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persecution of the good, hatred of truth, love of falsehood, ignorance of righteousness. For the doers of these things do not cleave to what is good nor to just judgment; they are vigilant not for what is good, but for what is evil; from whom gentleness and patience are far, loving vain things, pursuing reward, not pitying the poor, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing their Maker, murderers of children, destroyers of God's creation, turning away from the needy, oppressing the afflicted, advocates of the rich, despisers of the poor, altogether sinful. Be delivered, children, from all these things. See that no one leads you astray from piety; ‘For you shall not turn,’ it says, ‘from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have understanding in all that you do;’ for wherever you turn aside from the straight path, you will be impious. And concerning foods the Lord says to you: ‘You shall eat the good things of the land.’ And: ‘You shall eat every meat as the green herbs, but you shall pour out the blood.’ For it is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a man, for it goes into the stomach and is cast out into the privy, but the things that proceed out of it defile a man, I mean blasphemies, evil speakings, and any such thing. But you shall eat the fat of the land with righteousness, because: ‘If anything is beautiful, it is His, and if anything is good, it is His; grain for the young men and wine that makes the virgins fragrant; for who shall eat or who shall drink apart from Him?’ But flee from things sacrificed to idols; for they sacrifice these things in honor of demons, that is, to the insult of the only God, so that you may not become partakers with demons. And concerning baptism, O bishop or presbyter, we have already commanded before, and now we say that you shall baptize in this manner, as the Lord commanded us, saying: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;’ of the Father who sent, of the Christ who came, of the Paraclete who bore witness. You shall anoint first with holy oil, then baptize with water, and finally seal with myrrh, so that the anointing may be a participation in the Holy Spirit, the water a symbol of death, and the myrrh a seal of the covenants. But if there is neither oil nor myrrh, water is sufficient both for anointing and for sealing and for the confession of him who died or rather is dying with Christ. But before baptism, let the one being baptized fast; for indeed the Lord also, having been baptized by John, first and

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διωγμὸς ἀγαθῶν, ἀληθείας ἔχθρα, ψεύδους ἀγάπη, ἄγνοια δικαιοσύνης. Oἱ γὰρ τούτων ποιηταὶ οὐ κολλῶνται ἀγαθῷ οὐδὲ κρίσει δικαίᾳ, ἀγρυπνοῦσιν οὐκ εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ πονηρόν· ὧν μακρὰν πραότης καὶ ὑπομονή, μάταια ἀγαπῶντες, διώκοντες ἀνταπόδομα, οὐκ ἐλεοῦντες πτωχόν, οὐ πονοῦντες ἐπὶ καταπονουμένῳ, οὐ γινώσκοντες τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτούς, φονεῖς τέκνων, φθορεῖς πλάσματος Θεοῦ, ἀποστρεφόμενοι ἐνδεόμενον, καταπονοῦντες θλιβόμε νον, πλουσίων παράκλητοι, πενήτων ὑπερόπται, πανθαμάρ τητοι. Ῥυσθείητε, τέκνα, ἀπὸ τούτων ἁπάντων. Ὅρα, μή τίς σε πλανήσῃ ἀπὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας· «Oὐκ ἐκκλινεῖς γάρ, φησίν, ἀπ' αὐτῆς δεξιὰ ἢ εὐώνυμα, ἵνα συνῇς ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς ἐὰν πράσσῃςή· οὗ γὰρ ἂν ἐκτραπῇς ἔξω τῆς εὐθείας ὁδοῦ, δυσσεβήσεις. Περὶ δὲ βρωμάτων λέγει σοι ὁ Κύριος· «Τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε.» Καί· «Πᾶν κρέας ἔδεσθε ὡς λάχανα χλόης, τὸ δὲ αἷμα ἐκχεεῖς.» Oὐ γὰρ τὰ εἰσερχόμενα εἰς τὸ στόμα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰς κοιλίαν γὰρ χωρεῖ καὶ εἰς ἀφεδρῶνα ἐκβάλλεται, τὰ δὲ ἐκπορευόμενα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, λέγω δὴ βλασφημίαι, καταλαλιαὶ καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον. Σὺ δὲ φάγῃ τὸν μυελὸν τῆς γῆς μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι· «Eἴ τι καλόν, αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἴ τι ἀγαθόν, αὐτοῦ· σῖτος νεανίσκοις καὶ οἶνος εὐωδιάζων παρθένοις· τίς γὰρ φάγεται ἢ τίς πίεται παρὲξ αὐτοῦ;» Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων φεύγετε· ἐπὶ τιμῇ γὰρ δαιμόνων θύουσι ταῦτα, ἐφ' ὕβρει δηλαδὴ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ· ὅπως μὴ γένησθε κοινωνοὶ δαιμόνων. Περὶ δὲ βαπτίσματος, ὦ ἐπίσκοπε ἢ πρεσβύτερε, ἤδη μὲν καὶ πρότερον διεταξάμεθα, καὶ νῦν δέ φαμεν ὅτι οὕτως βαπτίσεις ὡς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῖν διετάξατο λέγων· «Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖνή· τοῦ ἀποστείλαντος Πατρός, τοῦ ἐλθόν τος Χριστοῦ, τοῦ μαρτυρήσαντος παρακλήτου. Χρίσεις δὲ πρῶτον ἐλαίῳ ἁγίῳ, ἔπειτα βαπτίσεις ὕδατι, καὶ τελευ ταῖον σφραγίσεις μύρῳ, ἵνα τὸ μὲν χρῖσμα μετοχὴ ᾖ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ σύμβολον τοῦ θανάτου, τὸ δὲ μύρον σφραγὶς τῶν συνθηκῶν. Eἰ δὲ μήτε ἔλαιον ᾖ μήτε μύρον, ἀρκεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ πρὸς χρῖσιν καὶ πρὸς σφραγῖδα καὶ πρὸς ὁμολογίαν τοῦ ἀποθανόντος ἤτοι συναποθνήσκοντος. Πρὸ δὲ τοῦ βαπτίσματος νηστευσάτω ὁ βαπτιζόμενος· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Κύριος βαπτισθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου πρῶτον καὶ