Sacra parallela recensiones secundum alphabeti

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For the tree is known by its fruit. For they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick a grape from a bramble. "The wages of sin is death." "Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is fully accomplished brings forth death." "Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning." "The sins of some are evident, going before them to judgment; and of some they follow after." The heaviest punishment for those who think rightly is separation from God. Impiety is properly called the sin against God. It is impossible to be turned aside from the righteous path unless one has suffered forgetfulness of God in one's soul. Let no one of those who hold mistaken opinions about God suppose that their praises in psalmody are acceptable. Ignorance of God is the death of the soul. For whom is woe? For whom distresses? For whom perplexity and darkness? For whom eternal condemnation? Is it not for transgressors? Is it not for those who have denied the faith? And what is the proof of denial? Is it not that they have set aside their own confessions? Just as confession of faith in God procures the blessing of piety, so also denial subjects one to the condemnation of godlessness. The angel of the Lord will encamp around everyone who has believed in the Lord. An angel attends, unless we drive him away by our evil deeds. For just as smoke drives away bees, and a foul odor drives out doves, so also the tearful and foul-smelling sin drives away the angel who guards our life. He who has labored in this age will live forever.

But the one who lives in luxury and every kind of self-indulgence, because of his soft living wearing purple and fine linen, and making merry splendidly every day, and fleeing the labors that are for the sake of virtue, has neither toiled in this age, nor will he live in the age to come, but he will see life from afar, being tormented in the flame of the furnace. Just as the shadow follows the body, so do sins follow the souls, portraying their deeds vividly. Not yet did condemnation hinder the prosperity of the earth. For this is older than sin, on account of which we were condemned to eat our bread in the sweat of our face. Yet the rose was once without a thorn; but later a thorn was yoked to the beauty of the flower, so that in the pleasantness of enjoyment we might have sorrow lying close at hand, remembering the sin on account of which the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us. If the sight of this sun is insatiable, of what sort is the Sun of righteousness in beauty? If it is a loss for a blind man not to see this sun, of what sort is the loss for the sinner to be deprived of the true light? Heavy is sin, dragging the soul down to the bottom of Hades. Our sinning comes about through the absence of the divine fear. If sin is good, keep it to the end. But if it is harmful to the one who does it, why do you persist in things that are destructive? No one who seeks to vomit up bile from an evil and dissolute way of life stores up this for himself many times over. You have understood your postponement, even if you cloak it in words; the facts themselves cry out, even if you are silent with your voice. Let it be, I will use the flesh for the enjoyment of shameful things. Let me wallow in the mire of pleasures; let me stain my hands with blood.

Let me take what belongs to others; let me walk deceitfully, let me swear falsely, let me lie, and then I will repent. See that you do not, in hope of redemption, gather a multitude of evils, accumulating sin while failing of forgiveness. God is not mocked. Do not traffic in grace. Do not say: "The law is good, but sin is sweeter." Pleasure is the devil's hook, drawing to destruction; pleasure is the mother of sin, and sin is the sting of death. Pleasure is the nurse of the eternal worm, which for a time fattens the sinner, but afterward makes its returns bitterer than gall. Nothing else does postponement cry out but this: "Let sin reign in me, and then at some point the Lord will reign too." I will present my members as weapons of unrighteousness to lawlessness for a time, and as weapons of righteousness to God. So too Cain offered his sacrifices, the first to his own enjoyment, the second to God who created and gave. When you are strong in deeds, you squander your youth on sins; when the instruments grow weary, then you bring them to God, when they are of no use for anything, but must lie idle, their tension paralyzed by the withering of time. Chastity in old age is not chastity, but the inability to be dissolute; a dead man is not crowned. No one is righteous through inability to do evil. As long as there is strength, master sin by reason. For this is virtue: turning away from evil and doing good. But inactivity in wickedness is itself worthy neither of praise nor of punishment. If you cease from sin because of age, the credit belongs to weakness.

We praise those who are good by choice, not those who are compelled by necessity. And who fixed the limit of your life for you? Who set the appointed time of old age for you? Who is this that is so trustworthy in your eyes as a guarantor of things to come? Do you not see infants snatched away? Those in the prime of life carried off? Life has no single appointed term. Why do you wait for repentance to become a gift to you from a fever, when you will be able neither to speak, nor perhaps even to hear, nor to raise your hands to the heavens, nor to rise upon your feet, nor to bend the knee for worship? Let no one deceive you with empty words; for sudden destruction will come upon you, and the overthrow will be present like a squall. A gloomy angel will come, leading you away by force and dragging your soul, bound by sins, as it turns back again and again to things here below and laments without a voice, since the instrument of lamentation is henceforth shut off. O how you will tear yourself, how you will groan, repenting in vain over the things you willed! when you see the brightness of the righteous in

with a brilliant distribution of gifts, and the dejection of sinners in the deepest darkness. What will you say then in the pain of your heart? Alas for me, that I did not cast off this heavy burden of sin, when its removal was so easy, but dragged along this heap of evils. Alas for me, that I did not wash away my stains, but remained defiled with sins. Now I would have been with the angels; now I would have been delighting in the heavenly good things. O wicked counsels! For the sake of a brief enjoyment of sin I am tormented with immortal torments. For the pleasure of the flesh I am handed over to the fire; the judgment of God is just. I was called, and I did not obey. I was taught, and I did not attend. They testified to me, but I laughed them to scorn. These things and the like you will say, weeping, if you are snatched away beforehand. The painful and gloomy torment of Gehenna awaits the labors of sin. Tears come upon me for you, O man, when I consider that you prefer the works of shame to the great glory of God, and because of the sweetness of licentiousness you cling to sin and are hard to tear away from it, and you shut yourself out from the good things promised, so as not to see the good things of Jerusalem. There are myriads of angels, the festal assembly of the firstborn, the thrones of the apostles, the presiding seats of the prophets, the scepters of the patriarchs, the crowns of the martyrs, the praises of the righteous. Desire to be numbered with these, having washed yourself and been sanctified according to the gift of Christ. O man, either fear Gehenna, or lay claim to the kingdom. Do not dishonor the calling. Vice is ready at hand, even without one who draws you on. Impiety is an inventor of evils, and very bold in its undertaking.

But how would they spare humans, who did not spare the Godhead? Man owed the first punishment to God, because he set himself apart from the one who made him, and deserted to the enemy, becoming a runaway from the Master by nature, and an apostate. And the second, because he exchanged the evil slavery of sin for self-determined freedom, and preferred to be tyrannized by the corrupting power rather than to serve God. The faction of evil is the beginning of the impulse toward virtue. There is no other substance of evil than separation from the good and the better. Sin, as long as it is in labor, has some shame. But when it is accomplished, then it makes those who practice it more shameless. It is not being afflicted that is evil, but sinning that is evil. Severe affliction is this. Not only the impious, but also those who are able to lead away from impiety but do not wish to, through hesitation or through sluggishness, are punished alike. Do not pray for this people, God says to Jeremiah, for if Moses and Samuel stand, I will not hear them. Thus there are sins that surpass all forgiveness, and cannot obtain a defense. To be left by God unvisited and unprovided for is the most destructive of all things, and this is the greatest punishment for the greatest injustices, to become desolate and orphaned of God. For the one who has become a stranger to the helper and Savior is immediately under the enemies and the robbers. Then, an earthly king is believed to be, although not seen by all;

But through his laws and ordinances and authorities and powers and images he is understood, yet you do not wish God to be understood through works and powers. We shall not harm God by being ignorant of him, but we shall deprive ourselves of his friendship. Never has a heresy conquered the Church, but it is always raging, and having advanced a little it is immediately dissolved. Just as a disturbed eye, so also the soul clouded by doctrines contrary to nature is unable to discern the light of truth accurately, but even overlooks what lies at its feet. In muddy water, they say, even eels are caught, having been blinded. A philosophic illness is better than unbridled prosperity. Those who sin greatly and are not punished ought to fear and dread. For the things of their punishment are increased through their impunity and through the longsuffering of God. Every one of the evildoing men is naturally inclined, when he speaks of what is just, to call it evil. If you do nothing base, fear nothing at all. But if you do evil, fear the Judge. If we find snakes more terrible than snakes, it is clear that passions are also more grievous than passions, and that some demons are more wicked and more bitter than other wicked demons, and worse than the worse. Since the soul of man is easily slain through sin by the unclean demons who lure with bait, he spoke aptly who said, I am hunted like a lion for slaughter. By nature the good is that which bears upward, but evil drags downward the one who uses it.

As Solomon somewhere expressed it: "The feet of folly lead those who use it down to Hades." Babylon is sometimes called the devil, sometimes a human soul thrown into confusion by harsh temptations, and sometimes the world, because of the confusion, mockery, and deceit wrought in it by the soul that lives there. Some, even without circumstance or necessity, approach God with divine longing and love, having fled the things that seem beautiful and pleasant in the world; but you, struck by so many miseries, still remain contentious, clinging to material things, and drowned in sins—do you not wish to perceive, but rather provoke God by your defiance, thrice-wretched one? If you had any perception, the very affairs of life would drive you to take refuge in God and be saved. But since you persist in evil willingly, see what will overtake you, so that in the midst of worldly affairs you may end your life by the most wretched death, and go there stripped of every virtue. You yourself eat the fruits of your own pursuits. For it is said in Isaiah: "They shall eat the works of their wickedness." And when the heart has been formed in wickedness, abominable thoughts leap up from it. It would be ridiculous to rule over slaves while being enslaved by sin. All sinners are called many-formed. For one is the form of fornication, another the form of anger, another the form of vainglory, and of envy, and of resentment, and so on. But the righteous are single-formed. Therefore the blessed David says: "The Lord settles those of one mind in a spiritual house.

If a leper was once covered with marks on his flesh, and came in faith to Christ, the most high God, and straightway received that flesh clean of every blemish, why do you yourself hesitate to use faith and supplication, and to be redeemed from the foul and unclean passions of the soul? Do you not know that whatever passions of the soul a person is defeated by, of these he also becomes a wretched slave? But we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman, so that, separated from sin, we may live in freedom. It is preferable rather to become a slave, and a house-born slave of house-born slaves, than ever to be enslaved to accursed passions. Have you not often known the great sea and its terror? How much more fearful is the remembrance of judgment. Not all demons have the same pursuits, nor are the same wicked ministries commanded of them by the devil. For one has been entrusted with one abominable and God-hating service, another with another. And these engrave blasphemous thoughts in the hearts of men; those suggest shameful desires to the soul. And some are accustomed to stir up vainglory, envy, and the like; others supply heretics with the materials of their thoughts; others devote themselves to gluttony, drunkenness, and fornication. And some demons deceive and mock through dreams and Greek observances. Others cast the pleasures of men into the body, and make all the members neigh and swell with lawlessness, and fill the senses with mist and gloom; and some cooperate with sorcerers, poisoners, and those who chant incantations, and strengthen them.

Those, and to speak simply, each order of demons has been allotted some particular service and pursuit harmful to the soul. He who confesses Christ with the lips only, but denies him by his works, is not in him, nor has he him in himself; since he alone who does all things in him is the only one who partakes of everything. Then

forgiveness of former sins takes place, when works of repentance are afterward accomplished. For if anyone, while still doing things blameworthy and deserving punishment, pretends to repentance, he will not obtain forgiveness, while still doing what is forbidden. When the impious Basilides addressed the evangelist John and said, "Do you recognize us?" the saint said without hesitation, "I recognize you as the firstborn of Satan." Let us fear, not the disease that comes from outside, but the sins for which the disease comes; and the disease of the soul, not of the body. Let it be a law against those who deem it right to look upon venerable and divine things, not venerably and in a manner befitting God, that punishment of blindness be brought upon them. If you wish to be ruled by God, do not wish to sin. But if you sin, how will you be ruled by God? The pure mind is by nature disposed to contemplate the truth, and God is by nature disposed to reveal himself to it. Therefore, as many as have erred concerning the truth, have erred because of living badly. Therefore heretics are punished, not because they are heretics, but because they have become those who lived badly. For it is not possible to become a heretic without living badly, whether in word or in deed. Justly, then, will they be judged, not because they stumble, but because, blinding themselves through drunkenness, disobedience, and love of money, they walk in darkness. TITLE 13. — On sinlessness: that no one is sinless except God.

Shall a mortal be pure before the Lord?” “Who is pure from defilement? Not even one, though his life be a single day upon the earth.” “The heaven is not pure in his sight.” “Who is mortal, that he should be blameless? How shall a mortal be righteous before the Lord?” “If you should mark iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who shall stand?” “Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living shall be justified in your sight.” “Who shall boast that he has a pure heart? Or who shall be confident that he is clean from sin?” “There is no righteous man on the earth who will do good and not sin.” “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

TITLE 14. — Concerning those who have renounced and from turning back do those things which they renounced. “Those who turn aside into crooked ways, the Lord will lead away with those who work iniquity.”

“As a dog, when it returns to its own vomit, and becomes hateful, so is a fool who turns back in his wickedness to his sin.” “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, according to all the iniquities which the lawless man has committed, all his righteous deeds which he has done shall surely not be kept in his transgression which he transgressed, and in his sins which he sinned, in them he shall die.” “The righteousness of the righteous shall surely not deliver him, in the day on which he goes astray; and the iniquity of the impious shall surely not harm him, in the day on which he turns away from his iniquity.

I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel. He who is baptized from a dead man and again touches him, what has he profited by his washing? So the man who fasts from his sins and again goes his way and does the same things—who will listen to his prayer? And what has he profited by his humbling himself? Do not stumble against stones. He who turns back from righteousness to sin, the Lord will prepare him for the sword. No one who has put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. If, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become for them worse than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. For what the true proverb says has happened to them: a dog returning to its own vomit, and a sow that was washed to wallowing in the mire. A pitiable sight: after fasting, after hardship, after earnest prayer, after abundant tears, after self-control of some twenty or thirty years, through carelessness and negligence of soul to be shown stripped of all things, and to become like a merchant greatly enriched by the practice of the commandments, who, carrying the multitudes of his cargo, with the ship sailing before a fair wind, having run through the fearful seas, right at the very harbors, when the ship has broken apart, is suddenly shown destitute of all things.

If this man too destroys what was acquired by countless labors and sweats by a single assault of a demon, having been sunk in sin as if by some savage tempest, fitting is the voice for one who has shipwrecked all virtue together: "I came into the depths of the sea, and a storm overwhelmed me." He who has advanced in good works and then turned back to his former habit is not only deprived of the reward for his labors, but is also deemed worthy of heavier condemnation. For someone who has repented once to commit the same sin again is a proof that the first cause of that sin has not been cleansed, from which, as from some root, the same things naturally grow. Just as if someone wished to cut off the branches of a plant but left the root, the root nonetheless remains and sprouts again. In whatever I find you, in those things I will judge you; and the end of all things cries out this in every detail, so that even for one who has lived his life doing the greatest good, but at the end has veered off toward wickedness, all his former labors are profitless, since at the catastrophe of the drama they become prize-less. When a righteous man falls out, let us say concerning him what was spoken by Isaiah: "How has the morning star fallen from heaven, and been dashed to the earth?" Some who advanced in virtue have slipped back before reaching the end, when the old oligarchy, having for a short time been quieted, again from the beginning with greater power cast down the aristocracy that was just then growing in the soul.

When a man has achieved a virtuous life through ascetic practice and good conduct, and is recognized by all as pious and fearing God, and then falls into sin, this is a fall. For he has ascended to the height of heaven, and has fallen to the depths of Hades.

TITLE 15. Concerning the resurrection, and judgment, and eternal punishment. "He has prepared his throne for judgment, and he himself will judge." "You will take away their spirit, and they will fail, and they will return to their dust." "If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the impious and sinful man appear?" "God will bring every created thing into judgment, for every overlooked thing, whether good or whether evil." "Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! Why is this day of the Lord for you? It is darkness, and not light." "Great is the day of the Lord, great and exceedingly glorious. Who will be sufficient for it?" "Let them arise, and let all the nations come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. Send forth your sickles, for the harvest is at hand. Enter, tread, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their evils have multiplied. Sounds have resounded in the valley of judgment; the sun and the moon will grow dark, and the stars will not give their light; but the Lord will cry out from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice, and the heaven and the earth will be shaken." "Reverence the presence of the Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared his sacrifice, he has sanctified his called ones. Near is the great day of the Lord, near and very swift.

The voice of the day of the Lord is appointed bitter and hard: a day of wrath, that day a day of affliction and distress, and of destruction; a day of darkness and gloom. Behold, he comes, says the Lord Almighty; and who will endure the day of his coming? For he enters like fire into a furnace, and like grass of those who wash; and he shall sit refining and purifying as silver. Behold, I send Elijah the Tishbite, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes. Now enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to shatter the earth. Behold, the day of the Lord comes incurable, with fury and wrath, to make the whole inhabited world desolate, and he will destroy the sinners from it. For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and the whole order of heaven, shall not give their light, and they shall be darkened at the rising of the sun, and the moon shall not give its light. And I will command evils upon the whole inhabited world, and upon the impious their sins; and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless, and the insolence of the proud I will bring low. The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised. I come to gather their works and their reasoning. The heaven shall be rolled up as a book, and all the stars shall fall as a leaf from a vine, and as a leaf falls from a fig tree. Every voice shall rise against you for judgment, and all things shall examine them; and the guilty shall be in grief. Behold our God, behold our Lord comes with strength.

Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. Behold, the Lord will come as fire, and his chariots as a tempest, to render vengeance in wrath and rejection in a flame of fire. For all the earth shall be judged in the fire of the Lord. Thus says the Lord to these bones: Behold, I bring upon you a spirit of life, and I will give you sinews, and I will bring flesh upon you; and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. The Lord has a judgment among the nations, to be judged himself against all flesh. I was watching until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat. And his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head as pure wool; and his throne a flame of fire, and his wheels burning fire. A river of fire drew forth, proceeding before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. Before him a judgment seat was set, and the books were opened. In that time Michael the great prince shall arise, who stands over the sons of the people; and there shall be a time of affliction, such as has not been since a nation came to be on the earth, until that time. And in that time all your people shall be saved, everyone found written in this book; and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall be awakened. These to eternal life, and these to reproach and eternal shame.

And those who understand shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and from among the many righteous, as the stars for ever. I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account concerning it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. And his disciples came to him saying: Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. And he answered and said to them: He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age; the reapers are angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall render to each according to his deed. Immediately after the tribulation of those days,

The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will wail; and they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory; and he will send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, except the Father alone. Watch, because you do not know the day nor the hour. The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and those who have done good will come forth to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil to a resurrection of judgment. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire from heaven and destroyed them all.

According to these things will be the day on which the Son of Man is revealed. Then there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity, the sea roaring and surging, people fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming upon the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of life, and that day come upon you suddenly. For it will come like a snare upon all who sit upon the face of the whole earth. When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God. Each one's work, of what sort it is, the fire will test. If anyone's work remains, which he built upon, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Thus it is written: The first man became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual is not first; the first man was from the earth, earthy; the second man, the Lord, is from heaven. As the earthy one is, so are those who are earthy; and as the heavenly one is, so are those who are heavenly. And just as we bore the image of the earthy one, let us also bear the image of the heavenly one.

This I say, my brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In an atom, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that is written will come to pass: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. We must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as the rest who have no hope. But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no

You have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come upon them, like the pains of childbirth upon a woman with child, and they shall certainly not escape. But we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your mind, nor be alarmed, neither by spirit, nor by letter, as if from us, as though the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only the one who restrains it now, until he is taken out of the way; and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy by the breath of his mouth, and will bring to nothing by the manifestation of his coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders, and in all deception of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so as to be saved.

And for this reason God sends them a working of error, so that they believe the lie, in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing sound, and the elements will be dissolved being burned up, and the earth and the works in it will be burned up." "Behold, the Lord comes with his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all their works in which they have acted impiously, and concerning all the harsh words which the sinners have spoken against him." "Do not think that I, like some nursing mother, am shaking before you false bogeymen, as those women are accustomed to do with infant children, when they wail disorderly and endlessly, and silence them with fabricated tales. These things are not a myth, but a word proclaimed beforehand, true and without falsehood, that speaks. And know accurately that there will be an exact scrutiny of the life that has been lived. There is no orator there; there is no persuasiveness of words able to steal the truth from the judge; flatterers do not follow, nor wealth, nor the bulk of high office; bereft of friends, bereft of helpers, without an advocate, each one will be left ashamed—sullen, downcast, isolated, without boldness to speak. Wherever one turns the eye, one will see vivid images of one's deeds. For just as a shadow follows the body, so sins follow the souls, portraying the deeds vividly. Therefore there is no denial there; but the shameless mouth is stopped.

For the deeds themselves testify against each one, not uttering a voice, but appearing such as have been done by us. This too is one of the devil's methods, that the many among men, as though they had forgotten so many declarations, should prescribe for themselves a limit to their punishments, so as to venture all the more boldly upon sin. "For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched." There he is judged, not only the one who led the way in the evil, but also the one who followed the wicked leader to sin. The prophet says: "Why do you seek the day of the Lord? And it is darkness, and not light;" darkness, clearly, for those worthy of darkness. Since the word knows that day to be without evening and without succession and without end, which the psalmist also called the eighth, because it lies outside this sevenfold time. So that whether you say "day" or "age," you will express the same meaning. Whether, then, that state be called a day, it is one, and not many; or whether it be called an age, it would be single,

And not for a small part. It is good to believe that we are required to give an account not only of a word and a deed, but of every season and of the very hour, the briefest and most minute. Know that they are gathered for later. Nothing at all of good things, even if it be small, will be overlooked there by the judge. For if we are going to pay penalties for sins and words and thoughts, much more will good deeds, even if small, be reckoned. There will be a confrontation there of evil deeds and of those that are not such; and if these prevail and tip the balance, they save the worker from no small danger; but if the working of so many evil deeds is strong enough to harm, so as to drag him down from his first place, they lead him away to the fire of Gehenna, because the multitude of good deeds is not such as to be able to withstand that violent thrusting down. Remember the dreadful and fearful day, on which all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give account of what has been done, where before the eyes of all sins will be set forth, and will be uncovered, and shown to those who did not know them; where is the source of fire, and the undying worm. Where all things are naked and laid bare; where the books of our hearts will be opened, and in the midst will be read the manifest and the hidden, the things in the night and the things in the day. For one we do not wish to be shamed here, but for so many myriads there, what shall we do? Just as we require an account from our own servants, not only of their going out but also of their coming in, examining from where they received money, and from whom, and when, and how, and how much;

And so God will also demand an account not only of expenditure but also of possession. To be punished here is not a evil thing, but to become worthy of the punishment there. It is not possible with God, being good, to destroy the good reward for one good deed done together with many evil deeds, nor again, being good, to destroy the punishment and not exact it, if one is found doing evil together with many good deeds. For it is necessary that God render all things by yoke and balance. The mind is a witness to each of what they have purposed in secret, and the conscience is an impartial accuser, and the most truthful of all.

TITLE 16. — Concerning a curse made by the Lord, and by the prophets, and by the apostles at various times.

"The Lord said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed above all the cattle, and above all the beasts of the earth. Upon your breast and your belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life. And to the woman he said: Multiplying I will multiply your sorrows and your groaning; in sorrows you shall bear children, and your turning shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said: Because you have heard the voice of your wife, and from the tree of which I commanded you, this only, not to eat, from it you have eaten, cursed is the earth in your works. In sorrows you shall eat it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you, and you shall eat your bread, until you turn back to the earth from which you were taken; for you are earth, and to earth you shall depart." "The Lord God said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? And he said: I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?

And God said: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand; when you work the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you. You shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth. Noah awoke from the wine, and he knew what his younger son had done to him. And he said: Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. David said: O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain fall upon you. Mountains of death, because there the shelter of the mighty was dried up. Behold, Elijah was sitting on the top of the mountain. And the captain of fifty spoke to him and said: Man of God, the king has summoned you; come down. And Elijah answered and said to him: If I am a man of God, fire shall come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from heaven and devoured him and his fifty. Elijah said: Thus says the Lord: Because you sent messengers to seek in Baal a fly, a god, an offense to Ekron—it shall not be so: the bed on which you went up there, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die. Job opened his mouth and cursed his day, saying: May that day perish on which I was born, and that night on which it was said: Behold, a male. May that night be darkness, and may the Lord not seek it out from above, nor let light come upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death take it. May gloom come upon it; may that day be cursed, and that night.

Let darkness be brought upon it; let it not be counted among the days of the year, nor numbered among the days of the months. But let that night be pain, and let no gladness come upon it, nor joy; but let the one who curses that day curse it, the one who is about to subdue the great sea-monster. Let the stars of that night be darkened, and let it not come into light; let it not see the morning star rising, because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, for it would have delivered pain from my eyes. Let my enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and those who rise up against me as the destruction of the lawless. A day of darkness will meet them, and their noonday will be groped as if it were night. Let them perish in war; let their strength be drawn off by the sword. The whole life of the ungodly is in anxiety; when he thinks he is already at peace, destruction will come upon him. He knows within himself that he remains for a fall. His day is dark, and necessity and affliction will seize him, like a commander falling in the front line, because he raised his hands against God, and against the Almighty he stiffened his neck. Let him be lodged in deserted cities; let him enter into uninhabited houses. What those men harvested, others will carry off; neither will he be enriched, nor will his possessions remain with him. He will not cast a shadow upon the earth, nor will he escape the darkness. Let the lawless one wither his shoot, and let his flower fall off. His affairs will turn out empty. His cutting-off will be corrupted before its time, and his branch will not grow thick. Let him be gleaned like an unripe grape before its time; let him fall off like the flower of an olive; for the death of the ungodly is a testimony. In the womb he will take up pains;

His hope will come to nothing, and his belly will bear deceits. The light of the ungodly shall be quenched, and their flame shall not go forth. Let the least hunt down their possessions. Their foot has been cast into a snare, and let them be entangled in a net. Let snares come upon him. A strange downfall is prepared for him. Death shall devour his pleasant things; his comely things shall be scattered with brimstone. His roots shall be dried up from beneath, and his harvest shall fall upon him from above. Let his memorial perish from the earth. He shall thrust him from light into darkness; his house shall not be saved under heaven, but others shall live in his possessions—these are the houses of the unjust, this is the place of those who have not known the Lord. Judge them, O God; let them fall from their counsels. Let all my enemies be ashamed and troubled. Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and put to shame. Do not pity all those who work lawlessness. My God will show me among my enemies; do not kill them. Let their table become a snare before them. Pour out your wrath upon them, upon the nations that do not know you. My God, make them like a wheel, like stubble before the wind. Fill their faces with dishonor, and they shall seek. He did not desire blessing, and it shall be far from him. Let those who slander me be clothed with shame. Crush the arm of the

Of a sinner and an evil man. Let those who transgress without cause be put to shame. Give them, O Lord, a barren womb and dry breasts. Instead of a sweet fragrance, dust shall be yours; and instead of a belt, you shall be girded with a rope; and instead of the golden ornament of your head, you shall have baldness because of your works; and instead of a robe of purple, you shall gird yourself with sackcloth. And your fairest son, whom you love, shall fall by the sword, and our mighty men shall fall by the sword, and you shall be left alone, and you shall be dashed to the ground. Alexander the coppersmith showed me many evils. The Lord will repay him according to his works.

TITLE 17. — Concerning those who are wronged: that one must help them. In those days, when Moses had grown great, he went out to his brothers, the sons of Israel; and observing their distress, he sees an Egyptian man striking a certain Hebrew of his own brothers, the sons of Israel. And looking around this way and that, he sees no one; and striking the Egyptian, he hid him in the sand. And going out on the second day, he sees two men quarreling, and he says to the one doing wrong: Why do you strike your neighbor? But he said: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? Or do you wish to kill me, in the manner you killed the Egyptian yesterday? But Moses was afraid, and said: Has this matter become so evident? I saved the poor man from the hand of the powerful. I shattered the molars of the unjust, and from the midst of their teeth I snatched away the prey. Rescue those being led away to death, and do not spare those being killed.

If you say, "I do not know this man," know that the Lord knows the hearts of all, who repays each according to his works. "Rescue the plundered from the hand of the one who wrongs him." "Remove injustice and misery; take away oppression from my people, says the Lord." "Deliver the wronged from the hand of the one who wrongs him." Everyone who sails is near shipwreck, and all the more the more violently he sails; and everyone who is clothed in a body is near the evils of the body, and all the more the more uprightly he walks, and does not see those lying before him. While you sail with a fair wind, give your hand to the shipwrecked; while you are in good health and rich, help the one who suffers. Do not wait to learn from yourself how great an evil is inhumanity, and what a good it is that compassion be opened to those in need. One must be kind to those who have fallen first, and acquire mercy by mercy. In the misfortunes of others one must set one's own affairs well, and lend to God the mercy of those who need mercy, and not despise men, being men. Do not laugh at the fall of your neighbor; but walk safely, as much as you are able, and also give your hand to the one lying on the ground. TITLE 18. —On love, and peace, and peacemakers. Naomi said to Ruth, "Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; turn back also yourself." But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you, for wherever you go, I will go; and your people shall be my people, and your God my God." Jonathan added to swear to David, because the soul of the one who loved him loved him. "I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan.

You have been made very beautiful to me; your love has been made wondrous to me beyond the love of women. Seek peace, and pursue it. Those who desire peace will be glad. Friendship will cover all those who do not love strife; the one who reproves with boldness makes peace. A patient man will quench disputes, but the impious man will stir them up rather. Righteous lips cover enmity. A morsel with pleasure in peace is better than a house full of many good things and unjust sacrifices with fighting. A prudent servant calms a man's anger. Many waters will not be able to quench love, and rivers will not overwhelm it. Love truth and peace, says the Lord Almighty. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who proclaim good things, a report of peace, who proclaim good things! I will raise up for them a plant of peace, and they will no longer be destroyed. In three things I was made beautiful, and I arose beautiful before the Lord and men: concord of brothers, and friendship of neighbors, and a woman and a man conducting themselves together. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they themselves will be called sons of God. Love your enemies; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you. Amen I say to you, that if two of you agree on the earth concerning any matter whatever they may ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in the heavens. A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, that you also may love one another.

By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you; remain in my love, just as I have kept the commandments of my Father, and I remain in his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of peace is there, the peace will rest upon him. As you go with your adversary to the ruler on the way, give diligence to be released from him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. Amen, I say to you: you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid even the last lepton. If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another. For, You shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, in loving your neighbor as yourself. Let us pursue the things of peace, and the things of building up one another. Love does no evil to the neighbor. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Desire the greater gifts; and still I show you a more excellent way. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become sounding bronze, or a clanging cymbal.

Even if I have prophecy, and see all mysteries, and all knowledge; even if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing; even if I feed all that I possess, even if I hand over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love does not envy; love is patient, is kind; love does not boast, is not puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not seek its own. It believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. And again: Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Let all your affairs be done in love. Be at peace, brothers, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave us. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Above all pursue love, for it is the bond of perfection. And the peace of God rules in your hearts. Pursue peace with all, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. The one who loves his brother remains in the light. Love from a pure heart. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Children, let us not love in word, nor with the tongue, but in deed and in truth. And in this we shall know that we are of the truth. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love has not known God, because God is love. There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out fear; but the one who fears is not made perfect in love. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? Nothing is better than peace, in which every war is abolished. How great is the good of peace—what need is there to speak of it to men who are sons of peace? For nothing is so proper to a Christian as to make peace, since the Lord has promised us the reward for it as well. Those who appear to embrace the good of peace, and who are hostile and displeased with its opposite, faction, are near to God and to divine things. Just as when health takes hold, disease is made to vanish, and when light shines, darkness does not remain, so too when peace appears, all the passions that are constituted by the adversary are dissolved. The whole herd of evils is made to vanish by a disposition of love. Nothing is placed higher than love and peace. Such is the custom of those who love: they wish all the affairs of those they love to be accomplished through them, and that those beloved ones do nothing, and say nothing, apart from them. The nature of love does not know satiety, but always enjoying those it loves, it is raised to a greater flame.

And this Paul, the nursling of this love, knew when he said: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another." For this debt is always paid, yet never discharged. Here it is good and worthy of praise to owe continually. For in the case of money, we praise those who owe nothing; but in the case of love, we bless those who owe continually. And what is a sign of ingratitude there, here is a sign of gratitude—never to dissolve the debt of love. He who has prayed for peace for all has cast out the war of passions, the sin of unseemly thoughts, the tumult of desires, the tossing, the waves, the storm, and has made the soul calmer than a harbor, having brought peace—the mother and common nurse of all good things—with great zeal into the soul of the faithful who have received peace. Just as a soul without a body is not called a man, nor again a body without a soul, so neither is love toward God, if it does not have love toward neighbor as its companion, truly love; nor again is love toward neighbor, if it does not have love toward God, called love. Therefore it is rare to find perfect love. As many, then, as think orthodoxly concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and keep love toward one another, these possess the perfection of love. Love confesses the Father, worships the Son, and glorifies the Holy Spirit. Love does not divide the concord of the Trinity. Love is the companion of angels, the familiar of fathers, the tent-mate of prophets, the fellow-contender of martyrs, the fellow-dancer of apostles, the bond of the Church.

Love does not know war, has no enemy, and champions peace. Love tames murderous rages and honors rational peoples. Love, which cannot be contained in the world, yet dwells in a humble heart. Love is sweeter than honey and milk, having sweetness not only in the mouth but possessing delight in the depth of the heart. Love is the harmony of all things, by which earthly things are held together and heavenly things increase. Love, for which God sent his own Son into the world for our sake; so that he gave his only-begotten Son into the world for us. Love yoked the pairs of plows in harmony with the wood of the cross, and taught them to endure dangers by land and sea. Love perfects martyrs and crowns apostles. Love sees another as itself and considers its own possessions common to all.

Love makes the neighbor's need its own concern. Love sets a common table for all, rich and poor, wise and simple. Love sweetens the embittered soul, heals the afflicted, and makes the humbled flourish again. Love carries the unquenchable lamp of virginity and searches out its own. Love opens the doors of the kingdom and does not prevent those living in honorable marriage from entering. Love loves almsgiving and prepares golden-shining crowns for the farmer of these things. Love does not know the proud but glorifies the humble. Love flees slander and cherishes blessing. Love counsels a man and a woman joined in marriage to be of one mind, and never wishes them to be separated from each other.

Love urges fathers to love their children, and children to serve their parents as masters. Love exhorts masters to be merciful to their servants, and advises servants to serve their masters without guile. Love is understood in many ways: through gentleness, through kindness, through patience, through generosity and freedom from envy, through forgetfulness of wrongs. It is undivided in all things, undistinguishing and social. We are taught three kinds of friendship, and of these the first and best is that according to virtue; for the love that comes from reason is steadfast. The second and middle kind is that according to recompense; this is social, communicative, and beneficial to life; for grateful friendship is common. The last and third kind we call that from habit, but the Greeks call it that according to pleasure, changeable and mutable. Therefore one kind is the friendship of the philosopher, another of the human being, and another of the animal. To love enemies does not mean to love evil, nor impiety, nor adultery, nor theft, but the thief and the adulterer; not insofar as he sins and by such activity defiles the name of man, but insofar as he is a man and the work of God. Indeed, sinning lies in activity, not in essence; therefore it is not the work of God. The knower will never remember wrongs. He will not be harsh with anyone, even if he happens to deserve hatred for what he does. For he reveres the Maker, and loves his fellow sharer of life, pitying him and praying exceedingly for him because of his ignorance. Love heals the inflamed parts of anger. Love is divided among three persons in relation to man: one loves for God's sake the one he loves;

But since he is rich, for the sake of receiving gifts; and another passionately. And one glorifies purely what he loves, another for greed, and another for pleasure. Peace, even if it be exceedingly harmful, is more profitable than war.

TITLE 19. – On truth and faithful witness. "You shall not agree with the unjust man to become an unjust witness." "By two witnesses or three shall he who dies die. One witness shall not stand, to testify against a man, according to all causes, and according to every sin." "A true mouth shall be filled with laughter, and his lips shall rejoice." "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to those who seek his covenant." "The Lord will seek truth." "Do not take away from my mouth a word of truth until exceedingly, for in your judgments I have hoped exceedingly." "With righteousness are all the words of my mouth; there is nothing in them crooked, nor twisted." "Good men build mercy and truth. A faithful witness is delivered from evils." "To do just things and to speak truth is pleasing before God, rather than the blood of sacrifices." "The law of truth was in their mouth, and injustice was not found in their lips." "Speak truth each one with his neighbor; truth and peace, says the Lord Almighty." "It is not possible with truth to receive persons." "I will not pass by truth, nor indeed will I accompany melting envy; for this does not share in wisdom." "Do not contradict the truth; do not receive the person of a powerful man. Struggle for the truth until death, and the Lord God will fight for you." "Birds toward the like

He destroys, and truth will return to those who work it. Everyone who practices base things hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works may not be exposed. But the one who does the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be made manifest, that they have been worked in God. Having put away falsehood, let each one speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. I have no greater joy than this, that I may hear my children walking in truth. Truth is the mightiest of good things. The word of truth is hard to catch, being able easily to escape those who do not pay attention. Such a thing is unreason, and to fight against the truth, so that they neither fall in with themselves, nor understand, nor feel shame. The strength of truth needs no assistance, but even if it has ten thousand trying to extinguish it, it is not only not destroyed, but even through those very ones who attempt to maltreat it it rises up more radiant, laughing at those who strike themselves. Neither will the light ever be darkness, as long as it is light; nor will the truth of our affairs be refuted. For it is truth, and nothing is stronger than it. Everyone who is able to speak the truth and does not speak it will be judged by God. It is better to throw a stone at random than a word. Speak what is necessary, and when it is necessary, and you will not hear what is not necessary. To be silent about the truth is to bury gold.

TITLE 20. Concerning subjects: that they become like the characters of those who rule, whether they be good or whether they be wicked.

Gideon said to the people: As I do, so shall you do. I will sound the trumpet of horn, and you shall sound the trumpet around the camp. Abimelech took the axe, and cut branches of wood, and placed them on his shoulders, and said to the people who were with him: What you have seen me do, do. As is the judge of the people, so also are his ministers; and as is the leader of the city, so are all who dwell in it. For the most part, the ruled is naturally molded to the character of those who rule. So that whatever sort those who lead may be, of such a sort the led must necessarily be also.

TITLE 21. Concerning subjects: that they must be subject to their rulers, and yield, and give way, and honor, and not contradict. You shall not speak evil of gods, and you shall not speak ill of the ruler of your people. Impious is he who says to the king: You transgress the law. Impious is he who will not be ashamed before the face of an honored man, nor knows how to assign honor to these. In your knowledge, do not curse a king, and in the chambers of your bed, do not curse a rich man.

that a bird of the sky will carry your voice, and one having wings will report your word. Fear God, my son, and the king, and do not disobey either of them. Guard the mouth of the king, and from his presence you shall go, because whatever he wishes to do, he does as a king exercising authority, and who will say to him, What are you doing? To a humble magistrate, bow your head. Do not contend with a man of power. When a man of power summons you, be one who withdraws, and the more he will summon you. Do not make yourself equal in the midst of magistrates. Let every soul be subject to the authorities that are over it. For there is no authority except from God. And the authorities that exist have been appointed by God; so that the one who opposes has opposed the ordinance of God; and those who have opposed will receive judgment for themselves. Obey your leaders, and submit. For they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account, so that they may do this with joy and not groaning. For this is unprofitable for you. Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers. Be subject to Caesar in those things in which the subjection is without danger. Beneficence to those who are inferior, and not to rule themselves

To those who know, belongs the serving of rulers who govern according to knowledge. Let us be subject both to God and to one another and to the earthly rulers: to God always; to one another through brotherly love; to the rulers through good order; and all the more the more gentle and kind they are. For it is a terrible thing to exhaust their forbearance by the continual use of their pardon, lest we ourselves be held to account for their harshness, having dissolved spiritual calm and brought darkness upon light and mixed wormwood with honey. Those appointed as rulers by the king, even if they are wicked, one must fear another, not despising them because of their wickedness, but being swayed by the worth of the one who appointed them. All who have learned badly to be ruled will also know how to rule, when they have come into his authority. He who has learned to be ruled also straightway learns to rule. For even if someone should attach to himself the dominion of all earth and sea, he would not be a ruler in truth unless he should learn and be first trained to be ruled. To be subject to one's betters is most beneficial to a man; since it is difficult to know how to be ruled, it is in danger of being far more difficult to rule men. TITLE 22. — Concerning anarchy, that is, a people having no shepherd. "You shall make men as the fish of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no leader." "Jesus, when he came, saw a great crowd, and was moved with compassion for them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd." The unruled is also disorderly; the ruled by many is factious, and thus unruled, and thus disorderly. For both lead to the same thing, disorder, and to dissolution. For disorder is a practice of dissolution.

Disorder is the mark of anarchy, while order reveals the one who governs. Where there is no ruler, there disorder altogether arises. Anarchy and faction are rather a multiplicity of rulers, arising from equality of honor and mutually contending. O how many and how great are the evils that grow from anarchy! Famine, war, the ravaging of lands, the loss of possessions, abductions, fears concerning slavery and death. TITLE 23. — Concerning listlessness and despondency.

"Why are you deeply grieved, my soul? Why do you trouble me?" "When my heart was listless within me, you raised me upon a rock." "I meditated, and my spirit grew faint." "My soul slumbered from listlessness; strengthen me in your words. Despondency seized me because of sinners who forsake your law." "Strengthen yourselves, hands that hang down, and knees that are paralyzed. Strengthen yourselves, do not fear. Behold, our God." "Behold, our Lord comes with strength." "Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." "Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, a soul in groanings and a spirit in listlessness have cried out to you; Lord, hear; Lord, have mercy, for you are a merciful God." "Lift up the hands that hang down and the paralyzed knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be turned aside but rather be healed." Excessive dejection becomes the cause of sin. I am like those at sea who perish from inexperience in sailing and are seasick; they are distressed by the size of the ship, as it produces great tossing, and from there they move to the skiff and the small boat, and everywhere they are seasick, and everywhere they are at a loss.

For their unpleasantness and bitterness go along with them. Such is also our own case. For carrying around the passions that dwell within us, we are everywhere in turmoil together with those like us. Worse than every demonic activity is the excess of despondency and listlessness, since even a demon, in whomever it rules, rules through despondency. And if you remove this, nothing evil or terrible will come to you from him. The time of despondency is not when we suffer evil, but when we do evil. Each of us has a struggle against the spirit of listlessness, which is yoked together with and cooperates with the spirit of grief. This is a terrible and most burdensome demon, always warring against monks; which

at the sixth hour falls upon the monk, producing in him slackness and shuddering, and working hatred both against the place itself and against the brothers who live with him, and against every task, and against the very reading of the divine Scriptures, suggesting to him also thoughts of departure, as if, unless he removes himself to other places, all his time will be in vain and his labor will come to nothing. In addition to all these things, it also implants in him a hunger around the sixth hour, such as would not have come upon him from a three-day fast, or a very long journey, or the heaviest toil. Then it casts into him thoughts that by no other means will he be able to be delivered from this sickness and burden, except by going out continually and visiting brothers for the sake of benefit, and visiting the sick.

When, therefore, he is unable to deceive him in these matters, he becomes fiercer and stronger against him, unless [the man guards himself] through prayer and abstinence from idle talk, and through the study of the divine oracles, and through endurance in temptations. For if he finds him not fortified with these weapons, having shot him through with his own arrows, he shows him to be unstable, and makes him wandering, and slack, and idle, and prepares him to go around monasteries, and to care for nothing else, except where drinking parties are taking place. Thenceforth from this he also binds him to worldly affairs, so as to cast him out completely even from the monastic profession itself. Writing to the Thessalonians about this disease, which is most grievous, the divine Apostle says these things: "We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly. You yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. We did not eat bread for free from anyone, but working with labor and toil night and day, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right, but so that we might give ourselves as a model to you, for you to imitate us. For even when I was with you, we commanded you this, that if anyone does not wish to work, neither let him eat. For we heard that some among you are walking disorderly, working at nothing. We command you therefore in the Lord Jesus Christ, that working with quietness they eat their own bread." For the Apostle calls those who do not work "disorderly.

For the disorderly man is also reckless and precipitate in speech, ready for abuse, unfit for stillness, and a slave of acedia. He therefore commands that one keep away from him, that is, be separated from him as from a pestilent disease. “We did not eat anyone’s bread for free, but working night and day with labor and toil, so as not to burden anyone.” The teacher of the nations, the herald of the Gospel, the one raised up to the third heaven, who says that the Lord commanded those who proclaim the Gospel to live from the Gospel, then shows more clearly the harm that is born: for from idleness comes meddlesomeness, and from meddlesomeness disorder, and from disorder, every evil: “If anyone does not wish to work, let him not eat.” For they work not only for their own need, but they also supply to strangers, to the poor, and to those in prison from their own labor, believing that such beneficence becomes a holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. And the Fathers also say this, that the one who works often fights against one demon and is oppressed by it; but the idle man is taken captive by ten thousand spirits. – The man given to acedia hates the things present and desires the things not present.

TITLE 24. — Concerning the foolish, the senseless, the uneducated, and the moron. "I have seen fools striking roots, but their dwelling was straightway devoured." "Dishonored and utterly despised, lacking every good, they gnawed the roots of trees from great famine." "They perished because they had no wisdom." "The fool said in his heart: There is no God." "Be not like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding." "Together the fool and the senseless shall perish." "From the mouth of a fool comes a rod of insolence." "Why do riches belong to a fool? For the heartless cannot acquire wisdom." "A fool declares his anger on the same day." "The fool has spread abroad his own wickedness." "A man's folly corrupts his ways, and his heart blames God." "The mouth of fools will proclaim evils." "A fool, though scourged, does not perceive it." "Luxury does not profit a fool." "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him. But answer a fool according to his folly, lest he seem wise in his own eyes." "Death meets the uneducated." "The uneducated are unrestrained in tongue." "A heavy stone and sand hard to bear; but the anger of a fool is heavier than both." "Fools, being desirous of insolence, having become impious, hated perception." "The senseless shall die by a snare." "A foolish and lawless man walks crooked ways.

But the same man winks with the eye, signals with the foot, teaches with nods of the fingers. "Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest he mock your wise words." "As the sound of thorns under the cauldron, so is the laughter of fools." "The lips of a fool sink him." "The moron will speak moronic things, and his heart will devise vain things. Zeal will seize an uneducated people." "He who despises wisdom and instruction is wretched, and his hope is empty, and his labors are unprofitable." "Do not lay yourself down for a foolish man." "Take no counsel with a moron." "He who teaches a moron is like one gluing together a potsherd. Weep over the dead, for light has left him. And weep over the moron, for understanding has left him. Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, but for the moron and the impious, all the days of his life. With a fool do not multiply words, and do not go to one without understanding. Do not jest with the uneducated. Sand, and salt, and a lump of iron are easier to bear than an unintelligent man. Weep more gladly over the dead, because he has found rest; but the life of the moron is evil beyond death." "The wheel of a cart is the innards of a fool, and like a turning axle is his reasoning." "But a moron says, I have no friend." Neither among fish should one seek a voice, nor among the uneducated virtue. Just as the sick need physicians, so fools are in need of wisdom. Into a hard and disobedient heart a sound word does not enter; but as if rebounding, it returns to itself. A demon is the leader of an irrational life. No one of the wicked is rich, even if he possesses the mines of every place, but all fools are poor.

Every fool is cramped, oppressed by love of money, love of glory, love of pleasure, and things of like kind, which do not allow the mind to live in spaciousness. There is no evil greater for a man than folly, since by it the mind, which is of the same kind as his own reason, is damaged. Ignorance is the cause of disease and corruption. It is impossible for great things to be learned before small ones.

TITLE 25. — On the simple and guileless in character. "The Lord will not cast out the guileless." "Keep guilelessness, and see uprightness, for there is a remnant for a peaceful man." "God settles solitary ones in a house." "The Lord will not deprive of good things those who walk in guilelessness." "He who walks simply walks confidently." "As long as the guileless hold fast to righteousness, they will not be put to shame." "He who walks uprightly fears the Lord." "He who looks on smooth things will be shown mercy." "All who are blameless in their way are acceptable to the Lord. Every simple soul is blessed." "The guileless believes every word." "The good shall be inhabitants of the earth, and the guileless shall be left in it, for the upright shall dwell in it." We understand guilelessness in two ways. For it is either the alienation from sin accomplished by reason, and through long attention and meditation on good things, cutting out, as it were, the root of evil; or, according to its complete absence, that of the guileless

we receive the appellation. And again, guilelessness is the not-yet-experience of evil, often because of youth, or because of some manner of life, when certain people are disposed without experience toward certain evils, as a child does not know arrogance, does not know deceit or recklessness. Again, there are some of those who dwell in the countryside, who do not know the malpractices of commerce, nor the entanglements in court; such people we call guileless, not as having separated themselves from evil by choice, but as not yet having arrived at experience of the wicked disposition. Simplicity of character, then, marks the guileless man. Pursue truth that is sincere, simplicity, righteousness. The righteous man is without guile, such as Jacob; for this reason he settles single-minded people in a house. The simple and guileless man easily discloses the secrets of his soul. Simplicity is off its guard, and along with what is unsound it has a love of humanity, and what is free of evil least suspects evil. What is not ready for evil is not easily led to suspicion either. Simplicity is precious before God. For cunning, even if it be acceptable in pursuits according to God, would never be reckoned to the sweet fragrance of virtue.

TITLE 26. — On poverty, and self-sufficiency, and frugality. "Better is a little for the righteous man, than great wealth of sinners." "Better is hospitality with vegetables for friendship and grace, than a setting-forth of labors with enmity. Better is the receiving of a few things with righteousness, than many produce with injustice." "Better is a morsel with pleasure in peace, than a house of many good things, and of unjust money with strife." "Riches and poverty give me not, O Lord, but appoint for me the things that are needful, and the things that are sufficient, lest being filled I become false, and say: Who sees me? or being made poor, I steal, and swear the name of God." "Having found honey, eat what is sufficient, lest being filled you vomit it up. To eat much honey is not good." "Better is the filling of one hand with rest, than the filling of two hands with toil." "The life of a worker's self-sufficiency shall be made sweet." "Sleep of health upon a moderate intestine." "Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor bronze for your belts, nor a wallet for the road, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs. For the worker is worthy of his food." "And of the multitude of those who believed, the heart and the soul were one; and no one said any of his possessions was his own, but all things were common to them." "I have desired no one's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my needs, and to those who are with me." "For I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be self-sufficient. I know how to be brought low, I know also how to abound in everything, and in all things; I have been initiated both to be filled, and to hunger, and to abound, and to be in want.

I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." "Being content with what is present; for he himself said: I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you." "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." "Godliness with self-sufficiency is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and it is clear that we can carry nothing out. But having food and covering, let us be content with these." I do not pray to be rich, nor do I desire it, but may I have a life from little, having nothing evil. Keep your soul great; for small walls and larger ones provide the same need. The power that governs the living creature easily brought about self-sufficiency and frugality, and made them akin to the one nourished; but taking up luxury and variety of foods, and then not being able to hold out to the end, it produced the manifold kinds of diseases. Misuse is expenditure beyond need. The purpose of clothing is to be a covering for the flesh, sufficient for winter and summer. The Lord said that that possessionlessness is the measure, so that each should be encompassed in his acquisition down to his last tunic. We do not praise any of the things that are of equal honor with the throat, or rather of no honor,

Likewise also of things to be cast away; but let us live thus simply and offhandedly, differing a little from the beasts, whose life is unfurnished and unstudied. Better is praiseworthy poverty than most evil wealth. It is a fearful thing to be poor, but worse to be well-off badly. Let your lack be your relish, and not to add satiety to satiety, nor to blunt the appetite with drunkenness. He who gives the day will also give you the things for the day. To be well off with little is far more honorable than to be badly off with much. The cheap way of life, being rolled about and advancing, destroys to a great extent the lessons of fornication. Use foods, not the pleasant, but the beneficial. The earnest man of few needs is a boundary between immortal and mortal nature, having the needy part because of a mortal body, but the not-many-needy part because of a soul longing for immortality.

TITLE 27. — Concerning deceit that comes about by dispensation, and that deceit devoid of guile procures praise for the one who has done it.

Rebecca said to Jacob her younger son: Behold, I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying: Bring me game, and make me dishes; and when I have eaten I will bless you before the Lord before I die. Now then, son, hear me, as I command you, and going to the sheep, take me from there two tender and good kids, and I will make them dishes for your father, and he will eat, so that your father may bless you before he dies. But Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: My brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth man. Lest my father feel me, and I shall be before him as one mocking;

And I will bring a curse upon myself, and not a blessing. But his mother said, Upon me be your curse, my child; only obey my voice. And having gone, bring it to his mother; and Rebecca, having taken the goodly raiment of Esau her elder son, which was with her in the house, clothed Jacob her younger son, and put the skins of the kids about his arms, and upon the bare parts of his neck, and gave the dishes into the hands of Jacob her son, and he brought them in to his father. Rachel took the idols, and cast them into the camel's packsaddles, and sat upon them, and said to her father, I cannot rise before you, for the custom of women is upon me. It was reported to Thamar, saying, Behold, your father-in-law goes up to shear his sheep. And she, having taken off the garments of her widowhood, put on a veil, and adorned herself, and sat in the passage of Thamna. For she saw that Selom had become great; but he had not given her to him as a wife. And Judas, seeing her, turned aside to her, and said to her, Suffer me to come in to you. For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. But she said, What will you give me, if you come in to me? And he said, I will send you a kid of the goats from my flocks. But she said, Give me a pledge, until you send it. And he said, What pledge shall I give you? But she said, Your ring, and your necklace, and the staff that is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. Scholion.

Judah, the father-in-law of Tamar, had three sons, and he had joined two of them to her, one by one. And when they died childless, he refused to join his third son to her, fearing lest he too should die. Tamar therefore, having fallen into the reproach of childlessness, and suspecting the danger that comes from fornication, used a stratagem against her own father-in-law, was united with him, and bore two children by him, Perez and Zerah. The sister of Moses said to the daughter of Pharaoh: Do you wish me to call for you a woman from among the Hebrews to nurse the child, and she will suckle the child for you? And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, Go. And the young woman having gone, called the mother of the child. And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her: Keep this child for me, and nurse it for me; and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child and nursed it. Joshua sent two men from Shittim to spy out the land and Jericho. And they entered the house of a woman, a harlot, whose name was Rahab, and they lodged there. And it was reported to the king of Jericho, saying: Men of the sons of Israel have come in here to spy out the land. And the king of Jericho sent and said to Rahab, saying: Bring out the men who entered into your house by night. For they have come to spy out the land. And the woman took the men and hid them. And she said: The men came in to me, but when the gate was shut in the darkness, the men went out, and I do not know where they have gone. And pursue after them and you will overtake them.

She brought them up to the roof and hid them among the stalks of flax that were stacked for her on the roof. And the men pursued after them along the road toward the Jordan, to the fords. And it came to pass, when the pursuers had gone out, that she went up to them on the roof and said to them: Go away into the hill country, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return. The Lord said to Samuel: Fill your horn with oil, and come, that I may send you to Bethlehem to Jesse, for I have seen among his sons a king for me. And Samuel said, How shall I go? For Saul will hear of it and will kill me. And the Lord said: Take a heifer of the herd in your hand, and you shall say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And you shall call Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice, and you shall anoint whom I tell you. And Samuel did all that the Lord spoke to him. Commentary. From this we are taught that in certain matters there is need to manage circumstances, and to make use of the bulk and greatness of authority. For God, who by his word rules all things, and who was able utterly to destroy Saul and bring him to nothing, turned Samuel to ward off by some method the inquiry that had come from him. Michal lets David down through the window, and he fled and was saved. And Michal took the images and laid them on the bed, and a goat's liver and a round mass of hair, and placed them at his head, and covered them with a garment; and Saul sent messengers to take David.

And Michal said that he was being harassed. Not only in wars, but also in peace one may find great and necessary use of deception, and not only in the affairs of the city, but also in the household—a man toward his wife, and a man toward a woman, and a father toward a son, and a friend toward a friend, and indeed also toward a father by children. For from the hands of Saul, Saul's daughter could not otherwise rescue her husband except by outwitting her father. And her brother, wishing to save the one saved by her, when he was again in danger used the same weapons as the woman. For great is the power of deception, provided only that it is not brought about with a treacherous purpose. Everything that is pleasant is easily inclined to deception. Not every guile is blameworthy; since night-watchers [set] against robbers, and generals [set] against enemies, whom it is not possible to capture without guile, seem to succeed by lying in ambush, and the so-called stratagems have this meaning, and the contests of athletes. For in these too deception is considered a proper thing. TITLE 28. — Concerning one who announces and mediates a reply; (six) and that the one who despises the one sent, disregards the one who sent him. "As the going forth of snow in harvest benefits against the heat, so does a faithful messenger to the one who sent him. For he benefits the souls of those who employ him." "The one who sends a word by a foolish messenger procures reproach from his own ways." The one who receives you,

receives me; and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me." What ambassadors endure, he brings as a report against those who sent them. TITLE 29. Concerning the ungrateful and the thankless. "In the seventh month came Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, of the seed of the kings, and ten men with him, and they struck down Gedaliah, and he died; and the Jews, and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah." Note. This man, having received a word of dispassion, killed the one who had given it. "The Spirit of the Lord clothed Azariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he rose up over the people, and said: Thus says the Lord: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? And you shall not prosper, because you have forsaken the Lord. And they stoned him by the command of Joash the king in the court of the house of the Lord. And Joash did not remember the mercy that Jehoiada his father had shown him, and he put his son to death. And as he was dying, he said: Let the Lord see, and judge. And it came to pass after a year, that the power of Syria came up against him, and against Jerusalem, and destroyed all." "They repaid me evil for good, and childlessness." "Instead of, They slandered me for loving me." "Whoever repays evil for good, evil shall not be brought out of his house." "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten sons, and exalted them, but they have rejected me." "The hope of the ungrateful shall melt away as winter frost, and shall flow away as useless water." "A sinner will overturn the goods of a surety, and the ungrateful in his mind will forsake the one who rescued him.

You will host and give drink to an ungrateful person, and in addition to this you will hear bitter words. It is a terrible thing that the one who has been benefited, and is indebted for the greatest favors, should begin, in addition to being ungrateful, even to commit outrage and dishonor. Terrible indeed; but it is a greater evil for the one who does it than for the one who suffers it. This is an excess of ingratitude—to make the benefactor's kindness an occasion for thanklessness. We see many people, after receiving benefits, looking down on their benefactors as though on slaves, and raising their eyebrows against them. Ingratitude appears to me a terrible thing; terrible to me and utterly terrible. TITLE 30. Concerning impossible things.

"Will a papyrus grow tall without water? Or will a rush be lifted up without drink, while it is still on its root?" "Is there a track of a road for ships, or of an eagle flying, seeking the north?" "Who gathered the winds in his bosom? Who shattered all the water with a garment? Who held all the ends of the earth? Three things are impossible for me to understand, and the fourth I do not recognize: the tracks of an eagle flying, and the way of a serpent on a rock, and the paths of a ship crossing the sea, and the way of a man in his youth." "Will two walk together at all, unless they know each other? Will a lion come out of his thicket, having no prey? Will a cub give its voice from its den at all, unless it has seized something? Will a bird fall to the ground without a fowler? Will a snare be sprung on the ground without catching something? Will a trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be terrified? And will there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?" "Will an axe be glorified without the one who cuts, so as to cut with it?

Will a saw be lifted up without one pulling it? “If an Ethiopian changes his skin, and a leopard its spots, then you also will be able to do good, having learned evil.” “Who will number the sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, and the days of eternity? Who will search out the height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the abyss, and wisdom?” “A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden.” “No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his stature?” “Do they gather a grape from thorns, or figs from thistles? So a good tree cannot bear evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bear good fruits.” “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his Lord.” “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known and come to light.” “Offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things?” “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.” “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven! Again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” “No one has ever seen God.” “Jesus said to Nicodemus: Amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus says to him: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered: “Amen, amen I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” The soul must rule the passions and serve God. For it is impossible for it to be ruled both by sin and by God; rather it must prevail over wickedness and be subject to the Master of all things. It is impossible for us to become receptive to divine grace unless we first drive out the passions that come from wickedness and have preoccupied our souls; for even a vessel already occupied by some foul odor will not receive the influx of myrrh unless it is washed out. It is impossible to grasp the good without first having departed and turned away from evil. Just as it is impossible to outrun one’s own shadow, even for one who rushes exceedingly (for it always keeps ahead by as much as it is pursued); or to bring sight near to visible things without the light and air in between; or for the swimming nature to slip out beyond the waters; so it is impossible for those in the body, apart from bodily things, to be wholly with the things that are understood. It is impossible for love of the world to coexist with love of God, just as it is impossible for light and darkness to coexist with each other.

TITLE 31. — Concerning the saints, and those accounted blessed for what they do, and on whose behalf. “You shall fear from the saints.” “Blessed are you, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord.” “Blessed is the man whom the Lord has reproved.” “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners.” “God is wonderful in his saints.” “Blessed are all who dwell in your house; they shall praise you forever.” “Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, and teach out of your law.” “Blessed are those who keep judgment, and do righteousness at all times.” “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he will delight greatly in his commandments.” “Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who search out.” “Blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” “The counsel of the saints is understanding.” “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom; for she is more precious than costly stones.” “The hand of the chosen shall hold easily.” “The perfection of the holy shall guide them.” “He who has mercy on the poor is blessed.” “He who touches you is as one touching the apple of my eye.” “Blessed are all who abide in him.” “Blessed is he who keeps his hands from doing unjust things.” “And the soul of the saints shall be like a fruitful tree.” “We are blessed, Israel, because the things pleasing to God are known to you.” “Blessed is the man who has not slipped with his mouth. Blessed is he whom his soul has not condemned.” “Nine thoughts I counted blessed in my heart, and the tenth I will speak with my tongue.

A man rejoicing over children, living and seeing the fall of his enemies. Blessed is he who is with a prudent wife, and who has not slipped with his tongue, and who has not served one unworthy of himself. Blessed is he who has found understanding, and who is guided into the ears of those who hear. How great is he who has found wisdom! But there is none above the one who fears the Lord. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed are you when they reproach you, and persecute you, and speak every evil word against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens.” “Blessed are those who have not known, and have believed.” “It came to pass, as he was saying these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which you nursed. But he said: Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he comes, will find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them recline, and passing by will serve them.

And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and comes and finds them so, blessed are those servants. Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves. According to faith all these died, not having received the promises, but seeing them from afar and greeting them, and confessing that they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. And if indeed they had remembered that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better one, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. For he has prepared a city for them. And a little later: And what more shall I say? For time will fail me as I recount concerning Gideon, Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, David, and Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms. Blessed is he who has acquired things worthy of the greatest number, who is a partaker of the goods that cannot be taken away. And how shall we recognize this man? He who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly. Blessed is he who has not received doubt concerning God, who has not been fainthearted in present circumstances, but awaits what is hoped for; who has held an unbelieving opinion concerning our Creator. What satiety of the memory of martyrs could there be for the lover of martyrs? For the honor shown to the good among fellow servants is a proof of goodwill toward their own master. The disposition toward the well-disposed among fellow servants has its reference to the master whom they have served, and he who honors those who have contended through faith is clearly one who has zeal for the faith.

I say that this is the best pursuit: to buy the kingdom of heaven with a little blood, and to receive in exchange for transient goods the eternal glory. The law of witness-bearing means neither to advance willingly to the contest, out of sparing the persecutors and the weaker, nor to shrink back when present; for the one is recklessness, the other cowardice. The fellowship of the beatitudes is a fellowship of divinity; for blessedness is truly the property of God. If to see God has no excess in the good, to become a son of God is beyond the good fortune of all things. For he who is deemed worthy to become a son will surely have in himself the dignity of the Father; the attainment is beyond prayer, the gift beyond hope, the grace beyond nature. It is nature to stretch desire toward the blessed and praiseworthy. The sum of every good is to be ranked above the life-giving authority. Such are the souls of the saints. Before they fall, they rise; before they come to sin, they are reined back; for they are sober, and have been awake throughout. The wonder-workers of Christ do not run across a thin rope, nor do they, vaulting on bare swords, escape blows by skill, but instead of a rope they run with unwavering step along the narrow and steep-bordered road of piety; and they blunt the edges of the swords of the persecuted by the zeal of their own blows, not making it their skill not to suffer, but training themselves to conquer in suffering. Martyrdom seems to be a purification of sins with glory.

Blessed is the nature that rejoices in everything and is displeased with nothing at all in the world, but is well pleased with what comes to be, as coming to be well and profitably.

TITLE 32. — Concerning first-fruits and those who pay tithes, and that one ought to offer the first-fruits to God.

"The first-fruits of your threshing-floor you shall not lack." "You shall not appear before me empty. The first-fruits of the first-born of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God." "The right arm shall be for the priest." "Every tithe of your land shall be holy to the Lord." "Take heed to yourself, do not forsake the Levite all the time, as long as you live upon the earth." "You shall not appear before the Lord your God empty; each according to the power of your hands, according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which he has given you." "Honor the Lord from your righteous labors, and offer first-fruits to him from your fruits of righteousness, that your storehouses may be filled with abundance of grain, and your vats may overflow with wine." "Do not appear before the Lord empty. In every gift make your face cheerful, and sanctify the tithe with gladness. Give to the Most High according to his gift, because the Lord is one who repays us, and he will repay you sevenfold." "From all your first-fruits it shall be for the priests." The best gift of God is one's manner of life. Even if you bring everything, you will bring nothing worthy. Offer what even a poor man gives. A pure man does not share a harlot's wage.

TITLE 33. — Concerning good tidings.

Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far land." "Behold, the feet of him who brings good news and announces peace are swift upon the mountains." "How beautiful are the feet upon the mountains of him who brings good news of peace, who brings good news of good things!"

TITLE 34. — Concerning evil tidings.

"Taking the tunic of Joseph, they slaughtered a kid of the goats and defiled the tunic of Joseph with the blood, and they brought it to their father, saying: We found this; know whether it is your son's tunic or not. And Jacob recognized it and said: It is my son's tunic. An evil beast has devoured him; an evil beast has torn him in pieces. And Jacob tore his garment and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days." "The man who had come from the camp answered and said to Eli: A man of Israel has fled from before the foreigners, and a great slaughter has occurred among the people, and both your sons are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that he fell backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his back was broken, and he died." "Behold, a man came from the camp of the people who were with Saul, and his garments were torn, and earth was upon his head

his. And it came to pass, when he came to David, that he fell upon his face to the earth, and did obeisance to him. And David said to him, Where do you come from? And he said, I have escaped out of the camp of Israel. And David said to him, What is this matter? Tell me. And he said, The people have fled from the battle out of the camp, and many of the people have fallen, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead. And David took hold of his garments, and tore them, and all the men who were with him. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan his son, and for the people of Judah, and for the house of Israel, because they were struck down by the sword. Hushai said to the king, Good news, my lord the king. And the king said to Hushai, Is it peace for the young man Absalom? And Hushai said, May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against you for evil, become like that young man Absalom. And the king wept, and went up to the upper chamber of the gate, and wept, and said these things as he wept: My child Absalom; Absalom my child. Who would give us death in your place, Absalom my son? I will chastise them in return for the hearing of their affliction. Woe upon woe shall there be, and report upon report shall there be. And a vision shall be sought from a prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. And the ruler shall put on desolation, and the hands of the people of my land shall be paralyzed.

TITLE 35. — On greeting: that moderation procures goodwill. "And it came to pass, when a man drew near to Absalom to do obeisance to him, that he stretched out his hand and kissed him. And Absalom did this thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment; and Absalom stole the hearts of all the men of Israel." "When you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, your peace will return to you." Be affable in your meetings, sweet in your conversations. Let us not think this achievement is slight and of little worth—to be affable and to welcome greetings. TITLE 36. — On encounters, and those who fall from evils into evils. "They shall go into the miseries of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them, and Machmas shall bury them." "As when a man flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him, and he leaps into his house, and rests his hands on the wall, and a serpent bites him." "He who flees from fear shall fall into the pit; and he who comes out of the pit shall be consumed by the snare.

TITLE 37. — On freedom from affairs and stillness. "Be honored, sitting in your house." "You will be still, and there will be no one warring against you." "You, Lord, alone in hope settled me." "I am alone, until I pass by." "A prudent man leads a life of stillness." "The good are always still." "Upon whom shall I look, but upon the gentle and quiet man, and the one who trembles at my words?" "Do not go out into the field, and do not walk in the roads, for the sword of the enemies dwells round about." "It is good for a man when he takes the yoke in his youth. Sitting alone, he will be silent, because he has taken it upon himself." "Jacob will return, and will be still, and will sleep in the salvation of the Lord, and there will be no one troubling him." "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things." "We beseech you, my brothers, to be still, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands." The separated and solitary life is preferable to the social and the one united with the many. Therefore, imagining with ineffable power, those who keep the mind undistracted and pure have, as it were, the word of God as their charioteer. — Stillness is the beginning of purification for the soul, and just as wild beasts are easily overcome when stroked, so desires, and angers, and griefs, and fears—the venomous evils of the soul—when calmed through stillness and not enraged by continual provocation, become more easily overcome by the power of the word.

Not being dispersed over the world, he returns to himself, and through himself ascends to the thought of God, his soul dragged down neither by care for food nor by anxiety about clothing; but keeping leisure from earthly cares, he transfers all his zeal to the acquisition of eternal goods. One must also be still, so as to converse with God without disturbance, and to draw the mind back a little from wandering things. The quietness free from affairs is more honored than prominence in affairs. Then especially does the devil attack, when he sees us isolated and by ourselves. It befits the continent man also to flee the crowds, so that he may keep his mind undistracted and his heart untroubled. For great is the turmoil in crowds. Great is withdrawal as a helper toward the perfection of men. An undistracted purpose provides a great impulse toward knowledge. Better to live reclining on a straw pallet and to be of good courage, than to be troubled while possessing a golden bed. A quiet life is more illustrious than much wealth. The wise man pursues stillness, freedom from affairs, and leisure, so that in quietness he may encounter divine contemplations. TITLE 38. — On God's decree, and recompense, and exactness; and that one must not avenge himself beyond God's anger, nor be more lenient than his commandments.

Samuel said to Saul: "Were you not insignificant before the Lord, when you were leader of the scepter of the tribe of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel? And he said to you: Go, and utterly destroy Amalek, those who sin against me, and you shall fight against them until you make an end of them. And why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoils, and brought the king back and kept him alive? And you have despised the word of the Lord, and the Lord will despise you so that you are not king over Israel." Eliou came and said to Ahab king of Israel: "Thus says the Lord: Because Syria has said, The Lord is a God of mountains, and he is the God of Israel, and not a God of valleys; and I will give this great force into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord. And Israel struck Syria, a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men, and the son of Adar fled, and his servants said to him: Behold now, we know that the kings of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us now put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel, so that he may preserve our lives. And they did so, and said to the king of Israel: Your servant the son of Adar says, Let my life be spared. And the king said: Is he still alive? He is my brother. And the son of Adar came out to him, and they brought him up to him on the chariot. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from your father I will restore to you, and you shall set up streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father set them up in Samaria.

And he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. And shortly after: "The man of God said to him: Thus says the Lord: Because you have brought out a man of destruction from my hand, your soul shall be in place of his soul, and your people in place of his people." "I will search Jerusalem with a lamp, and I will take vengeance on the men who despise their own guard-posts." "Open her storehouses; search her out as a cave, and utterly destroy her, that she not become a lodging-place." "Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord: Write this man down as a man cast out from among men; for there shall not arise from his seed a man sitting on the throne of David, a ruler in Judah." In the case of those who are hostile to the truth and hinder the commandments of God, it is necessary to act according to the command of the Lord who said: If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. For the philanthropy shown in such cases is akin to the undisciplined kindness of Saul toward Agag, which he displayed contrary to what the Lord had commanded him.

TITLE 39. — On Impressment.

"The powerless have reaped the vineyards of the ungodly, and have labored without food and without pay." "Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." "He who builds his house not with righteousness, and his upper rooms not with judgment, works for his neighbor for nothing, and he will not repay him his wages." "Behold, the wages of the laborers who reaped your fields, which have been kept back by you, cry out, and the cries of those who harvested have entered into the ears of the Lord Sabaoth." TITLE 40. — On Good Shame.

"Taking the garment, Shem and Japheth laid it on their two backs, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father, and they did not see the nakedness of their father." "There is a shame that brings on sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace." "Before thunder lightning hastens, and before a modest man grace will go forth." "Be ashamed before father and mother concerning fornication, and before a leader and a tyrant for the sake of a lie; before a judge and a ruler concerning transgression, and before the place where you sojourn concerning theft, and before the truth of God, and before a covenant; and concerning the fixing of an elbow at bread, and concerning the rebuff of receiving and giving, and before those who greet concerning silence; from the sight of a courtesan woman, and from the turning of the face of a relative, and from the contemplation of a married woman, and from the meddling of her maidservant; from friends concerning a word of reproach, and the revealing of hidden words; and you shall be modest as one who is true, and finding favor before every man." TITLE 41. — On Evil Shame.

Do not be ashamed concerning your soul. For there is a shame that brings on sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace; and do not accept a person against your soul, and do not feel shame to your downfall. There is one who promises a friend for the sake of shame, and has gained him as an enemy. Anger, and shamelessness, and great shame, if a wife provides for her husband. Do not be ashamed of these things, and do not accept a person so as to sin: concerning the law of the Most High and the covenant, and concerning a judgment to justify the ungodly, concerning a word shared with travelers, and concerning the giving of another's inheritance; concerning the exactness of a balance and weights, and concerning the acquisition of many things and few; concerning the various selling of merchants, and concerning the instruction of many children, and to bloody the side of a wicked servant. For a wicked wife, a seal is good; and where there are many hands, lock up. Whatever you hand over, by number and by weight; and the giving and receiving of all things in writing. They say that modesty has not profited many. TITLE 42. — On unjust requests; and that unjust requests must not be brought to fulfillment, even if it is a mother who makes the request.

A throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand, and she said to him: One small request I ask of you; do not turn away your face from me. And the king said to her: Ask, my mother, for I will not turn you away. Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Ornia [variant: to Adonijah] your brother as a wife. And Solomon the king answered and said to his mother: And why do you ask Abishag for Ornia as a wife? Ask for him the kingdom also; for this brother of mine is greater than I, and Abiathar the priest is with him, and Joab the son of Saruia, the commander-in-chief, is his companion. And King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: May God do so to me, and more also, for Ornia has spoken this word against his own soul. And now, as the Lord lives, who prepared and set me on the throne of David my father, Ornia shall be put to death today. And he sent and slew him, and Ornia died on that day. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of him. And he said to her: What do you wish? And she said: That these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. And Jesus answered and said: You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They say to him: We are able. He says to them: You shall indeed drink my cup, and you shall be baptized with the baptism

But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. TITLE 43. — On insatiability; and that we are insatiably disposed toward the desire for more.

Hades and destruction are not filled; likewise the eyes of men are insatiable. The eye will not be filled with seeing, and the ear will not be satisfied with hearing. Through insatiability many have died. Insatiability of the body can even drive mad those who are wise in other matters, and forces them to think worse, like a wanton colt snatching away the reasoning. Human nature is sleepless and unwearied in its desire for more. The base man is always full of needs, always thirsting for all things because of insatiable and unappeasable desire, or like fire he drinks down all things, small and great. TITLE 44. — On brothers: You shall not hate your brother in your mind.

Behold, what is good, or what is pleasant, but that brothers dwell together. Let brothers be useful in time of need. A brother helped by a brother is like a strong and lofty city. And it prevails like a founded kingdom. Everyone who hates a poor brother is far from friendship. Better is a friend near than a brother dwelling far away. Brothers and help in time of affliction. Do not exchange a genuine brother for gold of Suphir.

TITLE 45. — On those who beg, that is, those who ask alms. "Child, do not live a life of begging. For it is better to die than to beg. In the mouth of the shameless, the gift of begging will be made sweet, and in his belly a fire will burn."

TITLE 46. — On foul speech.

"Bad company corrupts good morals." "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but if any is good for building up as the need requires, that it may give grace to those who hear." "Filthiness and foolish talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, let them not even be named among you, as is proper for saints." "Let foul speech not come out of your mouth." The habit of words is a road to deeds. Therefore the soul must be guarded with all vigilance, lest through the pleasure of words we admit something and unwittingly take in what is worse, as though swallowing poison along with honey. The practice of evil, confirmed by time, is hard to cure, or even wholly so, since for the most part habit passes over into nature. Stop your ears with wax against base words, and against the tuneless strains of pleasant songs. Shameful and frivolous are those who display natural cleverness in vain things, being slow to be taught good things, but most sharp and most ready to learn the opposite. We must wholly abstain from foul speech ourselves, and must stop the mouths of those who use it, both with a sharp look and by turning away the face, and by what is called derision, and often also by a bolder word. Disorder in names produces a practice of disorder in deeds as well. We must altogether abstain from shameful things heard and seen; and much more must we be pure from shameful deeds.

The way to shamelessness is foul speech, and the end of both is shameful conduct. The hearing of defamatory words often brings danger. TITLE 47. — On a curse invoked with good reason or unjustly; and that one ought to bless, and not to curse.

"Like birds that fly, and sparrows, so a vain curse will not come upon anyone." "Do not give a model to a man to curse you. For when he curses you in the bitterness of his soul, the one who made him will hear his request." "A mother's curse uproots foundations." "Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse." "The tongue is an unrestrained evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and curse. My brothers, these things ought not to be so, nor does the spring from the same opening gush forth the sweet and the bitter. Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine figs?" TITLE 48. — On the forgiveness of sins: in what ways we can obtain pardon.

Strip off the filth, and you shall not fear; and loose your toil, and it shall pass by like a wave, and you shall not be terrified; for your prayer shall be like the morning star." "A man's own wealth is the ransom of his soul." "By alms and acts of faith sins are cleansed." "If there is one who does judgment and seeks faith, I will be merciful to him, says the Lord." "You have made your sons of good hope, because you grant repentance for sins." "Water shall quench a flaming fire, and almsgiving shall propitiate sins." "Forgive your neighbor's injustice, and then when you pray your sins shall be loosed." "He who honors his father shall propitiate sins." "It is the Lord's good pleasure to depart from injustice, and the propitiation is to depart from sin." "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." "He who turns a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins."

TITLE 49. — On despair; that we ought not to despair of our own salvation.

You shall be confident, for there is hope for you." "Those among men who have been despaired of shall be filled with gladness." No one thrusts away good things out of fear of deprivations.

For thus nothing of human affairs would have held together, if in each of the things we pursue we reckoned up the failures. For barrenness lies close to farming, shipwrecks to commerce, widowhood to marriage, and bereavement of children to the rearing of children. But nevertheless we undertake these works, resting on the better hopes, and committing the outcome of the things hoped for to God, who orders our affairs. Neither would the man who is not slack ever fall into despair, nor can the man who is nourished by good hopes, and does not despair of himself, fall into slackness. TITLE 50. — On the Accursed Thing and Separation.

"You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and you shall be accursed like it. With loathing you shall loathe it, and with abomination you shall abominate it, because it is accursed." — "Nothing of the accursed thing shall be found in your hand." "The Lord said to Joshua: The sons of Israel cannot stand before the face of their enemies, because they have become accursed. I will no longer be with you, unless you remove the accursed thing from among yourselves. Rise up, sanctify the people for tomorrow; and whoever is pointed out by the Lord shall be burned with fire, and all that is his, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and has done lawlessness in Israel. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and said to Achar: Tell me what you have done. And Achar said:

I saw in the storehouse a fine variegated robe, and two hundred silver drachmas, and a golden tongue of fifty drachmas, and I took them; and behold, they are hidden in the earth. And they stoned him and all his. TITLE 51. — Concerning things unmixed, and those that have no fellowship with one another. "What is chaff to wheat?" "What fellowship will a wolf have with a lamb? So a sinner with a godly man. What fellowship will a pot have with a cauldron? This one will strike against it, this one will be shattered." "You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons. What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? What accord has the temple of God with idols?" Unmixed is the opposition of the merciful man and the harsh man. Darkness does not endure the presence of light; disease does not stand when health has taken hold; the passions do not operate when impassibility is present; death is gone, corruption is invisible, when life reigns in us, and incorruption holds sway. Let your will be done in me, that the will of the devil may be quenched. For just as in the gloomy caves, when light is brought in, the gloom is made to vanish, so when your will is done in me, every evil and disordered motion of the will is brought to nothing. Pleasure does not admit pain, nor grief joy, nor dejection gladness, nor again does pain, when it rules, admit pleasure, nor does grief, when it prevails, have joy yoked to it, nor is gladness mingled with dejection.

For the opposing passions are unentangled with one another, and would never come to the same point; nor would it ever be hostage to friendly communion, because of the naturally implacable enmity and alienation. It is impossible for the love of the world to coexist with the love of God, just as it is impossible for light and darkness to coexist with one another. ELEMENT 2.

TITLE 1. — On the kingdom of heaven.

"Seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." "From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and the violent seize it." "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid, and out of his joy he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field." — "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking fine pearls; who, having found one precious pearl, went away and sold all that he had, and bought it." "The kingdom of heaven is like a man, a householder, who went out at dawn to hire laborers," and so on. "Jesus answered and again spoke to them in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man, a king, who made a wedding for his son. And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were unwilling to come; again he sent other servants, saying: Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my breakfast, my bulls and the fatted animals have been sacrificed, and all things are ready; come to the wedding.

But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own field, another to his merchandise; but the rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. And when that king heard it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he says to his servants: The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the crossroads of the roads, and whoever you find, invite to the wedding. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both evil and good; and the wedding was filled with those reclining at table; and the rest of the passage. Then the kingdom of heaven was likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom, and the rest. The Lord said: So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast the seed upon the earth, and sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. For the earth bears fruit of itself, first grass, then a stalk, then full grain in the stalk. But when the fruit is delivered, immediately he sends the sickle, because the harvest has come. He said: To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we compare it?

Like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown upon the earth is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the earth, and when it is sown, it grows up greater than all the herbs, and produces large branches, so that the birds of heaven are able to nest under its shadow. Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor revilers, nor drunkards, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. A perfected man is led up to the worthiness of the angels. The sound of those who celebrate there, where is the dwelling of all who rejoice, I think to be nothing other than this: God being hymned and glorified by those deemed worthy of the citizenship there. Just as there are different choices of lives, so also there are different mansions with God, apportioned to each according to his worthiness. And let one man succeed in this virtue, another in all of them, if it be possible; only let him walk on, and strive for what lies ahead, and follow at the feet of the one who guides well and directs straight, and who through the narrow way and gate leads to the breadth of the blessedness there. I must be buried with Christ, rise with Christ, be a co-heir with Christ, become a son of God, a god myself. The prize of virtue is to become a god, and to be illumined by the purest light. —The faithful and undoubted

Of the hoped-for grace, enjoyment comes to those who await it through endurance. The worth of the kingdom has no tyranny set above itself. — For those who look forward to good things, affliction is the flower. Let us pluck the flower for the sake of the fruit. The kingdom of God is not for those who sleep and are slothful, but the violent seize it. For this alone is good violence: to do violence to God, and to snatch life from God. And he who knows those who hold fast firmly, or rather violently, has yielded and given way. For God rejoices in being defeated in such things. The incorruptible kingdom has no desire, but the presence of all good things. Hence it is not possible to desire it; for desiring comes from lacking, and from having all things comes desiring nothing. — One must call the kingdom of God the state of those who live according to the divine laws. TITLE 2. — Concerning the counsel of God; and that it is immutable, and unattainable by men.

"The Lord scatters the counsels of the nations, and rejects the thoughts of the peoples." "How fearful is he in counsels beyond the sons of men." "Many are the thoughts in the heart of man; but the counsel of the Lord remains forever." "What God the Holy One has counseled, who will scatter? And the high hand who will turn back?" "Thus says the Lord Sabaoth, saying: As I have spoken, so it shall be, and as I have counseled, so it shall remain." — "Where are your wise men? And let them announce to you what the Lord Sabaoth has counseled." "Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor, who will instruct him? Or with whom did he take counsel, and instruct him? God eternal is he who made the ends of the earth.

He will not hunger, nor will he grow weary, nor is there any discovery of his understanding. I am God, and there is no other besides me. All my counsel shall stand, and all that I have purposed I will do: I spoke, and I brought it about; I created, and I made it. My word, whatever goes out from my mouth, shall not return to me empty, until it accomplishes all that I willed. Which of men will know the counsel of God? Or who will consider what the Lord wills? For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and their devices are precarious. For scarcely do we guess at the things upon the earth, and the things in our hands we find with toil; but the things in the heavens, who has searched them out? And your counsel, who has known? Where God wills, the order of nature is overcome. For if he willed it, he was able.

TITLE 3. — Concerning the help of God; and that when God is well pleased, the plot of men is weak, and few prevail over many. Insofar as they humbled them, they became more numerous, and grew very strong. The Lord said to Moses: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. For I know their pain, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, and to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. Balaam said: From Mesopotamia Balak king of Moab sent for me, saying: Curse Israel for me. How shall I curse whom the Lord does not curse? Or how shall I curse whom God does not curse? The Lord said to Gideon: The people with you are many, so as to deliver Midian into their hand, lest Israel boast, saying: My hand has saved me.

And now speak in the ears of the people, saying: Who is the one who fears and is faint-hearted? Let him turn back. And twenty-two thousand of the people turned back, and ten thousand were left. And the Lord said to Gideon: The people are still many; bring them down to the water. And he said to Gideon: Every one who laps with his tongue of the water, as a dog laps, you shall set them apart by themselves; and their number became three hundred men. And the Lord said: With these three hundred I will deliver Midian into your hands. David took the staff in his hand, and chose for himself five stones, and put them in the shepherd's bag, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. And he saw David, and despised him, because he was a youth. And the Philistine said: Am I a dog, that you have come out against me with a staff and with stones? And David said to the Philistine: You come against me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I come against you in the name of the Lord Sabaoth, the Almighty, and I will strike you, and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword, nor with spear. And David stretched out his hand to the bag, and took from there one stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone passed through the helmet into his forehead, and he fell to the ground, and David ran, and took off his head. Absalom said, and every man of Israel: The counsel of Hushai is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.

so that the Lord may bring evil upon Abessalom. Four lepers entered, and, God being well pleased, they terrified the whole army of Syria. Hezekiah prevailed and built up the wall that had been torn down, and he spoke to their heart, saying: Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid before the king of Assyria and the great nation, for those with us are more than those with them. With him are arms of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God; and the people took courage. The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom shall I fear? and the rest. A king shall not be saved by much strength, and a giant, and the rest. All my bones shall say, Lord, Lord, who is like you? and the rest. Give us help from tribulation, and the salvation of man is vain. If the Lord had not been among us—let Israel now say—if the Lord had not been, and the rest. I cried out in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me. I will be to her a tower round about, and I will be for her glory. And I will execute vengeance on all who dishonor them. God is with us; know, you nations, and be defeated, and hear to the ends of the earth. The Lord became my helper; therefore I was not put to shame, but I set my face like a solid rock, and I knew that I shall not be ashamed. The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior. The Lord gives life to those crushed in heart. Sing to the Lord, praise him, for he has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the evildoer. Susanna cried out with a loud voice and said:

God is eternal, the knower of hearts, who knows all things before their birth, you know that they have borne false witness against me. And behold, I am dying, having done nothing of what these men have testified against me. And God heard her voice, and as she was being led away to perish, God stirred up the Holy Spirit in a younger child, whose name was Daniel, and he cried out with a loud voice: I am clean from her blood. The patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him into Egypt, and God was with him, and he gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, and he appointed him ruler over Egypt. If God is with us, who is against us? He who has God with himself is stronger than all. If all the things that the wicked and godless sorcerers eagerly desired had come to pass for them and for the demons who defended and assisted them, they would not have left a single Christian man alive anywhere on the earth, nor a house of prayer, nor good counsel, nor a saving word manifest anywhere. TITLE 4. — On baptism, and the prophecy of the divine bath. Come to him, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be put to shame. You who thirst, go to the water, and as many of you as have no money, go and buy, and drink wine without money and without price. Draw water

With gladness from the springs of salvation. Wash yourselves, become clean. Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Amen, amen, I say to you: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. In the days of Noah, when the ark was being prepared, into which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. This also now saves us as its antitype, baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal of a good conscience to God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God for themselves and expose him to public shame. The time for baptism is the whole life of men. For it is impossible for the body to live without breathing, nor for the soul to subsist without knowing its Creator. For ignorance of God is the death of the soul. And he who has not been baptized has not been enlightened. Without light, neither can the eye discern its own concerns, nor can the soul receive the contemplation of God without baptism. John preached a baptism of repentance, and all Judea went out to him. The Lord proclaims a baptism of adoption; and who of those who have hoped in him will not obey? That baptism was introductory, this one is perfecting; that one was a departure from sin, this one is union with God. Israel, had it not passed through the sea, would not have been separated from Pharaoh.

And you, unless you pass through the water, you will not be separated from the bitter tyranny of the devil. That one would not have drunk from the spiritual rock, unless he had been baptized figuratively; nor will anyone give you the true drink, unless you are truly baptized. That one ate the bread of angels after the baptism; but you will not eat the living bread, unless you first receive the baptism. That one entered the land of promise through the baptism; but how will you return to paradise, not having been sealed with the baptism? Or do you not know that a flaming sword has been appointed to guard the way of the tree, fearful and flaming to the unbelieving, but easily approached by those who have believed, and shining like day? But the Master also made it turn. For when it sees a believer, it gives its back; but when it meets one of the unsealed, it confronts him face to face. Elijah was not terrified when the chariot of fire and the horses of fire came upon him, but by desire for the journey above he dared the fearful things, and with great joy he mounted the flaming chariots, while still living in the flesh; but you, who are about to mount not chariots of fire, but to ascend to heaven through water and the Spirit, do you not run to the call? If you were a slave of men, and freedom had been proclaimed for slaves, would you not have gone to the mistress, hiring advocates and entreating judges, so as to be rescued into freedom by every means? Or would you not even have accepted a blow, the last of a slave's stripes, for the sake of release from the torments that follow?

Since the herald is calling you to freedom—you who are a slave not of men but of sin—so that he may release you from captivity, make you a fellow citizen of the angels, show you to be a son of God, adopted through grace, and an heir of the good things of Christ, do you still say that it is not yet time for you to receive what has been given? When will you become a Christian? When will we recognize you as one of our own? Last year you were waiting for the present moment; now again you await the one to come. See that you are not found making promises longer than your life. You do not know what the coming day will bring forth. Do not promise what is not yours. We are calling you to life, O man; why do you flee the call? To a sharing in good things; why do you pass over the gift? The kingdom of heaven is open; the one who calls is truthful, the way is easy; there is no need of time, of expense, of business; why do you shrink back? Why do you fear the yoke, like a heifer unaccustomed to the yoke? It is kind, it is light, it does not chafe the neck, but

glorifies it. For the yoke is not bound tightly around the neck. It seeks one who draws it of his own free will. Do you see that Ephraim is accused, like a heifer in heat, because he wanders about in disorder, dishonoring the yoke of the law? Submit your untamed neck; become a beast of burden of Christ, so that, not having let go of the yoke nor living a life of license, you may not be an easy prey to wild beasts. Taste, and see that the Lord is kind. How shall I proclaim the sweetness of honey to those who do not know it? Taste and see. Perception is clearer than every account. Now consider your soul to be standing as on a balance, drawn on one side by angels and on the other by demons.

Angels will receive you, or those who hold you will restrain you. In battle, commanders distribute the watchword to those under them, so that friends may easily call one another to mind, and so that when they have mingled with the enemy in engagements, the separation may be clear. No one will recognize you—whether you are ours or of the opposing side—unless you provide your kinship by the mystic symbols. If the light of the Lord's face is not marked upon you, how will the angel claim you? How will he take you away from the enemies, unless he recognizes the seal? How will you say, "I am God's," without bearing the marks of identification? Or do you not know that the destroyer passed over the sealed houses, but in the unsealed ones he slaughtered the firstborn? An unsealed treasure is easy for thieves to attack. An unmarked sheep is plotted against without danger. Are you young? Secure your youth with the bridle of baptism. Has your prime passed by? Do not suffer loss of your provisions; do not lose your safeguards; do not think of the eleventh hour as though it were the first. If one of the physicians had promised you by certain devices and inventions to make a young man out of an old one, would you not have longed to come to that day on which you were to see yourself returning to your prime? But since baptism promises to make your soul flourish again—a soul you have grown old, and have shown to be filthy from your lawless deeds and defiled—do you despise the benefactor? Do you not run to the promise? Do you not long to see what the great wonder of the promise is—how a man is born again without a mother?

How is the one who is worn out and corrupted by the desires of deceit fresh again, and young again, and returns to the true flower of youth? Baptism is a ransom for captives, a remission of debts, the death of sin, the regeneration of the soul, a garment of light, an inviolable seal, a chariot to heaven, a procurer of the kingdom, a gift of adoption. Wretched man, do you hold pleasure more precious than so many and such great goods? For I understand your postponement, even if you cloak it with words. The facts themselves cry out, even if you are silent with your voice. Let me be, that I may use the flesh for the enjoyment of shameful things, wallow in the mire of pleasures, stain my hands with blood, take what belongs to others, walk deceitfully, swear falsely, lie, and then receive baptism when I have ceased from evils. But who fixed the limit of your life for you? Who determined the appointed time of old age for you? Who among the things to come is so trustworthy a guarantor to you? Do you not see infants snatched away, those in the prime of life carried off? Life has no single appointed time. Why do you wait for baptism to become a gift to you from fever? When you will be able neither to utter the saving words, and perhaps not even to hear them clearly; nor to lift your hands to heaven, nor to stand up on your feet, nor to bend the knee for worship, nor to be taught profitably, nor to confess safely, nor to make a covenant with Christ, nor to renounce the enemy, and perhaps not even to listen intelligently while being initiated, being in doubt about what is present: Did he perceive the grace, or is he insensible to what has happened? And when you receive the grace knowingly, then you have the talent, but you do not bring the work.

Just as he brought into being things that did not exist, so he remolded those that did exist, a molding more divine and higher than the first; which for beginners is a seal, and for those more perfect in age a gift, and a restoration of the image that suffered through wickedness, so that we might not, having become worse through despair and always being carried down toward the worse, fall completely outside the good and virtue. Let the bath be for you not of the body only, but also of the image; not a washing away of sins only, but also a correction of character; let it not only wash away the mud that came before, but also remove the source; let it not only form the acquiring well, but also the well acquiring, or at least the lightest thing, the laying aside of what was acquired badly. For what profit is it if the sin is forgiven you, but the loss caused by you is not released to the one wronged? Since there are two evils for you, the acquiring unjustly and the holding on to what was acquired, you have received forgiveness for the one, but the other you are wronging today. For today what belongs to another is with you, and the sin was not removed, but was interrupted by time; the one was dared before baptism, the other remains after baptism. For the bath has forgiveness of sins that have been committed, not of sins being committed. It is necessary that the purification not be cleverly devised, but imprinted; that you be made fully bright, but not merely dyed; and that the gift be not a covering over of sins, but a release from them. Blessed is God, who alone does wonders, who makes all things and establishes them. Those who yesterday were captives are now free, and citizens of the Church. Those formerly in the shame of sins are now in the boldness of righteousness.

If knowing God has no excess in goodness, becoming a son of God is beyond all good fortune. For he who has been deemed worthy to become a son of God will certainly possess the Father's dignity. The attainment is beyond prayer; the gift is beyond hope; the grace is beyond nature. — He is baptized with the Holy Spirit who is sanctified through every thought, word, and deed, and is spiritual. For just as one baptized in water is wholly wetted, so one baptized in the Holy Spirit becomes wholly spiritual and holy, being made such in disposition and deed.

TITLE 5. — On abominations, and the so-called gods. "You shall have no other gods besides me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor any likeness of all that is in heaven, and all that is in the earth beneath, and all that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor shall you serve them. For I am the Lord." "Everyone who sacrifices to other gods shall be utterly destroyed." "You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and you shall be accursed like it." "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of human hands." "Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish from the earth, and from under this heaven." "All men are vain, in whom is the ignorance of God, and who from the good things that are seen could not know the One who is; nor, attending to the works, did they recognize the craftsman; but either fire, or wind, or swift air, or the circle of stars, or violent water, or the luminaries of heaven, they deemed gods, the rulers of the world; if, delighting in their beauty, they supposed these things, let them know how much better is the Master of these.

For the originator of the world created these things. And if they were struck with awe at power and energy, let them understand from these things how much more powerful is he who made them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things their creator is correspondingly seen. But wretched are they, and their hopes are among the dead, who called gods the works of human hands, gold and silver, the studied products of craft, and likenesses of animals, or of useless stones. The handmade thing is accursed, and the one who made it, because the one worked it, and the other, being corruptible, he named a god. Equally hateful to God are both the impious man and his impiety. For both the thing done and the one who did it will be destroyed together. The potter is judge, and the one who toils at evil, fashions a vain god from the same clay; who, having been born from the earth a little before, after a little while journeys into the earth from which he was taken, when the debt of the soul is demanded of him. But he has a care, not that he is about to grow weary, nor that he has a short-lived life; but he contends with goldsmiths and silversmiths, and imitates bronze-workers, and considers it glory that he fashions counterfeit things. Ashes is his heart, and his hope is more worthless than earth, and his life more dishonored than clay, because he did not know the one who fashioned him, and the one who breathed into him an active soul, and breathed into him a living spirit; but they reckoned our life to be a plaything, and our life a profitable festival. A spectacle of foods set out upon a tomb; what benefit is the offering to an idol?

For it neither eats nor will it smell. Some revered the sun, others the moon, others a multitude of stars, others heaven itself together with these, and others the elements, without which human life cannot subsist. I think that some, courting power, praising strength, and admiring beauty, in time made the object of their honor a god. The more passionate among them even named their passions as gods. There are some who curse the stars when they are angry against a man, saying, Woe to your star. Others say: You were born under a good star, and therefore everything goes well with you. And woe to those who say these things. I know many who pray to the sun and the moon, and offer supplication to the sun, saying, Have mercy on me; and woe to them. Why do you forsake the maker of the sun and worship the sun? One must not serve the creation rather than the Creator. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who worships the sun and the moon and the stars, and any other creature rather than the Creator. Many, imagining things, say that the moon comes down. When, they say, a man is made to bleed, one who has bewitched it brings it down. And woe to those who say these things. Who has been able by bewitching to ascend into heaven? Simon the magician wished to, but he fell and was dashed to pieces. For no one can shake, either small or great, a star of heaven, which God has founded by his own power. Again they say that sorcerers cause clouds and rains, and in this they talk nonsense. Which of men can turn aside the command of God by sorcery? For the clouds pour out rain upon the earth at the command of God.

TITLE 6. — Concerning this life and this world; and that we also, and our life, are in distraction and toil.

And to the woman he said: Multiplying I will multiply your sorrows and your groaning. In sorrows you shall bear children, and your turning shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you. The mind of man is earnestly set upon evil things from youth. Is not the life of man upon the earth a place of trial? God has given an evil distraction to the sons of men, to be distracted in it. One meeting is there for the righteous and the ungodly, for the good and the evil, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice; as the good man, so the sinner; as the one who swears, so the one who fears the oath. This is evil in all that is done under the sun, that one meeting is for all. There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God on the earth. Curse, and falsehood, and murder, and theft, and adultery are poured out on the earth. From the one wearing hyacinth and a crown, to the one wearing a coarse linen garment, there is wrath, and jealousy, and confusion, and tossing, and fear of death, and rage, and strife. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world is made an enemy of God. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world passes away, and its desire.