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pleasing to God: "But I say to you, do not swear at all, but let your 'yes' be 'yes,' and your 'no,' 'no'; for whatever is more than these is from the evil one," and again: "Truly, truly, I say to you that every idle word that men shall speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment"?

Therefore, if we persuade you, being men, to be obedient to the truth, to Christ, and to these words, do not then run after offices and the commands of others for the sake of human glory and luxury and bodily pleasure, fearing the judgment of God and that dreadful decree which God pronounced through the prophet Joel against those who unworthily shepherd his sheep: "Thus says, he says, the Lord Adonai: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds feed themselves? Do not the shepherds feed the sheep? Behold, you eat the milk and clothe yourselves with the wool and you slaughter the fatling, but you did not feed my sheep. (345) The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and the broken you have not bound up, and the one that is ill you have not made whole, and the straying you have not turned back, and the lost you have not sought, and the strong you have worn out with toil, and with power you have disciplined them and with sport, and my sheep were scattered because there were no shepherds." And a little later: "Thus says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will make them cease from shepherding my sheep." And again: "And if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the sword comes and takes a soul from them, that one is taken for his own sin, but his blood I will require from the hand of the watchman." These things are dreadful and full of all horror, O brothers.

For this reason, therefore, let us be eager first to shepherd ourselves well as Christ's flock, as a royal priesthood, and to subject the flesh to the spirit, so that the better part in us may not be conquered by the worse. And whenever we have entered into the depth of humility and washed away the stains of sin with the streams of its tears, and have acquired a meek and calm spirit from a contrite mind, and in a great thirst for the righteousness of God have been filled with the ineffable goods of His kingdom through the comfort of the Spirit; then, having from this received bowels of mercy and compassion, let us acquire a pure heart in perfect dispassion and we shall see the light of God, that is, the Holy Spirit himself, working and speaking in us the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of God, as we have joined together what was divided in us into one mind (346) through deep peace, and let us first make peace within ourselves and make ourselves a harmonious instrument through body and soul in one Spirit to God; and not only this, but when we also, in many temptations, in many tribulations and calamities, have endured for Christ and have put up with being persecuted, and when reviled we entreat, and when cursed we bless, taking no account of evil in anyone at all, but we bear all things, we endure all things, keeping our proven character unshaken from the foundation of the virtues; and so, through all and in all the things that have been said, when we have grown to the stature of Christ and run up to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, in perfect knowledge of God and in the wisdom of the words and mysteries granted by the all-holy Spirit—then for the benefit of others let us give ourselves as the least of slaves, if indeed we are also called from above, according to the Lord's voice: "Whoever wishes to be first among you, let him be the slave of all and the servant of all".

But until we arrive at this point through many struggles, let us devote ourselves, I beseech you, to being in submission to our fathers according to God and to God himself who holds all things together,

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Θεῷ ἀρεστά· «Ἐγώ δέ λέγω ὑμῖν μή ὀμόσαι ὅλως, ἀλλ᾿ ἔστω ὑμῶν τό ναί, ναί, καί τό οὔ, οὔ· τό γάρ πλεῖον τούτου ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστι», καί πάλιν· «Ἀμήν, ἀμήν, λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργόν ὅ ἐάν λαλήσωσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, λόγον δώσουσι ὑπέρ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως»;

Μή δή οὖν, εἴ γε πείθεσθαι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ Χριστῷ καί τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις πείθομεν ὑμᾶς ἀνθρώπους ὄντας, ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καί ταῖς τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιτρέχετε προστασίαις διά δόξαν ἀνθρωπίνην καί τρυφήν καί ἀπόλαυσιν σώματος, τό κρῖμα τοῦ Θεοῦ δεδοικότες καί τήν φρικτήν ἐκείνην ἀπόφασιν ἥν διά τοῦ προφήτου Ἰωήλ ὁ Θεός κατά τῶν ἀναξίων ποιμαινόντων τά πρόβατα αὐτοῦ ἀπεφήνατο· «Τάδε λέγει, φησίν, Ἀδωναΐ Κύριος· Ὦ ποιμένες Ἰσραήλ, μή βόσκουσιν οἱ ποιμένες ἑαυτούς; Οὐχί τά πρόβατα βόσκουσιν οἱ ποιμένες; Ἰδού τό γάλα κατεσθίετε καί τά ἔρια περιβάλλεσθε καί τό παχύ ἐσφάζετε καί τά πρόβατά μου οὐκ ἐβόσκετε. (345) Τό ἠσθενηκός οὐκ ἐνισχύσατε καί τό ἄρρωστον οὐκ ἰάσασθε καί τό συντετριμμένον οὐ κατεδήσατε καί τό κακῶς ἔχον οὐκ ἐσωματοποιήσατε καί τό πλανώμενον οὐκ ἐπεστρέψατε καί τό ἀπολωλός οὐκ ἐπεζητήσατε καί τό ἰσχυρόν κατειργάσασθε μόχθῳ καί ἐν κράτει ἐπαιδεύσατε αὐτά καί ἐν παιγνίῳ καί διεσπάρη τά πρόβατά μου διά τό μή εἶναι ποιμένας». Καί μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· «Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναΐ Κύριος· Ἰδού ἐγώ ἐπί τούς ποιμένας καί ἐκζητήσω τά πρόβατά μου ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν καί καταπαύσω αὐτούς τοῦ μή ποιμαίνειν τά πρόβατά μου». Καί πάλιν· «Καί ὁ σκοπός ἐάν ἴδῃ τήν ῥομφαίαν ἐρχομένην καί μή σαλπίσῃ τῇ σάλπιγγι καί ἐπελθοῦσα ἡ ῥομφαία λάβῃ ἐξ αὐτῶν ψυχήν, αὕτη μέν διά τήν αὐτῆς ἁμαρτίαν ἐλήφθη, τό δέ αἷμα αὐτῆς ἐκ τῆς χειρός τοῦ σκοποῦ ἐκζητήσω». Φοβερά ταῦτα καί φρίκης ἁπάσης, ὦ ἀδελφοί.

