Wisdom of Solomon 11

She directed their works. Here he treats of the benefits pertaining to the punishment of adversaries, and first of those pertaining to punishment through lighter penalties, ordained for their correction, namely in this chapter and in the twelfth chapter; second, of those pertaining to punishment through heavier penalties, ordained for condemnation, namely in the thirteenth chapter and thereafter.

First, the punishment through lighter penalties is treated in two ways. In the first part, he treats principally of the punishment of the Egyptians who were unjustly oppressing the Israelites; second, of the punishment of the Canaanites who were unjustly holding their land, namely in the twelfth chapter.

First, concerning the punishment of the Egyptians for a twofold sin, first for unjust oppression. In the first part, the punishment of the Egyptians is treated first on account of the unjust oppression of the children of Israel; second, on account of idolatry: For some who were erring.

In the first part, there is first shown toward the children of Israel, whom they wished to hold captive, the mercy of God; second, against the Egyptians wishing to unjustly hold them, the justice of God: For by what things. In the first part, there is first touched upon the direction of the Israelites on the way; second, the clearing away or removal of impediments occurring on the way: They stood; third, their refreshment on the way: They thirsted.

He says therefore: She directed, as if to say: not only did wisdom bestow the aforementioned benefits upon the Israelite people, but she also directed their works: The Gloss: "of the Israelites," namely after their departure from Egypt: in the hands, that is, in the power and governance, of a holy Prophet: The Gloss: "Moses," who was a prophet as regards doctrine: Deuteronomy 18: "The Lord will raise up for you a Prophet like me": holy as regards life: Exodus 33: "You have found grace before me." He taught and governed them not only by words, because he was a prophet, but also by examples, because he was holy, so that there could be said of him that word of Luke 24: "He was a prophet mighty in work and in word."

They made a journey: Gloss: "Hastening to the promised land": through deserts, that is, through many places abandoned, namely by cultivators: which were not inhabited, namely by human inhabitants. And this was done with wisdom directing them through the hand of Moses, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You led your people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron." Which many did not acknowledge; whence Jeremiah 2: "They did not say: Where is the Lord, who brought us through the desert, through an uninhabitable and pathless land?" And in desert places they made huts: Gloss: "Tabernacles," that is, poor little dwellings, and they are called huts from "falling," because they can easily fall down: similarly it is read of Abraham that he dwelt "in tents," Hebrews 11. And they did this through forty-two encampments, which are specified in Numbers 33.

They stood against enemies, namely against the Amalekites, fighting with them, as is found in Exodus 17, and against the Midianites, Numbers 31. And against their foes, namely the Amalekites, they avenged themselves, namely by triumphing and slaying them, and this through the prayer of Moses and the raising of his hands, as is clear from Exodus 17.

They thirsted, namely on the part of the body because of a scarcity of water, as is clear from Exodus 17 and Numbers 20, and they called upon you, namely on the part of the soul, and this by themselves or through Moses: whence Numbers 20: "Lord God, hear the cry of this people"; in the Psalm: "They cried out to the Lord when they were in distress." And water was given to them from a most high rock, that is, from a lofty crag: Exodus 17: "You shall strike the rock," etc.; likewise Numbers 20: "Speak to the rock, and it will give you waters." And the quenching of thirst, that is, the allaying of thirst through the drinking of water, from the hard stone, supply: was given to them: in the Psalm: "He struck the rock, and waters flowed"; likewise Numbers 20: "Most abundant waters came forth, so that the people and the beasts drank." Moreover, it is called a most high rock, that is, very high, or most high by reason of what it signifies, namely because it signified Christ; whence 1 Corinthians 10: "And the rock was Christ." From this rock come forth the spiritual waters of graces: John 4: "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him," etc.; likewise John 7: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

What that rock from which the Israelites drank was to signify is attested to by Paul with these words, "They drank from a spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was the Christ." This rock, struck by the wood of the cross and announced by the spirits (that is, by the writings) of the prophets, poured forth the living water that fills all of the elect, restoring and satisfying them for all eternity. For this reason the Truth says, "Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink, and rivers of living water will flow from his heart." And elsewhere, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up for eternal life." This rock is also called most high, because in it is contained the immense grace of the Spirit. And also hard rock, since it is firm and stable, and whoever is wise builds his house on it in such a way that no storm can shake it.

For by the very things. Here is shown the effect of divine justice against the Egyptians, who wished to detain the Israelites. And first is touched upon, through the failure of water, the punishment of the Egyptians: second, the fittingness of the punishment: For instead of a fountain: third, the intention of the one punishing: When they were diminished: fourth, the gravity of the punishment: These indeed: fifth, the effect upon those punished: For when they heard.

By which things etc.: Gloss: "Having recalled the benefits given to the earlier people, the punishment of the enemies is narrated." For by which things etc., as if to say: To the Israelites was given an abundance of waters: for, meaning "because": by which things their enemies suffered punishments, namely the Egyptians, from the lack of their drink, namely all the water of Egypt was turned into blood, so that they could not drink from it, as is clear from Exodus 7. And in these things, when they abounded, the children of Israel, namely in the waters which abounded in the land of Goshen, or according to the Gloss: "Which had flowed from the rock," Numbers 20: rejoiced.

By these things, namely by the waters, when they were lacking to them, namely the waters, Gloss: "To the Israelites," it was dealt well with them, because that lack was supplied through a miracle.

For instead of a fountain etc., as if to say: fittingly and appropriately a lack of water was given to the Egyptians, but an abundance of waters was conferred upon the Israelites: for instead of a fountain indeed, certainly, of an everlasting river, that is, the Nile flowing continuously from the beginning of the world — for it is one of the rivers of paradise: human blood, that is, the appearance of human blood, you gave to the unjust, that is, to the Egyptians, since, according to the Gloss, "their waters were turned into blood," as is clear from Exodus 7.

Who, namely the children of Israel, when they were being diminished by the exposure of the slain infants, that is, by the public exposure and slaying of infants, which was done lest the people should multiply but rather be diminished, as is clear from Exodus 1: you gave them, namely the children of Israel, abundant water unexpectedly, "that is, unforeseen," because in the desert and flowing from a rock through a miracle in the desert. "A miracle is a difficult and unusual work existing beyond the hope and capacity of the one who marvels at it." Human blood etc., as if he wished to say, according to the Gloss: To the Egyptians instead of water you gave blood, to the Israelites instead of the shed blood of the children you gave water.

