in Ausitis, whose name was Job. And that man was blameless, just, God-fearing, true, abstaining from every evil thing. Such was Adam also before he was persuaded by the woman. For this reason, this one is not persuaded by the woman, so that he might not become like that one. That one was clothed in incorruptibility, as he who formed him knows, and so that he might be persuaded by the woman, he became naked, and was condemned. This one was naked, and was not persuaded by the woman, and so that he might not be persuaded by the woman, he put on the crown-bearing of the angels. That one, in order to be persuaded by the woman, both fell from the luxury of paradise, and made the earth a mother of thorns, and inherited death; this one, in order not to be persuaded by the woman, both received freedom from the dungheap and the plagues, and inherited the kingdom of the heavens. That one, making his defense 56.565 to God, said: The woman whom you gave to me, she gave to me, and I ate. O defense that has no pardon! She said, "Eat"; I said, "Do not eat." Why then did you listen to the woman, and disobey God? But the blessed Job was not so. But how? With a rebuke he said: You have spoken as one of the foolish women. There was a man in the land of Ausitis, whose name was Job. But why did he name the land? For your sake, so that you might learn that the company of sinners cannot make the just man sin, but the will of the pious ought to have a steadfast and firm purpose. For this land of Arabia is a dwelling-place of wicked and corrupt men. All were lawless, all God-hating, all profane, all arrogant, and descendants of Esau, and priding themselves on their sins; but so great a sea of impiety could not extinguish the lamp of piety; so great a land of evils could not choke the beauty of endurance. Whence the devil attempted to approach this man. Why? Because he saw him abounding in alms more than in riches. For hear him saying truly: I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame; and again, I wept over the powerless, and I groaned seeing a man in necessities. And not only in words, but also in deeds he abounded exceedingly, being found a whole treasure of beneficence for those in need. For what does he say elsewhere? The needy did not go out from my house with an empty bosom; the mouth of the widow blessed me; and from the shearing of my sheep the shoulders of the poor were warmed. So it is clear that in all things he abounded as a whole treasure, both in words, and in deeds, and in alms, and in the protection of the poor, and in the assistance of the needy. But see what the devil does: He snatches away all his possessions from him first, and last he takes the children. He took first the herds of camels, he took the flocks of sheep, the great number of donkeys, the very large herd of oxen; he took everything away, and last the children. Why? Pay attention now with all exactness: First he took all his possessions, then the children; he took the inherited property, then he made the heirs disappear, so that in every way he might strike him also through the children. First he began to make the property disappear, first he began to seize the inherited property while the heirs were living, so that with the sons and daughters standing by, the just man might receive a critical blow of despondency on account of the loss of the possessions. For the wicked demon considered that, should the children perish beforehand, he might not even come to a perception of the loss of the possessions, But the truly adamant and noble athlete, who was struck many times and through all things was crowned, who received many arrows and with these very arrows speared the devil, who was armed with the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left, did not suffer, did not weep, was not shaken, but neither was he bent by the loss of the possessions, nor was his piety plundered by the death of the children, but he remained like an unshaken tower, from below upon the earth

