When, therefore, he made the commandment what sayeth he? Who is he that disputeth with me? let him resist me; or who is he that contendeth with me? let him draw nigh unto the Son of the Lord.
Woe unto you, for you shall all wax old as a garment, and the moth shall devour you. And again the prophet saith, Since he hath been placed, as a strong stone, for crushing; behold I will place on the foundation of Zion a stone precious, elect, a chief corner stone of great price.
And then what saith he? And he that believeth in him shall live for ever. Is then our hope in a stone? God forbid. But it is thus said because the Lord hath made strong his flesh, for he saith, And he made me as it were a hard rock.
And again, The stone which the builders rejected hath become the head of the corner. And again he saith, This is the day, great and wonderful, which the Lord hath made.
I write unto you the more simply that ye may understand. I am the off-scouring of your love.
What then saith the prophet again? The synagogue of the wicked came around me; they surrounded me as bees do an honey-comb, and over my garment they cast lots.
Since, therefore, he was about to be made manifest and to suffer in the flesh, his suffering was showed beforehand. For the prophet saith unto Israel, Woe unto their soul, for they have counselled an evil counsel among themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous because he is inconvenient unto us.
And what saith the other prophet even Moses unto them? Behold, thus saith the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord sware unto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and inherit it, even a land flowing with milk and honey.
What saith the knowledge? Learn ye. Hope, it saith, upon Jesus, who is about to be manifested unto you in the flesh. For man is but earth which suffers. For, from the face of the ground was made the moulding of Adam.
What then meaneth he when he saith, Into the good land which floweth with milk and honey? Blessed be the Lord, brethren, who hath put into you wisdom and knowledge of his secret things. For the prophet speaketh a parable from the Lord. Who shall understand, except he that is wise and skilful and that loveth his Lord?
Since, therefore, having renewed us by the remission of our sins, he hath made us of a new character, he willeth that we should have the souls of children, inasmuch as it is indeed he who hath formed us anew.
For the Scripture saith concerning us, that he saith unto the Son, Let us make man after our own image and according to our likeness; and let them rule over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea. And the Lord said when he saw how excellent our form was, Increase and multiply and replenish the earth. These things he saith unto the Son.
Again I will show unto thee how the Lord speaketh unto us. He hath made a second fashioning in these last days; the Lord saith, Behold I make the last even as the first. For to this purpose did the prophet preach. Enter ye into the land flowing with milk and honey and have dominion over it.
Behold now we have been formed again, even as he saith again in another prophet. Behold, saith the Lord, I will take out from these, that is out of those whom the spirit of the Lord foresaw, the hearts of stone, and will put into them hearts of flesh, because he himself was about to be manifested in the flesh and to dwell among us.
For the habitation of our heart is a temple holy unto the Lord.
For the Lord saith again, Whereby shall I appear before the Lord my God and be glorified? He saith too, I will give thanks unto thee in the assembly, in the midst of my brethren; I will sing unto thee in the midst of the assembly of the saints. We are, therefore, those whom he brought into the good land.
What, then, meaneth the milk and honey? It is because a child is kept alive, first with honey, afterwards with milk. So we, too, being quickened by faith in his promise and by his word, shall live and rule over the earth.
And we said above, And let them increase and multiply and rule over the fish. Who then is he who is able to rule over the beasts, the fish, and fowls of heaven? For we ought to perceive that to rule belongeth to authority, so that a man by giving commands may exercise lordship.
If, therefore, this doth not take place now, he hath told us when it will; even when we ourselves have been made perfect, so that we become heirs of the covenant of the Lord.