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law, those things come to our mind; neither is a ram understood as the male among the sheep, nor a tent the dwelling put together from this inanimate matter, nor the exit of the tent the departure from the temple, but for us the tent is this body, as the Apostle taught us, saying, that *We who are in this tent groan*; and again the psalm: *And no plague will come near your tent*. And the exodus of the tent is the departure from this life, for which the word exhorts us to prepare, bringing such and such things to the Lord; since the work here is provision for the future. And he who here through good works brings glory and honor to the Lord, this one treasures up for himself glory and honor according to the just recompense of the judge. However, in many of the copies we have found added, *Bring to the Lord, you sons of God*. And since not everyone's gift is acceptable to God, but that of the one who brings it from a pure heart; For, it says, *vows are not pure from the hire of a harlot*; and again Jeremiah, *Shall vows*, he says, *and holy flesh take away your wickedness, or will you be pure by these?* wherefore the psalm first wants us to be sons of God, and then to proceed to bring gifts to God, and these not just any things, but such as he himself commanded. First say, Father, then ask for the things that follow. But examine yourself, from what sort of life you have come; if you are worthy to name the holy God your father. Through sanctification is our kinship with the Holy One. If you wish always to be a son of the Holy One, let sanctification adopt you. Bring therefore to the Lord, not just anyone, nor from just any things, but as sons of God. He is about to require great gifts; for this reason he chooses great ones to offer them. For so that he might not cast your thoughts to the ground, nor make you seek a ram, this irrational, four-footed and bleating animal, as if expecting from its sacrifice 29.284 to propitiate God, *Bring*, he says, *to the Lord, you sons of God*. For there is no need of a son, that he might offer him a son, but if the son is something great, it is fitting that what is offered also be something great and worthy both of the son's disposition and the father's dignity. *Bring therefore*, he says, *sons of rams*; so that those offered by you might be changed from being sons of rams to becoming sons of God. The ram, then, is a leading animal, guiding the sheep both to nourishing pastures and resting places of water, and again to folds and pens. Such also are some of those who preside over the flock of Christ; leading them to the flourishing and fragrant foods of spiritual teaching, and watering and raising them with living water by the supply of the Spirit, and nourishing them to fruitfulness; and guiding them to rest, and to safety from those who plot against them. The word therefore wills that the sons of these be brought to the Lord by the sons of God. And if the rams are those who lead the rest, their sons would be those who have been formed for the life according to virtue by the zeal of good works from the teaching of their leaders. *Bring therefore to the Lord, you sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams*. Have you learned to whom he speaks? Have you learned about what things? *Bring to the Lord*, he says, *glory and honor*. How then do we, who are earth and ashes, offer glory to the great Lord? and how also honor? Glory, on the one hand, through good works, when our works shine before men, so that seeing our works, men may glorify our Father who is in heaven. And through temperance and the sanctification befitting those who profess piety, it is possible to glorify God according to the exhortation of Paul, who says: *Therefore glorify God in your members*. This glory the Lord also demands from those who believe in him and have been honored with the gift of adoption. For *a son*, he says, *glorifies his father*; and, *If I am a father, where is my glory?* And one brings honor to God who, according to the Proverb, honors God from his own righteous labors, and offering firstfruits

