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considering the excess of those bringing this sickness upon him, he was roused to greater concern. 3.3 Hear, at any rate, how gently, how compassionately he speaks to us on their behalf—of those who whipped him five times, who stoned him, who bound him, who thirsted for his blood, and desired to tear him apart every day. For I bear them witness, he says, that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. And again, holding back those who were assailing them, he said: Do not be haughty, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you either. For since he saw the Master’s sentence issued against them, this he was master of, this he did: he wept continually for them, he grieved, he prevented those who wanted to leap upon them, and from the available means he contended to find at least a shadow of an excuse for them. And since he could not persuade them by word because of their unyielding and hard nature, he turned to constant prayers, saying: Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. And he offers them good hopes, saying: For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, so that they might not despair completely and perish; all of which was of one who cared and was greatly inflamed for them, as when he says: The Deliverer will come from Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For indeed he was greatly cut to the heart and vexed seeing them perishing. Therefore he devised many consolations for himself for this pain, at one time saying: The Deliverer will come, and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and at another: So they also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. 3.4 Jeremiah also does this, forcing and striving to find some defense for those who have sinned, now saying: Though our iniquities testify against us, act for your name’s sake, and again: That the way of man is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps; and elsewhere again: Remember that we are dust. For it is a custom for those who pray for sinners, even if they have nothing reasonable to say, to devise at least some shadow of a defense, not indeed precise ones, nor able to be drawn into dogmas, but nevertheless consoling those who are pained for the perishing. Therefore let us not examine such defenses with precision, but understanding that they are from a soul in pain, seeking to say something on behalf of sinners, let us so receive the things that have been said. 3.5 Was he, then, like this only towards the Jews, and not towards those outside? He was gentler than all, both towards his own and towards strangers. So then, hear what he says to Timothy: And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Do you wish to see how he also speaks to those who have sinned? Hear what he says, writing to the Corinthians: For I fear that when I come I may not find you as I wish; and after a little: Lest when I come again my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of those who have sinned before and have not repented of the licentiousness and impurity which they have practiced. And writing to the Galatians he said: My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. And on behalf of the one who had committed fornication, hear him, how no less than that one he both grieves and exhorts, saying: Reaffirm your love for him. And when he cut him off, he did this with many tears. For out of much affliction, he says, and anguish of heart I wrote

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ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ταῦτα ἐπαγόντων αὐτῷ τὴν νόσον στοχαζόμενος, πρὸς πλείονα κηδεμονίαν διανίστατο. 3.3 Ἄκουσον γοῦν αὐτοῦ πῶς ἡμέρως, πῶς συμπαθητικῶς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἡμῖν διαλέγεται, τῶν πεντάκις αὐτὸν μαστιγωσάντων, τῶν καταλευσάντων, τῶν δησάντων, τῶν τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ διψώντων, καὶ διασπάσασθαι καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπιθυμούντων αὐτὸν τὴν ἡμέραν. Μαρτυρῶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς, φησίν, ὅτι ζῆλον Θεοῦ ἔχουσιν, ἀλλ' οὐ κατ' ἐπίγνωσιν. Καὶ πάλιν τοὺς ἐπεμβαίνοντας αὐτοῖς ἀναχαιτίζων ἔλεγε· Μὴ ὑψηλοφρόνει, ἀλλὰ φοβοῦ· εἰ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τῶν κατὰ φύσιν κλάδων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, μήπως οὐδὲ σοῦ φείσηται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπόφασιν εἶδε δεσποτικὴν ἐξελθοῦσαν κατ' αὐτῶν, οὗ κύριος ἦν, τοῦτο ἐποίει· συνεχῶς ἐδάκρυεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ἤλγει, τοὺς ἐνάλλεσθαι βουλομένους αὐτοῖς ἐκώλυε, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐγχωρούντων ἐφιλονείκει σκιὰν γοῦν συγγνώμης αὐτοῖς εὑρεῖν. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ λόγῳ πείθειν οὐκ εἶχε διὰ τὸ ἀνένδοτον αὐτῶν καὶ σκληρόν, ἐπὶ συνεχεῖς εὐχὰς ἐτρέπετο λέγων· Ἀδελφοί, ἡ μὲν εὐδοκία μου καὶ ἡ δέησίς μου ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν. Ὑποτείνει δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ χρηστὰς ἐλπίδας λέγων· Ἀμεταμέλητα τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥστε μὴ ἀπογνῶναι τέλεον καὶ ἀπολέσθαι· ἅπερ ἅπαντα κηδομένου καὶ σφόδρα ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν διακαιομένου ἦν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ὅτι· Ἥξει ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ. Καὶ γὰρ σφόδρα διεκόπτετο καὶ ἐδάκνετο ἀπολλυμένους ὁρῶν. ∆ιὸ πολλὰς ἐπενόει παραμυθίας τῆς ἀλγηδόνος ταύτης ἑαυτῷ, ποτὲ μὲν λέγων· Ἥξει ὁ ῥυόμενος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ, ποτὲ δέ· Οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι ἠπείθησαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθῶσι. 3.4 Ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ Ἱερεμίας, βιαζόμενος καὶ φιλονεικῶν ἀπολογίαν τινὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων εὑρεῖν, νῦν μὲν λέγων· Εἰ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν ἀντέστησαν ἡμῖν, ποίησον ἕνεκεν σοῦ, νῦν δὲ πάλιν· Οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος πορεύσεται καὶ κατορθώσει τὴν πορείαν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν· Μνήσθητι ὅτι χοῦς ἐσμέν. Καὶ γὰρ ἔθος τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων δεομένοις, κἂν μηδὲν ἔχωσιν εὔλογον εἰπεῖν, σκιὰν γοῦν τινα ἀπολογίας ἐπινοεῖν, οὐ διηκριβωμένας μέν, οὐδὲ εἰς δόγματα ἑλκυσθῆναι δυναμένας, παραμυθουμένας δὲ ὅμως τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων ὀδυνωμένους. Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ἡμεῖς τὰς τοιαύτας ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσωμεν ἀπολογίας, ἀλλ' ἐννοοῦντες ὅτι ψυχῆς εἰσιν ὀδυνωμένης, ζητούσης εἰπεῖν τι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων, οὕτως ἐκδεχώμεθα τὰ εἰρημένα. 3.5 Ἆρ' οὖν πρὸς Ἰουδαίους μόνον τοιοῦτος, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἔξωθεν οὐχί; Πάντων ἡμερώτερος ἦν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους. Οὐκοῦν ἄκουσον τί Τιμοθέῳ φησί· ∆οῦλον δὲ Κυρίου οὐ δεῖ μάχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἤπιον εἶναι πρὸς πάντας, διδακτικόν, ἀνεξίκακον, ἐν πρᾳότητι παιδεύοντα τοὺς ἀντιδιατιθεμένους, μή ποτε δῷ αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς μετάνοιαν εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας, καὶ ἀνανήψωσιν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου παγίδος, ἐζωγρημένοι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ἐκείνου θέλημα. Θέλεις ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας πῶς διαλέγεται; Ἄκουσον τί Κορινθίοις ἐπιστέλλων φησί· Φοβοῦμαι δὲ μήπως ἐλθών, οὐχ οἵους θέλω, εὕρω ὑμᾶς· καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Μὴ πάλιν ἐλθόντα με ταπεινώσῃ ὁ Θεός μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων, καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ καὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν. Καὶ Γαλάταις δὲ γράφων ἔλεγε· Τεκνία μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω, ἄχρις οὗ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν. Καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεπορνευκότος ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ, πῶς οὐχ ἧττον ἐκείνου καὶ ὀδυνᾶται καὶ παρακαλεῖ λέγων· Κυρώσατε εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην. Καὶ ἡνίκα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξέκοπτε, μετὰ πολλῶν δακρύων τοῦτο ἐποίει. Ἐκ γὰρ πολλῆς θλίψεως, φησί, καὶ συνοχῆς καρδίας ἔγραψα