John Chrysostom, On the Repentance of the Ninevites

of his, and put on sackcloth, and sat upon ashes. O wise king. He himself leads the repentance, so as to make the whole city more earnest. For who would still be fainthearted, seeing the king himself struggling for salvation? He heals the wounds of the purple robe through the sackcloth; he washes away the sins of the throne through sitting upon ashes; he cures the disease of pride with the humble attire; with fasting he medicates the sores of luxury; and having shown these things through his actions, he rouses all to the same zeal by a proclamation. For it was proclaimed, it says, by the king: Let neither men, nor beasts, nor oxen, nor sheep taste anything, let them not graze, and let them not drink water. A new legislation of a king; like a physician, he prescribes abstinence to the sick; or rather, the luxurious lawgiver imitates the apostolic teachings of pious fasting, and he commands the irrational animals to share in this with the men, drawing God to greater pity through the sinless nature. And they put on sackcloth, it says, the men and the beasts. O heavenly battle-line! O phalanx dreadful to the devil! The devil stood lamenting, seeing his army having gone over to God with the whole populace and warring against the demons; then children, and women, infants with men, fought this battle; and already the nature of the beasts was taken as an ally into the battle line. And the devil saw a new spectacle: grazing animals contributing righteousness to men, and fasting for the salvation of their owners; Let neither men, nor oxen, nor beasts taste anything, nor let them graze.

The king, having cast aside the symbols of his rule, took up the rank of the priests. He stood delivering a public speech, and teaching the Ninevites 64.428 to be wise. Terrible, he says, O friends, are the evils that surround us. Having subdued the whole inhabited world, we are being destroyed as wicked men by a divine decree, and ruling over all men, as the worst of all we have been condemned by a strange manner of death, and having been deemed blessed by all others, we shall seem to be the most wretched of all, and we shall be a tale and a story to all the world, since our former splendor does not allow our evils to be hidden. Having won many wars, O Ninevites, let us now fight more nobly for our own salvation; for long ago we did everything to become masters of others; but now our prize is not to perish utterly with our wives and children. Against the uprising of a strange war, let us fight in a strange way; let us shoot the heaven with hymns; let us hurl psalmody there instead of spears; let us sling prayers at God; let us appease his anger with unceasing tears; let us break the phalanx of wicked deeds; let us cast down the strongholds of evil; let us fight with the weapons of virtue; an arrow does not wound the breastplate of righteousness; a thunderbolt cannot burn the shield of faith; God does not endure to shatter the helmet of hope; the wrath from above does not tear the tunic of temperance; a threat of destruction is not strong enough to tear down the wall of confession; a sentence of perdition, upon seeing earnest repentance, is immediately dispersed like smoke; if thus, O friends, we also fight with such weapons, we will prevail not only over the earth but also over heaven. Take courage, Ninevites, take courage, a benevolent king wars against us; only by casting down his unconquered enemies, having well laid aside his anger, he becomes a benefactor of his foes.

With such exhorting words the king stirred the people to repentance. And the Ninevites eagerly carried out what was commanded; For they put on sackcloth, it says, the men and the beasts, and cried out earnestly to God. The word was not ready at hand, while the thought was aloft; the tongue did not speak, while the mind wandered; the voice was not brought forth, while the will was carried away; but both earnestly supplicated God. Night coming on, and increasing the fear

αὑτοῦ, καὶ περιεβάλετο σάκκον, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ σποδοῦ. Ὢ σοφοῦ βασιλέως. Ἐξάρχει τῆς μετανοίας αὐτὸς, ὥστε τὴν πόλιν πᾶσαν σπουδαιοτέραν ποιῆσαι. Τίς γὰρ ἤμελλεν ἔτι μαλακίζεσθαι, τὸν βασιλέα ὁρῶν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀγωνιζόμενον; Τὰ τραύματα τῆς ἁλουργίδος θεραπεύει διὰ τοῦ σάκκου· τὰς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ θρόνου διὰ τῆς ἐπὶ σποδοῦ καθέδρας ἐκπλύνει· τὴν νόσον τῆς ὑπερηφανείας τῷ ταπεινῷ τοῦ σχήματος ἐξιᾶται· τῇ νηστείᾳ τὰ ἕλκη τῆς τρυφῆς φαρμακεύει· καὶ δείξας ταῦτα διὰ τῶν ἔργων πρὸς τὴν ἴσην σπουδὴν πάντας διὰ κηρύγματος ἐγείρει. Ἐκηρύχθη γὰρ, φησὶ, παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως· Οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὰ κτήνη, καὶ οἱ βόες, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα μὴ γευσάσθωσαν μηδὲν, μηδὲν νεμέσθωσαν, καὶ ὕδωρ μὴ πιέτωσαν. Καινὴ βασιλέως νομοθεσία· ἀσιτίαν τοῖς ἀῤῥώστοις ὡς ἰατρὸς ἐπιτάττει· μᾶλλον δὲ τὰς ἀποστολικὰς μιμεῖται διδασκαλίας εὐσεβοῦς νηστείας ὁ τρυφητὴς νομοθέτης, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις κοινωνεῖν τὰ ἄλογα ταύτης κελεύει, διὰ τῆς ἀναμαρτήτου φύσεως εἰς οἶκτον μείζονα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπισπώμενος. Καὶ περιεβάλοντο σάκκους, φησὶν, οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ κτήνη. Ὢ παρατάξεως οὐρανίας! ὢ φάλαγγος τῷ διαβόλῳ φρικτῆς! Ἑστήκει θρηνῶν ὁ διάβολος ὁρῶν αὑτοῦ τὴν στρατείαν πανδημὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν μεταστᾶσαν καὶ πολεμοῦσαν τοῖς δαίμοσιν· εἶτα ταύτην τὴν μάχην καὶ παῖδες, καὶ γυναῖκες, νήπια μετὰ ἀνδρῶν ἠγωνίζοντο· ἤδη δὲ ἡ τῶν κτηνῶν φύσις σύμμαχος εἰς τὴν παράταξιν παρελήφθη. Καὶ ἴδε καινὸν ὁ διάβολος θέαμα· βοσκήματα δικαιοσύνην συνεισφέροντα ἀνθρώποις, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν κεκτημένων νηστεύοντα· Οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ οἱ βόες, καὶ τὰ κτήνη μὴ γευσάσθωσαν μηδὲν, μήτε νεμέσθωσαν.

Τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὁ βασιλεὺς σύμβολα ῥίψας, τὴν τῶν ἱερέων μετέλαβε τάξιν. Ἑστήκει δημηγορῶν, καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν τοὺς Νινευΐτας 64.428 παιδεύων. ∆εινὰ, φησὶν, ὦ φίλοι, τὰ περιεστῶτα κακά. Τὴν οἰκουμένην χειρωσάμενοι πᾶσαν, ὡς πονηροὶ θείᾳ ψήφῳ φθειρόμεθα, καὶ βασιλεύοντες πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ὡς φαυλότεροι πάντων ξένῳ θανάτου κατεδικάσθημεν τρόπῳ, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων μακαρισθέντες, πάντων εἶναι δόξομεν ἀθλιώτεροι, καὶ μῦθος ἐσόμεθα τῷ βίῳ παντὶ καὶ διήγημα, τῆς προτέρας λαμπρότητος οὔτε λαθεῖν συγχωρούσης τὰ ἡμέτερα κακά. Πολλοὺς, ὦ Νινευῖται, πολέμους νικήσαντες, γενναιότερον νῦν ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκείας ἀγωνισώμεθα σωτηρίας· πάλαι μὲν γὰρ ὅπως ἑτέρων γενώμεθα κύριοι, πάντα ἐπράττομεν· νῦν δὲ ἆθλον ἡμῖν τὸ μὴ μετὰ γυναικῶν, καὶ παίδων ἄρδην ἀπολέσθαι. Πρὸς ἐπανάστασιν ξένου πολέμου ξένως ἀγωνισώμεθα· τοξεύσωμεν τὸν οὐρανὸν ὑμνῳδίαις· ἀκοντίσωμεν ἀντὶ δοράτων ἐκεῖ ψαλμῳδίαις· προσευχαῖς τὸν Θεὸν σφενδονήσωμεν· δάκρυσιν ἀπαύστοις αὐτοῦ τὸν θυμὸν ἐκμειλίξωμεν· τῶν πονηρῶν πράξεων τὴν φάλαγγα ῥήξωμεν· τὰ τῆς κακίας ὀχυρώματα καταβάλωμεν· μεθ' ὅπλων ἀρετῆς μαχησώμεθα· θώρακα δικαιοσύνης βέλος οὐ τιτρώσκει· ἀσπίδα πίστεως κεραυνὸς οὐ δύναται φλέξαι· περικεφαλαίαν ἐλπίδος συντρίψαι ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἀνέχεται· ἡ ἄνωθεν ὀργὴ χιτῶνα σωφροσύνης οὐ σχίζει· ἀπειλὴ καταστροφῆς, ἐξομολογήσεως τεῖχος καθελεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύει· ἀπόφασις ἀπωλείας μετάνοιαν σπουδαίαν ἰδοῦσα, ὡς καπνὸς εὐθὺς διαλύεται· ἂν οὕτως, ὦ φίλοι, καὶ μετὰ τοιούτων πολεμήσωμεν ὅπλων, ὥσπερ τῆς γῆς οὕτω καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κρατήσομεν. Θαῤῥεῖτε, Νινευῗται, θαῤῥεῖτε, φιλάνθρωπος βασιλεὺς ἡμῖν πολεμεῖ· ἀνικέτας μόνον τοὺς αὐτοῦ πολεμίους ῥίψας εὖ θεὶς τὴν ὀργὴν εὐεργέτης γίνεται τῶν ἐχθρῶν.

Τοιούτοις μὲν παρακλητικοῖς λόγοις ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν τὸν λαὸν ἠρέθιζε. Νινευῗται δὲ προθύμως ἐξετέλουν τὰ κελευόμενα· Περιέβαλον γὰρ, φησὶ, σάκκους οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὰ κτήνη, καὶ ἐβόησαν ἐκτενῶς πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Οὐχ ὁ μὲν λόγος ἦν πρόχειρος, ὁ λογισμὸς δὲ μετέωρος· οὐχ ἡ μὲν γλῶσσα ἐφθέγγετο, ἡ δὲ διάνοια ἐρέμβετο· οὐχ ἡ φωνὴ προεφέρετο, ἡ γνώμη δὲ παρεφέρετο· ἀλλὰ συντεταμένως ἑκάτερα τὸν Θεὸν ἐλιτάνευε. Νὺξ ἐπιοῦσα, καὶ τὸν φόβον αὔξουσα