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he should exhibit, and through this virtue reach the angels, but is subject to the passion of envy, he is the most accursed of all. For if loving those who love us leaves us with nothing more than the Gentiles have; where will he who envies those who love him stand? For to be envious is worse than to make war. For the one who makes war, when the cause for which the war exists is resolved, has also put an end to the enmity; but the envious man could never become a friend. And the one makes the battle manifest, but the other, a shadowed one; and the one often has a reasonable cause to state for the war, but the other, nothing else than madness and a satanic mind. And just as he who does wrong, does not do wrong, but is wronged; so too he who plots against his neighbor destroys himself. And just as, if we wrong our neighbors, we wrong ourselves, so by doing them good, we do ourselves good. For he who hears false evil spoken of him is not only not wronged, but also has a very great reward. For not the one who suffers, but the one who does evil, this is the one who is worthy of punishment, unless the former has provided reasonable grounds for the slander. And just as it is impossible for the virtuous man to be well spoken of by all, so it is impossible for him to be ill spoken of by all, unless he himself provides many opportunities for it from all sides. But public slanders often make men reckless and more shameless. For as long as many of the sinners see that it is possible for them to remain unnoticed, they readily choose to return; but when they lose their reputation among the many, they fall into despair and slip into shamelessness. But you were wronged by him in some way; why then do you also wrong yourself? For he who takes revenge thrusts the sword against himself. If, then, you wish both to benefit yourself and to take vengeance on him, speak well of the one who has wronged you; but if you speak ill, you will not be believed, as you will incur the suspicion of enmity. For enmity, confronting the minds of the hearers, does not allow what is said to be implanted in their ears. Therefore, do not speak ill, lest you also defile yourself; nor weave mire 63.679 with clay and brick-making, but weave garlands from roses and violets and the other flowers; nor bring forth dung from your mouth, like beetles; for this is what slanderers do; they themselves are the first to enjoy the stench. For everyone turns away from the reviler, as one who smells of rot, like some leech or beetle fed on dung, on the evils of others; but him who has a gracious mouth, they welcome as a common limb and as a genuine brother. For how did Cain wrong Abel? Did he not unwillingly send him more quickly into the kingdom, while he pierced himself with countless evils? How did Esau harm Jacob? Did not the one grow rich and enjoy countless good things, while the other was cast out of his father’s house and wandered in foreign lands after that plot? And what worse thing did the brothers do to Joseph, even coming to the point of bloodshed? Did not these men endure famine and risk the utmost dangers, while he became king of all Egypt? For the more you envy, the greater good things you become the cause of for the one envied. For God is the one who oversees all things; and when He sees one who is doing no wrong being wronged, He raises him up the more and makes him glorious, and in this way He punishes you. For if He does not allow those who rejoice over their enemies to pass unpunished, much more those who envy those who have done no wrong. For if he who loves the one who loves him has no more than the tax collectors, what loving-kindness will he who hates one who does no wrong obtain? For what reason then do you grieve, O man, at the good things of your neighbor? For if it is necessary to grieve, we ought to grieve for the evils which we ourselves suffer, not for the successes we see in others. Or do you not know that this sin is deprived of all pardon? And rightly so. For the fornicator has desire to plead, and the thief poverty, and the murderer anger—cold and irrational excuses, to be sure, but still they have some pretexts to state; but what cause will you state, tell me? None, but only intense wickedness. For if

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ἐπιδείξηται, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους διὰ ταύτης φθάσῃ τῆς ἀρετῆς, τῷ δὲ τῆς βασκανίας ὑποκείμενος ᾖ πάθει, πάντων ἐστὶν ἐναγέστερος. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ φιλεῖν τοὺς φιλοῦντας οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς πλέον ἔχειν ἀφίησι τῶν ἐθνικῶν· ὁ τοῖς φιλοῦσι βασκαίνων, ποῦ στήσεται; Καὶ γὰρ τοῦ πολεμεῖν χεῖρόν ἐστι τὸ βασκαίνειν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πολεμῶν, τῆς αἰτίας λυθείσης, δι' ἣν ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ τὴν ἔχθραν κατέλυσεν· ὁ δὲ βάσκανος οὐδέποτε ἂν γένοιτο φίλος. Καὶ ὁ μὲν φανερὰν τὴν μάχην ἐπιδείκνυται, ὁ δὲ συνεσκιασμένην· καὶ ὁ μὲν αἰτίαν ἔχει πολλάκις εἰπεῖν εὔλογον τοῦ πολέμου, ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ μανίαν καὶ γνώμην σατανικήν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ ἀδικῶν οὐκ ἀδικεῖ, ἀλλ' ἀδικεῖται· οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῷ πλησίον ἐπιβουλεύων, ἑαυτὸν ἀναιρεῖ. Καὶ ὥσπερ, εἰ ἀδικοῦμεν τοὺς πλησίον, ἑαυτοὺς ἀδικοῦμεν, οὕτως εὖ ποιοῦντες αὐτοῖς, ἑαυτοῖς εὖ ποιοῦμεν. Ὁ γὰρ κακῶς ἀκούων ψευδῆ, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἠδίκηται, ἀλλὰ καὶ μισθὸν ἔχει μέγιστον. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ πάσχων, ἀλλ' ὁ δρῶν κακῶς, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τῆς τιμωρίας ἄξιος, ἂν μὴ παράσχῃ λαβὰς τῆς κακηγορίας εὐλόγους ἐκεῖνος. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἀμήχανον παρὰ πάντων ἀκούειν καλῶς τὸν ἐνάρετον, οὕτως ἀμήχανον παρὰ πάντων ἀκούειν κακῶς, ἂν μὴ πολλὰς πολλαχόθεν αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ παράσχῃ τὰς ἀφορμάς. Αἱ δημοσίᾳ δὲ γινόμεναι κακηγορίαι πολλάκις ἰταμοὺς καὶ ἀναισχυντοτέρους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ποιοῦσιν. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἴδωσιν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων, ὅτι δυνατὸν αὐτοὺς λαθεῖν, ἐπανελθεῖν ῥᾳδίως αἱροῦνται· ὅταν δὲ τὴν παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἀπολέσωσι δόξαν, εἰς ἀπόγνωσίν τε ἐμπίπτουσι, καὶ εἰς ἀναισχυντίαν ἐξολισθαίνουσιν. Ἀλλ' ἠδικήθης τι παρ' αὐτοῦ· τί τοίνυν καὶ σαυτὸν ἀδικεῖς; Ὁ γὰρ ἀμυνόμενος καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸ ξίφος ὠθεῖ. Εἰ τοίνυν βούλει καὶ σαυτὸν εὐεργετῆσαι κἀκεῖνον ἀμύνασθαι, εἰπὲ καλῶς τὸν ἠδικηκότα· ἂν δὲ κακῶς εἴπῃς, οὐ πιστευθήσῃ, τῆς ἔχθρας τὴν ὑποψίαν δεχόμενος. Ἡ γὰρ ἔχθρα προσαπαντῶσα ταῖς τῶν ἀκουόντων διανοίαις, οὐκ ἀφίησιν αὐτῶν ἐντεθῆναι ταῖς ἀκοαῖς τὰ λεγόμενα. Μὴ τοίνυν λέγε κακῶς, ἵνα μὴ καὶ σαυτὸν μολύνῃς· μηδὲ βόρβορον ὕφαινε 63.679 μετὰ πηλοῦ καὶ πλινθείας, ἀλλὰ στεφάνους ἀπὸ ῥόδων πλέκε καὶ ἴων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθέων· μηδὲ κόπρον ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος φέρε, καθάπερ οἱ κάνθαροι· τοῦτο γὰρ οἱ κακηγοροῦντες· αὐτοὶ τῆς δυσωδίας ἀπολαύουσι πρῶτον. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ λοίδορον πάντες ἀποστρέφονται, ὡς σαπρὸν ὄζοντα, καθάπερ τινὰ βδέλλαν ἢ κάνθαρον κόπρῳ τρεφόμενον, τοῖς ἑτέρων κακοῖς· τὸν δὲ εὔφημον ἔχοντα στόμα, ὡς κοινὸν προσίενται μέλος καὶ ὡς ἀδελφὸν γνήσιον. Τί γὰρ τὸν Ἄβελ ἠδίκησεν ὁ Κάϊν; οὐκ ἐκεῖνον μὲν ταχύτερον ἄκων εἰς βασιλείαν παρέπεμψεν, ἑαυτὸν δὲ μυρίοις περιέπειρε κακοῖς; Τί τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἔβλαψεν Ἡσαῦ; οὐχ ὁ μὲν ἐπλούτει, καὶ μυρίων ἀπέλαυεν ἀγαθῶν· αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ τῆς πατρῴας οἰκίας ἐξέπιπτεν, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀλλότρια ἐπλανᾶτο μετὰ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἐκείνην; Οἱ δὲ ἀδελφοὶ τί τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἐποίησαν χεῖρον, καὶ ταῦτα μέχρις αἵματος ἐλθόντες; οὐχὶ οὗτοι μὲν καὶ λιμὸν ὑπέμειναν, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐκινδύνευσαν, ἐκεῖνος δὲ βασιλεὺς τῆς Αἰγύπτου γέγονε πάσης; Ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν φθονῇς, τοσούτῳ μειζόνων γίγνῃ πρόξενος ἀγαθῶν τῷ φθονουμένῳ. Θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πάντα ἐφορῶν· καὶ ὅταν ἴδῃ τὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντα ἀδικούμενον, μᾶλλον ἐπαίρει καὶ ποιεῖ λαμπρὸν, καὶ ταύτῃ σε κολάζει. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἐφηδομένους τοῖς ἐχθροῖς οὐκ ἀφίησιν ἀτιμωρήτους παρελθεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοὺς βασκαίνοντας τοῖς οὐδὲν ἠδικηκόσιν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τὸν φιλοῦντα ἀγαπῶν, οὐδὲν πλέον ἔχει τελωνῶν· ὁ τὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντα μισῶν, ποίας τεύξεται φιλανθρωπίας; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ἀλγεῖς, ἄνθρωπε, τοῖς τοῦ πλησίον καλοῖς; Εἰ γὰρ ἀλγεῖν δεῖ, ἐφ' οἷς αὐτοὶ πάσχομεν κακοῖς ἀλγεῖν ἐχρῆν, οὐκ ἐφ' οἷς ἑτέρους εὐδοκιμοῦντας ὁρῶμεν. Ἢ οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι πάσης ἀπεστέρηται συγγνώμης τουτὶ τὸ ἁμάρτημα; καὶ εἰκότως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πόρνος ἔχει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν εἰπεῖν, καὶ ὁ κλέπτης τὴν πενίαν, καὶ ὁ ἀνδροφόνος τὸν θυμὸν, ψυχρὰς μὲν καὶ ἀλόγους, ὅμως δὲ ἔχουσί τινας προφάσεις εἰπεῖν· σὺ δὲ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἐρεῖς, εἰπέ μοι; οὐδεμίαν, ἀλλ' ἢ πονηρίαν ἐπιτεταμένην μόνον. Εἰ γὰρ