Expositio in Proverbia Unit 6 opening

That they may not neglect the instruction, for many are being led away by wickedness into death; and those who are being killed in innocence unto death, you shall not spare to buy with your own blood; but if you give money or a beneficial word when asked, and if you say, 'I do not know this person,' you will be convicted of lying, and you will be guilty of two things—falsehood and murder; for the One who fashions breath also knows all things that He gives to each according to their nature: good to the good, and evil to the evil. For it is evident that reward is not according to quantity; for the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed. But if anyone wishes to take hold according to quantity, let them suppose the recompense in proportion to each one's power, as also the gifts of the Spirit are given according to the proportion of faith. He who eats honey is the one who is benefited by the divine Scriptures; but the one who casts out the words from the things from which holy prophets and apostles have taken them, in doing and teaching, chews wax; and while eating honey is for the one who desires all things, eating wax is for the pure alone; or let honey be called the allegory, and wax, the literal exposition and investigation, in order to possess the hidden and deeper mind; for there is honey in the wax; and let the throat be the nourishing power of the soul, by which foods are conveyed into the belly; if therefore you accomplish these things—both those according to thought and those according to history—they will be to you a sensation of the wisdom itself, these wise doctrines; for if you find the spiritual mind of the Scripture, your end will be good, as it is said: 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints'; do not abandon the hope for the future; do not prefer the devil to the righteousness of God, which the just possess; and do not let yourself be fed by deadly foolish reasonings, which is the belly; do not betray God for the sake of pleasure; for this one is the pasture of the righteous.

And he will not leave you. God indeed turns away his wrath from the one who has fallen, having shown mercy to him; but he is angry with the one who rejoices over the downfall of his enemy. For everyone who exults over a soul perishing is like the devil, who does not desire that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And indeed the Lord has commanded in the Gospels that we should pray for our enemies, that is, for all people. But the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is not fleshly, that is, not perceptible to the senses. Now whoever is delivered to it while stumbling, their bones shall be broken by blows from above; and their bones shall be consumed by burning fire. Or whoever is delivered to it for repentance, shall be broken by the word of his wisdom like grain, so that he may become sweet bread. –The sword of God destroys those who are corrupted and worn away by the lusts of deceit, utterly consuming them. Or those who come from wickedness to the knowledge of God, it strips bare by the nerves from their evil deeds, so that, having put off the old man, they may clothe themselves with the new man created according to God, who is also impervious to demons, having been cleansed by the Lord, and abstaining from every wickedness. For he adds that they may become impervious like young eagles; or because those who have been burned and reduced to ashes ultimately become impervious to the eagles. For indeed, my words have been surrounded, and so on. –Who gathered the winds in his bosom? The swift mind of the wind has gathered faith from the east and west, north and sea, in the knowledge of God, and has given them spiritual contemplation to store up in the virtues. For the knowledge of God is the bosom of God, in which he embraces and prevails over all the godly, just as one might embrace gold in one’s bosom. –He who gathered from the east and west, north and sea, all the earthly nations, and condensed them by the virtues in the faith directed toward him, Christ God,