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achievements, those not present, nor having seen them, receive; so manifest has it become everywhere to the hearing. Therefore we shall not need, by recounting your deeds, to bring them to a like zeal; for what they ought to have heard from us, this they themselves say in anticipation. And yet in many such cases there is envy; but the excess has overcome this also, and they themselves are heralds of your labors. And yet though left behind, they are not thus silent, but are beforehand. To such men, when they speak, it is not possible for us to disbelieve. What is, "What manner of entering in we had unto you"? That it was full of dangers, of ten thousand deaths, that none of these things troubled you; but, as if nothing had happened, so you held to us; as having suffered no evil, but as having enjoyed countless good things, so you received us after these things. For this was a second entrance. For instance, they went to Berea, they were persecuted; and after these things, when they came, they so received them, as to be honored even by them, so that they laid down their own lives for them. Therefore, "What manner of entering in we had," is interwoven; for it contains the praise both of these and of themselves; but he turned this to theirs. And how you turned, he says, to God from idols to serve the living and true God; That is, that it was easily, that it was with much vehemence, that you did not need much effort to serve the living and true God. Here he also introduced an exhortation, which is what makes the speech less burdensome. And to wait, he says, for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. And to wait, he says, for His Son from heaven, the crucified, the buried; wherefore also, to show this, he adds, "Whom he raised from the dead." Have you seen all things at once, both the resurrection, and the ascension, and the second coming, the judgment, the reward of the just, the punishment of the wicked? Jesus which delivered us, he says, from the wrath to come. This is both a consolation, and an exhortation, and an encouragement for them. For if He raised him from the dead, and He is in heaven, and from thence He will come (and this you have believed to be so; for you would not, unless you had believed, have suffered so many things); these things are also a sufficient consolation. But if these also shall certainly pay the penalty, which indeed he also says in his second epistle, you too shall have another consolation, not a small one. In another way, he also said to wait for His Son from heaven, showing that the terrible things are at hand, but the good things are in the future, when Christ shall come from heaven. See how much hope it requires, that the crucified was raised, that he was taken up into heaven, that he is coming to judge the living and the dead. For you yourselves 62.401, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: but even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 2. Great indeed are your deeds, but neither did we use human reasoning. But what he says above, this he also says here, that the preaching is shown for what it is from both sides, from the signs, from the purpose of those who preach, and from the fervor and zeal of those who receive. For you yourselves know, he says, our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain; that is, that it was not human, nor of the common sort. For being amidst great dangers and deaths and plagues, we immediately fell into dangers. But even after that we had suffered before, he says, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God. Do you see how again he ascribes the whole to God? To speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. It is not possible to say, he says, that there we were in danger, but here we were not; you also know how great the danger was, and with how much conflict we came to you. Which also he says to the Corinthians

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κατορθώματα, οἱ μὴ παρόντες, μηδὲ τεθεαμένοι παραλαμβάνουσιν· οὕτω δήλη πανταχοῦ γέγονε ταῖς ἀκοαῖς. Οὐκοῦν οὐ δεησόμεθα τὰ ὑμέτερα διηγούμενοι, εἰς ζῆλον αὐτοὺς ἀγαγεῖν τὸν ἴσον· ἃ γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐχρῆν παρ' ἡμῶν ἀκούειν, ταῦτα αὐτοὶ προλαβόντες λέγουσι. Καίτοι γε πολλαχοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων φθόνος ἐστίν· ἀλλ' ἡ ὑπερβολὴ καὶ τοῦτον ἐνίκησε, καὶ αὐτοὶ κήρυκές εἰσι τῶν ὑμετέρων ἄθλων. Καίτοι γε ἀπολιμπανόμενοι, οὐδὲ οὕτω σιγῶσιν, ἀλλὰ προφθάνουσι. Τοιούτοις δὲ οὖσιν οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν λέγουσιν ἀπιστῆσαι. Τί ἐστιν, Ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς; Ὅτι κινδύνων ἔγεμεν, ὅτι θανάτων μυρίων, ὅτι τούτων οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς ἐτάραττεν· ἀλλ', ὡς οὐδενὸς γενομένου, οὕτως ἡμῶν εἴχεσθε· ὡς οὐδὲν παθόντες κακὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς μυρίων ἀπολαύσαντες ἀγαθῶν, οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἐδέξασθε μετὰ ταῦτα. ∆ευτέρα γὰρ ἦν εἴσοδος αὕτη. Οἷον ἀπῆλθον εἰς Βέῤῥοιαν, ἐδιώχθησαν· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐλθόντας αὐτοὺς οὕτως ἐδέξαντο, ὡς τιμηθῆναι καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν, ὥστε καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἔθηκαν. Τὸ οὖν, Ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν, συμπεπλεγμένον ἐστι· καὶ τούτων γὰρ, καὶ αὐτῶν ἔχει ἐγκώμιον· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς τοῦτο ἔτρεψεν εἰς τὸ αὐτῶν. Καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε, φησὶ, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων δουλεύειν Θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ· Τουτέστιν, ὅτι εὐκόλως, ὅτι μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σφοδρότητος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐδεήθητε πολλῆς πραγματείας εἰς τὸ δουλεύειν Θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ. Ἐνταῦθα καὶ παραίνεσιν εἰσήγαγεν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀνεπαχθέστερον τὸν λόγον ποιοῦντος. Καὶ ἀναμένειν, φησὶ, τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, Ἰησοῦν, τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης. Καὶ ἀναμένειν, φησὶ, τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, τὸν ταφέντα· διὸ καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ἐπάγει, Ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν. Εἶδες ὁμοῦ πάντα, καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ τὴν ἀνάληψιν, καὶ τὴν δευτέραν παρουσίαν, τὴν κρίσιν, τὴν τῶν δικαίων ἀνταπόδοσιν, τὴν τῶν πονηρῶν τιμωρίαν; Ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς, φησὶν, ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης. Τοῦτο καὶ παραμυθία, καὶ παράκλησις, καὶ προτροπὴ ἐκείνων. Εἰ γὰρ ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐστι, καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐλεύσεται (τοῦτο δὲ οὕτως ἔχειν ἐπιστεύσατε· οὐ γὰρ ἂν, εἰ μὴ ἐπιστεύσατε, τοσαῦτα ἐπάθετε)· ἱκανὴ παραμυθία καὶ ταῦτα. Εἰ δὲ καὶ δώσουσι πάντως οὗτοι δίκην, ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ φησιν, ἑτέραν καὶ ὑμεῖς ἕξετε παραμυθίαν οὐ μικράν. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ἀναμένειν εἶπε τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, δηλῶν ὅτι τὰ μὲν δεινὰ ἐν χερσὶ, τὰ δὲ χρηστὰ ἐν μελλήσει, ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔλθῃ. Ὅρα πόσης δεῖται ἐλπίδος, ὅτι ὁ σταυρωθεὶς ἠγέρθη, ὅτι ἀνελήφθη εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, ὅτι ἔρχεται κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, Αὐτοὶ 62.401 γὰρ οἴδατε, ἀδελφοὶ, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες, καθὼς οἴδατε, ἐν Φιλίπποις, ἐπαῤῥησιασάμεθα ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι. βʹ. Μεγάλα μὲν καὶ τὰ ὑμέτερα πλὴν ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἀνθρωπίνῳ λόγῳ ἐχρησάμεθα. Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἄνω φησὶ, τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι ἀμφοτέρωθεν δείκνυται τὸ κήρυγμα οἷόν ἐστιν, ἀπό τε τῶν σημείων, ἀπό τε τῆς τῶν κηρυττόντων προαιρέσεως, ἀπό τε τῆς τῶν δεχομένων θερμότητος καὶ σπουδῆς. Αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε, φησὶ, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονε· τουτέστιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνη, οὐδὲ ἡ τυχοῦσα. Ἀπὸ γὰρ κινδύνων ὄντες μεγάλων καὶ θανάτων καὶ πληγῶν, εὐθέως εἰς κινδύνους ἐνεπέσομεν. Ἀλλὰ προπαθόντες, φησὶ, καὶ ὑβρισθέντες, καθὼς οἴδατε, ἐν Φιλίπποις, ἐπαῤῥησιασάμεθα ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς πάλιν τὸ πᾶν ἀνατίθησι τῷ Θεῷ; Λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι. Οὐκ ἔστι, φησὶν, εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἐκεῖ μὲν ἐκινδυνεύσαμεν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὔ· ἴστε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅσος ὁ κίνδυνος, καὶ μεθ' ὅσης ἀγωνίας ἐγενόμεθα πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Ὅπερ καὶ πρὸς Κορινθίους φησὶ