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But if you do any good thing beyond the commandment of God, you will acquire for yourself more abundant glory and will be more glorious in the sight of God than you would have been. If, therefore, while keeping the commandments of God, you also add these services, you will rejoice, if you keep them according to my commandment. I say to him, Lord, whatever you command me, I will keep it; for I know that you are with me. I will be, he says, with you, because you have such zeal for doing good; and I will be with all who, he says, have the same zeal. This fast, he says, while keeping the commandments of the Lord, is very good. Thus, then, you shall keep the fast: first of all, guard yourself from every wicked word and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you keep these things, this fast will be perfect. And you will do it thus: having completed the things written above, on that day on which you fast, taste nothing except bread and water; and from your foods which you were going to eat, having calculated the amount of the cost for that day which you would have incurred, set it aside and give it to a widow or an orphan or one in need, and thus you will be humble-minded, so that from your humility the one who has received may fill his soul and pray for you to the Lord. If, therefore, you complete the fast in this way, as I command you, your sacrifice will be acceptable to God, and this fast will be recorded; and the service thus performed is good and joyful and well-pleasing to the Lord. These things you will keep in this way with your children and your whole house; and having kept them, you will be blessed. And all who hear and keep them will be blessed, and whatever they ask from the Lord they will receive. I begged him earnestly to explain to me the parable of the field and the master and the vineyard and the slave who staked the vineyard, and of the stakes, and of the weeds that were pulled out of the vineyard, and of the son and the friends who were counselors; for I understood that all these things are a parable. And he answered and said to me, You are very bold in questioning. You ought not, he says, to ask anything at all; for if it needs to be explained to you, it will be explained. I say to him, Lord, whatever you show me and do not explain, I will have seen them in vain, not understanding what they are. Likewise, also, if you speak parables to me and do not interpret them for me, I will have heard from you in vain. And he says to me again, Whoever is a servant, he says, of God and has his Lord in his heart, asks understanding from him and receives it, and he interprets every parable, and the words of the Lord spoken through parables become known to him. But as many as are weak and lazy in prayer, they hesitate to ask from the Lord. But the Lord is very compassionate and gives without hesitation to all who ask from him. But you, being strengthened by the glorious angel and having received from him such a power of intercession, and not being lazy, why do you not ask for understanding from the Lord and receive it from him? I say to him, Lord, having you with me, I have need to ask from you and to question you; for you show me all things and speak with me. But if I saw or heard these things without you, I would have asked the Lord that it might be explained to me. I told you, he says, just now, that you are clever and bold, asking for the interpretations of the parables. But since you are so persistent, I will interpret for you the parable of the field and of all the rest that follows, so that

