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Then it describes the wickedness in the people and the unceasing sedition among them, already having progressed completely to the point of being incurable. For a man (it says) will not pity his own brother, each one, but when one approaches to receive some help, he will turn to the right, that is, he becomes clumsy, because he will be hungry and will eat from his left things; for he who does not do things that are right and worthy of acceptance, this one will be filled from the more sinister and forbidden things. So he interprets what "He will eat from his left things" is. And a man (it says) will not be filled, eating the flesh of his own arm. It reveals a certain bestial state of the soul, recounting the cannibalism of brothers, cruelly attacking one another. For Manasseh will eat Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh. For wickedness makes them savage and causes them to be likened to flesh-eating beasts, not being filled from eating the flesh of another's arm, of which the end is complete destruction, according to what was said by the Apostle, that "If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." And being so hostilely disposed towards one another, they will nevertheless agree in the plot against their neighbor. For together they will besiege Judah (it says), that is, those confessing God and remaining in His worship. For Judah is interpreted as confession. However, wickedness, being discordant with itself, shows a certain harmony in the battle against virtue; for example, rashness and cowardice are opposed to each other, the one being an excess, the other a deficiency; but they fight similarly against courage, which lies in the middle, as if besieging it from both sides. For this reason Ephraim and Manasseh are said to eat each other's flesh, but to besiege Judah, having come together.

10.t CHAPTER 10

10.233 Woe to those who write wickedness. For when they write, they write wickedness, turning aside the judgment of the poor, seizing the verdict of the needy of my people; so that the widow is for them plunder and the orphan prey. And what will they do in the day of visitation? For your affliction will come from afar. And to whom will you flee, to be helped? And where will you leave your glory, so as not to fall into captivity? And they will fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still high. There are some who, deigning not to follow the fathers and the doctrines handed down by them, themselves desire to begin heresies. Therefore they contrive certain innovations against the right reason, writing wickedness and impiety; to whom the "woe" applies, to the fathers of falsely so-called knowledge, and the authors of godless doctrines. For such men seize those who are poor in faith and overpower souls widowed of the true bridegroom, the Word of God. But if they see anyone orphaned from God on account of sin, they make this one also like their own spoil, promising them every license, and proposing a life in pleasure, if only they might get them to agree with the doctrines of godlessness. Such is the heresy of the Anomoeans that has now sprouted up, promising forgiveness of sins to fornicators and adulterers and sodomites and kidnappers and perjurers and liars, if only they get them to join in the blasphemy against the Only-Begotten. To whom the word says: "What will they do in the day of visitation?" He speaks of the day of the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ from the heavens, on which he will visit the world, rendering to each according to his works; on which they will receive the affliction coming upon them from afar, as those who write wickedness. But to whom will you flee, to be helped? For against God

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Εἶτα τὴν κακίαν τὴν ἐν τῷ λαῷ καὶ τὴν στάσιν τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀκατάπαυστον ἤδη, καὶ παντελῶς εἰς τὸ ἀνίατον προχωρήσασαν διαγράφει. Ἄνθρωπος γὰρ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἑαυτοῦ (φησὶν) οὐκ ἐλεήσει ἕκαστος, ἀλλὰ προσιόντα ἐπὶ τὸ τινὸς τυχεῖν ἀντιλήψεως, ἐκκλινεῖ εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ, τουτέστιν ἀδέξιος γίνεται, ὅτι πεινάσει καὶ φάγεται ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν αὐτοῦ· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἐργαζό μενος δεξιὰ καὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξια, οὗτος ἐμπλησθήσεται ἐκ τῶν σκαιοτέρων καὶ ἀπηγορευμένων. Τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ Φάγεται ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν αὐτοῦ, ἑρμηνεύει. Καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῇ (φησὶν) ἄνθρωπος ἐσθίων τὰς σάρκας τοῦ βραχίονος αὐτοῦ. Θηριώδη τινὰ κατάστασιν τῆς ψυχῆς ὑποφαίνει, ἀλληλοφαγίαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν διηγούμενος, ὠμῶς ἐπιβαινόντων ἀλλήλοις. Φάγεται γὰρ Μανασσῆς τοῦ Ἐφραΐμ, καὶ Ἐφραῒμ τοῦ Μανασσῇ. Ἐξαγριοῖ γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ κακία καὶ θηρίοις ὠμοβόροις ποιεῖ παρεικάζεσθαι, οὐκ ἐμπιπλαμένους τοῦ ἐσθίειν ἀπὸ τῶν σαρκῶν τοῦ βραχίονος τοῦ ἑτέρου, ὧν τὸ τέλος ἐστὶ παντελὴς ἀπώλεια, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου, ὅτι Εἰ ἀλλήλους δάκνετε καὶ κατεσθίετε, βλέπετε μὴ ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀναλωθῆτε. Οὕτω δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐχ θρῶς διακείμενοι, ὅμως ἐν τῇ κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον ἐπιβουλῇ συμφωνήσουσιν. Ἅμα γὰρ πολιορκήσουσι τὸν Ἰούδαν (φησὶ) τουτέστι τοὺς ἐξομολογουμένους τῷ Θεῷ καὶ παραμένοντας αὐτοῦ τῇ λατρείᾳ. Ἰούδας γὰρ ἡ ἐξομολόγησις ἑρμηνεύεται. Πλὴν ἡ κακία πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἀσύμφωνος οὖσα, τῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν μάχῃ ἐπιδείκνυταί τινα συμφωνίαν· οἷον θρασύτης καὶ δειλία ἀλλήλαις ἀντίκεινται, ἡ μὲν ὑπερβολὴ τυγχά νουσα, ἡ δὲ ἔλλειψις· ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀνδρείᾳ, ἐν μέσῳ κειμένῃ, ὁμοίως μάχονται, οἱονεὶ πολιορκοῦσαι αὐτὴν ἑκατέρωθεν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Ἐφραῒμ καὶ Μανασσῆς ἐσθίειν μὲν ἀλλήλων τὰς σάρκας λέγονται, πολιορκεῖν δὲ ὁμοῦ γενόμενοι τὸν Ἰούδαν.

10.t ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ιʹ

10.233 Οὐαὶ τοῖς γράφουσι πονηρίαν. Γράφοντες γὰρ, πο νηρίαν γράφουσιν, ἐκκλίνοντες κρίσιν πτωχῶν, ἁρπάζοντες κρίμα πενήτων τοῦ λαοῦ μου· ὥστε εἶναι αὐτοῖς χήραν εἰς ἁρπαγὴν καὶ ὀρφανὸν εἰς προνομήν. Καὶ τί ποιήσουσιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς; Ἡ γὰρ θλίψις ὑμῶν πόῤῥωθεν ἥξει. Καὶ πρὸς τίνα καταφεύξεσθε, τοῦ βοηθηθῆναι; Καὶ ποῦ καταλείψετε τὴν δόξαν ὑμῶν, τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀπαγωγήν; Καὶ ὑποκάτω ἀνῃρημένων πεσοῦνται. Ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ἡ ὀργὴ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή. Εἰσί τινες, οἱ κατακολουθεῖν τοῖς πατράσι καὶ τοῖς παρ' αὐ τῶν παραδεδομένοις δόγμασιν ἀπαξιοῦντες, αὐτοὶ κατάρ χειν αἱρέσεων ἐπιθυμοῦσι. ∆ιὸ καινοτομίας τινὰς παρεπι νοοῦσι τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ, γράφοντες πονηρίαν καὶ ἀσέβειαν· εἰς οὓς φθάνει τὸ οὐαὶ, εἰς τοὺς πατέρας τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, καὶ συγγραφέας τῶν ἀθέων δογμάτων. Οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι τοὺς πτωχεύοντας τῇ πίστει συναρπάζουσι καὶ καταδυναστεύουσι ψυχὰς χηρευούσας τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ νυμ φίου, τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου. Ἀλλὰ κἄν τινα ἴδωσιν ἀπορφανισθέντα Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ τοῦτον ὥσπερ λάφυρον ἑαυτῶν ποιοῦνται, κατεπαγγελλόμενοι μὲν αὐτοῖς πᾶσαν ἄδειαν, καὶ τὸν ἐν ἡδονῇ προτείνοντες βίον, εἰ μόνον λάβοιεν αὐτοὺς συντεθειμένους τοῖς δόγμασι τῆς ἀθεότητος. Ὁποία ἡ νῦν παραβλαστήσασα τῶν Ἀνομοίων αἵρεσις, καὶ πόρνοις καὶ μοιχοῖς καὶ ἀρσενοκοίταις καὶ ἀνδραποδισταῖς καὶ ἐπιόρκοις καὶ ψεύσταις συγχώρησιν ἁμαρτημάτων ὑπισ χνούμενοι, ἐὰν μόνον αὐτοὺς λάβωσι τῇ κατὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς βλασφημίᾳ συνερχομένους. Πρὸς οὕς φησιν ὁ λόγος· Τί ποιήσουσιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς; Ἡμέραν λέγει τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξ οὐρανῶν, ἐν ᾗ ἐπιδημήσει τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀποδιδοὺς ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· καθ' ἣν ἀπολήψονται τὴν θλίψιν πόῤῥωθεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐρχομένην, ὡς γράφοντες πονηρίαν. Πρὸς τίνα δὲ καταφεύξεσθε, τοῦ βοηθηθῆναι; Κατὰ γὰρ Θεοῦ