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having); so also faith without works is dead. And let no one deceive you with empty words of those who readily forgive all things, for the sake of one thing, to be impious in doctrines, and who pay down a worthless wage for a worthless deed. Show therefore your faith by your works, the fruitfulness of your land, if we have not sown in vain, if there is in you a handful of grain, having the power to make meal, and worthy of the storehouses, so that we may also farm you more readily. Who bears fruit a hundredfold, who sixty, who at least thirty; or who conversely, having advanced from thirty to sixty (for we also have this order in the Gospels), finished at a hundred; so that advancing, like Isaac, he may become great, going from strength to strength, and singing the songs of Ascents, and setting ascents in his heart? 35.1236

6. I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. For the profit is yours, not mine; and if it is ours also, it is because it is yours, the benefit being returned from you to us, as in the rays of reflections. Have you fed the poor, have you shown hospitality to strangers, have you washed the feet of the saints, if delighting in the belly that perishes (for let this be granted), you also delighted in the commandments? for there is no delight better than this, nor more lasting for those who wish to delight. If any of those who minister at the altar, and are honorably poor (for allow me to say this also), you have refreshed according to your ability, so that they might attend upon the altar more without distraction, and receiving of your things, might contribute in return what is from themselves? As it is shameful both for us to demand these things, and for you not to provide them. But I have not admonished these things so that it might be so in my case (for it is better for me to die, than that my boasting should be made void, and the Gospel should become without reward for me, having reaped a harvest here. For to preach the gospel is of necessity; but the honor is, to do so without charge); but that you might learn to do good to Christ, by doing good to one of the least. Since, as He became all things that I am, except sin, for my sake; so also He takes upon Himself the least of my needs; whether you give shelter, or clothing, or visit in prison, or see one sick; the most trivial thing, if only with a cup of cold water you cool the tongue of one who is hard-pressed, just as the rich man suffering in the flame begged of poor Lazarus, and having received in return for his luxury here, and for overlooking Lazarus who was hungry and full of sores, the need to beg of Lazarus there, and not to receive it.

7. These, then, are the things we require of you; and I know that you are not ashamed, neither being required an account by us, nor by the last day, to which all our things are gathered, according to 35.1237 what has been said: And I am coming to gather your counsels and your deeds; and, Behold a man, and his work, and his reward with him. But our things, and what we bring to you from the wilderness. Since Elijah also gladly philosophized on Carmel, and John in the desert, and Jesus Himself, for the most part, offered His deeds to the crowds, but His prayers to leisure and the wildernesses. What was He legislating? As I think, that it is necessary to be quiet sometimes, so as to converse with God without disturbance, and to draw back the mind a little from wandering things. For He Himself did not need withdrawal (for He had nothing into which He might be drawn, being God, and filling all things), but so that we might learn both a time for action, and for higher pursuits. What then are the things of my wilderness? For I wish, as a good merchant who profits from every quarter, to bring you from here also some cargo.

8. I was walking thus by myself, as the day was already declining. And the walk was along the shore; for I am somehow accustomed always to relieve my labors with such relaxations; since not even a bowstring bears being always stretched tight, and needs to be loosened a little from the notches, if it is to be stretched again, and not be useless to the archer, nor unprofitable in time of use. I was walking therefore, and my feet were moving, but my sight

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ἔχοντες)· οὕτω καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά. Καὶ μή τις ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις τῶν πάντα συγχωρούν των ἑτοίμως, ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς τοῦ ἀσεβεῖν ἐν τοῖς δόγμασι, καὶ φαῦλον καταβαλλόντων μισθὸν φαύλου πράγμα τος. ∆είξατε οὖν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τὴν πίστιν, τῆς χώρας ὑμῶν τὸ γόνιμον, εἰ μὴ εἰς κενὸν ἐσπείραμεν, εἰ δράγμα τι ἐν ὑμῖν, τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἄλευρα ἰσχὺν ἔχον, καὶ ἀποθηκῶν ἄξιον, ἵνα καὶ προθυμότερον ὑμᾶς γεωργήσωμεν. Τίς εἰς ἑκατὸν καρποτοκεῖ, τίς εἰς ἑξήκοντα, τίς τὸ τελευταῖον κἂν εἰς τριάκοντα· ἢ τίς ἔμπαλιν ἀπὸ τοῦ τριάκοντα εἰς τὸν ἑξήκοντα προελ θὼν (ἔχομεν γὰρ καὶ ταύτην ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις τὴν τάξιν), εἰς τὸν ἑκατὸν ἐτελεύτησεν· ἵνα προβαίνων, ὡς ὁ Ἰσαὰκ, μέγας γένηται, πορευόμενος ἐκ δυνά μεως εἰς δύναμιν, καὶ τὰς ᾠδὰς τῶν Ἀναβαθμῶν ᾄδων, καὶ ἀναβάσεις ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τιθέμενος; 35.1236

ςʹ. Ζητῶ τὸν καρπὸν πλεονάζοντα εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν. Ὑμέτερον γὰρ, οὐκ ἐμὸν, τὸ κέρδος· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡμέτερον, ὅτι ὑμέτερον, ἀντιστρεφούσης τῆς ὠφελείας ἀφ' ὑμῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς αὐγαῖς τῶν ἀντανακλάσεων. Εἰ ἐπτωχοτροφήσατε, εἰ ἐξενοδοχήσατε, εἰ ἁγίων πόδας ἐνίψατε, εἰ τρυφῶντες τῇ καταργουμένῃ γαστρὶ (δεδόσθω γὰρ), καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐτρυφήσατε; ὡς οὐκ ἔστι ταύτης τρυφή τις ἀμείνων, οὐδὲ μονιμωτέρα τοῖς τρυφᾷν ἐθέλουσιν. Εἴ τινας τῶν λειτουργούντων τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, καὶ καλῶς πενομένων (δότε γάρ μοι καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν), εἰς δύναμιν ἀνεπαύσατε, ἵν' ἀπερισπάστως μᾶλ λον τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ παρεδρεύωσι, καὶ μετα λαμβάνοντες τῶν ὑμετέρων, τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἀντεισ φέρωσιν; ὡς αἰσχρὸν ταῦτα καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀπαιτεῖν, καὶ μὴ παρέχειν ὑμᾶς. Οὐκ ἐνουθέτησα δὲ ταῦτα, ἵνα οὕτως ἐν ἐμοὶ γένηται (καλὸν γάρ μοι μᾶλλον ἀπο θανεῖν, ἢ κενωθῆναί μου τὸ καύχημα, καὶ ἄμισθόν μοι γενέσθαι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἐνταῦθα καρπωσαμένῳ. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εὐαγγελίσασθαι, τῆς ἀνάγκης· ἡ φιλοτιμία δὲ, τὸ ἀδάπανον)· ἀλλ' ἵν' ὑμεῖς μάθητε Χριστὸν εὖ ποιεῖν, διὰ τοῦ καὶ τῶν μικρῶν τινα εὖ ποιεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ, ὡς πάντα ὅσα ἐγὼ, πλὴν ἁμαρτίας, ἐγένετο δι' ἐμέ· οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἐλάχιστα τῶν ἐμῶν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναδέχεται· κἂν στέγης μεταδῷς, κἂν ἐνδύματος, κἂν ἐν φυλακῇ ἐπισκέψῃ, κἂν ἀῤῥω στοῦντα ἴδῃς· τὸ φαυλότατον, κἂν ποτηρίῳ ψυχροῦ μόνῳ καταψύξῃς γλῶσσαν πιεζομένου, ὥσπερ ἐδεῖτο Λαζάρου τοῦ πένητος ὁ κάμνων ἐν τῇ φλογὶ πλούσιος, καί τι τῆς ἐνταῦθα τρυφῆς ἀντιλαβὼν, καὶ τοῦ περιορᾷν Λάζαρον πεινῶντα καὶ ἡλκωμέ νον, τὸ ἐκεῖθεν δεῖσθαι Λαζάρου, καὶ μὴ τυγ χάνειν.

Ζʹ. Ἃ μὲν οὖν ὑμᾶς ἀπαιτοῦμεν, ταῦτά ἐστι· καὶ οἶδ', ὅτι οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε, οὔτε παρ' ἡμῶν ἀπαιτούμενοι λόγον, οὔτε παρὰ τῆς τελευταίας ἡμέρας, εἰς ἣν πάντα συνάγεται τὰ ἡμέτερα, κατὰ 35.1237 τὸ εἰρημένον· Κἀγὼ ἔρχομαι τὰ βουλεύματα καὶ τὰς πράξεις ὑμῶν συναγαγεῖν· καὶ, Ἰδοὺ ἄν θρωπος, καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ. Τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα, καὶ ἃ παρὰ τῆς ἐρημίας ὑμῖν κομίζομεν. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ Ἡλίας ἡδέως ἐνεφιλοσόφει τῷ Καρμήλῳ, καὶ Ἰωάννης τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ Ἰησοῦς αὐτὸς, τὰς μὲν πράξεις τοῖς ὄχλοις, τὰς εὐχὰς δὲ τῇ σχολῇ καὶ ταῖς ἐρημίαις, ὡς τὰ πολλὰ, προσένεμεν. Τί νομοθετῶν; Ὡς οἶμαι, τὸ χρῆναί τι καὶ ἡσυχάζειν, ὥστε ἀθολώτως προσομι λεῖν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ μικρὸν ἐπανάγειν τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῶν πλανωμένων. Οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐδεῖτο ἀναχωρήσεως (οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶχεν εἰς ὅ τι συσταλῇ, Θεὸς ὢν, καὶ πάντα πληρῶν), ἀλλ' ἵν' ἡμεῖς μάθωμεν καὶ πράξεως και ρὸν, καὶ ἀσχολίας ὑψηλοτέρας. Τίνα οὖν τὰ τῆς ἐμῆς ἐρημίας; Βούλομαι γὰρ, ὡς ἀγαθὸς ἔμπο ρος καὶ πανταχόθεν κερδαίνων, κἀντεῦθέν τι προσ ενεγκεῖν ὑμῖν ἀγώγιμον.

Ηʹ. Ἐβάδιζον οὕτω κατ' ἐμαυτὸν, ἤδη κλινούσης ἡμέρας. Ἀκτὴ δὲ ἦν ὁ περίπατος· καὶ γάρ πως εἴωθα τοὺς πόνους ἀεὶ ταῖς τοιαύταις διαλύειν ἀνέσεσιν· ἐπεὶ μηδὲ νευρὰ φέρει τὸ σύντονον ἀεὶ τεινομένη, καὶ δεῖταί τι μικρὸν τῶν γλυφίδων ἐκλύεσθαι, εἰ μέλλοι ταθήσεσθαι πάλιν, καὶ μὴ ἄχρηστος ἔσεσθαι τῷ τοξότῃ, μηδὲ ἀνόνητος ἐν καιρῷ χρήσεως. Ἐβά διζον οὖν, καὶ οἱ μὲν πόδες ἐφέροντο, ἡ δὲ ὄψις