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and of human affairs, let him attribute the cause of these things to the Holy Spirit; For a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall spring up from the root. And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the rest. 5.177 Woe to you who are mighty and who drink wine, and the rulers who mix strong drink. And the law forbids priests, when entering the holy places, to use wine and strong drink, and those called Nazarites, as is said in Numbers, in this manner: For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel and you shall say to them: A man or a woman, whoever makes a great vow to consecrate a consecration to the Lord, shall abstain from wine and strong drink. And in Proverbs Solomon says: Rulers are prone to anger, let them not drink wine, so that having drunk they do not forget wisdom. For it is fitting for the ministers of the divine word and for those entrusted with the care of men, to abstain completely from things that cause confusion to the governing faculty. For whenever much unmixed wine enters, like some tyrant running up to the acropolis, from the highest summit it creates unceasing disturbances in the soul, sparing no lawless command, but first enslaving reason itself, it confuses and shatters all the existing order from education, stirring up unseemly laughter, a boisterous voice, rash anger, unbridled desires, a frenzy and madness for every lawless pleasure. For this reason let the mighty not drink wine, whether those entrusted with some office and the administration of public affairs, or those who are in their physical prime because of the peak of their age. For such people, being by nature easily provoked to anger, whenever they also add the kindling of wine, they raise it to a great height, like some flame with an abundant supply of burning material. But since: The least is worthy of pardon for mercy; but the mighty will be mightily tested. For this reason woe to those who are mighty from the harm of wine and strong drink. For to whom much was committed, of him they will ask the more. 5.178 If therefore a stewardship of mysteries has been entrusted to you, a word of wisdom, a power of knowledge, but you carry around a soul steeped in wine? How does the Prophet not justly lament you? Because having spiritual strength, you make it weak by the immoderation of wine. And he who is overcome by any passion of the soul whatsoever, as if led into drunkenness according to the ecstasy produced in him by the passion, is said to drink wine and mix strong drink for himself, which when interpreted we have known as intoxication; for the lack of consequence similarly also from grief and from fear, and pleasure, and desire, comes to be in the soul, with reason being overcome by the passion. So that we, the mighty, who have been entrusted with the leadership of the people, even if to some extent we are overcome by passion and we seem, by mixing it with reason, to bridle and restrain it with the word, we are not outside of being deemed wretched for such things. For a terrible drunkenness is love of glory and love of power; a terrible intoxicant is envy, terrible is hypocrisy and slander of a neighbor; by which the soul, being intoxicated, forgets wisdom. For nothing so confuses the theorems of wisdom, as this passion and all sin. But how is he who has wisdom prone to anger? (Because he is not yet speaking of the passionless man, but for now is discussing the man of moderate passions). In accordance with which he also says in other places: A fool declares his anger on the same day, but a wise man stores it up in part. Therefore he says to bring forth anger in a stored-up manner for the one who guides the passion with reason, according to which it is said: Be angry and do not sin. But the Lord, ordaining more perfect things, says to cut out the passion altogether, he does not command to punish it. 5.179 Woe to those who justify the wicked for the sake of gifts and take away the justice of the just. The saying is clear, condemning those in the courts of law, because of friendship toward mammon, who on the one hand obscure the uprightness of judgment, and on the other hand give themselves over to bribery, and the one

