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Do not look unevenly, not the rich man as high, and the poor man as lowly. If one stands at your door seeking to have his need rectified, not even so should you see unevenly. Do not say: This one 31.1441 is a friend, this one a kinsman, this one a benefactor; that one is a stranger, a foreigner, an unknown. Looking unevenly, you will not receive mercy; look evenly. One nature, both this man and that man are human. One need, the same lack is in both. Give to the brother and to the stranger.

Neither turn away from your brother, and make the stranger a familiar brother. Therefore, one must look evenly. Do not prefer the friend over the foreigner, who is rectifying his own need. He wants you to be a comforter of those in need, not a respecter of persons, not one giving to a kinsman but pushing away the stranger. All are kinsmen, all are brothers, all are offspring of one father. If you seek the spiritual father, he is the heavenly one; if you seek earthly things, the earth is our mother, and from the same clay we have all been formed. So nature according to the flesh is a sister, the birth according to the spirit is a sister. He wears the same blood as you from the first man; he received the same grace as you from the Master. Look therefore evenly, that you may receive mercy. Do not say: This man is rich, and worthy of honor; that man is poor, and I despise the poor man; nor with these distinctions unevenly distribute honors. For the rich man is a liar, the rich man a robber, the rich man an adulterer, the poor man righteous. Therefore do not pay attention to the outward appearance, but entering into what is hidden, there distribute the distinctions. Honor the one who possesses honorable things. What is more honorable, virtue or wealth? Why do you judge from outward things, not investigating the hidden things? You see, that Bel on the outside had bronze, but inside had clay hidden by the gleaming bronze. If you see those who are eminent in life, know that bronze shines around them, but within they are clay, the bronze propping up what is rotten. Many have gold within, but an earthenware shard placed around them on the outside. This is the treasure hidden in an earthen vessel. This one is self-controlled, and that one fornicates. Who is richer, the one having self-control, or the one with wealth gathered from injustice? The memorial of this one is inalienable; the wealth of that one is temporary. This, a thief does not dig through; that, today flourishes, but tomorrow withers away. So look evenly, with equal honor in the same way; yet do not destroy the distinction of honorable things, that you may be shown mercy. “And do not lodge with an angry man.” But say 31.1444 that there is someone among us who is ambitious, and not irascible. Are you ambitious? You do not look evenly. Are you angry? “And do not lodge with an angry man.”

Did you see how in brevity the correction of sins is given, unless indeed we strike our ears with the sound, but do not send the meaning of what is spoken to the heart. But examine, where was my part read? Recognize the things concerning angry men, O angry man. Say: This is my passion; I know my sickness; take the cure. If you stand before the physician, and see the abundance of medicines stored in the many-leaved tablets, look around for what is suitable for your affliction. The one who has stumbled his foot does not seek the cure for the eye; but the one who has an afflicted eye seeks the aid suitable for his affliction. Therefore let each one take from Scripture the things related to his own passion. Are you angry? Subdue your anger. “For,” it says, “an angry man is not seemly.” Learn from Scripture. Let Scripture become a mirror for your face. There learn. Since an impious thought, having darkened you, does not allow you to consider how great a sin anger is, Scripture tells you: “An angry man is not seemly.” How is the angry man unseemly? He lays aside the human form, he takes on the form of a wild beast. Consider the angry man.

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μὴ βλέπε ἀνώμαλα, μὴ τὸν πλού σιον ὑψηλὸν, τὸν δὲ πένητα ταπεινόν. Ἐὰν παραστῇ τῇ θύρᾳ σου ὁ τὴν χρείαν αὐτοῦ ἐπανορθωθῆναι ζη τῶν, μηδὲ οὕτως ἀνώμαλα ἴδῃς. Μὴ εἴπῃς· Οὗτος 31.1441 φίλος, οὗτος συγγενὴς, οὗτος εὐεργέτης· ἐκεῖνος ξένος, ἀλλότριος, ἄγνωστος. Ἀνώμαλα βλέπων, οὐκ ἐλεηθήσῃ· λεῖα βλέπε. Φύσις μία, ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὗτος κἀκεῖνος. Χρεία μία, ἔνδεια ἐν ἀμφοτέροις ἡ αὐτή. ∆ὸς τῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ τῷ ξένῳ.

Μήτε τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀποστραφῇς, καὶ τὸν ξένον ἀδελφὸν οἰκεῖον ποίησαι. Λεῖα οὖν χρὴ βλέπειν. Μὴ πρόκρινε τὸν φίλον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου, τὴν χρείαν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπανορθούμε νον. Βούλεταί σε παραμυθητικὸν εἶναι τῶν δεο μένων, οὐ προσωπολήπτην, οὐ τῷ συγγενεῖ διδόντα, τὸν δὲ ξένον ἀπωθούμενον. Πάντες συγγενεῖς, πάν τες ἀδελφοὶ, ἑνὸς πατρὸς ἔκγονοι πάντες. Ἐὰν τὸν πνευματικὸν ζητῇς πατέρα, ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν τὰ γήινα ζητῇς, μήτηρ ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ διηρτίσμεθα πάντες. Ὥστε ἀδελφὴ ἡ φύσις κατὰ σάρκα, ἀδελφὴ ἡ γένεσις ἡ κατὰ πνεῦμα. Τὸ αὐτό σοι αἷμα φορεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου· τὴν αὐτήν σοι χάριν ἔλαβε παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου. Βλέπε οὖν λεῖα, ἵνα ἐλεηθῇς. Μὴ εἴπῃς· Οὗτος πλούσιος, καὶ τιμῆς ἄξιος· ἐκεῖνος πένης, καὶ φαυλίζω τὸν πένητα· μηδὲ ταῖς ὑπεροχαῖς ταύταις ἀνωμάλως διάνεμε τὰς τιμάς. Ἔστι γὰρ ὁ πλούσιος ψεύστης, ὁ πλούσιος ἅρπαξ, ὁ πλούσιος πόρνος, ὁ πένης δίκαιος. Μὴ τοίνυν τῇ ἔξωθεν ἐπιφανείᾳ πρόσεχε, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ κρυπτὸν εἰσερχόμενος, ἐκεῖ τὰς διαφορὰς διάνεμε. Τίμα τὸν τὰ τίμια κεκτημένον. Τί τιμιώτερον, ἀρετὴ ἢ πλοῦτος; Τί ἐκ τῶν ἔξωθεν δοκιμάζεις, τὰ κρύφια μὴ διερευνώμενος; Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι ὁ Βὴλ ἔξωθεν μὲν εἶχε χαλκὸν, ἔνδοθεν δὲ πηλὸν τῷ περιαστράπτοντι χαλκῷ ὑποκρυπτόμενον. Ἐὰν ἴδῃς τοὺς ἐν τῷ βίῳ περιφα νεῖς, γίνωσκε, ὅτι χαλκὸς αὐτοῖς περιλάμπει, ἔνδοθεν δὲ πηλός εἰσι, τοῦ χαλκοῦ τὸ σαθρὸν ὑπερείδοντος. Πολλοὶ μὲν χρυσὸν ἔχουσιν ἔνδον, ὄστρακον δὲ ἔξωθεν περικείμενον. Οὗτος ὁ θησαυρὸς ὁ ἐν ὀστρακίνῳ σκεύει κεκαλυμμένος. Οὗτος σωφρονεῖ, κἀκεῖνος πορνεύει. Τίς πλουσιώτερος, ὁ τὴν σωφροσύνην ἔχων, ἢ ὁ τὰ χρήματα ἐξ ἀδικίας συνειλεγμένα; Τούτου τὸ μνημόσυνον ἀναφαίρετον· ἐκείνου ὁ πλοῦτος πρόσκαι ρος. Τοῦτο κλέπτης οὐ διορύσσει· ἐκεῖνο σήμερον ἀνθεῖ, αὔριον δὲ ἀπομαραίνεται. Ὥστε βλέπε λεῖα, ὁμοτίμως κατὰ τὸ αὐτό· τὴν μέντοι διάκρισιν τῶν τιμίων μὴ ἀφανίσῃς, ἵνα ᾖς ἠλεημένος. «Καὶ ἀνδρὶ θυμώδει μὴ συναυλίζου.» Εἰπὲ 31.1444 δὲ ὅτι Ἔστι τις ἐν ἡμῖν φιλόδοξος, καὶ οὐ θυμικός. Φιλόδοξος εἶ; οὐ βλέπεις λεῖα. Θυμώδης εἶ; «Καὶ ἀνδρὶ θυμώδει μὴ συναυλίζου.»

Εἶδες πῶς ἐν βρα χυλογίᾳ ἡ διόρθωσις τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων δίδοται, ἐὰν μὴ ἄρα τὰ μὲν ὦτα κρουώμεθα διὰ τῆς φωνῆς, ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν καρδίαν τὴν ἔννοιαν τῶν λαλουμένων οὐ παραπέμπωμεν. Ἀλλ' ἐξέταζε μὲν, ποῦ τὸ ἐμὸν ἀνεγνώσθη; Τὰ περὶ τῶν θυμικῶν ἐπίγνωθι, ὁ θυμικός. Εἰπέ· Τοῦτο ἐμὸν τὸ πάθος· γνωρίζω τὸ ἀῤῥώστημά μου· λάβε τὴν θεραπείαν. Ἐὰν παρα στῇς τῷ ἰατρῷ, καὶ ἴδῃς τὴν πολυτέλειαν τῶν φαρ μάκων ἐν ταῖς πολυπτύχοις ἀποκειμένην δέλτοις, περισκόπει τί οἰκεῖον ἀπόκειται τῷ σῷ πάθει. Οὐχ ὁ τὸν πόδα προσπταίσας ἐπιζητεῖ τὸ τοῦ ὀφθαλ μοῦ ἴαμα· ἀλλ' ὁ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν κεκακωμένον ἔχων ζητεῖ τὸ οἰκεῖον τῷ πάθει βοήθημα. Οὐκοῦν ἕκαστος ἐκ τῆς Γραφῆς λαμβανέτω τὰ συγγενῆ τῷ ἰδίῳ πάθει. Θυμώδης εἶ; κατάστειλον τὸν θυμόν. «Θυμώδης γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐσχήμων.» Μάθε παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς. Κάτοπτρον γενέσθω τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ σοῦ ἡ Γραφή. Ἐκεῖ μάθε. Ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἀσεβὴς λογισμὸς σκοτώσας οὐκ ἐᾷ λογίσασθαί σε ἡλίκον ἁμάρτημά ἐστιν ὁ θυμὸς, ἡ Γραφή σοι λέγει· «Οὐκ εὐσχήμων ἀνὴρ θυμώδης.» Πῶς ἀσχη μονεῖ ὁ θυμώδης; Ἀποτίθεται τὸ σχῆμα τὸ ἀνθρώ πινον, θηρίου σχῆμα μεταλαμβάνει. Ἐννόησον τὸν θυμούμενον.