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bearing fruit with the plantings of the spirit. And the ancient desolate places of the soul will be built up in you and will be filled up through divine lessons and words; so that you also become a builder of yourself, building up the thoughts in your own mind with inspired teachings. And now you will also cast a hedge around your own soul, fencing it in on every side and securing it from external annoyances. These things have been said also to each one of the hearers in the person of the entire people; for if you should do these things, O people who were first blamed, the promises will be yours; your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be as noonday. And your God will be with you always; and you will be filled just as your soul desires, and your bones will be made fat; and the bones of the people might reasonably be said to be the strong ones in it who support the whole body. And it will be in you both as a well-watered garden and as a spring whose water has not failed. And the everlasting desolate places will be built for you; those places that have long been desolate on account of sin, these will be built up. And your foundations will be eternal for generations of generations; and you will understand the foundations, paying attention to the apostolic scripture, through which it is said: "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets," but you will also be called a Builder of hedges; for he builds hedges who fences and walls in the ecclesiastical dogmas with dialectical proofs; and he who removes the apparent stumbling blocks from the divine readings by clarifying what is said, this is the one who removes the stones from between the paths. To all these things he says: if you turn away your foot from the sabbaths from doing your own will on the holy day and call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God, you will not lift your foot to work nor will you speak a word in anger from your mouth, and you will have confidence in the Lord. For if with all those things you also keep the sabbaths, just as the word dictates, then they will also be necessary for you. And the word suggests not to do one's own will, being occupied with "drunkenness and revelling," but living in holiness and purity, thus also to sanctify the day, to keep it both delightful and free from grief through the leisure in it that is fulfilled according to God, not even moving one's foot at all for other deeds, nor defiling the lips even to the point of a word; but to be devoted only to the leisure of divine things throughout the entire day. Indeed, all these things taken together will make the sabbath not unprofitable for you and will make "the fast acceptable" for you; and so you will have confidence in the Lord, being bold for the rest of your life as holding to his unfailing promises, to which he also promises to give this, I mean to bring you up from the life here to a certain land called "above" and to provide for you those good things, "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him." And he will feed you with the food there and will give to you the inheritance, which he promised to your father Jacob. And there were heavenly and spiritual promises to the fathers; indeed all these things, even if spoken through a man, were not human words, but it was God who was speaking these things through the prophet. Therefore it is added to all these things: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things; but one can interpret the things concerning the land and its good things in a more Jewish way, since also all the things that have been said have been shown to be addressed to the people of the circumcision. 2.48 Since the word, in what came before this, distinguished for the Jewish people the things that must be done, and on the one hand setting forth the fitting promises for those who accomplished the practical things through works, and on the other hand threatening suitable punishments for those who chose the opposite; through the things set forth it brings a reproof against them as ones who have chosen certain things contrary to the counsel of God, for which reason

