7 For you have put the fear of you in our hearts so that we would call upon your name; and we will praise you in our exile, for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our ancestors who sinned against you. 8 See, we are today in our exile where you have scattered us, to be reproached and cursed and punished for all the iniquities of our ancestors, who forsook the Lord our God. 9 Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom! 10 Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies, that you are growing old in a foreign country, that you are defiled with the dead, 11 that you are counted among those in Hades?

By Jeremiah, too, He sets forth prudence, when he says, Blessed are we, Israel; for what is pleasing to God is known by us; — and it is known by the Word, by whom we are blessed and wise. For wisdom and knowledge are mentioned by the same prophet, when he says, Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life, and give ear to know understanding. By Moses, too, by reason of the love He has to man, He promises a gift to those who hasten to salvation. For He says, And I will bring you into the good land, which the Lord swore to your fathers. And further, And I will bring you into the holy mountain, and make you glad, He says by Isaiah. And still another form of instruction is benediction. And blessed is he, He says by David, who has not sinned; and he shall be as the tree planted near the channels of the waters, which will yield its fruit in its season, and his leaf shall not wither (by this He made an allusion to the resurrection); and whatsoever he shall do shall prosper with him. Such He wishes us to be, that we may be blessed.