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while the sun adores, you yourself are asleep, and you yield precedence to creation, and you do not anticipate all the creation which came into being for your sake, nor do you give thanks to him, but rising up you wash your face and hands, but you neglect your soul as unclean? Do you not know that just as the body is cleansed by water, so the soul is purified by prayer? Wash your soul, therefore, before your body. Many filthy discharges of wickedness assail it; let us put these away through supplication. For if we thus fortify our mouth, we will lay a good foundation for our daily conduct. In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see. I will stand before you, he says, not in a place, but with deeds. For such a person can draw near to God. For 'near' and 'far' come from this; for God is everywhere. I will stand before you, and I will see, that you are not a God who wills iniquity. Another interpreter says: And I will consider that you are not a God who wills iniquity. Nor shall the evildoer dwell with you. Here he alludes to idols; that they delighted in these, and in all lawlessness, and in the other deeds done in wickedness. Nor shall the evildoer dwell with you. He will not be your friend, he says, he will not be near you. Nor shall the transgressors stand before your eyes. Here he shows God's hatred of evil, teaching those who draw near to him to make themselves such, since it is not possible to draw near otherwise. For if one could not draw near to a good man, being distant from him in ways, much more so with this one. For that the wicked can draw near to virtuous men, hear what they say about the righteous man: He is grievous for us even to look upon. So also John, dwelling in the prison and not being seen, grieved Herodias; and yet the little woman was so far removed from him; but after his death, he then shook the conscience even of that tyrant. Let no one, therefore, of those living in virtue think he suffers anything terrible, even if he is plotted against by the wicked. For those who suffer evil are those who do it. You have hated all who work iniquity, you will destroy all who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors the man of blood and deceit. These things are said, not that we may only hear, but that we may also be instructed by hearing them continually, and be conformed to the way of the bridegroom, and draw near to him. If these things are not so, we are deprived of help from above, than which nothing could be worse. 4. You have hated all who work iniquity; whether he is a slave, he says, or a free man, or a king, or anyone at all. For God is accustomed to approve friends not from their dignities, but from their virtue. But since many of the more dull-witted consider hatred to be nothing, hear how he also introduced the fear of punishment, saying: You will destroy all who speak falsehood; shifting the discourse to the more crass of sins. For the matters of punishment will not stop at hatred, although this too is an unspeakable punishment; but he will also destroy all who speak falsehood. And yet the former is also grievous, and worse than Gehenna, to be hated by God; but for those able to understand he set forth that; and for the more dull-witted he added this too. Do not be disturbed, then, O man, nor be troubled, whenever you see some lying, seizing, being covetous, and suffering nothing terrible; for this will surely come to pass. For such is the nature of God; he turns away from wickedness, and he always hates and detests it. But by 'those who speak falsehood' he here means those who live in wickedness, those who pursue false things, those who are frantic about pleasures, about gluttony, about greed. For he is accustomed to call all these things falsehoods. The Lord abhors the man of blood and deceit. Here he means the murderous man, the plotter, the

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ἡλίου προσκυνοῦντος καθεύδεις αὐτὸς, καὶ ἀναχωρεῖς τῇ κτίσει τῆς προεδρίας, καὶ οὐ φθάνεις ἅπασαν τὴν κτίσιν τὴν διὰ σὲ γενομένην, οὐδὲ ἀποδίδως αὐτῷ τὰ εὐχαριστήρια, ἀλλ' ἀνιστάμενος καὶ ὄψιν περικλύζεις καὶ χεῖρας, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν περιορᾷς ἀκάθαρτον; Οὐκ οἶσθα, ὅτι καθάπερ ὕδατι σῶμα, οὕτω δι' εὐχῆς ἡ ψυχὴ καθαίρεται; Νίψον τοίνυν πρὸ τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχήν. Πολλαὶ λῆμαι προσίστανται αὐτῇ κακίας· ταύτας ἀποθώμεθα διὰ τῆς δεήσεως. Ἂν γὰρ οὕτω τὸ στόμα τειχίσωμεν, καλὸν θεμέλιον τῆς καθημερινῆς πράξεως καταβαλοῦμεν. Τὸ πρωῒ παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψομαι. Παραστήσομαί σοι, οὐ τόπῳ, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἔργοις. Ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἐγγὺς γενέσθαι δύναται τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τὸ γὰρ ἐγγὺς καὶ τὸ μακρὰν ἐντεῦθεν συμβαίνει· ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς πανταχοῦ ἐστι. Παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψομαι, ὅτι οὐχὶ Θεὸς θέλων ἀνομίαν σὺ εἶ. Ἕτερος ἑρμηνευτής φησι· Καὶ σκοπήσω, ὅτι οὐχὶ Θεὸς θέλων ἀνομίαν σὺ εἶ. Οὐδὲ παροικήσει σοι πονηρευόμενος. Ἐνταῦθα τὰ εἴδωλα αἰνίττεται· ὅτι τούτοις ἔχαιρον, καὶ παρανομίᾳ πάσῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ἐν πονηρίᾳ πράγμασιν. Οὐδὲ παροικήσει σοι πονηρευόμενος. Οὐκ ἔσται σοι, φησὶ, φίλος, οὐκ ἔσται σοι πλησίον. Οὐδὲ διαμενοῦσι παράνομοι κατέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου. Τὸ μισοπόνηρον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσι, διδάσκων τοὺς ἐγγὺς αὐτοῦ γινομένους τοιούτους ἑαυτοὺς κατασκευάζειν, ὡς οὐκ ἐνὸν ἄλλως γενέσθαι ἐγγύς. Εἰ γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ χρηστῷ οὐκ ἄν τις δύναιτο γενέσθαι πλησίον, τοῖς τρόποις διεστηκὼς αὐτοῦ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τούτῳ. Ὅτι γὰρ δύνανται ἐναρέτων ἀνδρῶν ἐγγὺς γενέσθαι οἱ πονηροὶ, ἄκουσον τί φασι περὶ τοῦ δικαίου· Βαρύς ἐστιν ἡμῖν καὶ βλεπόμενος. Οὕτω καὶ Ἰωάννης τὸ δεσμωτήριον οἰκῶν καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενος ἐλύπει τὴν Ἡρωδιάδα· καίτοι τοσοῦτον αὐτοῦ ἀφειστήκει τὸ γύναιον· μετὰ δὲ τὴν τελευτὴν, καὶ τοῦ τυράννου τότε ἐκείνου τὸ συνειδὸς κατέσειε. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν τῶν ἐν ἀρετῇ ζώντων ἡγείσθω τι πάσχειν δεινὸν, κἂν ἐπιβουλεύηται παρὰ τῶν πονηρῶν. Οἱ γὰρ πάσχοντες κακῶς οἱ ποιοῦντές εἰσιν. Ἐμίσησας πάντας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν, ἀπολεῖς πάντας τοὺς λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος. Ἄνδρα αἱμάτων καὶ δόλιον βδελύσσεται Κύριος. Ταῦτα λέγεται, οὐχ ἵνα ἀκούσωμεν μόνον, ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ παιδευώμεθα ταῦτα συνεχῶς ἀκούοντες, καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ τοῦ νυμφίου ἁρμόζεσθαι, καὶ πλησίον αὐτοῦ γίνεσθαι. Ὡς ἂν μὴ ταῦτα ᾖ, ἐρημούμεθα τῆς ἄνωθεν ῥοπῆς, οὗ οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο χεῖρον. δʹ. Ἐμίσησας πάντας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν· κἂν δοῦλος ᾖ, φησὶ, κἂν ἐλεύθερος, κἂν βασιλεὺς, κἂν ὁστισοῦν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀξιωμάτων, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς τοὺς φίλους ἐγκρίνειν ὁ Θεὸς εἴωθεν. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ τῶν παχυτέρων οὐδὲν ἡγοῦνται τὸ μῖσος εἶναι, ἄκουσον πῶς ἐπήγαγε καὶ κολάσεως φόβον, εἰπών· Ἀπολεῖς πάντας τοὺς λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος· ἐπὶ τὸ παχύτερον τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων τὸν λόγον μετατιθείς. Οὐ γὰρ μέχρι 55.66 τοῦ μίσους στήσεται τὰ τῆς τιμωρίας, καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο ἄφατος κόλασις· ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας ἀπολεῖ τοὺς λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος. Καίτοι καὶ τὸ πρότερον χαλεπὸν, καὶ γεέννης χεῖρον, τὸ μισηθῆναι παρὰ Θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς συνιέναι δυναμένους ἐκεῖνο ἔθηκε· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς παχυτέρους καὶ τοῦτο προσέθηκε. Μὴ τοίνυν θορυβηθῇς, ἄνθρωπε, μηδὲ ταράττου, ἐπειδὰν ἴδῃς τινὰς ψευδομένους, ἁρπάζοντας, πλεονεκτοῦντας, καὶ μηδὲν πάσχοντας δεινόν· ἔσται γὰρ πάντως τοῦτο. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσις· ἀποστρέφεται πονηρίαν, μισεῖ τε αὐτὴν ἀεὶ, καὶ ἀπεχθάνεται. Τοὺς δὲ λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος ἐνταῦθα λέγει τοὺς ἐν πονηρίᾳ βιοῦντας, τοὺς τὰ ψευδῆ πράγματα διώκοντας, τοὺς περὶ ἡδονὰς, τοὺς περὶ γαστριμαργίαν, τοὺς περὶ πλεονεξίαν ἐπτοημένους. Οἶδε γὰρ πάντα ταῦτα ψεύδη καλεῖν. Ἄνδρα αἱμάτων καὶ δόλιον βδελύσσεται Κύριος. Τὸν φονικὸν ἐνταῦθά φησι, τὸν ἐπιβουλεύοντα, τὸν