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taking away the threat, and commanding everyone to go outside the court; "I," he says, "am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt." And so that they might not, being struck with fear at once, suffer the destruction of a stroke, he immediately added, saying: "And now do not be afraid, nor let it seem harsh to you; for God sent me before you for life." For since he knew they were stripped of all defense, and their tongue was bound by sin, he himself, who had suffered those myriad terrible things, omits the accusation, but introduces the defense. "For God sent me before you for life, that a great people might be fed." Not yours, he says, is the work, but God's. Do not be displeased with my servitude, being a divine economy. Put aside your fear; nothing difficult has come from this. I received the leadership of all Egypt 83.708 through servitude; through this I have the second place in the kingdom, and I have been entrusted to hold the reins of so great a nation. Such was this man, both serving and ruling; such in good fortune and ill fortune; such in adversity and in great prosperity. Therefore, neither wealth, nor lordship, nor poverty, nor servitude begets wickedness, but everywhere the free choice of the will prevails. And that the wickedness of masters does not corrupt the virtue of servants, is easy to learn from other examples as well. Who among those educated in divine things is ignorant of the wickedness of Ahab, and the impiety of Jezebel, and their rage against God? But nevertheless, Obadiah, serving them, and being entrusted with a certain stewardship by them, not only did not follow in the footsteps of his masters, but also continued to travel the path opposite to them. For they, raging against the prophets of God, hastened to deliver them all to slaughter, and considered the destruction of the servants of God a delight, striving eagerly to extinguish completely the spark of piety. But he struggled against the unholy deeds of his masters, and was zealous to keep the torch of piety safe, and having hidden a hundred prophets in two caves, he fed them, while a grievous famine then held the world, which the great Elijah had brought upon men, exacting from them the penalty for their impiety. And neither did the brutish will of his masters frighten him, nor did the slaughter of the pious terrify him, nor did the tyranny of the famine and the scarcity of necessities render him mean concerning the care of the holy prophets; but he detested them for their cruelty, and he offered to these their sufficient need, choosing their salvation over his own safety, and considering life without them to be death. And in those things, on the one hand, wherein God was not opposed, he in no way offered the fitting service to his masters; but on the other hand, considering the laws laid down against the maker of all things to be ridiculous, he hated those who laid them down, and pitied those forced to do what was commanded; and considering such service destructive, he deemed worthy of salvation those who were commanded to be destroyed, considering an end with piety more honorable than life with impiety. Therefore the abomination of his masters did not harm him, but the wickedness of his lords made him distinguished and conspicuous. For nothing is stronger than a will choosing to be pious, nothing more powerful than a soul unwilling to serve wickedness. But indeed I do not know what to do, as the virtue of the best men compels my discourse, and forces it to extend beyond measure. Come now, leaving this one aside, let us move on to another example. A certain Zedekiah was the last king of the Jews, he too being sick with much impiety, and not enduring to hearken to the divine oracles. This man cast the most divine Jeremiah, who was then prophesying and conveying to men the ordinances 83.709 of God, into a pit

