In their number they passed over, and not one of them perished; the one did not seek out the other, because the Lord commanded them and his Spirit gathered them. And he himself casts the lot for them, and his hand has divided the pasture. Forever you shall possess it as an inheritance, and for ages of ages you shall rest in it. Chapter 130: THAT PEOPLES ARE CALLED WATERS. In the book of Esther: But the rivers were the nations that came together to destroy the race of the Jews. Likewise in Jeremiah: Behold, waters rise up from the north into an overflowing torrent, and they shall overflow the land and its fullness, the city and those who dwell in it.
And all shall cry out and howl, all who dwell in the land, at the sound of his onslaught, at his weapons and at his feet, and at the commotion of his chariots and at the sound of his wheels. Likewise the prophet Amos: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the land—not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine for hearing the word of the Lord. And the waters shall be stirred from sea to sea, and from the north even to the south, seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. Likewise in the Apocalypse of John: The waters that you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. Chapter 131: ON THE FOUNTAINS OF THE LORD. In Psalm 67: In the congregations bless the Lord God from the fountains of Israel. Likewise in Proverbs:
Let not the fountains of the Lord fail you, but keep them in all your heart. Likewise there: You shall drink waters from your own vessels and from the fountain of your own wells. Let your waters overflow from your fountain, but in your streets let your waters flow abroad; let the fountain of your water be your own, and let no stranger share it with you. Likewise there: The fountain of life is in the hand of the just. Likewise there: The law of the wise is a fountain of life. Likewise there: The precepts of the Lord are a fountain of life: they cause one to turn away from the snare of death. Likewise there: Counsel is a fountain of life to him who possesses it. Likewise there: But the river flows, and the fountain of life. Chapter 132: THAT THERE ARE WATERS ABOVE THE HEAVEN. In Genesis:
And God divided between the water that is under the firmament and the water that is above the firmament. Likewise there: All the fountains of the deep burst forth, and the floodgates of heaven were opened, and the rains of the flood came upon all the earth. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: The Lord who made the earth in his power and by his wisdom stretched out the heaven and the multitude of water in the heaven. Likewise there: At his voice he set the sound of waters in the heaven. Likewise in Daniel: Bless the Lord, all you waters that are above the heaven. Likewise in Psalm 148: Praise him, you heavens of heavens, and let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord. Chapter 133: ON DRUNKENNESS AND THE CUP OF WRATH. In the prophet Isaiah:
Grow faint, be senseless, and be drunk, but not with strong drink nor with wine; for God has made you drink a spirit of compunction. Likewise there: Therefore hear this, you who are humbled and drunk, but not with wine. For the wrath of the Lord shall come like a rushing river with indignation. Likewise in the prophet Habakkuk: The cup of the Lord's right hand has surrounded you, and disgrace has come upon your honor. Likewise in Psalm 10: He shall rain snares upon sinners, fire, brimstone, and the blast of storms shall be the portion of their cup. Likewise in the Apocalypse of John: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great; of the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations have drunk. Likewise there:
If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand, he too shall drink of the indignation of God, which is mixed unmingled in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the sight of the angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. Likewise there: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, my people, that you share not in her sins and receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she herself has rendered, and pay back double, doubling according to her works. In the cup in which she has mixed, mix for her double:
and as much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, so much give her of torment and grief. For in her heart she says: I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall see no grief. Therefore in one hour her plagues shall come, death and famine and grief, and she shall be burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judges her. Chapter 134: THAT THE LORD GOD BEARS THIS NAME. In Exodus: I am who I am. Likewise there: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: He who is has sent me to you. Likewise there: And the Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is my name forever and memorable throughout ages of ages. Likewise in Exodus:
The Lord who crushes wars, the Lord is his name. Likewise in the prophet Amos: He who calls forth the water of the sea and pours it out upon the face of the earth, the Lord God almighty is his name. Chapter 135: THAT THE MAN OF GOD IS CALLED A LAND OF DELIGHTS. In Psalm 84: You have blessed, O Lord, your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob. You have remitted the iniquity of your people; you have covered all their sins. Likewise there: And our land shall yield its fruit. Likewise in Psalm 106: You set the desert into pools of water, and the land without water into outflowings of water; and there he settled the hungry. Likewise in Isaiah: The land that is without water shall become a marsh, and in the thirsty land there shall be a fountain of water. No longer shall there be a lion there, nor any of the evil beasts. Likewise there:
Behold, I will do new things which shall now spring forth; and I will make a way in the desert and a river in the dry land. Likewise there: And they shall be like a watered garden and like a fountain whose water does not fail. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel: And they shall say: That land which was laid waste has become like a garden of delights. Likewise according to Matthew: But he who was sown upon the good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it, and bears fruit: one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, another thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Chapter 136: ON FOXES AS A LIKENESS OF MEN. In Judges:
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches and bound them tail to tail, two by two, and set a torch between each pair of tails in the middle, and kindled the torches with fire and let them loose into the sheaves of the foreigners; and he burned up their standing grain and what had been reaped, and also the vineyards and olive groves. Likewise in the Song of Songs: Catch us the little foxes that lay waste the vineyard. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Therefore our heart has become sorrowful, and because of this our eyes have grown dim, over Mount Zion, because it is laid waste; the foxes have passed over it. Likewise in Ezekiel: Thus says the Lord: Woe to those who prophesy out of their own heart and see nothing at all!
Your prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the desert; they did not stand firm in the breach, and they gathered a king over the house of Israel; they did not rise up who would speak in the day of the Lord. Likewise according to Matthew: The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have where to rest, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Likewise according to Luke: Certain of the Pharisees approached, saying to him: Get out and go away from here, because Herod wishes to kill you. And Jesus said to them: Go, tell that fox: Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall be perfected. Go, for it is impossible that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem. Chapter 137: ON HOSPITALITY. In 4 Kings:
And Elisha went from there to Carmel, and from there he came to Shunem. And it came to pass one day that there was a great woman there, who, having detained him to eat bread, and as he frequently came in and went out, the woman said to her husband: Behold, I know that this is a holy man of God who comes to us, and he is holy; and therefore let us by all means make him a chamber above, with small walls, and let us set there a table and a bed and a chair and a lampstand; and when he comes to us, he shall turn aside there. And when the day came, Elisha came and went up into the upper chamber and lay down there. And afterwards, sitting up, he said to Gehazi his servant: Call that Shunammite. And he called her; and when she stood before him, he said to her:
Behold, you have honored us with all honor and prepared a lodging for us; what shall we give you in return? And Elisha said to Gehazi his servant: What then shall we do for her? And Gehazi said: Truly she has no son, and her husband is old. And he said: Call her. And he called her to the door. And Elisha said: This word shall be for a testimony, that at this time you shall live and you shall conceive a son. And the woman said: Do not, man of God, mock your handmaid. And the woman conceived and bore a son at that same time. Likewise in the book of Wisdom: For one ought to be just and humane. Likewise the apostle to the Romans: Pursuing hospitality, bless and do not curse. Likewise Peter the apostle:
Show hospitality to one another without murmuring. Likewise in the book of Judges: And the old man said to his guest: Peace be to you! Whatever you lack shall be from me, only do not stay here in the streets. And he brought the man into his house and gave fodder to his beasts, and they washed their feet, and ate and drank. Chapter 138: THAT MEN ARE CALLED A HARVEST OR CROPS. In the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptist: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. His winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he shall cleanse his threshing floor; he shall gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he shall burn with unquenchable fire.
Likewise there: Jesus said to his disciples: The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest. Likewise there: He who sows the good seed is the Son of man, and this field is the world, and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the consummation of the age, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so shall it be at the consummation of the age. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals and those who work iniquity. And he shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Likewise according to John:
Do you not say that there are yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you: Lift up your eyes and see the regions, for they are white for the harvest. And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the word of truth holds: that one is he who sows and another is he who reaps. I sent you to reap that at which you did not labor; others labored, and you have entered into their labor. Chapter 139: THAT A WIFE, EXCEPT FOR THE CAUSE OF ADULTERY, IS NOT TO BE DISMISSED. In the Gospel according to Matthew: The Pharisees approached him, tempting him and saying: Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife for any cause whatever?
