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shall be stoned, and (so terrible was the sight), Moses said, I am exceedingly fearful and trembling. What wonder if he says that the people would suffer such things, when even he who entered into the darkness where God was, says, I am fearful and trembling? But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See by how many things he has shown the superiority of the New over the Old. For instead of the Jerusalem below, there is the heavenly one; For you have come, he says, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; instead of Moses, Jesus; And to the Mediator, he says, of the new covenant, Jesus; and instead of the people all 63.220 the angels; And to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly, he says. Whom does he call firstborn, saying, And to the church of the firstborn? All the choirs of the faithful. He calls the same ones also spirits of just men made perfect. Do not be distressed, therefore; you will be with these, he says. What is it that he says, To the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel? For did that of Abel speak? Yes; and how, hear Paul saying, By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous; and through it, being dead, he still speaks. This God also shows, saying: The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me. Therefore, one can either say this, or that it is still sung even now; but not in the same way as that of Christ; for this has cleansed all, and utters a voice more brilliant and more distinct, inasmuch as it has the greater testimony through the facts. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this, Yet once more, indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Those things were terrible, but these are much more wonderful and glorious; for here there is not darkness, nor gloom, nor tempest, as there. And for what reason did God then appear through fire? It seems to me that through those things He was hinting at the obscurity of the Old, and the foreshadowing of the law and its veiled nature; otherwise, to show that the lawgiver must be terrible, and a punisher to transgressors. 2. And what of the sounds of the trumpet? Fittingly, as of some king being present. This, at least, will also be at the second coming; For the trumpet will sound, he says, and we will all be raised. So that the resurrection of all will be by the power of God. And the voice of the trumpet indicates nothing else but this, that all must be raised. But then those things were sensible, both sights and sounds; but all things after these are intelligible and invisible. And the fire indicates this, that God is fire. For our God, he says, is a consuming fire; and the gloom and the darkness and the smoke again show what is terrible. Thus also Isaiah says: And the house was filled with smoke. And what does the tempest mean? The human race was slothful; it was necessary, therefore, for it to be roused by these things. For no one is so sluggish, who would not have his mind lifted up when these things were happening and being legislated; Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice; for the voice had to be borne by God. Since He was about to give the law through Moses, for this reason He makes him trustworthy. They did not see him because of the darkness, they did not hear him because of his weak voice. What then? God answers, speaking with a voice, 63.221 as if also making a public address, and making the laws audible. But let us look at what was said above; For you have not come to the mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire, and

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λιθοβοληθήσεται, καὶ (οὕτω φοβερὸν ἦν τὸ φανταζόμενον), Μωϋσῆς εἶπεν· Ἔκφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος. Τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τοιαῦτα παθεῖν διαλέγεται, ὅπου καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ εἰς τὸν γνόφον εἰσελθὼν, οὗ ἦν ὁ Θεὸς, φησὶν, Ἔμφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος; Ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει, καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει, καὶ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀπογεγραμμένων, καὶ κριτῇ Θεῷ πάντων, καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων τετελειωμένων, καὶ διαθήκης νέας μεσίτῃ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ, κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ. Ὅρα διὰ πόσων ἔδειξε τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς Καινῆς πρὸς τὴν Παλαιάν. Ἀντὶ γὰρ τῆς κάτω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ ἐπουράνιος· Προσεληλύθατε γὰρ, φησὶ, πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ· ἀντὶ Μωϋσέως ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Καὶ διαθήκης, φησὶ, νέας μεσίτῃ Ἰησοῦ· ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ πάν 63.220 τες οἱ ἄγγελοι· Καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει, φησί. Τίνας δὲ πρωτοτόκους καλεῖ λέγων, Καὶ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων; Πάντας τοὺς χοροὺς τῶν πιστῶν. Τοὺς αὐτοὺς δὲ καὶ πνεύματα δικαίων τετελειωμένων λέγει. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀσχάλλετε· μετὰ τούτων ἔσεσθε, φησί. Τί ἐστιν ὃ λέγει, Αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ; τὸ γὰρ τοῦ Ἄβελ ἐλάλησε; Ναί· καὶ πῶς, ἄκουε Παύλου λέγοντος, Πίστει πλείονα θυσίαν Ἄβελ παρὰ Κάϊν προσήνεγκε, δι' ἧς ἐμαρτυρήθη εἶναι δίκαιος· καὶ δι' αὐτῆς ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖ. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς δείκνυσι λέγων· Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με. Ἢ τοῦτο τοίνυν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ἢ ὅτι ἔτι καὶ νῦν ᾄδεται· ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως ὡς τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· τοῦτο γὰρ πάντας ἐκάθηρε, καὶ φωνὴν ἀφίησι λαμπροτέραν καὶ εὐσημοτέραν, ὅσῳ μείζονα τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἔχει τὴν διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων. Βλέπετε μὴ παραιτήσησθε τὸν λαλοῦντα. Εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἐξέφυγον, τὸν ἐπὶ γῆς παραιτησάμενοι χρηματίζοντα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ ἀποστρεφόμενοι. Οὗ ἡ φωνὴ τὴν γῆν ἐσάλευσε τότε· νῦν δὲ ἐπήγγελται, λέγων· Ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείω οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν. Τὸ δὲ, Ἔτι ἅπαξ, δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων τὴν μετάθεσιν, ὡς πεποιημένων, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα. ∆ιὸ βασιλείαν ἀσάλευτον παραλαμβάνοντες, ἔχομεν χάριν, δι' ἧς λατρεύωμεν εὐαρέστως τῷ Θεῷ μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον. Φοβερὰ ἐκεῖνα, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ ταῦτα θαυμασιώτερα καὶ λαμπρότερα· οὐ γὰρ σκότος ἐνταῦθα, οὐδὲ γνόφος, οὐδὲ θύελλα, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν διὰ πυρὸς ὤφθη τότε ὁ Θεός; Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ δι' ἐκείνων αἰνίττεσθαι τὸ ἀσαφὲς τῆς Παλαιᾶς, καὶ τὸ συνεσκιασμένον τοῦ νόμου καὶ τὸ συγκεκαλυμμένον· ἄλλως δὲ, ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι ὁ νομοθέτης φοβερὸς ὀφείλει εἶναι, καὶ κολαστικὸς τοῖς παραβαίνουσι. βʹ. Τί δὲ οἱ ἦχοι τῆς σάλπιγγος; Εἰκότως, ἅτε ὡς βασιλέως τινὸς παρόντος. Τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς δευτέρας ἔσται παρουσίας· Σαλπίσει γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ πάντες ἀναστησόμεθα. Ὥστε τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμει πάντων ἡ ἀνάστασις ἔσται. Ἡ δὲ φωνὴ τῆς σάλπιγγος οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἀλλ' ἢ τοῦτο δηλοῖ, ὅτι πάντας ἐγηγέρθαι δεῖ. Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ἦσαν ἐκεῖνα αἰσθητὰ, καὶ ὄψεις, καὶ φωναί· τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα, νοητὰ καὶ ἀόρατα. Καὶ τὸ μὲν πῦρ τοῦτο δηλοῖ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς πῦρ ἐστι. Πῦρ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν καταναλίσκον· ὁ δὲ γνόφος καὶ τὸ σκότος καὶ ὁ καπνὸς πάλιν τὸ φοβερὸν ἐμφαίνει. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας φησί· Καὶ ὁ οἶκος ἐπλήσθη καπνοῦ. Καὶ ἡ θύελλα τί βούλεται; Ῥᾴθυμον τὸ γένος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἦν· ἔδει τοίνυν αὐτὸ διανίστασθαι τούτοις. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτω νωθὴς, ὃς οὐκ ἄνω τὴν διάνοιαν εἶχε γινομένων τούτων καὶ νομοθετουμένων· Μωϋσῆς ἐλάλει, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἀπεκρίνετο αὐτῷ φωνῇ· ἔδει γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ φέρεσθαι τὴν φωνήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ διὰ Μωϋσέως ἔμελλε νομοθετεῖν, διὰ τοῦτο ἀξιόπιστον αὐτὸν ποιεῖ. Οὐχ ἑώρων αὐτὸν διὰ τὸν γνόφον, οὐκ ἤκουον αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ ἰσχνόφωνον. Τί οὖν; Ἀποκρίνεται ὁ Θεὸς φωνῇ φθεγγόμενος, 63.221 ὥσπερ καὶ δημηγορῶν, καὶ ἐξακουστὰ ποιῶν τὰ νομοθετούμενα. Ἀλλ' ἴδωμεν ἄνωθεν τὰ εἰρημένα· Οὐ γὰρ προσεληλύθατε ψηλαφωμένῳ ὄρει, καὶ κεκαυμένῳ πυρὶ καὶ