John Chrysostom, On Almsgiving

of obols being recorded? For this reason there are two washbasins before the gates of the church: one of water, in which you wash your hands, and one is the hand of the poor man, in which you wipe clean your soul. Enter into the church, and wash your hands; put an obol into the hand of the poor man, and wipe clean your soul. But if you enter and wash and pray, but give nothing to the poor man, what is the benefit? You have wealth, and you hide it in the earth, where robbers come by night, and dig through and steal your treasure, and rising in the morning you see it has been plundered. Do you wish not to be plundered? What I say to you, do this, and you will never be plundered for ever. You have treasure? Bury it in the belly of the poor, and be strong; for it can never be plundered. But if you bury it in the earth, you will lose it; and if you do not lose it, but it is guarded, after your death others grow rich from what is yours. What is the benefit to you, that you labor and toil, and others enter into your possessions, from which you will not receive a reward, and they live in luxury? Have you not heard the prophet saying, The rich man stores up treasure, and does not know for whom he will gather it? And again elsewhere the same one says, The foolish and senseless will perish, and will leave their wealth to others; and; Do not fear when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house is increased. For when he dies he will not take everything, nor will his glory descend with him. And in the Gospels the Lord says to the foolish rich man: ‘Fool, this night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ You see how much they suffer who store up treasures for themselves on earth. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and it remains inviolate. O wretched and miserable one, you trust in the earth, and you do not trust in God, who says, ‘What you did for one of the least of these, you did for me’? Do you not know that there are some farmers who are poor, pitiful, providing their daily bread from their own labors, and at the time of sowing they have nothing with which to sow? and he takes his own tunic or that of his wife, and often the very spade with which he works the land, and gives it as a pledge, and borrows one modius or two or three, or as many as his field can receive, and having borrowed it he scatters it on the land, and he trusts in the land, and awaits the appointed time, until the fruit comes to be in the land? and that man, having borrowed, trusted in the earth, but you do not trust in God? He trusted in his fellow servant, and you do not trust in the Master? What excuse, tell me, do you have? I say these things not condemning you for great inhumanity, may it not be so, but anointing you to be ready for the sowing of 60.711 almsgiving. Do you love gold, the bloodthirsty, desired by all, and an enemy to all, loved by all and plotting against all, the runaway, the ungrateful? or do you not know what its company is? Like a shameless prostitute it converses with this one, and winks at that one; today it is aligned with one, and tomorrow it moves on to another, today a ruler, and tomorrow ruled; today rich, and tomorrow poor; today you judge, and tomorrow you are condemned. Do you see the changeableness of life, how it runs by like a shadow, and is dissolved more easily than smoke? is it not torn apart like a spider's web? I will not cease teaching you; whether you do anything, or whether you do not, I say, and in saying I will not cease; for it is written: Blessed is he who speaks into the ears of those who hear. Disobedience works death. Imitate at least that poor widow who put in the two obols, how she was justified through good intention. You do not have two obols to give? Give one. You do not have one? Give a loaf of bread. You do not even have a loaf of bread? At least groan upon seeing 60.712 the poor man, and your prayer has been received. For he who knows the secrets of the thought of each one, he who knows all things before they come to be, knows that, if

ὀβολῶν ὑπογραφομένην; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δύο νιπτῆρές εἰσι πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας· μία τοῦ ὕδατος, ἐν ᾗ νίπτεις τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ μία ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ πένητος, ἐν ᾗ ἀποσμήχεις τὴν ψυχήν σου. Εἰσέρχου εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ νίπτε τὰς χεῖράς σου· ἐπίδος εἰς τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ πένητος ὀβολὸν, καὶ ἀπόσμηχε τὴν ψυχήν σου. Ἐὰν δὲ εἰσέλθῃς καὶ νίψῃς καὶ εὔξῃ, τῷ δὲ πένητι μηδὲν ἐπιδώσῃς, τί ὄφελος; Πλοῦτον ἔχεις, καὶ κρύπτεις αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἐν ᾗ ἔρχονται νυκτὸς λῃσταὶ, καὶ διορύσσουσι καὶ κλέπτουσι τὸν θησαυρόν σου, καὶ ἀναστὰς πρωῒ θεωρεῖς αὐτὸν σεσυλημένον. Θέλεις μὴ συληθῆναι; Ὃ λέγω σοι, τοῦτο ποίησον, καὶ οὐδέποτε συληθήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Θησαυρὸν ἔχεις; Χῶσον αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῶν πενήτων, καὶ ἐνδυναμοῦ· οὐδέποτε γὰρ δύναται συληθῆναι. Ἐὰν δὲ χώσῃς εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἀπολέσεις αὐτόν· καὶ ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀπολέσῃς, φυλαχθῇ δὲ, μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν σου καὶ ἄλλοι πλουτοῦσιν ἐκ τῶν σῶν. Τί σοι τὸ ὄφελος, ὅτι κάμνεις καὶ μοχθεῖς, καὶ ἄλλοι εἰσέρχονται εἰς τὰ ὑπάρχοντά σου, ἀφ' ὧν οὐ λήψῃ μισθὸν, καὶ κατατρυφῶσιν; Οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, Θησαυρίζει ὁ πλούσιος, καὶ οὐ γινώσκει τίνι συνάξει αὐτά; Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ ὁ αὐτὸς λέγει, Ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους ἀπολοῦνται, καὶ καταλείψουσιν ἀλλοτρίοις τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν· καί· Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἢ ὅταν πληθυνθῇ ἡ δόξα τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ. Ὅτι ἐν τῷ ἀποθνήσκειν αὐτὸν οὐ λήψεται τὰ πάντα, οὐδὲ συγκαταβήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κύριος τῷ ἄφρονι πλουσίῳ λέγει· Ἄφρων, ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀπαιτοῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ· ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας, τίνι ἔσται; Ὁρᾷς ὅσα πάσχουσιν οἱ θησαυρίζοντες ἑαυτοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἀλλὰ θησαυρίσατε ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ μένει ἄσυλος. Ὦ ἄθλιε καὶ ταλαίπωρε, σὺ τῇ γῇ πιστεύεις, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ οὐ πιστεύεις, τῷ λέγοντι, Ὃ ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων ἐποιήσατε, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι εἰσί τινες τῶν γηπόνων πένητες, οἰκτροὶ, τὸν ἡμερινὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων ποριζόμενοι πόνων, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ σπόρου οὐκ ἔχουσι πόθεν σπεῖραι; καὶ λαμβάνει τὸν χιτωνίσκον αὐτοῦ ἢ τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὸ τὸ σκάφιον, ἐν ᾧ ἐργάζεται τὴν γῆν, καὶ τίθησιν αὐτὸ ἐνέχυρον, καὶ δανείζεται ἕνα μόδιον ἢ δύο ἢ τρεῖς, ἢ ὅσους δύναται αὐτοῦ ἡ ἄρουρα ὑποδέξασθαι, καὶ δανεισάμενος σκορπίζει αὐτὸ εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ πιστεύει τῇ γῇ, καὶ ἐκδέχεται καιρὸν φανερὸν, ἕως ἂν ὁ καρπὸς γένηται ἐν τῇ γῇ; καὶ ἐκεῖνος μὲν δανεισάμενος ἐπίστευσε τῇ γῇ, σὺ δὲ τῷ Θεῷ οὐ πιστεύεις; Ἐκεῖνος τῇ συνδούλῳ ἐπίστευσε, καὶ σὺ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ οὐ πιστεύεις; Ποίαν, εἰπέ μοι, συγγνώμην ἔχεις; Ταῦτα λέγω οὐ πολλῆς ἀπανθρωπίας ὑμῶν καταγινώσκων, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ ἀλείφων ὑμᾶς ἑτοίμους εἶναι πρὸς τὸν τῆς 60.711 ἐλεημοσύνης σπόρον. Χρυσὸν φιλεῖς τὸν αἱμοβόρον, τὸν πᾶσι ποθεινὸν, καὶ πᾶσι πολέμιον, τὸν φιλούμενον ὑπὸ πάντων καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπιβουλεύοντα, τὸν δραπέτην, τὸν ἀγνώμονα; ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε, τίς ἐστιν ἡ τούτου συνουσία; Καθάπερ πόρνη ἀσυνείδητος τούτῳ ὁμιλεῖ, κἀκείνῳ νεύει· ἄλλῳ συντάσσεται σήμερον, καὶ αὔριον πρὸς ἄλλον μεταβαίνει, σήμερον ἄρχων, καὶ αὔριον ἀρχόμενος· σήμερον πλούσιος, καὶ αὔριον πένης· σήμερον δικάζεις, καὶ αὔριον καταδικάζῃ. Ὁρᾷς τὴν τοῦ βίου μεταβολὴν, πῶς ὡς σκιὰ παρατρέχει, καὶ καπνοῦ εὐτελέστερον διαλύεται; οὐχ ὡς ἀράχνη διασπᾶται; Οὐ παύσομαι ἐγὼ παιδεύων ὑμᾶς· κἄν τι ποιῆτε, κἂν δὲ μὴ ποιῆτε, ἐγὼ λέγω, καὶ λέγων οὐ παύσομαι· γέγραπται γάρ· Μακάριος ὁ λαλῶν εἰς ὦτα ἀκουόντων. Παρακοὴ θάνατον κατεργάζεται. Μιμήσασθε κἂν τὴν χήραν ἐκείνην τὴν πενιχρὰν τὴν τοὺς δύο ὀβολοὺς καταβαλοῦσαν, πῶς ἐδικαιώθη διὰ καλὴν προαίρεσιν. Οὐκ ἔχεις δύο ὀβολοὺς δοῦναι; ∆ὸς ἕνα. Οὐκ ἔχεις ἕνα; ∆ὸς ἄρτον. Οὐδὲ ἄρτον ἔχεις; Κἂν στέναξον θεασάμενος 60.712 τὸν πένητα, καὶ δέδεκταί σου ἡ δέησις. Ὁ γὰρ ἐπιστάμενος τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα τῆς διανοίας ἑκάστου, ὁ τὰ πάντα εἰδὼς πρὶν γενέσθαι αὐτὰ, οἶδεν ὅτι, εἰ