II. Therefore now also, when He had finished these sayings He departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan; He dwelleth well in Galilee, in order that the people which sat in darkness may see great Light.2 Isa. ix. 1. He removeth to Judea in order that He may persuade people to rise up from the Letter and to follow the Spirit. He teacheth, now on a mountain; now He discourseth on a plain; now He passeth over into a ship; now He rebuketh the surges. And perhaps He goes to sleep, in order that He may bless sleep also; perhaps He is tired that He may hallow weariness also; perhaps He weeps that He may make tears blessed. He removeth from place to place, Who is not contained in any place; the timeless, the bodiless, the uncircumscript, the same Who was and is; Who was both above time, and came under time, and was invisible and is seen. He was in the beginning and was with God, and was God.3 John i. 1. The word Was occurs the third time to be confirmed by number. What He was He laid aside; what He was not He assumed; not that He became two, but He deigned to be One made out of the two. For both are God, that which assumed, and that which was assumed; two Natures meeting in One, not two Sons (let us not give a false account of the blending). He who is such and so great—but what has befallen me? I have fallen into human language. For how can So Great be said of the Absolute, and how can That which is without quantity be called Such? But pardon the word, for I am speaking of the greatest things with a limited instrument. And That great and long-suffering and formless and bodiless Nature will endure this, namely, my words as if of a body, and weaker than the truth. For if He condescended to Flesh, He will also endure such language.
Βʹ. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ νῦν, ὅτε ἐτέλεσε τοὺς λόγους τούτους, μετῆρεν ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ ὅρια τῆς Ἰουδαίας πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου. Γαλιλαίας ἐπιδημεῖ καλῶς, ἵνα ὁ λαὸς, ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει, ἵδῃ φῶς μέγα. Εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν μεθίσταται, ἵνα πείσῃ τοῦ γράμματος ἐξαναστάντας, ἀκολουθῆσαι τῷ πνεύματι. Νῦν μὲν ἐπ' ὄρους διδάσκει, νῦν δὲ ἐν πεδίοις διαλέγεται, νῦν δὲ εἰς πλοῖον μεταβαίνει, νῦν δὲ ἐπιτιμᾷ ζάλαις. Τάχα καὶ ὕπνον δέχεται, ἵνα καὶ ὕπνον εὐλογήσῃ: τάχα καὶ κοπιᾷ, ἵνα καὶ τὸν τόπον ἁγιάσῃ: τάχα καὶ δακρύει, ἵνα τὸ δάκρυον ἐπαινετὸν ἀπεργάσηται. Μεταβαίνει τόπον ἐκ τόπου ὁ μηδενὶ τόπῳ χωρούμενος, ὁ ἄχρονος, ὁ ἀσώματος, ὁ ἀπερίληπτος. Ὁ αὐτὸς, καὶ ἦν, καὶ γίνεται: καὶ ὑπὲρ χρόνον ἦν, καὶ ὑπὸ χρόνον ἔρχεται: καὶ ἀόρατος ἦν, καὶ ὁρᾶται. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἦν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν. Τρίτον τὸ, ἦν, τῷ ἀριθμῷ βεβαιούμενον. Ὃ ἦν ἐκένωσε, καὶ ὃ μὴ ἦν προσέλαβεν: οὐ δύο γενόμενος, ἀλλ' ἓν ἐκ τῶν δύο γενέσθαι ἀνασχόμενος. Θεὸς γὰρ ἀμφότερα, τό τε προσλαβὸν, καὶ τὸ προσληφθέν: δύο φύσεις εἰς ἓν συνδραμοῦσαι, οὐχ υἱοὶ δύο: μὴ καταψευδέσθω ἡ σύγκρασις. Οὗτος ὁ τηλικοῦτος, ὁ τοσοῦτος: ἀλλὰ τί πέπονθα; Πάλιν ἐμπέπτωκα εἰς ἀνθρώπινα ῥήματα. Πῶς γὰρ τὸ ἁπλοῦν τοσοῦτον; πῶς δὲ τὸ ἄποσον τηλικοῦτον; Ἀλλὰ δότε συγγνώμην τῷ λόγῳ: ὀργάνῳ βραχεῖ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων φθέγγομαι. Καὶ τοῦτο οἴσει ὁ πολὺς, ὁ μακρόθυμος, ἡ ἀνείδεος φύσις καὶ ἀσώματος, τοὺς ὡς περὶ σώματος καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγους ἀσθενεστέρους. Εἰ γὰρ σάρκα ἐδέξατο, καὶ τὸν τοιοῦτον φέρεται λόγον.