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God: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. But what does his genuine offspring say? For I have not lied in the words of my holy God. Do you see what kind of love he has for God, how he makes the God over all his own? Praise his truth through all things; and consider with how much love toward God he uttered the words. 6, 1114 For what is my strength, that I should endure? Or what is my time, that my soul should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of bronze? Or have I not trusted in him? But help is gone from me. Mercy has disowned me, and the visitation of the Lord has overlooked me. For am I insensible or made of stone or bronze? he says. Am I not clothed in human flesh? Am I not short-lived? Therefore, let no one find fault with one who is in pain and asks for release from his present woes. And such are the things concerning the body; but what most afflicts my soul is to infer from the present circumstances that the God whom I long for, on whom I have hung all my hope of lifefor "I have trusted" is used instead of "I trust," as the tenses are continually varied throughout the entire book,has abandoned me and stripped me of his own visitation and mercies. For these reasons especially, the righteous man was despondent. And let each of those wounded by divine love consider how much pain it causes a rational soul to suspect that it has been abandoned by the God it longs for. For if those 71 wounded by love for a woman, then, if they happen to be scorned, consider life unlivable and are struck with unbearable afflictions, what must a soul suffer that is wounded by love for God and believes it has endured abandonment? Then he adds the things that had happened to him, from which he suspected he had been overlooked by God: 6, 1518 My nearest of kin have not regarded me; like a failing torrent or like a wave they have passed me by. Those who revered me have now fallen upon me like snow or compacted ice; just as when it melts from the heat it is not recognized for what it was, so I too have been left by all, and I have perished and become an outcast. Crystal is snow that is hard to melt, on which one can even walk. Just as, he says, a failing torrent or a passing wave or snow or ice melted by the sun's heat leave not even a trace, in the same way, I think, they considered me as not even existing, and these were the ones who ought to have sympathized because of their kinship. But there is also something else more grievous; for those who formerly revered me now trample upon my misfortunes. And "I have become an outcast" is instead of: "I am utterly ruined." The great David also said similar things, lamenting: I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind, I am like a broken vessel. 72 6, 19 See the ways of the Temanites, and the paths of the Sabeans, you who are discerning; and those who trust in cities and riches will be put to shame. Another of the interpreters has rendered it thus: _They look to the ways of Teman, they expect for themselves the journeys of Sheba._ He therefore admonishes those who are proud of wealth and power, from his own change of fortune, not to hope in their uncertainty. For those who pay attention, he says, to the ways of Teman and the paths of the Ethiopians (for the Sabeans are the Ethiopians)—that is: those expecting profits from commerce with them—do not trust in riches; for those who hope in these things will be put to shame. Or it can also be understood otherwise, as he points out places that were once prosperous, but were then desolate and in ruins, and he says: Look upon these things and do not trust in the uncertainty of wealth. Whether it is this or that, he advises not to trust in riches or power. 6, 21 But indeed you also have come upon me without mercy, so that when you saw my wound you were afraid. But let it be, he says, that they overlooked me; why have you also, my friends, used such bitter words against me? Then there is the excellent counsel of the philosopher and lover of God, that each one ought to become more reverent and fearful by paying attention to the misfortunes of others. 6, 2223 For what? Did I ask anything of you, or do I need your strength 73 so that you might save me from

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ὁ θεός· ἐγὼ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ. τὸ δὲ τούτων γνήσιον γέννημα, τί φησιν; οὐ γὰρ ἐψευσάμην ῥήμασιν ἁγίου θεοῦ μου. εἶδες ἀγάπην οἵαν ἔχει εἰς θεόν, πῶς τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων ἰδιοποιεῖται θεόν; ἐπαίνεσον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν διὰ πάντων ἀλήθειαν· καὶ σκόπει, μεθ' ὅσης τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπης τοὺς λόγους προέφερεν. 6, 1114 τίς γάρ μου ἡ ἰσχύς, ὅτι ὑπομένω; ἢ τίς μου ὁ χρόνος, ὅτι ἀνέχεταί μου ἡ ψυχή; μὴ ἰσχὺς λίθων ἡ ἰσχύς μου; ἢ αἱ σάρκες μού εἰσι χάλκειαι; ἢ οὐκ ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἐπεποίθειν; βοήθεια δὲ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἄπεστιν. ἀπείπατό με ἔλεος, ἐπισκοπὴ δὲ κυρίου ὑπερεῖδέ με. μὴ γὰρ ἀνάλγητος ἢ λίθινος ἢ χαλκοῦς εἰμι; φησίν. οὐκ ἀνθρώπου σάρκα περίκειμαι; οὐκ ὀλιγοχρόνιος τυγχάνω; μηδεὶς οὖν ἀλγοῦντι μεμφέσθω καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν αἰτοῦντι τῶν παρόντων δεινῶν. καὶ τὰ μὲν τοῦ σώματος τοιαῦτα· ὃ δὲ μάλιστα τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνιᾷ ψυχήν, τὸ ἐκ τῶν παρόντων τεκμαίρεσθαι, ὡς ὁ ὑπ' ἐμοῦ ποθούμενος θεός, εἰς ὃν τὴν πᾶσαν μου τῆς ζωῆς ἐλπίδα ἀνήρτησατὸ γὰρ ἐπεποίθειν ἀντὶ τοῦ πέποιθα κεῖται τῶν χρόνων συνεχῶς ἐν παντὶ τῷ βιβλίῳ παρηλλαγμένων, ἐγκατέλειψέ με καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐπισκοπῆς καὶ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν ἐγύμνωσεν. διὰ ταῦτα μάλιστα ὁ δίκαιος ἠθύμει. καὶ σκοπείτω γε ἕκαστος τῶν τῇ θείᾳ τετρωμένων ἀγάπῃ, ὅσην ὀδύνην ἐμποιεῖ λογικῇ ψυχῇ τὸ ὑποπτεύειν ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι παρὰ τοῦ ποθουμένου θεοῦ. εἰ γὰρ οἱ γυ 71 ναικὸς ἔρωτι τρωθέντες, εἶτα, ἐὰν ὑπεροφθέντες τύχωσιν, ἀβίωτον ἡγοῦνται τὸν βίον καὶ ἀφορήτοις ἀνίαις βάλλονται, τί ἂν πάθοι ψυχὴ τῇ εἰς θεὸν ἀγάπῃ τρωθεῖσα καὶ ἐγκατάλειψιν ὑπομεμενηκέναι νομίζουσα; εἶτα ἐπιφέρει τὰ αὐτῷ συμβεβηκότα, ἐξ ὧν ὑπώπτευε παρῶφθαι παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· 6, 1518 οὐ προσεῖδόν με οἱ ἐγγύτατοί μου· ὥσπερ χειμάρρους ἐκλείπων ἢ ὥσπερ κῦμα παρῆλθόν με. οἵτινές με διηυλαβοῦντο, νυνὶ ἐπιπεπτώκασί μοι ὥσπερ χιὼν ἢ κρύσταλλος πεπηγώς· καθὼς τακεῖσα θέρμης γενομένης οὐκ ἐπεγνώσθη ὅπερ ἦν, οὕτω κἀγὼ κατελείφθην ὑπὸ πάντων, ἀπωλόμην δὲ καὶ ἔξοικος ἐγενόμην. κρύσταλλος μέν ἐστιν ἡ δυσδιάλυτος χιών, ἐφ' ἧς καὶ βαδίζειν ἔστιν. ὥσπερ οὖν, φησίν, χείμαρρος ἐκλείπων ἢ κῦμα παρελθὸν ἢ χιὼν ἢ κρύσταλλος ὑπὸ ἡλιακῆς διαλυθέντα θέρμης οὐδὲ ἴχνος ἐγκαταλιμπάνουσιν, τὸν αὐτὸν οἶμαι τρόπον ὡς μηδὲ ὄντα με ἐλογίσαντο, καὶ ταῦτα οἱ διὰ γένους ἐγγύτητα συμπαθεῖν ὀφείλοντες. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τι χαλεπώτερον· οἱ γὰρ πρότερόν με διευλαβούμενοι νῦν ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἐπεμβαίνουσι συμφοραῖς. τὸ δὲ ἔξοικος ἐγενόμην ἀντὶ τοῦ· πανέστιος ἀπόλωλα. τὰ παραπλήσια καὶ ὁ μέγας ∆αυὶδ ἀποδυρόμενος ἔλεγεν· ἐπελήσθην ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας, ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ σκεῦος ἀπολωλός. 72 6, 19 ἴδετε ὁδοὺς Θαιμανῶν, ἀτραποὺς δὲ Σαβῶν, οἱ διορῶντες· καὶ αἰσχύνην ὀφειλήσουσιν οἱ ἐπὶ πόλεσι καὶ χρήμασι πεποιθότες. ἕτερος τῶν ἑρμηνευτῶν οὕτως ἐκδέδωκεν· _ἀ_π_ο_β_λ_έ_π_ο_υ_σ_ι_ν_ _ε_ἰ_ς_ _ὁ_δ_ο_ὺ_ς_ Θαιμάν, ὁδοιπορίας Σαβὰ προσδοκῶσιν ἑαυτοῖς. τοὺς ἐπὶ πλούτῳ τοίνυν καὶ δυναστείᾳ μέγα φρονοῦντας ἐκ τῆς καθ' ἑαυτὸν μεταβολῆς νουθετεῖ, μὴ ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων ἀδηλίᾳ. οἱ γὰρ προσέχοντες, φησίν, εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς τῆς Θαιμὰν καὶ τὰς ἀτραποὺς τῶν Αἰθιόπων (Σαβὰ γὰρ οἱ Αἰθίοπες)τουτέστιν· οἱ ἐκ τῆς ἐμπορίας τῆς πρὸς τούτους κέρδη προσδοκῶντες, μὴ πεποίθετε ἐπὶ χρήμασιν· αἰσχύνην γὰρ ὀφειλήσουσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐλπίζοντες. ἢ καὶ ἄλλως ἔστιν ἐννοεῖν, ὡς χωρία ἐπιδείκνυσι πάλαι μὲν εὐδαίμονα, τότε δὲ ἔρημα καὶ ἐρείπια τυγχάνοντα καί φησιν, ὅτι· εἰς ταῦτα ἀποβλέψατε καὶ μὴ πιστεύετε τῇ τοῦ πλούτου ἀδηλότητι. εἴτε δὲ τοῦτο, εἴτε ἐκεῖνο, παραινεῖ μὴ πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ χρήμασιν ἢ δυναστείᾳ. 6, 21 ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπέβητέ μοι ἀνελεημόνως, ὥστε ἰδόντες τὸ ἐμὸν τραῦμα φοβήθητε. ἀλλ' ἔστω, φησίν, ἐκεῖνοι παρεῖδόν με· διὰ τί καὶ ὑμεῖς, οἱ ἐμοὶ φίλοι, οὕτω πικροῖς τοῖς κατ' ἐμοῦ λόγοις ἐχρήσασθε; εἶτα ἀρίστη τοῦ φιλοσόφου καὶ φιλοθέου συμβουλὴ τὸ δεῖν εἰς τὰς ἑτέρων προσέχοντας συμφορὰς εὐλαβέστερον ἕκαστον γίνεσθαι καὶ περίφοβον. 6, 2223 τί γάρ; μή τι ὑμᾶς ᾔτησα ἢ τῆς παρ' ὑμῶν ἰσχύος ἐπιδέο 73 μαι ὥστε σῶσαί με ἐκ