Ezekiel 18

1–2

It is not possible, if one person has sinned, for another to be punished. Besides, if we grant this, we shall assent to that other supposition as well, namely, that he committed sin before his birth. Therefore, just as by saying “neither has this man sinned,” he did not mean that it is possible for anyone to sin before birth and be punished for this; so by saying “nor his parents” he did not imply that it is possible for anyone to be punished on account of his parents. Now, I say this because he removed this erroneous suspicion through Ezekiel.

Homilies on the Gospel of John 56

1–2

How good and just is the God of the law and the prophets, who keeps quiet and remains silent before the sins of the fathers and gives back to those who have not sinned!

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.1-2

1–2

(Chapter XVIII. — Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is that you turn a parable among you into this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ÷ Son of man, what is this parable in the children of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? What the Seventy have said, son of man, is not found in Hebrew. However, divine Scripture warns about what was said in Exodus: I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God, who punishes the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and shows mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exod. X, 5; Deut. V, 9, 10). And again: The Lord descended in a cloud and stood with Moses, and Moses called upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed before his face and called him, saying: O Lord, God, merciful and compassionate, patient, full of mercy and true, preserving justice and mercy to thousands, forgiving iniquities, injustices, and sins; and yet he will not cleanse the iniquities of fathers upon children and children's children, to the third and fourth generation (Exod. XXXIV, 5 seq.). Thus, it should be understood as a proverb and a parable, where the words may have one meaning but the sense another; as we mentioned in the parable of the two eagles. And the Lord also in the seventy-seventh psalm says: “I will open my mouth in parables: I will declare a proposition from the beginning” (Ps. LXXVI, 2[1]). And in the Gospel, the parable of the sower, and of the tares, and of the mustard seed, which, though it is the smallest of all seeds, rises up into a large tree (Matt. XIII, 31). He sets them forth in such a way that in the words one thing is presented, and another is held in the meaning. And even until the present day we thought that the two testimonies of Exodus, which we have placed above (Isa. XXIX, 13), were not a parable, but a simple explanation of the meaning. And although we dared not say anything, nor does a clay pot speak against a potter, why did you make me this way, either this way or that: nevertheless, we tolerated the hidden scandal, that the injustice of God seemed to make one person sin and another person suffer for sins. For if the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation, it seems unjust for one person to sin and another person to be punished. But from what follows: to those who hate me, the scandal of threat or command is resolved. For indeed they are not punished in the third and fourth generation because their fathers sinned, since it is their fathers who were sinners that should have been punished; but because they became imitators of their fathers and inherited their evil and impiety, even as the branches grow from the root. Heretics, who do not accept the Old Testament, often say in this place against the Creator: How good and just is the God of the Law and the Prophets, who, by remaining quiet and silent about the sins of the fathers, renders punishment to those who have not sinned; rather, what cruelty is in Him that He extends His anger even to the third and fourth generation! To whom shall we respond, and in this the clemency of God the Creator is demonstrated. For it is not of cruelty and severity to hold anger until the third and fourth generation, but a sign of mercy to defer the punishment of sin. For when it says, 'Lord God, merciful and compassionate, patient and full of mercy,' and adds, 'repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children,' it indicates that its mercy is so great that it does not immediately punish, but defers the sentence of punishment. But if the punishment of sinners is delayed to the third and fourth generation, what more does it do for the righteous and holy ones? It follows: And keeping justice and mercy for many thousands, for those who keep his commandments and follow his precepts. It is written in Proverbs: Just as a sour grape is harmful to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is iniquity to those who use it (Prov. 10:26). From this it is clear that it is not the teeth of others that ache and become numb, but those who have eaten the sour grape. But the sense of this passage is as follows: just as if someone were to say, 'The fathers ate sour grapes, and the teeth of the children have become numb,' it is ridiculous and has no consequence; in the same way, it is unjust and perverse for the fathers to sin and for the sons and grandsons to be tortured. There are those who interpret what is written in Exodus, 'Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation,' in such a way that they refer it to the human soul, saying that the father is a light point of sense and the incitement to vices within us; the son, if he conceives sinful thoughts; the grandson, if he carries out in action what you have thought and conceived; and the great-grandson, that is, the fourth generation, if not only do you do what is evil and wicked, but you take pride in your own wickedness, according to what is written, 'When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he despises it.' Therefore, God does not punish the first and second impulses of thoughts, which the Greeks call 'προπαθείας' and without which no one can exist. But if someone decides to act on their thoughts or refuses to correct what they have done by repentance, then they will be punished. Hence it is written: No one is without sin, not even if their life is only a single day. But the years of their life are numerous (Prov. XX, 9). And in another place: Who can boast of having a pure heart? And again: Even the stars are not clean in his sight: and concerning his angels he found darkness. (Job 25:5) But if that exalted nature is not free from sin, what are we to say about human beings who are surrounded by fragile flesh, who should say with the Apostle: Wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) And that we should say when we have done all things: We are useless servants; we have done what we ought to have done. (Luke 17:10) And: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain (Psalm 127:1, 2). But for the proof of this matter, that not the first impulse of thought, or rather a small instinct of the mind, is punished by God, but if you consume in action what you have conceived in your mind, that is to be brought forth from Genesis: Ham sinned, mocking the nakedness of his father; and the sentence was not passed on him who laughed, but on his son Canaan: Cursed be Canaan, he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers (Genesis 9). For what justice is there, that if a father sins, the judgment should be pronounced upon the son? Moreover, the Apostle states (1 Timothy 2) that a woman will be saved if her children remain in faith, holiness, and chastity. This seems to go against the concept of justice, that the parents should be saved if their children and grandchildren are good. For how many holy parents have wicked children, and on the other hand, how many sinful parents have righteous and holy children? Therefore, according to this meaning, all the sins of parents and ancestors must be punished in the branches, not in the root, as we have said above. It is enough to have said this about the proverb or parable: that the Law and the Prophets, that is, Exodus and Ezekiel, indeed God Himself, who spoke here and there, does not seem to disagree in their teachings, or to correct here what He said wrongly there. But if anyone can find a better or different meaning that removes the scandal of conflicting testimonies, it is better to agree with that person's opinion.

