the tribe of Judah, from which the Savior arose. And do not think, beloved, that it is unworthy of Christ to be compared to the image of a lion; for Scripture forms this image even for the Godhead itself. Listen, then, to what the prophet says: A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? Therefore, in his power, and in his fearsomeness, and in his royalty, Christ is likened to a lion. But the devil is also called a lion, not as powerful, nor as fearsome, but as a striker, as a tyrant, as a destroyer. And concerning this, the blessed apostle Peter says: Behold, your enemy the devil prowls around like a lion, seeking to devour a soul. Divide, therefore, the interpretations of the readings, lest things that seem contrary in wording confuse your mind. Scripture spoke of a lion and a lion; but the one according to royalty and power, the other according to destruction and venom. Thus also Scripture forms the righteous and the ungodly through a single image: The righteous one, it says, will flourish like a palm tree, he will be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon. It first made the image of the righteous, and then also of the ungodly. For I have seen, it says, the ungodly highly exalted and lifted up, like the cedars of Lebanon. See, therefore, how it produced the same image, but divided the meanings with the words. For concerning the ungodly it says: I have seen the ungodly highly exalted and lifted up, like the cedars; but concerning the righteous it did not say, He will flourish like a cedar in Lebanon, but, He will be multiplied. So then, imitate the bee, O man, whom Scripture also teaches to imitate for industriousness. Go to the bee, and learn how industrious she is. Do not learn that it has a stinger, but that it produces honey. For if you imitate the bee's stinger, David accuses you, saying: All the nations surrounded me, like bees around a honeycomb, and in the name of the Lord I repelled them. Do you see how it likens those who strike to a stinging bee, but the righteous it likens to one that drips honey? For the lips, it says, of righteous men drip with wisdom; and, Good words are a honeycomb; their sweetness is a healing of the soul. This sweetness of souls, therefore, I say, beloved, let us desire with our whole soul, and let us produce the spiritual honeycomb in the secret workshop of the soul, and let us receive the divine oracles as better than honey and honeycomb. For much honey, when eaten, often changes its sweetness to bitterness, and corrupts the stomach's appetite, and overturns a person's entire constitution; but the word of God, when received in abundance, does not trouble the soul, but heals it. For its sweetness is a healing of the soul. For this reason, that wise man, wishing to contrast the difference between honey and a word, says: To eat much honey is not good, but it is necessary to honor glorious words. Let us have, therefore, beloved, the manifold honeycomb, the divine and sacred oracles, always; and just as that honeycomb is composed of many and various shapes, but has one goodness; so also let the divine Scripture be a honeycomb for us, composed of many and various prophets, but dripping one honey of teaching. Such for us is also the honeycomb of the Fathers, composed from different ages, but dripping one grace and one spiritual teaching. But enough on these matters. And may it be granted to us, through the prayers and intercessions of the common Father, by increasing the word through industriousness, to work out the divine law in our mind always, and to do that which was said by David, to have the law of God always in the midst of our belly, that is, the divine thoughts, so as to consider that we recognize the limits of nature, and to honor the 56.522 truth, to despise the world, and to send up glory to God, now and always, and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

ἡ Ἰούδα φυλὴ, ἐξ ἧς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἀνέτειλε. Καὶ μὴ νομίσῃς, ἀγαπητὲ, ἀνάξιον εἶναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ εἰκόνι λέοντος ἀπεικάζεσθαι· σχηματίζει γὰρ ἡ Γραφὴ τὴν εἰκόνα ταύτην καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς Θεότητος. Ἄκουε γοῦν οἷα ὁ προφήτης φησί· Λέων ἐρεύξεται, καὶ τίς οὐ φοβηθήσεται; Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐλάλησε, καὶ τίς οὐ προφητεύσει; Κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τοίνυν, καὶ τὸ φοβερὸν, καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν, λέοντι ἀπεικάζεται ὁ Χριστός. Καλεῖται δὲ καὶ ὁ διάβολος λέων, οὐχ ὡς δυνατὸς, οὐδ' ὡς φοβερὸς, ἀλλ' ὡς πλήκτης, ὡς τύραννος, ὡς ἀφανιστικός. Λέγει δὲ περὶ τούτου ὁ μακάριος Πέτρος ὁ ἀπόστολος· Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ὑμῶν διάβολος περιέρχεται, ὡς λέων, ζητῶν καταπιεῖν ψυχήν. Μέριζε τοίνυν τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων τὰς θεωρίας, μήποτε ἐναντία δοκοῦντα τῇ λέξει συγχέῃ σου τὴν διάνοιαν. Εἶπεν ἡ Γραφὴ λέοντα καὶ λέοντα· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν κατὰ τὸ βασιλικὸν καὶ δυνατὸν, τὸν δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἀφανιστικὸν καὶ δηλητήριον. Οὕτω καὶ τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ διὰ μιᾶς εἰκόνος σχηματίζει ἡ Γραφή· ∆ίκαιος, φησὶν, ὡς φοῖνιξ ἀνθήσει, ὡς ἡ κέδρος ἡ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ πληθυνθήσεται. Ἐποίησε πρότερον τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ δικαίου, εἶθ' οὕτως καὶ τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς. Εἶδον γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν ἀσεβῆ ὑπερυψούμενον καὶ ἐπαιρόμενον, ὡς τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Λιβάνου. Ὅρα τοίνυν πῶς τὴν μὲν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα παρήγαγε, ταῖς δὲ λέξεσι τὰς ἐννοίας ἐμέρισεν. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς λέγει· Εἶδον τὸν ἀσεβῆ ὑπερυψούμενον καὶ ἐπαιρόμενον, ὡς τὰς κέδρους· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ δικαίου οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὡσεὶ κέδρος ἡ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ ἐπανθήσεται, ἀλλὰ, Πληθυνθήσεται. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ τὴν μέλιτταν μίμησαι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἣν καὶ ἡ Γραφὴ διδάσκει μιμεῖσθαι πρὸς φιλοπονίαν. Πορεύθητι πρὸς τὴν μέλιτταν, καὶ μάθε ὡς ἐργάτις ἐστί. Μὴ μάθῃς ὅτι κέντρον ἔχει, ἀλλ' ὅτι μέλι ἐργάζεται. Ἐὰν γὰρ μιμήσῃ τῆς μελίττης τὸ κέντρον, κατηγορεῖ σου ∆αυῒδ, λέγων· Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐκύκλωσάν με, ὡσεὶ μέλισσαι κηρίον, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. Ὁρᾷς πῶς τοὺς πλήττοντας ἀπεικάζει μελίττῃ πληττούσῃ, τοὺς δὲ δικαίους ἀπεικάζει τῇ τὸ μέλι ἀποσταζούσῃ; Χείλη γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνδρῶν δικαίων ἀποστάζουσι σοφίαν· καὶ, Κηρίον μέλιτος λόγοι καλοί· γλύκασμα δὲ αὐτῶν ἴασις ψυχῆς. Τοῦτο τοίνυν, ἀγαπητοὶ, τὸ γλύκασμα τῶν ψυχῶν λέγω, ποθήσωμεν ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς, καὶ τὸ κηρίον ἐργασώμεθα τὸ νοερὸν ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐργαστηρίῳ, καὶ τὰ θεῖα λόγια λάβωμεν ὑπὲρ μέλι καὶ κηρίον. Μέλι γὰρ πολὺ ἐσθιόμενον πολλάκις μεταβάλλει τὸ γλύκασμα εἰς πικρίαν, καὶ διαστρέφει τοῦ στομάχου τὴν ὄρεξιν, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀνασκευάζει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὴν κατάστασιν· λόγος δὲ Θεοῦ λαμβανόμενος πολὺς οὐ θολοῖ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀλλὰ θεραπεύει· Γλύκασμα γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἴασις ψυχῆς· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο βουλόμενος ὁ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος ἀντιθεῖναι διαφορὰν μέλιτος καὶ λόγου, φησίν· Ἐσθίειν μέλι πολὺ οὐ καλὸν, τιμᾷν δὲ χρὴ λόγους ἐνδόξους. Ἔχωμεν οὖν, ἀγαπητοὶ, τὸ κηρίον τὸ ποικίλον, τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἱερὰ λόγια, διὰ παντός· καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ κηρίον ἐκεῖνο ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν καὶ διαφόρων σχημάτων ἀπαρτίζεται, ἓν δὲ ἔχει καλόν· οὕτω καὶ ἡμῖν ἔστω κηρίον ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν καὶ διαφόρων συγκειμένη προφητῶν, ἓν δὲ μέλι διδασκαλίας ἀποστάζουσα. Τοιοῦτον ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ τῶν Πατέρων κηρίον, ἐκ διαφόρων μὲν ἡλικιῶν συνηρμοσμένον, μίαν δὲ χάριν καὶ μίαν πνευματικὴν διδασκαλίαν ἀποστάζον. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τοσοῦτον. Γένοιτο δὲ ἡμᾶς εὐχαῖς καὶ πρεσβείαις τοῦ κοινοῦ Πατρὸς, τῇ φιλοπονίᾳ τὸν λόγον αὔξοντας, τὸν θεῖον ἀπεργάζεσθαι νόμον ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ πάντοτε, καὶ ποιεῖν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ εἰρημένον, τὸ ἔχειν τὸν νόμον τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντοτε ἐν μέσῳ τῆς κοιλίας ἡμῶν, ἤγουν τὰ θεῖα νοήματα, ὥστε νομίζειν φύσεως ὅρους ἐπιγινώσκειν, τιμᾷν τε τὴν 56.522 ἀλήθειαν, καταφρονεῖν κόσμου, καὶ Θεῷ δόξαν ἀναπέμπειν, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, Ἀμήν.