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Abraham said to him: A great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass from there to us cannot, nor can those from here cross over to there. And we have shown through many of the things that have been said that, after the loving-kindness of God, one must place the hopes of salvation in one’s own right actions, not counting up fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers, nor relatives and friends and family and neighbors; For a brother does not redeem; shall a man redeem? But however much those who have departed from here with sins may entreat and supplicate, from then on they will say everything in vain and to no purpose. For the five virgins asked their companions for oil, and did not obtain it; and the one who hid the talent in the ground, though making many excuses, was again condemned; and those who did not feed him when he was hungry, nor give him drink when he was thirsty, they too thinking to take refuge in ignorance, not even they obtained pardon or a defense. And others were not even able to say anything, like that one who was clothed in filthy garments; for when he was accused, he was silent. And not only this one, but also another who bore a grudge against his neighbor, and demanded a hundred denarii, then being accused by his master for these very things, for cruelty and inhumanity, had nothing to say. Whence it is clear that nothing will help us there, if we do not have good works; but whether we supplicate and entreat, or are silent, the things of punishment and vengeance will come upon us all the same. Hear, then, how this man too, having made two requests of Abraham, failed in both. For at first he made his supplication for himself, saying, Send Lazarus; but later not for himself anymore, but for his brothers; but he accomplished no request. For the first was impossible, and the second, for his brothers, was superfluous. But nevertheless, if you please, let us hear the words themselves with much earnestness. For if a ruler brings a condemned man into the middle of the marketplace, and has executioners stand around, and flogs the guilty one, all run together with much eagerness, wishing to hear what the 48.1008 judge asks, and what the condemned man answers; how much more here must we listen with precision to what this condemned man, the rich man I mean, asks, and what the righteous judge answers through Abraham. For the patriarch was not the one judging, even though he himself spoke; but just as in these external courts, when there are some guilty robbers and murderers, the laws, having set them far from the sight of the judge, do not permit them to hear the voice of the one judging, in this way, along with the other things, dishonoring them, but some intermediary serves the questions of the judge and the answers of the judged; so indeed it also happened then. The condemned man did not hear God speaking to him, but Abraham was the intermediary, ministering the things from the judge to the one being judged. For he was not speaking what he spoke on his own authority, but was reading divine laws to him, and was speaking the decisions brought down from above. Therefore this man could not even speak against it. 2. Let us, therefore, pay close attention to what is said. For I am intentionally dwelling on this parable, and though it is the fourth day, I do not depart from it, since I see that great profit comes from this narrative both for the rich and for the poor, and for those who are troubled over the prosperity of the wicked and the poverty and affliction of the righteous. For nothing is so accustomed to scandalize and disturb the many as seeing rich men living in wickedness enjoying much prosperity, and righteous men living with virtue driven to extreme poverty, and enduring countless other things more difficult than poverty. But this parable is sufficient to provide the remedies, disciplining the rich and comforting the poor; teaching the former not to be high-minded, and comforting the poor in their present circumstances; persuading the former not to boast, when

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εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Ἀβραάμ· Χάος μέγα ἐστήρικται μεταξὺ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν, ὅπως οἱ θέλοντες διαβῆναι ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, μὴ δύνωνται, μηδὲ οἱ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκεῖ διαπερῶσι. Καὶ ἐδείκνυμεν διὰ πολλῶν τῶν εἰρημένων, ὡς ὅτι μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν, ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις κατορθώμασι τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας ἔχειν χρὴ, μὴ πατέρας καὶ πάππους καὶ ἐπιπάππους ἀριθμοῦντας, μηδὲ συγγενεῖς καὶ φίλους καὶ οἰκείους καὶ γείτονας· Ἀδελφὸς γὰρ οὐ λυτροῦται· λυτρώσεται ἄνθρωπος; Ἀλλ' ὅσα ἂν παρακαλέσωσι καὶ καθικετεύσωσιν οἱ μετὰ ἁμαρτημάτων ἐντεῦθεν ἀπελθόντες, πάντα εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην λοιπὸν ἐροῦσι. Καὶ γὰρ αἱ παρθένοι αἱ πέντε παρεκάλεσαν τὰς ὁμήλικας ὑπὲρ ἐλαίου, καὶ οὐκ ἐπέτυχον· καὶ ὁ τὸ τάλαντον κατακρύψας τὸ ἐν τῇ γῇ, πολλὰ ἀπολογησάμενος, κατεκρίθη πάλιν· καὶ οἱ μὴ θρέψαντες αὐτὸν πεινῶντα, μηδὲ ποτίσαντες διψῶντα, καὶ αὐτοὶ δοκοῦντες εἰς ἄγνοιαν καταφεύγειν, οὐδ' ἐκεῖνοι συγγνώμης καὶ ἀπολογίας ἔτυχον. Ἕτεροι δὲ οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν τι ἴσχυσαν, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ὁ τὰ ῥυπαρὰ ἐνδεδυμένος ἱμάτια· ἐγκαλούμενος γὰρ ἐσίγα. Οὐχ οὗτος δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλος τῷ πλησίον μνησικακήσας, καὶ ἑκατὸν ἀπαιτήσας δηνάρια, εἶτα ὑπὲρ τούτων αὐτῶν παρὰ τοῦ δεσπότου ἐγκαλούμενος ἐπὶ ὠμότητι καὶ ἀπανθρωπίᾳ, οὐδὲν ἔσχεν εἰπεῖν. Ὅθεν δῆλον, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἡμῶν ἐκεῖ προστήσεται, ἐὰν ἔργα μὴ ἔχωμεν ἀγαθά· ἀλλ' ἄν τε καθικετεύωμεν καὶ παρακαλῶμεν, ἄν τε σιγῶμεν, ὁμοίως ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἥξει τὰ τῆς κολάσεως καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας. Ἄκουσον γοῦν πῶς καὶ οὗτος αἰτήσας αἰτήσεις δύο τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ἀμφοτέρων ἀπέτυχε. Πρότερον μὲν γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἱκετηρίαν ἐποιεῖτο λέγων, Πέμψον Λάζαρον· ὕστερον δὲ οὐκ ἔτι ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν· ἀλλὰ οὐδεμίαν ἤνυσεν αἴτησιν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἦν ἀδύνατος ἡ προτέρα, ἡ δευτέρα δὲ περιττὴ ἡ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ αὐτῶν ἀκούσωμεν τῶν ῥημάτων μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σπουδῆς. Εἰ γὰρ ἄρχοντος ἐν ἀγορᾷ μέσῃ κατάδικον ἀγαγόντος, καὶ δημίους περιστήσαντος, καὶ καταξαίνοντος τὸν ὑπεύθυνον, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς προθυμίας συντρέχουσιν ἅπαντες ἀκοῦσαι βουλόμενοι, τί μὲν ὁ 48.1008 δικαστὴς ἐρωτᾷ, τί δὲ ὁ κατάδικος ἀποκρίνεται· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐνταῦθα μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἀκούειν χρὴ, τί μὲν ὁ κατάδικος οὗτος, ὁ πλούσιος λέγω, ἀξιοῖ, τί δὲ ὁ δίκαιος δικαστὴς ἀποκρίνεται διὰ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ πατριάρχης ἦν ὁ δικάζων, εἰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφθέγγετο· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν δικαστηρίων τούτων, ὅταν ὦσί τινες ὑπεύθυνοι λῃσταὶ καὶ ἀνδροφόνοι, πόῤῥω τῆς ὄψεως τοῦ δικάζοντος ἀποστήσαντες τούτους οἱ νόμοι, τῆς τοῦ κρίνοντος οὐκ ἐπιτρέπουσιν ἀκοῦσαι φωνῆς, κἂν τούτῳ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτοὺς ἀτιμάζοντες, ἀλλὰ μέσος τις διακονεῖ ταῖς ἐρωτήσεσι τοῦ δικάζοντος, καὶ ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσι τῶν δικαζομένων· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τότε ἐγίνετο. Οὐ τοῦ Θεοῦ φθεγγομένου πρὸς αὐτὸν ἤκουεν ὁ κατάδικος, ἀλλὰ μέσος ἦν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ, τὰ παρὰ τοῦ δικάζοντος διακονούμενος τῷ δικαζομένῳ. Οὐ γὰρ οἴκοθεν ἔλεγεν ἅπερ ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ θείους ἀνεγίνωσκε νόμους αὐτῷ, καὶ τὰς ἄνωθεν φερομένας ἔλεγεν ἀποφάσεις. ∆ιόπερ οὗτος οὐδὲ ἀντιλέγειν εἶχε. βʹ. Προσέχωμεν τοίνυν μετὰ ἀκριβείας τοῖς λεγομένοις. Καὶ γὰρ ἐπίτηδες ἐνδιατρίβω ταύτῃ τῇ παραβολῇ, καὶ τετάρτην ἡμέραν ἔχων, ταύτης οὐκ ἀφίσταμαι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πολὺ τὸ κέρδος ἐκ τούτου τοῦ διηγήματος ὁρῶ γινόμενον καὶ πλουσίοις καὶ πένησι, καὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πονηρῶν εὐπραγίας καὶ τῆς τῶν δικαίων πενίας καὶ θλίψεως θορυβουμένοις. Καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτω τοὺς πολλοὺς σκανδαλίζειν εἴωθε καὶ ταράττειν, ὡς τὸ πλουσίους ἐν πονηρίᾳ ζῶντας εὐημερίας ἀπολαύειν πολλῆς, καὶ δικαίους μετὰ ἀρετῆς ζῶντας πρὸς ἐσχάτην ἐλαύνεσθαι πενίαν, καὶ ἕτερα μυρία τῆς πενίας ὑπομένειν χαλεπώτερα πράγματα. Ἀλλὰ αὕτη ἱκανὴ ἡ παραβολὴ παρασχεῖν τὰ φάρμακα, τοὺς μὲν πλουτοῦντας σωφρονίζουσα, τοὺς δὲ πένητας παραμυθουμένη· ἐκείνους μὲν παιδεύουσα μὴ μέγα φρονεῖν, τοὺς δὲ πένητας παραμυθουμένη ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι· κἀκείνους μὲν μὴ μεγαλαυχεῖν πείθουσα, ὅταν