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having received, he gave wings to his own mind to the dignity of divinity, and the wretched one lifted his heel against his own creator; and listen how. For the evil-counseling serpent, having approached, what does he say to the woman? Why is it that God commanded you not to eat from the fruit of knowing good and evil? For on whatever day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil. Do you see, listener, the enemy's device? Do you see the deceiver's snares? Do you see how cunning he was, by what words he baited Eve? On whatever day you eat from the forbidden tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil. O the evil counsel of the deceiver! O the dishonor which he brought to the woman through deceitful words! O the ambush, through which he casts down to the pit of Hades the one who had been raised to the heights by the loving-kindness of God! And the crafty one does not approach Eve naked, as was his worth, but in the garment of the serpent he converses with the woman, in order to bait her, and that his words might be heard with ready obedience. For if he had come as he was formed, Eve would have immediately leaped away, and would have run to her own husband. But the villain, having put on the form of the serpent, used such words to her: Having approached, touch the tree, from which God commanded you not to eat; look at it, it is set before your eyes as beautiful to see, and it will become good for food in your mouth. Behold now you have become fearsome to the beasts and to the birds, you will be seen as more fearsome to them after the tasting; just now they behold you clothed in human form, but now, having tasted of the tree, you will put on the form of divinity, and you will become one who knows good and evil. Nothing will be hidden from your eyes, nor will anything from your hearing escape into forgetfulness, but all things visible and invisible will become plain and manifest in you. The woman, therefore, is baited by the words of the deceiver; she begins to inscribe the promise of the serpent in her breast, and she lifts her heel against the creator. Then she approaches her husband, announcing such words more bitter than gall, and says: Why is it that God has commanded us not to eat from this tree? For on whatever day we eat, our eyes will be opened, and we will be knowing good and evil. O most evil counsel! O words more bitter than gall! She has not seen with her eyes the light of truth; she has not heard with her ears the hearing of life; she has not tasted with her mouth the sweetness of the lover of mankind; she has not touched with her hands the gate of light. Before union she made the man a stranger to God; before cohabitation she makes the king a pauper; before childbearing she brought forth the curse for her children; before bearing sons and daughters she introduced exile for her descendants; before living with 56.532 her husband, she made him a stranger to paradise. O the wickedness! O the foolishness! O the deceit! She persuades her husband with her words, and having taken from the fruit, she brings it to the one who was deceived, and brings down to the pit of Hades the one who appeared lofty to the beasts and birds; she casts down the mind more blameless than any under heaven, she extinguishes the light of the eyes that daily beheld God; she casts cowardice into the mind of the one who constantly encountered God; she paralyzes the hands that blessed the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, and that gave names to them. The king becomes a pauper, the rich man becomes needy, the one conversing with God in friendly encounter hides like a thief under a tree; the ruler a servant, the one pure in heart wholly defiled, the one superlatively bright in soul, become dark. And one could see him who was like the sun

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εἰληφὼς, εἰς θεότητος ἀξίαν τὸν νοῦν ἑαυτοῦ ἀνεπτέρωσε, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ πλάστου αὐτοῦ πτέρναν ὁ ἄθλιος ἐπῆρε· καὶ ὅπως ἄκουε. Ὁ γὰρ κακόβουλος ὄφις προσελθὼν, τί φησι τῇ γυναικί; Τί ὅτι ἐνετείλατο ὑμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν μὴ φαγεῖν; Ἧ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ, γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν. Βλέπεις, ἀκροατὰ, τοῦ ἐχθροῦ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν; βλέπεις τοῦ πλάνου τὰ σκάνδαλα; ὁρᾷς οἷος πολύπλοκος ὢν, διὰ ποίων ῥημάτων ἐδελέασε τὴν Εὔαν; Ἧ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀπηγορευμένου ξύλου, διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ, γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν. Ὢ τῆς κακοβουλίας τοῦ πλάνου! ὢ τῆς ἀτιμίας ἧς προσήγαγε διὰ δολίων ῥημάτων τῇ γυναικί! ὢ τῆς ἐνέδρας, δι' ἧς καταβάλλει εἰς ᾅδου πυθμένα τὸν εἰς ὕψος ἀναχθέντα τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίᾳ! Καὶ οὐ γυμνὸς προσέρχεται τῇ Εὔᾳ ὁ δόλιος, ὡς ἦν αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀξία, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐνδύματι τοῦ ὄφεως προσομιλεῖ τῇ γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ δελεάσαι αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀκουτισθῆναι τούτου τοῖς ῥήμασιν εὐπειθῶς. Εἰ γὰρ ἦλθεν ὡς ἦν μεμορφωμένος, εὐθέως ἡ Εὔα ἀπεπήδα, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα ἀπέτρεχεν. Ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ ὄφεως μορφὴν ἐνδυσάμενος ὁ πανοῦργος, τοιούτοις λόγοις πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐχρήσατο· Προσελθοῦσα ἅψαι τοῦ ξύλου, οὗ ὑμῖν ἐνετείλατο ὁ Θεὸς μὴ φαγεῖν· πρόσχες εἰς αὐτὸ, ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου πρόκειται, καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν τῷ στόματί σου γενήσεται. Ἰδοὺ νῦν φοβερὰ τοῖς θηρίοις καὶ τοῖς πετεινοῖς καθέστηκας, φοβερωτέρα μετὰ τὴν γεῦσιν αὐτοῖς ὀφθήσῃ· ἀρτίως μορφὴν ἀνθρωπίνην περικειμένην σε θεωροῦσι, νυνὶ δὲ γευσαμένη τοῦ ξύλου, θεότητος μόρφωσιν περιβαλήσῃ, καὶ γινώσκουσα γενήσῃ καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν. Οὐδὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν ἀποκρυβήσεται, οὐδὲ ἐκ τῆς ἀκοῆς ὑμῶν τι λήθῃ παραδράμῃ, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα ἐν ὑμῖν γενήσεται εὔδηλα καὶ φανερά. ∆ελεάζεται τοίνυν τοῦ πλάνου τοῖς λόγοις ἡ γυνή· ἄρχεται τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ ὄφεως ἐν τοῖς στέρνοις ἐγγράφειν, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ πλάστου ἐπαίρει πτέρναν. Εἶτα πρόσεισι τῷ ἀνδρὶ τοιαῦτα ἀπαγγέλλουσα τὰ πικρότερα χολῆς ῥήματα, καί φησι· Τί ὅτι ἡμῖν ἐνετείλατο ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ μὴ φαγεῖν τοῦ ξύλου τούτου; Ἧ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φαγώμεθα, διανοιχθήσονται ἡμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ ἐσόμεθα γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν. Ὢ συμβουλίας κακίστης! ὢ λόγων πικροτέρων χολῆς! Οὐχ ἑώρακε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτῆς τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀληθείας· οὐχ ὑπήκουσε τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῆς τῆς ζωῆς τὴν ἀκρόασιν· οὐκ ἐγεύσατο τῷ στόματι τὴν γλυκύτητα τοῦ φιλανθρώπου· οὐκ ἐψηλάφησε ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῆς τοῦ φωτὸς τὴν πύλην. Πρὸ τῆς συναφείας ξένον τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐποίησε· πρὸ τῆς ἐνοικήσεως πένητα τὸν βασιλέα καθίστησι· πρὸ τῆς τεκνογονίας τοῖς τέκνοις τὴν κατάραν ἐτεκτήνατο· πρὸ τοῦ τεκεῖν υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας ἐξορίαν τοῖς ἐγγόνοις ἐπεισήγαγε· πρὸ τῆς συμβιώσεως 56.532 τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, ξένον αὐτὸν τοῦ παραδείσου ἐποίησεν. Ὢ τῆς κακίας! ὢ τῆς ἀφροσύνης! ὢ τῆς ἀπάτης! Πείθει τὸν ἄνδρα τοῖς λόγοις αὐτῆς, καὶ λαβοῦσα ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ, φέρει πρὸς τὸν ἀπατηθέντα, καὶ κατάγει εἰς ᾅδου πυθμένα τὸν ὑψηλὸν τοῖς θηρίοις καὶ πετεινοῖς φαινόμενον· καταβάλλει τὴν φρένα τὴν παντὸς τοῦ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀκεραιοτέραν σβεννύει τὸ φῶς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν καθ' ἑκάστην Θεὸν καθορώντων· ἐμβάλλει δειλίαν ταῖς φρεσὶ τοῦ συνεχῶς Θεῷ ἐντυγχάνοντος· παραλύει τὰς χεῖρας τὰς εὐλογησάσας τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς, καὶ τούτοις τὰς ἐπωνυμίας ἐπιθησάσας. Γίνεται ὁ βασιλεὺς πένης, ὁ πλούσιος προσδεὴς, ὁ φιλικῇ συντυχίᾳ τῷ Θεῷ διαλεγόμενος ὡς κλέπτης ὑπὸ δένδρον κρυπτόμενος· ὁ ἄρχων οἰκέτης, ὁ καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ ῥερυπωμένος ὅλως, ὁ τῇ ψυχῇ ὑπέρλαμπρος, σκοτεινὸς καθεστώς. Καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν τὸν ὡς ἥλιον