You shall not speak evil; for he says, “Love not to speak evil, lest you be taken away.” You shall not be mindful of injuries, for “the ways of those that remember injuries are unto death.”? You shall not be double-minded or double-tongued, for “a man’s own lips are a strong snare to him,” and “a talkative person shall not be prospered upon the earth.” Your words shall not be vain, for “you shall give an account of every idle word.” You shall not tell lies, for he says, “You shall destroy all those that speak lies.” You shall not be covetous or rapacious, for he says, “Woe to him that is covetous toward his neighbor with an evil covetousness.”
(Verse 9.) Woe to him who gathers evil greed to his house, that his nest may be on high and he may escape from the power of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have destroyed many peoples, and your soul has sinned. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will answer. LXX: O you who multiply evil greed to your house, that you may set your nest on high and be delivered from the hand of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have consumed many peoples, and your soul has sinned; therefore the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will speak these things. Still, this is the same speech that heaps evils upon itself, and does not understand the multitude of riches as the cause of its own ruin; at the same time, it is argued through metaphor as the pride that places its nest on high like a bird, and thinks it is safe from the hands of evil, that is, never to come into the power of enemies: this plan of pride and arrogant thought had an end in ignominy. You have killed many people, and in killing others, you have raged against your own soul, and in such cruelty you have reveled, that, if it can be said, the stones of the city and the wood of the walls that you have overthrown cry out your ferocity. He said this to the Lord in the Gospel, against the Pharisees who were criticizing him, asking why he did not rebuke the children who were shouting to him: Hosanna in the highest to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 'Have you not read,' he said, 'that it is written (Psalm 8:3): Out of the mouth of babes and infants you have brought forth praise? And if these were silent, the stones would shout out' (Matthew 21:9, 16). For although many may understand it thus: if the Jews were silent, the multitude of the Gentiles would confess me; nevertheless this is a more explicit and truer understanding: even if men were silent, and envious tongue did not speak of the multitude of my miracles, nevertheless the very stones, and the foundations of the walls, and the building of the walls itself, would be able to resound my greatness. To make it more significant, let's also take examples from secular literature. Crispus (Sallustius) speaks in his histories: 'The Saguntines, famous for their trustworthiness and hardships, were esteemed above mortals, with greater zeal than wealth, since among them even then the half-ruined walls, uncovered houses, and burnt temple walls displayed Punic hands.' Similarly, Tullius speaks to Caesar in defense of Marcellus: 'By god, the walls!' (As it seems to me) the members of this court strive to thank you, because in a short time that authority will be in the hands of their ancestors and their seats. Moreover, what we have interpreted is: And the wood that is between the joints of the buildings, it will answer: concerning which the Seventy translated: And the scarabaeus made of wood will speak these things, Symmachus translated it more clearly in his own way: and the wooden joint of the building will speak these things. Theodotius also, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and also a fifth edition, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and these interpretations themselves agree with the interpretation of Symmachus and our interpretation; for what is called in the Hebrew language Chaphis (), signifies wood, which is put in the middle of the structure to hold the walls together; and commonly among the Greeks it is called ἱμάντωσις. Therefore, according to the story, this is what the prophetic speech signifies: the stones of the walls that were destroyed by you, and their burnt wood will sound your cruelty. I found, except for five editions, that is, Aquila's, Symmachus's, the Septuagint, Theodotion's, and a fifth one, in the twelve prophets and two other editions, in one of which it is written: \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, and a worm speaking in the wood;\" and in the other: \"For a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood.\" But Aquila also put something different than what we said, \"and a lump,\" that is, a mass of wood will reply. We will explain the interpretation of these things in the exposition of the translators of the Septuagint, in which instead of \"woe,\" \"O\" is used, and the speech is directed either to the devil or the Antichrist or to the heretics, who multiply their wicked avarice. Wickedness, however, is called avarice, to distinguish it from the good avarice of the doctor of Ecclesiasticus, who is never satisfied with the multitude of his followers, and the more disciples he has, the more he is aroused to the study of doctrine. Therefore, woe to the one who multiplies his worst avarice, so that he gathers perverse assemblies in his house and sets his nest high, so that he may be delivered from the hand of evil. For the devil, the Antichrist, and the heretics promise that those who accept their teaching will possess the heavenly kingdom and avoid the fires of hell. And when they have made these promises, their plan cannot come to fruition, but it will be a plan of confusion and dishonor for their house, after the falsehood of their promises is revealed, and when it is proven that their plan is a plan of confusion, not salvation. This teacher of perversity, as we said, has consumed many peoples, and the more he has had in his company, the more he has sinned against his own soul. Finally, the stones of his church and the beetle, that is, the scarab beetle from the wood, will cry out against the prideful avarice because he has deceived all nations by his persuasion. The stones, we can understand, represent the foolish hearts of believers who follow the teachings of heretics, and the scarab beetle from the wood represents the corrupt teachers who, for the sake of shameful gain, take up the preaching of the cross and speak from their mouths. For their god is their belly, and they do everything for the sake of food, and they are reduced to dung (for the scarab beetle or the beetle is a worm of dung); and they only take up the cross in order to teach the avarice and pride of their master, the devil, with a viper's mouth. If you ever see some heretic speaking as if he were speaking hidden and secret mysteries against the Church, and prefer the devil's house to Christ's, say: \"A stone cries out from the wall, and a beetle speaks from the wood.\" I read in a certain book that the beetle is understood to be superimposed on heretics because their teachings are like dung. Hence, the Apostle says that he considers the error of the old teaching as dung (Philippians 3). Not that the old Law, as the Manicheans think, should be compared to the Gospel as dung (which is impious to say, since both Testaments belong to the same God), but because the teachings of the Pharisees, the commandments of men, and the second scriptures (δευτερώσεις) of the Jews are called dung by the Apostle. I know a brother who understood the stone crying out from the wall to be the Lord and the beetle speaking from the wood to be the thief who blasphemed against the Lord, which, although it can be understood piously, I cannot find how it can be fitted with the entire context of the prophecy. There are some who think that the beetle speaking from the wood can be referred to the person of the Savior, which appears impious from the very order of the discourse. For the beetle will speak from the wood, is not understood in a good, but in a bad sense, that is, it will speak of the worst avarice of the one who multiplies it against his own house and the confusion of the devil, and the other things that preceded his wickedness and crime. As for Aquila's saying, \"and a lump of wood will reply,\" we refer the lump to the sense that the Lord placed in the Gospel: \"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees\" (Matthew 16:11). And when the apostles doubted and could not know what it meant, the evangelist interpreted it, saying: \"He had said to them concerning the teaching of the Pharisees.\" Therefore, rightly the teaching of heretics speaks from the wood, for they cannot persuade otherwise unless they prefer the glory of the wood to their own perversity. Also, that which we said, \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, like a worm speaking in the wood,\" or \"a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood,\" some of our people say that the worm speaking in the wood is that one who says in the psalm: \"But I am a worm and not a man\" (Psalm 22:6), and they refer the speaking bird to the same person who says: \"I have become like a solitary sparrow on the roof\" (Psalm 102:8), and other things similar to these.
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Habakkuk 2:9