Migne Reading Room

PL 38 · cols. 632–635

Augustine, Sermones 105-112 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon CVIII

PL 38:632
quatitur. Dormit Christus: excita dormientem, et non patieris tempestatem saevientem. Ipsum excita, qui nihil hic habere voluit, et totum habes, qui usque ad crucem pro te pervenit, cujus nudi atque pendentis ossa ab insultantibus numerata sunt: et cave ab omni avaritia. Parum est avaritia pecuniae: cave avaritiam vitae. Horrenda avaritia, metuenda avaritia. Aliquando homo contemnit quod habet, et dicit: Non dico falsum testimonium. Non dico, dicis mihi? Tollo quod habes. Tolle quod habeo: non tollis quod intus habeo. Non enim pauper remanserat qui dicebat: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est; ergo sit nomen Domini benedictum. Nudus exii de utero matris meae, nudus revertar in terram (Job. I, 21). Nudus foris, intus vestitus. Nudus foris a pannis, et putribilibus pannis; intus vestitus. Unde? Sacerdotes tui induantur justitia (Psal. CXXXI, 9). Sed quid si dicat, cum contempseris ea quae possides, quid si dicat: Occido te? Responde illi, si Christum audisti: Occides me? Melius tu occides carnem meam, quam ego per linguam falsam animam meam. Quid facturus es mihi? Occisurus es carnem: exit anima libera, in fine saeculi et ipsam quam contempsit carnem receptura. Quid ergo mihi facturus es? Si autem falsum testimonium dixero pro te, de lingua mea occido me; et non in carne occido me: Os enim quod mentitur, occidit animam (Sap. I, 11). Forte hoc non dicis. Unde non dicis? Vivere vis: plus vis vivere, quam Deus constituit? Certe caves ab omni avaritia? Huc usque Deus voluit ut vivas, quo usque iste ad te accessit. Forte te occisurus est, ut martyrem faciat. Noli habere cupiditatem vivendi; et non habes aeternitatem moriendi? Videtis quia ubique avaritia illa, cum plus volumus quam opus est, facit nos peccare? Caveamus ab omni avaritia, si volumus frui aeterna sapientia.
is shaken. Christ is asleep: wake the sleeper, and you will not suffer the raging storm. Wake Him Who willed to have nothing here, and you have everything; Him Who went as far as the cross for you, Whose bones, as He hung naked, were numbered by those who mocked Him: and beware of all avarice. Avarice for money is a small thing: beware of avarice for life. A dreadful avarice, an avarice to be feared. Sometimes a man despises what he has, and says: I will not speak false testimony. You will not, you tell me? I take away what you have. Take away what I have: you do not take away what I have within. For he had not remained poor who said: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done; therefore let the name of the Lord be blessed. Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I shall return into the earth (Job 1:21). Naked outside, clothed within. Naked outside as regards rags, and perishable rags; clothed within. With what? Let Thy priests be clothed with justice (Ps. 131:9). But what if he says, when you have despised the things you possess, what if he says: I will kill you? Answer him, if you have listened to Christ: You will kill me? Better that you kill my flesh than that I kill my soul through a false tongue. What are you going to do to me? You are going to kill the flesh: the soul goes out free, to receive back at the end of the age even the flesh which it despised. What then are you going to do to me? But if I speak false testimony for you, I kill myself with my own tongue; and I kill myself not in the flesh: For the mouth that lies kills the soul (Wis. 1:11). Perhaps you do not say this. Why do you not say it? You want to live: do you want to live longer than God has appointed? Surely you are guarding against all avarice? God willed that you should live up to this point, up to the point when that man came to you. Perhaps he is going to kill you so as to make a martyr. Do not have a desire for living; and do you not have an eternity of dying? Do you see that everywhere it is that avarice, when we want more than is needful, that makes us sin? Let us beware of all avarice, if we want to enjoy eternal wisdom.
SERMO CVIII. De verbis Evangelii Lucae, cap. XII, 35, 36, Sint lumbi vestri accincti, et lucernae ardentes, et vos similes, etc., deque verbis Psalmi XXXIII, 12-15, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, etc.
Sermon CVIII. On the words of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12:35-36, Let your loins be girded, and lamps burning, and you like, etc., and on the words of Psalm 33:12-15, Who is the man who wants life, etc.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. De exspectando adventu Domini. Christiani quare facti sumus. Saeculum istud non amandum. Dominus noster Jesus Christus et venit ad homines, et abscessit ab hominibus, et venturus est ad homines. Et tamen hic erat quando venit, nec recessit quando abscessit, et ad eos venturus est quibus dixit, Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem saeculi (Matth. XXVIII, 20). Secundum formam ergo servi, quam suscepit pro nobis, quodam tempore natus est, et occisus est, et resurrexit, et non jam moritur, nec mors ei ultra dominabitur (Rom. VI, 9): secundum divinitatem autem, qua aequalis est Patri, in hoc mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit (Joan. I, 10).
Chapter One. — 1. On awaiting the coming of the Lord. Why we were made Christians. This world is not to be loved. Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and departed from men, and is going to come to men. And yet He was here when He came, and He did not withdraw when He departed, and He is going to come to those to whom He said: Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20). According to the form of a servant, then, which He took up for us, at a certain time He was born, and was killed, and rose again, and now no longer dies, nor will death have dominion over Him any more (Rom. 6:9): but according to the divinity, in which He is equal to the Father, He was in this world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him (John 1:10).
Editors' notes and page, col. 632

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Melius tu occides› · call in col 632

Verbum, occides, abest a manuscriptis.

The word occides ("you will kill") is absent from the manuscripts.

(printed under page 322)

(2) ‹anchor: aeternitatem moriendi› · call in col 632

In Colbertino Ms., haereditatem moriendi.

In the Colbertine manuscript, haereditatem moriendi ("the inheritance of dying").

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CVIII› · call in col 632 Emendatus ad tres bn. et quatuor cl. ad a. cb. f. fs. g. lr. m. p. rm. vd. et ad editiones Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Emended by three bn. and four cl. manuscripts, by a. cb. f. fs. g. lr. m. p. rm. vd., and by the editions of Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain.

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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CVIII› · call in col 632

Alias, de Verbis Domini 39.

Formerly, de Verbis Domini ("On the Words of the Lord") 39.

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PL 38:633
De hoc audistis modo Evangelium, quid monuerit nos, cautos nos faciens, et volens esse expeditos et paratos ad exspectanda novissima: ut post novissima, quae sunt in hoc saeculo metuenda, succedat requies, quae non habet finem. Beati qui participes facti fuerint. Erunt autem tunc securi, qui modo non sunt securi: et iterum tunc timebunt, qui modo timere nolunt. Ad hanc exspectationem et propter hanc spem christiani facti sumus. Nonne spes nostra est de hoc saeculo? Non amemus saeculum. Ab amore saeculi hujus vocati sumus, ut aliud saeculum speremus et diligamus. In hoc abstinere nos debemus ab omnibus illicitis concupiscentiis, hoc est, lumbos accinctos habere debemus: et fervere et lucere in operibus bonis, hoc est, lucernas ardentes habere. Dixit enim ipse Dominus discipulis suis alio loco Evangelii: Nemo accendit lucernam, et ponit eam sub modio, sed super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt. Et ut ostenderet unde dicebat, subjecit et ait: Sic luceat lumen vestrum coram hominibus, ut videant bona facta vestra, et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est (Matth. V, 15, 16).
Concerning this you have just heard the Gospel, what it has admonished us, making us cautious and wishing us to be unencumbered and ready to await the last things: so that after the last things, which are to be feared in this world, there may follow a rest which has no end. Blessed are those who will have been made partakers of it. And those will then be secure who now are not secure; and again those will then fear who now refuse to fear. For this expectation and on account of this hope we have been made Christians. Is our hope not about this world? Let us not love the world. We have been called away from the love of this world, so that we may hope for and love another world. In this we ought to abstain from all unlawful desires, that is, we ought to have our loins girded; and to glow and shine in good works, that is, to have burning lamps. For the Lord Himself said to His disciples in another place of the Gospel: No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, so that it may give light to all who are in the house. And to show of what He was speaking, He added and said: So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 5:15–16).
