2

And Jesus, marveling, says: Amen, amen, I say to you that not even in Israel have I found such great faith. Did his military service hinder him? But what are you? Are you a craftsman? Paul also was a plunderer of the Churches, and after these things became a preacher and an apostle. But what are you? Rich? And Abraham, he also had a wife and children; And Abraham, it says, believed 48.1077 in God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Did wealth and a wife, or children, hinder him at all? Do you have an excuse? Behold, this man has the three things you use as an excuse: both a wife and children and wealth. But what are you? A slave? And Onesimus; and Paul, writing to Philemon, said: Onesimus who was once useless, but now is useful both to me and to you. But what are you? A king? And David; and Nathan the prophet came to him, and rebuked him for the sin which he had committed. Did the king act like a tyrant? did he pronounce judgment against the prophet? Did he not, even in his kingdom, confess his servitude, and say, "I have sinned against the Lord"? And the prophet, seeing his repentance, says to him: The Lord has taken away your sin. Swift the repentance, swifter the forgiveness. Did the king pay attention to himself, and say, "I am a king, I am clothed in purple, and I wear a diadem, and I have bows and arrows and shields and helmets and soldiers to defend me; and I fear this poor man, and I do not kill him, but I tolerate him?" But he said none of these things; but though he was a king, he knew that he had sinned, and for this reason he repented, because he knew that he had committed a grievous sin. Did his kingdom hinder him? But what are you? A child? And Daniel, he both muzzled lions, and tore a dragon apart, destroyed Bel, and condemned the elders, and saved Susanna, and the immaturity of his youth in no way hindered such great virtue. But what are you? A lover of your brother? And Joseph; and he, how much philosophy and self-control did he display with the Egyptian woman? She tore his cloak, but she did not tear his faith; he conquered her shamelessness, but he did not fulfill her desire. But what are you? A widow? And the Sidonian woman, who received Elijah the prophet, and fed him with bread and water; and famine did not waste away the one who brought about the famine. But what are you? A prostitute? And Rahab, who hid the spies, and after the sons of Israel had taken the land of promise, she was saved, both she and her house and her family. But what are you? Poor? And Lazarus, and in his poverty how much philosophy and endurance did he display, and he did not despair being in such great need! But what are you? A lover of women? And Samson; for though he was betrayed by a woman, yet God granted him vengeance, and he was avenged on the foreigners. But what are you? A lover of children? And Jacob. Do you see how many were saved? Do you have faith? You have everything. You do not have faith, but you are a king? Your kingdom profits you nothing. But I have not forgotten the promise. So Jesus was invited to a wedding. And when he had arrived, they had no wine; his mother says to him: They have no wine. Jesus says to her: Go away, woman; for my hour has not yet come. And having said these things, Jesus says: Fill the water jars with water. And they filled the water jars with water, and he made the water wine. But why did he say, "Fill the water jars with water"? Was not the one who by a word made the heaven, and founded the earth, and all things in them, whose glance dries up the abyss, before whom all creation of heavenly and earthly and subterranean things shudders and trembles, able to fill the water jars by a word? But he says: Draw water. Why? I say, so that, if they should deny it, their hands that drew it, and their shoulders that carried the water, might convict them; since he also did the same thing in the case of Lazarus. Before arriving at the place, he says to the disciples: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; then when the sisters of Lazarus came, and say to him that Lazarus had died, he says to them: Where have you laid him? And they say: Come and see. O strange and paradoxical things! A little while ago you were telling the disciples that Lazarus had died, and now you say, "Where have you laid him?"

2

Καὶ θαυμάσας ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λέγει· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν, λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὔτε ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ τοσαύτην πίστιν εὗρον. Μήτι ἐνεπόδισεν αὐτῷ ἡ στρατεία; Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; χειροτέχνης εἶ; Καὶ Παῦλος, καὶ σκυλευτὴς τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἦν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γέγονε κήρυξ καὶ ἀπόστολος. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; πλούσιος; Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ αὐτὸς γυναῖκα εἶχε καὶ τέκνα· Καὶ ἐπίστευσε, φησὶν, Ἀβραὰμ 48.1077 τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ φίλος Θεοῦ ἐκλήθη. Μή τι ἐνεπόδισεν αὐτῷ ὁ πλοῦτος καὶ ἡ γυνὴ, ἢ τὰ τέκνα; Μὴ ἔχεις ἀπολογίαν; Ἰδοὺ ἅπερ προφασίζῃ τρία οὗτος ἔχει, καὶ γυναῖκα καὶ τέκνα καὶ πλοῦτον. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; δοῦλος; Καὶ Ὀνήσιμος· καὶ γράφων Παῦλος Φιλήμονι ἔλεγεν· Ὀνήσιμον τόν ποτε ἄχρηστον, νῦν δὲ κἀμοὶ καὶ σοὶ εὔχρηστον. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; βασιλεύς; Καὶ ∆αυΐδ· καὶ εἰσῆλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν Νάθαν ὁ προφήτης, καὶ ἤλεγξεν αὐτὸν περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἧσπερ ἐποίησε. Μήτι ἐτυράνννησεν ὁ βασιλεύς; μήτι ἀπεφήνατο κατὰ τοῦ προφήτου; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τὴν δουλείαν ὡμολόγει, καί φησιν, Ἥμαρτον τῷ Κυρίῳ; Καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἰδὼν τὴν μετάνοιαν αὐτοῦ, λέγει αὐτῷ· Ὁ Κύριος ἀφεῖλε τὸ ἁμάρτημά σου. Ὀξεῖα ἡ μετάνοια ὀξυτέρα ἡ συγχώρησις. Μήτι προσέσχεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ εἶπεν, ὅτι Βασιλεύς εἰμι, πορφύραν περιβέβλημαι, καὶ διάδημα περίκειμαι, καὶ ἔχω τόξα καὶ βέλη καὶ ἀσπίδας καὶ κρανέα καὶ στρατιώτας ὑπερασπιστάς· καὶ τοῦτον τὸν πένητα φοβοῦμαι, καὶ οὐ φονεύω αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ ἀνέχομαι αὐτοῦ; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων εἶπεν· ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἦν, ᾔδει ὅτι ἥμαρτε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μετενόησεν, ἐπειδὴ ᾔδει ὅτι χαλεπὸν ἁμάρτημα ἐποίησε. Μήτι ἐνεπόδισεν αὐτῷ ἡ βασιλεία; Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; παῖς; Καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ, καὶ λέοντας ἐφίμωσε, καὶ δράκοντα διέῤῥηξε, τὸν Βὴλ κατέστρεψε, καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους κατέκρινε, τὴν δὲ Σωσάνναν ἔσωσε, καὶ τὸ ἀτελὲς τῆς νεότητος οὐδὲν ἐνεπόδισε τὴν τοσαύτην ἀρετήν. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; φιλάδελφος; Καὶ Ἰωσήφ· κἀκεῖνος πόσην φιλοσοφίαν ἐπεδείξατο καὶ σωφροσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας; Τὸν χιτῶνα αὐτοῦ ἔσχισε, τὴν δὲ πίστιν αὐτοῦ οὐ διέῤῥηξε· τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν αὐτῆς ἐνίκησε, τὴν δὲ ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτῆς οὐκ ἐπλήρωσεν. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; χήρα; Καὶ ἡ Σιδωνία, ἥτις Ἠλίαν τὸν προφήτην ὑπεδέξατο, καὶ ἔθρεψεν ἄρτῳ καὶ ὕδατι· καὶ τὸν αἴτιον τοῦ λιμοῦ λιμὸς οὐ κατέτηξεν. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; πόρνη; Καὶ ἡ Ῥαὰβ, ἥτις ἔκρυψε τοὺς κατασκόπους, καὶ μετὰ τὸ παραλαβεῖν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐσώθη καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ὁ οἶκος αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ γένος αὐτῆς. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; πένης; Καὶ ὁ Λάζαρος, καὶ ἐν τῇ πενίᾳ πόσην φιλοσοφίαν ἐπεδείξατο καὶ ὑπομονὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἐδυσπέτησεν ἐν τοσαύτῃ ἀνάγκῃ ὤν! Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; φιλογύναιος; Καὶ Σαμψών· εἰ γὰρ καὶ προεδόθη ὑπὸ γυναικὸς, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐκδικίαν παρέσχεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐξεδικήθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων. Ἀλλὰ τί εἶ; φιλότεκνος; Καὶ Ἰακώβ. Ὁρᾷς πόσοι ἐσώθησαν; Ἔχεις πίστιν; πάντα ἔχεις· οὐκ ἔχεις πίστιν, βασιλεὺς δὲ εἶ; οὐδέν σε ὠφελεῖ ἡ βασιλεία. Ἀλλὰ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως οὐκ ἐπιλέλησμαι. Ἐκλήθη οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς γάμον. Παραγενομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ εἶχον οἶνον· λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ· Οἶνον οὐκ ἔχουσι. Λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ὕπαγε, γύναι· οὔπω γὰρ ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει· Γεμίσατε τὰς ὑδρίας ὕδατος. Καὶ ἐγέμισαν τὰς ὑδρίας ὕδατος, καὶ ἐποίησε τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνον. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ εἶπε, Γεμίσατε τὰς ὑδρίας ὕδατος; ἆρα ὁ λόγῳ τὸν οὐρανὸν ποιήσας, καὶ τὴν γῆν θεμελιώσας, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, οὗ τὸ βλέμμα ξηραίνει ἀβύσσους, ὃν φρίσσει καὶ τρέμει πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἐπουρανίων τε καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, οὐκ ἐδύνατο τὰς ὑδρίας λόγῳ γεμίσαι; Ἀλλὰ λέγει· Ἀντλήσατε ὕδωρ. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἐγὼ λέγω, ἵνα, ἐὰν ἀρνήσωνται, αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν αἱ ἀντλήσασαι, καὶ οἱ ὦμοι αὐτῶν οἱ βαστάσαντες τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐλέγξωσιν αὐτούς· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου τὸ αὐτὸ ἐποίησε. Πρὸ τοῦ παραγενέσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς· Λάζαρος ὁ φίλος ἡμῶν κεκοίμηται· ἔπειτα ὡς ἦλθον αἱ ἀδελφαὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, ὅτι Λάζαρος ἀπέθανε, λέγει αὐταῖς· Ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν; Αἱ δέ φασιν· Ἐλθὲ καὶ ἴδε. Ὢ καινῶν καὶ παραδόξων πραγμάτων! Πρὸ μικροῦ ἔλεγες τοῖς μαθηταῖς, ὅτι Λάζαρος ἀπέθανε, καὶ νῦν λέγεις, Ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν;