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I will hope in my bow, and my sword will not save me; and again; A horse is a false thing for safety; and unless the Lord builds the house and guards the city. A great and a small weight and diverse measures, both are an abomination (LXX unclean) before the Lord: I think what some call the 'bold-cowardly' is a great and a small weight; and in general I think every excess and defect is a great and a small weight; for both are vices. Diverse measures: The one who wishes to be treated well by another, but does not himself choose to give rest to others in the same way, has diverse measures, not obeying the commandment which says; All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them. The ear hears and the eye sees: It is not the eye that sees badly that is the work of the Lord, but the one that sees; and it is not the ear that hears badly that is the work of the Lord, but the one that hears. And the same must be said concerning the other members of the body; and you will use this saying against those who accuse this body of ours and insult the Creator. Open your eyes and be filled with bread: Through virtues we open the eyes of the soul, and through wisdom we are filled with intellectual bread. But how can a mortal man understand (LXX perceive) his own ways: He who is still mortal and has not died with Christ cannot understand the ways of the Lord.

It is a snare to a man to hastily consecrate something of his own: Repentance over good things happens not to the just but to the unjust; and let the unjust promise nothing to God rashly; for after vowing, repentance comes. And a false balance is not good in his sight: He calls a false balance the mind that is by nature able to judge things justly, but is inclined by the sway of free will. A wise king is a winnower of the wicked: To separate (living?) the chaff from the wheat. And he will bring a wheel upon them: Make them like a wheel. 103 The breath of men is the light of the Lord: If the light of the Lord is the knowledge of the Lord, and the light of the Lord is the breath of men, then the knowledge of the Lord is the breath of men. But he called the devil in ignorance, who seems to shine, a lamp, emptying the mind of good things and transforming himself into an angel of light. To do just things and to speak truth is more pleasing to the Lord than the blood of sacrifices: This saying casts out the sacrifice of irrational animals; for a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit. And his works are pure and right: If the works of God are pure and right, and the mind is one of his works, then the mind was created right and pure by the Lord. It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than in plastered [houses] with unpleasantness (LXX unrighteousness) and in a common house: He contrasted the open-air corner with the plastered and common house; and if the plastered and common house is vice, the open-air corner is virtue; therefore, an open-air corner is an action touching on contemplation and illuminated by the sun of righteousness. And Paul also rightly called the high priest of the Jews a plastered wall, who was to be struck by God; and the Savior in the Gospels called the Pharisees plastered tombs. And he also said well 'On a corner,' where the stone lies which was rejected by the builders and became the head of the corner; and he said 'common' what is not of the one God. A secret gift turns away wrath: A secret gift is that what the right hand does, the left hand does not know. A man who wanders from the way of righteousness will rest in the congregation of giants: The congregation of giants is vice and ignorance. It is better to dwell in a desert land than with a wrathful and quarrelsome woman: And David says; In a desert and pathless and waterless land, so have I appeared to you in the holy place. A desert land, therefore, is virtue, which does not have the old men dwelling in it, who are corrupted according to the deceitful lusts; wherefore the devil finds no rest in it, since indeed he passes through waterless places seeking

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τῷ τόξῳ μου ἐλπιῶ, καὶ ἡ ῥομφαία μου οὐ σώσει με· καὶ πάλιν· Ψευδὴς ἵππος εἰς σωτηρίαν· καὶ ἐὰν μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον καὶ φυλάξῃ πόλιν. Στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν καὶ μέτρα δισσά, βδελυκτὰ (LXX ἀκάθαρτα) ἐνώπιον κυρίου ἀμφότερα: Τὸν παρά τισι θρασύδειλον λεγόμενον στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν εἶναι νομίζω· καὶ καθόλου πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἔλλειψιν στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν εἶναι νομίζω· ἑκάτερα γὰρ κακίαι. Μέτρα δισσά: Ὁ εὖ μὲν πάσχειν ὑφ' ἑτέρου βουλόμενος, αὐτὸς δὲ ὁμοίως ἄλλους ἀναπαύειν μὴ προαιρούμενος, μέτρα ἔχει δισσά, μὴ πειθόμενος τὴν ἐντολὴν τὴν λέγουσαν· Πάντα ὅσα θέλετε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, πάντα καὶ ὑμεῖς ὁμοίως ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς. Οὖς ἀκούει καὶ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς ὁρᾷ: Οὐχ ὁ κακῶς ὁρῶν ὀφθαλμὸς ἔργον ἐστὶν τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλ' ὁ ὁρῶν· καὶ οὐ τὸ κακῶς ἀκοῦον οὖς ἔργον ἐστὶν τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀκοῦον. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ μελῶν τοῦ σώματος ὡσαύτως λεκτέον· χρήσῃ δὲ τῷ ῥητῷ τούτῳ πρὸς τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας ἡμῶν τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν ἐνυβρίζοντας. ∆ιάνοιξον δὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἐμπλήσθητι ἄρτων: ∆ιὰ μὲν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀνοίγομεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς, διὰ δὲ τῆς σοφίας νοητῶν πληρούμεθα ἄρτων. Θνητὸς δὲ πῶς ἂν ἐννοήσαι (LXX νοήσαι) τὰς ὁδοὺς ἑαυτοῦ: Οὐ δύναται νοῆσαι τὰς ὁδοὺς κυρίου ὁ ἔτι θνητὸς καὶ μὴ συναποθανὼν τῷ Χριστῷ.

