthy person whose possession has brought forth abundant fruits, who contemplated within himself, saying: What should I do, since I lack the means by which I may gather my fruits? And he said: 'I will do this, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' (Luke 12:17-20) Even God does not allow him to sleep. He interrupts him while he is thinking and wakes him up while he is sleeping.


But even he himself does not allow himself to be at peace, who is troubled by the abundance of his wealth, and in the abundance of his produce he utters the voice of a beggar. What shall I do, he says? Is this not the voice of a poor man, not having the means to live? Needy of everything, he looks here and there, searches for shelter, finds nothing for sustenance. He considers nothing more miserable than being consumed by hunger, and dying from lack of food. He seeks shortcuts to death, and searches for more tolerable ways to endure punishments. He seizes the sword, hangs the noose, kindles the fire, explores poison; and amidst all this he hesitates on what to choose, and says: What shall I do? Then, tempted by the sweetness of this life, he desires to reconsider his decision if he can find the means of subsistence. He sees everything bare, everything empty, and says: What shall I do? Where will I find food, where will I find clothing? I want to live, if I have a way to sustain this life: but with what foods, with what resources?

31. 'What should I do,' he says, 'since I don't have what I need? He shouts that he is rich yet has nothing. This is a discourse of poverty: he complains of being lacking while abundant in fruits. 'I don't have,' he says, 'where I can gather my fruits. You would think he is saying: 'I don't have fruits from which I can live.' Blessed is he who risks from abundance; indeed, more wretched is he with his own abundance than the poor person, for whom the danger is destitution. He has a reason to excuse his hardship; he certainly has injury, but he doesn't have fault: that person doesn't have anyone else to accuse besides himself.'


32. And he said: This I will do, I will destroy my barns. Do you think he still says: I will open my barns, let those who cannot bear hunger enter, let the needy come, let the poor enter, let them fill their pockets, let me destroy the walls that exclude the hungry one. Why should I hide, to whom God makes abound what I give? Why should I close the doors with bolts to the grain, with which God fills the entire circumference of the fields, which grow and abound without a guard?

Chapter VII.

The blessed teacher continues in the same place and shows that the greedy should do good with their possessions, but they prefer to spend their money on building; and they delight more in the high price of goods than in the abundance of profits: nevertheless, he teaches them where they can safely hide their fruits.


33. The hope of the greedy has been defeated. The old granaries are bursting with new crops. 'I had less,' he says, 'and I saved in vain: more has been born, and to whom shall I gather it?' While I pursue the gains of prices, I have lost the use of benefits. How many souls of the poor could I have saved with the grain of the previous year? These prices, which are not valued by money but by thanks, delighted me more, and I will imitate the holy Joseph in preaching of humanity: with a loud voice I will cry out: 'Come, poor ones, eat my bread, spread out your lap, receive the grain.' Fertility should be the abundance of the rich, the abundance of the whole world, the fertility of all. But you do not say this, rather you say: I will destroy my storehouses. You destroy them rightly, from which no poor person burdened comes back. Storehouses are receptacles of injustice, not aids of compassion. He destroys rightly who does not know how to build wisely. The rich person destroys his own, who does not know eternal things: he destroys storehouses, who does not know how to divide his own grain, but to close them.


34. And I will do greater things, he says. Unfortunate, either that you distribute it to the poor, or that you spend it for the expense of building. While you avoid the grace of generosity, you incur the losses of construction.

35. And he added: I will gather all that is born to me, and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods. The miser is always satisfied with the abundance of his profits, while he calculates the cheapness of his nourishment. For the fertility of all things is profitable to him, but the barrenness of the land is profitable to the greedy. He delights more in the exorbitance of prices than in the abundance of possessions; and he prefers to have what he alone possesses, rather than what he sells with others. See him fearing that the heap of grain will overflow, that the overflowing barns will pour into the poor, and that the opportunity of some good will be acquired by the needy. The rich man claims the lands for himself alone, not because he wants to use them, but to deny them to others.

36. 'You have many good things,' he says. The greedy person does not know how to speak of good things, unless they are profitable. But I agree with him, that things which are monetary are called good. So why do you make evil out of good things, when you should make good out of evil things? For it is written: Make friends for yourselves with the dishonest wealth (Luke 16:9). Therefore, to those who know how to use it, things are good; to those who do not know how to use it, they are rightly evil. He scattered, he gave to the poor, his justice remains forever (Psalm 112:9). What is better than this? It is good if you are generous to the poor, in which you establish yourself as a debtor to God through a certain devotion of piety. It is good if you open the storehouses of your justice, so that you may be the bread of the poor, the life of the needy, the eyes of the blind, the father of orphaned children.

37. You have the means to do it, what do you fear? I address you in your own voice. You have many good things stored up for many years, you can abound both for yourself and for others. You have public abundance, why do you destroy your own granaries? I show you where you can better preserve your grain, where you can protect it well, so that thieves cannot take it from you. Include it in the hearts of the poor, where no throat can consume it, no old age corrupt it. You have storehouses, the bosoms of the destitute: you have storehouses, the houses of widows: you have storehouses, the mouths of infants, so that it can be said to you: 'Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have perfected praise' (Psalm 8:2). These are the storehouses that will last forever; those granaries that future fertility will not destroy. For what will you do again if you are born more in the following year? So you will destroy again those things that you now prepare, and you will make greater ones. For God gives you fertility, so that he may either overcome or condemn your greed; therefore, you cannot have an excuse: on the contrary, you keep for yourself what he wanted to be born to many through you, indeed you even take it away from yourself; for you would keep it more for yourself if you distributed it to others. For indeed, the fruits of gifts return to those who have given them, and the grace of generosity comes back to the giver. Finally, it is written: Sow for yourselves in righteousness (Hosea X, 12). Be a spiritual farmer, sow what is beneficial to you. A good sowing in the hearts of widows. If the earth yields to you more abundant fruits than what you have received, how much more will the reward of mercy multiply the things you have given!

Chapter VIII.

It is mentioned in the Gospel that the miserly person who is indifferent to the needs of others and prioritizes accumulating wealth is considered foolish and is despised. How much better it would be if money was distributed rather than hoarded, and how foolish it is for the wealthy to make excuses for not giving to the poor!


Then, O man, do you not know that the day of death comes before the birth of the earth, but mercy excludes the attack of death? Those who await your soul are already present, and you still delay the fruits of your works. Are you still measuring out long periods of life for yourself? Foolish one, tonight they will take your soul from you (Luke XII, 20). He rightly says 'tonight'; for the soul of the greedy is reclaimed at night: it begins in darkness and perseveres in darkness. For the greedy, night is always present; for the righteous, day, to whom it is said: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise' (Luke XXIII, 43). But a fool is like the moon that changes (Eccli. XXVII, 12): but the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matth. XIII, 43). It is rightly argued against foolishness, that he has placed his hope in eating and drinking. And therefore the time of death presses upon him, as it is said by those who serve their gluttony: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die (Esai. XXII, 13). He is rightly called a fool, because he provides for his soul earthly things; because he hides what he should keep, he does not know.


And therefore it is said to him: What things soever thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? (Luke XII, 20) Why dost thou measure, and number, and seal up daily? Why dost thou sift gold, weigh silver? How much better is it to be a liberal dispenser, than a solicitous keeper! How much more profitable would it be for thee to be called the father of many orphans, than to have in thy purse numberless weights sealed up! For money indeed is here left behind: but the grace of good works is carried with us unto the judge of merit.


40. But perhaps you may say, as people often do, that we must not give to someone whom God has cursed, because he wants to be in need. But the poor are not cursed, for it is written: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). It is not about the poor, but about the rich that Scripture says: “He who withholds grain, the people will curse him” (Prov. 11:26). Furthermore, do not ask what each person deserves. Mercy is not accustomed to judge based on merits, but to help based on needs: to assist the poor, not to examine justice. For it is written: Blessed is he who understands the needs of the poor (Psalm 41:1). Who is the one who understands? The one who has compassion for those in need, who recognizes that both the rich and the poor are made by the Lord, who knows that he sanctifies his own fruits if he shares them with the poor. Therefore, when you have the means to do good, do not delay by saying: Tomorrow I will give; lest you lose the opportunity to be generous. Delaying the well-being of others is dangerous. It is possible that while you hesitate, they may die. It is better to preempt before death, lest greed hinder you today and promises be deceived tomorrow.

Chapter IX.

How Jezebel, who is greed, promises to rich people the possession that they desire against justice.

41. But what shall I say, lest you delay generosity? Would that you would not hasten to plunder: would that you would not extort what you desire: would that you would not seek what belongs to others, neglect what is denied, bear patiently what is excused, and not listen to that Jezebel, which is greed, saying with a flood of vanity: I will give you the possession you desire (III Kings 21:7). You are sad, because you want to consider the measure of justice; so as not to snatch away what belongs to others: I have my rights, I have my laws; I will resort to slander so as to plunder; and so that the possession of the poor may be taken away, life will be disturbed.


42. For what else is described in that story, if not the greed of the rich, which is a vain flood that carries away everything like a river and leads to no benefit? This is not one Jezabel, but many: not of one time, but of many times: she speaks to all, just as she spoke to her husband Achab. Rise, eat bread, and return to yourself: I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezraelite.

43. And he wrote a book named Achab, and signed it with his ring, and sent the book to the elders, and to the children who lived with Nabuthe. And it was written in the book: Fast a fast, and set up Nabuthe as the leader of the people, and appoint two men, sons of wickedness from among his people, to bear false witness against him, saying: He blessed God and the king; and bring him forth, and stone him (Ibid., 8 et seq.).

Chapter X.

The wealthy, since they cannot steal from others, do not have the capacity to take food due to sadness: and there they should observe fasting or offer prayers to God: then they should do what God commands, even if it is contrary to their own desires.


How clearly is the custom of the wealthy expressed! They are upset if they do not seize other people's property: they renounce food, they fast, not to reduce sin, but to commit a crime. You would see them then going to church, attentive, humble, diligent, so that they may deserve the accomplishment of their wickedness. But God says to them: I did not choose this fasting, nor if you bow your neck like a circle, nor if you spread ashes and sackcloth, will you call it an acceptable fast. I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord. But loosen every chain of injustice, dissolve the obligations of violent exchanges, forgive the broken for remission, and break every unjust conscription: break your bread to the hungry, bring those who have no shelter into your house; if you see someone naked, clothe them; and do not despise those who are of your own kin. Then your morning light shall arise, and your healing shall come quickly; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you; then you shall call, and God will answer you, while you are still speaking, God will say: Here I am (Isaiah 58:5 and following).


45. Do you hear, rich man, what the Lord God says? And you come to the Church, not to give something to the poor, but to take away: you fast, not so that the expenses of your banquet may benefit the needy, but so that you may obtain spoils from the needy. What do you want with books and paper, and seals, and legal documents, and bonds? Have you not heard: Undo every bond of injustice, dissolve the obligations of violent exchanges, forgive those who are broken into remission; and tear apart every unjust document. You offer me tablets, I recite to you the law of God: you write with ink, I recall to you the inscribed oracles of the prophets with the Spirit of God: you compose false testimonies, I demand the testimony of your conscience, which you will not be able to escape or evade as judge, whose testimony you cannot refuse on the day when the Lord reveals the hidden things of men. You say: I will destroy my barns; and the Lord says: Let whatever is in the barns be given to the poor, let these storehouses be of use to the needy. You say: I will do greater things, and with that I will gather all that I have been born with; The Lord says: Break your bread to the hungry. You say: I will take away the house from the poor; But the Lord says, to bring those who have no shelter into your house. How do you expect, oh wealthy one, that God would hear you when you do not think that God should be listened to? If the will of the wealthy is not satisfied, the stage is set: it is considered an offense to God if the request of the wealthy is refused.

Chapter XI.

Naboth is stoned to death based on false testimony from two witnesses; Ahab initially pretends to be sad, but then takes possession of his land. God pronounces judgment against Ahab, especially for the blood of Naboth, and also mentions punishment for Jezebel.

46. He blessed God, he said, and the king (3 Kings 21:10), namely an equal person, so that he would be equal in insult. He blessed, he said, God and the king. May the name of the rich not offend, and may it be harmed by the very sound of speech, blessing is called instead of curse. Two witnesses of injustice are sought. With two witnesses, Susanna is desired: two witnesses, and the Synagogue finds them, who would throw false accusations against Christ: with two witnesses, the poor man is killed. So they brought Naboth outside the city and stoned him. (Ibid., 13). I wish he could have died on his own land! The rich man envies the poor man's burial.

47. And it happened, he said, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth. And it happened after these things, that Ahab went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to possess it (Ibid., 16). The rich become angry and slander in order to harm, if they do not obtain what they desire. However, when they have harmed through slander, they pretend to be sorry: yet they go forth sad and mournful, not in their hearts but in their appearance, and they seize the place of the property they have seized by their unfairness.


48. Divine justice is moved by this and condemns the greedy with worthy severity, saying: 'You have killed and taken possession of the inheritance? For this reason, in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, they will lick up your blood; and the prostitutes will wash themselves in your blood' (Ibid., 19). How just, how severe is this sentence, that the bitterness of death that he inflicted on another should be dissolved by the horror of his own death! God looks upon the unburied poor and therefore decrees that the rich should lie unburied; and so that the dead may suffer the torment of their own wickedness, he who did not think to spare the dead. Thus, the body soaked in the blood of his own wound revealed the cruelty of his life. When the poor endured these things, the rich were accused; when the rich received them, the poor were justified.

49. But what does it mean that the prostitutes washed themselves in his blood? Unless, perhaps, it is to reveal that there was a kind of prostitution in that ferociousness of the king's treachery, or a bloody luxury, who was so indulgent that he desired a vegetable dish; so bloodthirsty that he would kill a man over a vegetable dish? Worthy punishment consumes the greedy, worthy punishment consumes greed. Finally, even Jezebel herself was eaten by dogs and the birds of the air, in order to show that the spiritual wickedness becomes the prey of the rich burial. Therefore, flee, rich man, from such an end. But you will flee from such an end if you flee from such a disgrace. Do not be like Ahab, desiring a neighboring possession. Do not let that fatal greed of Jezebel dwell in you, which persuades you with bloodshed. It does not recall your desires, but impels them; it makes you even sadder when you possess what you desired; it makes you naked when you have riches.

Chapter XII.

To be greedy, poor, and a fugitive. How abject was King Ahab in the presence of Elijah; and how the sinner is always caught? In the end, the rich are encouraged to use their wealth lawfully.

For every abundant person considers themselves poorer; because they believe they lack whatever others possess. The whole world is lacking, whose desires the world cannot satisfy: but to the faithful person, the whole world is a treasure. The one who considers their conscience fears being caught and therefore flees from the whole world. Therefore, according to the story, Ahab said to Elijah, but according to the riddle the rich person said to the poor person: 'You have found me, my enemy.' (Ibid., 20). What a wretched conscience, which has mourned its own betrayal!

51. And Elijah said to him: I have found, because you have done evil in the sight of the Lord. That king was Achab, and the king of Samaria; Elijah was poor and in need of bread, lacking sustenance for his meal unless ravens provided nourishment. So dejected was the conscience of the sinner that he was not lifted up with the pride of royal power. Therefore, like one of little worth and of low estate, he said: You have found me, my enemy; you have discovered in me what I thought was hidden; nothing of my mind escapes your knowledge; you have found me, my wounds are exposed to you, captivity is at hand. The sinner is found when his wickedness is revealed, but the righteous says: You have tested me with fire, and no wickedness has been found in me (Psalm 16:3). Adam was found when he was hiding, but no burial was found for Moses. Ahab was found, but Elijah was not found. And the wisdom of God said: The evildoers will seek me and will not find me (Proverbs 1:28). Therefore, in the Gospel (John 8:21), our Lord Jesus was sought but not found. Therefore, fault betrays its own author. Hence, Thesbytes said: I have found that you have done evil in the sight of the Lord; for the Lord delivers the guilty into the power of their enemies, but does not deliver the innocent into the power of their enemies. Finally, Saul was seeking the holy David, and could not find him; but David, who was holy, found King Saul, whom he was not seeking, because the Lord delivered him into his power. Therefore, wealth is captive, poverty is free.


52. You serve, O rich men, a truly wretched servitude, when you serve error, when you serve greed, when you serve avarice, which cannot be satisfied. There is a certain insatiable abyss, swifter when it plunges: just as when it overflows like a well, it is polluted with mud, it ploughs up the earth, which will be of no benefit to it. It is fitting for you to be admonished by this example as well. For if a well is not drawn from, it easily corrupts with idle rest and a degenerate condition: but an army shines with appearance, it is sweet for drinking: so also a heap of riches, sandy with a pile, is beautiful in use, but is held as useless in idleness. Therefore, something is derived from this well. Water extinguishes a burning fire, and almsgiving resists sins; however, stagnant water quickly produces worms. Your treasure will not stand, nor will your fire; it will stand against you unless you turn it away with the works of your mercy. Consider how much you are enriched, rich man, by fires. Yours is the voice of the one saying: 'Father Abraham, tell Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue' (Luke 16:24).


Therefore, whatever you contribute to the needy benefits you; whatever you diminish increases you; by feeding the poor with that food which you give to him, you yourself are fed; for he who has mercy on a poor person himself is fed, and the fruit already is in these things. Mercy is sown on earth, it germinates in heaven; it is planted in the poor, it blossoms with God. Do not say, says God, 'I will give tomorrow' (Prov. III, 28). For how does one who does not allow you to say 'I will give tomorrow' permit you to say 'I will not give'? You do not give to the poor from your own, but you return from theirs. For what is common given for everyone's use, you alone take for yourself. The earth belongs to everyone, not just the rich, but there are fewer who do not use their own than those who do. Therefore, you are repaying a debt, not giving an undeserved gift. And so Scripture says to you: Decline your soul to the poor, and return your debt, and respond peacefully with gentleness (Sirach 4:8).

Chapter XIII.

The rich in their lineage foolishly boast, when they themselves are often a disgrace to their ancestors: gold is a stumbling block. How great is the cruelty ingrained in the rich towards the poor; and what kind of recommendation befits the rich?

54. What then, you arrogant rich man? What do you say to the poor man: Do not touch me? Are you not, like me, conceived and born from a womb, just as the poor man is born? Why do you boast of the ancestry of nobility? You are accustomed to recount the origins of your dogs, just as the rich do: you are accustomed to proclaim the nobility of your horses, just as you do of consuls. He is begotten from that father, and born of that mother: he delights in that grandfather: he exalts himself from those ancestors. But that does not benefit the running; the prize is not given to nobility, but to speed. The ugliest life, in which even the nobility of birth is in danger. Therefore, beware, wealthy person, lest the merits of your ancestors be embarrassed by you, lest it be said of them: Why did you establish such a person, why did you choose a stunted heir? The merit of the heir is not in gilded ceilings, nor in purple orbs. That praise is not for humans, but for metals, in which humans are punished. Gold is sought by those in need, and denied to the needy. They toil to seek, they toil to find, what they do not know how to have.

55. Nevertheless, I wonder why you, the wealthy, think that you should boast, why gold is more a cause for offense than for commendation. For both wood and gold are causes for offense, and woe to those who pursue it! Indeed, blessed is the wealthy person who is found without blemish and who does not depart after gold, nor hope in the treasures of money (Sirach 31:8). But as if he cannot be known, he desires to be shown to himself: Who is this, he says, and we will praise him; for he has done something that we should recognize more as something new rather than something common. Therefore, he who can be content with riches is truly perfect and worthy of glory. He who can, it is said, transgress and yet does not transgress, and do evil and yet does not do it. Therefore, gold is commended to you not so much by its own charm as by the punishment of men, in which there is such allure of error.

56. Do the grand halls extol you? They should rather pierce your hearts, because while they captivate the people, they exclude the voice of the poor. Although it is of no use for her to be heard, for even when heard, she accomplishes nothing. Then it is not the very hall of shame that admonishes you, who want to surpass your riches by building, yet you do not conquer. You clothe the walls and leave people naked. A naked man cries out in front of your house, and you ignore him; a naked man cries out, and you worry about what marble to adorn your floors with. The poor man seeks money, and does not have it: the man asks for bread, and your horse devours gold with its teeth. But you delight in precious ornaments, while others do not have grain. How much, oh rich one, you take for yourself! The people are hungry, and you close your storehouses: the people lament, and you turn your gem. Unfortunate is he, who has the power to defend so many souls from death, and yet does not have the will. Your gem could have saved the entire life of the people.


Listen closely to what kind of preaching befits a wealthy person: I delivered the poor from the hand of the powerful, and I helped the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the dying came upon me; the widows also blessed my mouth. I wore justice; I was the eye of the blind and the feet of the lame; and I was the father of the weak (Job 29:12 et seq.). And further: No guest ever lodged in my doorway; my door was open to all who came. But if I have sinned unintentionally, I have not concealed my guilt, nor have I feared the multitude of the people, so as not to declare my presence to them. If I have allowed a needy person to leave my door empty-handed, or if I have denied justice to my debtors and returned their collateral without repayment, then what can I answer to those accusations? She claims that she wept over every person who was suffering and mourned when she saw a man in need, while she herself had plenty. But then he had more bad days when he saw himself having, and others needing. If he says this, he who never made a widow's eye waste away, who never ate his bread alone, and did not abandon the orphan, whom he nurtured, fed, and raised with the affection of a parent; who never despised the naked, who covered the dying, who warmed the shoulders of the weak with the wool of his own sheep, who did not oppress the orphan, who was never delighted by riches, who never rejoiced in the downfall of his enemies; if anyone did these things, he began to be in need of great wealth, if he garnered nothing from such a large estate except the fruit of mercy alone: what will become of you, who do not know how to use your own inheritance, who in the midst of great wealth endure days of mendicancy; because you give to no one, you help no one?

Chapter XIV.

He explains various reasons by which gold may bring the wealthy to freedom and salvation; he teaches what true wealth is; and he also reveals how God is made known and where his place is in peace.


Therefore, you are the guardian of your belongings, not the master, who dig up the gold of the earth, serving it as a minister, not as a judge. But where your treasure is, there also is your heart. Therefore, in that gold, you buried your heart in the earth. Instead, sell the gold and buy salvation; sell the stone and buy the kingdom of God; sell the field and redeem eternal life for yourself. I affirm the truth because I build with the word of truth: 'If you want to be perfect,' he says, 'sell everything you have; give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven' (Matthew 19:21). And do not be saddened when you hear these things; lest it be said to you, as it was said to that rich young man: How difficult it is for those who have money to enter the kingdom of God (Ibid., 23): rather, when you read these things, consider that death can take away from you these things, the power of the higher authority can remove them. Finally, because you seek small things instead of great things, temporary things instead of eternal things, treasures of money instead of treasures of grace. The former are corrupted, the latter endure.


