Jeremiah 9

You exclaim, "How fitting it was for Jeremiah, with the chorus of the prophets and all the saints, to cry out, 'Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes,' that he might bewail the sins of the foolish people, because the church of Christ expelled the teachers of the Pelagian error." If you wish to weep wholesomely, weep for this, that you are involved in that error, and let your tears wash you clean of the new plague. Are you ignorant, or have you forgotten or do you wish not to know that the holy, the one, the Catholic church was also signified by the word Paradise?

Who will give water to my head, and to my eyes a fountain of tears? And I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. 'If I,' he says, 'were turned wholly into weeping, and there were not drops of tears at all but the abundance of a river, still I could not worthily weep for the slain of the daughter of my people. For so great are the evils that by their greatness they surpass all grief over them'. And this can be understood as much from the person of the prophet as from that of the Lord.

Let us collect ourselves, I exhort you. There are daily wars, submersions of towns, innumerable destructions all around us, and on every side the wrath of God is enclosing us as in a net. As though we were well-pleasing to him, we are secure. We all make our hands ready for unjust gains and not for helping others. We are all ready to plunder, but no one is ready to protect. Each one of us has much anxiety over how he may add to his wealth. No one has anxiety over how he may save his own soul. One fear possesses all, that we should not become poor. No one is in anguish and trembling out of fear that we should fall into hell. These things call for lamentation, these call for accusation, for eternal damnation. I do not wish to speak of these things, but I am constrained by my grief. Forgive me. I am forced by sorrow to utter many things, even those that I do not wish to say. I see that our wound is grievous, that our calamity is beyond comfort, that woes have overtaken us that exceed the consolation. We are undone. "O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears," that I might lament. Let us weep, beloved, let us groan.

What should we do? Let us allow a spring of tears to flow every day, day and night. Let us, too, say with the weeping Jeremiah, the great prophet, "Who will give some water to my head, and a spring of tears to my eyes? I would weep for my sins day and night." Let us first of all confess our sins before this.… which is full of terror and trembling tears. Let us invoke the goodness and mercy of our God, while we are in this exile of tears, before death overtakes us.

Who will give me in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfarers? And I will forsake my people and withdraw from them. LXX: who would give me in the wilderness a last dwelling, that I may leave my people and withdraw from them? 'It is better,' he says, 'to dwell in the farthest wilderness than to abide among such great crimes of men'. Hence the Savior also said in the Gospel: how long shall I bear with you? And in another place it is written: at that time he who understands shall sit and be silent, for it is a most evil time.

For they are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors, and they have stretched out their tongue like a bow of falsehood and not of truth; they have grown strong in the land, for they have gone forth from evil to evil, and they have not known me, says the Lord. Sinners pass from evil to evil when they exchange idol for idol and go over from sins to sins, or at any rate pass from the evil of the siege to captivity. And of the saints indeed it is said: they shall go from strength to strength, but of sinners: they have gone forth from evil to evil. And the cause of all their miseries is that they did not know the Lord, and that it is an assembly of men transgressing and arming their tongue like a stretched bow for blasphemy; and they have grown strong in the land, so that they deserve to hear: earth you are and into earth you shall go.

They were fabricating deceit, engaging in blackmail, leveling false accusations against neighbors. For this is what he says, "Deceit, not faith, prevails over the land, for they proceed from evil to evil." Because of this he exposes their evil, which never changes as they move "from evil to evil," immediately adding the reason they neglect the divine law: because "they do not know me, says the Lord."

Let each one guard himself from his neighbor, and let him not have confidence in any brother of his, for every brother supplants with supplanting, and every friend walks deceitfully, and a man will mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth; for their tongue has learned to speak falsehood — or for they have taught their tongue to speak falsehood —. They have labored to act wickedly — or they have acted wickedly and have not ceased, so as to be converted —. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; in deceit — or usury upon usury and deceit in deceit; — they have refused — or they would not — to know me, says the Lord. This passage is to be used in a time of persecution and distress, when faith is either rare or none, when neither brother nor neighbor is to be trusted and his enemies are those of his household, when, according to the Gospel, the father will hand over the son and the son the father, and two are divided against three and three against two.

"For every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth, for they have bent their tongue like a bow for lies and not for truth." But often a pretended patience excites to anger more keenly than words, and a spiteful silence exceeds the most awful insults in words. The wounds of enemies are more easily borne than the deceitful blandishment of mockers, as is well said by the prophet.

What are we to do with such a useful member? From it we pray to God, we confess our sins, we give praise, we sing to God with one voice in harmony, and in our daily lives, we either show mercy when we converse with others, or we give counsel. What are we to do now? Our very tongue offers you service. What are we to do so that we do not sin with our tongue? Especially since it has been said: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," and again it has been said: "I have seen many fall by the edge of the sword, but not as many as by the tongue." Again it has been said: "The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. Consider how a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." Again the same Lord said: "They have taught their tongue to speak lies." Oh, they have taught it! For habit causes it to speak lies; even if you do not wish to, it speaks lies. Just as if you turn a wheel once, having pushed it with your hand, it runs because of its shape and roundness and by its own unstable and almost natural course, so too does our tongue; it does not need to be taught to speak lies. For already, once started, it runs by itself to what it can more easily move toward. Sometimes you have something in your heart, and it speaks something else out of habit.

The insincere are to be admonished to learn how heavy is the labor of deception. They endure it with guilt. They are afraid of being found out. They are ever seeking dishonest defenses. They are agitated by fearful suspicions. But there is nothing safer to defend than sincerity, nothing easier to say than truth. For, when obliged to defend its deceit, the heart is wearied with hard labor. For it is written, "The labor of their own lips shall cover them." For what now fills them then covers them, since it then presses down with sharp retribution one whose soul it now elevates with a mild uneasiness. It is said through Jeremiah, "They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity." Said more plainly: "They who might have been friends of truth without labor, labor to sin."

And what he adds: they have taught their tongue to speak falsehood or their tongue has learned to speak falsehood, shows that the habit of lying is in a manner turned into nature, and that they act with zeal so as to do wicked things.

Everyone is so inflamed by the love of sin and desire to carry out what they like, that they look out with watchful care for an opportunity to commit wickedness. They are afraid of being too slow to enjoy their lusts, even glorying in their shame and the great number of their crimes, as the apostle says in censure. They seek credit for themselves out of their own confusion. The prophet Jeremiah also maintains that they commit their heinous crimes not only willingly and with ease of heart and body but with laborious efforts to such an extent that they come to toil to carry them out. They are even impeded from their deadly quest of sin by the burdensome effort the actualizing of their evil desires requires, as he says: "They have labored to do wickedly."

And as for what follows: your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, in deceit, the word is properly directed to the prophet, that he dwells in the midst of a lying people — or, as the Seventy translated: usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit — and that they daily increase their crimes and by no means repent of their former deed, but heap new crimes upon past ones; doing these things, they act with all eagerness so as not to know the Lord, who commanded that these things should not be done.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt — or I will test by fire — and try them; for what else shall I do in the face of the daughter of my people? Or for I will act in the face of the wickedness of the daughter of my people. Whenever we are subject to distresses, we receive evils from God and are tested by persecutions, so that whatever adulterated matter is in us may be smelted out by the heat of tribulations and miseries: for the silver of the Lord is tested by fire, proved in the earth, purified sevenfold.

A most base pest, my beloved, is double-dealing and hypocrisy in our actions and conduct; and for a man to make pretence of pleasant-spoken words, and of a tongue anointed, so to speak, with the honey of deception, while the heart is full of utter bitterness. Of such we say, in the words of one of the holy prophets, "Their tongue is a piercing arrow: the words of their mouth are deceitful: he speaks peacefully to his neighbour, and enmity is in his heart." And again; "Their words are smoother than oil, yet are they arrows:" by which is meant that they have the force of darts falling violently and shot forth from bows.

Christ very justly condemned him with the greater severity, saying, "Judas, do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" And Matthew says, that when the traitor drew near to Christ, our common Saviour, he both kissed Him, and added thereto, "Hail, Master." Do you say hail to Him Who by your instrumentality is made the prey of death? How could such a word possibly be true? So that we see, that inasmuch as that false one, Satan, was within Him, he used falsehood even in saying, Hail. Because of such deeds the prophet somewhere says, "Their tongue is a piercing spearhead: the words of their mouth are deceitful: to his neighbour he speaks things of peace, but in his soul there is enmity."

Their tongue is a wounding arrow, it has spoken deceit; with his mouth he speaks peace with his friend and secretly lays snares for him. Shall I not visit upon these things, says the Lord, or on such a nation shall my soul not take vengeance? Every heretic who wounds the hearts of his hearers, of those who do not know what is written: keep your heart with all watchfulness, possesses a wounding arrow and speaks in deceit, and while with his mouth he promises peace to his neighbor, he secretly sets snares.

As for the following verses, in which he says: shall I not visit upon these things, says the Lord, or on such a nation shall my soul not take vengeance? He makes frequent use of them in this prophet, so that, when he has enumerated the evil works one by one, he infers that he does justly what he does.

Upon the mountains I will take up — or take up — weeping and lamentation, and over the beautiful places — or the paths — of the desert a wailing, because they are burned up — or they have failed — because there is no man — or human being — passing through. And they have not heard the voice of the possessor — or of substance —; from the bird of the heaven to the beasts they have migrated and withdrawn. When the Babylonian comes upon them and lays everything waste, the desolation of the province is prophesied: that there is wailing on the mountains, weeping in the desert or in the paths of the wilderness, that all things have failed and been burned up, and there is no one to walk through the land, all having been slain, and nothing has remained that can breathe and live. Hence for 'possessor' the Seventy translated 'of substance', which in Hebrew is called 'macne'; and 'substance' here is not taken for ousia, that is, 'essence', but for 'wealth' and 'riches'. And what he adds: from the bird of the heaven to the beast they have withdrawn and departed, shows this, as we have often said: that all things feel the wrath of God, and not only the birds of the air but also the fish of the water fail. According to tropology, weeping is taken up upon the mountains and lamentation over the beautiful places of the desert when the princes of the Church sin and nothing of the substance of God is found in her, nor is the voice of the Lord who possesses the Church heard through holy and apostolic men, and from the bird of the heaven to the beasts, that is, from those who can ascend on high down to the irrational and all the simpler ones, they have withdrawn from the assembly of God.

And I will give Jerusalem into heaps of sand — or into exile — and into lairs of dragons, and the cities of Judah I will give into desolation, because there is no inhabitant. When churchmen and all the teachers have failed, then Jerusalem is given into exile or into heaps of sand, so that heretical speech prevails in her and she is made a lair of dragons and her cities are reduced to a wilderness, and there is in her no dwelling of the divine word and of him who says: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God.

Who is the wise man who may understand this, and to whom the word of the mouth of the Lord may come, and who may declare it: why the land has perished and is burned up like a desert, because there is none who passes through? And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I gave them, and have not heard my voice and have not walked in it, and have gone after the perversity of their heart and after the Baals, whom they learned from their fathers. The prophet asks whether he can find anyone of the wise in Jerusalem, and of those to whom the word of God comes and who can declare the will of the Lord and give the reasons why Judea has been reduced to a wilderness and, all having been slain, no one has remained to pass through it.

And he brings in the Lord answering and giving the reasons: because they had forsaken his law, which he had given them, and had not heard his voice nor done what had been commanded, but had gone after the perversity of their heart. Therefore we must trust not in our own will but in the Lord; for the heart in men is perverse, and from our heart come forth the worst thoughts. And after the Baals, he says, they have gone, whom they learned from their fathers. Bahal is the idol of the Sidonians and is of the singular number, but Bahalim of the plural number. Therefore neither the error of parents nor that of ancestors is to be followed, but the authority of the Scriptures and the command of God who teaches.

I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken as a captive to Ireland with many thousands of people, and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God and did not keep his commandments and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. The Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my insignificance is placed among strangers.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood — or with distresses — and I will give them water of gall for drink, and I will scatter them among the nations which neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them until they are consumed. This can be prophesied both of the near time, when they were taken captive by the Chaldeans, and properly of this present time, when they have been scattered among the nations which neither they nor their fathers had known, and, divided through the whole world, have been fed with wormwood, or with necessities and distresses. And they have received water of gall for drink, which either signifies the greatness of their evils and the everlasting yoke of captivity, or else means that, through ignorance of the law of God, they are going to receive Antichrist instead of Christ. And the sword is sent after them, so that they are consumed even to destruction, or else a sword which divides them and does not allow them to be of one accord in evil, so that they perish in this, that they are evil.

I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken as a captive to Ireland with many thousands of people, and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God and did not keep his commandments and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. The Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my insignificance is placed among strangers.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider — or understand — and call the mourning women, and let them come, and send to those who are wise, and let them hasten — or let them speak —, let them make haste and take up a lamentation over us — or over you — and let our eyes — or your — bring down tears and our eyelids — or your — flow with waters, for a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion or in Zion. On account of the coming captivity and overthrow of Jerusalem he bids the mourning women be called, who in times of grief are accustomed, with a tearful voice and beating their arms with their hands, to provoke the people to tears; for this custom remains to this day in Judea, that women with hair loosened and breasts bared, with a measured chant, stir everyone to weeping. And God joins himself to them with the feeling of one who suffers with them, or the prophet does, so as to say that whatever the people endures, he himself endures and feels. But as for what he adds: for a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion, what this voice is follows at once.

It is our part too henceforth to mourn, or rather we have need to say this every day. We profit nothing by our prayers, nothing by our advice and exhortation, it remaineth therefore that we weep. Thus did Christ; after having many times exhorted those in Jerusalem, when they profited nothing, He wept at their hardness. This also do the Prophets, and this let us do now. Henceforth is the season for mourning and tears and wailing; it is seasonable for us also to say now, "Call for the mourning women, and send for the cunning women, that they may cry aloud" (Jer. ix. 17); perhaps thus we shall be able to cast out the malady of those who build splendid houses, of those who surround themselves with lands gotten by rapine.

How are we laid waste and confounded exceedingly? Because we have forsaken the land, for our tents have been thrown down — or we have cast away —. This is the voice of those lamenting Zion: how are we laid waste and confounded exceedingly? And at once they answer themselves and set out the causes of the devastation, saying: because we have forsaken the land through our own fault and sin, and our tents have been thrown down, which they once possessed as if passing by. Let the crowds of those who once believed say this too in persecution: that they have been laid waste and confounded for this reason, because they have forsaken the land of the Lord and deserted their tents.

Hear therefore, O women, the word of the Lord, and let your ear take up the speech of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and each woman her neighbor wailing, for death has come up through our windows, it has entered our houses, to destroy the little ones from outside, the young men from the streets! In the preceding section he had said: call the mourning women, and let them come, and send to those who are wise, and let them hasten; now he speaks as if to women present, to the condemnation of the priests and teachers and of all the men, so that, since these cease from teaching, the women may hear the word of the Lord and take up the words of his mouth and teach their daughters and their neighbors wailing and the causes of tears, for death, he says, has come up through our windows, it has entered our houses. Although this can also be understood spiritually, in that the death of sins enters through all the senses to the destruction of the soul, yet it can also be understood of the onslaught of the Babylonians: that so great is their strength and speed in fighting that they do not wait to unbar the doors, but climb up through the windows and roofs to lay waste the houses of Jerusalem. And the little ones perish who are outside and go out of Jerusalem, and the young men, to whom John also writes, who do not enter by the strait and narrow way that leads to life, but walk through the streets, of which it is written: how broad and spacious is the way that leads to death!

Amid so many passions of this body of ours, amid so many enticements of this world, who indeed can keep his footstep safe and undefiled? The eye looks back and leads the mind's perception astray, the ear hears and turns one's attention away, a whiff of fragrance hinders thought, a kiss of the mouth introduces guilt, a touch kindles the fire of passion. "Death has entered in through the window," the prophet said. Your eye is your window. If you look at a woman to lust after her, death has entered in; if you listen to the harlot's words, death has entered in; if licentiousness takes hold of your senses, death has gone in.

The prophet says, "Death is come up through the windows." Surely he does not mean actual windows—otherwise we could shut our windows and never die. But the bodily senses—sight, hearing, and so on—are windows to us and death enters us through them if we sin with them.

These are the windows of which Jeremiah also says: Death has entered through our windows; for the enemies desire to enter through all our senses, and to take the city of a good conscience, and to run about through our fortifications, and to destroy the houses which we have built for ourselves by good works. And they do all things entering through the windows like a thief, for they do not enter openly, that they may shoot in the dark at the upright of heart.

O Lord, keep watch over my mouth, for it is written, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Again, you have declared, "I tell you, that of every idle word people speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment." The prophet prays, therefore, that his words may not be vain but holy and pleasing to God. "Set a guard at the door of my lips." He is asking for a guard around his lips like the rampart of a castle, that he may never capitulate to sin. It is Jeremiah who says, "Death has come up through our windows." A person has five windows: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. If I look at a woman to lust after her, I have already committed adultery in my heart, and death has come through my window of sight. If the sound of the harp, organ or flute unnerves me, death has entered my soul through the sense of hearing. Again, if I touch something soft and supple, and wantonness breaks down the resistance of my flesh, death has entered through touch, and so down the line.

