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while allowing him to be the author of evils, but himself of good things; but he was waiting for the servant's entreaty. Then not even so was he moved, but possessed by a certain madness he went on his way, clothed in mercilessness, taking account of no one; for as I said, he was drunk with zeal.

Why are you so mad, Elijah? Why have you put on such inhumanity? Wait a little, and you yourself will be convicted of being under sin. Because of the sin of the inhabitants you called for a drought, and closed heaven, and bridled the earth, and arrested the course of nature, and you do not even wish to make a request concerning what has happened? After not long you yourself will be convicted of being under sin, and having obtained loving-kindness from your Master, so that you might become more loving toward your fellow servants.

3. But today, concerning these same things, I have come forth to speak for this reason, that for this reason a priest was not an angel, but a man from among men, so that those who sin might not be destroyed by one who is sinless. For if the priest were a sinless angel, he would have punished sinners immediately, but for this reason he has been made a man, so that he might forgive one of like passions, taking from his own passions a reminder for those of the same nature. Then we brought forward that even the great ones, to whom he was about to entrust a great people, he allowed to fall into sin, and gave them forgiveness, so that after this they too, from what they had learned, might become more loving. And I brought forward Peter, such an apostle, who was allowed to sin, but wiped out the sin by repentance through the loving-kindness of God. Come then, let us return to Elijah, and let us show the sea of his right actions, that God indeed wished to show loving-kindness, but Elijah did not show loving-kindness; and he wished to give rain, but sought a request from the servant. What then? Elijah went the whole way, and came to Zarephath of Sidonia, and saw a certain widow gathering sticks. But nevertheless, behold the wisdom and the faith of Elijah. Again another sea of virtue received him. He did not say to God: To whom do you send me? You make me endure so many dangers, and you send me to a widow in extreme famine? For are there not other, wealthier men, able to relieve my poverty? But I walk over so much land, in order to meet a widow, in the very calamity of these evils, and not only a widow, but a poor one? Consider how the servant said none of these things; for he trusted in his Master who makes possible things out of impossible things. Go, he says, to Zarephath of Sidon, and behold, a widow gathering sticks. Why then do you still approach, Elijah? Why do you run to the widow? You saw the gateway of poverty, do not ask about the sufferings of her humble state; you saw the entrance of poverty, do not ask anything about what is inside. Where are you entering, Elijah? You saw her gathering sticks, and you seek to be fed by her? But nevertheless, having the word of the Master as a pledge, he went to speak with the widow. And what does he say? Give me a little water, that I may drink.

Do you see the wisdom of Elijah? How he did not immediately go to the greater thing, but to the lesser? He did not say, Give me bread, but Give me water. First he asks for water, reckoning that if she has plenty of water, she might also have plenty of bread. Give me, he says, a little water. And the widow went and brought it to him, and he drank; and so, taking courage, he says: Bring me also a morsel of bread, that I may eat. But she said to him: As the Lord lives, I have no cake, but only a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse, which we will make and eat, I and my children, and we will die. What then of Elijah? Go, he says, and make a cake for me alone, and I will eat, and then you shall make for your children, and they will eat.

What are you doing, Elijah? Let it be, you want bread 50.732, why do you ask for it alone and first? For ought you not to give thanks, that you may eat with the children? You wish to eat

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μὲν κακῶν ἐκεῖνον ἐάσας εἶναι πρόξενον, τῶν δὲ ἀγαθῶν ἑαυτόν· ἀλλ' ἐξεδέχετο τὴν τοῦ δούλου παράκλησιν. Εἶτα οὐδὲ οὕ τως ἐκεῖνος ἐκάμπτετο, ἀλλὰ ἀπονοίᾳ τινὶ κεχρη μένος οὕτως ἐβάδιζε τὴν ὁδὸν, ἀσπλαγχνίαν περιβε βλημένος, οὐδενὸς λόγον ποιούμενος· ὥσπερ εἶπον γὰρ ἀπὸ ζήλου ἐμέθυε.

Τί ἀπονενόησαι, Ἠλίᾳ; τί τοσαύτην ἐνεδύσω ἀπανθρωπίαν; ἔκδεξαι ὀλίγον, καὶ ἐλεγχθήσῃ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν ὤν. ∆ιὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῶν ἐνοικούντων αὐχμὸν ἐκάλεσας, καὶ οὐ ρανὸν ἔκλεισας, καὶ γῆν ἐχαλίνωσας, καὶ τὸν δρόμον τῆς φύσεως ἐκράτησας, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀξιῶσαι βούλει περὶ τῶν γεγενημένων; μετ' οὐ πολὺ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐλεγχθήσῃ ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν ὢν, καὶ φιλανθρωπίας τυχὼν παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου σου, ἵνα φιλανθρωπότερος γένῃ περὶ τοὺς συνδούλους σου.

γʹ. Σήμερον δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν διὰ τοῦτο ἐξῆλθον τὸν λόγον εἰπεῖν, ὅτι διὰ

τοῦτο οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄγγελος ἱερεὺς, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου, ἵνα μὴ παρὰ ἀναμαρτήτου ἀναιρῶνται οἱ ἁμαρτάνοντες. Εἰ γὰρ ἄγγελος ἦν μὴ ἁμαρτάνων ὁ ἱερεὺς, τοὺς ἁμαρτά νοντας παραχρῆμα ἂν ἐκόλαζεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἄν θρωπος γέγονεν, ἵνα συγγινώσκῃ τῷ ὁμοιοπαθεῖ, ὑπόμνησιν λαμβάνων ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν τοῖς ὁμο φύλοις. Εἶτα παρηγάγομεν, ὅτι καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους, οἷς ἔμελλε πιστεύειν λαὸν πολὺν, συνεχώρησεν ἁμαρ τίᾳ ὑποπεσεῖν, καὶ συγγνώμην αὐτοῖς δοῦναι ἵνα μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐξ ὧν ἐπαιδεύθησαν φιλαν θρωπότεροι γένωνται. Καὶ Πέτρον παρήγαγον τὸν τοιοῦτον ἀπόστολον, συγχωρηθέντα μὲν ἁμαρτῆσαι, μετανοίᾳ δὲ ἐξαλείψαντα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίᾳ ∆εῦρο δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν ἐπανέλ θωμεν, καὶ δείξωμεν αὐτοῦ τὸ πέλαγος τῶν κατορ θωμάτων, ὅτι Θεὸς μὲν ἠθέλησε φιλανθρωπεύσασθαι, Ἠλίας δὲ οὐκ ἐφιλανθρωπεύσατο· καὶ ἤθελε δοῦναι ὑετὸν, ἀλλ' ἐζήτει ἀξίωσιν παρὰ τοῦ δούλου. Τί οὖν; Παρῆλθεν ὁ Ἠλίας ὅλην τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδωνίας, καὶ εἶδε γυναῖκα χήραν τινὰ ξυλευομένην. Ἀλλ' ὅμως βλέπε τοῦ Ἠλίου τὴν φιλοσο-φίαν καὶ τὴν πίστιν. Πάλιν ἄλλο πέλαγος αὐτὸν δι εδέξατο ἀρετῆς. Οὐκ εἶπε τῷ Θεῷ· Πρὸς τίνα με πέμπεις; τοσού τους με ποιεῖς κινδύνους ὑπομεῖναι, καὶ πρὸς χήραν με πέμπεις εἰς ἔσχατον λιμόν; μὴ γὰρ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἄλ λοι ἄνδρες εὐπορώτεροι, δυνάμενοι τὴν πενίαν μου παραμυθήσασθαι; ἀλλὰ τοσαύτην γῆν βαδίζω, ἵνα πρὸς χήραν ἀπαντήσω, εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν συμφορὰν τῶν κακῶν, καὶ οὐ μόνον χήραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πενιχράν; Ἐννόησον πῶς οὐδὲν τούτων εἶπεν ὁ θεράπων· ἐθάῤ ῥει γὰρ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ∆εσπότῃ τῷ ἐκ τῶν ἀδυνάτων δυνατὰ ποιοῦντι. Ἄπελθε, φησὶν, εἰς Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος, καὶ ἰδοὺ μία χήρα ξυλευομένη. Τί οὖν ἐπιβαίνεις ἔτι, Ἠλία; τί δὲ προστρέχεις τῇ χήρᾳ; εἶδες τὰ προπύλαια τῆς πενίας, μὴ ἐρώτα τὰ πάθη τῆς μετριότητος· εἶδες τὴν εἴσοδον τῆς πενίας, μη δὲν ἐρώτα περὶ τῶν ἔνδον. Ποῦ ἐπεισέρχῃ, Ἠλία; εἶδες ξυλευομένην, καὶ τραφῆναι ζητεῖς παρ' αὐτῆς; Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔχων ἐνέχυρον τοῦ ∆εσπότου τὸν λόγον, ἀπῄει διαλεγόμενος τῇ χήρᾳ. Καὶ τί φησι; ∆ός μοι μικρὸν ὕδωρ, ἵνα πίω.

Ὁρᾷς σοφίαν τοῦ Ἠλίου; πῶς οὐκ εὐθέως ἐπὶ τὸ ἰσχυρότερον ἀπῆλ θεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ εὐτελέστερον; οὐκ εἶπε, ∆ός μοι ἄρτον, ἀλλὰ ∆ός μοι ὕδωρ. Πρῶτον ὕδωρ ζητεῖ, στο χαζόμενος, ὅτι ἂν εὐπορήσῃ ὕδατος, δύναται καὶ ἄρτου εὐπορῆσαι. ∆ός μοι, φησὶ, μικρὸν ὕδωρ· Ἀπελθοῦσα δὲ ἡ χήρα ἤνεγκεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἔπιε· καὶ οὕτω θαρσήσας φησί· Λήψῃ δή μοι καὶ ψωμὸν ἄρ του, καὶ φάγομαι. Ἡ δὲ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Ζῇ Κύ ριος, εἰ ἔστι μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅσον δρὰξ ἀλεύρου ἐν τῇ ὑδρίᾳ, καὶ ὀλίγον ἔλαιον ἐν τῷ καμψάκῃ, ὃ ποιήσομεν καὶ φαγόμεθα ἐγώ τε καὶ τὰ παιδία μου, καὶ ἀποθανούμεθα. Τί οὖν ὁ Ἠλίας; Ἄπελθε, φησὶ, καὶ ποίησόν μοι ἐγκρυφίαν κατα μόνας, καὶ φάγω, καὶ οὕτω ποιήσεις τοῖς τέκνοις σου, καὶ φάγονται.

Τί ποιεῖς, Ἠλία; ἔστω, ἄρτον 50.732 θέλεις, τί καὶ καταμόνας καὶ ἐν πρώτοις ζητεῖς; οὐ γὰρ ὀφείλεις εὐχαριστῆσαι, ἵνα μετὰ τῶν τέκνων φά γῃς; σὺ θέλεις φαγεῖν