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and when the greenness has passed, scattering the clouds, the whole covering of the sky, then he sets the bare sun over them, extending its warm and fiery ray, so that the ears of grain may become ripe for cutting. He also nourishes the vine in its seasons, preparing drink for the thirsty, and he nourishes for us herds of different kinds, so that there may be abundant food for men; and the fleeces of some, producing wool, provide covering, while of others, they are worked into our footwear. Do you see that God is the first inventor of good deeds, thus feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty and clothing the naked, as has been said before.

But if you wish to hear how he also heals the afflicted, learn: Who taught the bee to work the wax and with it the honey? Who made the pine and the terebinth and the mastic tree to drip that oily sap? Who created the land of India, the mother of dry and fragrant fruits? Who planted the olive tree 9.102 as a helper for bodily toils and pains? Who gave us the discernment of roots and herbs and the knowledge of their qualities? Who established medicine, the producer of health? Who sent forth from the earth springs of hot waters, some healing our cold and wet humors, others dissolving the dry or condensed? And it was fitting to say opportunely according to Baruch: He has found out all the way of knowledge, and has given it to Jacob his servant. For this reason there are arts with fire and without fire, and others with water, and countless inventions of crafts, so that service may be rendered without lack for the needs of life; and so God is thus, the first inventor of good deeds and a provider, at once rich and compassionate, of our necessities. But we who are taught by every letter of scripture to emulate our Lord and Creator, insofar as the imitation of the blessed and immortal one is possible for a mortal, we sweep everything away for our own enjoyment and we assign some things to our own life, and store up others for our heirs; but there is no account of those in distress, nor any good care for the poor. O, the merciless disposition! A man sees a man lacking bread and not having the necessary spark of life from food. He does not eagerly assist and stretch out salvation, but looks on as a flourishing plant piteously withering from lack of water, and this while having overflowing abundance and being able to channel to many the comfort from his possessions. For just as the flow of one spring 9.103 enriches many sprawling plains, so also the wealth of one house is sufficient to save whole peoples of the poor, only if one is not stingy and unsociable in disposition and, like a stone fallen into the channel, blocks the flow. Let not all things be for the flesh; let us live somewhat for God also. For luxury, coming in through enjoyment, serves a small part of the flesh, the throat; but having made the materials rot in the belly, its end is the latrine. But mercy and good deeds are things dear to God, and, in whatever man they dwell, they deify him and form him into an imitation of the Good, so that he may be an image of the first and pure substance which surpasses all understanding. And what kind of end do they guarantee for such zeal? Here, a good hope and a gladdening expectation, and in the hereafter, when we have put off this fleeting flesh and have put on incorruptibility, a blessed life, unceasing and indestructible, prepared in certain wondrous states of well-being now unknown to us.

Therefore, you who have been created rational and have the mind as an interpreter and teacher of divine things, be not enticed by temporary things. But acquire the things that never abandon the one who has acquired them; set limits to the use of life. Let not all things be ours, but let a part also be for the poor who are beloved of God; for all things belong to God, the common Father; and we are brothers as we are of the same race; but brothers...

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καὶ παρέλθῃ τὸ χλοαινόμενον, τὰς νεφέλας ἀποσκεδάζων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ παντὸς τότε προκαλύμματος γυμνὸν αὐτοῖς ἐφίστησι τὸν ἥλιον θερμὴν καὶ ἔμπυρον διατείνοντα τὴν ἀκτῖνα, ἵν' ὡραῖοι γένωνται πρὸς τομὴν οἱ ἀστάχυες. τρέφει καὶ ἄμπελον ταῖς ὥραις τῷ διψῶντι τὸ ποτὸν εὐτρεπί ζων καὶ ἀγέλας ἡμῖν τρέφει διαφόρων γενῶν, ἵν' ὑπάρχῃ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἄφθονον ὄψον· καὶ τῶν μὲν αἱ δοραὶ ἔριον γεωργοῦσαι τὴν σκέπην παρέχουσι, τῶν δὲ τὰ ὑποδήματα ἡμῖν ἀπεργάζονται. ὁρᾷς ὅτι πρῶτος τῆς εὐποιίας εὑρετὴς ὁ θεός, οὕτω τρέφων τὸν πεινῶντα καὶ ποτίζων τὸν διψῶντα καὶ ἀμφιεννὺς τὸν γυμνόν, ὡς προείρηται.

Εἰ δὲ θέλεις ἀκοῦσαι πῶς καὶ θεραπεύει τὸν κεκακωμένον, μάνθανε· τίς ἐδίδαξε τὴν μέλισσαν ἐργάζεσθαι τὸν κηρὸν καὶ σὺν ἐκείνῳ τὸ μέλι; τίς τὴν πίτυν καὶ τὴν τερέβινθον καὶ τῆς μαστίχης τὸ δένδρον τὸν λιπαρὸν ἐκεῖνον χυμὸν ἀποστάζειν ἐποίησεν; τίς τὴν Ἰνδῶν χώραν ἐδημιούργησε ξηρῶν καρπῶν καὶ εὐωδῶν μητέρα; τίς τὴν ἐλαίαν ἔφυσε 9.102 πόνων σωματικῶν καὶ ἀλγηδόνων ἐπίκουρον; τίς ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ῥιζῶν καὶ βοτανῶν διάγνωσιν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς ποιοτήτων τὴν μάθησιν; τίς τὴν ποιητικὴν ὑγιείας ἰατρικὴν συνεστήσατο; τίς ἀνῆκεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς θερμῶν ὑδάτων πηγάς, τὰς μὲν τὸ ψυχρὸν καὶ ὑγρὸν ἡμῶν ἰωμένας, τὰς δὲ τὸ ξηρὸν ἢ πεπυκνωμένον λυούσας; καὶ προσῆκεν εὐκαίρως εἰπεῖν κατὰ τὸν Βαρούχ· Οὗτος ἐξεῦρε πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰακὼβ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο τέχναι ἔμπυροι καὶ πυρὸς χωρὶς καὶ ἄλλαι ἔνυδροι καὶ μυρίαι τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων εὑρέσεις, ἵνα ταῖς τοῦ βίου χρείαις ἀνενδεὴς ἡ διακονία τελῆται· καὶ ὁ μὲν θεὸς οὕτως, ὁ πρῶτος τῆς εὐποιίας εὑρετὴς καὶ τῶν ἡμῖν ἀναγκαίων πλούσιος ὁμοῦ καὶ συμπαθὴς χορηγός. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ καθ' ἕκαστον γράμμα τῆς γραφῆς παιδευόμενοι ζηλοῦν τὸν ἑαυτῶν κύριον καὶ δημιουργόν, καθ' ὅσον τῷ θνητῷ ἡ τοῦ μακαρίου καὶ ἀθανάτου μίμησις ἐφικτή, πάντα παρασύρομεν πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπόλαυσιν καὶ τὰ μὲν τῇ ἑαυτῶν ἀποκληροῦμεν ζωῇ, τὰ δὲ κληρονόμοις ταμιευόμεθα· τῶν δὲ δυσπραγούντων λόγος οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ τῶν πενομένων ἀγαθὴ μέριμνα. ὢ τῆς ἀνηλεοῦς γνώμης. ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπον ὁρᾷ ἄρτου πενόμενον καὶ τὴν ἀναγκαίαν ζωπύρησιν τῆς τροφῆς οὐκ ἔχοντα. οὐκ ἐπαρκεῖ δὲ προθύμως καὶ ὀρέγει τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ περιορᾷ οἷόν τι φυτὸν εὐθαλὲς ὑδάτων ἀπορίᾳ ἐλεεινῶς ξηραινόμενον, καὶ ταῦτα πλημμυροῦσαν ἔχων τὴν ἀφθονίαν καὶ πολλοῖς ἐποχετεύειν δυνάμενος τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων παραμυθίαν. ὡς γὰρ μιᾶς πηγῆς ἐπιρροὴ 9.103 πολλὰς πεδιάδας ἀνηπλωμένας πιαίνει, οὕτως καὶ μιᾶς οἰκίας εὐπορία δήμους πενήτων ἐξαρκεῖ διασώσασθαι, μόνον ἐὰν μὴ γνώμῃ φειδωλὸς καὶ ἀκοινώνητος ὡς λίθος ἐμπεσοῦσα τῇ διεξόδῳ τὴν ἐπιρροὴν ἀνακρούσηται. Μὴ τὰ πάντα τῇ σαρκί· ζήσωμέν τι καὶ τῷ θεῷ. τρυφὴ μὲν γὰρ ἐπεισελθοῦσα δι' ἀπολαυσέως ὀλίγον τῆς σαρκὸς μόριον θεραπεύει, τὴν φάρυγγα· τῇ γαστρὶ δὲ τὰς ὕλας ἐνσήψασα τέλος ἔχει τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα. ἔλεος δὲ καὶ εὐποιία θεῷ τέ εἰσι πράγματα φίλα καί, ᾧπερ ἂν ἐνοικήσωσιν ἀνθρώπῳ, θεοῦσιν αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς μίμησιν ἀποτυποῦσι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, ἵν' ὑπάρχῃ εἰκὼν τῆς πρώτης καὶ ἀκηράτου καὶ πάντα νοῦν ὑπερβαινούσης οὐσίας. τῆς δὲ σπουδῆς τὸ πέρας ὁποῖον ἐγγυῶνται; ἐνταῦθα μὲν καλὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ προσδοκίαν εὐφραίνουσαν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἔπειτα, ὅταν τὴν ῥέουσαν ταύτην ἀποσκευασάμενοι σάρκα τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν μετενδυσώμεθα, μακαρίαν ζωήν, ἄληκτον καὶ ἀνώλεθρον, ἐν θαυμασταῖς τισι καὶ νῦν οὐ γινωσκομέναις ἡμῖν εὐπαθείαις εὐτρεπισμένην.

Οὐκοῦν οἱ λογικοὶ κτισθέντες καὶ τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντες τῶν θείων ἑρμηνέα καὶ παιδευτὴν μὴ τοῖς προσκαίροις δελεασθῆτε. κτήσασθε δὲ τὰ μηδέποτε καταλιμπάνοντα τὸν κτησάμενον· ὁρίσατε μέτρα τῇ χρήσει τοῦ βίου. μὴ πάντα ἡμέτερα, ἀλλὰ μέρος ἔστω καὶ τῶν πενήτων τῶν ἀγαπητῶν τοῦ θεοῦ· πάντα γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦ κοινοῦ πατρός· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀδελφοὶ ὡς ὁμόφυλοι· ἀδελφοὺς δὲ τὸ μὲν