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those who have reached the harbor and have been returned to dry land are said to be saved; so also those walking on a road and hastening to reach a certain city, not if they cross this river and pass over that mountain and, having passed by, escape those robbers, but after these things, encountering some other murderer or wild beast are destroyed by it, or having fallen into some pit are drowned, are they said to be saved and to have reached that city to which they were traveling, but rather those who, with God's help, have escaped every trial and every deadly plot. And not even these! For if after escaping all adversities they become negligent or slothful, and night overtakes them and the gates of the city are closed and they are found outside of it, they do not know what the coming day will bring forth.

Understand, then, for me the city to be the kingdom of heaven, the night to be the death of each of us, and the coming day to be the presence of the Lord and God, which is the day of judgment. He, therefore, who has not hastened to arrive within the kingdom of heaven while it is the day of this life, but is found outside it at the departure of his soul, for him the night of death comes, and he does not know what will happen to him on the coming day of judgment, whether he will be permitted to enter into it or not. But also the gazelle or the deer or any other of these animals, not when it escapes from this or that hunter and dog (342) or gets clear of this or that trap, but then is seized by another and falls into their hands, is it said to have escaped and been saved, but rather that which was not hunted at all or seized by any device. Understand, then, for me again the hunters to be the evil demons, and the dogs to be the deceitful and false-teaching men, who, being perverse and wicked, attempt not to correct themselves but to teach others, whom one must consider as barking dogs and flee such men, as those who through their words bite and tear apart the sheep of Christ and betray them into the hands of the hunters; and the robbers to be the evil thoughts and shameful thoughts which suddenly fall upon the one who is struggling, either prepare him to flee and be broken off from the company, thinking to save himself, or having gained mastery through the combination and assents of thought, binding him securely and tightly, they strike him, as it were, with the titillations and movements of the flesh, and dragging him by force through unseemly desire, they cast him into the pit of sin and over the cliff of the deed.

It is necessary, therefore, with all strength to abstain from all wicked deeds, and at the same time to hold fast to all good works, and to do the commandments of God with fervent longing and all eagerness and to despise not even the least or most insignificant one. For he who says: "If only I had not done this evil, if only I had not committed this sin, since this or that is nothing" clearly overturns all the commandments of God at once and sets himself against them. Imagine for me, O man, (343) a precious vessel made from all the commandments of God, such as from faith, from fear of God, from humility, from silence from idle speech, from obedience unto death, from the cutting off of the will and motion within the heart, from unceasing repentance and compunction, from perpetual prayer, from the strictness of the eyes, from dispassion toward one's neighbor and equal love for all, from freedom from avarice and sobriety, from hope toward God and perfect love, from all the other virtues that accompany these. For each one of these, being as it were a single plate by itself, one of gold, another of silver, another of bronze, another of a precious stone, and so on the rest from other different materials, being united through the Spirit

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τόν λιμένα φθάσαντες καί τῇ χέρσῳ ἀποδοθέντες σωθῆναι λέγονται· οὕτω καί οἱ ἐν ὁδῷ περιπατοῦντες καί πρός πόλιν τινά καταλαβεῖν σπεύδοντες, οὐχί ἐάν τόνδε τόν ποταμόν διαπεράσωσι καί τόδε τό ὄρος διέλθωσι κἀκείνους τούς ληστάς διαβάντες ἐκφύγωσι, μετά δέ ταῦτα ἑτέρῳ τινί ἀνδροφόνῳ ἤ θηρίῳ ἐντυχόντες παρ᾿ ἐκείνου ἀναλωθῶσιν ἤ καί βοθύνῳ τινί περιπεπτωκότες ἀποπνιγνῶσι, διασωθήσεσθαι καί τήν πόλιν ἐκείνην καταλαβεῖν ἐν ᾗ ἐπορεύοντο, λέγονται, ἀλλ᾿ οἱ πάντα πειρασμόν καί πᾶσαν θανατηφόρον ἐπιβουλήν Θεοῦ βοηθείᾳ διαφυγόντες. Καί οὐδέ οὗτοι! Εἰ γάρ μετά τό διαφυγεῖν πάντα τά ἐναντία ἀμελήσουσιν ἤ ῥᾳθυμήσουσι, καί νύξ αὐτούς καταλάβῃ καί αἱ πύλαι κλεισθῶσι τῆς πόλεως καί ἔξωθεν αὐτῆς εὑρεθῶσιν, οὐκ οἴδασι τί τέξεται ἡ ἐπιοῦσα ἡμέρα.

