Inasmuch as the saint is not only "God's building" but also "God's burden" (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9), as Blessed Paul says, and the soul itself requires foundation, like a house, and rooting, like a plant (for it is said: "In love rooted and established" [Ephesians 3:17]), let us consider what it means to draw the approach of village to village, for which others, doing it badly and harmfully to themselves, are subject to the prescribed condemnation. Therefore let us examine what has been said about agriculture, because it is akin to the present subject. There is a beautiful plantation, of which Solomon speaks: "I have planted vineyards, and made me vineyards and gardens, and planted in them the wood of every fruit" (Ecclesiastes 2:4-5). But there is also such a "garden, which the Heavenly Father hath not planted" (cf. Matt. 15:13) and which is being eradicated by the threat of the Lord. This garden has in it grapes from the plant of Sodom and "a rod from Gomorrah", produces "a bunch of gall" and "a bunch of sorrow" brings to the owners; "The wrath of serpents is their wine, and the wrath of adders is incurable" (cf. Deut. 32:32-33). For this reason, whoever has planted the dominion of his soul with all kinds of spiritual fruit, and to that which has been rooted in him from birth by the Creator for the manifestation of the fruits of righteousness, he is called pitiful by the prophetic word for the forbidden approach of "village to village." For this reason he threatens him with barrenness, because he does not bring forth samples of fruit in accordance with the teaching taught to him. "For where ten oxen spouses cry, one will make a tavern." This saying expresses the local custom in Phoenicia to plough the vineyard with oxen; and at the same time the prophetic word points to those who hold to both sides, are attached to opposite doctrines, and bind them to one another. The souls of such people are barren.

(11) "Woe to those who rise up in the morning, and to those who persecute strong drink, who wait for the evening: for I will burn wine." (12) "For they drink wine with harps and singers, and tympanums and pipes, but they do not look at the works of the Lord, and do not think of His works."

This proposed part of the prophecy contains an explanation of the apostolic saying, for there it is said: "Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:10), and here: "Woe to those who rise in the morning and persecute strong drink." It is the custom of the Jews to call any drink that can produce intoxication a strong drink. For this reason, the Prophet weeps for those who, immediately at the onset of day, according to the words of the parable, "give their eyes to the cups and glasses," "watching where the feasts are" (cf. Proverbs 23:31, 30), looking into the places of wine sales and taverns, receiving each other at parties and worries about such things, exhausting all spiritual care. They do not devote a little time to contemplation of the miracles of God, they do not allow their eyes leisure to gaze upon heaven and its beauties, in order to conclude from the adornment of all this about the "Creator" (cf. Wis. 13:5), but, decorating their party with speckled carpets and colored curtains, they show excessive diligence and thoroughness in the arrangement of vessels for drinking, inventing cooling vessels, horns, phials, ivy glasses, cups, and other similar in name and appearance devices for drunkenness, as if a variety of vessels could conceal satiety from them, and the exchange and transfer of cups would constitute sufficient delay in drinking. Then, when they begin to drink for one another, and enter into a contest, who will drink more, do they refrain from any excesses, to their shame? Both the vanquished and the victorious are all reveling. At the same time, there are some princes of parties, chief cupbearers and founders of the feast: in disorder you can see order, and in unseemly affairs – order! The rulers get drunk, the servants get drunk; everyone is full of laughing and drunk. A pitiful sight for the eyes of Christians! Then, just as the importance of armor-bearers gives power to worldly powers, so drunkenness, like a queen, surrounds him with servants, and with an excess of zeal covers his disgrace. In addition to this, wreaths and flowers scattered during parties, fragrant ointments and incense, and thousands of invented extraneous amusements give great entertainment to the perishing, preparing for them eternal punishment, equal to the real merriment.

For this reason it is said: "Woe to those who rise up in the morning and persecute strong drink, who wait for the evening" and spend whole days in it, so that they have no time at all "to behold the works of the Lord, and to meditate on the works of His hand." For when shall they learn about God? In the morning? But as soon as they get up from sleep, they "drive strong drink". In the middle of the day? But then their drunkenness increases and becomes more frequent. In the evening? But they still drink, and although the day has already passed with them, yet the drunkenness does not cease, on the contrary, they give themselves up to it to a greater extent at night, since the night is proper for them. Therefore, "woe to those who rise in the morning, and to those who persecute strong drink, who wait for the evening."

Then the Prophet shows the reason why they can indulge in drunkenness for a long time. "For I shall burn the wine." This is the reason why the desire to drink is insatiable in them. When, says the Prophet, a large quantity of whole wine is drunk, then, producing a strong heat in the body, it dries up the natural moisture in the drinker. And after this, as I think, the wine itself serves as an arson, and what is drunk in advance expands the place for the drunk again. And just as ravines, as long as water flows into them, seem full, and when the moisture drains, they remain dry, stony, and moist, so the bodies of drunkards, being enlarged by the immoderate use of wine, absorb natural moisture as well. "Waiting for the evening"; for this reason, says the Prophet, they await the evening. "For I shall burn the wine." The fire contained in wine, having passed into the body, becomes an inflammatory substance for the kindled arrows of the enemy, because wine drowns both the intellect and the mind, and ignites lusts and sensuality, as oil ignites fire. Why do we refer to the said "I will burn wine" not only to the desire to drink, but also to the inflammation produced in the body in general.

Then the prophetic word, revealing the indecency in an even greater form, continues: "For with the harp and the singers, and the tympanums and the pipes, they drink wine" — for the young harp, who meet the intoxicated eyes to misfortune, who play the pipes and singers, who sell their beauty, the faces of the singers and the harmonious singing of vicious people, plunging the bodies into bliss and upsetting the souls, by the general euphony stir up the intoxicated to every shameful and lawless amusement. And what comes out of this? That "they do not look at the works of the Lord, and do not think of the works of His hand." But "view" means the comprehension of objects seen with the help of the eyes, and "thinking" means the contemplation of the invisible with the mind. Thus, since "the invisible essence of God from the creation of the world is thought of by creatures" (cf. Rom. 1:20), he who does not look at works is not raised to intellectual understanding. Wherefore what is the meaning of what has been said? That drunkenness is the beginning of godlessness, as a darkening of the mind, by which God is usually most commonly known. "And the work of the hand" is the expected recompense, this fire and punishment in hell, the withered tongue, thirsting, for relief, even a small drop, the flame that surrounds everywhere from everywhere, not allowing even the breath of the wind to cool the inner heat; instead of those who play the pipes, lamentation; instead of immoderate drunkenness, there is a thirst for a drop, when the flesh of those who drink will be scorched in the furnace; instead of voluptuous spectacles, there is deep darkness; instead of vigilant lust, there is an unsleeping worm. Therefore those who have immersed their minds in drunkenness cannot think about these works of the hands. And since they do not look at what awaits them, the prophetic word justly weeps over them, as if they had already been truly overtaken by calamities.

