XII. (49) But the providence of God is the principal and almost the only cause that the divisions of the soul are not left entirely without any governor, and that they have met with a blameless and in all respects good shepherd. In consequence of whose appointment it is impossible that the company of the mind should become scattered; for it will of necessity appear in one and the same order, looking to the authority of its one governor, since the heaviest burden of all is to be compelled to obey a variety of rulers. (50) Thus, indeed, being a shepherd is a good thing, so that it is justly attributed, not only to kings, and to wise men, and to souls who are perfectly purified, but also to God, the ruler of all things; and he who confirms this is not any ordinary person, but a prophet, whom it is good to believe, he namely who wrote the psalms; for he speaks thus, “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack Nothing;”{6}{psalm 23:1.} (51) and let every one in his turn say the same thing, for it is very becoming to every man who loves God to study such a song as this, but above all this world should sing it. For God, like a shepherd and a king, governs (as if they were a flock of sheep) the earth, and the water, and the air, and the fire, and all the plants, and living creatures that are in them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; appointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, “Behold, I am he! I will send my messenger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the Road.”{7}{#ex 23:20.} (52) Let therefore all the world, the greatest and most perfect flock of the living God, say “The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack nothing,” (53) and let every separate individual say the same thing; not with the voice which proceeds from his tongue and his mouth, extending only through a scanty portion of the air, but with the wide spreading voice of the mind, which reaches to the very extremities of this universe; for it is impossible that there should be a deficiency of anything that is necessary, where God presides, who is in the habit of bestowing good things in all fulness and completeness in all living beings.
XIII. (54) But there is a very beautiful encouragement to equality contained in the song before mentioned; for in real truth, the man who appears to have everything else, and yet who is impatient under the authority of one master, is incomplete in his happiness, and is poor; but if a soul is governed by God, having that one and only thing on which all other things depend, it is very naturally in no need of other things, regarding not blind riches, but only such as are endowed with real and acute Sight.{8}{i have again followed Mangey’s proposed translation for this text which he pronounces corrupt and unintelligible.} (55) All true disciples have come to conceive an earnest and unalterable love for that; and therefore laughing at the mere keeping of sheep, they have directed their attention to the attainment of a shepherd’s knowledge; and a proof of this is to be found in the case of Joseph, (56) who was always studying that knowledge which is conversant about the body and vain opinions, not being able to rule and govern irrational nature (for it is customary for old men to be appointed to offices of irresponsible authority; but this man is always young, even if after a lapse of time he may come to support old age, which has at last reached him); and being accustomed to nourish this and to lead it on to growth, he expects to be able to persuade the lovers of virtue to change and come over to him, in order that in so changing to irrational and inanimate objects, they may have no leisure for applying themselves to the studies of a rational soul. (57) For Moses represents Joseph as saying, “If the king,” that is to say, the mind, the king of the body, “shall ask you, What is your occupation? answer, We are men, the keepers of Cattle.”{9}{#ge 46:33.} When they hear this they are naturally impatient, not liking the idea, while they are rulers, of confessing that they hold the rank of subordinates; (58) for those who supply food to the outward senses, through the abundance of the objects perceptible only by them, become the slaves of those who are nourished, like servants who pay to their mistresses a compulsory reverence every day; but those who preside over them are rulers, and they bridle the vehement impetuosity with which they are hurried on to luxury. (59) At first therefore, although they do not hear what is said with any pleasure, they will still keep silence, thinking it unseemly to discuss the difference between the employment of a keeper of cattle and a shepherd, before those who do not understand it; but subsequently, when a contest about these things arises, they will contend with all their power, and will never desist till they have carried their point by main force, having exhibited the liberality, and nobleness, and royal character of their nature to the living God. Accordingly when the king asks, “What is your occupation?” they will answer “We are shepherds, we and our fathers.”
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