Νόει οὖν μοι πόλιν τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, νύκτα τόν ἑκάστου ἡμῶν θάνατον, ἐπιοῦσαν δέ ἡμέραν τήν τοῦ Κυρίου καί Θεοῦ παρουσίαν, ἥτις ἐστίν ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως. Ὁ τοίνυν μή φθάσαι σπουδάσας τοῦ ἐν αὐτῇ γενέσθαι τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἕως ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ τῇδε βίου ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾿ ἔξω ταύτης ἐν τῇ ἐξόδῳ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ εὑρεθῇ, νύξ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ τοῦ θανάτου γίνεται, καί οὐκ οἶδεν ἐν τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσως τί ἄρα αὐτῷ συμβήσεται, κἄν τε εἰσελθεῖν ἐν αὐτῇ συγχωρηθῇ κἄν τε μή. Ἀλλά καί ἡ δορκάς ἤ ἡ ἔλαφος ἤ ἕτερόν τι τούτων τῶν ζῴων, οὐχ ὅταν τούτου μέν ἤ ἐκείνου τοῦ θηρευτοῦ καί τοῦ κυνός (342) διαφύγῃ ἤ τῆς παγίδος τῆσδε ἤ τῆσδε ἀνώτερον γένηται, ὑπό δέ ἑτέρου τινός κατασχεθέν εἰς τάς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐμπέσῃ, διαδρᾶναι καί σωθῆναι λέγεται, ἀλλά τό μήθ᾿ ὅλως ἀγριευθέν ἤ ὑπό τινος μηχανῆς κρατηθέν. Νόει οὖν μοι πάλιν θηρευτάς τούς πονηρούς δαίμονας, κύνας δέ τούς πλάνους καί ψευδοδισκάλους ἀνθρώπους, οἵ διεστραμμένοι ὄντες καί πονηροί οὐχ ἑαυτούς διορθώσασθαι ἀλλά ἑτέρους διδάσκειν ἐπιχειροῦσιν, οὕς ὡς ὑλακτοῦντας κύνας λογίζεσθαι χρή καί φεύγειν τούς τοιούτους, ὡς διά τῶν λόγων δάκνοντας καί διασπαράσσοντας τά πρόβατα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί ταῖς τῶν θηρευτῶν χερσί προδιδόντας αὐτά· ληστάς δέ τούς πονηρούς λογισμούς καί αἰσχρούς λογισμούς οἵτινες αἰφνιδίως ἐπιπίπτοντες τῷ ἀγωνιζομένῳ, ἤ φυγεῖν καί ἀπορραγῆναι τῆς συνοδίας αὐτόν παρασκευάζουσιν, ἑαυτόν οἰόμενον διασώσασθαι, ἤ κρατήσαντες τῷ συνδιασμῷ καί ταῖς συγκαταθέσεσι τοῦ λογισμοῦ συνδήσαντες ἀσφαλῶς καί περισφίγξαντες, τύπτουσιν αὐτόν οἱονεί τοῖς γαργαλισμοῖς καί ταῖς κινήσεσι τῆς σαρκός, καί διά τῆς ἀτόπου ἐπιθυμίας τοῦτον ἕλκοντες τῇ δυνάμει, τῷ βόθρῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καί τῷ κρημνῷ τῆς πράξεως ἀπορρίπτουσι.

Χρή οὖν πάσῃ δυνάμει τῶν μέν πονηρῶν πασῶν ἀπέχεσθαι πράξεων, τῶν δέ ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἅμα πάντων ἀντέχεσθαι, καί τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ Θεοῦ ζέοντι πόθῳ καί προθυμίᾳ πάσῃ ποιεῖν καί μηδεμιᾶς καί τῆς τυχούσης ὡς ἐλαχίστης καταφρονεῖν. Ὁ γάρ λέγων· "Εἴθε μή τόδε μοι πέπρακται τό κακόν, τόδε μή πέπραχα τό ἁμάρτημα, ἐπεί τόδε ἤ τόδε οὐδέν ἐστι" φανερῶς ἁπάσας ὁμοῦ ἀνατρέπει τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ Θεοῦ καί ταύταις ἀνθίσταται. Ὑπονόει μοι, ἄνθρωπε, (343) σκεῦος τίμιον ἐκ πασῶν γενόμενον τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἷον ἐκ πίστεως, ἐκ φόβου Θεοῦ, ἐκ ταπεινώσεως, ἐκ σιωπῆς τῆς ἀπό ἀργοῦ λόγου, ἐξ ὑπακοῆς μέχρι θανάτου, ἐκ τῆς ἐκκοπῆς τοῦ ἔνδοθεν τῆς καρδίας θελήματος καί κινήματος, ἐκ τῆς ἀδιαλείπτου μετανοίας καί κατανύξεως, ἐκ τῆς ἀεννάου εὐχῆς, ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκριβείας, ἐκ τῆς πρός τόν πλησίον ἀπροσπαθείας καί τῆς πρός πάντας ἐξ ἴσου ἀγάπης, ἐκ τῆς ἀφιλαργυρίας καί σωφροσύνης, ἐκ τῆς πρός τόν Θεόν ἐλπίδος καί τελείας ἀγάπης, ἐκ πασῶν ἄλλων τῶν ταύταις συνεπομένων ταῖς ἀρεταῖς. Μία γάρ ἑκάστη τούτων, οἱονεί πέταλον οὖσα καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν ἕν, ἡ μέν χρυσοῦν, ἡ δέ ἀργυροῦν, ἄλλη χαλκοῦν, ἑτέρα ἐκ λίθου τιμίου, καί καθεξῆς αἱ λοιπαί ἐξ ἑτέρων ἄλλων ὑλῶν, ἑνούμεναι διά τοῦ Πνεύματος