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wishing and being able to be meddlesome from the beginning and immediately and not even to await the end of what happens?

9.t Chap. 9. That one ought not to be meddlesome and that it is necessary to await the

ends of things

9.1 For indeed, one must not be meddlesome, neither from the beginning, nor after these things; but if you are so curious and meddlesome, await the end and see where these things lead, and do not make a disturbance, nor be troubled from the beginning. Since if some inexperienced person, seeing a goldsmith in the beginning melting the gold and mixing it with ash and chaff, should not await the end, he will think that the gold is lost. And if someone born and raised in the sea, then suddenly having moved inland and being entirely ignorant of the care of the land, 9.2 saw the grain that was stored up and guarded by doors and bolts and kept free from moisture, suddenly brought out by the farmer, scattered, thrown about and lying on the plowed field for all who pass by, and not only not kept free from moisture, but also delivered over to mud and mire and having no guard, would he not think the grain was being destroyed and condemn the farmer doing these things? 9.3 But the condemnation is not of the nature of the matter, but of the inexperience and folly of the one judging poorly, casting his vote immediately from the beginning. Since if he had awaited the summer and seen the corn fields flourishing and the sickle sharpened, and the grain that had been scattered and remained unguarded and had rotted and decayed and been delivered to the mud, this grain rising up and becoming many times more, 9.4 appearing more beautiful and having put aside its oldness and standing upright with much vigor and having, as it were, bodyguards and guards, and raising its stalk to a height and delighting the beholder and nourishing and providing much profit, then he would have been more greatly astonished, that through such things the crop was led to such abundance and brightness. 9.5 So you too, O man, first of all, do not pry into the common Master of us all; but if you are so contentious and bold as to rage with this madness, at least await the end of the things that are happening. For if the farmer awaits the whole winter, looking not at those things which the grain suffers at the time of the frost, but at those things which he is about to enjoy; much more would you also be right to await the end in the case of Him who farms the whole inhabited world and our souls; and I mean the end not only in the present life—for often this will also be here—but also in the one to come. For the economy of both these lives looks to one end, our salvation and good repute. For if it is divided by time, yet it is united in purpose; and just as now it is winter, and now spring, but each turn of the year looks to one thing, the ripeness of the fruits, so indeed it is also with our affairs. 9.6 Therefore, when you see the Church scattered, having suffered the worst, those who shine in her driven out, scourged, her leader carried very far away, do not consider these things alone, but also what will come from them, the wages, the rewards, the prizes, the trophies; "For he who endures to the end, he will be saved," he says. For in the Old [Covenant], since the doctrine of the resurrection was not yet known, both things happened in the present life; but in the New, this is not so everywhere, but there are times when the painful things are here, while the good things await our departure from here. 9.7 But nevertheless, even if in this life the good things resulted for them, and in the present life, and in this especially they would be admirable, the ones who

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βουλόμενον καὶ δυνάμενον περιεργάζεσθαι ἐκ προοιμίων καὶ εὐθέως καὶ μηδὲ τὸ τέλος ἀναμένειν τῶν γινομένων;

9.t Κεφ. θʹ. Ὅτι οὔτε περιεργάζεσθαι χρὴ καὶ ὅτι δεῖ ἀναμένειν τὰ

τέλη τῶν πραγμάτων

9.1 Μάλιστα μὲν γὰρ οὔτε ἐκ προοιμίων, οὔτε μετὰ ταῦτα πολυπραγμονεῖν δεῖ· εἰ δὲ οὕτω περίεργος εἶ καὶ πολυπράγμων, ἀνάμενε τὸ τέλος καὶ σκόπει ποῦ ταῦτα ἀπαντᾷ καὶ μὴ θορυβοῦ, μηδὲ ταράττου ἐκ προοιμίων. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν χρυσοχόον ἄπειρός τις ὁρῶν ἐν ἀρχῇ τήκοντα τὸν χρυσὸν καὶ τῇ τέφρᾳ ἀναμιγνύντα καὶ τοῖς ἀχύροις, εἰ μὴ τὸ τέλος ἀναμείνειεν, ἡγήσεται ἀπολωλέναι τὸ χρυσίον· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐν θαλάττῃ τις τεχθεὶς καὶ τραφείς, εἶτα ἀθρόον εἰς τὴν μεσόγειον μετοικισθεὶς καὶ καθ' ὅλου τῆς περὶ τὴν γῆν ἐπιμελείας ἀνήκοος ὤν, 9.2 εἶδεν τὸν σῖτον τὸν ἀποκείμενον καὶ φυλαττόμενον ὑπὸ θύραις καὶ μοχλοῖς καὶ νοτίδος ἀπηλλαγμένον, ἀθρόον ὑπὸ τοῦ γηπόνου ἐκφερόμενον, σκορπιζόμενον, ῥιπτούμενον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρούρας κείμενον τοῖς παριοῦσιν ἅπασι καὶ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀπηλλαγμένον νοτίδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πηλῷ καὶ τέλμασι παραδιδόμενον καὶ φύλακα οὐδένα ἔχοντα, οὐκ ἂν ἀπολέσθαι τὸν σῖτον νομίσειε καὶ κατέγνω τοῦ ταῦτα ποιοῦντος γηπόνου; 9.3 Ἀλλ' οὐ τῆς τοῦ πράγματος φύσεως ἡ κατάγνωσις, ἀλλὰ τῆς τοῦ μὴ καλῶς κρίναντος ἀπειρίας τε καὶ ἀνοίας, ἐκ προοιμίων εὐθέως τὴν ψῆφον φέροντος. Ἐπεὶ εἰ τὸ θέρος ἀνέμεινε καὶ εἶδε τὰ λήϊα κομῶντα καὶ τὴν δρεπάνην ἠκονημένην καὶ τὸν σκορπισθέντα καὶ ἀφύλακτον μείναντα σῖτον καὶ σαπέντα καὶ διαφαρέντα καὶ τῷ πηλῷ παραδοθέντα, τοῦτον ἐγειρόμενον καὶ πολυπλασίονα γινόμενον, 9.4 ὡραιότερόν τε φαινόμενον καὶ τὴν παλαιότητα ἀποθέμενον καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ὀρθούμενον τῆς σφοδρότητος καὶ δορυφόρους οἷον ἔχοντα καὶ φύλακας καὶ καλάμην πρὸς ὕψος ἐγείροντα καὶ τέρποντα τὸν θεατὴν καὶ τρέφοντα καὶ πολὺ παρέχοντα τὸ κέρδος, τότε ἂν ἐξεπλάγη μειζόνως, ὅτι διὰ τοιούτων ἐπὶ τοιαύτην ἤχθη εὐθηνίαν καὶ φαιδρότητα ὁ καρπός. 9.5 Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν, ἄνθρωπε, μάλιστα μὲν μὴ περιεργάζου τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων ἡμῶν ∆εσπότην· εἰ δὲ οὕτω φιλόνεικος εἶ καὶ τολμηρὸς ὡς μαίνεσθαι τὴν μανίαν ταύτην, κἂν τὸ τέλος ἀνάμεινον τῶν γινομένων. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ γηπόνος ὁλόκληρον ἀναμένει χειμῶνα, οὐ πρὸς ταῦτα ἅπερ ὁ σῖτος πάσχει βλέπων κατὰ τὴν ὥραν τοῦ κρυμοῦ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐκεῖνα ὧν ἀπολαύειν μέλλει· πολλῷ μᾶλλον καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ τὴν οἰκουμένην γεωργοῦντος πᾶσαν καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τὰς ἡμετέρας, δίκαιος ἂν εἴης ἀναμένειν τὸ τέλος· ἐγὼ δὲ τέλος οὐ τὸ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ μόνον λέγω-πολλάκις γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔσται-ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Πρὸς ἓν γὰρ βλέπει τέλος ἑκατέρων τῶν βίων τούτων ἡ οἰκονομία, τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν καὶ τὴν εὐδοκίμησιν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ διῄρηται, ἀλλὰ τῷ σκοπῷ συνῆπται· καὶ ὥσπερ νῦν μὲν χειμών, νῦν δὲ ἔαρ, ἑκατέρα δὲ τοῦ ἔτους ἡ ῥοπὴ πρὸς ἓν βλέπει, τῶν καρπῶν τὴν ἀκμήν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων πραγμάτων. 9.6 Ὅταν οὖν ἴδῃς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν σκορπισθεῖσαν, τὰ ἔσχατα παθοῦσαν, ἐλαυνομένους, μαστιζομένους τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ λάμποντας, τὸν πρόεδρον αὐτῆς πορρωτάτω ἀπενεχθέντα, μὴ ταῦτα σκόπει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐκ τούτων ἐκβησόμενα, τοὺς μισθοὺς, τὰς ἀμοιβάς, τὰ βραβεῖα, τὰ ἔπαθλα· «Ὁ γὰρ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὗτος σωθήσεται», φησίν. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Παλαιᾶς, ἐπειδὴ οὐδέπω γνώριμος ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγος ἦν, ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ ἀμφότερα ἐγίνετο· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Καινῆς οὐ πανταχοῦ τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὅπου τὰ μὲν λυπηρὰ ἐνταῦθα, τὰ δὲ χρηστὰ ἀναμένει τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῶν ἀποδημίαν. 9.7 Ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰ καὶ ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ τὰ χρηστὰ αὐτοῖς ἐξέβαινε καὶ ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ζωῇ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ μάλιστα θαυμαστοὶ ἂν εἶεν οἱ