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your goods, withdraw from the unworthy, and let your peace return to you, the blessing from you passing back to you again, because you have fulfilled what was required of you. And into whatever city you enter and they receive you, etc. In these things again he exhorted them to preach the kingdom of God, and to say that it has drawn near; not making the word idle or unproven, but providing the 24.553 signs of the preaching, through healing the sick among them, and carrying away nothing more than their daily food; which indeed he presented, saying: Eat what is set before you, and heal the sick among them. But since it was objected, if then no one should be found worthy of the aforementioned reception, what should they do? Accordingly, hear also what he teaches about these things, saying next: Into whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, etc. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own courtyard, etc. He calls the devil the strong man who overpowered the human race; and his courtyard, the earthly place of mortals; and his goods, all those things which he once showed to the Savior and said: All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me, when on the high mountain he showed him the kingdoms of the world and their glory. But long ago these goods of his were at peace, with no one taking them from him; but when one stronger than he came upon him and after wrestling him down, bound him with chains, then he also took away his full armor, in which he trusted, and seizing his spoils, he distributed them. And his full armor he indicated was the polytheistic deceit of the demons. For the weapons of the devil are the demons established everywhere on earth, cooperating with his tyranny against men; and his spoils were the souls of men, led away captive by the devil's full armor. But Christ, having bound that terrible tyrant with chains, scattered all his full armor, namely, the demons and the unclean spirits, and the opposing powers; and his spoils, those formerly enslaved to his tyranny, I mean all the nations, having been removed from their old slavery, he has distributed to his own leaders and rulers, the soldiers under him of the kingdom of heaven, namely the apostles and their successors. Concerning which spoils it was wonderfully proclaimed beforehand in a prophecy saying: The king of the powers of the Beloved, for the beauty of the house to divide the spoils. And these are clear proofs of the kingdom of God destroying and humbling every rule and authority and power, and all the polytheistic and demonic tyranny, and beginning to prevail over the men on earth. Therefore the Savior says: But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. And when they bring you before the synagogues, etc. Thus indeed he filled them with courage and boldness by promising that they would partake of the divine Spirit; for it was likely that they would also be strengthened by him. And how were they not to be filled with fortitude and boldness and good zeal? and how not to go boldly before the 24.556 tribunals of governors and kings, they who had learned beforehand that it would not be they who would have to make a defense with careful thought to the rulers, but some other divine power in them, by which they would speak fearlessly to governors and even to kings? And when the teacher said these things, it was fitting for the disciples to believe without hesitation, and in no way to be in doubt, having already received experience of the words through the things promised before, the proof of which they had received by the deeds themselves. They who indeed strengthened the sick by the power of the divine word, and were able to cleanse the incurable disease among men, leprosy, and the other afflictions of the bodies, and to drive out the destructive demons of men, not through any elaborate sorcery, but only through that which is from him

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ὑμέτερα ἀγαθὰ, τῶν ἀναξίων ὑποχωρεῖτε, καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη ὑμῶν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἐπιστρεψάτω, τῆς ἐξ ὑμῶν εὐλογίας ἐφ' ὑμᾶς πάλιν μεταβαινούσης, ὅτι δὴ τὰ παρ' ὑμῶν πεπληρώκατε. Καὶ εἰς ἣν δ' ἂν πόλιν εἰσέρχησθε καὶ δέχωνται ὑμᾶς, κ. τ. λ. Ἐν τούτοις γε πάλιν κηρύττειν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ ἠγγικέναι λέγειν αὐτὴν παρεκελεύετο· οὐκ ἀργὸν οὐδ' ἀναπόδεικτον ποιουμένους τὸν λόγον, τὰ 24.553 γνωρίσματα δὲ παρέχοντας τοῦ κηρύγματος, διὰ τοῦ θεραπεύειν τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀσθενεῖς, καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς ἀποφέρεσθαι· ὃ δὴ παρίστη λέγων· Ἐσθίετε τὰ παρατιθέμενα ὑμῖν, καὶ θεραπεύετε τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀσθενεῖς. Ἐπειδὴ δ' ἀντέπιπτεν, εἰ οὖν μὴ εὑρεθείη τις ἄξιος τῆς δηλωθείσης ὑποδοχῆς, τί χρὴ πράττειν αὐτούς; ἀκολούθως καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐπάκουσον οἷα διδάσκει λέγων ἑξῆς· Εἰς ἣν δ' ἂν πόλιν εἰσέρχησθε, καὶ μὴ δέχωνται ὑμᾶς, κ. τ. λ. Ὅταν ὁ ἰσχυρὸς καθωπλισμένος φυλάσσῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ αὐλὴν, κ. τ. λ. Ἰσχυρὸν μὲν τὸν κατισχύσαντα τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων διάβολον λέγει· αὐλὴν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸν περίγειον τῶν θνητῶν τόπον· ὑπάρχοντα δὲ πάντ' ἐκεῖνα ἃ δὴ ἐπιδείξας τῷ Σωτῆρί ποτε ἔλεγεν· Ταῦτά σοι πάντα δώσω, ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι, ὅτε ἐν τῷ ὑψηλῷ ὄρει ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ πάλαι μὲν ταῦτα αὐτοῦ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἦν, μηδενὸς αὐτοῦ ἀφαιρουμένου· ὅτε γε μὴν ὁ ἰσχυρότερος αὐτοῦ ἐπελθὼν καταπαλαίσας τε αὐτὸν δεσμοῖς περιέβαλε, τότε καὶ τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτοῦ ἀφείλετο, ἐφ' ᾗ ἐπεποίθει, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα αὐτοῦ ἁρπάσας διέδωκε. Πανοπλίαν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων πολύθεον πλάνην ᾐνίξατο. Ὅπλα γὰρ διαβόλου οἱ πανταχοῦ γῆς ἱδρυμένοι δαίμονες συνεργοῦντες αὐτοῦ τῇ κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τυραννίδι· σκῦλα δὲ ἦσαν αὐτοῦ αἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχαὶ ὑπὸ τῆς διαβολικῆς πανοπλίας αἰχμάλωτοι ἀπηγμέναι. Ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν δεινὸν ἐκεῖνον τύραννον ὁ Χριστὸς δεσμοῖς περιβαλὼν, πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ διεσκέδασε τὴν πανοπλίαν, τοὺς δαίμονας δηλαδὴ καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, τὰς δυνάμεις τε τὰς ἀντικειμένας· τὰ δὲ σκῦλα αὐτοῦ, τὰ πάλαι δεδουλωμένα τῇ τυραννίδι αὐτοῦ, ἔθνη φημὶ πάντα μεταστησάμενα τῆς παλαιᾶς δουλείας, διαδέδωκεν οἰκείοις ἡγεμόσι καὶ ἄρχουσι τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτὸν στρατιώταις τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας, ἀποστόλοις δηλαδὴ καὶ τοῖς τούτων διαδόχοις. Περὶ ὧν σκύλων θαυμαστῶς προανεφωνεῖτο ἐν προφητείᾳ φασκούσῃ· Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ Ἀγαπητοῦ, τῇ ὡραιότητι τοῦ οἴκου διελέσθαι σκῦλα. Τεκμήρια δὲ ταῦτα ἐναργῆ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας καθαιρούσης καὶ ταπεινούσης πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἐξουσίαν καὶ δύναμιν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πολύθεον καὶ δαιμονικὴν τυραννίδα, τῶν δ' ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώπων ἐπικρατεῖν ἀρχομένης. ∆ιό φησι Σωτήρ· Εἰ δ' ἐγὼ ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὅταν δὲ προσφέρωσιν ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰς συναγωγὰς, κ. τ. λ. Οὕτω δῆτα φρονήματος αὐτοὺς ἐπλήρου καὶ θάρσους διὰ τοῦ μεθέξειν αὐτοὺς θείου Πνεύματος ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι· δι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ δυναμοῦσθαι εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτούς. Καὶ πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔμελλον παραστήματος καὶ θάρσους καὶ προθυμίας ἐμπίμπλασθαι ἀγαθῆς; πῶς δὲ μὴ θαρσαλέως χωρεῖν ἐφ' ἡγεμονικὰ καὶ βασιλικὰ 24.556 δικαστήρια, οἱ προμεμαθηκότες, ὅτι μὴ αὐτοὶ εἶεν οἱ μέλλοντες πεφροντισμένως τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἀπολογεῖσθαι, ἄλλη δέ τις ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔνθεος δύναμις, δι' ἧς καὶ ἡγεμόσιν ἔμελλον ἀκαταπλήκτως ὁμιλεῖν καὶ αὐτοῖς βασιλεῦσι; Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ λέγοντι τῷ διδασκάλῳ ἀκόλουθον ἦν τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀδιστάκτως πιστεύειν, κατὰ μηδένα τε τρόπον ἀμφιβόλως ἔχειν, προειληφότας τῶν λόγων τὴν πεῖραν διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐπηγγελμένων, ὧν τὴν πίστιν αὐτοῖς ἔργοις παρειλήφεισαν. Οἱ γοῦν ἀσθενοῦντας λόγου δυνάμει θείου ῥωννύντες, νόσον τε τὴν ἀνίατον ἐν ἀνθρώποις λέπραν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάθη τῶν σωμάτων ἀποκαθαίρειν οἷοί τε, δαίμονάς τε λυμαντικοὺς ἀνθρώπων ἐλαύνειν οὐ διά τινος περιέργου μαγγανείας, διὰ δὲ μόνης τῆς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