Commentary on Ezekiel

It was this new covenant that was prophesied about when it was said by Ezekiel that the children should not bear the iniquity of the parents, and that it should no longer be a proverb in Israel, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." Here lies the necessity that each person should be born again, that he might be freed from the sin in which he was born. For the sins committed afterwards can be cured by penitence, as we see is the case after baptism.

Enchiridion 46

For the last and supposedly strongest argument for your case, you refer to the prophetic testimony of Ezekiel, where we read that there will no longer be a proverb in which they say the parents have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are on edge; the child will not die in the sin of his parent or the parent in the sin of his child, but the soul that sins shall die. You do not understand that this is the promise of the New Testament and of the other world. For the grace of the Redeemer ensured that he cancelled the paternal decree, so that each person should account for himself.

Against Julian 25:82

3–4

(Verse 3-4) As I live, says the Lord, there will not be for you any longer this parable as a proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine: the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die. (LXX: As I live, says the Lord Adonai, if it will continue to be said, this parable in Israel, because all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.) What this means, 'I live,' says the Lord, and [it is] a parable or proverb, we have explained more fully above: which will never be said in Israel, but among those who do not have knowledge of God, nor can perceive the truth. 'All,' he says, 'are souls of mine;' according to [their] nature, not according to merit: as Moses was called a man of God, about whom it is written: 'The prayer of Moses, man of God' (Deut. XXXIII, 1). And Elijah, who spoke to the prince of fifty men: 'And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven upon you, and upon fifty men' (IV Kings I, 12). But a man who is guilty of sin and a son of iniquity is not called a man of God, just as servants and slaves of God are called, of whom it cannot be said, 'Everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin' (John 8:34). And again, 'For by whom a person is overcome, of him also he is the servant' (2 Peter 2:19). Just as the sins of children do not harm their fathers, so the sins of fathers do not pass on to their children; but the soul that sins, it shall die: not by the abolition of its substance, but by its separation from Him who says, 'I am the life' (John 14:6). And elsewhere he says: Everyone who lives and believes in me will not die forever (John 11:26). And: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever keeps my word will not see death forever (John 8:51). For our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3); and that will be fulfilled which is written: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life; and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). But, that which is said by Balaam, 'Let my soul die among the souls of the just' (Numbers 23:10), has this meaning: that he desires to die to the world and to sin, and to live with the souls of the just, whose life is Christ, and they can sing: 'I will please the Lord in the land of the living' (Psalm 114:9). For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). And if Balaam, as is likely, translated into our language, sounds empty to the people: it is clear that the empty people of the nations prior desire to have fellowship with the souls of the just, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are called upright and just. And so the Book of Genesis took its name from their word.

Commentary on Ezekiel

The soul dies to the Lord, not through natural infirmity but through the sickness caused by guilt. This type of death is not the release from this life but is the fall resulting from sin.

On the Death of Satyrus 2.36

There are three kinds of death. One is the death due to sin, concerning which it was written, the soul that sins shall itself die.” Another death is the mystical, when someone dies to sin and lives to God; concerning this the apostle likewise says, or we were buried with him by means of baptism into death. The third is the death by which we complete our lifespan with its functions—I mean the separation of the soul and body. Thus we perceive that the one death is an evil, if we die on account of sins, but the other, in which the deceased has been justified of sin, is a good, while the third stands in between, for it seems good to the just and fearful to most people; although it gives release to all, it gives pleasure to few.

Death as a Good 2:3

Show me a body that has never been sick or one that is sure of enjoying good health forever after sickness, and I will show you a soul that has never sinned.

Against the Pelagians 3.11

The soul therefore that has not sinned shall live. Neither the virtues nor the vices of parents are imputed to their children. God takes account of us only from the time when we are born anew in Christ.

Letters 60:8

The spiritual penalty always pertained only to the sinner.

Letter 1*.1

This whole passage is so constructed as to show that bad children are not given relief because of good parents or good children oppressed because of bad parents. So having first established this absolutely true and rock-firm principle on our own account, we go on now to examine what our obligations are in our relations with others; and here we must be very careful to distinguish between the effect of salvation, which we must seek for ourselves, and the consideration that we must show to our neighbors. If you are good, you are good with your own goodness, not with someone else’s. And yet through that goodness of yours with which you are good you also rejoice over another’s goodness together with him, not by exchanging goodnesses but by exchanging love.

Sermon 35:2

5–9

(Verse 5, 6 and following) And if a man is just and does judgment and justice, does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not violate his neighbor's wife, does not approach a menstruating woman, does not oppress anyone, gives back a pledge to a debtor, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, covers the naked with clothing, does not lend at interest or take any increase, turns his hand away from iniquity, does justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my judgments, to do truth: this man is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord God. LXX; But the man who is righteous, who practices judgment and justice; who does not eat on the mountains, and does not lift up his eyes to the thoughts of the house of Israel; and does not defile his neighbor's wife, and does not approach a woman with menstrual impurity; and does not oppress a man; who returns a pledge to the debtor; and does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry; and covers the naked with clothing; and does not give his money at interest, and does not take more; who turns his hand away from injustice; who makes just judgments between a man and his neighbor; who walks in my statutes and keeps my ordinances, to perform them: he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God. He says, 'You wish to know what has been said: I shall render the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Deut. V, 9),' it does not mean what most people think; nor is it similar to this saying: 'The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge (Jerem. XXXI, 29).' Listen to what I am going to say: if there is a just father, who does these things, and the son does not do them, and he has an evil son, who, forsaking his father's virtues, surrenders himself to vices; will not the just son still live because he is just; and the other will die because he has committed all the things that the father became just by avoiding?' Let's see the catalog of virtues of the father, which seem to me to be divided into seventeen parts. The first of these is to exercise judgement; the second, similar to this, is to unite justice with judgement; the third is to not eat on the mountains; the fourth is to not lift one's eyes to idols, or as the Septuagint translates, to the thoughts of the house of Israel; the fifth is to not violate one's neighbor's wife. The sixth is to avoid the embrace of a menstruating wife. The seventh is to not distress a person, or as the Septuagint has it, to oppress by force; the eighth is to return a pledge to a debtor; the ninth is to not take anything by force, or according to the Septuagint, to not commit robbery; the tenth is to give bread to the hungry; the eleventh is to clothe the naked; the twelfth is to not give money at interest; the thirteenth is to not receive more than what one has given; the fourteenth is to turn away one's hand from iniquity; the fifteenth, which seems similar to the first but is different in part, is to exercise true judgement between man and man, or one's neighbor; the sixteenth is to walk in the commandments of the Lord; the seventeenth is to keep his judgements and his statutes. We will explain the meaning of each of these things in the following. If, he says, a man is just and renders judgment, it is written in Proverbs: The thoughts of the just are judgments (Prov. XII, 5). Whoever possesses this virtue, to do nothing without reason and judgment, can say that prophetic saying: The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves (Ps. XVIII, 10), and when he judges all things rightly, so as not to show partiality to the poor in judgment, he will fulfill the commandment of the Lord: You shall judge the lesser as well as the greater (Prov. XVIII), boldly saying: My soul has desired to desire your judgments at all times (Ps. CXVIII, 10). And again: I have chosen the path of truth, I have not forgotten your judgments (V. 30). And in the same psalm: I know that your judgments are righteous (or just) (V. 75); and it will lead to such great blessedness that he will understand the judgments of the Lord, which are many and deep; and he will say with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out (Rom. II, 33). And in prayer let him say: For thy judgments are delightful (Psal. CXVIII, 39). After judgment follows justice, which whoever possesses will undoubtedly possess Christ, who according to the Apostle has become for us justice, and sanctification, and redemption (I Cor. I); so that he may perform true justice, and not show favoritism in judgment; but may know in the judgment of others that he himself must be judged by justice. The third is not to eat on mountains, which the Jews believe to be a sin related to idolatry. For we frequently read in the books of Kings and Chronicles: But nevertheless he did not depart from the high places. Still the people sacrificed in the high places, and burned incense in the high places (3 Kings 15:22; Paral. 20); this Scripture indicating that they sacrificed to idols in the mountains and groves, and burned incense. But we will say that he eats in the mountains, who says with the Pharisee: I give thee thanks, O God, that I am not like this publican: I fast twice on the Sabbath: I give tithes of all that I possess (Luke 18:12), etc. And on the contrary, the tax collector, upon hearing him who said, 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart' (Matthew 11:29), beat his chest with his hand, that is, the treasure of wicked thoughts, and did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven. But also what is said elsewhere, 'Do not seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power' (Sirach 3:22), convicts all heretics of devouring the mountains of pride, despising the simplicity of the Church, and not knowing the scripture about themselves: 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6). In the fourth place, it is placed, and it has not lifted its eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, for which the Seventy translated their thoughts. But the idols, that is, the simulacra they have invented in their hearts, all heretics make, to which they lift the eyes of their hearts, those who have considered their falsehood and lies to be the truth. But the house of Israel is called idols, which are found in the Church; and through the occasion of a false name of knowledge, they deceive even the simple, in order to introduce the doctrines of philosophers into the house of Israel, namely those who contemplate God with their mind. In the fifth place, it is stated: and he shall not violate or contaminate the wife of his neighbor, which explicitly prohibits adultery; but from what is added, the wife of his neighbor, unless every man is understood to be a neighbor, it seems to be a precept that we abstain from the wives of friends; but we may freely defile the spouses of enemies and strangers. Therefore, every man should be considered the neighbor of another man, according to the parable of the Gospel, which is presented by the Savior, of a certain man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was wounded by robbers: when a Pharisee asks who was his neighbor, teaching that the one who does good is his neighbor. According to a mystical understanding, the wife of a holy man can be understood as wisdom, as Solomon says: Love her, and she will embrace you; cherish her, and she will protect you (Prov. IV, 6). One who desires to defile her criticizes the blessings of others and, inflamed by the torches of envy, violates what is holy, corrupts what is chaste, and contaminates what is pure. The sixth point: He shall not approach a woman, whether a wife or menstruating. Every month, the heavy and sluggish bodies of women are relieved by the shedding of impure blood. At the time when a man has intercourse with a woman, it is said that the conceived fetus inherits the defect of the semen, so that lepers and elephantiasis sufferers are born from this conception, and both sexes have monstrous bodies, with small or enormous limbs, and corrupted pus. Therefore, men are advised to know the specific times for sexual intercourse, not only with other women but also with their own, with whom they are joined by law, as the Scripture says: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth' (Genesis 1:28), and to know when it is time to have intercourse and when to abstain from their wives. Indeed, both the Apostle and the Ecclesiastes say: There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing (Eccles. III, 6). Therefore, let the wife beware that she does not, by the enticement of her desire for sexual intercourse, tempt her husband, and let the husband not force his wife, thinking that she ought at all times to be subject to the pleasure of the marriage bed. Hence, Paul also says: That each one of you know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor (I Thess. IV, 4). Beautifully, in the Pythagorean sayings of Xystus, it is said: He who desires ardently is an adulterer of his own wife. A certain person, translating this book into the Latin language, wanted to illustrate it with the name of martyr Xystus, without considering in the entire volume that he divided it in vain into two parts, omitting completely the name of Christ and the Apostles. It is not surprising that he transformed a pagan philosopher into a martyr and bishop of the city of Rome: just as he exchanged the name of the book of Origen with the name of the martyr Pamphilus, in order to conciliate the most impious books on the beginnings with Roman ears, with Eusebius also from Caesarea as the first supporter. In the seventh place, it is written: And he shall not grieve a man, or, as the LXX translated, he shall not oppress by power. I do not know to what fault and sin someone may be a stranger. And indeed, the Egyptians oppressed the Hebrews by power. Hence, Habakkuk complains, why does the wicked oppress the righteous (Habakkuk 1). And I wish that it would be said only of those who are outside, and not of those who are inside. For even the leaders of the Churches often oppress the people by pride. Of which it is written: They made you a prince, but not to be proud, and you should be among them as one of them (Ecclus. XXXII, 1). And the Savior commanded: Whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of all (Mt. XX, 27). And what is said in Hebrew, and do not grieve the man, agrees with the testimony of the Apostle: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you (Eph. IV, 30). And in the Gospel, which the Nazarenes, who read according to the Hebrews, are accustomed to read, among the greatest crimes is considered to be one who grieves the spirit of his brother. But if the sadness of another kills the one who grieves, what should be said about wickedness and a tyrannical mind, to which this applies: Why does the earth and ashes boast (Sirach 10:9)? So that, having forgotten its own condition, it, being full of phlegm, gall, feces, and worms for a little while, would place its mouth in the sky, and its tongue would extend to the earth, and it would say with true Nebuchadnezzar: I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of heaven I will place my throne, and I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:12). The eighth law: The pledge should be returned to the debtor. Not to all debtors, otherwise there will be many opportunities to receive pledges, which will become a material of wealth: but to the debtor about whom it is written in the law, that he is poor, and he has put up his own clothing as a pledge, and he should receive covering before sunset (Deut. XXIV), so that he does not cry out to the Lord, who is the avenger of his injury, from the torment of cold. But if, according to the following things, we should give bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with clothing (Exod. II): how much more should we return what is his own, if indeed the poverty of the debtor is without doubt? We can also return a pledge to a debtor, when we, who are joined by love, and who owe mutual charity to each other, return their pledge, holding nothing of their debt against them. The ninth place is this: He has not seized anything by force, nor has he committed robbery according to the Septuagint. The Apostle speaks about robbers, saying that among other sinners one should not even partake of such food: and all robbery is mixed with violence (1 Corinthians 6). If violence has been used, plundering is not profitable. Moreover, there is also a holy violence and a desirable plundering, of which the Gospel also writes: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force (Matthew 11:12). It is also spoken of by Judas, the brother of James: And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire (Jude 23). And on the contrary, the opposing powers hastily seek to plunder the prey of those whom they seize, for their own destruction. Which means that Jacob says: A wild beast has devoured him: a wild beast has taken Joseph away (Genesis XXXVII, 33). Therefore, the sheep of the Lord that follow him are not taken from his hands. And he himself says: The Father's gift is greater than all, and no one can take it from the hand ((Al. my addition)) of my Father (John X, 29). From this it is clear that there is one power, virtue, and substance of the Father and the Son. For if no one can take from the Son's hand what the Father has given, and these same things are in the Father's hand that are not taken from him, it is clearly proven that all things are common to the Father and the Son, and that the Son holds the Father in his hand, just as the things that belong to the Son are held in the Father's hand. The tenth is: He gives his bread to the hungry. From this we are taught that alms should not be given to the satiated, but to the hungry; and not to those who belch from fullness, but to those who suffer from emptiness. For in bread is contained all food. And it is significantly said, his: so that we do not turn bread acquired from rapine, usury, and ill-gotten gain into mercy; for the redemption of a man's soul (Prov. XIII, 7) is his own riches. What we see many people doing, both clients and the poor, and farmers; not to mention the violence of soldiers and judges, who oppress by power, or commit thefts, so that they may give little things to the poor, and boast in their own crimes. And let the public deacon in the Churches recite the names of those making offerings: so much is offered by this person, so much is promised by that person, and they please themselves with the applause of the people, while their conscience torments them. And let us give material to the miserable, so that they may rejoice in what they give, and not mourn over what they have taken away. It is more fitting, however, that we understand the just bread to be the one who says: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven (John VI, 51); and which we pray to be given to us in prayer: Our substantive bread, or that which will come to us (Matthew VI, 11); so that we may deserve to receive what we will always receive afterwards, in the present world, every day. He gives this bread to the hungry, of whom it is written: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst (Matt. V, 6). For the righteous person makes the common bread of all his own, which had failed in Judea, as the prophet says: I will take away from them strength, or the staff of bread. What we are speaking of, if indeed we are of Christ, or rather, as the prophet commemorates, it is the bread of believers and the hungry. It is not to be given at all to those who have eaten and drunk and been satisfied, and have grown fat and kicked, of whom it is said: Woe to you who are full now, for you shall hunger (Luke VI, 25), lest they vomit it up, as Solomon says: For he will vomit and corrupt your good words (Prov. XXIII). What the Savior says in other words: Do not give what is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). He holds the eleventh place: And covered the naked with clothing. This statement, according to the explanation of the previous verse, should be discussed in two ways: that we give clothing to the naked, as the Savior says: I was naked and you clothed me (Matthew 25), and that we give the clothing of Christ to the naked in faith and virtues, of whom it is written: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). He was naked in this garment, not having a wedding garment, and was thrown out of the banquet. Concerning this nudity, the Lord speaks to Jerusalem: But you were naked and filled with confusion (or shame). The twelfth commandment holds: And he shall not lend at usury, or as the Septuagint translated, he shall not give his money for usury. In Hebrew, usury is prohibited for all kinds of species; in the Septuagint, only money. According to what is written in the fourteenth Psalm: 'He who does not give his money to interest' (Psalm XIV, 5). And how is it said: 'You shall not lend to your father at interest, but you shall lend to others at interest' (Deuteronomy XV, 6 and XXIII, 10). But see the progression: In the beginning of the Law, interest is only forbidden among brothers; in the prophets, usury is prohibited for everyone, as Ezekiel says: 'He who does not give his money to interest.' Furthermore, in the Gospel, there is an increase in virtue, with the Lord commanding: 'Lend to those from whom you do not expect to receive' (Luke VI, 35). It follows in the thirteenth place: And he shall not receive anything more. Some people think that usury is only in money. But divine Scripture, foreseeing this, takes away the excess of everything, so that you do not receive more than what you have given. Usury is commonly demanded in the fields for wheat and barley, wine and oil, and other kinds of produce, as the divine word calls it, abundance. For example, in the time of winter, we give ten bushels, and in the harvest, we receive fifteen, which is more than half. Whoever considers himself very just will receive a greater portion, a fourth plus, and they usually argue and say: I gave one bushel, which produced ten bushels. Is it not just that I should receive a half bushel more from my own, since he, by my generosity, has nine and a half from my own? Let us not be deceived, says the Apostle, God is not ridiculed (Galatians VI, 7). Therefore, let the merciful usurer respond to us briefly: has he given to the one who has, or to the one who has not? If he had, he certainly should not have given, but he gave as if he did not have. So why does he demand more as if from someone who has? Others are accustomed to receiving small gifts in exchange for borrowed money of various kinds, and they do not understand that this is called interest and excess, whatever that may be, if they receive more from what they have given. The fourteenth degree is: From wickedness, he says, he shall turn away his hand, so as to flee from all wickedness in every work. For wickedness is committed not only with the hand, but also with other members, as Solomon says: Remove wicked lips far from you (Prov. IV, 24). And in the Psalms: They speak iniquity on high (Ps. 72:8). The foot also runs to iniquity, and the eye if it desires another man's wife, let him not be its imitator, of whom it is said: He has not done iniquity, and deceit has not been found in his mouth (Isa. 53:9). Therefore, we are commanded to make friends for ourselves with the wicked mammon, who may receive us into eternal dwellings. The fifteenth is: He shall make a true judgement between man and man, or his neighbor. What seems to signify the same as first, where it is written: If he shall be just, and shall do judgment; but with the addition of the truth of judgment: which makes a distinction between man and man, or his neighbor, it is observed to have the force of virtues. Hence also in the beginning of Proverbs, after many precepts, the correction of judgment is inferred. To know, he says, wisdom and discipline, and to understand the words of prudence, to receive the subtlety of speeches, and to know true justice, and after all to correct judgment (Prov. 1:2-3). Therefore the Apostle (I Cor. VI) rebukes those who are established in the Church, because they have disputes among themselves, and the least esteemed is chosen to judge between man and man, who destroys what is small and reaches up to the mature man; and yet he needs a higher judgment in order to attain to the truth of judgement. It follows in the sixteenth place: He shall walk in my precepts. And in the seventeenth: He shall keep my judgments and my precepts, to do them, and to keep them. Both of which have manifold understanding, if we are willing to replicate all the commandments of the law, in which the precepts of the Lord are, and in which the justifications are said to be. The one hundred and eighteenth psalm is full of commandments and justifications, and in part the eighteenth, in which it is written: The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. In which it is asked how in this same prophet God said: I have given them non-good justifications in which they will not live in them (Isaiah 28). The easy and fuller answer is in the following, that the Jews who follow the letter die, and the Christians who understand the life-giving spirit live. It is a long task if we want to prove with testimonies where the precepts of the Lord are said to be, and where justifications are said to be, and in what particularities, or diversities, or obscurities they are involved. And it is said in the present place: Here is the righteous one, he will live his life, says the Lord God. Whoever does these things, and does not do those things, will not be punished for the sins of the father, but will live by their own virtues.

