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bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all healed. But observe for me how their whole life is woven out of opposites. For example, there was first despondency because of the ascension of Christ, then cheerfulness because of the 60.101 descent of the Spirit; again despondency because of the mockers, then cheerfulness because of the faithful and the sign; again despondency because of being arrested, then cheerfulness because of the defense. Here again both cheerfulness and despondency. For that they were illustrious, and God revealed to them, was cheerfulness; but that they killed their own, was despondency. Again cheerfulness from their splendor; again despondency from the high priest. And it is possible for those who observe to see this throughout; and one could find it so in the case of the ancients as well. Let us look again at what has been said from the beginning. They sold, he says, and brought the prices, and laid them at the apostles' feet. See, beloved, how they did not permit the apostles to sell, but they themselves sold, and gave the prices to them. But Ananias did not do so, but he holds back some of the price of the field he sold; wherefore he is punished as one who did not manage the matter well, and was caught stealing his own things. This argument also has touched the priests of today, and most mightily. But since his wife was also aware of what had happened, for this reason he also questions her. 2. But perhaps someone might say that he treated her very harshly. What are you saying? Tell me, what harshness? If someone gathering sticks is stoned to death, how much more the sacrilegious; for this money was now sacred. Therefore, he who chooses to sell his own things and distribute them, and then takes some, would be sacrilegious. If he who takes from his own is sacrilegious, much more he who takes from what is another's. For do not think that because this does not happen now, and the punishment does not follow at its heels, that these things happen with impunity. Do you see that he is accused of this, that after making it sacred money, he then took it? For could you not, he says, even after selling it, have used it as your own? Were you forbidden? Why do you take it after promising? See how straight from the beginning the devil attacked in the midst of so many signs and wonders being done; or rather, how this man too was hardened by him. Something like this also happened in the Old Testament, when Carmi was caught stealing the devoted thing; but yet you know there too with how much vengeance the matter was corrected. For sacrilege is a very grievous thing, beloved, and full of great contempt. We did not compel you to sell, he says, nor, having sold, to give the money; you chose of your own free will; why then did you steal from the sacred funds? Why, he says, has Satan filled your heart? And if Satan did this, why is he himself accused? He became the cause by receiving his influence, and being filled. But he ought to have corrected him, one says. But he would not have been corrected; for he who sees such things and does not profit, would much less have profited otherwise. It was not right, therefore, to simply pass over the event, but that it should be cut out like some gangrene, lest it corrupt the rest of the body. For now he himself has been benefited by not proceeding further in wickedness, and the rest have become more zealous; but then the opposite would have happened. For this reason he first convicts him, and shows that the event did not escape his notice, and then he condemns. For why, he says, have you done this? Did you want to have it? You should have had it from the beginning, and not promised; but now, having taken it after dedicating it, you have committed a greater sacrilege. For he who takes the things of others, perhaps takes them having desired what is another's; but it was in your power to have your own. Why then did you make it sacred, and then take it? You have done this 60.102 out of great contempt. What has been done has no pardon, it is beyond defense. Let no one be scandalized, if there are some who are sacrilegious even now. For if they existed then, much more so now, when evils are many. But let us reprove them in the presence of all, that the rest also may have fear. Judas was a temple-robber; but this did not scandalize the disciples. Do you see how many evils the desire for money causes? And great fear, he says, came upon all who heard these things. That man was punished, and others profited. So this is not simply managed;

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φέροντες ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ὀχλουμένους ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων, οἵτινες ἐθεραπεύοντο ἅπαντες. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει, πῶς αὐτοῖς ὁ βίος ὑφαίνεται πᾶς διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων. Οἷον, ἀθυμία πρώτη γέγονε διὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἶτα εὐθυμία διὰ τὴν 60.101 τοῦ Πνεύματος κάθοδον· πάλιν ἀθυμία διὰ τοὺς χλευάζοντας, εἶτα εὐθυμία διὰ τοὺς πιστοὺς καὶ τὸ σημεῖον· πάλιν ἀθυμία διὰ τὸ κατασχεθῆναι, εἶτα εὐθυμία διὰ τῆς ἀπολογίας. Πάλιν ἐνταῦθα καὶ εὐθυμία καὶ ἀθυμία. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἦσαν λαμπροὶ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῖς ἀπεκάλυψεν, εὐθυμία· ὅτι δὲ τοὺς αὐτῶν ἀνῄρουν, ἀθυμία. Πάλιν εὐθυμία ἀπὸ τῆς λαμπρότητος· πάλιν ἀθυμία ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως. Καὶ διόλου τοῦτο σκοπουμένοις ἰδεῖν δυνατόν· καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παλαιῶν δὲ οὕτως εὕροι τις ἄν. Ἴδωμεν δὲ ἄνωθεν τὰ εἰρημένα. Ἐπώλουν, φησὶ, καὶ ἔφερον τὰς τιμὰς, καὶ ἐτίθουν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων. Ὅρα μοι, ἀγαπητὲ, πῶς οὐ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐπέτρεπον πωλεῖν, ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ ἐπώλουν, καὶ τὰς τιμὰς ἐκείνοις ἐδίδοσαν. Ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως ὁ Ἀνανίας, ἀλλ' ὑφαιρεῖταί τι τῆς τιμῆς οὗ ἀπέδοτο ἀγροῦ· διὸ καὶ τιμωρεῖται ὡς τὸ πρᾶγμα μὴ καλῶς διαθέμενος, καὶ κλέπτων τὰ ἑαυτοῦ φωραθείς. Οὗτος καὶ τῶν νῦν ἱερέων ἥψατο ὁ λόγος, καὶ σφόδρα κατὰ κράτος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ συνῄδει τῷ γενομένῳ καὶ ἡ τούτου γυνὴ, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὴν ἐξετάζει. βʹ. Ἀλλ' ἴσως εἴποι τις ἂν, ὅτι σφόδρα πικρῶς αὐτῇ ἐχρήσατο. Τί λέγεις; εἰπέ μοι, ποία πικρία; Εἰ ξύλα τις συλλέξας καταλεύεται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ ἱερόσυλος· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ ἱερὰ λοιπὸν ἦν τὰ χρήματα. Οὐκοῦν ὁ ἑλόμενος τὰ αὐτοῦ πωλῆσαι καὶ διαδοῦναι, εἶτα λαβὼν, ἱερόσυλος ἂν εἴη. Εἰ δὲ ὁ ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῦ λαβὼν, ἱερόσυλος, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων. Μὴ γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ νῦν μὴ γίνεται τοῦτο, καὶ ἕπεται παρὰ πόδας ἡ κόλασις, νομίσητε ἀτιμωρητὶ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τοῦτο ἐγκαλεῖται, ὅτι ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἱερὰ χρήματα, τότε ἔλαβε; Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδύνασο, φησὶ, καὶ μετὰ τὸ πωλῆσαι αὐτὰ ὡς ἰδίοις ἀποχρήσασθαι; μὴ γὰρ ἐκωλύθης; διὰ τί μετὰ τὸ ὑποσχέσθαι λαμβάνεις; Ὅρα, πῶς εὐθέως ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπέθετο ὁ διάβολος μεταξὺ σημείων γενομένων καὶ θαυμάτων τοσούτων· μᾶλλον δὲ πῶς καὶ οὗτος ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπωρώθη. Τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ γέγονεν, ὅτε ὁ Χαρμὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα κλέψας ἑάλω· ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔγνως καὶ ἐκεῖ μεθ' ὅσης ἐκδικίας διωρθώθη τὸ πρᾶγμα. Ἱεροσυλία γὰρ σφόδρα χαλεπὸν, ἀγαπητὲ, καὶ πολλῆς γέμον καταφρονήσεως. Οὔτε πωλῆσαι ἠναγκάσαμεν, φησὶν, οὔτε πωλήσαντα δοῦναι τὰ χρήματα· σὺ εἵλου ἐξ οἰκείας προαιρέσεως· τί τοίνυν ἔκλεψας ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν χρημάτων; ∆ιὰ τί ἐπλήρωσε, φησὶν, ὁ Σατανᾶς τὴν καρδίαν σου; Καὶ εἰ ὁ Σατανᾶς τοῦτο ἐποίησε, τί αὐτὸς ἐγκαλεῖται; Αἴτιος γέγονε δεξάμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ πληρωθείς. Ἀλλ' ἔδει διορθῶσαι, φησίν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν διωρθώθη· ὁ γὰρ τοιαῦτα ὁρῶν καὶ μὴ κερδάνας, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οὐκ ἂν ἑτέρως ἐκέρδανεν. Οὐκ ἔδει τοίνυν ἁπλῶς παρελθεῖν τὸ γεγονὸς, ἀλλ' ὡς σηπεδόνα τινὰ ἐκτμηθῆναι, ἵνα μὴ τῷ λοιπῷ λυμήνηται σώματι. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ὠφέληται μὴ προελθὼν περαιτέρω κακίας, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ σπουδαιότεροι γενόμενοι· τότε δὲ ἂν τοὐναντίον συνέβη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐλέγχει, καὶ δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔλαθεν αὐτὸν τὸ γεγονὸς, καὶ τότε καταδικάζει. ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῦτο πεποίηκας; ἤθελες ἔχειν; Ἔδει ἔχειν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ μὴ ὑποσχέσθαι· νῦν δὲ λαβὼν μετὰ τὸ ἀναθέσθαι, μείζονα τὴν ἱεροσυλίαν εἰργάσω. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων λαμβάνων, ἴσως ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμήσας λαμβάνει· σοὶ δὲ ἐξῆν ἔχειν τὰ σά. Τί τοίνυν ἐποίησας αὐτὰ ἱερὰ, καὶ τότε ἔλαβες; Ἀπὸ πολλῆς καταφρονήσεως τοῦτο 60.102 πεποίηκας. Οὐκ ἔχει τὸ γενόμενον συγγνώμην, ἐκτός ἐστιν ἀπολογίας. Μηδεὶς δὲ σκανδαλιζέσθω, εἴ τινες καὶ νῦν εἰσιν ἱερόσυλοι. Εἰ γὰρ τότε ἦσαν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον νῦν, ὅτε πολλὰ τὰ κακά. Ἀλλ' ἐλέγχωμεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ πάντων, ἵνα καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ φόβον ἔχωσιν. Ὁ Ἰούδας ἱερόσυλος ἦν· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐσκανδάλισε τοῦτο τοὺς μαθητάς. Ὁρᾷς, ὅσα κακὰ ἡ τῶν χρημάτων ἐπιθυμία ποιεῖ; Καὶ ἐγένετο, φησὶ, φόβος μέγας ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀκούοντας ταῦτα. Ἐκεῖνος ἐτιμωρήθη, καὶ ἄλλοι ἐκέρδαναν. Ὥστε οὐχ ἁπλῶς τοῦτο οἰκονομεῖται·