It indicates in a mysterious way that the people of God and the sheep of his pasture, whom the great Shepherd rescued with the price of his blood, will have their thirst quenched with the fountain of living water and that their persecutors, falling into eternal destitution, will be given over to everlasting death. Similar to this passage is the one pronounced by the Lord through Isaiah against his adversaries: "See, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. See, my servants will drink and you will be thirsty. See, my servants will rejoice and you will be downcast. See, my servants will shout for joy of heart, but you will cry out for sorrow of heart and howl for anguish of spirit." One must therefore receive that drink that rises from the springs of Israel, and the one who drinks it will have in himself a "spring of water that wells up for eternal life," that drink that the Savior promises he will drink together with the apostles in the kingdom of the Father. It gladdens the hearts of human beings, so that those who drink it can say, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness." And, full of the Holy Spirit, the mother of the Lord prophesied, "He has filled the hungry with good things," those who previously did not have the food of the Lord, and "he has sent the rich away empty," those who did everything they could to do away with him, rejecting the one whom they recognized to be a prophet. Of them, that is, of the Jewish people, the psalmist elsewhere sings, "The rich grow poor and are hungry." "But those who seek the Lord," that is, the multitude of the peoples, "lack nothing."

Showing, O Lord, through the thirst which then was, namely in Egypt to the Egyptians and in the desert to the Israelites: how you would exalt your own, namely in the future, when "you will give them to drink from the torrent of your pleasure": in this, namely, that so wondrously you gave them drink in the present. And would slay their adversaries; Gloss: "With eternal thirst," as the rich banqueter, of whom Luke 16 speaks: likewise Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall drink, you shall thirst." Or according to the literal sense, by this was prefigured that the Egyptians were to be slain in the Red Sea and the Israelites to be delivered.

For when they were tried, namely the children of Israel in the desert by many trials and plagues: the Gloss says: "God corrected the sinning Israelites with fitting plagues and consoled them when they repented." Whence it follows: And indeed, that is, certainly, they received discipline with mercy; in the Psalm: "You were angry and you had mercy on us": with mercy, namely consoling, discipline, correcting: or: a merciful and light correction or scourging for their faults, and therefore they ought not to have cast it off: Proverbs 3: "My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord": Hebrews 12: "But if you are without discipline, you are illegitimate and not sons." They knew, namely through experience, how with wrath, that is, how harshly — which the Prophet feared, saying: "Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor correct me in your wrath"; the impious, being judged, namely in the present, would suffer torments, namely incomparably graver ones in the future: "For he shall rain snares upon sinners," etc. They knew, I say, through experience and in this, that they were so harshly corrected: Luke 23: "If they do this in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry?" Likewise Proverbs 11: "If the just man receives his due on earth, how much more the impious and the sinner"?

Likewise Jeremiah 25: "Behold, in the city in which my name has been invoked, I shall begin to afflict: and shall you be as though innocent and exempt?" As if to say: no.

These indeed: the Gloss says: "the Israelites"; as a father admonishing, namely unto greater progress or unto advancing to what is better, you tested, that is, by admonishing through their correction you rendered them proven. "For the Lord scourges every son whom he receives," Hebrews 12: and Proverbs 3: "Whom the Lord loves he corrects, and as a father in his son he delights"; likewise above in chapter 3: "As gold in the furnace he tested them." But those: the Gloss says: "the Egyptians, or the Canaanites"; as a harsh king, through the effect of punishment, namely, you who in your nature are benign: examining, namely with punishments and examinations of torments, just as robbers and thieves and malefactors are put to examination and tortured: Gregory says: "Punishment examines whether one loves the truth when at peace." You condemned, because through scourges they were not amended but made worse: Ezekiel 24: "Much labor was sweated, and its excessive rust did not come out of it, not even by fire"; likewise Jeremiah 6: "Call them rejected silver, because the Lord has cast them away."

For those who were absent etc., as if to say: rightly I said that you harshly condemned them. For those who were absent, namely the Egyptians from the presence of Moses and Pharaoh, or from the children of Israel, and those who were present, namely those expressly consenting to the malice of Pharaoh: or also, according to the Gloss, the Canaanites, whether those who were slain by Israel or those who heard of the victory of the others: were similarly tormented, because the plagues were "in all the land of Egypt," as is clear concerning the plague of blood, Exodus 7. Or: those present were tormented in body, those absent, who heard of this, were tormented in mind.

But then it is asked: how then were they similarly tormented, namely those absent in mind, but those present in body? It must be said that they were similarly tormented in genus, namely insofar as both these and those were tormented, but not similarly in species or mode.

For a twofold weariness had seized them, namely as if taking possession of them, weariness, that is, affliction, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Let them be clothed with their confusion as with a double cloak"; Jeremiah 17: "Destroy them with a double destruction." Twofold, I say: and, in place of 'that is': groaning, over the onset of present evils: with the memory of past things, that is, with the grief they had from the recollection of past evils, seeing that plagues succeeded upon plagues. The Gloss: "Twofold weariness, that is, the recollection of past evils and the storm of present ones."

For when they heard etc. Here is shown the punishment's effect upon those punished, first on the part of the Israelites; second, on the part of the Egyptians: For him whom etc.; third, on the part of both: Not similarly.

As if to say: truly you tested these and condemned those. For when they heard, namely the children of Israel, with Moses proclaiming this; that through their torments things were going well for them, that is, profitably, namely unto their salvation, according to that passage in Romans 8: "For those who love God all things work together for good"; they remembered the Lord, whom, namely, they had as it were consigned to oblivion: who, despairing: in the Psalm: "They did not remember his hand" etc.; likewise: "They forgot his benefits and his wonders, which he showed them"; but afterward, afflicted, they remembered him: "For the eyes which guilt closes, punishment opens," as Gregory says; in the Psalm: "And they remembered that God is their helper." Marveling, namely at the power and mercy of God, at the end of the outcome, that is, after the end of the outcome of the matter: for from the end depends right judgment. "For the outcome proves the deeds"; whence also Peter followed Christ "to see the end," Matthew 26.

