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Joel.3:1–3. For behold, in these days and in the time of this, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, and I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will reason with them about my people and about my inheritance of Israel, who are scattered among the nations: and I have divided my land, and divided the lot among my people, and Dasha gave birth to harlots, and young women sold wine and drink. And after the ten tribes broke away from the kingdom of Rehoboam and separated from it, and all Israel fell apart into Ephraim and Judah, blessed prophets appeared. They talked about what applied to both of them, since their entire prophetic ministry continued until the time of captivity. After their return from it to Jerusalem and their subsequent arrival, Haggai, and Zechariah, and Malachi prophesied against Israel. It seems that Ezra also foreshadowed a little something about the events of that time, and about those that happened in his age. So, the prophetic word being explained does not mention an event that took place during the time of the ancient prophets, but that as soon as Cyrus let Israel go, they returned to Judea. And why this event is worthy of attention and what happened then, we will say about this as far as possible, citing the narrative of Ezra for clarification. So, as soon as the Israelites returned to Judah and rested from the oppression and disasters of slavery, they again turned to their former frivolity and did not prove to be faithful executors and guardians of the institutions of Moses. While the law forbade everyone from having intercourse with the daughters of foreigners, they, neglecting the decree given by God to them, entered into intercourse with foreign women. Greatly upset by this, Ezra tore his clothes, mourned the Israelites and exhorted them to separate themselves from the foreign women. And they, fearing perhaps divine wrath, decided to fulfill this and again set the former as a teacher of what could happen to them if they did not want to honor the law. When many foreign women were expelled and removed from Jerusalem, the neighboring peoples naturally had to become indignant, as if they were extremely offended by this. And moreover, they may have reasoned within themselves as follows. Since they (the Jews) fortified Jerusalem with walls and zealously restored the divine church, their enemies were inflamed with anger by the arrows of envy and tried to prevent this, probably thinking that if Israel again achieves its former power and has fortified cities, which will be assisted by the God of all, since He will be served according to ancient customs in the church, then it will again achieve dominion, it will unbearable for everyone, he will impose taxes on some neighbors and those who would subsequently only decide to resist him, completely subjugate them, devastating their lands. For this reason, they persuaded some to interfere with their work on the church itself and on the walls. When their efforts turned out to be fruitless, because God helped the Israelites in their work, they finally armed themselves and decided to go to war against them. But they were defeated and fell because God helped them (the Israelites). And the meeting of those who decided to do this was in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. This area was located a few stadia from Jerusalem, on the eastern side. They say that this is an open area and convenient for cavalry operations. And that some of the most powerful pagans were unkind to the Israelites who were building the temple, and yet were not at all successful in their plans, Blessed Ezra will say about this, saying: “in the time of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, he wrote down to him those who lived in Judea and Jerusalem: Vilemos, and Mithridates, and Tabellius, and Raphim, and Beeltethem, and Samellius scribe, and other writers who dwell in Samaria and other places" (2 Ezra 2:16). The content of this letter was that Jerusalem is a city with irresistible power, never submits to the kings of other countries, on the contrary, strongly resists them, so that if it achieves its former power, it will subsequently cause a lot of trouble for the leaders of Babylon themselves. But those who wrote such a letter had no success. Some of the inhabitants of Samaria and those who migrated from Babylon suggested that the Jews work and build a church together. But the latter did not want this and for this reason they were subjected to considerable trouble, counteracting the evil intentions of those. In the book of Ezra it is also written (about this) the following: “And having heard the enemies of Judah and Benjamin, how the sons of the inhabitants are building the church of the Lord God of Israel, and they came to Zerubbabel, and to the princes of the fatherland, and said to them: Let us build with you, even as you also seek your God, and to him we have sacrificed since the days of Asaradan the king of Assursk, who brought us this.” Those who were with Zerubbabel said: “It is impossible for us and you to build a house for our God, since we ourselves will especially build for the Lord our God, as Cyrus the king of Persia commanded us. And the people of that land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and I would hinder them in building, and I would hire advisers against them, so that they would destroy their council” (1 Ezra 4:1-5). But although they were malicious, their malicious intent turned out to be in vain. And that after the secret plans finally turned out to be fruitless: all the neighboring nations went (against the Jews) in open war, but were defeated and beaten - you will learn about this from there. In the second book of Ezra he writes: “Now when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammanites heard, the wall of Jerusalem came up and began to stop the clefts, and great evil appeared to them. And they all gathered together, let them come and take up arms against Jerusalem.... And to the Lord our God, he says, we prayed and set guards on the wall opposite them day and night from their presence. And Judas said: The strength of the enemy is weary, and the people are many (Neh. 4:7-10). There is no mention of the valley in these words: but tradition tells us about this. The prophecy is quite reliable and tells us the name of the battle area. Therefore, the one who says that he will gather all nations into the Valley of Jehoshaphat meant, we think, this is precisely the event. Obviously, he will not gather against his will, but he will not prevent those who wish to come. He will go to court with them about Israel and their inheritance, which they divided, stealing perhaps what was left of the Babylonians, attacking them during the disaster and giving the boys to harlots, and offering the young women for terrible debauchery and, as it were, selling them to the debauchery of others, and thereby acquiring money for luxury and drunkenness. Having thought about redemption through Christ, we say that something similar happened to us. We, captives and enslaved by a cruel tyrant, I’m talking about Satan, he freed and raised us, as it were, to the holy land - to the life of the Gospel, to a state acceptable to all, to a fortified city - spiritual Jerusalem, which is the living church of God, making us like precious stones, capable of creation, to the holy church, “a habitation of God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22; cf.: 1 Peter 2:5). But the wicked multitude of demons were inflamed with the sorrows of envy, and moreover, many opponents of the dogmas of truth attacked the saints; but they did not cause them any harm, because God protected them and Christ strengthened them, and said: “You will be in the world of sorrow: but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Jews have an empty and woman's fable that once upon a time in the Valley of Jehoshaphat God will judge everyone after the resurrection of the dead; they think that everyone living in the universe will be punished for what was done against them, the Jews. But this derisory thought will never be fulfilled, because the inspired Scripture says that the prophecy was already fulfilled and the neighboring nations were subjected to righteous punishment from God when the battle took place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. They, as I said, attacked the remains of Israel, which suffered a very great disaster, because they were betrayed to the Babylonians. Joel.3:4–6. And what... me and you 37, Tire and Sidon and all Galilea of ​​foreigners? food retribution do you repay me? or are you being malicious...? 38 I will repay your reward quickly and quickly upon your heads. Thou hast taken my silver and my gold, and ye have brought my chosen and good things into your treasures: and the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem shall ye sell to the sons of the Greeks, that ye may bring me forth from their borders. And so all the nations gathered against Israel, the Moabites, the Edomites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites and others. And the leaders in this plan and enterprise, I think, were the inhabitants of Damascus and the Tyrians, and the so-called Philistines, all the way to Gath, which is also called foreign. Therefore the God of all things says to them: “What are foreigners to me and to you, Tire and Sidon and all Galilee?” What grounds, he says, for cruelty do you wickedly oppress Israel, which is in poverty and has endured great suffering from the Babylonians, viciously attacking it and seeming to laugh at Me, who saves and protects them, and daring not only to speak, but also to act hostilely against Me? Therefore, in a short time you will receive reward; it will come to your head. You will receive vengeance from Me when I go to court with you in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Accuses them of plundering the treasures of the church, plundering the golden vessels and dedicating them to the honor of their gods; and this crime is grave, offensive and quite capable of offending God; for He said: “My glory I will not give to another, lower than my virtues, which are graven images” (Is. 42:8). And truly: to decorate the churches of idols with objects dedicated to God, what else does it mean that the God of all is of secondary importance, and they have superiority over Him and can save their worshipers? And it is not enough, I say, for your wickedness that you deprived My church of objects dedicated to Me; but you gave also the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks. Probably, this was done in such a way that some of the Israelites were taken to the countries of the pagans, who sold