After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.2 He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.3 So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.4 And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.5 And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.6 And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,7 Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?8 And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.9 And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.10 And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.11 And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.12 And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.14 And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:16 By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:17 I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.19 Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.
VI. On this account too, Abraham, when he had come unto the place which God had told him of, " On the third day, looking up, saw the place afar off."t What kind of place? Was it the place to which he came ? And how was it still afar off, if he had already come to it? But perhaps the meaning which is intended under this expression may be something like this : — The wise man, being always desirous to comprehend the nature of the Ruler of the universe, when he is proceeding along the road which leads by knowledge and wisdom, previously meets with words of God, among which he rests for a while ; and though he had previously determined to proceed by some other road, he now stops and hesitates ; for the eyes of his mind being opened, he sees more clearly that he had entered upon a chase after a thing which was difficult to overtake, which constantly retreated before him, and was always at a distance, and which outstripped its pursuers by placing an immeasurable distance between them. You think, therefore, rightly that all the speediest things which are under heaven would appear to be standing still if compared with the rapidity of the sun, and moon, and other stars. And yet the whole heaven was made by God ; and the maker always goes before that which is made. So that, of necessity, not only the other things which exist among us, but also that which has the most rapid motion of all, namely, the mind, may fall short of a proper comprehension of the great cause of all things by an undescribable distance. But the stars, as they are themselves in motion, pass by all things that move ; but, though it seems incredible, God, while standing still, outstrips everything. And it is said that he, at the same moment, is close to us and at a great distance, touching us with his creative or his punishing powers, which are close to each individual, and yet at the same time driving away the creature to an excessive distance from his nature as existing according to its essence, so that it cannot touch him without even the unalloyed and incorporeal efforts of the intellect. Therefore we sympathise in joy with those who love God and Exodua xxxiii. 12. f Genesis xxii. 4. seek to understand the nature of the living God, even if they fail to discover it ; for the vague investigation of what is good is sufficient by itself to cheer the heart, even if it fail to attain the end that it desires. But we participate in indignation against that lover of himself, Cain; because he has left his soul without any conception whatever of the living God, having of deliberate purpose mutilated himself of that faculty by which alone he might have been able to see him.
The psalm's verse numbering differs between the modern lectionary and the Douay-Rheims this library hosts, so the text isn't matched verse-for-verse here yet.
And entering into a boat, he passed over the water and came into his own city.2 And behold they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.3 And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth.4 And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts?5 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk?6 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.7 And he arose, and went into his house.8 And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.
Mystically; When driven out of Judæa, He returns into His own city; the city of God is the people of the faithful; into this He entered by a boat, that is, the Church.
In this paralytic the whole Gentile world is offered for healing, he is therefore brought by the ministration of Angels; he is called Son, because he is God’s work; the sins of his soul which the Law could not remit are remitted him; for faith only justifies. Lastly, he shews the power of the resurrection, by taking up his bed, teaching that all sickness shall then be no more found in the body.
It is a very fearful thing to be seized by death while the sins are yet unforgiven by Christ; for there is no way to the heavenly house for him whose sins have not been forgiven. But when this fear is removed, honour is rendered to God, who by His word has in this way given power to men, of forgiveness of sins, of resurrection of the body, and of return to Heaven.
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.)