Whom indeed etc., as if to say: and truly it is so: whom, namely the Israelite people or Moses, cast forth in wicked exposure, that is, evilly and dangerously cast into the river, they mocked, namely the Egyptians, as though he would perish in the river, notwithstanding the basket. At the end of the event they marveled, that is, after the outcome of the matter, seeing, namely, Moses so exalted by miracles: whence Exodus 11: "And so Moses was a very great man before the servants of Pharaoh and all the people." Or: at the end they marveled, namely at the people miraculously liberated: Exodus 14: "Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fights for them against us." Thus the impious err, not considering the end of the just, but only their present affliction: above in chapter 5: "We fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor." Not similarly etc., as if to say: thus you condemned the impious and liberated the just; you, I say, not dealing similarly with the just; the Gloss: "As with the unjust," because Proverbs 16: "The just man falls seven times a day and rises again, but the impious shall fall into evil." The reason for the diversity, however, is not on the part of God, since "he is no respecter of persons," Acts 10, but on the part of the unjust.

Whence it follows: For their thoughts moreover: I said well: not similarly: moreover, for but rather: for their senseless thoughts, that is, hardened in evil, their iniquities, namely the exterior ones, as if to say: on account of their evil thoughts they are permitted to fall into evil works: whence the Gloss: "Iniquitous works proceed from thoughts," because the reprobate do not change their heart amid the scourges of the Lord: Romans 2: "According to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath" etc.: Revelation 22: "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still."

Second, concerning the punishment of the Egyptians on account of idolatry. That certain ones erring etc. Here is touched upon the punishment of the Egyptians on account of idolatry, and this through the sending of flies. And the fittingness of this punishment is shown first on the part of the one sinning; second, on the part of the judge punishing, at: For not.

Because certain ones etc., as if to say: thus they were punished for the oppression of the Israelites: because, standing for "since": certain ones, of the Egyptians, wandering, namely from the faith: Proverbs 14: "They err who work evil." They worshipped mute serpents: mute he says to distinguish from the serpent who spoke to Eve in the earthly paradise, Genesis 3: and worthless beasts, that is, useless for worship: for the Egyptians worshipped Aesculapius under the form of a serpent, Mercury under the form of a dog, Jupiter under the form of a ram, Apis under the form of an ox: Romans 1: "They changed the likeness of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed beasts and of serpents." You sent upon them a multitude of dumb animals for vengeance, namely frogs and flies, gnats and locusts, according to that verse of the Psalm: "He sent among them the dog-fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it destroyed them; and he gave their fruits to the mildew and their labors to the locust."

That they might know that by what things, that is, by what sort of things, a man sins, by these, that is, by similar things, also, that is, even, he is tormented: the Gloss: "That from the likeness of the punishment they might recognize the quality of the fault," just as "Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai," Esther 7; and Goliath was slain by his own sword, 1 Kings 17; and Holofernes was slain by his own dagger by the woman whom he had wickedly desired, Judith 13.

If it happens that the yoke of Christ seems to us neither light nor sweet, this must be attributed to our obstinacy. Affected as we are by diffidence and by lack of faith regarding his precept, indeed his counsel, which says, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell (that is, abandon) all of your belongings, then come and follow me," we rebel with a futile perverseness, turning again to the pursuit of earthly goods. And then, once the devil has our soul bound by these chains, what else does he need to do, when he wants to remove our spiritual joy, than to sadden us by the decrease or the total loss of earthly goods? He seeks a very precise goal with his clever deceptions. Indeed, once the sweetness of the Savior's yoke and the lightness of his burden become heavy (through the perversity of our vicious longing), once we are trapped by the snares of those riches we have acquired in view of our rest and tranquility, will he not continuously torment us with the lash of worldly cares, drawing from our very selves the reasons for tearing us to bits? "Everyone is caught in the snares of his sins." The prophet also says, "Look, all you who light the fire and surround yourselves with flames: walk by the heat of your fire, in the midst of the flames you have ignited." Solomon also testifies to this: "Everyone will be punished through that by which he has sinned." The pleasures that we enjoy end in torments, and the delights and pleasures of the body will turn against their author like executioners.

Silence was imposed on Zechariah, symbolizing the silence of the Mosaic law. Having appeared to us in the flesh, Christ, like a great legislator, rendered the law mute, wanting to himself be the model of the law. Zechariah, in fact, put his faith in the angel who purified his silence: "I am Gabriel, who stands before the face of God, and I have been sent to speak with you and to bring you this joyful news. And see, you will be mute and unable to talk until the day on which these things take place, because you have not believed my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time." Very fittingly was he punished by the loss of his voice, since the Creator of voices was to be born. Not only did he have to endure being the symbol of those who do not believe in the law, but he also did not believe that the voice that was commanded to announce these things had come by the work of the Creator, and, not believing the angel's words, rightly was he deprived of his voice. In fact, as the wise Solomon says, "By those very things through which one sins, he is later punished," so that he might learn to believe in the voice that comes from the wilderness.

But the "heaven of the heavens" belongs to you, Lord. And the earth that you assigned "to the children of mortals," for them to see and to touch, was not the one that we now see and touch. "It was invisible and confused," an abyss, on which no light shone. In other words, "darkness ruled over the abyss," that is, a darkness greater than that in the abyss. The abyss today, of visible waters, even in their depths have a semblance of light, perceivable in any case by fish and by the animals that crawl on the ocean floor. That other, rather, was altogether virtually nothing, because it was still absolutely without form. It was, however, such as could assume a form. You, Lord, brought forth "the world from unformed matter"—what was almost nothing, drawn by you out of nothing, to bring forth the great things that we human beings admire. This is truly the marvel of these corporeal heavens, that is, of the firmament, which you created between the waters on the second day, after the light was created, saying, "Let it be so. And so it was."

We can ask ourselves if the Scripture calls "heaven and earth" all the things already distinguished and arranged in their order. Or if, by the term "heaven and earth," it means the matter itself of the universe, originally unformed, which by the ineffable command of God was differentiated and arranged in the formed and magnificent natures that we now admire. Although we in fact read in Scripture, "You who made the world, drawing it from formless matter," we nevertheless cannot say that the matter itself (of whatever kind it may be) was not made by him from whom we declare and profess by faith that all things come. Consequently, we also call "world" the ordered arrangement of all the formed and distinct things, whatever they may be, while on the contrary, we call "heaven and earth" the matter itself, as if the latter were the primordial germ of the heaven and the earth. So "heaven and earth," something confused and mixed, is capable of receiving forms from God the creator.

For not impossible etc. Here is shown the fittingness of the punishment on the part of the judge who punishes, who prefers to use mercy rather than power. And first it is shown that this light punishment was not from powerlessness; second, that it was from mercy: But all things; third, there is added the proof of power: For greatly; fourth, the proof of mercy: And you have mercy. In the first he shows that he could have punished them otherwise, namely either through an instrument of vengeance already created, or through another to be newly created, at the words: Or of a new kind; or immediately by himself: For even without these.

He says therefore: For not etc. I have rightly said that you punished them through those things by which they had sinned, and this on account of the fittingness of the punishment to the fault, not on account of your powerlessness. For not impossible was, that is, greatly powerless, your hand, "that is, your Son," according to that verse of the Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high": almighty: whence below in chapter 18: "Your almighty word, O Lord" etc. Which created, that is, formed, the world: for to create is to make something from nothing, to form however, is from pre-existing matter. But the world was from pre-existing matter, yet previously created formless: whence it follows: From unseen matter, that is, from prime matter, which was unseen, that is, invisible at that time, both on the part of itself, because it lacked distinct form, and on the part of the agent, because light was lacking, which is necessary for reducing the sense of sight from potency to act; whence Genesis 1: "The earth was void and empty," namely as to the first defect: "and darkness was upon the face of the deep," as to the second. To send upon them, namely for vengeance, a multitude of bears, or bold lions, which are strong and rapacious animals: on account of which David glories in overcoming them in 1 Kings 17: "I have slain a lion and a bear." To send, I say, lions etc., as he did when he sent lions into the land of Samaria, which devoured the peoples transferred there, because they did not worship God.

"Over time, in fact, the sea diminishes." Perhaps this alludes to him who, threatening the sea, dries it up. "And a desolate river is dried up." It does not say "rivers" but "a river," since all rivers are a single river, as the accounts in the book of Genesis tell us: "A spring rose from the ground." The one who created that river now dries it up, and, according to his will, he will render it invisible, when by his will he exhausts the sea and puts an end to the other elements of visible creatures. There is nothing surprising in the fact that Job spoke of what happened in the past and of what must take place in the future. Indeed, he speaks from the point of view of God, for whom future events, decided once and for all, are seen as having happened and passed. Thus it is not possible that events arranged by the creating hand would oppose his order. And therefore Job rightly recalled it, to indicate that when the visible elements are gone and creatures have been renewed, the ruler given by God to this dwelling will also be renewed. - "Homilies on Job 17"

"Over time, in fact, the sea diminishes." Perhaps this alludes to him who, threatening the sea, dries it up. "And a desolate river is dried up." It does not say "rivers" but "a river," since all rivers are a single river, as the accounts in the book of Genesis tell us: "A spring rose from the ground." The one who created that river now dries it up, and, according to his will, he will render it invisible, when by his will he exhausts the sea and puts an end to the other elements of visible creatures. There is nothing surprising in the fact that Job spoke of what happened in the past and of what must take place in the future. Indeed, he speaks from the point of view of God, for whom future events, decided once and for all, are seen as having happened and passed. Thus it is not possible that events arranged by the creating hand would oppose his order. And therefore Job rightly recalled it, to indicate that when the visible elements are gone and creatures have been renewed, the ruler given by God to this dwelling will also be renewed.

In Wisdom it says, "He who created the world from formless matter," and the opposite, "We were made from nothing." The sense of Scripture affirms that God created the elements all at once, with darkness also mixed in with them. And God called this confusion of elements (that is, air, fire, water, land and darkness) formless matter, as it says in Genesis: "The earth, moreover, was invisible and formless." And from this confusion he then created the world, also establishing the firmament, so that, once the waters were gathered in a single place, it might be the dwelling of the human race. Having distinguished and separated the elements, he made an inhabitable dwelling in the cavity that remained. - "Questions from the Old Testament 2.20"

In Wisdom it says, "He who created the world from formless matter," and the opposite, "We were made from nothing." The sense of Scripture affirms that God created the elements all at once, with darkness also mixed in with them. And God called this confusion of elements (that is, air, fire, water, land and darkness) formless matter, as it says in Genesis: "The earth, moreover, was invisible and formless." And from this confusion he then created the world, also establishing the firmament, so that, once the waters were gathered in a single place, it might be the dwelling of the human race. Having distinguished and separated the elements, he made an inhabitable dwelling in the cavity that remained.

Question: If you would say that the Son made what was made by command of the Father. Response: It is not as you claim, that the Son made what was made under the Father's orders. Rather, by his will he created everything that he deemed in his providence should be created, since the prophet Isaiah says, "Thus says the Lord, 'I made the earth by my word, and on it I created human beings. With my hand I spread out the heavens, giving order to all their ranks, that they might shine in the sky.' " And, "My plan shall stand as valid, and I have fulfilled my entire purpose." And still, "Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth. He made it and rendered it stable." And further, "I am the first, and I am eternal. My hand laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand spread the heavens." And still, "I made the earth with great power and with a mighty arm." And in Jeremiah, "He formed the earth by his power; he established the world with his wisdom; with his intelligence he spread the heavens and made the waters in heaven roar." And further, "Lord, you made the heaven and the earth with great power and a strong arm. You make their children after them suffer the punishment for the iniquity of their ancestors." And in Solomon, "It was not difficult for your almighty hand, which created the world from invisible matter." And in Psalm 134, "Everything he wanted, the Lord has done, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in the abyss." And in Psalm 113, "Our God is in the heavens." And again, "In heaven and on earth he made all that he willed." And in Psalm 64, "You make the mountains firm by your strength, robed in power." Since it is written that he did all these things, not under the command of the Father but by his power, how is it that you consider him to be inferior to the Father?

Or beasts of a new kind, full of rage and unknown, and therefore more terrible: Deuteronomy 32: "I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of those that drag upon the ground" etc. Or a fiery vapor, or of fires, breathing out, namely for destruction: or sending forth the smell of smoke, namely for the infection of the air, or shooting horrible sparks from their eyes, for terror.

Of which not only the harm, made namely by striking, could exterminate them, that is, place them beyond the boundaries of life: but even the sight, by seeing, could kill through fear, namely the unjust and the wicked: for of the just it is said in the Psalm: "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon."

It should be noted, moreover, that through the various aforementioned beasts, six kinds of sins can be understood: through the bear, the vice of gluttony: through the lion, pride; through beasts full of rage, wrath; through those breathing out fiery vapor, lust; through those sending forth the smell of smoke, avarice; through those shooting sparks from their eyes, envy.

Everything was made through the Word, from the angels to the smallest worm. What among creatures is more exalted than an angel? What is easier to overlook than a worm? Well, he who made the angel also made the worm. The angel, however, was made for heaven, the worm for the earth. This was how the one who created them arranged it. If God had put the worm in heaven, you might criticize him. Likewise, if he had wanted the angel to be born of corruptible flesh. And yet God does something similar to this, and there is nothing to reproach him for. What, in fact, are human beings born of the flesh, if not worms? And God makes these worms into angels. If the Lord does not hesitate to say, "I am a worm and not a man," who would hesitate to say what is written in the book of Job, "How much more are human beings rot, and their children worms?" First he says, "human beings are rot," and then, "their children are worms." The man is rot and his child a worm, because worms are born of decay. See what he who in the beginning was the Word wanted to do for you—the Word who was with God, the Word who was God. And why did he lower himself like this for you? So that you might feed on milk, given that you were still unable to nourish yourself on solid food. And therefore, brothers and sisters, it is in this sense that you must understand the words, "Everything was made through him, and without him nothing was made." Every creature, without exception, was made through him, the smallest just as the greatest, things above us just as things below us, things spiritual just as things corporeal—everything was made through him. There is no form, no cohesion or harmony of parts, no substance that can be measured by weight, number or height—nothing exists except through that Word and originates from that creator Word, to whom the word of Scripture refers, "You have arranged all things in number, weight and measure."

When we read that God brought all his works to completion in six days and, in considering the number six, discover that it is a perfect number and that the order of the creatures that were made is arranged in such a way as to appear to be the progressive distinction of the very divisors that comprise this number, the expression addressed to God in another passage of the Scriptures should come to mind: "You have arranged all things with measure, number and weight." We must further ask ourselves (and we can if we invoke God's help, which will allow us to do so, infusing in us the strength) if these three properties—measure, number and weight, according to which the Scripture says that God has arranged all things—in some way existed before the universe was created, or were they also created and, if they already existed, where were they. In fact, before the creation nothing existed besides the Creator. They were therefore in him—but how? In fact, we read that these things also, which are created, were in him. Should we perhaps identify these properties with God, or should we perhaps instead say that the works of the creation are, so to speak, in him who guides and governs them? But how can these properties be identified with God? He is in fact neither measure nor number nor weight, nor all of these properties taken together. Or should we perhaps think that God is to be identified with these properties as we know them in creatures and therefore limit in things we measure, number in things we count and weight in things we touch? Or should we alternatively think that, in the sense that measure assigns to each thing its limit, number gives to each its specific form, and weight draws everything to its rest and stability, it is God who is identified with these three perfections in a fundamental, true and unique sense, since it is he who limits and he who gives specific form and order to all things? That is why the phrase, "You have arranged all things by measure, number and weight," according to the way that human intelligence and language could express itself, means nothing other than, "You have arranged all things in yourself."

I must confess that I do not know why mice and frogs were created, but I nonetheless understand that all things are beautiful in their kind, even if, because of our sins, they seem otherwise to us. Truthfully, I cannot consider the body and limbs of a living being without finding a measure, a proportion and an order that contribute to a harmonious unity. I do not understand where all these properties come from except from that supreme measure and proportion, and that supreme order, that exist in the absolutely perfect, unchanging and eternal essence of God.… When you see in all these beings their measure, their proportion and their order, look for the Creator in them, since you will find none other than the One in whom is supreme measure, supreme proportion and supreme order, that is, God, of whom Scripture says with absolute truth, "You have arranged all things with measure, number and weight." In this way, in the smallness of an ant you may find more reason to praise God than in crossing a river astride a tall beast of burden.

The whole of the world-machine was produced into being in time and from nothing by one first, sole, and supreme principle: whose power, although it is immense, nevertheless disposed all things in a certain weight, number, and measure. The creature is the effect of the creating Trinity under a threefold genus of causality: efficient, from which there is in the creature unity, mode, and measure; exemplary, from which there is in the creature truth, species, and number: final, from which there is in the creature goodness, order, and weight. Which indeed are found in all creatures as a vestige of the Creator, whether corporeal, or spiritual, or composed of both. Every creature is established in being by the efficient cause, is conformed to the exemplar, and is ordered to the end: and through this it is one, true, good: modified, beautiful, ordered: measured, distinct, and weighted: for weight is an ordinative inclination.

There is a certain order in these things. For God creates all essences "by measure and number and weight." And by giving these, He gives mode, species, and order. Mode is that by which a thing exists; species, that by which it is distinct; order, that by which it is fitting. For there is no creature that is not endowed with measure, quantity, and inclination. And in this a trace may be seen, and wisdom is manifested, as the foot is shown by the trace. And this trace leads to that Wisdom in whom there is mode without qualification, number without quantity, and order without ordination.

For even without these etc. Nor could you punish them only in this way, for even without these, that is, without the aid of these beasts, they could have been killed by a single breath: Gloss: "That is, by a single indignation or command." So breath is understood where it is said in Genesis 6: "My spirit shall not remain in man," that is, my indignation, etc. Or: by a single angelic breath, as happened to Sennacherib and his army, as is clear from Isaiah 37. Having suffered persecution, namely as from a meritorious cause, from their own deeds, so that they would be destroyed by their own works, just as a viper perishes by its own offspring: Luke 3: "Offspring of vipers," etc.; in the Psalm: "Render to them according to the works of their hands." And scattered, namely through diverse places outside their own land, by the spirit of your power. This can be understood intransitively, and then it is understood of the uncreated Spirit; or transitively, that is, effectively, and then it can be understood of a created spirit: Job 4: "I saw those who work iniquity perish by the blast of God, and be consumed by the spirit of his wrath."

But all things etc. Here he shows that he punished out of mercy and punished less than he could have: and first by this, that he did not punish beyond what the magnitude of the fault required, because in measure; second by this, that he did not punish beyond what the multiplicity of the fault required, because in number; third, because not beyond what the condition or quality of the sinner required, because in weight.

