1 For it is no earthly discovery, as I said, which was committed to them, neither do they care to guard so carefully any mortal invention, nor have they entrusted to them the dispensation of human mysteries. (DIO) 2a But truly the Almighty Creator of the Universe, the Invisible God Himself from heaven planted among men the truth and the holy teaching which surpasseth the wit of man, and fixed it firmly in their hearts, not as any man might imagine, by sending (to mankind) a subaltern, or angel, or ruler, or one of those that direct the affairs of earth, or one of those who have been entrusted with the dispensations in heaven, but the very Artificer and Creator of the Universe Himself, by Whom He made the heavens, (DIO) 2b by Whom He enclosed the sea in its proper bounds, Whose mysteries all the elements faithfully observe, from Whom [the sun] hath received even the measure of the courses of the day to keep them, Whom the moon obeys as He bids her shine by night, Whom the stars obey as they follow the course of the moon, by Whom all things are ordered and bounded and placed in subjection, the heavens and the things that are in the heavens, the earth and the things that are in the earth, the sea and the things that are in the sea, fire, air, abyss, (DIO) 2c the things that are in the heights, the things that are in the depths, the things that are between the two. Him He sent unto them. (DIO)
Epistle to Diognetus 7:1–2
Semantically similar passages
2 Baruch 21:5–7
5 they obey Thee. Thou that hast commanded the air by Thy nod, and hast seen those things which (2BA) 6 are to be as those things which Thou art doing. Thou that rulest with great thought the hosts that stand before Thee: also the countless holy beings, which Thou didst… (2BA)
Prayer of Manasseh 1:1–3
1 O LORD Almighty in heaven, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous offspring, (WEB) 2 you who have made heaven and earth, with all their order, (WEB) 3 who have bound the sea by the word of your commandment, who have shut up the deep, and sealed it… (WEB)
Wisdom of Solomon 7:16–18
16 For both we and our words are in his hand, with all understanding and skill in various crafts. (WEB) 17 For he himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are, to know the structure of the universe and the operation of the elements; (WEB) 18 the beginning, end, and… (WEB)
2 Esdras 4:20–22
20 Then answered he me, and said, “You have given a right judgment. Why don’t you judge your own case? (WEB) 21 For just as the ground is given to the wood, and the sea to its waves, even so those who dwell upon the earth may understand nothing but what is upon the earth.… (WEB)
Odes of Solomon 16:13–15
13 And created things run in their courses, and do their works: (ODE) 14 And they know not how to stand and be idle; and His heavenly hosts are subject to His word. (ODE) 15 The treasure-chamber of the light is the sun, and the treasury of the darkness is the night: (ODE)
Sirach 18:2–4
2 The Lord alone is just. (WEB) 3 Who governeth the world with the palm of his hand, and all things obey his will: for he is the King of all, by his power dividing holy things among them from profane. (KJV) 4 He has given power to declare his works to no one. Who could trace out… (WEB)
Sirach 42:16–18
16 The sun that gives light looks at all things. The Lord’s work is full of his glory. (WEB) 17 The Lord has not given power to the saints to declare all his marvelous works, which the Almighty Lord firmly settled, that the universe might be established in his glory. (WEB) 18 He se… (WEB)
1 Clement 33:2–4
2 For the Creator and Master of the universe Himself rejoiceth in His works. (1CL) 3 For by His exceeding great might He established the heavens, and in His incomprehensible wisdom He set them in order. And the earth He separated from the water that surroundeth it, and… (1CL) 4 … (1CL)
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