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to the sea and troubled waters the multitudes of the faithless nations,” he compared, so now to sweet and calmly moving rivers he likens the peoples of Christ, having shown their country to be the church. For long ago these rivers were uninhabited and “strangers to God,” and their country was a desert of godliness, but now through your proclamation, he says, the aforesaid rivers and their country will be an inhabited world. The sign of Christ will bring this about for them, which will be so known or even manifest to all as if a sign were raised from a high mountain or as the sound of a loud-sounding trumpet; for in the same way your proclamation will become manifest and renowned and heard by all men. How the rivers and their aforesaid country will be able to be inhabited without disturbance he necessarily teaches, saying: “because thus said the Lord to me, ‘There will be safety in my city.’” But the aforesaid country is my city, the Lord's; wherefore there will be safety in it as I am guarding and securing it from all sides, so that it is fittingly said of it: “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God,” and: “The streams of the river make glad the city of God.” Thus the Word is accustomed to call the godly commonwealth, in which, having said there will be safety, he adds that there will also be light in the same city, not of the ordinary kind, but such as one might again compare to the intense and noonday light of the sun. But when such a light and, as it were, noonday heat is in my city, there will be, he says, no harm nor grief for those illuminated by such a light. Why... with the... the to... the and cloud... in the... as in days of harvest it will be overshadowing them. The light, then, is the Word of God himself, who “enlightens” his church always, a cloud of dew is the Holy Spirit overshadowing the highest theology of the only-begotten Son of God for those unable to contain it, so that the great and unmixed theology concerning Christ is made tempered by the interposition of the Holy Spirit as of a kind of cloud. And he says these things will be before the harvest, indicating in this manner the fruit-bearing in the churches of God, flourishing and abounding like ears of grain, concerning which he also indicated above, saying: “and they shall rejoice before you as those who rejoice in the harvest” and the Savior similarly, through what he said: “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are white for harvest already,” and again: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” The light, therefore, of the divinity of the Word will be unmixed, like an intense and noonday light in his city; but because it cannot be contained by men, the cloud of the Holy Spirit, full of dew, coming between, will overshadow the same city, so that, as in the days of harvest before the harvest, both the light may shine out and the cloud may overshadow it. And these things will be concerning the city of God before the consummation and before the harvest, but after the harvest and the consummation of the present life, those who are deemed worthy of that end will partake of the unmixed divinity of the Word itself, when at the arrival of the consummation the fruit-bearing of the church of God will be compared to another image, by which image he presents the distinction that has occurred among those gathered in the church of God. For just as he says in the vines, when the grapes are unripe bunches, the husbandman comes and cuts off not only the superfluous and useless parts of the branches, but also the unproductive and as it were dead parts of the grape clusters; for these too, as being not necessary nor having good hope for the perfection of the fruit, he removes with agricultural skill, so that the superfluous and useless parts may not harm the healthy grape clusters. Therefore these he removes

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θαλάσσης καὶ ὕδασι τεταραγμένοις τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν» παρέβαλεν, οὕτω νῦν ποταμοῖς γλυκέσι καὶ εὐσταθῶς κινουμένοις τοὺς Χριστοῦ λαοὺς ἀφομοιοῖ, χώραν αὐτῶν δηλώσας τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. πάλαι μὲν οὖν ἦσαν οὗτοι οἱ ποταμοὶ ἀοίκητοι καὶ «ἀλλότριοι θεοῦ», ἥ τε χώρα αὐτῶν ἔρημος θεοσεβείας, νυνὶ δὲ διὰ τοῦ ὑμετέρου φησὶ κηρύγματος οἱ δηλωθέντες ποταμοὶ καὶ ἡ χώρα αὐτῶν εἰς οἰκουμένην ἔσται. προξενήσει δὲ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σημεῖον, ὅπερ οὕτω γνωσθήσεται ἢ καὶ φανερὸν ἔσται τοῖς πᾶσιν ὡσανεὶ ἀπὸ ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ ἐπαρθείη σημεῖον ἢ ὡς φωνῆς σάλπιγγος μεγαφωνούσης· τὸν αὐτὸν γὰρ τρόπον καὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον κήρυγμα ἔκδηλον καὶ ἐπίσημον καὶ ἐξάκουστον εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους γενήσεται. Πῶς δὲ δυνήσονται οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἡ προλεχθεῖσα χώρα αὐτῶν ἀταράχως κατοικεῖσθαι ἀναγκαίως διδάσκει λέγων· διότι οὕτως εἶπε κύριός μοι Ἀσφάλεια ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ πόλει. ἡ δὲ προλεχθεῖσα χώρα ἐμὴ τοῦ κυρίου ἐστὶ πόλις· διὸ ἀσφάλεια ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς ἂν ἐμοῦ φυλάττοντος καὶ πάντοθεν αὐτὴν ἀσφαλιζομένου, ὥστε εἰκότως περὶ αὐτῆς λέγεσθαι· «δεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ θεοῦ», καί· «τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ ὁρμήματα εὐφραίνουσι τὴν πόλιν τοῦ θεοῦ». οὕτω δὲ καλεῖν ὁ λόγος εἴωθεν τὴν κατὰ θεὸν πολιτείαν, ἐν ᾗ ἀσφάλειαν ἔσεσθαι εἰπὼν προστίθησι καὶ φῶς ἔσεσθαι ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ πόλει, οὐ τὸ τυχὸν ἀλλ' ὁποῖον αὖτις παραβάλοι ἀκμαίῳ καὶ μεσημβρινῷ ἡλίου φέγγει. τοιούτου δὲ φωτὸς καὶ ὡσπερεὶ καύματος μεσημβρινοῦ γιγνομένου ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ πόλει οὐκ ἔσται φησὶ βλάβη οὐδὲ λύπη τοῖς ὑπὸ τοιούτῳ φωτὶ καταυγαζομένοις. διὰ τί ... συν τῷ ... τῷ το ... τῷ καὶ νεφέλ... ἐν ἡ ... ὡς ἐν ἡμέραις ἀμήτου ἐπισκιάζουσα αὐτοῖς ἔσται. φῶς μὲν οὖν αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ὁ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν αὐτοῦ διὰ παντὸς «φωτίζων», νεφέλη δρόσου τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ τὴν ἄκραν θεολογίαν τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς μὴ οἵοις τε αὐτὴν χωρεῖν ἐπισκιάζον ὡς κεκραμένον ἀποτελεῖσθαι τὸ πολὺ καὶ ἄκρατον τῆς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεολογίας διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ὡσπερεί τινος νεφέλης ὑποδρομήν. Καὶ ταῦτα ἔσεσθαί φησι πρὸ τοῦ θερισμοῦ, τοῦτον δηλῶν τὸν τρόπον τὰς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ καρποφορίας δίκην σταχύων ἀνθούσας καὶ πληθυούσας, περὶ ὧν καὶ ἀνωτέρω ἐδήλου λέγων· «καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται ἐνώπιόν σου ὡς οἱ εὐφραινόμενοι ἐν ἀμήτῳ» καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ὁμοίως, δι' ὧν ἔλεγεν· «ἐπάρατε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἴδετε τὰς χώρας, ὅτι λευκαί εἰσι πρὸς θερισμὸν ἤδη», καὶ αὖθις· «ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολύς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι· δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ ἵνα ἐκβάλῃ ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ». ἔσται τοίνυν τὸ μὲν φῶς τῆς θεότητος τοῦ λόγου ἄκρατον ὥσπερ ἀκμαῖον καὶ μεσημβρινὸν ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ πόλει· διὰ δὲ τὸ μὴ χωρεῖσθαι αὐτὸ ὑπ' ἀνθρώπων μέση παρελθοῦσα ἡ νεφέλη τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος δρόσου ἔμπλεως, ἐπισκιάσει τὴν αὐτὴν πόλιν, ἵν' ὡς ἐν ἡμέραις ἀμήτου ταῖς πρὸ τοῦ θερισμοῦ καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐκλάμπῃ καὶ ἡ νεφέλη ἐπισκιάζῃ αὐτήν. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν πρὸ τῆς συντελείας καὶ πρὸ τοῦ θερισμοῦ περὶ τὴν πόλιν ἔσται τοῦ θεοῦ, μετὰ δὲ τὸν θερισμὸν καὶ τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ παρόντος βίου καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀκράτου θεότητος τοῦ λόγου μεθέξουσιν οἱ καταξιωθησόμενοι ἐκείνου τοῦ τέλους, ὅτε ἐπιστάσης τῆς συντελείας ἄλλῃ εἰκόνι παραβληθήσεται ἡ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ καρποφορία, δι' ἧς εἰκόνος τὴν γενομένην διάκρισιν τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ συναγομένων παρίστησιν. ὥσπερ γάρ φησιν ἐν ταῖς ἀμπέλοις, ἐπειδὰν ὄμφακες ὦσιν οἱ βότρυες, ἐπιστὰς ὁ γεωργὸς τὰ περιττὰ καὶ ἄχρηστα τῶν κλημάτων ἐκκόπτει οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἀτελεσφόρητα καὶ ὡσπερεὶ νεκριμαῖα τῶν βοτρύων· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ἀναγκαῖα οὐδ' ἀγαθὴν ἔχοντα ἐλπίδα πρὸς καρποῦ τελείωσιν, περιαιρεῖ ἐπιστήμῃ γεωργικῇ, ἵνα μὴ λυμήνηται τοῖς ἐρρωμένοις βότρυσι τὰ περιττὰ καὶ ἄχρηστα. διὸ ταῦτα μὲν ἀφαιρεῖ