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to think lowly by comparison with what is superior? And to attribute glory and wealth only to the one who is truly rich? Thus, therefore, inasmuch as the height and the greatness of the wisdom and power of God is hidden, many things will seem to be high and great to those who are in the utmost poverty; but when that which is truly wise and that which is truly powerful is revealed, no one will be reckoned either wise or powerful. Thus once Moses also confessed himself to be of a thin voice and a slow tongue, when he heard God speaking to him. And Abraham, when he saw God, confessed himself to be earth and ashes. Therefore, no one who is deemed worthy to look upon the goodness and wisdom of God will be able to attribute wisdom or power either to himself or to another. For all the Saints are like the light of a lamp at steadfast noonday, outshone by the sun. For this reason the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 2.88 For the day of the Lord is upon every insolent and proud person. Perhaps the first sin is insolence and pride; if indeed the devil, having become insolent from the surfeit of the good things around him, fell away from God and caused the opposing powers to fall away with him, saying: I will set my throne above the stars; and I will sit on a high mountain, upon the high mountains toward the north. I will ascend above the clouds, I will be like the Most High. For this reason, the vengeance also begins from this. And if anyone, puffed up with pride, has fallen into the condemnation of the devil, he will be condemned with the leader and, as it were, the creator of pride; for the Lord opposes the proud. Insolence seems somehow to be the beginning of pride. For the one who scorns others and considers them as nothing, but esteems some as poor, others as low-born, and others as ignorant, is carried from this insolence to thinking that he alone is wise, intelligent, well-born, rich, powerful, taking contempt as the beginning of becoming proud. For this is what it is to be proud: to attempt to appear superior to the many. And in doing this, one despises one's neighbor, but glorifies oneself. And insolence is the beginning of pride, and pride is the evil offspring of insolence. For this reason vengeance is upon every insolent and proud person. For kindred sins are punished in a like manner. Therefore, the renowned day of the Lord will bring vengeance upon every insolent and proud person. But we wretched ones, being involved every day in these evils, do not even understand what evils we are sinning. Revilers will not inherit the kingdom of God. And we revile, not understanding in the very act of reviling that these words which I now utter will stand against me in the day of the Lord and will cut off my path and will become like a wall that cannot be passed over. Who among us does not exalt himself? Who does not scorn his neighbor? But insolence is something more than reviling. For the one is a dishonor of the tongue only; but insolence also has the contrivance through deeds to the shame of those being treated insolently. It is possible, however, today for one who is high, if he wishes, to descend to the humility of the humble; and for the one who is now humble, there is a danger of changing to the loftiness of the proud; for the very act of supposing about oneself that one has come to the height of humility is an occasion for loftiness, and for one who seems to be exceedingly in sins to be lifted up against another, is a terrible pride, which the Pharisee suffered against the Publican. 2.89 And upon every high and exalted one. The high and the exalted one are of the same wickedness, differing from the insolent and the proud only in relation. For the one uses insolence and pride against others; but the other, even when alone, exalts himself, and is lifted up in the vanity of his mind, and raises himself up. And that you may understand me on who is precisely exalted, remind yourself in the vanity of your youth, if ever when you were by yourself, you took thought of life and its pursuits; how easily according to the fantasy of your mind you ran through offices from offices, powers from

