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among the saints in Israel who did not bend the knee to Baal, only Elijah among them and his disciple Elisha became wonder-workers, but neither did Elijah mock the steward Obadiah, who feared God but did not perform signs, nor did Elisha look down upon his own disciple who shuddered at the enemies. For neither did Daniel the wise, delivered a second time from the mouth of lions, nor the three young men from the furnace of fire, despise the rest of their kinsmen; for they knew that they did not overcome their perils by their own power, but by the strength of God, and they performed signs and were delivered from difficulties. Therefore, let none of you be puffed up against his brother, even if he is a prophet or a wonder-worker; for if it were granted that there be no unbeliever anywhere, then all working of signs would be superfluous. For to be pious is from one's own goodwill, but to work wonders is from the power of the one who works them; of which the first concerns ourselves, but the second concerns God who works through us for the reasons we have stated before. Therefore, let neither a king despise the generals under him, nor rulers their subjects; for without the governed, rulers are superfluous, and without generals, a kingdom will not stand. But let not a bishop be puffed up against the deacons or the presbyters, nor indeed the presbyters against the people; for the constitution of the congregation is from one another. For of whom are the bishop and the presbyters priests? And of whom are the laity laity? And to be a Christian is up to us, but to be an apostle or a bishop or something else is not up to us, but up to God who gives the gifts of grace. Let these things, then, have been said thus far for the sake of those deemed worthy of gifts of grace or of high offices. But we add this to the argument, that not everyone who prophesies is pious, nor is everyone who casts out demons holy. For even Balaam the son of Beor the soothsayer prophesied, being impious, and Caiaphas the falsely-named high priest, and the devil also foretells many things, and the demons with him; and despite this there is not in them a spark of piety, for they are oppressed by ignorance through willful malevolence. It is clear, then, that the impious, even if they prophesy, do not cover their own impiety through prophecy, nor will those who cast out demons be made holy by their departure; for they deceive one another, just as those who display games for the sake of laughter, and they destroy those who pay attention to them. Nor is an impious king any longer a king, but

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ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ἁγίων τῶν μὴ καμψάντων γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ μόνος Ἠλίας ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁ τούτου μαθητὴς Ἐλισσαῖος θαυμα τοποιοὶ γεγένηνται, ἀλλ' οὔτε Ἠλίας τὸν οἰκονόμον Ἀβδιοὺ ἐξεμυκτήρισεν φοβούμενον μὲν τὸν Θεόν, οὐ ποιοῦντα δὲ σημεῖα, οὔτε Ἐλισσαῖος τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὴν φρίττοντα τοὺς πολεμίους ὑπερεῖδεν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὔτε ∆ανιὴλ ὁ σοφὸς ·υσθεὶς δεύτερον ἐκ στόματος λεόντων, οὔτε οἱ τρεῖς παῖδες ἐκ καμίνου πυρὸς ἐξουδένωσαν τοὺς λοιποὺς τῶν ὁμοφύλων· ἠπίσταντο γάρ, ὅτι οὐ τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει περιεγέ νοντο τῶν δεινῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἰσχύϊ, καὶ σημεῖα ἐπετέλουν καὶ τῶν δυσχερῶν ἀπηλλάττοντο. Oὐκοῦν μηδεὶς ὑμῶν ἐπαιρέσθω κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, κἂν προφήτης ᾖ κἂν θαυματοποιός· εἰ γὰρ δοθῇ μηκέτι εἶναί που ἄπιστον, περιττὴ λοιπὸν ἔσται πᾶσα σημείων ἐνέργεια. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἶναι εὐσεβῆ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ τινος εὐνοίας, τὸ δὲ θαυματο ποιεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος δυνάμεως· ὧν τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὁρᾷ, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον Θεὸν τὸν ἐνεργοῦντα δι' ἃς προείπομεν αἰτίας. Oὐκοῦν μήτε βασιλεὺς ἐξουθενείτω τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτὸν στρατηγούς, μήτε ἄρχοντες τοὺς ὑπηκόους· μὴ ὄντων γὰρ τῶν ἀρχομένων περιττοὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες, καὶ μὴ ὄντων στρατηγῶν οὐ στήσεται βασιλεία. Ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐπίσκοπος ἐπαιρέσθω κατὰ τῶν διακόνων ἢ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, μήτε μὴν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι κατὰ τοῦ λαοῦ· ἐξ ἀλλήλων γάρ ἐστιν ἡ σύστασις τοῦ συναθροίσματος. Ὅ τε γὰρ ἐπίσκοπος καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τίνων εἰσιν ἱερεῖς; Καὶ οἱ λαϊκοὶ τίνων εἰσιν λαϊκοί; Καὶ τὸ μὲν εἶναι χριστιανὸν ἐφ' ἡμῖν, τὸ δὲ ἀπόστολον ἢ ἐπίσκοπον ἢ ἄλλο τι οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ διδόντι Θεῷ τὰ χαρίσματα. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρήσθω διὰ τοὺς ἀξιωθέντας χαρισμά των ἢ ἀξιωμάτων. Ἐκεῖνο δὲ προστίθεμεν τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι οὔτε πᾶς ὁ προφητεύων ὅσιος οὔτε πᾶς ὁ δαίμονας ἐλαύνων ἅγιος. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Βαλαὰμ ὁ τοῦ Βεὼρ ὁ μάντις προεφήτευσεν δυσσεβὴς ὢν καὶ Καϊάφας ὁ ψευδώνυμος ἀρχιερεύς, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ὁ διάβολος προλέγει καὶ οἱ ἀμφ' αὐτὸν δαίμονες· καὶ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο μέτεστιν αὐτοῖς εὐσεβείας σπινθήρ, ἀγνοίᾳ γάρ εἰσιν πεπιεσμένοι δι' ἑκούσιον κακόνοιαν. ∆ῆλον οὖν ὅτι οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, κἂν προφητεύωσιν, οὐ καλύπτουσιν διὰ τῆς προφη τείας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀσέβειαν, οὐδὲ οἱ δαίμονας ἐλαύνοντες ἐκ τῆς τούτων ὑποχωρήσεως ὁσιωθήσονται· ἀλλήλους γὰρ ἀπατῶσιν, καθάπερ οἱ τὰς παιδιὰς γέλωτος ἕνεκα ἐπιδεικνύ μενοι, καὶ τοὺς προσανέχοντας αὐτοῖς ἀπολλύουσιν. Oὔτε δὲ βασιλεὺς δυσσεβὴς βασιλεὺς ἔτι ὑπάρχει, ἀλλὰ