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has prepared them, nor does He call them lilies any more, but grass of the field. And He is not satisfied with this name, but again adds another term of cheapness, saying, which today is. And He did not say, and tomorrow is not, but what is again far more insignificant. is cast into the oven. And He did not say, clothes, but, so clothes. Do you see everywhere the many hyperboles and intensifications? He does this, that he may lay hold of them; for this reason He added: Shall He not much more you? For this also has great emphasis. For the word, you, is nothing other than an indication of the great value and earnest care for the race; as if He had said, You, to whom He gave a soul, for whom He formed a body, for whom He made all things visible, for whom He sent prophets, and gave the law, and worked countless good things; for whom He gave up his only-begotten Son. And when He had clearly shown this, then He rebukes them, saying: O you of little faith. For such is one who gives counsel; he not only advises, but also reproaches, in order to stir up more persuasion for what is said. From these things He teaches us not only not to be anxious, but not to be excited 57.300 for costly garments. For the comeliness is of the green herb, and the beauty of the grass; or rather, the grass is more precious than such apparel. Why then are you proud, in those things where the prizes of victory belong to the herb with great superiority? And see how from the beginning He shows the commandment to be light, again leading them away from the contrary things and from what they fear. For having said Consider the lilies of the field, He added, they do not toil. Therefore, wishing to deliver us from toils, He commanded these things. It is not, therefore, a toil not to be anxious about these things, but to be anxious. And just as when He said, They sow not, He did not abolish sowing, but anxiety; so when He said, They toil not, neither do they spin, He did not abolish work, but care. But if Solomon was surpassed by their beauty, and not once or twice, but throughout his whole reign; (for one could not say that he now put on such things, and after this no longer, but not even on a single day was he so adorned; for this He showed by saying, In all his kingdom); and he was not surpassed by this flower, and imitated another, but yielded to them all together; (for which reason He said as one of these; for as great is the distance of truth from falsehood, so great is that between those garments and these flowers;) if then he, more splendid than all the kings that ever were, confessed defeat, when will you be able to surpass, or rather even to come a little near such beauty? From this He instructs us not to desire such adornment at all. See, then, its end; after the victory it is cast into an oven. But if concerning things that are cheap and of no worth and which offer but a casual use, God has shown such providence, how will He forsake you, the most necessary of all living beings? For what reason then did He make them so beautiful? That He might display His wisdom and the abundance of His power, that from every quarter we might learn His glory. For not only do the heavens declare the 57.301 glory of God, but also the earth; and David, showing this, said: Praise the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars. For some through their fruit, some through their size, and some through their beauty send up praise to the one who made them. For this too is a sign of abundant wisdom, when even on things exceedingly cheap, (for what is cheaper than that which is today, and tomorrow is not?) He pours out such beauty. If then to the grass He has given what is not needed, (for what does its beauty contribute to its being food for the fire?) how will He not give you what is needed? If He has adorned the cheapest of all things out of abundance, and this He did not for need, but for honor's sake; much more will He honor you, the most precious of all, in the things that are according to need, 2. Since, then, He has shown God's providence to be great, and it was necessary to rebuke them next, here too He uses forbearance, charging them not with unbelief, but with little faith. For if God so clothes the grass of the field, He says,

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αὐτὰ κατεσκεύασεν, οὐδὲ κρίνα αὐτὰ καλεῖ λοιπὸν, ἀλλὰ χόρτον ἀγροῦ. Καὶ οὐδὲ τῷ ὀνόματι ἀρκεῖται τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἑτέραν εὐτέλειαν προστίθησιν, εἰπὼν, σήμερον ὄντα. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, αὔριον οὐκ ὄντα, ἀλλὰ τὸ πολλῷ πάλιν καταδεέστερον. εἰς κλίβανον βαλλόμενον. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, ἀμφιέννυσιν, ἀλλ', οὕτως ἀμφιέννυσιν. Ὁρᾷς πανταχοῦ πολλὰς τὰς ὑπερβολὰς καὶ τὰς ἐπιτάσεις; Ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο, ἵνα αὐτῶν καθάψηται· διὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπήγαγεν· Οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς; Καὶ γὰρ πολλὴν ἔχει καὶ τοῦτο τὴν ἔμφασιν. Τὸ γὰρ, ὑμᾶς, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐστὶν αἰνιττομένου, ἢ τὸ πολυτίμητον καὶ περισπούδαστον τοῦ γένους· ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν, Ὑμᾶς, οἷς ψυχὴν ἔδωκεν, οἷς σῶμα διέπλασε, δι' οὓς τὰ ὁρώμενα πάντα ἐποίησε, δι' οὓς προφήτας ἔπεμψε, καὶ νόμον ἔδωκε, καὶ τὰ μυρία εἰργάσατο ἀγαθά· δι' οὓς τὸν μονογενῆ παῖδα ἐξέδωκεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπέδειξε σαφῶς, τότε καὶ ἐπιπλήττει λέγων· Ὀλιγόπιστοι. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ ὁ συμβουλεύων· οὐ παραινεῖ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθάπτεται, ἵνα διεγείρῃ πλέον πρὸς τὴν πειθὼ τῶν λεγομένων. Ἀπὸ τούτων ἡμᾶς οὐχὶ μὴ μεριμνᾷν διδάσκει μόνον, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐπτοῆσθαι 57.300 πρὸς τὴν πολυτέλειαν τῶν ἱματίων. Χλόης γὰρ ἡ εὐπρέπεια, καὶ πόας τὸ κάλλος· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τιμιώτερος ὁ χόρτος τῆς τοιαύτης στολῆς. Τί τοίνυν μέγα φρονεῖς, ἐν οἷς τὰ νικητήρια παρὰ τῇ βοτάνῃ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς περιουσίας; Καὶ ὅρα πῶς ἀπὸ τῶν προοιμίων κοῦφον δείκνυσι τὸ ἐπίταγμα, πάλιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀφ' ὧν δεδοίκασιν, ἀπὸ τούτων ἀπάγων. Εἰπὼν γὰρ Καταμάθετε τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ, ἐπήγαγεν, Οὐ κοπιῶσιν. Ὥστε κόπων ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάξαι βουλόμενος, ταῦτα ἐκέλευσεν. Οὐ τοίνυν τὸ μὴ μεριμνᾷν ταῦτα πόνος ἀλλὰ τὸ μεριμνᾷν. Καὶ καθάπερ εἰπὼν, Οὐ σπείρουσιν, οὐ τὸν σπόρον ἀνέτρεψεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φροντίδα· οὕτως εἰπὼν, Οὐ κοπιῶσιν, οὐδὲ νήθουσιν, οὐ τὸ ἔργον ἀνεῖλεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέριμναν. Εἰ δὲ Σολομῶν ἡττήθη τοῦ κάλλους αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐχ ἅπαξ οὐδὲ δὶς, ἀλλὰ δι' ὅλης τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ· (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχοι τις εἰπεῖν ὅτι νῦν μὲν τοιαῦτα περιεβάλετο, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐκέτι ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ οὕτως ἐκαλλωπίσατο· τοῦτο γὰ ἐδήλωσεν εἰπὼν, Ἐν πάσῃ τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ)· καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ τούτου μὲν ἡττήθη τοῦ ἄνθους, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον ἐμιμήσατο, ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν ὁμοῦ παρεχώρησε· (διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν Ὡς ἓν τούτων· ὅσον γὰρ τῆς ἀληθείας πρὸς τὸ ψεῦδος τοσοῦτον τῶν ἱματίων ἐκείνων καὶ τῶν ἀνθῶν τούτων τὸ μέσον·) εἰ τοίνυν ἐκεῖνος ὡμολόγησε τὴν ἧτταν, ἁπάντων βασιλέων τῶν πώποτε γενομένων λαμπρότερος πότε σὺ περιγενέσθαι δυνήσῃ, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐγγὺς γενέσθαι κἂν μικρὸν τῆς τοιαύτης εὐμορφίας; Ἐντεῦθεν ἡμᾶς παιδεύει μηδ' ὅλως ἐφίεσθαι τοῦ τοιούτου καλλωπισμοῦ. Ὅρα γοῦν αὐτοῦ τὸ τέλος· μετὰ τὴν νίκην εἰς κλίβανον βάλλεται. Εἰ δὲ περὶ τὰ εὐτελῆ καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄξια λόγοι καὶ τὴν τυχοῦσαν παρεχόμενα χρείαν, τοσαύτην προνοιαν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπεδείξατο, πῶς σὲ προήσεται τὸ πάντων ἀναγκαιότατον ζῶον; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οὕτω καλὰ αὐτὰ ἐποίησεν; Ἵνα τὴν αὐτοῦ σοφίαν ἐπιδείξηται καὶ τὴν περιουσίαν τῆς δυνάμεως, ἵνα πανταχόθεν αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν μάθωμεν. Οὐ γὰρ οἱ οὐρανοὶ μόνοι διηγοῦνται τὴν 57.301 δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ γῆ· καὶ τοῦτο ὁ ∆αυῒδ δηλῶν ἔλεγεν· Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον, ξύλα καρποφόρα καὶ πᾶσαι κέδροι. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοῦ καρποῦ, τὰ δὲ διὰ τοῦ μεγέθους, τὰ δὲ διὰ τοῦ κάλλους ἀναπέμπει τῳ ποιήσαντι τὴν εὐφημίαν. Πολλῆς γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο περιουσίας σοφίας σημεῖον, ὅταν καὶ εἰς τὰ σφόδρα εὐτελῆ, (τί γὰρ εὐτελέστερον τοῦ σήμερον ὄντος, καὶ αὔριον οὐκ ὄντος;) τοσοῦτον ἐκχέῃ τὸ κάλλος. Εἰ τοίνυν τῷ χόρτῳ τὸ μὴ ἐν χρεία δέδωκε, (τί γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸ κάλλος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς τροφὴν συντελεῖ;) πῶς σοὶ τὸ ἐν χρείᾳ οὐ δώσει; Εἰ τὸ πάντων εὐτελέστερον ἐκαλλώπισεν ἐκ περιουσίας, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ πρὸς χρείαν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς φιλοτιμίαν τοῦτο ποιῶν· πολλῷ μᾶλλον σὲ τὸν ἁπάντων τιμιώτερον ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν χρείαν τιμήσει, βʹ. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀπέδειξε πολλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν οὖσαν, καὶ ἔδει καὶ ἐπιπλῆξαι λοιπὸν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα κέχρηται τῇ φειδοῖ, οὐκ ἀπιστίαν, ἀλλ' ὀλιγοπιστίαν αὐτοῖς ἐγκαλῶν. Εἰ γὰρ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ. φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς οὕτως ἀμφιέννυσι,