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50. Vilis Deo est mundus, et pretiosæ animæ quas elegit. — Sciendum magnopere est quia tanto unaquaeque anima fit preliosior ante oculos Dei, quanto præ amore veritatis despectior fuerit ante oculos suos. Hinc ad Saul dicitur: Nonne cunt parvulus esses in oculis tuis, caput te constitui in tribubus Israel (I Reg. xv, 17)? Ac si aperte dicerct: Magnus mihi fuisti, quia despectus tibi; sed nunc quia magnus tibi es, factuses despectus mihi. Unde'et per pro. phetam dicitur: Væ qui sapientes estis in oculis vestris, et coram vobismetipsis prudentes (Isai. v, 21). Tanto ergo fit quisque vilior quanto pretiosior sibi; tanto pretiosior Deo, quanto propter eum vilior sibi:
59. 世界在神看為卑賤，但祂所揀選的靈魂卻為寶貴。──尤當知道：每一個靈魂在神眼前愈發寶貴，正因它為愛真理的緣故在自己眼中愈發卑微。故此對掃羅說：「你雖然在自己眼中看為小，豈不是被立為以色列眾支派的元首嗎？」（撒上十五17）彷彿明明地說：你曾在我看為大，因你在自己看為卑微；但如今因你在自己看為大，你便在我看為卑賤了。故此也藉先知說：「禍哉，那些自以為有智慧、自看為通達的人！」（賽五21）故此，人愈在自己看為寶貴，便愈變得卑賤；愈為祂的緣故在自己看為卑賤，便愈在神看為寶貴：
59. The world is worthless to God, but precious are the souls which He has chosen. — It must be known most especially that each soul becomes the more precious before the eyes of God, the more despicable it has been before its own eyes for the love of truth. Hence it is said to Saul: 'When thou wast little in thine own eyes, did I not make thee the head over the tribes of Israel?' (1 Sam. XV, 17). As if He said openly: Thou wast great to me, because despised to thyself; but now, because thou art great to thyself, thou art made despised to me. Whence also it is said through the prophet: 'Woe unto you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight!' (Isa. V, 21). The more, therefore, does each become worthless the more he is precious to himself; and the more precious to God the more worthless to himself for His sake:
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Quia humilia respicit, et alta a longe cognoscit (Psal. CXXXVII 6). [Velt XXIII.] Omne itaque pretiosum vidit oculus ejus. In Scriptura sacra videre Dei, h aliquando pro eligere ponitur, sicut in Evangelio scriptum est: Cum esses sub ficu, vidi te (Joan. I, 48); id est, positum te sub umbra legis elegi. Vidit ergo pretiosum quia humilia elegit: Infirma enim mundi elegit Deus ut confunderet fortia (/ Cor. I, 27). Vidit pretiosum, cum humanam animam de se abjecta sapientem gratiæ suae illustratione respexit. De qua videlicet anima " per prophetam dicitur: Si separaverit pretiosum a vili, quasi os meum eris (Jerem. xv, 19). Vilis quippe Deo est mundus præsens, pretiosa vero ei cst anima humana.
「因為祂顧念卑微的人，卻從遠處認識高傲的人。」（詩一三八6）故此「祂的眼看見各樣寶貴之物。」在聖經中，論到神，「看見」有時是指「揀選」，正如福音所記：「你在無花果樹底下，我就看見你了。」（約一48）意即：我揀選了你，你原是安置在律法的蔭下。故此祂看見寶貴之物，因為祂揀選了卑微的：因為「神揀選了世上軟弱的，叫那強壯的羞愧。」（林前一27）祂看見寶貴之物，就是當祂以恩典的光照，眷顧那對自身以自卑而有智慧的人的靈魂。論到這靈魂，藉先知說：「你若將寶貴的與卑賤的分別出來，就可以當作我的口。」（耶十五19）因為現今的世界在神看為卑賤，但人的靈魂在祂看為寶貴。
'Because He regardeth the lowly, but the high He knoweth from afar' (Ps. CXXXVIII, 6). And so 'His eye saw every precious thing.' In Holy Scripture, to see, in God's case, is sometimes put for to choose, even as it is written in the Gospel: 'When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee' (John I, 48); that is, I chose thee placed under the shadow of the law. He saw therefore the precious thing, because He chose the lowly: for 'God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong' (1 Cor. I, 27). He saw the precious thing, when He regarded the human soul, that was wise concerning itself with self-abasement, with the illumination of His grace. Concerning which soul indeed it is said through the prophet: 'If thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth' (Jer. XV, 19). For the present world is worthless to God, but the human soul is precious to Him.
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Qui ergo pretiosum a viii separat, quasi os Domini vocatur, quia per eum Deus verba sua exerit, qui ab amore praesentis saeculi loquendo b quæ potest, humanam animam evellit. Et quia novi Testamenti doctores ad hoc usque perducti sunt, ut otcultas quoque allegoriarum caligines in veteri Testamento rimentur, recte subditur:
故此凡將寶貴的與卑賤的分別出來的人，就彷彿被稱為主的口，因為神藉他發出祂的話語──這人藉盡其所能的言說，將人的靈魂從對現今世界的愛戀中拔出。又因新約的眾教師已被帶到這地步，甚至要探究舊約中寓意的隱晦幽暗，便恰當地補充說：
Whoever therefore separates the precious from the vile is called as it were the mouth of the Lord, because through him God utters His words, who by speaking what he can, plucks away the human soul from the love of the present world. And because the doctors of the New Testament have been brought even to this, that they should search out also the hidden mists of the allegories in the Old Testament, it is rightly subjoined: