20 Instead of this, thou hast nourished thy people with the food of angels, and hast sent unto them, those who have not labored, bread ready from heaven, which had every pleasantness according to the taste of every one.

21 For the quality of Thy food showed Thy love for children, and to the satisfaction of the desire of the eater was changed according to the taste of each.

22 And the snow and the ice withstood the fire, and did not melt, that they might know that the fire that burned in the hail, and resplendent in the rains, consumed the fruit of the enemies.

23 But the same fire, that the righteous might be nourished, lost its power.

24 For the creature, serving Thee the Creator, strives to punish the wicked, and is quiet for the benefit of those who believe in Thee.

25 Wherefore even then, being changed in all things, she obeyed thy grace, which nourisheth all, according to the desire of those in need,

26 that thy sons, whom thou hast loved, O Lord, may know that it is not the generations of fruit that nourish man, but that thy word preserves them that believe in thee.

27 For that which was not damaged by fire, being warmed by a weak ray of the sun, immediately melted away,

28 that it may be known that the sun should warn Thee with thanksgiving, and turn to Thee to the east of the world.

29 For the hope of the ungrateful shall melt away like the frost of winter, and shall pour out like worthless water.

Chapter 17

1 Great and incomprehensible are thy judgments, wherefore untaught souls have gone astray.

2 For the wicked, who plotted to oppress the holy people, the prisoners of darkness, and the captives of the long night, shut themselves up in their houses, hid themselves from the eternal Providence.

3 Thinking to take refuge in secret sins, they, under the dark veil of forgetfulness, were scattered, greatly terrified and troubled by ghosts,