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in a hostile manner? And yet Judas, who approached with deceit, loving on the outside, but raging on the inside, was seen as a disciple who had sold the Master. Let no one then approach with hostility, fixing a sword against him in his heart, receiving eternal fire as a gift in return. Knowing the things here, let us hold them very dearly.

23 To a traveler

Let everyone who has come sit down without insolence; for where you are, friend, is the house of God.

And having knocked, state the reason for which you are here, being patient for a little while for the announcement. But entering with both fear and longing, give your prayers to your Master. And say nothing of the vain things of this life, when you meet with those who have fled this life. But if there is anything holy, if anything delightful in your words, answer, speak to everything, as is fitting, so that from here you may turn back piously and for your salvation, running to your own affairs.

24 To those passing by

Consider, friend, how you travel your road; of the practical way one must speak and

know. Cliffs, ambushes, many snares of the Deceiver, are these: envy, laughter, excesses of insolence, fornication, vainglory, love of money, murders, drunkenness, theft, adultery and every other such thing. Do not pass near anywhere, lest you fall a strange fall; and if it has happened, rise up with speed, since the punishment of all-consuming fire awaits you.

25 Epigram on the monastery

I have appeared as a forecourt of a blessed flock, for I belong to the foremost light-bringing forerunner,

filled with the prize of rational sheep, whose life is unyoked, whose city is the pole of heaven, of whom each and every one is united by longing, of whom if anyone has anything, this is the possession of all; for their only inheritance is the possession of God. How safe, how noble is the course accomplished by those who have lived in all ways in community.

26 To the gatekeeper

Standing inside where you are, child, with fear, for it is a gate of divine entrance and exit,

give and receive messages with discernment; announce those things that are fitting to say, but be silent about those things that bring harm; to those inside, outside, whether brothers or strangers, closing and opening at the right time, to whom it is fitting, and to the poor man dispense what is needed, and if not, a word; for thus you will have a reward at the judgment.

27 To a brother departing for a ministry

Before you go out of this gate, child, placing a seal on every part of your

body; go to the duties for which you were sent out, with your head bowed down [pushing away harms], adding either a psalm or a prayer, one of the two, pushing away the harms of the city. You should flee being brought up with women, if it should happen; and turning back with speed, remain inside the monastery, lest like a fish out of the salt water, you die.

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ξένως; Καὶ μὴνἸούδας, ὁ προσελθὼν ἐν δόλῳ, φιλῶν μὲν ἔξω, μηνιῶν δὲ τοῖς ἔσω, ὤφθη μαθητὴς πεπρακὼς τὸν ∆εσπότην. Μηδεὶς παρίτω λοιπὸν ἐχθρωδῶς ἔχων, ξίφος κατ' αὐτοῦ πηγνύων τῇ καρδίᾳ, αἰώνιον πῦρ ἀντίδωρον λαμβάνων. Γνόντες τὰ τῇδε προσφιλῶς σχῶμεν πάνυ.

23 Εἰς ὁδίτην

Ἐλθὼν καθέζου πᾶς τις ὕβρεως δίχα· Θεοῦ γάρ ἐστιν οἶκος ἔνθάπερ, φίλε.

Κρούσας δὲ λέξον αἰτίαν, καθ' ἣν πάρει, πρὸς μικρὸν αὖτε μακροθυμῶν τὴν φάσιν. Εἴσω δὲ βαίνων σὺν φόβῳ τε καὶ πόθῳ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ σου τὰς προσευχάς σου δίδου. Μηδὲν δὲ φάσκε τῶν ματαίων τοῦ βίου, συντυγχάνων γε τοῖς φυγοῦσι τὸν βίον. Ἀλλ' εἴ τι σεμνόν, εἴ τι τερπνὸν ἐν λόγοις, ἀποκρίθητι, φράζε πρὸς πᾶν, ὃ πρέπει, ἵν' εὐαγῶς ἐνθένδε καὶ σωτηρίως παλινστροφήσῃς εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα τρέχων.

24 Εἰς τοὺς παριόντασ

Πῶς σου πορεύῃ τὴν ὁδόν, φίλε, σκόπει· τὴν πρακτικὴν δὲ λεκτέον καὶ

γνωστέον. Κρημνοί, λόχοι, θήρατρα πολλὰ τοῦ Πλάνου, τὰ δέ· φθόνοι, γέλωτες, ὕβρεως κόροι, πορνεία, δόξα, χρημάτων ἔρως, φόνοι, μέθη, κλοπή, μοιχεία καὶ πᾶν ἄλλό τι. Μὴ προσπαρῇς που, μὴ πέσῃς πτῶμα ξένον· κἂν συμβέβηκεν, ἐξανάστα τῷ τάχει, ἐπεὶ πυρὸς δίκη σε παμφάγου μένει.

25 Ἐπίγραμμα εἰς τὴν μονήν

Προαύλιον πέφηνα ποίμνης αἰσίας, τοῦ προταγοῦς γάρ εἰμι φωτοπροδρόμου,

λείας λογικῶν θρεμμάτων πεπλησμένης, ὧν βίος ἄζυξ, ὧν πόλις ὕψους πόλος, ὧν πᾶς ἕκαστος καὶ καθ' εἷς ἅπας πόθῳ, ὧν οὗτινός τι, τοῦδε πάντων κτημάτων· κλῆρος γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡ Θεοῦ σχέσις μόνη. Ὡς ἀσφαλής, ὡς ἐσθλὸς ἤνυσται δρόμος τῶν κοινοβικῶς πανταχῶς ἐζηκότων.

26 Εἰς τὸν πυλωρόν

Ἔσω παρεστὼς ἔνθάπερ, τέκνον, φόβῳ, πύλη γάρ ἐστι θείας εἰσοδ' ἐξόδου,

δίδου, δέχοιο τὰς φάσεις ἐν συγκρίσει· ἄγγελλε ταῦτα τῶν ὅσα πρέπον φάναι, σίγα δ' ἐκεῖνα τῶν ὅσα βλάβην φέρει· τοῖς ἔνδον, ἔξω, κἂν ἀδελφοῖς, κἂν ξένοις, κλείων, ἀνοίγων πρὸς δὲ καιρὸν, οἷς πρέπει, πτωχῷ τε χρείαν νεῖμον, εἰ δὲ μὴ, λόγον· οὕτως γὰρ ἕξεις μισθὸν ἐν παραστάσει.

27 Εἰς ἀπερχόμενον ἀδελφὸν εἰς διακονίαν

Πρὶν ἐκπορεύσῃ τὴν πύλην ταύτην, τέκος, σφραγίδα προσθεὶς εἰς ἅπαν

μέλους τόπον· ἴθι πρὸς ἅσπερ ἐξεπέμφθης φροντίδας, κάτω νενευκὼς [ἐξωθούμενος βλάβας], ψαλμόν, προσευχήν, ταῖν δυοῖν ἕν, προσλέγων, τὰς ἀστικώδεις ἐξωθούμενος βλάβας. Φεύγοις γυναιξὶ συντραφῆναι, κἂν τύχῃ· στραφεὶς δὲ τάχει τῆς μονῆς εἴσω μένε, μὴ ὥσπερ ἰχθὺς ἁλὸς ἔξωθεν θάνῃς.