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καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων, τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύ ματι τὴν τούτων αἰτίαν ἀνατιθέτω· Ἐξελεύσεται γὰρ ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται. Καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ, πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 5.177 Οὐαὶ οἱ ἰσχύοντες ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ πίνοντες τὸν οἶνον, καὶ οἱ δυνάσται οἱ κιρνῶντες τὸ σίκερα. Καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἀπαγορεύει ὁ νόμος, εἰσερχομένοις εἰς τὰ ἅγια, οἴνῳ καὶ σίκερα κεχρῆσθαι, καὶ τοῖς καλουμένοις Ναζι ραίοις, ὡς εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς, τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· Ἐλάλησε γὰρ Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν, λέγων· Λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἀνὴρ ἢ γυνὴ, ὃς ἂν μεγάλως εὔξηται εὐχὴν ἀφαγνίσασθαι ἁγνείαν Κυρίῳ, ἀπὸ οἴνου καὶ σίκερα ἁγνισθήσεται. Καὶ ἐν ταῖς Παροιμίαις ὁ Σολομών φησιν· Οἱ δυνάσται θυμώδεις εἰσὶν, οἶνον μὴ πινέ τωσαν, ἵνα μὴ πιόντες ἐπιλάθωνται τῆς σοφίας. Πρέπει γὰρ τοῖς θεραπευταῖς τοῦ θείου λόγου καὶ τοῖς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώ πων ἐπιμέλειαν ἐγκεχειρισμένοις, πάντη ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν ἐμποι ούντων θόλωσιν τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ. Ἐπειδὰν γὰρ πολὺς εἰσπέσῃ ὁ ἄκρατος, οἷόν τις τύραννος ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀναδραμὼν, ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας κορυφῆς ἀσιγήτους θορύβους ἐμποιεῖ τῇ ψυχῇ, οὐδενὸς παρανόμου φειδόμενος ἐπιτάγματος, ἀλλ' αὐ τὸν δουλωσάμενος πρῶτον τὸν λογισμὸν, πᾶσαν τήν τε ἐκ παιδεύσεως ἐνυπάρχουσαν διακόσμησιν συγχεῖ καὶ κατα ράσσει, γέλωτας κινῶν ἀπρεπεῖς, φωνὴν θορυβώδη, ὀργὰς προπετεῖς, ἐπιθυμίας ἀχαλινώτους, οἶστρον καὶ μανίαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν παράνομον ἡδονήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μὴ πινέτωσαν οἱ δυνάσται οἶνον, εἴτε οἱ ἀρχήν τινα πεπιστευμένοι καὶ δημοσίων πραγμάτων οἰκονομίαν, εἴτε οἱ διὰ τὴν ἀκμὴν τῆς ἡλικίας ἐν δυνάμει ὄντες σωματικῇ. Οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι, φύσει τυγχάνοντες πρὸς τὰς ὀργὰς εὐερέθιστοι, ἐπειδὰν καὶ τὸ τοῦ οἴνου προσλάβωσιν ἔξαμμα, οἷόν τινα φλόγα ἀφθόνῳ χορηγίᾳ τῆς καιομένης ὕλης ἐπὶ τὸ μέγα ἐξαίρουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δέ· Ὁ μὲν ἐλάχιστος σύγγνωστός ἐστιν ἐλέους· δυνατοὶ δὲ δυνατῶς ἐτασθήσονται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐαὶ τοῖς ἰσχύουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ οἴνου βλάβης καὶ τοῦ σίκερα. Ὧ γὰρ πολὺ παρέθεντο, περισσότερον ἀπαιτήσουσιν αὐτόν. 5.178 Εἰ οὖν ἐγκεχείρισταί σοι οἰκονομία μυστηρίων, λό γος σοφίας, δύναμις γνώσεως, σὺ δὲ οἴνῳ βεβαπτισμένην τὴν ψυχὴν περιφέρεις; Πῶς οὐχὶ δικαίως ὀδύρεταί σε ὁ Προ φήτης; Ὅτι ἔχων ἰσχὺν πνευματικὴν, ἀσθενῆ αὐτὴν ποιεῖς τῇ ἀμετρίᾳ τοῦ οἴνου. Καὶ ὁ ὁποίῳ δήποτε πάθει τῆς ψυχῆς κεκρατημένος, οἱονεὶ εἰς μέθην ἐναχθεὶς κατὰ τὴν ἐγγενο μένην αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους ἔκστασιν, πίνειν οἶνον λέγεται καὶ κιρνᾷν ἑαυτῷ σίκερα, ὅπερ ἑρμηνευόμενον ἔγνωμεν μέ θυσμα· τὸ γὰρ ἀπαρακολούθητον ὁμοίως καὶ ἀπὸ λύπης καὶ ἀπὸ φόβου, καὶ ἡδονῆς, καὶ ἐπιθυμίας, ἐγγίνεται τῇ ψυχῇ, τοῦ λογισμοῦ κεκρατημένου ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους. Ὥστε ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνάσται, οἱ τὴν προστασίαν τοῦ λαοῦ ἐγκεχειρισμένοι, κἂν ἐπὶ ποσὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους κρατώμεθα καὶ δοκῶμεν αὐτὸ κατακιρνῶντες τῷ λογισμῷ, χαλινοῦν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐπέχειν, οὐκ ἔξω ἐσμὲν τοῦ ταλανίζεσθαι ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις. Μέθη γὰρ δεινὴ, φιλοδοξία καὶ φιλαρχία· δεινὸν μέθυσμα φθόνος, δεινὸν ἡ ὑπόκρισις, καὶ ἡ τοῦ πλησίον καταλαλιά· οἷς μεθυσθεῖσα ἡ ψυχὴ ἐπιλανθάνεται τῆς σοφίας. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω συγχεῖ τὰ ἀπὸ σοφίας θεωρήματα, ὡς τοῦτο τὸ πάθος καὶ πᾶσα ἁμαρτία. Πῶς δὲ ὁ ἔχων σοφίαν θυμώδης ἐστίν; (Ὅτι οὔπω τὸν ἀπαθῆ λέγει, ἀλλὰ τέως περὶ τοῦ μετριοπαθοῦς διαλέγεται). Καθ' ἃ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις λέγει· Ἄφρων αὐθημερὸν ἐξαγγέλλει ὀργὴν, σοφὸς δὲ τα μιεύεται κατὰ μέρος. Τεταμιευμένως οὖν τὴν ὀργὴν προ φέρειν λέγει τὸν λογισμῷ ἡνιοχοῦντα τὸ πάθος, καθ' ὃ εἴρηται· Ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος τὰ τελειότερα διατάσσων, φησὶν ἐκτεμεῖν καθόλου τὸ πάθος, οὐχὶ κολάζειν κελεύει. 5.179 Οὐαὶ οἱ δικαιοῦντες τὸν ἀσεβῆ ἕνεκεν δώρων καὶ τὸ δίκαιον τοῦ δικαίου αἴροντες. Σαφὲς τὸ ῥητὸν, κατακρίνον τοὺς ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις, διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν μαμωνὰν φιλίαν, ἀφανίζοντας μὲν τὸ εὐθὺ τῆς κρίσεως, προστιθεμένους δὲ τῇ δωροδοκίᾳ, καὶ τὸν μὲν