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to say, 'I am righteous,' I consider the very act of saying this to be impious. 9, and if I am blameless, I will turn out crooked. But if I should even dare to say, 'I am blameless,' and should approve 96 of myself, this very thing shows me to be crooked and not upright. And the Pharisee, having once said this, went down condemned. 9, 21 For if I acted impiously, I do not know it in my soul, except that my life has been taken from me. Again, he said what the Apostle did, that 'I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not thereby justified,' through which I endure such punishments. 9, 22 Wherefore I said: 'Wrath destroys the great and mighty.' Considering these things, I say that the wrath of God destroys the one who thinks himself to be great and powerful in righteousness. 9, 23 Because the wicked are in a terrible death; and I know indeed that the wicked also will pay the ultimate penalties. 9, 23-24 'But the righteous are laughed at, for they are delivered into the hands of the ungodly.' Nevertheless, the righteous are also laughed at, by the wicked, clearly. And they are laughed at, because often they themselves are also delivered over to suffer evil. But by saying 'into the hands of the ungodly,' he seems to be fully convinced that he has been delivered to the devil, but to be ignorant of the reason for which these things were ordained. 97 9, 24 'He covers the faces of her judges; if not he, who is it?' Since he mentioned the devil, having said 'for they are delivered into the hands of the ungodly,' he consequently adds, saying that: But sin escapes the notice even of the discerning, often approaching in the hypocrisy of righteousness; wherefore no one is sinless. But if he did not use cunning, the devil, the cause of sin, would not have been great, but easily conquered. But these things, as a holy man and a prophet, he has placed with concealment in the middle of the discourse. Then he turns again to narrate his own affairs and adds: 9, 25 'But my life is swifter than a runner;' most swift, whether it be good or evil. 9, 25 'they have fled away and have not seen.' Wherefore, men, being rid of life more quickly, are not able to see the details of their lives. 9, 26 'Or is there a trace of a ship's path, or of an eagle flying, seeking its prey?' And just as it is not possible for the tracks of ships to be seen in the waves or of an eagle swooping for prey in the air, so no trace of those who have died is left behind in this life. 9, 27 'For if I say, I will forget to speak; covering my face, I will groan.' 98 But even if I should perhaps promise not to sin, forgetfulness, driving out memory, prepares me to sin again. Wherefore also, on account of this forgetfulness, covering my face, I will groan. And he said this, teaching universally. For forgetfulness, driving out the fear of God, prepares one to sin. 9, 28 'I am shaken in all my limbs; for I know that you will not leave me unpunished.' I am shaken in my inward, my spiritual limbs, knowing that you will not leave me sinless; for no one is sinless when examined according to the precision of God. 9, 29 'But since I am ungodly, why did I not die?' But if I was judged to be ungodly at all, it would have been better for me to die before the impiety. The Savior also said such a thing concerning Judas, that 'it would have been better for him if that man had not been born.' As a lover of God, therefore, he said that: 'It was better for me to die than to be judged for impiety.' 9, 30-31 'For if I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands, you have plunged me sufficiently in filth. And my garment has abhorred me.' It was a custom for the ancients to cleanse defilements with baths. And this, again, was a custom: where they wished to show that they had not partaken in this sin, they would wash their hands, saying: 'I am innocent of this matter,' as Pilate also did 99 in the case of the Savior. And David sang in a psalm, saying: 'I will wash my hands among the innocent.' This, then, he says: However clean I may be, these precise reproofs and the punishments brought upon me by presumption show me to be defiled and unclean, so that even he who touches my garments seems to be polluted, since each one assumes I am suffering these things because of a multitude of sins. And he says these things because his friends bring forward the torments inflicted upon him as proof that he is a sinner. Since, therefore, the presumption which is through the

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λέγειν, ὅτι δίκαιός εἰμι, αὐτὸ τὸ εἰπεῖν τοῦτο ἀσεβὲς εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνω. 9, ἐάν τε ὦ ἄμεμπτος, σκολιὸς ἀποβήσομαι. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τολμήσω εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἄμεμπτός εἰμι, καὶ ἐμαυτὸν ἀπο 96 δέξωμαι, αὐτὸ τοῦτο σκολιόν με δείκνυσι καὶ οὐκ εὐθῆ. τοῦτο δέ ποτε καὶ ὁ Φαρισαῖος εἰπὼν κατῆλθε κατακεκριμένος. 9, 21 εἴτε γὰρ ἠσέβησα, οὐκ οἶδα τῇ ψυχῇ, πλὴν ὅτι ἀφῄρηταί μου ἡ ζωή. πάλιν τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου εἶπεν, ὅτι ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲν ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα, πλὴν οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι, δι' ὧν τὰς τοιαύτας ὑπομένω κολάσεις. 9, 22 διὸ εἶπον· μέγαν καὶ δυνάστην ἀπολλύει ὀργή. ταῦτα ἀναλογιζόμενος λέγω, ὅτι τὸν οἰόμενον μέγαν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι καὶ δυνατὸν κατὰ δικαιοσύνην ἀπόλλυσιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀργή. 9, 23 ὅτι φαῦλοι ἐν θανάτῳ ἐξαισίῳ· καὶ οἶδα μέν, ὅτι καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι τὰς ἐσχάτας ἐκτίσουσι δίκας. 9, 2324 ἀλλὰ δίκαιοι καταγελῶνται, παραδέδονται γὰρ εἰς χεῖρας ἀσεβοῦς. πλὴν καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι καταγελῶνται, ὑπὸ τῶν φαύλων δηλονότι. καταγελῶνται δέ, ἐπειδὴ πολλάκις καὶ αὐτοὶ παραδίδονται εἰς τὸ πάσχειν κακῶς. τῷ δὲ λέγειν εἰς χεῖρας ἀσεβοῦς ἔοικε πληροφορεῖσθαι, ὅτι διαβόλῳ παραδέδοται, τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν, ἐφ' ᾗ ταῦτα ᾠκονόμητο, ἀγνοεῖν. 97 9, 24 πρόσωπα κριτῶν αὐτῆς συγκαλύπτει· εἰ δὲ μὴ αὐτός, τίς ἐστιν; ἐπειδὴ διαβόλου ἐμνήσθη εἰρηκὼς παραδέδονται γὰρ εἰς χεῖρας ἀσεβοῦς ἀκολούθως ἐπάγει λέγων ὅτι· ἡ δὲ ἁμαρτία λανθάνει καὶ τῶν διακριτικῶν τὴν γνῶσιν ἐν ὑποκρίσει δικαιοσύνης πολλάκις προσερχομένη· διὸ οὐδεὶς ἀναμάρτητος. εἰ δὲ μὴ πανουργίᾳ ἐχρῆτο, οὐ μέγας ὑπῆρχεν, ἀλλ' εὐκαταγώνιστος ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αἴτιος διάβολος. ταῦτα δὲ ὡς ἅγιος καὶ προφήτης μετ' ἐπικρύψεως ἐν μέσῳ τῆς διαλέξεως τέθεικεν. εἶτα πάλιν τρέπεται εἰς τὸ διηγεῖσθαι τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἐπάγει· 9, 25 ὁ δὲ βίος μού ἐστιν ἐλαφρότερος δρομέως· ὀξύτατος, εἴτε καλὸς εἴτε φαῦλος. 9, 25 ἀπέδρασαν καὶ οὐκ εἴδοσαν. διὸ θᾶττον ἀπαλλαττόμενοι τοῦ βίου οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ καθέκαστα τῶν βίων ἰδεῖν οὐ δύνανται. 9, 26 ἦ καὶ ἔστιν ναυσὶν ἴχνος ὁδοῦ ἢ ἀετοῦ πετομένου ζητοῦντος βοράν; ὥσπερ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς κύμασιν ὁλκάδων ἴχνη φαίνεσθαι ἢ ἐν ἀέρι ἀετοῦ ἐπὶ βορὰν καθιπταμένου, οὕτω τῶν τελευτώντων οὐδὲν ἴχνος ἐν τούτῳ τῷ βίῳ καταλιμπάνεται. 9, 27 ἐάν τε γὰρ εἴπω, ἐπιλήσομαι λαλῶν· συγκαλύψας τῷ προσώπῳ στενάξω. 98 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἐπαγγείλωμαι τυχὸν μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν, ἡ λήθη τὴν μνήμην ἐκκρούουσα πάλιν ἁμαρτάνειν παρασκευάζει. διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ λήθῃ συγκαλυψάμενος τὸ πρόσωπον στενάξω. τοῦτο δὲ καθόλου διδάσκων ἔφη. ἡ γὰρ λήθη τὸν φόβον ἐκκρούουσα τοῦ θεοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν παρασκευάζει. 9, 28 σείομαι πᾶσι τοῖς μέλεσιν· οἶδα γάρ, ὅτι οὐκ ἀθῶόν με ἐάσεις. τοῖς ἔνδον, τοῖς νοητοῖς μέλεσι τινάσσομαι εἰδώς, ὅτι οὐκ ἀναμάρτητόν με ἐάσεις· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀναμάρτητος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀκρίβειαν ἐξεταζόμενος. 9, 29 ἐπειδὴ δέ εἰμι ἀσεβής, διὰ τί οὐκ ἀπέθανον; εἰ δὲ ὅλως ἐκρίθην εἶναι ἀσεβής, βέλτιον ἦν μοι τὸ τελευτῆσαι πρὸ τῆς ἀσεβείας. τοιοῦτον καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα, ὅτι καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος. ὡς φιλόθεος οὖν εἶπεν ὅτι· ἄμεινον ἦν μοι τελευτῆσαι ἢ ἀσεβείας κρίνεσθαι. 9, 3031 ἐὰν γὰρ ἀπολούσωμαι χιόνι καὶ ἀποκαθάρωμαι χερσὶ καθαραῖς, ἱκανῶς ἐν ῥύπῳ με ἔβαψας. ἐβδελύξατο δέ με ἡ στολή. ἔθος ἦν τοῖς παλαιοῖς λουτροῖς ἀποκαθαίρειν τοὺς μολυσμούς. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πάλιν ἔθος ἦν· ἔνθα ἠβούλοντο δεῖξαι, ὡς οὐκ ἐκοινώνησαν τῇδε τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀπενίπτοντο τὰς χεῖρας λέγοντες· ἀθῶός εἰμι ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος τούτου, ὡς καὶ ὁ Πιλᾶτος ἐπὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος πε 99 ποίηκεν. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ ἔψαλλε λέγων· νίψομαι ἐν ἀθώοις τὰς χεῖράς μου. τοῦτο οὖν λέγει ὅτι· ὅπως ἐὰν ὦ καθαρός, οἱ ἀκριβεῖς οὗτοι ἐλεγμοὶ καὶ αἱ ἐπαχθεῖσαι τιμωρίαι ἐκ τῆς προλήψεως ἐρρυπωμένον με καὶ ἀκάθαρτον ἀποδεικνύουσιν, ὡς καὶ τὸν ἁπτόμενον τῶν ἱματίων μου δοκεῖν μολύνεσθαι, ἑκάστου διὰ πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν ταῦτα με πάσχειν ὑπολαμβάνοντος. ταῦτα δέ φησι διὰ τὸ τοὺς αὐτοῦ φίλους εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν τὰς ἐπενεχθείσας αὐτῷ βασάνους προφέρειν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἡ πρόληψις ἡ διὰ τῶν