And I beheld, and lo a lamb stood upon mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.†2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder; and the voice which I heard, was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps.3 And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients; and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth.4 These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb:†5 And in their mouth there was found no lie; for they are without spot before the throne of God.
If I remember not that it is I who have served Him, how shall I ascribe glory to God? How sing to Him "the new song," if I am ignorant that it is I who owe Him thanks? But why is exception taken only against the change of the flesh, and not of the soul also, which in all things is superior to the flesh? How happens it, that the self-same soul which in our present flesh has gone through all life's course, which has learnt the knowledge of God, and put on Christ, and sown the hope of salvation in this flesh, must reap its harvest in another flesh of which we know nothing? Verily that must be a most highly favoured flesh, which shall have the enjoyment of life at so gratuitous a rate! But if the soul is not to be changed also, then there is no resurrection of the soul; nor will it be believed to have itself risen, unless it has risen some different thing.
Equally in each sex let the younger age follow the discipline of the elder; or else let the male "virgins," too, be veiled, if the female virgins withal are not veiled, because they are not mentioned by name.
On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.2 For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.3 Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?4 The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.6 This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Let no one speak deceitfully to his neighbor. The mouth of the malevolent is a deep pit. The innocent person, while he believes easily, falls readily; but though he falls, he rises; and the shuffler, with all his arts, goes headlong to ruin, from which he can never rise or escape. Therefore let everyone weigh well his words, and let him not say to another what he would not say to himself.
And looking on, he saw the rich men cast their gifts into the treasury.2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in two brass mites.†3 And he said: Verily I say to you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:4 For all these have of their abundance cast into the offerings of God: but she of her want, hath cast in all the living that she had.†
(Hom. 1. in Ep. ad Heb., Hom. 28.) For God regarded not the scantiness of the offering, but the overflowing of the affection. Almsgiving is not the bestowing a few things out of many, but it is that of the widow emptying, herself of her whole substance. But if you cannot offer as much as the widow, at least give all that remains over.
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.)