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ἐὰν δέ τι ἀγαθοῦ ποιήσῃς ἐκτὸς τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ θεοῦ, σεαυτῷ περιποιήσῃ δόξαν περισσοτέραν καὶ ἔσῃ ἐνδοξότερος παρὰ τῷ θεῷ οὗ ἔμελλες εἶναι. ἐὰν οὖν φυλάσσων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ προσθῇς καὶ τὰς λειτουργίας ταύτας, χαρήσῃ, ἐὰν τηρήσῃς αὐτὰς κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ἐντολήν. λέγω αὐτῷ· Κύριε, ὃ ἐάν μοι ἐντείλῃ, φυλάξω αὐτό· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι σὺ μετ' ἐμοῦ εἶ. Ἔσομαι, φησί, μετὰ σοῦ, ὅτι τοιαύτην προθυμίαν ἔχεις τῆς ἀγαθοποιήσεως καὶ μετὰ πάντων δὲ ἔσομαι ὅσοι ἐάν, φησί, τὴν αὐτὴν προθυμίαν ἔχωσιν. ἡ νηστεία, φησίν, αὕτη, τηρουμένων τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ κυρίου, λίαν καλή ἐστιν. οὕτως οὖν φυλάξεις τὴν νηστείαν· πρῶτον πάντων φύλαξαι ἀπὸ παντὸς ·»ματος πονηροῦ καὶ πάσης ἐπιθυμίας πονηρᾶς καὶ καθάρισόν σου τὴν καρδίαν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ματαιωμάτων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. ἐὰν ταῦτα φυλάξῃς, ἔσται αὕτη ἡ νηστεία τελεία. οὕτω δὲ ποιήσεις· συντελέσας τὰ προγεγραμμένα, ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ νηστεύεις μηδὲν γεύσῃ εἰ μὴ ἄρτον καὶ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐδεσμάτων σου ὧν ἔμελλες τρώγειν συνοψίσας τὴν ποσότητα τῆς δαπάνης ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἔμελλες ποιεῖν, ἀποθέμενος δώσεις αὐτὸ χήρᾳ ἢ ὀρφανῷ ἢ ὑστερουμένῳ, καὶ οὕτω ταπεινοφρονήσεις, ἵνα ἐκ τῆς ταπεινοφρο σύνης σου ὁ εἰληφὼς ἐμπλήσῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν καὶ εὔξηται περὶ σοῦ πρὸς τὸν κύριον. ἐὰν οὖν οὕτω τελέσῃς τὴν νηστείαν, ὥς σοι ἐντέλλομαι, ἔσται ἡ θυσία σου δεκτὴ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἔνγραφος ἔσται ἡ νηστεία αὕτη, καὶ ἡ λειτουργία οὕτως ἐργαζομένη καλὴ καὶ ἱλαρά ἐστι καὶ εὐπρόσδεκτος τῷ κυρίῳ. ταῦτα οὕτως τηρήσεις σὺ μετὰ τῶν τέκνων σου καὶ ὅλου τοῦ οἴκου σου· τηρήσας δὲ αὐτὰ μακάριος ἔσῃ· καὶ ὅσοι ἐὰν ἀκούσαντες αὐτὰ τηρήσωσι, μακάριοι ἔσονται, καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν αἰτήσωνται παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου λήμψονται. Ἐδεήθην αὐτοῦ πολλά, ἵνα μοι δηλώσῃ τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος καὶ τοῦ δούλου τοῦ χαρακώσαντος τὸν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ τῶν χαράκων καὶ τῶν βοτανῶν τῶν ἐκτετιλμένων ἐκ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τῶν φίλων τῶν συμβούλων· συνῆκα γὰρ ὅτι παραβολή ἐστιν ταῦτα πάντα. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθείς μοι λέγει· Aὐθάδης εἶ λίαν εἰς τὸ ἐπερωτᾶν. οὐκ ὀφείλεις, φησίν, ἐπερωτᾶν οὐδὲν ὅλως· ἐὰν γάρ σοι δέῃ δηλωθῆναι, δηλωθήσεται. λέγω αὐτῷ· Κύριε, ὅσα ἐάν μοι δείξῃς καὶ μὴ δηλώσῃς, μάτην ἔσομαι ἑωρακὼς αὐτὰ καὶ μὴ νοῶν ὅτι ἐστίν· ὡσαύτως καὶ ἐάν μοι παραβολὰς λαλήσῃς καὶ μὴ ἐπιλύσῃς μοι, εἰς μάτην ἔσομαι ἠκουκὼς παρὰ σοῦ. ὁ δὲ πάλιν λέγει μοι· Ὃς ἂν δοῦλος ἦν, φησίν, τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἔχῃ τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, αἰτεῖται παρ' αὐτοῦ σύνεσιν καὶ λαμβάνει καὶ πᾶσαν παραβολὴν ἐπιλύει, καὶ γνωστὰ αὐτῷ γίνονται τὰ ·»ματα τοῦ κυρίου τὰ λεγόμενα διὰ παραβολῶν· ὅσοι δὲ βληχροί εἰσιν καὶ ἀργοὶ πρὸς τὴν ἔντευξιν, ἐκεῖνοι διστάζουσιν αἰτεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου· ὁ δὲ κύριος πολύσπλαγχνός ἐστιν καὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς αἰτουμένοις παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀδιστάκτως δίδωσι. σὺ δὲ ἐνδεδυναμωμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐνδόξου ἀγγέλου καὶ εἰληφὼς παρ' αὐτοῦ τοιαύτην ἔντευξιν καὶ μὴ ὢν ἀργός, διατί οὐκ αἰτῇ παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου σύνεσιν καὶ λαμβάνεις παρ' αὐτοῦ; λέγω αὐτῷ· Κύριε, ἐγὼ ἔχων σὲ μετ' ἐμαυτοῦ ἀνάγκην ἔχω παρὰ σοῦ αἰτεῖσθαι καὶ σὲ ἐπερωτᾶν· σὺ γάρ μοι δεικνύεις πάντα καὶ λαλεῖς μετ' ἐμοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἄτερ σοῦ ἔβλεπον ταῦτα ἢ ἤκουον, ἠρώτων ἂν τὸν κύριον, ἵνα μοι δηλωθῇ. Eἶπόν σοι, φησί, καὶ ἄρτι, ὅτι πανοῦργος εἶ καὶ αὐθάδης, ἐπερωτῶν τὰς ἐπιλύσεις τῶν παραβολῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὕτως παράμονος εἶ σύ, ἐπιλύσω σοι τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν ἀκολουθούντων πάντων, ἵνα