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their wisdom is turned back on them. For by the very means they thought to hinder the prophecy, by these they were shown to be paving the way for its fulfillment.

For if he had not been sold, he would not have come to Egypt, he would not, on account of his chastity, have fallen into the plots of the licentious woman, he would not have been thrown into prison, he would not have become familiar with Pharaoh's servants, nor would he have interpreted the dreams, from which he received the rule of Egypt, and because of the famine, when his brothers came to him, he was bowed down to. Turn your discourse to the greatest envy, and that which arose over the greatest things, which arose from the madness of the Jews against the Savior. Why was he envied? Because of his miracles. And what were the miracles? Salvation for those in need; the hungry were fed, and the one who fed them was warred against; the dead were raised, and the life-giver was envied; demons were driven out, and the one who commanded them was plotted against; lepers were cleansed, and the lame walked, the deaf heard, and the blind saw again, and the benefactor was driven into exile. And finally, they delivered to death the one who bestowed life, and they scourged the liberator of men, and they condemned the judge of the world. Thus the evils of envy passed through all things. And with this one weapon, beginning from the foundation of the world until the end of the age, the destroyer of our life, the devil, wounds and casts down all, he who rejoices in our destruction, he who fell through envy, and who casts us down with himself through the same passion. Wise, therefore, was he who did not permit dining with an envious man; from the company at dinner, speaking about all fellowship in life together. For just as we are careful to place highly flammable material as far away from fire as possible, so 31.380 it is necessary, as much as possible, to withdraw friendships from the company of the envious, placing ourselves outside the arrows of envy. For it is not otherwise possible to grapple with envy, without approaching it through intimacy. Since according to the word of Solomon, "A man's jealousy comes from his companion." For so it is.

The Scythian does not envy the Egyptian, but each his own countryman; and among countrymen, he does not envy strangers, but his closest acquaintances; and of acquaintances, his neighbors and those of the same trade, and others who are close; and among these again, those of the same age and relatives and brothers. And in general, just as rust is a disease peculiar to wheat, so envy is a sickness of friendship. Yet one might praise this about the evil, that the more violently it is stirred, the more grievous it is to the one who possesses it. For just as arrows shot with force, when they strike something hard and resistant, return upon the one who shot them; so also the movements of envy, while not grieving the one envied, become wounds for the envier himself. For who, by being grieved, has ever diminished the good things of his neighbor? But he has consumed himself, wasting away with grief. Indeed, those who are sick with envy have been supposed to be more destructive than venomous creatures themselves; since the latter inject their venom through a wound, and little by little decay spreads over the bitten part; but some think that the envious inflict harm through their eyes alone; so that healthy bodies, and those that have blossomed to the height of beauty from the prime of their age, waste away when bewitched by them, and their whole bulk is at once destroyed, as if some deadly stream flowed from the envious eyes, maiming and corrupting. But I dismiss this account, as being common and introduced into the women's quarters by old wives; but I say this, that the demons who hate the good, whenever they find choices suitable to themselves, use them in every way for their own purpose; so that they even use the eyes of the envious in the service of their own will. Then does not

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περιτρέ πεται αὐτοῖς τὸ σοφόν. ∆ι' ὧν γὰρ ἐνόμιζον ἐμπο δίζειν τῇ προῤῥήσει, διὰ τούτων ἐφάνησαν ὁδο ποιοῦντες τὴν ἔκβασιν.

Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐπράθη, οὐκ ἂν ἦλθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, οὐκ ἂν διὰ σωφροσύνην ταῖς ἐπιβουλαῖς τῆς ἀκολάστου γυναικὸς περιέπεσεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐβλήθη εἰς δεσμωτήριον, οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο συνήθης τοῖς ὑπηρέταις τοῦ Φαραὼ, οὐδ' ἂν συνέβαλε τὰ ὀνείρατα, ὅθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐδέξατο τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ διὰ τὴν σιτοδείαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐ τὸν ἐλθόντων προσεκυνήθη. Μετάβα τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὸν μέγιστον φθόνον, καὶ ἐπὶ μεγίστοις συστάντα, ὃς ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίων μανίας κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐγέ νετο. ∆ιὰ τί ἐφθονεῖτο; ∆ιὰ τὰ θαύματα. Τίνες δὲ ἦσαν αἱ θαυματοποιίαι; Σωτηρία τῶν δεομένων· ἐτρέφοντο οἱ πεινῶντες, καὶ ὁ τρέφων ἐπολεμεῖτο· ἠγείροντο οἱ νεκροὶ, καὶ ὁ ζωοποιῶν ἐβασκαίνετο· δαίμονες ἀπηλαύνοντο, καὶ ὁ ἐπιτάσσων ἐπεβου λεύετο· λεπροὶ ἐκαθαρίζοντο, καὶ χωλοὶ περιεπά τουν, κωφοὶ ἤκουον, καὶ τυφλοὶ ἀνέβλεπον, καὶ ὁ εὐεργέτης ἐφυγαδεύετο. Καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον θανάτῳ παρέδωκαν τὸν τὴν ζωὴν χαρισάμενον, καὶ ἐμαστί γουν τὸν ἐλευθερωτὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ κατεδίκα ζον τὸν κριτὴν τοῦ κόσμου. Οὕτω μέχρι πάντων διεξῆλθε τὰ τοῦ φθόνου κακά. Καὶ ἑνὶ τούτῳ ὅπλῳ ἀπὸ καταβολῆς ἀρξάμενος κόσμου μέχρι συν τελείας αἰῶνος πάντας τιτρώσκει καὶ καταβάλλει ὁ λυμεὼν τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν διάβολος, ὁ χαίρων ἡμῶν τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ, ὁ καταπεσὼν διὰ τοῦ φθόνου, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ διὰ τοῦ ἴσου πάθους συγκαταβάλλων. Σοφὸς ἄρα ἦν ὁ τῷ βασκάνῳ ἀνδρὶ μηδὲ συνδειπνεῖν ἐπιτρέπων· ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ συνουσίας περὶ πάσης ὁμοῦ τῆς κατὰ τὸν βίον κοινωνίας διαλεγόμε νος. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὴν εὐκατάπρηστον ὕλην ἐπιμελὲς ἡμῖν ὅτι ποῤῥωτάτω τοῦ πυρὸς ἀποτίθεσθαι, οὕτω 31.380 χρὴ, καθ' ὅσον οἷόν τε, τῆς τῶν βασκάνων ὁμιλίας τὰς φιλίας ἀπάγειν, ἔξω τῶν τοῦ φθόνου βελῶν ἑαυ τοὺς ποιοῦντας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλως δυνατὸν συμπλακῆ ναι τῷ φθόνῳ, μὴ δι' οἰκειότητος αὐτῷ προσεγγί σαντα. Ἐπείπερ κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶντος λόγον, Τῷ ἀνδρὶ ὁ ζῆλος παρὰ τοῦ ἑταίρου αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἔχει.

Οὐχὶ τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ βασκαίνει ὁ Σκύ θης, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὁμοεθνεῖ ἕκαστος· καὶ ἐν τῷ ὁμοεθνεῖ μέντοι οὐ τοῖς ἀγνοουμένοις φθονεῖ, ἀλλὰ τοῖς συν ηθεστάτοις· καὶ τῶν συνήθων τοῖς γείτοσι καὶ ὁμοτέ χνοις, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλως οἰκείοις· κἀν τούτοις πά λιν, ἡλικιώταις καὶ συγγενέσι καὶ ἀδελφοῖς. Καὶ ὅλως, ὥσπερ ἡ ἐρυσίβη ἴδιόν ἐστι τοῦ σίτου νόσημα, οὕτως ὁ φθόνος φιλίας ἐστὶν ἀῤῥώστημα. Ἐκεῖνό γε μὴν κἂν ἐπαινέσειέ τις τοῦ κακοῦ, ὅτι ὅσῳπερ ἂν σφοδρότερος κινηθῇ, τοσούτῳ χαλεπώτερός ἐστι τῷ κεκτημένῳ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν βελῶν τὰ βιαίως φερό μενα, ἐπειδὰν καρτερῷ τινι καὶ ἀντιτύπῳ προσπέσῃ, ἐπὶ τὸν προέμενον ἐπανέρχεται· οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ φθόνου κινήματα, οὐδὲν λυποῦντα τὸν βασκαινό μενον, αὐτοῦ πληγαὶ γίνονται τοῦ βασκάνου. Τίς γὰρ λυπούμενος ἠλάττωσέ ποτε τὰ τοῦ πλησίον καλά; Ἑαυτὸν μέντοι προσανάλωσε ταῖς λύπαις κα τατηκόμενος. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰοβόλων αὐτῶν ὀλε θριώτεροι εἶναι οἱ νοσοῦντες τὴν βασκανίαν ὑπονε νόηνται· εἴπερ τὰ μὲν διὰ πληγῆς ἐνίησι τὸν ἰὸν, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν σηπεδόσι τὸ δηχθὲν ἐπινέμεται· τοὺς δὲ φθονερούς τινες οἴονται καὶ δι' ὀφθαλμῶν μόνων τὴν βλάβην ἐπιβάλλειν· ὥστε τὰ εὐ εκτικὰ σώματα, καὶ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἀκμῆς εἰς τὴν ἄκραν ὥραν ὑπερανθήσαντα, τήκεσθαι παρ' αὐτῶν καταβασκαινόμενα, καὶ ὅλον ἀθρόως συναναι ρεῖσθαι τὸν ὄγκον, οἷον ῥεύματός τινος ὀλε θρίου ἐκ τῶν φθονερῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀποῤῥέοντος, καὶ λυμαινομένου καὶ διαφθείροντος. Ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτον μὲν τὸν λόγον ἀποπέμπομαι, ὡς δημώδη καὶ τῇ γυ ναικωνίτιδι παρεισαχθέντα ὑπὸ γραϊδίων· ἐκεῖνο δέ φημι, ὅτι οἱ μισόκαλοι δαίμονες, ἐπειδὰν οἰκείας ἑαυτοῖς εὕρωσι προαιρέσεις, παντοίως αὐταῖς πρὸς τὸ ἴδιον ἀποκέχρηνται βούλημα· ὥστε καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν βασκάνων εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν χρῆσθαι τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος. Εἶτα οὐ