One window is one sense: through this the bridegroom looks. Another window is another sense: and through this too the bridegroom carefully gazes. For through what senses does the word of God not look? But what it is to look through the windows, and how the bridegroom gazes through them, the following example will teach. Where the bridegroom does not look, there death is found climbing up, as we read in Jeremiah: Behold, death has climbed up through your windows. When you have looked upon a woman to lust after her, already death has climbed up through your windows.

But we may understand the windows to be the bodily senses, through which either death or life enters into the soul; for so does it signify when the prophet Jeremiah speaks concerning sinners, saying: "Death has climbed up through your windows." How does death climb up through the windows? If the eyes of a sinner should look upon a woman, and he should commit adultery with her in his heart, thus death has entered into the soul through the windows of the eyes.

By "windows" he refers to the error of their thinking: through them they gave entrance to the error and the blow inflicted by it. You would not be wide of the mark to call the body's senses "windows"—sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. Both life and death can enter through these. For example, the person who looks with restraint reaps life, while the one looking immoderately gains death. The truthful tongue procures salvation for the soul, while the lying one brings about ruin; and likewise with the rest, as you can easily learn.

Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the carcass of man shall fall — or the corpses of men — like dung upon the face of the region — or of the field — and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there is none who gathers. The Hebrew word that is written with three letters, 'daleth, beth, res' — for it has no vowels in the middle —, if it is read, according to the context and the judgment of the reader, as 'dabar', means 'word'; if as 'deber', 'death'; if as 'dabber', 'speak'. Hence the Seventy and Theodotion joined it to the previous section, so as to say: to destroy the little ones from outside, the young men from the streets, by death. But Aquila and Symmachus translated lalēson, 'speak', so that God commands the prophet to speak what follows: thus says the Lord and the rest. And the sense is: when death has come up through our windows and has entered the houses of Jerusalem, and the little ones and the young men have perished from outside and from the streets, then their carcass, or the corpses of the dead, will be as it were for a dunghill upon the face of the earth and like stubble that is left behind the back of the reapers and, being useless, is not gathered. By these things he wishes to show that there will be so great a slaughter in Jerusalem and around the city that there will be no one to bury those who fall.

No sensible person, then, will be proud of his wisdom or of possessing the other goods I have mentioned but will follow the excellent advice of blessed Anna and of the prophet Jeremiah: "Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong person glory in his strength, and let not the rich person glory in his riches." But what is true glory, and what makes a person great? "In this," says the prophet, "let him that glories, glory that he understands and knows that I am the Lord." This constitutes the highest dignity of humankind, this is his glory and greatness. Truly it is to know what is great and to cleave to it, and to seek after glory from the Lord of glory.

If you glory in wisdom, by that very fact you lose wisdom. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength." And the cause of this is given in Ezekiel, where it is said: "You, full of wisdom and beauty, were in the delights of the paradise of God: you lost your wisdom on account of your beauty."

"Each one looking not to his own interests but to those of others," "that one may not glory in his prudence," for the virtue of the humble is not to boast of their knowledge, since it is common to all. In repressing the mind's audacity, it is helpful not to despise others or to assume a special knowledge or holiness ourselves.

What is the philosophy that the apostle bids us shun? This, then, "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." Let no one therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah, "Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty person glory in his might, and let not the rich person glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, that executes mercy and judgment and righteousness on the earth: for in these things is my delight, say the Lord."

Let us therefore, brethren, be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy Spirit saith, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness"), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake, teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He spoke: "Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as ye do, so shall it be done unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what measure ye mete, with the same it shall be measured to you." By this precept and by these rules let us establish ourselves, that we walk with all humility in obedience to His holy words. For the holy word saith, "On whom shall I look, but on him that is meek and peaceable, and that trembleth at My words?"

Let us therefore, brethren, be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy Spirit saith, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness"), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake, teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He spoke: "Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as ye do, so shall it be done unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what measure ye mete, with the same it shall be measured to you."

We must trust in God only, and in him we must glory. In Jeremiah: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the strong man glory in his strength, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, who does mercy, and judgment, and righteousness upon the earth, because in them is my pleasure, says the Lord."

Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this: to know — or to understand — and to know me, that I am the Lord, who do mercy and judgment and righteousness on the earth! For these things please me — or for in these is my will —, says the Lord. All the pride of men is taken away, while their wisdom and strength and wealth are reckoned as nothing, and this is the only glorying: that one should know and understand that he himself is the Lord, who does mercy and judgment and righteousness upon the earth; that all things are governed by the providence and righteousness of God, and that the things which seem to us to have no reason are full of righteousness and reason. For these things alone please God, and in these is his will. Where then are those who say that man is governed by his own will, and that the power of free will was so given that the mercy and righteousness of God were taken away? Hence also the Apostle, taking up this testimony, sets down the example: let him who glories, glory in the Lord.

"Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom or the strong person in his strength," for that which is worth boasting about is not ours but is the gift of God. The wisdom is from him, and the strength is from him and so with the rest.

The only true salvation is if Christ saves me, for then I will be saved. The horse is a false hope for deliverance. False also are all others besides God for salvation. On account of this I might say to him, "Save me, Lord, and I will be saved," and I say this if I can say also the next words after every boast that is renounced. For you are my boast or when I fulfill the commandment that says, "Let not the wise person boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong person boast in his strength, or the rich person in his riches; let him who boasts boast in this, to understand and know that I am Lord." Blessed is one who has renounced every boast here below, such as in so-called noble birth and in beauty and in corporeal things, in riches, in vainglory, since he is content with one boast, that he may say, For you are my boast.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. [Jeremiah 9:24]

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. [Jeremiah 9:24] For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

Forasmuch then as our turning away from God is our own act, and this is evil will; but our turning to God is not possible, except He rouses and helps us, and this is good will,—what have we that we have not received? But if we received, why do we glory as if we had not received? Therefore, as "he that glorieth must glory in the Lord," it comes from His mercy, not their merit, that God wills to impart this to some, but from His truth that He wills not to impart it to others. For to sinners punishment is justly due.

Let us joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festal day on which the great and eternal day came from the great and eternal day into this our very short temporal day. He has been made for us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: so that, as it is written, He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.

For as many of this race as are delivered by God's grace are certainly delivered from the condemnation in which they are already held bound. Whence, even if none should be delivered, no one could justly blame the judgment of God. That, therefore, in comparison of those that perish few, but in their absolute number many, are delivered, is effected by grace, is effected freely: thanks must be given, because it is effected, so that no one may be lifted up as of his own deservings, but that every mouth may be stopped, and he that glorieth may glory in the Lord.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will visit upon everyone who have the foreskin circumcised, upon Egypt and upon Judah and upon Edom and upon the sons of Ammon and upon Moab and upon all who are shorn about the hair, dwelling in the desert; for all the nations have the foreskin, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. In part, the peoples of many nations, and especially of those that border on Judea and Palestine, are circumcised to this day, and above all the Egyptians and the Edomites, the Ammonites and the Moabites, and the whole region of the Saracens, which dwells in the wilderness and of whom it is said: upon all who are shorn about the hair, dwelling in the desert. Judah, therefore, who is mingled with the nations written above, ought not to glory because he does not have the foreskin but is circumcised by the law of God, since others too do these things who do not keep the commandments of the law and do not know the God of Israel. Nor is circumcision, which was given as a sign, of any profit unless the commandments of the Lord are fulfilled; just as the long hair also signifies a nation, not strength of body and the bravery of fighters. And what follows: all the nations have the foreskin, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart, has this sense: whereas, apart from the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites and Moabites, and the Ishmaelites dwelling in the wilderness, of whom for the most part a portion is circumcised, all the other nations in the whole world are uncircumcised in the flesh, the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart, not in flesh; and this uncircumcision leads to death, for that one is of the flesh, this of the spirit.

The ancient Scriptures therefore teach the benefit of spiritual circumcision and that bodily circumcision makes no difference. For it is not the Gentiles who are accused of being uncircumcised but the Jews, who were physically circumcised but whose heart was uncircumcised.

But perhaps the novelty of the saying may deter not only the Jews but also some of our brethren. For Paul seems to presume impossible things, in that he introduces "circumcision of the heart." For how can it come about that a member be circumcised which, hidden by the inner organs, lies concealed even from the very sight of men? Let us return, then, to the prophetic utterances, so that, while you pray, these matters about which we inquire may from there become clear. The prophet Ezekiel says: "Every stranger uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh shall not enter into my sanctuary." And likewise elsewhere the prophet, reproaching them no less, says: "all the strangers are uncircumcised in flesh, but the sons of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." It is signified, therefore, that unless one has been circumcised in heart and circumcised in flesh, "he shall not enter into the sanctuary" of God.