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his sin shall be sought; and it shall not be found because of itself." for because it is without substance, it is not found; for evil is not a substance, but having been begotten in choice, it has its being. Again, when the error has ceased, evil departs with it. But at any rate, concerning evil in general it is said: "and iniquity has lied to itself." For just as we often say that the earth fails its own good resource, so also evil is said to lie to itself, no longer being... when "every pain and sorrow and groaning flees away...". But the regimen of punishment is consumed as it is being completed. "May their sons be far from salvation. And may they be humbled at the gates of their inferiors, and there shall be none to deliver them." He prays for a certain discipline to come upon 116 the arrogant, so that pleasant things and human goods might depart from them, which things he called "salvation"; for thus some toil will befall them. And he says: "may they be humbled," may they be made of no account, being humbled by those lesser, with no one being there to help. For humiliation is profitable for the proud man, first, so that for such a one there may be an inactivity of immeasurable evil, then, so that he may also be re-educated as... The word "kolabristheiesan" is derived from "kolos," which is "kolobos" (docked/stunted); for a small pig is called a "kolobron". "For what they have gathered, the just will eat." This man, although speaking it in a human way, would furnish the account well, saying that what the impious gather, the just will eat, unless something paradoxical ever seems to happen; for this is not always found to be so. But in the divine Proverbs it is said: "the wealth of the impious is stored up for the just," which again we do not necessarily accept on a historical level. But since it is said proverbially, it is consequently said that the Jews are rich, possessing the Law and the Prophets, which they did not use as they ought. But this wealth has been transferred to the nations; 117 for "the vineyard will be taken away and given to a nation that produces its fruits." "But they themselves will not be exempt from evils; may their strength be siphoned out." He says that not only is wealth taken away from the impious, but may they never be delivered from evils. And in the same way, may their power also be completely emptied, from the metaphor of things being siphoned so that no moisture is left behind; if he says these things in the manner of a curse, you should consider it together. But he knows that these things will not in every case happen to the wicked; for many have received the end of this life in a good old age. But if, having an understanding of the age to come and of punishment, he says these things, you will examine this also. What the saint says, however, concerning those who grow rich unjustly, exhorting the one who pays attention with such words: "Fear not when a man becomes rich, because at his death he will not take everything, nor will the glory of his wealth go down with him." But throughout his whole discourse, this man calls painful things evils: poverty, sickness, disgrace, dishonor. "For trouble will not come forth from the earth, nor will toil spring up from the mountains, 118 but man is born to toil, and the young of vultures fly high." Wishing to show that the curses which he uttered against the impious, or which he said would follow them, he uttered reasonably, he says: For it is characteristic of humans to fall into afflictions, and not of inanimate things. But the saying can also be consolatory, as it is also the custom for many to say that: you have not suffered outside of human nature; for we have our life in toil. And our very birth happens with toil and hardship, with those who give birth enduring countless things and those who are born living in distress. But if you are able to insert the account about the man blind from birth into this, consider it together. For concerning him, "his disciples asked Jesus: did this man sin or his parents, that he was born blind?". "'But the young of vultures fly high'" is similar to saying that affliction does not touch inanimate things. And the young of vultures, he says, in the height

