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suddenly 20unheralded? Not transforming himself in different ways at different times,20 did he become his own messenger and at the same time witness and commander, penetrating into the inner parts of men?

14.1 But such a figure has been considered unclear by the many; one must therefore go

to follow the tracks of the third book of Kings. Thus it appears how the prophet Micaiah is questioned by Ahab; but since he was compelled to speak the truth openly, he said that he had seen the Lord sitting on a throne, and then that the heavenly hosts stood around him on his right hand and on his left; 14.2 and along with the account of the vision he said that he had also heard a voice of this kind: "Who will deceive Ahab, that he may go up to Ramoth-gilead and fall there?", then he says (so that, leaving out what is in between, I may speak of the matter in question) "a spirit came forth and stood before the Lord and said: I will deceive him." 14.3 And when the Lord, replying, said, "In what way?" it answers again: "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." To this, then, the greater one has said: "You will deceive, and you will prevail; and now, behold," he says, "go out and do so." And the prophet, narrating these very things to the king, immediately adds: "God has given a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you." 14.4 Therefore, if it is necessary to understand this spirit, the cause of the falsehood, to be not good, but evil, it is consistent to suppose that this very thing is a diabolical instrument. And if this is properly shown to be the case, then he has heard beforehand how the wicked Ahab was to die going away to war; 14.5 for he himself saw fit to instill the lie instead of the truth, so that he might bring about the beginning of a war and destroy the unjust man shamefully. So also by these deeds it is shown that the devil has learned beforehand the evils that are brought upon the unjust, since he himself is the producer of all the most hateful things. 14.6 In the case of Saul, however, whatever he added of his own and joined to the pronouncements of Samuel, he not only lied plausibly, but also blasphemed impiously. From this somewhere the first slander is refuted: first, that in imitation, as the Lord said to the thief who acknowledged the power of his kingdom, saying, "Today you will be with me in paradise," this very same thing the deceiver also said to Saul when he had fulfilled his frenzied prophecies: "Tomorrow you and Jonathan your son will be with me." 14.7 Secondly, through these things he wants to show that the just man differs in no way from the unjust, contriving to cut off the zeal of the pious. But no one seems to be ignorant that there is no fellowship of a believer with an unbeliever, or again, how he who reveled in insatiable wealth was separated far from the life of Lazarus, although he had done nothing similar to that man. 14.8 But this man never gave anything to the one in poverty, nothing at all, neither of his superfluities nor of the crumbs thrown on the ground, nor did he harm the man with blows, nor having tormented him with scourges did he drive him further away to some land. 14.9 20But nevertheless, since both departed,20 having moved on from here, the one ended up in the bosom of the forefather Abraham, while the other was given to the sleepless flames of the fire. So, as he was being tormented in Hades and was burning, from afar he sees the forefather, and he beholds also "Lazarus in his bosom"; 14.10 And being set on fire by the flame, he earnestly asked Abraham to send the poor man to him; for he begged that Lazarus, having come, might dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool his tongue, having drawn a drop of moisture; so, being pained by fiery torments, the wretched man pleaded for such things with supplication. 14.11 But when the forefather, answering word for word, showed that each in his own part had received his due rewards for the sake of recompense, then, adding, he uttered: "And besides all this, between us and you a chasm," he says, "has been fixed, so that

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ἐξαίφνης 20ἀκήρυκτον; οὐ μεταμορφούμενος ἄλλοθι ἄλλως20 αὐτάγγελος ἅμα καὶ μάρτυς ἐγίγνετο καὶ πολέμαρχος, εἰς τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐνδόσθια παρεισδύς;

14.1 Ἀλλὰ ἀσαφὲς εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτο σχῆμα νενόμισται τοῖς πολλοῖς· ἰτέον οὖν

ἀκολούθως εἰς τὰ τῆς τρίτης τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἴχνη. φαίνεται τοίνυν ὅπως ὁ προφήτης ἐπερωτᾶται Μιχαίας ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀχαάβ· ἀλλ' ἐπειδήπερ ἠναγκάζετο τἀληθῆ λέγειν ἀπαρακαλύπτως, ἑορακέναι μὲν ἔφασκε τὸν κύριον ἐπὶ θρόνου καθήμενον, εἶτα καὶ στρατιὰς ἑστάναι περὶ αὐτὸν οὐρανίους ἔκ τε δεξιῶν ἅμα καὶ εὐωνύμων· 14.2 ὁμοῦ δὲ τῇ τῆς ὄψεως ἱστορίᾳ καὶ φωνῆς ἔφησεν ἀκηκοέναι τοιᾶσδέ τινος· «τίς ἀπατήσει τὸν Ἀχαὰβ καὶ ἀναβήσεται εἰς Ῥεμμὸδ Γαλαὰδ καὶ πεσεῖται ἐκεῖ;», τηνικαῦτα δέ φησιν (ἵνα τὰ ἐν μέσῳ παραλείψας ἐρῶ τὸ ζητούμενον) «ἐξῆλθε πνεῦμα καὶ ἔστη ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ εἶπεν· ἐγὼ ἀπατήσω αὐτόν». 14.3 ὡς δὲ ὁ κύριος ἀνθυπενέγκας ἔφρασεν «ἐν τίνι;» ἀνθυποφέρει πάλιν· «ἐξελεύσομαι καὶ ἔσομαι πνεῦμα ψευδὲς ἐν στόματι πάντων τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ». πρὸς ταῦτα μὲν οὖν εἴρηκεν ὁ κρείττων· «ἀπατήσεις, καί γε δυνήσῃ· καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ» φησὶν «ἔξελθε καὶ ποίησον οὕτως.» ὁ δὲ προφήτης αὐτὰ ταῦτα τῷ βασιλεῖ διηγούμενος εὐθέως ἐπιφέρει· «δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα ψευδὲς ἐν στόματι πάντων τῶν προφητῶν σου τούτων, καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος ἐπὶ σὲ κακά.» 14.4 τοιγαροῦν εἴπερ ἀνάγκη νοεῖν οὐκ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ πονηρὸν εἶναι τοῦτο τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ τῆς ψευδηγορίας αἴτιον, ἀκόλουθον ὑπολαμβάνειν αὐτὸ τοῦτο διαβολικὸν ὄργανον ὑπάρχειν. εἰ δὲ κυρίως ἀποδείκνυται τοῦτο εἶναι, προακήκοεν ἄρα πῶς ἤμελλεν ὁ μιαρὸς Ἀχαὰβ εἰς πόλεμον ἀπιὼν ἀποθνῄσκειν· 14.5 αὐτὸ γὰρ ἠξίωσε τὸ ψεῦδος ἀντὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐμβάλλειν, ἵνα πολέμου γένεσιν αὐτουργήσῃ καὶ διαφθείρῃ τὸν ἄδικον αἰσχίως. ὥστε καὶ διὰ τούτων ἀποδείκνυται τῶν ἔργων ὅτι τὰ κακὰ τοῖς ἀδίκοις ἐπιφερόμενα προμεμάθηκεν ὁ διάβολος, ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἐχθίστων ὁ δραματουργὸς αὐτός ἐστιν ἁπάντων. 14.6 Ἐπὶ μέντοι τοῦ Σαοὺλ ὅσα προσθεὶς ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ συνέζευξεν τοῖς τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ἀποφθέγμασιν, οὐ μόνον ἐψεύσατο πιθανῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐβλασφήμησεν ἀσεβῶς. ἐνθένδε ποθὲν ἡ πρώτη διελέγχεται δυσφημία· πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι κατὰ μίμησιν, ὡς ὁ κύριος ἔφη τῷ λῃστῇ τὸ κράτος ὁμολογήσαντι τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, «σήμερον ἔσῃ μετ' ἐμοῦ» λέγων «ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ», ταὐτὸν δὴ τοῦτο καὶ τῷ Σαοὺλ ἐκπληρώσαντι τὰς μανικὰς αὐτοῦ μαντείας ἔφησεν ὁ δολομήτης· «αὔριον ἔσῃ σὺ μετ' ἐμοῦ καὶ Ἰωνάθαν ὁ υἱός σου.» 14.7 δεύτερον δὲ βούλεται δεικνύναι διὰ τούτων ὅτι μηδὲν ὁ δίκαιος ἀδίκου διαφέρει, τὰς τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐκκόψαι προθυμίας ἐπιτεχνώμενος. οὐδεὶς δὲ ἔοικεν ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι μηδεμία συνυπάρχει κοινωνίας πιστῷ μετὰ ἀπίστου, ἢ αὖ πάλιν ὅπως ὁ πλούτῳ κατατρυφήσας ἀπλήστῳ πόρρω τῆς τοῦ Λαζάρου διαίτης ἀπεκρίθη, καίτοι μηδὲν ὅμοιον ἐκείνῳ δράσας. 14.8 ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν οὐδὲν πώποτε μετέδωκεν τῷ πενομένῳ, τὸ παράπαν οὐδέν, οὔτε περιττευμάτων οὔτε ψιχῶν εἰς τοὔδαφος ἐκριπτομένων, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐλυμήνατο τὸν ἄνδρα πληγαῖς, οὐ μάστιξιν αἰκισάμενος ἐδίωξε περαιτέρω που γῆς. 14.9 20ἀλλ' ὅμως, ἐπειδὴ μετήλλαξαν ἄμφω20 μετάραντες ἐντεῦθεν, ὁ μὲν εἰς κόλπους ἔληξε τοῦ προπάτορος Ἀβραάμ, ὁ δὲ ταῖς ἀκοιμήτοις ἐδόθη φλοξὶν τοῦ πυρός. ὡς οὖν ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ βασανιζόμενος ἐφλέγετο, πόρρωθεν μὲν ὁρᾷ τὸν προπάτορα, θεωρεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν «Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ»· 14.10 τῇ δὲ δὴ φλογὶ πυρούμενος, ἐκθύμως ἠξίου τὸν Ἀβραάμ, ὅπως ἐκπέμψῃ τὸν πένητα πρὸς αὐτόν· ἐδεῖτο γάρ, ἵν' ἀφικόμενος ὁ Λάζαρος τὸ μὲν ἄκρον ὕδατι βάψῃ τοῦ δακτύλου, καταψύξῃ δὲ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτοῦ, νοτίδος ἐπαφυσάμενος ἰκμάδα· πυροφόροις οὖν ἀλγυνόμενος ὀδύναις ἐπρέσβευε τοιαῦτα μεθ' ἱκετείας ὁ τάλας. 14.11 ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς ἔπος ἀποκρινάμενος ὁ προπάτωρ ἕκαστον ἐν ἑκάστῳ μέρει τὰς ἀξίας ἔφαινεν ἀμοιβὰς ἐπάθλου χάριν εἰληφέναι, τηνικαῦτα προσθεὶς ἐπεφθέγξατο· «καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις μεταξὺ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν χάσμα» φησὶν «ἐστήρικται μέγα, ὅπως