Книга 15 [главы 20–21]

Which gives a brief explanation of the twentieth and twenty-first chapters of the book of Job. The fact that the friends of blessed Job were not bad people is evidenced by the words of Zophar the Naamite, who, having heard from his lips terrible words about the coming Judgment, adds directly: Verse 1. Therefore my thoughts change one after another, and my mind runs in different directions (Job 20:2) 700. 1. It is as if he were saying in simple words: “Because I see the horror of the last Judgment, I am confused in a state of fear due to the excitement of my thoughts. And the more the mind expands into the breadth of thought, the more it sees how terrible what threatens us is.” And the mind runs in different directions when, preoccupied with anxiety, it weighs actions and evaluates, at one time, the evil that he has done, and at another time the good that he has not done, and all the deeds that should be punished that he has committed, and the habits of truth, which, as he sees, he does not have. But although the friends of blessed Job, taught by the example of his life, knew how to live righteously, yet, being ignorant of God's decisions, they did not consider it possible that any of the righteous could be subject to troubles here below. And therefore they imagined that the holy man whom they saw scourged was wicked, and from this suspicion they began to scold him, yet they endeavored to maintain a kind of respect for him. Therefore Zophar adds in his words: Verse 3. The lesson with which you rebuke me, I hear; and the spirit of my understanding will answer me (Job 20:3) 701. 2. It is as if he were saying in simple words: “I indeed hear your words, but whether they were correct, I consider in the spirit of my understanding.” For they, who ignore the words of the teacher, use his teaching not to help, not to follow his words, but to stir up discord and the opportunity to criticize what they have heard. If up to this time he had spoken with some restraint, now he expresses open abuse against the blessed man when he adds: Verse 4, 5. I know that from eternity, since man was placed on the earth, the joy of the wicked is short-lived, and the joy of the hypocrite is like a point (Job 20:4-5) 702. 3. Now it is clearly seen that, being inflated with the spirit of his understanding, he perverts the sentences that he pronounces against the wicked, addressing them to the reproof of blessed Job. For in him, in whom he at first saw only righteous ways, and then saw him suffering in punishments, he believes that all he saw was hypocrisy, for he does not believe in the possibility of a righteous servant being subject to disasters by the decision of a just God. But the same phrases that are correct, but pronounced in the wrong direction, let us still consider, weighing them sincerely and carefully in the mind; and though nothing he says is true against blessed Job, let us consider how true the things he says would be if he had spoken them to the wicked. I know that from eternity, since man was placed on earth, the joy of the wicked is short-lived. When going to talk about the short duration of present life, he transfers his inner vision to the beginning in order to gather from the past an understanding of how insignificant all the things that were, even if they seemed something significant. For if we carry the eyes of our imagination from the very beginning of the human race to the present time in which we now find ourselves, we see how short-lived all things have been, which by their nature are coming to an end. Let us imagine a man who lived from the first day of the creation of the world until this day, but on this day he ends the life that he seemed to continue for such an endlessly long time, and now the end has come to him, and all things have already become nothing for him, because every thing has passed for him. For the future in this world is still nothing, and no matter how long life lasts, all the same, only a moment, or a very short particle of time, remains for our life. And then, even the longest time that lasted between the beginning and the end, if it was in vain, in fact, as if it did not exist at all, and how then does it, that lasted a long time, differ from short-termism? 4. Because evil hearts are focused on this life, they naturally position themselves in it to seek and win applause. They are raised by the flattery of their lips, having no desire to be good, but only to be called that way. In praise they think of a long life span, and they receive it, but they realize that these were brief moments when they lose it. Therefore, he spoke well against wicked people: I know that from eternity, since man was placed on earth, the joy of the wicked is short-lived; and correctly added: and the joy of a hypocrite is like a period. It often happens that while the hypocrite appears to be holy, allowing himself to be unholy without fear, he is held in high esteem by men, and holiness is conferred on his words by those who can only look at the outward, but have not the eye to look into the depths of things. Therefore it happens that he triumphs when he receives the first place, becomes overjoyed when he receives the status of the first teacher, is filled with pride at receiving an invitation from the first persons, placed in a respectful place by his followers, falling in the pride of his heart and seeing those dependent on him. It is said about such in the voice of the Truth Itself: But still they do their deeds so that people can see them: they enlarge their storehouses and increase the cost of their garments, and they love the main places at feasts and the first places in the synagogues and greetings in public assemblies, and so that people shout to them: rabbi, rabbi (Matthew 23: 5-7) 703. But all this joy they have, what is it compared to eternity, what will happen when death comes to them and they perish as if they had never existed? For the joy of the fun will all go away, but the punishment will remain, for the thing is lost, but the guilt remains. And it is well said: The joy of a hypocrite is like a point. For at a point there is no extension, there is nothing that can be extended into a line and be described. So, the joy of a hypocrite is like a point because it appears for a moment and goes away forever; and just as a point is made instantly with one touch, so the hypocrite touches the joys of earthly life for just one moment. Regarding which he also added: Verse 6, 7. Although his pride grows to the heavens, and his head touches the clouds: nevertheless, he will perish in the end as in dung (Job.20:6-7) 704. 5. The pride of a hypocrite, as it is said, “grows to the heavens,” when his arrogance has the appearance of leading a heavenly life; and his “head touches the clouds” when his main quality, i.e. his learning is considered equal in merit to the saints who have gone before. However, he will perish in the end, as in dung, because in his death, when he falls into torment, being filled with the dung of evil habits, he will be trampled underfoot by evil spirits. For the joys of this life, which the unrighteous consider a great blessing, look like dung to the righteous. Therefore it is written: The sluggard is stoned with stones made of ox dung (Sir.22:2) 705. For he who does not seek God becomes lazy for the love of eternal life. And, as often as he is stricken with the loss of temporal things, he is certainly troubled by these things, which the righteous see as "dung": and what happens to him when he is bruised with earthly losses, if not that he is "stoned with stones of ox-dung"? And the hypocrite is rightly described as being in dung because, striving to gain temporary glory, at one time in the imagination of his heart he swells in himself, at another time he regrets that he does not have the glory of some, and laughs at others who actually have it. And with all the bad qualities that he is full of in his chest, as it is, he is defiled like dung in the eyes of the Eternal Judge. Therefore it may be said of him: Although his pride grows to the heavens, and his head touches the clouds: nevertheless, he will perish in the end, as in dung. For although he pretends to lead a heavenly life, and although he shows that his view of the truth is in accordance with the words of true preachers, yet he will perish in the end as in dung, because his soul is cursed for the stench of its evil qualities. And then it continues: They who saw him will say: where is he? ( Job 20:7 ) 706 . 6. As a rule, it happens that the life of a hypocrite, in addition to the fact that in the end it is discovered by everyone that it is cursed, even in real life has clear signs of what it really is. Because they saw him rise at the present time, they talk about him when he dies, where is he? For he is not visible here, where he was at the height of rapture, but neither is he visible in eternity, in which he was supposed to be. Regarding the short duration of such a life, he further adds: Verse 8. He must fly away like a dream, and not be found: yea, he must be cast out like a vision in the night ( Job 20:8 ) 707 . 7. What else is the life of a hypocrite if not a vision, a phantom that appears as something similar to something that is not in reality? Therefore, it is also rightly compared to a “dream”, since all the praise and glory, as it were, leaves it along with life. For often in dreams, in visions of the night, some who are poor are full of wonder, dreaming that they have become rich, they see the honors awarded to them, and here before them are heaps of wealth, many servants, the most beautiful clothes, an abundance of food that belongs to them. They are glad that they have escaped from the poverty they bore in despair of spirit; but suddenly, when they wake up, they find how false all these joys they felt were, and they are sad that they woke up, that reality kept them awake. Thus the minds of hypocrites, while what they do is one thing and what they show people is another, win applause by pretending to lead a holy life; in the estimation of people they are placed ahead of many who are better, and although they are proud of the secret thought within, they show themselves outwardly modest. And while they receive an excessively high estimate of men, they imagine that in the eyes of God they are also such as they appear to their neighbors. Because they suppose that they will also receive the rewards of eternal life, and those who have merited here below the praise of their fellow men do not doubt even for a moment that they will rest there; but in the midst of that secret hour, while they have closed the eyes of the flesh, they open the eyes of the spirit, and as soon as they receive there eternal punishment, they there see that they were rich in virtue only in a dream. Well, this is said about such a hypocrite: yes, he should be cast out like a vision of the night. For he sees himself for a short moment as a man rich in virtues, but in reality this is a vision, a phantom, and not an existing virtue. For when his soul awakens, released by the flesh, he learns, undoubtedly, that he was sleeping, and the worship of people was a dream. And then it continues: Verse 9. The eye that saw him will now see him no more: neither will he see him any more in his place ( Job 20:9 ) 708 . 8. What is the “place” of a hypocrite if not the hearts of his flatterers? For he rests where he finds admiration for himself. Therefore, “the eye that saw him will now see him no more,” because, having retired into death, he is hidden from his stupid admirers, who used to contemplate him, admiring him. And he will not consider him any more in his place, because the tongues of his flatterers do not follow him with their assessments when he comes to the Judgment. Nevertheless, as long as he lives he never ceases to teach his followers what he himself does; and because of his wicked error, others who imitate him also follow this false behavior that he shows in front. Regarding which he rightly added in this place: Verse 10. His children must perish in want (Job 20:10) 709. 9 . For it is written: wisdom will not enter into an evil soul (Wisdom 1:4) 710; and the psalmist declared: the rich lacked and were hungry (Ps. 33:10) 711. For, if external need and hunger are spoken of, then, of course, this is said of the rich, who are constantly in need of the bread of the body. But because while they grow externally, they increase the emptiness within, they are described as rich and poor at the same time, because they never take the trouble to fill themselves with the bread of wisdom. And therefore the children of this hypocrite will “disappear in want” because they, who are born in the hypocrisy of his words, while they do not have the content of truth, disappear in the poverty of the heart. And his hands will repay him for his grief (Job 20:10) 712. 10. What is meant by “hands” if you didn’t give it? Thus, “hands will repay him with grief,” because he will only reap condemnation for the lawless course of his life. Therefore, he said well, they will not “give”, but “will repay”, because his evil deeds must repay him with eternal punishment, as a kind of repayment of a debt. But before he faces eternal punishment, let him add a fuller description of how he manifests himself here. His bones are filled with the sins of his youth, and I will sleep with him in the dust (Job 20:11) 713. 11. A bad beginning, if succumbed to, further multiplies the causes of sin. For when a person began to do evil, out of habit he now grows in the evil that he began. What then is the “youth” of this hypocrite if not the beginning of evil, since young passion, having begun, continues to flare up more and more? And the hypocrite, during his youth, begins to gravitate towards the passion of glory. And while the soft sweet speeches of the flatterers increase it, they give strength to this passion, and, as it were, turn it into bones. For the bad thing he begins, he daily strengthens with habit in an even worse state. Therefore, it must be said: His bones are filled with the sins of youth, because the rigid habits of evil practices are rooted in him from the sin of a diseased beginning. Hence it is written in Proverbs: Instruct a young man at the beginning of his path: he will not turn away from it when he is old (Prov. 22:6) 714, and these same “bones” will indeed “sleep with him in the dust,” for the habituation to evil practices in him will last until they drag him into the dust of death. So his “bones,” or evil habits, will “sleep with him in the dust,” because they will not leave him even to the very dust, that is, sin will not let him go until his death. Therefore, bad habits that once started are retained in him, and become more rigid every day. And they “sleep with him in the dust” because they will only end with his life. But this can be understood in another sense too. 12. For the hypocrite sometimes actually has something good and strong in his deeds, but while he is sure that he has many good traits which he actually does not have, he loses even those that he does have. Therefore it is also well said: His bones are filled with the sins of his youth. For, while in his frivolity and inconstancy, he does many things like a foolish youth, and therefore even in the strong traits that he could do, he faints in sin. These same bones will sleep with him in the dust because because of his hypocrisy, which he carries in the dust, and of which there is too much in him, even his strengths are deprived of all their strength, and because of ostentatious imaginary virtue, he loses even those real virtues that may have been in him. So, the bones will sleep with him in the dust because, even if there is something good in him, it comes to naught along with his evil deeds. And then it continues: Verse 12. For when evil is sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue (Job 20:12) 715. 13. Evil is sweet in the mouth of a hypocrite because evil tastes sweet to his thoughts. For the “mouth” of the heart is the thought about which it is written: Evil lips speak evil in a double-faced heart (Ps. 11:3) 716. Now the evil, which is thus sweet in the mouth of the hypocrite, is hidden under the tongue, for this harshness of evil is, as it were, hidden from view, hidden under the cover of the soft tissue of the tongue. For evil will be on the tongue, and not under it, if the hypocrite, while speaking, reveals the deceit of his deceitful heart. It often happens among the righteous that when they see anyone doing badly, who deserves strict reprimand, they put harshness on the tongue, but under the tongue they put the kindness of their feelings (this is why it is also said to the Holy Church in the voice of the Bridegroom: Honey and milk are under your tongue (Song. 4:11) 717, for they shy away from revealing the sweetness of their inner feelings to the weak, and therefore, speaking, they strike them with severity, and yet among their own harsh words secretly, as it were, drop drops of sweetness, and these people have sweetness not on the tongue, but under the tongue, for among the hard words that they utter, they say some that are sweet and soft, as a result of which the injured mind can be converted and renewed with kindness). With the wicked, on the contrary, they hold evil not on their tongues, but under their tongues, and in their words their mouths speak sweet things, but in the thoughts of their hearts they dream up evil. Therefore, Joab took Amasa's beard with his right hand, and at the same time secretly put his left hand on the sword, and ripped open his stomach and released his entrails (2 Sam. 20:9) 718, but at the same time held his beard with his right hand, supposedly to caress it, as if in kindness. But at the same time, his left hand was ready to secretly strike with his sword in anger. From here it is also written: Under his tongue is evil and pain (Ps. 9:28) 719, for he does not openly show the evil that he is plotting, does not put forward evil and pain on his tongue against those whose destruction he sets as his goal, but keeps them under his tongue. And further rightly it is added about this hypocrite: Verse 13. He will keep him, and will not cast him away, but will hold him in his throat ( Job 20:13 ) 720 . 14. For the evil that he enjoys, he will retain, because he does not kill it in himself by practicing repentance. Therefore it is also added: and will not abandon him. For if he had the mind to “throw away” it, he would not “keep” this evil, but would pursue it within himself with all care. Now he will keep it in his throat, because he keeps it so secret in his thoughts that he never utters it in speech. And then it continues: Verse 14. His bread in his belly will turn into the gall of asps within him (Job 20:14) 721. 15. For bread in the belly is the fullness of earthly pleasures. So, let the hypocrite now be completely filled with the praises given to him, let him revel in exclusivity, “His bread in his belly will turn into the gall of asps,” because the fullness of transitory pleasure, in the final retribution, will turn into bitterness, and what here deserved the praise of greatness was “the gall of asps,” that is, the urge of evil spirits. For the wicked, infected with the poison of the old serpent, when they are brought to the place of eternal flame, they will be tormented along with this prompter. So this “bread” has one taste in the mouth and another in the stomach, because the joy of temporary pleasures is sweet while it is chewed with the teeth, but turns out to be bitter in the stomach, because when the joy passes, he swallows it to his destruction. 16. Moreover, bread can also truly be understood as a designation of the Holy Scriptures, which nourishes the mind and instructs it in righteous deeds. And a hypocrite, as a rule, sets himself the goal of studying the Holy Scripture well, but not in order to live according to It, but in order to appear to the rest of the world as knowledgeable and learned. And so, his “bread in his belly will turn into the gall of asps,” because, while he boasts a knowledge of the Sacred Law, he turns the draft of life into a cup of poison in himself, and dies in a state of condemnation because of what should have given him the way to life. And often he misunderstands his bread, for while the hypocrite sometimes tries to apply the word of doctrine to himself, being blinded by God's Decision, he misunderstands the word which he seeks to comprehend, being in the wrong spirit. And then he falls into a heretical error, and this is his fate, for, as in the “bile of asps,” so the unfortunate scoundrel perishes from “bread,” and in his self-teaching he finds death, because in the words of life he did not see life. But it often happens that the sentences of divine warning, because the hypocrite neglects to observe them in practice, even if they are understood by him, will still be lost to him in the course of his present life, so that the knowledge that he had, but which he neglected to use in practice, may be taken away from him. Therefore it is added: Verse 15. The riches that he swallowed he will vomit, and God will drive them out of his belly (Job 20:15) 722. 17. The hypocrite wants to know the revelations of God, but does not put them into practice. He will talk smart, but not live like that. For the reason that he does not do what he knows, he loses what he knows; and this is merciful, for he does not unite pure practice with his knowledge, and by abandoning the purity of right practice, he loses knowledge also. Therefore, the “Riches of the Holy Scriptures” that he “swallowed” in reading, he will vomit in oblivion, and God will “drive them out of the womb” because he will not observe them in practice according to the righteous decision that He made, that then he will not be able to keep the commandments of God even on the tongue, one who did not try to embody them in his life. Therefore the prophet said, but to the sinner God says: why do you declare My statutes, and take My covenants in your mouth (Ps. 49:16) 723. For these words of teaching, even if it suddenly happens that a hypocrite keeps them in his mouth to the end, he will be condemned more than a bad person who was deprived of such a gift from God. For it is written: For those who remember His commandments, to do them (Ps. 103:18) 724. Therefore, he who keeps His commandments in mind, but never fulfills them, is condemned by these same words of teaching. 18. For what does it mean that it is written in Zechariah: What do you see, Zechariah? And I answered, I see a scroll flying; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth is ten cubits. He told me; This is a curse coming upon the face of the whole earth. For all who steal must be judged, as it is written on this side (Zechariah 5:2–3) 725. For what does a “flying scroll” mean, if not Holy Scripture, which, while telling us about heavenly things, raises the inclinations of the mind to things high; for when we look at something above us, we leave unattended, that is, without desire, things below. And it is described as having a "breadth of ten cubits" and a "length of twenty cubits" because the breadth of our practice is single, and the length of the expectation of hope is doubled, since in response to our good works we receive peace of mind here, and eternal joys there, as the Truth testifies, Which says: And everyone who leaves houses or lands will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29) 726. For one hundred is obtained from the number ten multiplied ten times. Thus, he receives a hundredfold, the one who has given everything, for the simple improvement of his mind, because he no longer strives to possess a single thing in this world. And in this case, since we receive a double measure by giving one, the scroll is rightly described as having twenty cubits in length, and ten in width. But since these sacred sayings are pronounced to the eternal condemnation of those who either do not want to know them, or, being a scientist and having become acquainted with them, brought them to nothing in their deeds, he correctly said about this scroll: This is a curse that comes on the face of the whole earth. And because it is called a curse, it is further added: For all who steal must be condemned, as it is written on this side. Therefore the hypocrite, because he does not care to live according to the commandments which he knows, and seeks golden praise for his learning, will be “condemned” as a thief, since by speaking only words, he usurps praise for himself only from men and only in this life. Regarding which it is even further rightly added: Verse 16. He sucks out the poison of asps, the tongue of the adder kills him (Job 20:16) 727. 19. The asp is a small snake, but the “viper” has a large body length. And the asp lays eggs, their young hatch from the eggs. But vipers give birth, their young "consuming their wombs" and being born from their bellies through a kind of violence. That is why the name “viper” (viper) comes from the word parent (vi parit). And very often the birth of cubs ends in the death of the mother. What, then, do adders mean, if not the hidden suggestions of unclean spirits who first steal the hearts of people with small incentives to evil, and what does the “tongue of the viper” mean, if not following the violent temptations of the devil? For at first he steals hearts gently, but after that he drags them away as if by force. And therefore he “sucks out the poison of the asps,” because first a small secret suggestion is made in the heart, but “the tongue of the viper will kill him,” because after this the captive soul is killed by the poison of violent temptations. In the first case, unclean spirits speak into the heart of a person with cunning advice, and they, while they persuade with meekness, pour in the poison of asps. Therefore it is written: They beat the eggs of asps and weave cobwebs; whoever eats their eggs dies, and from the broken ones a basilisk will hatch (Is. 59:5) 728. “Breaking the eggs of asps” in relation to evil people is to reveal through evil deeds the plans of the evil spirits that are hiding in their hearts. In addition, to “weave a web” in relation to the desires of this world means to engage in any temporary activities. Such activities, which are not solid and like a cobweb, are carried away by the wind of earthly life. And it is well added that whoever eats their eggs dies. For the one who recognizes the plans of unclean spirits kills the life of his soul in himself. And “a basilisk will hatch from broken eggs” because the proposals of evil spirits that cover the heart are fed to complete lawlessness. For the basilisk means the king of serpents, and who is the head of the sons of destruction if not the Antichrist? And a basilisk will hatch from the broken eggs because it retains the will to feed them with its life, becoming a member of the evil head and growing into the body of the Antichrist. Therefore, about the hypocrite he said: He sucks out the poison of asps, the tongue of the viper will kill him, for at first he joyfully welcomes the gentle obsession of our old enemy, and after that he indulges without resistance to his violent temptations. Therefore, even in Paradise, when a person was standing, the enemy first brought a soft proposal in words, but he, whom he had once seduced with praise in order to obtain consent, now, as if by force, forces to obey even those who resist him, and, winning him with the pleasures of perishable existence, kills him through violence. But, in addition, we can understand the meaning of these sentences also vice versa, interpreting them differently. For the “asp” kills quickly with its poison, but the “viper” kills more slowly, and “asp” can denote a strong and immediate temptation, and “viper” - a mild but lasting one. And, therefore, one death comes from the venom of the asp, because a sudden temptation often, as soon as it arises, kills the soul left unguarded, but a soft temptation stretched out over time kills slowly, just as a viper does with its sting, because it softly offers evil things. And because every hypocrite, pierced by the temptations of evil spirits, like the poison of serpents, does not know the gifts from above from the Holy Spirit, while he spreads the inclinations of the heart into golden external praises, it is rightly added: Verse 17. He will not see the streams of rivers of honey and oil (Job.20:17) 729. 20. The Lord says in the Gospel: Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38–39) 730, and the evangelist adds, saying: These things He spoke of the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were about to receive. So, “river streams” are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Love is a "stream of a river", faith is a "stream of a river", hope is a "stream of a river". But since the hypocrite never loves either God or neighbor, when he makes the temporal glory of the world his goal, he does not see the rivulets of the river, because the outpourings of love do not water him. While the hypocrite goes on to present accomplishments, he does not take into account future blessings, and, having no faith, he does not see in his mind the “rivulets of the river,” for faith is the confidence of things unseen (Heb. 11:1) 731. And while the hypocrite clings to things that are visible, he puts out the light for those that are invisible, and he does not see the “rivulets of the river” because he desires and strives only for visible things. And this is written: for if anyone sees, what can he hope for? (Rom.8:24) 732. He would have seen the "rivulets of the river" if he had closed his eyes to the glory of this world, and opened them to the love of the heavenly country. And notice that he doesn't say "streams" but "rivulets." For "rivulets of the river" can be accepted for those spiritual gifts which, like such subtle streams from heavenly sources, enter the soul of the one who loves, so that they can never be detained by the flesh. For it often happens that the spirit of one who loves is filled with such a powerful gift of contemplation that he has the power to see what he cannot even describe. And the “rivulets of the river” are such a filling of the Holy Spirit, which is collected in the soul in contemplation to such an extent that his mind is full of what he is able to understand. And it is necessary to know that when the grace of the Holy Spirit bathes us, it fills us with “honey and butter” in equal measure. For “honey” is collected from above, but “oil” is obtained from the milk of animals, so “honey” is from the air, and “oil” is from the flesh. But the Only Begotten Son of the Most High Father, while He is God over all things, Himself became Man - one of many things. Who then, if not He, filling us with the sweetness of His Divine nature and the mystery of His incarnation, gives us both “honey” and “oil” at once. So, seeing that the Holy Spirit gladdens the soul which He has filled, at once with the sweetness of His Divinity and the faith in His Incarnation, they are described as “rivulets of rivers of honey and oil” together, because they renew the soul both with the sweetness of the sublime knowledge of the Divinity, and with the touch of the secret grace of the Incarnation. But while this hypocrite is distracted in external things, he does not try these internal gifts, and he goes to future punishment, therefore it is added: Verse 18. He must pay for all that he has done, and he will not be completely consumed (Job 20:18) 733. 21. For he “pays” in agony for those desires that he kept here as contrary to the truth and, having fallen into the flames of retribution, he always dies, but, as it were, not completely, for he remains, as it were, alive in endless death. For he is never completely consumed by death because if his existence ends in death, then his punishment will also end along with his existence; but that he may suffer without end, he is forced to live without end in punishment, so that he, whose life here was dead in sin, may have his death there, existing in punishment. Therefore, let it be said: He must pay for all that he has done, and he will not be completely consumed, knowing that he suffers without end, he dies and exists, he falls and is held: always, endlessly, forever. These things are horrifyingly terrifying just to hear them, so how much more infinitely terrifying are they when they happen! But since the multitude of his wickedness requires that he should not go unpunished, it is added accordingly: He will suffer because of his many inventions. 22. When he invents new things here that are sinful, he will suffer there from new invented punishments. So what he could not even imagine here, he will understand there, when he is given over to punishments. For, chosen in the implementation of good practices, sometimes sets himself the goal of doing more than the Lord has obliged (thus, virginity of the flesh is not obligatory, but commendable; for if it were obligatory, it would follow that marriage should henceforth be considered a sin; this is not so, but still there are many strong due to the virginity of the flesh who were able to do more in their ministry than those who adhere only to the obligatory things). So very often the wicked, indulging in bad practices, invent new evils and do more than those whose examples of wicked practices they knew did. And, therefore, they are struck with the torment of a completely equivalent retribution, because with their own heads they invented a practice on a larger scale or of a different type, and for it they deserve to be punished in a subtle way. And therefore he said well: Because of the multitude of his inventions he will suffer. For he would not have known a new evil if he had not strived for it; and he would not have found it unless he was prepared to make it his given goal. Therefore, in his torment, the excess of the evil invention is taken into account, and he accepts the pain of an equivalent punishment. And although the grief of all the damned is endless, the worst torment will be inflicted on those who have come up with many bad things in the evil ways of their desires. Now, when Zophar spoke of the punishment of this hypocrite, he immediately adds a description of the sin, not describing each in particular, but speaking of the one from which all sins have their origin. For it is written: greed is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10) 734. For greed is the desire to have dominion over something, and is certainly evidently the root of all evil inclinations. Thus he adds: Verse 19, 20. for he destroyed and laid waste the houses of the poor, for he violently took them which he had not built, but did not satisfy his belly ( Job 20:19-20 ) 735 . 23. He destroyed and devastated the houses of the poor, who is not ashamed to rob out of greed those over whom he has power. And further: he violently took them away, which he did not build. As if it were expressed in simple words: the one who should have built it himself took it by force. For the Lord, who judges, said to the outcasts: For I was hungry, and you did not give me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me (Matthew 25:42–43) 736. And as a consequence of sin, He added: depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) 737. If he is sentenced to such a punishment, one who was condemned only for not giving something of his own free will, what kind of punishment does a person deserve who took the things of others? And so he furiously took them, which he did not build, who not only never gave anything of his own, but also took away what was someone else’s. Now he added well: but he did not fill his belly. For the “belly” of an evil person is greed, because everything that he swallowed in wrong desire gathers in it. But it is clear that greed does not go away, but increases from receiving the desired objects. For, like fire, when it has received the wood to feed it, it only increases; but it also often happens that the flame flares up for a moment, and after a while subsides. And it often happens that when Almighty God is very angry with a greedy soul, He first allows it to have something according to its desire, and then takes it away to receive eternal punishment for it. And therefore he correctly added: And when he has what he wanted, he is unable to possess it. 24. For it is a sign of great wrath when something is given which is not desired for good, and then suddenly retribution comes because he has received something that he desired, causing the wrath of God. And therefore, said the psalmist, describing people who thirst for carnal food in the wrong direction: But while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, killing most of them (Ps. 77:30-31) 738 . For God’s punishment manifests itself more slowly when obstacles are created to wrong desires so that they are not fulfilled. And if bad desires, unfortunately, were fulfilled quickly, as a rule, the punishment also comes more quickly. And through the very action as a result of which the hypocrite rushes to become stronger, he then also quickly loses it. For also for trees: those of them that grow more slowly remain for many years, and those that grow in a short period of time wither earlier, and thus, setting out on a journey to achieve something and be someone, they come to not being. And then it continues: Verse 21. None of his flesh remained (Job 20:21) 739. 25. “His meat” is all that he desired in wrong desires. But when the hypocrite is slain, “there is nothing left of his flesh,” because when he himself falls into eternal punishment, he parts with all the things that he received here. And therefore he further adds: Therefore nothing remains of his things. For if at least something remained of his things, he would take there with him what he owned. And while he has all the things here, he is not afraid of the Judge, but, leaving this life, he goes naked to the Judge. Perhaps this seems to an evil person as some kind of compensation for the fact that he suffers later in punishment, if in this life, even if not for long, he was supposedly free. But there is no freedom in sin, for it is written: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17) 740 and for an evil soul, as a rule, its own sin becomes its own overseer even here. And then he rightly added: In the fullness of abundance he will be in need. 26. Immediately out of greed, he gathers together everything he craves. And when he collected a large amount of all this, he got a kind of greedy belly, which in the fullness of abundance will be in need, because at the same time he is full of anxiety, how can he keep the things that he has received, and his own fullness constrains him. For the fields of one rich man bore abundant fruit, and because he did not have anywhere to store so much, he lamented, saying, “What should I do?” I have nowhere to gather my fruits. And he said: This is what I will do: I will break down my barns and build greater ones (Luke 12:17–18) 741. Behold, he who is straitened by abundance exclaims: What shall I do? as if in a fever, he is oppressed by the quantity of food. Let us see that with the same longing he wished that his land might produce a bountiful harvest. And now his wishes have been fulfilled, and the land has indeed brought him abundant fruits. But because he does not have enough space to hide the crops away, being a rich man and having greatly increased his reserves, he does not know what to do with them. And behold: need and constraint are caused by the “fullness of abundance”! Due to the abundance of his land, the greedy mind comes into oppression and need. For when he says: what shall I do? he clearly shows that, overwhelmed by the growth of his desires, he became even more constrained by wealth; and therefore he said well: In the fullness of abundance he will be in need. For the greedy mind, which previously sought much, subsequently got into great trouble in order to keep what it found. And, therefore, it is also additionally added: He will burn in heat, and all grief will come upon him. 27. At first he was in sorrow because of simple weariness with his lust, how to wrest into his possession the desired things, how to ensure the acquisition of one by the art of flattery, another by means of threats; but after he seems to have mastered the gifts of fate and achieved what he wanted, another irritation overtakes him, namely, fear and anxiety, how to keep safe what, as he remembers, cost him endless problems and efforts in obtaining. He fears attack from all sides by the conspirators and fears that he himself will be subjected to exactly what he did to others. He is even more afraid of being subjected to violence; he looks at a poor person as a thief. He protects and fears the very things that he has accumulated, lest, due to their inner nature, they deteriorate and disappear on their own. Because of all these particulars, because fear is itself a punishment, the dissatisfied wretch suffers for having these things as much as he fears suffering for losing them. And after that, he then goes to hell and faces eternal torment. And so, “all grief will come upon him,” because first he suffers here the punishment of envy and lust, then fear of safety, and at some point in the future the punishment of retributive wrath. 28. But this is a wonderful security of the heart - not to seek what does not belong to us, but to be content every day with what is given to support existence from day to day. From this tranquility that eternal Rest also arises, for from a good and calm state we move on to eternal joys. And vice versa, lost sinners are immediately worn out here by both desires and torments. And then, in the fever of greed, they rush into the fire of hell. And as we have already said, it often happens that the wicked, the sooner he achieves his goal, the sooner he is transferred to torment, and about this it is additionally added: Verse 23. Will his belly be so full that God will cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and the rain of his war upon him ( Job 20:23 ) 742 . 29. The Lord sends "the rain of His war" upon this hypocrite as He strikes his deeds with the swords of His judgments. Thus, God, in the “rain of His war,” destroys the life of the wicked man in His severe judgments from on high. God's "rain of war" beats the hearts that have risen up against Him, and His arrows wound the soul, exploding in it with His judgments, like a kind of clot of raindrops. And when he now falls into these sentences, then at one time he is reminded how wickedly he thirsted, and how even more wickedly he began to gather everything that he thirsted together; at other times he grieves that he may lose all these things, and one day he will feel the very fire of retribution to which, when he did not want to live righteously, he was too indifferent. Verse 24. He will flee from iron weapons; and will hasten to run into a bow of brass (Job 20:24) 743. 30. We must know that greed sometimes gains power over people from pride, and sometimes from fear. Thus there are some who, while they strive to gain more power and authority, are fired up in the pursuit of the things belonging to others; and there are some who, while they fear that they will lack the things necessary to life, freely give their minds to self-interest, and go after the things of others when it seems to them that their own things may not be sufficient for them. Now, everything necessary is rightly called “iron weapon” because it causes pain in life to those who want something because of the wound of bitter necessity. Therefore it was said in relation to the needs of one who, having been abandoned by his brothers, spent his life in sorrow: Iron entered his soul (Ps. 104:18) 744. What then is “hardware” if not the weapon of the needs of real life, which presses hard on us and pushes the lives of those in need to extremes? Iron is susceptible to rust, but brass is naturally much more difficult to rust. Therefore, “iron weapons” describe ​the present necessity, which is transitory, but “brass” is eternal destruction. And while the decisions of the Above are not audible to the mind of an evil man, they are rightly compared to a “bow,” since it strikes as if from an ambush, while the person who is struck does not see it. And thus He will flee from iron weapons; and will hasten to run into a brass bow because, fearing need, he seizes things without number and through malice he exposes himself to the heavy blows of the final decision; and, while he “flees from iron weapons,” he meets with the arrows of brass bows because, while foolishly protecting himself from temporary troubles, he falls into eternal destruction. For anyone who, with a sense of guilt, escapes need here, meets there with an eternal duration of just retribution. But having told us what are the things that this evil man is doing here, he further informs us of it. And then it continues: Verse 25. He turns and comes out of his scabbard, yea, shining in his bitterness (Job 20:25) 745. 31. This evil man is perfecting the art of robbing his fellow men. And while he is plotting evil in the thoughts of his heart, it is as if “the sword was still undrawn and lying in its scabbard,” but when he wickedly carries out the mischief he intended, it comes out of the scabbard because he passes from his secret designs to the open wickedness of doing evil. He brings to light in action what he hid from view in thought. And notice, it is said that he first “turns” and then “comes out”; those. he “converts”, plotting evil at the inspiration of the eternal enemy, but “comes out” by an act of his free will. For from the very word “turns” it undoubtedly follows that there is someone else who attracts him. But he that “comes out” acts in accordance with his own will. This man who, by the persuasion of our old enemy, turns to evil practices, and then is still bound in desire, of his own free will, carrying them out, is described as one who is naked and comes out of the scabbard because he goes forward from a bad thought to an even worse deed, and belongs at once to the evil spirit that visited him, and to the deed that he did by the consent of his own will. 32. About the horror of this power, which is revealed, it is immediately added: yes, sparkling in its bitterness. Because when lightning suddenly comes from above, when it flashes terribly before our eyes, it illuminates brightly and strikes the object in front of it. It is the same with an evil man when he secures for himself the glory of the present life: it is precisely that which makes his power shine brightly in the modern world that he is ultimately destroyed. For for the wicked, as it were, “lightning” shines in honor of this life of theirs; but while the splendor of this glory turns into the eternal torment of hell, he rightly said in this place: yes, sparkling in its bitterness. For, rejoicing now and striking everyone with his murderous brightness, because of it he is later subjected to eternal punishment. But it was indeed written about one rich man that he “lived wonderfully” every day. But we must understand that it is one thing to live "beautifully" and another thing to live "brilliantly" because sometimes there is a beautiful splendor that is given without a fight, but the splendor that is fought for is called "brilliant" or "lightning." And also the one who receives the power here to act unjustly towards others can rightly be called "lightning", because by the same means by which he himself rises here against the good, as it happens in the light of glory, the life of the good here turns into torture. And then it continues: Those terrible ones will come and pass through it (Job 20:25) 746. 33. Who are here called "terrible" if not evil spirits who are to be feared and avoided by pious minds? And while these same evil spirits are already attaching themselves, along with certain particular vices, to an evil man, when that evil man seems to give up for a moment one set of bad habits, he begins to commit others; and then, of course, "The terrible ones will come and pass through him" because the soul of a bad person, although it abandons one set of bad habits, others take possession of it. And we may often see a bad man, who is installed in earthly power, burning with a furious passion in accomplishing whatever his rage suggests; and when his rage is gone, then lust itself begins to destroy his soul; lust stops for a while, and then self-exaltation, on the basis of abstinence, immediately takes its place in his heart, and in order to be feared by others, he strives to show himself to be evil and terrible. But when, for example, circumstances require him to say any thing duplicitously, he, in a way, puts aside his terrible pride, and easily flatters the one he needs, and without fear of trampling on his pride, he embraces hypocrisy. And therefore he rightly said of him in whose mind they constantly succeed each other: Terrible ones will come and pass over him, because due to all the evil habits that fly in and fly out of him and spring from each other, his soul is as if captured by many evil spirits going and returning. But precisely because of these things that he does, and which come out in parts, in his soul he has all these bad things connected with each other at once and together. From here it is added: Verse 26. All darkness is hidden in his secret places (Job 20:26) 747. 34. For, although the hypocrite manifests good actions outwardly, still, the “darkness” of evil deeds appears in him; but this is less manifested in action than the lies buried in his secret thoughts. For he who does not bring all bad things into execution at once, still keeps in the silence of his heart all these things that can do evil. And again, “darkness” is said to be hidden in his secret places because even when he does not possess all these evil things in himself, he strives to see them in his fellow men. Now let him add about the retribution that will befall this rejected soul. And then it continues: A fire that cannot be fanned must consume him (Job 20:26) 748. 35. The most amazing thing about these words is how accurately the fire of hell is described! For bodily fire, in order to burn, needs bodily fuel; and when it is necessary to preserve it, as we well know, it must be fed with wood, and kindled, and supported, and cherished. But on the contrary, the fire of hell, while it is a bodily fire, and bodily consumes the children of destruction who are thrown into it, it does not depend on human effort, it does not feed on wood, but, once created to be, it lasts forever, unquenchable: all the time it does not need kindling, and does not lose its heat. So, it is well said about this evil one: A fire that is not fanned must devour him, this is the justice of the Almighty, Who, foreseeing future events, from the very beginning of the world created the fire of hell, which must someday begin the punishment of the wicked, but its heat will never end even without fuel. But you need to know that all the children of perdition, since they have sinned in spirit and flesh together, will also be tormented in spirit and flesh. Therefore the psalmist said: Thou shalt make them like a fiery furnace in the time of Thy wrath (Ps. 20:10) 749. The Lord has confused them in His anger, and the fire will consume them. For the “furnace” is heated from within; but the one who is “devoured by fire” begins to be consumed from the outside. In order that the Holy Scripture may show that the lost are burned within and without, It testifies that they are immediately "consumed by fire" and "made like a furnace of fire," for as a result of this burning they must suffer both in body and burn bitterly in spirit. Therefore, in this place too, when he declared that a fire that is not fanned must consume him, he immediately added about its spirit: What remains in his tent will go with him in evil (Job 20:26) 750. 36. The “tent” of the evil man is his flesh, in which he dwells in joy, and if it were possible, he would wish never to leave it. But the righteous who place their joy in the expectation of heavenly rewards, and who speak to heaven while they are still in the flesh, seem to no longer live in the flesh because they do not feed on any pleasures of the flesh. And therefore it was said to some people: But you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:9) 751: this does not mean that they were not in the flesh, those who received such admonitions in the message of their mentor; this being not “in the flesh” means not possessing anything related to the love of carnal objects. But on the other hand, this evil man, because he established all his delight in the carnal life, “dwelt in the tent” of the flesh. The very flesh that he must receive back in resurrection, and which will burn with him in the fires of hell. Then he will strive to get out of it; then he will seek, if only he could, how to escape from his torment; then he will wish that he could only give up what he loved: but because he preferred flesh to God, he, having gone through the Judgment of God, will only suffer in fire. Here he does not have the mind to leave her, and yet is removed from her, and there he wants to leave her, but is kept in her for punishment. And therefore, to increase the torment, he is taken out of the flesh here against his will, and is held tightly in the flesh there when he does not want it. And because his spirit, in long torment, longs to get rid of the flesh, which he loved dearly, and does not have the strength to do this, it is said: What remains in his tent will go in evil with him. And continuing his accusation, he said directly: Verse 27. The heavens will reveal his iniquity; and the earth will rise up against him (Job 20:27) 752. 37. What do we mean by “heaven” if not the righteous, and what by “earth” if not sinners? And therefore in the Lord's Prayer we pray: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, meaning that the will of our Creator, in the same way as it is carried out in all the righteous, could also be done in all sinners. In addition, it is said about the righteous: The heavens proclaim the glory of God (Ps. 18:2) 753. And when man sinned, the sentence was passed: You are earth, so you will return to earth. So, it is also said to this godless man when he is brought to this terrible judgment: “The heavens will reveal his iniquity; and the earth will rise up against him,” because this man, who here never pitied either good or bad, must, as a result, receive accusations from both the lives of the righteous and the sinners. Of these two, it is truly worse if a person persecutes and wounds the righteous rather than sinners; and therefore the prophet said, Her blood is in the midst of her: she poured it out upon the smooth rock; she did not pour it on the ground, so as not to cover it with dust (Ezek. 24:7) 754. “Earth” and “dust” really mean sinners, but “smooth rock” means a righteous person who has not become rough from the harsh abrasions of sins; so, “blood is poured out on a very smooth rock,” when the wickedness of the bloodthirsty rages and affects the righteous. But while it is much worse to grieve the righteous than the unjust, it is still much worse to hurt both the righteous and the unjust at the same time; and therefore, while the wicked wound both good and bad, it sounds: The heavens will reveal his iniquity; and the earth will rebel against him because he at the same time rebels himself against those who enjoyed the things of heaven, and oppresses those who enjoyed the things below. But it may also be that “earth” can designate not sinners and outcasts, but those who, engaged in earthly service, with the help of mercy and tears, have achieved eternal life, in relation to whom the psalmist said: when the Lord announced the coming of the Judgment, He calls heaven and earth from above so that He can judge His people (Ps. 49:4) 755. He calls from above heaven, when they who, having left all that they had, came into the heavenly life, and are called to sit with Him at the Judgment, and to come with Him as judges; but “the earth is called from above,” when those who were tied to earthly ways of action nevertheless sought heavenly things more than earthly things, and to whom it was said: I was a stranger, and you received Me; I was naked and you clothed Me. So, “the heavens reveal the evil” of the hypocrite, and “the earth rises up against him” because they who come with God as judges, and those who are released by the decision of the Court, become witnesses of his iniquity. Thus, none of the things he has done can be hidden from view at the time of judgment, and if indeed many of his actions are now hidden from his fellow men because of his duplicity, they will be revealed on the day of Judgment; everything that was hidden in him, he brought to the light. Therefore it is rightly added: Verse 28. The shot from his house will be discovered, and he will be taken away in the day of God's wrath ( Job 20:28 ) 756 . 38. "A shot from his house will be revealed" when every bad thing that appeared in his mind becomes clearly visible. While the hypocrite's "shot from the house" remains hidden from view because, although his deeds appear good on the surface, his intentions are still hidden. Because one thing is what he does, and another thing is what he keeps in his thoughts. But at the coming of the Judge, the conscience of every person openly testifies to him (as it is written: their thoughts, now accusing, now justifying one another (Rom. 2:15) 757), and the “shot from the house” of the hypocrite is revealed, because the evil intent is exposed in his heart. And he will be taken away in the day of God's wrath because when, by the decision of the angry Judge, he is placed in the fire of vengeance, he is removed from His sight. For he, who while he lived did not accept the thought of the highest things, falling under the weight of his sins, will fall from the face of the Judge into the depths of punishment. But now the Judge sees and tolerates the sinner with his sins, and because this is a day of mercy, and not a day of wrath, He waits for everyone to be converted. And on this day of mercy the hypocrite, if he still remains indifferent, while he commits many evil deeds and does not receive the punishment of disasters, then on the day of wrath he will be taken away because he will be placed in the just punishment of retribution and cut off from the face of the eternal Judge. And then it continues: Verse 29. This is the inheritance of the wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord (Job 20:29) 758. 39. For if, while in this life, he was aimed at acting justly, he would receive his “destiny” in communion with the Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven; and because he decided to follow the lead of bad desires, he will receive his “proportion from God” in torment because he did not strive to receive his portion in the grace that is from the Lord. But he said this well: and the inheritance of his words is from the Lord. For, plunging himself into the punishment of great deeds of wickedness, he believed that he would never be judged for the words he spoke. But when the strict justice of Almighty God exacts punishment on lost sinners for their deceitful deeds, He punishes their evil, even in retribution for their words, so that those who are debtors for great crimes, falling into punishment, will pay even the very last penny. For they spared even the slightest evil in themselves, and therefore brought greater evil within themselves. The saints do not want to receive inheritance from the Lord, but they want the Lord Himself to be a part of them. Therefore, the prophet prays, saying: My God is a part of me forever (Ps. 73:26) 759, and the evil man, because he did not strive to have the Lord Himself as his part, found fire as his “part” without the Lord, removed from His Face, and because he does not strive to find joy in Him, he suffers below, removed from Him. Zophar spoke these things in such a way that what he spoke against the hypocrites, he spoke as if against the life of the blessed Job, thinking that he who was smitten by the Lord could not do with a simple heart all the good things that he did. For he, whom he saw under the scourge, he considered to deserve the wrath of God. But the friends of blessed Job, also showing us the likeness of heretics, and in this they show that heretics, seeing in the Holy Church some who live righteously, groaning under the blows of whips, consider that they have no merit in good deeds, and decide that they are bad people, those whom they see suffering according to the will of God; not knowing that the tribulations of the righteous are many (Ps. 33:20) 760, and that He beats every person whom He receives (Heb. 12:6) 761. But blessed Job, according to the custom of the Holy Church, which bears with patience the blows of words from the hands of the treacherous and, when she hears the utterances of the proud, never leaves the path of her humility, also answers with great humility of heart, saying: Verse 2. Hear, I pray thee, my speech, and repent (Job 21:2) 762. 40. For when he said: Hear, and added: I pray thee, he shows how humbly he speaks, begging the people, swollen in pride against him, to return their thoughts to the doctrine of preserving the truth. And because the saints of the Universal Church are not only ready to teach what is right, but also to go through the things created against them, without fear of ridicule, it is added: Bear with me while I speak; and after my words, if they seem so, mock (Job.21:3) 763. 41. For when good men speak, there are two things which they have in view in their speech, namely, that their speech should be useful to themselves and their hearers, or only to themselves, if their hearers are not able to benefit themselves from their speech. For when the good things they say are heard well, they benefit both them and their hearers; but when they provoke ridicule on the part of the hearer, undoubtedly the speech is still useful for themselves, because they come out of the sin of silence. So let blessed Job, that he may serve both himself and his hearers, say the words: Hear, I pray thee, my speech, and repent. But that he may do what he owes, at least to himself, even if he is unable to benefit his hearers, he adds: Bear with me while I speak; and after my words, if they seem so, mock. I also noted that before he added “repent,” he began with the word Hear, but when he added the words: and after my words, if they seem so, mock, he began with the words “bear with me.” For “hear” is a call to one who acts according to free will, but “bear with me” is a call to one who will have to act against his will. And therefore, if his friends want to learn, let them “hear,” but if they want to tease, let them “endure” the learning of humility, which is a heavy and burdensome burden for a proud look. And then it continues: Verse 4. In my opinion, is my speech against man, that I should not justly be sad? ( Job 21:4 ) 764 . 42. He who pleases God without pleasing people has no reason to be sad. But the one who, by pleasing people, displeases God, or thinks that he has displeased both God and people, unless sorrow befalls him, proves a lack of wisdom. Now blessed Job believes that he has displeased God in the midst of the blows he received, and consequently his mind is sorrowful about it, since he does not despise Him Whose displeasure he fears to displease. Now, if he were scolded by a man regarding the merits of his life, he would have no reason to feel sadness, but the blows that befell him from Above made him doubt his past life, and he rightly feels sadness from disasters. And further it is added: Verse 5. Look at me and be amazed (Job 21:5) 765. 43. That is, consider what I have done and marvel at the things I have gone through under this scourge. And he rightly introduces the words even further: And put your finger on your mouth. It was as if he had said in simple words: “Knowing the good things that I have done and having seen the troubles to which I have been subjected, you yourself should be deterred from even committing a criminal word, and in my blows you can feel the fear of your pain.” And indeed, with our fingers we determine the properties of things, and therefore prudence is quite rightly designated by fingers; and therefore, the psalmist said: Blessed is the Lord my God, who teaches my hands to fight, and my fingers to control (Ps. 143:1) 766; that is, deeds are denoted by the word “hands”, and by the word “fingers” - prudence. So, putting the finger on the mouth is when the tongue is bridled by prudence so that what it utters cannot fall into the sin of stupidity. And so he says: put your finger on your mouth; those. “join the virtue of discretion in your speech, so that in those things that you say against the hypocrite, you can recognize those people to whom these speeches can be spoken justly.” And then follows: Verse 6. As soon as I remember, I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my flesh (Job 21:6) 767. 44. That blessed Job does not forget about his affairs is proved by the previous utterances of his mouth. Therefore, what he now says to his friends: As soon as I remember, I am afraid, and trembling seizes my flesh, is clearly said as if in mockery. As if it were clearly said in simple words: “If I had remembered that there was anything of a hypocrite in me, I would immediately tremble in tears of repentance.” And “if he remembered, his flesh would tremble,” he emphasizes that weak deeds would make him despondent from fear of punishment. But since Zophar said many things about the sudden condemnation of the evil man, thereby as if trying to take away all the good achievements of the blessed Job, the holy man adds in response to his words, saying: Verse 7. Why do the wicked live, rise, and be strengthened by wealth? ( Job 21:7 ) 768 . 45. If it were not for the long-suffering of God, they would never have lived long in their sins. For they are "raised by wealth" when they first begin to be strong, but they are "strengthened" by it when they are allowed to live long in this life. Those whose property exalts them, the length of days strengthens them in the pride of their power. Or, of course, they are said to be “raised and strengthened” because they are “raised” by honors and “strengthened” by wealth. But there are very many who, while they are “raised” by honors and “strengthened” by wealth, and are worthy of the things that they covet in this life, are deprived of children. It is a great punishment for them when they see themselves as having a large inheritance, but have no heirs to whom they can leave it. What good is it if any thing is available except to children who can become their heirs? But what follows: Verse 8. Their seed is with them before their eyes (Job 21:8) 769. 46. ​​But now, to increase their happiness, along with greater property, they also receive heirs given to them; and so that no inevitable circumstance could remove from their eyes those in whom their souls find pleasure, he said about this seed of them: Their seed is before their eyes with them. But what if they were blessed with children, but the children themselves are stricken with infertility? The family degenerates within them, and again the danger threatens that the family will die out, as could happen from the infertility of the parents. And then it continues: And a crowd of fellow tribesmen and grandchildren before their eyes (Job.21:8) 770. Behold, life is theirs, honors and wealth are theirs, children are theirs, and grandchildren are theirs. What to do if a secret thought fills the mind with bile, and internal discord kills the joy of their security? What is the prosperity of this world if it is not joy? But it continues: Verse 9. Their houses are safe and in peace, and the rod of God is not upon them ( Job 21:9 ) 771 . 47. Their homes are safe and at peace in that they live in committing sin, and they do things to be mourned, but they never forsake their joys. And the “rod” of punishment from above does not strike them, and they go the more uncontrollably to new sins, the less they were punished for the previous ones. But since we have heard how they prosper in impunity, let us also hear what prosperity they enjoy at home. Verse 10. Their ox is fruitful and knows no failure; the cow conceives them and does not lose a calf (Job 21:10) 772. In the habit of general conversation, "ox" means male, and "cow" - female, but in literary phraseology "ox" means a sexless creature. Therefore it is said here: Their ox is fruitful and knows no failures; the cow conceives them and does not lose the calf. For for the owner of a herd, the first success is that the herd should not be barren, the second success is that the individuals that have laid eggs give birth to young, and the third is that, thanks to feeding, the offspring grow successfully. And therefore, in order to show that the wicked possess all this together, blessed Job tells us that their flocks multiplied, that they grew in size and were not deprived of their own offspring. But he misses the joy if, while the herds grow, their owner's offspring do not prosper. Therefore, in addition to the fruitfulness of their herd, we are immediately shown the further prosperity of their family. For it is said: Verse 11. Their little ones go out like flocks, and their children delight in joy (Job 21:11) 773. 48. The more premises given to them, the greater the number of little ones that can be kept in safety. But while he said, enjoy, make merry, lest we should think that the children in the house of the wicked have too little entertainment or they are too meager, he adds, saying: Verse 12. They take a tympanum and a harp, and rejoice to the sound of the organ (Job 21:12) 774. It is as if he had said in simple words: While masters swell with pride and swell with possessions, dependents rejoice in idle amusements. But, O blessed man, why do you tell us all these numerous things about the delights of the life of the wicked? Now, after the long time that you have spent describing them, after long speeches, with one word you indicate what you think. And then it continues: Verse 13. They pass their days in prosperity, and in a moment they descend into the pit (Job 21:13) 775. 49. Yes, O blessed man, you have spoken long and widely about their pleasures, and how now do you say that they descend in an instant into the underworld, showing that the entire duration of time of the present life was nothing else, but one “point” when it broke off at the end? For when a person comes to the final end, he no longer holds anything in the past, seeing that all periods of time have passed, and he has nothing in the future, because not even one moment remains for him. So life narrows into one instant - one “point” of time. For, as we have already said, the point is placed instantly, with one touch; and therefore he seems to touch the point of life, the one who received and lost it. By "instantly" it may also be understood, as often happens, that those who have long carried untruths find themselves caught up in sudden death, without even being given the opportunity to mourn before they die for what they have done wrong. But seeing that sometimes the life of the righteous is also interrupted by sudden death, we must understand this differently because if we study the words of their temporary life, we will understand that they knew that everything that passes is actually sudden. But the friends of blessed Job considered him unrighteous because they saw him suffer under the lashes. Therefore, the just truth was revealed to them by the voice of this holy man about the prosperity and fall of the wicked, saying that prosperity in this present life does not indicate innocence, because many of them will fall into eternal torment, and very many are taken to endless suffering without knowing the scourge here. About which it is also additionally added: Verse 14. Who said to God: Depart from us (Job 21:14) 776. 50. Even foolish people do not dare to say this in words, but all evil people say to God, not in their words, but in their ways: get away from us. For they do those things that Almighty God forbids, and what else do they do if they do not close their souls from the Almighty? For, just as fulfilling His commandments is to settle Him within oneself, so to contradict His commandments in deeds is to keep Him away from the dwelling place of the heart. So they say, depart from us, who refuse to give Him access to them, and attack Him with evil deeds, even though they seem to praise Him in words. Moreover they say: For we do not want to know Your ways (Job 21:14) 777. 51. And this comes from the fact that they are too indifferent to acquire knowledge of Him. For there are some who, from what the Truth says: And the servant who does not know the will of his master and does things worthy of punishment will be beaten less. But he who knows the will of his master, and does not act in accordance with it, will be beaten much (Luke 12:47-48) 778, choose not to know what they should do, and think that they will be beaten less if they do not know what they should have put into their deeds. However, it is one thing not to know, and another thing to deliberately choose not to know. The one who wants to acquire knowledge but is unable to does not know. But the one who, in order not to know, turns his ear away from the voice of truth, such a person is not ignorant, but despises knowledge. Now also, the “way” of God is peace, the “way” of God is humility, the “way” of God is patience. But the evil one neglects all this, saying, “We don’t want to know Your ways.” For while they feel great, swollen with pride in this life, while they swell with their honors, at that time they neglect the “ways” of God in the thoughts of their hearts. After all, the path of God in this world was humility, because the Lord and God, our Redeemer, for the sake of us, people, went to reproach, ridicule, suffering; and He endured the evil treatment of this world with patience, resolutely shunning the goods of this world, that He might perhaps teach us also that we should be directed toward the prosperity of eternal life, and not be afraid of the troubles of this present life. But the evil ones desired the glory of this life, and refused humility, and therefore they are described as saying: we do not want to know Your ways. For they do not wish to know what they despise to do. Whose words does he continue further when he says: Verse 15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? (Job 21:15) 779. 52. For the human mind flows so pettily into the external, so dissipates in material things, that it cannot turn itself inward, and is not able to think about Him, Who is invisible. Thus, carnal people, having abolished spiritual supremacy because they do not see God with their bodily eyes, at one time or another come to the point that they cannot even imagine that He exists. Hence it is written: The fool said in his heart, There is no God there (Ps. 13:1) 780. Therefore he now says: Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And very often it happens that people make it their goal to serve their neighbors, whom they see with their bodily eyes, instead of first of all serving God, Whom they do not see. They reach out to everything they do with their eyes, and because they cannot reach out with the eyes of the body to God, they either despise paying tribute to Him, or, if they begin to do so, they quickly get tired. For, as has already been said, they do not believe that He exists, the One whom they do not see with bodily vision. Those who seek God, the Creator of all things in a spirit of humility, will have within themselves the experience that a thing that is not visible can be better than an object that is visible. For we all receive the power to be from the invisible soul and the visible body; but if that which is invisible leaves the body, that which is visible immediately perishes. And the eyes of the body remain open, but they cannot see or perceive any thing. For the one who looked went away, and the house remained empty flesh when the invisible spirit that looked through its windows departed. Therefore, even all carnal people must understand for themselves that invisible things are better than those that are visible, and from this understanding begin the path to God, seeing that He is here, that He continues to be invisible, and continues to be Supreme to the same extent that He can never be known. But there are some who do not doubt either that God exists or that He is unknowable, and who, despite this, do not seek Him Himself, but His external gifts. And when they see that there are those who obey Him, they disdain to obey Him themselves. In this connection, he also added the following words: And what benefit will we get if we pray to Him? (Job 21:15) 781. 53. When in prayer, God is not the object to which we strive, the mind quickly becomes tired of prayer, and when a person asks for things that, perhaps, God, by His secret decision, refuses to give, He Himself becomes the object of hatred, the One who does not give what one so desires. But the Lord desires that He Himself should be loved more than the things He has made, and that we pray for things that are eternal, and not temporary; as it is written: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33) 782. For He does not say “it will be given,” but He says “it will be added,” and He directly shows that what is given as a basic thing is one thing, and what is added on top is another. For us, while eternal peace must be in thought and intention, and temporary peace, as what we need now, and one is “given”, and the second is “added” to it over and above the first. And yet it very often happens that when people pray for temporary good things, but do not seek eternal rewards, they are looking for something that should be “added” and do not want something to which it should be “added.” Nor do they consider it worth their prayer if they are poor in temporal things, and live forever rich in bliss. Their eyes are fixed only on visible things, and as has already been said, they refuse to acquire invisible things through the work of prayer. He who seeks higher objects will receive for his labor a wonderful fruit, when the mind, occupied in prayer, yearning for its Creator and burning in divine desires, unites with that which is higher and separates itself from that which is lower, and discovers within itself the love of the inner, and burns still further. He who loves things higher has already risen high; and, continuing to desire this, the soul opens up after heavenly objects, and miraculously tastes what it longs to receive. And then it continues: Verse 16. But their good things are not in their hands, therefore let their counsel be far from me (Job 21:16) 783. 54. He has his good things in his hand who, despising temporary things, forces them to be under the power of reason. For he who loves them deeply is subject to them more than they are to him. And many of the righteous were rich in this world; they had both fortune and honors and seemed to possess many things; but by grace their minds were not possessed by the excessive possession of these things which they had, and therefore “their good things were in their hands,” for these things were subject to the power of the soul. But, on the other hand, evil people so focus themselves and their hearts on external things that they themselves do not so much possess things as keep their minds in slavery to what they possess. Therefore, after what was said: their good things are not in their hands, he rightly added: therefore let their advice be far from me. For what is the “council of the wicked” if not the search for earthly things, and the neglect of eternal glory, the desire for temporary well-being at the expense of internal ones, and, as a result, the transition from temporary sorrows to eternal torment? Let a holy man, in regard to these purposes of the wicked, say: therefore let their counsel be far from me. Because he sees that it is better to groan here under the scourge in this brief moment than to fall into the throes of eternal retribution. But even in this life they, those who are inclined to make prosperity in it their path, do not continuously enjoy prosperity. But many times their joys are cut short by groans of suffering. Therefore he added: Verse 17. How often should their candles go out? and how often must the flood come upon them, and He share their grief in His wrath? (Job 21:17) 784. 55. It often happens that a wicked man considers the lives of his children to be "candles," but when a son who is loved beyond measure is taken away, what seemed to be a "light" to the wicked "goes out." Often an evil person considers faith in a temporary possession to be his "candle", but while the possession is gone, it throws him down from his height and his candle goes out, which shone for him in accordance with his desire. Often an evil man thinks that the resources of earthly matter belong to him, like a great candle giving light, but when in the ruins that fall upon him he loses the riches which he loved more than himself, what else happens to that man but the loss of the candle in whose light he rejoices? And therefore he has no desire to rest in his joy on that which is Eternal, even here, where he believes that he creates himself, he cannot rejoice continuously. For, as often as "the candle of the wicked goes out," immediately a flood must come upon them, and He shares their grief in His wrath. The flood will come upon the wicked when they are subjected to waves of sorrow from any adversity. For Almighty God, when He sees Himself despised, and earthly desire delighted, strikes with grief that which He sees preferred before Him in the thoughts of evil man. Now he said well: He shares their grief in His wrath. For the evil man faces eternal troubles in retribution, but sometimes He smites his soul even here with temporary grief, and because both here and there He smites, He divides the grief in His wrath on the heads of the wicked. For He does not give real punishment that can lift the mind of the evil one from wicked desires in order to free him from punishment in eternity. And therefore the psalmist said: On the wicked he will rain down traps, fire and brimstone, and storms; this shall be their portion from the cup (Ps. 10:6) 785 . Mentioning “traps, fire and brimstone, and storms” he really listed a lot of troubles; but because the sinner, even bearing them, is still punished with eternal punishment, he consequently called these troubles not their whole cup, but “the share of their cup,” seeing that their sufferings actually began here in troubles, but would pass into eternal torment. At the end of which he further adds: Verse 18. They must be like dust before the wind, and like ashes that the storm scatters (Job 21:18) 786. 56. When an evil person sees himself in power, when he is completely unrestrained or restrained in his acts of oppression and violence, in that bad person's imagination he seems to be in balance and firmly rooted in the world. But when the decision of the strict Judge overtakes all the wicked, like dust before the wind because, if I may say so, all of them, under a sudden gust of anger, rise up and go into the fire, those who are here, because of their hasty judgments, could not be moved by tears of grief, as if something heavy and weighty. And in the hands of the Judge those are light, which, due to their injustice, were heavy for their neighbors. And like the ashes that the storm scatters. Before the eyes of Almighty God, the life of the wicked is ashes, for while it appears to bloom for a moment, it is already seen destroyed by His judgment, for it is turned aside towards the eternal flame. And the ashes that the storm scatters, because the Lord will come, and not in silence. A consuming fire is before Him, and a great storm is around Him (Ps. 49:3) 787. For in the wrath of this storm the wicked are taken from the sight of the Eternal Judge. And those who have set their minds here in evil desire become like “dust” and “ashes” because the storm captures them and carries them away to eternal punishment. Verse 19. God will lay upon the children the grief of their father. And when He rewards, he must know it (Job 21:19) 788. 57. We know that it is written: for the iniquity of the fathers he punishes the children, and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:7) 789. And again it is written: Why do you use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: “The fathers ate sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge”? I live! says the Lord God, they will not speak this proverb in Israel. For behold, all souls are Mine: both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine: the soul that sins shall die (Ezek. 18:2-4) 790. Thus, in these two statements, while there appears to be a different meaning, the mind of the hearer must seek the meaning by following the path of discernment. For we receive original sin from our parents, and if we do not have the grace of Baptism, which frees us from it, we carry with us the sins of our parents. So, “He punishes the children for the guilt of the fathers,” when for the guilt of the parents, the soul of the offspring is polluted by original sin. And again He does not “lay the sins of the fathers on the children” because when we are freed from original guilt by Baptism, we no longer bear the sins of our fathers, and bear only those of which we ourselves are guilty. What, however, can be understood differently, namely this way: everyone who imitates the evil ways of bad fathers is bound in his sins with them. But whoever does not follow the wickedness of his parents is never associated with their crimes. And therefore, we are talking about the fact that a bad son, following a bad father, pays not only for his own sins, which he added, but also for the sins of his father, and to the evil deeds of his father, about which he knows that the Lord is angry for them, he is not afraid to add his own wickedness. And this suggests that the one who is not afraid to follow the path of an evil parent before the Strict Judge must be forced in real life to pay even for the misdeeds of his parents. And, therefore, it says there: both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine: the soul that sins will die, because in the flesh, the sin of the father also sometimes destroys the son. But now, if original sin has been taken away, they are no longer associated with the wickedness of the parents. How then does it happen that small children are very often captured by demons, and the son’s flesh suffers as punishment for the father? For, the bad father, the victim himself, is too stubborn to feel the force of the blow. And very often he is struck down in his children in order to be punished more harshly, and the sadness of the father overtakes him through the flesh of the children, so that the evil heart of the parent can be punished through its effect on the children. But when not children, but older descendants are struck for the sins of their parents, what else is made clear to us if not that they pay for the guilt of those whose deeds they imitate? And, therefore, he correctly said: even up to the third and fourth generation. For while it is quite possible that "even to the third and fourth generation" children may observe the life of their wicked ancestor whom they imitate, the retribution extends even to them who witnessed what they imitate. 58. And because sin closes the eyes of the wicked, but punishment opens them wide to the past, this is rightly added: And when He repays, he must know it. For a wicked man does not know the evil things that he has done, except when he has already begun to receive punishment for those evil deeds. Therefore the prophet said: And one annoyance will give understanding to what is heard (Is. 28:19) 791. For he then “understands” what he heard, when he is grieved that he “unfortunately” neglected what he heard. Therefore Balaam said: He said who has heard the words of God, who sees the visions of the Almighty, who will fall, but his eyes will be opened (Num. 24:3-4) 792. And the elect know and see in advance, so that they may not sin, and therefore, of course, their eyes are open. But the evil man opens his eyes only after his fall because, after his sin, he now sees in his punishment what he should have avoided and what bad he did. Regarding the knowledge of this person, which has already become useless to him, the following words are given: Verse 20. His eyes will see his misfortune, and let him himself drink from the wrath of the Most High (Job 21:20) 793. 59. This man, if during this life he had been willing to open his eyes to his sin, he would not have “drinked of the wrath of the Most High.” But he who here turns away his eyes from looking at his guilt cannot escape the sentence of condemnation. But often those who are not afraid of eternal punishment are still afraid of doing something bad that may entail punishment in temporary life. But there are some who have become so hardened in evil that they are not afraid to be smitten even in the temporary things they love, if only they can do what they wickedly desire. Therefore here it is added regarding the stubbornness of an evil person: Verse 21. For what does he care about his house after him? or if the number of its months is halved? (Job 21:21) 794. 60. We should not understand it this way, that this evil man, after he is condemned to eternal punishment, never thinks about “his home,” that is, about his connections that he left; for Truth tells us by His own mouth that the rich man who was buried in hell, even in the midst of punishment, showed care and concern for his five brothers whom he left (Luke 16:27-28) 795. For, every sinner will be turned into a wise man by punishment, everyone who continues here to remain a fool in sin, because, immersed in punishment there, he opens his eyes to reasons that here, immersed in pleasure, he did not see; and under the torture of punishment he is forced to learn the wisdom that he did not see here, blinded by pride and being in stupidity. For this man, however, his wisdom will not be useful, because here, where he should have acted at the behest of wisdom, he did not take advantage of such an opportunity. For he longed for the sovereign good here: to have the offspring of his race, to fill his house with servants and things, and to live long in this corruptible state of the flesh. But if it happens that any thing comes into his desire, which, however, he cannot obtain in any way except by violating the prohibition of his Creator, his mind for a while believes that if he does something here that provokes the wrath of the Creator, he will be punished in his home, children, life. But immediately his pride hardens him, and he forgets about possible punishments for his home, or his present life, and his mind no longer cares about this, as long as he can get what he wants, and while he lives, he never ceases to limit his pleasures. And behold, his house receives blows because of his sin; but what does he care about his house after him? Now, he is punished for an evil deed by reducing his life expectancy, which may have been shortened, but what does it matter to him that the number of his months has been halved? Even in these things the sinner sets himself against God, in which Almighty God crushes his hardness; and even the punishment suffered does not incline the mind, which hardens in resistance to God. And see how heavy the abomination of sin is, for which the punishment is immediately set before the mind, if even the fear of torment does not bend the neck of the heart before our Creator! But when we hear these things that he said, the question arises, why did the Almighty and Merciful God allow such self-will in the human mind, due to which he so falls in his blindness? But so that no one would dare to sift through the secret meanings of God’s judgments, he rightfully added: Verse 22. Is God to be taught knowledge? seeing that He judges those on high? (Job 21:22) 796. 61. When we have doubts about things that concern us, we should look to others who are well known to us in order to calm the murmur of thought that has arisen in us as a result of our uncertainty. For let us see that while scourges restore the elect to life, the same scourges do not restrain the wicked from their evil deeds, and the judgments of Almighty God concerning us are indeed secret and just. And if we lift the eye of our mind to things above, we see that, as far as we are concerned, we cannot complain of injustice. For Almighty God avenged the deeds of the angels, and blessed some to abide in eternal light without falling, while others fell of free will from the state of their exaltation, and fell in the vengeance of eternal damnation. For us, He does nothing unjustly, He who judged fairly even beings more subtle than us. So let him say: Is it possible to teach knowledge to God? seeing that He judges those on high? For He who does beautiful things even above our level has certainly, as far as we are concerned, ordered all things with knowledge. This is brought to us first, and then he adds for the mind of man, which languishes in the attempt to learn. And then follows: Verse 23–25. One dies in his full strength, rich and prosperous. His entrails are full of fat, and his bones are filled with marrow. And the other dies in the sorrow of his soul, and never has any wealth (Job.21:23-25) 797. 62. These things really are so, and therefore who can search the secrets of Almighty God to find out why He allows them to be so? Now about the chosen and the lost, their lives are indeed different, but the corruption of the flesh in death is indistinguishable. Therefore it is added: Verse 26. And yet they will lie in the dust, and the worm will cover them (Job 21:26) 798. Why be surprised if these people, even if they differed for a moment in the prosperity and misfortunes of this world, were still turned to earth due to the corruption of their flesh? So the only thing that needs to be considered is life, which, together with the resurrection of the flesh, will lead to various rewards. For what is the use of the power and prosperity of the wicked, what is the use of "fat and marrow," if all is left here in an instant, and There is a retribution that can never be abandoned? For just as the joy of this evil one turns into grief, so the grief of an innocent soul turns from sorrow to joy. So neither wealth should lift the soul, nor poverty should disturb it. Consequently, blessed Job, in the midst of the scourge, receives pain in the body, but not pain in his thoughts; but to them that they despise him for causing scourging, he adds to the reproach, saying: Verse 27, 28. Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices that you have mistakenly imagined against me. You say: where is the prince’s house? and where are the dwellings of the wicked? ( Job 21:27–28 ) 799 . 63. For they imagined that he was an evil man, the one whom they saw having lost all the property of temporary life. But a holy man judges them from a greater height, the more evenly he stood in righteousness, receiving more and more blows. For how could these losses of external things cause him pain if he had not lost within Him Whom he loved so much? Allegorical interpretation 64. But if what is said: And yet they will lie in the dust, and the worm will cover them, someone wishes to know in an allegorical interpretation, this can be done quickly (see v. 16 of this book), for everything that has already been said regarding this bad rich man, we repeat again. He also said that His entrails are full of fat and His bones are full of marrow. For just as “fat” arises from the abundance of food, so too does pride arise from the abundance of goods, which fatten the mind with wealth, while the spirit is raised in its proud behavior. For the pride of the heart is kind of like wealth for fat. And because so many commit sins out of abundance, the prophet said: their iniquity arose as if from fatness (Ps. 72:7) 800 and further it follows that his bones are filled with marrow. The lovers of this life are “bones” because they have strong temporary virtues in this world. But if earthly personal wealth is not enough in addition to external merits, they have “bones,” of course, but they do not have “brains” in their bones. But if the one who loves this world simultaneously has external power and is fully filled with the abundance of his earthly home, it is said about him: and his bones are filled with marrow. Or otherwise, this can be understood as the fact that the “bones of a rich man” are bad and stubborn practices, but the “brains in the bones” are the very desires of bad things, which even in satisfying malice are not fully satiated. Such a brain seems to feed the bones when bad desires support evil habits in obtaining pleasure. 65. And there are some who do not have wealth in this world, but desire to have it. And they strive to rise, although in this world they cannot get the thing that they want, and although they do not have the fortune or position to support them, but already in bad desires the conscience declares them guilty before the gaze of the inner judge. For for many it is very often a great disappointment that they cannot be rich and carry themselves proudly. Regarding which he also added: And the other dies in the sorrow of his soul, and without wealth. See how, for the same reason that a rich man rejoices emptyly with a proud heart, another who is poor is more emptyly sad with a proud heart. Now he rightly added this concerning them: And yet they shall lie in the dust, and the worm shall cover them. For “to lie in the dust” is to close the eyes of the mind in earthly desires; Therefore he said to everyone regarding life in sin, and to those sleeping in their wickedness: Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light (Eph. 5:14) 801. But the “worms” that arise from the flesh cover them, because the cares of the flesh lay the weight of pride on the minds of both rich and poor. For in the things of the earth, the poor and the rich children of perdition, not sharing the same prosperity, share the same anxiety about what some already possess with anxiety, and others covet with anxiety, and because they could not receive, they are additionally grieved. So let it be said: And yet they will lie in the dust, and the worm will cover them. And although they were not equally lifted up in the world by temporary things, yet in their concern for temporary goods they were equally lulled and slept with emotionless eyes. And worms cover them together because both anxiety about possessing what is desired and anxiety about not losing what you possess are carnal thoughts that cover both of them. 66. But blessed Job, who was never exalted by the possession of things, and never troubled by the loss of them, being absorbed in thoughts of any outward loss, had no worms of heart gripping him; and because he did not drown his mind in earthly goods, he did not “lay in the dust.” And he says further: Behold, I know your thoughts and the devices that you have mistakenly imagined against me, as it is written: Who among men knows what is in a man, except the spirit of man that dwells in him? (1 Cor. 2:11) 802, according to the same principle it is said here: behold, I know your thoughts. But the spirit of a person is unknown to another when it is not revealed either by words or actions. For it is written: Therefore by their fruits you will know them (Matthew 7:20) 803 because, thanks to what is done on the outside, what is hidden within is brought to view. Where Solomon also rightly said: As the face of the beholder shines in water, so the hearts of people shine with wisdom (Prov. 27:19) 804. Again blessed Job, when he declared that he knew the thoughts of his friends, followed this by adding: and the devices which you have mistakenly imagined against me. By making things open to him, he can show that he has found what was hidden in them. Therefore, he adds evil words on their behalf, saying: You say: where is the prince’s house? and where are the dwellings of the wicked? 67. The weak, who wish to succeed in this worldly happiness, at the same time desiring evil and fearing punishment, in the case of those whom they see defeated, measure their crime by the strength of the punishment suffered; for those whom they see under the blows of whips they consider to have displeased God. Consequently, the friends of blessed Job were convinced that he, whom they see under the scourge, is wicked, i.e. they believe that if he had not been wicked, his “dwelling” would have remained. And everyone thinks so, who still suffers in the weariness of weakness, who sets the path of his thoughts in the satisfaction of this life, who has not learned to move on to the perfect desires of the eternal earth. From here it is well added: Verse 29, 30. Ask any of the travelers; and you will know that he understands it the same way. For the wicked is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be brought up in the day of wrath ( Job 21:29–30 ) 805 . 68. Often the patience of God endures for a long time those who are already condemned to punishment; patience suffers the prosperity of those whom it sees doing worse and worse. For, while He sees into what pit of condemnation they continue to fall, He chooses to be as if nothing to them, so that the wicked continue to multiply here the things that should be abandoned. But he, who is married to the glory of this life, considers it a great happiness to prosper here according to his desire, instead of the future life he goes to eternal punishment. Therefore, only that person who has already removed love for the modern world from his heart sees that there is nothing for an evil person in his temporary prosperity. Consequently, when speaking of the future condemnation of an evil person, he rightly refers to others: Ask any of those who walk along the path; and you will know that he understands it too. For he is called a “traveler” if not the one who believes that real life is for him only a path, and not a homeland, who tries to correct his heart, to lead it away from love to a passing state, who longs not for passing things, but to achieve eternal peace. But he who does not strive to be a traveler in this world is far from considering the goods of this world as nothing, and when he sees those things that he himself covets in abundance in others, he is amazed. Therefore, the prophet David, after he had gone into his heart from the love of the temporary world, in describing the glory of an evil man, said: I saw a terrible wicked man, and spread out like a green laurel (Ps. 37:35-36) 806. But since his heart did not belong to this world, he justly looked at it, saying: I passed by, and behold, he is no more. For an evil person would be worthy of something if he himself did not pass by the truth in the inclination of his mind to the temporary. And if a person were worthy, it would not be said that someone “passed by”, and by this “passed by” it was revealed how small this person is; for in the eyes of one who thinks about eternal reward, we see how little temporal glory means. Hence Moses, when he sought the glory of heavenly contemplation, said: Now I will pass by, and see this great region (Ex. 3:3) 807 for, if he had not turned the tread of his heart from the love of the world, he would never have been able to understand the things above. Therefore, Jeremiah begged to see the sadness of his heart, saying: all of you who pass by, look and see if there is a disease like my disease! (Lamentations 1:12) 808, for those who do not pass through temporary life, as on the way, but think of it as their own country, are not able to grasp in their mind's eye the sorrow of the heart of the chosen one. And therefore the prophet asks only those who have not established their minds in this world to consider its sorrow. Therefore Solomon said: Open your mouth to the dumb and protect all who pass by. For those are called “dumb” who never stubbornly contradicted the words of the preacher; who are also “passers-by” because they disdain to bend their minds to the love of temporary life. Therefore, the fact that a bad person is left for the day of destruction, and he will be brought on the day of wrath, is understandable only to “travelers” and he further added: Verse 31. Who will reprove his way before him? and who will reward him for what he did? (Job 21:31) 809. 69. Often, having provoked the wrath of God, under which the wicked will suffer for ever, even while yet in this life, he is faced with an experience whereby he loses those objects of earthly happiness which he loves, and meets with misfortune which he fears. But we know that, being in prosperity, he can be convicted of his wickedness by the words of the righteous, but very often it is only when his evil deeds bring the bad man to the ground, only then the convicting words of the righteous acquire force in the eyes of the wicked. But in what sense does it now say: Who will reprove his way before his face? For it is well known that, often, “the way of the wicked is exposed” to his face only when his prosperity is disturbed by the intervention of adversity. But blessed Job, while he is speaking about the body of all the wicked, suddenly turns his words to the head of all the wicked. For he saw that at the end of the world Satan, entering into man, whom the Holy Scripture calls Antichrist, rises up in such exaltation, stands out with such power, exalts himself with such wonderful signs and wonders, showing an apparent righteousness, that his actions cannot be judged by man, because with the power of horror he unites the signs of righteousness that is displayed, and he says: Who will reprove his way before his face? “Who,” that is, “which of the people can dare to expose him in front of his face, the face of the one whom he fears with horror”? Nevertheless, not only Elijah and Enoch, who are put forward to rebuke him, but even all the elect “will reprove his way before his face,” while they will show him contempt and, in the perfection of their minds, will oppose his wickedness. But because they do this by Divine grace, and not by their own strength, he now rightly says: who will reprove his way before his face? For “Who” can it be but God, by Whose help the elect are sustained to have the strength to resist him? For sometimes in Holy Scripture, when a question is asked with the word “who,” the Almighty is implied. Therefore it is written: who will lift him up? (Gen.49:9) 810 of which Paul spoke: whom God raised from the dead (Gal.1:1) 811. Therefore, holy people oppose themselves to his wickedness, not on their own, in order to “reprove his way,” but thanks to Him, by whose grace they are strengthened; and at that time his presence, when he comes in man, will be much more terrible in persecution than now, when he is not visible at all, because he is not yet in this special vessel of his, he said well: in front of his face. For there are many now who judge and reason about the path of the Antichrist, but they do this in his absence, they denounce someone whom they have not yet seen directly. But when he comes in this damned man, who will withstand his presence, “reprove his way before his face,” immediately seeing his power and his own weakness? Or, of course, by “rebuking his ways” can be understood the disruption of his prosperity, which is interrupted by eternal punishment. Who can do this if not the Lord alone by His power, of whom it is written: whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the appearance of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8) 812, and of whom it is rightly said: Who will reprove his way before his face? And therefore the words follow: and who will repay him for what he did? Who, truly, except the Lord, Who alone can repay this fallen man for all that he has done, when He comes and tears him to pieces with eternal damnation? But what is this exalted prince of the wicked like while he is in this life, let us hear. And then it continues: Verse 32. He will be brought to the grave, and from the heap of corpses he will look (Job 21:32) 813. 70. While graves cover corpses, what else do “graves” mean if not the lost, in which their souls lie in lies, as in graves, die, taken away from a life of bliss? Thus, this evil one must be “brought to the grave” because he must be admitted into the hearts of sinners, and having admitted him, their souls die to God, about which the prophet rightly said, describing his punishments: His graves are around him, all are killed, having felt the sword (Ezek. 32:22) 814. For they are in hell “around him,” in which the evil spirit lies dead, having already fallen, having been slain by the sword of his wickedness. Therefore it is written: Who saved Your servant David from the fierce sword (Ps. 143:10) 815. And this is rightly said: from the heap of corpses he will look, for at present he is putting forward the tricks of his wickedness in sinners. And on this score, because there are very few good people in the world, and many bad ones, he rightly called the many wicked people “a heap of corpses.” For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go therein (Matthew 7:13) 816. Thus, Satan, looking out from the heap of corpses, is he who carries out the machinations of his wickedness in the hearts of the children of perdition. What else does he add: Verse 33. He was sweet to the pebbles of Cocytus (Job 21:33) 817. 71. Kokytus 818 – in Greek this is a word for the artistic definition of “lamentation”, which is used, as a rule, for the crying of women, or any persons who are extremely weak. Now the wise men of this world, being shut out from the light of truth, tried by searching to reach at least a kind of shadow of truth. And therefore they thought that the Kokitus River flowed in the kingdom of the dead below, clearly indicating that those who ended up there did deeds worthy of painful suffering, and groaned there. But we ourselves, having looked a little at the shadow of carnal wisdom, and being now already illuminated by the light of truth, let us see that in the saying of the holy man, “Kokit” means the cry of the weak. For it is written: take courage, and let your heart be strengthened (Ps. 30:25) 819, for they who refuse to be “strengthened” by God go the way to groaning through weakness of mind. Now we are accustomed to using the word “pebbles” to refer to small river stones that water carries with it. What then do the Coquita pebbles signify, if not the lost, who, immersed in their pleasures, are dragged down the river to the lowest depths. For they refuse to stand firm and fortify themselves against the pleasures of this life, but become the “pebbles of Cocytus,” those who by their sliding set off on the path to lamentation, and in the future mourn the eternal, who at present condescend, allowing themselves to float freely in their pleasures. And while our old enemy, having entered into his vessel, this son of perdition, while he gives gifts to the wicked, while he exalts them with divers blessings in this world, while he manifests miracles for their eyes to see, holds all the drifting souls that admire him and glorify him in miracles, it is well said of him here: He was sweet to the pebbles of Cocytus. For the elect despise him, while they reject him standing fast in their minds, others love him while they follow him, and seem to turn from pleasure to the abysses of eternal sorrow, slipping in earthly desires to the low depths like a pebble sliding to the bottom day by day. To some he offers a taste of its sweetness through pride, to others through greed; he approaches one by envy, another by seduction or lust, and with all the types of evil to which he inclines people, he offers them many different types of his sweetness. For when he suggests any thing to a proud heart, what he says becomes sweet, because an evil man strives to appear superior to the rest of the world. When he seeks to inspire greed, what he says in secret becomes sweet, because abundance makes it possible to avoid want. When he speaks of something to be done with envy, what he says also brings sweetness, for when the cunning mind sees another fallen, it rejoices that someone has yielded to him. When he pushes for something to be done with deception, this is also sweet, for the one who sees that he alone is deceiving the whole world seems wise to himself. When he speaks through lust to seduce the soul, his words turn out to be sweet because they dissolve the soul with pleasure. Thus, through all the evil inclinations to which he pushes the hearts of carnal people, he seems to hold out to them a huge variety of different types of his sweetness; this same sweetness, however, as I have already said, cannot be obtained in any way except on the path to eternal crying. And so he said well: He was sweet to the pebbles of Coquita; seeing that it is bitterly chosen and sweetly lost. For only those he feeds with his sweet charms are those whom he daily calls to slip into lamentation. And then it continues: Verse 33. And he bows down every man after him, and there is an innumerable multitude before him (Job 21:33) 820. 