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τῆς ἀπει λῆς ἀφελόμενος, καὶ πάντας ἔξω γενέσθαι τοῦ δικαστηρίου κελεύσας· «Ἐγὼ, φησὶν, εἰμὶ Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν, ὃν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀπέδοσθε.» Καὶ ἵνα μὴ παραυτίκα τῷ δέει καταπλαγέντες, τὸν τῆς ἀποπληξίας ὑπομείνωσιν ὄλεθρον, εὐθὺς ἐπήγαγε λέγων· «Καὶ νῦν μὴ φοβεῖσθε, μηδὲ σκληρὸν ὑμῖν φανήτω· εἰς γὰρ ζωὴν ἀπέσταλκέ με ὁ Θεὸς ἔμπροσθεν ὑμῶν.» Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ᾔδει πάσης αὐτοὺς ἀπολογίας γεγυμνωμένους, καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πεπεδημένην, αὐτὸς ὁ τὰ μυρία ἐκεῖνα πεπονθὼς δεινὰ, τὴν μὲν κατηγορίαν ἐᾷ, τὴν δὲ ἀπολογίαν εἰσφέρει. «Εἰς γὰρ ζωὴν ἀπέσταλκέ με ὁ Θεὸς ἔμπροσθεν ὑμῶν, ἵνα διατραφῇ λαὸς πολύς.» Οὐχ ὑμῶν, φησὶ, τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μὴ δυσχεραίνετέ μου τὴν δουλείαν, θείαν οὖσαν οἰκονομίαν. Ἀπόθεσθε τὸ δέος· οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν γεγέ νηται χαλεπόν. Πάσης τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν 83.708 ἐδεξάμην διὰ δουλείας· διὰ ταύτης ἔχω βασιλείας τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τὰς ἡνίας κατέχειν ἔθνους τοσούτου πεπί στευμαι. Τοιοῦτος οὗτος, καὶ δουλεύων, καὶ βασιλεύων· τοιοῦτος ἐν εὐκληρίᾳ καὶ δυσκληρίᾳ· τοιοῦτος κακο πραγῶν καὶ λίαν εὐημερῶν. Οὐκοῦν οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐδὲ δεσποτεία, οὐ πενία, οὐδὲ δουλεία τὴν κακίαν γεννῶσιν, ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ κρατεῖ τὸ τῆς γνώμης αὐθαίρετον. Ὅτι δὲ οἰκετῶν ἀρετὴν δεσποτῶν οὐ λυμαίνεται πονηρία, καὶ ἀφ' ἑτέρων παραδειγμάτων καταμαθεῖν εὐπετές. Τίς ἀγνοεῖ τῶν τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένων, τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ τὴν πονηρίαν, καὶ τῆς Ἰεζάβελ τὴν δυσσέβειαν, καὶ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λύτταν; Ἀλλ' ὅμως τούτοις Ἀβδιοὺ δουλεύων, καὶ παρὰ τούτων οἰκονο μίαν τινὰ πεπιστευμένος, οὐ μόνον τοῖς δεσποτικοῖς οὐκ ἠκολούθησεν ἴχνεσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν ἐκείνοις ὁδεύων διετέλεσεν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προφητῶν μεμηνότες, ἅπαντας ἠπείγοντο παραδιδόναι σφαγῇ, καὶ τρυφὴν ἡγοῦντο τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ θεραπευτῶν τὴν ἀναίρεσιν, παντελῶς τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας σπινθῆρα κατασβέσαι φιλονει κοῦντες. Ὁ δὲ, ταῖς τῶν δεσποτῶν ἀνοσιουργίαις ἀντηγωνίζετο, καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας τὸν πυρσὸν σῶον φυλάττειν ἐσπούδαζε, καὶ προφήτας ἑκατὸν ἐν δύο σπηλαίοις κατακρύψας ἔτρεφε, λιμοῦ χαλεποῦ τηνι καῦτα τὴν οἰκουμένην κατέχοντος, ὃν ὁ μέγας Ἠλίας ἐπεστράτευσε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, δίκας αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας εἰσπραττόμενος. Καὶ οὔτε τῶν δεσποτῶν αὐτὸν ἡ θηριώδης ἐφόβησεν γνώμη, οὔτε τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐξεδειμάτωσεν ἡ σφαγὴ, οὔτε ἡ τοῦ λιμοῦ τυραννὶς, καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἡ σπάνις, μικρολόγον αὐτὸν περὶ τὴν τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν θεραπείαν ἀπ έφηνεν· ἀλλ' ἐκείνους μὲν τῆς ὠμότητος ἐβδελύττετο, τούτοις δὲ τὴν αὐτάρκη προσέφερε χρείαν, τῆς οἰ κείας ἀσφαλείας τὴν ἐκείνων προαιρούμενος σωτη ρίαν, καὶ θάνατον ἡγούμενος τὴν ἄνευ ἐκείνων ζωήν. Καὶ ἐν οἷς μὲν οὐκ ἐπολεμεῖτο Θεὸς, οὐδαμῶς τὴν πρέπουσαν διακονίαν τοῖς δεσπόταις προσέφερε· τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τοῦ πάντα πεποιηκότος τιθεμένους νόμους καταγελάστους ἡγούμενος, τοὺς μὲν τιθέντας ἐμίσει, τοὺς δὲ δρᾷν τὸ κελευόμενον ἀναγκαζομένους ἠλέει· ὀλεθρίαν δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην διακονίαν ἡγούμενος, τοὺς ἀναιρεῖσθαι κελευομένους σωτηρίας ἠξίου, τὴν μετ' εὐσεβίας τελευτὴν τῆς σὺν ἀσεβείᾳ ζωῆς τιμιω τέραν ἡγούμενος. Οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἔβλαψεν αὐτὸν ἡ τῶν δεσποτῶν βδελυρία, ἀλλ' ἐπίσημον ἀπέφηνε καὶ περί βλεπτον τῶν κυρίων ἡ πονηρία. Οὐδὲν γὰρ γνώμης προαιρουμένης εὐσεβεῖν ἰσχυρότερον, οὐδὲν δυνατώ τερον ψυχῆς κακίᾳ δουλεύειν οὐ βουλομένης. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδα τί πάθω, τῆς τῶν ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετῆς βιαζομένης τὸν λόγον, καὶ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου μηκύνειν ἀναγκαζούσης. Φέρε τοίνυν τοῦτον ἑλ κύσαντες, ἐφ' ἕτερον μεταβῶμεν παράδειγμα. Σεδεκίας τις ἔσχατος ἐγένετο βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, πολλὴν καὶ αὐτὸς νοσήσας ἀσέβειαν, καὶ τῶν θείων χρησμῶν ἐπαΐειν οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος. Οὗτος τὸν θειότατον Ἱερεμίαν, τηνικαῦτα προφητεύοντα, καὶ διαπορθμεύοντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ θεσ 83.709 πίσματα, εἰς λάκκον καθῆκε