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his desire, that is, his unjust deeds. For a mound means either the tomb or the dissolution of the body according to this: you are earth, and to earth you shall return. 176 , 12 If wickedness is sweet in his mouth, he will hide {δὲ} it under his tongue. For if, it says, he delights in wickedness, having received it with purpose, he then hides it under his tongue, beginning to speak cunningly and deceitfully and everything with hypocrisy. , 1314 he will not spare it and will not abandon it. And he will gather it in the midst of his throat, and he will not be able to help himself. But unsparingly and insatiably he will hold on to it and embrace it and, as if some sweet food, with pleasure he holds it in his throat. But at the time when he endures the punishments, wickedness will not be able to do anything to ward off the evil. , 14 the gall of an asp in his belly; wealth unjustly gathered will be vomited out. The impious rich man, it says, when he seems to have swallowed the unjust wealth—that is, to have it securely—then, as if having received some poisonous drug made from the venom of an asp, the divine wrath, he will vomit out all the wealth gathered from injustice. And it means that: just as those who are moved to vomit from some poison with convulsions and pain, he brings forth all the wealth within. , 15 an angel might drag him out of his house. 177 But also a certain angel, it says, of those appointed for punishment, will cast him out from all his goods; for from the house it signified the whole. , 16 but he would suck the fury of dragons, and the tongue of a serpent will slay him. And so, it says, he will proceed to complete destruction like one bitten by a serpent or who has swallowed the venom of dragons. For by 'fury' it signified 'venom'. And it well said, 'he would suck,' in order to say that by choice and with pleasure, as if milking some milk of wickedness, the death-bearing venom, he grows with it and acts according to it, but he is destroyed by it. , 1718 may he not see the milking of the herds nor the pastures of honey and butter, for empty and vain things he has toiled for wealth, of which he does not taste, like something tough, unchewed, that cannot be swallowed. May he be in enjoyment of none, it says, of his present abundance, but the things of his vain labors will be to him like something tough. And 'striphnos' is the sinewy meat of oxen; and it is also an inedible plant. For this reason the 'striphnos' is that which cannot be swallowed, because it is also unchewed. He says, therefore, that: may he not digest the goods nor come to the full enjoyment of them. , 19 for he crushed the houses of many helpless people, and he seized their living and did not restore it. There is no salvation for his possessions. 'He crushed' instead of: he mercilessly shattered, and he seized all their property and did not give it back. For 'he did not restore it' instead of 178 'he did not give it back'. Therefore, just as he seized the things of the helpless and did not restore them, so also his own things will not be saved. , 21 in his desire he will not be saved; there is no remainder for his foods. For his unjust desire, it says, will not save him, but neither will he ever have leftover foods because of extreme poverty, having nothing to leave behind. , 2123 for this reason his goods will not flourish. And when he seems to be already filled, he will be afflicted; and all distress will come upon him, if somehow it might fill his belly. Perhaps then his goods will not even blossom, but will wither at the same time as they blossom. And if he should seem to be full and to abound in all good things, then all distress and affliction will seize him so as to fill his belly, instead of: it will fill his soul with pains. , 23 He will send upon him the fury of wrath to snow pains upon him. For God, punishing him severely, will overwhelm him with pains like a snowstorm. , 2425 and he shall not be saved from the hand of iron, a bronze bow shall wound him. And an arrow shall pass through his body. He has said these things metaphorically of those in wars who receive fatal blows from iron and are shot down by strong bows. 179 for this is what 'bronze' signifies, in order to say that the strong God powerfully uses his wrath against the impious. , 25 and stars would walk in his dwellings. Other copies have: _μ_ὴ_ _π_ε_ρ_ι_π_α_τ_ή_σ_α_ι_σ_α_ν,

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αὐτοῦ ἡ ἐπιθυμία, τουτέστιν αἱ ἄδικοι πράξεις. χῶμα γὰρ ἢ τὸν τάφον λέγει ἢ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀνάλυσιν κατὰ τό· γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσει. 176 , 12 ἐὰν γλυκανθῇ ἐν στόματι αὐτοῦ κακία, κρύψει {δὲ} αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτοῦ. ἐὰν γάρ, φησίν, ἡδυνθῇ τῇ κακίᾳ ἐκ προθέσεως αὐτὴν ὑποδεξάμενος, κρύπτει λοιπὸν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτοῦ ἀρχόμενος πανούργως καὶ ἐπικλόπως καὶ πάντα μεθ' ὑποκρίσεως διαλέγεσθαι. , 1314 οὐ φείσεται αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει αὐτήν. καὶ συνάξει αὐτὴν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ φάρυγγος αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ δυνηθῇ βοηθῆσαι αὑτῷ. ἀλλ' ἀφειδῶς καὶ ἀπλήστως ἀνθέξεται αὐτῆς καὶ περιέξεται καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ τροφὴν ἡδείαν μεθ' ἡδονῆς αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ φάρυγγι κατέχει. ἐν δὲ τῷ καιρῷ, καθ' ὃν ὑπομένει τὰς τιμωρίας, οὐδὲν ἐπαμῦναι τῷ κακῷ ἡ κακία δυνήσεται. , 14 χολὴ ἀσπίδος ἐν γαστρὶ αὐτοῦ· πλοῦτος ἀδίκως συναγόμενος ἐξεμεθήσεται. ὁ ἀσεβὴς πλούσιος, φησίν, τὸν ἄδικον πλοῦτον ὅταν δόξῃ καταπεπωκέναιτουτέστιν· ἐν βεβαίῳ ἔχειν, τότε ὥσπερ τι δηλητήριον φάρμακον ἀπὸ ἰοῦ ἀσπίδος κατασκευασθὲν δεξάμενος τὴν θείαν ὀργὴν ὅλον ἐξεμεῖ τὸν ἐξ ἀδικίας συναχθέντα πλοῦτον. σημαίνει δὲ ὅτι· ὥσπερ οἱ ἀπό τινος δηλητηρίου εἰς ἔμετον κινούμενοι μετὰ σπαραγμοῦ καὶ ὀδύνης ὅλον τὸν ἔνδον ἐκφέρει πλοῦτον. , 15 ἐξ οἰκίας αὐτοῦ ἐξελκύσαι αὐτὸν ἄγγελος. 177 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄγγελός τις, φησίν, τῶν εἰς τιμωρίαν τεταγμένων πάντων αὐτὸν ἐξώσει τῶν ἀγαθῶν· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς οἰκίας τὸ ὅλον ἐσήμανε. , 16 θυμὸν δὲ δρακόντων θηλάσειεν, ἀνελεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν γλῶσσα ὄφεως. καὶ οὕτως, φησίν, ἔσται εἰς παντελῆ χωρῶν ἀπώλειαν ὥσπερ τις ὑπὸ ὄφεως δηχθεὶς ἢ δρακόντων ἰὸν καταπιών. διὰ γὰρ τοῦ θυμοῦ τὸν ἰὸν ἐσήμανε. καλῶς δὲ εἶπε· θηλάσειεν, ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι προαιρετικῶς καὶ καθ' ἡδονὴν ὥσπερ τι γάλα τῆς κακίας τὸν θανατηφόρον ἰὸν ἀμέλγων συναύξεται μὲν αὐτῇ καὶ ποιοῦται κατ' αὐτήν, ὑπὸ δὲ αὐτῆς ἀναιρεῖται. , 1718 μὴ ἴδοι ἄμελξιν νομάδων μηδὲ νομὰς μέλιτος καὶ βουτύρου, εἰς κενὰ καὶ μάταια ἐκοπίασεν πλοῦτον, ἐξ οὗ οὐ γεύεται ὥσπερ στρίφνος ἀμάσητος ἀκατάποτος. μηδενὸς ἐν ἀπολαύσει, φησίν, γένοιτο τῆς προσούσης εὐπορίας, ἄλλ' ἔσται αὐτῷ τὰ τῶν ματαίων καμάτων ὥσπερ στρίφνος. στρίφνος δέ ἐστι τὸ νευρῶδες κρέας τῶν βοῶν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ βοτάνη ἄβρωτος. διὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἀκατάποτός ἐστιν ὁ στρίφνος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἀμάσητος. λέγει οὖν ὅτι· μὴ πέψοι τὰ ἀγαθὰ μηδὲ εἰς τελείαν αὐτῶν ἀπόλαυσιν ἔλθοι. , 19 πολλῶν γὰρ ἀδυνάτων οἴκους ἔθλασε, δίαιταν δὲ ἥρπασε καὶ οὐκ ἔστησεν. οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ σωτηρία τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν. ἔθλασεν ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἀνηλεῶς συνέτριψε, τὴν δὲ πᾶσαν αὐτῶν περιουσίαν ἥρπασε καὶ οὐκ ἀπέδωκεν. τὸ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστησεν ἀντὶ 178 τοῦ· οὐκ ἀποκατέστησεν. ὥσπερ οὖν αὐτὸς τὰ τῶν ἀδυνάτων ἥρπασε καὶ οὐκ ἀποκατέστησεν, οὕτως οὐδὲ τὰ αὐτοῦ διασωθήσεται. , 21 ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτοῦ οὐ σωθήσεται· οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόλειμμα τοῖς βρώμασιν αὐτοῦ. οὐ γὰρ διασώσει, φησίν, αὐτὸν ἡ ἄδικος ἐπιθυμία, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἕξει ποτὲ καταλελειμμένα βρώματα ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν πενίας οὐδὲν ἔχων ὃ καταλείψῃ. , 2123 διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀνθήσει αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀγαθά. ὅταν δὲ δοκῇ ἤδη πεπληρῶσθαι, θλιβήσεται· πᾶσα δὲ ἀνάγκη ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐπελεύσεται, εἴ πως πληρώσαι γαστέρα αὐτοῦ. ἴσως μὲν οὖν οὐδὲ ἐξανθήσει αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀγαθά, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ τῇ ἄνθῃ μαρανθήσεται. εἰ δὲ καὶ δόξει πλήρης εἶναι καὶ πᾶσι κομᾶν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, τότε πᾶσα αὐτὸν ἀνάγκη καὶ θλῖψις καταλήψεται ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὴν γαστέρα αὐτοῦ, ἀντὶ τοῦ· ὀδυνῶν ἐμπλήσει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. , 23 ἐπαποστελεῖ ἐπ' αὐτὸν θυμὸν ὀργῆς νίψαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὀδύνας. ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἄκρως αὐτὸν τιμωρούμενος νιφετῶν δίκην κατακλύσει αὐτὸν ταῖς ὀδύναις. , 2425 καὶ οὐ μὴ σωθῇ ἐκ χειρὸς σιδήρου, τρώσαι αὐτὸν τόξον χάλκεον. διέλθοι δὲ διὰ σώματος αὐτοῦ βέλος. κατὰ μεταφορὰν ταῦτα εἴρηκε τῶν ἐν πολέμοις καιρίας ὑπὸ σιδήρου λαμβανόντων πληγὰς καὶ ὑπὸ ἰσχυρῶν τόξων κατατοξευομένων. 179 τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ χάλκεον, ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι ὁ ἰσχυρὸς θεὸς δυνατῶς κέχρηται τῇ κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὀργῇ. , 25 ἄστρα δὲ ἐν διαίταις αὐτοῦ περιπατήσαισαν. ἕτερα ἀντίγραφα· _μ_ὴ_ _π_ε_ρ_ι_π_α_τ_ή_σ_α_ι_σ_α_ν, ἔχουσιν,