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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For in these words the Logos makes clear that one who has not completely forgiven those who have stumbled, and has not presented to God a heart pure from grief, illumined by the light of reconciliation toward his neighbor, (15Γ_262> will fail to obtain the grace of the good things for which he has prayed; and by a just judgment will be given over to temptation and to the evil one; so that he might learn to be purified from his sins by putting away his own reproaches against others. And by temptation He now means the law of sin; which the first man did not have when he came into being; and by the evil one, the devil, who mixed this into the nature of men, and by deceit persuaded man to transfer the soul’s desire from what was permitted to what was forbidden, and to turn to the transgression of the divine commandment; the result of which was the casting off of the incorruptibility given by grace.

Or again, by temptation He means the soul's voluntary disposition toward the passions of the flesh; and by evil, the mode that brings the passionate disposition to actual completion; from which the righteous Judge will not deliver the one who does not forgive his debtors their debts; even if he requests this merely through prayer; but He also allows such a one to be defiled by the law of sin, and abandons the one who is hard and abrupt in his judgment to be ruled by the evil one; as one who has preferred the passions of dishonor, of which the devil is the sower, to the nature of which God is the Creator. And indeed, He does not prevent one who is voluntarily disposed toward the passions of the flesh, and does not redeem him from the mode of actual completion 0905 of the disposition according to them; because having considered nature inferior to the non-existent passions, in his zeal for them, he ignored its logos; according to which he ought to have been moved to know what is the law of nature, and what is the tyranny of the passions, which has come about by choice, according to the will, but not naturally; and to preserve the former, which is maintained by natural energies, but to drive the latter far from his will, and by reason to preserve nature, standing by itself pure and blameless, without hatred and division; and to make his will again a companion to nature, bringing nothing at all, (15Γ_264> of which the logos of nature does not grant; and for this reason to remove all hatred, and all division from his natural kinsman, so that in saying this prayer he may be heard, and may receive a double grace from God instead of a single one, both the forgiveness of past sins, and protection and deliverance in those to come; not being permitted to come into temptation, and not being allowed to be enslaved to the evil one, for one thing: being ready to forgive the debts of his neighbors.

Therefore, let us too—that I may briefly retrace my steps and summarize the force of what has been said—if we wish to be delivered from the evil one, and not to enter into temptation, let us believe in God and forgive the debts of our debtors; For He says, If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you; so that we may not only receive forgiveness for what we have sinned, but also conquer the law of sin, not being abandoned to enter into its trial; and tread upon its progenitor, the evil serpent, from whom we pray to be delivered; with Christ, who conquered the world, as our general, and arming us with the laws of the commandments, and lawfully, by the putting away of the passions, binding nature to itself through love; and insatiably moving our desire toward Himself, the bread of life, of wisdom and knowledge and righteousness; and by the fulfillment of the Father's will making us fellow-worshippers with the angels,

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Καί μή εἰσενέγκῃς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλά ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπό τοῦ πονηροῦ. ∆ηλοῖ γάρ ἐν τούτοις ὁ λόγος, ὡς μή συγχωρήσας τελείως τοῖς πταίουσι, καί

καθαράν λύπης παραστήσας τῷ Θεῷ τήν καρδίαν, λελαμπρυσμένην τῷ φωτί τῆς πρός τόν πέλας καταλλαγῆς, (15Γ_262> τῆς τῶν ηὐγμένων καλῶν ἀποτεύξεται χάριτος· καί τῷ πειρασμῷ, καί τῷ πονηρῷ κατά δικαίαν ἐκδοθήσεται κρίσιν· ἵνα μάθῃ καθαίρεσθαι πλημμελῶν, τάς κατ᾿ ἄλλων ἑαυτοῦ μομφάς ἀφαιρούμενος. Πειρασμόν δέ λέγει νῦν τόν τῆς ἁμαρτίας νόμον· ὅν οὐκ ἔχων ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἦλθεν εἰς γένεσιν· πονηρόν δέ, τόν τοῦτον ἐμφύραντα τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων διάβολον, καί πείσαντα δι᾿ ἀπάτης τόν ἄνθρωπον, ἀπό τοῦ συγκεχωρημένου πρός τό κεκωλυμένον τῆς ψυχῆς μετενέγκαι τήν ἔφεσιν, καί πρός τήν τῆς θείας ἐντολῆς τραπῆναι παράβασιν· ἧς ἔργον γέγονεν ἡ τῆς δοθείσης κατά χάριν ἀφθαρσίας ἀπόθεσις.

Ἤ πάλιν, πειρασμόν μέν φησι τήν τῆς ψυχῆς ἑκούσιον πρός τά πάθη τῆς σαρκός συνδιάθεσιν· πονηρόν δέ, τόν κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν συμπληρωτικόν τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως τρόπον· ὧν οὐδενός ὁ δίκαιος ἐξειρεῖται κριτής, τόν μή τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἀφιέντα τά ὀφειλήματα· κἄν τοῦτο ψιλῶς διά τῆς προσευχῆς ἐξαιτῆται· ἀλλά καί τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας συγχωρεῖ μολύνεσθαι τόν τοιοῦτον, καί ὑπό τοῦ πονηροῦ κυριεύεσθαι τόν σκληρόν καί ἀπότομον τήν γνώμην ἐγκαταλιμπάνει· οἷα δή τά πάθη τῆς ἀτιμίας ὧν σπορεύς ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, προτετιμηκότα τῆς φύσεως, ἧς ἐστι δημιουργός ὁ Θεός. Καί μήν καί πρός τά πάθη τῆς σαρκός ἑκουσίως συνδιατιθέμενον οὐ κωλύει, καί τοῦ κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν συμπληρωτικοῦ τρόπου 0905 τῆς κατ᾿ αὐτά διαθέσεως οὐ λυτροῦται· ὅτι παθῶν ἀνυποστάτων ἥττονα τήν φύσιν ἡγησάμενος, τῇ περί ταῦτα σπουδῇ, τόν ταύτης λόγον ἠγνόησε· καθ᾿ ὅν ἔδει κινηθέντα γνῶναι τίς μέν φύσεως νόμος, τίς δέ παθῶν ἡ καθ᾿ αἵρεσιν γνωμικῶς, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ φυσικῶς ἐπισυμβαίνουσα κατέστη τυραννίς· καί τόν μέν περιποιήσασθαι ταῖς φυσικαῖς συντηρούμενον ἐνεργείαις, τήν δέ τῆς γνώμης ἀπελάσαι μακράν, καί τῷ λόγῳ διατηρῆσαι τήν φύσιν, ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῆς ἑστῶσαν καθαράν καί ἀμώμητον [ἄμωμον], χωρίς μίσους καί διαστάσεως· καί τῇ φύσει πάλιν καταστῆσαι τήν γνώμην συνέμπορον, μηδέν παντελῶς ἐπιφερομένην, (15Γ_264> ὧν ὁ τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἐπιδίδωσι λόγος· καί διά τοῦτο μῖσος ἅπαν, καί πᾶσαν τοῦ κατά φύσιν συγγενοῦς ἀποστῆσαι διάστασιν, ἵνα ταύτην λέγων τήν προσευχήν εἰσακούηται, καί διπλῆν ἀνθ᾿ ἁπλῆς παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ δέχηται χάριν, τήν τε τῶν φθασάντων πλημμελημάτων συγχώρησιν, καί τήν ἐπί τοῖς μέλλουσι σκέπην καί λύτρωσιν· εἴς τε πειρασμόν ἐλθεῖν μή συγχωρούμενος, καί τῷ πονηρῷ δουλωθῆναι μή ἀφιέμενος, ὑπέρ ἑνός, τοῦ τοῖς πέλας ἑτοίμως ἀφιέναι τά ὀφειλήματα.

Τοιγαροῦν καί ἡμεῖς, ἵνα μικρόν ἀναποδίζων ἐπιτόμως ἐπέλθω τῶν εἰρημένων τήν δύναμιν, εἴπερ τοῦ πονηροῦ ῥυσθῆναι, καί εἰς πειρασμόν εἰσελθεῖν οὐ βουλόμεθα, πιστεύσωμεν τῶ Θεῷ, καί ἀφῶμεν τά ὀφειλήματα τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· Ἐάν γάρ φησί, μή ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τά ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῶν, οὔτε ὁ Πατήρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ἀφήσει ὑμῖν· ἵνα μή μόνον ἄφεσιν λάβωμεν ὦν πεπλημμελήκαμεν, ἀλλά καί τόν νόμον νικήσωμεν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, εἰς τήν αὐτοῦ πεῖραν εἰσελθεῖν οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι· καί τόν τούτου γεννήτορα πονηρόν πατήσωμεν ὄφιν, ἀφ᾿ οὖ ῥυσθῆναι παρακαλοῦμεν· στρατηγοῦντος ἡμῖν τοῦ τόν κόσμον νικήσαντος Χριστοῦ, καί τοῖς νόμοις τῶν ἐντολῶν καθοπλίζοντος, καί νομίμως τῇ τῶν παθῶν ἀποθέσει, πρός ἑαυτήν δι' ἀγάπης τήν φύσιν συνδέοντος· καί πρός ἑαυτόν ἄρτον ὄντα ζωῆς, σοφίας τε καί γνώσεως καί δικαιοσύνης, κινοῦντος ἡμῶν ἀκορέστως τήν ὄρεξιν· καί τῇ πληρώσει τοῦ Πατρικοῦ θελήματος τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ὁμολάτρας ἡμᾶς καθιστῶντος,