∆ιά δή τοῦτο σπουδάσωμεν ποιμᾶναι μᾶλλον πρότερον καλῶς ἑαυτούς ὡς Χριστοῦ ποίμνιον, ὡς βασίλειον ἱεραύτεμα, καί καθυποτάξαι τήν σάρκα τῷ πνεύματι, ἵνα μή τό κρεῖττον ἐν ἡμῖν ὑπό τοῦ χείρονος ἐκνικᾶται. Καί ὁπόταν εἰς τόν τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης βυθόν εἰσέλθωμεν καί τοῖς νάμασι ταύτης τῶν δακρύων τούς σπίλους τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολουσώμεθα, κτησώμεθα δέ πρᾷον καί γαληνόν τό πνεῦμα ἐκ συντετριμμένου φρονήματος, ἐν πολλῇ τε δίψῃ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης κορεσθῶμεν τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἀγαθῶν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ διά τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος παρακλήσεως, εἶτα, σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ καί συμπαθείας ἐντεῦθεν ἀναλαβόντες, κτησώμεθα καθαράν τήν καρδίαν ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ τελείᾳ καί ὀψόμεθα τό φῶς τοῦ Θεοῦ, αὐτό τό Πνεῦμα δηλονότι τό Ἅγιον ἐνεργοῦν καί λαλοῦν ἐν ἡμῖν τά κεκρυμμένα μυστήρια τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας, ὡς τά διεστῶτα ἐν ἡμῖν εἰς ἕν ἐπισυνάψαντες (346) φρόνημα διά τῆς βαθείας εἰρήνης, καί εἰρηνεύσωμεν πρῶτον ἡμᾶς αὐτούς καί σύμφωνον ὄργανον διά σώματος καί ψυχῆς ἀποτελέσωμεν ἑαυτούς ἐν ἑνί Πνεύματι τῷ Θεῷ, οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅταν καί ἐν πολλοῖς πειρασμοῖς, ἐν πολλαῖς θλίψεσι καί συμφοραῖς ὑπομείνωμεν τόν Χριστόν καί ἀνεχώμεθα διωκόμενοι καί βλασφημούμενοι παρακαλῶμεν καί καταρώμενοι εὐλογῶμεν, μή λογιζόμενοι τό κακόν ἐν μηδενί μηδαμῶς, ἀλλά πάντα στέγωμεν, πάντα ὑπομένωμεν, τό δοκίμιον ἡμῶν ἀσάλευτον τηροῦντες ἀπό τῆς ἀποβάθρας τῶν ἀρετῶν, καί οὕτως, διά πάντων καί ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ὅταν τήν κατά Χριστόν αὐξήσωμεν ἡλικίαν καί ἀναδράμωμεν εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐν γνώσει τελείᾳ Θεοῦ καί ἐν σοφίᾳ τῶν ὑπό τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος χορηγουμένων λόγων καί μυστηρίων, τότε καί ἐπί τῇ τῶν ἄλλων ὠφελείᾳ ὡς δούλους ἐσχάτους ἑαυτούς ἐπιδώσωμεν, εἴ γε καί καλούμεθα ἄνωθεν, κατά τήν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν· «Ὁ θέλων εἶναι πρῶτος ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔστω πάντων δοῦλος καί πάντων διάκονος».

Ἔως δέ εἰς τοῦτο διά πολλῶν ἀγώνων οὐ φθάσωμεν, σχολάσωμεν, παρακαλῶ, ὑποτασσόμενοι τοῖς κατά Θεόν πατράσιν ἡμῶν καί αὐτῷ τῷ συνέχοντι πάντα Θεῷ,