Consider that you do not possess these alone, for you are possessed by moth and rust, which consume money. Greed has given you these companions. But look at those to whom gratitude has made you a debtor: The lips of the righteous bless a feast, and their testimony becomes proof of their goodness (Sirach 31:28). The Father God makes you a debtor, for He pays interest on the gift with which the poor person is helped, as if a good debtor pays the creditor. You make yourself a debtor to the Son of God, who says: I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was naked, and you clothed me. (Matthew 25:35-36) Truly, whatever was done to the least of these, it was done to Him.

60. You do not know, O man, how to build up riches. If you want to be rich, be poor in the world, so that you may be rich in God. Rich in faith, rich in God; rich in mercy, rich in God; rich in simplicity, rich in God; rich in wisdom, rich in knowledge, riches in God. There are those who abound in poverty and those who lack in riches. The poor abound, whose deep poverty has abounded in the riches of their simplicity; but the rich have lacked and hungered. For it is not written in vain: The poor shall rule over the rich, and the servants shall lend to their masters (Prov. XVII, 2); because the rich and the masters sow useless and evil things, from which they will not gather fruit, but instead gather thorns. And therefore the rich will be subject to the poor, and the servants will lend spiritual things to their masters; just as the rich man asked, so that the poor Lazarus would lend him a drop of water. You too, rich man, can fulfill this sentence: give generously to the poor and you have lent to the Lord; for whoever gives to the poor, lends to the Lord.


However, the holy David beautifully singing a hymn to God in Psalm 75, written against the spiritual wickedness of Assyria, the empty and vain ruler of this world, began as follows: God is known in Judah (Psalm 75:1-2); that is, not in the rich, not in the noble and powerful, but in the soul that confesses. And he says, His name is great in Israel; not in princes and governors, but in the one who sees God. For he is Israel, in whom deep faith could reach the knowledge of God.


And there is, he says, a place for him in peace; where calm emotions are not stirred up by the waves of various desires, where he is not disturbed by the storms of greed, where he does not burn with the fires of seeking riches. He is the one who contemplates eternal things, and he dwells in Zion, shattering all the spiritual instruments of war, breaking the bows with which the devil, aiming fiery darts, is accustomed to burn the heavy passions in the hearts of men. But those darts cannot harm the just, for whom God is light, and so far away from the horror of dark shadows that the adversary cannot find a place in him, who even used to infuse himself into princes; just as he infused himself into the betrayer Judas, cutting down the doors of faith like trees in a forest, so that he could enter his heart and possess the tabernacle of the eternal name, dedicated by the gift of the apostolate. Therefore, that wicked usurper cuts down the doors as if a violent man is entering; but the Lord, like a compassionate one, illuminates his servants, and with the brightness of their merits and the brilliance of their virtues, he illuminates the darkness of this world. These have the grace of God, being peaceful and meek, founded on the tranquility of their sober mind; but the foolish are troubled in heart, and they themselves are the authors of their own agitation; for they are tossed by the waves of their own desires, and fluctuate like the sea.

Chapter XV.

Those who do not know how to use wealth become slaves to it and sleep their own sleep. When the soul is called the charioteer and the flesh the horse to be driven by the strength of the mind: where there is any difference between the driver, the rider, and the one who mounts, it is evaluated.

63. But who are these, the Prophet expressly indicated by saying: All men of wealth (Psalm XXIV., 6); he said 'all,' not exempting any. And he correctly called them 'men of wealth,' not 'wealth of men,' so as to show that they are not possessors of wealth, but possessed by their own wealth. For the possession should belong to the possessor, not the possessor to the possession. Therefore, whoever does not use his inheritance as a possession, who does not know how to bestow on the poor and distribute, he is a servant of his own, not a master of his resources, who keeps the belongings of others as a servant, not as a master who uses his own. Therefore, we say that a man is rich in this kind of disposition, not that the man's wealth is rich. For intellect is good for those who make use of it; but the one who does not understand cannot claim the favor of intellect for himself; and therefore, he falls asleep in the sleep of drunkenness. Therefore, men of this kind sleep their own sleep, that is, their own sleep, not Christ's. And those who do not sleep the sleep of Christ do not have Christ's rest, do not rise through Christ's resurrection; as he says: I have slept and have rested and have risen; because the Lord will bear me up.


In this age, those who sleep are considered worthy of heavenly rebuke, who have mounted horses they could not control. We read elsewhere the Church or the soul saying: Aminadab has set me as a chariot (Song of Songs 6:11). Therefore, if the soul is the chariot, be careful that the body is not the horse: rather, the driver is the strength of the mind, which governs the flesh, and restrains its movements like certain well-trained horses with prudence. Those who have indulged in bodily pleasures have indeed fallen asleep, not governing them with any restraint. And so they chose to call them ascensores, whether they were knights or charioteers. For the charioteer, with discipline and skill, guides his horses according to his own judgment, either urging them on if they are running, or turning them back if they are unmanageable, or recalling them if they are tired, or making them gentle according to his own will. Hence, when Elijah was taken up and carried to heaven in a chariot, Elisha cried out to him: Father, father, charioteer of Israel and his horseman (2 Kings 2:12), that is, you who ruled the people of the Lord with good leadership, rightly received these chariots and these horses running to the divine, because the Lord has shown you to be the guide of human minds; and therefore, as a good charioteer, you are crowned as the victor of the contest with an eternal reward. In the book of the prophet Habakkuk, it is written: You will ascend upon your horses, and your chariot will be salvation (Habakkuk 3:8). For he moved his apostles, whom he directed in different directions, to preach the Gospel throughout the world. He says, You will ascend, as a ruler of horses, not as a rider. For even a horse ascends, but it does so to govern, not just to sit: because it is lazy and unable to bear the movement of an idle mind.


65. But concerning the knight it is written: There is a knight who falls backward, waiting for the salvation of the Lord (Gen. XLIX, 17). Because no one is without a fall, even if a knight falls and is swayed by some earthly vices, if he does not abandon hope of rising again and relies on divine mercy, he reaches salvation. But concerning the horseman, it is evident that he is considered reprehensible, as Moses himself says in the song of Exodus: He cast horse and horseman into the sea (Exod. XV, 21). And the Lord spoke in Zechariah, saying: I will strike every horse with madness, and its rider with foolishness (Zech. XII, 4). He did not say only the horse, but also the rider, as you have in Exodus: Horse and rider. For where is the rider who cannot control his own horse, and the horse is carried headlong, if it is seized by untamed fury into precipitous and perilous places. Therefore, what do you trust in, you rich ones, regarding horses? The deceitful horse brings salvation (Psalm 32:17). Why do you applaud in chariots? Some in chariots, and some on horses, but we will magnify the name of the Lord. They are bound and have fallen, but we have risen and stand upright (Psalm 20:8). Do not love those who cling to vanity; do not, O rich ones, be provoked by the roaring of lust. The Lord is terrible, and no one can resist the mighty and wealthy; He hurls heavenly judgment (Psalm 75:9).

Chapter XVI.

It impels the rich to rest from vices and confess to the Lord. How they are to be told: Pray and give; what prayer and gifts to commend to God? Finally, it is shown that these words are also applicable to the poor, and who should not turn away from God.


66. It is good that you now rest and refrain from committing wicked acts, and that you respect the power of the Lord. That is why it was said to the murderer Cain: 'You have sinned, rest' (Genesis 4:7), so that he would put an end to his sin. Let your thoughts confess to the Lord. Do not say: 'We have not sinned.' Paul said: 'Even though I am not aware of anything against myself' (1 Corinthians 4:4), yet he added: 'But that does not make me innocent.' And even if you are not aware of anything, confess it to the Lord, so that nothing escapes you. Indeed, whoever confesses the Lord and employs the remnants of thought in confession, will celebrate a festive day of the mind in secret (Psalm 75, 11) and will feast not on the leaven of malice and wickedness, but on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Therefore, in conclusion, the Prophet turns to you and says: Pray, and render to the Lord your God (ibid., 12), that is: Do not hide, rich ones, the day is here, pray for your sins, render for the benefits that you have received gifts. You have received from Him what you offer: it is His that you pay. Gifts, he says (I Chron. XXIX, 14), are mine, and my gifts, that is, the gifts that you offer to me, have been given to me: I have given and bestowed them upon you. Finally, the Prophet says: I do not lack in my blessings (Ps. XV, 2), therefore I offer yours to you, because I have nothing that you have not given. It is faith that obtains gifts, and humility that recommends offerings. By faith, Abel offered a great sacrifice to God: Abel's gift pleased God more than Cain's, because he conquered by faith. For why does the offering of a poor person please more than that of a rich person? Because a poor person is richer in faith, and wealthier in sobriety; and though they are poor, they are among those of whom it is said: Kings shall offer you gifts (Ps. LXVII, 30). For the Lord Jesus is not pleased by those who offer in purple garments, but by those who govern their own movements, who have dominion over the physical indulgence of the mind. Therefore, pray, you rich ones! You do not have in your works that which pleases. Pray for your sins and vices and offer gifts to your Lord God. Give to the poor, pay off the needy, support the helpless, whom you can only please due to your vices in no other way. Whoever you fear as an avenger, make him your debtor. 'I will not accept calves from your house, nor goats from your herds; for all the beasts of the forest are mine' (Psalms 49:10-11). 'Whatever you offer is mine, for the whole world is mine. I do not demand what is already mine. You can only offer me what is yours, the devotion and faith of your heart. I do not desire sacrifices out of ambition, but only offer to God the sacrifice of praise and fulfill your vows to the Most High.' (Ibid., 14).


68. However, if you please, we will accept it thus: since he said that his rich ones had fallen asleep, he preceded the Lord's chastisements to them, he instilled terror, he proclaimed power, to which even the rich do not resist; turning to everyone, he said: Let the rich ones sleep, let the rich ones be reproached: you, poor ones, pray and return all to the Lord your God, you who bring offerings around Him (Ps. XXV, 12), that is, give thanks, poor ones, because God is not a respecter of persons. Let them build riches, accumulate money, amass treasures of gold and silver: you pray, who have nothing else: you pray, because you have only this, which is more precious than gold and silver. You who do not depart from the Lord, who are around him; for those who were far away have become near. But those who seem close to themselves because of wealth and power have become far away because of greed. For no one is outside unless they have been excluded by fault, as Adam was expelled from paradise, and Eve was excluded. No one is far away, except those whom their own vices have exiled.

Therefore, you who are positioned nearby, pray and offer gifts to the terrifying one, the one who takes away the spirit of princes, terrifying among the kings of the earth. For he is not redeemed with the reward of a rich man, nor is he swayed by the frown of the powerful, who assesses the price of guilt, who demands more from someone the more he has given. Saul granted the kingdom to himself, but because he did not keep the commandment, he lost the kingdom and the spirit. He made many kings of the nations become captives because of their treachery towards the people of their ancestors. And let us now speak about the aforementioned story (III Kings XIX), where Achab, an ungrateful king of the heavens, ordered to be killed in such a way that his wounds were licked by his own dogs. Indeed, because he coveted the vineyard of a poor man, he was reduced to extreme poverty by the Lord, not being satisfied with such great wealth of his reign. No one was found to wash his wounds, nor to cover his body. Human kindness failed around him, and the fierceness of dogs took its place. Surely the miser finds worthy ministers of his funeral.

Chapter XVII.

The reason why Ahab, to whom God had promised forgiveness for his repentance, was still defeated and killed, is twofold: from this it is concluded that God keeps His promises even to the unworthy.

In this place arises the question, how do we understand the Lord's words to Elijah: 'Have you seen how Ahab has been moved before me?' I will not bring evil upon his days, but upon the days of his son (3 Kings 21:29). Or how do we say that repentance is powerful before the Lord? Behold, the king was moved before the face of the Lord, and he went weeping, and tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and was clothed in mourning from the day he killed Naboth the Jezreelite (ibid., 27); so that he would move God with mercy, and change his sentence. Therefore, either repentance did not have power, or it did not turn the merciful Lord, or the oracle is false. For Ahab was defeated and killed (III Kings 22:35).

71. But consider that Jezebel had a wife (3 Kings 20, 25), whose will she was inflamed by, who turned his heart, and made him detestable with excessive sacrileges; and therefore she revoked this affection of his penance. However, the Lord cannot be considered changeable, but he did not consider it necessary to keep the promise he had made to the one confessing, forgetting the confession.

72. Take another example: and the Lord preserved the tenor of his sentence even for the unworthy, but he himself did not retain divine benefits around him. The king of Syria had brought war: he was defeated, and saved for mercy: he was also given freedom as a captive, and restored to his kingdom. What was the divine sentence, Ahab not only escaped, but also triumphed: because of his own cowardice, he armed the enemy whom he would be defeated by. And he had certainly been warned by the prophet saying: Know and see what you are doing (III Kings XXI, 22). I say that he was warned because the grace of Heaven was due to the sons of the king of Syria, since he had said, 'The God of the mountains, the God of Israel, and not the God of Baal.' Therefore, he said, they obtained [victory] for us. And therefore, he said, if we do not fully obtain them, let us appoint satraps in place of the king of Syria, so that he may take away their power and the power of the king. Finally, in the first encounter, he won in order to rout the enemy; he won a second time when he restored him to his command after having captured him. The cause of his evident defeat resulted in an oracle, with one of the sons of the prophets saying to his neighbor: Kill me. But the man refused to kill him. And he said: Because you did not obey the word of the Lord, behold, you will depart from me and a lion will kill you. And he departed from him, and a lion found him and killed him (cf. 2 Kings 20:35 et seq.). And after this, another prophet stood before the king of Israel and said to him: Thus says the Lord, Because you have let a man of destruction escape from your hand, behold, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.


Therefore, it is clear from these oracles that the Lord also keeps His promises even for the unworthy; but the wicked are either oppressed by their own foolishness or condemned by other transgressions, even if they have escaped the snares of the first transgression. But we must act in such a way that we deserve to receive the promises of the Almighty God, being worthy of good works.