CAPUT II. — 2. Tria in Evangelio commendata. Ideo lumbos nostros accinctos esse voluit, et lucernas ardentes. Quid est, lumbos accinctos? Declina a malo. Quid est lucere? quid est lucernas ardentes habere? Hoc est, Et fac bonum. Quid est quod adjunxit et ait, Et vos similes estote hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum quando veniat a nuptiis: nisi quod in illo psalmo sequitur, Inquire pacem, et sequere eam? Haec tria, hoc est, abstinentia a malo, et operatio boni, et spes praemii aeterni, commemorata sunt in Actibus Apostolorum, ubi scriptum est, Quia docebat eos Paulus d⟨e⟩ continentia, de justitia, et spe vitae aeternae (Act. XXIV, 25). Ad continentiam pertinet, Sint lumbi vestri accincti. Ad justitiam pertinet, Et lucernae ardentes. Ad exspectationem Domini pertinet, quae est spes vitae aeternae. Ergo, Declina a malo, haec est continentia, hi sunt lumbi accincti: Et fac bonum, haec est justitia, hae sunt lucernae ardentes: Quaere pacem et sequere eam, haec est exspectatio futuri saeculi: ergo, Similes estote hominibus expectantibus dominum suum quando veniat a nuptiis.
Chapter II. — 2. Three things commended in the Gospel. Therefore He willed our loins to be girded, and our lamps burning. What is it, loins girded? Turn aside from evil. What is it to shine? What is it to have burning lamps? It is this: And do good. What is it that He added, saying, And you, be like men awaiting their lord, when he may return from the wedding: except what follows in that psalm, Seek peace, and pursue it? These three things, that is, abstinence from evil, and the doing of good, and the hope of eternal reward, are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, where it is written that Paul taught them about continence, about justice, and the hope of eternal life (Acts 24:25). To continence belongs, Let your loins be girded. To justice belongs, And lamps burning. To the expectation of the Lord belongs that which is the hope of eternal life. Therefore, Turn aside from evil: this is continence, these are the girded loins; And do good: this is justice, these are the burning lamps; Seek peace and pursue it: this is the expectation of the world to come: therefore, Be like men awaiting their lord, when he may return from the wedding.
CAPUT III. — 3. Dies boni frustra hic quaeruntur. Diu vivere, quid. Habentes autem ista praecepta et promissa, quid quaerimus in terra dies bonos, ubi eos invenire non possumus? Scio enim quia eos quaeritis, quando aut aegrotatis, aut in tribulationibus estis, quae abundant in isto saeculo. Quoniam quando aetas vergit ad finem, et senex plenus est querelis, et nullis gaudiis. Inter omnes tribulationes, quibus conteritur genus humanum, non quaerunt homines nisi dies bonos, et vitam volunt longam, quam hic
Chapter III. — 3. Good days are sought here in vain. What living long is. But having these precepts and promises, why do we seek good days on earth, where we cannot find them? For I know that you seek them when you are either sick or in tribulations, which abound in this world. Since when age draws towards its end, and the old man is full of complaints, and of no joys. Amid all the tribulations by which the human race is worn down, men seek nothing but good days, and they want a long life, which here
Editors' notes and page, col. 633

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot images› · call in col 633

In Mss., additur vel admonuerit.

In the manuscripts there is added, vel admonuerit ("or has admonished").

(printed under page 323)

(2) ‹anchor: Et lucernae ardentes› · call in col 633

Non addit, in manibus vestris. Quae verba in excusis quidem Bibliis Vulgatae nunc insunt versioni, sed ab ipsa olim aberant in manuscriptis Bibliis Germanensibus nostris et Corbeiensibus, sicuti absunt a textu graeco. Eumdem locum absque istis verbis refert Augustinus supra in sermone 95, n. 3, in sermone de Continentia, cap. 7; in Quaest. Evangel. lib. 2, cap. 25, etc.

He does not add, in manibus vestris ("in your hands"). These words are indeed now in the Vulgate version in the printed Bibles, but were once absent from it in our manuscript Bibles of Saint-Germain and of Corbie, just as they are absent from the Greek text. Augustine cites the same passage without these words above in sermon 95, n. 3, in the sermon On Continence, ch. 7; in Questions on the Gospels, book 2, ch. 25, etc.

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habere non possunt. Quia et longa hominis vita tanta brevitate constringitur ad universi saeculi illius latitudinem, quasi una gutta ad universum mare comparetur. Quid ergo est vita hominis, etiam illa quae longa dicitur? Longam vitam dicunt, quae in saeculo isto brevis est: et, sicut dixi, abundant gemitus usque ad decrepitam senectutem. Hoc totum modicum et breve est: et tamen quomodo quaeritur ab hominibus? Quanta diligentia, quanto labore, quanta cura, quanta vigilantia, quanto opere quaerunt homines ut diu hic vivant et senescant? Ipsum autem diu vivere quid est, nisi ad finem currere? Habuisti hesternum diem, habere vis et crastinum diem. Sed cum iste transierit et crastinus, minus illum habes. Ideo optas u⟨t⟩ lucescat dies, ut propinquet tibi quo tu non vis pervenire. Exhibes aliquam solemnitatem amicis tuis, audis ibi a bene optantibus dici tibi, Multos annos vivas: vis ut veniat quod illi dixerunt. Quid? Ut veniant anni et anni, et non vis veniat finis annorum? Studia tua contraria sunt: ambulare vis, et pervenire non vis.
they cannot have. For even a long life of man is constrained to such brevity in comparison with the breadth of that whole age, as if a single drop were compared with the whole sea. What then is the life of man, even that which is called long? They call it a long life, which in this world is short: and, as I have said, groans abound right up to decrepit old age. All this is little and short: and yet how it is sought by men! With how much diligence, with how much labour, with how much care, with how much watchfulness, with how much effort do men seek to live here long and grow old! But what is living long itself, except running towards the end? You had yesterday, you wish to have tomorrow as well. But when this day has passed and tomorrow too, you have less of it. Therefore you wish the day to dawn, so that there may draw near to you that which you do not wish to reach. You hold some celebration for your friends, you hear there from those who wish you well the words said to you, May you live many years: you wish that what they have said may come. What? That years and years may come, and you do not wish the end of the years to come? Your desires are contrary to one another: you wish to walk, and you do not wish to arrive.
CAPUT IV. — 4. Vita et dies boni ubi quaerendi. Verumtamen, ut dixi, si tanta cura inest hominibus, ut quotidianis, magnis perpetuisque laboribus cupiant, ut tardius moriantur; quanta cura agendum est, ut nunquam moriantur? Inde nemo vult cogitare. Quotidie quaeruntur in isto saeculo dies boni, ubi non inveniuntur: et nemo vult sic vivere, ut illuc perveniat ubi inveniuntur. Ideo admonet eadem Scriptura, et dicit: Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? Sic interrogavit Scriptura, ut sciret quid illi responderetur: sciens quod omnes homines vitam quaererent, et dies bonos. Pro desiderio ipsorum interrogavit, tanquam sibi de omnium corde responderetur, Ego volo: sic dixit, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? Quemadmodum etiam ista hora, qua vobis loquor cum audistis me dixisse, Quid est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? omnes respondistis in corde vestro, Ego. Nam et ego qui vobiscum loquor, vitam volo et dies bonos: quod quaeritis vos, hoc quaero et ego.
Chapter IV. — 4. Where life and good days are to be sought. Nevertheless, as I have said, if there is such great care in men that with daily, great and unceasing labours they desire to die later, with how much care must one act so as never to die? Of that no one wishes to think. Every day good days are sought in this world, where they are not found: and no one wishes so to live as to arrive there where they are found. Therefore the same Scripture admonishes and says: Who is the man who wishes life, and loves to see good days? Scripture asked thus, so that it might know what would be answered to it: knowing that all men seek life, and good days. It asked according to their desire, as though it would be answered from the heart of all, I wish it: so it said, Who is the man who wishes life, and loves to see good days? Just as also at this hour, in which I am speaking to you, when you heard me say, What is the man who wishes life, and loves to see good days? you all answered in your heart, I. For I too who am speaking with you wish life and good days: what you seek, this I too seek.
CAPUT V. — 5. Idem tractatur argumentum. Quomodo si aurum nobis omnibus esset necessarium, et ego ad aurum una vobiscum pervenire volens, et esset alicubi in agro vestro, in loco vestrae potestati subdito, et viderem vos quaerentes aurum, et dicerem vobis, Quid quaeritis? responderetis mihi, Aurum. Et ego vobis dicerem, Aurum quaeritis, et ego aurum quaero: quod quaeritis, et ego quaero; sed non ibi quaeritis ubi possimus invenire. Ergo audite me, ubi possimus invenire: vobis non tollo, locum vobis ostendo: imo sequamur omnes eum qui novit ubi sit quod quaerimus. Sic et nunc, quia desideratis vitam et dies bonos, non possumus vobis dicere, Nolite desiderare vitam et dies bonos: sed illud dicimus, Nolite hic quaerere in hoc saeculo vitam et dies bonos. ubi boni esse non possunt. Nonne vita ipsa morti
Chapter V. — 5. The same argument is treated. Just as if gold were necessary to all of us, and I, wishing to come to the gold together with you, and it were somewhere in your field, in a place subject to your power, and I saw you seeking gold, and said to you, What are you seeking? you would answer me, Gold. And I would say to you, You are seeking gold, and I too am seeking gold: what you seek, I too seek; but you are not seeking where we can find it. So listen to me as to where we can find it: I do not take it from you, I show you the place: nay rather, let us all follow Him Who knows where that is which we seek. So now too, since you desire life and good days, we cannot say to you, Do not desire life and good days: but this we say, Do not seek life and good days here in this world, where they cannot be good. Is not life itself
Editors' notes and page, col. 634

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot images› · call in col 634

Sic Lov. et Bened.: at Er. Lugd. et. Ven., quasi si una gutta ad universum mare comparetur. M.

So the Louvain and Benedictine editions; but Erasmus, the Lyons and the Venice editions, quasi si una gutta ad universum mare comparetur ("as if a single drop were compared to the whole sea"). M[igne].

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similis est? Dies autem ipsi properantes transeunt: quia hodiernus dies hesternum exclusit: crastinus ideo nascitur, ut excludat hodiernum. Ipsi dies non stant: tu quare cum illis vis stare? Desiderium ergo vestrum, quo vultis vitam et dies bonos, non solum non reprimo, sed etiam vehementius accendo. Prorsus quaerite vitam, quaerite dies bonos: sed ubi possunt inveniri, ibi quaerantur.
like death? But the days themselves pass away in their hurry: for today has shut out yesterday; tomorrow is born for this, to shut out today. The days themselves do not stand still: why do you want to stand still with them? Your desire, then, by which you want life and good days, I not only do not repress, but I even kindle it more vehemently. By all means seek life, seek good days: but let them be sought where they can be found.
CAPUT VI.—6. Quid agendum ut obtineantur dies boni. Vita, et dies boni. Vultis enim audire mecum consilium ejus, qui novit ubi sint dies boni, et ubi sit vita? Audite non a me, sed mecum simul. Ait enim nobis quidam: Venite, filii, audite me. Et concurramus, et stemus, et aures arrigamus, et corde intelligamus Patrem qui dixit, Venite, filii, audite me; timorem, inquit, Domini docebo vos. Et quam rem vult docere, et cui rei utilis est timor Domini, sequitur: Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? Respondemus omnes, Nos volumus. Quod sequitur audiamus. Cohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum. Modo dic, Ego. Jamdudum quando dicebam, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? omnes respondebamus, Ego. Eia respondeat mihi aliquis, Ego. Ergo, Cohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum. Dic modo, Ego. Ergo dies bonos et vitam vis, cohibere linguam tuam a malo non vis, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum? Ad mercedem alacer, ad opus piger. Et cui non operanti redditur merces? Utinam in domo tua vel operanti mercedem reddas. Nam scio quia non operanti non reddis. Quare? Quia nihil operanti nihil debes. Et Deus proposuit mercedem. Quam mercedem? Vitam et dies bonos, quam omnes desideramus, et ad quos dies omnes venire conamur. Promissam mercedem daturus est. Quam mercedem? Vitam et dies bonos. Et qui sunt dies boni? Vita sine fine, requies sine labore.
Chapter VI.—6. What must be done that good days may be obtained. Life, and good days. For do you want to hear with me the counsel of him who knows where the good days are, and where life is? Listen, not from me, but together with me. For a certain one says to us: Come, children, hear me. Let us both run together, and stand, and prick up our ears, and understand with the heart the Father who said, Come, children, hear me; the fear, he says, of the Lord I will teach you. And what thing he wants to teach, and for what thing the fear of the Lord is useful, follows: Who is the man who wants life, and loves to see good days? We all answer, We want [it]. Let us hear what follows. Restrain your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit. Now say, I. A little while ago, when I was saying, Who