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to work once, not a second time nor a third, but for the whole of life. For just as our body, having been nourished once, does not have its substance for its whole life, but also needs daily food; so also here in piety, each day we need help from our works. For we have need of much mercy; for because of our sins the philanthropic God does all those things, needing none of them Himself, but doing everything for our sake. For on this account He told and related all things to us, and not only related them, but also confirms them by deeds. For He was trustworthy even from words alone; but lest anyone should think the words were an exaggeration, or a mere threat, He also adds the full assurance that comes from deeds. How? By bringing punishments both privately and publicly. And that you may learn through the events themselves, sometimes He punished Pharaoh, sometimes He brought on a flood of waters and that universal destruction, and sometimes one of fire. And now we see many of the wicked being punished, and paying the penalty; which are examples of Gehenna. 3. For that we might not sleep, nor be slothful, nor forget His words, through His works He reminds and rouses us, showing here criteria, courts, accountings. Then is there such care for justice among men, but with God who legislated these things, is there no account of them? and how could these things be believed? For both in the house and in the marketplace and everywhere one can see courts of justice. For in a house, the master judges the slaves each day, and demands an account from them for their offenses, and some he punishes, others he forgives. In the fields again, the farmer and his wife are judged each day; on ships the captain judges, in camps the general his soldiers; and one might find many courts of justice; in the crafts, the teacher the student. Both privately therefore and publicly all judge one another, and nowhere would one see the principle of justice neglected, but all giving account everywhere. Then while here the quest for justice is so scattered through the city and through houses, and for each individual, is there, where the right hand of God is full of righteousness, and His righteousness is like the mountains of God, is there no account of justice? And how does God the judge, both just and strong and long-suffering, bear it, and not demand punishments? Here you have the reason; He is long-suffering, it says, and He is long-suffering to lead you to repentance; but if you persist, According to your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath. If therefore He is just, He repays according to desert, and does not overlook unpunished those who suffer evil; for this belongs to a just one. If He is strong, He also repays after 62.617 death, and at the resurrection; for this belongs to a strong one. But if being long-suffering He bears with it, let us not be troubled, nor say, Why does He not proceed against them here? For if this happened, the human race would have been snatched away beforehand, if each day He demanded from us punishment for our offenses. For there is not, there is not a day clean of sins, but we offend either in a great or small matter. So that not one of us would have even reached his twentieth year, if His long-suffering and goodness were not great, providing us a long period for repentance, so as to put off our offenses. Let each one therefore, with a right conscience entering into what he has done, and bringing his whole life into the midst, consider whether he is not worthy of countless punishments and chastisements; and whenever he is indignant, asking why so-and-so, who does countless evil things, does not pay the penalty, let him consider his own things, and he will cease his indignation. For those things seem great, because they are done in great and manifest matters; but if he should examine his own things, perhaps he will find them more numerous. For to seize and to be covetous is the same, whether it be for gold, or

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ἅπαξ ἐργάζεσθαι οὐδὲ δεύτερον οὐδὲ τρίτον, ἀλλὰ δι' ὅλης τῆς ζωῆς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἡμέτερον οὐχ ἅπαξ τραφὲν ἔχει τῆς ὅλης ζωῆς τὴν ὑπόστασιν, ἀλλὰ δεῖται καὶ τῆς καθημερινῆς τροφῆς· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐπὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν δεόμεθα τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων βοηθείας. Πολλοῦ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐλέου χρεία· διὰ γὰρ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἡμῶν καὶ ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς ἐκεῖνα πάντα ποιεῖ, οὐδὲν μὲν αὐτῶν δεόμενος, πάντα δὲ ποιῶν δι' ἡμᾶς. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο πάντα ἡμῖν ἐξεῖπε καὶ διηγήσατο, καὶ οὐ διηγήσατο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἔργων πιστοῦται. Ἀξιόπιστος μὲν γὰρ ἦν καὶ ἀπὸ ῥημάτων μόνον· ἀλλ' ἵνα μή τις ὑπερβολῆς, μηδὲ ἀπειλῆς μόνης εἶναι νομίσῃ τὰ ῥήματα, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων πληροφορίαν προστίθησι. Πῶς; Καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ κοινῇ τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπάγων. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων, ποτὲ μὲν τὸν Φαραὼ ἐκόλασε, ποτὲ δὲ κατακλυσμὸν τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπήγαγε καὶ τὴν πανωλεθρίαν ἐκείνην, ποτὲ δὲ τὸν τοῦ πυρός. Καὶ νῦν δὲ ὁρῶμεν πολλοὺς κολαζομένους τῶν πονηρῶν, καὶ δίκην τιννύντας· ἅπερ ὑποδείγματα τῆς γεέννης ἐστίν. γʹ. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ καθεύδωμεν, μηδὲ ῥᾳθυμῶμεν, μηδὲ ἐπιλανθανώμεθα τῶν ῥημάτων, διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἡμᾶς ὑπομιμνήσκει καὶ διεγείρει, ἐνταῦθα δεικνὺς κριτήρια, δικαστήρια, εὐθύνας. Εἶτα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις μὲν τοσαύτη τοῦ δικαίου ἐπιμέλεια, παρὰ δὲ Θεῷ τῷ καὶ ταῦτα νομοθετήσαντι οὐδεὶς τούτων λόγος; καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔχοι ταῦτα πίστιν; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀγορᾷ καὶ πανταχοῦ δικαστήρια ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Ἐν οἰκίᾳ μὲν γὰρ ὁ δεσπότης δούλοις δικάζει καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων αὐτοὺς ἀπαιτεῖ εὐθύνας, καὶ τὰ μὲν κολάζει, τὰ δὲ ἀφίησιν. Ἐν ἀγροῖς πάλιν ὁ γεωργὸς καὶ ἡ γυνὴ δικάζεται καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν· ἐν πλοίοις ὁ κυβερνήτης δικάζει, ἐν στρατοπέδοις ὁ στρατηγὸς τοὺς στρατιώτας· καὶ πολλὰ ἄν τις εὕροι δικαστήρια· ἐν τέχναις ὁ διδάσκαλος τῷ μαθητῇ. Καὶ ἰδίᾳ τοίνυν καὶ κοινῇ πάντες ἀλλήλοις δικάζουσι, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ τοῦ δικαίου τὸν λόγον παραμελούμενον ἴδοι τις ἂν, ἀλλὰ πάντας εὐθύνας διδόντας πανταχοῦ. Εἶτα ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὕτω διέσπαρται καὶ κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κατὰ οἰκίας, καὶ καθ' ἕνα ἕκαστον ἡ τοῦ δικαίου ζήτησις, ἐκεῖ δὲ, ἔνθα δικαιοσύνης πλήρης ἡ δεξιὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ ὡς ὄρη Θεοῦ, ἐκεῖ οὐδεὶς τοῦ δικαίου λόγος; Καὶ πῶς ὁ Θεὸς ὁ κριτὴς καὶ δίκαιος καὶ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ μακρόθυμος ἀνέχεται, καὶ οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖ τὰς τιμωρίας; Ἐνταῦθα ἔχεις τὴν αἰτίαν· μακρόθυμος, φησὶν, ἐστὶ, μακροθυμεῖ δὲ εἰς μετάνοιάν σε ἕλκων· ἂν δὲ ἐπιμένῃς, Κατὰ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργήν. Εἰ δίκαιος τοίνυν ἐστὶ, τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἀποδίδωσι, καὶ οὐ περιορᾷ ἀτιμωρητὶ τοὺς πάσχοντας κακῶς· τοῦτο γὰρ δικαίου. Εἰ ἰσχυρὸς, καὶ μετὰ 62.617 θάνατον ἀποδίδωσι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει· τοῦτο γὰρ ἰσχυροῦ. Εἰ δὲ μακρόθυμος ὢν ἀνέχεται, μὴ θορυβηθῶμεν, μηδὲ λέγωμεν, ∆ιὰ τί ἐνταῦθα οὐκ ἐπεξέρχεται; Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐγίνετο, προανήρπαστο ἂν τὸ γένος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, εἰ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀπῄτει δίκας ἡμᾶς τῶν πεπλημμελημένων. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμέρα ἁμαρτημάτων καθαρὰ, ἀλλ' ἢ μέγα, ἢ μικρόν τι προσκρούομεν. Ὥστε οὐδ' ἂν ἐφθάσαμεν οὐδὲ εἰς εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἕκαστος ἐλθεῖν, εἰ μὴ πολλὴ αὐτοῦ ἦν ἡ μακροθυμία καὶ ἡ ἀγαθότης, πολλὴν ἡμῖν παρέχουσα τὴν προθεσμίαν τῆς μετανοίας, ὥστε ἀποδύσασθαι τὰ πεπλημμελημένα. Ἕκαστος τοίνυν μετὰ συνειδότος ὀρθοῦ εἰσιὼν εἰς τὰ πεπραγμένα αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸν βίον αὐτοῦ πάντα εἰς μέσον ἀγαγὼν, ἐπισκοπείτω, εἰ μὴ μυρίων τιμωριῶν ἄξιος καὶ κολάσεών ἐστι· καὶ ὅταν ἀγανακτῇ, διὰ τί μὴ ὁ δεῖνα μυρία πράττων φαῦλα, δίκην δίδωσιν, ἐννοείτω τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ παύσει τὴν ἀγανάκτησιν. Ἐκεῖνα γὰρ μεγάλα φαίνεται, ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ μεγάλοις γίνεται καὶ φανεροῖς· εἰ δὲ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἐξετάσειεν, ἴσως εὑρήσει πλείονα. Τὸ γὰρ ἁρπάζειν καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν ὅμοιόν ἐστιν, ἄν τε ἐπὶ χρυσίου, ἄν