And he means, as it appears to me, by this expression, everything in the world, the heaven, the earth, the water, the air, and all animals, and all plants. For to every one of them, he who directs all the energies of his soul towards God, and who looks to him alone as Genesis xiv. 22. the only source from which he can hope for advantage, may fitly say—I will take nothing that is yours; I will not receive from the sun the light of day, nor by night will I receive light from the moon or from the other stars, nor rain from the air and from the clouds, nor meat and drink from the earth and from the water, nor the power of sight from the eyes, nor the faculty of hearing from the ears, nor that of smelling from the nostrils, nor from the palate in the mouth the sense of taste, nor the faculty of speaking from the tongue, nor the power of giving and taking from the hands, nor that of approaching and of retreating from the feet, nor that of breathing from the lungs, nor that of digesting from the liver, nor from the other internal organs of the body the power of exciting the energies which belong to them, nor the yearly produce from trees and seeds; but I will look upon every thing as proceeding from the only wise God, who extends his own beneficial powers in every direction, and who by their agency benefits me.

He then who can thus look upon the living God, and who thus comprehends the nature of the cause of all things, honours the things of which he is the cause in a secondary degree to himself; while at the same time he confesses their importance though without flattering them. And this confession is most just: I will receive nothing from you, but everything from God, to whom all things belong, though perhaps the benefits may be bestowed through the medium of you; for ye are instruments to minister to his everlasting graces.

But man, who is devoid of any consideration, who is blinded as to his mind, by which alone the living God is comprehensible, does, by means of that mind, never see anything anywhere, but sees all the bodies which are in the world by his own outward senses, which he looks upon as the causes of all things which exist.

On which account, beginning to make gods for himself, he has filled the world with images and statues, and innumerable other representations, made out of all kinds of different materials, fashioned by painters and statuaries, whom the lawgiver banished to a distance from his state, proposing both publicly and privately great rewards and surpassing honours to them, by which conduct he has brought about a contrary result to that which he intended, namely, impiety instead of religion.

For the worship of many gods in the souls of ignorant people is mere impiety; and they who deify mortal things neglect the honour due to God; who are not content with making images of the sun and of the moon to the extent of their inclination, and of all the earth, and of all the water, but they even gave beasts and plants devoid of reason a share in those honours, which belonged of right only to immortal beings. And he, reproving them, began a song of victory as has here been shown.