Moralitates

The Ten Lepers Cleansed

Jesus heals ten lepers on the road to Jerusalem, yet only the Samaritan returns to give thanks.

According to Luke, it happened that while Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing through the middle of Samaria and Galilee.^✦ And when he was entering a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him.^✦ They stood there and raised their voices, saying, 'Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us!'^✦ . When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.'^✦ And it happened that as they went, they were cleansed.^✦ But one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, returned with a loud voice, glorifying God, and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks — and this one was a Samaritan.^✦ Jesus answered and said, 'Were not ten cleansed?'^✦

The Faith of the Stranger

Jesus marvels that only the foreigner returned to glorify God and declares that his faith has saved him.

And the nine — where are they?^✦ No one has been found who would return and give glory to God — except this stranger.^✦ And he said to him: 'Rise, go, for your faith has made you well.'^✦

The Preacher's Humble Confession

After restating the Gospel scene, the preacher confesses his sinfulness and insufficiency, yet bows with Philippians 2:10 to serve the Creator's praise by the Spirit's grace.

It happened that while Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing through the middle of Samaria and Galilee.^✦ And as he was entering a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him.^✦ And the rest. Dearest brothers! Because, alas, I heaped up sins from my mother's womb and added them frequently from the very beginnings of my growing years, and I refused to imitate the celibate life of the angels — a transgressor of God's commandments — I am not able to expound the word of God as would be fitting. But because at the name of Jesus every knee is bowed — of heavenly beings, earthly beings, and those below — therefore my understanding, though insufficient, with knee humbled, will serve the praise of so great and magnificent a Creator, so that the words I have undertaken from the holy gospel may be set forth through my weakness by the grace of the Holy Spirit working with me.^✦ In whose kindly aspiration may you be able to receive what I am not able to declare worthily in eloquent speech.

The Road to the Vision of Peace

The preacher unfolds the allegorical meaning of Jerusalem, Samaria, and Galilee as the mystery of the Incarnation and Christ's passage through our fallen world.

So I return to the words of the holy Gospel set before us, those of blessed Luke, who writes: "It came to pass that Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem."^✦ This Jerusalem is interpreted as 'the vision of peace,' and that vision of peace had been foreordained within God's own being, to make peace between God's anger and the human race. It was in this merciful gaze, this look of compassion from God, that the Son — who is the Word of the Father — was sent, and having been made flesh by the Holy Spirit, he passed through the middle of Samaria, which is interpreted as 'the wool of the Lord,' or 'the joining of the Lord,' or 'guardian,' or 'the one who guards the Lord.'^✦ For when he took flesh from the Virgin, he joined our humanity with his divinity — because just as wool receives water and releases it without being spoiled, so the Virgin conceived and bore a Son without any corruption. And in the joining of humanity with divinity, our human nature was not swallowed up by the divine, but was made glorious — according to the word of John: 'I have given them glory.'^✦ She was a guardian, or rather one who kept watch over the Lord — according to the passage in Luke: 'But Mary kept all these words, turning them over in her heart.'^✦ This is the wool that wrapped our humanity together with divinity — when she said, 'I am the handmaid of the Lord.'^✦ And Galilee — which is interpreted as 'wheel,' or 'turning,' or 'crossing over,' or 'passing through' — this passing through Galilee is made clearly visible to us in the fact that when the light and splendor of the whole created world passed through the golden gate of the Virgin, that is, when he was born of the Virgin, he entered into the turning wheel of our misery (as Job says: it never stays in the same state), passing through death so that he might pass through death into life.^✦

The Village of This World

The village signifies the proud, sinful world, and the ten lepers represent the human race stained by transgression of the ten commandments.

And as he was entering a certain village,^✦ The village he entered signifies this present world. For this world had fortified itself as a stronghold and had raised up a tower of pride against the divine majesty — namely, the tower of Babel, just as in Genesis: "Let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches all the way to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves."^✦ And understand that city of Babylon, that great prostitute, as surrounded by seven walls, which were the seven deadly sins encircling that same city.^✦¹ These sins are figured by the seven heads of the beast that John saw in the Apocalypse, where he says, "I saw a beast having seven heads."^✦ Ten men with leprosy came to meet him.^✦ The ten men with leprosy who came to meet him signify the human race, which was stained with the leprosy of sin by sinning against the ten commandments of God.^✦ And in representing the ten lepers who came to meet him, it also signified that there was no doctor there who could heal them.

