On jeremiah (homilies 12-20) on and you shall say to this people: thus says the lord, the god of israel: every wineskin will be filled with wine up

 Therefore he here named the punishments unmixed wine, which they drink who are worthy of unmixed wine, that is, of unmixed punishment. but there are a

 To have the preeminence of a more honorable name than the people, god spares him so that he might not be punished when he sins. but the things written

 That god, sparing many, does not spare one. i will also take the example of a physician, showing that in sparing the whole body he does not spare one

 Then after this he commands them not to be lifted up, and teaches what must be done. what then is it to hear and what is it to give ear, let us unders

 Does darkness not happen? work while the light is in you. <the light is in you>, if you have in you the one who said: i am the light of the world

 Glory to god those who do things contrary to the glory of god through their sins. 12.12 “give glory to the lord our god before it grows dark, before y

 The prophets, lest we fall under the prophecy that says: but if you do not listen secretly, your soul will weep because of insolence. as many of you

 To cast a vote against the one who has sinned, each of the onlookers does not spare, does not look sad, does not pity, does not return to intercede fo

 What follows also fits: you have turned me away, says the lord, you will go backward. because you have turned away from the son of god, and because

 But not of pains that bring health to those being treated. 14.2 that people, therefore, was sick various diseases were among the people who were call

 Spiritual riches, but they turned away from what was being said and did not present themselves receptive so that they might be indebted for this reas

 How often i wanted to gather your children together» and what follows. and these things are also clearly spoken by the savior in the passage, “woe is

 Of the double-minded is judged. if you bear the image of the heavenly one having put off the image of the earthly one, you are not earth condemnin

 Of their affliction, he says, that is against the enemy, i stood by you on their behalf. and who is the enemy but our adversary the devil, who affli

 To a land which he did not know. for a fire is kindled from my wrath, it will be burned against you. after this, <ὁ> he who prayed above completes t

 In the present case, it was necessary † for such a thing to happen in the church of god. the one who was condemned has been condemned, so-and-so † whi

 Becomes inimitable, so that i become so great that no one is like me in character, in speech, in deeds, in wisdom, then i am able to say, because i al

 A limb, the physician tries to make a restoration of the dislocated part. when someone is outside his fatherland, whether justly or unjustly, and rece

 My savior and lord is about to stand before the father, being judged with all of us men. and he is judged with all men. i say: he is judged, he himsel

 My dispensation did this and that, and for your salvation i endured. when the savior says these things, what shall we do? for he is about to be judged

 Uncleanness.” having put these things to death, “he does not rely on the flesh of his own arm.” “cursed is he who has his hope in man.” and at the sam

 To take the souls that are on the hills, those not lying below? and see if the prophet did not cry out mystically saying these things and presenting t

 My ‘soul, you have good things laid up for many years rest, eat, drink, be merry.’” you see the one below the mountains, the one below the hills, th

 What awaits us, must be understood. if, then, we depart this life having sins, but also having virtues, will we be saved on account of the virtues, bu

 That the gentiles who sin receive their sins simply, but we receive our offenses doubly. for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge

 It is written with an iron pen, with a diamond point, engraved upon the breast of the heart ” but again, the word 'their' does not follow in that case

 Simpler than the believers. “the partridge called,” therefore, “it gathered what it did not hatch, making its wealth not with judgment.” the partridge

 Your names are written in the heavens”. therefore one must rejoice, if one becomes such a person, so that his name may be inscribed in the heavens. bu

 For “there shall be trouble in jacob, nor shall toil be seen in israel.” there is no labor for one following jesus the very act of following removes

 Has ascended far above the earthen vessels. below are the earthen vessels, and the nature that administers the earthen vessels, condescending to the t

 Into the potter's house and he recounts what he saw, saying: and behold, he was doing a work with his hands, and the vessel which he was making in th

 To be planted,” a whole nation and since this <the> nation being built up and planted has a good promise, but is able to sin, he says after speaking

 Christ, the mystery of the church, the one who comes to the synagogue and does not bear fruit. 18.6 at last i will speak against a nation or even aga