is the man who wants life, and loves to see good days? we were all answering, I. Come, let someone answer me, I. Then: Restrain your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit. Say now, I. So you want good days and life, [yet] you do not want to restrain your tongue from evil, and [to see to it] that your lips do not speak deceit? Eager for the wage, sluggish for the work. And to whom is a wage paid when he does not work? Would that in your own house you paid a wage at least to one who works. For I know that to one who does not work you do not pay it. Why? Because to one who does nothing you owe nothing. And God has set forth a wage. What wage? Life and good days, which we all desire, and to which days we all strive to come. He is going to give the promised wage. What wage? Life and good days. And what are good days? Life without end, rest without labour.
CAPUT VII.—7. Lingua cohibenda. Magnam mercedem proposuit: in tanta proposita mercede, videamus quid jussit. Jam enim mercede tantae pollicitationis et amore mercedis accensi, paremus jussioni ejus vires nostras, latera, lacertos. Quasi jussurus est onera grandia nos portare, forte aliquid fodere, forte aliquam machinam erigere? Non tibi jussit rem laboriosam, sed membrum quod inter omnia membra cito moves, ipsum tibi praecepit cohibere: Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Non est labor erigere fabricam; et labor est tenere linguam? Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Noli loqui mendacium, noli loqui criminationes, noli loqui calumnias, noli loqui falsa testimonia, noli loqui blasphemias: Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Vide quomodo irasceris, si quis de te male loquatur. Quomodo irasceris alteri, quando de te male loquitur: sic irascere tibi, quando de altero male loqueris. Labia tua ne loquantur dolum. Quod est intus in corde tuo, hoc dicatur foris. Non aliud pectus tegat, et aliud lingua proferat. Declina a malo, et fac bonum. Nam quomodo dicturus sum ei, Vesti nudum, qui adhuc vult spoliare vestitum? Nam qui premit civem suum, quomodo
Chapter VII.—7. The tongue must be restrained. He has set forth a great wage: with so great a wage set forth, let us see what He has commanded. For already, kindled by the wage of so great a promise and by love of the wage, let us make ready for His command our strength, our sides, our arms. As if He were going to command us to carry great burdens, perhaps to dig something, perhaps to erect some machine? He has not commanded you a laborious thing, but the member which among all the members you move quickly, that very one He has instructed you to restrain: Restrain your tongue from evil. It is no labour to erect a building; and is it a labour to hold the tongue? Restrain your tongue from evil. Do not speak a lie, do not speak accusations, do not speak calumnies, do not speak false testimonies, do not speak blasphemies: Restrain your tongue from evil. See how you grow angry if anyone speaks ill of you. Just as you grow angry with another when he speaks ill of you, so be angry with yourself when you speak ill of another. Let your lips not speak deceit. What is within, in your heart, let that be spoken outside. Let not the breast hide one thing and the tongue bring forth another. Turn aside from evil, and do good. For how am I to say to him, Clothe the naked, who still wants to strip the clothed? For he who oppresses his fellow citizen, how
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