XXIX.—To the Wicked and Unbelieving Rich Man.

Thou wilt, O rich man, by insatiably looking too much to all thy wealth, squander those things to which thou art still seeking to cling.  Thou sayest, I do not hope when dead to live after such things as these.  O ungrateful to the great God, who thus judgest thyself to be a god; to Him who, when thou knewest nothing of it, brought thee forth, and then nourished thee.  He governs thy meadows; He, thy vineyards; He, thy herd of cattle; and He, whatever thou possessest.  Nor dost thou give heed to these things; or thou, perchance, rulest all things.  He who made the sky, and the earth, and the salt seas, decreed to give us back again ourselves in a golden age.  And only if thou believest, thou livest in the secret of God.  Learn God, O foolish man, who wishes thee to be immortal, that thou mayest give Him eternal thanks in thy struggle.  His own law teaches thee; but since thou seekest to wander, thou disbelievest all things, and thence thou shalt go into hell.  By and by thou givest up thy life; thou shalt be taken where it grieveth thee to be:  there the spiritual punishment, which is eternal, is undergone; there are always wailings:  nor dost thou absolutely die therein—there at length too late proclaiming the omnipotent God.

XXIX.---DIVITI INCREDULO MALO.

Differes, dives, nimium tua cuncta videndo Insatiabiliter, quibus adhuc adhaerere quaeris. Vivere post ista, dicis, non spero defunctus. Ingrate summo Deo, qui sic Deum judicas esse; Te qui nesciente protulit, deinde nutrivit: Ipse prata tua gubernat, vineas ipse, Ipse gregem pecorum, et quidquid possides ipse. Nec istis attendis, aut tu regis omnia forte. Coelum hoc et terram et maria salsa qui fecit, 0223B Reddere decrevit nos ipsos in aureo saeclo; Et modo si credis, vivitur in Dei secreto. Disce Deum, stulte, qui vult te immortalem adesse, Ut gratias illi referas in agone perennes. Lex docet ipsius, sed quia vagari tu quaeris, Omnia discredis, et inde in tartaros ibis: Mox animam reddis, duceris quo te poenitet esse. Adluitur ibi poena spiritalis aeterna; Lugia sunt semper, nec permoreris in illa, Omnipotentem Deum jam nunc ibi sero proclamans.