{"id":"01KJR8Q6G28C67D5Y6PKG1MBC4","cid":"bafkreick7iznfpkzorizzznhipepwaa6zfecb4bb6xzcwbjmrscchxdanq","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":442076,"char_start":434315,"chunk_index":61,"chunk_total":89,"estimated_tokens":1941,"source_file_key":"confessions","text":"might be saved. For as Man, He was a Mediator; but as the Word, not in\r\nthe middle between God and man, because equal to God, and God with God,\r\nand together one God.\r\n\r\nHow hast Thou loved us, good Father, who sparedst not Thine only Son,\r\nbut deliveredst Him up for us ungodly! How hast Thou loved us, for whom\r\nHe that thought it no robbery to be equal with Thee, was made subject\r\neven to the death of the cross, He alone, free among the dead, having\r\npower to lay down His life, and power to take it again: for us to Thee\r\nboth Victor and Victim, and therefore Victor, because the Victim; for\r\nus to Thee Priest and Sacrifice, and therefore Priest because the\r\nSacrifice; making us to Thee, of servants, sons by being born of Thee,\r\nand serving us. Well then is my hope strong in Him, that Thou wilt heal\r\nall my infirmities, by Him Who sitteth at Thy right hand and maketh\r\nintercession for us; else should I despair. For many and great are my\r\ninfirmities, many they are, and great; but Thy medicine is mightier. We\r\nmight imagine that Thy Word was far from any union with man, and despair\r\nof ourselves, unless He had been made flesh and dwelt among us.\r\n\r\nAffrighted with my sins and the burden of my misery, I had cast in my\r\nheart, and had purposed to flee to the wilderness: but Thou forbadest\r\nme, and strengthenedst me, saying, Therefore Christ died for all, that\r\nthey which live may now no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him\r\nthat died for them. See, Lord, I cast my care upon Thee, that I may\r\nlive, and consider wondrous things out of Thy law. Thou knowest my\r\nunskilfulness, and my infirmities; teach me, and heal me. He, Thine only\r\nSon, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, hath\r\nredeemed me with His blood. Let not the proud speak evil of me; because\r\nI meditate on my ransom, and eat and drink, and communicate it; and\r\npoor, desired to be satisfied from Him, amongst those that eat and are\r\nsatisfied, and they shall praise the Lord who seek Him.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBOOK XI\r\n\r\n\r\nLord, since eternity is Thine, art Thou ignorant of what I say to Thee?\r\nor dost Thou see in time, what passeth in time? Why then do I lay in\r\norder before Thee so many relations? Not, of a truth, that Thou mightest\r\nlearn them through me, but to stir up mine own and my readers' devotions\r\ntowards Thee, that we may all say, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be\r\npraised. I have said already; and again will say, for love of Thy\r\nlove do I this. For we pray also, and yet Truth hath said, Your Father\r\nknoweth what you have need of, before you ask. It is then our affections\r\nwhich we lay open unto Thee, confessing our own miseries, and Thy\r\nmercies upon us, that Thou mayest free us wholly, since Thou hast begun,\r\nthat we may cease to be wretched in ourselves, and be blessed in Thee;\r\nseeing Thou hast called us, to become poor in spirit, and meek, and\r\nmourners, and hungering and athirst after righteousness, and merciful,\r\nand pure in heart, and peace-makers. See, I have told Thee many things,\r\nas I could and as I would, because Thou first wouldest that I should\r\nconfess unto Thee, my Lord God. For Thou art good, for Thy mercy\r\nendureth for ever.\r\n\r\nBut how shall I suffice with the tongue of my pen to utter all Thy\r\nexhortations, and all Thy terrors, and comforts, and guidances, whereby\r\nThou broughtest me to preach Thy Word, and dispense Thy Sacrament to Thy\r\npeople? And if I suffice to utter them in order, the drops of time are\r\nprecious with me; and long have I burned to meditate in Thy law, and\r\ntherein to confess to Thee my skill and unskilfulness, the day-break of\r\nThy enlightening, and the remnants of my darkness, until infirmity be\r\nswallowed up by strength. And I would not have aught besides steal away\r\nthose hours which I find free from the necessities of refreshing my body\r\nand the powers of my mind, and of the service which we owe to men, or\r\nwhich though we owe not, we yet pay.\r\n\r\nO Lord my God, give ear unto my prayer, and let Thy mercy hearken unto\r\nmy desire: because it is anxious not for myself alone, but would serve\r\nbrotherly charity; and Thou seest my heart, that so it is. I would\r\nsacrifice to Thee the service of my thought and tongue; do Thou give me,\r\nwhat I may offer Thee. For I am poor and needy, Thou rich to all that\r\ncall upon Thee; Who, inaccessible to care, carest for us. Circumcise\r\nfrom all rashness and all lying both my inward and outward lips: let\r\nThy Scriptures be my pure delights: let me not be deceived in them, nor\r\ndeceive out of them. Lord, hearken and pity, O Lord my God, Light of the\r\nblind, and Strength of the weak; yea also Light of those that see, and\r\nStrength of the strong; hearken unto my soul, and hear it crying out of\r\nthe depths. For if Thine ears be not with us in the depths also, whither\r\nshall we go? whither cry? The day is Thine, and the night is Thine; at\r\nThy beck the moments flee by. Grant thereof a space for our meditations\r\nin the hidden things of Thy law, and close it not against us who knock.\r\nFor not in vain wouldest Thou have the darksome secrets of so many pages\r\nwritten; nor are those forests without their harts which retire therein\r\nand range and walk; feed, lie down, and ruminate. Perfect me, O\r\nLord, and reveal them unto me. Behold, Thy voice is my joy; Thy voice\r\nexceedeth the abundance of pleasures. Give what I love: for I do love;\r\nand this hast Thou given: forsake not Thy own gifts, nor despise Thy\r\ngreen herb that thirsteth. Let me confess unto Thee whatsoever I shall\r\nfind in Thy books, and hear the voice of praise, and drink in Thee,\r\nand meditate on the wonderful things out of Thy law; even from the\r\nbeginning, wherein Thou madest the heaven and the earth, unto the\r\neverlasting reigning of Thy holy city with Thee.\r\n\r\nLord, have mercy on me, and hear my desire. For it is not, I deem, of\r\nthe earth, not of gold and silver, and precious stones, or gorgeous\r\napparel, or honours and offices, or the pleasures of the flesh, or\r\nnecessaries for the body and for this life of our pilgrimage: all which\r\nshall be added unto those that seek Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness.\r\nBehold, O Lord my God, wherein is my desire. The wicked have told me of\r\ndelights, but not such as Thy law, O Lord. Behold, wherein is my desire.\r\nBehold, Father, behold, and see and approve; and be it pleasing in the\r\nsight of Thy mercy, that I may find grace before Thee, that the inward\r\nparts of Thy words be opened to me knocking. I beseech by our Lord Jesus\r\nChrist Thy Son, the Man of Thy right hand, the Son of man, whom Thou\r\nhast established for Thyself, as Thy Mediator and ours, through Whom\r\nThou soughtest us, not seeking Thee, but soughtest us, that we might\r\nseek Thee,--Thy Word, through Whom Thou madest all things, and among\r\nthem, me also;--Thy Only-Begotten, through Whom Thou calledst to\r\nadoption the believing people, and therein me also;--I beseech Thee by\r\nHim, who sitteth at Thy right hand, and intercedeth with Thee for us,\r\nin Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. These do\r\nI seek in Thy books. Of Him did Moses write; this saith Himself; this\r\nsaith the Truth.\r\n\r\nI would hear and understand, how \"In the Beginning Thou madest the\r\nheaven and earth.\" Moses wrote this, wrote and departed, passed hence\r\nfrom Thee to Thee; nor is he now before me. For if he were, I would hold\r\nhim and ask him, and beseech him by Thee to open these things unto me,\r\nand would lay the ears of my body to the sounds bursting out of his\r\nmouth. And should he speak Hebrew, in vain will it strike on my senses,\r\nnor would aught of it touch my mind; but if Latin, I should know what\r\nhe said. But whence should I know, whether he spake truth? Yea, and if\r\nI knew this also, should I know it from him?"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJR8NK5DAD726FMQ6JCHGZ5R","peer_label":"confessions","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJR8M0JHPZXCPKJ34HTYXSWW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJR8RZEGZE74XJQZM4ZA0AJY","peer_label":"moses","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"prophet","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:45.249Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8R6MXBB77VJ5764909QAM","peer_label":"time","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"entity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:45.249Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8S626Q5SE0A09RTWDXTFQ","peer_label":"the 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