Exhortation to the Greeks 8.79

He says that the elements too, and the world along with them, will be destroyed: “The earth,” he says, “will grow old, and heaven will pass away,” “but the word of the Lord abides forever.” And what of when God wishes to show himself again, through Moses? “See, see that I am, and there is no other god besides me. I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike and I will heal, and there is no one who will deliver out of my hands.” Do you want to hear another oracle-singer too? You have the whole chorus of the prophets, the fellow worshipers of Moses. What does the Holy Spirit say to them through Hosea? I will not hesitate to say it: “Behold, I am he who makes the thunder firm and creates the wind,” whose hands founded the host of heaven. And further, through Isaiah (this saying too I will recall to you): “I am, I am,” he says, “the Lord, who speaks righteousness and declares truth. Gather together and come; take counsel together, you who are being saved from the nations. They did not know, who carry the wood, their carved image, and pray to gods who will not save them.” Then, further on: “I am God,” he says, “and there is none righteous besides me, and there is no savior except me. Turn to me and you will be saved, you from the end of the earth. I am God, and there is no other; by myself I swear.” And he is indignant with the idolaters, saying: “To whom have you likened the Lord? Or with what likeness have you likened him? Has a carpenter made an image, or a goldsmith melted gold and overlaid it with gold?” and so on. Are you, then, still idolaters? Even now beware of the threats: for the carved images and the things made by hands will howl, or rather those who trust in them; for matter is senseless.