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O empty labor and fruitless war! What shall we say when we meet our king? 15Ε_050 O king, why did you send me against immortal warriors? We strike, they do not fall; we wound, they are not afraid. A single man has despoiled the whole army; and in the midst Asmat[h]oeis stands with iron roots, Nor does he wish to fall; and soon he comes within the ships. Speak, helmsman, let us flee the threats of a corpse.

DISCOURSE V. Concerning Justice. 15Ε_052 Matthew 5. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Leviticus 19. You shall have just balances and just measures and a just chous. Isaiah 26. Learn justice, you who dwell on the earth. Proverbs 14. Justice exalts a nation, but sins diminish tribes. Proverbs 12. A pure man walking in the ways of justice is an honorable possession. The way of justice and mercy will find life and glory. Proverbs 27. He who digs a pit for his neighbor will fall into it; he who rolls

a stone, rolls it upon himself. Better is a little getting with justice, than many fruits with injustice. Sirach 40. The wealth of the unjust will dry up like a river, and like a great thunderclap

in the rain it will sound out. 752 Of Basil. He who does not have true justice pre-established in his

soul, but is corrupted by money, or shows favor to friendship, or defends himself out of enmity, or is swayed by power, cannot direct judgment.

Justice is a state of character that renders to each his due. But this is hard to attain, for some, because of a defect in their prudence, do not find how to distribute the equal to each; while others, because they are preoccupied by human passions, obscure what is just.

15Ε_054 Of the Theologian. We both believe and hear of a certain dregs of God's wrath: the remainder of the movement against the worthy, since God is the Lord of vengeances. For even if through love for mankind He inclines from the abrupt to the yielding, yet He does not grant everything to sinners, so that they may not become worse by His goodness.

Of Chrysostom. God does not demand justice from all here, lest you should despair of the resurrection, and lose hope of the judgment, with all giving an account here; nor does He allow all to depart unpunished, lest again you should think all things are without providence.

Of Nyssa. The just judgment of God is made like our own dispositions; and of whatever sort our actions are, such things He provides for us in return from like things.

Of Evagrius. An unjust judge, a defiled conscience. Of Cyril. Everyone who is wronged is consumed by grief; but being unable to defend himself or to come by equal means, sometimes because he is overcome by the hand of the wrongdoer, he calls upon the sting of the hatred of evil from above for aid.

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Ὤ κενεοῦ καμάτου καί ἀπρήκτου πολέμοιο! Ἡμετέρῳ βασιλεῖ τί λέξομεν ἀντιάσαντες; 15Ε_050 Ὦ βασιλεῦ, τί μ᾿ ἔπεμπες ἐπ᾿ ἀθανάτους πολεμιστάς; Βαλοῦμεν, οὐ πίπτουσι· τιτρώσκομεν, οὐ φοβέονται. Μοῦνος ἀνήρ σύλησεν ὅλον στρατόν· ἐν δ᾿ ἅρα μέσῳ Ἀσματόεις [Ἀσθματ.] ἕστηκε σιδηρείαις ὑπό ῥίζαις, Οὐδέ θέλει πεσέειν· τάχα δ᾿ ἔρχεται ἔνδοθι νηῶν. Λέγε, κυβερνῆτα, νέκυος προφύγωμεν ἀπειλάς.

ΛΟΓΟΣ Ε´. Περί δικαιοσύνης. 15Ε_052 Ματθ. ε´. Μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καί διψῶντες τήν

δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοί χορτασθήσονται. Λευϊτ. ιθ´. Ζυγά δίκαια καί μέτρα δίκαια καί χοῦς δίκαιος ἔστι ὑμῖν. Ἡσαΐ. κστ´. ∆ικαιοσύνην μάθετε, οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐπί τῆς γῆς. Παροιμ. ιδ´. ∆ικαιοσύνην ὑψοῖ ἔθνος, ἐλασσονοῦσι δέ φυλάς αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. Παροιμ. ιβ .´Κτῆμα τίμιον ἀνήρ καθαρός πορευόμενος ἐν ὁδοῖς δικαιοσύνης. Ὁδός δικαιοσύνης καί ἐλεημοσύνης εὑρήσει ζωήν καί δόξαν. Παροιμ. κζ΄. Ὀρύσσων βόθρον τῷ πλησίον, ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν· ὁ κυλίων

λίθον, ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτόν κυλίει. Κρεῖσσον ὀλίγη λῆψις μετά δικιοσύνης, ἤ πολλά γεννήματα μετά ἀδικίας. Σιράχ μ΄. Χρήματα ἀδίκων ὡς ποταμός ξηρανθήσεται, καί ὡς βροντή μεγάλη

ἐν ὑετῷ ἐξηχήσει. 752 Βασιλείου. Ὁ τήν ἀληθῆ δικαισύνην μή ἔχων προεναποκειμένην τῇ

ψυχῇ, ἀλλ᾿ ἤ χρήμασι διεφθαρμένος, ἤ φιλίᾳ χαριζόμενος, ἤ ἔχθρᾳ ἀμυνόμενος, ἤ δυναστείᾳ δυσωπούμενος, τό κρῖμα κατευθύνειν οὐ δύναται.

∆ικαιοσύνη ἐστίν ἕξις ἀπονεμητική τοῦ κατ᾿ ἀξίαν. ∆υσθήρατον δέ τοῦτο, τῶν μέν διά τό περί τήν φρόνησιν ἐλλιπές οὐχ εὑρισκόντων ἑκάστῳ διανεῖμαι τό ἴσον· τῶν δέ διά τό προκατέχεσθαι ὑπό παθῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀφανιζόντων τό δίκαιον.

15Ε_054 Θεολόγου. Θεοῦ μέν ὀργῆς τρυγίαν τινά καί πιστεύομεν, καί ἀκούομεν· τό λεῖμμα τῆς κατά τῶν ἀξίων κινήσεως, ἐπειδή Θεός ἐκδικήσεων Κύριος. Εἰ γάρ καί κλίνει διά φιλανθρωπίαν ἐκ τοῦ ἀποτόμου πρός τό ἐνδόσιμον, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ πᾶν συγχωρεῖ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν, ἵνα μή τῇ χρηστότητι χείρους γίνωνται.

Χρυσοστ. Οὕτε πάντας ἐνταῦθα ἀπαιτεῖ δίκην ὁ Θεός, ἵνα μή ἀπογνῷς τήν ἀνάστασιν, καί ἀπελπίσῃς τήν κρίσιν, πάντων ἐνταῦθα διδόντων λόγον· οὔτε πάντα ἀφίεται ἀτιμωρητί ἀπελθεῖν, ἵνα μή πάλιν ἀπρονότητα εἶναι πάντα νομίσῃς.

Τοῦ Νύσσης. Ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοκρισία, ταῖς ἡμετέραις διαθέσεσιν ἐξομοιοῦται· καί οἷά περ ἄν τά παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ᾗ, τοιαῦτα ἡμῖν ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀντιπαρέχεται.

Εὐαγρίου. Ἄδικος δικαστής, μεμολυσμένη συνείδησις. Κυρίλλου. Πᾶς ὁ ἀδικούμενος, καταφλέγεται μέν ὑπό λύπης· ἀμύνασθαι δέ

οὐκ ἔχων ἤ διά τῶν ἴσων ἐλθεῖν, ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε διά τό ἡττᾶσθαι τῆς τοῦ ἀδικοῦντος χειρός, τῆς ἄνωθεν μισοπονηρίας τό κέντρον καλεῖ πρός ἐπικουρίαν.