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he was the son of God, you would have known that he who made the corruptible body to be without need for forty days and as many nights, was also able to do this forever. Why then does he hunger? In order to show that in truth he assumed a body that suffers like men. Through the first, he showed that he is God; through the second, that he is also man.

You then, who fell from the highest glory like lightning, do you dare to say to the Lord: Throw yourself down from here, to whom existing things are reckoned as not existing, and to challenge to vainglory him who is not ostentatious? and you pretend to read the scripture concerning him: For he will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone? and the rest you pretend not to know, concealing what he prophesied concerning you and your attendants: You will tread on the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the lion and the dragon? If then you are a footstool for the feet of the Lord, how do you tempt the untemptable, forgetting the lawgiver's command that you shall not put the Lord your God to the test, but you even dare, most accursed one, to appropriate the works of God and to say that the authority over them has been delivered to you; and you propose your own fall to the Lord and promise to give him what is his own, if falling on the ground he will worship you? and how did you not shudder to utter such a voice against the master, O spirit, more wicked by malevolence than all wicked spirits? Through gluttony you were defeated and through vainglory you were dishonored; through love of money and love of power you are drawn into impiety. You, O Belial, the dragon, the apostate, the crooked serpent, who fell away from God, who was separated from Christ, who was alienated from the Holy Spirit, who was cast out from the choir of angels, the insulter of the laws of God, the enemy of what is lawful, who rose up against the first-formed and caused to transgress the commandment those who had done you no wrong, who raised up the murderer Cain against Abel, who waged war against Job, you say to the Lord: If you will fall down and worship me? O, the audacity! O, the madness! a runaway slave, a slave fit for the whip, who has broken loose from the good master, to such a master, the God of all things intelligible and sensible, you say: If you will fall down and worship me? But the Lord is longsuffering and does not annihilate him who from ignorance acts so boldly, but meekly answers: Get thee hence, Satan. He did not say: Get thee behind me (for he is not able to turn back), but: Get thee hence, Satan, into those things which you have chosen; get thee hence, into those things in which you were provoked out of malice. For I know who I am and by whom I have been sent and whom it is necessary to worship. For, he says, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. I know the one, I understand the only one, from whom you have become an apostate. I am not opposed to God; I confess his preeminence, and I do not refuse to worship him, whom I know to be the cause of my birth and Lord and guardian of my substance. For I live because of the Father. These things, brothers, out of my disposition towards you I was compelled to write, exhorting for the glory of God, not being anything, but as a brother. Be subject to the bishop, to the presbyters, to the deacons. Love one another in the Lord as images of God. See to it, O men, that you love your wives as your own members. O women, as being one in union, love your own husbands. If anyone is chaste or continent, let him not be puffed up, lest he lose his reward. Do not dishonor the feasts; do not despise the forty days (for it contains an imitation of the Lord's manner of life) and do not neglect the week of the passion; fast on Wednesday and Friday, supplying the poor with the surplus. If anyone fasts on a Sunday or a Sabbath, except for the one Sabbath, he is a Christ-killer. Let your prayers be extended to the church of Antioch, from where I am also being led as a prisoner to Rome. I greet the holy bishop Polycarp, I greet the holy bishop Vitalius and the sacred presbytery and my fellow servants the deacons; for whom may I be a ransom. Further I give charge to the

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υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν, ἐγίνωσκες ἄν, ὅτι ὁ ἐν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραις καὶ ἰσαρίθμοις νυξὶν ἀνενδεὲς ποιήσας τὸ φθαρτὸν σῶμα καὶ εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ἐδύνατο τοῦτο ποιῆσαι. διὰ τί οὖν πεινᾷ; ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι κατ' ἀλήθειαν ἀνέλαβε σῶμα ὁμοιοπαθὲς ἀνθρώποις. διὰ μὲν τοῦ πρώτου ἔδειξεν, ὅτι θεός, διὰ δὲ τοῦ δευτέρου, ὅτι καὶ ἄνθρωπος.

Σὺ οὖν, ὁ ἐκπεσὼν ἐκ τῆς ὑψηλοτάτης δόξης ὡς ἀστραπή, τολμᾷς λέγειν τῷ κυρίῳ· Bάλε σεαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν κάτω, ᾧ τὰ ἐνόντα λελόγισται ὡς μὴ ὄντα, καὶ εἰς κενοδοξίαν προκαλεῖσθαι τὸν οὐκ ἐπιδεικτιῶντα; καὶ προσποιῇ τὴν γραφὴν ἀναγινώσκειν περὶ αὐτοῦ· Ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περί σου, καὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, τοῦ μὴ προσκόψαι πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου; καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ προσποιῇ ἀγνοεῖν κλέπτων, ἃ περί σου καὶ τῶν σῶν προπόλων προεφήτευσεν· Ἐπὶ ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα; Eἰ τοίνυν σὺ πάτημα τῶν ποδῶν τοῦ κυρίου, πῶς πειράζεις τὸν ἀπείραστον, ἐπιλαθόμενος τοῦ νομοθέτου παρακελευομένου, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου, ἀλλὰ καὶ τολμᾷς, ἐναγέστατε, τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔργα οἰκειοῦσθαι καί σοι παραδεδόσθαι λέγειν τὴν τούτων ἀρχήν· καὶ τὴν σὴν πτῶσιν προτείνεις τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ διδόναι τὰ αὐτοῦ αὐτῷ ἐπαγγέλλῃ, ἐὰν πεσὼν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς προσκυνήσῃ σοι; καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἔφριξας τοιαύτην φωνὴν κατὰ τοῦ δεσπότου προήκασθαι, ὦ πάντων πονηρῶν πνευμάτων πονηρότερον ἐκ κακονοίας πνεῦμα; διὰ γαστρὸς ἡττήθης καὶ διὰ κενοδοξίας ἠτιμάσθης, διὰ φιλοχρηματίας καὶ φιλαρχίας εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἐφέλκῃ. σὺ ὁ Bελίαρ, ὁ δράκων, ὁ ἀποστάτης, ὁ σκολιὸς ὄφις, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποστάς, ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χωρισθείς, ὁ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἀλλοτριωθείς, ὁ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐξωσθείς, ὁ τῶν νόμων τοῦ θεοῦ ὑβριστής, ὁ τῶν νομίμων ἐχθρός, ὁ τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις ἐπαναστὰς καὶ τῆς ἐντολῆς κινήσας τοὺς οὐδὲν ἀδικήσαντάς σε, ὁ τῷ Ἄβελ ἐπαναστήσας τὸν ἀνθρωποκτόνον Kάϊν, ὁ τῷ Ἰὼβ ἐπιστρατεύσας, λέγεις τῷ κυρίῳ· Ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι; ὢ τῆς τόλμης, ὢ τῆς παραπληξίας· δοῦλος δραπέτης, δοῦλος μαστιγίας, ἀφηνιάσας τοῦ καλοῦ δεσπότου, δεσπότῃ τηλικούτῳ, θεῷ πάντων τῶν νοητῶν καὶ αἰσθητῶν λέγεις· Ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι; Ὁ δὲ κύριος μακροθυμεῖ καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν ἀναιρεῖ τὸν ἀπὸ ἀγνοίας τοιαῦτα θρασυνόμενον, ἀλλὰ πράως ἀποκρίνεται· Ὕπαγε σατανᾶ. οὐκ εἶπεν· Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου (οὐ γὰρ ὑποστρέψαι οἷός τε), ἀλλ'· Ὕπαγε σατανᾶ, ἐν οἷς ἐπελέξω· ὕπαγε, ἐν οἷς ἠρεθίσθης ἐκ κακονοίας· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὅστις εἰμὶ γινώσκω καὶ ὑπὸ τίνος ἀπέσταλμαι καὶ ὃν χρὴ προσκυνεῖν ἐπίσταμαι. κύριον γάρ, φησίν, τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. οἶδα τὸν ἕνα, ἐπίσταμαι τὸν μόνον, οὗ σὺ ἀποστάτης γέγονας. οὔκ εἰμι ἀντίθεος, ὁμολογῶ τὴν ὑπεροχήν, καὶ οὐ παραιτοῦμαι προσκυνεῖν ἐκείνῳ, ὃν ἐπίσταμαι τὸν τῆς ἐμῆς γεννήσεως αἴτιον καὶ κύριον καὶ ὑποστάσεως φύλακα· ἐγὼ γὰρ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα. Tαῦτα, ἀδελφοί, ἀπὸ διαθέσεως τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἠναγκάσθην ἐπιστεῖλαι εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ παραινῶν, οὐκ ὤν τι, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀδελφός. ὑποτάσσεσθε τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις, τοῖς διακόνοις· ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους ἐν κυρίῳ ὡς θεοῦ ἀγάλματα. ὁρᾶτε οἱ ἄνδρες, ὡς ἴδια μέλη τὰς γαμετὰς στέργετε· αἱ γυναῖκες, ὡς ἓν οὖσαι τῇ συναφείᾳ, στέργετε τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἄνδρας. εἴ τις ἁγνεύει ἢ ἐγκρατεύεται, μὴ ἐπαιρέσθω, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθόν. τὰς ἑορτὰς μὴ ἀτιμάζετε· τὴν τεσσαρακοστὴν μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε (μίμησιν γὰρ περιέχει τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πολιτείας) καὶ τὴν τοῦ πάθους ἑβδομάδα μὴ παρορᾶτε· τετράδα καὶ παρασκευὴν νηστεύετε, πένησιν ἐπιχορηγοῦντες τὴν περισσείαν. εἴ τις κυριακὴν ἢ σάββατον νηστεύει πλὴν ἑνὸς σαββάτου, οὗτος χριστοκτόνος ἐστίν. Aἱ προσευχαὶ ὑμῶν ἐκταθείησαν εἰς τὴν Ἀντιοχείας ἐκκλησίαν, ὅθεν καὶ δέσμιος ἀπάγομαι εἰς Ῥώμην. ἀσπάζομαι τὸν ἅγιον ἐπίσκοπον Πολύκαρπον, ἀσπάζομαι τὸν ἅγιον ἐπίσκοπον Bιτάλιον καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν πρεσβυτέριον καὶ τοὺς συνδούλους μου τοὺς διακόνους· ὧν ἐγὼ ἀντίψυχον γενοίμην. ἔτι συντάσσομαι τῷ