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to go away into the abyss. These, warring against the glory of God from the creation of the world, continued until the coming of the Savior, when, after being visited for many generations, they were cast into prison. And he likens Satan to a wall. For he is terrible in resistance, and like a city with the finest towers; but he was captured and has fallen, Christ having cast him down. For it is a custom in Scripture to liken the exceedingly strong to a wall and to cities. God, for instance, says to Jeremiah: "Behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and a strong bronze wall to all the kings of the earth, and they will war against you, and they will not be able to prevail against you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." Jesus, son of Naue, also prefigured these things, when he conquered the five kings by force and cast them into the cave. Except that for the wicked powers the unbreakable wall has also collapsed. This is Satan, when idolatry was taken away from men, when the Lord also reigned in Sion and in Jerusalem. For the Church of Christ is a watchtower, and a vision of peace. But he says "before the elders," meaning those perfect in mind, through which they see the depth of the mysteries concerning him. To whom John says: "I write to you, Fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning." For having known Christ as God, they glorify him. Some have interpreted this entire present saying as being about the universal consummation, saying that, just as the prophet spoke in part about the nations, so he now expounds accordingly concerning the whole inhabited world; since the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; and caring for all, he speaks about the judgment that is to come upon them on the day when God judges the hidden things of men. Therefore, he no longer mentions any of the individual nations now, but speaks of the whole inhabited world. For it was necessary that the world, having received a beginning, should also have an end, a change for the better being about to occur. "Because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." And again he says: "For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality." And again: "For the present form of this world is passing away." And the Savior also says: "Heaven and earth will pass away." He teaches, therefore, what will befall the good and the wicked, beginning with the grim things, so that he may arrive at the better ones. And in harmony with the desolation and corruption of the inhabited world is what was said in the vision concerning Babylon, that armed men would come to destroy the whole inhabited world. And this: "The day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the inhabited world a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it." For speaking to men, he spoke only about men, mentioning nothing about the other rational beings. And when those on earth are judged and transferred to other regions of the 2197 inhabited world, it was fitting that the dwelling place of the earth be desolated, its inhabitants being scattered some one way, some another, to other regions of the world, according to the account of each one's deeds. For there are many mansions with the Father, and for the reception of all, even of those who have ever lived, the world is sufficient, with dark places receiving the impious, according to that which says: They shall go down into the lowest parts of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword. They will be portions for foxes, but the pious will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus they will always be with the Lord. And he called the surface of the earth its face. And what is hidden in it is uncovered, being brought to light at the resurrection from the dead, after which all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, receiving a just sentence without respect of persons for those distinguished in rank or wealth. For it will be the same for all, since only their thoughts and deeds are being judged. And Job also says: "The small and the great are there, and the servant fears not his Lord." And he says that those who have an earthly mind will perish, according to that which says: "You are earth, and to earth you will return." And this: "The first

