it is written with an iron pen, with a diamond point, engraved upon the breast of the heart;” but again, the word 'their' does not follow in that case. Perhaps, then, it was speaking of us, that if we become sinners, these prophecies befall us. We have sinned, and our sin is not written outside of us, but in our heart, and it is written “with an iron pen, with a diamond point.” That the sins which we commit are written in us through our sinning, the thing itself will show. I was not conscious to myself of this thing or this sin. Having committed it, I have an impression of it, and it is as if the impression of [its] my committed sin is written in my soul. And if my sin were written in ink, I <would> have erased it; but now it is written “with an iron pen,” it is written “with a diamond point,” it is written “upon the breast of our heart,” so that I may come to the judgment and the prophecy that says be fulfilled: “there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing covered that will not be disclosed.” My breast was laid bare and my heart, having the letters of sin inscribed “with the iron pen, with the diamond point,” and all read in my breast and in my heart the impressions of my sins. “For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed,” but also “while their thoughts accuse or even defend them,” and “do not pronounce judgment on anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and disclose the purposes of the hearts.” To whom will he disclose them? Not to himself; for he knows “all things before their coming into being.” But [also] to whom will he disclose them? To all who are about to see through their own purity the sin of the one who has sinned, so that the sinners “may rise to reproach and to everlasting shame;” from which may the God of all deliver us, so that we may rise to the glory that is in Christ, to whom is the glory and the power for ever. Amen. 17.t On “the partridge cried out” up to “and I have not desired the day of man, you know.” Homily 17. 17.1 We have come to the famous question to see who the partridge is, of whom the scripture now speaks: “A partridge cried out, it gathered what it did not hatch, making its wealth without judgment. In the midst of its days they will leave it, and at its end it will be a fool.” From the nature of animals, it is necessary to recall what is recounted about the partridge, so that knowing about the animal <we may know> whether <it is necessary> to place the partridge mentioned now in a better or a worse category. The animal is said to be most malicious and deceitful and crafty, and wanting to deceive the hunters and often rolling about the feet of the hunter, to distract him as though the animal were near, so that he not come to the nest. And when it reckons it has distracted the hunter and the young have fled, then it too flies away. And the animal is very impure, so that the males fight single combats with each other over mating, and male mounts male. If, then, this animal is also malicious, and impure, and crafty, and deceitful, it is clear that to place it in a better category and say it can be referred to the Savior appears to be impious. It is necessary then to see, if we wish to interpret it as referring to the adversary, whether the whole interpretation follows for us. 17.2 Let us begin then from “a partridge cried out, it gathered what it did not hatch.” Therefore the devil does not gather his own creatures, he does not gather what he begot, but when he cries out, he gathers the creatures of another and makes them his own. A partridge cried out through Valentinus, a partridge cried out through Marcion, it cried out through Basilides, through all the heretics; for none of them was able to speak the voice of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice.” But the voice of Jesus is in Paul and Peter; for which reason Paul said: “Do you seek proof of Christ speaking in me?” But the voice of the partridge that gathered what it did not hatch is in those who lead astray and deceive because of the integrity and because of the unpreparedness of those

γέγραπται ἐν γραφείῳ σιδηρῷ, ἐν ὄνυχι ἀδαμαντίνῳ ἐγκεκολαμμένη ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους τῆς καρδίας»· ἀλλὰ πάλιν οὐκ ἀκολουθεῖ ἐπ' ἐκείνου τὸ «αὐτῶν». μήποτε οὖν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἔλεγεν, ἐὰν γενώμεθα ἁμαρτωλοί, ταῦτα φθάνειν τὰ προφητευόμενα. ἡμάρτομεν, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἡμῶν οὐκ ἔξω ἡμῶν γέγραπται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἡμῶν, καὶ γράφεται «ἐν σιδηρῷ γραφείῳ, ἐν ὄνυχι ἀδαμαντίνῳ». ὅτι δὲ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἃ ἁμαρτάνομεν, ἐγ γράφεται εἰς ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν, παραστήσει αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα. οὐ συνῄδειν ἐμαυτῷ τόδε τὸ πρᾶγμα ἢ τήνδε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. ποιήσας αὐτὴν ἔχω τύπον αὐτῆς, καὶ οἱονεὶ γέγραπται ὁ τύπος [αὐ]τῆς ἁμαρ τίας μου τῆς ἡμαρτημένης ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ μου. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἦν ἡ ἁμαρτία μου γεγραμμένη μέλανι, ἀπήλειψα <ἂν> αὐτήν· νῦν δὲ γέγραπται «ἐν σιδηρῷ γραφείῳ», γέγραπται «ἐν ὄνυχι ἀδαμαντίνῳ», γέγραπται «ἐπὶ τοῦ στή θους τῆς καρδίας» ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἔλθω ἐπὶ τὸ δικαστήριον καὶ πληρωθῇ ἡ λέγουσα προφητεία· «οὐδὲν κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ φανερωθήσεται, καὶ οὐδὲν κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται». ἐγυμνώθη μου τὸ στῆθος καὶ ἡ καρδία ἔχουσα τὰ γράμματα ἐγγεγραμμένα τῆς ἁμαρτίας «ἐν τῷ γραφείῳ τῷ σιδηρῷ, τῷ ὄνυχι τῷ ἀδαμαντίνῳ», καὶ πάντες ἀναγινώ σκουσιν ἐν τῷ στήθει μου καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου τοὺς τύπους μου τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. «οὐδὲν γὰρ κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ φανερωθήσεται», ἀλλὰ «καὶ μεταξὺ ἀλλήλων τῶν λογισμῶν κατηγορούντων ἢ καὶ ἀπολογου μένων», καὶ «μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ κύριος, ὃς καὶ φωτίσει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους καὶ φανερώσει τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν». τίνι φανερώσει; οὐχ αὑτῷ· αὐτὸς γὰρ οἶδε «τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν». ἀλλὰ [καὶ] τίνι φανερώσει; πᾶσι τοῖς μέλλουσι βλέπειν διὰ τὴν αὐτῶν καθαρότητα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ ἡμαρτηκότος, ἵνα οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ «ἀναστῶσιν εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ εἰς αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον»· ἀφ' ὧν ῥύσηται ἡμᾶς ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεός, ἵν' εἰς δόξαν τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστῶμεν, ᾧ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 17.t Εἰς τὸ «ἐφώνησε πέρδιξ» μέχρι τοῦ «καὶ ἡμέραν ἀνθρώ που οὐκ ἐπεθύμησα, σὺ ἐπίστασαι». Ὁμιλία ιζʹ. 17.1 Ἐπὶ τὸ διαβόητον ζήτημα ἐληλύθαμεν ἰδεῖν τίς ἐστιν ὁ πέρδιξ, περὶ οὗ νῦν φησιν ἡ γραφή· «ἐφώνησε πέρδιξ, συνήγαγεν ἃ οὐκ ἔτεκε, ποιῶν τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτοῦ οὐ μετὰ κρίσεως. ἐν ἡμίσει ἡμερῶν αὐτοῦ ἐγκαταλείψουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων αὐτοῦ ἔσται ἄφρων». ἐκ τοῦ περὶ φύσεως ζώων δεῖ ἀναλαβεῖν τίνα ἱστόρηται περὶ τοῦ πέρδικος, ἵνα εἰδότες τὰ περὶ τὸ ζῶον <εἰδῶ>μεν πότερον ἐπὶ κρείττονος τάξαι <δεῖ> νῦν λεγόμενον τὸν πέρδικα ἢ ἐπὶ χείρονος. λέγεται δὴ τὸ ζῶον εἶναι κακοηθέστατον καὶ δόλιον καὶ πανοῦργον, καὶ ἀπατᾶν βουλόμενον τοὺς θηρεύοντας καὶ πολλάκις κυλιόμενον περὶ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ θη ρεύοντος, ἵνα αὐτὸν περισπάσῃ ὡς ἐγγὺς ὂν τὸ ζῶον πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὴν καλιάν. καὶ ἡνίκα ἐὰν στοχάσηται περιεσπακέναι τὸν θηρευ τὴν καὶ τὰ νεοσσία πεφευγέναι, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ἀφίπταται. ἔστι δὲ τὸ ζῶον πάνυ ἀκάθαρτον ὥστε τοὺς ἄρρενας μονομαχεῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ τῆς μίξεως καὶ ἄρρενα ἄρρενα ἐπιβαίνειν. εἰ οὖν καὶ κακόηθες, εἰ καὶ ἀκάθαρτον, εἰ καὶ πανοῦργον, εἰ καὶ ἀπατηλὸν τοῦτο τὸ ζῶόν ἐστι, δῆλον ὅτι τάξαι ἐπὶ κρείττονος αὐτὸ καὶ εἰπεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα δύ νασθαι ἀναφέρεσθαι ἀσεβὲς εἶναι φαίνεται. δεῖ οὖν ἰδεῖν, ἂν θέλωμεν αὐτὸ ἑρμηνεῦσαι ἐπὶ τὸν ἀντικείμενον, εἰ ἀκολουθεῖ ἡμῖν ὅλη ἡ ἑρμηνεία. 17.2 Ἀρξώμεθα δὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ «ἐφώνησε πέρδιξ, συνήγαγεν ἃ οὐκ ἔτεκεν». οὐκοῦν οὐ τὰ ἴδια κτίσματα συνάγει ὁ διάβολος, οὐχὶ ἃ ἐγέννησε συνάγει, ἀλλ' ἐπὰν φωνήσῃ, συνάγει τὰ ἄλλου κτίσματα καὶ ποιεῖ αὐτὰ ἴδια. ἐφώνησε πέρδιξ διὰ Οὐαλεντίνου, ἐφώνησε πέρδιξ διὰ Μαρκίωνος, ἐφώνησε διὰ Βασιλείδου, διὰ πάντων τῶν ἑτεροδόξων· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐκείνων ἠδύνατο εἰπεῖν τὴν φωνὴν Ἰησοῦ· «τὰ ἐμὰ πρό βατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούουσιν». ἀλλ' ἡ φωνὴ μὲν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν Παύλῳ καὶ Πέτρῳ· διὸ ἔλεγεν ὁ Παῦλος· «εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ»; φωνὴ δὲ τοῦ συναγαγόντος ἃ οὐκ ἔτεκε πέρδικος ἐν τοῖς ἀποπλανῶσι καὶ ἀπατῶσι διὰ τὴν ἀκεραιότητα καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀπαράσκευον τοὺς