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of lords will share in all the punishment from them; and through this ignorance, having been defiled at their altars and filled by them, you have come under their authority and, being outraged in your bodies in every way, you are ignorant. But you must know that the demons have authority over no one, unless someone first lives with them, since not even their ruler can do anything contrary to the law established by God against them; therefore, he does not have authority over anyone who has not worshiped him; nor can anyone receive from them anything of what he wants, nor be harmed in any way, as you can learn from the following. For the temporary king once approached our king of piety, not using force (for it was not permitted), but urging and persuading, because being persuaded rests in each one's own authority. Approaching, therefore, as the king of present things to the king of future things, he said: All the kingdoms of the present world are subject to me, and also the gold and the silver and all the luxury of this world are under my authority; therefore, fall down and worship me, and I will give you all these things. And he said these things knowing that with the act of worship he would also have authority over him and thus would rob him of his future glory and kingdom. And knowing all things, he not only did not worship him, but neither did he wish to receive any of the things given by him; for he would be pledging himself along with his own things, which means that he would no longer be permitted even to touch what had been given to him. Answering, therefore, he said: “It is written, ‘You shall fear the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Nevertheless, the king of the impious, trying in many ways to lead the king of the pious to his own will and being unable, ceased, attempting to ensnare him in the other aspects of his life. But you, being ignorant of the pre-ordained law, through evil deeds came under his authority, for which reason you were defiled in body and soul, and while in the present you are outraged by both passions and demons, in the future you will have your souls punished. And not only you have suffered this through ignorance, but also some of our nation, who, having been preoccupied in evil deeds by the ruler of evil, then when they were called, as to a feast by a father celebrating a wedding for his son, did not obey. But in place of the disobedient because of their preoccupation, the father celebrating the wedding for his son commanded us through the prophet of truth, having come to the crossroads of the ways (that is, to you), to put on a clean wedding garment (which is baptism, that becomes for the remission of the evil deeds you have done) and to bring the good into the feast of God out of repentance, even if at first they were left out of the banquet. If, therefore, you wish to become a garment of the divine spirit, endeavor first to take off your filthy veil (which is an unclean spirit) and defiled cloak. And this you cannot take off in any other way, unless you are first baptized in good deeds, and thus becoming clean in both body and soul you will enjoy the coming eternal kingdom. Therefore, neither trust in idols nor share with them a defiled table, not

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δεσποτῶν πάσης τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν μεθέξει τιμωρίας· καὶ διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ταύτην τοῖς αὐτῶν βωμοῖς προσφθαρέντες καὶ αὐτῶν ἐκπληρωθέντες ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν γεγόνατε καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ ὑβριζόμενοι τὰ σώματα ἀγνοεῖτε. εἰδέναι δὲ ὑμᾶς χρὴ ὅτι οὐδενὸς οἱ δαίμονες ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν, ἐὰν μὴ πρότερόν τις αὐτοῖς ὁμοδίαιτος γένηται, ὁπότε οὐδὲ ὁ αὐτῶν ἄρχων παρὰ τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κατ' αὐτῶν κείμενον νόμον ποιεῖν τι δύ- ναται· διὸ ἐξουσίαν τινὸς οὐκ ἔχει μὴ προσκυνήσαντος αὐτόν· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ λαβεῖν τις παρ' αὐτῶν δύναταί τι ὧν θέλει, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ βλαβῆναι οὐδέν, ὡς ἐκεῖθεν δύνασθε μαθεῖν. Τῷ γὰρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡμῶν βασιλεῖ προσῆλθέν ποτε ὁ πρόσκαιρος βασι λεύς, οὐ βίαν ποιῶν (οὐ γὰρ ἐξῆν), ἀλλὰ προτρέπων καὶ ἀναπείθων, ὅτι τὸ πεισθῆναι ἐπὶ τῇ ἑκάστου κεῖται ἐξουσίᾳ. προσελθὼν οὖν, ὡς τῶν παρόν- των ὢν βασιλεὺς τῷ τῶν μελλόντων βασιλεῖ ἔφη· Πᾶσαι αἱ τοῦ νῦν κόσμου βασιλεῖαι ὑπόκεινται ἐμοί, ἔτι τε ὁ χρυσὸς καὶ ὁ ἄργυρος καὶ πᾶσα ἡ τρυφὴ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ὑπὸ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἐστιν ἐξουσίαις· διὸ πεσὼν προσκύνησόν μοι, καὶ δώσω σοι πάντα ταῦτα. ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν εἰδὼς ὅτι μετὰ τοῦ προσκυ- νῆσαι καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτοῦ εἶχεν ἐξουσίαν καὶ οὕτως τῆς μελλούσης δόξης καὶ βασιλείας αὐτὸν ἀφῄρει. καὶ πάντα εἰδὼς οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν οὐ προσ- εκύνησεν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δεδομένων λαβεῖν τι ἠθέλησεν· ἑαυτὸν γὰρ σὺν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ κατενεχύραζεν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν μὴ ἐξεῖναι τοῦ λοιποῦ τῶν αὐτῷ ἀποδοθέντων μηδὲ ψαῦσαι ἔτι. ἀποκρινάμενος οὖν ἔφη· «Γέγραπται· Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου φοβηθήσῃ καὶ αὐτῷ λατρεύσεις μόνῳ». πλὴν ὁ τῶν ἀσεβῶν βασιλεὺς κατὰ πολλὰ τὸν τῶν εὐσεβῶν βασιλέα πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ βούλημα παράγειν πειρώμενος καὶ μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἐπαύσατο, πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς πολιτείας θηρεύειν αὐτὸν ἐπιχειρῶν. ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸν προορισθέντα νόμον ἀγνοοῦντες διὰ τῶν κακῶν πράξεων ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξου- σίαν αὐτοῦ ἐγένεσθε, διὸ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν ἐμιάνθητε καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ παρόντι ὑπό τε παθῶν καὶ δαιμόνων ἐνυβρίζεσθε, ἐν δὲ τοῖς μέλλουσιν τὰς ψυχὰς κολασθησομένας ἕξετε. τοῦτο δὲ οὐχ ὑμεῖς μόνοι ὑπὸ ἀγνοίας πεπόνθατε, ἀλλὰ καί τινες τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἔθνους, οἵτινες ἐπὶ κακαῖς πράξεσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς κακίας ἡγεμόνος προληφθέντες, ἔπειτα ὥσπερ ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ὑπὸ πατρὸς υἱῷ τελοῦντος γάμους κληθέντες οὐχ ὑπήκουσαν. ἀντὶ δὲ τῶν ἀπειθησάντων διὰ τὴν πρόληψιν ὁ τοὺς γάμους τῷ υἱῷ τελῶν πατὴρ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκέλευσεν ἡμῖν εἰς τὰς διεξ- όδους τῶν ὁδῶν ἐλθοῦσιν (ὅ ἐστιν πρὸς ὑμᾶς) καθαρὸν ἔνδυμα γάμου περιβαλεῖν (ὅπερ ἐστὶν βάπτισμα, ὃ εἰς ἄφεσιν γίνεται τῶν πεπραγμένων ὑμῖν κακῶν) καὶ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς εἰς τὸ θεοῦ δεῖπνον εἰσάγειν ἐκ τῆς με- ταμελείας, εἰ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπελείφθησαν τῆς εὐωχίας. ἔνδυμα οὖν εἰ βούλεσθε γενέσθαι θείου πνεύματος, σπουδάσατε πρῶτον ἐκδύσα- σθαι τὸ ·υπαρὸν ὑμῶν προκάλυμμα (ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα) καὶ μιαρὸν περίβλημα. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἄλλως ἀποδύσασθαι δύνασθε, ἐὰν μὴ πρότερον ἐπὶ καλαῖς πράξεσιν βαπτισθῆτε, καὶ οὕτω καθαροὶ σώματί τε καὶ ψυχῇ γενόμενοι τῆς ἐσομένης ἀιδίου βασιλείας ἀπολαύσετε. μήτε οὖν εἰδώλοις πιστεύετε μήτε τραπέζης αὐτοῖς κοινωνεῖτε μιαρᾶς, μὴ