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ἄβυσσον ἀπελθεῖν. Οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ πολεμοῦντες δόξῃ, μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας παρέτειναν, ὅτε διὰ πολλῶν γενεῶν ἐπισκοπῆς τυχόντες εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἐνεβλήθησαν. Παρεικάζει δὲ τείχει τὸν Σατανᾶν. ∆εινὸς γὰρ εἰς ἀντίστασιν, καὶ πόλις οἷον εὐπυργοτάτη· ἀλλ' ἥλω καὶ πέπτωκε Χριστοῦ κατασείσαντος. Ἔθος γὰρ τῇ Γραφῇ τοὺς ἄγαν ἰσχυροὺς παρεικάζειν τείχει καὶ πόλεσι. Θεὸς γοῦν πρὸς Ἰερεμίαν φησίν· "Ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ὡς πόλιν ὀχυρὰν, καὶ ὡς τεῖχος χαλκοῦν ὀχυρὸν ἅπασι τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς, καὶ πολεμήσουσί σε, καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνωνται πρὸς σὲ, διότι μετὰ σοῦ εἰμι τοῦ ἐξαιρεῖσθαί σε, λέγει Κύριος." Ταῦτα προετύπου καὶ ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ Ἰησοῦς, τοὺς πέντε βασιλεῖς κατακράτος ἑλὼν καὶ ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον. Πλὴν ὅτι ταῖς πονηραῖς δυνάμεσι καὶ τὸ ἄῤῥηκτον τεῖχος συμπέπτωκε. Τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὁ Σατανᾶς, τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀνῃρημένης, ὅτε καὶ βεβασίλευκε Κύριος ἐν Σιὼν καὶ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Σκοπευτήριον γὰρ, καὶ εἰρήνης ὅρασις, ἡ Ἐκκλησία Χριστοῦ. Ἐνώπιον δὲ πρεσβυτέρων λέγει τῶν τελείων τὴν φρένα, δι' ἧς ὁρῶσι τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ μυστηρίων τὸ βάθος. Πρὸς οὕς φησιν Ἰωάννης· "Γράφω ὑμῖν, Πατέρες, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς." Τὸν γὰρ Χριστὸν ὡς Θεὸν ἐγνωκότες δοξάζουσι. Τὴν δὲ παροῦσαν ἅπασαν ῥῆσίν τινες περὶ τῆς καθόλου συντελείας ἐξέλαβον λέγοντες, ὡς ἐν μέρει περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁ προφήτης εἰπὼν, ἀκολούθως νῦν περὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκτίθεται· ἐπειδὴ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς· καὶ πάντων κηδόμενος, περὶ τῆς μελλούσης αὐτοὺς καταλήψεσθαι κρίσεως ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐν ᾗ κρίνει ὁ Θεὸς τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ∆ιόπερ νῦν οὐδενὸς ἔτι μέμνηται τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐθνῶν· περὶ δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης. Ἔδει γὰρ ἀρχὴν εἰληφότα τὸν κόσμον καὶ πέρας ἔχειν, τροπῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον γενησομένης. "Ὅτι καὶ αὕτη ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ." Καὶ πάλιν φησί· "∆εῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν, καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Παράγει γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου." Καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ δέ φησιν· "Ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται." ∆ιδάσκει τοίνυν οἷα τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς καὶ δυσσεβεῖς διαδέξεται, ἀπὸ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν ἀρξάμενος, ὡς ἂν καταντήσῃ πρὸς τὰ χρηστότερα. Τῇ δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐρημώσει τε καὶ φθορᾷ σύμφωνον τὸ ῥηθὲν ἐν ὁράσει τῇ περὶ Βαβυλῶνος, ἥξειν ὁπλομάχους καταφθεῖραι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην. Καὶ τό· "Ἡμέρα Κυρίου ἔρχεται ἀνίατος, θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς, θεῖναι τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔρημον, καὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἀπολέσαι ἐξ αὐτῆς." Ἀνθρώποις γὰρ διαλεγόμενος, περὶ ἀνθρώπων μόνον ἔφη, περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν λογικῶν οὐδὲν μεμνημένος. Κρινομένων δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ μετατιθεμένων εἰς ἕτερα τῆς 2197 οἰκουμένης χωρία, ἐρημοῦσθαι τὸ τῆς γῆς ἀκόλουθον ἧν οἰκητήριον, τῶν ἐνοικούντων ἄλλων ἄλλοσε διασπαρέντων εἰς ἕτερα τοῦ κόσμου χωρία, κατὰ λόγον τῶν ἑκάστου πράξεων. Πολλαὶ γὰρ μοναὶ παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, πρός τε τὴν ἁπάντων ὑποδοχὴν, καὶ τῶν πώποτε γενομένων ὁ κόσμος ἀρκεῖ, σκοτεινῶν μὲν χωρίων ὑποδεχομένων τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, κατὰ τό· Εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς, παραδοθήσονται εἰς χεῖρας ῥομφαίας. Μερίδες ἀλωπέκων ἔσονται, τῶν δὲ εὐσεβῶν ἁρπαγησομένων ἐν νεφέλαις, εἰς ἁπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτω πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ γενησομένων. Πρόσωπον δὲ τῆς γῆς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ταύτης ἐκάλεσεν. Ἀνακαλύπτεται δὲ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ κεκαλυμμένων ἀναγομένων εἰς φῶς κατὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσιν, μεθ' ἣν ἅπαντες τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραστήσονται βήματι, δικαίας ψήφου τυγχάνοντες χωρὶς προσωποληψίας τῶν ἐν ἀξιώμασιν ἢ πλούτῳ διαφανῶν. Τὸ γὰρ ἴσον ἔσται πᾶσι κρινομένων μόνων τῶν λογισμῶν τε καὶ πράξεων. Καὶ Ἰὼβ δέ φησι· "Μικρὸς καὶ μέγας ἐκεῖ ἐστι, καὶ θεράπων οὐ δεδοικὼς τὸν Κύριον αὐτοῦ." Γῆν δὲ φθαρήσεσθαί φησι τοὺς τὸ γεῶδες ἔχοντας φρόνημα, κατὰ τό· "Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ." Καὶ τό· "Ὁ πρῶτος