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it for the sinners; if He had not foretold the threat of this, many would have fallen into it. For if now, while fear shakes our souls, there are some who sin so readily, as if it did not even exist; if none of these things had been said or threatened, what terrible thing would we not have done? So that, as I always say, Gehenna no less than the kingdom shows the providence of God. For Gehenna cooperates with the kingdom, pushing men by fear towards it. Let us not then think the matter to be one of harshness or cruelty, but of much mercy and love for mankind and solicitude and affection for us. If destruction had not been threatened in the time of Jonah, the destruction would not have been prevented; if He had not said, "Nineveh shall be overthrown," Nineveh would not have stood; if Gehenna had not been threatened, we all would have fallen into Gehenna; if fire had not been threatened, no one would have escaped the fire. He says the opposite of what He wishes to do, in order that He may do what He wishes. He does not wish the death of the sinner, and He speaks of the death of the sinner, so that He might not cast him into death; He did not say it in word only, but also shows the reality, so that we may flee. And lest anyone should think the matter to be a threat only, but that it is also real, He has made this clear from the things that have happened here. Or does not the flood seem to you to be a symbol of Gehenna, the utter destruction by the rain of fire? For as, He says, in the days of Noah they were marrying and giving in marriage, so also now. He foretold it long before then, and now He foretells it four hundred years, or even more, beforehand, but there is no one who pays attention; all consider the matter to be fables, all a joke, fear holds no one, no one weeps, no one beats his breast. The river of fire boils up, the flame is kindled, and we laugh and live luxuriously and sin without fear. No one ever takes that day to mind, no one considers that the present things are passing away, that these things are temporary, although events cry out and utter a voice each day. Untimely deaths, the changes of circumstances, happening even while we are alive, do not instruct us, the 62.584 illnesses and the other diseases. And one might see the changes not only in our bodies, but also in the elements themselves; and in the stages of life we practice death each day, and in all things instability is everywhere characterized through events. Winter has never remained, nor summer, nor spring, nor autumn, but all things run and fly away and flow. But what would you have me say? The flowers, the dignities, the kings who are now, and tomorrow are not? but the rich? but the magnificent buildings? but night and day? but the sun? but the moon? Does it not also wane? And the sun itself, does it not often suffer eclipse, is it not darkened, does not a cloud hide it? Does anything of the things that are seen remain forever? Nothing, but the soul alone of the things in us, and of this we are neglectful. Of the things that are changing, we take great care, as though they were permanent; but of that which is permanent, we have no regard, as though it were always passing away. So-and-so has great power? But until tomorrow, and after this he will perish; and this is clear from those who had greater power, and now are seen nowhere. Life is a kind of stage, and a dream. For just as on the stage when the tent is taken down the decorations are dismantled, and dreams all fly away when the sunbeam appears; so also now when the end comes, both the common end and that of each individual, all things are dissolved and vanish. And the tree, which you planted, remains, and the house, which you build, it also remains; but the artisan and the farmer are led away and perish. And though these things happen, not even so are we ashamed, but as if immortal we prepare all these things, living luxuriously and wastefully. 4. Hear what Solomon says, who had experience of present things in deed

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αὐτὴν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, μὴ προεῖπε ταύτης τὴν ἀπειλὴν, πολλοὶ ἐνέπεσον ἂν εἰς αὐτήν. Εἰ γὰρ νῦν τοῦ φόβου κατασείοντος ἡμῶν τὰς ψυχὰς, εἰσί τινες οἱ οὕτω ῥᾳδίως ἁμαρτάνοντες, ὡς οὐδὲ οὔσης αὐτῆς· εἰ μηδὲν τούτων εἴρητο μήτε ἠπείλητο, τί οὐκ ἂν εἰργασάμεθα δεινόν; Ὥστε, ἅπερ ἀεί φημι, τῆς βασιλείας οὐχ ἧττον ἡ γέεννα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν κηδεμονίαν δείκνυσιν. Ἡ γέεννα γὰρ τῇ βασιλείᾳ συμπράττει, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῷ φόβῳ ὠθοῦσα πρὸς αὐτήν. Μὴ οὖν ἀπηνείας μηδὲ ὠμότητος εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα νομίσωμεν, ἀλλὰ ἐλέου καὶ φιλανθρωπίας πολλῆς καὶ κηδεμονίας καὶ φίλτρου τοῦ περὶ ἡμᾶς. Εἰ μὴ ἠπειλήθη καταστροφὴ ἐπὶ Ἰωνᾶ, οὐκ ἂν ἐκωλύθη ἡ καταστροφή· εἰ μὴ εἶπεν, ὅτι Καταστραφήσεται Νινευῒ, οὐκ ἂν ἔστη Νινευΐ· εἰ μὴ ἠπειλήθη γέεννα, ἅπαντες ἂν εἰς γέενναν ἐνεπέσομεν· εἰ μὴ ἠπειλήθη πῦρ, οὐδεὶς ἂν διέφυγε τὸ πῦρ. Ἐναντία ὧν βούλεται πράττειν λέγει, ἵνα πράττῃ ἃ βούλεται. Οὐ βούλεται τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ λέγει τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἐμβάλῃ εἰς θάνατον· οὐκ εἶπε ῥήματι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἔργον δείκνυσιν, ἵνα φεύγωμεν. Ἵνα δὲ μή τις νομίσῃ ἀπειλὴν εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὄντως εἶναι, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐνταῦθα γεγονότων δῆλον τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. Ἢ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι τῆς γεέννης εἶναι σύμβολον ὁ κατακλυσμὸς, ὁ τῆς παντελοῦς πανωλεθρίας τοῦ ὑετοῦ τοῦ πυρός; Ὥσπερ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Νῶε ἦσαν γαμοῦντες καὶ ἐκγαμίζοντες, οὕτω καὶ νῦν. Προεῖπε πρὸ πλείονος χρόνου τότε, καὶ νῦν προλέγει πρὸ ἐτῶν τετρακοσίων, ἢ καὶ πλειόνων, ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ὁ προσέχων· πάντες μύθους τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναι νομίζουσι, πάντες γέλωτα, οὐδένα φόβος ἔχει, οὐδεὶς δακρύει, οὐδεὶς πατάσσει τὸ στῆθος. Ὁ ποταμὸς τοῦ πυρὸς ἀναβράσσεται, ἡ φλὸξ ἐκκαίεται, καὶ ἡμεῖς γελῶμεν καὶ τρυφῶμεν καὶ ἁμαρτάνομεν ἀδεῶς. Οὐδεὶς εἰς νοῦν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην λαμβάνει ποτὲ, οὐδεὶς ἐννοεῖ, ὅ τι παρέρχεται τὰ παρόντα, ὅτι πρόσκαιρα ταῦτα, καίτοι τῶν πραγμάτων καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν βοώντων, καὶ φωνὴν ἀφιέντων. Οἱ ἄωροι θάνατοι, αἱ τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολαὶ, καὶ ζώντων ἡμῶν γινόμεναι, οὐ παιδεύουσιν ἡμᾶς, αἱ 62.584 ἀῤῥωστίαι καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ νοσήματα. Οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις δὲ σώμασι τὰς μεταβολὰς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς στοιχείοις ἴδοι τις ἄν· καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡλικίαις δὲ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τὸν θάνατον μελετῶμεν, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τὸ ἄστατον πανταχοῦ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων χαρακτηρίζεται. Οὐδέποτε χειμὼν ἔμεινεν, οὐδέποτε θέρος, οὐδὲ ἔαρ, οὐδὲ μετόπωρον, ἀλλὰ πάντα τρέχει καὶ ἀφίπταται καὶ ῥεῖ. Ἀλλὰ τί βούλει εἴπω τὰ ἄνθη, τὰ ἀξιώματα, τοὺς βασιλεῖς τοὺς νῦν ὄντας, καὶ αὔριον οὐκ ὄντας; ἀλλὰ τοὺς πλουτοῦντας; ἀλλὰ τὰ οἰκοδομήματα τὰ λαμπρά; ἀλλὰ νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν; ἀλλὰ τὸν ἥλιον; ἀλλὰ τὴν σελήνην; οὐ φθίνει καὶ αὐτή; καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἥλιος οὐκ ἐκλείπει πολλάκις, οὐ σκοτίζεται, οὐ νέφος αὐτὸν κρύπτει; Μή τι τῶν ὁρωμένων παραμένει διαπαντός; Οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' ἡ ψυχὴ μόνη τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ταύτης ἀμελοῦμεν. Τῶν μὲν ἀλλοιουμένων, ὡς μενόντων πολλὴν ποιούμεθα πρόνοιαν· τῆς δὲ μενούσης, ἀεὶ ὡς παρερχομένης οὐδένα ἔχοντες λόγον. Ὁ δεῖνα μεγάλα δύναται; Ἀλλ' ἕως αὔριον, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀπολεῖται· καὶ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν μείζονα δυνηθέντων, καὶ νῦν οὐδαμοῦ φαινομένων. Σκηνή τίς ἐστιν ὁ βίος, καὶ ὄναρ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ σκήνους ἀρθέντος αἱ ποικιλίαι διαλύονται, καὶ τὰ ὀνείρατα τῆς ἀκτῖνος φανείσης πάντα ἀφίπταται· οὕτω καὶ νῦν τῆς συντελείας γενομένης, καὶ τῆς κοινῆς καὶ τῆς ἑνὸς ἑκάστου, πάντα λύεται καὶ ἀφανίζεται. Καὶ ξύλον μὲν, ὃ ἐφύτευσας, μένει, καὶ ἡ οἰκία, ἣν οἰκοδομεῖς, καὶ αὐτὴ μένει· ὁ δὲ τεχνίτης καὶ ὁ γεωργὸς ἀπάγονται καὶ διαφθείρονται. Καὶ τούτων γινομένων, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐντρεπόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀθάνατοι ταῦτα πάντα κατασκευάζομεν, τρυφῶντες καὶ σπαταλῶντες. δʹ. Ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Σολομῶν, ὁ ἔργῳ πεῖραν λαβὼν τῶν παρόντων