Ezekiel 48

And these are the names of the tribes: from the borders of the north, beside the way of Ethalon, for those going to Hamath, Court Enon, the border of Damascus toward the north beside Hamath; and its eastern side shall be the sea, Dan one. And from the border of Dan, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Asher one. And above the border of Asher, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Naphtali one. And above the border of Naphtali, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Manasseh one. And above the border of Manasseh, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Ephraim one. And above the border of Ephraim, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Reuben one. And above the border of Reuben, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Judah one. Now that the possession of the holy land has been described, both according to the present prophecy of Ezekiel and according to the book of Numbers, the possession of the individual tribes is now described, from the eastern side to the side of the west, that is, of the sea. And first they receive their boundaries from the north, beside the way of Ethalon, for those going to Hamath, 'Court' — or 'Aser' — Enon, the border of Damascus toward the north beside Hamath, of which we have already spoken before; and the tribe of Dan begins first, Asher second, Naphtali third, Manasseh fourth, Ephraim fifth, Reuben sixth, Judah seventh: that is, on the left side, and the number seven is completed. — Then the firstfruits of the priests and of the Levites, and the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst, and the Holy of Holies; the city itself also is described, foursquare, having four thousand and five hundred reeds on each side; the suburbs of the priests and of the Levites are also described in order, and the possession of the prince; and again on the right side follow five tribes, likewise from the side of the east to the side of the west, of which the first is Benjamin, the second Simeon, having its own possession specially and by no means mixed with Judah as before, the third Issachar, the fourth Zebulun, the fifth Gad; and the gates of the city, three on each side, and the name of the city itself, which is contained on the plate of gold on the forehead of the high priest — about all of which we shall discourse in their places —. This too is to be noted: that the names of the forty-eight cities which in the volume of Numbers are given to the Levitical tribe to dwell in, with their suburbs, are passed over in silence here, and so are the cities of the fugitives, of which three beyond the Jordan, namely Bezer and Ramoth and Golan, were given in the two and a half tribes, and three on this side of the Jordan, namely Kedesh and Shechem and Kiriath-arba: for there was no need, in a mystical description and in the dwelling of the saints and a perfect way of life, to describe the refuges of fugitives, which Israel needed while still set upon the earth and hastening through many labors and dangers to come to this city, and saying in each of the saints: I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were, and in another place: I have dwelt with those who dwell in Kedar; much has my soul sojourned.

And above the border of Judah, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, shall be the firstfruits which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand in breadth, and in length as each of the portions from the eastern side to the side of the sea; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. The firstfruits which you shall set apart for the Lord: the length twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. It is superfluous to discuss again what has been discussed, and to labor once more, as though they had not been said, over things on which we labored above. After the boundaries of the seven tribes, the firstfruits are described from the east to the west, whose breadth is to hold twenty-five thousand reeds, but the length as much as the individual tribes hold from the east to the sea; the number of this length is uncertain, for no measure was set down in the description of the individual tribes; but if the breadth has twenty-five thousand reeds, one may infer that the number of the length, which is always greater than the breadth, is much greater.

In the midst, moreover, the sanctuary is placed, beside the firstfruits which are set apart for the Lord, of a length of twenty-five thousand reeds and a breadth of ten thousand — reading which, we can say nothing else but that saying of the Apostle: O the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, and untraceable his ways!, and in another place: That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, to know also the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God —. The number twenty-five, moreover, is referred to the senses — of which it was said: You shall possess a divine sense —, and that of ten thousand to perfect and consummate virtue — which by the decalogue of the old instrument reaches to the mystery of the Gospel; we touched on this briefly before, and here we shall recall it in part: for if, adding from one, you reach four, you will fill up the number ten, and so it will come about that the Old Testament is bound together in the New, and the New is expanded in the Old —.

These moreover shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary of the priests: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the sea ten thousand in breadth, and also toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst of it: the sanctuary for the priests, of the sons of Zadok, who kept my ceremonies and did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. And there shall be firstfruits from the firstfruits of the land, the Holy of Holies, beside the border of the Levites. The four sides of the firstfruits of the sanctuary are described — a portion which belongs not to the people or to the common crowd, nor to the Levites, a lower rank, but properly to the worship of the priests —: namely of the north and of the west and of the east and of the south; and part by part the order of progress is told: so that, leaving the cold of the north, we may come to the west, where, that is, our vices may set and perish, and thence pass over to the east, and, when the sun of righteousness has risen for us, come to the south, in which the light is brightest and perfect; and both from the north to the sea and from the east to the south there are to be twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in breadth, so that everywhere the same measure of length and breadth may be kept.

The sanctuary, moreover (that is, the temple) of the Lord, shall be in the midst of the priestly firstfruits, and it will be walled about on every part with equal sides; and because he had said: These moreover shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary of the priests, lest under the common term all priests should claim for themselves the possession of this place and the ceremonies to be observed, he sets it down specifically, adding: The sanctuary shall be for the priests, of the sons of 'Sadoc' — which means 'righteous', of whom it is said: The Lord is righteous and has loved righteousnesses; his face has seen equity; for 'Sadoc' the Seventy write 'Saduc'. This Sadoc speaks in the Gospel: For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, and of him, under the name of Solomon, the prophet mystically sings: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king's son —. Those priests, however, shall possess the sanctuary of the Lord and keep his ceremonies: Who did not go astray when the children of Israel and the Levites went astray, about whom there was discussion in the earlier parts: they do not offer victims but, content with the privilege of the name and with the humility of their error, always say in their heart: I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever against me — let the priestly rank hear this, and he who was overcome by the heat of the Arian persecution and afterwards bowed his neck to the true faith lest he lack wealth and power: let it be enough for him if he is not expelled from the temple, if he holds some shadow and image of his former name, and let him not, lolling back and belching up delicacies, as though spotless and pure, belch upon us from a most lofty throne the nausea of his ignorance and barbarous garrulity —.

For there shall be, he says, for 'them' firstfruits from the firstfruits of the land — that is, for the priests, and for those Who did not go astray when the children of Israel and the Levites went astray; and firstfruits from firstfruits, as tithes of tithes —, and the Holy of Holies beside the border of the Levites, so that the Levites indeed may have the borders adjoining the priests, but may not be able to hold the navel, that is, its middle, and the possession itself.

The possession of the Levites is also described, which is indeed neighboring to the borders of the priests, and has, for the multitude of the Levites, the same spaces in length and in breadth that the fewness of the priests has, but nevertheless uses its own boundaries and understands that it is separated from the priestly rank, to strike down the pride of the ministers who, ignorant of the humility of their station, swell up beyond the priests, that is, the presbyters: they reckon their dignity not by merit but by riches; certainly, whoever is first of the ministers, because he makes proclamation item by item among the people and yet does not depart from the side of the high priest, thinks it an injury if he is ordained a presbyter, and he does not remember, minister of tables and of widows, that he was appointed to the service not only of the priests but also of the widows and of the poor.

And they shall not sell, he says, of it, nor exchange, so that the possession of the Levitical allotment may remain eternal, and the merit of the dignity may not be overcome by price, nor be transferred from one to another: because the things that are sanctified to the Lord do not belong to those to whom they are given, but to him in whose name they are possessed.

And also for the Levites likewise, beside the borders of the priests, twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in breadth; the whole length twenty-five thousand and the breadth ten thousand; and they shall not sell of it, nor exchange (or measure), nor shall the firstfruits of the land be transferred (or taken away), because they are sanctified to the Lord. But the five thousand that remain in breadth by twenty-five thousand shall be profane, of the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst of it. What we have rendered as 'profane', for which Aquila translated βέβηλον, Symmachus and Theodotion λαικόν, the Seventy said προτείχισμα, which we can call 'outer wall'; but 'profane' and 'lay', that is, 'common', is what all the people may dwell in anywhere; and what they said: Nor shall it be measured nor taken away, for what we said: It shall not be exchanged nor transferred, plainly has no sense.

