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is encompassed by a darkness of ignorance and grief, having no end. And he will scrape off the ichor of his wounds not with a potsherd like Job, but with the nails of his hands because of the violence of the pain of his heart; for Job, having been struck in the flesh, had his soul protected by God, but this one had his soul along with his body poisoned by sins, and for this reason the pain of that man is ten times worse than the affliction of Job. After these things, his kinsmen according to the flesh and all his acquaintances and friends in the world will abandon him; for after following him for a little while and weeping with him, and seeing his inconsolable affliction and the uncomforted state of his soul, considering him an abomination, each will withdraw to his own home, and having been left alone and beholding the desolation and helplessness and affliction and pain surrounding him, he will weep in the pain of his soul and will cry out in despair to the Lord Almighty.

"Behold you see, Lord, and there is nothing that you do not see, but I, the work of your hands, have not done the works of your commandments, but pursued all wickedness in foolishness. You are good, but I did not know you, but now I have heard of you and have shuddered and what I should do I do not know. I have felt your judgment and a word of defense was not found in my mouth. For I have done nothing on earth worthy in exchange for one idle word of my mouth, (305) because if a man should do all righteousness, he will do it as a servant and as a debtor, but he will find no exchange for his sin, for mercy is with you, for sin is death, and who will be the one who dies through it and rises up of himself? Certainly no one. For you alone, having died, rose again, because you committed no sin, nor was deceit found in your mouth. But who will die in sins and not repent? But it will be of no benefit to him. Thus, Master Almighty, I too repent, having done evil deeds, but repentance is not a justification for me; for repentance is the knowledge of sin. And now you see, all-seeing Lord, that I have nothing except my body, but there is no benefit to me from the deprivation of wealth. For I am one whole wound and nowhere is there left for me an occasion of salvation, because I was left alone and Hades swallowed me alive. And you, Lord, see, you alone are able to lead me up and to heal the pain of my heart, because your hand is mighty for all things and reaches the ends of the abysses, working all things by your will. To say "Have mercy on me" I do not dare, for I am unworthy; but you, Lord, see.

The compassionate God, therefore, will quickly hearken to him and will swiftly grant him rest from pain and relief from the anguish of his heart. For being a lover of mankind, he does not bear to behold the work of his hands in such distress and unbearable pain, and he will show to that man, who has done all the aforementioned things without omission, (306) and to those who hear in faith and are about to imitate this true image and account of repentance, which deed first fulfilled and then word delivered to writing, his great and ineffable mercy, and he will pour out his goodness also upon him and will change his pain into joy and will transform the bitterness of his heart into sweet new wine and will cause the devouring poison of the dragon to be vomited out from his inwards; and from then on he will not remember his former pains, nor all those evils which he suffered, but neither will he, turning back, seek money or possessions or wealth, which he left behind at the time of the blow of his repentance, nor will he desire anything else. For the most high God will give him health, which will be above all the treasures of the earth, and health will create an inexpressible joy in his heart, and the joy in his heart will be ten times greater than his former affliction, and this joy in turn will drive away all pain arising externally in his body, and that man will know that wounds of his body do not even come upon him from then on

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σκότει ἀγνοίας καί λύπης περιέχεται, τέλος οὐκ ἔχοντι. Τόν δέ ἰχῶρα τῶν τραυμάτων αὐτοῦ ἀποξέσει οὐ μετά ὀστράκου ὡς ὁ Ἰώβ, ἀλλά τοῖς ὄνυξι τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ διά τήν βίαν τοῦ πόνου τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ· Ἰώβ γάρ τήν σάρκα πληγείς εἶχε τήν ψυχήν ὑπό Θεοῦ σκεπομένην, οὗτος δέ τήν ψυχήν σύν τῷ σώματι ὑπό ἁμαρτιῶν ἔσχε πεφαρμαγμένην, καί διά τοῦτο χείρων ἡ ὀδύνη τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου δεκαπλασίως ὑπέρ τήν πληγήν τοῦ Ἰώβ. Μετά ταῦτα δέ καταλείψουσιν αὐτόν συγγενεῖς κατά σάρκα καί πάντες γνωστοί καί φίλοι αὐτοῦ οἱ ἐν κόσμῳ· μικρόν γάρ συνακολουθήσαντες αὐτῷ καί συνδακρύσαντες τήν ἀπαρηγόρητον θλῖψιν αὐτοῦ καί τό ἀπαράκλητον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ θεωρήσαντες, ὡς βδέλυγμα ἡγησάμενοι, εἰς τά ἴδια ὑποχωρήσουσιν ἕκαστος, καί μόνος καταλειφθείς καί τήν περιέχουσαν αὐτόν ἐρημίαν καί ἀπορίαν καί θλῖψιν καί ὀδύνην θεασάμενος, κλαύσει ἐν ὀδύνῃ ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καί βοήσει ἐν ἀπογνώσει πρός τόν Παντοκράτορα Κύριον.

"Ἰδού ὁρᾷς, Κύριε, καί ἔστιν οὐδέν ὅ οὐ βλέπεις, ἐγώ δέ σῶν χειρῶν ἔργον, ἔργα δέ σῶν προσταγμάτων οὐκ ἔπραξα, πᾶσαν δέ κακίαν μετῆλθον ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ. Σύ ἀγαθός, ἐγώ δέ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκόν σε, νυνί δέ ἀκήκοα περί σοῦ καί ἔφριξα καί τί ποιήσω οὐκ οἶδα. Ἠσθήθην τῆς κρίσεώς σου καί λόγος ἀπολογίας οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῷ στόματί μου. Ἑνός γάρ λόγου ἀργοῦ στόματός μου ἀντάξιον οὐδέν διεπραξάμην ἐπί τῆς γῆς, (305) ὅτι ἐάν πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ὡς δοῦλος καί ὡς ὀφειλέτης ποιήσει, ἀντάλλαγμα δέ ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ οὐδέν εὑρήσει, τό γάρ ἔλεος παρά σοί ἐστιν, ἁμαρτία γάρ θάνατος, καί τίς ἔσται ὁ δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἀποθνῄσκων καί ἀφ΄ ἑαυτοῦ ἀνιστάμενος; Πάντως οὐδείς. Σύ γάρ μόνος ἀποθανών ἀνέστης, ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησας οὐδέ ἐν τῷ στόματί σου εὑρέθη δόλος. Τίς δέ ἀποθανεῖται ἐν ἀμαρτίαις καί οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται; Ἔσται δέ αὐτῷ οὐδέν ὄφελος. Οὕτως , ∆έσποτα Παντοκράτορ, καί ἐγώ μετανοῶ μέν κακά διαπραξάμενος ἔργα, οὐκ ἔστι μοι δέ εἰς δικαίωμα ἡ μετάνοια· μετάνοια γάρ ἐπίγνωσίς ἐστιν ἁμαρτίας. Καί νῦν βλέπεις, παντεπόπτα Κύριε, ὅτι οὐδέν ἔχω πλήν τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέν μοι ὄφελος ἐξ τῆς τοῦ πλούτου στερήσεως. Ὅλος γάρ εἰμι τραῦμα ἕν καί οὐδαμοῦ μοι περιλέλειπται ἀφορμή σωτηρίας, ὅτι κατελείφθην μόνος καί ζῶντά με ᾅδης κατέπιε. Καί σύ, Κύριε, βλέπεις, μόνος δύνασαί με ἀναγαγεῖν καί τόν πόνον τῆς ἐμῆς καρδίας ἰάσασθαι, ὅτι δυνατή ἡ χείρ σου εἰς ἅπαντα καί τά τέλη φθάνουσα τῶν ἀβύσσων, ἐνεργοῦσα πάντα τῷ νεύματί σου. Εἰπεῖν "Ἐλέησόν με" οὐ τολμῶ, ἀνάξιος γάρ εἰμι· σύ δέ, Κύριε, βλέπεις.

Ὁ οὖν εὔσπλαγχνος Θεός ταχέως εἰσακούσεται αὐτοῦ καί ἀνάπαυσιν ὀδύνης καί ἀπαλλαγήν πόνου καρδίας αὐτοῦ συντόμως παράσχῃ αὐτῷ. Φιλάνθρωπος γάρ ὤν, οὐ φέρει ἐν ἀνάγκῃ τοιαύτῃ καί ἀφορήτῳ ὀδύνῃ τό τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ποίημα καθορᾶν, καί ποιήσει μετά τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου, τοῦ τά προειρημένα ἅπαντα ἀπαραλείπτως ποιήσαντος, (306) καί μετά τῶν ἐν πίστει ἀκουόντων καί μιμεῖσθαι μελλόντων τήν ἀληθῆ ταύτην τῆς μετανοίας εἰκόνα καί ἱστορίαν ἥν πρῶτον ἐξεπλήρωσε πρᾶξις καί τότε γραφῇ παραδέδωκε λόγος, τό πολύ καί ἄφατον ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, καί ἐκχέει τήν αὐτοῦ καί ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν ἀγαθότητα καί μεταβαλεῖ εἰς χαράν τόν πόνον αὐτοῦ καί τήν πικρίαν τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ εἰς γλυκύ γλεῦκος μεταποιήσει καί τόν κατεσθίοντα ἰόν τοῦ δράκοντος τά ἐντόσθια αὐτοῦ ἐξεμέσαι ποιήσει· καί οὐ μνησθήσεται ἔκτοτε τῶν πρώην πόνων αὐτοῦ, οὔτε πάντων ἐκείνων ὧν ὑπέστη κακῶν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ χρήματα ἤ κτήματα ἤ πλοῦτον, ὅν κετέλιπεν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς πληγῆς τῆς μετανοίας αὐτοῦ, ἐπιστραφείς ζητήσει ἤ τινος ἑτέρου ἐπιθυμήσει. Ὁ γάρ ὕψιστος Θεός δώσει αὐτῷ ὑγείαν, ἥτις ἔσται ὑπέρ πάντας τούς θησαυρούς τῆς γῆς, ἡ δέ ὑγεία χαράν ἐμποιήσει ἄφραστον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καί ἔσται ἡ χαρά ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ δεκαπλασίως ὑπέρ τήν προτέραν θλῖψιν αὐτοῦ, καί αὕτη πάλιν ἡ χαρά πάντα πόνον τόν ἔξωθεν γινόμενον ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἀποδιώξει, καί ἔσται γινώσκων ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ὅτι τραύματα σώματος αὐτοῦ οὐδέ ἔρχεται ἔκτοτε ἐπί