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with her they committed fornication, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the power of her luxury. And I saw, he says, another angel having great authority. This, he says, is to be a luminary and to enlighten the earth with his glory. Babylon has fallen, he says. He proclaims God’s decision against her. It has been decreed, he says, that she suffer these things, and she became a dwelling place of demons; for the wandering and bloodthirsty demons, being misanthropic, in whatever places they find the blood of men shed, whether in wars or having been killed in some other way, as if delighting in what has happened, they make their haunts in them. Since therefore very many will be killed in the city, as he said before, it becomes then a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit, and of every unclean beast; for such creatures flee life with men, and seizing the desolate places, they keep themselves safe from those who plot against them and from the hunt of those who pursue them. Isaiah the prophet says something of this kind also concerning Babylon. He says, and sirens will rest there and demons will dance there; and onocentaurs will dwell there and hedgehogs will make their nests in their houses. Because all 193 the nations have drunk of the wrath of her fornication. Here he calls fornication their greed and love of money; for such is the way of prostitutes. For indeed those in the aforementioned city rose up against all the nations, and having subjugated them, they ordered them to pay tribute. And the kings, he says, in her became partakers and sharers of her avarice, and the merchants trading in her grew rich, he says, from her luxury, that is, from her arrogance and her unrestrained and dissolute and languid lifestyle, selling all sorts of cargo in her. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, my people, that you may not share in their sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she also rendered, and repay her double according to her works: in the cup which she mixed, mix to her double as much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so much give her torment and sorrow. For in her heart she says: I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow; therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord who judged her. 194 When the divine angels took the city of the Sodomites in order to exact punishment on those in it and the neighboring cities, or rather as it seems to Cyril among the saints, when the Son of God and the Holy Spirit visited there, for the Father judges no one according to what is written, but has given all judgment to the Son, with the life-giving Spirit clearly being present with him naturally and essentially, then they say to the divine Lot: Save your own soul by escaping; do not look behind you nor stop anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountain, lest you be taken along. This the apocalypse teaches us now also; for since it is not possible in so great and populous a city, in Rome, that servants of Christ are not also found in it, he says to them, Come out of her, my people, that you may not share in their sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues. For to share in the sins is also to share in the plagues; for because of them are the plagues. Because, he says, her sins have reached up to heaven; as if he might say, they have polluted even the air between with their sins. Therefore, he says, God, having been very patient, has now been roused to retribution. Repay therefore, he says, her sins double, although God has commanded us through the all-wise Moses: You shall not take vengeance twice for the same thing. How then does he himself repay double? "Double" does not mean twice as much, but that God, being benevolent and good, and punishing much less than is deserved, considers that he has paid back double even when a part

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μετ' αὐτῆς ἐπόρνευσαν, καὶ οἱ ἔμποροι τῆς γῆς ἐκ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ στρήνους αὐτῆς ἐπλούτησαν. καὶ εἶδόν φησιν ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἔχοντα ἐχουσίαν μεγάλην. ταύτην λέγει τὴν τοῦ φωστήρ τε εἶναι καὶ φωτίζειν τὴν γῆν ἐκ τῆς δοξῆς αὐτοῦ. ἔπεσέ φησι Βαβυλών. τὴν κατ' αὐτῆς ἀπόφασιν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνακηρύττει. δέδοκταί φησι τάδε αὐτὴν παθεῖν, καὶ ἐγένετο κατοικητήριον δαιμονίων· ὡς μισάνθρωποι γὰρ οἱ ἀλητήριοι δαίμονες καὶ αἱμοβόροι, ἐν οἷς ἂν εὕρωσι τόποις αἷμα ἀνδρῶν κεχυμένον, ἢ ἐν πολέμοις ἢ ἑτέρως πως ἀναιρεθέντων, ὥσπερ ἐφηδόμενοι τῷ γεγονότι ἐν αὐτοῖς τὰς διατριβὰς ποιοῦνται. ἐπεὶ οὖν πλεῖστοι