19.  What shall be said to this by those of us who are buyers and sellers of corn, and watch the hardships of the seasons, in order to grow prosperous, and luxuriate in the misfortunes of others, and acquire, not, like Joseph, the property of the Egyptians,122    Gen. xli. 39. as a part of a wide policy, (for he could both collect and supply corn duly, as he also could foresee the famine, and provide against it afar off,) but the property of their fellow countrymen in an illegal manner, for they say, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell, and the sabbaths, that we may open our stores?”123    Amos viii. 5.  And they corrupt justice with divers measures and balances,124    Prov. xx. 10. and draw upon themselves the ephah of lead.125    Zech. v. 8.  What shall we say to these things who know no limit to our getting, who worship gold and silver, as those of old worshipped Baal, and Astarte and the abomination Chemosh?126    1 Kings xi. 33.  Who give heed to the brilliance of costly stones, and soft flowing garments, the prey of moths, and the plunder of robbers and tyrants and thieves; who are proud of their multitude of slaves and animals, and spread themselves over plains and mountains, with their possessions and gains and schemes, like Solomon’s horseleach127    Prov. xxx. 15. which cannot be satisfied, any more than the grave, and the earth, and fire, and water; who seek for another world for their possession, and find fault with the bounds of God, as too small for their insatiable cupidity?  What of those who sit on lofty thrones and raise the stage of government, with a brow loftier than that of the theatre, taking no account of the God over all, and the height of the true kingdom that none can approach unto, so as to rule their subjects as fellow-servants, as needing themselves no less loving-kindness?  Look also, I pray you, at those who stretch themselves upon beds of ivory, whom the divine Amos fitly upbraids, who anoint themselves with the chief ointments, and chant to the sound of instruments of music, and attach themselves to transitory things as though they were stable, but have not grieved nor had compassion for the affliction of Joseph;128    Amos vi. 4–6. though they ought to have been kind to those who had met with disaster before them, and by mercy have obtained mercy; as the fir-tree should howl, because the cedar had fallen,129    Zech. xi. 2. and be instructed by their neighbours’ chastisement, and be led by others’ ills to regulate their own lives, having the advantage of being saved by their predecessors’ fate, instead of being themselves a warning to others.

ΙΘʹ. Τί πρὸς ταῦτα ἐροῦμεν, οἱ σιτῶναι, καὶ σιτοκάπηλοι, καὶ τηροῦντες τὰς τῶν καιρῶν δυσκολίας, ἵν' εὐπορήσωμεν, καὶ ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς ἐντρυφήσωμεν, καὶ κτησώμεθα, μὴ ὡς Ἰωσὴφ τὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, ἐπ' οἰκονομίᾳ μείζονι (ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ᾔδει καὶ συναγαγεῖν καὶ σιτοδοτῆσαι καλῶς, ὥσπερ καὶ προγνῶναι τὸν λιμὸν, καὶ στῆναι πρὸς αὐτὸν πόῤῥωθεν), ἀλλ' ὡς παράνομοι τὰ τῶν ὁμοφύλων, οἱ λέγοντες: Πότε διελεύσεται ὁ μὴν, καὶ ἐμπωλήσομεν: καὶ τὰ Σάββατα, καὶ ἀνοίξομεν θησαυρούς; οἱ τοῖς δισσοῖς μέτροις καὶ σταθμίοις τὸ δίκαιον διαφθείροντες, καὶ τὸ μολιβδοῦν μέτρον τῆς ἀνομίας ἐφ' ἑαυτοὺς κλίνοντες; Τί πρὸς ταῦτα ἐροῦμεν, οἱ μηδὲν πέρας εἰδότες κτήσεως: οἱ προσκυνοῦντες τὸν χρυσὸν καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον, ὥσπερ τὴν Βάαλ οἱ πάλαι, καὶ τὴν Ἀστάρτην, καὶ τὸ Χαμὼς βδέλυγμα: οἱ περιέποντες τῶν λίθων τὰς πολυτελείας καὶ διαυγείας, καὶ τῆς ἐσθῆτος τὴν μαλακήν τε καὶ περιῤῥέουσαν, σητῶν δαπάνην, καὶ λῃστῶν, καὶ τυράννων, καὶ κλεπτῶν θησαυρίσματα: οἱ πλήθει γαυριῶντες ἀνδραπόδων καὶ τετραπόδων: οἱ τοῖς πεδίοις ἐμπλατυνόμενοι καὶ τοῖς ὄρεσι, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἔχοντες, τὰ δὲ προσλαμβάνοντες, τὰ δὲ μέλλοντες, κατὰ τὴν Σολομόντειον βδέλλαν ἐμπλησθῆναι μὴ δυναμένην, ὁμοίως ᾅδῃ, καὶ γῇ, καὶ πυρὶ, καὶ ὕδατι, καὶ ζητοῦντες οἰκουμένην ἑτέραν εἰς κτῆσιν, καὶ τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁρίοις καταμεμφόμενοι ὡς μικροτέροις ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ ἀπληστίαν; Τί δαὶ, οἱ τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς θρόνοις ἐγκαθεζόμενοι, καὶ τὴν ἀρχικὴν σκηνὴν αἴροντες, καὶ τὴν ὀφρὺν τῶν θεάτρων ὑψηλοτέραν, καὶ μὴ λογιζόμενοι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι Θεὸν, καὶ τὸ ἀπρόσιτον ὕψος τῆς ἀληθινῆς βασιλείας, ἵν' ὡς ὁμοδούλων τῶν ὑπηκόων ἄρχωσιν, οἱ τῆς ἴσης δεόμενοι φιλανθρωπίας; Σκόπει δέ μοι καὶ τοὺς κατασπαταλῶντας ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντίνων, ὧν καλῶς ὁ θεῖος Ἀμὼς καθάπτεται, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μύρα χριομένους, καὶ τῇ φωνῇ τῶν ὀργάνων ἐπικροτοῦντας, καὶ τῶν φευγόντων ὡς ἱσταμένων ἐξηρτημένους: ἀλλὰ μὴ τῇ συντριβῇ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ συναλγοῦντάς τε καὶ συμπάσχοντας: δέον χρηστοὺς εἶναι τοῖς προεμπεσοῦσι, καὶ τῷ ἐλέῳ κτᾶσθαι τὸν ἔλεον: ὀλολύζειν πίτυν, ὅτι πέπτωκε κέδρος, καὶ νουθετεῖσθαι τῇ τῶν πλησίων πληγῇ, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων κακῶν τὰ οἰκεῖα εὖ τίθεσθαι, τοσοῦτον πλέον ἔχοντας τῶν προειληφότων, ὅσον αὐτοὺς δι' ἐκείνων σωθῆναι, ἀλλὰ μὴ δι' αὐτῶν ἑτέρους σωφρονισθῆναι.