Go your way into the portion of the holy age with the righteous and with those who make confession; do not linger in the error of the ungodly. From a dead man, as one who is no more, confession is taken away; while living and in health you shall confess and praise the Lord and glory in his mercies. Great is the mercy of the Lord and his forgiveness to those who turn to him! Likewise there: My son, you have sinned; do not add to it again, but pray also concerning your former sins, that they may be forgiven you. Likewise there: Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent; if you draw near to them, they will seize you like the teeth of a lion, slaying men in devouring them like a two-edged sword. For iniquity there is a punishment; for its wound there is no healing. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah:
Remember these things and groan; repent, you who go astray, turn from your heart. Likewise there: Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel: When you turn and groan, then you shall be saved and shall know where you have been. When you trusted in those things, your strength became vain, and you would not hear. Likewise there: O Lord, have mercy on us, for in you we have trusted; our seed has become the destruction of unbelievers, but our salvation is in the time of tribulation, because of the voice of your fear. Likewise there: I am he who grieves over your iniquities, and I remembered your iniquities before, that you might be justified. Likewise there: Refrain from iniquity, and you shall not fear it; death shall not draw near to you. Likewise there:
Seek the Lord, and soon you shall find him; call upon him. And as soon as he draws near to you, let the ungodly forsake his ways and the unjust man his counsels, and let them turn to the Lord, and they shall obtain mercy; for he will forgive your sins abundantly. Likewise there: When you begin to cry out, I will draw you out of your distress. Likewise there: Be strong, you slack hands and feeble knees; take comfort, you who are faint-hearted; be strong in heart, do not fear; turn, and you shall be saved. Likewise there: The Spirit of the Lord.
Likewise in Jeremiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and to restore sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of recompense; to comfort all who mourn, to give to those who mourn in Zion glory for ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn, a garment of glory for a spirit of sorrow; and they shall be called ages of righteousness, the planting of the Lord unto glory. Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: Turn back, you rebellious children, and I will heal your afflictions. Likewise there: Behold, I judge against you, in that you say: I have not sinned. Because you have utterly despised me by repeating your ways, because God has rejected your hope, and you shall not prosper in it. Likewise there:
Gird yourselves with sackcloth and wail and howl, for the Lord's wrath has not turned away from you. Likewise there: Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved; how long shall the thoughts of your griefs remain within you? Likewise there: Thus says the Lord: Shall he who falls not rise again? Or shall he who turns away not return? Why then has this people turned with a wicked turning, and held fast to their presumption, and refused to turn back? Give ear therefore and hear: there is no man repenting of his wickedness, saying: What have I done? He has failed because he ran from his course, like a horse sweating in its neighing. And the stork in the heaven knows its appointed time, the turtledove and the swallow — whose nests are in the field — have kept the times of their coming in:
but my people did not know the judgement of their Lord. Likewise there: Now let each one turn from his evil way, and make your endeavours better. Likewise there: O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the anxious spirit cries out to you. Hear me, O Lord, for you are a merciful God, and have mercy, for we have sinned in your sight, because you are God for ever. Likewise there: To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us the confusion of our face, because we have sinned in the sight of the Lord and did not believe him, and did not hear the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his precepts which he gave us. And we did not entreat the Lord, that each of us might turn from the thoughts of his most wicked heart.
We have sinned, we have done impiously, we have committed iniquity, O Lord our God, against all your righteous ordinances. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see. For the dead who are in the underworld, whose spirit you have taken from their inmost being, shall not give glory and righteousness to the Lord; but the soul that is anxious in its state, which walks bowed down and weak, and eyes that fail and a hungering soul — these shall give you glory and righteousness, O Lord. Likewise there: Let us search out our ways and turn to the Lord; let us cleanse our hearts together with our hands, and look to the Lord who dwells in the heavens. Likewise in the prophet Hosea:
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have been made weak by your iniquities. Take many with you and turn to the Lord your God; say to him: You have power to forgive sins, that you may receive good things. Likewise in the prophet Joel: And now thus says the Lord your God: Turn to me with your whole heart and with your whole soul, in fasting and weeping and mourning. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and patient and great-hearted, and abundant in mercy and patient toward wickedness. Likewise in the prophet Ezekiel:
And if the wicked man turns from all his iniquities which he has done, and keeps all my commandments and does righteousness and mercy, he shall surely live and not die; and all the offences which he has committed shall not be remembered: in his righteousness which he has done he shall live, says the Lord. For do I desire the death of the wicked, rather than that he should turn from his evil way and live? Likewise there: Turn and turn yourselves away from all your ungodly deeds, and they shall not be to you a punishment of iniquity. Cast away from you all your ungodly deeds which you have wickedly committed against me, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. And why will you die, O house of Israel? Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew:
Which of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go to seek that one which went astray? And if it should happen that he find it, truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which did not go astray. Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Likewise Paul the apostle to the Corinthians, second letter: Now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to God, so that in nothing you should suffer loss from us.
For sorrow according to God works a steadfast repentance unto salvation, but the sorrow of this world works death. Likewise Peter the apostle in his second letter: The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to a place of repentance. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; would that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say: I am rich and have grown wealthy, and have need of nothing:
and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich and become wealthy, and white garments of mine, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not appear; and anoint your eyes with eyesalve, that you may see. All those whom I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To him who conquers I will grant to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sit with my Father on his throne. XXIV. ON ALMSGIVING. In Psalm 111: He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness abides for ever and ever.
Likewise in Proverbs: Do not withhold from doing good to the poor, whenever your hand has the means to help. Do not say: Go and come back, tomorrow I will give, when you are able to do good at once; for you do not know what may happen on the following day. Likewise there: The ransom of a man's soul is his own riches. Likewise there: He who has pity on the poor is blessed. Likewise there: He who honours the Lord has pity on the poor. Likewise there: By almsgiving and faith sins are cleansed; and he who shows mercy shall obtain mercy. Likewise there: He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and according to his gift it shall be repaid him. Likewise there: A man's fruit is his almsgiving. Likewise there:
He who stops his ears so as not to hear the weak shall himself also call upon the Lord, and there shall be none to hear him. Likewise there: He who has pity on the poor shall himself be nourished, for from his own bread he gave to the poor. Likewise there: He who gives to the poor shall not be in want; but he who turns away his eye shall be in great destitution. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: Water shall quench a blazing fire, and almsgiving shall withstand sins; and God, who beholds and repays grace, remembers hereafter, and in the time of your falling you shall find a support. Likewise there: My son, do not defraud the poor of alms, and do not turn away your eye from the needy and the poor; do not despise the hungry soul, and do not prolong a gift to one in distress:
do not cast off the petition of one in tribulation, and do not turn away your face from the needy, and from the poor do not turn away your eye in anger; and do not give one who seeks cause to curse you behind your back; for the prayer of him who curses you in bitterness shall be heard, and he who made him shall hear it. Incline your ear to the poor, and pay your debt, and answer peaceable things in gentleness. Likewise there: Do not be faint-hearted in your soul; do not despise to entreat and to give alms; and stretch out your hand to the poor, that your propitiation and blessing may be made perfect. Likewise there: Do good to the righteous man, and you shall find a great reward; and if not from him, then surely from the Lord. Likewise there:
My son, do good to yourself while you have the means, and offer to the Lord worthy offerings. Remember that death does not tarry, and the covenant of the grave has been shown to you: the covenant of this world is that one dies by death. Before death do good to your friend, and according to your strength reach out and give to the poor. Do not deprive yourself of a good day, and let not the portion of a good gift pass you by. Will you not leave your labours and griefs to others? Before your departure prepare righteousness, for among the dead there is no finding of food. Likewise there: A man's almsgiving is like a signet with him, and he will preserve a man's grace like the pupil of an eye. Likewise there: Yet be patient toward the humble in soul, and do not put him off for the sake of your alms.
Lose your money for the sake of a brother and a friend, and do not hide it under a stone to be lost. Lay up your treasure in the commandments of the Most High, and it will profit you more than a mother. Enclose alms in the heart of the poor, and this shall entreat for you against every evil. Likewise there: Mercy is beautiful in the time of tribulation, like clouds of rain in the time of need. Likewise in the prophet Hosea: For I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Likewise in Deuteronomy: The needy shall not be lacking from your land; therefore I command you to do this word, saying:
You shall surely open your hands to your poor and needy brother in your land, each one according to the strength of his hands, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you. Likewise Job: I never made the widow's eye to weep over me, nor did I ever eat my bread alone and not give of it to the orphan; if I despised the naked man passing by and did not clothe him, if the shoulders of the weak did not bless me, if they were not warmed from the shearing of my sheep, if I did not open my hand to the orphan or was not a help to them: let my shoulder fall from my collarbone, and let my arm be broken from its socket. For the fear of the Lord restrained me from doing such things.
If I have allowed the least and powerless man to go out of my door with empty bosom, may the hand of the Lord not regard me; for in this, directing my heart, I feared God. Likewise Tobit: Do good before him, and do not walk in the ways of iniquity; do not turn your face from the needy and the poor, for almsgiving delivers from death. And see, my son, that you do not follow the ways of the unrighteous, and let not the multitude of sinners persuade you. Likewise there: But if you work the truth, God's regard will be upon your works, and with all who do righteousness you shall inherit eternal life. Likewise there: Do not delay to give alms from your substance, and do not turn your face from the poor; for when you do this, Tobit:
Do good before him, that the multitude of sinners may not persuade you. Likewise: Do not delay to give alms from your substance — God's face will not be turned from you; for he will repay each one according to his works. Likewise there: But give according to what your hand has; and if you have abundant substance, give readily and do good, and be rich in good works. But even if your substance is small, share of that very thing without sadness, and do not fear to give alms in poverty, for it fails not in his gifts; and you shall lay up for yourself a good reward, preparing his protection for the day of need. For almsgiving delivers from death, and does not allow one who does good to go into darkness.
For almsgiving is an acceptable gift of God, and is present with all who do it before the Lord. And share of your bread with the hungry, and cover the naked with your garments; of all that abounds to you, give alms, and let not your eye be grudging toward your good will. And do not be troubled, my son, that we have lived a poor life; for you have many good things, if you keep the inheritance of my commandments; for prayer is perfect with fasting, and almsgiving with righteousness. And in all these things even a little with righteousness is better than very much with iniquity; and it is better for you to lay up the alms of mercy than an abundance of money.
For almsgiving delivers from death and does not allow one to go into darkness, and it is that which purges sins; and those who give alms work righteousness, and shall be satisfied unto eternal life. Likewise Paul the apostle to the Romans: For it pleased those in Macedonia and Achaia to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. For they are their debtors; for if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, the Gentiles ought also to minister to them in carnal things. Likewise to the Corinthians, second letter: I thought it necessary to ask the brethren to go before to you and to prepare beforehand this blessing that was promised to be ready, as a blessing and not as a matter of grasping.
But this I say: he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows in blessing shall of blessing also reap eternal life. Each one as he has purposed in his heart, not out of sadness or necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Likewise to the Galatians: In doing good let us not grow weary, for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint. Therefore, while we have time, let us work good toward all, but especially toward those of the household of faith. Likewise to the Philippians: Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. I have all things and abound; I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, an odour of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God. Likewise John the apostle, first letter:
But whoever has the substance of this world, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word only and with the tongue, but in deed and in truth. Likewise James the apostle: Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Likewise there: For judgement is without mercy to him who has not shown mercy; for mercy is preferred above judgement. Likewise there: What does it profit, brethren, if someone says that faith abides in himself, but has no works? Can faith alone save him?
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them: Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but does not give them the things needful for the body, what does it profit to have said these things to them? So also faith, which does not have works, is dead in itself. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: Give to everyone who asks you, and do not turn away from him who wishes to borrow from you. Likewise there: When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men; truly I say to you, they have their reward.
But when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. Likewise according to Luke: But give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you. Likewise there: And Jesus, looking up, saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two small coins. And he said: Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these have put into the gifts of God out of their abundance, but she out of that which she lacks has put in all the livelihood she had. Likewise there: Sell what you possess, and give alms.
Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, a treasure that does not fail in the heavens, where no thief draws near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles: But all who believed held all things in common, and they sold their goods and possessions and whatever they had, and distributed daily to all, as each one had need. Likewise there: The heart and soul of the multitude of believers was one, and none of them said that anything of what they possessed was his own, but all things were common to them. XXV. THAT ONE MUST ALWAYS PRAY. In Psalm 118: I remembered your name in the night, O Lord, and kept your law. Likewise there:
At midnight I rose to give you thanks for the judgments of your righteousness. Likewise in Psalm 6: Every night I will wash my bed; I will drench my couch with tears. Likewise in Psalm 133: In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless the Lord. Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: Be not hindered from praying always, and be not slack until death to be justified; for the reward of the Lord abides forever. Before prayer prepare your soul, and be not like a man who tempts God. Likewise there: The prayer of the poor man passes swiftly from his mouth up to the clouds, and judgment shall come swiftly to him, and it shall hear his supplication without delay. Likewise there: He will not despise the prayers of the orphan, nor the widow if she pours out her prayer.
Does not the tear run down upon the cheek, while the outcry rises up to heaven, and God who hears takes delight in them? Likewise there: He who pleases the Lord shall be received with delight, and his prayer shall draw near up to the clouds. The prayer of him who humbles himself shall pierce the clouds, and until it draws near it shall not be turned away, nor depart until the Most High looks upon it. Chapter X: Be not hindered from praying always. Likewise chapter X: The prayer of the poor man passes swiftly from his mouth. Likewise chapter XX: He will not despise the prayers of the orphan nor the widow, if she pours out her prayer. Likewise chapter XX: He who worships God shall be received with delight. According to Luke, the Most High. Likewise according to Luke: And Jesus said: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him:
Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within will answer and say: Do not trouble me, for the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you. And if he continues knocking, I say to you, even if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he desires. I say to you: ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Likewise there:
Watch therefore at every time, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of Man. Likewise to the Philippians: The Lord is near; be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer with thanksgiving let your requests be made known before God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every mind, shall guard your hearts and bodies in Christ Jesus. Likewise to the Thessalonians I: Rejoice always in the Lord, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Likewise to the Colossians: Continue in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving. Likewise to Timothy I:
I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dispute. Likewise there: But she who is truly a widow and desolate hopes in God and continues in prayers night and day. XXVI. ON THE WRATH OF GOD AND THE COMING JUDGMENT. In Deuteronomy: For a fire is kindled from my wrath, and it shall burn down to the lowest hell; it devours the earth and its produce, and consumes the foundations of the mountains. Likewise there: Behold, these things are gathered up in my treasuries; in the day of judgment I will repay in due time, when their foot shall have slipped; for the day of their destruction is near, and it shall come, prepared for you; for the Lord will judge his people, and will take comfort in his servants. Likewise there:
And I will render judgment upon my enemies, and requite those who hate me. Likewise in Psalm 7: God is a righteous judge, strong and patient; is he angry every day? Unless you turn, he will brandish his sword; he has bent his bow and made it ready, and in it he has prepared vessels of death; he has fashioned his arrows for the burning. Likewise in Psalm 49: God shall come manifestly, our God, and will not keep silence; fire shall burn in his sight, and round about him a mighty tempest. Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: Howl, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction shall come from God. Likewise there: For behold, the day of the Lord shall come without respite, a day of indignation and wrath, to make the world a desert and to destroy sinners out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the morning star and all the ornament of heaven shall not give their light, and the sun shall be darkened at its rising, and the moon's light shall not endure. And I will lay upon the whole world its evils, and upon the ungodly their sins; and I will destroy the insolence of the wicked, and I will humble the arrogance of the proud. And those who are left shall be more precious than gold, and a man more precious than a stone of sapphire. Likewise there: For behold, the Lord shall come like fire, and his chariots like a tempest, to render vengeance in wrath and the destruction of a flame of fire. For in the fire of the Lord shall all the earth be judged, and by his sword all flesh. Likewise there:
For there shall be a visitation with commotion and thunders and earthquake, with a very loud voice, a tempest sweeping down, and a consuming flame of fire. And the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all its stars shall fall like leaves from a vine and like leaves from a fig tree. For it is the day of the Lord's judgment and the year of recompense. Likewise in the prophet Amos: Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord! And to what end is this day of the Lord for you? It is a day of darkness and not light, as when a man flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him, and he rushes into his house and props his hands against the wall, and a serpent bites him. Is not that day of the Lord darkness and not light, and gloom without brightness? Likewise in the prophet Joel:
Gird yourselves and lament, O priests; wail, you who serve the altar; go in, sleep in sackcloth, you who serve God, for the sacrifice and the drink offering have ceased from the house of your God. Likewise there: Sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord our God, and cry mightily to the Lord: Woe is me, woe is me, woe is me, for the day of the Lord! For the day of the Lord is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and mist. Before his face the earth shall be troubled and the heaven shall be shaken, and the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall fall and shall not give their light.
And the Lord shall utter his voice before the face of his army, for his army is exceedingly great, and mighty are the works of his words; and great is the day of the Lord, great and exceedingly manifest, and who shall be able to endure it? Likewise in the prophet Zephaniah: The voice of the day of the Lord is appointed bitter and hard. That day is a mighty day, a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and extermination, a day of darkness and tempest, a day of cloud and gloom, a day of trumpet and outcry over the fortified cities and over the high corners. Likewise there: And I will pour out their blood like mire, and their flesh like the dung of oxen; and their silver and gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath.