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possession of good things; Seek judgment, rescue the wronged, judge for the orphan and justify the widow. 18And come, let us reason together, says the Lord. But lest they should be afraid when they hear the reproofs, he promises a supply of good things: And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; though they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool. Bringing you, he says, into court, I will not exact penalties for the things you have dared to do, but seeing your repentance I will imitate the dyers and by the bath of all-holy baptism I will change the color of blood and I will not allow you to bear a perpetual reproach for blood-guiltiness. For my knowledge is marvelous; for while dyers dye things rose-colored and saffron-colored and violet-colored and purple, I make the red snow-white. Then also he promises to give the enjoyment of present goods to those who have set their hearts on these things: 19And if you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But to those who are not persuaded, he threatens: 20But if you are not willing and do not obey me, a sword shall devour you. And the prophet, teaching that these are not his own words but those of the God of all, added: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. This philanthropy the Master also used when being nailed to the cross; for he said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” However, after the cross and the death and the resurrection and the ascension into heaven and the descent of the divine Spirit and the wondrous miracles of the apostles, those who believed he deemed worthy of salvation; for among these are the three thousand and the five thousand whom the pair of the first apostles caught in their net, among these are the many myriads whom the divine James pointed out to the wondrous Paul, among these is the blessed Paul himself; for like a wild beast he was tearing apart the Lord's flock, but having been deemed worthy of the divine call, he suffered with pleasure the very things he had done with pleasure. |98 b| Therefore, the Master deemed these worthy of salvation according to his own promise, but the others he handed over to the sword according to the prophecy. 21How the faithful city Zion has become a harlot, full of judgment! In her righteousness lodged, but now murderers. Since he saw them contradicting and not being persuaded nor enduring to be washed and to reap salvation, he laments and bewails the change for the worse. For she was faithful when king David and Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah and Josiah governed her piously, but she became a harlot and instead of the righteous had murderers as inhabitants, when she did not receive the bridegroom who had come but, having savagely killed him, was reddened with his blood. 22Your silver is worthless; your merchants mix wine with water. He makes an accusation not of merchants nor of money-changers but of priests and teachers who adulterate the divine law and mix in their own doctrines. For in the holy gospels the Lord brought this accusation against them: “Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” For just as one who mixes another substance with gold or silver renders it counterfeit and worthless, and one who mixes wine with water ruins the quality of the wine, so the teachers of the Jews corrupted the divine law by arranging their own reasonings with it and attaching the mythical "second ordinances" (Deuterosis). 23Your rulers are disobedient, companions of thieves, loving gifts, seeking reward, not judging for orphans and not attending to the judgment of widows. This accusation against them is also necessary; for faith is not sufficient for salvation, but there is also need of practical virtue. For this very reason, having commanded them in the preceding words to approach the saving baptism, he also dictated to them the other forms of virtue. However, after the accusation he brings on the threats of punishment: 24Therefore the Lord, the Master, Sabaoth, the ruler of Israel, says these things: Woe to the mighty in Israel, for my anger will not cease against my adversaries, I will execute judgment on my enemies. As for "Lord Sabaoth," Symmachus and

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κτῆσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν· Ἐκζητήσατε κρίσιν, ῥύσασθε ἀδικούμενον, κρίνατε ὀρφανῷ καὶ δικαιώσατε χήραν. 18Καὶ δεῦτε καὶ διελεγχθῶμεν, λέγει κύριος. Ὡς ἂν δὲ μὴ δείσαιεν τοὺς ἐλέγχους ἀκούσαντες, τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται χορηγίαν· Καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ, ἐὰν δὲ ὦσιν ὡς κόκκινον, ὡσεὶ ἔριον λευκανῶ. Εἰσάγων φησὶν ὑμᾶς εἰς δικαστήριον οὐ δίκας εἰσπράξομαι τῶν τετολμημένων, ἀλλὰ τὴν μεταμέλειαν ὁρῶν μιμήσομαι τοὺς δευσοποιοὺς καὶ τῷ τοῦ παναγίου βαπτίσματος λουτρῷ ἀμείψω τοῦ αἵματος τὴν χροιὰν καὶ οὐκ ἐάσω ὑμᾶς φέρειν ἔλεγχον τῆς μιαιφονίας διηνεκῆ. Παράδοξος γὰρ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐπιστήμη· τῶν γὰρ δευσοποιῶν ῥοδοειδῆ καὶ κροκοειδῆ καὶ ἰοειδὴ καὶ ἁλουργὰ βαπτόντων ἐγὼ τὸ ἐρυθρὸν χιονοειδὲς ἀπεργάζομαι. Εἶτα καὶ τῶν παρόντων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ὡς περὶ ταῦτα κεχηνόσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται δώσειν· 19Καὶ ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε. Μὴ πειθομένοις δὲ ἀπειλεῖ· 20Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλητε μηδὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται. Καὶ διδάσκων ὁ προφήτης ὡς οὐκ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα ἀλλὰ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ, ἐπήγαγεν· Τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. Ταύτῃ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ τῷ σταυρῷ προση λούμενος ὁ δεσπότης ἐχρήσατο· «Πάτερ» γὰρ ἔφη «ἄφες αὐτοῖς· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσιν.» Μετὰ μέντοι τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάβασιν καὶ τὴν τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἐπιφοίτησιν καὶ τὰ παράδοξα τῶν ἀποστόλων θαύματα τοὺς μὲν πεπι στευκότας τῆς σωτηρίας ἠξίωσεν· ἐκ τούτων γάρ εἰσιν οἱ τρισχίλιοι καὶ οἱ πεντακισχίλιοι οὓς τῶν πρώτων ἀποστόλων ἡ ξυνωρὶς ἐσαγήνευσεν, ἐκ τούτων αἱ πολλαὶ μυριάδες ἃς ὁ θεῖος Ἰάκωβος τῷ θεσπεσίῳ ὑπέδειξε Παύλῳ, ἐκ τούτων αὐτὸς ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος· θηρὸς γὰρ δίκην ἀγρίου διέσπα τοῦ κυρίου τὴν ποίμνην, ἀλλὰ τῆς θείας ἀξιωθεὶς κλήσεως πέπονθε μεθ' ἡδονῆς ἅπερ ἔδρα μεθ' ἡδονῆς. |98 b| Τούτους μὲν οὖν ὁ δεσπότης κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ὑπόσχεσιν τῆς σωτηρίας ἠξίωσε, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους μαχαίρᾳ κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν παρέδωκεν. 21Πῶς ἐγένετο πόρνη πόλις πιστὴ Σιών, πλήρης κρίσεως; Ἐν ᾖ δικαιοσύνη ἐκοιμήθη ἐν αὐτῇ, νῦν δὲ φονευταί. Ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν ἀντιλέγοντας καὶ μὴ πειθομένους μηδὲ ἀνεχομένους λούσασθαι καὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν καρπώσασθαι, ὀλοφύρεται καὶ θρηνεῖ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον μεταβολήν. Πιστὴ μὲν γὰρ ἦν, ἡνίκα ∆αυὶδ μὲν αὐτὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ Ἰωσαφὰτ καὶ Ἐζεκίας καὶ Ἰωσίας εὐσεβῶς ᾠκονόμουν, πόρνη δὲ ἐγένετο καὶ ἀντὶ δικαίων φονευτὰς ἔσχεν οἰκήτορας, ἡνίκα τὸν νυμφίον παραγενόμενον οὐκ ἐδέξατο ἀλλὰ θηριωδῶς αὐτὸν ἀνελοῦσα ἐφοινίχθη τῷ αἵματι. 22Τὸ ἀργύριον ὑμῶν ἀδόκιμον· οἱ κάπηλοί σου μίσγουσι τὸν οἶνον ὕδατι. Οὐδὲ καπήλων οὐδὲ ἀργυραμοιβῶν ποιεῖται κατηγορίαν ἀλλ' ἱερέων καὶ διδασκάλων τὸν θεῖον νοθευόντων νόμον καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα παραμιγνύντων δόγματα. Ταύτην γὰρ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὁ κύριος αὐτοῖς τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐπήγαγεν· «Ἵνα τί παραβαίνετε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν;» Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ τῷ χρυσῷ ἢ τῷ ἀργύρῳ ἑτέραν ὕλην παραμιγνὺς κίβδηλον τοῦτον ἐργάζεται καὶ ἀδόκιμον καὶ ὁ τὸν οἶνον ὕδατι κεραννὺς λυμαίνεται τῇ τοῦ οἴνου ποιότητι, οὕτως οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων διδάσκαλοι τὸν θεῖον νόμον διέφθειραν τοὺς οἰκείους αὐτῷ συντά ξαντες λογισμοὺς καὶ τὰς μυθώδεις δευτερώσεις συνάψαντες. 23Οἱ ἄρχοντές σου ἀπειθοῦσι, κοινωνοὶ κλεπτῶν, ἀγαπῶντες δῶρα, διώκοντες ἀνταπόδομα, ὀρφανοῖς οὐ κρίνοντες καὶ κρίσει χηρῶν οὐ προσέχοντες. Ἀναγκαία καὶ ἡ τούτων κατηγορία· οὐκ ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ἡ πίστις εἰς σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ χρεία καὶ τῆς πρακτικῆς ἀρετῆς. Τούτου δὴ χάριν ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν τῷ σωτηρίῳ κελεύσας βαπτίσματι προσελθεῖν καὶ τἆλλα τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτοῖς ὑπηγόρευσεν εἴδη. Μετὰ μέντοι τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐπιφέρει τῆς τιμωρίας τὰς ἀπειλάς· 24∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ δεσπότης Σαβαώθ, ὁ δυνάστης τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· Οὐαὶ τοῖς ἰσχύουσιν ἐν Ἰσραήλ, οὐ παύσεται γὰρ ὁ θυμός μου ἐν τοῖς ὑπε ναντίοις μου, κρίσιν ποιήσω ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου. Τὸ κύριος Σαβαὼθ ὁ μὲν Σύμμαχος καὶ ὁ