X

But Ioasaph was filled hereby with deep compunction, and was melted into tears; and he said to the elder, "Thou hast told me everything plainly, and hast completed unerringly your terrible and marvellous tale. With such truths set before us, what must we do to escape the punishments in store for sinners, and to gain the joy of the righteous?"

Barlaam answered: "It is written of Peter, who was also called chief of the Apostles, that once when he was preaching the people were pricked in their heart, like thyself to-day: and when they asked, 'What shall we do?', Peter said unto them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call.' Behold therefore upon you also has he poured forth the riches of his mercy, and has called you that wert afar off from him in heart, and didst serve others, not Gods, but pernicious devils and dumb and senseless wooden images. Wherefore before all things approach you him who has called you, and from him shalt you receive the true knowledge of things visible and invisible. But if, after your calling, you be loth or slack, you shalt be disherited by the just judgement of God, and by your rejection of him you shalt be rejected. For thus too spoke the same Apostle Peter to a certain disciple. But I believe that you hast heard the call, and that, when you hast heard it more plainly, you wilt take up your Cross, and follow that God and Master that calls you, calls you to himself from death unto life, and from darkness unto light. For, soothly, ignorance of God is darkness and death of the soul; and to serve idols, to the destruction of all nature, is to my thinking the extreme of all senselessness.

"But idolaters--to whom shall I compare them, and to what likeness shall I liken their silliness? Well, I will set before you an example which I heard from the lips of one most wise.

"'Idol worshippers,' said he, 'are like a fowler who caught a tiny bird, called nightingale. He took a knife, for to kill and eat her; but the nightingale, being given the power of articulate speech, said to the fowler, 'Man, what advantageth it you to slay me? for you shalt not be able by my means to fill your belly. Now free me of my fetters, and I will give you three precepts, by the keeping of which you shalt be greatly benefited all your life long.' He, astonied at her speech, promised that, if he heard anything new from her, he would quickly free her from her captivity. The nightingale turned towards our friend and said, 'Never try to attain to the unattainable: never regret the thing past and gone: and never believe the word that passes belief. Keep these three precepts, and may it be well with you.' The man, admiring the lucidity and sense of her words, freed the bird from her captivity, and sent her forth aloft. She, therefore, desirous to know whether the man had understood the force of her words, and whether he had gleaned any profit therefrom, said, as she flew aloft, 'Shame, sir, on your fecklessness! What a treasure that hast lost to-day! For I have inside me a pearl larger than an ostrich-egg.' When the fowler heard thereof, he was distraught with grief, regretting that the bird had escaped out of his hands. And he would fain have taken her again. 'Come hither,' said he, 'into my house: I will make you right welcome, and send you forth with honour.' But the nightingale said unto him, 'Now I know you to be a mighty fool. Though you didst receive my words readily and gladly, you hast gained no profit thereby. I bade you never regret the thing past and gone; and behold you are distraught with grief because I have escaped out of your hands there you regrettest a thing past and gone. I charged you not to try to attain to the unattainable, and you triest to catch me, though you canst not attain to my path. Besides which, I bade you never believe a word past belief, and behold you hast believed that I had inside me a pearl exceeding the measure of my size, and hadst not the sense to see that my whole body doth not attain to the bulk of ostrich eggs. How then could I contain such a pearl?"'

"Thus senseless, then, are also they that trust in idols: for these be their handiwork, and they worship that which their fingers made, saying, 'These be our creators.' How then deem they their creators those which have been formed and fashioned by themselves? Nay more, they safeguard their gods, lest they be stolen by thieves, and yet they call them guardians of their safety. And yet what folly not to know that they, which be unable to guard and aid themselves, can in no wise guard and save others! 'For' says he, 'why, on behalf of the living, should they seek unto the dead?' They expend wealth, for to raise statues and images to devils, and vainly boast that these give them good gifts, and crave to receive of their hands things which those idols never possessed, nor ever shall possess. Wherefore it is written, 'May they that make them be like unto them, and so be all such as put their trust in them, who,' he says, 'hire a goldsmith, and make them gods, and they fall down, yea, they worship them. They bear them upon the shoulders, and go forward. And if they set them in their place, they stand therein: they shall not remove. Yea, one shall cry unto them, yet call they not answer him, nor save him out of his trouble.' 'Wherefore be ye ashamed with everlasting shame, ye that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.' 'For they sacrificed,' he says, 'unto devils, and not to God; to gods whom their fathers knew not. There came new and fresh gods; because it is a froward generation, and there is no faith in them.'

"Wherefore out of this wicked and faithless generation the Lord calls you to him, saying, 'Come out from among them, and be you separate, and touch no unclean thing,' but 'save thyself from this untoward generation.' 'Arise you, and depart, for this is not your rest;' for that divided lordship, which your gods hold, is a thing of confusion and strife and has no real being whatsoever. But with us it is not so, neither have we many gods and lords, but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him, 'who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature' and of all ages, 'for in him were all things created that are in the heavens and that are upon the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.' 'All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made:' and one Holy Ghost, in whom are all things, 'the Lord and Giver of life,' God and making God, the good Spirit, the right Spirit, 'the Spirit the Comforter,' 'the Spirit of adoption.' Of these each person, severally, is God. As the Father is, so also is the Son, and as the Son, so also the Holy Ghost. And there is one God in three, one nature, one kingdom, one power, one glory, one substance, distinct in persons, and so only distinct. One is the Father, whose property it is not to have been begotten; one is the only-begotten Son, and his property it is to have been begotten; and one is the Holy Ghost, and his property it is that he proceedeth. Thus illuminated by that light, which is the Father, with that light, which is the Son, in that light, which is the Holy Ghost, we glorify one Godhead in three persons. And he is one very and only God, known in the Trinity: for of him and through him, and unto him are all things.

"By his grace also, I came to know your ease, and was sent to teach you the lessons that I have learned and observed from my youth even to these grey hairs. If then you shalt believe and be baptized, you shalt be saved; but if you believe not, you shalt be damned. All the things that you see to-day, wherein you gloriest,--pomp, luxury, riches, and all the deceitfulness of life,--quickly pass away; and they shall cast you hence whether you wilt or no. And your body will be imprisoned in a tiny grave, left in utter loneliness, and bereft of all company of kith and kin. And all the pleasant things of the world shall perish; and instead of the beauty and fragrance of to-day, you shalt be encompassed with horror and the stink of corruption. But your soul shall they hurl into the nether-regions of the earth, into the condemnation of Hades, until the final resurrection, when re-united to her body, she shall be cast forth from the presence of the Lord and be delivered to hell fire, which burneth everlastingly. These, and far worse haps than these, shall be your destiny, if you continue in unbelief.

"But and if you readily obey him that calls you to salvation, and if you run unto him with desire and joy, and be signed with his light, and follow him without turn, renouncing every thing, and cleaving only unto him, hear what manner of security and happiness shall be your. 'When you sittest down, you shall not be afraid of sudden fear. When you liest down, sweet shall be your sleep.' And you shalt not be afraid of terror coming or the assaults of evil spirits, but shalt go your way bold as any lion, and shalt live in bliss and everlasting joyaunce. For joy and praise shall crown your head, and gladness shall befall you there, where pain and sorrow and wailing shall flee away.' 'Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall rise speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your reward.' Then shalt you call, and the Lord shall answer; while you are yet speaking, he shall say, 'Here am I.' 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out your transgressions, and will not remember them. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare you your sins that you mayst be justified.' 'Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow: though they be red as crimson I will make them white as wool, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.'"

X

Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάσαφ, κατανύξεως πολλῆς ἐπὶ τούτοις πληρωθείς, σύνδακρυς ὅλος ἦν. καὶ φησὶ πρὸς τὸν γέροντα: Πάντα μοι σαφῶς ἐγνώρισας, καὶ ἀσφαλῶς διεξῆλθες τὴν φρικτὴν ταύτην καὶ θαυμαστὴν διήγησιν. τούτων οὖν προκειμένων ἡμῖν, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν, τοῦ ἐκφυγεῖν τὰς ἡτοιμασμένας τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς κολάσεις, καὶ ἀξιωθῆναι τῆς χαρᾶς τῶν δικαίων;

Καὶ ὁ Βαρλαὰμ ἀπεκρίνατο: Γέγραπται ὅτι διδάσκοντός ποτε τοῦ Πέτρου τὸν λαόν, ὃς καὶ κορυφαῖος ἐκλήθη τῶν ἀποστόλων, κατενύγησαν τῇ καρδίᾳ, καθάπερ καὶ σὺ σήμερον, καί, εἰπόντων αὐτῶν: Τί ποιήσομεν; ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη πρὸς αὐτούς: Μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ λήψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακρὰν ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν. ἰδοὺ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ σὲ ἐξέχεε τὸ πλούσιον ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσεκαλέσατό σε, τὸν μακρὰν αὐτοῦ τῇ γνώμῃ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ ἀλλοτρίοις λατρεύοντα οὐ θεοῖς, ἀλλὰ δαίμοσιν ὀλεθρίοις καὶ ξοάνοις κωφοῖς καὶ ἀναισθήτοις. διὸ καὶ πρὸ πάντων πρόσελθε τῷ κεκληκότι, παρ' οὗ λήψῃ τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τῶν ἀοράτων ἀψευδῆ τὴν γνῶσιν. εἰ δὲ μετὰ τὸ κληθῆναι οὐ θέλεις ἢ βραδύνεις, δικαίᾳ Θεοῦ κρίσει ἀπόκληρος ἔσῃ, τῷ μὴ θελῆσαι μὴ θεληθείς: οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος Πέτρος πρός τινα τῶν μαθητῶν λελάληκεν. ἐγὼ δὲ πιστεύω ὅτι καὶ ὑπήκουσας τῆς κλήσεως, καὶ ἔτι τρανότερον ὑπακούσας ἀρεῖς τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ ἀκολουθήσεις τῷ καλοῦντί σε Θεῷ καὶ Δεσπότῃ, ὃς προσκαλεῖταί σε ἀπὸ θανάτου εἰς ζωὴν καὶ ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς. τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄγνοια σκότος ἐστὶ καὶ θάνατος ψυχῆς, καὶ τὸ δουλεύειν εἰδώλοις ἐπ' ὀλέθρῳ τῆς φύσεως πάσης μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι ἀναισθησίας καὶ ἀφροσύνης ἐπέκεινα.

Οὓς τίνι ὁμοιώσω, καὶ ποταπήν σοι εἰκόνα τῆς τούτων ἀβελτηρίας παραστήσω; ἀλλά σοι παραθήσω ὑπόδειγμα παρά τινος ἀνδρὸς σοφωτάτου λεχθὲν πρός με.

Ἔλεγε γὰρ ὅτι Ὅμοιοί εἰσιν οἱ τῶν εἰδώλων προσκυνηταὶ ἀνθρώπῳ ἰξευτῇ, ὃς κατέσχεν ἓν τῶν σμικροτάτων στρουθίων: ἀηδόνα τοῦτο καλοῦσι. λαβὼν δὲ μάχαιραν τοῦ σφάξαι αὐτὸ καὶ φαγεῖν, ἐδόθη τῇ ἀηδόνι φωνὴ ἔναρθρος. καί φησι πρὸς τὸν ἰξευτήν: Τί σοι ὄφελος, ἄνθρωπε, τῆς ἐμῆς σφαγῆς; οὐ δυνήσῃ γὰρ δι' ἐμοῦ τὴν σὴν ἐμπλῆσαι γαστέρα. ἀλλ' εἴ με τῶν δεσμῶν ἐλευθερώσεις, δώσω σοι ἐντολὰς τρεῖς, ἃς φυλάττων μεγάλα παρ' ὅλην σου τὴν ζωὴν ὠφεληθήσῃ. ὁ δέ, θαμβηθεὶς τῇ ταύτης λαλιᾷ, ἐπηγγείλατο, εἰ καινόν τι παρ' αὐτῆς ἀκούσειε, θᾶττον ἐλευθερῶσαι τῆς κατοχῆς. ἐπιστραφεῖσα δὲ ἡ ἀηδὼν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ: Μηδέποτέ τινος τῶν ἀνεφίκτων ἐπιχειρήσῃς ἐφικέσθαι, καὶ μὴ μεταμελοῦ ἐπὶ πράγματι παρελθόντι, καὶ ἄπιστον ῥῆμα πώποτε μὴ πιστεύσῃς. ταύτας δὴ τὰς τρεῖς ἐντολὰς φύλαττε, καὶ εὖ σοι γένηται. ἀγάμενος δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὸ εὐσύνοπτον καὶ συνετὸν τῶν ῥημάτων, λύσας αὐτὴν τῶν δεσμῶν κατὰ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐξαπέστειλεν. ἡ οὖν ἀηδὼν θέλουσα μαθεῖν εἰ ἐπέγνω ὁ ἀνὴρ τῶν λεχθέντων αὐτῷ ῥημάτων τὴν δύναμιν καὶ εἰ ἐκαρπώσατό τινα ὠφέλειαν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ἱπταμένη ἐν τῷ ἀέρι: Φεῦ σου τῆς ἀβουλίας, ἄνθρωπε, ὁποῖον θησαυρὸν σήμερον ἀπώλεσας: ὑπάρχει γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου μαργαρίτης, ὑπερέχων τῷ μεγέθει στρουθοκαμήλου ὠόν. ὡς οὖν ἤκουσε ταῦτα ὁ ἰξευτής, συνεχύθη τῇ λύπῃ μεταμελόμενος ὅτι ἐξέφυγεν ἡ ἀηδὼν ἐκείνη τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ: καί, πειρώμενος αὖθις κατασχεῖν αὐτήν, εἶπε: Δεῦρο ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου, καί, φιλοφρονησάμενός σε καλῶς, ἐντίμως ἐξαποστελῶ. ἡ δὲ ἀηδὼν ἔφη αὐτῷ: Νῦν ἔγνων ἰσχυρῶς ἀνοηταίνειν σε: δεξάμενος γὰρ τὰ λεχθέντα σοι προθύμως καὶ ἡδέως ἀκούσας, οὐδεμίαν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν ἐπεκτήσω. εἶπόν σοι μὴ μεταμελεῖσθαι ἐπὶ πράγματι παρελθόντι: καὶ ἰδοὺ συνεχύθης τῇ λύπῃ ὅτι σου τὰς χεῖρας ἐξέφυγον, μεταμελόμενος ἐπὶ πράγματι παρελθόντι. ἐνετειλάμην σοι μὴ ἐπιχειρεῖν τῶν ἀνεφίκτων ἐφικέσθαι, καὶ πειρᾷ κατασχεῖν με, μὴ δυνάμενος τῆς ἐμῆς ἐφικέσθαι πορείας. πρὸς τούτοις δὲ καὶ ἄπιστον ῥῆμα μὴ πιστεύειν σοι διεστειλάμην: ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ ἐπίστευσας ὑπάρχειν ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου μαργαρίτην ὑπερβαίνοντα τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἡλικίας μου, καὶ οὐκ ἐφρόνησας συνιέναι ὅτι ὅλη ἐγὼ οὐκ ἐφικνοῦμαι τῷ μεγέθει τῶν τοῦ στρουθοκαμήλου ὠῶν, καὶ πῶς μαργαρίτην τοιοῦτον ἐχώρησα ἐν ἐμοί;

Οὕτως οὖν ἀνοηταίνουσι καὶ οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰδώλοις: εἰργάσαντο γὰρ ταῦτα ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν, καὶ προσκυνοῦσιν ἃ ἐποίησαν οἱ δάκτυλοι αὐτῶν, λέγοντες: Οὗτοι οἱ πλαστουργοὶ ἡμῶν. πῶς οὖν πλαστουργοὺς τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν δημιουργηθέντας καὶ διαπλασθέντας νομίζουσιν; ἀλλὰ καὶ τηροῦντες αὐτὰ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ, τοῦ μὴ ὑπὸ κλεπτῶν συληθῆναι, φύλακας ἀποκαλοῦνται τῆς σφῶν σωτηρίας: καὶ τοί γε πόσης ταῦτα ἀφροσύνης, καὶ τὸ μὴ γινώσκειν ὅτι, οὐκ ἐξαρκοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς φυλάσσειν καὶ βοηθεῖν, πῶς ἄλλοις γένοιντο φύλακες καὶ σωτῆρες; τί γάρ, φησίν, ἐκζητοῦσι περὶ τῶν ζώντων τοὺς νεκρούς; κατακενοῦσι χρήματα, στήλας τοῖς δαίμοσι καὶ ἀγάλματα ἐγεῖραι, καὶ φληναφοῦσιν ἀγαθῶν παρόχους αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχειν, αἰτοῦντες παρ' αὐτῶν λαβεῖν ἅπερ οὔτε πώποτε ἐκτήσαντο, οὔτε μὴν ἔτι κτήσονται. διὸ γέγραπται: Ὅμοιοι αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς: οἵτινες, φησί, μισθωσάμενοι χρυσοχόον, ἐποίησαν χειροποίητα, καὶ κύψαντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτοῖς. αἴρουσιν αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων καὶ πορεύονται: ἐὰν δὲ θῶσιν αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου, μενεῖ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ κινηθῇ. καὶ ὃς ἂν βοήσῃ πρὸς αὐτά, οὐ μὴ εἰσακούσῃ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ κακῶν οὐ μὴ σώσῃ αὐτόν. Διὸ αἰσχύνθητε αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον, οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τοῖς γλυπτοῖς, οἱ λέγοντες τοῖς χωνευτοῖς: Ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ θεοὶ ἡμῶν. Ἔθυσαν γάρ, φησί, δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ Θεῷ, θεοῖς οἷς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν: καινοὶ καὶ πρόσφατοι ἥκασιν, ὅτι γενεὰ ἐξεστραμμένη ἐστὶ καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πίστις ἐν αὐτοῖς.

Ἐκ ταύτης οὖν τῆς πονηρᾶς γενεᾶς καὶ ἀπίστου προσκαλεῖταί σε Κύριος, λέγων σοι: Ἔξελθε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητι, καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅψῃ, ἀλλὰ σώθητι ἐκ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης: ἀνάστηθι καὶ πορεύου, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι σοι αὕτη ἀνάπαυσις: ἡ γὰρ πολυαρχία τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν θεῶν καὶ ἄτακτον καὶ στασιῶδες καὶ παντελῶς ἀνύπαρκτον. ἡμῖν δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἐστίν, οὐδὲ πολλοὶ θεοὶ καὶ κύριοι: ἀλλ' εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεὶς εἰς αὐτόν: καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος ἁπάσης τῆς κτίσεως καὶ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε Θρόνοι, εἴτε Κυριότητες, εἴτε Ἀρχαί, εἴτε Ἐξουσίαι: Τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονε: καὶ ἓν Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, τὸν Κύριον καὶ ζωοποιόν, Θεὸν καὶ θεοποιοῦν, Πνεῦμα ἀγαθόν, Πνεῦμα εὐθές, Πνεῦμα παράκλητον, Πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας. τούτων Θεὸς μὲν ἕκαστον καθ' ἑαυτὸ θεωρούμενον: ὡς ὁ Πατὴρ καὶ ὁ Υἱός, ὡς ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, εἷς δὲ Θεὸς ἐν τρισί, μία φύσις, μία βασιλεία, μία δύναμις, μία δόξα, μία οὐσία, διαιρετὴ ταῖς ὑποστάσεσι καὶ μόνον. εἷς γὰρ ὁ Πατήρ, ᾧ καὶ ἴδιον ἡ ἀγεννησία: εἷς δὲ ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱός, καὶ ἴδιον αὐτῷ ἡ γέννησις: ἓν δὲ τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, καὶ ἴδιον αὐτῷ ἡ ἐκπόρευσις. οὕτω γὰρ ἡμεῖς, ἐκ φωτὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς φῶς περιλαμφθέντες τὸν Υἱὸν ἐν φωτὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, μίαν δοξάζομεν θεότητα ἐν τρισὶν ὑποστάσεσι: καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἀληθινὸς καὶ μόνος Θεός, ὁ ἐν Τριάδι γινωσκόμενος, ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα.

Τούτου τῇ χάριτι τὰ κατὰ σὲ γνοὺς κἀγὼ ἀπεστάλην διδάξαι σε ἃ μεμάθηκα καὶ τετήρηκα ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰς τήνδε τὴν πολιάν. εἰ οὖν πιστεύσεις καὶ βαπτισθῇς, σωθήσῃ: εἰ δὲ ἀπιστήσεις, κατακριθήσῃ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἃ σήμερον ὁρᾷς καὶ οἷς σεμνύνῃ, ἥ τε δόξα καὶ τρυφὴ καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος καὶ πᾶσα ἡ τοῦ βίου ἀπάτη, ὅσον οὔπω παρέρχεται, ἐκβαλοῦσι δέ σε καὶ μὴ βουλόμενον ἐντεῦθεν. καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα κατακλεισθήσεται σμικροτάτῳ μνήματι μονώτατον καταλειφθέν, πάσης τε ἀποστερηθὲν φίλων καὶ συγγενῶν ἑταιρείας: οἰχήσεται δὲ τὰ τερπνὰ τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ πολλὴ ἀηδία καὶ δυσώδης φθορά, ἀντὶ τῆς νυνὶ καλλονῆς καὶ εὐοσμίας, περιχυθήσεται: τὴν δὲ ψυχήν σου βαλοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς καταχθονίοις τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῇ καταδίκῃ τοῦ ᾅδου, ἕως τῆς τελευταίας ἀναστάσεως, ἡνίκα πάλιν ἀπολαβοῦσα ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ ἑαυτῆς σῶμα ἐκριφθήσεται ἐκ προσώπου Κυρίου, καὶ παραδοθήσεται πυρὶ γεέννης ἀτελεύτητα φλογιζούσης. ταῦτά σοι συμβήσεται καὶ πολλῷ τούτων χείρονα, εἰ ἐμμείνῃς τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ.

Εἰ δὲ προθύμως ὑπακούσεις τῷ καλοῦντί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν, καί, προσδραμὼν αὐτῷ πόθῳ καὶ χαρᾷ, τῷ φωτὶ αὐτοῦ σημειωθήσῃ, καὶ ἀμεταστρεπτὶ αὐτῷ ἀκολουθήσεις, πάντα μὲν ἀπαρνησάμενος, αὐτῷ μόνῳ κεκολλημένος, ὁποίας τεύξῃ ἀσφαλείας καὶ εὐφροσύνης ἄκουσον: Ἐὰν κάθῃ, ἄφοβος ἔσῃ: ἐὰν δὲ καθεύδῃς, ἡδέως ὑπνώσεις, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσῃ πτόησιν ἐπελθοῦσαν, οὐδὲ ὁρμὰς τῶν ἀσεβῶν δαιμόνων ἐπερχομένας: ἀλλὰ πορεύσῃ πεποιθὼς ὡς λέων, καὶ ζήσῃ μετ' εὐφροσύνης καὶ ἀγαλλιάματος αἰωνίου: ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς κεφαλῆς σου ἀγαλλίασις καὶ αἴνεσις, καὶ εὐφροσύνη καταλήψεταί σε: ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη, λύπη καὶ στεναγμός: τότε ῥαγήσεται πρώϊμον τὸ φῶς σου, καὶ τὰ ἰάματά σου ταχὺ ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ προπορεύσεται ἔμπροσθέν σου ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου, καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ Θεοῦ περιστελεῖ σε: τότε βοήσῃ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς εἰσακούσεταί σου: ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρεῖ: Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι: ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ ἐξαλείφων τὰς ἀνομίας σου καὶ οὐ μνησθῶ: σὺ δὲ μνήσθητι καὶ κριθῶμεν: λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σου, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς. καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ: ἐὰν δὲ ὦσιν ὡς κόκκινον, ὡς ἔριον λευκανῶ. τὸ γὰρ στόμα Κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα.