Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.3 What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun?4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever.5 The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again,6 Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to his circuits.7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again.8 All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.9 What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.10 Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us.11 There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end.
As for the sea, if I had felt no wonder at its size, I should have felt it for its stillness, at the way it stands free within its proper limits. If its stillness had not moved my admiration, its size must have done. Since both aspects move me, I shall praise the power involved in both. What binding force brought the sea together? What causes it to swell yet stay in position, as if in awe of the land its neighbor? How can it take in all rivers and stay the same through sheer excess of quantity?—I know no other explanation. Why does so great an element have sand as its frontier? Can natural philosophers, with their futile cleverness, give any account of it, when they actually take the sea's vast measurements with pint size pots of their own ideas? Or shall I give you the short answer from Scripture, the one more credible, more real, than their long arguments? "He made his command a boundary for the face of the waters." This command is what binds the elemental water. What makes it carry the sailor in his little boat with a little wind—do you not find it a marvelous sight, does not your mind stand amazed at it?—to bind land and sea with business and commerce and unify for humanity such very different things? What springs do the first springs have? Look for them and see if you, a man, can discover or track one down. Who parted plains and hills with rivers and gave them free course? How do we get a miracle from opposites—from a sea that does not get out and rivers that do not stand still? What feeds the waters, what different kinds of food do they get? Some are nourished with rain, others drink with their roots—if I may use a rich metaphor to describe the richness of God.
Turn not man away to be brought low: and thou hast said: Be converted, O ye sons of men.4 For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday, which is past. And as a watch in the night,5 Things that are counted nothing, shall their years be.6 In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither.12 Can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and men learned in heart, in wisdom.13 Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy servants.14 We are filled in the morning with thy mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days.17 And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.
For in the most general sense it holds good that it is apparently not possible for any person to remain altogether without experience of ill. For, as one says, "the whole world lies in wickedness"; and again, "Most of the days of human life are labor and trouble." But you will perhaps say, "What difference is there between being tempted, and falling or entering into temptation?" Well, if one is overcome by evil—and he will be overcome unless he struggles against it himself and unless God protects him with his shield—that person has entered into temptation, and is in it and is brought under it like one that is led captive. But if one withstands and endures, he is indeed tempted; but he has not entered into temptation or fallen into it. Thus Jesus was led up of the Spirit, not indeed to enter into temptation but to be tempted of the devil. And Abraham, again, did not enter into temptation, neither did God lead him into temptation, but he tried [tested] him; yet he did not drive him into temptation. The Lord, moreover, tested the disciples. Thus the wicked one, when he tempts us, draws us into the temptations, as dealing himself with the temptations of evil. But God, when he tests, presents the tests as one untempted by evil. For God, it is said, "cannot be tempted by evil." The devil, therefore, drives us on by violence, drawing us to destruction; but God leads us by hand, training us for our salvation.
Now Herod, the tetrarch, heard of all things that were done by him; and he was in a doubt, because it was said8 By some, that John was risen from the dead: but by other some, that Elias had appeared; and by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.9 And Herod said: John I have beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him.
(Hom. 48. in Matt.) It was not till a long time had passed that Herod took notice of the things that were done by Jesus, (to shew you the pride of a tyrant,) for he did not acknowledge them at first, as it is said, Now Herod heard, &c.
For sinners fear both when they know, and when they are ignorant; they are afraid of shadows, are suspicious about every thing, and are alarmed at the slightest noise. Such in truth is sin; when no one blames or finds fault, it betrays a man, when no one accuses it condemns, and makes the offender timid and backward. But the cause of fear is stated afterwards, in the words, Because that it was said of some.
(ubi sup.) When Herod then heard of the miracles which Jesus was performing, he says, John have I beheaded, which was not an expression of boasting, but by way of allaying his fears, and bringing his distracted soul to recollect that he had killed. And because he had beheaded John, he adds, but who is this.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)