they took away the covering of their soul' (Job 24:2-4, 6, 7). And after a little: 'Therefore, since he knew their deeds, he delivered them over to darkness: Cursed therefore be his portion from the earth: let his plantings bring forth dry things. Let it therefore be repaid to him as he did: let every wicked one be crushed like a tree without soundness. For rising up in fury he overthrows the powerless. Therefore he will not believe in his own life: when he begins to grow weak, let him not hope for health, but he shall fall into languor. For his pride has wounded many; and he has become withered like the mallow in the heat, like the ear of grain when it falls from its stalk' (Job 24:18, 20, 22, 24). And further on: 'But if his children be many, they shall be for slaughter.
But if he heap up silver like earth, and prepare gold like clay, the just shall obtain all these things' (Job 27:14-17). Attend besides to what the blessed Esdras, that prophet who was the library of the law, has threatened, discussing in this manner: 'Thus says the Lord God: My right hand shall not spare the sinners, nor shall the sword cease over him who pours out innocent blood upon the earth. Fire shall go forth from my wrath, and shall devour the foundations of the earth, and the sinners like kindled stubble. Woe to those who sin and do not keep my commandments, says the Lord: I will not spare them. Depart, you apostate children, and do not defile my sanctification. God knows those who sin against him;
therefore he will deliver them to death and to slaughter. For now evils, many of them, hold sway over the whole world' (4 Esdras 15:21-27). 'A sword is sent forth like fire; and who is there that shall beat it back? Shall any one beat back a lion hungering in the forest? Or shall any one quench the fire when the stubble is kindled? The Lord God will send evils; and who is there that shall beat them back? And fire shall go forth from his fury; and who shall quench it? He shall flash lightning; and who shall not fear? He shall thunder; and who shall not shudder? God shall threaten all things; and who shall not be terrified? At his face the earth shall tremble, and the foundations of the deep shall heave in the abyss' (4 Esdras 16:3-12). 16.
Ezekiel too, the excellent prophet and wondrous beholder of the four evangelical living creatures — attend to what he has declared concerning the wicked; to whom first the Lord, as he piteously wept for the wound of Israel, said: 'The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah has grown exceedingly strong, for the land is filled with iniquity and uncleanness' (Ezek. 9:9). 'Behold, I am here: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity' (Ezek. 5:8, 11). And further on: 'Since the land is full of peoples, and the city is full of iniquity: I will turn away the onrush of their strength, and their holy places shall be polluted. Entreaty shall come, and shall seek peace, and there shall be none' (Ezek. 7:23-25). And after some space: 'The word of the Lord came to me,' he says, 'saying:
Son of man, when a land sins against me so as to commit a trespass, I will stretch out my hand upon it, and will break its staff of bread, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off from it man and beast. And though these three men were in the midst of it — Noah, Daniel and Job — they shall not deliver it: but they themselves shall be saved in their own righteousness, says the Lord. And if I also bring evil beasts upon the land and punish it, and it be unto extermination; and there be none who may pass through because of the beasts: even if these three men were in the midst of it — as I live, says the Lord — they shall not deliver their sons and daughters: but they alone shall be saved, and the land shall be unto destruction' (Ezek. 14:12-16). And again:
The son shall not bear the injustice of the father, neither shall the father bear the injustice of the son. The justice of the just shall be upon himself. And the wicked man, if he turn himself away from all the iniquities he has done, and keep all my commandments, and do justice and much mercy, he shall surely live and not die. All his transgressions, whatsoever he has done, shall not be remembered: in his own justice which he has done, he shall live. Do I will by my will the death of the unjust, says the Lord, rather than that he turn himself from the evil way and live? But when the just turns himself away from his justice, and commits iniquity according to all the iniquities which the wicked man did, all the just deeds which he did shall not be in remembrance.
In his trespass by which he has fallen away, and in his sins by which he has sinned, he shall die' (Ezek. 18:20-24). And after some space: 'And all the nations shall know that the house of Israel were led captive for their sins, because they forsook me. And I turned my face away from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleannesses and according to their iniquities I dealt with them, and I turned my face away from them' (Ezek. 39:23, 24). 17. Let it suffice to have said this much concerning the threats of the holy prophets:
only a few things from the Wisdom of Solomon, which express an exhortation or a warning to kings no less than threats, I have judged it necessary to insert into this little work, lest they say that I wish to lay grievous and unbearable burdens of words upon the shoulders of men, but with my own finger — that is, with a comforting address — am unwilling to move them (Matt. 23:4). Let us hear therefore what the prophet has said: 'Love justice,' he says, 'you who judge the earth' (Wisd. 1:1). This one testimony, if it were kept with the whole heart, would abundantly suffice to correct the leaders of our country. For if they had loved justice, they would surely have loved, in a manner, the fountain and origin of all justice, God. 'Serve the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart' (Wisd. 1:1). Alas!
Who will prevail, as one before us has said, when such things are accomplished by the citizens, if indeed they can ever be accomplished anywhere? For He is found by those who do not put Him to the test, and He shows Himself to those who have faith in Him (Wisdom 1:2). For these men test God without reverence, despising His commandments with obstinate contempt, and they keep no faith with Him, to whose oracles, whether gentle or somewhat severe, they turn their backs and not their faces. For perverse thoughts separate a man from God (Wisdom 1:3). And this is plainly to be observed in the tyrants of our own time. But why does our own lowliness mingle itself with a meaning so manifest? Let Him speak for us, as we have said, who alone is true, namely the Holy Spirit, of whom it is now said:
For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from deceit (Wisdom 1:5). And again: For the Spirit of God has filled the whole world (Wisdom 1:7). And further on, setting forth with discerning judgment the end of the wicked and the good, it says: How the hope of the ungodly is like down that is carried off by the wind, and like smoke that is scattered by the wind, and like thin foam that is dispersed by the storm, and like the memory of a guest who tarries but a single day. But the just shall live for evermore; and their reward is with God, and the care of them with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord; for with His right hand He shall protect them, and with His holy arm He shall defend them (Wisdom 5:15, 17).
For the just and the ungodly are very unlike in their quality; for indeed, as the Lord has said: Those who honour me, He says, I will honour; and those who despise me shall be brought to nought (1 Samuel 2:30). But we press on to the rest. Hear, it says, all you kings, and understand; learn, you judges of the ends of the earth: give ear, you who rule the multitudes, and who take pleasure in the throngs of nations. For power has been given you by God, and strength from the Most High, who will examine your works and search out your thoughts. For when you were ministers of His kingdom, you did not judge rightly, nor keep the law of justice, nor walk according to His will. Horribly and swiftly will He appear to you;
for a most severe judgment shall fall upon those who are in authority. For to the lowly mercy is granted, but the mighty shall be mightily tormented. For He who is Lord of all will not withdraw any man's person, nor will He stand in awe of any man's greatness, since He Himself made both small and great, and cares alike for all. But upon the stronger a stronger torment presses. To you therefore, O kings, are these my words addressed, that you may learn wisdom, and not fall away. For those who have kept just things shall be justified, and those who have learned holy things shall be sanctified (Wisdom 6:2-11). Thus far have we contended with the kings of our country no less by the oracles of the prophets than by our own words, wishing them to know what the prophet had said:
Flee from sins, it says, as from the face of a serpent. If you draw near to them, the teeth of a lion will seize you: their teeth are teeth that slay the souls of men (Sirach 21:2-3). And again: How great is the mercy of the Lord, and His forgiveness toward those who turn to Him (Sirach 17:28)! And though we have not in ourselves that apostolic spirit, so as to say: I could wish to be anathema from Christ for my brethren (Romans 9:3); yet with our whole heart we may utter that word of the prophet: Alas, for the soul perishes! And again: Let us search our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:40-41). And also that word of the Apostle: We long for each one of you in the bowels of Christ (Philippians 1:8).
For although I would gladly at this point rest, as if tossed by the waves of the sea and at last brought by my oars into the longed-for harbour—if only I had not seen such great and such grievous mountains of the malice of bishops, or of other priests, or of clergy of our own order also, raised up against God, mountains which it is necessary for me to stone with all my strength, according to the Law, first like witnesses with the harsh chants of words, then like the people (if indeed the people cleave to the sacred ordinances), not that they should be slain in the body, but that, being dead to their vices, they may live to God, lest I be charged with respect of persons—I would, with modesty intervening, have held my peace.
But I beseech that pardon now be granted me (as I have already said above) by those whose life I not only praise but even prefer to all the wealth of the world, of whose fellowship, if it could be done, I desire and thirst to be a partaker for some while before my death—now that our sides are walled about by the two unconquered shields of the saints, our backs guarded against the ramparts of adversity, our head established, with the help of the Lord most faithfully set on for a helmet, by the frequent flight of truthful, or rather winged, reproofs against the rocks.