ἀναιρεθήσονται ἐν τῇ πόλει, ὡς φθάσας εἶπεν, γίνεται λοιπὸν κατοικητήριον δαιμόνων καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου, καὶ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου· φεύγονται γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὴν μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δίαιταν, καὶ τὰς ἐρημίας καταλαμβάνοντα ἑαυτὰ διαφυλάττει ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων καὶ τῆς θήρας τῶν ἀγρευόντων. τοιαῦτά τινα καὶ Ἡσαΐας ὁ προφήτης φησὶ περὶ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος. φησὶ καὶ ἀναπαύσονται ἐκεῖ σειρῆνες καὶ δαιμόνια ἐκεῖ ὀρχήσονται· καὶ ὀνοκένταυροι ἐκεῖ κατοικήσουσι καὶ νοσσοποιήσουσι ἐχῖνοι ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις αὐτῶν. ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς πέπωκε πάντα 193 τὰ ἔθνη. πορνείαν ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀπλησίαν καὶ φιλοχρηματίαν αὐτῶν φησι· τοιοῦτος γὰρ ὁ τῶν πόρνων τρόπος. καὶ γὰρ ἐπεφύησαν οἱ ἐν τῇ εἰρημένῃ πόλει πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶ καταστρεψάμενοι φόρους τελεῖν ἔταξαν αὐτούς. καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς φησιν οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ μέτοχοι καὶ κοινωνοὶ τῆς φιλαργυρίας αὐτῆς γεγένηνται, καὶ οἱ ἔμποροι δὲ οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ ἐμπορευόμενοι ἐπλούτησάν φησιν ἐκ τοῦ στρήνους αὐτῆς, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς ὑπεροψίας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς ἀνειμένης καὶ κεχυμένης καὶ κατεβλακευμένης διαίτης αὐτῆς, παντοῖα φορτία ἐν αὐτῇ διατιθέντες. καὶ ἤκουσα ἄλλην φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λέγουσαν· ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὁ λαός μου, ἵνα μὴ συγκοινωνήσηται ταῖς ἁμαρ τίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν πληγῶν αὐτῆς ἵνα μὴ λάβητε· ὅτι ἐκολλήθησαν αὐτῆς αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἄχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἐμνη μόνευσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ἀδικήματα αὐτῆς. ἀπόδοτε αὐτῇ ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπέδωκε, καὶ διπλώσατε αὐτὰ διπλᾶ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ ᾧ ἐκέρασεν αὐτῇ διπλοῦν ὅσα ἐδό ξασεν αὑτὴν καὶ ἐστρηνίασεν, τοσοῦτον δότε αὐτῇ βασανι σμὸν καὶ πένθος. ὅτι ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς λέγει ὅτι κάθημαι βασίλισσα, καὶ χήρα οὐκ εἰμί, καὶ πένθος οὐ μὴ ἴδω· διὰ τοῦτο ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ ἥξουσιν αἱ πληγαὶ αὐτῆς, θάνατος καὶ πένθος καὶ λιμός, καὶ ἐν πυρὶ κατακαυθήσεται· ὅτι ἰσχυρὸς ὁ Κύριος ὁ κρίνας αὐτήν. 194 ὅταν οἱ θεῖοι ἄγγελοι τὴν Σοδομιτῶν κατέλαβον πόλιν ἐφ' ὧ δίκην εἰσπράξασθαι τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τὰς ἀστυγείτονας πόλεις, μᾶλλον δὲ ὡς τῷ ἐν ἁγίοις Κυρίλλῳ δοκεῖ, ὅταν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς καὶ τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἐκεῖσε ἐπεφοίτων, ὁ γὰρ Πατὴρ κρινεῖ οὐδένα κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, τὴν δὲ πᾶσαν κρίσιν δέδωκε τῷ υἱῷ συμπαρόντος αὐτῷ δηλονότι φυσικῶς καὶ οὐσιωδῶς τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ πνεύματος, τότε φασὶ πρὸς τὸν θεσπέσιον Λώτ· σώζων σῶζε τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχήν· μὴ περιβλέψῃ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω μηδὲ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ· εἰς τὸ ὄρος σώζου, μή ποτε συμπαραληφθῇς. τοῦτο καὶ νῦν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀποκάλυψις διδάσκει· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔνι ἐν οὕτω μεγίστῃ καὶ πολυανθρώπῳ πόλει, τῇ Ῥώμῃ, μὴ καὶ Χριστοῦ δούλους ἐν αὐτῇ τυγχάνειν, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὁ λαός μου, ἵνα μὴ συγκοινωνήσητε ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν πληγῶν αὐτῶν ἵνα μὴ λάβητε. τὸ γὰρ κοινωνῆσαι τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ τῶν πληγῶν ἐστι κοινωνῆσαι· δι' αὐτὰς γὰρ αἱ πληγαί. ὅτι φησὶν ἐκολλήθησαν αὐτῆς αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἄχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· ὡς ἂν εἴποι καὶ τὸν μεταξὺ ἀέρα ἐμόλυναν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις. διό φησι πολλὰ μακροθυμήσας ὁ Θεὸς νῦν εἰς ἀνταπόδοσιν ἐγήγερται. ἀπόδοτε οὖν φησιν αὐτῇ τὰς ἁμαρτίας διπλᾶς, καίτοι διὰ τοῦ πανσόφου Μωϋσέως ἐντέταλται ἡμῖν ὁ Θεός· οὐκ ἐκδικήσεις δὶς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. πῶς οὖν αὐτὸς διπλᾶ ἀποδίδωσιν; οὐ τὸ διπλάσιον σημαίνει τὸ διπλᾶ, ἀλλ' ὅτι φιλάνθρωπος ὢν καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πολὺ καταδεέστερον τῆς ἀξίας κολάζων, διπλὰ οἴεται ἀποδεδωκέναι καὶ ὅταν μέρος