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reject it. Having taught concerning the resurrection of the whole man and the immortality of the soul, he instructs his friends not to think that he has been judged insignificant 380 by God. You have numbered my ways, and not one of my #6sins shall escape you. By these things teaching that his knowledge is inescapable, he also in a certain way instructs his friends, who suppose that he suffers because of sin, how one must repent and not be boastful in one's existing purity, saying these things for the sake of his own moderation and to stir them to repentance. But you have marked if I have transgressed anything unwillingly. He says these things again to them, who suppose that he, as a sinner, endures these things, both with moderation and for their instruction to imitate him, being so pure and uttering words of repentance. You have sealed up my iniquities in a bag. That is: "You have included both their quality and their number." These things also must be understood similarly to what has gone before. And moreover a falling mountain will fall. Believing in the cause of all things, that he will succeed in the contest when the one who requested him, 381 here called a mountain, is crushed, he says to them that "he will become so weak as to fall short of the expectation which he expected, trying to take me." for ... and all ... as has been said before, but he knows that the plan of the adversary will fail. And a rock will be worn away from its place. And if the adversary thinks he is a rock, yet "he will be worn away"—that is, "he will appear stale"—when success becomes manifest. And he is called a rock because he sends forth a phantom as if he were unconquerable and because he pretends to be Christ and an imitator of the true rock, about which it is said: "and the rock was Christ." And here he calls 'place' the condition in which he wants to take the virtuous man. But that 'place' is also said instead of rank, has been said in the Acts: "Lord, knower of the hearts of all, show which one to take the place of this ministry from which Judas transgressed." But if also after saying that "you have sealed up my iniquities in a bag" and having spoken the preceding things about himself as a sinner, he added "moreover a falling mountain will fall and a rock will be worn away from its 382 place," showing that "even if he becomes a mountain through arrogance or through hardness, his condemnation will occur," you should consider. Waters have worn smooth stones, and waters have flooded the topsoil of the earth; and have you destroyed the patience of man? Through these things he confirms what was said before, showing that repentance is powerful. For through "waters have worn smooth stones" he represents that the one who begins to repent, persisting in this, like the water that removes the excess parts from the stone, rids himself of sin so as no longer to have the roughness from it, and works the flood of sin just as on the surface of soil mounds. "But if these things are this way, do not despair of a man's patience nor say that it is destroyed, you having pushed him away and he is gone for good." He turns the discourse to God. For after saying that repentance is powerful and that one must not despair of a man's patience, he adds, "you having pushed him away and he is gone for good," teaching that if God is not a co-worker, the things 383 of patience are in vain. "For unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it have labored in vain." But God pushes away not the unworthy one, but the one who is subject in such a way, saying: "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you." You have set your face against him and sent him away. It has been said: "The face of the Lord is against those who do evil;" and again the saints, praying, say: "Make your face to shine, and we will be saved;" and in other places: "May his face shine upon you and give you peace." When, therefore, through God's great long-suffering, the sinner, being insensible, persists in his faults, let him not think that God exists, but suppose that he is hidden, and say: "Darkness covers me on all sides and the walls, who sees me?",

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ἀποποιοῦ. διδάξας περὶ ἀναστάσεως τοῦ ὅλου ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας τῆς ψυχῆς παιδεύει τοὺς φίλους πρὸς τὸ μὴ νομίζειν εὐτελῆ αὐτὸν 380 παρὰ θεῷ κεκρίσθαι. ἠρίθμησας δέ μου τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ σε οὐδὲν τῶν #6ἁμαρτιῶν μου. ἀναπόδρασ̣τ̣ον αὐτοῦ τὴν γνῶσιν διδάσκων διὰ τούτων ἔτι καὶ τρόπον τινὰ παιδεύει τοὺς φίλους διακειμένους, ὅτι δι' ἁμαρτίας πάσχει, πῶς χρὴ με̣τ̣α̣νοει῀̣ν καὶ μὴ ἀλαζονεύεσθαι τῃ῀̣ ἐνυ̣παρχούσῃ καθαρότητ̣ι̣, μετριότητος ἕν̣εκα τ̣η῀̣ς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἐκείνους διε̣γε̣ίρειν εἰς μετάνοι̣αν ταυ῀̣τ̣α̣ λ̣έγων. ἐπεσημήνω δέ, εἴ τι ἄκω̣ν̣ π̣αρέβην. ὡς πρὸς αὐτοὺς̣ πα´̣λιν λέγει ταῦτα διακειμένους ὡς ἁμαρτ̣όντα αὐτὸν ταῦτα ὑφίστασθαι καὶ μετριότητι καὶ πρὸς παίδευσιν αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ μιμήσασθαι αὐτὸν οὕτω καθαρὸν ὄντα καὶ μετανοίας προφέροντα ῥήματα. ἐσφράγισας δέ μου τὰς ἀνομίας ἐν βαλλαντίῳ. τουτέστιν· «ἐμπεριείληφας αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ποιότητα καὶ τὸν ἀρι θμόν». ὅμοια δὲ τῶν προλαβόντων καὶ ταῦτα νοῆσαι δεῖ. καὶ πλὴν ὄρος πῖπτον πεσεῖται. πιστεύων τῷ πάντων αἰτίῳ, ὅτι κατορθώσει τὸν ἀγῶνα συντριβέντος τοῦ ἐξαιτησαμένου 381 ὄρους ἐνταῦθα καλουμένου, φη̣σ̣ι`̣ν̣ αὐτοῖς ὅτ̣ι «ἀσθενήσει οὕτως̣ ὡς ε᾿̣κ̣πι´̣πτειν τῆς προσδοκίας, ἣν πρ̣ο̣σεδόκησεν, ἑλεῖν με πειρώμενος». ν···· γὰρ καὶ παντ···αιτη̣ ρ̣η̣·····σιν, ὡς προείρηται, ἀλλ' οἰ῀̣δεν, ὁ´̣τι διαπεσεῖται τοῦ ἀντικε̣ιμένου τὸ βούλευμα. κ̣αὶ πέτρα παλαιωθήσεται ἐκ τ̣οῦ τ̣όπου αὐτῆς. κἂν πέτρα οἴηται εἶναι ὁ ἀντικείμενος, ἀλλὰ "παλαιωθήσεται"-ἀντὶ τοῦ «ἕωλος ο᾿̣φθ̣η´̣σεται»-τῆς κατορθώσεως φ̣α̣ν̣είσης. πέτρα δὲ εἴρηται δ̣ιὰ τὸ φαντασίαν ἐξαποστ̣έλλ̣ειν ὡς ἀκαταμάχη̣τ̣ος καὶ διὰ τὸ σχηματίζεσθαι εἶναι Χριστὸς καὶ μιμητὴς τῆς ἀληθοῦς πέτρας, περὶ ἧς εἴρηται· "ἡ δὲ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός." τόπον δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν κατάστασιν καλεῖ, κ̣αθ̣' ἣν̣ ἑλεῖν βούλεται τὸν ἐνάρετον. ὅτι δὲ ὁ τόπος λέγεται καὶ ἀντὶ βαθμοῦ, εἴρηται ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν· "δέσποτα καρδιογνῶστα πάντων, ἀνάδειξον ἑ´̣να λαβεῖν τὸν τόπον τῆς διακονίας τ̣αύτης ἀφ' ἧς παρέβη Ἰούδας." ει᾿̣ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸ εἰπ̣εῖν ὅτι "ἐσ̣φ̣ράγισας δέ μου τὰς ἀνομίας ἐν βαλλαντίῳ" καὶ ὡς περὶ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἑαυτοῦ εἰρηκέναι τὰ προεκτεθέντα ἐπήγαγεν τὸ "πλὴν ὄρος πῖπτον πεσεῖται καὶ πέτρα παλαιωθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ 382 τόπου αὐτῆς" δηλῶν ὅτι «κἂν ὄρος διὰ ὑπερηφανίαν ἤγ̣ουν̣ διὰ σκληρότητα γένηται, ἔσται αὐτοῦ ἡ κατάγνωσις», συνεπίσκεψαι. λίθους ἐλέαναν ὕδατα καὶ κατέκλυσεν ὕδατα ὕπτια τοῦ χω´̣ματος τῆς γῆς· καὶ ὑπομονὴν̣ ἀνθρώπου ἀπώλεσας; βεβαιοῖ διὰ τούτων τὰ προειρημένα δεικνύς, ὅτι μετάνοια ἰσχύει. διὰ γὰρ τοῦ "λίθους ἐλέαναν ὕδατα" παρίστησιν, ὅτι ὁ μετανοίας ἀρχόμενος ἐπιμένων τούτῳ κατὰ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ περιαιρου῀̣ν τοῦ λίθου τὰ περιττὰ τ̣ῆς ἁμαρτίας ἑαυτὸν ἀπαλλάττει ὡς μηκέτι ἔχειν τὴν ἀπ' αὐτῆς τραχύτητα καὶ καθάπερ ἐν ὑπτίω χωμάτων κειμένων τὸν κατακλυσμὸν τῆς ἁμαρτία̣ς ἐργάζεται. «εἰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, μὴ ἀπογίγνωσκε ὑπομονὴν ἀνθρώπου μηδὲ λέγε, ὅτι αὕτη ἀπόλλυται ὑὦσας αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς τέλος ᾤχ̣ε̣το. μετάγει τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὸν θ̣εόν̣. μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μετάν̣ο̣ι̣α δυνατὴ καὶ ὡς οὐ δεῖ ἀπογιγνώσκειν ὑπομονὴν ἀνθρώπου, ἐπάγει τὸ "ὦσας αὐτὸν̣ καὶ εἰς τέλος ὤιχετο" παιδευ´̣ω̣ν̣, ὅτι εἰ μὴ θεὸς σύνεργος ᾖ, μάτην 383 τὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς. "ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον, εἰς μάτην ἐκοπίασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες αὐτόν." ὠθεῖ δὲ θεὸς οὐ το`̣ν ἀνάξιον, ἀλ̣λὰ τὸν ὑποκε̣ι´̣μ̣ενον τοιούτ̣ῳ τρόπῳ λέγων· "ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ἐργάται ἀνομι´̣ας, οὐδέποτε ὑμᾶς ἔγνων." ἐπέστησας αὐτῷ τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ἐξαπέστειλας. εἴρηται· "πρόσωπον κυρίου ἐπὶ ποιοῦντας κα̣κά·" καὶ πάλιν οἱ ἅγιοι εὐχόμενοί φασιν· "ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου καὶ σωθησόμεθα·" καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις· "ἐπιφάναι τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ δῴη σοι εἰρήνην." ἐπὰν οὖν διὰ πολλὴν μακροθυμίαν θεοῦ ἀναισθητῶν ὁ ἁμαρτάνων ἐμμένῃ τοῖς σφάλμασιν, μὴ οἰηθῇ εἶναι θεόν, ἀλλὰ δόξῃ λανθάνειν, καὶ λέγῃ· "σκότος καλύπτει με πάντοθεν καὶ οἱ τοῖχοι, τίς με ὁρᾷ;",