Let those who in their homes guard the harp and lyre instead of the Gospel hear this! The prophet calls upon them as if they were already lost, weeping over their destruction out of compassion and love. "Woe," he says, "with harps, and pipes, and tympanums, and singers who drink wine." And you have a lyre speckled with gold and ivory lying on some lofty altar, like some statue and idol of demons. And the poor woman, instead of learning how to wield a spindle, because of the necessity of slavery, was taught by you to stretch out her hands to the lyre, for which purpose you perhaps paid money for it, and gave it to some other woman for instruction, who at first served every obscenity with her own body, and now became a teacher to young maidens in such matters. For her on the day of Judgment a great calamity will befall you, because you yourself are useless, and by evil instructions you have turned away a poor soul from God. Here she appears with a lyre, lays her fingers on it to extract sounds; her hands are bare, her face is shameless. The whole assembly of the feasters turns to her, the eyes of all rush to her, the ear catches the sounds with silence, the noise subsides, the laughter ceases, there is no obscene speech, with which they have hitherto tried to surpass each other, everyone in the house is silent, enchanted by the voluptuous play. But he who is silent there is not silent in the church of God, he who is catechumenized by the word of the Gospel does not fall silent. And no wonder! For the enemy, who prescribes silence there, here teaches to make noise. A pitiful sight to the eyes of the chaste — a woman not at a loom, but with a lyre in her hands, not known by her own husband, but seen by strangers, who has become common property, who sings not a psalm of confession, but adulterous songs, who does not pray to God, but hastens to hell, who does not strive for the church of God, but together with herself plucks others out of it! She hates the wave, she does not know how to sweep the base and turn it like a duck, and she does not want to. Spending time with drunkards, she indulges in the same activities as them. They truly weave a spider's web, as if on some base, laying their hands on the taut strings, and, often scurrying hither and thither with a rattle, as if with a weaving shuttle, do not allow even the end of this activity to be seen. For in the arts necessary for life, the end is before one's eyes, for example, in carpentry – a bench, in house-building – a house, in shipbuilding – a ship, in weaving – clothing, in blacksmithing – a sword. And in empty arts, such as the art of playing the harp or the flute, or dancing, the work itself disappears along with the end of the action. And truly, according to the words of the Apostle, "the end" is "destruction" (cf. Phil. 3:19). Of this I have enlarged of necessity, having in mind those who, through excessive devotion to amusements, either constantly, or during what they suppose to be merry, at marriages and feasts, use pipes, harps, and singers at suppers, so that you, having learned how the word of God condemns occupations of this kind, for fear of threatening calamities, at least afterwards, change the bad habit of your life for a better one.

And if we examine the meaning of the prophetic words from a different point of view, then we can discover something else, useful for our souls. "Woe," says the Prophet, "to those who rise up in the morning and persecute strong drink," that is, to those who, as soon as the darkness of ignorance is dispelled for them by the introduction of the knowledge of God, because the Sun of righteousness has risen, from the lawless and godless, as they were before, renamed pious and numbered with the Church of God, are overcome by carnal passions to such an extent that they come out of their minds and fall as darkened by drunkenness. And the prophetic word laments the fate of such people, that is, even after God's instruction of those who give themselves over to the intoxication of the passions. For He knows those who are drunk often and without wine, Who says: "Woe" to you, "drinking without wine" (cf. Isaiah 28:1). For just as wine, taken in beyond the need or beyond the strength of the drinker, usually darkens the mind, so the passion of lust, or sorrow, or anger, having taken possession of reason, makes those possessed by it devoid of reason. That is why pitiful and threefold pitiful are people who are not only immersed in ecstasy at the beginning of life, but "wait for the evening," that is, give themselves over to passions until the west of life. Just as in one respect "morning" is called that illumination which is produced in the hearts by the knowledge of God, so in another respect it is also that state when the mind comes to maturity and we begin a rational life. In both cases, the previous life is darkness and night, either because the mind has not yet been perfected and the soul is immersed in foolishness, or because the understanding is covered with deep darkness, because of alienation from God. Therefore, "woe to those who rise in the morning," that is, to people who have barely put aside the foolishness of youth, and instead of courageously overcoming the passions by the power of reason, they are overthrown by them and pursue the passions, as if they were some kind of ecstasy. For very miserable are those in whom such rapture does not cease at the beginning and end of life. There are many differences between those who are drunk: some immediately ceased to indulge in drunkenness with the onset of morning, others ceased to do so after some time, and still others prolonged their intoxication for a long time. Therefore it is beautiful, immediately after awakening, to seek a sober and hierarchical life, so that, without drinking either wine or strong drink, one may become worthy to enter the Holy World. For it is written: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Thou shalt not drink wine or strong drink, thou and thy sons are with thee, when ye enter into the tabernacle of witness" (Lev. 10:8-9). But since it is difficult in human nature to succeed in infallibility, the second voyage is called to rise soon after morning from ecstasy.

For those who have become accustomed to wine and seek "where there are feasts," their thoughts are so occupied with these searches that they are unable to look upon "the works of the Lord" and to think about the works of "His hand." Their intoxication is increased by the harp and the singer, which is the invention of Jubal, who came from the family of Cain. For it is written: "And Lamech took to herself two wives: the name of the one is Hell, and the name of the second is Sella. And Jomil gave birth to Hell: this is the father of the cattle-feeders who dwell in the villages. And his brother's name was Jubal: this is the one who showed the singer and the harp" (Gen. 4:19-21). With such "harp" and "music" Laban was familiar, and with them he wanted to let Jacob go. "And if thou hadst told me, thou wouldst send thee away with gladness, and with music, and tympanums, and harps" (Gen. 31:27). But the Patriarch avoided this as an obstacle to look upon the works of the "Lord" and to think of "the works of His hand." And in Nebuchadnezzar, during the renewal of the image, at the sound of "the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, the samvika and the psaltery, and the concord, and every kind of music," "people, nations, and tongues" fell down on their faces (cf. Dan. 3:7). And those who had previously refused to drink the wine of Babylon and abhorred the enjoyment of the royal table, did not bow down, but despised all human power and extinguished the very power of fire. If, however, it is a sin not to look "upon the works of the Lord" and not to think of the works of "His hand," then let us lift up the eyes of our understanding, let us see the fundamental laws of the works of God, "comparatively from the majesty of the beauty of creatures" with the created "Creator" of creatures (cf. Wis. 13:5). And since the "invisible" nature of God "from the foundation of the world is thought by creatures" (cf. Rom. 1:20), and perhaps the sensual comprehension of creatures is called "vision," and the mental comprehension of the pre-worldly is called "thinking," which is why the Prophet says: "They do not look at the works of the Lord," that is, they do not consider sensible objects through sight, "and they do not think of His works," that is, they do not seek to comprehend the invisible through the activity of the mind.

And in order that we may understand the word "morning" more clearly, namely, that the return from darkness, which occurs in souls, either from the foolishness of youth or from ignorance of God, and the first entry into the truth is called morning, collect many passages from the Prophets where the words πρωια or ορφρος (morning) are used, and from a comparison of a greater number of passages it will be seen what has been said. For example: "I have sent in the morning" (ορφρω) "prophet" (cf. Jeremiah 25:4). And "in the morning" (πρωι) "hear my voice" and "in the morning" (πρωι) "I will stand before Thee, and see me" (cf. Psalm 5:4). And "from the night my spirit will matinate" (ορφριζει) "my spirit to Thee, O God" (cf. Isaiah 26:9). And "voutria" (εις τας πρωιας) "slew all the sinful earth" (cf. Psalm 100:8). And "evening shall be wept up, and in the morning" (εις το πρωι) "joy" (Psalm 29:6).

Why, then, are prophets sent "in the morning" in accordance with the other blessings of God manifested to men? For every word that comes from God reaches us, who are able to hear the will of God, touching not those who are still in childish foolishness, but those who already have natural concepts of distinguishing between good and evil. It is about them that the prophetic word says, that as soon as they bow down and as it were raise the eyes of the soul from their former ignorance to understanding, and receive a certain light with the eyes of the heart, the word of God immediately falls in them, determining what should be done and what is worthy.

The same meaning is in the psalm: "In the morning hear my voice, in the morning I will stand before Thee" (Psalm 5:4). As long as it is night around our souls and the sun has not risen, it is impossible for us to be heard from God. But when the soul, having been cleansed of ignorance of God, lifts up prayers, standing in the brightness of the rational and spiritual day, then it has a God who hears its voice. That is why the Prophet says: "In the morning I will stand before Thee, and behold me." For if you want to stand up for God, then do not rise up for any evil work, but fulfill what was commanded to Moses: "Stand in this place before Me" (cf. Exodus 33:21), stand firm, unshakable, immovable, rise to Him in faith, so that you may become worthy to see the spectacles of truth. "I will arise Thee," says the Prophet, "and see me." As long as a man considers the beauty revealed in visible things, he is called a naturalist or naturalist. And when, having stretched beyond this, God Himself arises, already knowing to what extent all things are exceedingly beautiful, and from the beauty which is visible in all this, having ascended to that which is truly beautiful and pleasing, which is usually visible only to pure souls, then, having penetrated into something higher in nature, and by others called supernatural (μεταφυσυκα), he can become a seer (εποπτικος). Wherefore He says: When I "arise Thee" and draw near with my mind to the contemplation of Thee, then, through the illumination of knowledge, I shall perceive the activity of secret vision. In accordance with this is what has been said: "The heavens shall reveal the glory of God" (Psalm 18:2), not because they emit a voice perceptible to our ears, but because he who has exercised himself in the laws of the world and has come to know the structure of all that is heavenly from it, as if it were uttering a voice, studies the greatness of the glory of the Creator. The Prophet also incites us to this, saying: "Look at the height of your eyes, and see who shews" (Slavic: create) "all this?" (Isaiah 40:26), for to reason exaltedly means to look upwards and through the visible to be raised to the thought of the Creator.

And "from the night to matins to God" means something similar to the following. When the night begins to pass, and the day draws nigh, and we, "as in the days," begin to walk "decently, putting aside dark works, goats and drunkenness, fornication and fornication" (cf. Rom. 13:12-13), then we can say: "From the night my spirit shall morning unto Thee, O God." And what it means to make morning in oneself, the Prophet gives to understand by the added words. He says: "The light of Thy command is not upon the earth." For light is the commandments by which the darkness of ignorance is dispelled, which is why "the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 18:9).

And what is said in the hundredth Psalm: "I have slain all the sinful earth" (Psalm 100:8), as anyone can see, is said mysteriously and covertly. This does not mean that at the beginning of each day I defiled my hands with human blood. This is not what the prophetic word says. This, in addition to being vile, would also be incredible. For how could he beat all the sinners on earth with his hand every morning? It would have been impossible to overcome all of them alone, because, as probably, there were many sinners. If I had overcome them in the war, then, of course, I would have beaten them all in one morning, and not every morning I would have beaten them. Wherefore what does it mean: "Thou hast slain all the sinful earth, that all they that work iniquity shall consume from the city of the Lord" (Psalm 100:8)? Let us listen to what is said with the best understanding, so as not to say anything contrary to the prophetic word, which is not permissible. The city of the Lord is the totality of the human constitution, and the "sinful earths" are none other than those of whom the Saviour says that "from within proceed from within the heart thoughts of evil, envy, murder, adultery, theft, false witness," and the like (cf. Matt. 15:19; Mk. 7:21). It is these sinners of the earth, who come from earthly flesh, that he who purifies himself destroys in his own composition at every thought of God. For this reason there is a "morning" in the soul at each ascent of the salvific teaching; and on this very morning all thoughts that produce iniquity must be destroyed. For if the first movements towards vice are not stopped in the soul, then thoughts will necessarily pass into action. For example, a thought that inspires adultery is a "sinner of the earth"; it induces "to look upon the woman to lust after her" (cf. Matt. 5:28). Therefore, if he is not killed in the soul by a sharp word that destroys the passions, as if with a sword, and this is not done "in the morning," that is, after he has been brought out, then, after adultery in the heart, he will lead a person to a greater degree of this sin, causing him to fall into sin with his body. I think that what is said in Jeremiah agrees with this: "Cursed is he who does the works of the Lord with negligence, and forbids his sword from blood" (cf. Jeremiah 48:10). Whoever wishes to escape the burden of this oath must not give rest to the spiritual sword "from the blood" of such sinners.