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those who act wickedly may not pay the penalty here, since a most harsh punishment will meet them there; and exhorting these not to be troubled by the good fortunes of others, nor to think that our affairs are without providence, when a just man suffers evil here, while a wicked and defiled man enjoys continuous prosperity. For both will receive their due there: the one, the crowns for his patience and endurance; the other, the punishments and penalties for his wickedness. Inscribe this parable, both rich and poor: rich men, on the walls of your house, and poor men, on the walls of your mind; and if it should ever be erased when forgetfulness occurs, re-inscribe it again from above through memory. Rather, you rich men too, before your house, write it in your mind, and carry it about continually, and it will be a school for you and the subject of all philosophy. For if we have this continually inscribed in our mind, neither the joys of this present life will be able to puff us up, nor its sorrows to humble and cast us down; but as we do toward paintings on the walls, so will we be disposed toward both of these. For just as, when we see a rich man and a poor man painted on the walls, we neither envy the former, nor despise the poor man, because what is seen 48.1009 is a shadow and not the reality of things; so too if we should understand the nature of wealth and poverty, of glory and dishonor, and of all other things both somber and bright, we shall be freed from the imbalance that arises in us from each of these. For all these things are more deceptive than a shadow, and for the lofty and noble man, nothing among the splendid and glorious things will be able to lift him up, nor will anything among the humble and rejected things be able to cast him down. But it is now time for us to hear also the words of the rich man. I ask you, he says, father, that is, I beseech, I beg, I entreat, that you would send Lazarus to my father's house; for I have five brothers; that he may testify to them, so that they may not come to this place of torment. Since he failed in what concerned himself, he makes his supplication on behalf of others. See how loving toward man and gentle he has become by his punishment. For he who despised Lazarus when he was present, cares for others who are absent; he who passed by the one lying before his eyes, remembers those who are not seen, and deems it worthy of much honor and zeal, that some provision be made for them for deliverance from the evils that will befall them. And he begs for Lazarus to be sent to his father's house, where the wrestling-ground was for him, and the stadium of virtue was opened. Let them see him being crowned, he says, they who saw him contending; they who were witnesses of his poverty and hunger and countless evils, let them become witnesses of the honor, of the change, of all the glory, so that, having been taught and learned from both sides that our affairs do not stop with the present life, they may so prepare themselves as to be able to escape this punishment and torment. What then does Abraham say? They have Moses and the prophets, he says; let them hear them. Not so, he says, do you care for your brothers as God who made them. He has set over them countless teachers exhorting, counseling, admonishing. What then does he say again? No, he says, father Abraham, but if someone goes from the dead, they will believe him. These are indeed the words of the many. Where now are those who say, Who came from there? who rose from the dead? who told of the things in Hades? How many such and so great things did that rich man say to himself, when he was living in luxury? For he did not simply ask for someone to rise from the dead; but because, on hearing the Scriptures, he despised and mocked them, he thought what was said were myths; therefore from what he himself was suffering, he thought the same about his brothers. They too, he says, are suspicious in this way; but if someone goes from the dead, they will not disbelieve him, they will not mock, but rather will pay attention to what is said. What then does Abraham say? If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither if someone should rise from the dead,

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πονηρευόμενοι μὴ δῶσιν ἐνταῦθα δίκην, ὡς χαλεπωτάτης ἀπαντησομένης αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖ τῆς τιμωρίας· τούτους δὲ παρακαλοῦσα, μὴ ταῖς ἑτέρων εὐπραγίαις θορυβεῖσθαι, μηδὲ νομίζειν ἀπρονόητα εἶναι τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς, ὅταν δίκαιος μὲν ἐνταῦθα πάσχῃ κακῶς, πονηρὸς δὲ καὶ μιαρὸς ἄνθρωπος εὐημερίας ἀπολαύῃ διηνεκοῦς. Ἀμφότεροι γὰρ τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἀπολήψονται ἐκεῖ, ὁ μὲν τοὺς στεφάνους τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ τῆς καρτερίας, ὁ δὲ τὰς κολάσεις καὶ τὰς τιμωρίας τῆς πονηρίας. Ταύτην τὴν παραβολὴν ἐγγράψατε καὶ πλούσιοι καὶ πένητες· πλούσιοι ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις τῆς ὑμετέρας οἰκίας, πένητες δὲ ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις τῆς διανοίας· κἂν ἐξαλειφθῇ ποτε λήθης ἐγγινομένης, ἐπιχρίσατε πάλιν διὰ τῆς μνήμης ἄνωθεν. Μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ οἱ πλούσιοι πρὸ τῆς οἰκίας ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ διαγράψατε, καὶ συνεχῶς περιφέρετε, καὶ ἔσται διδασκαλεῖον ὑμῖν καὶ ὑπόθεσις φιλοσοφίας ἁπάσης. Ἐὰν γὰρ ταύτην διηνεκῶς ἐγγεγραμμένην ἔχωμεν ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ, οὔτε τὰ περιχαρῆ τοῦ παρόντος βίου ἡμᾶς φυσῆσαι δυνήσεται, οὔτε τὰ λυπηρὰ ταπεινῶσαι καὶ καθελεῖν· ἀλλὰ ὡς πρὸς τὰς ζωγραφίας τὰς ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις, οὕτω πρὸς ἑκάτερα ταῦτα διακεισόμεθα. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις γεγραμμένον ὁρῶντες πλούσιον καὶ πένητα, οὔτε ἐκείνῳ φθονοῦμεν, οὔτε τοῦ πένητος ὑπερορῶμεν διὰ τὸ σκιὰν ἀλλὰ μὴ πραγμάτων ἀλήθειαν εἶναι τὰ 48.1009 ὁρώμενα· οὕτω καὶ πλούτου καὶ πενίας, καὶ δόξης καὶ ἀτιμίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν τε σκυθρωπῶν καὶ φαιδρῶν τὴν φύσιν ἂν καταμάθωμεν, τῆς ἐξ ἑκάστου τούτων ἐγγινομένης ἡμῖν ἀνωμαλίας ἀπαλλαγησόμεθα. Σκιᾶς γάρ ἐστιν ἀπατηλότερα ἅπαντα ταῦτα, καὶ τὸν ὑψηλὸν καὶ γενναῖον οὐδὲν οὔτε τῶν λαμπρῶν καὶ ἐπιδόξων ἐπᾶραι, οὔτε τῶν ταπεινῶν καὶ ἀπεῤῥιμμένων συστεῖλαι δυνήσεται. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὥρα λοιπὸν ἡμῖν καὶ τῶν ῥημάτων ἀκοῦσαι τῶν τοῦ πλουσίου. Ἐρωτῶ σε, φησὶ, πάτερ, τουτέστι, παρακαλῶ, δέομαι, ἱκετεύω, ἵνα πέμψῃς εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου Λάζαρον· εἰσὶ γάρ μοι πέντε ἀδελφοί· ἵνα διαμαρτύρηται αὐτοῖς, ὅπως μὴ ἔλθωσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς βασάνου. Ἐπειδὴ τῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἀπέτυχεν, ὑπὲρ ἑτέρων ποιεῖται τὴν ἱκετηρίαν. Ὅρα πῶς φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἥμερος γέγονεν ὑπὸ τῆς κολάσεως. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ Λαζάρου καταφρονῶν παρόντος, ἑτέρων ἀπόντων φροντίζει· ὁ τὸν πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν κείμενον παρατρέχων, τῶν οὐχ ὁρωμένων μέμνηται, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀξιοῖ τῆς τιμῆς καὶ τῆς σπουδῆς, ὥστε γενέσθαι τινὰ αὐτῶν πρόνοιαν πρὸς ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν καταληψομένων αὐτοὺς κακῶν. Καὶ παρακαλεῖ πεμφθῆναι τὸν Λάζαρον εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἔνθα τὰ σκάμματα ἦν αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸ στάδιον ἀνεῴγει τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἐκεῖνοι βλεπέτωσαν αὐτὸν στεφανούμενον, φησὶν, οἱ θεασάμενοι ἀγωνισάμενον· οἱ μάρτυρες αὐτοῦ τῆς πενίας καὶ τοῦ λιμοῦ καὶ τῶν μυρίων κακῶν, γενέσθωσαν μάρτυρες τῆς τιμῆς, τῆς μεταβολῆς, τῆς δόξης ἁπάσης, ἵνα ἑκατέρωθεν παιδευθέντες καὶ μαθόντες, ὅτι οὐ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὰ ἡμέτερα στήσεται πράγματα, οὕτω παρασκευάσωνται, ὡς δυνηθῆναι ταύτην τὴν κόλασιν διαφυγεῖν καὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν. Τί οὖν ὁ Ἀβραάμ; Ἔχουσι Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, φησὶν, ἀκουσάτωσαν αὐτῶν. Οὐχ οὕτω, φησὶ, σὺ κήδῃ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου, ὡς ὁ ποιήσας αὐτοὺς Θεός. Μυρίους αὐτοῖς ἐπέστησε διδασκάλους παραινοῦντας, συμβουλεύοντας, νουθετοῦντας. Τί οὖν αὐτὸς πάλιν; Οὐχὶ, φησὶ, πάτερ Ἀβραὰμ, ἀλλὰ ἐάν τις ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἀπέλθῃ, αὐτῷ πιστεύσουσι. Ταῦτα δὴ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν ῥήματα. Ποῦ νῦν εἰσιν οἱ λέγοντες, Τίς ἦλθεν ἐκεῖθεν; τίς ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνέστη; τίς εἶπε τὰ ἐν ᾅδου; Πόσα τοιαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἶπεν ὁ πλούσιος ἐκεῖνος, ἡνίκα ἐτρύφα; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἁπλῶς παρεκάλεσεν ἀναστῆναί τινα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τῶν Γραφῶν ἀκούων κατεφρόνει, κατεγέλα, μύθους εἶναι ἐνόμιζε τὰ λεγόμενα· ἀφ' ὧν οὖν αὐτὸς ἔπασχε, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐνόμιζε. Κἀκεῖνοι, φησὶν, οὕτως ὑποπτεύουσιν· ἐὰν δέ τις ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἀπέλθῃ, οὐκ ἀπιστήσουσιν αὐτῷ, οὐ καταγελάσονται, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τοῖς λεγομένοις προσέξουσι. Τί οὖν ὁ Ἀβραάμ; Εἰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, οὐδὲ ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ,