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of the lawless against Naboth in Samaria, and the multitude of the Jews against the Lord in Jerusalem and against Stephen his protomartyr. Let the witnesses, therefore, be meek, not given to anger, gentle, loving, sober-minded, self-controlled, without malice, faithful, god-fearing; for the testimony of such men is firm through their character and true through their conduct. But do not accept the testimony of those who are not such, even if they seem to agree in the false testimony; for it is commanded in the Laws: "You shall not be with a multitude for evil, you shall not accept a vain report, you shall not consent with a multitude to pervert justice." In part, you ought also to know the one being judged, what sort of person he is in the habit and conduct of his life; if his life is well-attested, if he is blameless, if he has been zealous for holiness, if a lover of widows and a lover of strangers and a lover of the poor and a lover of the brethren, if not greedy for shameful gain and not a glutton and a money-grubber, if sober-minded and not dissolute or a drunkard or an idler, if compassionate and generous. For if wicked deeds are his background, then in part the accusations now brought against him might be true, unless justice fights on his side; for it is possible for him to have sinned at some time, but to be innocent of this charge. Therefore, being sober about such things with exactness, make your decisions against the one convicted safe and firm; and if after the excommunication he asks for pardon and falls down before the bishop and confesses that he has sinned, receive him. And do not leave the false accuser unpunished, lest he blaspheme some other person living well or persuade another to do the same things as he did, nor indeed the one convicted unrebuked, so that another may not be entangled in the same things as he. For neither will a witness of evil things be unpunished, nor the one who sins be beyond justice. And we have said that it is not right to make one-sided judgments. For if you hear from one person, the other not being present nor having defended himself against the charge brought against him, and you rashly cast a vote of condemnation, you will be found guilty of the murder and sharers with the false accuser before God, the just judge. "For as he who grabs a dog by the tail, so is he who presides over another's judgment." But if you become imitators of the elders in Babylon, who, having testified against Susanna, unjustly condemned her to death, guilty of their

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παρανόμων κατὰ τοῦ Ναβουθὲ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Ἰουδαίων κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ κατὰ Στεφάνου τοῦ πρωτομάρτυρος αὐτοῦ. Ἔστωσαν οὖν οἱ μάρτυρες πραεῖς, ἀόργητοι, ἐπιεικεῖς, ἀγαπητικοί, σώφρονες, ἐγκρατεῖς, ἀπόνηροι, πιστοί, θεοσεβεῖς· ἡ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων μαρτυρία καὶ διὰ τοῦ τρόπου αὐτῶν βεβαία καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀναστροφῆς αὐτῶν ἀληθὴς ὑπάρχει. Τῶν δὲ μὴ τοιούτων μὴ παραδέχεσθε τὴν μαρτυρίαν, εἰ καὶ συμφωνεῖν δοκοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῇ ψευδομαρτυρίᾳ· προστέτακται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς Νόμοις· «Oὐκ ἔσῃ μετὰ πολλῶν ἐπὶ κακίᾳ, οὐ παραδέξῃ ἀκοὴν ματαίαν, οὐ συγκαταθήσῃ μετὰ πλήθους ἐκκλῖναι τὸ δίκαιον.» Ἐν μέρει δὲ καὶ τὸν κρινόμενον εἰδέναι ὀφείλετε, ὁποῖός ἐστιν τῇ τοῦ βίου συνηθείᾳ καὶ ἀναστροφῇ· εἰ μεμαρτυρημένος τὸν βίον, εἰ ἀνέγκλητος, εἰ ὁσιότητα ἐζηλωκώς, εἰ φιλόχηρος καὶ φιλόξενος καὶ φιλόπτωχος καὶ φιλάδελφος, εἰ μὴ αἰσχροκερδὴς καὶ μὴ βρώτης καὶ χρηματολαίλαψ, εἰ σώφρων καὶ μὴ ἄσωτος ἢ μέθυσος ἢ ἀργοφάγος, εἰ εὔσπλαγχνος καὶ εὐμετάδοτος. Eἰ γὰρ αὐτῷ προϋπόκειται ἔργα φαῦλα, ἤδη ἐκ μέρους ἀληθεῖς ἂν εἶεν καὶ αἱ νῦν αὐτῷ ἐπιφερόμεναι κατηγορίαι, εἰ μὴ ἂν αὐτῷ τὸ δίκαιον ἔχει συναγωνιζόμενον· ἐγχωρεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἡμαρτηκέναι μέν ποτε, τούτου δὲ τοῦ ἐγκλήματος ἀθῶον ὑπάρχειν. ∆ιὸ ἀκριβῶς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα νήφοντες, ἀσφαλεῖς καὶ βεβαίας ποιεῖσθε τὰς ἀποφάσεις κατὰ τοῦ ἐλεγχθέντος· καὶ ἐὰν μετὰ τὸν ἀφορισμὸν συγγνώμην αἰτῇ καὶ προσπέσῃ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ ἡμαρτηκέναι ὁμολογῇ, προσδέξασθε αὐτόν. Μήτε δὲ τὸν συκοφάντην ἀτιμώρητον ἐάσητε, ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἕτερόν τινα καλῶς βιοῦντα βλασφημήσῃ ἢ ἕτερον τινα προτρέψηται τὰ ὅμοια αὐτῷ δρᾶσαι, μήτε μὴν τὸν ἐλεγχθέντα ἀνύβριστον, ὅπως μὴ καὶ ἕτερος τοῖς αὐτοῖς αὐτῷ ἐνσχεθῇ. Oὔτε γὰρ μάρτυς κακῶν ἀτιμώρητος ἔσται, οὔθ' ὁ πλημμελῶν δίκης ἐκτός. Eἴπομεν δέ, ὅτι κρίσεις οὐ δίκαιον μονομερεῖς ποιεῖσθαι. Ἐὰν γὰρ τοῦ ἑνὸς προσώπου ἀκούσητε, μὴ παρόντος τοῦ ἑτέρου μηδὲ ἀπολογησαμένου πρὸς τὸ ἐπιφε ρόμενον ἔγκλημα, καὶ προπετῶς ἐξενέγκητε ψῆφον κατακρί σεως, ἔνοχοι τῆς ἀναιρέσεως καὶ συμμερισταὶ τῷ συκοφάντῃ παρὰ Θεῷ εὑρεθήσεσθε τῷ δικαίῳ κριτῇ. «Ὡς γὰρ ὁ κρατῶν κέρκου κυνός, οὕτως ὁ προεστὼς ἀλλοτρίας κρί σεως.» Ἐὰν δὲ μιμηταὶ γένησθε τῶν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι πρεσβυτέρων, οἵτινες καταμαρτυρήσαντες τῆς Σωσάννης ἀδίκως κατεδίκασαν αὐτὴν εἰς θάνατον, ἔνοχοι τῆς ἐκείνων