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they are deemed worthy of a most honorable station before God and, as it were, they rest in the hand of God, and from his mouth, he says, a sharp two-edged sword proceeding. Therefore, the divine David says to the Lord, gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one. For thus it was then commanded to us to keep the evangelical laws, which to transgress was ruinous; wherefore the placement on the thigh indicated a postponement of punishment; for it was not most ready for slaughter. But now the sword proceeds from the mouth, the riddle signifying that indeed those who are disobedient to the evangelical commandments will have danger to their soul, being cut in two by the sword; which indeed the Lord says in the Gospels, indicating this; and the apostle said: For the word of God is living, and active and sharper than a 44 two-edged sword against the disobedient, clearly brandishing the threat. Whence also this is written as sharp by John; which is the same as the sharpest in Paul. His appearance, he says, as the sun shines in its power. Rightly as the sun; for the Lord is the sun of righteousness according to the prophet Malachi; but lest you think the light of Christ's face, who enlightens every person coming into the world, to be a transparent body and shining sensibly, he added in its power, as if he were saying: the light of Christ is intelligible, working by power, not a bodily sight, but illuminating the eyes of the soul. And when, he says, I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. And he placed his right hand upon me, saying, I am the first and the last, and the living one, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of hades. Write therefore the things which you saw and the things which are, and the things which are to take place after these things. It is the custom for the holy prophets when they see a vision to be astounded and to show human weakness; and how much the divine things rise above human things and excel with incomparable differences, this we know Jesus the son of Nave suffered when he saw the commander of the army of the Lord, and the man of desires, Daniel, in the visions seen by him. Therefore I fell at his feet as dead, says the evangelist, astonished by the sight. And he placed his right hand upon me, saying, do not be afraid. The holy John would not have been strong enough to live from the astonishment if the saving right hand of the son of God had not 45 touched him, which worked so many wonders by its touch alone; and he says to me, I am the first and the last; as if he were saying: I am the one who for the salvation of you all in the last times of the age associated with you in the flesh, although I am the first and the firstborn of all creation. How then is it possible for you to suffer any harm from my appearance? For if, being living and the source of life, I became dead for your sakes and came to life again, trampling death, how is it possible for you who are living because of me and my vision to become dead? And if I also have the keys of death and of hades, so that I may put to death whom I will and make them live, bring them down to hades and bring them up according to what is written concerning me, and mine are, as the prophet says, the ways out of death, I would not send my worshippers and disciples to an untimely death. Since therefore you will not die, he says: write the things you have seen and the things which are, and which are about to happen. In saying "the things which are," he indicates both the things that have passed and the things that are present; and in saying "which are about to happen," the future things. For of the things seen in the vision by the holy one, some had already happened, which, although they had reached an end, had not passed into non-existence; wherefore also concerning them he said "the things which are," and some were present; and some were about to happen, as the discourse will show as it proceeds. The mystery, he says, of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the churches; and the seven lampstands are seven churches. Since therefore he explained to him who the stars are and who the lampstands are, he then says what is needed for each of the 46 churches

