§4NON FACILE IGNOSCERE DEVM IDOLOLATRIS.
Moyses in Exodo pro populo rogat nec impetrat: precor, ait, Domine, deliquit populus hic delictum grande, fecerunt sibi deos aureos et argenteos.
THAT GOD DOES NOT EASILY FORGIVE IDOLATERS. Moses in Exodus asks for the people and does not obtain [his request]: I pray, he says, O Lord, this people has sinned a great sin, they have made for themselves gods of gold and silver.
et nunc si dimittis eis delictum, dimitte: sin autem, dele me de libro quem scripsisti.
And now if You forgive them their sin, forgive [it]; but if not, blot me out of the book which You have written.
et dixit Dominus ad Moysen: si qui deliquit ante me, deleam eum de libro meo.
And the Lord said to Moses: If anyone has sinned before Me, I will blot him out of My book.
item cum Hieremias pro populo deprecaretur, Dominus ad eum loquitur dicens: et tu noli orare pro populo hoc et noli postulare pro ipsis in prece et oratione, quia non exaudiam in tempore quo inuocabunt me, in tempore adflictionis suae.
Likewise when Jeremiah prayed for the people, the Lord spoke to him, saying: And you, do not pray for this people and do not make request for them in prayer and supplication, because I will not hear in the time when they call upon Me, in the time of their affliction.
Ezechiel quoque hanc eandem denuntiat indignationem Dei eis qui in Deum delinquunt, et fuit, inquit, uerbum Domini ad me dicens: fili ho. minis, terra quaecumque peccauerit mihi ut delinquat delictum, extendam manum meam super eam et obteram ątabilimentum panis et inmittam in eam famem et auferam de ea hominem et pecora.
Ezekiel also denounces this same indignation of God against those who sin against God; and the word of the Lord, he says, came to me saying: Son of man, whatever land shall sin against Me so as to commit a trespass, I will stretch out My hand upon it and break its staff of bread, and I will send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it.
et si fuerint tres uiri hi in medio eius Noe et Danihel et Iob, non liberabunt filios neque filias, ipsi soli salui erunt.
And though these three men should be in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they shall not deliver sons or daughters, but they alone shall be saved.
item in Regnorum. I.: si delinquendo uir peccet aduersus uirum, orabunt pro eo Dominum: si autem in Deum peccet homo, quis orabit pro eo?
Likewise in the First Book of Kings: If a man, by committing a trespass, sin against a man, they shall pray to the Lord for him; but if a man sin against God, who shall pray for him?
§5QVOD SIC IDOLOLATRIAE INDIGNETVR DEVS VT PRAECEPERIT ETIAM EOS INTERFICI QVI SACRIFICARE ET SERVIRE IDOLIS SVASERINT.
In Deuteronomio: quodsi rogauerit te frater tuus aut filius tuus aut filia tua aut uxor tua quae est in sinu tuo aut amicus tuus qui aequalis est animae tuae latenter dicens \'eamus et seruiamus diis aliis, diis gentium, non consenties ei et non exaudies eum et non parcet oculus tuus super eum et non celabiseum, adnuntians adnuntiabis de illo.
THAT GOD IS SO INDIGNANT AT IDOLATRY THAT HE HAS COMMANDED EVEN THOSE TO BE PUT TO DEATH WHO HAVE PERSUADED TO SACRIFICE AND SERVE IDOLS. In Deuteronomy: If your brother, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife who is in your bosom, or your friend who is equal to your own soul, should ask you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods, the gods of the nations,' you shall not consent to him, and you shall not listen to him, neither shall your eye spare him, nor shall you conceal him; declaring, you shall declare concerning him.
manus tua erit super eum in primis interficere eum et manus omnis populi postremo: et lapidabunt eum, et morietur, quoniam quaesiuit auertere te a Domino Deo tuo.
Your hand shall be upon him first to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and they shall stone him, and he shall die, because he sought to turn you away from the Lord your God.
et iterum loquitur Dominus et dicit nec ciuitati parcendum, etiamsi uniuersa consenserit ad idololatriam: aut si audieris in una ex ciuitatibus quas Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi inha bitare te illic dicentes (eamus et seruiamus us diis aliis quos non nostis, interficiens necabis omnes qui sunt in ciuitate caede gladii et incendes ciuitatem igni, et erit sine habitaculo in aeternum.
And again the Lord speaks and says that not even a city is to be spared, even if the whole of it has consented to idolatry: or if you shall hear in one of the cities which the Lord your God will give you to dwell in, them saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods whom you know not,' killing, you shall slay all who are in the city with the edge of the sword, and you shall burn the city with fire, and it shall be without inhabitant forever.
non reaedificabitur etiam nunc, ut auertatur Dominus ab indignatione irae suae.
It shall not be rebuilt even now, that the Lord may turn away from the indignation of His wrath.
et dabit tibi misericordiam et miserebitur tui et multiplicabit te, si audieris uocem Domini Dei tui et obseruaueris praecepta eius.
And He will give you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, if you shall hear the voice of the Lord your God and keep His commandments.
cuius praecepti et uigoris memor Mathathias interfecit eum qui ad aram sacrificaturus accesserat.
Mindful of which commandment and rigor, Mattathias killed him who had approached the altar to sacrifice.
quodsi ante aduentum Christi circa Deum colendum et idola spernenda haec praecepta seruata sunt, quanto magis post aduentum Christi seruanda sunt, quando ille ueniens non uerbis nos hortatus sit sed et factis, post omnes iniurias et contumelias passus quoque et crucifixus, ut nos pati et mori exemplo suo doceret, ut nulla sit homini excusatio pro se non patienti, cum. passus sit ille pro nobis, et cum ille passus sit pro alienis peccatis, multo magis pro peccatis suis pati unumquemque debere.
And if before the coming of Christ these commandments were observed concerning the worship of God and the despising of idols, how much more are they to be observed after the coming of Christ, since He, when He came, exhorted us not by words [only] but also by deeds, having after all injuries and insults also suffered and been crucified, that He might teach us by His example to suffer and to die, so that man might have no excuse for not suffering for himself, since He suffered for us, and since He suffered for others' sins, much more ought everyone to suffer for his own sins.
et ideo comminatur in euangelio et dicit: quicumque confessus fuerit me coram hominibus, et ego confitebor eum coram patre meo qui est in caelis.
And therefore He threatens in the Gospel and says: Whosoever shall confess Me before men, I also will confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
qui autem me negauerit coram hominibus, et ego negabo eum coram patre meo qui est in caelis.
But he who shall deny Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
item apostolus Paulus, si enim commorimur, inquit, et conuiuemus: si toleramus, et conregnabimus: si negamus, et ipse negabit nos.
Likewise the apostle Paul: For if we die with Him, he says, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us.
item Iohannes: qui negat filium neque patrem habet: qui confitetur filium et filium et patrem habet.
Likewise John: He who denies the Son has not the Father either; he who confesses the Son has both the Son and the Father.
unde nos ad contemptum mortis hortatur Dominus et corroborat dicens: nolite, timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possunt occidere.
Wherefore the Lord exhorts us to contempt of death and strengthens us, saying: Fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
magis autem metuite eum qui potest et animam et corpus occidere in gehenna.
But rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
et iterum: qui amat animam suam perdet illam, et qui odit animam suam in isto saeculo in uitam aeternam conseruabit illam.
And again: He who loves his life shall lose it, and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.