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That is: "He does not hear and discipline each one individually, but this is God's way to do something once and for all and not little by little. Often he has admonished173 through dreams, through visions." Since he said: Why do you frighten me in visions, and in dreams terrify me? 33,30a Behold, he says, the mighty one does all these things, three ways with a man to turn back his soul. What is "three"? "Often," he says, "God does not cease holding on to us, caring for us so as to make the soul better." "You say," he says, "that the Almighty will unjustly and simply pervert justice." Paul says: For how then will God judge the world? See how from another place he presents his justice: "He made the earth and the heaven and all other things. For are his works foreign to him, that he should do us wrong? He spares his own"—but you spare all things, he says, because they are yours, O Lord, lover of souls—, "not only because it is his, but also because he himself rules over them. For even with wicked men this happens: even if they do not wish to, they refrain from wronging their subjects; for it is the custom of all to spare their own and their private possessions. But when he himself is the one who has made and he himself is the one who rules, how will he pervert justice in the whole inhabited world, having sown it so brightly? But you yourself cannot even say that he does not do wrong out of weakness; for it is so easy for him to destroy everyone, that it is sufficient to will it, and there is nothing to prevent it. But past time is conscious of nothing of the sort." Then after many things he says: 34,12a Do you think the Lord will do what is wrong? 12b or will the Almighty pervert justice, 34,13a he who made the 174 the earth? 13b And who is it that makes the things under heaven and all that is in them? 34,14a For if he should wish to hold back 14b and to keep the spirit with himself, 34,15a all flesh will perish together, 15b and mortal man will return to the earth, from where he was also formed. 34,16a But if you are not admonished, hear these things, Job, 16b give ear to the voice of my words. 34,17a But if you do not think that he who hates lawless things 17b and who destroys the wicked 17c being eternal is just. What is "but if you"? He did not dare to bring in the conclusion; from much reverence he spared the word. One must reflect on these things not only from creation, not from the act of creation, not from the beginning, but also from substance itself and from the works themselves; he is a hater of evil and a lover of mankind, not as we are; we abstain from wickedness not from hatred for evil things, but from fear of the coming punishment. From where? Because he hates lawless things, he destroys, he says, the wicked. Being, he says, eternal. And he has well placed "eternal," so that we should not demand from him an account of things that have happened each day nor for each action. Often he manages some economy, the end of which must necessarily be extended for a long time. Do not rush ahead of the end nor wish to understand God's righteous judgment before the whole is completed, since you will have nothing more than your rashness. For this reason he says eternal and just. All past time bears witness to this for him; for has he now changed? 34,18a Impious, he says, is he who says to a king: You transgress the law. That is: the rash man pays the penalty, and indeed in the case of a king it is not without danger. This seems to me to hint at something else as well, that the king is not subject to, but is above the laws; he himself is the creator of the laws. Rightly, therefore, is he who says to the one who makes the laws, "you transgress175 the law," accused, just as if someone should say to the moulder and the creator, "you mould badly." The king is a law unto himself. 34,19a Who was not ashamed, he says, of the face of an honorable man, 19b nor did he give honor for the faces of men 19c to be admired. "For even if you do not know, yet you ought to yield to him and to his glory so as not to seek to learn all things." Therefore he who is overly curious about God does not honor God. See, what Paul also says: giving glory to God and being fully assured that what he has promised he is also able to perform. From where was he fully assured? Tell me. For the consequence spoke in opposition to the contraries of nature. 34,20a But for them, he says, to have cried out and to have needed a man will turn out to be in vain; 20b

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τουτέστιν· «οὐχὶ καθ' ἕκαστον ἀκούει καὶ παιδεύει, ἀλλὰ τοῦτό ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ἅπαξ τι ποιῆσαι καὶ μὴ κατὰ μικρόν. πολλάκις δι' ὀνειράτων παρῄνε173 σεν, δι' ἐνυπνίων.» ἐπειδὴ ἔλεγεν· διὰ τί με ἐκφοβεῖς ἐν ἐνυπνίοις, ἐν δὲ ὁράμασι καταπλήσσεις; 33,30a ἰδού, φησίν, ταῦτα πάντα ἐργᾶται ὁ ἰσχυρός, ὁδοὺς τρεῖς μετὰ ἀνδρὸς τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. τί ἐστι τρεῖς; «πολλάκις», φησίν, «οὐ διαλιμπάνει ὁ θεὸς κατέχων ἡμᾶς, κηδόμενος ἡμῶν ὥστε βελτίω ποιῆσαι τὴν ψυχήν.» «λέγεις», φησίν, «ὅτι ἀδίκως καὶ ἁπλῶς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ταράξει τὸ δίκαιον.» ὁ Παῦλός φησιν· ἐπεὶ πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον; ὅρα, πῶς ἄλλοθεν αὐτοῦ τὸ δίκαιον παρίστησιν· «ἐποίησε τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα. μὴ γὰρ ἀλλότρια αὐτοῦ ἐστι τὰ ἔργα, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἀδικήσῃ; φείδεται τῶν αὐτοῦ»-φείδῃ δὲ πάντων, φησίν, ὅτι σά ἐστιν, δέσποτα φιλόψυχε-, «οὐ μόνον ὅτι αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτῶν κρατεῖ. καὶ γὰρ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων πονηρῶν τοῦτο συμβαίνει· οὐδ' ἂν θέλωσιν, ἀνέχονται τοὺς ὑποτεταγμένους ἀδικεῖν· τῶν γὰρ οἰκείων καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἔθος ἅπασι φείδεσθαι. ὅταν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ πεποιηκὼς ᾖ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ κρατῶν, πῶς ταράξει τὸ δίκαιον ἐν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ πάσῃ λαμπρὸν οὕτως αὐτὸ κατασπείρας; ἀλλ' οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἔχεις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι παρ' ἀσθένειαν οὐκ ἀδικεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ εὔκολον αὐτῷ πάντας ἀπολέσαι, ὥστε ἀρκεῖ θελῆσαι, καὶ τὸ κωλύον οὐδέν. ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον σύνοιδεν ὁ παρελθὼν χρόνος.» εἶτα μετὰ πολλά φησιν· 34,12a οἴει τὸν κύριον τὰ ἄτοπα ποιήσειν; 12b ἢ ὁ παντοκράτωρ ταράξει τὸ δίκαιον, 34,13a ὃς ἐποίησε τὴν 174 τὴν γῆν; 13b τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἐνόντα πάντα; 34,14a εἰ γὰρ βούλοιτο συσχεῖν 14b καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα παρ' αὐτῷ κατασχεῖν, 34,15a τελευτήσει πᾶσα σὰρξ ὁμοθυμαδόν, 15b βροτὸς δὲ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσεται, ὅθεν καὶ ἐπλάσθη. 34,16a εἰ δὲ μὴ νουθετῇ, ἄκουε ταῦτα, Ἰώβ, 16b ἐνωτίζου φωνὴν ῥημάτων. 34,17a εἰ δὲ σὺ οὐκ οἴει τὸν μισοῦντα τὰ ἄνομα 17b καὶ τὸν ὀλλύντα τοὺς πονηροὺς 17c ὄντα αἰώνιον εἶναι δίκαιον. τί ἐστιν εἰ δὲ σύ; οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ἐπαγαγεῖν τὸ συμπέρασμα· ἀπὸ πολλῆς εὐλαβείας ἐφείσατο τοῦ ῥήματος. οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς δημιουργίας, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ταῦτα στοχάζεσθαι δεῖ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς οὐσίας καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων· μισοπόνηρός ἐστι καὶ φιλάνθρωπος, οὐ καθάπερ ἡμεῖς· οὐκ ἀπεχθείᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὰ κακὰ ἀπεχόμεθα τῆς πονηρίας, ἀλλὰ φόβῳ τῆς μελλούσης κολάσεως. πόθεν; ὅτι μισεῖ τὰ ἄνομα, ἀπόλλυσιν, φησίν, τοὺς πονηρούς. ὄντα, φησίν, αἰώνιον. καλῶς καὶ τὸ αἰώνιον τέθεικεν, ὥστε μὴ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν μηδὲ καθ' ἑκάστην πρᾶξιν ἀπαιτεῖν αὐτὸν τῶν γενομένων τὰς εὐθύνας. πολλάκις οἰκονομεῖ τινα οἰκονομίαν, ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς μακρὸν ἐκταθῆναι χρόνον ἀνάγκη. μὴ προπηδήσῃς τοῦ τέλους μηδὲ πρὶν ἢ τὸν πᾶν ἀπαρτισθῆναι θελήσῃς καταμαθεῖν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν δικαιοκρισίαν, ἐπεὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ἔσται σοι τῆς προπετείας. διὰ τοῦτό φησιν αἰώνιος καὶ δίκαιος. ἅπας ὁ παρελθὼν χρόνος αὐτῷ τοῦτο μαρτυρεῖ· μὴ γὰρ νῦν μεταβέβληται; 34,18a ἀσεβής, φησίν, ὁ λέγων βασιλεῖ· παρανομεῖς. τουτέστιν· τολμηρὸς δίκην δίδωσιν, καὶ δὴ ἐπὶ βασιλέως οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον. τοῦτο ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ καὶ ἄλλο τι αἰνίττεσθαι, ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς οὐχ ὑπόκειται, ἀλλ' ἐπίκειται νόμοις· δημιουργὸς αὐτῶν αὐτός ἐστι τῶν νόμων. εἰκότως οὖν τῷ ποιοῦντι τοὺς νόμους ὁ λέγων· «παρανο175 μεῖς» ἐγκαλεῖται, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις τῷ πλάστῃ καὶ τῷ δημιουργῷ εἴποι· «κακῶς πλάττεις». αὐτόνομός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεύς. 34,19a ὃς οὐκ ᾐσχύνθη, φησίν, πρόσωπον ἐντίμου, 19b οὐκ ἔδωκε δὲ τιμὴν θέσθαι ἀνδρῶν 19c τοῦ θαυμασθῆναι πρόσωπα αὐτῶν. «εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ οἶδας, ἀλλ' ὀφείλεις παραχωρεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ ὥστε μὴ πάντα ζητεῖν μανθάνειν.» ἄρα ὁ περιεργαζόμενος τὸν θεὸν οὐ τιμᾷ τὸν θεόν. ὅρα, καὶ Παῦλος τί φησιν· δοὺς δόξαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πληροφορηθείς, ὅτι ὃ ἐπήγγελται δυνατός ἐστι καὶ ποιῆσαι. πόθεν πληροφορηθείς; εἰπέ μοι. τὰ γὰρ ἐναντία τῆς φύσεως ἡ ἀκολουθία ἀντεφθέγξατο. 34,20a κενὰ δὲ αὐτοῖς, φησίν, ἀποβήσεται τὸ κεκραγέναι καὶ δεῖσθαι ἀνδρός· 20b