 Speaking to the child in a childish way, or that i may speak more emphatically, in an infantile way, that you have borne with the manners of your son

 Of the lord saying through the prophet: and the lord spoke to them. and to <us> now the lord says through the scriptures, let each one turn from hi

 Jews but since they did not thirst for christ and the holy spirit, they cannot drink even from god. those from the heresies seemed to have thirsted f

 Immer, and that he was a priest, and what rank he held among the people, that he was appointed leader of the house of the lord at the time when jeremi

 God will do it». and such a high priest is superficially beautiful and a whitewashed wall, full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness on the ins

 Of the disciples, as they were asking him, where do you want us to prepare the passover for you?, he said, as you are going, a man will meet you ca

 The sons of jerusalem have departed and the city has been destroyed. but if you examine the matter and see the city not as stones, but as people, you

 Burning in my bones, and i am weary on all sides and cannot bear it, because i heard the reproach of many gathering together round about,” and “saying

 For not only the adulterer is liable to the gehenna of fire, but also the one who says to his brother, fool. but if the one who says to his brothe

 You should think that his repentance has some kinship with the repentance of those who repent. for just as his word was something exceptional, his ang

 To the people, he hears god saying according to the scriptures: whom shall i send, and who will go to this people? and he, it says, answered: behol

 And i have insults as wood, i have drunkennesses as wood, thefts as wood, and i have built upon my structure ten thousand other pieces of wood. do you

 To despise», see if it is not truly for this reason, since they did not think they were deceived, they stored up for themselves «wrath in the day of w

 A laughingstock, all the day i was derided”? what am i saying, jeremiah? and my jesus was mocked for it says, “the pharisees, who were lovers of mone

 The unrighteous man “for it will be,” he says, “when you call upon me, i will not listen to you.” there, then, the unrighteous and it is clear that

 To discipline the body with fasts and to enslave it» «by abstaining from such foods,» and in every way «by the spirit to put to death the deeds of the

 In my bones, and i am exhausted on all sides and cannot bear it.” i fear lest such a thing is what is reserved for us, becoming a fire, as happened in

 Let us all, his friends, conspire against him watch his intention, and he will be deceived.” they wanted to deceive him with another deadly deception

 Let him examine. nevertheless, what awaits us are tormentors and one who examines hearts and reins for our sins from which sins if we are not quickly

And I have insults as wood, I have drunkennesses as wood, thefts as wood, and I have built upon my structure ten thousand other pieces of wood. Do you see that all these things escape the notice of the many who have believed, and it is well that they escape notice; and each of us thinks, since he has not committed idolatry, since he has not committed fornication (would that we were at least pure in such things), that having departed from this life he will be saved. Do we not see that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Do we not see the one who said: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities,” not some but not others. Since, therefore, the physician sometimes hides the medical instrument under the soft and tender sponge, and the father also hides his affection by means of an emphatic threat, and some deceptions remove tumors and varicose veins and whatever else harms the constitution of the body, while another removes lack of discipline and vanity; the prophet mystically understood God to be doing some such thing, and seeing how he was deceived by God for a good purpose, he says [and says]: “You have deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.” He brought him to so great a grace , to the point of praying and saying to God: Deceive me, if this is expedient. For the deception from God is one thing, the deception from the serpent is another. See what the woman says to God: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” And the deception from the serpent cast out Adam and his wife from the paradise of God; but the deception that came to the prophet who said: “You have deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived” brought him to so great a grace of prophecy, to the increase of power in him, to his being perfected and being able to serve the will of the word of God without fearing man. Understanding these things, therefore, let us also pray both for the present and for the future to be deceived by God. Only let not the serpent deceive us. And elsewhere something akin to this is written, for it is said in Isaiah: “For the Lord has mingled for them a spirit of error.” You will observe there too what the spirit of error, when mingled by God, does. And it is good that God did not give the spirit of error unmixed, but, as the prophet named it, he mingled it. 20.4 I wish to risk giving an example of those who have been benefited by being deceived. There are some who for this reason practice chastity and purity, and others who for this reason practice monogamy, because they expected that one who has marital relations perishes, that one who marries a second time perishes. Let us compare for ourselves, what is more profitable for the monogamous woman: to be deceived and think that the woman who marries twice is punished and handed over to eternal punishment, so that she might remain monogamous and pure, or to know the truth and marry a second time? I think that anyone at all who sees what follows can say that it was more blessed to be pure and not marry a second time without being deceived and to see that the woman who marries twice indeed partakes of some salvation, but not of such great blessedness as she who, though it was possible to marry a second time, remained pure; but if she is not able to do this, it is better to be deceived into thinking that those who marry twice perish and through that deception to remain pure, than to have known the truth and to be in the lesser order of those who marry twice. You will find something of this kind also in the case of some who practice chastity and complete purity. And many other things done by us through deception could be found that also benefit us. But how many who are considered wise, having found the truth about punishment and having supposedly passed through matters of deception, have come to a worse life? It would have been more profitable for them to think, as they formerly thought, concerning “their worm will not die” and that “their fire will not be quenched” and that “they will be a sight to all flesh” and that “the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.” But if, having imagined something else contrary to their first notion, “they are on the point of the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and longsuffering

