69.
In the next place, He goes on to say, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which persecute you; 1 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He commandeth 2 His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love 3 them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the Gentiles the very same? 4 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven 5 is perfect." For without this love, wherewith we are commanded to love even our enemies and persecutors, who can fully carry out those things which are mentioned above? Moreover, the perfection of that mercy, wherewith most of all the soul that is in distress is cared for, cannot be stretched beyond the love of an enemy; and therefore the closing words are: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect." Yet in such a way that God is understood to be perfect as God, and the soul to be perfect as a soul.
