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if anyone will not work, let him not eat among you; for the Lord our God also hates the idle; for none of those who cleave to God ought to be idle.

BOOK III Concerning Widows 2. That one must refuse to appoint a younger widow, on account of suspicion. 3. What sort of women widows indeed ought to be, and how they should be supported by the bishop. 4. That one ought to do good to any needy person whatsoever. 5. That one must also have a care for the character of widows. 6. That women ought not to teach, for it is improper, and what sort of women followed the Lord. That widows ought to have their goings out measured. 7. What sort of women false widows are. 8. That a widow or the bishop or any other believer ought not to receive from the unworthy. 9. That women ought not to baptize; for it is impious and foreign to the teaching of Christ. 10. That a layman ought not to perform a priestly work, baptism or a sacrifice or the laying on of hands or a blessing. 11. That except for bishops and presbyters, none of the other clergy is permitted to perform the works of priests, and that it befits a bishop alone to ordain, and no other. 12. A warning against envy. 13. How widows ought to pray for those who give things for their need. 14. That she who bears fruit according to the Lord's ordinance ought not to boast and proclaim her own name. 15. That it is improper to revile one's neighbor; it is foreign to Christians to curse. 16. Concerning the divine initiation of holy baptism. 17. What reason the baptism into Christ has, and why each of the things connected with it is said and done. 18. What sort of person the initiated ought to be. 19. What sort of persons deacons ought to be. 20. That a bishop ought to be ordained by three or two bishops, but not by one; for it is uncertain.

Appoint widows not less than sixty years of age, so that by their age you may have some certainty that they are not under suspicion of a second marriage. But if you should appoint a younger one

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τις μὴ ἐργάζεται, οὗτος παρ' ὑμῖν μὴ ἐσθιέτω· ἀργοὺς γὰρ μισεῖ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν· ἀργὸς γὰρ εἶναι οὐκ ὀφείλει οὐδεὶς τῶν Θεῷ προσανεχόντων.

ΒIΒΛIOΝ Γ Περὶ χηρῶν β. Ὅτι παραιτητέον καθιστᾶν νεωτέραν χήραν διὰ τὸ ὕποπτον. γ. Ὁποίας εἶναι χρὴ τὰς ὄντως χήρας ἢ πῶς ἐπικουρεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου. δ. Ὅτι πάνθ' ὁντιναοῦν ἐνδεῆ εὐποιεῖν χρή. ε. Ὅτι καὶ τοῦ ἤθους ἐπιμελητέον τῶν χηρῶν. ς. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ γυναῖκας διδάσκειν, ἀπρεπὲς γάρ, καὶ ποῖαι γυναῖκες εἵποντο τῷ κυρίῳ. Ὅτι αἱ χῆραι μεμετρημένας ὀφείλουσιν ἔχειν τὰς προόδους. ζ. Oἷαί εἰσιν αἱ ψευδοχῆραι. η. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ παρὰ ἀναξίων λαμβάνειν τὴν χήραν ἢ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἢ ἄλλον πιστόν. θ. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ γυναῖκας βαπτίζειν· ἀσεβὲς γὰρ καὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἀλλότριον. ι. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ λαϊκὸν ποιεῖν ἱερατικὸν ἔργον, βάπτισμα ἢ θυσίαν ἢ χειροθεσίαν ἢ εὐλογίαν. ια. Ὅτι πλὴν ἐπισκόπων ἢ πρεσβυτέρων οὐδενὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κληρικῶν ἐπιτέτραπται τὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐνεργεῖν, τὸ δὲ χειροτονεῖν μόνῳ ἐπισκόπῳ προσήκει, ἑτέρῳ δὲ οὐδενί. ιβ. Ἀποτροπὴ βασκανίας. ιγ. Ὅπως δεῖ προσεύχεσθαι τὰς χήρας ὑπὲρ τῶν διδόντων τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν. ιδ. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ κομπάζειν καὶ περιαγγέλλειν τὸ ἑαυτῆς ὄνομα τὴν καρποφοροῦσαν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου διάταξιν. ιε. Ὅτι ἀπρεπὲς τὸ λοιδορεῖν τὸν πλησίον· ἀλλότριον χριστιανῶν τὸ καταρᾶσθαι. ις. Περὶ μυήσεως θείας τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος. ιζ. Oἷαν αἰτίαν ἔχει τὸ εἰς Χριστὸν βάπτισμα καὶ διατί τῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἕκαστον λέγεται καὶ πράττεται. ιη. Oἷος ὀφείλει εἶναι ὁ μεμυημένος. ιθ. Oἷοι ὀφείλουσι εἶναι οἱ διάκονοι. κ. Ὅτι ὑπὸ τριῶν ἢ δύο ἐπισκόπων ὀφείλει χειροτονεῖσθαι ὁ ἐπίσκο πος, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὑπὸ ἑνός· ἀβέβαιον γάρ. Χήρας δὲ καθιστᾶτε μὴ ἔλαττον ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα, ἵνα τρόπῳ τινὶ τὸ τῆς διγαμίας αὐτῶν ἀνύποπτον βέβαιον ὑμῖν διὰ τῆς ἡλικίας ὑπάρχῃ. Eἰ δὲ νεωτέραν καταστήσητε