Chapter XXXVII.—Utterances of the Father.
And that this too may be clear to you, there were spoken from the person of the Father
through Isaiah the prophet, the following words: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass
his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, and My people hath not understood. Woe, sinful
nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, children that are transgressors, ye have forsaken
the Lord.”77 And again elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks in like manner from the
person of the Father, “What is the house that ye will build for Me? saith the Lord. The
heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.”78 And again, in another place, “Your
new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth; and the great day of the fast and of ceasing
from labour I cannot away with; nor, if ye come to be seen of Me, will I hear you: your hands
are full of blood; and if ye bring fine flour, incense, it is abomination unto Me: the fat of
lambs and the blood of bulls I do not desire. For who hath required this at your hands? But
loose every bond of wickedness, tear asunder the tight knots of violent contracts, cover the
houseless and naked, deal thy bread to the hungry.”79 What kind of things are taught through
the prophets from [the person of] God, you can now perceive.
77 Isa. i. 3. This quotation varies only in one word from that of the LXX.
78 Isa. lxvi. 1.
79 Isa. i. 14, Isa. lviii. 6.
Chapter XXXVII.—Utterances of the Father.
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Chapter XXXVII.—Utterances of the Father.