20
to transgress the law in matters either small or great is of equal seriousness,
21
for in either case the law is equally despised.
22
You scoff at our philosophy as though living by it were irrational,
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but it teaches us self-control, so that we master all pleasures and desires, and it also trains us in courage, so that we endure any suffering willingly;
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it instructs us in justice, so that in all our dealings we act impartially, and it teaches us piety, so that with proper reverence we worship the only real God.
25
"Therefore we do not eat defiling food; for since we believe that the law was established by God, we know that in the nature of things the Creator of the world in giving us the law has shown sympathy toward us.
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He has permitted us to eat what will be most suitable for our lives, but he has forbidden us to eat meats that would be contrary to this.
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It would be tyrannical for you to compel us not only to transgress the law, but also to eat in such a way that you may deride us for eating defiling foods, which are most hateful to us.
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But you shall have no such occasion to laugh at me,
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nor will I transgress the sacred oaths of my ancestors concerning the keeping of the law,
30
not even if you gouge out my eyes and burn my entrails.