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It is good to hear the rebuke of a wise man more than for a man to hear the song of fools; 7, 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools; and this also is vanity. 7, 7 For oppression turns a wise man mad and destroys the vigor of his heart. When anger, striving for virtue, boxes with the demons, it is strong and praiseworthy; but when it contends with men over perishable things, it becomes blameworthy. Here, therefore, what he says is this: that the fool delights in evil and laughs and rejoices in it, neither refusing shameful songs nor laughter that corrupts his soul like a fire kindled among thorns; but the righteous man is angered at such passions and is indignant and considers mourning preferable to such gladness, and the rebuke of a wise man preferable to such songs; and he calls such a life vanity and oppression, which easily deceives the heart of a wise man and dissolves its vigor in virtues. 57 7, 8.1 The end of words is better than their beginning. Better, he says, is the doer of the law than the hearer of the law; for the first words of teaching are called words, but the last words are called words of deeds, since even the words are said to be good words on account of good deeds. 58 7, 9 Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. It should be noted that here he plainly calls the soul "bosom"; for no one would say that anger rests in the perceptible bosom. 59 7, 10 Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For you have not asked in wisdom concerning this. If "the fear of the Lord adds days," it is in our power to enjoy good or better days of holy knowledge. But to think that to the elders in age the primacy of knowledge is also given is not of wise men; for neither if something is ancient is it also worthy of honor, since evil is certainly also old, but it is not worthy to be honored on account of its age, if indeed "it is not the long-lived who are wise, nor the aged who understand judgment." 60 7, 11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and an advantage to those who see the sun; 7, 12 For wisdom is a shade as the shade of silver, and the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who has it. Just as those who see the sun have something more than those who have seen it, but see it no longer, so those who have obtained wisdom and possess it—for this is what "with an inheritance" means—have something more than those who received it and fell away from it through their own transgression. For everyone who has acquired wisdom and lost it, has first acquired a shadow of wisdom and not wisdom, and then he is like a man who has held a shadow of silver, but has not acquired silver; for wisdom is of such a nature that it gives life through knowledge to the one possessing it, not when it is received, but when it abides with him. 61 7, 15.2-3 There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who continues in his evil. Abandonment for the sake of testing is also called perishing, as in the case of Job; "For I have perished," he says, "and I have become an outcast." 62 "But as for me," says David, "my feet were almost gone; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the lawless, when I saw the peace of sinners." 63 7, 16 Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise, lest you be confounded. 7, 17 Do not be overly wicked, nor be hard, that you may not die before your time. 7, 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that do not withdraw your hand, for he who fears God will come forth from them all. Let not a wicked thought, he says, linger in your heart, lest your soul, having become wicked, die in ignorance. The Sodomites and the Gomorrhites died before their time. And if this time is a time for setting things right, those who die in this time and are separated from the life that said, "I am the life," do not die in their time. 64 It is good for you to hold fast to not being righteous

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ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἀκοῦσαι ἐπιτίμησιν σοφοῦ ὑπὲρ ἄνδρα ἀκούοντα ᾆσμα ἀφρόνων· 7, 6 ὅτι ὡς φωνὴ τῶν ἀκανθῶν ὑπὸ τὸν λέβητα, οὕτως ὁ γέλως ὁ τῶν ἀφρόνων· καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης. 7, 7 ὅτι ἡ συκοφαντία περιφέρει σοφὸν καὶ ἀπολλύει τὴν εὐτονίαν τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ Ὅταν μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀγωνιζόμενος ὁ θυμὸς πυκτεύῃ τοῖς δαίμοσιν, ἔστιν ἰσχυρὸς καὶ ἐπαινετός· ὅταν δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν φθαρτῶν πραγμάτων διαμάχηται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, γίνεται ψεκτός. Ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ὃ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἄφρων ἀγαθύνεται ἐν τῇ κακίᾳ καὶ γελᾷ καὶ εὐφραίνεται ἐπ' αὐτῇ, μήτε ᾄσματα αἰσχρὰ παραιτούμενος μήτε γέλωτας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ διαφθείροντας δίκην πυρὸς ἐν ἀκάνθαις ἀναπτομένου· ὁ δὲ δίκαιος καὶ θυμοῦται κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων παθῶν καὶ ἀγανακτεῖ καὶ προτιμότερον ἡγεῖται εἶναι πένθος μὲν τῆς τοιαύτης εὐφροσύνης, ἐπιτίμησιν δὲ σοφοῦ τῶν τοιούτων ᾀσμάτων· ματαιότητα δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην ζωὴν ὀνομάζει καὶ συκοφαντίαν, εὐκόλως ἀπατῶσαν καρδίαν σοφοῦ καὶ διαλύουσαν τὴν ἐν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς αὐτῆς εὐτονίαν. 57 7, 8.1 ἀγαθὴ ἐσχάτη λόγων ὑπὲρ ἀρχὴν αὐτῶν Κρείσσων, φησίν, ὁ ποιητὴς τοῦ νόμου ὑπὲρ τὸν ἀκροατὴν τοῦ νόμου· οἱ γὰρ πρῶτοι λόγοι τῆς διδασκαλίας λέγονται λόγοι, οἱ δὲ ἔσχατοι λόγοι καλοῦνται λόγοι τῶν ἔργων, εἴγε καὶ οἱ λόγοι διὰ τὰ καλὰ ἔργα καλοὶ λόγοι λέγονται εἶναι. 58 7, 9 μὴ σπεύσῃς ἐν πνεύματί σου τοῦ θυμοῦσθαι, ὅτι θυμὸς ἐν κόλπῳ ἀφρόνων ἀναπαύσεται Σημειωτέον ὅτι κόλπον ἄντικρυς ἐνταῦθα τὴν ψυχὴν ὀνομάζει· οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις εἴποι τὸ θυμὸν ἐν τῷ αἰσθητῷ ἀναπαύσασθαι κόλπῳ. 59 7, 10 μὴ εἴπῃς· τί ἐγένετο ὅτι αἱ ἡμέραι αἱ πρότερον ἦσαν ἀγαθαὶ ὑπὲρ ταύτας; ὅτι οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐπηρώτησας περὶ τούτου Εἰ «φόβος κυρίου προστίθησιν ἡμέρας», ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθῶν ἢ ἀγαθωτέρων ἀπολαύειν τῶν τῆς ἁγίας γνώσεως ἡμερῶν. Τὸ δὲ νομίζειν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις κατὰ τὸν χρόνον καὶ τὰ πρωτεῖα τῆς γνώσεως δίδοσθαι οὐ σοφῶν· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴ τι ἀρχαῖον, τοῦτο καὶ τιμῆς ἄξιον, ἐπειδὴ παλαιὰ μὲν πάντως καὶ ἡ κακία, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ καὶ τιμᾶσθαι διὰ τὸν χρόνον ἀξία, εἴπερ «οὐχ οἱ πολυχρόνιοί εἰσι σοφοὶ οὐδ' οἱ γέροντες οἴδασι κρίμα». 60 7, 11 ἀγαθὴ σοφία μετὰ κληροδοσίας, καὶ περισσεία τοῖς θεωροῦσιν τὸν ἥλιον· 7, 12 ὅτι ἐν σκιᾷ αὐτῆς ἡ σοφία ὡς σκιὰ τοῦ ἀργυρίου, καὶ περισσεία γνώσεως τῆς σοφίας ζωοποιήσει τὸν παρ' αὐτῆσ Ὥσπερ ἔχουσί τι περισσὸν οἱ θεωροῦντες τὸν ἥλιον τῶν τεθεωρηκότων μέν, μηκέτι δὲ θεωρούντων, οὕτω κέκτηνταί τι πλέον οἱ τυχόντες σοφίας καὶ ἐξουσιάσαντες αὐτῆς-τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ «μετὰ κληροδοσίας»-τῶν λαβόντων καὶ ἐκπεσόντων αὐτῆς δι' οἰκείας παρανομίας. Ὅτι πᾶς ὁ κτησάμενος σοφίαν καὶ ἀπολέσας αὐτὴν πρῶτον μὲν σκιὰν σοφίας καὶ οὐ σοφίαν ἐκτήσατο, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἔοικεν ἀνθρώπῳ σκιὰν ἀργυρίου κατεσχηκότι, ἀργύριον δὲ μὴ κτησαμένῳ· ἡ γὰρ σοφία πέφυκεν οὐ λαμβανομένη, ἀλλὰ συνοῦσα ζωοποιεῖν διὰ τῆς γνώσεως τὸν κεκτημένον αὐτήν. 61 7, 15.2-3 ἔστιν δίκαιος ἀπολλυόμενος ἐν δικαίῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔστιν ἀσεβὴς μένων ἐν κακίᾳ αὐτοῦ Ἀπώλεια λέγεται καὶ ἡ διὰ δοκιμὴν ἐγκατάλειψις, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰώβ· «ἀπωλόμην γάρ, φησί, καὶ ἔξοικος ἐγενόμην.» 62 «Ἐμοῦ δὲ παρὰ μικρόν, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ, ἐσαλεύθησαν οἱ πόδες, παρ' ὀλίγον ἐξεχύθη τὰ διαβήματά μου· ὅτι ἐζήλωσα ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀνόμοις εἰρήνην ἁμαρτωλῶν θεωρῶν.» 63 7, 16 μὴ γίνου δίκαιος πολὺ καὶ μὴ σοφίζου περισσά, μήποτε ἐκπλαγῇς. 7, 17 μὴ ἀσεβήσῃς πολὺ καὶ μὴ γίνου σκληρός, ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνῃς ἐν οὐ καιρῷ σου. 7, 18 ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἀντέχεσθαί σε ἐν τούτῳ, καί γε ἀπὸ τούτου μὴ μιάνῃς τὴν χεῖρά σου, ὅτι ὁ φοβούμενος τὸν θεὸν ἐξελεύσεται τὰ πάντα Μὴ ἐγχρονιζέτω, φησίν, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου λογισμὸς ἀσεβής, μήποτε ἀσεβήσασα ἡ ψυχή σου ἀποθάνῃ ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ. Ἐν οὐ καιρῷ αὐτῶν ἀπέθανον οἱ Σοδομῖται καὶ οἱ Γομορρῖται. Καὶ εἰ ὁ χρόνος οὗτος καιρός ἐστι κατορθώσεως, οἱ ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἀποθνῄσκοντες καὶ χωριζόμενοι τῆς ζωῆς τῆς εἰπούσης· «ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή», οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ ἀποθνῄσκουσιν. 64 Ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἀντέχεσθαί σε τοῦ μὴ δίκαιον