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τιμιωτάτης στάσεως ἠξίωνται παρὰ Θεῷ καὶ οἷον ἐπαναπαύονται τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ φησιν ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα δίστομος ἐκπορευομένη. ὁ μὲν οὖν θεσπέσιος ∆αυὶδ περιζῶσαί φησιν πρὸς τὸν Κύριον τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατέ. οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν τότε τοὺς εὐαγγελικοὺς ἐνετέταλτο νόμους τηρεῖν οὓς τὸ παραβαίνειν ἦν ὀλέθριον· διὸ ἀναβολὴν κολάσεως ἡ τοπικὴ θέσις παρεδήλου τοῦ μηροῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἑτοιμοτάτη πρὸς σφαγήν. νῦν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἐκπορεύεται ἡ ῥομφαία, σημαίνοντος τοῦ αἰνίγματος, ὅτι δὴ οἱ ἀπειθεῖς περὶ τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ προστάγματα τὸν εἰς ψυχὴν ἕξουσι κίνδυνον διχοτομούμενοι τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ· ὃ δή φησιν ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κύριος, τοῦτο δηλῶν· καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐνεργὴς καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ μάχαιραν 44 δίστομον κατὰ τῶν ἀπειθούντων, δῆλον ὅτι τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἀνατεινόμενος. ὅθεν καὶ ὀξεῖα αὕτη τῷ Ἰωάννῃ γέγραπται· ὃ ταὐτόν ἐστιν τῷ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ τομωτάτη. ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ φησιν ὡς ἥλιος φαίνει τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ. καλῶς ὡς ὁ ἥλιος· ἥλιος γάρ ἐστιν δικαιοσύνης ὁ Κύριος κατὰ τὸν προφήτην Μαλαχίαν· ἀλλ' ὅπως μὴ νομίσῃς τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ προσώπου Χριστοῦ, ὃς φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον σῶμα εἶναι διαφανὲς καὶ φωτίζον αἰσθητῶς, ἐπήγαγεν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ, ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν· νοητόν ἐστι τὸ φῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δυνάμει ἐνεργούμενον, οὐκ ὄψιν σωματικὴν, ψυχῆς δὲ ὀφθαλμοὺς καταλάμπον. καὶ ὅτε φησὶν εἶδον αὐτόν, ἔπεσα εἰς τοῦς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡς νεκρός. καὶ ἔθηκεν τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ λέγων, ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, καὶ ὁ ζῶν, καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρός, καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ἅδου. γράψον οὖν ἃ εἶδες καὶ ἅ εἰσιν, καὶ ἃ μέλλει γίνεσθαι μετὰ ταῦτα. ἔθος τοῖς ἁγίοις προφήταις ὁρῶσιν ὀπτασίαν καταπλήττεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν ἐνδείκνυσθαι· καὶ ὅσα τὰ Θεῖα τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ὑπερανέστηκεν καὶ ἀσυγκρίτοις διαφοραῖς ὑπερτερεῖ τοῦτο καὶ Ἰησοῦν ἴσμεν πεπονθότα τὸν τοῦ Ναυὴ ὅταν εἶδεν τὸν ἀρχιστράτηγον τῆς παρατάξεως Κυρίου, καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἐν ταῖς ὁραθείσαις αὐτῷ ὀπτασίαις. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ νεκρός φησιν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς τῇ θέᾳ καταπλαγείς. ὁ δὲ ἔθηκεν τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ λέγων, μὴ φοβοῦ. οὐκ ἂν ἴσχυσεν ὁ ἱερὸς Ἰωάννης ζῆν ἐκ τῆς καταπλήξεως μὴ τῆς σωτηρίου δεξιᾶς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσα 45 ψαμένης αὐτοῦ, τῆς πλεῖστα ὅσα μόνῃ τῇ ἁφῇ ἐργασαμένης τεράστια· καί φησιν πρός με ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος· ὥσει ἔλεγεν· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ πάντων ὑμῶν ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τοῦ αἰῶνος καιρῶν συναναστραφεὶς ὑμῖν μετὰ σαρκὸς, καίτοι πρῶτος ὢν καὶ πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως. πῶς οὖν οἷόν τέ σέ τι παθεῖν κακὸν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιφανείας μου; εἰ γὰρ ζῶν καὶ πηγὴ ζωῆς ὑπάρχων δι' ὑμᾶς ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ αὖθις ἀνεβίων πατήσας τὸν θάνατον, πῶς οἷόν τέ σε τὸν ζῶντα δι' ἐμὲ καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ὀπτασίαν γένεσθαι νεκρόν; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐγὼ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ἅδου, ἵν' οὓς ἂν θέλω θανατώσω καὶ ζωογονήσω, κατάξω εἰς ἅδου καὶ ἀνάξω κατὰ τὸ περὶ ἐμοῦ γεγραμμένον, καὶ ἐμαί εἰσιν, ὡς ὁ προφήτης φησὶν αἱ διέξοδοι τοῦ θανάτου, οὐκ ἂν τοὺς ἐμοὺς προσκυνητὰς καὶ μαθητὰς εἰς πρόωρον παραπέμψοιμι θάνατον. ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ τεθνήξει, φησίν· γράψον ἃ εἶδες καὶ ἅ εἰσιν, καὶ μέλλει γίνεσθαι. ἐν τῷ εἰπεῖν ἅ εἰσιν, δηλοῖ τά τε παρεληλυθότα καὶ ἐνεστῶτα· ἐν δὲ τῷ λέγειν ἃ μέλλει γίνεσθαι, τὰ μέλλοντα. τῶν γὰρ ὁραθέντων ἐν τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ τῷ ἁγίῳ τὰ μὲν ἦν ἤδη γεγονότα ἅτινα εἰ καὶ πέρας εἰλήφει οὐ μὴν εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν ἦν κεχωρηκότα· διὸ καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν εἶπεν ἅ εἰσιν τὰ δὲ παρῆν· τὰ δὲ γίνεσθαι ἔμελλεν, ὡς προιὼν ὁ λόγος ἐπιδείξει. τὸ μυστήριόν φησι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων οὓς εἶδες ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιάν μου, καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ λυχνίας τὰς χρυσᾶς. οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀστέ ρες ἄγγελοι τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσιν· καὶ αἱ ἑπτὰ λυχνίαι, ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαι εἰσίν. ἐπεὶ οὖν αὐτῷ διεσάφησεν τίνες τέ εἰσιν οἱ ἀστέρες καὶ τίνες αἱ λυχνίαι, λοιπὸν λέγει ἃ δεῖ πρὸς ἑκάστην τῶν 46 ἐκκλησιῶν