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they were attempting. But he who then stood by the holy Joseph also stood by us. and having called upon him who delivered that one there, we, the unworthy and incapable, having been shown mercy and having escaped their destructive hands, singing a hymn to the all-holy God, we too were able to say, “Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously glorified; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” For not by a power equal to his righteousness, but by a groaning to God, having been shown mercy, we were saved. For being reproached by these destructive 1.298 women, I was laughed at, as such women apparently hinted at by mocking each other, that we were not able to save the young man, but we left him in the hands of the ruler to perish; since whichever of them was more beautiful set herself forth as a bait, so as through her to proclaim that the deceived are saved instead of destroyed. And so it becomes a reproach for the unattractive one from the more beautiful ones, that “I,” she says, “am a chosen vessel, able to save the deceived, but you were not able.” Now, those who were suggesting this seductive tale were very fair in the form of their appearance, but in the mind of their wickedness they possessed all the ugliness of the devil. But the merciful God delivered us from their wickedness, so that after we had read even their books and fixed our mind on the truth and were not led astray, and had run away and not been baited, we then made haste to point them out to the bishops in that place and to expose the names of those hidden in the church, so that these same people were driven out of the city, about eighty names, and the city was cleansed of their weedy and thorny matter. 18. And someone remembering our promise above might perhaps even praise it, as we announced beforehand that we had encountered some of them, and had come to know some through writings, and some through the reports and testimonies of trustworthy men able to show us the truth, so that here too we have truthfully not gone beyond the topic, but have shown how this is one of the heresies we have encountered. And we were able to speak clearly about this from what—may it not happen—we did not practice, but having learned accurately we came to know from those who were persuading us to this and did not prevail, but who lost their own hope of our destruction and did not achieve the goal of the plot attempted against our wretched soul by them and by 1.299 the devil in them, so that we also speak in harmony with the most holy David that “the arrows of infants their plagues have become” and the following, and that “their trouble will return upon their own head, and their injustice will come down upon their own crown.” As, therefore, having encountered and escaped and read, having known and condemned, and having been saved we have passed beyond, so also we beseech you, the reader, having read and condemned, to pass beyond *, so as not to fall into the venom of the wickedness of these reptiles. But if you should ever encounter any from this serpentine school, immediately take up the wood prepared for us by the Lord, on which our Lord Christ was fastened, and striking immediately at the head of the serpent, you should say that “Christ was crucified for us, leaving behind for us an example” of salvation; for he would not have been crucified, if he did not have flesh. And having flesh and being crucified he crucified our sins. By faith I hold to the truth and I am not led away by the deception of the serpent’s adulteration and the whisperings of his teaching. 19. Therefore, having passed this by, beloved, I shall proceed in order to the other rough paths, not that I may walk them, but that from a distance I may point out to those who wish to recognize the roughest things, but to flee by the narrow and afflicted way of the

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ἐπεχείρουν. ἀλλὰ ὁ τότε συμπαραστὰς τῷ ἁγίῳ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἡμῖν παρέστη. καὶ τὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐκεῖ ῥυσάμενον ἐπικεκλημένοι οἱ ἀνάξιοι καὶ ἀνίκανοι, ἐλεηθέντες καὶ ἀποδράντες τὰς ὀλετηρίους αὐτῶν χεῖρας, θεῷ τῷ παναγίῳ ὕμνον ᾄσαντες ἠδυνήθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγειν τό «ᾄσωμεν τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐνδόξως γὰρ δεδόξασται, ἵππον καὶ ἀναβάτην ἔρριψεν εἰς θάλασσαν». οὐ γὰρ ὁμοίᾳ δυνάμει τῆς ἐκείνου δικαιοσύνης, ἀλλὰ στεναγμῷ τῷ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐλεηθέντες ἐσώθημεν. ὀνειδιζόμενος γὰρ ὑπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ὀλετηρίων 1.298 γυναικῶν κατεγέλων ἐγώ, ὡς ὑπέφαινον αἱ τοιαῦται ἀλλήλαις ἐπισκώπτουσαι δῆθεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν σῶσαι τὸν νεανίσκον, ἀλλὰ ἀφήκαμεν αὐτὸν ἐν χερσὶ τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἀπόλλυσθαι· ἐπειδήπερ ἥτις αὐτῶν εὐμορφοτέρα εἴη δέλεαρ ὥσπερ ἑαυτὴν προτίθησιν, ὥστε δι' αὐτῆς τοὺς ἀπατωμένους ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπολλύειν σῴζειν ἐπιφημίζειν. καὶ ὄνειδος λοιπὸν τῇ ἀμόρφῳ γίνεται παρὰ τῶν εὐμορφοτέρων, ὅτι ἐγώ, φησί, σκεῦός εἰμι ἐκλογῆς, δυναμένη σῴζειν τοὺς ἀπατωμένους, σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἴσχυσας. ἦσαν μὲν οὖν αἱ τὸν ἀγώγιμον μῦθον τοῦτον ὑφηγούμεναι τῇ μορφῇ τῆς αὐτῶν ὄψεως εὐπροσωπόταται, τῷ δὲ νῷ τῆς αὐτῶν μοχθηρίας τὴν πᾶσαν τοῦ διαβόλου ἀμορφίαν κεκτημέναι. ἀλλὰ ὁ ἐλεήμων θεὸς τῆς μοχθηρίας αὐτῶν ἡμᾶς ἐρρύσατο, ὥστε μετὰ τὸ ἀναγνῶναι ἡμᾶς καὶ τὰς βίβλους αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ μὴ συναπαχθῆναι, ἀποδρᾶσαί τε καὶ μὴ δελεασθῆναι, τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἐσπουδάσαμεν καὶ τοῖς ἐπισκόποις τοῖς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ αὐτοὺς ὑποδεῖξαι καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τὰ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκρυμμένα φωρᾶσαι, ὡς καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀπελαθῆναι τῆς πόλεως, ὀνόματα περί που ὀγδοήκοντα, καὶ τὴν πόλιν τῆς αὐτῶν ζιζανιώδους ὕλης καὶ ἀκανθώδους καθαρθῆναι. 18. Μνημονεύσας δέ τις τῆς ἄνω ἡμῶν ὑποσχέσεως τάχα καὶ ἐπαινέσειεν, ὡς ἡμῶν προαγγειλάντων ὅτι τισὶν αὐτῶν παρετύχομεν, τινὰ δὲ διὰ συγγραμμάτων ἐγνώκαμεν, τινὰ δὲ δι' ἐνηχήσεών τε καὶ μαρτυριῶν ἀξιοπίστων ἀνδρῶν δυναμένων ἡμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑποδεικνύναι, ὡς καὶ ἐνταῦθα φιλαλήθως οὐχ ὑπερβεβήκαμεν τὸν τόπον, ἀλλὰ ἐδείξαμεν ὡς μία ἐστὶν αὕτη τῶν ἡμῖν περιτυχουσῶν αἱρέσεων. καὶ σαφῶς περὶ ταύτης ἠδυνήθημεν λέγειν ἐξ ὧν μὴ γένοιτο οὐ πράξαντες, ἀλλὰ μεμαθηκότες ἀκριβῶς ἐγνώκαμεν παρὰ τῶν ἡμᾶς εἰς τοῦτο πειθόντων καὶ μὴ κατισχυσάντων, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐλπίδα τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀπωλείας ἀπολεσάντων καὶ μὴ ἐπιτυχόντων τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς εἰς τὴν τάλαιναν ἡμῶν ψυχὴν ἐπιχειρουμένης ὑπ' αὐτῶν τε καὶ 1.299 τοῦ ἐν αὐτοῖς διαβόλου συσκευῆς, ὡς καὶ συνῳδὰ ἡμᾶς λέγειν τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ ∆αυὶδ ὅτι «βέλη νηπίων ἐγενήθησαν αἱ πληγαὶ αὐτῶν» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, καὶ ὅτι «ἐπιστρέψει ὁ πόνος αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀδικία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ κορυφὴν αὐτῶν καταβήσεται». ὡς οὖν περιτυχόντες καὶ ἀποδράντες καὶ ἀναγνόντες, γνόντες καὶ καταγνόντες, σωθέντες τε ὑπερβεβήκαμεν, οὕτω καὶ σὲ τὸν ἀναγινώσκοντα παρακαλοῦμεν ἀναγνόντα καὶ καταγνόντα τοῦ * ὑπερβῆναι, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν ἐν τῷ ἰῷ τῆς τῶν ἑρπετῶν τούτων μοχθηρίας. ἀλλ' εἰ καί ποτε περιτύχοις τισὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀφιώδους ταύτης σχολῆς, εὐθὺς τὸ ξύλον ἀναλαβὼν τὸ διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῖν ἑτοιμασθέν, ἐν ᾧ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν προσεπάγη Χριστός, καὶ κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ ὄφεως εὐθὺς βαλὼν εἴποις ὅτι «Χριστὸς ἐσταύρωται ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ὑπογραμμὸν ἡμῖν περιλιμπάνων» σωτηρίας· ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐσταυροῦτο, εἰ μὴ σάρκα εἶχε. σάρκα δὲ ἔχων καὶ σταυρωθεὶς ἐσταύρωσεν ἡμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας. πίστει ἔχομαι τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ οὐχ ὑπάγομαι πλάνῃ τῇ νοθείᾳ τοῦ ὄφεως καὶ παραψιθυρισμῷ τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας. 19. Λοιπὸν ταύτην παρελθών, ἀγαπητοί, ἐφεξῆς βαδιοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας τραχείας τρίβους, οὐχ ἵνα βαδίσω, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀπὸ μήκοθεν ὑποδείξω τοῖς βουλομένοις τὰ τραχύτατα μὲν ἐπιγινώσκειν, φεύγειν δὲ διὰ τῆς στενῆς καὶ τεθλιμμένης ὁδοῦ τῆς