excuses

¹⁸And at once they all began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a farm, and I need to go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ ¹⁹And another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you to excuse me.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and therefore I am not able to go.’

¹⁰Moses said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and slowness of tongue.” ¹¹The Lord said to him: “Who made the mouth of man? And who has formed the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I? ¹²Go on, therefore, and I will be in your mouth. And I will teach you what you shall say.” ¹³But he said, “I beg you, O Lord, send whomever else you would send.” ¹⁴The Lord, being angry at Moses, said: “Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he is eloquent. Behold, he is going out to meet you, and seeing you, he will rejoice in heart.

⁵⁹Then he said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him: “Let the dead bury their dead. But you go and announce the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹And another said: “I will follow you, Lord. But permit me first to explain this to those of my house.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

⁴And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁵“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.” ⁶And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a boy.” ⁷And the Lord said to me: “Do not choose to say, ‘I am a boy.’ For you shall go forth to everyone to whom I will send you. And you shall speak all that I will command you. ⁸You should not be afraid before their face. For I am with you, so that I may deliver you,” says the Lord. ⁹And the Lord put forth his hand, and he touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have placed my words in your mouth.

¹³And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹For this reason, O man, each one of you who judges is inexcusable. For by that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you do the same things that you judge.

²⁰For unseen things about him have been made conspicuous, since the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made; likewise his everlasting virtue and divinity, so much so that they have no excuse.

¹²And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”

²¹Then another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

¹Responding, Moses said, “They will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice, but they will say: ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

¹For this reason, O man, each one of you who judges is inexcusable. For by that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you do the same things that you judge. ²For we know that the judgment of God is in accord with truth against those who do such things. ³But, O man, when you judge those who do such things as you yourself also do, do you think that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and patience and forbearance? Do you not know that the kindness of God is calling you to repentance? ⁵But in accord with your hard and impenitent heart, you store up wrath for yourself, unto the day of wrath and of revelation by the just judgment of God. ⁶For he will render to each one according to his works:

¹⁸And at once they all began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a farm, and I need to go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹²the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.” ¹³And Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴And the Lord looked down upon him, and he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.” ¹⁵And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.” ¹⁶And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.” ¹⁷And he said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.