them, perhaps the Tyrians, or some other peoples whose occupation was trade, and whose craft was greed. This word, it seems to me, is also applicable to the representatives of wicked heresies, who, as if plundering the sons of the church, sell them to Hellenic wisdom, so that, filled with confused thoughts, they become unhappy seekers of truth, or rather disobedient, criminal perverters of the truth, when they should have lived their lives in accordance with simple teaching and kept the genuine word of truth. So, they reach the point that those they mislead find themselves outside their own limits. The limits and, as it were, the country of the children of the church are the knowledge of the truth and disposition towards everything that has been precisely studied to the point of certainty. In justice, those truly resplendent in faith, gilded with the good glory of works, and shining with the beauty of godliness, may be called the vessels of gold and silver and the chosen treasures of God. But if it happened that one of those so brilliant in virtue was caught in the nets of deception, then the inventors of error would certainly hear: “You have taken my silver and my gold, and my chosen and good one has been brought into your treasury.” This crime is terrible and will not escape punishment; for those who sin against our brothers, for whom Christ died, offend Christ himself, to whom they will certainly give account for their crimes against Him. Joel.3:7–8. And behold, I will bring you out of the place where you will sell there, and I will give your reward upon your heads: and I will give your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and I will be sold into captivity into a land that is far off, for the Lord is the Lord. He says very clearly that the machinations and harsh plans of the Tyrians against the Israelites will remain ineffective, and that, on the contrary, misfortune will befall their offenders and they will be subjected to the same disasters, because the punishment falls on the heads of those who committed lawlessness in full accordance with their guilt. Just as they took the children of Judah and gave them to slave traders, ordering them to be taken to a distant country, so, he says, their children will also be sold by the hand of Judah. And that this will certainly come true, he confirms this by saying: “for he is the Lord of the verb”; and what God says will never remain in vain. That is why Christ said: “My words do not pass by” (Matthew 24:35). This is the historical meaning of the words being explained. If anyone decides to delve into the spiritual meaning and be saturated with hidden thoughts, let him think about the fact that both the children of the Hellenics, puffed up by imaginary wisdom, and the heretics, imagining that they are achieving something for themselves with the cunning inventions of lies, are removing some of the simplest from the right and immaculate faith that they had in God, and, as if covering them with nets of deception and subjecting them to the fate of prisoners of war, take them very far from the limits of truth. But the Lord of all makes their deception fruitless and frees those who were deceived, and brings the children of those who were led astray through science to the Jews. By these we can mean the divine disciples themselves, and those who speak about the mystery of Christ. Freeing those from error, they return them to a beautiful and longed-for slavery, that is, slavery to Christ, and they are kidnapped, as it were, captives, resettling them in their own mood of feelings and thoughts, which is very far from the mood of those. There is truly a great distance between the disposition of the saints and the disposition of those. It is also said about Christ that He leads those converted from Hellenic error to the knowledge of the true God as if they were captives; for David said: “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast taken captivity captive: thou hast received the giving of men” (Ps. 67:19). Joel.3:9–12. Preach this to the nations, sanctify the army, raise up the troops, bring and ascend, all the men of the army. Cut your crops into swords and your sickles into copies: let the weak say: as I am able. Copulate and enter all the nations around, and gather together: let the meek be brave; let all the nations arise and go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations that are around. Having threatened the pagan peoples with well-deserved disasters and retribution for their wicked deeds, He turns his speech to His own admirers, whom he does not allow to be fearful and timid, on the contrary, he commands them to be bold, and, as it were, to give out powerful orders, and to gather peoples for battle, and to try to excite them to this, even though they may have preferred calm and were disposed to a non-military life. And this was the work of the One who makes people brave and inspires them to trust in Him that, with His protection, they will defeat their enemies. So, “this,” he says, “preach to the nations and sanctify the army.” The expression “sanctify” again means: consecrate to Me in some way: for I will be a warrior and what is done will serve for My glory: those who gave My glory to trees and stones will die. However, everything about which the word “sanctification” is used is always brought to the glory of God. Therefore, he says: “sanctify the army, raise up the sechtsy”; and also adds and says: “bring... all the men of the army.” Let the farmer leave the worries and occupations that are most dear to him: let him forge the plow into a sword, and the sickle into spears; for now is the time not to engage in agriculture, but to take vengeance for the dishonor done to God. And if someone is powerless, he says, then let him not make an excuse under the pretext of his powerlessness; if you like, let him even tell a lie and say that he is strong, but let him not move away from weapons. So, he says, gather together all those who are around Judea, let the meek one be warlike, that is, even if one were not angry, let him be warlike. And since no one is left without protection, let everyone say the same, even if he were a farmer, even if he was timid and cowardly (for this is what the word “weak” means), even if he was meek and not war-loving; let everyone stir up himself to battle: for I will not turn away from anyone; I will judge everyone in the valley of Jehoshaphat. The expression “I will judge” means that I will be a powerful judge, inflicting punishment and retribution on those who plundered My land and divided Israel by lot, who gave boys to harlots and bought girls and drank them like wine. The Lord will again say the same thing to the enemies of the church, who are rebelling against the saints, arming themselves against them with all their multitude and all their might. They will all fall, because He protects them, and overthrows them, protecting His fans with faith, hope and love, and the gifts of His goodness. Joel.3:13–16. Release the sickles, as if the grapes are about to be embraced; enter, trample, as the winepress is full, the undercutters pour out, as if their malice has multiplied. A voice was heard in the valley of judgment, as if the day of the Lord was near in the valley of judgment. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will hide their light. The Lord will call from Zion and give his voice from Jerusalem: and heaven and earth will shake. He commanded, as if with the help of a trumpet, to gather into the Valley of Jehoshaphat the peoples neighboring the land of Judah, I say, the Arabs and the Tyrians, the Hittites and the Philistines, and the Moabites, and the Edomites, the Ammonites and the Girgashites, as if immediately destined to die and be subjected to strict liability before the judge. Now he excites the Israelites to some irresistible swiftness and unshakable courage and, as it were, encourages them to attack those gathered; and he says that this should also be done by those who are afraid of the horrors of war and do not go to battle at all, on the contrary, they attach great importance to a pampered life, and put it in joy, and rejoice like those who make an abundant grape harvest. That is why he says: “Release the sickles, as the grapes are about to be embraced” (he used “release” instead of “stretch out,” as those who pick grapes usually do); for they will be fully prepared for destruction and beheading; let, he says, the enemy be cut off like a bunch of grapes; let him, being in multitude underfoot, be trampled in the winepress; “Take in,” he says, “tread on as the winepress,” that is, many nations are gathered for destruction and there is no obstacle for them to be under your feet. “The sinkholes are pouring out” - this serves as an indication of the multitude of nations gathered for destruction; for due to the abundance of grapes, wine often overflows from the very winepresses. So, with the words: “the undercurrents are pouring out” indicates the multitude lying under our feet. “Voices proclaimed in the court of justice.” What is it? As a rule, holy prophets foretell the future and contemplate events that have no time to take place, so that it seems that they are already seeing events and hearing voices. Since Nebuchadnezzar, who entered the battle, had to carry out the destruction, and Jeremiah was, as it were, transported in spirit to the contemplation of the terrible spectacle of war and saw countless numbers of dead, he said: “Woe is me, for my soul disappears over those who are slain” (Jer. 4:31). Something similar, I think, Joel experienced and, perhaps, perceived with his ears the noise that occurs in war; That’s why he says: “say what was said in court.” He calls the place of battle a judicial field, because the peoples were gathered there for no other purpose than to receive cruel punishment. He says that voices are heard and the screams of those falling are heard here; for during a battle it happens that the conquered utter groans, and the victors utter cries of triumph over the vanquished and magnify themselves very much over them. “The sun and the moon,” he says, “will darken,” and the very stars will lose their shine, not because then the elements themselves will be subject to this, but because, as it were, war will produce darkness and, as it were, bring darkness into the eyes of the vanquished; for the fear of death always causes darkness, and the weight of an unexpected disaster weakens the mind and darkens the soul, like the sun in those who are subjected to immeasurable suffering. He says that the Lord will call, as if present here and fighting with them, and like a military leader, rousing the Israelites to attack their enemies. But it is especially fitting to say that during the general