Now I myself said that the beginning of evil was envy, and that the envy arose from man's having been deemed worthy by God of a greater honour; and that the evil—the disobedience—arose from man's falling under penalty by transgressing the commandment of God. For very often, even when what is done is not by its nature base, yet, just because God does not will it to be done, it clearly is an evil.
For there was once a time when God commanded the first people to enter into the land of promise, and then they did not obey the divine command, nor were they willing to enjoy the promise; but later again, when God was holding back their entrance there, they took little heed, having been taught to disobey God, and entering contrary to the divine counsel they were justly required to pay the penalty. [The remainder of the Greek is fragmentary and cannot be securely restored.]