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a refuge for your brother, and a covering and a protection, and rule and have dominion over him; only do not leap to murder, nor go forth to that lawless slaughter. But still he did not listen, nor was he quiet, but he committed that bloody murder, and plunged his right hand into his brother's throat. What then? Did God say, "Let us leave him then? what more is the use? He committed murder, he killed his brother, he despised my exhortation, he dared an incurable and unpardonable slaughter, after enjoying such and so great providence and teaching and counsel; he cast all those things out of his mind, and was turned by none of them. Let him be abandoned then and cast off from now on, and not be deemed worthy of any word from me." God said no such thing, nor did He do it; but He comes to him again, and corrects the man, and says: Where is Abel your brother? And He does not let him go even when he denies it, but leads him, even unwilling, to the confession of his deed; and when he said, I do not know, The voice, He says, of your brother’s blood cries to me; the deed itself, He says, proclaims the murderer. What then did he say? My guilt is greater than to be forgiven; and if you cast me out from the earth, I shall be hidden from your face. What he says is something like this: I have sinned too greatly for pardon and defense and to be forgiven, but if you should wish to punish what has been done, I shall lie exposed to all, having become bereft of your help. What then did God say? Not so; whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance sevenfold. Do not fear this, He says; you will live a long life, and if anyone kills you, he will be liable to many punishments, for the number seven in Scripture is indicative of an indefinite multitude. Since, therefore, Cain was subjected to many punishments, to agony, and trembling, and groaning, and despondency, and paralysis of body, He who kills you, He says, and frees you from these torments, will himself draw down the punishment upon himself. And what is said seems to be harsh and burdensome, but it is an indication of great care. For wishing to chasten those who came after, he devised such a manner of punishment, which was able to deliver him from his sin. For if He had killed him immediately, he would have departed with his sin concealed, and he would not have become known to those who came after. But now, having been left to live a long time in that trembling, he became a teacher to all who met him, through his appearance and the shaking of his flesh exhorting all never to dare such things, lest they suffer such things, and he himself became better again. For the trembling and fear, and living in agony, and the paralysis of his body, held him as if in some bond, and did not permit him either to leap into another such daring act again, and constantly reminded him of the former one, and in these things it made his soul more temperate. 3. But while I was speaking, it occurred to me to bring forward and inquire why, having confessed his sin, and condemned what he had done, and said that he had sinned too greatly for pardon, and was worthy of no 48.931 defense, he was not able to wash away his sins, although the prophet says: Declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified, yet he was even condemned? Because he did not speak as the prophet commanded. For the prophet did not simply say, Declare your iniquities, but what? Declare first, he says, your iniquities. This is the point in question: not simply to speak, but to speak first, not to wait for the one who refutes and accuses. But this man did not speak first, but waited to be refuted by God, or rather, even when being refuted, he denied it. But when He once showed plainly what had been done, then he stated his sin, which is no longer a confession. And you, therefore, beloved, when you sin, do not wait for the accusation from another, but before you are accused and slandered, do you condemn what you have done, since if another refutes you, the good deed is no longer from your confession, but the correction is from his accusation.

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τῷ ἀδελφῷ καταφυγὴ καὶ σκέπη καὶ προστασία, καὶ κράτει καὶ κυρίευε αὐτοῦ· μόνον μὴ πρὸς φόνον ἐκπηδήσῃς, μηδὲ εἰς τὴν παράνομον ἐκείνην ἐξέλθῃς σφαγήν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδὲ οὕτως ἤκουσεν, οὐδὲ ἡσύχασεν, ἀλλ' εἰργάσατο τὴν μιαιφονίαν ἐκείνην, καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν εἰς τὸν λαιμὸν ἐβάπτισε τὸν ἀδελφικόν. Τί οὖν; ἆρα εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, Ἀφῶμεν αὐτὸν λοιπόν; τί πλέον τὸ ὄφελος; εἰργάσατο τὸν φόνον, ἀπέκτεινε τὸν ἀδελφὸν, κατεφρόνησέ μου τῆς παραινέσεως, ἀνίατόν τινα καὶ ἀσύγγνωστον σφαγὴν ἐτόλμησε, τοσαύτης καὶ τοιαύτης ἀπολαύσας προνοίας καὶ διδασκαλίας καὶ συμβουλῆς· πάντα ἐξέβαλεν ἐκεῖνα ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας, καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν ἐπεστράφη. Ἀφείσθω τοίνυν καὶ ἐῤῥίφθω λοιπὸν, καὶ μηδὲ λόγου τινὸς ἀξιούσθω παρ' ἐμοῦ. Οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ εἶπεν, οὐκ ἔπραξεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔρχεται πάλιν, καὶ διορθοῦται τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καί φησι· Ποῦ Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; Καὶ οὐδὲ ἀρνούμενον ἀφίησιν, ἀλλ' ἐνάγει καὶ ἄκοντα εἰς τὴν τῆς ἐργασίας ὁμολογίαν· καὶ εἰπόντος, Οὐκ οἶδα, Φωνὴ, φησὶν, αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με· αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα, φησὶ, κηρύττει τὸν μιαιφόνον. Τί οὖν οὗτος; Μείζων ἡ αἰτία μου τοῦ ἀφεθῆναί με· καὶ εἰ ἐκβάλῃς με ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου κρυβήσομαι. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Μείζονα μὲν ἥμαρτον συγγνώμης καὶ ἀπολογίας καὶ τοῦ ἀφεθῆναι, πλὴν ἀλλ' εἰ βουληθείης ἐπεξελθεῖν τῷ γεγενημένῳ, πᾶσι προκείσομαι, ἔρημος τῆς παρὰ σοῦ συμμαχίας γενόμενος. Τί οὖν ὁ Θεός; Οὐχ οὕτως, πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας Κάϊν, ἑπτὰ ἐκδικούμενα παραλύσει. Μὴ φοβοῦ τοῦτο, φησί· βιώσῃ βίον μακρὸν, κἂν ἀνέλῃ σέ τις, πολλαῖς ἔσται τιμωρίαις ὑπεύθυνος, ὁ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἀριθμὸς παρὰ τῇ Γραφῇ ἀδιορίστου πλήθους ἐστὶ σημαντικός. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ Κάϊν πολλαῖς ὑπεβέβλητο τιμωρίαις, ἀγωνίᾳ, καὶ τρόμῳ, καὶ στεναγμοῖς, καὶ ἀθυμίᾳ, καὶ παραλύσει σώματος, Ὁ ἀνελών σε, φησὶ, καὶ τούτων ἀπαλλάξας τῶν κολάσεων, αὐτὸς ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐπισπάσεται τὴν τιμωρίαν. Καὶ δοκεῖ μὲν εἶναι βαρὺ καὶ φορτικὸν τὸ λεγόμενον, πολλῆς δὲ ταῦτά ἐστι κηδεμονίας ὑπόδειξις. Καὶ γὰρ τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα σωφρονίσαι βουλόμενος, τοιοῦτον ἐπενόησε κολάσεως τρόπον, ὃς ἀπαλλάξαι αὐτὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐδύνατο. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὐθέως αὐτὸν ἀνεῖλεν, ἀπῆλθεν ἂν ἔχων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐγκεκαλυμμένην, καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο γνώριμος. Νυνὶ δὲ ἀφεθεὶς πολὺν χρόνον ζῆσαι ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τρόμῳ, διδάσκαλος τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν ἐγίνετο πᾶσι, διὰ τῆς ὄψεως καὶ τοῦ σάλου τῆς σαρκὸς παραινῶν ἅπασι μή ποτε τοιαῦτα τολμᾷν, ἵνα μὴ τοιαῦτα πάθωσιν, αὐτός τε βελτίων ἐγίνετο πάλιν. Ὁ γὰρ τρόμος καὶ φόβος, καὶ τὸ ἀγωνίᾳ συζῇν, καὶ ἡ τοῦ σώματος πάρεσις, καθάπερ ἐν δεσμῷ τινι κατεῖχεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἠφίει οὔτε εἰς ἕτερον ἐκπηδῆσαι τοιοῦτο τόλμημα πάλιν, καὶ τοῦ προτέρου συνεχῶς ἀνεμίμνησκε, καὶ ἐν τούτοις αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν σωφρονεστέραν εἰργάζετο. γʹ. Ἀλλὰ μεταξὺ λέγοντί μοι ἐπῆλθεν εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν καὶ ζητῆσαι τί δήποτε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὁμολογήσας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ καταγνοὺς τῶν γενομένων, καὶ εἰπὼν μείζονα συγγνώμης ἡμαρτηκέναι, καὶ μη48.931 δεμιᾶς ἀπολογίας ἄξιος εἶναι, οὐκ ἴσχυσεν ἀπονίψασθαι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα καίτοι γε ὁ προφήτης φησί· Λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σου πρῶτος, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατεκρίθη; Ὅτι οὐκ εἶπεν, ὡς ὁ προφήτης ἐκέλευσεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν ὁ προφήτης, Λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σου, ἀλλὰ τί; Λέγε σὺ πρῶτος, φησὶ, τὰς ἀνομίας σου. Τὸ ζητούμενον τοῦτό ἐστιν· οὐ τὸ εἰπεῖν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρῶτον εἰπεῖν, τὸ μὴ ἀναμεῖναι τὸν ἐλέγχοντα καὶ κατηγοροῦντα. Οὗτος δὲ οὐκ εἶπε πρῶτος, ἀλλὰ ἀνέμεινεν ἐλεγχθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐλέγχοντος ἠρνεῖτο. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἅπαξ ἔδειξε τὸ γενόμενον φανερῶς, τότε εἶπε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξομολόγησις λοιπόν. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν, ἀγαπητὲ, ἐπειδὰν ἁμάρτῃς, μὴ ἀνάμενε τὴν παρ' ἑτέρου κατηγορίαν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἂν ἢ κατηγορηθῇς καὶ διαβληθῇς, σὺ καταγίνωσκε τῶν γεγενημένων, ὡς ἐὰν ἕτερος ἐλέγξῃ λοιπὸν, οὐκ ἔτι τῆς σῆς ἐξομολογήσεως τὸ κατόρθωμα γίνεται, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκείνου κατηγορίας ἡ διόρθωσις.