Augustine of Hippo, on Ezek 18:23

“Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?”

“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."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.