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he is in danger of falling into heresies, and he confuses the face of his own teaching, and the souls of those who hear. And he will strengthen forces, that is, he makes those who contradict him stronger; for through the things in which one misses the mark concerning the word, those who are opposed to his teaching become more dominant. But the one who is courageous in word and deed, who utters his word with wisdom, has something extra, which is not to be in danger when splitting the wood. For the one who is powerful in word, and has a nimble tongue, but is sophistical, and has not been enriched with divine wisdom, when the iron slips, will be in danger in the cutting of the aforementioned wood. "But if a serpent bites without a whisper, there is no advantage for the enchanter." He who sins secretly and not with a voice, that is, with boldness, either in deeds, or who embraces a dogma of impiety, since he has not been openly shameless, is able to receive correction. And the teacher does not labor in vain, charming him with the things of salvation. Or also thus: If the serpent of sin bites without a whisper, that is, when the sinner is unwilling to come to confession, attempting to charm will in no way benefit the one unwilling to confess and repent. "The words of a wise man's mouth are grace; but the lips of a fool will swallow him up. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is wicked madness; and the fool multiplies words." Paul, wanting those being taught to be wise, said, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt. For the word of the wise man is neither harsh and useless, nor loose and dissolute; but is also gra 93.601 cious, and astringent, and does not allow those being taught to stray; but the lips of the fool, that is, his words, become for him agents of death. For he harms both his own soul, and those who are persuaded. For 'swallowing up' refers to punishment, as in, 'Swallow them up, O Lord, and divide their tongues.' And the fool, beginning from the words of foolishness, and being carried about by his own foolishness, then has a wicked word. But the fool also, he says, multiplies words; that is, he babbles in vain, whether he speaks much or little. For 'multitude' here is used for 'babbling'; and even if he says little, he who says nothing good is babbling. And if he seems to say something useful, having no deeds that agree with his words, even so he babbles, knowing neither what he says nor about what things he is making assertions. For he who speaks must first do, and then teach. Therefore, 'multiplies words' means that, whether he says much or little, he is troublesome when he speaks. "Man does not know what has been, and what will be after him, who will tell him? The toil of fools will weary them; he did not know how to go to the city." And yet we know many things that have happened before, having heard from the God-bearing men, such as, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth; and many other things; but we also have knowledge of things to come, concerning the just and the unjust, knowing that these will rise to eternal life, and these to eternal punishment; but even if we know some things, we do not know all things; For, says Paul, we know in part, and we prophesy in part. And who will tell us the things after, that is, the things to come? for instance, if we will have children, if we will lose the children we have, if we will die in our homeland or in a foreign land, if we will live for many years or for few; so that those who meddle in these things, eager to learn through horoscopes, and astrologers, and false prophets, or others, since we have not received the knowledge, toil in vain, and labor futilely at impossible things. And fools suffer these things, since they did not know how to go to the city, that is, to undertake the best way of life, and to pursue the simple faith of the Church, and to journey to the beautiful city, the heavenly Jerusalem, whose architect and maker is God. "Woe to you, O city, whose king is a youth, and whose princes eat in the morning. Blessed are you, O land, whose king is the son of free men, and whose

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κινδυνεύει εἰς αἱρέσεις ἐμπίπτων, καὶ συγχέει τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διδασκαλίας, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀκουόντων. Καὶ δυνάμεις δὲ δυναμώσει, ἀντὶ τοῦ, τοὺς ἑαυτῷ ἀντιλέγοντας ἐῤῥωμενεστέρους ποιεῖ· δι' ὧν γάρ τις ἀστοχεῖ περὶ τὸν λόγον, οἱ ἀντιδιατιθέμενοι τῇ αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ ἐπικρατέστεροι γίνονται. Ὁ δὲ ἀνδρεῖος ἐν λόγῳ καὶ ἕργῳ, μετὰ σοφίας τὸν λόγον προφέρων, ἔχει τι περισσὸν, τὸ μὴ κινδυνεύειν ἐν τῷ σχίζειν τὰ ξύλα. Ὁ γὰρ δυνατὸς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ, καὶ εὔστροφον ἔχων τὴν γλῶτταν, σοφιστικὸς δὲ, καὶ οὐ τὴν θείαν πλουτήσας σοφίαν, ἐκπίπτοντος τοῦ σιδήρου, κινδυνεύσει ἐν τῇ τῶν εἰρημένων ξύλων τομῇ. "Ἐὰν δὲ δάκῃ ὄφις ἐν οὐ ψιθυρισμῷ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι περισσεία τῷ ἐπᾴδοντι." Ὁ λάθρα καὶ οὐ μετά τινος φωνῆς, τουτέστι παῤῥησίας, ἢ ἐν πράξεσιν ἁμαρτάνων, ἢ δόγμα ἀσεβείας περιλαμβάνων, οἷα μὴ φανερῶς ἀπαναισχυντήσας, δύναται διορθώσεως τυχεῖν. Καὶ οὐ περιττῶς κάμνει ὁ διδάσκαλος κατεπᾴδων αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς σωτηρίας. Ἢ καὶ οὕτως· Ἐὰν δάκῃ ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὄφις ἐν οὐ ψιθυρισμῷ, τουτέστι μὴ θέλοντος εἰς ἐξομολόγησιν ἐλθεῖν τοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντος, οὐδέν τι πλέον ὀνήσει τὸν μὴ βουλόμενον ἐξομολογεῖσθαι καὶ μετανοεῖν, κατεπᾴδειν ἐπιχειρῶν. "Λόγοι στόματος σοφοῦ, χάρις· καὶ χείλη ἄφρονος καταποντιοῦσιν αὐτόν. Ἀρχὴ λόγων στόματος αὐτοῦ, ἀφροσύνη, καὶ ἐσχάτη αὐτοῦ περιφέρεια πονηρά· καὶ ὁ ἄφρων πληθυνεῖ λόγους." Σοφοὺς εἶναι θέλων τοὺς παιδευομένους ὁ Παῦλος ἕλεγε, Ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι, ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ σοφοῦ λόγος οὔτε αὐστηρός ἐστι, καὶ ἄχρηστος, οὔτε χαῦνος, καὶ ἔκλυτος· ἀλλὰ καὶ χα 93.601 ρίεις, καὶ ἐπιστύφων, καὶ οὐκ ἐῶν διαῤῥεῖν τοὺς παιδευομένους· τὰ δὲ χείλη τοῦ ἄφρονος, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οἱ λόγοι θανάτου αὐτῷ γίνονται πρόξενοι. Τήν τε γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ βλάπτει ψυχὴν, καὶ τῶν πειθομένων. Ὁ γὰρ καταποντισμὸς ἐπὶ κολάσεως κεῖται, ὡς τὸ, Καταπόντισον, Κύριε, καὶ δίελε τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν. Ἀρχόμενος δὲ ὁ ἄφρων ἐκ τῶν τῆς ἀφροσύνης λόγων, καὶ περιφερόμενος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀφροσύνῃ, τότε λόγον ἔχει πονηρόν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἄφρων, φησὶ, πληθυνεῖ λόγους· τουτέστι μάτην φλυαρεῖ, εἴτε πολλὰ, εἴτε ὀλίγα λαλήσει. Τὸ γὰρ πλῆθος ἐνταῦθα ἀντὶ τῆς φλυαρίας κεῖται· φλυαρεῖ δὲ κἂν ὀλίγα λέγῃ, ὁ μηδὲν ἀγαθὸν διαλεγόμενος. Εἰ δὲ καὶ δόξει τι χρήσιμον λέγειν, πράξεις οὐκ ἔχων συμφωνούσας τοῖς λόγοις, καὶ οὕτως φλυαρεῖ, μὴ εἰδὼς μήτε τί λέγει, μήτε περὶ τίνων διαβεβαιοῦται. ∆εῖ γὰρ τὸν λέγοντα πρῶτον ποιεῖν, εἶτα διδάσκειν. Τὸ οὖν, πληθυνεῖ λόγους ἀντὶ τοῦ, κἂν πολλὰ, κἂν ὁλίγα εἴπῃ, ὀχληρός ἐστι διαλεγόμενος. "Οὐκ ἔγνω ἄνθρωπος τί τὸ γενόμενον, καὶ τί τὸ ἐσόμενον, ὅ τι ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, τίς ἀπαγγελεῖ αὐτῷ; Μόχθος τῶν ἀφρόνων κακώσει αὐτούς· οὐκ ἔγνω τοῦ πορευθῆναι εἰς πόλιν." Καίτοι πολλὰ τῶν προγεγονότων ἴσμεν, ἐκ τῶν θεοφόρων ἀνδρῶν ἀκούσαντες, ὡς τὸ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ πλεῖστα ἕτερα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχομεν, περὶ δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων, εἰδότες ὡς ἀναστήσονται οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὖτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον· ἀλλ' εἰ καί τινα ἴσμεν, οὐ πάντα· Ἐκ μέρους γὰρ, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, γινώσκομεν, καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν. Τίς δὲ καὶ ἀπαγγελεῖ ἡμῖν τὰ ὀπίσω, ἀντὶ τοῦ, τὰ ἐσόμενα; οἷον εἰ παιδοποιήσομεν, εἰ τοὺς ὄντας ἀποβαλοῦμεν παῖδας, εἰ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι, ἢ ἐν ἀλλοδαπῇ τελευτήσομεν, εἰ ἐν πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν, ἢ ἐν ὀλίγοις βιωσόμεθα· ὥστε οἱ ταῦτα πολυπραγμονοῦντες, διὰ τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ γενεθλιαλόγων, καὶ ψευδομάντεων, ἢ ἑτέρων μαθεῖν σπουδάζοντες, ὡς τὴν γνῶσιν οὐκ εἰλήφαμεν, εἰς κενὸν μοχθοῦσι, καὶ ματαιοπονοῦσι ἀνήνυτα. Ταῦτα δὲ πάσχουσιν οἱ ἄφρονες, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἔγνωσαν τοῦ πορευθῆναι εἰς πόλιν, τουτέστι ἀρίστην πολιτείαν ἀναλαβεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἁπλῆν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας μεταδιῶξαι πίστιν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν καλλίπολιν ὁδεῦσαι τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεός. "Οὐαί σοι πόλις, ἧς ὁ βασιλεύς σου νεώτερος, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντές σου ἐν πρωΐᾳ ἐσθίουσι. Μακαρία σὺ γῆ, ἦς ὁ βασιλεύς σου υἱὸς ἐλευθέρων, καὶ οἱ