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I heard your voice as you were walking in paradise, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid. Do you see the shame of sin? do you see the disgrace of transgression? do you see the tribunal that has arisen within Adam, and accuses his alienation from God? And God said: Who told you that you are naked, unless from the tree, of which I commanded you, of this alone not to eat, from it you have eaten? Have you left me, the one who formed you, and gone over to the enemy? have you forsaken me, the one who created you, and consented to the deceiver? I commanded you of this alone not to eat, and you have become a counselor to the devil? Adam said: The woman, whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. O excuse that has no reason! O defense that does not benefit the one speaking! O bitter word, that does not save the one saying it! I have given the woman to you as a helper, not as one having authority; an advocate, not a mistress; of one mind, not a teacher; a yokefellow, not a ruler; subject to you, not superior; bending with you, not overpowering you. Wherefore, since you listened to the enemy, and disobeyed me, receive the complete punishment, which long ages will not shake, which no one will transgress its bounds, which one bearing a body and coming into the world, will not cross this sea. See, Adam, Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and ate from the tree, of which I commanded you, of this alone not to eat from it, cursed is the ground in your works; in sorrows you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return. O this curse, which made the visible and the invisible tremble! O the word, which infinite ages have not shaken! O the punishment, which the long-enduring world has not made old! O the saying, which kings and rulers, rich and poor shudder at and fear! And the Lord cast out Adam and his wife from the paradise of delight, to work the ground from which he was taken; and the Lord commanded the Cherubim and the flaming sword to guard the paradise of Eden, and to keep the entrance impassable, so that no one of those wearing flesh and clothed in the thickness of the body might pass through this gate. But the master's word became an eternal deed, and this sentence brought death into the world; and kings fear this voice, and rulers tremble at this word, the rich are subject to this sentence, and the poor await this as a debt, and all mortals as partakers of nature await death. For what did Adam do, sitting outside of paradise? He was digging, working with weeping, with groaning, drenched in sweat, bearing burdens, not enduring the heat of the sun, frozen by the frost of the night, and he did not cease weeping, considering what delight he was deprived of, he used groans from the depths of his breast, his mouth poured out words of pain; and opening his eyes towards Eden, and shaking his head from side to side, he lamented mournfully, and in inconsolable weeping he cried out with a great voice! O from how many of your goods have I been alienated, all-blessed paradise! O with how much gladness my soul was filled when contemplating your beauty! O how much exultation I enjoyed sitting within you. How I was gladdened by the scent of your flowers! How the table without toil was set before me! How the ever-living mixing bowl gushed forth for me! How the life of the angels sweetened my spirit! How the most brilliant light shone around my eyes. All creatures offered me honor as to a king! To all the beasts I was established as fearful; to all the

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φωνῆς σου ἤκουσα περιπατοῦντος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, καὶ ἐφοβήθην, ὅτι γυμνός εἰμι, καὶ ἐκρύβην. Ὁρᾷς τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ἐντροπήν; ὁρᾷς τῆς παραβάσεως τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην; ὁρᾷς τὸ δικαστήριον τὸ ἔνδοθεν γεγενημένον τῷ Ἀδὰμ, καὶ κατηγοροῦν τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλλοτρίωσιν; Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Τίς ἀνήγγειλέ σοι, ὅτι γυμνὸς εἶ, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι, τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες; Ἀφῆκας ἐμὲ τὸν πλάσαντα, καὶ τῷ ἐχθρῷ προσῆλθες; εἴασας ἐμὲ τὸν δημιουργήσαντα, καὶ τῷ πλάνῳ συγκατέθου; Ἐγώ σοι ἐνετειλάμην τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν, καὶ σὺ τῷ διαβόλῳ σύμβουλος γέγονας; Εἶπεν ὁ Ἀδάμ· Ἡ γυνὴ, ἣν ἔδωκας μετ' ἐμοῦ, αὕτημοι ἔδωκεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, καὶ ἔφαγον. Ὢ πρόφασις εὔλογον μὴ ἔχουσα! ὢ ἀπολογία μὴ ὠφελοῦσα τὸν λαλοῦντα! ὢ λέξις πικρὰ, μὴ διασώζουσα τὸν λέγοντα! Τὴν γυναῖκά σοι δέδωκα βοηθὸν, οὐκ αὐθεντοῦσαν· συνήγορον, οὐ δέσποιναν· ὁμογνώμονα, οὐ διδάκτριαν· σύζυγον, οὐκ ἄρχουσαν· ὑποχείριον, οὐχ ὑψηλοτέραν· συγκύπτουσάν σοι, οὐ κατακρατοῦσάν σου. Ὅθεν ὡς τῷ ἐχθρῷ ἀκροασάμενος, κἀμοῦ παρακούσας, δέχου τελείαν τὴν ἐπιτίμησιν, ἣν οὐ παρασαλεύσουσι μακροὶ αἰῶνες, ἣν οὐδεὶς ὑπερβήσεται τούτου τοῖς ὅροις, ἣν ὁ σῶμα φορῶν καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, οὐ περάσει τοῦτο τὸ πέλαγος. Ὅρα, Ἀδὰμ, Ὅτι ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς τῆςγυναικός σου, καὶ ἔφαγες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι, τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γῆ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου· ἐν λύπαις φάγῃ αὐτὴν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου. Ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι, καὶ φάγῃ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου φάγῃ τὸν ἄρτον σου, ἕως τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι σε εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθης· ὅτι γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ. Ὢ τῆς κατάρας ταύτης, ἥτις τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα τρέμειν ἐποίησεν! ὢ τῆς λέξεως, ἣν οἱ ἄπειροι αἰῶνες οὐ παρεσάλευσαν! ὢ τῆς ἐπιτιμήσεως, δι' ἧς ὁ πολυχρόνιος κόσμος αὐτὴν οὐκ ἐπαλαίωσεν! ὢ τοῦ ῥήματος, ὃ βασιλεῖς καὶ ἄρχοντες, πλούσιοι καὶ πένητες φρίττουσι καὶ δεδοίκασι! Καὶ ἐξέβαλε Κύριος τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς, ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη· καὶ προσέταξε Κύριος τὰ Χερουβὶμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν φυλάσσειν τὸν Ἐδὲμ παράδεισον, καὶ ἀδιάβατον τηρεῖν τὴν εἴσοδον, ἵνα μή τις τῶν σάρκα φορούντων καὶ τὴν παχύτητα τοῦ σώματος περικειμένων διέλθῃ ταύτης τὴν πύλην. Τὸ δὲ δεσποτικὸν ῥῆμα ἔργον γέγονε αἰώνιον, καὶ ἡ ἀπόφασις αὕτη θάνατον εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσήγαγε· καὶ βασιλεῖς ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν δεδοίκασι, καὶ ἄρχοντες τρέμουσι τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο, πλούσιοι εἰς τὴν ἀπόφασιν ταύτην ἔγκεινται, καὶ πτωχοὶ ὡς χρέος τοῦτο ἐκδέχονται, καὶ πάντες βροτοὶ ὡς τῆς φύσεως μέτοχοι τὸν θάνατον ἀναμένουσι. Τί γὰρ ἔπραττεν ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἔξω τοῦ παραδείσου καθήμενος; Ἦν σκάπτων, μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ ἐργαζόμενος, μετὰ στεναγμοῦ, ἱδρῶτι περιῤῥεόμενος, ἀχθοφορῶν, τοῦ ἡλίου τὸν καύσωνα μὴ φέρων, πηγνύμενος τῷ τῆς νυκτὸς παγετῷ, καὶ κλαίων οὐκ ἐπαύετο ἐννοῶν οἵας τρυφῆς ἐστερήθη, στεναγμοῖς ἐκέχρητο ἐκ κατωτάτου στήθους, λόγους ὀδυνηροὺς ἐξηρεύγετο τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ· καὶ πρὸς τὴν Ἐδὲμ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀναπετάζων, τὴν κάραν τε κινῶν ἔνθεν κἀκεῖθεν, γοερῶς ἀπωδύρετο, καὶ ἐν κλαυθμῷ ἀπαραμυθήτῳ ἐκραύγαζε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ! ὢ πόσων ἀγαθῶν τῶν σῶν ἠλλοτρίωμαι, πανόλβιε παράδεισε! ὢ πόσης εὐφροσύνης ἐνεπίμπλατό μου ἡ ψυχὴ θεωροῦντος τὸ σὸν κάλλος! ὢ πόσης ἀγαλλιάσεως ἀπήλαυον ἔνδοθέν σου καθήμενος. Πῶς εὐφραινόμην ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς τῶν ἀνθέων σου! πῶς προέκειτό μοι ἡ ἄμοχθος τράπεζα! πῶς ἀνέβλυζέ μοι ὁ κρατὴρ ὁ ἀείζωος! πῶς ἐνήδυνέ μου τὸ πνεῦμα ἡ τῶν ἀγγέλων πολιτεία! πῶς περιέλαμπέ μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τὸ φῶς τὸ ὑπέρλαμπρον. Πάντα τὰ ποιήματα ὡς βασιλεῖ τὴν τιμήν μοι προσέφερον! Πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις φοβερὸς καθιστάμην· πᾶσι τοῖς