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was the poison of one who fasted rendered powerless, when, after the ball of yarn was taken along, the banqueters were about to be in danger? Did not 'Phinehas stand up and make atonement, and the plague was stayed'? And were not Abraham and Moses and David 'gathered in a good old age to their fathers'? Will not 'each one die for his own sin' and 'the death of sinners is evil'? Does not scripture say, 'the ungodly will be utterly destroyed "speedily"', and again 'He will add days to the king's days, his years'? Did not the divine oracle teach: 'if you "return and obey the Lord your God and do all the commandments, the Lord your God will make you abound in the offspring of your womb and in the produce of your land and in the offspring of your cattle"'? Does not scripture say: '"Behold, I have set before your face today life and death"'? Did not the commandment of Moses legislate: '"if you obey the commandments of the Lord God, you shall live and be many and the Lord your God will bless you"'? Did not the holy letter somewhere declare: '"if your heart turns away and you do not obey, you shall surely perish and you shall not be long-lived upon the earth"'? Does not the Lord say to Moses: '"You shall see the land opposite you, but you shall not enter it,"' because '"at the water of strife" you did not bless me'? And why then should we go through similar things concerning the <same> matters more exhaustively and weigh down the account with a burden of many words? We know that often through the prayer of the righteous both life and death are brought on. Did not he who commanded the heavens and restrained the rain with his tongue and, being carried up, drove a 'chariot of fire' restore the dead child alive? And did not the Shunammite woman receive her dead son alive, the death having been somehow destroyed through the rejoining of life to him? For in reality 'women received their dead by resurrection'. Did not Elisha condemn playing children to death on account of their address? And did not Ananias with his wife expire 'at the feet of the apostles' when Peter had condemned the depravity of their words? And we know of children being destroyed because of the impiety of their parents; for otherwise the destroying angel would not have destroyed the firstborn in Egypt. And a certain paternal piety knows how to protect sinning children; for on account of David in the days of Solomon the kingdom is not torn apart, nor are the sceptres rent asunder, nor is he enveloped in the penalties for idolatry. We know of destruction being postponed through the repentance of a king and a city and a people; let Nineveh recount how much repentance can do, even though God had proclaimed through the prophet, '"Yet three days and Nineveh will be overthrown"'. 'So they believed God and proclaimed a fast,' as the scripture somewhere says, 'and put on sackcloths, and the king of Nineveh arose from his throne and took off his robe and put on sackcloth and sat on ashes'. 'And God repented,' it says, 'of the evil that He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it'. And to the wisest among kings, has not the divine voice declared: '"If you walk in my way and keep my commandments and my statutes, as your father David walked, I will lengthen your days"'? And does not '"I kill and I make alive"' show us the recompense for the things we have lived? Did not He who does not wish 'the death' of sinners, but their life and repentance for their sins, threaten to bend 'the bow' and polish 'the sword,' 'unless' we turn back? even if it has become dear to the human race to despise 'the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering'. Nor must we overlook this: '"The fear of the Lord adds days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened"'. The matter concerning the children slain in Bethlehem and the company of those who have been martyred is of another cause, about which it is not for the present occasion to go through in this discourse. is not somewhere outside the most gnostic magnanimity of the creator or when or how or where

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νηστευτοῦ ἠμαυρώθη τὸ δηλητήριον, ὅτε τῆς τολύπης συμπαραληφθείσης κινδυνεύειν ἔμελλον οἱ ἑστιάτορες; οὐκ "ἔστη Φινεὲς καὶ ἐξιλάσατο καὶ ἐκόπασεν ἡ θραῦσις"; ῾Αβραὰμ δὲ καὶ Μωσῆς καὶ ∆αυὶδ οὐ προσετέθησαν "ἐν γήρει καλῷ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων" αὐτῶν; οὐ "τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἕκαστος ἀποθανεῖται" καὶ "θάνατος ἁμαρτωλῶν πονηρός"; οὐκ »ἐξολοθρευθήσονται ἀσεβεῖς "ἐν τάχει"» φησὶν ἡ γραφή, καὶ πάλιν «"ἡμέραν ἐφ' ἡμέρας τοῦ βασιλέως προσθήσει τὰ ἔτη"»; οὐκ «ἐὰν "ἐπιστρέψῃς καὶ εἰσακούσῃ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου καὶ ποιήσῃς πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς, πολυωρήσει σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐν τοῖς ἐγγόνοις τῆς κοιλίας σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς γεννήμασι τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐγγόνοις τῶν κτηνῶν σου"» τὸ θεῖον ἐδίδαξε λόγιον; οὐκ «"ἰδοὺ δέδωκα πρὸ προσώπου σου σήμερον τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν θάνατον"» φησὶν ἡ γραφή; οὐκ «"ἐὰν εἰσακούσητε τὰς ἐντολὰς κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ, ζήσεσθε καὶ πολλοὶ ἔσεσθε καὶ εὐλογήσει σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου"» τὸ Μωσέως ἐνομοθέτησε πρόσταγμα; οὐκ «"ἐὰν μεταστῇ ἡ καρδία σου καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσῃ, ἀπωλείᾳ ἀπολεῖσθε καὶ οὐ μὴ πολυήμεροι γένησθε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς"» τὸ ἱερόν που γράμμα ἐφθέγξατο; οὐκ «"ἀπέναντι τὴν γῆν ὄψει καὶ οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ"» κύριος λέγει τῷ Μωσεῖ «διότι "ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας" οὐκ εὐλόγησάς με»; Καὶ τί δῆτα περὶ τῶν <αὐτῶν> παραπλήσια διεξοδικώτερον ἐπεξέλθωμεν καὶ φόρτῳ ῥημάτων πολλῶν τὸν λόγον παχύνομεν; ἴσμεν δι' εὐχὴν δικαίων πολλάκις καὶ ζωὴν ἐπαγομένην καὶ θάνατον. οὐ τὸν παῖδα τεθνηκότα ζῶντα παρέδωκεν ὁ προστάξας τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ὑετὸν χαλινώσας τῇ γλώσσῃ καὶ "ἅρμα πυρὸς" ἡνιοχήσας ὀχούμενος; ἡ Σωμανῖτις δὲ οὐ τὸν νεκρὸν αὐτῆς ἔλαβε ζῶντα υἱὸν διαφθαρείσης που τῆς νεκρώσεως διὰ τὴν τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ζωῆς ἐπανάζευξιν; τῷ ὄντι γὰρ "ἔλαβον γυναῖκες ἐξ ἀναστάσεως τοὺς νεκροὺς αὐτῶν". οὐ παιζόντων παίδων ᾿Ελισσαῖος κατεδίκασε θάνατον διὰ τὸ πρόσρημα; ᾿Ανανίας δὲ σὺν τῷ γυναίῳ οὐκ ἀπέψυξε "παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων" καταδεδικακότος τοῦ Πέτρου τῆς τῶν ῥημάτων φαυλότητος; ἴσμεν δὲ καὶ τέκνα διαφθειρόμενα διὰ τὴν τῶν τεκόντων δυσσέβειαν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὰ πρωτότοκα διώλεσεν ὁ ὀλοθρευτὴς ἄγγελος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. οἶδε καὶ πατρῴα τις ὁσιότης ἡμαρτηκότων παίδων προΐστασθαι· διὰ γὰρ ∆αυὶδ ἐν ἡμέραις Σολομῶν οὐ διαρρήγνυται ἡ βασιλεία οὐδὲ περισχίζονται σκῆπτρα οὐδὲ ταῖς εἰδωλολατρίας ποιναῖς περιβάλλεται. ἴσμεν δι' ἐπιστροφῆς βασιλέως καὶ πόλεως καὶ λαοῦ ὑπερτιθεμένην καταστροφήν· ἡ Νινευῒ διηγείσθω πόσα ἡ μετάνοια δύναται, καίτοι τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου κηρύξαντος «"ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι καὶ καταστραφήσεται Νινευΐ"». "ἐπίστευσαν οὖν τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐκήρυξαν νηστείαν", καθά που φησὶν ἡ γραφή, "καὶ ἐνεδύσαντο σάκκους καὶ ἀνέστη ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου ὁ βασιλεὺς Νινευῒ καὶ περιείλετο τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ περιεβάλετο σάκκον καὶ ἐπὶ σποδοῦ ἐκάθισε". "καὶ μετενόησε", φησίν, "ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὰ κακὰ ἃ ἐλάλησε ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησεν". Πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἐν βασιλεῦσι σοφώτατον οὐκ «"ἐὰν πορευθῇς ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μου καὶ φυλάξῃς τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου, ὡς ἐπορεύθη ∆αυὶδ ὁ πατήρ σου, πληθυνῶ τὰς ἡμέρας σου"» ἡ θεία φωνὴ κεχρημάτικε; τὸ δὲ «"ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω"» οὐ τῶν βεβιωμένων ἡμῖν παρίστησι τὴν ἀντίδοσιν; οὐκ, "ἐὰν μὴ" ἐπιστραφῶμεν, "τὸ τόξον" ἐντείνειν καὶ στιλβοῦν "τὴν ῥομφαίαν" ἠπείλησεν ὁ "τὸν θάνατον" μὴ βουλόμενος τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀλλὰ τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις μετάμελον; εἰ καὶ "τοῦ πλούτου τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀνοχῆς καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας" καταφρονεῖν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει φίλον καθέστηκεν. οὐ παροπτέον δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ «"φόβος κυρίου προστίθησιν ἡμέρας, ἔτη δὲ ἀσεβῶν ὀλιγωθήσεται"». ἑτέρας αἰτίας καθέστηκε τὸ περὶ τῶν ἐν Βηθλεὲμ ἀναιρεθέντων παίδων καὶ τῆς τῶν μεμαρτυρηκότων χοροστασίας, περὶ ὧν οὐ τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ διεξιέναι τῷ λόγῳ. οὐκ ἔξω δέ που τῆς γνωστικωτάτης μεγαλονοίας τοῦ κτίσαντος ἢ πότε ἢ ὅπως ἢ ὅποι