he burned the temple. Of how many punishments was he worthy, for slaying kings, for burning the holy places, for taking the people captive, for depositing the sacred vessels in the temples of idols? Was he not worthy of ten thousand deaths? 18. But you have seen the greatness of his evils; come then to the loving-kindness of God. He was then turned into a beast, he who had a beastly and most cruel disposition; but he was turned into a beast not that he might perish, but that through repentance he might be saved. He had the claws of birds; for he was a plunderer of holy things. He had hair like lions; for he was like a lion seizing and roaring. He ate grass like an ox; for he was brutish, not knowing the one who had given him the kingdom. His body was wet from the dew; since after the midst of the furnace became for Ananias and his companions 33.424 like a whistling wind of dew, having seen it he did not believe. But later he repents, having been brought to his senses, as he himself says: I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised Him who lives forever. And since he had been scourged for many years, he praised Him who lives forever, and confessed the one who had given the kingdom, and acknowledged the King of kings. And though he had sinned much in his deeds, by confessing in words only, he enjoyed the ineffable loving-kindness of God. He who was also the most lawless of all, by the divine judgment and loving-kindness of Him who disciplines, again put on the royal diadem, and again received his princely thrones. 19. If, then, anyone among you is from the Gentiles, or has ever blasphemed against Christians, or has plotted against the holy Churches in persecutions, let him have Nebuchadnezzar as an example of salvation; let him confess in like manner, that he may also obtain a like amnesty. If anyone desiring has been defiled by passions, let him take up the repentance of the blessed David; if anyone has denied like Peter, let him die again for the Lord Jesus. For He who did not begrudge the apostleship to him when he wept, will not begrudge you the evangelical mysteries. And for women, let Rahab be an example for salvation; and for men, the varied example of the ancient men that has been mentioned. 20. But all of you, looking to the loving-kindness of God, be of good hope; not that we may fall again into the same sins, but that having enjoyed redemption, and having done things worthy of grace, we may be able to blot out the handwriting against us by good works; by the power of the Only-Begotten, the Son of God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to all the ages of ages. Amen.

τὸν ναὸν ἐνέπρησε. Πόσων ἦν τιμωριῶν ἄξιος, ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνελεῖν βασιλέας, ἐπὶ τῷ ἐμπρῆσαι τὰ ἅγια, ἐπὶ τῷ τὸν λαὸν αἰχμαλωτῆσαι, ἐπὶ τῷ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη ναοῖς εἰδώλων ἐναποθέσθαι; ἆρ' οὐκ ἦν μυρίων θανάτων ἄξιος; ΙΗʹ. Ἀλλ' εἶδες τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῦ τῶν κακῶν· ἐλθὲ λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν· Ἀπεθηριώθη λοιπὸν, ὁ θηριώδη καὶ ὠμοτάτην ἔχων τὴν προαίρεσιν· ἀπεθηριώθη δὲ οὐχ ἵνα ἀπόληται, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ μετανοίας σωθῇ. Ὄνυχας ἔσχεν τῶν ὀρνέων· ἁρπακτικὸς γὰρ ἦν τῶν ἁγίων. Τρίχας ἔσχεν ὡς λέοντες· ὡς γὰρ λέων ἁρπάζων ἦν καὶ ὠρυόμενος. Χόρτον ἤσθιε ὡς βοῦς· κτηνώδης γὰρ ἦν, οὐκ εἰδὼς τὸν δεδωκότα τὴν βασιλείαν. Ἐβάφη αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἀπὸ τῆς δρόσου· ἐπειδὴ μετὰ τὸ γενέσθαι 33.424 τὸ μέσον τῆς καμίνου τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀνανίαν ὡς πνεῦμα δρόσου διασυρίζον, ἰδὼν οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν. Ἀλλ' ὕστερον μετανοεῖ σωφρονισθεὶς, ὥς φησιν αὐτός· Ἐγὼ Ναβουχοδονόσορ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνέλαβον, καὶ τὸν Ὕψιστον ηὐλόγησα, καὶ τῷ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ᾔνεσα. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ πολυετῶς μαστιγωθεὶς ἦν, ᾔνεσεν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῷ ζῶντι, καὶ ὡμολόγησεν τὸν τὴν βασιλείαν δεδωκότα, καὶ ἐπέγνω τὸν βασιλέα τῶν βασιλευόντων. Καὶ πολλὰ μὲν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἁμαρτὼν, λόγοις δὲ μόνον ἐξομολογούμενος, τῆς ἀφάτου φιλανθρωπίας τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπήλαυσεν. Ὁ καὶ πάντων παρανομώτατος, θείᾳ κρίσει καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ παιδεύοντος, πάλιν μὲν τὸ βασιλικὸν περιέθετο διάδημα, πάλιν δὲ τοὺς ἀρχοντικοὺς ἀπέλαβε θρόνους. ΙΘʹ. Εἴ τις οὖν ἐν ὑμῖν ἐξ ἐθνῶν, ἢ εἰς Χριστιανοὺς βλασφημήσας ποτὲ, ἢ Ἐκκλησίαις ἁγίαις ἐν διωγμοῖς ἐπιβουλεύσας πάρεστιν, ἐχέτω τῆς σωτηρίας ὑπογραμμὸν τὸν Ναβουχοδονόσορ· ἐξομολογείσθω παραπλησίως, ἵνα καὶ τῆς ἀμνηστίας τῆς ὁμοίας τύχῃ. Εἴ τις ἐπιθυμῶν ἐμολύνθη πάθεσιν, τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αβὶδ ἀναλαμβανέτω μετάνοιαν· εἴ τις ἠρνήσατο κατὰ Πέτρον, ὑπεραποθνησκέτω πάλιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ. Ὁ γὰρ ἐκείνῳ κλαύσαντι τῆς ἀποστολῆς μὴ βασκήνας, οὐδέ σοι φθονήσει τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν μυστηρίων. Καὶ γυναιξὶ μὲν ὑπογραμμὸς ἔστω εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡ Ῥαάβ· ἀνδράσι δὲ τὸ λεχθὲν τῶν παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν ποικίλον ὑπόδειγμα. Κʹ. Πάντες δὲ εἰς τὴν Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἀποβλέποντες, εὐέλπιδες γίνεσθε· οὐχ ἵνα τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάλιν ἁμαρτήμασιν περιπίπτωμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῆς λυτρώσεως ἀπολαύσαντες, καὶ τῆς χάριτος ἄξια πράξαντες, τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον ἀγαθοεργίαις ἐξαλεῖψαι δυνηθῶμεν· τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ ἡ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς σύμπαντας αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.