But the five thousand that remain in breadth by twenty-five thousand — 'of length' is understood —, shall be profane, of the city, so that all the Israelites and anyone of the common people may dwell there; not that they are unclean, or that anything in the dwelling of the holy land is thought defiled and filthy, but that, besides the priests, all are permitted to dwell in them; by which we understand that all the things we refer to the senses, that is, to the desires of the body — what we take in by sight and hearing, by touch, smell and taste — are profane and do not have the sanctity of the temple, and are not of priestly privilege but of lay cheapness. And the city shall be in the midst — of which it is written: The rush of the river gladdens the city of God, and: A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden —; of it we shall speak in what follows. Προτείχισμα, that is, 'outer wall', and διάστημα, that is, 'space', which the Seventy translated for 'suburbs': what sense it has in this place we do not know.

And these the measures of the same: toward the northern side four thousand five hundred, and toward the southern side four thousand five hundred, and toward the eastern side four thousand five hundred, and toward the western side four thousand five hundred. As to his saying: And these are its measures, 'of the city' is to be understood; for at the end of the preceding chapter it was set down: And the city shall be in the midst of it, that is, of the land. And first he begins from the northern side and sets the southern side opposite it, and again he matches like with like, so as to set over against the eastern side the western, that is, the sea; and each side of the city has four thousand and five hundred reeds, which, when reckoned, make eleven thousand and eighty-five paces, so that the whole city together, as is written at the end of this volume, has eighteen thousand reeds round about, which make forty-four thousand paces and three hundred and forty — whence also Psalm 44 (45), which is entitled: To the end, for those who shall be changed, and pertains 'to Ididia', that is, 'to the beloved of the Lord', or, as Aquila translated, 'for the lilies', and Symmachus 'for the flowers', contains the mysteries of the Church, which is the city of the Lord, of which it is written in the same psalm: The queen stood at your right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety, and again: All the glory of the king's daughter is within, so that she is not like tombs whitewashed outside, but washes all things of the dish both within and without —. And when we have withdrawn from the north, the coldest wind, we pass over to the south, and, after the light of knowledge has risen in us, we dread the setting of our strengths, considering by no means the things past but the things to come, and not holding a sure possession of virtue, but saying daily in prayer: Lead us not into temptation, which we cannot bear.

And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the sea two hundred fifty. For 'suburbs', which in Hebrew are called 'magras', the Seventy again translated διάστημα, that is, 'space'. As to its saying 'two hundred fifty' on each side, 'reeds' is understood, which have six cubits each and one handbreadth, and on each side they make a little less than six hundred and seventeen paces, and all together a thousand reeds, amounting to two thousand four hundred and sixty-eight paces: these spaces surround the walls of the city round about, so as to divide between the city and the things that remain. From this it is shown that no one, whether of those who carry out the works of the city or of those gathering produce, has license over these spaces, but that they are free from the use and work of men, so that the surroundings of the city walls may have the pleasantness of shrubs and herbs springing up of their own accord, and of the other things that the earth brings forth.

And what remains in length alongside the firstfruits of the sanctuary, ten thousand to the east and ten thousand to the west, shall be as the firstfruits of the sanctuary, and its produce shall be for food (or for loaves) for those who serve (or work) in the works of the city. And those serving (or working) in the works of the city shall serve the city (or shall work) from all the tribes of Israel. All the firstfruits of twenty-five thousand, by twenty-five thousand foursquare, shall be set apart for the firstfruits of the sanctuary and the possession of the city. After the description of the holy city and its suburbs, he wishes the remaining part of the firstfruits of the sanctuary, ten thousand reeds stretching to the east and another ten thousand to the west, to be assigned to those who carry out the works of the city for various uses and for whatever the city needs: namely, that they be sown, and that the workers feed on the produce that grows in this space of land, those who either build the walls of the city or restore what is broken and ruinous, so that the city may have its adornment, and its roofs be kept in repair and restored when necessity demands — and this we find done not only in Israel or in the possession of the holy land, which spiritually contain the mysteries of the Church, but in the Roman empire too, so that certain estates belong to the jurisdiction of cities, either by royal munificence or by the inheritances and donation of many, lest, namely, the buildings gradually collapse and the public edifices, which are an ornament to the city, be harmed by long neglect —.

And the workers, he says (or those who serve in the works of the city), shall be from all the tribes of Israel, so that no one may think himself exempt from the works of the city, but all may vie with one another in building up the Church — which we read was done in the tabernacle too, so that, according to the variety of their means, one offered gold and silver, scarlet, fine linen and purple, and various and diverse woofs, others skins and goats' hair; and, though the gifts were diverse according to the measure of their substance, the reward of the givers was one, nay rather greater for those who offered small things indeed but greater in proportion to their means, after the example of the poor widow who put two mites into the gifts of the treasury and was praised by the judgment of the Lord, who said: Truly I say to you that this poor little widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put into the gifts of God, but she out of that which she lacks has put in all the living that she had —.

As therefore we have spoken about the works of the city, so this must be touched on briefly: that all the firstfruits of the sanctuary and the possession of the city, reckoned together foursquare, contain two hundred and forty-six thousand and a third part — for if twenty-five thousand reeds — which have six cubits each and one handbreadth — make of our paces, that is, Roman paces, sixty-one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven, no one doubts that these, reckoned fourfold, produce the number above —; from which we perceive that all things are to be understood spiritually, and that the possession of the Church is much broader than it once was in Judea, where they did not even receive portions of the holy land, but from the individual tribes received, in forty-eight cities, not a full possession but a dwelling and lodgings; so that those too who seem to be lay and not to have attained to the priestly and Levitical rank may nevertheless, if they work for the city of the Lord, feed on the holy land of the meek, and on the land of believers, one of whom said: I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

And what remains shall be the prince's, on every side (or on this side and that) of the firstfruits of the sanctuary and of the possession of the city, over against (or before the face of) the twenty-five thousand of the firstfruits as far as the eastern border, and also from the sea over against (or before the face of) the twenty-five thousand as far as the border of the sea, likewise in the portions of the prince it shall be; and the firstfruits of the sanctuary and the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the midst of it. And of the possession of the Levites and of the possession of the city, in the midst of the portions of the prince, it shall be toward the border of Judah and toward the border of Benjamin, and shall belong to the prince. About this prince it was argued more fully above, and that he alone was to receive as much as one tribe; but now we learn something else: that whatever remains from all the tribes, he alone receives, so that there is no tribe that does not offer gifts to the prince, not from elsewhere but from the firstfruits which serve the temple and the sanctuary and the parts assigned to the city — for this is what he says: Over against (or before the face of) the twenty-five thousand of the firstfruits as far as the eastern border (or as far as the eastern border of the sea), so that the firstfruits are between the seven and the five, and in the firstfruits themselves the city and its suburbs, and in the midst of the city the sanctuary of the temple —.

But also whatever remains of the possession of the Levites and of the possession of the city will be allotted to the prince, and the furthest part of the seven tribes, neighboring the firstfruits and the city and the temple, will be in the tribe of Judah, and the furthest part of the five tribes, by the same right as above, in the tribe of Benjamin; and that furthest part itself will belong to the prince. Hence the mysteries of holy Scripture are to be marveled at, and pondered rather than set forth in speech. For in the earlier division of the lands beyond the Jordan, through Moses, the land was divided to the two tribes, Reuben and Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh; but within the Jordan, through Joshua son of Nun and Eleazar son of Aaron, Judah took possession on the south, and Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh on the north; afterwards, however, when spies had been sent out from Shiloh through the individual tribes and the description of the land had been brought to Joshua and Eleazar, Benjamin received a possession beside Judah on the south and beside Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh; the second tribe, Simeon, received its inheritance within the tribe of Judah — that what is written of Levi and Simeon might be fulfilled: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel —; the third, Zebulun, received Galilee, in which is Mount Tabor; the fourth, Issachar, where Jezreel is, as far as the Jordan; the fifth, Asher, as far as Mount Carmel, which overhangs the Great Sea, and Tyre and Sidon; the sixth, Naphtali, in Galilee as far as the Jordan, where Tiberias is, which was once called Chinnereth; the seventh, Dan, as far as Joppa, where are the cities of Aijalon and Selebi and Emmaus, which is now called Nicopolis — although we have read that afterwards, passing over other tribes, they took for themselves the city of Leshem in the tribe of Dan, which today is called Paneas. Since these things are so, and there is so great a difference between the earlier description of the tribes and the one now given, let us consider this: how, both in the present description and in the past one, the city and the temple are placed between the tribe of Judah and Benjamin; and in the earlier description Judah was on the south and Benjamin on the north, but here, on the contrary, it comes about that Judah is on the north and Benjamin on the south; after whom the second is Simeon, the third Issachar, the fourth Zebulun, the fifth Gad: namely five tribes, as is said in what follows; for it is written:

And for the remaining tribes: from the eastern side to the western side, Benjamin one. And over against the border of Benjamin, from the eastern side to the western side, Simeon one. And above the border of Simeon, from the eastern side to the side of the west, Issachar one. And above the border of Issachar, from the eastern side to the western side, Zebulun one. And above the border of Zebulun, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Gad one. And above the border of Gad, toward the side of the south, toward the midday; and the boundary shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Contradiction, Kadesh, and the inheritance over against the Great Sea. This is the land which you shall allot to the children of Israel, and these are their divisions, says the Lord God. As to the fact that with the five and the seven tribes 'una' [one, in the feminine] is always placed at the end, either 'part' or 'possession' or 'inheritance' is understood, although Aquila and Symmachus translate in the neuter gender τό ὅριον, which signifies 'border'.

And this is briefly to be noted: that the tribe of Gad, the last of the five tribes — which in the earlier description was beyond the Jordan — is placed in that part which Judah held before, namely toward the side of the south, toward the midday, and that the boundary is from Thamar as far as the waters of Contradiction, Kadesh, the inheritance over against the Great Sea; Thamar is the very place of which we have already spoken, which they now call 'Palmyra', and which was once built by Solomon: for 'palm' in the Hebrew tongue is called 'Thamar', and some think it obtained this name from the fact that there are very many palm groves there. And as to what follows: As far as the waters of Contradiction, Kadesh, the inheritance over against the Great Sea (for which the Seventy translated from Theman and the water of Mariboth, Kadesh, the inheritance as far as the Great Sea), this is to be observed: that in the Hebrew the same word 'nehela', because it is ambiguous, means both 'inheritance' and 'torrent', and that here it ought to be taken as 'torrent' rather than 'inheritance': for this is the torrent which enters the Great Sea at Rhinocorura, as we have already said before; Kadesh, moreover, which in the book of Joshua is called Cadesbarne, is in the desert which extends as far as the city of Petra; 'Mariboth', however, which means 'of Contradiction', is not the name of a place, as most suppose, but of the waters at which the people contradicted the Lord and Moses offended God, as the psalm says: They tempted him at the water of Contradiction, and Moses was afflicted on their account. And the whole inheritance of the holy land on the southern side, beside the borders of Egypt, is bounded by the torrent of Rhinocorura. And because 'Gad' means 'temptation', in his possession we pass from the palm groves to the waters of Contradiction, as far as 'Cades', which means 'holy', so that we may understand that even after the victory over the world we ought to be anxious and always in fear, and to remember that little verse: The life of men upon earth is temptation, and to arrive at holiness while adversaries resist, and so to obtain the victory; and let us contemplate close at hand the torrent full of rains.

And these are the outgoings of the city: from the northern side you shall measure four thousand five hundred. And the gates of the city after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates from the north, the gate of Reuben one, the gate of Judah one, the gate of Levi one. And toward the eastern side four thousand five hundred; and three gates: the gate of Joseph one, the gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one. And toward the southern side you shall measure four thousand five hundred: the gate of Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zebulun one. And toward the western side four thousand five hundred; their gates three: the gate of Gad one, the gate of Asher one, the gate of Naphtali one. Round about eighteen thousand; and the name of the city from that day: The Lord is there. Concerning the circuit of the city, that on each side, foursquare, it had four thousand five hundred reeds, the preceding discourse has told; these make eighteen thousand reeds, as is also set down in the present chapter, that is, forty-four thousand paces and three hundred and forty paces. Now it is written that on each side, that is, along eleven thousand paces and eighty-five paces, there were three gates, which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion call διεξόδους, the Seventy διεκβολάς, and which we have translated 'outgoings' and 'exits' of the city. And first this is to be briefly pointed out: that the same tribes encamped around the tabernacle in such a way that on the east were Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, sons of Leah; and on the south Reuben, Simeon, Gad, two sons of Leah and the third a son of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; but on the west Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, namely two sons of Rachel — because Joseph, in place of the tribe of Levi, which was assigned to the sacrifices, was divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh —; and on the north Dan and Asher and Naphtali, of whom the first and the third are sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, the second a son of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid: ignoble, and placed toward the north, inasmuch as they were begotten of the stock of handmaids at odds with one another. This is according to the book of Numbers and the description of the tabernacle which, at God's command, was dictated by the mouth of Moses. But our city — which is The city of the great king: Whose artificer and founder is God, of which the psalmist also sings: Will Zion say: A man, and a man was born in her, and the Most High himself founded her? — has another description of the tribes in the holy land, and another measure of the city, order of possession and sides of the individual tribes. For first, three gates or exits of the city are set over against the northern side, of which are Reuben the firstborn, and Judah, the founder of the royal stock, and Levi, about whose name nothing was said in the description of the tabernacle and of the camp: so that, possessing the birthright, as a royal and priestly race, we may despise the cold of the north; secondly, toward the east are Joseph, Benjamin and Dan, both sons of Rachel and one of Bilhah her handmaid; toward the south, Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun, of whom three are sons of Leah; further, toward the west Gad, Asher and Naphtali, of whom the first two are sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, the third a son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid — Who is wise, and will understand these things? understanding, will know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them; but the transgressors will fall in them —. These twelve gates or exits, I think, were joined to the individual tribes, according to the quality of their merits and virtues, under the names of the apostles and of the patriarchs; of them it is written more openly in the Revelation of John too, and the wonderful mysteries of the divine Scriptures bear witness.

But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the earth, although before heaven, only in another state of existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem, "let down from heaven," [Revelation 21:2] which the apostle also calls "our mother from above;" [Galatians 4:26] and, while declaring that our πολίτευμα, or citizenship, is in heaven, he predicates of it that it is really a city in heaven. This both Ezekiel had knowledge of [Ezekiel 48:30-35] and the Apostle John beheld. [Revelation 21:10-23] And the word of the new prophecy which is a part of our belief, attests how it foretold that there would be for a sign a picture of this very city exhibited to view previous to its manifestation. This prophecy, indeed, has been very lately fulfilled in an expedition to the East. For it is evident from the testimony of even heathen witnesses, that in Judæa there was suspended in the sky a city early every morning for forty days. As the day advanced, the entire figure of its walls would wane gradually, and sometimes it would vanish instantly. We say that this city has been provided by God for receiving the saints on their resurrection, and refreshing them with the abundance of all really spiritual blessings, as a recompense for those which in the world we have either despised or lost; since it is both just and God-worthy that His servants should have their joy in the place where they have also suffered affliction for His name's sake. Of the heavenly kingdom this is the process. After its thousand years are over, within which period is completed the resurrection of the saints, who rise sooner or later according to their deserts there will ensue the destruction of the world and the conflagration of all things at the judgment: we shall then be changed in a moment into the substance of angels, even by the investiture of an incorruptible nature, and so be removed to that kingdom in heaven of which we have now been treating, just as if it had not been predicted by the Creator, and as if it were proving Christ to belong to the other god and as if he were the first and sole revealer of it.

And it is necessary that such a city hold eighteen thousand reeds round about, under which number, in Psalm 18 (19) also, the natural law is set down, and the grace of the Gospel is described, by which the Church, that is, the city of the Savior, has been built. The name of the city itself, too, will by no means be, as before, 'Hierosolyma', which means 'vision of peace', but 'Adonai sam', which is rendered into the Latin tongue 'The Lord is there': who will never withdraw from her, as he departed before from the former people, saying to the disciples: Arise, let us go hence, and to the Jews: Your house shall be left to you desolate, but will have an eternal possession and himself be her possession, promising to the same disciples: Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the age.