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it is necessary for you to know, O sons of men, so that, if you truly speak righteousness, you may judge rightly, and not follow the path of the aforementioned men, nor work lawlessness in your heart, nor let your hands weave injustice, nor make yourselves like the serpent, nor become as a deaf asp that stops its ears, nor be led away with the aforementioned impious and sinners; whom God, foreseeing with His foreknowledge, before they came into the light, knew indeed that they would be such, yet nevertheless permitted them to be born and come into the light, bestowing His grace on them also, so that their choice might become manifest. Since God also, foreseeing, knew the order of the righteous, that they would travel the right and unperverted path by their own choice. Then He left free the self-determining impulse of both orders, as if allowing them to run their race in a stadium. And He, having made all similar in nature, has equally granted to all to use their own choice for the selection of better things; but they, being masters of themselves, and being unrestrained and free in their impulse, were divided by their self-chosen will, some choosing to travel the straight path, others the crooked one 23.525. For this reason the righteous judge, presiding over the contest for each order, delivers the worthy to their appropriate and fitting end; not learning each one's character from the outcome of events, as men do, but as God, knowing all things even before birth. Therefore some were estranged from Him even before they were known to the rest; but the saints were deemed worthy of election, just like Jeremiah the prophet, to whom God says: Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you. And the Apostle declared this, saying: As He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ; and again: In Him we have also obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the foreknowledge of Him who works all things and according to the counsel of His will, that we should be to the praise of His glory. Do you see how he says that they were chosen and predestined for adoption before the foundation of the world, according to the purpose of Him who works all things? And he presents the same thought, saying: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, these He also called, and those whom He called, these He also justified, and those whom He justified, these He also glorified. And he teaches similar things also concerning himself in what he says: But when He who had set me apart from my mother's womb was pleased to reveal His Son in me. Therefore, just as He foreknew these who would love Him and predestined them, so also the impious, since He foreknew they would speak righteousness because they knew it, but would not pursue it in their deeds, because they weave injustice with their hands, for this reason He estranged them from the womb, and numbered them in His sight among those who go astray and speak lies before they were born; and knowing they would be such, He permitted them to come into manifestation, so that the difference of the just and God-fearing men might shine forth from the comparison with the worse. For since all are of one nature, some willingly chose the better things, while others traveled the opposite path, using their self-determining choice. And the great Judge of all is on high, presiding over each order, He awards what is fitting. Therefore, those who loved Him He glorified, showing them to be conformed to the image of His Son, as those who had shown their love for Him in deed; but the adversaries, as those who had estranged themselves from His grace, He casts down

