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Does he who did not give then have less than the one who gave alms? For do not say, I have no grace, the matter was not of my own will; without my knowing or wishing, the robber took it; what reward will there be for me? Without Job's knowing, or his wishing, he took these things; for how could he? but nevertheless he contended. It is possible for you also to receive as great a reward as if you had willingly cast them away. And reasonably we admire this man who bears insults thankfully, more than the one who gives willingly. Why so? Because the one is nourished by praises, and by his conscience, and has good hopes; and having first nobly borne the deprivation of his goods, then he cast them away; but this one, while still attached to them, was deprived by force. And it is not the same thing, having first been persuaded to part with one's goods, thus to empty them out, and to be deprived of them while still holding on to them. If you say these words, you will receive many 62.414 times more, and more than Job. For he received double here; but to you Christ promised a hundredfold. You did not blaspheme through the fear of God, you did not use soothsayers, you gave thanks when suffering ill? you are like the one who has shown contempt; for indeed these things do not happen, unless you first show contempt. And it is not the same thing to have practiced for a long time to have contempt for money, and to bear a sudden loss that has occurred. Thus the loss becomes a gain, and you will be harmed in nothing, but will even be benefited by the devil. 2. And how does a loss become severe? When you suffer loss in your soul. For tell me, did the thief deprive you of your money? why do you deprive yourself of salvation, why, while grieving over the evils you have suffered from others, do you surround yourself with more evils? He perhaps surrounded you with poverty, but you harm yourself most grievously in the most vital matters; he deprived you of the things that are outside you, and that would later leap away from you even against your will; but you take away the eternal riches from yourself. Did the devil grieve you by taking away your money? you too grieve him by giving thanks, and do not make him glad. If you go to soothsayers, you have made him glad; if you give thanks to God, you have given him a mortal blow. And see what happens; you will not find them by going to the soothsayers; for it is not for them to know; and if by chance they should speak and hit the mark, you also destroy your soul, and will be laughed at by your brothers, and again you will lose them badly. For the demon, knowing that you cannot bear loss, but for these things even deny your God, gives money again, that he may have an occasion to deceive you again. But if the soothsayers should speak, do not be amazed; the demon is bodiless, he goes about everywhere; he himself arms the robbers; for these things do not happen without a demon. If, therefore, he arms these men, he also knows where they are deposited; he is not ignorant of his own servants. And this is not surprising; if he sees you grieving at the loss, he brings on another; if he sees you laughing and despising it, he will depart from this way. For just as we treat our enemies with those things in which we grieve them; but if we see that they are not grieved, we then desist, as having no way to wound them; so also the devil. What do you say? do you not see those sailing on the sea, how they do not care for their possessions when a storm arises, but even cast overboard what they have? and no one says, What are you doing, man? you are cooperating with the storm and the shipwreck? before the wave takes your wealth from you, you do this with your own hands? why before the shipwreck do you surround yourself with shipwreck? But these things a boorish man might say, and one inexperienced in the trials at sea; the sailor, however, knowing precisely what works for a calm, and what makes a storm, will even laugh at the one who says these things; For for this reason I cast them away, he says, that a surge may not occur. So also the one experienced in the affairs of life and in temptations, when he sees the storm approaching, and the spiritual powers of wickedness wanting to work a shipwreck, and the

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μὴ ἔλαττον ἔχει τοῦ ἐλεημοσύνην δόντος ἐκεῖνος ὁ μὴ δοὺς τότε; Μὴ γὰρ εἴπῃς, Οὐκ ἔχω χάριν, οὐκ ἐμῆς γνώμης τὸ πρᾶγμα ἦν· οὐκ εἰδότος οὐδὲ βουλομένου, ὁ λῃστὴς ἔλαβε· ποῖος ἔσται μοι μισθός; Οὐδὲ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἰδότος, οὐδὲ βουλομένου, ταῦτα ἔλαβε· πῶς γάρ; ἀλλ' ὅμως ἤθλησεν. Ἔξεστι καὶ σοὶ τοσοῦτον λαβεῖν μισθὸν, ὅσον ἂν εἰ ἑκὼν ἔῤῥιψας αὐτά. Καὶ εἰκότως τοῦτον μᾶλλον θαυμάζομεν τὸν ἐπηρείας εὐχαρίστως φέροντα, ἢ τὸν ἑκόντα διδόντα. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι ἐκεῖνος μὲν τοῖς ἐπαίνοις τρέφεται, καὶ τῷ συνειδότι καὶ χρηστὰς ἔχει τὰς ἐλπίδας· καὶ πρότερον γενναίως ἐνεγκὼν τὴν στέρησιν τῶν χρημάτων, τότε αὐτὰ ἔῤῥιψεν· οὗτος δὲ ἔτι προσδεδεμένος ἀφῃρέθη βίᾳ. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ ἴσον, πρότερον πεισθέντα ἀποστῆναι χρημάτων, οὕτως αὐτὰ κενῶσαι, καὶ ἔτι αὐτῶν κρατοῦντα ἀποστερηθῆναι. Ἂν ταῦτα εἴπῃς τὰ ῥήματα, λήψῃ πολ 62.414 λαπλασίονα, καὶ πλείονα ἢ ὁ Ἰώβ. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ τὰ διπλασίονα ἐνταῦθα ἔλαβε· σοὶ δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς ἑκατονταπλασίονα ἐπηγγείλατο. Οὐκ ἐβλασφήμησας διὰ τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐχρήσω μάντεσιν, εὐχαρίστησας κακῶς παθών; ὅμοιος εἶ τῷ καταπεφρονηκότι· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα οὐ γίνεται, ἂν μὴ καταφρονήσῃς πρότερον. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ ἴσον ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ μελετῆσαι καταφρονῆσαι τῶν χρημάτων, καὶ ἀθρόον ζημίαν συμβᾶσαν ἐνεγκεῖν. Οὕτω γίνεται κέρδος ἡ ζημία, καὶ οὐδὲν βλαβήσῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὠφεληθήσῃ παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου. ʹ. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ζημία γίνεται χαλεπή; Ὅταν τὴν ψυχὴν ζημιωθῇς. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, ἀπεστέρησέ σε χρημάτων ὁ κλέπτης; διὰ τί σὺ σαυτὸν ἀποστερεῖς σωτηρίας, διὰ τί ἀλγῶν ἐφ' οἷς παρ' ἑτέρων κακῶς ἔπαθες, αὐτὸς πλείοσι περιβάλλεις σαυτὸν κακοῖς; Ἐκεῖνός σε ἴσως πενίᾳ περιέβαλε, σὺ δὲ σαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς καιρίοις μάλιστα καταβλάπτεις κακούργως· ἐκεῖνος ἀπεστέρησέ σε τὰ ἐκτός σου ὄντα, καὶ ὕστερον καὶ ἄκοντός σου ἀποπηδήσοντα· σὺ δὲ τὸν αἰώνιον πλοῦτον σαυτὸν ἀφαιρῇ. Ἐλύπησέ σε ὁ διάβολος ἀφελόμενος τὰ χρήματα; λύπησον αὐτὸν καὶ σὺ εὐχαριστήσας, καὶ μὴ εὐφράνῃς. Ἂν πρὸς μάντεις ἀπέλθῃς, εὔφρανας· ἂν εὐχαριστήσῃς τῷ Θεῷ, καιρίαν ἔδωκας αὐτῷ τὴν πληγήν. Καὶ ὅρα τί γίνεται· οὔτε αὐτὰ εὑρήσεις ἀπελθὼν πρὸς τοὺς μάντεις· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐκείνων εἰδέναι· εἰ δέ που καὶ εἶπον ἐπιτυχόντες, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν προσαπολλύεις, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν καταγελασθήσῃ τῶν σῶν, καὶ πάλιν αὐτὰ κακῶς ἀπολεῖς. Ὁ γὰρ δαίμων εἰδὼς ὅτι ζημίαν οὐ φέρεις, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τούτων καὶ τὸν Θεόν σου ἀρνῇ, πάλιν χρήματα δίδωσιν, ἵνα ἀφορμὴν σχῇ τοῦ πάλιν σε ἀπατῆσαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ λέγοιεν οἱ μάντεις, μὴ θαυμάζετε· ἀσώματός ἐστιν ὁ δαίμων, πανταχοῦ περίεισιν· αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς ὁπλίζει τοὺς λῃστάς· οὐ γὰρ ἄνευ δαίμονος ταῦτα γίνεται. Εἰ τοίνυν ὁπλίζει τούτους, καὶ οἶδε καὶ ποῦ κατατίθενται· οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ τοὺς αὐτοῦ ὑπηρέτας. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ θαυμαστὸν τοῦτο· ἂν ἴδῃ ἀλγοῦντά σε τῇ ζημίᾳ, καὶ ἑτέραν ἐπάγει· ἂν ἴδῃ καταγελῶντα καὶ καταφρονοῦντα, ἀποστήσεται ταύτης τῆς ὁδοῦ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐκεῖνα τοὺς ἐχθροὺς διατίθεμεν ἐν οἷς λυποῦμεν αὐτούς· ἂν δὲ ἴδωμεν ὅτι οὐκ ἀλγοῦσιν, ἀφιστάμεθα λοιπὸν, ὡς οὐκ ἔχοντες αὐτοὺς δακεῖν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ διάβολος. Τί λέγεις; οὐχ ὁρᾷς τοὺς ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ πλέοντας, πῶς οὐ φροντίζουσι χρημάτων, χειμῶνος γινομένου, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὄντα ῥίπτουσι; καὶ οὐδεὶς λέγει, Τί ποιεῖς, ἄνθρωπε; τῷ χειμῶνι συμπράττεις καὶ τῷ ναυαγίῳ; πρὶν ἤ σε τὸ κῦμα τὸν πλοῦτον ἀφέληται, σὺ ταῖς σαυτοῦ χερσὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖς; τί πρὸ τοῦ ναυαγίου ναυαγίῳ περιβάλλεις σαυτόν; Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἂν εἴποι ἄγροικος ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τῶν ἐν θαλάττῃ πειρασμῶν ἄπειρος· ὁ μέντοι ναυτικὸς, καὶ τί μὲν ἐργάζεται γαλήνην, τί δὲ ποιεῖ χειμῶνα ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενος, καὶ καταγελάσεται τοῦ ταῦτα λέγοντος· ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ῥίπτω, φησὶν, ἵνα μὴ κλυδὼν γένηται. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἔμπειρος τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ πραγμάτων καὶ τῶν πειρασμῶν, ὅταν ἴδῃ τὸν χειμῶνα ἐπιστάντα, καὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ναυάγιον ἐργάσασθαι βουλόμενα, καὶ τὰ