I have rightly said that you do not punish according to the immensity of your power, that is, to the extent that you could; but all things etc., as if to say: not only the creatures themselves, but also their retributions and penalties or punishments, you have disposed in measure, so that they do not exceed the magnitude of the fault; and in number, so that they do not exceed the multiplicity of the fault; and in weight, so that they do not exceed the condition of the sinner or the circumstance of the sin. That he punishes according to measure: Revelation 18: "As much as she glorified herself in delights, so much give her torment and mourning"; likewise Isaiah 27: "In measure against measure, when she shall be cast off, you shall judge her"; likewise Luke 6: "With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you." That according to number: Revelation 18: "Double unto her double according to her works"; likewise Isaiah 40: "She has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins," that is, a twofold punishment, namely the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense, or exterior bodily punishment and interior spiritual punishment, that is, the remorse of conscience. That according to weight is clear from above, chapter 6: "To the little one mercy is granted, but the mighty shall suffer torments mightily."

Otherwise it can be explained thus: all things, namely corporeal things with respect to their nature, you have disposed in measure, number, and weight, because the measure of all corporeal things is the four elements, which have number, weight, and measure, as is evident.

Or otherwise: weight refers to the power of the one operating; number to the wisdom of the one ordering; measure to the clemency of the one preserving; Romans 11: "From whom are all things," with respect to the power of the Father; "through whom are all things," with regard to the wisdom of the Son; "in whom are all things," with regard to the clemency of the Holy Spirit. According to the Gloss of Rabanus: "In measure, quality; in number, quantity; in weight, reason."

According to Augustine, the measure of a creature is its determinate quantity by which it is called great or small or middling; number, a determinate quality by which it is distinguished from another; weight, the property by which it rests in its own place; whence according to Augustine, measure is the same as mode; species is the same as number; order is the same as weight. "These three," namely mode, species, and order, "where they are great, are great goods; where small, small; where none, none," as he himself says.

Or this can be explained concerning measure, number, and weight in uncreated things thus: in measure, that is, in you measuring all things, that is, prefixing a mode to each thing; in number, that is, in you numbering all things, that is, bestowing upon each thing its proper species; in weight, that is, in you weighing all things, that is, assigning to all things their proper and certain order. With this agrees a certain exposition of Augustine, who says: "In measure, that is, in yourself, who are measure without measure, prefixing a mode to each thing; number without number, furnishing a species to every thing; weight without weight, drawing every thing to stability." The first in the nature of the efficient cause, the second in the nature of the exemplar, the third in the nature of the final cause.

Morally thus: In measure, against the vice of superfluity; in number, against the vice of singularity; in weight, against the vice of levity.

But it is objected: if he disposed all things in measure, number, and weight, then he disposed measure in measure, etc., and so on to infinity. It can be said that, speaking of number, weight, and measure in uncreated things, the distribution is universal; but speaking of created things, the distribution is accommodated, namely such that the distribution is understood to be made for things measured, numbered, and weighed. Or: All things, that is, complete beings, not concreated in another. But measure, number, and weight are not such things; rather they are concreated in other things, since they are not beings subsisting by themselves and complete.

In the first mode, the gaze of the one contemplating, considering things in themselves, sees in them weight, number, and measure: weight with respect to the position toward which they incline, number, by which they are distinguished, and measure, by which they are limited. And thereby it sees in them mode, species, and order, as well as substance, power, and operation. From which one can rise as from a vestige to understanding the immense power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator.

Every created thing is disposed in a certain weight, number, and measure. Therefore the soul of Christ and its wisdom have a certain number and measure; therefore it does not extend to infinite things.

The writers of secular letters held that arithmetic was the first among the disciplines, given that music, geometry and astronomy, which follow it, have need of arithmetic for the explanation of their laws. For example, the relationship between simple and double, which is proper to music, has need of arithmetic. Geometry, since it has the triangle, the rectangle and other similar figures for its object, needs arithmetic. Astronomy as well, since it calculates the positions and movement of the stars, needs arithmetic. However, no one would affirm that music, geometry and astronomy need to exist for there to be arithmetic. One therefore concludes that arithmetic is the source and mother of the other sciences. We know that Pythagoras celebrated this to the point of recalling that everything was created by God under the laws of number and of measure, also saying that some things were created in motion, others at rest, though in such a way that nothing has substance except the things mentioned above. I think that Pythagoras, like many philosophers, took his cue from the prophetic saying that "God arranged all things by measure, number and weight."

This uncreated Trinity put some indications of the Trinity in its creation. As it is written, "You arranged all things with measure, number and weight." In fact, any body, small or large, can be quantified according to the number of its parts, can be measured and has weight. And quantity cannot exist without weight, nor measure without weight and quantity. None of these properties can exist without the other two. It is easy, however, to observe weight, quantity and measure in material objects; let us see if they can be found in incorporeal objects. In the human soul one finds memory, thought and will. In fact, you think what you want, and this is what your memory contains. Your will is your love. That is, you remember what you bear with love in your thoughts. Memory, intellect and will (which we have said is love) are three inseparable aspects—one of these cannot exist without the others. A certain Father once elegantly mentioned how all three are in the soul when praying to God: your memory, your intellect and your desire, and in this the image of God has been shown. The human soul is therefore an image of God: not born but created, not equal but similar.

For much etc. Here is set forth the proof of divine power, first through its magnitude in itself; second, through the smallness of the creature: For as etc.

For much indeed etc., as if to say: it is well evident that it was not from lack of power, because he punished them thus: for to avail much, that is, to be greatly powerful, belongs to you alone, and without the help of another, was always at hand, namely on account of the infinity of your power. "For the infinite is that of which, for one taking parts or quantity, there is always something beyond to take"; Luke 1: "No word shall be impossible with God"; always, that is, at all times or for eternity, according to that passage of Daniel 7: "His power is an everlasting power." And the strength, that is, the perfect power, because, according to the Philosopher, "strength is the ultimate degree of power in a thing"; of your arm, according to that passage of Isaiah 51: "Put on strength, O arm of the Lord"; who shall resist? As if to say: no one can; and this is because he is not acted upon by anyone.

He sets forth first the magnitude of divine power: "There is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might." Whence in the book of Wisdom: "As a drop of morning dew, so is the whole world before thee." Therefore who would not fear thee, unless he be impious and foolish?

