馬太福音講道集 第 17 章

You have heard that it was said to them of old:

'But I say to you, that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.'

Having therefore completed the former commandment and extended it to the summit of true wisdom, proceeding by way and order He now goes on to the second, here too submitting to the Law.

'And yet this is not the second,' someone says, 'but the third.'

'For the first is not "You shall not kill," but "The Lord your God is one Lord."'

For what reason, then, did He not begin from there?

For what reason, then? Because, had He begun from there, He would have needed to enlarge upon that very commandment and to introduce Himself along with it.

But it was not yet the season to teach anything of that sort concerning Himself.

And besides, for the present He was exercising His moral discourse, wishing first, even from His miracles, to persuade His hearers that He was the Son of God.

For to say straightway, before He had uttered or done anything, namely:

'You have heard that it was said to them of old:

"I am the Lord your God, and besides Me there is no other";

but I say to you, worship Me also, even as Him'—

this would have made all give heed to Him as to a madman.

For if even after His teaching and so many signs, though He did not yet say this openly, they called Him one possessed by a demon;

if before all these things He had attempted to say anything of that kind, what would they not have said? What would they not have imagined? But by reserving the teaching about these matters for the fitting season, He made the doctrine readily acceptable to the many.

For this reason He now passed it over, but having everywhere established it from the signs and from His most excellent teaching, He afterward revealed it also by words.

For the present, however, by the display of the signs and by the very manner of His teaching, He little by little and quietly opens it up.

For to legislate and correct such things with authority led the attentive and thoughtful hearer little by little to the reasoning of the doctrine.

'For they were astonished at Him,' it says, 'because He taught not as their scribes.'

For beginning from the most general of the passions in us—anger, I mean, and desire (for these especially are what tyrannize within us, and are more natural than the rest)—with great authority, and such as befitted a lawgiver, He both corrected them and adorned them with all exactness.

For He did not say merely that the adulterer is punished, but what He did in the case of the murderer, this He does here also, punishing even the unchaste look, that you may learn wherein He places His superiority over the scribes.

'He who has looked upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her';

that is, he who makes it his business to be curious about splendid bodies, and to hunt after comely faces, and to feast his soul upon the sight, and to fasten his eyes upon fair countenances.

For He came not to free the body only from wicked deeds, but the soul also before it.

For since it is in the heart that we receive the grace of the Spirit, He cleanses it first of all.

'And how is it possible,' someone says, 'to be freed from desire?' Most assuredly it is possible, if we are willing, both for this too to be mortified and to remain inactive.

And besides, here He does not simply do away with desire, but the desire that arises from the look.

For he who is eager to look upon comely faces himself especially kindles the furnace of the passion, and makes his soul captive, and quickly comes even to the deed.

For this very reason He did not say, 'Whoever desires to commit adultery,' but, 'Whoever looks to lust.'

And in the case of anger He set a certain limitation, saying, 'without cause and to no purpose';

but here it is not so; rather, He did away with the desire once for all.

And yet both are inborn, and both are implanted in us for our benefit—both anger and desire;

the one, that we may punish the wicked and correct those who behave disorderly;

the other, that we may beget children and that our race may be knit together by such successions.

For what reason, then, did He not set a limitation here also? Nay, a very great one indeed—if you attend—you will see here also a limitation laid down.

For He did not simply say, 'Whoever desires';

since it is possible to feel desire even while sitting on the mountains;

but, 'Whoever looks to lust';

that is, he who gathers the desire to himself, who—though none compels him—brings the wild beast in upon his reasoning while it is at rest.

For this no longer comes from nature, but from slothfulness.

This the Old Testament also corrects, saying from of old:

Do not gaze upon another's beauty.

What then, if I do gaze and am not caught? He chastens the sight, lest, growing bold through this license, you should one day fall into sinning.

What then, one says, if I look and merely desire, yet do nothing wicked? Even so you stand together with the adulterers.

For the Lawgiver has pronounced His verdict, and there is no need to inquire further into anything.

For once, and twice, and thrice looking thus, perhaps you may be able to master yourself;

but if you do this continually, and kindle the furnace, you will assuredly be caught;

for you do not stand outside human nature.

Just as we, then, if we see a child holding a knife, even though we have not seen him wounded, whip him and forbid him ever to take hold of it;

so also God does away with the unchaste gaze even before the deed, lest it should ever fall into the deed as well.

For he who has once kindled the flame, even when the woman he beheld is absent, continually fashions within himself the images of shameful things, and from these he often proceeds even to the deed itself.

For this reason Christ does away also with the embrace that takes place through the heart.

What then might those say who keep virgins living with them under the same roof? For by the terms of this law they would be liable to countless adulteries, beholding them every day with desire.

For this reason the blessed Job also laid down this law from the beginning, walling off from himself on every side such a beholding.

For the struggle is greater after having seen and not enjoyed the one loved;

and we do not reap from the sight as much pleasure as we endure harm from having heightened this desire, making the adversary strong, and giving the devil more room, and no longer being able to repel him, once we have brought him into the innermost parts and thrown open to him our mind.

Do not commit adultery with your eyes, and you will not commit adultery with your mind.

For it is possible to look in another way as well, as the chaste look.

For this reason He did not do away with the sight simply, but the sight accompanied by desire.

But if He had not intended this, He would have said, 'Whoever looks at a woman' simply;

but as it is He did not say so, but, 'Whoever looks in order to desire,' whoever looks so as to gratify the sight.

For God did not make your eyes for this, that through them you should introduce adultery, but that, beholding His creatures, you should marvel at the Creator.

As, then, it is possible to be angry without cause, so it is possible to look without cause, whenever you do this toward desire.

For if you wish to look and be gladdened, look upon your own wife, and love her continually;

but if you are going to pry into the beauties of others, you both wrong her by lifting up your eyes elsewhere, and wrong the woman you have seen, by touching her unlawfully.

For even if you did not touch with the hand, yet you felt her with your eyes;

for this reason this too is reckoned adultery, and before that punishment He brings on no ordinary punishment.

For all the inner parts are filled with tumult and confusion, and great is the tempest, and most grievous the anguish, and he who has suffered this will be in no better condition than captives and men in bonds.

And she who has let fly the arrow has often flown away;

but the wound even so remains.

Or rather, it was not she who let fly the arrow, but you who dealt yourself the mortal wound by looking unchastely.

And I say these things while acquitting the chaste women of accusation; for if any woman adorns herself and draws to herself the eyes of those she meets, even though she does not wound the one who encounters her, she pays the utmost penalty.

For she mixed the drug and prepared the hemlock, even if she did not bring the cup near;

or rather, she did bring the cup near, even if no one was found to drink.

Why then, one says, does He not also address them directly?

Because He everywhere lays down laws that are common, even if He seems to direct His words to the men alone;

for in speaking to the head, He makes the exhortation common to the whole body as well.

For He knows woman and man as one living being, and nowhere does He divide the kind.

But if you wish to hear a rebuke directed specifically against them, listen to Isaiah, who directs many words against them, and holds up to ridicule their bearing, their glance, their gait, their trailing tunics, their frolicking feet, their bending necks.

Together with him listen also to the blessed Paul, who lays down many laws for them—concerning the braiding of hair, concerning extravagance, and concerning the other such things—vehemently rebuking this sex.

And Christ, too, in what follows, intimated this very thing enigmatically;

for when He says, 'Pluck out and cut off that which causes you to stumble,' He speaks showing His indignation against those women.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you.

What then, if it be a kinsman? What then, if he otherwise belong to me? For this reason He enjoined these things, not speaking about bodily members—far from it;

for nowhere does He say that the charges belong to the flesh, but everywhere the accusation is against the wicked disposition.

For it is not the eye that sees, but the mind and the reasoning faculty.

At any rate, often, when we are turned elsewhere, the eye does not see those who are present;

so that the whole matter is not a function of its operation.

For if He were speaking about bodily members, He would not have spoken of one eye, nor of the right one only, but of both.

For he who is caused to stumble by the right, it is quite evident that he will suffer this same thing also by the left.

Why, then, did He set down the right, and add the hand? That you might learn that the discourse is not about bodily members, but about those who are intimately related to us.

For if you love someone thus, He says, as in the place of a right eye, or reckon him so useful as to hold him in the rank of a hand, and he injures your soul, cut these off as well.

But indicating the total separation, He says, Pluck it out and cast it from you.

Then, since He had commanded so severely, He shows also the gain on either side—from the good things and from the evil—continuing in the metaphor:

For it is profitable for you, He says, that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Gehenna.

When someone neither saves himself and destroys you as well, what humanity is there in both being sunk together, when it is possible, once they are separated, for at least one to be saved? Why then, one says, did Paul choose to become accursed? Not so as to gain nothing, but so that others might be saved.

But here the harm comes upon both;

wherefore He did not say merely, Pluck it out, but also, Cast it from you, so as no longer to take it back, if it should remain such.

For thus you will both free that one from a greater charge, and deliver yourself from destruction.

But that you may see the gain of the law more clearly, let us, if it seems good, examine what was said even in the case of the body, by way of supposition.

For if a choice were set before you, and there were a necessity either, keeping the eye, to be cast into a pit and perish, or, having plucked it out, to save the rest of the body—would you not accept the second? It is surely evident to everyone.

For this would be, not the act of one who hates the eye, but of one who loves the rest of the body.

This, then, reckon also in the case of men and of women.

For if he who harms you by his friendship remains incurable, then, being cut off in this way, he will both free you from every corruption and himself will be delivered from greater charges, no longer being called to account, together with his own evils, also for your destruction.

Do you see how full of gentleness and tender care the law is? And that which seems to most people to be severity, how much love for mankind it reveals? Let those hear these things who rush to the theatres, and make themselves adulterers every day.

For if the law commands us to cut off even one made intimate to us when he harms us, what defence could those have who, through their lingering there, day by day draw to themselves those not yet made acquaintances, and prepare for themselves countless occasions of ruin? For it no longer permits so much as to look unchastely;

but since He had shown the harm arising from the matter, He also intensifies the law as He proceeds, commanding us to cut off and sever and cast it somewhere far away.

And these things He who moved countless discourses about love now lays down as law, that from both sides you may learn His providence, and how in every way He seeks what is profitable for you.

Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery;

and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

He does not advance to what lies ahead until He has first thoroughly cleansed away what went before.

For behold, He here shows us yet another form of adultery.

And what is this? There was an old law laid down, that he who hated his

own wife, for whatever cause it might be, should not be hindered from casting her out and bringing in another in her place.

Yet the law did not command that this be done without more ado, but that he give the woman a bill of divorcement, so that she should not have the power to return again to him—that at least the outward form of marriage might remain.

For if He had not so enjoined, but it had been permitted both to cast her out and to take another, and then to bring back the former, great confusion was bound to arise, all men continually taking one another's wives, and the thing thereafter became plainly adultery.

Wherefore the bill of divorcement devised no small consolation.

But these things came to pass on account of another and far greater wickedness.

For if He had compelled a man to keep even a hated wife within his house, he that hated her would have slain her;

for such was the character of the Jewish nation.

For they that spared not their own children, and slew the prophets, and poured out blood like water, much more would they not have spared their wives.

For this cause He permitted the lesser evil, in order to cut off the greater.

And that this law was not a primary one, hear Him saying:

Moses because of the hardness of your hearts wrote these things, that ye might not slay them within, but cast them out.

But since He Himself took away all anger, forbidding not only murder but even mere wrath, with ease He introduces this law also.

For this reason He continually reminds them of His former words, that He might show that He says nothing contrary to them, but things in agreement with them;

intensifying them, not overthrowing them;

and correcting them, not abolishing them.

And observe how everywhere He addresses His discourse to the man.

For he that putteth away his wife, saith He, causeth her to commit adultery;

and he that marrieth her that is divorced committeth adultery.

For the one, even though he take not another, by this very act has made himself liable to accusation, having made her an adulteress;

and the other, by taking one that is another man's, has again become an adulterer.

For do not say to me, But that other man cast her out;

for even when cast out she remains the wife of him that cast her out.

Then, lest by casting the whole blame upon the man that put her away He should make the woman more presumptuous, He also shut against her the doors of him that would afterwards receive her, by saying, Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery; thereby bringing the woman, even against her will, to self-restraint, and walling off from her all entrance to any man, and not permitting her to furnish occasions of pettiness of soul.

For she that learned that there was every necessity either to keep the man allotted to her from the beginning, or, once fallen from that household, to have no other refuge, was constrained, even unwillingly, to be content with her mate.

But if He says nothing to her about these matters, marvel not;

for it is by leaving her aside, and in the threat directed against the men, that He corrects her own slothfulness.

Just as if one who had a prodigal son should leave him aside, and rebuke those who make him such, and forbid them to associate with or come near to him.

But if this seems burdensome, call to mind, I pray, the things spoken before, wherein He blessed those who hear, and thou wilt see it to be very possible and easy.

For the man who is meek, and a peacemaker, and poor in spirit, and merciful, how shall he cast out his wife? He who reconciles others, how shall he himself fall into strife with his own? And not by this means only, but by another way also did He make the law light.

For to this also He leaves one mode of dismissal, saying, Saving for the cause of fornication;

since otherwise it would again come round to the same thing.

For if He had commanded a man to keep within his house even one who consorted with many, He would again have turned the matter into adultery.

Seest thou how these things accord with what went before? For he that looks not upon another woman with wanton eyes will not commit fornication;

and not committing fornication, he will not furnish the husband occasion to cast out his own wife.

For this reason then, henceforth with all confidence He tightens the bond, and builds up fear, holding over the man a great danger, if he should cast her out;

for he makes himself answerable for her adultery.

For lest, having heard, Pluck out the eye, thou shouldest think that this was said concerning a wife also, He seasonably added this further correction, permitting a man to put her away in one way only, and in no other.

Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time,

But I say unto you, Swear not at all.

Wherefore did He not come at once to theft, but to false witness, passing over that commandment? Because he that steals does sometimes also swear;

but he that knows how neither to swear nor to lie, much less will he choose to steal.

So that by means of this He overthrew that sin also;

for the lie comes of stealing.

And what is, Thou shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths? That is, Thou shalt speak truth when thou swearest.

But I say unto you, Swear not at all.

Then, leading them yet further away from swearing by God, He saith:

Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;

nor by the earth, for it is His footstool;

nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;

still speaking from the prophetic writings, and showing Himself not opposed to the ancients;

for it was their custom to swear by these things;

and He shows this custom also toward the end of the Gospel.

But do thou consider whence He exalts the elements;

not from their own nature, but from the relation of God toward them, spoken of by way of condescension.

For since the tyranny of idolatry was great, that the elements might not seem to be honorable for their own sake, He laid down this cause which we have mentioned, which again passed over into the glory of God.

He said not, Because heaven is fair and great;

nor, Because the earth is useful;

but, Because the one is God's throne, and the other His footstool, everywhere urging them on toward the Master.

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, He saith, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Here again, not out of admiration for man, He led him away from swearing by his head;

for otherwise he too would have come to be worshipped;

but by referring the glory to God, and showing that thou art not even lord of thyself, and therefore not lord of oaths sworn by thy head.

For if a man would not give his own child to another, much more will God not give up to thee His own work.

For though the head be thine, yet it is another's possession;

and so far art thou from being its lord, that thou canst not even accomplish in it the very least of all things.

For He did not say, 'You cannot bring forth a single hair,'

but rather, 'Neither can you change its colour.'

'What then,' someone says, 'if a man demands an oath and lays necessity upon me?' Let the fear of God be mightier than that necessity.

For if you are going to put forward such excuses, you will keep none of the things commanded.

For likewise concerning the wife you will say,

'What then, if she is quarrelsome and extravagant?' And concerning the right eye,

'What then, if I love it and am inflamed?' And concerning the unchaste look,

'What then, if I cannot help seeing?' And concerning anger against a brother,

'What then, if I am hot-tempered and cannot control my tongue?' And in this way you will simply trample underfoot everything that has been spoken.

And yet, in the case of human laws, you nowhere dare to put forward this plea, nor to say,

'What then, if such and such?' but willingly or unwillingly you submit to what is written.

But apart from this, you will never be subjected to any such necessity at all.

For he who has heard the earlier Beatitudes and has prepared himself to be such as Christ commanded, will suffer no such necessity from anyone, being revered and honoured by all.

But let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay;

and whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

What then is that which is more than the yea and the nay? The oath, not perjury.

For that other thing is by common consent, and no one needs to learn, that it is of the evil one, and not something superfluous but something contrary;

but the superfluous is that which is added over and above, out of excess, which is precisely the oath.

'What then,' he says, 'was it of the evil one? And if it was of the evil one, how was it law?' This very same thing you will say also concerning the wife:

'How is that now counted adultery which was formerly permitted?' What then is there to say to these things? That the things then spoken were owing to the weakness of those who received the laws;

since even to be served with the savour of sacrifice is exceedingly unworthy of God, just as to lisp is unworthy of a philosopher.

Adultery, therefore, was reckoned such now, and to swear is of the evil one, now that the things of virtue have advanced.

But if these had from the beginning been laws of the devil, they would not have achieved so much good.

If it had run before, the present things would not have been so easily received.

Do not, therefore, demand their virtue now, when their usefulness has passed away;

but then, when the season called for them;

or rather, if you will, even now.

For even now their virtue is displayed, and for this very reason most of all, for which they are decried by us.

For that they now appear to be such is their very greatest praise.

For if it had not reared us well, and made us fit for the reception of the greater things, it would not have appeared such.

Just as the breast, when it has fulfilled all its part, and hands the child on to the more perfect table, thereafter appears useless, and the parents, who before deemed it necessary for the child, decry it with countless jibes;

and many decry it not with words alone, but also smear it with bitter drugs, so that when the words have not availed to remove the child's untimely attachment to it, the deeds may quench the longing.

So also Christ said that these things were of the evil one, not in order to show that the old covenant was the devil's, but in order that with much emphasis He might draw them away from the old meanness.

And to them He says these things;

but as for the senseless Jews, who persisted in the same things, He, as it were with a certain bitterness, smearing the city about with the fear of captivity, made it inaccessible.

And since not even this availed to hold them back, but again they longed to see it, like a child running to the breast, He hid it away completely, both pulling it down and leading the greater part far off from it;

just as in the case of oxen, many who shut off the calves persuade them in time to abandon their old habit of the milk.

But if the Old Covenant were the devil's, it would not have led them away from idolatry, but on the contrary would have urged and cast them into it;

for this is what the devil wished.

But now we see the contrary being brought about by the Old Covenant.

And this very thing, the oath, was in old time enacted by law for this reason, that they might not swear by the idols.

'For you shall swear,' it says, 'by the true God.'

Not small things, therefore, did the law achieve, but even exceedingly great ones.

For their coming to the solid food was the work of its diligence.

'What then?' he says. 'Is not swearing of the evil one?' Yes indeed, exceedingly of the evil one;

but now, after such great philosophy, though not then.

'And how,' he says, 'could the same thing be now good, and now not good?' But I say the very contrary:

how could it not be both good and not good, when all things cry it aloud—the arts, the fruits, and all else besides? Behold, at least, this very thing occurring first in our own nature.

For to be carried is good in the first age of life, but afterwards is ruinous;

to eat food that has been chewed is good in the beginnings of our life, but afterwards is full of loathsomeness;

to be nourished with milk and to flee to the breast is at the beginning useful and salutary, but afterwards ruinous and harmful.

Do you see how the same things appear good according to the seasons, and again not such? For to wear a child's garment is good for one who is a lad, but for a man become such, again is shameful.

Would you learn also from the opposite case, how the things of the man are again unsuitable for the child? Give the child a man's garment, and there will be much laughter, and greater the danger, as he is often tripped up in walking thus.

Give him public affairs to handle, and to trade, and to sow, and to reap, and again there will be much laughter.

And why do I speak of these things? For murder, which is by all confessed to be an invention of the evil one, this very thing, taking hold of a fitting occasion, caused Phinehas, who wrought it, to be honoured with the priesthood.

For that murder is that other's work, hear what He says:

'You want to do the works of your father;

he was a murderer from the beginning.'

But Phinehas became a murderer, 'And it was reckoned to him for righteousness,' it says.

And Abraham, having become not only a murderer, but even a slayer of his own child (which was far worse),

was again the more highly approved.

And Peter too wrought a double murder, yet nevertheless what was done was spiritual.

Let us not, then, examine deeds simply in themselves, but let us seek out with exactness the season also, and the cause, and the intention, and the difference of persons, and whatever else besides may attend them;

for it is not possible otherwise to attain the truth;

and let us be earnest, if we wish to attain the kingdom, to show forth something more than the old commandments, since it is not possible otherwise to lay hold of the heavenly things.

For if we come only to the same measure as the ancients, we shall stand outside these portals.

'For unless your righteousness exceed more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

But nevertheless, even with so great a threat laid down, there are some who not only do not surpass that righteousness, but even fall short of it.

For not only do they not flee oaths, but they even swear falsely;

not only do they not turn aside from the unchaste look, but they even fall into the very wicked act itself, and unfeelingly dare all the other forbidden things.

awaiting one thing only, the day of punishment, and the moment when they shall pay the final penalty for their transgressions;

which is the lot of those alone who have ended their life in wickedness.

For those men one must give up as lost, and expect for them nothing else henceforth but punishment.

But those who are still here in this life are able both to renew the struggle, and to conquer, and easily to be crowned.

Therefore do not sink down, O man, nor cast away your good resolve;

for the things enjoined are not burdensome.

What toil is it, tell me, to shun an oath?

Is it any expense of money? Is it any sweat and hardship? It suffices only to will it, and the whole thing is done.

But if you plead custom to me, then for this very reason above all I declare that the accomplishment is easy.

For if you establish yourself in a different custom, you have accomplished the whole matter.

Consider then that among the Greeks many who lisped, by much practice corrected their faltering tongue;

and others who kept raising and moving their shoulders disorderly and continually, by setting a sword above them broke themselves of the habit.

For since you are not persuaded from the Scriptures, I am compelled to shame you from things without.

This also God did toward the Jews, saying:

'Pass over to the isles of Chittim, and send unto Kedar, and consider whether the nations will change their gods;'

And to the irrational creatures also He often sends men, speaking thus:

'Go to the ant, O sluggard, and emulate its ways, and go to the bee.'

This therefore I too now say to you:

consider the philosophers of the Greeks, and then you shall know how great a punishment we deserve, who disobey the divine laws;

when they for the sake of human decorum have undergone countless labors, but you display not even for heavenly things the same diligence.

But if even after this you should say that custom is a dreadful thing, able to beguile even those who are exceedingly earnest, I too confess this;

yet along with this I say also that as it is dreadful to deceive, so also is it easy to be corrected.

For if you set over yourself in your house many guardians, such as your servant, your wife, your friend, being easily pressed and driven on by all, you will withdraw from the evil custom.

And if you set it right for only ten days, you will need no further time thereafter, but the whole matter will lie secure for you, rooted again by the firmness of the fairest custom.

When therefore you begin to correct this, even if once, even if a second time you transgress the law, even if a third, even if a twentieth, do not despair;

but rise again, and lay hold of the same earnestness, and you will assuredly prevail.

For perjury is no ordinary evil.

But if swearing is of the evil one, how great a penalty shall perjury bring? Did you approve what has been said? But I have no need of applause, nor of tumult, nor of noise.

One thing only I desire: that hearing with quietness and understanding, you do the things spoken.

This is my applause, this my encomium.

But if you praise what is said, yet do not the things you praise, greater is the punishment, and greater

the accusation, and to us it is shame and derision.

For the present gathering is no theater, nor do you sit now beholding tragic actors, that you should applaud only.

What is here is a spiritual school.

Wherefore the one thing to be earnestly sought is this: to accomplish the things spoken, and through works to demonstrate obedience.

For then shall we have received the whole reward;

whereas as it is now, we have well-nigh despaired for the rest.

For indeed with those who meet me privately I have not ceased from these exhortations, and I discourse to you in common, and I see nothing at all further accomplished, but you still cleaving to your former rudiments;

which is enough to instill much reluctance in the teacher.

See then Paul also on this account displeased, because his hearers spent a long time in the former lessons.

'For when for the time you ought to be teachers,' he says, 'you again have need that one teach you what are the first principles of the oracles of God.'

Wherefore we also lament and mourn.

And if I see you persisting, I shall henceforth forbid you to set foot upon these sacred thresholds, and to partake of the immortal mysteries, even as those who commit fornication and adultery, and are charged with murders.

For indeed it is better with two or three who keep the laws of God to offer the accustomed prayers, than to draw along a multitude of transgressors who corrupt the rest also.

Let no rich man, let no man of power here puff himself up against me, and raise his eyebrows.

All these things are to me a fable and a shadow and a dream.

For none of those who are now rich will stand up for me there, when I am arraigned and accused, as not having vindicated the laws of God with the fitting vehemence.

For this, this it was that destroyed that admirable old man,

although he exhibited a blameless life;

yet nevertheless, since he overlooked the laws of God being trampled underfoot, he was punished together with his children, and paid the grievous penalty.

But if where nature's tyranny was so great, he who did not deal with his own sons with the fitting manliness gave so grievous a satisfaction, what pardon shall we have, who are both freed from that tyranny, and ruin everything by flattery? In order therefore that you may not destroy both us and your own selves, be persuaded, I beseech you, and setting up over yourselves countless examiners and accountants, be rid of the custom of oaths, so that advancing henceforth along the way, you may accomplish the rest of virtue also with all ease, and enjoy the good things to come;

which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.