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νόμον, ἐκεῖνα ἡμῖν ὑποπίπτει· οὔτε κριὸς τὸ ἄῤῥεν ἐν τοῖς προβάτοις νοεῖται, οὔτε σκηνὴ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἀψύχου ταύτης ὕλης συμπηγνύμε νον οἴκημα, οὔτε ἔξοδος σκηνῆς ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀναχώρησις, ἀλλὰ σκηνὴ μὲν ἡμῖν τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο, ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξε λέγων, ὅτι Οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει στενάζομεν· καὶ πάλιν ὁ ψαλμός· Καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου. Ἐξ όδιον δὲ σκηνῆς ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου τούτου ἀναχώρησις, πρὸς ἣν παρασκευάζεσθαι ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος παρεγγυᾷ, τάδε τινὰ καὶ τάδε κομίζοντας τῷ Κυρίῳ· ἐπείπερ ἡ ἐνταῦθα ἐργασία ἐφόδιόν ἐστι πρὸς τὸ μέλλον. Καὶ ὁ ἐνταῦθα διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων δόξαν φέρων καὶ τιμὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ, οὗτος δόξαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ τιμὴν κατὰ τὴν δικαίαν τοῦ κριτοῦ ἀνταπόδοσιν θησαυρίζει. Ἐν πολλοῖς μέντοι τῶν ἀντιγράφων προσκείμενον εὕρο μεν τὸ, Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ. Καὶ ἐπεί περ οὐ παντὸς δῶρον εὐπρόσδεκτον τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀπὸ καρδίας προσάγοντος καθαρᾶς· Οὐ γὰρ ἁγναὶ, φησὶν, εὐχαὶ ἀπὸ μισθώματος ἑταίρας· καὶ πάλιν Ἱερεμίας, Μὴ εὐχαὶ, φησὶ, καὶ κρέα ἅγια ἀφελοῦσί σου τὰς κακίας, ἢ τούτοις ἔσῃ καθα ρός; διόπερ ὁ ψαλμὸς πρότερον ἡμᾶς βούλεται υἱοὺς εἶναι Θεοῦ, εἶτα τότε ἀπαντᾷν ἐπὶ τὸ προσκομίζειν τὰ δῶρα τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ τὰ τυχόντα, ἀλλ' οἷα αὐ τὸς διετάξατο. Πρότερον εἰπὲ, Πάτερ, εἶτα αἴτησον τὰ ἐφεξῆς. ∆οκίμασον δὲ σεαυτὸν ἐκ ποταποῦ βίου ἀπήν τηκας· εἰ ἄξιος εἶ Θεὸν τὸν ἅγιον πατέρα σεαυτοῦ ὀνομάζειν. ∆ι' ἁγιασμοῦ ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον οἰκείωσις. Εἰ βούλει ἀεὶ υἱὸς τοῦ ἁγίου εἶναι, ἁγιασμός σε υἱοθετείτω. Ἐνέγκατε οὖν τῷ Κυρίῳ οὐχ οἱ τυχόντες, οὐδὲ οἱ ἐκ τῶν τυχόντων, ἀλλ' υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μεγάλα μέλλει ἐπιζητεῖν τὰ δῶρα· διὰ τοῦτο μεγάλους ἐκλέγεται τοὺς προσφέροντας. Ἵνα γάρ σου μὴ ῥίψῃ χαμαὶ τοὺς λογισμοὺς, μηδέ σε ποιήσῃ κριὸν τὸ ἄλογον τοῦτο τετράπουν καὶ βλη χητικὸν ζῶον ἐπιζητεῖν, ὡς ἐκ τῆς τούτου θυσίας 29.284 προσδοκᾷν ἱλεοῦσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, Ἐνέγκατε, φησὶ,τῷ Κυρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ υἱοῦ χρεία, ἵνα υἱὸν αὐ τὸν προσφέρῃ, ἀλλ' εἰ μέγα τι ὁ υἱὸς, μέγα τι καὶ ἐπάξιον τῆς τε υἱοῦ διαθέσεως καὶ τῆς πατρικῆς ἀξίας τὸ προσφερόμενον εἶναι προσῆκεν. Υἱοὺς οὖν, φησὶν, ἐνέγκατε κριῶν· ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ προσφε ρόμενοι παρ' ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ εἶναι υἱοὶ κριῶν εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι υἱοὶ Θεοῦ μεταβάλωνται. Ὁ κριὸς τοίνυν ἡγεμονικόν ἐστι ζῶον, καθ ηγούμενον τῶν προβάτων ἐπί τε νομὰς τροφίμους καὶ ἀναπαύσεις ὑδάτων, καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ σηκοὺς καὶ ἐπαύλεις. Τοιοῦτοι δέ τινες καὶ οἱ τῆς ποίμνης τοῦ Χριστοῦ προεστῶτες· προάγοντες μὲν ἐπὶ τὰς εὐαν θεῖς καὶ εὐώδεις τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας τρο φὰς, καὶ ὕδατι ζῶντι τῇ ἐπιχορηγίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἄρδοντες καὶ ὑψοῦντες καὶ πρὸς καρποφορίαν ἐκτρέ φοντες· ὁδηγοῦντες δὲ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ἀσφάλειαν. Τούτων οὖν τοὺς υἱοὺς παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσάγεσθαι βούλεται τῷ Κυρίῳ ὁ λόγος. Εἰ δὲ κριοὶ οἱ προηγούμενοι τῶν λοιπῶν, υἱοὶ ἂν τούτων εἶεν οἱ πρὸς τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων σπουδῆς ἐκ τῆς διδασκαλίας τῶν προεστώτων μεμορφωμένοι. Ἐνέγκατε οὖν τῷ Κυρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ υἱοὺς κριῶν. Ἔμαθες τίνι διαλέγεται; ἔμαθες περὶ τίνων; Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, φησὶ, δόξαν καὶ τιμήν. Πῶς οὖν ἡμεῖς, ἡ γῆ καὶ σποδὸς, τῷ μεγάλῳ Κυρίῳ δόξαν προσφέρομεν; πῶς δὲ καὶ τιμήν; ∆όξαν μὲν διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων, ὅταν λάμπῃ τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὥστε ἰδόντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν δοξάσαι τὸν Πατέρα ἡμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Καὶ διὰ σω φροσύνης καὶ τοῦ ἐπιβάλλοντος τοῖς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐπαγγελλομένοις ἁγιασμοῦ δοξάσαι δυνατόν ἐστι τὸν Θεὸν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Παύλου παραίνεσιν, λέγοντος· ∆οξάσατε δὴ τὸν Θεὸν ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν. Ταύτην καὶ ἀπαιτεῖ παρὰ τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν πιστευόντων καὶ τῷ χαρίσματι τῆς υἱοθεσίας τετιμημένων τὴν δόξαν ὁ Κύριος. Υἱὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, δοξάζει πατέρα· καὶ, Εἰ πατήρ εἰμι ἐγὼ, ποῦ ἔστιν ἡ δόξα μου; Τιμὴν δὲ φέρει τῷ Θεῷ ὁ κατὰ τὴν Παροιμίαν τιμῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν δικαίων ἑαυτοῦ πόνων, καὶ ἀπαρ χόμενος