Αὐσίτιδι, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰώβ. Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ἄμεμπτος, δίκαιος, θεοσεβὴς, ἀληθινὸς, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος. Τοιοῦτος ἦν καὶ ὁ Ἀδὰμ πρὸ τοῦ πεισθῆναι τῇ γυναικί. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὗτος οὐ πείθεται τῇ γυναικὶ, ἵνα μὴ γένηται κατ' ἐκεῖνον. Ἐκεῖνος ἐνδεδυμένος ἦν ἀφθαρσίαν, ὡς οἶδεν ὁ πλάσας αὐτὸν, καὶ ἵνα πεισθῇ τῇ γυναικὶ, γυμνὸς ἐγένετο, καὶ κατεκρίθη. Οὗτος γυμνὸς ἦν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπείσθη τῇ γυναικὶ, καὶ ἵνα μὴ πεισθῇ τῇ γυναικὶ, τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων στεφανηφορίαν ἐνεδύσατο. Ἐκεῖνος ἵνα πεισθῇ τῇ γυναικὶ, καὶ τῆς τοῦ παραδείσου τρυφῆς ἐξέπεσε, καὶ τὴν γῆν μητέραν ἀκανθῶν ἐποίησε, καὶ θάνατον ἐκληρονόμησεν· οὗτος ἵνα μὴ πεισθῇ τῇ γυναικὶ, καὶ τῆς κοπρίας καὶ τῶν πληγῶν τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἔλαβε, καὶ τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐκληρονόμησε βασιλείαν. Ἐκεῖνος ἀπολογούμενος 56.565 τῷ Θεῷ ἔλεγεν· Ἡ γυνὴ, ἣν ἔδωκάς μοι, αὕτη μοι ἔδωκε, καὶ ἔφαγον. Ὢ ἀπολογίας συγγνώμην οὐκ ἐχούσης! Ἐκείνη εἶπε, Φάγε· ἐγὼ εἶπον, Μὴ φάγε. ∆ιὰ τί οὖν τῆς γυναικὸς ἤκουσας, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρήκουσας; Ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως ἦν ὁ μακάριος Ἰώβ. Ἀλλὰ πῶς; Μετ' ἐπιπλήξεως ἔλεγεν· Ὥσπερ μία τῶν ἀφρόνων γυναικῶν ἐλάλησας. Ἄνθρωπος ἦν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ Αὐσίτιδι, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰώβ. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ τὴν χώραν ὠνόμασε; ∆ιὰ σὲ, ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐχ ἡ συνουσία τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τὸν δίκαιον δύναται ποιῆσαι ἁμαρτῆσαι, ἀλλ' ἡ προαίρεσις τῶν εὐσεβούντων ὀφείλει στάσιμον καὶ βεβαίαν ἔχειν τὴν γνώμην. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ χώρα τῆς Ἀραβίας ἐστὶ μοχθηρῶν καὶ διεφθαρμένων ἀνθρώπων οἰκητήριον. Πάντες ἦσαν παράνομοι, πάντες θεοστυγεῖς, πάντες βέβηλοι, πάντες ὑπερήφανοι, καὶ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ ἀπόγονοι, καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις κομῶντες· ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτον πέλαγος τῆς ἀσεβείας οὐκ ἠδυνήθη κατασβέσαι τὸν λαμπτῆρα τῆς εὐσεβείας· ἡ τοσαύτη χώρα τῶν κακῶν οὐκ ἠδυνήθη τὸ ὡραῖον ἀποπνῖξαι τῆς καρτερίας. Ὅθεν τούτῳ προσπελάσαι ὁ διάβολος ἐπεχείρησε. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἐπειδήπερ ἔβλεπεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἐλεημοσύναις μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς χρήμασι πλουτοῦντα. Ἄκουσον γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ἀψευδῶς· Ὀφθαλμὸς ἤμην τῶν τυφλῶν, ποῦς δὲ χωλῶν· καὶ αὖθις, Ἐγὼ ἐπὶ ἀδυνάτῳ ἔκλαυσα, ἐστέναξα δὲ ἰδὼν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις. Καὶ οὐ μόνον διὰ τῶν λόγων, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ὑπερεπλούτει, θησαυρὸς ὅλος εὐποιίας τοῖς δεομένοις εὑρισκόμενος. Τί γάρ φησιν ἀλλαχοῦ; Οὐκ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου μου ἐπιδεόμενος κόλπῳ κενῷ· στόμα χήρας εὐλόγησέ με· ἀπὸ δὲ κουρᾶς τῶν προβάτων μου ἐθερμάνθησαν ὦμοι πενήτων. Ὥστε δῆλον, ὅτι διὰ πάντων ἐπλούτει θησαυρὸς ὅλος, καὶ διὰ τῶν λόγων, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης, καὶ διὰ τῆς προστασίας τῶν πενήτων, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐπικουρίας τῶν δεομένων. Ἀλλ' ὅρα τὶ ποιεῖ ὁ διάβολος· Ἀφαρπάζει πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πρότερον, καὶ τελευταῖον τὰ τέκνα λαμβάνει. Ἔλαβε πρῶτον τὰς ἀγέλας τῶν καμήλων, ἔλαβε τὰ ποίμνια τῶν προβάτων, τὸν πολὺν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ὄνων, τὴν μεγίστην ἀγέλην τῶν βοῶν· πάντα ἀφείλετο, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον τὰ τέκνα. ∆ιὰ τί; Πρόσεχε λοιπὸν μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας· Πρῶτον ἔλαβεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, ἔπειτα τὰ τέκνα· ἔλαβε τὰ κληρονομιαῖα πράγματα, ἔπειτα τοὺς κληρονόμους ἠφάνισεν, ἵνα παντοίως αὐτὸν καὶ διὰ τῶν τέκνων πλήξῃ. Πρῶτον ἤρξατο τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἀφανίζειν, πρῶτον ἤρξατο τὰ κληρονομιαῖα πράγματα ζώντων τῶν κληρονόμων ἁρπάζειν, ἵνα τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων ἑστηκότων, διὰ τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν κτημάτων καιρίαν λάβῃ ὁ δίκαιος τῆς ἀθυμίας πληγήν. Ἐνενόει γὰρ ὁ πονηρὸς δαίμων, μήποτε, τῶν τέκνων προαπολλυμένων, μηδὲ εἰς αἴσθησιν ἔλθῃ τῆς ἀπωλείας τῶν κτημάτων, Ἀλλ' ὁ ὄντως ἀδάμας καὶ γενναῖος ἀθλητὴς, ὁ πολλὰ τυπτόμενος, καὶ διὰ πάντων στεφανούμενος, ὁ πολλὰ βέλη δεχόμενος, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν βελῶν τὸν διάβολον κατακοντίζων, ὁ διὰ τῶν ὅπλων τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν καθοπλιζόμενος, οὐκ ἐπόνησεν, οὐκ ἐδάκρυσεν, οὐκ ἐσαλεύθη, ἀλλ' οὔτε πρὸς τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν κτημάτων ἐκάμπτετο, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον τῶν τέκνων τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐσυλᾶτο, ἀλλ' ἔμενεν ὥσπερ πύργος ἀτίνακτος, κάτωθεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς