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O man, towards sharing? The hungry wastes away; the naked freezes, the one in debt is choked, and you put off almsgiving until tomorrow? You pray for all things to be changed into the nature of gold. And what device do you not contrive for gold? wheat becomes gold for you, wine solidifies into gold, wool turns to gold for you; every device brings you gold. Gold itself begets itself, multiplying in loans, and there is no satiety, and the end of desire is not found. By as much as you abound in wealth, by so much do you lack in love. Why are you disheartened, O man, giving away corruptible things, and receiving the kingdom of heaven in return? Why do you refuse the one who asks, and decline to give, contriving countless pretexts of expenses? What will you answer to the Judge, you who clothe the walls, but do not clothe a man 95.1485? you who adorn your horses, but overlook your brother in unsightly garb? you who let your grain rot, but do not feed the hungry? you who bury your gold, but despise the one being choked? Just as those who climb ladders, always lifting their foot to the step above, do not stop before they reach the top, so too the rich do not cease until, having been exalted, they dash themselves down from the fall. As many things as the eye sees, so many things the greedy man desires. The eye will not be filled with seeing, and the lover of money will not be sated with receiving. Hades has not said, "Enough," nor has the greedy man ever said, "Enough." When will you use your present possessions? when will you enjoy them, being always held fast by the pains of acquisition? Woe to those who join house to house, and bring field near to field, that they might take something from their neighbor. But what do you do? Do you not make countless excuses, that you might take what is your neighbor's? "My neighbor's house casts a shadow on me," he says, "it makes noises, or it harbors what has gone astray;" or having accused him of whatever may happen, driving him about, and pushing him out, and always dragging and tearing, he will not cease before he brings upon them the necessity of rising up. What then killed Naboth the Israelite? Was it not Ahab's desire for the vineyard? The greedy man is an evil housemate in the city, an evil one in the fields. The sea knows its own boundaries, the night does not transgress ancient landmarks; the greedy man does not respect time, does not recognize a boundary, does not allow for a sequence of succession, but imitates the violence of fire; it seizes all things, it consumes all things. And just as rivers, rushing forth from a small beginning, then from gradual additions receive an irresistible growth, sweep away whatever stands in their path with the violence of their current. What then after these things? Do not three cubits await you all? Will not the weight of a few stones suffice for the guarding of your wretched flesh? For what do you labor? For what do you transgress the law? Why do you gather barrenness with your hands? Would that it were barrenness, and not fuel for the eternal fire. Will you never be sober from this drunkenness? Will you not make your reasonings sound? Will you not come to your senses? Will you not set before your eyes the judgment seat of Christ? What defense will you make, when those you have wronged, standing around you in a circle, cry out against you before the just Judge? What then will you do? What advocates will you hire? What witnesses will you present? How will you persuade the Judge who cannot be deceived by arguments? There is no orator there, no persuasiveness of words able to steal the truth from the Judge. Flatterers do not follow, nor money, nor the pomp of office. You will be left destitute of friends, destitute of helpers, without an advocate, without a defense, put to shame, sullen, downcast, isolated, unable to speak freely. For wherever you may turn your eye, you will see vivid images of your evil deeds 95.1488; from here the tears of heaven, from there the sigh of the widow, from another place the poor who were beaten with fists by you, the servants whom you flayed, neighbors whom you provoked to anger, all things will rise up against you; an evil chorus of your wicked deeds will surround you. For just as a shadow follows the body, so sins follow souls, vividly portraying their deeds. For this reason there is no denial there,

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ἄνθρωπε, πρὸς τὴν μετάδοσιν; ὁ πεινῶν τήκεται· ὁ γυμνητεύων πήγνυται, ὁ ἀπαιτούμενος ἄγχεται, καὶ σὺ τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην εἰς τὴν αὔριον ἀναβάλλεις; Εὔχῃ τὰ πάντα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ φύσιν μεταβληθῆναι. Ποίαν δὲ μηχανὴν διὰ τὸν χρυσὸν οὐκ ἐννοεῖς; ὁ σῖτος χρυσός σοι γίνεται, ὁ οἶνος εἰς χρυσὸν μεταπήγνυται, τὰ ἔριά σοι ἀποχρυσοῦται· πᾶσα ἐπίνοια χρυσόν σοι προσάγει. Αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ χρυσὸς ἀπογεννᾷ πολυπλασιαζόμενον ἐν δανείσμασι, καὶ κόρος οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας οὐκ ἐξευρίσκεται. Ὅσῳ πλεονάζεις τῷ πλούτῳ, τοσοῦτον ἐλλείπεις τῇ ἀγάπῃ. ∆ιὰ τί ἀθυμεῖς, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, φθαρτὰ προϊέμενος, καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν ἀντιλαμβάνων; ∆ιὰ τί ἀρνῇ τὸν αἰτοῦντα, καὶ ἀπαναίνῃ τὴν δόσιν, μυρίας προφάσεις ἀναλωμάτων ἐπινοῶν; Τί ἀποκριθήσῃ τῷ κριτῇ, ὁ τοὺς τοίχους ἀμφιεννύων, ἄνθρω 95.1485 πον οὐκ ἐνδύεις; ὁ τοὺς ἵππους κοσμῶν, τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀσχημονοῦντα περιορᾷς; ὁ κατασήπων τὸν σῖτον, τοὺς πεινῶντας οὐ τρέφεις; ὁ τὸν χρυσὸν κατορύσσων, τοῦ ἀγχομένου καταφρονεῖς; Ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς κλίμακας ἀναβαίνοντες, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑπερκειμένην βαθμίδα τὸ ἴχνος αἴροντες, οὐ πρότερον ἵστανται, πρὶν ἂν τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐφίκωνται, οὕτω οὐδὲ οἱ πλούσιοι παύονται, ἕως ἂν ὑψωθέντες, ἀπὸ τοῦ πτώματος ἑαυτοὺς καταῤῥήξωσιν. Ὅσα βλέπει ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς, τοσαῦτα ἐπιθυμεῖ ὁ πλεονέκτης. Οὐ πλησθήσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ ὁρᾷν, καὶ οὐ κορεσθήσεται φιλάργυρος τοῦ λαμβάνειν. Ὁ ᾅδης οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἀρκεῖ, οὐδὲ ὁ πλεονέκτης εἶπέ ποτε τὸ, Ἀρκεῖ. Πότε χρήσῃ τοῖς παροῦσιν; πότε δὲ ἀπολαύσῃς αὐτῶν, ἀεὶ τοῖς πόνοις τῆς κτίσεως συνεχόμενος; Οὐαὶ τοῖς συνάπτουσιν οἰκίαν πρὸς οἰκίαν, καὶ ἀγρὸν πρὸς ἀγρὸν ἐγγίζουσιν, ἵνα τοῦ πλησίον ἀφέλωνταί τι. Σὺ δὲ τί ποιεῖς; Οὐ προφασίζῃ μυρία, ἵνα λάβῃς τὰ τοῦ πλησίον; Ἐπισκοτεῖ μοι, φησὶ, τοῦ γείτονος ἡ οἰκία, θορύβους ἐνίησιν, ἢ τὸ πεπλανημένον ὑποδέχεται· ἢ ὅτι ἂν τύχοι αἰτιασάμενος, περιελαύνων, καὶ ἐξωθῶν, καὶ ἕλκων ἀεὶ, καὶ σπαράσσων, οὐ πρότερον παύσεται, πρὶν ἂν ἐπαγάγῃ αὐτοῖς ἀνάγκην ἐπαναστάσεως. Τί τοίνυν Ναβουθὲ τὸν Ἰσραηλίτην ἀπέκτεινεν; οὐχὶ τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ ἐπιθυμία τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος; Πονηρὸς ἐν πόλει σύνοικος, πονηρὸς ἐν ἀγροῖς ὁ πλεονέκτης. Ἡ θάλασσα οἶδε τὰ ὅρια ἑαυτῆς, ἡ νὺξ οὐχ ὑπερβαίνει ὁροθεσίας ἀρχαίας· ὁ πλεονέκτης οὐκ αἰδεῖται χρόνον, οὐ γνωρίζει ὅρον, οὐ συγχωρεῖ ἀκολουθίᾳ διαδοχῆς, ἀλλὰ μιμεῖται τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν βίαν· πάντα ἐπιλαμβάνεται, πάντα ἐπινέμεται. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ ποταμοὶ ἐκ μικρᾶς τῆς πρώτης ἀρχῆς ὁρμηθέντες, εἶτα ταῖς κατ' ὀλίγον προσθήκαις ἀνυπόστατον λαβόντες τὴν αὔξησιν, τῷ βιαίῳ τῆς φορᾶς τὸ ἐνιστάμενον παρασύρουσι. Τί οὖν μετὰ ταῦτα; Οὐχὶ τρεῖς σε πήχεις ἀναμένουσιν οἱ πάντες; οὐχὶ λίθων ὀλίγων βάρος ἀρκέσει πρὸς φυλακὴν τῇ δυστήνῳ σαρκί; ὑπὲρ τίνος μοχθεῖς; ὑπὲρ τίνος παρανομεῖς; τί συνάγεις χερσὶν ἀκαρπίαν; εἶθε ἀκαρπίαν, καὶ μὴ ὕλην αἰωνίῳ πυρί. Οὐ νήψεις ποτὲ ἀπὸ τῆς μέθης ταύτης; οὐχ ὑγιανεῖς τοὺς λογισμούς; οὐ σεαυτοῦ γενήσῃ; οὐ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν λήψῃ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δικαστήριον; Τί ἀπολογήσῃ, ἐπειδάν σε κύκλῳ περιστάντες οἱ ἠδικημένοι καταβοῶσι ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ; Τί οὖν ποιήσεις; ποίους συνηγόρους μισθώσεις; ποίους μάρτυρας παραστήσεις; πῶς παραπείσεις τὸν ἀπαραλόγιστον δικαστήν; οὐκ ἔνι ῥήτωρ ἐκεῖ οὐκέτι πιθανότης ῥημάτων κλέψαι δυναμένη τοῦ δικαστοῦ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Οὐκ ἀκολουθοῦσι κόλακες, οὐ τὰ χρήματα, οὐδ' ὄγκος ἀξιώματος. Ἔρημος φίλων, ἔρημος βοηθῶν, ἀσυνηγόρητος, ἀναπολόγητος, κατῃσχυμμένος ἀπολειφθήσῃ, σκυθρωπὸς, κατηφὴς, μεμονωμένος, ἀπαῤῥησίαστος. Ὅπου γὰρ ἂν περιαγάγῃς τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, ἐναργεῖς ὄψει τῶν κακῶν τὰς 95.1488 εἰκόνας· ἔνθεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὰ δάκρυα, ἐκεῖθεν τῆς χήρας τὸν στεναγμὸν, ἑτέρωθεν τοὺς κατακονδυλισθέντας ἀπὸ σοῦ πένητας, τοὺς οἰκέτας οὓς κατέξαινες, γείτονας οὓς παρώργιζες, πάντα σοι ἐπαναστήσεται· πονηρὸς χορὸς τῶν κακῶν σου πράξεων περιστοιχήσεταί σοι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ σκιὰ τῷ σώματι, οὕτω ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἁμαρτίαι παρέπονται, ἐναργῶς τὰς πράξεις εἰκονίζουσαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ἄρνησις ἐκεῖ,