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of the request; but nevertheless she persuaded him and thought to silence that sacred tongue, which cries out even until now; for indeed every day, or rather in every church, you hear John through the Gospels crying out and saying: "It is not lawful for you to have the wife of Philip your brother." He cut off the head, but he did not cut off the voice; he silenced the tongue, but he did not silence the reproof.

See what an oath does: it cuts off the heads of prophets. You have seen the bait, fear the destruction; you have seen the net, do not fall into it. But it is necessary henceforth to spare, so that the cut may not become deeper; it is necessary henceforth to restrain the hand and the bloodied sword and to put the discourse on the wounds of perjury to silence. Remember this and you will never sin, that whether keeping the oath or not keeping it, you are punished alike. Where now are those who say, "If I swear for a just cause"? For where is this just, when it is a transgression of the law? Where is it just, when God forbids, but you do it? But bear with us now as we bandage the wounds; for the bandage too has something painful. For grievous is the punishment both of perjury and 166 of keeping the oath, both before our teaching, but it is more grievous also after our teaching. "For if I had not come," he says, "and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin." This can also be said of you, that for you who transgress there is no longer any defense. Now therefore baptism, whether it finds perjury, or keeping an oath, or fornication, or adultery, or any wickedness, washes away and cleanses with great exactness; and may it be that for the future you also may preserve this purity, freed from every stain, and that we may be able to have some part in boldness through your prayers; for it is lawful for you henceforth to pray also for your teachers. For after a little while you are about to appear to us from the heavens, shining more brightly than the stars themselves. May it be, then, through your prayers, that we all partake of boldness before the judgment seat of Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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αἰτήσεως· ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔπεισε καὶ ἐνόμιζεν ἐπιστομίζειν τὴν γλῶτταν ἐκείνην τὴν ἱεράν, ἣ δὲ μέχρι νῦν βοᾷ· καὶ γὰρ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, μᾶλλον δὲ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐκκλησίαν ἀκούετε Ἰωάννου διὰ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων βοῶντος καὶ λέγοντος· "οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἔχειν τὴν γυναῖκα Φιλίππου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου". ἐξέτεμε τὴν κεφαλήν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξέτεμε τὴν φωνήν· ἐπεστόμισε τὴν γλῶτταν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπεστόμισε τὸν ἔλεγχον.

Ἴδετε, τί ποιεῖ ὁ ὅρκος· προφητῶν ἀποτέμνει κεφαλάς. εἶδες τὸ δέλεαρ, φοβήθητι τὸν ὄλεθρον· εἶδες τὸ δίκτυον, μὴ ἐμπέσῃς. ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη λοιπὸν φείσασθαι, ὥστε μὴ βαθυτέραν γενέσθαι τὴν τομήν· ἀνάγκη λοιπὸν ἀνασχεῖν τὴν χεῖρα καὶ τὸ σιδήριον ᾑμαγμένον καὶ τὸν λόγον ἀπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων τῆς ἐπιορκίας εἰς σιγὴν ἀποθέσθαι. τοῦτο δὴ μέμνησθε καὶ οὐδέποτε ἁμαρτήσεσθε, ὅτι καὶ φυλάττοντες τὸν ὅρκον καὶ μὴ φυλάττοντες ὁμοίως κολάζεσθε. ποῦ νῦν εἰσιν οἱ λέγοντες, " ̓Εὰν ἐπὶ δικαίῳ ὀμόσω"; ποῦ γὰρ δίκαιον τοῦτο, ὅταν νόμου παράβασις ᾖ; ποῦ δίκαιον, ὅταν ὁ θεὸς κωλύῃ, σὺ δὲ ποιεῖς; ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀνάσχεσθε λοιπὸν ἐπιδεσμούντων ἡμῶν τὰ τραύματα· ἔχει γάρ τι καὶ ὁ ἐπίδεσμος ὀδυνηρόν. χαλεπὴ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τῆς ἐπιορκίας καὶ 166 τῆς εὐορκίας ἡ κόλασις καὶ πρὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας τῆς ἡμετέρας, χαλεπωτέρα δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν. "εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦλθον", φησί, "καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον· νῦν δὲ πρόφασιν οὐκ ἔχουσι περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας". τοῦτο καὶ ἐφ' ὑμῶν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐδὲ μία λοιπὸν ὑμῖν ἀπολογία παραβαίνουσι. νῦν μὲν οὖν τὸ βάπτισμα, κἂν ἐπιορκίαν εὕρῃ, κἂν εὐορκίαν, κἂν πορνείαν, κἂν μοιχείαν, κἂν πᾶσαν τὴν κακίαν, ἀπορρύπτει καὶ καθαίρει μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀκριβείας· γένοιτο δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς καὶ ὑμᾶς τὴν καθαρότητα διατηρῆσαι ταύτην, πάσης ἀπηλλαγμένους κηλῖδος, καὶ ἡμᾶς δυνηθῆναι παρρησίας τινὸς μετασχεῖν εὐχαῖς ταῖς ὑμετέραις· ἔξεστι γὰρ ὑμῖν καὶ ὑπὲρ διδασκάλων εὔχεσθαι λοιπόν. καὶ γὰρ μετὰ μικρὸν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν μέλλετε φαίνεσθαι τῶν ἀστέρων αὐτῶν φαιδρότερον λάμποντες. γένοιτο οὖν εὐχαῖς ταῖς ὑμετέραις παρρησίας ἡμᾶς μετασχεῖν ἅπαντας ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ πατρὶ ἡ δόξα ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.