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A wife has been given to you; for is she a snare? Marriage is not evil, but fornication is a bad thing. I, at my own risk, guarantee your salvation. But if she is wicked, do not make excuses; for the wife of Job was also wicked and vile, and advised him to blaspheme. What then? Did she shake the tower? Did she bring down the adamant? Did she overcome the rock? By no means; but she stumbled, and the tower became more secure; the fruit was harvested, and the tree was not shaken; the leaves fell, and the root remained unshaken. Therefore, just as a pilot who causes a shipwreck in a harbor would not receive any pardon, so too a man who, after the security of marriage, digs through the marriages of others, or looks curiously at any woman whatsoever, would not find any defense, neither before men, nor before God, even if he should plead the desire of his nature ten thousand times. For what pleasure could come from such a desire, when fear is present, and anguish, and danger, and fear of courts and of accounts, and the judge's wrath is considered, and the sword, and the executioner, and the pit, and being led away? For such a man is suspicious of and suspects even the shadows and the walls and the very stones as if they were uttering a sound, and he trembles at and fears everything, and his soul is consumed by the expectation of so many terrors. So that marriage is not a hindrance, but rather a security for chastity. For so great a thing is virginity, and it requires so much effort, that Christ, having come down from heaven to make men angels and to plant the heavenly life here, did not even then dare to command this or bring it into the order of a law; but He did legislate to die for Him, than which what could be more burdensome? and to be crucified continually, and to do good to enemies; but He did not legislate virginity, but left it to the choice of the hearers, saying, He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. For great is the weight of the matter, and this ground of virtue is exceedingly hidden. And this is also shown by those in the Old Testament who achieved many things. For that great Moses, the chief of the prophets, the true friend to God, who enjoyed such great boldness as to snatch six hundred thousand who had become liable to punishment from a divinely sent plague, a man so great and of such stature, commanded the sea, and split the deep, and broke the rocks, and changed the air, and turned the water of the Nile into blood, and transformed all creation, and displayed countless other wonders, and many achievements of virtue; yet he did not have the strength even to look upon these struggles, but needed marriage and the security from it; and he did not dare to give himself to the sea of virginity, 63.601 fearing the waves from there. And the patriarch, the priest of his son, was strong enough to wrestle down the most tyrannical passion of nature, and was able to slay his son, and that son Isaac in the very flower of his age, in the very prime of his youth, his only-begotten, his true son, and given to him against all hope, and he was strong enough to lead him up to the mountain, and he seized a knife, and thrust the sword at his son's throat; for he did thrust it and drew blood; but nevertheless, he who was strong enough to complete so great and so high a contest, having gone out of nature itself, did not dare to strip for the struggles of virginity, but he too feared these wrestling grounds, 63.602 and drew to himself the consolation of marriage. And the just Job, who crushed the face of the devil, being struck, not striking, and endured every kind of temptation, and each with all exaggeration; for the things that seem to be and are grievous, all these were poured out on one body, and were scattered upon his one soul; therefore, so great and so high a man, who trampled on so many necessities of nature, did not dare, even he, to enter this contest, but also enjoyed a wife, and became the father of so many children. For nowhere celibacy

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σοι δέδοται ἡ γυνή· μὴ γὰρ ἐπίβουλος; Οὐχὶ φαῦλος ὁ γάμος, ἀλλὰ κακὸν ἡ πορνεία. Ἐγὼ τῷ ἐμῷ κινδύνῳ ἐγγυῶμαί σοι τὴν σωτηρίαν. Εἰ δὲ φαύλη ἐστὶ, μὴ προφασίζου· καὶ γὰρ ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ Ἰὼβ πονηρὰ ἦν καὶ φαύλη, καὶ βλασφημεῖν αὐτῷ συνεβούλευε. Τί οὖν; ἔσεισε τὸν πύργον; κατήνεγκε τὸν ἀδάμαντα; περιεγένετο τῆς πέτρας; Οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλ' ἐκείνη προσέκρουσε, καὶ ὁ πύργος ἀσφαλέστερος ἐγένετο· ὁ καρπὸς ἐτρυγήθη, καὶ τὸ δένδρον οὐκ ἐσαλεύθη· τὰ φύλλα ἔπεσε, καὶ ἡ ῥίζα ἔμεινεν ἀσάλευτος. Ὥσπερ οὖν κυβερνήτης ἐν λιμένι ναυάγιον ἐργαζόμενος οὐκ ἂν τύχοι συγγνώμης τινὸς, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ γάμου τοὺς ἑτέρων διορύττων γάμους, ἢ γυναῖκα ἡντιναοῦν περιέργως ὁρῶν, οὐκ ἂν τύχοι τινὸς ἀπολογίας, οὔτε παρὰ ἀνθρώποις, οὔτε παρὰ Θεῷ, κἂν μυριάκις τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἐπιθυμίαν προβάλληται. Ποία γὰρ ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιθυμίας γένοιτο ἂν ἡδονὴ, ὅταν φόβος παρῇ καὶ ἀγωνία καὶ κίνδυνος καὶ δικαστηρίων φόβος καὶ εὐθυνῶν, καὶ δικαστοῦ θυμὸς λογίζεται καὶ ξίφος καὶ δήμιος καὶ βάραθρον καὶ ἀπαγωγή; Ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος καὶ τὰς σκιὰς καὶ τοὺς τοίχους καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς λίθους καθάπερ φωνὴν ἀφιέντας, οὕτως ὑφορᾶται καὶ ὑποπτεύει, καὶ πάντα τρέμει καὶ δέδοικε, καὶ τῇ προσδοκίᾳ τῶν τοσούτων δεινῶν τὴν ψυχὴν καταδάκνεται. Ὥστε οὐχὶ κώλυμα ὁ γάμος, ἀλλὰ ἀσφάλεια μᾶλλον τῆς σωφροσύνης ἐστί. Τοσοῦτον γάρ ἐστιν ἡ παρθενία πρᾶγμα, καὶ τοσούτου δεῖται πόνου, ὅτι κατελθὼν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὁ Χριστὸς, ἵνα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀγγέλους ποιήσῃ, καὶ τὴν ἄνω πολιτείαν ἐνταῦθα καταφυτεύσῃ, οὐδὲ τότε ἐθάῤῥησεν ἐπιτάξαι τοῦτο οὐδὲ εἰς νόμου τάξιν ἀγαγεῖν· ἀλλ' ἀποθνήσκειν μὲν δι' αὐτὸν ἐνομοθέτησεν, οὗ τί βαρύτερον γένοιτ' ἄν; καὶ σταυροῦσθαι διηνεκῶς, καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς εὐεργετεῖν· παρθενεύειν δὲ οὐκ ἐνομοθέτησεν, ἀλλ' ἀφῆκεν ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων κεῖσθαι προαιρέσει, εἰπὼν, Ὁ δυνάμενος χωρεῖν, χωρείτω. Καὶ γὰρ μέγας ὁ ὄγκος τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ σφόδρα ἀποκεκρυμμένον τοῦτο τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸ χωρίον. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῦσι καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ πολλὰ κατορθώσαντες. Καὶ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς ἐκεῖνος ὁ μέγας, τῶν προφητῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον, ὁ γνήσιος τῷ Θεῷ φίλος, ὁ τοσαύτης ἀπολαύσας παῤῥησίας, ὡς ἑξακοσίας χιλιάδας γενομένας ὑπευθύνους κολάσει ἐξαρπάσαι θεηλάτου πληγῆς, ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀνὴρ, θαλάττῃ μὲν ἐπέταξε, καὶ πέλαγος ἔσχισε, καὶ πέτρας διέῤῥηξε, καὶ ἀέρα μετέβαλε, καὶ τὸ Νειλῷον ὕδωρ ἐς αἷμα μετέστησε, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν μετεστοιχείωσε, καὶ μυρία ἕτερα ἐπεδείξατο θαύματα, καὶ ἀρετῆς πολλὰ κατορθώματα· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀγῶνας τούτους οὐδὲ ἀντιβλέψαι ἴσχυσε, ἀλλ' ἐδεήθη γάμου καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀσφαλείας· καὶ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν εἰς τὸ τῆς παρθε 63.601 νίας πέλαγος ἑαυτὸν ἐκδοῦναι, τὰ ἐκεῖθεν κύματα δεδοικώς. Καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης δὲ, ὁ τοῦ παιδὸς ἱερεὺς, τὸ μὲν τυραννικώτατον τῆς φύσεως ἴσχυσε καταπαλαῖσαι πάθος, καὶ παῖδα ἀνελεῖν ἐδυνήθη, καὶ παῖδα τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τῷ ἄνθει, ἐν αὐτῇ τῆς νεότητος τῇ ἀκμῇ, μονογενῆ, γνήσιον, καὶ παρ' ἐλπίδα πᾶσαν αὐτῷ δεδομένον, καὶ ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος ἴσχυσε, καὶ μάχαιραν ἥρπασε, καὶ διὰ τοῦ λαιμοῦ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ ξίφος ὤθησε· καὶ γὰρ ὤθησε καὶ ᾕμαξεν· ἀλλ' ὅμως ὁ τοσοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἰσχύσας διανύσαι ἆθλον, αὐτῆς ἐξελθὼν τῆς φύσεως, πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῆς παρθενίας ἀποδύσασθαι οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν, ἀλλ' ἔδεισε καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ σκάμματα ταῦτα, 63.602 καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ γάμου παραμυθίαν ἐπεσπάσατο. Καὶ ὁ δίκαιος δὲ Ἰὼβ, ὃς τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου συνέκοψεν ὄψιν, παιόμενος, οὐ παίων, καὶ ἅπαν ὑπέμεινε πειρασμῶν εἶδος, καὶ ἕκαστον μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἁπάσης· τὰ γὰρ δοκοῦντα εἶναι λυπηρὰ καὶ ὄντα, ταῦτα πάντα εἰς ἓν ἐξεχύθη σῶμα, καὶ μιᾶς κατεσκεδάσθη ψυχῆς τῆς ἐκείνου· ὁ τοσοῦτος οὖν καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀνὴρ, ὁ τοσαύτας ἀνάγκας φύσεως καταπατήσας, οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν οὐδὲ αὐτὸς εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον καθεῖναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναικὸς ἀπέλαυσε, καὶ πατὴρ ἐγένετο παίδων τοσούτων. Οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἀγαμίαν