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He does not bear the envy which he has, but he roars against us like a lion and, walking about and gnashing his teeth mercilessly, seeks whom he may devour. Therefore, those who are wounded by that savage beast and are receiving blows and lie as casualties, O my Christ, will you not have mercy, will you not rather have compassion and await their health, (193) but will you rebuke, but will you utterly crush and put such ones completely to death? For it is just, yes, I too say this, that these are not held unwillingly, but they betray themselves willingly. Nevertheless, crafty, and a sophist of evil, this savage and cunning beast therefore pretends to be a friend, as a friend seeking to seize and ensnare me whole, by pointing out to me the visible life he deprives me of the life of the mind. With sense perception he steals from me the present things and secretly plunders the wealth of the things to come. One thing appears to outward view, but another is what is hidden, O Savior. But if men, having learned this, fashion deceits with hypocrisy, what will the inventor of evil not do, how will he not lead astray, and especially the young, how will he not deceive those who are guileless, utterly inexperienced, utterly without guile, he who is by choice both Satan and crafty and skillfully devises every deceit? Nevertheless, he deceives and wounds all, no one has escaped his hands, nor has anyone passed through untasted and unwounded by his arrows and the poison in them. We have all sinned and fall short of your glory, O Christ, which is ineffable and divine, and we freely entreat you to save and justify by grace and mercy, which you have now poured out on me richly, (194) about which I will not hesitate to speak and write.

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οὐχ ὑποφέρει τόν φθόνον, ὅνπερ ἔχει, ἀλλ᾿ ὠρύεται καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὥσπερ λέων καί περιπατῶν καί βρύχων τούς ὀδόντας ἀπηνῶς ζητεῖ, ὅντινα καταπίῃ. Τούς οὖν ὑπ᾿αὐτοῦ θηρός τοῦ ἀνημέρου τιτρωσκομένους καί πληγάς δεχομένους καί τραυματίας, ὦ Χριστέ μου, κειμένους οὐκ ἐλεήσεις, οὐ συμπαθήσεις μᾶλλον καί τήν ὑγείαν τήν τούτων ἀναμείνεις, (193) ἀλλ᾿ ἐπιπλήξεις, ἀλλά συντρίψεις ὅλως καί θανατώσεις τούς τοιούτους τελείως; ∆ίκαιον καί γάρ, ναί, κἀγώ τοῦτο λέγω, ὅτι ἄκοντες οὐ κατέχονται οὗτοι, ἀλλά ἑκόντες ἑαυτούς προδίδουσιν. Ὅμως πανοῦργος, σοφιστής τε καί κακίας, ὁ ἀνήμερος καί ποικίλος θήρ οὗτος προσποιεῖται οὖν τά τῶν φίλων, ὡς φίλος ὅλον με ζητῶν συλλαβεῖν καί θηρεῦσαι, τήν ὁρωμένην ζωήν ὑποδεικνύς μοι τῆς νοουμένης ζωῆς ἀποστερεῖ με. Τῇ αἰσθήσει κλέπτει με τῶν νῦν παρόντων καί τῶν μελλόντων ὑποσυλᾷ τόν πλοῦτον. Ἄλλο τῇ ἔξω φαίνεται θεωρίᾳ, ἄλλο δέ ἐστι τό κρυπτόμενον, Σῶτερ. Εἰ δέ ἄνθρωποι τοῦτο μεμαθηκότες δόλους σχηματίζονται τῇ ὑποκρίσει, τί ὁ κακίας εὑρετής οὐ ποιήσει, πῶς οὐ πλανήσει, καί μάλιστα τούς νέους, πῶς οὐκ ἀπατήσει δέ ἀκάκους ὄντας, ὅλως ἀπείρους, ὅλως ἀπανουργεύτους, ὁ προαιρέσει καί Σατᾶν καί πανοῦργος καί πάντα δόλον εὐμηχάνως εὑρίσκων; Ὅμως ἅπαντας ἀπατᾷ καί τιτρώσκει, οὐδείς τάς τούτου ὑπεξέφυγε χεῖρας, οὐδέ τῶν αὐτοῦ βελῶν καί τοῦ ἐν τούτοις ἰοῦ ἄγευστος καί ἄτρωτος διῆλθε. Πάντες ἐξημάρτομεν καί ὑστεροῦμεν δόξης σου, Χριστέ, τῆς ἀρρήτου καί θείας, καί δωρεάν σε δυσωποῦμεν τοῦ σῶσαι καί δικαιῶσαι χάριτι καί ἐλέει, ὅ ἐξέχεας ἐπ᾿ ἐμέ νῦν πλουσίως, (194) περί οὗ λέγειν καί γράφειν οὐκ ὀκνήσω.