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Rejoice and rejoice with me. What then could be equal to this sacrifice, which he offered, having drawn the sword of the Spirit, which he brought to the altar above the heavens? But Abel was slain, murdered by Cain, and by this he became more glorious. But I have numbered for you countless deaths, as many as the days this blessed man lived preaching. But if you wish to learn of a slaughter that proceeded even to the trial itself, that one fell by the hand of a brother who had been neither wronged nor benefited, but this one was slain by those whom he was hastening to snatch from countless evils, and for whose sake he suffered all that he did suffer. 1.5 But was Noah righteous, perfect in his generation, and the only one of his kind among all? But Paul too was the only one of his kind among all. And that one saved only himself with his children; but this one, when a much more terrible flood overtook the world, not by fastening planks and making an ark, but by composing his epistles instead of planks, snatched not two and three and five relatives, but the whole world about to be submerged, from the midst of the waves. For the ark was not of such a kind as to be carried about in one place, but it reached the ends of the world, and from that time it brings all, even until now, into this chest. For having constructed it commensurate with the multitude of those being saved, receiving men more foolish than irrational animals, he makes them rivals of the powers above, and in this way he surpasses that ark. For that one, having taken in a raven, sent out a raven again, and having received a wolf, it did not change its wildness; but this one not so, but having taken in wolves, he made them sheep, and having taken in hawks and jackdaws, he made them doves, and having cast out all irrationality and wildness from human nature, he introduced the gentleness of the Spirit, and to this day this ark remains sailing, and is not broken up. For the storm of wickedness did not have the strength to loosen its planks, but rather, sailing over it, it put an end to the tempest of the storm; and quite rightly; for these planks are smeared not with bitumen and pitch, but with the Holy Spirit. 1.6 But all admire Abraham, because having heard, "Go out from your country and from your kindred," he left his fatherland, and house, and friends and relatives, and the command of God was everything to him. And indeed we too admire this. But what could be equal to Paul? Who left not his fatherland and house and relatives, but the world itself for Jesus' sake, or rather, he looked beyond heaven itself, and the heaven of heavens, and sought one thing only, the love of Jesus. And hear him declaring this and saying: "Neither things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, will be able to separate us from the love of God." But did that one, having cast himself into dangers, rescue his nephew from the barbarians? But this one rescued not his nephew, nor three and five cities, but the whole world, not from barbarians, but from the very hand of demons, enduring countless dangers every day, and by his own deaths acquiring great security for others. But is the chief of good things there and the crown of his philosophy, the sacrificing of his son? But here too we shall find the first place belonging to Paul; for not a son, but himself he sacrificed countless times, as I have already said. 1.7 What might one admire about Isaac? Many other things, certainly, but especially his forbearance, because when he was digging wells and saw himself driven away from his own, he did not retaliate, but even when he saw them being filled in he endured it, and always moved to another place, not always confronting those who troubled him, but withdrawing and yielding everywhere from the

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χαίρετε καὶ συγχαίρετέ μοι. Τί τοίνυν γένοιτ' ἂν τῆς θυσίας ταύτης ἴσον, ἣν τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ Πνεύματος σπασάμενος ἔθυσεν, ἣν ἐν τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ προσήγαγε τῷ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν; Ἀλλ' ἀνῃρέθη δολοφονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Κάϊν ὁ Ἄβελ, καὶ ταύτῃ λαμπρότερος γέγονεν. Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σοι μυρίους ἠρίθμησα θανάτους, καὶ τοσούτους ὅσας ἡμέρας κηρύττων ἔζησεν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν μέχρι τῆς πείρας αὐτῆς προελθοῦσαν βούλει μαθεῖν σφαγήν, ἐκεῖνος μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μήτε ἀδικηθέντος μήτε εὐεργετηθέντος κατέπεσεν, οὗτος δὲ ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνῃρεῖτο, οὓς ἐξαρπάσαι τῶν μυρίων ἠπείγετο κακῶν, καὶ δι' οὓς πάντα ἔπασχεν ἅπερ ἔπαθεν. 1.5 Ἀλλὰ Νῶε δίκαιος, τέλειος ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μόνος ἐν ἅπασι τοιοῦτος ἦν; Ἀλλὰ καὶ Παῦλος μόνος ἐν ἅπασι τοιοῦτος. Καὶ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τῶν παίδων διέσωσε μόνον· οὗτος δέ, πολὺ χαλεπωτέρου τὴν οἰκουμένην κατακλυσμοῦ καταλαβόντος, οὐ σανίδας πηξάμενος καὶ κιβωτὸν ποιήσας, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ σανίδων τὰς ἐπιστολὰς συνθείς, οὐ δύο καὶ τρεῖς καὶ πέντε συγγενεῖς, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν καταποντίζεσθαι μέλλουσαν ἐκ μέσων ἥρπασε τῶν κυμάτων. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοιαύτη ἦν ἡ κιβωτός, ὡς ἐν ἑνὶ περιφέρεσθαι τόπῳ, ἀλλὰ τὰ τέρματα τῆς οἰκουμένης κατέλαβε, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου πάντας εἰσάγει μέχρι τοῦ νῦν εἰς τὴν λάρνακα ταύτην. Σύμμετρον γὰρ τῷ πλήθει τῶν σωζομένων αὐτὴν κατασκευάσας, δεχόμενος ἀλόγων ἀνοητοτέρους, ταῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσιν ἐφαμίλλους ἐργάζεται, καὶ ταύτῃ νικῶν τὴν κιβωτὸν ἐκείνην. Ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ κόρακα λαβοῦσα, κόρακα πάλιν ἐξέπεμψε, καὶ λύκον ὑποδεξαμένη, τὴν θηριωδίαν οὐ μετέβαλεν· οὗτος δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ λαβὼν λύκους, πρόβατα εἰργάσατο, καὶ λαβὼν ἱέρακας καὶ κολοιούς, περιστερὰς τούτους ἀπετέλεσε, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀλογίαν καὶ θηριωδίαν τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεως ἐκβαλών, τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπεισήγαγεν ἡμερότητα, καὶ μέχρι νῦν μένει πλέουσα ἡ κιβωτὸς αὕτη, καὶ οὐ διαλύεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἴσχυσεν αὐτῆς τὰς σανίδας χαυνῶσαι τῆς κακίας ὁ χειμών, ἀλλ' ὑπερπλέουσα μᾶλλον τοῦ χειμῶνος τὴν ζάλην κατέλυσε· καὶ μάλα εἰκότως· οὐ γὰρ ἀσφάλτῳ καὶ πίσσῃ, ἀλλὰ Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ κεχρισμέναι αἱ σανίδες αὗταί εἰσιν. 1.6 Ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ θαυμάζουσιν ἅπαντες, ὅτι ἀκούσας· Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου, ἀφῆκε πατρίδα, καὶ οἰκίαν, καὶ φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς, καὶ πάντα ἦν αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπίταγμα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦτο θαυμάζομεν. Ἀλλὰ τί Παύλου γένοιτ' ἂν ἴσον; Ὃς οὐ πατρίδα καὶ οἰκίαν καὶ συγγενεῖς ἀφῆκεν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν τὸν κόσμον διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὑπερεῖδε, καὶ ἓν μόνον ἐζήτει, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην. Καὶ ἄκουε αὐτοῦ τοῦτο δηλοῦντος καὶ λέγοντος· Οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα, οὔτε μέλλοντα, οὔτε ὕψωμα, οὔτε βάθος δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος εἰς κινδύνους ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν ἐξήρπασε τῶν βαρβάρων; Ἀλλ' οὗτος οὐ τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν, οὐδὲ τρεῖς καὶ πέντε πόλεις, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν, οὐκ ἀπὸ βαρβάρων, ἀλλ' ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐξήρπασε χειρός, μυρίους καθ' ἑκάστην ὑπομένων κινδύνους, καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις θανάτοις ἑτέροις πολλὴν ἀσφάλειαν κτώμενος. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐστι καὶ ἡ κορωνὶς τῆς φιλοσοφίας, τὸ τὸν υἱὸν καταθῦσαι; Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὰ πρωτεῖα παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ὄντα εὑρήσομεν· οὐ γὰρ υἱόν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν μυριάκις κατέθυσεν, ὅπερ ἔφθην εἰπών. 1.7 Τί ἄν τις θαυμάσειε τοῦ Ἰσαάκ; Πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα, μάλιστα δὲ τὴν ἀνεξικακίαν, ὅτι φρέατα ὀρύττων καὶ τῶν οἰκείων ἐλαυνόμενος ὁρῶν, οὐκ ἐπεξῄει, ἀλλὰ καὶ καταχωννύμενα ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο, καὶ πρὸς ἕτερον ἀεὶ μεθίστατο τόπον, οὐχ ὁμόσε ἀεὶ τοῖς λυποῦσι χωρῶν, ἀλλ' ἐξιστάμενος καὶ παραχωρῶν πανταχοῦ τῶν