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ζητηθήσεται ἡ ἁμα̣ρ̣τία αὐτοῦ· καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρ̣εθῇ δι̣' αὑτήν." διὰ γὰρ το`̣ ἀνυπόστατος εἶναι οὐχ εὑρίσκεται· οὐ γα`̣ρ οὐσία̣ ε᾿̣σ̣τ̣ι`̣ν̣ ἡ κακία, ἀλλ' ἐν προαιρέσε̣ι̣ γ̣ε̣γ̣ε̣ν̣νημένη ἔχει τὸ εἶναι. πάλιν παυσαμένης τῆς πλάν̣ης κ̣α̣ι`̣ η῾̣ κ̣α̣κία συναπέρχεται. α᾿̣λλὰ γοῦν̣ περὶ τῆς καθόλου κακίας εἴρηται· "καὶ ἐψεύσατο ἡ ἀδικία ἑαυτήν." ὥσπερ γὰρ λέγομεν πολλάκις ψεύδεσθαι πόρον̣ τὴν γῆν τὸν̣ οἰκεῖον καὶ τὸν ἀγαθ̣όν, οὕτως κα̣ι`̣ ἡ κακία ψεύδεσθαι λέγεται αὑτὴν μηκέτι ἐξα····· ··· γινομένης, ὅταν "ἀποδρᾷ ···· πᾶσα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στ̣ε̣ναγμός". βιβρώσκεται δὲ ἡ δίαι̣τα τῆς κολάσεως ἐπιτελουμε´̣νης. "πόρρω γένοιντο οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν ἀπὸ σωτηρίας. κολαβρισθει´̣ησαν δὲ ἐπὶ θύραις η῾̣σσόνων καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος." παίδευσίν τινα ἐπεύχεται γενέσθαι̣ 116 τοῖς ἀλάζοσιν, ἵνα τὰ ἡδέα καὶ τὰ ἀν θρώπινα ἀγαθὰ ἀποστῇ αὐτῶν, ἅπερ "σωτηρίαν" ἐκάλεσεν· οὕτω γὰρ συμβήσεταί τις αὐτοῖς πόνος. λέγει δέ· "κολαβρισθείησαν", εὐτελισθείησαν ὑπὸ ἐλαττόνων ταπεινούμενοι μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ βοηθοῦντος. συμφέρει γὰρ τῶι ὑπερηφάνωι ταπείνωσις, πρῶτον μέν, ἵνα τοιούτῳ ἀργία τῆς ἀμέτρου κακίας γένηται, ἔπειτα, ὅπως καὶ ὡς̣ ·····αι μεταπαιδευθῇ. τὸ δὲ κολαβρισθείησαν παρῆκται ἀπὸ τ̣οῦ κόλου, ὅ ἐστιν̣ κολοβοῦ· λέγεται γὰρ κ̣όλοβρον τὸν μικρὸν εἰ῀̣ν̣αι χοῖρον. "ἃ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι συνήγαγον, δίκαιοι ἔδονται." οὑ῀̣τος καίτοι ἀνθρωπίνως αὐτὸ λέγων εὖ παρε´̣χοι τὸν ἀπολογισμὸν φάσκων, ὡς ἅπερ οἱ ἀσεβεῖς συνάγουσιν, οἱ δίκαιοι φάγονται, εἰ μὴ φαίνεταί ποτέ τι συμβαῖνον παράδοξον· οὐδὲ γὰρ πάντως τοῦτο οὕτως ἔχον εὑρίσκεται. ἐν δὲ ταῖς θείαις Παροιμίαις λέγεται· "θησαυρίζεται δικαίοις πλοῦτος ἀσεβῶν", ὅπερ πάλιν οὐκ ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ ἱστορίας δεχόμεθα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ παροιμιωδῶς εἴρηται, ἀκολούθως λέγονται πλουτοῦν Ἰουδαῖοι νόμον τε καὶ προφήτας ἔχοντες, οἷς οὐκ ἐχρήσαντο δεόντως. οὗτος ὁ πλ̣ο̣ῦτος δ' ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη μετέστη· 117 "ἀρθήσεται" γὰρ ὁ ἀμπελὼν "καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτοῦ". "αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐκ κακῶν οὐκ ἐξαίρετοι ἔσονται, ἐκ̣σιφ̣ω̣νισθείη αὐτῶν ἡ ἰσχύς." λέγει, ὅτι οὐ μόνον προσαφαιροῦνται τὸν πλοῦτον οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, ἀλλὰ ἐκ κακῶν οὐδέποτε ἐξαιρεθείησαν. τῶν δ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ δύνα̣μις αὐτῶν παντελῶς κενωθείη, ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῶν σιφωνιζομένων πρὸς τὸ μη̣δὲν ἔτι υ῾̣γρὸν ὑπολείπεσθαι· ταῦτα μὲν ε̣ι᾿̣ ἀρατικῶς λέγει, σ̣υνεπίσκεψαι. οἶδε δέ, ὅτι συμβήσεται ταῦτα τοῖς φαύλοις οὐ πάντως· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐν εὐγηρίᾳ τέλος τοῦ ζῆν τούτου ἐδέξαντο. εἰ δὲ καὶ διάλημψιν ἔχων μέλλοντος αἰῶνος καὶ κολάσεως ταῦτα λέγει, ἐπισκέψει καὶ τοῦτο. ἃ μέντοι ὁ ἅγιος περὶ τῶν πλουτούντων ἀδίκως τοιάδε παραινῶν τὸν προσέχοντά φησιν· "μὴ φοβοῦ ὅταν πλουτ̣η´̣σ̣ῃ̣ ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῶι ἀποθνῄσκειν αὐτὸν λήμψεται τὰ πάντα οὐδὲ συνκαταλαβήσεται αυ᾿̣τῷ ἡ δόξα τοῦ πλούτου αὐτοῦ." δι' ὅλου δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἑαυτοῦ οὗτος κακὰ λέγει τὰ ἐπίπονα· πενίαν, νόσον, ἀδοξίαν, ἀτιμίαν. "οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τῆς γῆς κόπος, οὐδὲ ἐξ ὀρέων ἀναβλαστήσει 118 πόνος, ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπος γεννᾶται πόνῳ, νεοσσοὶ δὲ γυπῶν τὰ ὑψηλὰ πέτ̣ον̣τα̣ι." τὰς ἀρὰς ἃς ἐπηράσατο κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἢ ἃς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἕπεσθαι δεῖξαι βουλόμενος, ὅτι εὐλόγως ἐποιήσατο, φησίν· ἀνθρώπων γάρ ἐστιν τὸ περιπίπτειν θλιβηροῖς καὶ οὐκ ἀψύχων. δύναται δὲ καὶ ὡς παρακλητικὸς εἶναι ὁ λόγος, ὡς καὶ ἔθος ἐστὶν λέγειν τοῖς πολλοῖς ὅτι· οὐκ ἔξω τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης πέπονθας φύσεως· καὶ γὰρ ἐν πόνῳ τὸ ζῆν ἔχομεν. καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ γεννηθῆναι ἡμᾶς πόνωι καὶ κακοπαθείᾳ γίνεται, καὶ τῶν γεννώντων μυρία ὅσα ὑφισταμένων καὶ τῶν γεννωμένων ἐν μόχθῳ διαγόντων. εἰ δὲ δύνασαι παρεμβάλλειν τὸν περὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ γέννης τυφλοῦ λόγον τούτωι, συνεπίσκεψαι. περὶ γὰρ ἐκείνου "ἠρώτησαν τὸν Ἰησοῦν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· οὗτος ἥμαρτεν ἢ οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἵνα τυφλὸς γεννηθῇ;". "νεοσσοὶ δὲ γυπῶν τὰ ὑψηλὰ πέτονται" ὅμοιον τῷ λέγειν, ὅτι ἀψύχων οὐχ ἅπτεται κάκωσις. καὶ νεοττοὶ δὲ γυπῶν, φησίν, ἐν ὕψει