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ταφρονῆσαι τῇ πρὸς τὸ ὑπερέχον συγκρίσει; Μόνῳ δὲ δόξαν καὶ πλοῦτον τῷ ἀληθῶς πλουσίῳ προσμαρτυρεῖν; Οὕτω τοίνυν ὅσον ἀποκρύπτεται τὸ ὕψος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, πολλὰ δόξει εἶναι τὰ ὑψηλὰ καὶ μεγάλα παρὰ τοῖς ἐν ἐσχάτῃ πτωχείᾳ χαθεστηκό σιν· ἐπὰν δὲ ἐκφανῇ τὸ ὄντως σοφὸν καὶ τὸ ἀληθινῶς δυνα τὸν, οὐδεὶς οὔτε σοφὸς, οὔτε δυνατὸς λογισθήσεται. Οὕτω ποτὲ καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἰσχνόφωνον καὶ βραδύγλωσσον ἑαυτὸν ὡμολόγει, ἐπειδὴ Θεοῦ λαλοῦντος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἤκουσε. Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ, ὅτε Θεὸν εἶδεν, ἑαυτὸν γῆν καὶ σποδὸν ὡμολόγει. Οὐδεῖς οὖν ἀξιούμενος ἐνορᾷν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητι καὶ σοφίᾳ, δυνήσεται ἢ ἑαυτῷ, ἢ ἄλλῳ σοφίαν ἢ δύναμιν μαρ τυρῆσαι. Οἱ γὰρ Ἅγιοι πάντες οἷον φῶς εἰσι λυχνιαῖον ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ σταθηρᾷ ὑπεραυγαζόμενον τῷ ἡλίῳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὑπερυψωθήσεται Κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. 2.88 Ἡμέρα γὰρ Κυρίου ἐπὶ πάντα ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερ ήφανον. Τάχα πρώτη ἁμαρτία ὕβρις καὶ ὑπερηφανία· εἴπερ ὁ διάβολος, ἐξυβρίσας τῷ κόρῳ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἀγαθῶν, ἀπέστη Θεοῦ καὶ συναπέστησεν ἑαυτῷ τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις, λέγων· Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου· καὶ καθιῶ ἐν ὄρει ὑψηλῷ ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ ὑψηλὰ, τὰ πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν. Ἀναβήσομαι ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν, ἔσομαι ὅμοιος τῷ Ὑψίστῳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἡ ἐκδίκησις ἄρχεται. Καὶ εἴ τις μέντοι τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρίμα ἐμπέπτωκε τοῦ δια βόλου, μετὰ τοῦ ἀρχηγοῦ καὶ οἱονεὶ δημιουργοῦ τῆς ὑπερ ηφανίας καταδικασθήσεται· Κύριος γὰρ ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντι τάσσεται. Ἔοικέ πως ἀρχὴ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας ἡ ὕβρις εἶναι. Ὁ γὰρ διαπτύων τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ἡγούμενος, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν πτωχοὺς, τοὺς δὲ δυσγενεῖς, τοὺς δὲ ἀμαθεῖς ὑπολαμβάνων, ἐκ τῆς ὕβρεως ταύτης εἰς τὸ μόνον ἑαυτὸν οἴεσθαι εἶναι σοφὸν, συνετὸν, εὐγενῆ, πλούσιον, δυνατὸν ὑποφέρεται, ἀρχὴν πρὸς τὸ ὑπερηφανεύεσθαι τὴν ὑπεροψίαν λαμβάνων. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ὑπερηφανεύεσθαι, τὸ ὑπερ φαίνεσθαι τῶν πολλῶν ἐπιχειρεῖν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ἐξουδενοῖ μὲν τὸν πλησίον, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἀποσεμνύνει. Καὶ ἔστιν ἡ ὕβρις ὑπερηφανίας ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ ὑπερηφανία κα κὸν ἔγγονόν ἐστι τῆς ὕβρεως. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἐκδίκησις ἐπὶ πάντα ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον. Αἱ συγγενεῖς γὰρ ἁμαρτίαι ὁμοιοτρόπως κολάζονται. Ἐπάξει οὖν ἡ διαβόητος ἡμέρα τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ἐπὶ πάντα ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφα νον. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ἐλεεινοὶ, πᾶσαν ἡμέραν ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς τούτοις στρεφόμενοι, οὐδὲ συνίεμεν ὁποῖα κακὰ ἁμαρτάνομεν. Λοίδοροι βασιλείαν Θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν. Καὶ ἡμεῖς λοιδοροῦμεν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λοιδορεῖν μὴ συνιέντες, ὅτι ταῦτα, ἃ νῦν ἀφίημι ῥήματα ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀντιστήσεταί μοι καὶ διακόψει μου τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ ὥσπερ τειχίον γενή σεται, ὑπερβαθῆναι μὴ δυνάμενον. Τίς ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν οὐχ ὑπεραίρει; τίς τὸν πλησίον οὐ διαπτύει; Ἡ δὲ ὕβρις πλέον τί ἐστι τῆς λοιδορίας. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ γλώσσης ἐστὶ μόνον ἀτιμία· ἡ δὲ ὕβρις καὶ τὴν διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπ' αἰσχύνῃ τῶν ὑβριζομένων ἐπίνοιαν ἔχει. ∆υνατὸν μέντοι σήμερον βου ληθέντι τῷ ὑψηλῷ κατελθεῖν εἰς τὴν τῶν ταπεινῶν ταπεί νωσιν· καὶ τῷ νῦν μέντοι ταπεινῷ κίνδυνος ἀντιμεταστῆναι εἰς τὸ τῶν ὑπερηφάνων ὕψωμα· αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ ὑπολαβεῖν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ εἰς τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἐληλυθέναι, ὑψώματός ἐστιν ἀφορμὴ, καὶ τὸ τοῦ σφόδρα δοκοῦντος ἐν ἁμαρτίαις εἶναι κατεπαρθῆναι, ὑπερηφανία δεινὴ, ἣν ἔπαθεν ὁ Φαρισαῖος κατὰ τοῦ Τελώνου. 2.89 Καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα ὑψηλὸν καὶ μετέωρον. Τῆς αὐτῆς κακίας ἐστὶ καὶ ὁ ὑψηλὸς καὶ μετέωρος, διαφέ ρων πρὸς τὸν ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον τῇ σχέσει μόνον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ καθ' ἑτέρων τῇ ὕβρει καὶ τῇ ὑπερηφανίᾳ κέχρηται· ὁ δὲ, καὶ μόνος ὢν, ἑαυτὸν ὑπεραίρει, καὶ μετεωρίζει τῇ ματαιό τητι τοῦ νοὸς, καὶ ἀνυψοῖ. Καὶ ἵνα μου νοήσῃς τὸν ἀκριβῶς μετέωρον, ἀνάμνησον σεαυτὸν ἐν τῇ ματαιότητι τῆς νεότητός σου, εἴ ποτε κατὰ σαυτὸν γενόμενος, ἔλαβες ἔννοιαν τοῦ βίου καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων· πῶς εὐκόλως κατὰ τὴν φαντασίαν τοῦ νοῦ ἐπέδραμες ἀρχὰς ἐξ ἀρχῶν, δυναστείας ἐκ