into heaven. No lover of the world looks up to heaven; let us not love the world, nor the things in the world. If we love the things from here, we do not look up to heaven. 2. If you sinned, what will you do? That is, you will not wrong him, but neither will you benefit him, being righteous; for since he said: If I have sinned, what can I do? what shall I do, he says? so that he might say this: Why? For does he care for you when you sin, as if being wronged? for does he care as if enduring harm? 10. Who appoints the night watches. Do you wish to see how God appoints the night watches? this whole age is night, it is darkness. The light is kept for you; what you now see as light, you see through a glass. And: In your light we shall see light; we are to see it someday. Is not therefore the whole age night? since it is night, many enemies, many beasts roam about. Since, therefore, the things in the darkness of life are night, there is need of guards appointed for this night, 383 so that the guards, those over the nights, may watch over those in the night, and come and guard us from the robbers. Who then are the guards, appointed by God in the night watches? The angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him, and he will deliver them; these are the angels who guard us in the night. Ch. 38, 5. Who laid its measures, if you know? or who stretched the line upon it? The Greeks indeed wished to say something about the measure of the earth; the diameter of the earth, they say, is twenty-five myriads of stadia. But the argument seems to show that the measure of the earth is incomprehensible to anyone; only the Savior knows it, who is also its creator. And he said measures, and not measure, so that he might show the differences of the earth. What is the measure of such a land, let us say, that which bears the spices of the East? the measure of that which bears pepper or animals? For not all things are produced everywhere; these measures, therefore, are with the Word of God. -Therefore the earth has not become so great simply, nor by chance, but it seems to me, that if even the slightest thing were added, it would be inopportune, and if anything were taken away, it would by the same logic corrupt the whole of it; and the measures and the line allude to this. 2. And who is it that laid the cornerstone upon it? And who is it that laid the cornerstone upon it, that it stands so firm, as if he had built it upon the security of a firm foundation? By the will of God, for in his hand are all the ends of the earth. -Cornerstone; this can also be understood of the Only-begotten Son of God, for our sakes incarnate, 384 according to that in the psalms: The stone which they rejected, has become the head of the corner. For by the good pleasure of the Father he came to earth and joined in himself the two peoples, of the Jews and of the gentiles, just as, of course, the cornerstone also binds both the walls. 11. And I said to it: Thus far shall you come, and no farther. And Symmachus: Hitherto shall the pride of your waves be stayed. For thus he securely holds it as with bolts; and thus easily, as if in order. For I spoke, he says, and it is not possible to gainsay, when, with no necessity compelling, this happens; though at the same time much force and might scourges it; for on this account he did not permit it to be calm, nor gentle, so that it might proclaim the strength of God, with nature fighting against the command, and the command everywhere conquering. For if the water were gentle, many would have credited the good order to the nature of water; but now being troubled, scourged, pushed within, and unable to transgress its boundaries, through its tumult it proclaims the strength of God. 41. And who has prepared food for the raven? For it is said that they do not feed their young; but they themselves, being large, naturally provide food. But who feeds the young? Is it not the word of God? just as the gospel also says: The birds of the air do not sow, nor do they reap, and your heavenly father feeds them. Ch. 39, 27. And at your command 385 does the eagle soar? and does the vulture, sitting on its nest, lodge on a jutting rock and secret place? .....If in the flesh-eaters some rational wisdom, from that according to nature

εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Οὐδεὶς φιλόκοσμος ἀναβλέπει εἰς τὸν οὐ ρανόν· μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν τὸν κόσμον, μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. Εἰ τὰ ἐνθένδε ἀγαπῶμεν, οὐκ ἀναβλέπομεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. ʹ. Εἰ ἥμαρτες, τί πράξεις; Τουτέστιν οὐδὲ αὐτὸν ἀδικήσεις, ἀλλ' οὐ δὲ ὠφελήσεις, δίκαιος ὤν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔλε γεν· Εἰ ἥμαρτον, τί δύναμαι πρᾶξαι; τί ποιήσω, φησίν; τοῦτο ἵνα εἴπῃ· ∆ιὰ τί; μὴ γὰρ ἀδικούμενος φροντίζει σου ἁμαρτάνον τος; μὴ γὰρ ὡς βλάβην ὑπομένων; ιʹ. Ὁ κατατάσσων φυλακὰς νυκτερινάς. Θέλεις ἰδεῖν πῶς κατατάσσει φυλακὰς νυκτερινὰς ὁ Θεός; ὅλος ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος νύξ ἐστι, σκότος ἐστί. Τὸ φῶς τηρεῖταί σοι· ὃ βλέπεις νῦν φῶς, δι' ἔσοπτρον βλέπεις. Καί· Ἐν τῷ φωτί σου ὀψόμεθα φῶς· μέλλομεν ποτὲ βλέπειν αὐτό. Οὐκοῦν νύξ ἐστι πᾶς ὁ αἰών; ἐπεὶ νύξ ἐστι, πολέμιοι πολλοὶ, πολλὰ θηρία περιέρχονται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν νύξ ἐστὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ τοῦ βίου πράγματα, χρεία ἐστι φυ λάκων τεταγμένων εἰς τὴν νύκτα ταύτην, 383 ἵνα οἱ φύλακες, οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν νυκτῶν, φρουρῶσι τοὺς ἐν νυκτὶ, καὶ ἔλθωσι καὶ φυλάξωσιν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν λῃστῶν. Τίνες οὖν οἱ φύλα κες, οἱ τεταγμένοι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ταῖς φυλακαῖς ταῖς νυκτεριναῖς; Παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγ γελος Κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν, καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτούς· οὗτοι οἱ ἄγγελοι οἳ ἐν νυκτὶ φρουροῦσιν ἡμᾶς. Κεφ. ΛΗʹ, εʹ. Τίς ἔθετο τὰ μέτρα αὐτῆς, εἰ οἶδας; ἢ τίς ὁ ἐπαγαγὼν σπαρτίον ἐπ' αὐ τῆς; Ἠθέλησαν μὲν εἰπεῖν ἕλληνές τι περὶ τοῦ μέτρου τῆς γῆς· ἡ διάμετρος τῆς γῆς, φασὶν, εἰκόσι πέντε μυριάδων στάδια. Ἔοικε δ' ὁ λόγος δεικνύναι, ὅτι ἄληπτόν ἐστι τὸ μέτρον τῆς γῆς παντί· μόνος δὲ ὁ Σωτὴρ οἶδεν αὐτὸ, ὁ καὶ δημιουργός. Μέτρα δὲ, καὶ οὐ μέτρον εἶπεν, ἵνα τὰς διαφορὰς τῆς γῆς πα ραστήσῃ. Μέτρον τί ἐστι τῆς τοιᾶσδε, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τῆς φερούσης τὰ ἀρώματα Ἀνατο λῆς; μέτρον τῆς φερούσης τὸ πέπερ ἢ τὰ ζῶα; οὐ γὰρ πάντα πανταχοῦ γίνεται· ταῦτα οὖν τὰ μέτρα παρὰ τῷ Λόγῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιν. -Αρα οὐχ ἁπλῶς τοσαύτη γεγένηται ἡ γῆ, οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, εἰ καὶ τὸ τυχὸν προσετέθη, ἄκαιρον εἶναι, καὶ εἴ περ ἀφῃρήθη, ὁμοίῳ τῷ λόγῳ πᾶσαν αὐτὴν λυμήνασθαι· καὶ τοῦτο αἰνίττεται τὰ μέτρα καὶ τὸ σπαρτίον. ʹ. Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βαλὼν λίθον γωνιαῖον ἐπ' αὐτῆς; Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βαλὼν λίθον γωνιαῖον ἐπ' αὐτῆς, ὅτι οὕτως ἕστηκεν ἑδραία, ὡσ περεὶ ἐπῳκοδόμησεν ἐπ' ἀσφαλείᾳ βεβηκυίᾳ θεμελιώσεως; τῇ βουλήσει τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν τῇ γὰρ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς. -Λίθον γωνιαῖον· τοῦτο δύναται καὶ εἰς τὸν Μονογενῆ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸν, δι' ἡμᾶς σαρκω 384 θέντα, νοεῖσθαι· κατὰ τὸ ἐν ψαλμοῖς· Λίθον, ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν, ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γω νίας. Εὐδοκίᾳ γὰρ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ γῆς, συνῆψεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τοὺς δύο λαοὺς, τῶν Ἰου δαίων τε καὶ ἐθνῶν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ γωνιαῖος λίθος ἀμφοτέρους συνδεῖ τοὺς τεί χους. ιαʹ. Εἶπα δὲ αὐτῇ· Μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ, καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Ἕως ὧδε τετάχθω τὸ ἔπαρμα τῶν κυμάτων σου. Οὕτω μὲν γὰρ ἀσ φαλῶς κατέχει αὐτὴν ὡσανεὶ κλείθροις· οὕτω δὲ εὐκόλως, ὡσανεὶ ἐπὶ τάξει. Εἶπα γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀντειπεῖν, ὅταν, μηδε μίας ἀνάγκης ὠθούσης, τοῦτο γίνηται· ἅμα καίτοι πολλῆς τῆς βίας καὶ τῆς ῥώμης αὐ τὴν μαστιζούσης· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτὴν εἶναι γαληνιαίαν, οὐδὲ ἥμερον, ἵνα κηρύττῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἰσχὺν, τῆς φύσεως τῷ προστάγματι μαχομένης, καὶ τοῦ προσ τάγματος πανταχοῦ νικῶντος. Εἰ γὰρ ἥμε ρον ἦν τὸ ὕδωρ, τῇ φύσει τοῦ ὕδατος τὴν εὐταξίαν ἂν ἐλογίσαντο πολλοί· νῦν δὲ τα ραττομένη, μαστιγουμένη, ὠθουμένη ἔνδον, καὶ τὰ ὅρια ὑπερβῆναι μὴ δυναμένη, διὰ τῆς ταραχῆς κηρύττει τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἰσχύν. μαʹ. Τίς δὲ ἡτοίμασε κόρακι βοράν; Λέγεται γὰρ μὴ ἐκτρέφειν τὰ ἔκγονα· ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ μὲν εἰκότως, ἅτε μεγάλοι ὄντες, πορίζουσι τροφήν. Τὰ δὲ ἔκγονα τίς ἐκτρέ φει; οὐχ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος; καθὰ καὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν φησιν· Τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐ σπείρουσιν, οὐδὲ θέρουσι, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τρέφει αὐτά. Κεφ. ΛΘ, κζʹ. Ἐπὶ δὲ σῷ προστάγματι 385 ὑψοῦται ἀετός; γὺψ δὲ ἐπὶ νοσσιᾶς αὐτοῦ καθεσθεὶς, αὐλίζεται ἐπ' ἐξοχῇ πέτρας καὶ ἀποκρύφῳ; .....Εἰ ἐν τοῖς σαρκοβόροις τινα λογικὴν σοφίαν, ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν