Jeremiah 9

What should we do? Let us allow a spring of tears to flow every day, day and night. Let us, too, say with the weeping Jeremiah, the great prophet, “Who will give some water to my head, and a spring of tears to my eyes? I would weep for my sins day and night.” Let us first of all confess our sins before this.… which is full of terror and trembling tears. Let us invoke the goodness and mercy of our God, while we are in this exile of tears, before death overtakes us.

Instructions 1:3

Let us collect ourselves, I exhort you. There are daily wars, submersions of towns, innumerable destructions all around us, and on every side the wrath of God is enclosing us as in a net. As though we were well-pleasing to him, we are secure. We all make our hands ready for unjust gains and not for helping others. We are all ready to plunder, but no one is ready to protect. Each one of us has much anxiety over how he may add to his wealth. No one has anxiety over how he may save his own soul. One fear possesses all, that we should not become poor. No one is in anguish and trembling out of fear that we should fall into hell. These things call for lamentation, these call for accusation, for eternal damnation. I do not wish to speak of these things, but I am constrained by my grief. Forgive me. I am forced by sorrow to utter many things, even those that I do not wish to say. I see that our wound is grievous, that our calamity is beyond comfort, that woes have overtaken us that exceed the consolation. We are undone. “O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears,” that I might lament. Let us weep, beloved, let us groan.

On the Epistle to the Hebrews 23:8-9

(Chapter IX — Verse 1) Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, so that I may weep day and night for the slain daughters of my people? If I could only be turned into weeping, and tears were to flow abundantly like a river, still I would not be able to weep worthy tears for the slain daughters of my people. For their affliction is so great that it surpasses all sorrow. And this can be understood both from the perspective of the Prophet and of the Lord.

Commentary on Jeremiah

You exclaim, "How fitting it was for Jeremiah, with the chorus of the prophets and all the saints, to cry out, 'Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes,' that he might bewail the sins of the foolish people, because the church of Christ expelled the teachers of the Pelagian error." If you wish to weep wholesomely, weep for this, that you are involved in that error, and let your tears wash you clean of the new plague. Are you ignorant, or have you forgotten or do you wish not to know that the holy, the one, the Catholic church was also signified by the word Paradise?

Against Julian 5:6.24

(Verse 2.) Who will give me lodging in the solitude of travelers, and I will leave my people and depart from them? LXX: Who will give me a final dwelling place in the solitude, so that I may leave my people and depart from them? It is better, he says, to dwell in extreme solitude than to dwell among such great crimes of men. Hence the Savior spoke in the Gospel: How long shall I bear with you? And in another place it is written: In that time, the one who understands will sit and be silent, for it is a time of great distress (Lamentations 3:28, Micah 2:7).

Commentary on Jeremiah

(Verse 3.) Because they are all adulterers, a gathering of transgressors. And they have stretched out their tongue like a bow of falsehood and not of truth. They have grown strong in the land, for they have gone from evil to evil, and they have not known me, says the Lord. Sinners go from evil to evil, when they exchange idols for idols, and they go from sins to sins, or certainly from the evil of siege to captivity. And indeed, concerning the saints, it is said: They will go from strength to strength (Psalm 83:8). But concerning sinners: They have gone from evil to evil. And the cause of all miseries is that they did not acknowledge the Lord, and there is a gathering of transgressors and their tongues are armed like a drawn bow for blasphemy. And they are comforted on the earth so that they may deserve to hear: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. III).

Commentary on Jeremiah

They were fabricating deceit, engaging in blackmail, leveling false accusations against neighbors. For this is what he says, “Deceit, not faith, prevails over the land, for they proceed from evil to evil.” Because of this he exposes their evil, which never changes as they move “from evil to evil,” immediately adding the reason they neglect the divine law: because “they do not know me, says the Lord.”

On Jeremiah 3:9

4–6

(Verse 4 and following) Let each person guard themselves from their neighbor, and let them not have trust in any brother, for every brother will deceive and every friend will act deceitfully; and a man will mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies (or their tongue has learned to speak lies), in order to act wickedly, they have labored (or acted unjustly) and have not ceased from turning away. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, in deceit (or usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit); they refused (or did not want) to know me, says the Lord. This place should be used in times of persecution and distress, when either faith is rare or non-existent: when neither brother nor neighbor can be trusted, and the enemies of a man are those of his own household (Mich. 7): when, according to the Gospel, the father will betray the son, and the son the father, and two will be divided into three, and three into two. And what it implies, They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, or their tongue has learned to speak falsehood (Matt. X), shows that the habit of lying is somehow turned into nature: and they diligently act so that they may do wicked things. And what follows, Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, in deceit, is specifically directed to the Prophet, that he dwells among a lying people; or as the Seventy translated: Usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: and that they increase their crimes daily, and have no remorse for their previous actions, but rather accumulate past offenses with new ones. They do these things, with all zeal, so that they may not know the Lord, who did not command these things to be done.

Commentary on Jeremiah

4–5

“For every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth, for they have bent their tongue like a bow for lies and not for truth.” But often a pretended patience excites to anger more keenly than words, and a spiteful silence exceeds the most awful insults in words. The wounds of enemies are more easily borne than the deceitful blandishment of mockers, as is well said by the prophet.

Conference 2:16.18

What are we to do with such a useful member? From it we pray to God, we confess our sins, we give praise, we sing to God with one voice in harmony, and in our daily lives, we either show mercy when we converse with others, or we give counsel. What are we to do now? Our very tongue offers you service. What are we to do so that we do not sin with our tongue? Especially since it has been said: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," and again it has been said: "I have seen many fall by the edge of the sword, but not as many as by the tongue." Again it has been said: "The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. Consider how a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." Again the same Lord said: "They have taught their tongue to speak lies." Oh, they have taught it! For habit causes it to speak lies; even if you do not wish to, it speaks lies. Just as if you turn a wheel once, having pushed it with your hand, it runs because of its shape and roundness and by its own unstable and almost natural course, so too does our tongue; it does not need to be taught to speak lies. For already, once started, it runs by itself to what it can more easily move toward. Sometimes you have something in your heart, and it speaks something else out of habit.

Sermon 16A.2

Everyone is so inflamed by the love of sin and desire to carry out what they like, that they look out with watchful care for an opportunity to commit wickedness. They are afraid of being too slow to enjoy their lusts, even glorying in their shame and the great number of their crimes, as the apostle says in censure. They seek credit for themselves out of their own confusion. The prophet Jeremiah also maintains that they commit their heinous crimes not only willingly and with ease of heart and body but with laborious efforts to such an extent that they come to toil to carry them out. They are even impeded from their deadly quest of sin by the burdensome effort the actualizing of their evil desires requires, as he says: “They have labored to do wickedly.”

Conference 3:23.1

The insincere are to be admonished to learn how heavy is the labor of deception. They endure it with guilt. They are afraid of being found out. They are ever seeking dishonest defenses. They are agitated by fearful suspicions. But there is nothing safer to defend than sincerity, nothing easier to say than truth. For, when obliged to defend its deceit, the heart is wearied with hard labor. For it is written, “The labor of their own lips shall cover them.” For what now fills them then covers them, since it then presses down with sharp retribution one whose soul it now elevates with a mild uneasiness. It is said through Jeremiah, “They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.” Said more plainly: “They who might have been friends of truth without labor, labor to sin.”

The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part III, Chapter XI

(Verse 7.) Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt (or refine) and test them. For what else shall I do from the face of the daughter of my people (or what shall I do from the face of the malice of the daughter of my people)? As often as we are subject to difficulties, we receive evil from God, and we are tested by persecutions, so that whatever adulterous matter is in us, it is consumed (or burned up) by the fires of tribulations and miseries: For the silver of the Lord is refined by fire, tested by the earth, purified sevenfold (Psalm 11:7).

Commentary on Jeremiah

8–9

(Verse 8, 9.) The arrow that wounds their tongue speaks deceit: in their mouth they speak peace with their friend but hide traps for them secretly. Will I not visit them for these things, says the Lord, or will not my soul take revenge on a nation such as this? Every heretic who wounds the hearts of those who hear and do not understand the scripture possesses an arrow that wounds, and speaks in deceit. And when he promises peace to his neighbor with his mouth, he secretly sets traps. But in the following verses, in which he says: 'Will I not visit these things? says the Lord: or will not my soul be avenged on a nation like this?' he frequently abuses this as a Prophet, so that when he enumerates the individual works of evil, he may infer that he does what he does justly.

Commentary on Jeremiah

A most base pest, my beloved, is double dealing and hypocrisy in our actions and conduct, by which a person uses the pretense of pleasant-spoken words and of a tongue anointed, so to speak, with the honey of deception, while the heart is full of utter bitterness. Of such we say, in the words of one of the holy prophets, "Their tongue is a piercing arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful. He speaks peacefully to his neighbor, and enmity is in his heart." And again, "Their words are smoother than oil, yet are they arrows." By which is meant that they have the force of darts falling violently and shot forth from bows.

Commentary on Luke, Homily 68

Matthew says that when the traitor drew near to Christ, our common Savior, he kissed him and added, "Hail, Master." How can you say "Hail" to him who by means of your word and deed is made the prey of death? How could such a word possibly be true? We thus see that, inasmuch as that false one, Satan, was within him, he used falsehood even in saying "Hail." Because of deeds like this, the prophet says, "Their tongue is a piercing spearhead. The words of their mouth are deceitful. To his neighbor he speaks things of peace, but in his soul there is enmity."

Commentary on Luke, Homily 148

(Ver. 10.) Over the mountains I will lift up weeping and lamentation, and over the beautiful paths of the deserted plains there will be mourning. For they are burned up because there is no man passing through, and they have not heard the voice of the possessor, from the bird of the sky to the livestock they migrate and depart. With the coming of the Babylonian army, and as it devastates everything, the solitude of the province is prophesied, that there will be lamentation on the mountains, weeping in the desert or on the paths of the wilderness, that everything will fail and burn up, and there will be no one who walks the earth, with everyone slain and nothing remaining that can breathe and live. From the word 'possidente' (possessing), seventy substances were transferred, which in Hebrew is called Macne (): and here substance is not taken in the sense of essence, but in the sense of power and wealth. And what it implies is this: They have withdrawn and gone away from the birds of the air to the cattle, which shows what we have often said, that the whole creation feels the anger of God, and not only the birds of the air, but also the fish of the water perish. According to the allegory, we understand weeping upon the mountains, and lamentation upon the beautiful wilderness, when the leaders of the Church sin and nothing of God's substance is found in her, nor is the voice of the Lord who possesses the Church heard through the holy and apostolic men; and from the birds of the air to the cattle, from those who can ascend to the heights to the irrational and simplest creatures who have withdrawn (or have withdrawn) from God's assembly.

Commentary on Jeremiah

(Verse 11) And I will make Jerusalem a heap of sand (or in exile) and a dwelling place of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate; because there is no inhabitant. When ecclesiastical men and teachers have failed, then Jerusalem is given into exile, or into a heap of sand, so that the heretic's speech prevails in it, and it becomes a dwelling place of dragons, and its cities are reduced to solitude, and there is no habitation of divine discourse in it, and he who says: I will dwell and walk in them, and I will be their God (Leviticus 26:12).

Commentary on Jeremiah

12–14

(Verse 12 onwards) Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom is the word of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it: why has the land perished and become scorched like a desert, because there is no one to pass through it? And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law that I gave to them, and have not listened to my voice, and have not walked in it, but have followed the stubbornness of their own hearts and after the Baals, which they learned from their fathers. He interrogates the Prophet, if anyone among the wise in Jerusalem is able to find, and those to whom the word of God is spoken, and who are able to announce the will of the Lord, and to provide reasons why Judah has been reduced to a desolation, and with everyone killed, there is no one remaining who can pass through it. And the Lord responds and provides reasons: because they have forsaken His Law that He gave to them, and have not listened to His voice, nor have they done what they should have done; but they have gone after the wickedness of their own hearts. Therefore, it is necessary to confess not according to our will, but in the Lord. For the heart is corrupt in all things. And from our heart come evil thoughts. And after the Baals, they went, as it is said, whom they learned from their fathers. Baal is the idol of the Sidonians, and Baalim is the plural number. Therefore, neither the error of our parents nor of our ancestors should be followed, but rather the authority of the Scriptures and the command of God, who teaches us.

Commentary on Jeremiah

I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken as a captive to Ireland with many thousands of people, and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God and did not keep his commandments and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. The Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my insignificance is placed among strangers.

Confession 1:1

15–16

(Verses 15, 16.) Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood (or distress), and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them among the nations, which neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until they are consumed. It can also be prophesied about the near future, when they were taken captive by the Chaldeans, and specifically about this time, when they were dispersed among the nations, which they and their fathers had not known, and were divided throughout the entire world, and were fed with wormwood, or with hardships and distress. And they drank a drink of water mixed with gall, which signifies either the magnitude of their evils, or the eternal yoke of captivity: or certainly, because of their ignorance of God's law, they are about to receive Antichrist in place of Christ. But a sword is sent after them, to consume them even to their destruction. Or certainly, a sword that divides them and does not allow them to have agreement in evil, so that they may perish in what is evil.

Commentary on Jeremiah

I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken as a captive to Ireland with many thousands of people, and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God and did not keep his commandments and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. The Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my insignificance is placed among strangers.

Confession 1:1

Because they had not been enlightened by the many exhortations he had delivered in Jerusalem, he wept for their blindness. The prophets also did this. Let us now do so as well. Now is the time to mourn and weep and lament. It is timely also for us to say now, “Call for the mourning women, and send to them that are wise women, and let them speak.” Perhaps we shall thus be able to drive the disease of avarice from those who are building elaborate homes, from those who are securing fields for themselves by fraud.

Homilies on the Gospel of John 64

17–18

(Verse 17, 18.) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider (or understand) and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the wise women, that they may hurry, and let them take up a lamentation for us (or for you), and let our (or your) eyes shed tears, and let our (or your) eyelids flow with water; for the voice of lamentation is heard from Zion (or in Zion). Because of the future captivity and destruction of Jerusalem, he orders the mourners to be called, who are accustomed to wailing, striking their chests with a lamenting voice, to provoke the people to tears. For this custom remains in Judaea even to this day, that women with their hair scattered and their breasts exposed, with a melodious voice, stir everyone to weeping. And God joins Himself with compassionate feeling, or the Prophet, so that whatever the people endure, he may declare that he himself endures and feels it. But what follows is: Because the voice of lamentation is heard from Zion, immediately follows what this voice is.

Commentary on Jeremiah

(Verse 19.) How desolate and utterly confused we are! Because we have forsaken the land, for our tents have been abandoned. This is the voice of those lamenting Zion: how desolate and utterly confused we are! And immediately they answer themselves and explain the reasons for their devastation, saying: Because we have forsaken the land, through our own fault and sin, and our tents have been abandoned, which once possessed as if passing by. Let them say this also to the crowds of once believing, in persecution: that they have been devastated and confused because they have abandoned the land of the Lord and have deserted their tents.

Commentary on Jeremiah

20–21

(Verse 20, 21.) Therefore, listen, women, to the word of the Lord, and let your ears receive the speech of His mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and each one her neighbor mourning. For death has entered through our windows, it has come into our houses: to destroy the children from outside, the young men from the streets. In the previous chapter, He had said: call for the mourning women to come, and send for the wise women, and let them hurry: now He speaks as if they were present, in condemnation of the priests and the teachers and all men: so that when they cease from teaching, these women may hear the word of the Lord, and receive the words of His mouth, and teach their daughters and neighbors the causes of mourning and the reasons for tears: For death has entered through our windows, it has come into our houses. Although it can be understood spiritually, because through all the senses death enters the soul's destruction of sins; yet it can also be understood about the attack of the Babylonians: that their strength and swiftness in fighting is so great that they do not wait to unlock doors; but they climb through windows and rooftops, to lay waste to the houses of Jerusalem. And the children who are outside perish, and leave Jerusalem; and the young ones, to whom John also writes, who do not enter through the narrow and restricted path that leads to life; but they walk through the streets, of which it is written: How broad and spacious is the path that leads to death (Matthew 7:13).

Commentary on Jeremiah

One window is one of our senses. The Bridegroom looks out through it. Another window is another sense. Through it he gazes with active concern for our well-being. For what senses are there through which the Word of God does not look out? The following example teaches us what "looking out through the windows" means and in what way the Bridegroom sees through them. Where he does not look out, there is death found coming up, as we read in Jeremiah: "See, death is come up through your windows." When you look on a woman to lust after her, death comes up through your windows.

Homilies on the Song of Songs 2:12

We can take the windows as meaning the bodily sense through which life or death gains entrance to the soul. That is what the prophet Jeremiah means when, speaking of sinners, he says, "Death is coming up through your windows." How does death come up through windows? If the eyes of a sinner should "look on a woman to lust after her." He who has looked on a woman thus "has committed adultery with her in his heart." Then death has gained entrance to that soul through the windows of the eyes.

Commentary on the Song of Songs 3:13

21–22

Amid so many passions of this body of ours, amid so many enticements of this world, who indeed can keep his footstep safe and undefiled? The eye looks back and leads the mind’s perception astray, the ear hears and turns one’s attention away, a whiff of fragrance hinders thought, a kiss of the mouth introduces guilt, a touch kindles the fire of passion. “Death has entered in through the window,” the prophet said. Your eye is your window. If you look at a woman to lust after her, death has entered in; if you listen to the harlot’s words, death has entered in; if licentiousness takes hold of your senses, death has gone in.

Flight from the World 1:3

21–22

The prophet says, “Death is come up through the windows.” Surely he does not mean actual windows—otherwise we could shut our windows and never die. But the bodily senses—sight, hearing, and so on—are windows to us and death enters us through them if we sin with them.

Panarion 1:9.4:10

21–22

O Lord, keep watch over my mouth, for it is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Again, you have declared, “I tell you, that of every idle word people speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment.” The prophet prays, therefore, that his words may not be vain but holy and pleasing to God. “Set a guard at the door of my lips.” He is asking for a guard around his lips like the rampart of a castle, that he may never capitulate to sin. It is Jeremiah who says, “Death has come up through our windows.” A person has five windows: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. If I look at a woman to lust after her, I have already committed adultery in my heart, and death has come through my window of sight. If the sound of the harp, organ or flute unnerves me, death has entered my soul through the sense of hearing. Again, if I touch something soft and supple, and wantonness breaks down the resistance of my flesh, death has entered through touch, and so down the line.

Homilies on the Psalms 51 (ps 140)

21–22

By “windows” he refers to the error of their thinking: through them they gave entrance to the error and the blow inflicted by it. You would not be wide of the mark to call the body’s senses “windows”—sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. Both life and death can enter through these. For example, the person who looks with restraint reaps life, while the one looking immoderately gains death. The truthful tongue procures salvation for the soul, while the lying one brings about ruin; and likewise with the rest, as you can easily learn.

On Jeremiah 3:9.21

(Verse 22.) Speak these things, says the Lord, and the mortality of man (or the corpses of men) will fall like dung on the face of the region (or the field) and like hay behind the reaper, and there is no one to gather. The Hebrew word, which is written with three letters Daleth, Beth, Res (for it does not have vowels in the middle), signifies speech for a consequence and at the discretion of the reader if it is read as Dabar (), it signifies a word; if Deber, it signifies death; if Daber, it signifies speak. And both the Septuagint and Theodotion joined that previous chapter, so that they said, 'They will scatter the little ones outside, and the young men will die in the streets.' But Aquila and Symmachus translated λάλησον, which means 'speak': so that God commands the Prophet to speak what follows: Thus says the Lord, and the rest. And the meaning is: When death ascends through our windows, and enters the houses of Jerusalem, and the little ones and young men outside perish in the streets: then there will be their death, or the corpses of the dead, like dung on the face of the earth, and like straw that is left behind by those who have reaped, and is not collected as useless. He wants to show by these things that such a great slaughter will happen in Jerusalem and around the city that there will be no one to bury the fallen.

Commentary on Jeremiah

23–24

Let us therefore, brethren, be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy Spirit says, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glories glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness" [Jeremiah 9:23-24]), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spoke teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He spoke: "Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as you do, so shall it be done unto you; as you judge, so shall you be judged; as you are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what measure you measure, with the same it shall be measured to you." [Matthew 5:7, Matthew 6:14, Matthew 7:1-2] By this precept and by these rules let us establish ourselves, that we walk with all humility in obedience to His holy words. For the holy word says, "On whom shall I look, but on him that is meek and peaceable, and that trembles at my words?" [Isaiah 66:2]

Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13

23–24

Let us therefore be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, pride and foolishness, and all angry feelings. Let us act according to that which is written, for the Holy Spirit says, “Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty person glory in his might, neither let the rich person glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking him, and doing judgment and righteousness.” Let us be especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus that he spoke, teaching us meekness and patient endurance. For thus he spoke: “Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy. Forgive, that it may be forgiven to you. As you do, so shall it be done to you. As you judge, so shall you be judged. As you are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you. With what measure you measure, with the same it shall be measured to you.”

1 Clement 13

23–24

What is the philosophy that the apostle bids us shun? This, then, “the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.” “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” Let no one therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah, “Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty person glory in his might, and let not the rich person glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, that executes mercy and judgment and righteousness on the earth: for in these things is my delight, say the Lord.”

The Stromata Book 1

23–24

The only true salvation is if Christ saves me, for then I will be saved. The horse is a false hope for deliverance. False also are all others besides God for salvation. On account of this I might say to him, "Save me, Lord, and I will be saved," and I say this if I can say also the next words after every boast that is renounced. For you are my boast or when I fulfill the commandment that says, "Let not the wise person boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong person boast in his strength, or the rich person in his riches; let him who boasts boast in this, to understand and know that I am Lord." Blessed is one who has renounced every boast here below, such as in so-called noble birth and in beauty and in corporeal things, in riches, in vainglory, since he is content with one boast, that he may say, For you are my boast.

Homilies on Jeremiah 17:5

"Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom or the strong person in his strength," for that which is worth boasting about is not ours but is the gift of God. The wisdom is from him, and the strength is from him and so with the rest.

Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew 10:19

23–24

We must trust in God only, and in him we must glory. In Jeremiah: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the strong man glory in his strength, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, who does mercy, and judgment, and righteousness upon the earth, because in them is my pleasure, says the Lord.”

Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3:10

23–24

No sensible person, then, will be proud of his wisdom or of possessing the other goods I have mentioned but will follow the excellent advice of blessed Anna and of the prophet Jeremiah: “Let not the wise person glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong person glory in his strength, and let not the rich person glory in his riches.” But what is true glory, and what makes a person great? “In this,” says the prophet, “let him that glories, glory that he understands and knows that I am the Lord.” This constitutes the highest dignity of humankind, this is his glory and greatness. Truly it is to know what is great and to cleave to it, and to seek after glory from the Lord of glory.

