Yes [it is even so] ; but let us inquire if the Lord has really given that testament which He swore to the fathers that He would give ^ to the people. He did give it ; but they were not worthy to receive it, on account of their sins. For the prophet declares, " And Moses was fast- ing forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, that he might receive the testament of the Lord for the people." * And he received from the Lord 5 two tables, written in the spirit by the finger of the hand of the Lord. And Moses having received them, carried them down to give to the people. And the Lord said to Moses, " Moses, Moses, go down quickly ; for thy peo- ple hath sinned, whom thou didst bring out of the land of Egypt." ^ And Moses understood that they had again ^ made molten images ; and he threw the tables out of his hands, and the tables of the testament of the Lord were broken. Moses then received it, but they proved them- selves unworthy. Learn now how we have re- ceived it. Moses, as a servant,*^ received it ; but the Lord himself, having suffered in our behalf, hath given it to us, that we should be the people of inheritance. But He was manifested, in order that they might be perfected in their iniquities, and that we, being constituted heirs through Him,9 might receive the testament of the Lord Jesus, who was prepared for this end, that by His personal manifestation, redeeming our hearts (which were already wasted by death, and given over to the iniquity of error) from darkness, He might by His word enter into a covenant with us. For it is written how the Father, about to redeem '° us from darkness, commanded Him to prepare " a holy people for Himself. The prophet therefore declares, " I, the Lord Thy God, have called Thee in righteousness, and will