Standing Afar and Crying for Mercy

The lepers' distant stance and loud cry for mercy reveal the sinner's posture and the healing that comes only from Christ the true High Priest.

And so they were also called men, because they had the strength to turn away from sin. But sadly, many who have abandoned that strength fall asleep in sloth and numbness, sunk in their sins, not caring to run out to meet the Lord and seek healing for their souls. They stood at a distance, because salvation is far from sinners, just as in the Gospel of Luke: the tax collector, standing far off, did not presume to lift his eyes to heaven.^✦ And they lifted their voice as if toward a heavenly physician, because no earthly doctor could heal them, and lifting up the voice is nothing other than a kind of pleading intercession for what is owed. They said, 'Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us.'^✦ They themselves proclaimed him Teacher under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, whose kingdom and dominion endure without end, who was the witness of the Father to his beloved Son. And they begged for mercy, saying, 'Have mercy on us,' and he saved them in their faith.^✦ When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests' — not that he lacked the power over them, but so that he might honor the dignity of the priests, since he himself was the high priest. Yet he had not yet offered the true sacrifice, that is, his most sacred body on the altar of the cross. He intended to save souls from the leprosy of sin before saving bodies, and so he sent them to the priests, to show themselves to them. He had taken on the leprosy of our humanity in himself, and he willed to heal our leprosy and sin through his passion and his blood.^✦

Obedience, Cleansing, and the Grateful Foreigner

Their obedience brings cleansing, and the returning Samaritan prefigures Christ, the guardian who alone gives glory to God.

And it came to pass as they went: by this, in an example of salvation, their obedience is shown.^✦ They were cleansed: here the abundance of divine grace is shown.^✦ But one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, returned with a loud voice, glorifying God, and fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks; and this Samaritan, who is interpreted as 'wool' or 'joining' or 'guardian' or 'guarding.'^✦ This Samaritan signifies Christ, who joined divinity with humanity, the guardian of divinity and the one guarding humanity. But Jesus answered and said: 'Were not ten cleansed?^✦ And where are the nine?'^✦ No one was found who returned and gave glory to God except this foreigner?'^✦ In this foreigner the person of Christ is represented.

The Tenth Choir and the New Adam

The nine choirs of angels and the tenth divine essence reveal why only the incarnate Son gave thanks, leading humanity back to paradise as the new Adam.

For there are nine choirs of angels, and a tenth belongs to the divine essence, from which essence the Son of God proceeded, who is the Word of the Father, and took on our fragile flesh, becoming a leper for our sake, for he himself bore our infirmities, as the prophet says: we regarded him as one stricken, struck down by God and humbled, and he carried our bodily weakness with him, until he would glorify it in his resurrection.^✦ For this glory the one who was a foreigner alone gave thanks to the Father, since he was not from the ranks of angels or from our own. And yet we, who are sons of Adam, whom the heavenly Father created to refill the nine choirs of angels — even though we had been healed with him in his passion from leprosy by God, and were awaiting, just as we await today, everlasting dwellings there — none of us gave thanks to God the Father for our healing, except the only Son of God alone, who was a foreigner from the tenth choir of the divine essence.^✦ Let the heretic now say: 'Why did the Father not send the Word from his stronghold — that is, the Son — to heal the leprosy of fallen angels, as he did for human beings?' And let the judge answer: 'They saw the divine essence itself, and though deceived, they were not corrupted — they lacked human weakness. But human nature, begun in Adam's frailty, did not see divinity directly; rather, it saw God in the likeness of human flesh, and through the serpent's temptation broke his commandment and bore the penalty appointed by God for it. Yet the transgressor, with all his offspring, was not worthy to repair the violation of God's commandment. Therefore God provided for restoration through his Son, in whose likeness he had created humanity, and whom he willed to be born of a human being — that is, to take a human body from the Virgin — who has called us all into his glory, according to the word of John: "The glory that you gave me I have given them, so that they may be one, even as we are one."^✦ And when he had passed through Samaria and taken on the garment of wool of our humanity, and had crossed through Galilee — that is, through the restless turning of this world — he led with him the captivity of our humanity as a captive.^✦ And just as with the old Adam the human race was driven from the earthly paradise because of guilt, so with this new Adam it was brought back into the heavenly paradise by grace.^✦

The Vision of Eternal Peace

Before entering earthly Jerusalem, Christ beheld with the Father and the Spirit the heavenly Jerusalem, the vision of eternal peace where every tear is wiped away.

And this grace of the vision of peace he had foreseen with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the heavenly Jerusalem — which truly is the vision of eternal peace, where God wipes away every tear, so that there is no longer any mourning or pain; this is in the sublimity of the heavenly mystery — before he entered into earthly Jerusalem.^✦

The Love That Alone Gives Thanks

The ten commandments are summed up in the love of God, which alone truly gives thanks, for it is a spiritual love that hates the world and abides in God.

It can also be put another way: 'Were not ten made clean?' and so on.^✦ There are ten commandments of God; nine commandments are contained in the tenth commandment, that is, in the love of God. And that love or charity alone gives thanks to God and earns grace from the Lord, as the Apostle says: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am nothing.^✦ According to the commandment of love of neighbor, there is counsel that is fitting to the flesh; it was sufficient, rather, in the love of God — because the one who commands the spirit commands the body too, for whoever truly loves God also loves God's creation, and all things work together for good for that person, and abiding perfectly in that love of God, they never stop giving thanks to God.^✦ And so the love of God alone gives thanks, because it is something foreign and not from our own doors — because whoever loves God hates this world and is not of the world; that is why the world hates them, because it hated God first.^✦ And so this commandment is spiritual, and greater than all the others — 'the greatest of these is love.' The other commandments are counsels for the flesh, which even the Gentiles hold and follow, not for God's sake but for the sake of flesh and blood: they love their neighbor, they shun murder, they do not steal, because it is a law of nature: 'what you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to another.'^✦

Read the original Latin

Secundum Lucam Factum est, dum iret Iesus in Ierusalem, transibat per mediam Samariam et Galileam. Et cum ingrederetur quoddam castellum, occurrerunt ei decem viri leprosi. Qui steterunt et levaverunt vocem dicentes “Iesu preceptor, miserere nostri!” . Quos ut vidit, dixit: “Ite, ostendite vos sacerdotibus”. Et factum est dum irent, mundati sunt. Unus autem ex illis, ut vidit, quia mundatus est, regressus est cum magna voce magnificans Deum, et cecidit in faciem ante pedes eius gracias agens – et hic Samaritanus. Respondens autem Iesus dixit: “Nonne decem mundati sunt?

Et novem ubi sunt? Non est inventus, qui rediret et daret gloriam Deo nisi hic alienigena? Et ait illi: “Surge, vade, quia fides tua te salvum fecit.”

Factum est, dum iret Iesus in Ierusalem, transibat per mediam Samariam et Galileam. Et cum ingrederetur quoddam castellum, occurrerunt ei decem viri leprosi. Et reliqua.

Fratres carissimi! Quia peccata, prochdolor, accumulans ab utero matris mee et ineuntis etatis primordiis adauxi frequenter et vitam celibem angelorum imitari nolui, mandatorum Dei transgressor, verbum Dei exponere, prout deceret, non valeo. Sed quia in nomine Iesu omne genu flectitur celestium, terrestrium et infernorum, ideoque intellectus meus, quamvis insufficiens, humiliato genu laudi tanti magnifici Creatoris deserviet, ut verba preassumpta sancti evangelii inbecillitate mea Spiritus sancti cooperante gracia exponantur. In cuius asspiracione benigna valeatis suscipere, quod sermone diserto non digne valeo declarare.

Igitur ad premissa sancti evangelii verba recurro beati Luce, qui dicit Factum est, dum iret Iesus in Ierusalem. Ista Ierusalem interpretatur “visio pacis”, que visio pacis preordinata erat aput divinitatem ad pacificandum iram Dei contra humanum genus. In quo aspectu seu visu misericordie Dei fuit missus Filius, qui est Verbum Patris, et incarnatus ex Spiritu sancto transibat per mediam Samariam, que interpretatur “lana Domini” vel “coniunccio Domini” seu “custos” vel ”custodiens Dominum”. Nam dum assumpsit carnem ex Virgine, coniunxit deitatem cum humanitate, quia sicut lana aquam suscipit et remittit incorrupta, sic Virgo Filium concepit et peperit sine corrupcione. Et in coniunccione humanitatis cum deitate non est ipsa humanitas a deitate confusa, sed clarificata secundum illud Iohannis “claritatem dedi eis”. Custos autem aut custodiens fuit Maria secundum illud Luce Maria autem conservabat omnia verba hec conferens in corde suo. Que lana sua contexit humanitatem cum deitate, cum dixit se ancillam Domini. – Et Galileam, que Galilea “rota” vel “volubilis” sive “transmeans” aut “transmigracio” interpretatur, Transitus iste per Galileam nobis clare ostenditur in eo, cum transisset per auream portam Virginis lux et decus universe fabrice mundi, hoc est: cum de Virgine nasceretur, intravit in volubilitate rote nostre miserie (ut Iob: numquam in eodem statu permanet) transmeans per mortem, ut transmigraret per mortem in vitam.

Et cum ingrederetur quoddam castellum. Castellum autem, in quod ingressus est, signat mundum istum. Nam iste mundus firmaverat sibi castrum, et contra divinam maiestatem erexerat turrim superbie, videlicet turrim Babel, prout in Genesi: Faciamus nobis civitatem et turrim, cuius culmen pertingat usque ad celum, et celebremus nostrum nomen. Et civitatem Babilon, illam magnam meretricem, intellige circumdata septem muris, qui erant septem peccata mortalia, que eandem civitatem circuibant. Que peccata per septem capita bestie figurantur, quam vidit Iohannes in Apocalipsi dicens: Vidi bestiam habentem capita septem. Occurrerunt ei decem viri leprosi. Decem viri leprosi, qui occurrerunt ei, significant humanum genus, quod maculatum erat lepra peccati peccando contra decem precepta Dei. Et in hoc representaret decem leprosos, qui occurrerunt ei, quia ibi non erat medicus, qui curaret eos.

Et ideo quoque dicti sunt viri, quia virilitatem habebant recedendi a peccato. Sed heu multi derelicta virilitate in pigricia et torpore obdormiunt in peccatis non curantes currere Domino obviam animarum querendo sanitatem. Qui steterunt a longe: quoniam longe a peccatoribus salus, prout in ewangelio Luce: Stans a longe publicanus non presumebat nec oculos suos ad celum levare etc. Et levaverunt vocem quasi ad celestem medicum, quia de terris medicus eos sanare non poterat, nec aliud est vocis elevacio nisi quedam suffragii postulacio de premiis. Dicentes “Iesu preceptor, miserere nostri”. Ipsi evangelizaverunt eum preceptorem in aspiracione Spiritus sancti, cuius regnum et imperium sine fine permanet, qui testis Patris fuit dilecti sui Filii. Et pecierunt misericordiam dicentes “miserere nostri”, et in fide eorum salvavit eos. Quos ut vidit, dixit: “Ite, ostendite vos sacerdotibus,” non quia ipse in eos potestatem non haberet, sed ut sacerdotum dignitatem honoraret, qui summus sacerdos erat, sed veram hostiam adhuc non ymmolaverat, scilicet suum sacratissimum corpus in ara crucis, qui intendebat prius animas a lepra peccati salvare quam corpora, et ideo misit eos ad sacerdotes, ut se eis ostenderent, qui lepram humanitatis in se assumpserat et voluit in passione et saguine suo humanitatis nostre lepram peccatumque sanare.

Et factum est dum irent: per hoc in salutis exemplum insinuatur eorum obediencia. Mundati sunt: hic ostenditur divine gracie affluencia. Unus autem ex illis, ut vidit, quia mundatus est, regressus est cum magna voce magnificans Deum et cecidit in faciem ante pedes eius gracias agens; et hic Samaritanus, qui interpretatur lana vel coniunccio seu custos aut custodiens. Iste Samaritanus significat Cristum, qui coniunxit divinitatem cum humanitate, custos divinitatis et custodiens humanitatem. Respondens autem Iesus dixit: “Nonne decem mundati sunt? Et novem ubi sunt? Non est inventus, qui rediret et daret gloriam Deo, nisi hic alienigena?” In hoc alienigena representatur Cristi persona.

Nam novem sunt chori angelorum et decimus divine essencie, de qua essencia processit Filius Dei, qui est Verbum Patris, et assumpsit fragilitatis nostre carnem factus leprosus propter nos, nam languores nostros ipse portavit (ut ait propheta), reputavimus eum tamquam leprosum et percussum a Deo et humiliatum, et ipsam carnalem nostram infirmitatem nobiscum portavit, donec clarificaret eam in sua resurreccione. Pro qua claritate gracias Patri egit solus, qui alienigena erat nec de foribus angelorum vel nostris. Actamen nos, qui sumus filii Ade, quos creavit Pater celestis ad reimplendum novem choros angelorum, quamvis sanati fuissemus cum eo in passione sua a lepra per Deum, et expectaremus, sicut hodie expectamus, inibi mansiones perpetuas, nullus nostrum reddidit grates Deo Patri pro sanitate nostra nisi ipse solus Filius Dei, qui erat alienigena de decimo choro divine essencie. Dicat nunc hereticus: “Cur Pater ab arce non misit Verbum, id est Filium, ad sanandam lepram malorum angelorum sicut hominum?” Et respondeat iudex: “Ipsi divinam essenciam viderunt, seducti non fuerunt, corrupcione caruerunt, humana vero natura in fragilitate Ade incepta divinitatem non vidit, sed in similitudine humani generis Deum vidit, preceptum ipsius ex animali seduccione infregit ac penam pro eo a Deo deputatam portavit, nec tamen ipse transgressor cum semine suo dignus fuit reparare mandati Dei transgressionem. Ideo providit Deus de reparacione per Filium suum, ad cuius similitudinem hominem creaverat, quem voluit ex homine nasci, id est de Virgine corpus humanum assumere, qui in suam claritatem nos omnes vocavit secundum illud Iohannis claritatem, quam dedisti michi, dedi eis, ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus. Et cum transivisset per Samariam et assumpsisset vestitum de lana humanitatis nostre, et pertransisset Galileam, scilicet per volubilitatem istius mundi, captivam duxit secum nostre humanitatis captivitatem. Et sicut cum veteri Adam genus humanum de paradiso terrestri fuit expulsum ex culpa, sic cum isto Adam novo fuit in paradisum celestem reductum ex gracia.

Et hanc graciam visionis pacis previderat cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in celesti Ierusalem, que vere est visio pacis eterne, ubi Deus omnem abstergit lacrimam, ut non sit amplius luctus neque dolor, hoc est in sublimitate archani celestis, priusquam in terrenam Ierusalem introiret.

Aliter eciam potest dici Nonne decem mundati sunt etc. : Decem sunt precepta Dei, IX precepta in decimo precepto, scilicet in dileccione Dei, comprehenduntur. Et illa dileccio sive caritas sola refert gracias Deo, et graciam a Domino promeretur, ut ait Apostolus: Si liguis hominum loquar et angelorum, caritatem autem non habeam, nichil sum. Secundum preceptum dileccionis proximi est adeo consilium carni; sufficiebat enim in dileccione Dei, quia qui precipit spiritui, precipit et carni, nam qui Deum vere diligit, diligit et creaturam Dei et omnia ei cooperantur in bonum, et in ipsa dileccione Dei perfecte manendo non desinit referre gracias Deo. Et ideo sola dileccio Dei refert gracias, quia alienigena est nec de foribus nostris, quia qui Deum diligit, hunc mundum odit et non est de mundo; ideo mundus habet eum odio, quia Deum priorem odio habuit. Et ideo spirituale est istud preceptum et maius omnibus secundum illud horum autem maior est caritas, alia autem precepta sunt consilia carni, que eciam gentiles tenent et secuntur non propter Deum, sed propter carnem et saguinem: diligunt proximum, fugiunt homicidium, non furantur, quia ius naturale est “quod tibi non vis, alteri non feceris”.

Scripture echoes

↩Luke.17.11 — And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
↩Luke.17.12 — And as he was entering a village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance.
↩Luke.17.13 — They raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
↩Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.17.15-Luke.17.16 — But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Luke.17.16 — and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him; and he was a Samaritan.
↩Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?"
↩Luke.17.11-Luke.17.19 — And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Luke.17.12 — And as he was entering a village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance. Luke.17.13 — They raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. Luke.17.15 — But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Luke.17.16 — and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him; and he was a Samaritan. Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?" Luke.17.18 — Were none found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner? Luke.17.19 — And he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has saved you.'
↩Luke.17.18 — Were none found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?
↩Luke.17.19 — And he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has saved you.'
↩Luke.17.11 — And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
↩Luke.17.12 — And as he was entering a village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance.
↩Phil.2.10 — so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
↩Luke.9.51 — When the days of his being taken up were fulfilled, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
↩Luke.9.52 — And he sent messengers ahead of him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him.
↩John.17.22 — And the glory that you have given me I have given to them, so that they may be one, just as we are one.
↩Luke.2.19 — But Mary treasured all these words, turning them over in her heart.
↩Luke.1.38 — And Mary said, 'Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.
↩Job.14.1-Job.14.2 — Man, born of woman, is short of days and full of turmoil. Job.14.2 — Like a flower he comes forth and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not remain.
↩Luke.10.38 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
↩Gen.11.4 — Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
↩Rev.17.1-Rev.17.5 — And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters.' Rev.17.2 — with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality. Rev.17.3 — And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. Rev.17.4 — And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. Rev.17.5 — And on her forehead a name was written: a mystery — Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.
↩Rev.13.1 — And I stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten crowns, and upon its heads names of blasphemy.
↩Luke.17.12 — And as he was entering a village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance.
↩Luke.17.12-Luke.17.14 — And as he was entering a village, ten leprous men met him, who stood at a distance. Luke.17.13 — They raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.18.13 — But the tax collector, standing far off, was not even willing to lift his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner.'
↩Luke.17.13 — They raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
↩Luke.17.14-Luke.17.19 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. Luke.17.15 — But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Luke.17.16 — and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him; and he was a Samaritan. Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?" Luke.17.18 — Were none found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner? Luke.17.19 — And he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has saved you.'
↩Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.17.14 — And when he saw them, he said to them, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed.
↩Luke.17.15-Luke.17.16 — But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Luke.17.16 — and he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him; and he was a Samaritan.
↩Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?"
↩Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?"
↩Luke.17.18 — Were none found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?
↩Isa.53.4-Isa.53.5 — And Surely he carried our sicknesses and bore our pains, yet we considered him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted. Isa.53.5 — But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
↩John.14.2 — In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you? I go to prepare a place for you.
↩John.17.22 — And the glory that you have given me I have given to them, so that they may be one, just as we are one.
↩Eph.4.8;Ps.68.19 — Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men.' Ps.68.19 — You ascended on high; you led captivity captive; you received gifts among people — even from the rebellious — so that Yah, God, might dwell there.
↩Rom.5.12-Rom.5.21 — Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and so death spread to all people, because all sinned— Rom.5.13 — For sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Rom.5.14 — Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the one who was to come. Rom.5.15 — But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the trespass of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. Rom.5.16 — And the gift is not like what came through the one who sinned. For the judgment following one trespass led to condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses led to justification. Rom.5.17 — For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Rom.5.18 — So then, just as through one trespass there was condemnation for all people, so also through one act of righteousness there was justification leading to life for all people. Rom.5.19 — For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Rom.5.20 — The law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Rom.5.21 — so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
↩Rev.21.4 — And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more; neither mourning, nor crying, nor pain will be any more, for the former things have passed away.
↩Luke.17.17 — Jesus answered, "Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?"
↩1Cor.13.1 — If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
↩Rom.8.28 — And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good — for those who are called according to his purpose.
↩John.15.18-John.15.19 — If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. John.15.19 — If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
↩1Cor.13.13 — And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Notes

1 ↩meretricem renders the harlot figure of Revelation 17; the moral reading identifies Babylon with the world-system of mortal sin.

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