resurrection the Lord will call, as if from Zion, because, as Paul says, “the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and will rise incorruptible in Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16) This was also foreshadowed by the law of Moses, for it commanded the Israelites to sound a trumpet in the new moon; and in the new moon one can see a very clear image of the coming century and the new one following the first. The trumpet is a sign of the all-pervading sound of the archangel's trumpet and the trumpet sent from God, which excites all those lying in the earth and sounds unusually loud. You need to know that the Lord Himself, performing a miracle over Lazarus, entered the tomb and, as the Evangelist narrates, “crying with a great voice: Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43), although He says through the prophet: He will not resist, “he will not cry,... below his voice will be heard outside” (Is. 42:2). So, the fact that the Savior raised Lazarus from the dead with a loud voice serves, I say, as a sign of the trumpet being heard everywhere and the sound from it reaching to the ends of the earth and coming from heaven. Joel.3:16–17. The Lord will spare His people, and the children of Israel will hear. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion in my holy mountain, and Jerusalem will be holy, and foreign women will not pass through it. When the Israelites were guilty of the crimes of treason against God and worshiped golden heifers, and wickedly said: “These are your gods to Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4); Then they were very weak and easily defeated and represented very easy prey for enemies. That is why they were taken into captivity. But after they were pardoned and settled in their land, because God stopped His wrath against them, they became invincible and invincible to their enemies, easily defeating them, although all nations gathered to fight against them. So, he says, from the fact that they defeated their enemies, they should know that He is among them and finally settles in Zion as a holy city. Therefore, he says that he will spare his people and make them very strong, and they will be convinced that He is with them. He says that “Jerusalem will be holy” and will completely reject ancient atheism, because there will no longer be false prophecy and magic among it, on the contrary, life in accordance with the law will dominate, and the best activities will be favored among them. When he (Zion) is in such a state and leads such a way of life, then, he says, none of the enemies will pass through him; it will not be accessible to anyone and will not be subject to plunder from those passing through it, as was the case before; on the contrary, it will be completely safe and will be very tightly fenced, like a wall, with My strength and help. It would be fair for the Church of Christ itself to understand this; for He cares for His worshipers and makes them conquerors of their enemies, strong and strong, filled with spiritual strength, knowing and believing that God dwells in them through the Spirit: He dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17); and the Evangelist John says: “of this we understand... that this is in us... from the Spirit, which he has given us to eat” (1 John 4:13) 39. Truly holy is spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the church, the ranks of saints; it does not serve as a passage for foreigners, because “they are the same as Christ, they have crucified the flesh” (Gal. 5:24). I also remember the words of one sage who says: “If the possessing spirit comes upon you, do not leave your place: for healing will assuage great sins” (Eccl. 10:4). They have an unshakable heart, inaccessible to either foot or horse attacks of unclean spirits; on the contrary, it is firm and firmly protected by the dogmas of truth. Joel.3:18. And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall dry up the sweetness, and the hills shall pour out milk, and all the springs of Judah shall flow forth water: and a fountain shall issue forth from the house of the Lord, and shall water the streams of the city. When holy Jerusalem is restored and becomes inaccessible to foreigners due to the fact that the Lord of all has settled in it, had mercy on His people, strengthened them and made them conqueror of their opponents; then “the mountains will pour out their sweetness, and the hills will flow forth milk, and the springs of Judah” will yield their own water. Sources, I think, are the sources of streams or, of course, water pipelines constructed in some other way. By mountains can be meant those who have reached the heights of virtue and surpassed others in the glory of a virtuous life, known and glorious to everyone, as were the disciples and, especially before others, the Baptist, about whom the Savior says: “I did not rise... the pain of John” (Matthew 11:11). And so these great and very glorious men exude sweetness and, as if with honey, sweeten the word about the Savior, so that everyone who hears it will exclaim from excessive joy: “How sweet is your word to my throat” (Ps. 119:103) and further; for the word of the saints is always sweet to those who love to please God. So, in all fairness, mountains can be understood to mean these very people. By hills we mean those who are not much inferior to the superiority of the first and stand much higher than other people. Such people pour out “verbal and unflattering milk” (1 Pet. 2:2) to the souls of those who have just believed, providing them with food typical of newborn babies; for “solid food is for those who are perfect,” but milk is most suitable for infants (Heb. 5:12–14). But we do not mean by this that only in their ability to impart milk to babies lies the measure of their strength; for they have sufficient strength, so that if they wanted, they could give more solid food to those who are stronger in their internal disposition, guided by the words: “Be wise to the souls of your flock” (Proverbs 27:23). Therefore, the divine disciples, despite the fact that Christ gave us an innumerable number of commandments, prudently command those who believed among the pagans to abstain from fornication, strangulation and blood: “For it pleased the Holy Spirit and us,” he says, “to lay upon you no greater burdens” (Acts 15:28). Do you not hear how this commandment corresponds to infancy, and how what is communicated to the weaker in its internal properties is, as it were, like milk? And that spiritual water is abundant among “those planted in the house of the Lord,” so that those watered by divine streams and watered by the highest and heavenly teaching “in the courts of God” may flourish (Ps. 91:14); indicates this by saying: all “the springs of Judah will flow out water”; for the divine disciples also confessed that they were called from God. But the very first sources of spiritual waters were, of course, the donations of blessings to the saints from God through the Spirit. And as if their words to us turned out to be second sources of water, filling us with spiritual gifts. Who else can be the source flowing out of the house of the Lord but Christ? This is what the Psalmist called Him, saying to the heavenly Father and God: “I will give you to drink the stream of your sweetness: as you have a fountain of life” (Ps. 35:9-10). So Christ is the stream and source of life. The prophet mentions a stream of rushworts, some kind of flow in which many rushweeds grew up. They say that this is the same stream of cedar in which, as the Evangelist says, the Lord was forcibly taken when the traitor disciple was looking for Him along with a detachment of soldiers (John 18). There will be nothing indecent if we liken the Church to a stream of rushwood, into which our Lord flows like a river of peace, which He always flows around, as it were, watering the evergreen rushweeds, that is, the souls of the saints; for the rush plant is a plant that always loves water and is always green. And even if it were cut, it would still be in good condition. Likewise, the virtue of saints is not completely free from suffering, for although they are very meek adherents of virtue, they are also warlike. Joel.3:19–21. Egypt will be destroyed, and Idumea will be in the field of destruction because of the bitterness of the sons of Judah, having shed righteous blood on their lands: Judea will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations. And I will require their blood and will not put them to shame: and the Lord will dwell in Zion. As for the historical meaning of these words, Egypt was indeed punished; for he lost his kingdom when Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, destroyed it, and Idumea was devastated, as the state of affairs itself testifies to this. However, in these words the prophetic speech seems to point us to the secret confession that the Only Begotten brought into fulfillment when he became a man. Holy Scripture usually likens hordes of demons and constant opponents of saints to inveterate idolaters and very strongly inclined towards idolatry. So, he says, everything hostile will perish, like the Egyptians and Edomites; for the promise of Christ is unshakable, Who says about the church that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And that the evil forces are subject to punishment for their crimes against people and all who dare to do such things, either by distracting someone through Hellenic error, or by drawing “into an unskilled mind” (Rom. 1:28) the teaching to indulge in all sorts of perversions, this is clearly indicated by saying that as a result of this those who fought against Zion will perish, “having shed righteous blood”, causing unbearable insults the sons of Judah, that is, the saints, the children of the confession; for Jude means confession. And God-inspired David nowhere speaks of those unjustly killed: “For I will remember their blood” (Ps. 9:13). And to Satan, depicted in the form of Assur, he says: “Just as a robe soaked in blood will not be clean, so you will not be clean: you have destroyed my land and you have beaten my people: you will not endure forever” (Is. 14:20). So, the enemies of Zion, he says, will undergo destruction, “But Judea will be inhabited forever,” and Jerusalem throughout all generations, not the one that was devastated and burned (for the Lord and God, being the truth, cannot speak untruth), but the spiritual, heavenly, highest Jerusalem, and the divine Zion, the glorious and beautiful city, whose artist and creator and builder is God, and into which may it be possible for us to enter through Christ. Slav: “Are you bitterly angry at me?” Slav.: “For he has given us food from His Spirit.” You might be interested in: