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will be shown by what has been said. For one says he sleeps, another that he does not sleep; but both are true, if you take the proper meaning. For the one saying he sleeps indicates the intensity of his longsuffering, while the one saying he does not sleep, shows to us the unblemished nature of his essence. Since, therefore, we have need of great understanding, let us not take this saying simply, that 'It is not mine to give, but to them for whom it has been prepared by my Father'. For this is not a denial of power, nor a mutilation of authority, but a demonstration of great care and wisdom and providence on behalf of our race. For that he is Lord both to punish and to honor, hear what he who says these things himself says: 'When the Son of man comes,' he says, 'in the glory of his Father, he will set the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left,' and he will say to those on his right, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.' But to those on the left he will say, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not 48.770 give me food; I was thirsty, and you did not give me drink; I was a stranger, and you did not take me in.' Do you see a perfected judgment, and how he both honors and punishes, and crowns and avenges, and brings some into the kingdom, but sends others away into Gehenna?

βʹ. Consider here also his great care for us. For to those being crowned, when he was speaking, he said, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world;' but to those being punished he did not say, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire prepared for you,' but 'That which has been prepared for the devil'. For the kingdom I prepared for men, but Gehenna not for men," he says, "but for the devil and his angels have I made it ready. But if you have shown such a life as to become worthy of punishment and vengeance, it would be right for you to reckon this to yourselves. And consider the inclination toward love for mankind; for before the contestants came to be, the crowns were prepared beforehand, and the prizes were made ready in advance. For 'inherit,' he says, 'the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world'. And in the parable of the ten virgins one might see such a thing; for when the bridegroom was about to arrive, the foolish say to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil.' But they to them, 'Lest there not be enough for us and for you;' Scripture is not discoursing here about oil and fire, but about virginity and love for mankind, and it places virginity in the rank of fire, but almsgiving in the rank of oil, showing that virginity is greatly in need of love for mankind, and without it, it is not possible to be saved. And who are those selling this oil? Who else but the poor? for they do not receive so much as they give. Do not, then, think almsgiving to be an expense, but an income, nor an expenditure, but a business; for you receive more than you give. You give bread, and you receive eternal life; you give a garment, and you receive a cloak of incorruption; you give a share of a roof, and you receive the kingdom of heaven; you provide things that perish, and you receive things that abide forever.

And how can I be merciful, he says, being a poor man? Especially when you are poor, then you are able to be merciful. For the rich man, being intoxicated with the abundance of his wealth, and suffering from a most severe fever, and having an insatiable desire, wants to make what he has more; but the poor man, being delivered from this disease, and being clean of this sickness,

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τοῖς εἰρημένοις φανεῖται. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὑπνοῦν αὐτόν φησιν, ὁ δὲ μὴ ὑπνοῦν· ἀλλ' ἀμφότερα ἀληθῆ, ἂν τὴν προσήκουσαν ἔννοιαν ἐκλάβῃς. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λέγων αὐτὸν ὑπνοῦν τὴν ἐπίτασιν τῆς μακροθυμίας ἐνδείκνυται, ὁ δὲ λέγων μὴ ὑπνοῦν, τὸ ἀκήρατον τῆς φύσεως ἡμῖν ἐμφαίνει. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πολλῆς συνέσεως ἡμῖν χρεία, μηδὲ τοῦτο ἁπλῶς ἐκλάβωμεν τὸ εἰρημένον, τὸ Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οἷς ἡτοίμασται ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρός μου. Οὐ γὰρ ἐξουσίας ἀναίρεσις τοῦτο, οὐδὲ αὐθεντίας ἀκρωτηριασμὸς, ἀλλὰ κηδεμονίας πολλῆς ἀπόδειξις καὶ σοφίας καὶ προνοίας τῆς ὑπὲρ τοῦ γένους τοῦ ἡμετέρου. Ὅτι γὰρ κύριός ἐστι καὶ κολάζειν καὶ τιμᾷν, ἄκουσον τί φησιν αὐτὸς ὁ ταῦτα λέγων· Ὅταν ἔλθῃ, φησὶν, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, στήσει τὰ πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν, καὶ τὰ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων, καὶ ἐρεῖ τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με. Τοῖς δὲ ἐξ εὐωνύμων ἐρεῖ· Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατηραμένοι, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ οὐκ 48.770 ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με. Εἶδες κρίσιν ἀπηρτισμένην, καὶ πῶς καὶ τιμᾷ καὶ κολάζει, καὶ στεφανοῖ καὶ τιμωρεῖται, καὶ τοὺς μὲν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν εἰσάγει, τοὺς δὲ εἰς τὴν γέενναν ἀποπέμπει;

βʹ. Σκόπει δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν πολλὴν περὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ κηδεμονίαν. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ

στεφανουμένοις ὅτε διελέγετο, ∆εῦτε, φησὶν, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· τοῖς δὲ κολαζομένοις οὐκ εἶπε· Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατηραμένοι, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ Τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ βασιλείαν ἀνθρώποις ἡτοίμασα, τὴν δὲ γέενναν οὐκ ἀνθρώποις, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις τοῖς ἐκείνου παρεσκεύασα. Εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς τοιοῦτον ἐπεδείξασθε βίον, ὡς ἄξιοι γενέσθαι τῆς κολάσεως καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας, ἑαυτοῖς ἂν εἴητε τοῦτο λογίζεσθαι δίκαιοι. Καὶ σκόπει τὸ πρὸς φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιῤῥεπές· οὔπω γὰρ τῶν ἀγωνιστῶν γενομένων, οἱ στέφανοι προητοιμάσθησαν, καὶ τὰ βραβεῖα προπαρεσκευάσθησαν. Κληρονομήσατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς παραβολῆς δὲ τῶν δέκα παρθένων τὸ τοιοῦτον ἴδοι τις ἄν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλε παραγίνεσθαι ὁ νυμφίος, λέγουσιν αἱ μωραὶ ταῖς φρονίμοις· ∆ότε ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλαίου ὑμῶν. Αἱ δὲ πρὸς αὐτάς· Μήποτε οὐκ ἀρκέσῃ ἡμῖν καὶ ὑμῖν· οὐ περὶ ἐλαίου ἐνταῦθα καὶ πυρὸς διαλεγομένη ἡ Γραφὴ, ἀλλὰ περὶ παρθενίας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ τὴν μὲν παρθενίαν ἐν τάξει πυρὸς, τὴν δὲ ἐλεημοσύνην ἐν τάξει ἐλαίου τίθησι, δεικνῦσα ὅτι σφόδρα δεῖται φιλανθρωπίας ἡ παρθενία, καὶ ἄνευ ταύτης σωθῆναι οὐκ ἔνι. Τίνες δὲ οἱ τὸ ἔλαιον τοῦτο πωλοῦντες; Τίνες ἄλλοι ἀλλ' ἢ οἱ πένητες; οὐ γὰρ λαμβάνουσι μᾶλλον ἢ διδόασι. Μὴ δὴ νόμιζε τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἀνάλωμα εἶναι, ἀλλὰ πρόσοδον, μηδὲ δαπάνην, ἀλλὰ πραγματείαν· μείζονα γὰρ λαμβάνεις ἢ δίδως. ∆ίδως ἄρτον, καὶ λαμβάνεις ζωὴν αἰώνιον· δίδως ἱμάτιον, καὶ λαμβάνεις ἀφθαρσίας περιβόλαιον· δίδως κοινωνίαν στέγης, καὶ λαμβάνεις βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν· παρέχεις τὰ ἀπολλύμενα, καὶ δέχῃ τὰ διηνεκῶς μένοντα.

Καὶ πῶς ἂν δύναμαι ἐλεεῖν, πένης, φησὶν, ὤν; Μάλιστα ὅταν πένης ᾖς, τότε δύνασαι ἐλεεῖν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πλουτῶν μεθύων τῇ περιουσίᾳ τῶν χρημάτων, καὶ πυρετὸν χαλεπώτατον πυρέττων, καὶ ἀκόρεστον ἔχων ἔρωτα, πλείονα ποιεῖν τὰ ὄντα βούλεται· ὁ δὲ πένης ταύτης ἀπηλλαγμένος τῆς νόσου, καὶ τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας καθαρεύων,