V. (39) These men then, being mad with this divinely inspired madness, were made more ferocious; but there are others who are companions of a more manageable and humanised wisdom. By those men piety is practised to a most eminent degree, and the observance due to man is not neglected. And the sacred oracles are witnesses of this in which Abraham is addressed (the words being put in the mouth of God), “Thou shalt be pleasing in my Sight,”{21}{#ge 17:3.} that is to say, thou shalt be pleasing, not only to me but also to my works, in my eyes as judge, and overseer, and superintendant; (40) for if you honour your parents, or show mercy to the poor, or do good to your friends, or fight in defence of your country, or pay proper attention to the common principles of justice towards all men, you most certainly are pleasing to those with whom you associate, and you are also acceptable in the sight of God: for he sees all things with an eye which never slumbers, and he unites to himself with especial favour all that is good, and that he accepts and embraces. (41) Therefore the practicer of virtue, even while praying, proves the very same thing, saying, “The God to whom my fathers were Acceptable,”{22}{#ge 48:15.} and he adds the words “before him,” for the sake of giving you to know the difference, the real practical difference between the expression, “to please God,” by itself, and the same words with the addition of the sentence, “before him.” For the one expression gives both meanings, and the other only one. (42) Thus also Moses, in his exhortatory admonitions, recommends his disciples such and such things, saying, “Thou shalt do what is pleasing before the Lord thy God,”{23}{#de 12:28.} as if he were to say, Do such things as we shall be worthy to appear before God, and what he when he sees them will accept. And these things are wont to appear equally pure both externally and Internally.{24}{this passage is given up by Mangey as corrupt and quite unintelligible. Mangey corrects it and gives a Latin translation which I have followed.} (43) And proceeding onwards from thence he wove the tent of the tabernacle with two boundaries of space, placing a veil between the two, in order to separate what is within from what is without. And also he gilded the sacred ark, the place wherein the laws were kept, both within and without; and he gave the great high priest two robes, the inner one made of linen, and the other one beautifully embroidered, with one robe reaching to the feet. (44) For these and such things as these are symbols of the soul which in its inner parts shows itself pure towards God, and in its exterior parts shows itself without reproach in reference to the world which is perceptible to the outward senses and to this life: with great felicity therefore was this said to the victorious wrestler, when he was about to have his brows crowned with the garlands of victory: and the declaration made with respect to him was of the following tenor, “You have been mightily powerful both with God and with Men;”{25}{#ge 32:28.} (45) for to have a good reputation with both classes, namely, with the uncreated God and with the creature, is the task of no small mind, but, if one must say the truth, it is one fit for that which is in the confines between the world and God. In short, it is necessary that the good man should be an attendant of God, for the creature is an object of care to the Ruler and Father of the universe; (46) for who is there who does not know, that even before the creation of the world God was himself sufficient to himself, and that he remained as much a friend as before after the creation of the world, without having undergone any change? Why then did he make what did not exist before? Because he was good and bounteous. Shall we not then, we who are slaves, follow our master, admiring, in an exceeding degree, the great first Cause of all things, and not altogether despising our own nature?
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