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beauty, not about the reading. For they have not acquired them for the sake of benefit or profit, but making a show of wealth and ambition, they have been zealous about these things. So great is the excess of vainglory. For I hear of no one being ambitious because he knows the contents, but because he has them inscribed in golden letters. That eunuch, though a barbarian and occupied with countless cares, not knowing what he was reading, nevertheless was reading while sitting in his chariot. If he showed such diligence on the road, 63.612 consider how much while spending time at home; if he could not bear the time of the journey to remain without reading, how much more so while sitting in his house; if knowing nothing of what he was reading he did not desist from reading. much more so after learning. For just as being hungry is a sign of bodily well-being, so also to be zealous about the hearing of the divine oracles, one might make the greatest proof of health in the soul. For why is it that we often raise certain questions for you, but do not supply their solution? Accustoming you not always to receive your food pre-chewed, but in many cases to supply the solution of the meaning yourselves; which is what doves do. For they too, as long as the young stay in the nest, feed them with their own mouth; but when they are able to bring them out of the nest, and see that their wings have grown strong, they no longer do this, but they bring the grain on their mouth and show it; and when the young birds, in expectation, come near, the mothers drop the food on the ground, and bid them to pick it up for themselves. So we also do, taking the spiritual food on our mouth, we call you, as if to declare the solution to you as usual; but when you approach and expect to receive it, we let go of the words, so that you may take up the meanings for yourselves. And just as cithara players, taking the fingers of their students, gently bring them to the notes, and train them to touch the strings with skill, teaching them to produce from speechless fingers and strings a sound more pleasant and sweet than any voice; so indeed we also do. For just as in the case of the cithara, the skilled player touches the strings, and the unskilled also touches them; and the one grieves the listener, but the other entertains and delights; and yet the fingers are the same and the strings are the same, but the skill is not the same; so indeed also in the case of the divine Scriptures; many go through the divine oracles, but not all profit, nor do all bear fruit; and the reason is, because they neither delve into what is said, nor do they touch the cithara with skill. For what skill is in cithara playing, this, in the case of God's laws, is the demonstration through works. And just as for the sick it is not necessary to set out a simple and hastily prepared table, but one must prepare the foods, so that if the sick person does not want this, he may take the other, and if he does not accept that, he may receive another, and if he should reject this, he may take hold of the next, and by the variety we may overcome the difficulty, and by the diversity of the table we may cure the displeasure of his disposition; so also must we do in the case of the spiritual banquet, when we are weak; so that from various and many examples the choice of what is profitable may become easy for you. Do not then be burdened by the exhortation; for if anyone ought to be burdened, it ought to be I who speak often and am not heard, and not you who are always hearing, but always disobeying. Or do you not know, that those who despise divine hearing, have both lost their being as men through this contempt, and have fallen from 63.613 nobility itself? The loud-voiced Isaiah, having entered the metropolis of the Jews, the populous city, I mean Jerusalem, standing in the middle of the marketplaces, with all the people surrounding him, wishing to show that he who does not attend to the divine oracles is not a man, cried out, saying: I came, and there was no man; I called,

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κάλλος, οὐ περὶ τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν. Οὐ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ὠφελείας ἢ κέρδους τὴν κτῆσιν αὐτῶν πεποίηνται, ἀλλὰ πλούτου καὶ φιλοτιμίας ἐπίδειξιν ποιούμενοι, περὶ ταῦτα ἐσπουδάκασι. Τοσαύτη τῆς κενοδοξίας ἡ ὑπερβολή. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἀκούω φιλοτιμουμένου, ὅτι οἶδε τὰ ἐγκείμενα, ἀλλ' ὅτι χρυσοῖς ἔχει γράμμασιν ἐγγεγραμμένα. Ὁ εὐνοῦχος ἐκεῖνος βάρβαρος ὢν, καὶ μυρίαις συνεχόμενος φροντίσιν, οὐκ εἰδὼς ἅπερ ἀνεγίνωσκεν, ὅμως ἀνεγίνωσκεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀχήματος καθήμενος. Εἰ δὲ ἐν ὁδῷ τοσαύτην σπουδὴν ἐπεδείκνυτο, 63.612 ἐννόησον πόσην ἐν οἴκῳ διατρίβων· εἰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ὁδοιπορίας οὐκ ἠνείχετο χωρὶς ἀναγνώσεως μένειν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ καθήμενος· εἰ μηδὲν εἰδὼς ὧν ἀνεγίνωσκεν οὐκ ἀφίστατο τῆς ἀναγνώσεως. πολλῷ μᾶλλον μετὰ τὸ μαθεῖν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ πεινῇν σωματικῆς εὐεξίας ἐστὶ σημεῖον, οὕτω καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν τῶν θείων λογίων ἐσπουδακέναι, τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ὑγείας τεκμήριον ἄν τις μέγιστον ποιήσαιτο. Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν πολλάκις ὑμῖν ζητήματα κινοῦντές τινα, τὴν λύσιν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐπάγομεν; Ἐθίζοντες ὑμᾶς μὴ διαπαντὸς μεμασημένην δέχεσθαι τὴν τροφὴν, ἀλλὰ πολλαχοῦ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐπάγειν τὴν λύσιν τοῦ νοήματος· ὅπερ ποιοῦσιν αἱ περιστεραί. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖναι τοὺς νεοττοὺς, ἕως μὲν ἂν ἐν τῇ καλιᾷ μένωσι, τῷ οἰκείῳ τρέφουσι στόματι· ἐπειδὰν δὲ αὐτοὺς δυνηθῶσιν ἐξαγαγεῖν τῆς νοσσιᾶς, καὶ ἴδωσιν αὐτοῖς παγέντα τὰ πτερὰ, οὐκέτι τοῦτο λοιπὸν ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ φέρουσι μὲν τὸν κόκκον ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος, καὶ ἐπιδεικνύουσιν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ οἱ νεοττοὶ προσδοκήσαντες πλησίον ἔλθωσιν, αἱ μητέρες ἀφεῖσαι τὴν τροφὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους, δι' ἑαυτῶν κελεύουσιν ἀναλέγεσθαι. Οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιοῦμεν, λαμβάνοντες τὴν πνευματικὴν τροφὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος, καλοῦμεν ὑμᾶς, ὡς δηλώσοντες ὑμῖν συνήθως τὴν λύσιν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ προσέλθητε καὶ προσδοκήσητε δέξασθαι, ἀφίεμεν ῥήματα, ὥστε ὑμᾶς δι' ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναδέξασθαι τὰ νοήματα. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ κιθαρῳδοὶ τοὺς δακτύλους τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτῶν λαμβάνοντες, ἡρέμα τοῖς φθόγγοις προσάγουσι, καὶ διαψηλαφᾷν μετ' ἐμπειρίας παιδεύουσι, διδάσκοντες ἐκ τῶν ἀφώνων δακτύλων τε καὶ νεύρων πάσης φωνῆς ἡδεῖάν τε καὶ γλυκυτέραν κατασκευάζειν φωνήν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιοῦμεν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς κιθάρας ἅπτεται μὲν ὁ τεχνίτης τῶν νευρῶν, ἅπτεται δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄτεχνος· καὶ ὁ μὲν λυπεῖ τὸν ἀκροατὴν, ὁ δὲ ψυχαγωγεῖ καὶ τέρπει· καίτοι γε οἱ αὐτοὶ δάκτυλοι καὶ αἱ αὐταὶ νευραὶ, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ ἐμπειρία· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν· ἐπέρχονται μὲν πολλοὶ τὰ θεῖα λόγια, ἀλλ' οὐ πάντες κερδαίνουσιν, οὐδὲ καρποῦνται πάντες· τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, ἐπειδὴ οὔτε τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐμβαθύνουσιν, οὔτε μετὰ τέχνης τῆς κιθάρας ἅπτονται. Ὃ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς κιθαρωδίας ἡ τέχνη, τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμων ἡ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπίδειξις. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀῤῥωστούντων οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον σύντομον καὶ ἐσχεδιασμένην παραθεῖναι τράπεζαν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ παρασκευάσαι τὰ σιτία, ἵνα, ἂν τοῦτο ὁ κάμνων μὴ βουληθῇ, τὸ ἕτερον λάβῃ, κἂν ἐκεῖνο μὴ προσίηται, τὸ ἄλλο δέξηται, κἂν τοῦτο διακρούσηται, ἐπιλάβηται θατέρου, καὶ τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τὴν δυσκολίαν νικήσωμεν, καὶ τῷ πολυτρόπῳ τῆς τραπέζης τὸ δυσάρεστον τῆς γνώμης θεραπεύσωμεν· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πνευματικῆς ἑστιάσεως χρὴ ποιεῖν, ὅταν ἀσθενεῖς ὦμεν· ἵνα ἐκ ποικίλων καὶ πολλῶν παραδειγμάτων ῥᾳδία γένηται ὑμῖν τῶν συμφερόντων ἡ αἵρεσις. Μὴ δὴ βαρύνεσθε τὴν παραίνεσιν· εἰ γὰρ βαρύνεσθαι ἔδει, ἐμὲ ἔδει τὸν πολλάκις λέγοντα καὶ οὐκ ἀκουόμενον, οὐχὶ δὲ ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἀεὶ μὲν ἀκούοντας, ἀεὶ δὲ παρακούοντας. Ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε, ὅτι οἱ θείας ἀκροάσεως ὑπερορῶντες, καὶ τὸ εἶναι ἄνθρωποι διὰ τῆς ὑπεροψίας ταύτης ἀπώλεσαν, καὶ τῆς 63.613 εὐγενείας αὐτῆς ἐξέπεσον; Ὁ μεγαλοφωνότατος Ἡσαΐας, εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν μητρόπολιν εἰσελθὼν τὴν πολυάνθρωπον, τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα λέγω, ἐν μέσαις ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ἑστὼς, τοῦ δήμου παντὸς αὐτὸν περιεστῶτος, βουλόμενος δεῖξαι, ὅτι ὁ μὴ τοῖς θείοις προσέχων λογίοις, οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος, ἐβόα λέγων· Ἦλθον, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἄνθρωπος· ἐκάλεσα,