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ἀναγκαῖον ὑμᾶς γνῶναι, ὦ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵν', εἰ ἀληθῶς ἄρα δικαιοσύνην λαλεῖτε, εὐθέα κρίνητε, καὶ μὴ μετέρχησθε τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀνδρῶν ὁδὸν, μηδὲ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἀνομίας ἐργάζησθε, μηδὲ ἀδικίαν αἱ χεῖρες ὑμῶν συμπλέκωσι, μηδὲ ἑαυτοὺς κατασκευάζητε ὁμοίους τῷ ὄφει, μηδὲ γένησθε ὡς ἀσπὶς κωφὴ βύουσα τὰ ὦτα αὐτῆς, μηδὲ τοῖς προλεχθεῖσιν ἀσεβέσι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοῖς συναπάγοισθε· οὓς προλαβὼν ὁ Θεὸς τῇ προγνώσει, πρὶν εἰς φῶς προελθεῖν, ἔγνω μὲν τοιούτους ἐσομένους, ὅμως δ' οὖν συνεχώρησε γεννηθῆναι καὶ εἰς φῶς προελθεῖν, τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ χάριν καὶ αὐτοῖς δωρησάμενος, εἰς τὸ φανεροὺς γενέσθαι τὴν προαίρεσιν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ τῶν δικαίων τάγμα, ἐξ οἰκείας προαιρέσεως τὴν ὀρθὴν καὶ ἀδιάστροφον μέλλον ὁδεύειν, προλαβὼν ὁ Θεὸς ἔγνω. Εἶτ' ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ταγμάτων τὴν αὐτεξούσιον ὁρμὴν ἐλευθέραν ἀνῆκεν, ὡς ἐν σταδίῳ ποιεῖσθαι τὸν δρόμον ἐπιτρέψας αὐτοῖς. Καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν ὁμοίους τὴν φύσιν τοὺς πάντας ὑποστησάμενος, προαιρέσει οἰκείᾳ χρῆσθαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν κρειττόνων αἵρεσιν τοῖς πᾶσιν ὁμοίως συγκεχώρηκεν· οἱ δὲ, ἅτε κύριοι ἑαυτῶν καθεστῶτες, ἄφετοί τε καὶ ἐλεύθεροι τὴν ὁρμὴν, αὐτοπροαιρέτῳ γνώμῃ διέστησαν, οἱ μὲν τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδεύειν, οἱ δὲ τὴν διάστροφον 23.525 ἑλόμενοι. τούτου χάριν ὁ δίκαιος κριτὴς, ἀγωνοθετῶν ἑκατέρῳ τάγματι, τῷ καταλλήλῳ καὶ προσήκοντι τέλει τοὺς ἀξίους παραδίδωσιν· οὐ καθάπερ ἄνθρωποι μαθὼν ἐκ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀποβάσεως τὸν ἑκάστου τρόπον, οἷα δὲ Θεὸς καὶ πρὸ γενέσεως εἰδὼς ἅπαντα. ∆ιὸ οἱ μὲν ἀπηλλοτριώθησαν παρ' αὐτῷ καὶ πρὶν ἢ τοῖς λοιποῖς γνωσθῆναι· οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι ἐκλογῆς ἠξιώθησαν ὁμοίως Ἱερεμίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ, ᾧ φησιν ὁ Θεός· Πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ, ἐπίσταμαί σε, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας, ἡγίακά σε. Καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος τοῦτο ἐδήλου φάσκων· Καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ πάλιν· Ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκληρώθημεν προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόγνωσιν τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος καὶ κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης αὐτοῦ. Ὁρᾷς ὅπως πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου ἐξειλέχθαι καὶ προωρίσθαι εἰς υἱοθεσίαν, κατὰ πρόθεσιν τοῦ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντός φησι; τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ παρίστησι διάνοιαν ὁ αὐτὸς λέγων· Οἴδαμεν δὲ, ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν Θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθὸν τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν· ὅτι οὓς προέγνω καὶ προώρισε συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτοτόκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς. Οὓς δὲ προώρισε, τούτους καὶ ἐκάλεσε, καὶ οὓς ἐκάλεσε, τούτους καὶ ἐδικαίωσε, οὓς δὲ ἐδικαίωσε, τούτους καὶ ἐδόξασε. Τὰ ὅμοια δὲ καὶ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διδάσκει ἐν οἷς φησίν· Ὅτε δὲ ηὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου, ἀποκαλύψαι τὸν Υἱὸν αὑτοῦ ἐν ἐμοί. Ὥσπερ οὖν τούτους προγνοὺς μέλλοντας ἀγαπᾷν αὐτὸν προώρισεν, οὕτω καὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, ἐπειδὴ προέγνω μέλλοντας λαλεῖν δικαιοσύνην διὰ τὸ γινώσκειν αὐτὴν, οὐ μὴν καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτὴν μετελευσομένους, διὰ τὸ ταῖς χερσὶν ἀδικίαν συμπλέκειν, τούτου χάριν ἀπηλλοτρίωσεν ἀπὸ μήτρας, καὶ ἐν πλανωμένοις καὶ λαλοῦσι ψευδῆ παρ' ἑαυτῷ κατηρίθμησε πρὶν γενέσθαι· συνεχώρησέ τε εἰδὼς αὐτοὺς τοιούτους ἐσομένους εἰς φανερὸν ἐλθεῖν, ὡς ἂν τὸ διάφορον τῶν δικαίων καὶ θεοσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκ τῆς τῶν χειρόνων παραθέσεως διαλάμψειε. Μιᾶς γὰρ ὄντες φύσεως οἱ πάντες, οἱ μὲν ἑκόντες εἵλαντο τὰ κρείττω, οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν ὥδευσαν, αὐτεξουσίῳ προαιρέσει χρησάμενοι. Ὑψηλὸς δὲ ὁ μέγας τῶν ὅλων κριτὴς, προκαθεζόμενος ἑκατέρῳ τάγματι, βραβεύει τὰ πρέποντα. ∆ιὸ τοὺς μὲν ἀγαπήσαντας αὐτὸν ἐδόξασε, συμμόρφους ἀποδείξας τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὑτοῦ, ὡς ἂν ἔργῳ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐνδειξαμένους ἀγάπην· τοὺς δὲ ἐναντίους, ὡς ἂν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπαλλοτριώσαντας τῆς αὐτοῦ χάριτος, καταβάλλει