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in youth, and in the contemplation of the eyes of the mind. But since Scripture continually makes mention by the name of the male, where it makes its exhortations common; it must be known that it makes its discourse from the more authoritative part (for the man is the head of the woman). Since the essence of the soul is one, and we are all one in the Lord; for the distinction of female and male is only a difference of bodies. So that even if you hear a young man being admonished, understand it as men and women together. And if Paul says, I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ, again likewise take it as men and women. And know in all these things, that God will bring you to judgment. CHAPTER 12. "And remove anger from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for both youth and folly are vanity. And remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of evil come, and the years draw near in which you will say, 93.613 'I have no pleasure in them.'" Now he reminds of the divine tribunal, and says, As one having free will, remove anger from your heart; for using reason you can restrain your anger. By 'evil of the flesh' he means indeed every sin. For the works of sin, the Apostle says are the works of the flesh. But 'evil of the flesh' is pre-eminently fornication; for the passions are movements of a newer and unstable mind. And with this new mind folly is also yoked, being nothing other than vanity. But if you wish, he says, to cast out this mind, and to bind with a bridle the impulse of youthful thinking, keep the memory of God unforgotten. By 'days of youth,' he means the present age, in relation to the perfection of the age to come. For if in the present age you cast out the memory of God, and do what is pleasurable, the time of punishment is at hand, which he calls the 'day of evil,' that of the punishment of sinners. And then you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.' For no one who is in torment has a will to be tormented. It must be known, therefore, that he who now follows his own will out of folly and an imperfect mind, and not the Lord's commandments, in the time of punishment is tormented against his will. "Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the men of might shall be bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the holes shall be darkened, and they shall shut the door in the market-place at the weakness of the voice of the grinder." I have heard someone discoursing on the passage concerning the particular end of each person; and another concerning the universal end; and another leading what is written to a higher contemplation. But I shall set out all these things for you briefly. Take thought, he says, O you who are being instructed, while you have free will, and can incline toward virtue for your own salvation. For after the present life, you are punished not as you wish, but as you do not wish. Take thought for yourself, therefore, before your end, before the sun and the moon and the "stars are darkened for you, which happens at the end of each person, when one is seized by blindness, and before you are resolved into your kindred water and earth. For the body, which is now like a cloud lying upon the soul, is resolved into its kindred elements, earth and water. And on the day of one's end, the guardians of the house, that is, of the soul, are shaken, and the strong reasonings are distorted; being called men of might, they are in anguish over the fearful departure from the body. It is also possible to understand the guardians of the house as the physical eyes, which lay aside their power of sight at the time of death. Then also the grinders cease, the teeth that grind the food; not that they are necessarily few in number, but rather, they will lay aside their proper function. And the pupils of the eyes, 93.616 which see as through openings, are enveloped in darkness, every path in this life being closed, when he who is breathing his last begins to speak weakly and faintly, through the voice that is sounded through the teeth. Before, therefore, in the

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νεότητι, καὶ τῇ τῶν νοητῶν ὀμμάτων θεωρίᾳ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῷ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος ὀνόματι συνεχῶς ἡ Γραφὴ μέμνηται, ἔνθα κοινὰς ποιεῖται τὰς παραινέσεις· ἰστέον ὡς ἐκ τοῦ κυριωτέρου μέρους (Κεφαλὴ γὰρ γυναικὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ) ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον. Ἐπεὶ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς οὐσία μία, καὶ εἷς ἐσμεν πάντες ἐν Κυρίῳ· τὸ γὰρ τῆς θηλείας καὶ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος, σωμάτων μόνον ἐστὶ διαφορά. Ὥστε κἂν νεανίσκον ἀκούσῃς παραινούμενον, ἄνδρας ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναῖκας νόει. Κἂν ὁ Παῦλος εἴπη, Ἡρμοσάμην ὑμᾶς ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ, παρθένον ἁγνὴν παραστῆσαι τῷ Χριστῷ, πάλιν ὁμοίως ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας ἐκλάμβανε. Καὶ γνῶθι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις, ὅτι ἄξει σε ὁ Θεὸς ἐν κρίσει. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΒʹ. "Καὶ ἀπόστησον θυμὸν ἀπὸ καρδίας σου, καὶ παράγαγε πονηρίαν ἀπὸ σαρκός σου, ὅτι καὶ ἡ νεότης καὶ ἡ ἄνοια ματαιότης. Καὶ μνήσθητι τοῦ Κτίσαντός σε, ἐν ἡμέραις νεότητός σου, ἕως οὗ μὴ ἔλθωσιν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς κακίας, καὶ φθάσωσιν ἔτη, ἐν οἷς ἐρεῖς. 93.613 Οὐκ ἔστι μοι ἐν αὐτοῖς θέλημα." Νῦν ἀναμιμνήσκει τοῦ θείου κριτηρίου, καί φησιν, Οἷα αὐτεξούσιος, ἀπόστησον θυμὸν ἀπὸ καρδίας σου· δύνασαι γὰρ τῷ λογικῷ χρώμενος χαλινοῦν τὸν θυμόν. Πονηρίαν δὲ σαρκός φησι πᾶσαν μὲν ἁμαρτίαν. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἔργα, ἕργα φησὶ σαρκὸς ὁ Ἀπόστολος. ∆ιαφερόντως δὲ πονηρία σαρκὸς ἡ πορνεία· τὰ δὲ πάθη νεωτέρας εἰσὶ διανοίας καὶ ἀστάτου κινήματα. Τῇ δὲ νέᾳ ταύτῃ διανοίᾳ καὶ ἡ ἄνοια παρέζευκται, οὐδὲν ἕτερον οὖσα ἢ ματαιότης. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις, φησὶ, ἐκβαλεῖν ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ χαλινῷ δῆσαι τῆς νεωτερικῆς φρονήσεως τὴν ὁρμὴν, ἄληστον ἔχε τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν μνήμην. Ἡμέρας δὲ νεότητος, τὸν παρόντα αἰῶνά φησι, ὡς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος τελειότητα. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἐκβάλῃς τὴν μνήμην τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἡδονὴν πράξῃς, ἐφίσταται ὁ καιρὸς τῆς κολάσεως, ὃν δὴ καὶ ἡμέραν κακίας φησὶ, τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν κολάσεως. Καὶ τότε λέξεις, ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστι μοι θέλημα ἐν αὐτοῖς. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐν βασάνοις ὧν θέλημα ἔχει τοῦ βασανίζεσθαι. Ἰστέον τοιγαροῦν ὡς ὁ νῦν τοῖς ἰδίοις θελήμασιν ἐξακολουθῶν ὑπὸ ἀνοίας καὶ ἀτελοῦς διανοίας, καὶ οὐ ταῖς τοῦ Κυρίου ἐντολαῖς, ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κολάσεως, ὡς οὐ θέλει, βασανίζεται. "Ἕως οὐ μὴ σκοτισθῇ ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ τὸ φῶς, καὶ ἡ σελήνη, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες, καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσι τὰ νέφη ὀπίσω τοῦ ὑετοῦ, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἂν σαλευθῶσι φύλακες τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ διαστραφῶσιν ἄνδρες τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ ἤργησαν αἱ ἀλήθουσαι ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν, καὶ σκοτάσουσιν αἱ βλέπουσαι ἐν ταῖς ὀπαῖς, καὶ κλείσουσι θύραν ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ φωνῆς τῆς ἀληθούσης." Ἤκουσά τινος καὶ περὶ τῆς μερικῆς ἑκάστου συντελείας διηγουμένου τὰ εἰς τὸν τόπον· καὶ ἑτέρου περὶ τῆς καθόλου συντελείας· καὶ ἄλλου πρὸς ὑψηλοτέραν θεωρίαν ἀνάγοντος τὰ γεγραμμένα. Ἅπαντα δὲ ὑμῖν συντόμως ἐκθήσομαι. Φρόντισον, φησὶν, ὦ νουθετούμενε, ἕως ἔχεις αὐτεξούσιον θέλημα, καὶ δύνῃ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ῥέψαι τῆς σαυτοῦ σωτηρίας. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸν παρόντα βίον οὐχ ὡς θέλεις, ἀλλ' ὡς οὐ βούλει, κολάζῃ. Φρόντισον οὖν σαυτοῦ πρὸ τῆς σῆς τελευτῆς, πρὶν ἂν σκοτωθῇ σοι ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη, καὶ τὰ "ἄστρα, ἅπερ ἐν τῇ ἑκάστου τελευτῇ συμβαίνει, ἀορασίᾳ κατεχομένου, καὶ πρὶν εἰς τὸ συγγενὲς ὕδωρ καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀναλυθῇς. Τὸ γὰρ νῦν οἷα νέφος ἐπικείμενον τῇ ψυχῇ σῶμα εἰς τὰ συγγενῆ στοιχεῖα ἀναλύεται, τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ. Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς τελευτῆς, καὶ τῆς οἰκίας οἱ φύλακες, τουτέστι τῆς ψυχῆς, σαλεύονται, καὶ διαστρέφονται οἱ εὔτονοι λογισμοί· ἄνδρες τῆς δυνάμεως ὀνομασθέντες, ἀγωνιῶντες τὴν φοβερὰν τοῦ σώματος ἔξοδον. ∆υνατὸν δὲ καὶ φύλακας οἰκίας τοὺς αἰσθητοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς νοῆσαι, ἀποτιθεμένους τὴν ὀπτικὴν δύναμιν ἐν καιρῷ τελευτῆς. Τότε καὶ αἱ ἀλήθουσαι ἀργοῦσιν, οἱ ὀδόντες οἱ καταλεαίνοντες τὴν τροφήν· οὐχ ὅτι πάντως κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ὀλιγοῦνται, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ τοῦ, τὴν οἰκείαν ἐνέργειαν ἀποθήσονται. Καὶ αἱ κόραι δὲ τῶν ὀφθαλ 93.616 μῶν αἱ ὡς δι' ὀπῶν βλέπουσαι, σκότῳ περιβάλλονται, ἀποκλειομένης πάσης πορείας ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ, ὅταν ἄρξηται ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀμυδρὰ φθέγγεσθαι, διὰ τῆς φωνῆς τῆς διὰ τῶν ὀδόντων ἐξηχουμένης, ὁ τὰ τελευταῖα ἀναπνέων. Πρὶν οὖν ἐν τῇ