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does he turn away from? The one who does not do his commandments. Therefore, when you see someone who does not do his commandments, even if he is healthy, even if he is flowing with wealth, place him among those hated by him; but the virtuous man, even if you see him sick, even if he is poor, count him among those who are loved. For the marks of friendship are not in these things, but in those. Or do you not see also in worldly matters, that the friends of kings, these especially are the ones who face danger first in wars, and receive wounds, and are sent on long journeys? Have you not heard that, Whom the Lord loves, he chastens; and scourges every son whom he receives? But many are scandalized, he says, seeing these things. Not because of these things, but because of their own foolishness. For our reward for our labors is not here; but the things here are the wrestling-grounds; and the things after this are the prizes and the crowns. Therefore, do not seek rest and security in the time of wrestling and on the day of the contest; nor confuse the seasons. But many are weaker, he says. But God has also foreseen these things; and has allowed many of the just to be in prosperity here also, not for their own sake, but for the sake of the weaker ones. So that if those in affliction scandalize you, let those in comfort build you up; and if the prosperity of the wicked trips you up, let those in punishment and vengeance set 55.93 you upright. Have you not heard Christ saying, In the world you will have tribulation? Why then do you seek comfort, when he has said these things? Have you not heard him saying, The world will rejoice, you will always be sorrowful? So it would have been likely for the more foolish to be scandalized, if the opposite of what he said had happened; but if all things proceed in sequence, for what reason are you scandalized? And for what reason, he says, did God so ordain? Do not examine, nor be overly curious. For the thing formed will not say to the one who formed it, Why have you made me thus? For this reason also the prophet rebuked the Jews, because being full of countless evils, they pried into the ways of God, saying: They desire to know my ways, as a people that has done righteousness, and has not forsaken the judgment of their God; doing something similar, as if some servant who has offended, and is liable for countless charges, having neglected to appease the anger of his master, should demand an accounting from him, as to why he has done this. Do not then seek these things, having ceased to weep and to mourn, and to wash away your own evils. I say these things, not as being at a loss to give the reason, but wishing to cast you from this curiosity into a concern for your own salvation. For what reason, then, did he so command? Sparing the race of men. For he has allotted labor here, where life is short; but he has stored up the crowns for the future, where the age is ageless and endless. And this labor is quickly dissolved and passes by; but those things remain immortal, never having an end. And besides, it also trains souls for the love of virtue. For when it chooses virtue even with labors, receiving no prize, it practices being disposed toward it with much exactness; but when it flees vice even with pleasure, never enduring punishment, it is trained to hate and turn away from it. So that from this it will also acquire a habit of aversion toward wickedness, and of love toward virtue. There is also another reason. And what is this? That affliction especially anoints for philosophy, and makes men stronger. And after this, again another. And what is this? He wishes to teach us to despise the present things, and not to be nailed to them, nor bound to them. For this very reason he has also allotted affliction and labor, and has made the good and bright things themselves easily dissoluble. Let the wickedness of sinners be brought to an end, and you will direct the just. What is, Let it be brought to an end? Bring on, he says, punishment, and you will stop them from their wickedness. For just as corruptions yield to bitter medicines, and to cauteries and cuttings; so also is wickedness hindered by punishment. 9. Knowing these things, therefore, not those

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ἀποστρέφεται; Τὸν μὴ ποιοῦντα τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ. Ὅταν τοίνυν ἴδῃς τινὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ μὴ ποιοῦντα, κἂν ὑγιαίνῃ, κἂν πλούτῳ περιῤῥέηται, ἐν τοῖς μισουμένοις αὐτὸν τίθει· τὸν δὲ ἐνάρετον, κἂν νοσοῦντα ἴδῃς, κἂν πενόμενον, ἐν τοῖς φιλουμένοις ἀρίθμει. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις τὰ τῆς φιλίας, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐκείνοις. Ἢ οὐχ ὁρᾷς καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βιωτικῶν, τοὺς τῶν βασιλέων φίλους, μάλιστα τούτους προκινδυνεύοντας ἐν πολέμοις, καὶ τραύματα ἔχοντας, καὶ ἀποδημίαν στελλομένους; Οὐκ ἤκουσας, ὅτι Ὃν ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος, παιδεύει· μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν, ὃν παραδέχεται; Ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ σκανδαλίζονται, φησὶ, ταῦτα ὁρῶντες. Οὐ δι' αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἄνοιαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἀντίδοσις ἡμῖν τῶν πόνων· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἐνταῦθα σκάμματα· τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἔπαθλα καὶ στέφανοι. Μὴ ζήτει τοίνυν ἐν καιρῷ τῶν παλαισμάτων καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ παγκρατίου τὴν ἄνεσιν καὶ τὴν ἄδειαν· μηδὲ σύγχεε τοὺς καιρούς. Ἀλλ' ἀσθενέστεροι πολλοὶ, φησὶν, εἰσίν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων προενόησεν ὁ Θεός· καὶ εἴασε πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν δικαίων ἐν εὐπραγίᾳ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, οὐ δι' ἐκείνους, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς ἀσθενεστέρους. Ὥστε εἰ καὶ σκανδαλίζουσί σε οἱ ἐν θλίψει, οἰκοδομείτωσάν σε οἱ ἐν ἀνέσει· καὶ εἰ ὑποσκελίζουσί σε οἱ ἐν εὐπραγίᾳ τῶν πονηρῶν, ἀνορθού 55.93 τωσάν σε οἱ ἐν κολάσει καὶ τιμωρίᾳ. Οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος, Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ θλίψιν ἕξετε; Τί τοίνυν ζητεῖς ἄνεσιν, ἐκείνου ταῦτα εἰπόντος; Οὐκ ἤκουσας αὐτοῦ λέγοντος, Ὁ κόσμος χαρήσεται, ὑμεῖς ἀεὶ λυπηθήσεσθε; Ὥστε εἰκὸς ἦν σκανδαλίζεσθαι τοὺς ἀνοητοτέρους, εἰ τὰ ἐναντία ἐγένετο ὧν εἶπεν· εἰ δὲ κατὰ ἀκολουθίαν πάντα προβαίνει, τίνος ἕνεκεν σκανδαλίζῃ; Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν, φησὶν, οὕτω διετύπωσεν ὁ Θεός; Μὴ ἐξέταζε, μηδὲ πολυπραγμόνει. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐρεῖ τὸ πλάσμα τῷ πλάσαντι· Τί με ἐποίησας οὕτω; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐπετίμα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, ὅτι μυρίων γέμοντες κακῶν, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς ὁδοὺς περιεργάζοντο, λέγων· Γνῶναι τὰς ὁδούς μου ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ὡς λαὸς δικαιοσύνην πεποιηκὼς, καὶ κρίσιν Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐγκαταλελοιπώς· ὅμοιον ποιοῦντες, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις οἰκέτης προσκεκρουκὼς, καὶ μυρίων ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ἐγκλημάτων, παρεὶς τὸ λῦσαι τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ δεσπότου, εὐθύνας αὐτὸν ἀπαιτοίη, τί δήποτε τοῦτο πεποίηκε. Μὴ δὴ ταῦτα ζήτει, ἀφεὶς τὸ κλαίειν καὶ θρηνεῖν, καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἀπονίπτεσθαι κακά. Ταῦτα λέγω, οὐχ ὡς ἀπορῶν τὸν λόγον εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ βουλόμενός σε ἀπὸ τῆς πολυπραγμοσύνης ταύτης εἰς τὴν περὶ οἰκείας σωτηρίας μέριμναν ἐμβαλεῖν. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οὕτως ἐπέταξε; Τοῦ γένους φειδόμενος τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ πόνον ἐνταῦθα συνεκλήρωσεν, ἔνθα βραχὺς ὁ βίος· τοὺς δὲ στεφάνους εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐταμιεύσατο, ἔνθα ἀγήρως καὶ ἀτελεύτητος ὁ αἰών. Καὶ ὁ μὲν πόνος οὗτος ταχέως παραλύεται καὶ παρατρέχει· ἐκεῖνα δὲ ἀθάνατα μένει, οὐδέποτε πέρας ἔχοντα. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ γυμνάζει τὰς ψυχὰς εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς φίλτρον. Ὅταν μὲν γὰρ καὶ μετὰ πόνων αὐτὴν αἱρῆται, μηδέποτε ἔπαθλον λαμβάνουσα, μελετᾷ διακεῖσθαι πρὸς αὐτὴν μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀκριβείας· ὅταν δὲ καὶ μεθ' ἡδονῆς τὴν κακίαν φεύγῃ, μηδέποτε κόλασιν ὑπομένουσα, γυμνάζεται μισεῖν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀποστρέφεσθαι. Ὥστε ἀπὸ τούτου καὶ ἕξιν λήψεται τῆς ἀπεχθείας τῆς πρὸς τὴν πονηρίαν, καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης τῆς πρὸς τὴν ἀρετήν. Ἔστι καὶ ἕτερος λόγος. Ποῖος δὲ οὗτος; Ὅτι μάλιστα πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἡ θλίψις ἀλείφει, καὶ ἰσχυροτέρους ποιεῖ. Καὶ μετὰ τούτου πάλιν ἄλλος. Ποῖος δὲ οὗτος; Βούλεται παιδεῦσαι τῶν παρόντων ὑπερορᾷν, καὶ μὴ προσηλῶσθαι, μηδὲ συνδεδέσθαι αὐτοῖς. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ θλίψιν συνεκλήρωσε καὶ πόνον, καὶ τὰ χρηστὰ αὐτὰ καὶ φαιδρὰ εὐκατάλυτα πεποίηκε. Συντελεσθήτω δὴ πονηρία ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ κατευθυνεῖς δίκαιον. Τί ἐστι, Συντελεσθήτω; Ἐπάγαγε, φησὶ, τιμωρίαν, καὶ στήσεις αὐτοὺς τῆς κακίας. Καθάπερ γὰρ αἱ σηπεδόνες πικροῖς εἴκουσι φαρμάκοις, καὶ καύσεσι καὶ τομαῖς· οὕτω καὶ ἡ πονηρία ὑπὸ τιμωρίας κωλύεται. θʹ. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδότας, οὐ τοὺς