Homily 20, on Humility

23–24

(Verse 23, 24.) Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” All of humanity's pride is removed, as their wisdom, strength, and wealth are considered as nothing. The only true boast is to know and understand that He is the Lord who practices love, justice, and righteousness on the earth. All things are governed by God's providence and justice, and what may seem to lack reason to us is filled with justice and reason. For these things alone please God, and in them is his will. So where are those who say that man can reign according to his own will, and thus the power of free will is given, so that the mercy of God is taken away and justice? Hence the Apostle, taking up this testimony, sets forth an example: Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:17).

Commentary on Jeremiah

23–24

“Each one looking not to his own interests but to those of others,” “that one may not glory in his prudence,” for the virtue of the humble is not to boast of their knowledge, since it is common to all. In repressing the mind’s audacity, it is helpful not to despise others or to assume a special knowledge or holiness ourselves.

Letter 42

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. [Jeremiah 9:24]

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. [Jeremiah 9:24] For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

Forasmuch then as our turning away from God is our own act, and this is evil will; but our turning to God is not possible, except He rouses and helps us, and this is good will,—what have we that we have not received? But if we received, why do we glory as if we had not received? Therefore, as "he that glorieth must glory in the Lord," it comes from His mercy, not their merit, that God wills to impart this to some, but from His truth that He wills not to impart it to others. For to sinners punishment is justly due.

On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2:31

Let us joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festal day on which the great and eternal day came from the great and eternal day into this our very short temporal day. He has been made for us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: so that, as it is written, He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.

Sermon 185:2

For as many of this race as are delivered by God's grace are certainly delivered from the condemnation in which they are already held bound. Whence, even if none should be delivered, no one could justly blame the judgment of God. That, therefore, in comparison of those that perish few, but in their absolute number many, are delivered, is effected by grace, is effected freely: thanks must be given, because it is effected, so that no one may be lifted up as of his own deservings, but that every mouth may be stopped, and he that glorieth may glory in the Lord.

On Rebuke and Grace 28

25–26

(Vers. 25, 26.) Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will visit everyone who is circumcised and has the foreskin, including Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all those who have shaved their heads and live in the desert, for all the nations are uncircumcised. But the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. Many of the nations, especially those bordering Judea and Palestine, still practice circumcision to this day, particularly the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and all the region of the Saracens who dwell in the wilderness and are said to have shaved heads and live in the desert. Therefore, Judah, who is mixed with the aforementioned Gentiles, should not boast, because he does not have foreskin, but is circumcised according to God's law. For there are others who do these things and do not keep the commandments of the law, and they are ignorant of the God of Israel. Circumcision does not profit, which is given as a sign, unless the commandments of the Lord are fulfilled; just as the hair, which signifies a nation, does not provide strength of body and the might of warriors. And what follows: All nations have foreskin, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. This has the meaning that, except for the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, and the Ishmaelites who dwell in the wilderness, most of whom are circumcised, all other nations throughout the world are uncircumcised in flesh; but the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart, not in flesh; and this uncircumcision leads to death. For that is the flesh, this is the spirit.

Commentary on Jeremiah

25–26

The ancient Scriptures therefore teach the benefit of spiritual circumcision and that bodily circumcision makes no difference. For it is not the Gentiles who are accused of being uncircumcised but the Jews, who were physically circumcised but whose heart was uncircumcised.

On Jeremiah 3:9

The novelty of the expression may perhaps deter not only the Jews but even some of our brothers. For Paul, who introduces "circumcision of the heart," seems to assume things that are impossible. For how shall it be possible that a member be circumcised that, covered by the internal viscera, lies hidden even from the view of people? Let us return, therefore, to the words of the prophets that, with the aid of your prayers, these matters about which we are inquiring might become clear. Ezekiel the prophet says, "No stranger uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh shall enter my sanctuary." Likewise elsewhere no less the prophet, reproaching, says, "All strangers are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the sons of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart." It is pointed out, therefore, that unless one has been circumcised in the heart and the flesh, "he shall not enter the sanctuary" of God.

Homilies on Genesis 3