Jesus answered them, saying: Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh? What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder. They say to him: Why then did Moses command that a bill of divorce be given and the wife be dismissed? Jesus said to them: Because Moses, according to your hardness of heart, permitted you to dismiss your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you that whoever dismisses his wife, except for the cause of adultery, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her who is dismissed by her husband commits adultery. Likewise the apostle to the Corinthians, first letter:
But to those who are joined in matrimony I command—not I, but the Lord—that a wife not depart from her husband. But if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And let not a husband dismiss his wife. Chapter 140: ON THE TABERNACLE. In the prophet Isaiah: Your tabernacles shall not be moved, nor shall the stakes of his tabernacle be worn out forever, nor shall its cords be broken; because you shall call upon the name of the Lord, which is great. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Your tabernacle has been made wretched, it has perished, and all its skins are torn apart. Chapter 141: ON THE WASHING OF FEET. In Genesis, concerning Abraham: God appeared to him at the oak of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tabernacle at midday.
And lifting up his eyes he looked, and behold, three men were standing over him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tabernacle and bowed himself to the earth and said: Lord, if I have found favor before you, do not pass by your servant; let water be brought and let your feet be washed, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will bring bread and you shall eat, and afterwards you shall pass on, since for this you have turned aside to your servant. And they said: Do so, as you have said. Likewise in the Gospel according to John:
And when supper was ended, the devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments; and when he had taken a linen cloth, he girded himself. Then he put water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the linen cloth with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to him: Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him: What I am doing you do not know now, but you shall know afterward. Peter said to him: You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered: If I do not wash you, you shall have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him:
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus says to him: He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is clean all over; and you are clean, but not all. For he knew who it was that would betray him; therefore he said: You are clean, but not all. And after he had washed their feet, he took his garments, and when he had again reclined, he said to them: Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If then I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, how much more ought you also to wash one another's feet? For I have given you an example, that as I have done for you, you also should do.
Amen I say to you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is the apostle greater than he who sent him. Knowing these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. Likewise in the First Letter to Timothy: Let a widow be chosen who is not less than sixty years of age, who has been the wife of one husband, having testimony in good works: if she has brought up children, if she has received strangers with hospitality, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has ministered to those suffering tribulation, if she has followed after every good work. Likewise in Genesis: And he brought Simeon out to them, and they brought water and washed their feet. 142. THAT ALL THINGS ARE TO BE DONE FOR THE GLORY OR IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. The Apostle in the First Letter to the Corinthians: Whether you eat or drink or do anything else, do all for the glory of God. Likewise in the Letter to the Colossians:
Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 143. ON THE HOLY LIFE OF SAMUEL AND OF PAUL THE APOSTLE, THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN SEIZED BY AVARICE. In the First Book of Kingdoms: And when Samuel had feasted with all the men of Israel to the full, he said to every man of Israel: Behold, I have heard your voice in all things whatsoever you have said to me, and I have set a king over you. And now behold, the king goes before you. And I have grown old, and it is fitting that I take my rest; but my sons are with you. And since I have walked before you from my youth even to this present day, behold, here I am.
Answer against me before the Lord and before his anointed: whether I have taken anyone's calf, or carried off anyone's ass, or harmed any man by my power, or oppressed anyone, or received from anyone's hand a bribe for entreaty, or even a shoe-latchet: speak against me, and I will restore it to you. They answered Samuel, saying: You have wronged no one by power, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from anyone's hand. And Samuel said to the people: The Lord is witness among you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have found nothing in my hand. And they said: He is witness. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul the apostle to the bishops and his disciples:
I have coveted no one's silver or gold or garment. You yourselves know that for the things which were necessary to me in all my need, and to those who are with me, these hands have provided. In all things I have shown you that, laboring thus, we ought to help the weak and to be mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. 144. THAT THE LORD IS CALLED THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. In the prophet Jeremiah: O Lord, let all who forsake you be confounded; let those who depart from the land be overthrown, who have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of life. Likewise there: The heaven was greatly astonished at these things, says the Lord; for my people have committed these two evils:
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which cannot hold water. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: For behold, a just king shall reign, and I have raised up a king with justice and a prince with judgment; he shall rule, and there shall be a man hiding his words, and he shall hide himself as from the beating of the water; and he shall appear in Zion like a glorious river in a thirsty land. Likewise there: For water has burst forth in the desert, and streams in the thirsty land; and the land that was without water shall become pools, and in the thirsty ground there shall be a fountain of water. Likewise the prophet Joel: And a fountain shall go forth from the house and shall water the multitude. Likewise according to John: On the last and great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying:
If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This he said of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. Likewise in Psalm 35: They shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house, and you shall give them to drink of the torrent of your pleasure. For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light.