72. In this place, the word “man” means one who tastes human joys. But, while “everyone”, i.e. "all" is more than "innumerable", we must ask why he said "every" before saying "innumerable". For our enemy will then enter into this man of destruction, and will drag under the yoke of his power all the carnal whom he finds; but now, before he comes, he already attracts “countless multitudes,” but, indeed, not yet “all” carnal, because there are many who daily fill their lives with carnal practice, but some who quickly and some return to a state of righteousness through a long path of repentance. And now he captures "countless multitudes" when he does not manifest his lying miracles before people. But when he performs his miracles in front of the eyes of carnal people, they will bow before him, and then not “countless multitudes” will follow him, but “everyone” because all those who delight themselves with temporary good things will surrender themselves to his power unconditionally. But as we have already said, “everyone”, i.e. “all” is more than “countless multitude”, why then did he first say that he will bend everyone, and then only “countless multitude” is added? For the rules of presentation require that first what is less should be mentioned, and only after that what is greater. But we also need to know that in this passage, he said "innumerable" is really about those who are more numerous, assessing the whole story. For “every man” is everyone whom he can find in three and a half years immersed in the pursuits of the carnal life, and he quickly binds them with the yoke of submission. But during the former period (those previous five thousand years and more), he attracted "innumerable multitudes"; and although he could never succeed in attracting all the carnal during this period, yet in so long a time this "countless multitude" which he carried away is still far greater than the "all" whom he was able to attract in the short time of his presence in his vessel. And so he said well: And he bows down every man after him, and there is an innumerable multitude before him, because he will, nevertheless, take less when he takes away “every man,” and he receives a greater spoil now, when he fills the hearts of “an innumerable multitude.” While blessed Job showed these things about the prince of the wicked, who would be allowed to rise high in this life, but who would be destroyed at the coming of the Lord, Historical interpretation he concerns himself, and clearly shows that he received disasters from the Lord not for offending Him, because if the wicked man is allowed to prosper “in this life,” then it is necessary that those chosen by God should also receive the reins of disasters. And on this basis he reproaches his friends, saying: How then do you comfort me empty, seeing that your answer is against the Truth? (Job 21:34) 821. 73. The friends of blessed Job could not console him, whom they denied the truth with their words, and when they called him a hypocrite or wicked, lying themselves in sin, they undoubtedly increased the sufferings of the righteous man, aggravating his wounds. For for the consciousness of the saints, because they love the truth, even the sin of another is suffering. For the more they see the guilt of lying, the more they hate it not only in themselves, but in others too. my thoughts prompt me to answer, and I hasten to express them. I have heard the reproach that is shameful for me, and the spirit of my understanding will answer for me. Do you not know that from eternity, from the time that man was placed on earth, the joy of the wicked is short-lived, and the joy of the hypocrite is instantaneous? yet they do their deeds so that people can see them: they expand their storehouses and increase the length of their clothes; they also love to be presented at feasts and preside over synagogues and greetings in public assemblies, and for people to call them: teacher! teacher! Even if his greatness increased to the heavens, and his head touched the clouds, he is lost forever like his dung; those who have seen him will say: Where is he? A lazy person is like ox dung: whoever picks it up shakes off his hand. like his dung, he is lost forever; those who have seen him will say: Where is he? He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him; and, like a night vision, will disappear. The eye that saw him will see him no more, and will no longer consider his place. His sons will curry favor with the poor, and his hands will restore what he stole. Wisdom will not enter an evil soul and will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin. Fear the Lord, all His saints, for there is no poverty among those who fear Him. ... and his hands will restore what he stole. His bones are filled with the sins of his youth, and with him they will lie in the dust. Instruct a young man at the beginning of his path: he will not deviate from it when he is old. If evil is sweet in his mouth, he hides it under his tongue. Everyone tells a lie to his neighbor; flattering lips speak from a feigned heart. Honeycomb drips from your lips, bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your clothes is like the fragrance of Lebanon! And Joab said to Amasa, Are you well, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. his mouth is full of curses, deceit and lies; under the tongue is its torment and destruction; in the Church Slavonic Bible it sounds like this: “his mouth is full of oaths, and sorrow and flattery: under his tongue is labor and illness.” protects him and does not throw him away, but keeps him in his mouth. then this food of his in his womb will turn into the bile of asps within him. The substance which he swallowed shall vomit: God shall pluck it out of his womb. But God says to the sinner: “That you preach My statutes and take My covenant in your mouth.” and His righteousness is upon the sons of sons, who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to do them. he said to me: what do you see? I answered: I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth is ten cubits. He said to me: This is a curse that comes upon the face of the whole earth; For everyone who steals will be destroyed, as it is written on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be destroyed, as it is written on the other side. And whoever leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. He sucks snake venom; the tongue of the viper will kill him. hatch snake eggs and weave cobwebs; whoever eats their eggs will die, and if he crushes them, a viper will crawl out. He won’t see streams, rivers flowing with honey and milk! Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. This He said about the Spirit, which those who believed on Him were about to receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given to them, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the assurance of things not seen. For we are saved in hope. But hope, when it sees, is not hope; for if anyone sees, what can he hope for? He will return what he has acquired through labor, and will not swallow it; As he has, his retribution will come, but he will not rejoice. for the root of all evil is the love of money, which, having given themselves over, some have strayed from the faith and subjected themselves to many sorrows. For he oppressed, sent away the poor; seized houses that he did not build; he did not know satiety in his belly and in his greed he spared nothing. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me. ...depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. But their desire had not yet passed, food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, killed their fat ones and brought down the young men of Israel. Nothing was saved from his gluttony, but his happiness could not withstand. The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. and he reasoned with himself: what should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits? And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my grain and all my goods, When there is something to fill his womb, He will send upon him the fury of His wrath and bring upon him sickness in his flesh. If he runs away from an iron weapon, a copper bow will pierce him. They bound his feet with shackles; his soul entered the iron. will take out (the arrow) - and it will come out of the body, come out, sparkling through its bile; the horrors of death will come upon him! ... the horrors of death will come upon him! Everything dark is hidden within him; a fire that will not be fanned by anyone will consume him; evil will befall those who remain in his tent. ... will devour him with fire, fanned by no one;... In the time of Your wrath You will make them like a fiery furnace; in His wrath the Lord will destroy them, and the fire will consume them. ... evil will befall those who remain in his tent. But you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Heaven will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. For his blood is in his midst; he left her on the bare rock; he did not spill it on the ground, where it might become covered with dust. He calls heaven and earth from above to judge His people. The wealth of his house will disappear; everything will be dissolved in the day of His wrath. they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as evidenced by their conscience and their thoughts, now accusing, now justifying one another) This is the destiny of the wicked man from God and the inheritance assigned to him by the Almighty! My flesh and my heart fail: God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. The righteous has many sorrows, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives. listen carefully to my speech, and this will be my consolation from you. Bear with me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock me. Is my speech to a person? How can I not be cowardly? Look at me and be horrified, and put your finger on your lips. David. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who teaches my hands to fight and my fingers to fight. As soon as I remember, I shudder and trembling takes over my body. Why do the lawless live, reach old age, and are strong in strength? Their children are with them before their faces, and their grandchildren are before their eyes. ... and their grandchildren are before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and there is no rod of God upon them. The ox fertilizes them and does not throw them out, the cow conceives them and does not throw them out. Like a herd, they release their little ones, and their children jump. They exclaim to the sound of the tympanum and zither and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. spend their days in happiness and instantly descend into the underworld. And yet they say to God: get away from us, we do not want to know Your ways! ... we do not want to know Your ways! The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; but whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him will be required more. What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what is the use of resorting to Him? ... The madman said in his heart: “There is no God.” They became corrupt and committed vile deeds; there is no one who does good. ... and what is the use of resorting to Him? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. You see, their happiness is not in their own hands. - The advice of the wicked be far from me! How often does the lamp of the wicked go out, and trouble comes upon them, and He gives them the suffering of His wrath? He will rain burning coals, fire and brimstone on the wicked; and the scorching wind is their share from the cup. They should be like straw before the wind and like chaff carried away by a whirlwind. Our God comes, and not in silence: before Him is a consuming fire, and around Him is a great storm. (You will say): God is saving his misfortune for his children. - Let Him reward him himself, so that he knows it. preserving mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but not leaving it unpunished, punishing the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the children's children to the third and fourth generation. Why do you use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: “The fathers ate sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge”? I live! says the Lord God, they will not speak this proverb in Israel. For behold, all souls are Mine: both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine: the soul that sins shall die. As soon as he goes, he will grab you; He will walk every morning, day and night, and one rumor about him will inspire horror. (In English-language texts, this quote sounds like “And one vexation will give understanding to what is heard” only in the King James Bible. In later versions of English-language Bibles, the quote sounds similar to the Russian Synodal Translation). And he spoke his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor speaks, a man with open eyes speaks, he who hears the words of God speaks, who sees the visions of the Almighty; falls, but his eyes are open. Let his eyes see his misfortune, and let him himself drink from the wrath of the Almighty. For what concern does he have for his house after him, when the number of his months is ended? Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. But can God be taught wisdom when He judges those above? One dies in the fullness of his strength, completely calm and peaceful; its entrails are full of fat, and its bones are filled with marrow. And the other dies with a sad soul, having not tasted good. And they will lie together in the dust, and the worm will cover them. I know your thoughts and the tricks that you weave against me. You will say: where is the prince’s house, and where is the tent in which the wicked lived? Their eyes have rolled out of fat, thoughts are wandering in their hearts. Therefore it is said: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” For which man knows what is in a man except the spirit of man that dwells in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. So by their fruits you will know them. Just as in water there is face to face, so a person’s heart is to man. Have you not asked travelers and are not familiar with their observations that on the day of destruction the evildoer is spared, and on the day of wrath he is put aside? I saw a terrible wicked man, expanding like a rooted many-branched tree; but he passed, and now he is gone; I'm looking for it and can't find it. Moses said: I will go and look at this great phenomenon, why the bush does not burn up. May this not happen to you, all who pass by! take a look and see if there is a sickness like mine, which befell me, which the Lord sent upon me in the day of His fiery wrath? Who will show him his way, and who will reward him for what he did? The young lion Judah, my son, rises from his prey. He bowed down, lay down like a lion and like a lioness: who will raise him? Paul is an Apostle, (chosen) not by men or through man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the revelation of His coming. He is escorted to the coffins and a guard is placed at his grave. There is Assur and all his hordes, around him are their graves, all slain, fallen by the sword. Who gives salvation to kings and delivers Your servant David from the fierce sword. Enter at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go there. The rocks of the valley are sweet to him, and a crowd of people follows him, and there is no number of those walking in front of him. Cocytus - Cocytus (Κωκυτός, lit. “river of crying”), in Greek mythology, one of the rivers in Hades (the kingdom of the dead), characterized by icy cold. Take courage, and let your hearts be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord! ... and a crowd of people follows him, and there is no number of those walking in front of him. How do you want to console me empty? Your answers still contain (one) lie.