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of him who "upholds all things by the word of his own power"? "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." I am keeping you as a bridgeroom's attendant for my bride. Why do you persecute me for whom you are about to be persecuted a little later? But you trouble your feet rashly, you sweat in vain, you labor needlessly; the one persecuted by you is seated in the bosom of the Father. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," unaware that you fight against your own life. Why do you war against the wise one, shoot arrows at a benefactor the like of whom you do not have, kick against a nurturer through whom the earth without hesitation brings forth for you the table of its fruits? You disparage a Savior, who if he should clench his hand, who frees you from sins, who releases you from bonds, with whom will you find the certificate of debt?"

So then this Paul, once a persecutor now an evangelist, once a pirate now a pilot, once a wolf now a shepherd, once lead now gold, once a blasphemer now speaking well and well-spoken of by all, this man is a leader among teachers, outstanding among the God-bearing, clear among prophets, wiser among apostles, unwounded among athletes, more glorious than the heralds of truth, more powerful than the soldiers of piety. For who was "beaten with rods three times" and prayed for a fourth? Who "five times received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one," as he boasts? Who, "having spent a night and a day in the deep," offers his shipwreck in place of a nuptial bath, "in frequent journeys" but making all of them profitable, each one highly profitable? Who, "in dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from rivers, dangers in the wilderness, dangers from Gentiles, dangers from false brothers," did not squander the wealth of his endurance? Who carries the care of all the churches, and is not constrained by the experience of the burdens, nor does it weigh down his shoulders, nor are his loins bent? Who, then, so abhors sin, yet possesses such compassion for sinners? No one; for he always intercedes for us to obtain eternal goods, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

τοῦ «τῷ ῥήματι τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως τὰ πάντα φέροντος»; «Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰησοῦς ὃν σὺ διώκεις.» Νυμφαγωγόν σε τῆς ἐμῆς νύμφης τηρῶ. Τί με διώκεις ὑπὲρ οὗ μικρὸν ὕστερον διώκεσθαι μέλλεις; Ἀλλὰ σκύλλεις εἰκῇ τοὺς πόδας, μάτην ἱδροῖς, περιττῶς κοπιᾷς· ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ παρὰ σοῦ διωκόμενος κάθηται. «Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰησοῦς ὃν σὺ διώκεις», ἀγνοῶν ὅτι πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μάχει ζωήν. Τῷ σοφῷ τί σὺ πολεμεῖς, τοξεύεις εὐεργέτην οἷον οὐκ ἔχεις ἕτερον, τροφέα λακτίζεις δι' ὃν ἡ γῆ σοι χωρὶς ὄκνου τῶν καρπῶν ἀνατέλλει τὴν τράπεζαν; Σωτῆρα φαυλίζεις, ὃς ἐὰν σφίγξῃ τὴν χεῖρα, τίς σε τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐλευθεροῖ, τίς ἀπολύει τῶν δεσμῶν, παρὰ τίνι εὑρήσεις τὸ χειρόγραφον;»

7 Οὕτως οὖν οὗτος ὁ Παῦλος ὅ ποτε διώκτης νῦν εὐαγγελιστής, ὅ ποτε πειρατὴς νῦν κυβερνήτης, ὅ ποτε λύκος νῦν ποιμήν, ὅ ποτε μόλιβδος νῦν χρυσίον, ὅ ποτε βλάσφημος νῦν εὐφημῶν καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων εὐφημούμενος, οὗτος ἐν διδασκάλοις ἔξαρχος, ἐν θεοφόροις ἐξαίρετος, ἐν προφήταις τρανός, ἐν ἀποστόλοις σοφώτερος, ἐν ἀθληταῖς ἄτρωτος, τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας κηρύκων ἐνδοξότερος, τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας στρατιωτῶν δυνατώτερος. Τίς γὰρ «τρὶς ἐρραβδίσθη» καὶ τέταρτον ηὔχετο; Τίς «πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν ἔλαβεν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων», ὡς ἐκεῖνος σεμνύνεται; Τίς «πεποιηκὼς ἐν τῷ βυθῷ νυχθήμερον» ἀντὶ νυμφικοῦ λου- τροῦ προφέρει τὸ ναυάγιον, «ὁδοιπορίαις πολλάκις» ἀλλὰ πάσας ἐπικερδεῖς ἑκάστην πολυκερδῆ κτισάμενος; Τίς «κινδύνοις λῃστῶν, κινδύνοις ἐκ γένους, κινδύνοις ποταμῶν, κινδύνοις ἐν ἐρημίᾳ, κινδύνοις ἐξ ἐθνῶν, κινδύνοις ἐν ψευδαδέλφοις», καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τὸν πλοῦτον οὐκ ἐσκόρπισεν; Τίς ὅλων τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν περιφέρει τὴν μέριμναν, τῶν φορτίων δὲ τὴν πεῖραν οὐ στενοῖ οὐδὲ τοὺς ὤμους βαρεῖ οὐδὲ τὰ νῶτα κάμπτεται; Τίς ἄρα τοσοῦτον μὲν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν βδελύττεται, σπλάγχνα δὲ περὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς τοιαῦτα κέκτηται; Οὐδείς· πρεσβεύει γὰρ πάντοτε τυχεῖν ἡμᾶς τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.