Παγὶς ἀνδρὶ ταχύ τι τῶν ἰδίων ἁγιάσαι: Ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς μετάνοια οὐ δικαίοις συμβαίνει ἀλλὰ ἀδίκοις· ἄδικοι δὲ μηδὲν ἀπερισκέπτως ὑπισχνείσθωσαν τῷ θεῷ· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εὔξασθαι μετανοεῖν γίνεται. Καὶ ζυγὸς δόλιος οὐ καλὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ: Ζυγὸν δόλιον λέγει τὸν νοῦν πεφυκότα μὲν δικαίως κρίνειν τὰ πράγματα, παρακλίνοντα δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἀντεξουσίου ῥοπῇ. Λικμήτωρ ἀσεβῶν βασιλεὺς σοφός: Χωρίζειν (ζων?) τὰ ἄχυρα ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου. Καὶ ἐπιβαλεῖ αὐτοῖς τροχόν: Ποίησον αὐτοὺς ὡς τροχόν. 103 Φῶς κυρίου πνοὴ ἀνθρώπων: Εἰ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κυρίου ἡ γνῶσις τοῦ κυρίου ἐστίν, τὸ δὲ φῶς τοῦ κυρίου ἡ πνοὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν, ἡ ἄρα γνῶσις τοῦ κυρίου ἡ πνοὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν. τὸν δὲ ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ διάβολον φαίνειν δοκοῦντα λύχνον ὠνόμασεν, ἐκκενοῦντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ μετασχηματιζόμενον εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. Ποιεῖν δίκαια καὶ ἀληθεύειν ἀρεστὸν παρὰ κυρίου μᾶλλον ἢ θυσιῶν αἷμα: Ἐκβάλλει τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦτο τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων θυσίαν· θυσία γὰρ τῷ θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον. Ἁγνὰ δὲ καὶ ὀρθὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ: Εἰ ἁγνὰ καὶ ὀρθὰ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἓν δὲ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν καὶ ὁ νοῦς, ὀρθὸς ἄρα καὶ ἁγνὸς ἐκτίσθη παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ὁ νοῦς. Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐπὶ γωνίας ὑπαίθρου ἢ ἐν κεκονιαμένοις μετὰ ἀηδείας (LXX ἀδικίας) καὶ ἐν οἴκω κοινῷ: Τῷ οἴκῳ τῷ κεκονιαμένῳ καὶ κοινῷ τὴν ὕπαιθρον γωνίαν ἀντέθηκεν· εἰ δὲ ὁ οἶκος ὁ κεκονιαμένος καὶ κοινὸς ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἡ ὕπαιθρος γωνία ἡ ἀρετή ἐστιν· γωνία τοίνυν ὕπαιθρός ἐστιν πρᾶξις θεωρίας ἐφαπτομένη καὶ φωτιζομένη ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἡλίου. καλῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τὸν ἀρχιερέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων τοῖχον εἶπεν κεκονιαμένον, τυπτηθησόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις τοὺς Φαρισαίους τάφους εἶπεν κεκονιαμένους. εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ Ἐπὶ γωνίας εἶπεν, ἔνθα ὁ λίθος κεῖται ὁ ἀποδοκιμασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκοδόμων καὶ γενόμενος κεφαλὴ γωνίας· κοινὸν δὲ εἶπεν ὃ μὴ τοῦ ἑνός ἐστιν θεοῦ. ∆όσις λάθριος ἀνατρέπει ὀργάς: ∆όσις λάθριός ἐστιν, ἵν' ὃ ποιῇ ἡ δεξιὰ μὴ γινώσκῃ ἡ ἀριστερά. Ἀνὴρ πλανώμενος ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαιοσύνης ἐν συναγωγῇ γιγάντων ἀναπαύσεται: Ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν γιγάντων ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ἀγνωσία ἐστίν. Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ ἢ μετὰ γυναικὸς θυμώδους καὶ μαχίμης: Καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ φησίν· Ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἀβάτῳ καὶ ἀνύδρῳ, οὕτως ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὤφθην σοι. ἔρημος τοίνυν γῆ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρετὴ ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα τοὺς παλαιοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἰκοῦντας τοὺς φθειρομένους κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης· διὸ οὐδὲ εὑρίσκει ἐν αὐτῇ ἀνάπαυσιν ὁ διάβολος, εἴγε διέρχεται δι' ἀνύδρων τόπων ζητῶν