Commentary on Ezekiel

This bread the just person gives to the hungry, of whom it is said in Scripture, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.5-9

Let us give the garment of Christ to those who are naked in faith and virtues, about which it is written, “as many are baptized into Christ put on Christ.”

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.5-9

Therefore, dearly beloved, let us shed our tears every day and ask this teacher of virtues to teach us to be devout to these profitable wounds. May he show us how to expose our breast in this warfare and sustain every onset of injury. It is not hard to enter a fight where you see that a victory has already been won. That which is taught by example quickly lodges in our minds.

Homily 17:4

10–13

(Ver. 10 and following) But if he has fathered a son who is a robber, shedding blood, and he has committed one of these (or, as the Septuagint has translated, if he has committed sins: if he has not walked in the way of his righteous father), and he does all these things, not abstaining from them, but rather feasting on the mountains, defiling the wife of his neighbor, oppressing the needy and the poor, seizing plunder, not returning pledges, lifting his eyes to idols, committing abominations, engaging in usury, and taking more, will he live? When he has done all these detestable things, he will die: his blood will be upon himself. Regarding the thief, it is written in Hebrew Pharis, which in the second edition of Aquila means sinner; Symmachus translates it as transgressor, and the Septuagint and Theodotion as pestilent. Just as a plague creates diseases and usually devastates the regions where it has spread, so does a pestilent person ravage everything. And let us say first according to history, so that you may know that the iniquities of the fathers do not overflow onto the children. If a righteous man does the things that the previous discourse explained in order, he will live. But if he begets a son who departs from the service of the Lord and exchanges his father's virtues for vices, doing what his father did not do and not doing what his father accomplished, can he live? Surely he will not live, but will be guilty of his own blood. Moreover, according to spiritual understanding, the righteous man in Ecclesiasticus, if he proclaims the Gospel faith and his son and disciple is deceived by heretical error, will be called a pestilence. Concerning this, it is written in the first psalm: 'And he did not sit in the seat of pestilence' (Psalm I, 1). And in Proverbs, he is described as confident, shameless, and arrogantly pestilent (Prov. XXXIII). He sheds the blood of the deceived and heaps sins upon himself; he feasts on the mountains of pride, polluting the Church of his neighbor, causing distress to the needy and poor in the knowledge of Scripture, oppressing and overthrowing them; seizing plunder from those who he has led astray from the Church: not returning the pledge he received from his teacher, in order to fulfill what is written: 'Freely you have received, freely give' (Matthew X, 8). And to idols and images, which he fashioned from his own heart, he lifts his eyes, and committing all abominations; and he gives money for usury, so that the error of the master may increase by the diligence of the disciples; and seeking repayment from those to whom he loaned, he demands more than he had given: surely he will not be able to live, but he will die in his own blood.

Commentary on Ezekiel

14–18

(Verse 14 and following) But if he has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, fears them, and does not commit them himself (as Vulgate says, 'similar to them'): he does not eat on the mountains, he does not lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, he does not violate his neighbor's wife, he does not oppress anyone, he does not keep a pledge, he does not commit robbery, he gives his bread to the hungry, he covers the naked with clothing, he turns his hand away from the poor man's injury, he does not take interest or usury, he follows my ordinances, and he walks in my statutes: this son will not die because of the iniquity of his father, but he will surely live. His father, who accused falsely and used violence against his brother, and committed evil in the midst of his people: he died in his wickedness. So, do not be surprised, he says, if the son of a righteous man, inclined towards vice and sin, dies by death. On the contrary, if the son of a sinful and impure man sees the wickedness of his father's ways, and turns away from doing evil and does good, he shall not be held accountable for his father's crimes. And what can also be received in us, as it is said in the Psalms: Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people, and your father's house: and the king desires your beauty (Ps. 44, 11). And we who are born of the stock of the nations, to leave behind the crimes of our parents, and to do judgment and justice, and to live in it. Therefore, we repeat what we have explored above more fully. And so, briefly, we review everything, desiring to move on to those things that are more obscure and new.

Commentary on Ezekiel

19–20

(Verse 19, 20.) And you say: Why did not the son bear the iniquity of the father? Clearly, because the son has practiced judgment and justice, has kept all my commandments and has done them: he shall live. The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father: and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. He answers the question that the listener could have proposed in the opposite way. He often says, they say, why did the righteous son not bear the iniquity of the father? To which he himself responds: Clearly, because the son has acted well, and has not committed the father's offenses. And it is right, just as a sinner dies in his own wickedness; so the righteous live in their virtues: and let the soul that has sinned die; and let the one who has kept God's commandments live.

Commentary on Ezekiel

Repentance, then, means life, since it is preferred to death. You must, as a sinner like myself—yes, and a lesser one than I, for I recognize my eminence in evil—lay hold on it and grip it fast, as one who is shipwrecked holds to a plank of salvation. It will buoy you up when you are plunged into a sea of sin and bear you safely to the haven of divine mercy.

On Penitence 4

Sin is a terrible thing, and the most grievous disease of the soul is iniquity, which corrodes the fiber of the soul and makes it liable to eternal fire. It is an evil freely chosen, the product of the will.

Catechetical Lecture 2:1

21–22

(Vers. 21, 22.) But if the wicked shall do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice: living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done. In a way only, saith he, the sins of the fathers are not transmitted to the children, neither doth the wicked son any longer burden the righteous father; nor are others punished for the sins of others, so that he, who before was wicked and a sinner, if he afterwards do penance, and turn to better things, and blot out his former sins, be not judged by the old sins: but let him be received into my flock, by the renewal of virtue. At the same time, let us consider what sort of repentant person an impious and sinful person receives. If, he says, he turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all the commandments of the Lord, so that he truly abandons all wrongdoing and follows all virtues; if he does all good things and forsakes all evil; then I will forget all the injustices he has committed.

Commentary on Ezekiel

The sins of the parents do not fall on the children, nor does a wicked parent burden a just child, nor are some punished for the crimes of others. One alone who was wrong and sinful before, if he afterwards becomes penitent and turns to better things, wipes out his former sins and is not judged by what he had done wrong, but he is received into my flock with a renewed virtue.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.21-22

Behold how God advises and arouses you so that you may be converted from your sins and be saved, though late. Behold how he urges one liable to death to live; how gently, how kindly he calls, not refusing his fatherly devotion even to sinners. He continues to call children those who have lost God their Father by their sins.

On the Christian Life 2

There are people who, as soon as they begin to think about the evil things they have done, assume that they can not be pardoned; and on the assumption that they can not be pardoned, they give their souls over to destruction from that moment.… They perish from despair, whether before they come to believe at all or whether they are already Christians and have fallen by evil living into various sins and vicious forms of behavior.

Sermon 87:10

I will not allow those punishments that the parents avoided to be repeated by their children, since I am the Lord of both of them and have the same care for all of them. For all souls are mine, and the soul that sins pays the penalty. Thus God teaches us forms of justice, and the way people can delight in life and be released by prayer and become free.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18

Since no one makes a fool of the Lord, he deceives himself if having led a wicked life for a long time he arises to seek life when he is already half-dead. He should listen to the prophet say, “If the sinner turns away from his sins”—if he turns away, he says, not if he only talks about it—“he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced.” Surely you have noticed that healing medicine of this kind must be asked with the lips, but it must be brought to completion by deeds. That gift of repentance that is received at the end of one’s life should be believed to be profitable if it is accepted with a sublime intention, much crying and groaning, and is further enhanced by more abundant almsgiving. However, there must be as much piety on the part of sinners in healing the wounds as the intention of the mind was quick and active in doing evil.

Sermon 209:1

A person who is always uncertain of his life is also swift to apply the remedy of his salvation. The same one who gave us assurance by the words, “On whatever day the sinner is converted, all his iniquities will be forgiven,” also wanted to make us careful when he said, “Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day.”

Sermon 56:3

The person who believes that even if he does penance for his sins the divine mercy will not forgive him wrongly despairs, while one who defers the remedy of repentance to a much later day is presumptuous. Just as it is said to those who despair, “On whatever day the sinner is converted, all his iniquities will be forgotten,” so it is said to the presumptuous, “Delay not to be converted to the Lord.”

Sermon 64:4

Do not doubt the mercy of God. Only perform in your heart your pact with God not to practice the worship of demons any more, or to worship anything except the God of heaven, or to commit homicide, or to be involved in adultery or fornication or theft or to swear falsely. And when you have promised God this with your whole heart and have not committed these sins again, hope confidently for pardon from God.… True repentance consists of a person not doing again the evils that he did but asking pardon for past sins and watching in the future not to fall into them again.

Reforming the Rustics 17

Once the mind is lent brightness at the very beginning of good works and begins to recognize the truth, you are not to imagine that after sinning a delay ensues by reason of which it is enabled to be heard.

Expositions of the Psalms 5:5

He takes delight in the conversion of sinners, for he desires the conversion that follows their sins. Surely, he himself is the only sinless one.

The Instructor Book 3

A petition for pardon is a full confession; because one who begs for pardon fully admits his guilt. So, too, penitence is demonstrated as acceptable to God, who desires it rather than the death of a sinner.

On Prayer 7

If it had not been his will that they should hear and be saved, he ought to have been silent, not to have spoken in parables. But now by this very thing he stirs them up, even by speaking under a veil.

Homilies on the Gospel of Genesis 45:2

I mean, surely I seek nothing else than a mere end of their wickedness and a stop to their evil? Surely I look for no accounting of past deeds if I see them willing to change? Do I not cry aloud each day, “Surely I have no real wish for the death of the sinner as for his conversion and life”? Do I not take every means to snatch from destruction those ensnared in deceit? Surely, after all, if I see them changing I will not hesitate?… Surely I do not bring you from nonbeing for the purpose of destroying you? It is not in vain that I prepared the kingdom and the countless good things beyond description, was it? Did I not also make the threat of hell for the purpose of encouraging everyone by this means also to hasten toward the kingdom?

Homilies on Matthew 44:9

See, then, how God instructs and incites you, so that you may be converted from your sins, late though it is, and come to salvation. See how he exhorts you, doomed to death as you are, so that you may live; and with what sweetness and gentle compassion he cajoles you, so that he does not deny a father’s love even to the sinner.

On the Christian Life

It is the will of God “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” For everywhere that the purpose of God appears to be severe and stern, it is not the people but the sins that he condemns.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.23

(Verse 23) In his righteousness, which he has worked, he will live. My righteousness will live not so much as mine, but as his. It is allowed for my righteousness to give good things to the good and bad things to the bad.

Is it my will that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? (Ezekiel 18:23) Therefore it is the will of the Lord that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Wherever God seems to pronounce a severe and harsh judgment, He condemns not men, but their sins.

Commentary on Ezekiel

You have wished to die by sinning; he wishes you to live by being converted. O foolish, irreverent and ungrateful sinner, you do not yield in this respect to God, who wishes to have mercy on you, who prefers to save you because of his own goodness than to destroy you because of your sins.

On the Christian Life 2

Dearly beloved, if you are good, you must put up with the bad; if you are bad, you must imitate the good. The fact is, on this threshing floor grains can degenerate into chaff, and again grains can be resurrected from chaff. This sort of thing happens every day, my dear brothers and sisters; this life is full of both painful and pleasant surprises. Every day people who seemed to be good fall away and perish; and again, ones who seemed to be bad are converted and live. “God,” you see, “does not desire the death of the wicked but only that they may turn back and live.”

Sermon 223:2

One person prays to the Lord almost all his life, another is converted in middle age, another is saved at his life’s end.… God with merciful patience awaits the hour of our conversion at any time, and so he bears with the guilty and awaits sinners with the words, “It is not my will that a sinner should die, but that he be converted and live.” The only requirement is that in this life we confess all our sinning, for here we fail through human frailty.

Expositions of the Psalms 55:10

Observe every one of the sins for which the Lord makes threats; you will at once see that they are current ones. But if someone’s past righteousness is not beneficial to the righteous individual in the time of his sin, then neither will the sin that has been forsaken harm the wicked individual in the time of his righteousness.

Letter 3:16.2

O such strictness toward the righteous! O such abundant forgiveness toward the sinner! He finds so many different means, without himself changing, to keep the righteous in check and forgive the sinner, by usefully dividing his rich goodness. And listen how. If he frightens the sinner who persists in sins, he brings him to desperation and to the exhaustion of hope. If he blesses the righteous, he weakens the intensity of his virtue and makes him neglect his zeal, since he considers himself already blessed. For this reason he is merciful to the sinner and frightens the righteous.

Homilies on Repentance and Almsgiving 7:2.5

As a sinner who is now just is not harmed by his earlier offenses, so previous righteous deeds do not help a sinner who was once righteous; as each is found, so will it be judged in him.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.24

(Verse 24) But if the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity according to all the abominations that the wicked person usually does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds that he had done will be remembered. In the transgression that he has committed, and in the sin that he has sinned, he shall die. Just as the previous sins do not burden a righteous person who has sinned, so the previous righteousness does not benefit a sinner who was previously righteous. For each person will be judged according to what is found in them.

Commentary on Ezekiel

But behold, while we search out the secrets of the heavenly citizens, we have digressed far from the order of our exposition. Let us therefore sigh toward those of whom we speak, but let us return to ourselves. For we ought to remember that we are flesh. Let us be silent meanwhile about the secrets of heaven, but before the eyes of our Creator let us wipe away the stains of our dust with the hand of repentance. Behold, divine mercy itself promises, saying: There shall be joy in heaven over one sinner doing penance; and yet through the prophet the Lord says: In whatever day the just man shall sin, all his righteousnesses shall be in oblivion before me. Let us consider, if we can, the dispensation of heavenly loving-kindness. To those who stand, if they should fall, he threatens punishment; but to the fallen, that they might desire to rise, he promises mercy. He terrifies those, lest they presume upon their good works; he comforts these, lest they despair in their evils. You are just—fear wrath, lest you fall; you are a sinner—trust in mercy, that you may rise.

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 34

(Verse 25.) And you said: The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear, O house of Israel: Is not my way fair? Are not your ways unfair? Give reasons why the judgment of the Lord is just. Do you think, he says, that I am unfair, that I will render the sins of the fathers to the children (Deut. 24); and while others eat sour grapes, will the teeth of others be set on edge (Jerem. 31)? Behold, each person dies in their own sin, and is made alive in their own righteousness. In both cases, judgment is not based on the past, but on the present. Rather, your unjust opinion is that you think a parable is not a parable, but you understand it in such a way that the sins of others are punished in others as if it were the truth of a story.

Commentary on Ezekiel

When we have made the Lord’s yoke heavy and hard to us, we at once complain in a blasphemous spirit of the hardness and roughness of the yoke itself or of Christ who lays it on us.

Conference 24:25

(Verse 26.) For when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and does iniquity, he shall die in them. In the iniquity which he has done, he shall die. This can also be understood: The righteous first, the people of Israel, turned away from their righteousness, because they abandoned the author of righteousness, and they committed iniquity by denying the Son of God. In the sin and wickedness which he has done, he shall die: not in many, but in one, killing the heir in order to destroy the inheritance.

Commentary on Ezekiel

“When the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live. They shall not die.” Each statement is true because each is divine, whether it is that the just person when he will have turned away from his righteousness, all his righteous deeds will be consigned to oblivion, or whether it is that the wicked person, when he will have been converted from wickedness to righteousness, will be saved, and all his wicked deeds will not be remembered.

Letter 7:10

27–28

(Verse 27, 28.) And when the wicked turns away from his wickedness that he has done and does judgment and righteousness, he shall keep himself alive. For he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed; he shall surely live, he shall not die. On the other hand, it says, the people of the nations who do not have knowledge of God and the wicked, if he turns away from his wickedness, which he previously practiced in idolatry, and does the things that are commanded by the law of Israel, he who was previously dead will give life to his soul. And seeing that he has perished in the injustices he has wrought, he will believe in him who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John, XIV, 6): he will live and not die.

Commentary on Ezekiel

You see my just sentence and you dare to accuse me of injustice? You yourselves needed to be accused; you actually prefer injustice in the face of such an obvious example of justice by your own judge.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18

God’s justice promises scourges to those without hope but mercy to those who hope in him.

Expositions of the Psalms 31:10

(Verse 29.) And the children of Israel say: The way of the Lord is not fair. Are not my ways fair, O house of Israel, and are not your ways crooked? Even today Israel blasphemes God, for abandoning his people and taking in a multitude of nations. Whom the Lord reproves because their ways are crooked, he exercises his rightful judgment by sending other farmers to his vineyard after the previous ones were lost. Which, understanding in the parable of the Gospel, the Jews said: This will not be (Luke 20:16).

Commentary on Ezekiel

The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" [Ezekiel 33:11] adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, "Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity." [Ezekiel 18:30] Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sack-cloth, yet if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people. [2 Chronicles 7:14] And in another place He speaks thus: "Wash you and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before my eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." [Isaiah 1:16-20] Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].

Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8

This word is rightly directed against Israel, so that they might repent and leave behind their iniquities, their transgressions, with which they have sinned against God.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.30-31

These words show us that the mind must not fail to believe in the promised blessings and give way to despair; and the soul once marked out for perdition must not refuse to apply remedies on the ground that its wounds are past curing.

Letter 122.1

(Verse 30.) Therefore, I will judge each one according to their ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord God. Whether they are from the multitude of nations or from the people of Israel who are being judged: God does not show partiality (Colossians 3:25), but each one will be rewarded according to their faith, and will be condemned for their wickedness and unbelief.

Commentary on Ezekiel

Why are you dying? Do not go into the trap. These are the reminders given to the believers, that by walking in them and striving in the commandments they will do the works worthy of eternal life.

Letters 3:9

“Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit” that you may become a subject of joy for the citizens of heaven. For if there is joy “over one sinner who repents,” according to the Gospel, how much more will the salvation of so many souls gladden the blessed saints? You have entered on a good and glorious course: run the holy race in good earnest.

Catechetical Lecture 1:1

“Get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit” means leaving behind the old age of the letter and living in the newness of the spirit. The new heart of Israel is to believe in him who before had denied them; the new heart is to forsake the idols of the Gentiles, to despise dead things and to believe in him who is “God of the living.”

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.31

(Verse 31.) Turn away and repent from all your iniquities, and iniquity will not be your downfall. Cast away all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed. This message is specifically directed towards the Israelites, urging them to repent and abandon their iniquities or transgressions against God. However, it can also be understood as applicable to both the Israelites and the crowd of Gentiles, encouraging them to forsake their vices and turn to the one who can heal their brokenness.

And make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Leaving behind the old letter, live in the newness of the spirit. The new heart of the Israelites is to believe in Him whom they had previously denied. The new heart of the gentiles is to abandon idols and despise the worship of the dead, and to believe in Him who is the God of the living.

And why will you die, house of Israel? It is better, as we have said above, to accept this exhortation in which it is written: Repent and do penance, regarding the person of the Jews whom He does not want to die, and to whom He now speaks: why will you die, house of Israel, who have the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom it is written: God of the living, not of the dead (Mark 12:27). Why will you die by your own fault, when you owe your life to the merit of the fathers and my mercy?

Commentary on Ezekiel

Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not want the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Do not be contemptuous like one who has fallen into the depths of sins.

Letter 44

“I do not want you to die.” He did not say “turn,” unless those who were once with God and afterwards deserted his company and “live” through penitence, you who are dead through sin. Therefore Israel is believed to be dead because it does not turn back to its original state.

Commentary on Ezekiel 6:18.32

(Verse 32) Because I do not want the death of the one dying (or, the sinner), says the Lord God: return and live. I do not want, he says, for you to die, whom I have begotten for salvation. For I have begotten sons, and I have exalted them, but they have rejected me (Isaiah 1:2). Therefore, return and live. It is said to return, only to those who were previously with God and have later abandoned his company. And live through repentance, who are dead through sin. Therefore, Israel, because it does not return to its former state, is believed to be dead.

Commentary on Ezekiel

God knows everything beforehand. But there is that which he wills, and there is that which he does not. He willed to bring the flood, but it was not his will that by means of the flood humans and animals alike would be exterminated. He was brought to do what he did not will by the unworthy, arrogant couplings of the race.

On God 235

As we shudder at the wounds of our sins as at deadly poisons, let us apply ourselves to almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Above all, by a charity that loves not only friends but even enemies, let us have recourse to the mercy of that heavenly physician to recover the health of our souls as if by spiritual remedies. For he said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner but rather in the wicked person’s conversion, that he may live.”

Sermons 150:5

The prayer that frees us from faults wins the heart of the judge and wipes away sins; mercy cannot be withheld from the one who asks for it, as humility fires us to pray unceasingly for forgiveness. All this is achieved by the devoted Lord, for he does not wish to condemn those whom he forewarns.

Expositions of Psalm 140:1