ξύλα δὲ ἔχω τὰς λοιδορίας, ξύλα ἔχω τὰς μέθας, ξύλα τὰς κλοπάς, καὶ ἄλλα μυρία ξύλα ἐπῳκοδόμησά μου τῇ οἰκοδομῇ. ὁρᾷς ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα λανθάνει τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν πεπιστευκότων, καὶ καλῶς λανθάνει· καὶ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν οἴεται, ἐπεὶ μὴ εἰδωλολάτρησεν, ἐπεὶ μὴ πεπόρνευκεν (εἴθε κἂν ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων καθαρεύοιμεν), ὅτι ἀπαλλαγεὶς τοῦ βίου σωθήσεται. οὐ βλέπομεν ὅτι «τοὺς πάντας ἡμᾶς παρασταθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε φαῦλον». οὐ βλέπομεν τὸν εἰρηκότα· «πλὴν ὑμᾶς ἔγνων ἐκ πάντων, τῶν φυλῶν τῆς γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκδικήσω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ὑμῶν», οὐχὶ τινὰ μὲν τινὰ δὲ οὔ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐνίοτε ἀποκρύπτει τὸν ἰατρικὸν σίδηρον ὑπὸ τὸν ἁπαλὸν καὶ τρυφερὸν σπόγγον, κρύπτει δὲ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ τὴν φιλοστοργίαν διὰ τῆς ἐμφάσεως τῆς ἀπειλῆς, καὶ αἱ ἀπάται αἱ μὲν ἀφαιροῦσι τὰ στεατώματα καὶ τοὺς κιρσοὺς καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο βλάπτει τὴν τοῦ σώματος κατασκευήν, ἡ δὲ περιαιρεῖ τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν καὶ τὴν χαύνωσιν· τοιοῦτον δή τι νενόηκε ποιεῖν τὸν θεὸν ὁ προφήτης μυστικῶς καὶ λέγει ἰδὼν ἃ ἠπάτηται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ καλῷ [καὶ λέγει]· «ἠπάτησάς με, κύριε, καὶ ἠπατήθην». ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν τηλικαύτην <χάριν>, ἐπὶ τὸ εὔξασθαι καὶ εἰπεῖν τῷ θεῷ· ἀπάτησόν με, εἰ τοῦτο συμφέρει. ἄλλη γὰρ ἡ ἀπάτη ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἄλλη ἡ ἀπάτη ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως. ὅρα τί λέγει ἡ γυνὴ τῷ θεῷ· «ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέ με, καὶ ἔφαγον». καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀπάτη ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως ἐξεῖλε τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ παραδείσου τοῦ θεοῦ· ἡ δὲ ἀπάτη ἡ γενομένη τῷ προφήτῃ <τῷ> εἰπόντι· «ἠπάτησάς με, κύριε, καὶ ἠπατήθην» ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν τηλικαύτην τῆς προ- φητείας χάριν, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐξῆσαι ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν δύναμιν, ἐπὶ τὸ τελειωθῆναι αὐτὸν καὶ δυνηθῆναι ὑπηρετήσασθαι μετὰ τοῦ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι ἄνθρωπον τῷ βουλήματι τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς νοοῦντες καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος καὶ <εἰς τὸ μέλλον> εὐξώμεθα ἀπατᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. μόνον μὴ ὁ ὄφις ἀπατησάτω ἡμᾶς. καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ τούτῳ συγγενὲς γέγραπται, ὅτι εἴρηται ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ· «κύριος γὰρ ἐκέρασεν αὐτοῖς πνεῦμα πλανήσεως». ἐπιστήσεις κἀκεῖ τί ποιεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλανήσεως κιρνάμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. καλῶς δέ, ὅτι οὐκ ἄκρατον δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλανήσεως, ἀλλ', ὡς ὠνόμασεν ὁ προφήτης, ἐκέρασεν αὐτό. 20.4 Παρακινδυνεῦσαι θέλω καὶ παράδειγμα δοῦναι ὠφελημένων ἠπατημένων. εἰσί τινες οἳ διὰ τοῦτο ἀσκοῦσι τὴν ἁγνείαν καὶ τὴν καθαρότητα, καὶ ἄλλοι οἳ διὰ τοῦτο ἀσκοῦσι τὴν μονογαμίαν, ἐπεὶ προσεδόκησαν ἀπόλλυσθαι τὸν συνουσιάσαντα γαμικῶς, ἀπόλλυσθαι τὸν διγαμήσαντα. συγκρίνωμεν καθ' ἑαυτούς, τί λυσιτελεῖ τῇ μο- νογάμῳ, ἠπατῆσθαι καὶ οἴεσθαι κολάζεσθαι καὶ αἰωνίῳ κολάσει παραδίδοσθαι τὴν δίγαμον, ἵνα μείνῃ μονόγαμος καὶ καθαρά, ἢ γνῶναι τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ διγαμῆσαι; νομίζω, παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν βλέποντος τὸ ἀκόλουθον ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μακαριώτερον μὲν ἦν τὸ καθαρεύειν καὶ μὴ διγαμεῖν μὴ ἠπατημένην καὶ ὁρᾶν ὅτι μετέχει μὲν σωτηρίας τινὸς καὶ ἡ δίγαμος, οὐ μὴν τοσαύτης μακαριότητος, ὅσης παρὸν διγαμεῖν καθαρεύσασα· εἰ δὲ μὴ δύναται τοῦτο, βέλτιον τὸ ἠπατῆσθαι ὡς ἀπολλυμένων διγάμων καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀπάτην καθαρεύειν, ἢ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐγνωκέναι καὶ ἐν ἐλάττονι γεγονέναι τῷ τῶν διγάμων τάγματι. τοιοῦτόν τι εὑρήσεις καὶ ἐπί τινων ἀσκούντων τὴν ἁγνείαν καὶ τὴν καθαρότητα τὴν παντελῆ. πολλὰ δ' ἂν καὶ ἄλλα εὑρεθείη κατὰ ἀπάτην ὑφ' ἡμῶν γινόμενα καὶ ὠφελοῦντα ἡμᾶς. πόσοι δὲ νομιζόμενοι σοφοί, εὑρόντες τὸ περὶ κολάσεως ἀληθὲς καὶ διελθόντες δῆθεν τὰ τῆς ἀπάτης, ἐν χείρονι γεγόνασι βίῳ; ἐλυσιτέλει αὐτοὺς φρονεῖν, ὡς ἐφρόνουν πρότερον περὶ τοῦ «ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει» καὶ ὅτι «τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται» καὶ ὅτι «ἔσονται εἰς ὅρασιν πάσῃ σαρκί» καὶ ὅτι «τὸ ἄχυρον κατακαυθήσεται πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ». ἐὰν δὲ ἄλλο τι φαντασθέντες παρὰ τὴν πρώτην αὐτῶν ἔννοιαν «μέλλωσι τοῦ πλούτου τῆς χρηστότητος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀνοχῆς καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας