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zeal; wherefore Scripture blesses those who have not heard the voice of a tax-collector; that is, one who has conquered the passions, and his own thought, so that his mind is neither reaped nor gleaned. Which things the Pharisees, wishing to do in every way among the Jews, on the one hand instilled fear, as has been said; on the other hand, going about the houses of the Jews, they attempted to speak kindly, and they called them a blessed people and God's inheritance, and for the sake of profit they persuaded them to annul the law. For the Lord accused them of making void the commandment of God for the sake of their own tradition. Therefore, doing these things, they do not allow you, he says, to journey toward the word of salvation, knowing that when the law is abolished, they will not be able to partake of the gains from it. Therefore they confused their paths, commanding them to remain in the shadows. And one who blesses flatteringly harms not moderately, taking away the sense of sins and hindering the path to repentance. For afflictions produce humility, but blessing produces pride. Flattery, then, puffs up the more simple, but slander does not contract a serious soul, nor does praise puff it up. ..... CHAP. V. αηʹ. 9Let me sing now to my beloved a song of my beloved, for my vineyard9, etc. ..... and that which bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. Which the wicked steward does not do. For, he says, I am not strong enough to dig. And it follows from not being pruned, nor being dug, that thorns come up as in a wasteland, which the Lord likened to the cares of this life. Above, then, it said: It produced thorns; but here it added: they will come up. For the word shows the greatness of the wickedness, and its widespread diffusion. Since, then, he says, I waited for it to produce fruit, but of its own choice it produced thorns, I will give it over to desolation and destruction, of which it has made itself worthy. But he also commands the clouds not to rain upon it; thus calling the pro 1909 phets, because of the purity and transparency of their life, wherefore the heavenly word was supplied to them. For as a cloud is thick air, formed from the moist vapor from the earth; and being lifted up by the winds, when it receives from them a considerable mass, and the weight from the moisture sown in it becomes sufficient, then it lets down drops upon the earth. And this is the very nature of rains, being borne from earth to earth; so also the prophets, originating from our common nature, but through purity of soul being lifted up together with the power of the Spirit, and instilling drops of fruitful words into good and fruit-bearing souls. Such was Moses, saying, "Let my speech be expected as the rain." And again, "My words as a shower upon the grass, and as snowflakes upon the hay." Therefore, they are commanded not to rain upon the thorn-bearing vineyard, which crowned my Lord with its own thorns, and raised against him the godless cry, "Away, away, crucify him." For this, he says, is the cause of their abandonment, on account of which both the temple is on the ground, and the nation is without oversight, and for them there is no heavenly rain; and yet both in Egypt and Babylon prophets were with them, and after the return from there; but now they have completely ceased. But if someone should say that they had ceased even before the advent of Christ, yet not entirely; for the temple still stood, and they performed the legal worship, until his coming. But now there is both the tearing down of the tower, and the desolation of the vineyard, and the eclipse of prophets, in return for those thorns, and for the cry which every sin unto death utters, the deed itself crying out, just as the blood of Abel also cries out. And everyone commits lawlessness who acts not by the rule of righteousness, nor of law, but does indiscriminately what seems best, being a cause of outcry and tumult and confusion; just as quietness accompanies righteous judgments, with those being judged steadfastly accepting what is decreed. Wherefore Paul also says, "Let all clamor and tumult be put away from you." But there is also a certain fine cry, which the Lord, standing in the temple, cried out. Of which also David

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σπουδήν· ὅθεν ἡ Γραφὴ μακαρίζει τοὺς μὴ ἀκούσαντας φωνὴν φορολόγου· τὸν τὰ πάθη δηλονότι νενικηκότα, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας, ὡς μήτε θερίζεσθαι, μήτε καλαμᾶσθαι τὸν νοῦν· ἃ δὴ ποιεῖν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι πάντα τρόπον παρ' Ἰουδαίοις ἐθέλοντες, πῆ μὲν ἐφόβουν, ὡς εἴρηται· πῆ δὲ τοὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων οἴκους περιφοιτῶντες χρηστοεπεῖν ἐπεχείρουν, εὐλογημένον τε λαὸν ὠνόμαζον καὶ κλῆρον Θεοῦ, κέρδους τε χάριν παραλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἀνέπειθον. Ἠτιᾶτο γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριος ὡς ἀκυροῦντας τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν παράδοσιν. Ταῦτα οὖν δρῶντες, οὐκ ἐῶσι, φησὶν, ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὸν σωτήριον λόγον ὁδοιπορεῖν, εἰδότες ὡς καταργουμένου τοῦ νόμου, μετέχειν τῶν διὰ τούτου λημμάτων οὐχ ἕξουσιν. Συνέχεον οὖν αὐτῶν τὰς ὁδοὺς, ταῖς σκιαῖς ἐναπομεῖναι κελεύοντες. Κολακικῶς δέ τις μακαρίζων, οὐ μέτρια βλάπτει, τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι παραιρούμενος αἴσθησιν, καὶ κωλύων τὴν ἐπὶ μετάνοιαν βαδίζειν ὁδόν. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ θλίψεις ταπείνωσιν, ὁ δὲ μακαρισμὸς φυσίωσιν ἐμποιεῖ. Κολακεία μὲν οὖν τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους ἐπαίρει, σπουδαίαν δὲ ψυχὴν οὐ κακηγορία συστέλλει, οὐκ ἔπαινοι ταύτην ἐπαίρουσιν. ..... ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ. αηʹ. 9Ἄσω δὴ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ᾆσμα τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ μου, τῷ ἀμπελῶνί μου9, κ.τ.λ. ..... καὶ τὸ καρπὸν φέρον, καθαίρει αὐτὸ, ἵνα καρπὸν πλείονα φέρῃ. Ὅπερ ὁ κακὸς οἰκονόμος οὐ διαπράττεται. Σκάπτειν γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐκ ἰσχύω. Ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ τῷ μὴ τέμνεσθαι, μηδὲ σκάπτεσθαι, τὸ ἀναβαίνειν ὡς εἰς χέρσον ἀκάνθας, ἃς ὁ Κύριος ταῖς βιωτικαῖς μερίμναις ἀπείκασεν. Ἄνω μὲν οὖν ἔλεγεν. Ἐποίησε δὲ ἀκάνθας· ἐνταῦθα δὲ προσέθηκεν, ἀναβήσονται. Τὸ γὰρ μέγεθος τῆς κακίας, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ πολὺ χύσιν ὁ λόγος ἐμφαίνει. Ἐπεὶ οὖν, φησὶ, ἀνέμεινα μὲν τοῦ ποιῆσαι καρπὸν, ἐξ ἰδίας δὲ προαιρέσεως ἀκάνθας ἐποίησεν, παραδώσω αὐτὸν ἐρημίᾳ τε καὶ ἀφανισμῷ, ὧν ἑαυτὸν κατέστησεν ἄξιον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐντέλλεται τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι ἐπ' αὐτόν· οὕτω τοὺς προ 1909 φήτας καλῶν, διὰ τὸ καθαρὸν αὐτῶν καὶ διαυγὲς τοῦ βίου, διὸ οὐράνιος αὐτοῖς ἐχορηγεῖτο λόγος. Ὡς γὰρ νεφέλη ἀήρ ἐστι πάσχυς ἐκ τῆς ὑγρᾶς ἀπὸ γῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως συνιστάμενος· καὶ μετεωρισθεὶς τοῖς ἀνέμοις, ὅταν λάβῃ παρ' αὐτῶν ἀξιόλογον ἄθροισμα, καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἐνεσπαρμένης αὐτῷ νοτίδος βάρος ἱκανὸν ἐγγένηται, τότε σταγόνας εἰς τὴν γῆν καθίησιν. Καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν ὄμβρων ἡ φύσις ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς γῆν φερομένων· οὕτω καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἐκ μὲν τῆς κοινῆς ὁρμώμενοι φύσεως, διὰ καθαρότητα δὲ ψυχῆς τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος συνυψούμενοι, καὶ λόγων γονίμων σταγόνας ταῖς ψυχαῖς ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς καὶ καρποφόροις ἐνστάζοντες. Τοιοῦτος ὁ Μωϋσῆς, "Προσδοκάσθω, λέγων, ὡς ὑετὸς τὸ ἀπόφθεγμά μου." Καὶ πάλιν, "Ὡς ὄμβρος ἐπ' ἄγρωστιν καὶ ὡσεὶ νιφετὸς ἐπὶ χόρτον τὰ ῥήματά μου." Ἐντέλλονται οὖν μὴ βρέχειν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀκανθοφόρον ἀμπελῶνα, τὸν ταῖς ἀκάνθαις ταῖς οἰκείαις στεφανώσαντά μου τὸν Κύριον, καὶ κραυγὴν ἄθεον ἐπὶ τούτῳ κινήσαντα, "Αἶρε, αἶρε, σταύρου αὐτόν." Ταύτην γὰρ, φησὶν, τῆς ἐγκαταλείψεως τὴν αἰτίαν, δι' ἣν καὶ ὁ ναὸς ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ τὸ ἔθνος ἀνεπισκόπευτον, καὶ ὑετὸς αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἔστιν οὐράνιος· καίτοι καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ Βαβυλῶνι προφῆται συνῆσαν αὐτοῖς, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπάνοδον· νῦν δὲ παντελῶς ἐκλελοίπασιν. Εἰ δέ τις λέγοι καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐπιδημίας ἐπιλελοιπέναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἅπαντα· ἔτι γὰρ καὶ ὁ νεὼς συνειστήκει, καὶ τὴν νομικὴν ἐτέλουν λατρείαν, μέχρι τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας. Νῦν δὲ καὶ πύργου καθαίρεσις, καὶ ἐρημία τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, καὶ ἔκλειψις προφητῶν, ἀντὶ τῶν ἀκανθῶν ἐκείνων, καὶ τῆς κραυγῆς, ἣν ἀφίησιν πᾶσα ἡ πρὸς θάνατον ἁμαρτία, αὐτῆς βοώσης τῆς πράξεως, ὡς καὶ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Ἀβὲλ βοᾷ. Ἀνομίαν δὲ ποιεῖ πᾶς μὴ κανόνι δικαιοσύνης, μηδὲ νόμου, πράττων δὲ ἀδιακρίτως τὰ δόξαντα, κραυγῆς ὢν καὶ θορύβου καὶ συγχύσεως αἴτιος· ὡς τοῖς δικαίοις κρίμασιν ἡσυχία παρέπεται, τῶν κρινομένων εὐσταθῶς καταδεχομένων τὰ ὁριζόμενα. ∆ιὸ καὶ Παῦλός φησι, "Πᾶσα κραυγὴ καὶ θόρυβος ἀρθήτω ἀφ' ὑμῶν." Ἔστι δὲ καὶ κραυγή τις ἀστεία, ἣν ὁ Κύριος ἑστὼς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἔκραξεν. Ἧ καὶ ∆αβὶδ