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having made you partakers of the holy and sacred eucharist and having set you as sharers and fellow heirs of the promise of God. Revering these men, honor them with all sorts of honors; for these have received from God authority of life and death in judging those who have sinned and in condemning to the death of eternal fire and in loosing from sins those who repent and in giving them life. Consider these your rulers and think of them as kings, and offer them tribute as to kings; for both they and those in their households ought to be nourished by you. As Samuel commanded the people concerning the king in the first of Kings and Moses concerning the priests, so also do we command you concerning the bishops. For if there the multitude gave services in proportion to so great a king, how much more ought not also the bishop now to receive from you the things appointed to him by God for the nourishment of both himself and the clergy with him? And if it is necessary to add something to the argument, let this one receive more than that one of old; for the one managed only military affairs, having undertaken war and peace for the protection of bodies; but the other, the priesthood toward God, delivering both body and soul from dangers. By as much, therefore, as the soul is better than the body, by so much also is the priesthood than the kingdom; for it binds and looses those worthy of punishment or of release. Therefore you ought to love the bishop as a father, to fear him as a king, and to honor him as a lord, offering to him the fruits of yours and the works of your hands for your blessing, giving to him your first-fruits and your tithes and your consecrated things and your gifts as to a priest of God, the first-fruit of grain, of wine, of oil, of autumn fruit, of wool, and of all things which the Lord God supplies to you. And your offering will be acceptable to you as a fragrant aroma to the Lord your God, and the Lord will bless the works of your hands and will multiply the good things of your land, since “A blessing is upon the head of the one who shares.” But you must know that, even if the Lord rescued you from the slavery of the imported bonds and led you out to refreshment, no longer permitting you to sacrifice irrational animals for sins and for purification and for things sent away and for continual washings and sprinklings, He has not, of course, freed you from the contributions which you owe to the priests, and from the good deeds toward those in need. For the Lord says to you in the Gospel: “Unless your righteousness exceeds

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ἁγίας καὶ ἱερᾶς εὐχαριστίας μετόχους ποιήσαντας καὶ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τοῦ Θεοῦ κοινωνοὺς καὶ συγκληρονόμους θεμένους ὑμᾶς. Τούτους εὐλαβούμενοι τιμᾶτε παντοίαις τιμαῖς· οὗτοι γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου ἐξουσίαν εἰλήφασιν ἐν τῷ δικάζειν τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας καὶ κατα δικάζειν εἰς θάνατον πυρὸς αἰωνίου καὶ λύειν ἁμαρτιῶν τοὺς ἐπιστρέφοντας καὶ Ζωογονεῖν αὐτούς. Τούτους ἄρχοντας ὑμῶν ἡγεῖσθε καὶ βασιλεῖς νομίζετε, καὶ δασμοὺς ὡς βασιλεῦσι προσφέρετε· ἐξ ὑμῶν γὰρ αὐτούς τε καὶ τοὺς ἐνοίκους αὐτῶν τρέφεσθαι χρή. Ὡς Σαμουὴλ διετάξατο πρὸς τὸν λαὸν περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν καὶ Μωϋσῆς περὶ τῶν ἱερέων, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν ἐπισκόπων διατασσόμεθα. Eἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖ πλῆθος τηλικούτου βασιλέως ἀναλόγως τὰς ὑπηρεσίας ἐδίδου, πόσῳ μᾶλλον οὐχὶ καὶ νῦν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος λαμβάνειν ὀφείλει παρ' ὑμῶν τὰ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῷ ὡρισμένα πρὸς διατροφὴν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ κληρικῶν; Eἰ δὲ δεῖ καί τι προσθεῖναι τῷ λόγῳ, πλεῖον οὗτος λαμβα νέτω, ἢ ἐκεῖνος τὸ παλαιόν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ στρατιωτικὰ μόνα διεῖπεν, πόλεμον καὶ εἰρήνην ἀναδεδεγμένος εἰς φυλακὴν σωμάτων· ὁ δὲ τὴν εἰς Θεὸν ἱερωσύνην, σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν παραιτούμενος κινδύνων. Ὅσῳ τοίνυν ψυχὴ σώματος κρείττων, τοσούτῳ καὶ ἱερωσύνη βασιλείας· δεσμεύει γὰρ αὐτὴ καὶ λύει τοὺς τιμωρίας ἢ ἀφέσεως ἀξίους. ∆ιὸ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον στέργειν ὀφείλετε ὡς πατέρα, φοβεῖσθαι ὡς βασιλέα, τιμᾶν τε ὡς κύριον, τοὺς καρποὺς ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν εἰς εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν προσφέροντες αὐτῷ, τὰς ἀπαρχὰς ὑμῶν καὶ τὰς δεκάτας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ ἀφαιρέματα ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ δῶρα ὑμῶν διδόντες αὐτῷ ὡς ἱερεῖ Θεοῦ, ἀπαρχὴν σίτου, οἴνου, ἐλαίου, ὀπώρας, ἐρέας, καὶ πάντων ὧν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιχορηγεῖ ὑμῖν. Καὶ ἔσται σοι ἡ προσφορά σου δεκτὴ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου, καὶ εὐλογήσει Κύριος τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου καὶ πληθυνεῖ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς σου, ἐπείπερ «Eὐλογία εἰς κεφαλὴν τοῦ μεταδιδόντος». Χρὴ δὲ ὑμᾶς γινώσκειν ὅτι, εἰ καὶ ἐρρύσατο ὑμᾶς Κύριος τῆς δουλείας τῶν ἐπεισάκτων δεσμῶν καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ὑμᾶς εἰς ἀνάψυξιν, μηκέτι ἐάσας ὑμᾶς θύειν ἄλογα ζῷα περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ καθαρισμοῦ καὶ ἀποπομπαίων καὶ λουτρῶν συνεχῶν καὶ περιραντηρίων, οὐ δήπου καὶ τῶν εἰσφορῶν ὑμᾶς ἠλευθέρωσεν ὧν ὀφείλετε τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν, καὶ τῶν εἰς τοὺς δεομένους εὐποιϊῶν. Λέγει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ Eὐαγγελίῳ· «Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