For etc., as if to say: truly it is so: for the whole world, that is, the totality of creatures, is thus before you, that is, in your disposition, or in comparison with you, as the turning of a balance, that is, that small amount by which the balance is inclined this way or that; whence it is called momentum from "moving," or because, just as it is easily and as if in a moment moved this way or that, so by divine power the world is moved at the nod of God; whence Isaiah 40: "Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the turning of a balance"; and as a drop of the morning dew, that is, falling before the light, which descends upon the earth, which is easily dissolved by the face of the sun and cannot resist it. And it should be noted that he says the creature is as the turning of a balance etc., in respect to God as regards the ease of acting upon it; and as a drop of dew etc., as regards the impossibility of being acted upon by it; Isaiah 40: "All nations are as though they were not, so are they before him."

And just as all things compared to the divine power can do virtually nothing, so all things compared to the divine essence are virtually the least. Whence in respect to the divine being this entire world is as something minimal. And this is what is said in Wisdom eleven: For as a grain in the balance, so is the whole world before you, and as a drop of morning dew that falls upon the earth: and in Isaiah forty: Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket and are accounted as a grain in the balance: and afterward: All nations are as though they were not, so are they before him, and they are accounted as nothing and emptiness.

Who can hide or flee before the unique divinity of the Trinity? To the Trinity, the entire globe of the earth seems as a raindrop, or a bit of foam or a drop of morning dew that descends from heaven. As it is written, "He sits above the vault of the earth, from where its inhabitants seem like grasshoppers." And, "He has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and held the whole earth in his palm." And further, "The heavens are my throne, the earth the footstool for my feet." Notice that the power of the one divinity is incomprehensible, since the heavens, which he holds in his palm, are also his throne, and the earth, which is enclosed in his fist, is in turn the footstool for his feet. In fact, the whole of the heavens is contained in his palm, and the entire earth is enclosed in his hand. It is also the throne and footstool for his feet, as it is written, "To whom the whole world is like dust on the scales." And thus he fills all things, containing all things from within and without, since this eternal, undivided Trinity is present everywhere and possesses the invisible fullness of the divinity.

And you have mercy on all etc. Here is set forth the proof of divine mercy; and first he proves it through the effect of overlooking; second, through the effect of love: For you love; third, through the effect of preservation: But how could etc.; fourth, through the effect of pardon: But you spare.

And you have mercy on all, that is, in all things you exercise the effect of mercy, according to that passage of the Psalm: "His mercies are over all his works"; likewise: "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth"; likewise: "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord". For you can do all things: whence all things are your handiwork and your works, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them". And you overlook, that is, for a time not punishing, the sins of men; he does not say of angels, because the sin of the angels was immediately punished: whence Isaiah 14: "How have you fallen, O Lucifer, from heaven, you who rose in the morning"? On account of repentance; whence Romans 2: "Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance"? Ezekiel 18: "If the wicked man shall do penance from all his sins, etc., he shall live and shall not die".

Let us hear what the Lord says to the prophet Jeremiah concerning idolaters: "Go and say, 'Return, house of Israel, says the Lord. I will not show you an indignant face, because I am compassionate, says the Lord. I will not maintain my anger forever. Rise, acknowledge your guilt. You have been godless and followed strangers under every green tree.' " See what God promises to those who return after they fall: to forgive their sins, once they have turned from their apostasy. And the Lord says further by the mouth of Jeremiah, "My pampered children have had to trod bitter paths, pushed along like a flock kidnapped by the enemy. Have courage, children, cry out to God, because he who has tested you will remember you. Just as you thought to separate yourselves from God, return to him, seeking him with ten times the zeal, since the one who afflicted you with so many calamities will also give you, with salvation, everlasting joy." O the mercy of God! How he calls to those who have fallen, that they might rise again! How he exhorts them so that, after their errors with idols, they would return to him! Like a benevolent Father he promises the eternal joy of salvation to his children if they mend their ways. Among other things, he says further by the same prophet, "I will lead them back to this country. I will firmly reestablish them and will not destroy them. I will plant them, and never again will I uproot them." In fact, since he had threatened, "The one who sacrifices to the gods will be uprooted," so that those who had sinned would not despair (as though, having been uprooted for having sacrificed to idols, they could not be replanted), he exhorts them, since if they repent they can be restored to their prior state. If they do not correct their crime, however, the sentence will be carried out. Moreover, it was preached to the Ninevites that their city would be destroyed after three days. Why after three days, if not that they might repent and the sentence be cancelled, or that they might remain in their sin and have even greater reason to perish? This is as he said through the prophet, "I do not desire the death of the one who dies, but that he would return to me and live." And thus it happened that the Ninevites, destined to die for their sins, were pardoned because of their repentance. And why did the construction of the ark by Noah take a hundred years, if not so that those who saw and heard what was threatened would correct themselves? Indeed, God wants no one to perish. This is why we read in Solomon, "The Lord had mercy on sinners." And further, "You have compassion on all, because you can do all things. You overlook people's sins, that they might repent." It is in this sense that the Lord, deploring the faithlessness of the Jews, says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often have I wanted to gather your children, like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!" Everywhere in the Law, then, the Lord exhorts sinners to conversion, not wanting that his creatures fall into perdition. And the Law that was given had no other purpose than that men and women would turn from error to the truth. Nonetheless, in the New Testament the author of the Law reveals himself as being more merciful, since he wanted to be more generous and rich in mercy at that time when he deigned to manifest the sacrament of his Son our Lord, so that grace would be more abundant through the preaching of the Son than through the preaching of the servants.

Let us turn and trust in the Lord while we live the season of this life, and let us prepare the viaticum of penance before our judge. Let us not fill our time with futile engagements or say that we are born to sin, but let us live to act well. And even if we fall into sin, since, given the setting of this world, it is unavoidable that we sin, let us come to our senses, desiring to flee the abyss of Gehenna. Therefore let us repent with faith, pray with the heart, weep from our very depths.

The love with which God loves is incomprehensible and must not be thought of as subject to change. He did not begin to love us only when we were reconciled to him through the blood of his Son. Rather, he loved us before the foundation of the world, calling us to be his children together with the Only-Begotten, when we were as yet absolutely nothing. The fact, then, that we "have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son" should not be heard and understood in the sense that he began to love what he had previously hated, as when an enemy reconciles with his enemy and the two become friends and begin to mutually love one another just as they once hated one another. We have been reconciled with one who already loved us, one with whom, due to sin, we had become enemies. The apostle will show whether or not I speak the truth. He says, "God shows his love toward us because, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God felt love for us even when, behaving as his enemies, we committed sin. And yet with all truth it was said of him, "Lord, you detest all who do evil." Therefore, in a way both wonderful and divine, he loved us even when he hated us. He hated that in us that he did not make, but since our iniquity had not completely destroyed his work, he knew how to hate in each of us what was our own work and at the same time to love what was his work. And this can be applied to everything else, given that this was said to him in all truth, "You despise nothing that you have created." If in fact he had hated something he would not have willed it, nor could something exist that the Almighty had not called into existence—and he would not have called it if, in the thing he hates, there were not at least something that he could love. Rightly he hates and condemns evil, because it is contrary to the principle of how he does things. Nevertheless, even in what is contaminated by evil, he loves either the love with which he heals it or his judgment with which he condemns it. Therefore God hates nothing that he has created, since as the author of nature, and not of sin, he hates only the evil that he did not create. And he is moreover the author of the good that he draws from evil, whether healing it by his mercy or making it serve his secret plans. Granted therefore that God hates nothing of what he has made, who can speak adequately of the love that he feels for the members of his Only-Begotten? And, above all, who can speak worthily of the love that he bears for his Only-Begotten, in whom all things visible and invisible were made, things that he loves in a way that corresponds perfectly to the place each one occupies in the plan of creation?

We must try, with God's help, to reconcile the truth of this text, "You despise nothing that you have made," with that other, "I loved Jacob and hated Esau." If, in fact, God hated Esau, because he was made as a vessel for common use, and the same potter made a vessel for noble use and another for common use, how can it be that "you despise nothing that you have created"? He in fact hates Esau, whom he himself made for common use. This difficulty is resolved bearing in mind that God is the creator of all creatures. Now, every one of God's creatures is good, and every person is a creature—as a person, not as a sinner. God is therefore the creator of the body and the soul of the person. Neither of these two realities is evil, and God does not hate them, since he hates nothing that he has created. Now the soul is superior to the body. But God, author and creator of both, hates only sin in human beings. A person's sin is disorder and perversion, that is, separation from the supreme Creator and attachment to inferior creatures. Therefore God does not hate Esau the man but Esau the sinner.

For you love all things that exist, namely by approving and preserving their goods: whence Genesis 1: "God saw all things that he had made, and they were very good": the Gloss: "A good craftsman loves his own work"; but God did not make sin: whence John 1: "Without him was made nothing," that is, "sin," according to Augustine. And therefore he does not love sin but hates it, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You have loved justice and hated iniquity". And you hate nothing of those things which you have made, that is, rejecting none of them.

Against which it is said in the Psalm: "I have hated the unjust"; likewise: "You have hated all who work iniquity"; likewise Ecclesiasticus 12: "The Most High hates sinners". But it must be said that he does not hate his handiwork, but the defect of his handiwork, just as a craftsman loves the statue which he has made, and yet hates some knot existing in it on the part of the material.

For neither hating, that is, unwillingly, did you establish anything, namely by creating it from nothing, or make it, by forming it from pre-existing matter: whence Boethius: Whom no external causes drove to fashion the work of fluctuating matter, but rather the inborn form of the highest good, etc. Whence Proverbs 16: "The Lord has wrought all things for himself".

Let us take an example from God. In fact, "he loves everything that exists" equally, "and he hates nothing that he has made: in fact, he created nothing that should be hated." Nonetheless, this did not mean that he loved Jews and Egyptians in the same way, or Pharaoh as Moses and Aaron. At the same time, he did not love the other children of Israel as he loved Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and further, he did not love Aaron and Miriam as he loved Moses. Although what is said is true, "You have mercy on all, because all is yours, Lord and lover of souls. In fact, a spirit of incorruptibility is in all," nevertheless the one who arranged all "with measure, number and weight" unquestionably also proportions his love to the measure of each one's merits. Do we perhaps think that Paul, when he persecuted the church of God, was loved in the same way as when he underwent persecutions and torments for it and when he said that he bore within himself concern for all the churches?

The Lord is true and merciful, and he does not delight in the destruction of the living. What is the ruin of the living if not death? But the death of the living who live badly, who will perish in the second death, not that of the living who are righteous, that is, who seek God and are not subject to the second death but only to the first, which is a result of the sin of Adam with which they were born. If then God were the author of death, he should rejoice in the destruction of the living as though it were one of his good works, since it is written, "The Lord will rejoice in his works," and he made nothing out of hate, but everything that he made was very good, as it is written, "Since you love everything that exists, and you despise nothing that you have created. If you had hated something, you would not have created it."

But how could anything, that is, any creature, endure, namely in its being: unless you had willed it, that is, unless you voluntarily preserved it by your goodness? as if to say: in no way: whence Gregory: "All things that exist would tend toward nothingness, unless they were sustained or held by the hand of the Creator". Or what had not been called by you, that is, unless you approved it by beholding it with your wisdom: Romans 4: "Who calls those things that are not," etc., would be preserved? as if to say: nothing.

But you spare all, namely human beings, who are called every creature, according to that passage in Mark, last chapter: "Preach the Gospel to every creature"; you spare, I say, because it is proper to you according to that passage: "O God, whose property it is always to have mercy and to spare." Because they are yours, O Lord: Ezekiel 18: "All souls are mine"; who love souls: which is evident, because you laid down your soul for them; John 15: "Greater love than this no one has," etc.; whence Bernard: "You had a greater love, laying it down for your enemies."

It is written, "Not a messenger or an angel but the Lord himself saved them." He forgave them, for no other reason than that he loved them. Indeed, it says "forgive," as with his own children, according to that verse that is referred to in another book, "You have compassion on all things, Lord, lover of souls, because they are yours, nor do you nourish hatred toward the beings you have created." For their salvation, therefore, the Father, not sparing his own Son, gave him over to death, so that by the death of his own Son, having reduced to powerlessness him who had power over death, that is, the devil, he would free all those who were subject to him through the bonds of slavery. For this reason it is added, "He himself rescued them, he comforted them and raised them up." He in fact comforts and exalts those who are saved and lifts the redeemed on wings of virtue toward the most sublime heights. He dwells in them and with them, through both instruction and knowledge of the truth, not only for a day or two but for all the days of eternity, communicating life to them "until the end of the world," because he is the cause of salvation.