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work of deeds to harm, so as to drag him down from the first place, lead him to the fire of Gehenna, because the multitude of his good deeds is not such as to be able to resist that violent thrust. Remember the dreadful and terrible day, in which all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account of their deeds, where before the eyes of all, sins will be set forth, and will be revealed, and will be shown to those who do not know them; where there is the spring of fire, and the sleepless worm. Where all things are naked and laid bare; where the books of our hearts will be opened, and in the midst will be read the things manifest and the things hidden, the things in the night, and the things in the day. Before one person we do not wish to be disgraced here, but what shall we do there before so many myriads? Just as we demand an account from our servants, not only of their expenditures, but also of their income, examining from where they received money, and from whom, and when, and how, and how much; 95.1188 so also God will demand an account not only of the spending, but also of the acquisition. It is not being punished here that is evil, but being worthy of the punishment there. It is not with God, for one who is evil to lose the good reward for one good deed done among many evil ones, nor again for one who is good to lose the punishment, and not to receive it, if among many good deeds he does evil in some respect. For it is necessary for God to render all things by balance and by weight. The mind of each is a witness of what they planned in secret, and the conscience is an incorruptible and most truthful examiner of all things.

TITLE 16. —Concerning a curse sometimes made by the Lord, and by the prophets, and by the apostles.

made. The Lord said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above all the beasts of the earth. Upon your breast and your belly you shall go, and earth you shall eat all the days of your life. And to the woman he said: I will greatly multiply your sorrows and your groaning; in sorrow you shall bring forth children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. But to Adam he said: Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, of this only not to eat, from it you ate, cursed is the ground in your works. In sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat your bread, until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The Lord God said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? And he said: I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper? And God said: What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand; when you work the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth. Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. And he said: Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. David said: Mountains of Gilboa, may neither dew nor rain fall upon you. Mountains of death, because there the shield of the mighty was dried up. Behold, Elijah was sitting on the top of the mountain. And the captain of fifty spoke to him, and said: Man of God, the king has called you, come down. And Elijah answered and said to him: If I am a man of God, fire will come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Elijah said: 95.1189 Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, it is not so; the bed on which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die. Job opened his mouth and cursed the

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πράξεων ἐργασία βλάψαι, ὅσον κατασπᾶσαι τῆς πρώτης χώρας, αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ τῆς γεέννης ἀπάγουσι πῦρ, διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κατορθωμάτων, ὡς καὶ δυνηθῆναι ἀντιστῆναι πρὸς τὸν βίαιον ἐκεῖνον ἀνωθισμόν. Μνημονεύετε τῆς φρικώδους, καὶ φοβερᾶς ἡμέρας, ἐν ᾗ πάντες παρίστανται τῷ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δώσοντες δίκας τῶν πεπραγμένων, ἔνθα πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν πάντων προτεθήσεται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, καὶ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται, καὶ τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν ἐπιδειχθήσεται· ἔνθα ἡ πηγὴ τοῦ πυρὸς, καὶ ὁ ἀκοίμητος σκώληξ. Ἔνθα πάντα γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα· ἔνθα βίβλοι τῶν καρδιῶν ἡμῶν ἀνοιγήσονται, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ ἀναγνωσθήσεται τὰ φανερὰ καὶ τὰ κεκρυμμένα, τὰ ἐν νυκτὶ, καὶ τὰ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ. Ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς οὐ θέλομεν ἀσχημονῆσαι ἐνταῦθα, ἐπὶ δὲ μυριάδων τοσούτων ἐκεῖ τί ποιήσομεν Καθάπερ ἡμεῖς τοῖς οἰκέταις τοῖς ἡμετέροις, οὐχὶ τῆς ἐξόδου μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς εἰσόδου ἀπαιτοῦμεν τὸν λόγον, ἐξετάζοντες πόθεν ὑπεδέξαντο χρήματα, καὶ παρὰ τίνων, καὶ πότε, καὶ πῶς, καὶ πόσα· 95.1188 οὕτως δὲ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, οὐχὶ τῆς δαπάνης μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς κτήσεως ἀπαιτήσει τὰς εὐθύνας. Οὐ τὸ κολάζεσθαι ἐνταῦθα, κακὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἄξιον τῆς ἐκεῖσε γενέσθαι κολάσεως. Οὐκ ἔστι παρὰ Θεῷ, οὔτε πονηρὸν ὄντα ἀπολέσαι τὸν ἀγαθὸν μισθὸν περὶ ἑνὸς ἀγαθοῦ μετὰ πλειόνων κακῶν πεπραγμένου, οὔτε πάλιν ἀγαθὸν ὄντα, ἀπολέσαι τὴν κόλασιν, καὶ μὴ λαβεῖν αὐτὴν, εἰ μετὰ πλειόνων ἀγαθῶν ἔν τινι γένηται πονηρεύων. Ἀνάγκη γὰρ ζυγῷ καὶ σταθμῷ πάντα ἀποδιδόναι τὸν Θεόν. Ὁ νοῦς ἑκάστῳ μάρτυς ἐστὶν ὧν ἐν ἀφανεῖ ἐβουλεύσαντο, καὶ τὸ συνειδὸς ἔλεγχος ἀδέκαστος, καὶ πάντων ἀψευδέστατος.

ΤΙΤΛ. Ιϛʹ. -Περὶ ἀρᾶς ὑπὸ Κυρίου, καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ ἀποστόλων ποτὲ

γενομένης. Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ ὄφει· Ὅτι ἐποίησας τοῦτο, ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ πάντων

τῶν κτηνῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς. Ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει, καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ πορεύσῃ, καὶ γῆν φαγῇ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου. Καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ εἶπεν· Πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὰς λύπας σου, καὶ τὸν στεναγμόν σου· ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου, καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει. Τῷ δὲ Ἀδὰμ εἶπεν· Ὅτι ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς τῆς γυναικός σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι, τοῦτο μόνον μὴ φαγεῖν, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες, ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γῆ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου. Ἐν λύπαις φαγῇ αὐτὴν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου· ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι, καὶ φαγῇ τὸν ἄρτον σου, ἕως οὗ ἀποστρέψῃς εἰς γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθης· ὅτι γῆ εἰ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ. Εἶπε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Κάϊν· ποῦ ἐστιν Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Οὐ γινώσκω Μὴ φύλαξ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μού εἰμι ἐγώ; Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Τί ἐποιήσας τοῦτο; φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με ἐκ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ νῦν ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἣ ἔχανε τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς δέξασθαι τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου· ὅτε ἐργᾷ τὴν γῆν, καὶ οὐ προσθήσει δοῦναί σοι τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῆς. Στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐξένηψε Νῶε ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου, καὶ ἔγνω ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ νεώτερος. Καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐπικατάρατος Χαναάν· παῖς οἰκέτης ἔσται τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ. Εἶπεν ∆αβίδ· ὄρη τὰ Γελβουὲ, μήτε δρόσος, μήτε ὑετὸς πέσῃ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς. Ὄρη θανάτου, ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐξηράνθη σκέπη δυνατῶν. Ἰδοὺ Ἠλιοὺ ἐκάθητο ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ ὄρους. Καὶ ἐλάλησεν ὁ πεντηκόνταρχος πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκάλεσέ σε, κατάβηθι. Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Ἠλιοὺ, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Εἰ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγὼ, καταβήσεται πῦρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἀναλώσει σε, καὶ τοὺς πεντήκοντά σου. Καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτὸν, καὶ τοὺς πεντήκοντα αὐτοῦ. Εἶπεν Ἠλιού· 95.1189 Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐξαπέστειλας ἀγγέλους ζητῆσαι ἐν τῷ Βαὰλ μυῖαν θεὸν προσόχθισμα Ἀκκαρὼν, οὐχ οὕτως· ἡ κλίνη ἐφ' ἧς ἀνέβης ἐκεῖ, οὐ καταβήσει ἀπ' αὐτῆς, ὅτι θανάτῳ ἀποθανῇ. Ἤνοιξεν Ἰὼβ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατηράσατο τὴν