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πνεύματος καρποφορῶν φυτείαις. καὶ τὰ πάλαι δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ἔρημα οἰκοδομηθήσεται ἐν σοὶ καὶ ἀναπληρωθήσεται διὰ μαθημάτων καὶ λόγων θείων· ὡς καὶ οἰκοδόμον σε γενέσθαι σεαυτοῦ διδασκαλίαις ἐνθέοις οἰκοδομοῦντα τοὺς ἐν τῇ σαυτοῦ διανοίᾳ λογισμούς. ἤδη δὲ καὶ φραγμὸν περιβαλεῖς τῇ σαυτοῦ ψυχῇ περιφράττων αὐτὴν πανταχόθεν καὶ ἀσφαλιζόμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ὀχληρῶν. ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἕνα ἕκαστον τῶν ἀκροωμένων εἴρηται εἰς πρόσωπον τοῦ παντὸς λαοῦ· εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα ποιήσειας, ὁ τὰ πρῶτα καταμεμψάμενος λαός, ἔσται σοι τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα· ἀνατελεῖ ἐν τῷ σκότει τὸ φῶς σου, καὶ τὸ σκότος σου ὡς μεσημβρία. καὶ ἔσται ὁ θεός σου μετὰ σοῦ διὰ παντός· καὶ ἐμπλησθήσῃ καθάπερ ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχή σου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ σου πιανθήσεται· ὀστᾶ δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ οἱ ἐν αὐτῷ δυνατοὶ εἰκότως ἂν λεχθεῖεν οἱ τὸ πᾶν σῶμα ὑποβαστάζοντες. ἔσται δὲ ἐν σοὶ καὶ ὡς κῆπος μεθύων καὶ ὡς πηγὴ ἣν μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ. καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσονταί σοι αἱ ἔρημοι αἰώνιοι· τὰ ἐκ μακροῦ χρόνου δι' ἁμαρτίαν ἔρημα γεγενημένα, ταῦτα οἰκοδομηθήσεται. καὶ ἔσται τὰ θεμέλιά σου αἰώνια γενεῶν γενεαῖς· νοήσεις δὲ καὶ τὰ θεμέλια ἐπιστήσας τῇ ἀποστολικῇ γραφῇ, δι' ἧς εἴρηται· «ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν», ἀλλὰ καὶ κληθήσῃ Οἰκοδόμος φραγμῶν· φραγμοὺς δὲ οἰκοδομεῖ ὁ περιφράττων καὶ περιτειχίζων διαλεκτικαῖς ἀποδείξεσι τὰ ἐκκλησιαστικὰ δόγματα· ὁ δὲ τὰ δοκοῦντα προσκόμματα ἐκ τῶν θείων ἀναγνωσμάτων περιαιρῶν διὰ τοῦ σαφηνίζειν τὰ λεγόμενα, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοὺς ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν τρίβων λίθους περιαιρῶν. Πρὸς τούτοις φησὶν ἅπασιν· ἐὰν ἀποστρέψῃς ἀπὸ τῶν σαββάτων τὸν πόδα σου τοῦ μὴ ποιεῖν τὰ θελήματά σου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἁγίᾳ καὶ καλέσῃς τὰ σάββατα τρυφερά, ἅγια τῷ θεῷ, οὐκ ἀρεῖς τὸν πόδα σου ἐπ' ἔργῳ οὐδὲ λαλήσεις λόγον ἐν ὀργῇ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου, καὶ ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ κύριον. εἰ γὰρ μετὰ πάντων ἐκείνων καὶ τὰ σάββατα φυλάττοις, οὕτως ὡς ὁ λόγος ὑπαγορεύει, τότε σοὶ ἔσται καὶ αὐτὰ ἀναγκαῖα. ὑποβάλλει δὲ ὁ λόγος μὴ τὰ θελήματα πράττειν ἑαυτῶν «μέθαις καὶ κραιπάλῃ» σχολάζοντας, ἐν ἁγιασμῷ δὲ καὶ καθαρότητι διάγοντας, οὕτω καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἁγιάζειν, τρυφεράν τε αὐτὴν καὶ ἄλυπον διὰ τῆς ἐν αὐτῇ κατὰ θεὸν ἐπιτελουμένης σχολῆς φυλάττειν μηδὲ μέχρι τοῦ τυχόντος κινοῦντα τὸν πόδα ἐπὶ πράξεσιν ἑτέραις μηδὲ μέχρι λόγου μολύνειν τὰ χείλη· μόνῃ δὲ τῇ σχολῇ τῶν θείων διὰ πάσης προσανέχειν τῆς ἡμέρας. Ὁμοῦ δὴ ταῦτα πάντα συναγόμενα καὶ τὸ σάββατόν σοι οὐκ ἀνωφελὲς κατασκευάσει καὶ «τὴν νηστείαν» σοι «δεκτὴν» ποιήσει· οὕτω τε ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ κύριον θαρσῶν εἰς τὸν ἐπίλοιπον βίον ὡς ἀνέχων αὐτοῦ ἀψευδεῖς τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, πρὸς αἷς καὶ τοῦτο δώσειν ὑπισχνεῖται, λέγω δὲ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνταῦθα διατριβῆς ἐπί τινα τὴν ἄνω λεγομένην γῆν ἀναβιβάσειν σε κἀκεῖνά σοι παρασχεῖν τὰ ἀγαθά, «ἃ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν». καὶ ψωμιεῖ δέ σε τὴν ἐκεῖ τροφὴν καὶ τὴν κληρονομίαν, ἣν ἐπήγγελται τῷ πατρί σου Ἰακώβ, ἀποδώσει σοι. ἦσαν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐπαγγελίαι οὐράνιοι καὶ πνευματικαί· ταῦτα δὴ πάντα εἰ καὶ δι' ἀνθρώπου λελάληται, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἦσαν ἀνθρώπινοι λόγοι, θεὸς δὲ ἦν ὁ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου ταῦτα φθεγγόμενος. διὸ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπιλέγεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα· δύναται δὲ τὰ περὶ γῆς καὶ τῶν ταύτης ἀγαθῶν Ἰουδαϊκώτερόν τις ἐκλαμβάνειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ λελεγμένα πάντα πρὸς τὸν ἐκ περιτομῆς λαὸν ἀποδέδεικται προσπεφωνημένα. 2.48 Ὡς πρὸς τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν διαστειλάμενος ὁ λόγος ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτου τὰ πρακτέα, καὶ τοῖς μὲν τὰ πρακτέα δι' ἔργων ἐπιτελέσασι τὰς πρεπούσας ἐπαγγελίας παραθείς, τοῖς δὲ τὰ ἐναντία ἑλομένοις τὰς καταλλήλους ἀπειλήσας τιμωρίας· διὰ τῶν προκειμένων ἔλεγχον αὐτοῖς προσφέρει ὥς τινα ἐναντία ἑλομένοις τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ βουλῇ, οὗ χάριν