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Receive those who are fleeing because they remember the words of the Lord; for knowing that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, they run away and give up the seizure of their possessions, so that they might preserve the name of Christ un-denied within themselves. Therefore, assist them in their needs, fulfilling a command of the Lord. And this we all command in common, that each one remain in the order given to him and not overstep the boundaries; for they are not ours, but God's. "For he who hears you," says the Lord, "hears me, and he who hears me hears him who sent me; and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." For if inanimate things that have come into being preserve good order, such as night, day, sun, moon, stars, elements, seasons, months, weeks, days, hours, and serve the appointed need according to what was said: "You have set a boundary which it shall not pass"; and again concerning the sea: "And I set boundaries for it, placing bars and gates, and said to it: Thus far shall you come and no farther"; how much more ought you to dare to move none of the things defined for you by us according to the will of God? But since many have considered this also to be a secondary matter, and dare to throw the orders into confusion and to disturb the ordination appointed for each, snatching for themselves dignities not given to them and tyrannically permitting to themselves things which they do not have the authority to grant, and for this reason they provoke God to anger, just like the men of Korah and King Uzziah, who unworthily and without God laid hands on the high priesthood, the former becoming consumed by fire, and the latter a leper on his forehead, and they also provoke Christ Jesus who gave the command, and they grieve the Holy Spirit, annulling his testimony; Naturally, foreseeing the impending danger for those who do such things, and the neglect towards the sacrifices and eucharists from their being impiously offered by those who ought not, considering the high priestly honor, which contains an imitation of the great high priest Jesus Christ our king, to be child's play, we have found it necessary to exhort this also; for already some have turned aside after their own vanity. And we speak as Moses, the servant of God, to whom God spoke face to face, as one would speak to his own friend, to whom he said: "I have known you above all," to whom he spoke face to face and not through obscure things or dreams or angels or riddles; this man, when he was arranging the divine legislation, distinguished what

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φεύγοντας διὰ τὸ μεμνῆσθαι τῶν λόγων τοῦ Κυρίου προσ λαμβάνεσθε· ἐπιστάμενοι γὰρ ὅτι τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόφυμον, ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής, ἀποδιδράσκουσιν καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων προΐενται, ἵνα ἀνεξάρνητον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ διατηρήσωσιν. Ἐπικουρεῖτε οὖν αὐτοῖς τὰ πρὸς τὰς χρείας, ἐντολὴν κυριακὴν πληροῦντες. Τοῦτο δὲ κοινῇ πάντες παραγγέλλομεν, ἕκαστον ἐμμένειν τῇ αὐτῷ δοθείσῃ τάξει καὶ μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν τοὺς ὅρους· οὐ γάρ εἰσιν ἡμέτεροι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. «Ὁ ἀκούων γὰρ ὑμῶν, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, ἐμοῦ ἀκούει, καὶ ὁ ἐμοῦ ἀκούων ἀκούει τοῦ ἀποστείλαντός με· καὶ ὁ ὑμᾶς ἀθετῶν ἐμὲ ἀθετεῖ, ὁ δὲ ἐμὲ ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με.» Eἰ γὰρ τὰ ἄψυχα γενόμενα τὴν εὐταξίαν ἀποσóζει, οἷον νύξ, ἡμέρα, ἥλιος, σελήνη, ἄστρα, στοιχεῖα, τροπαί, μῆνες, ἑβδομάδες, ἡμέραι, ὧραι, καὶ δουλεύει τῇ διατυπωθείσῃ χρείᾳ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· «Ὅριον ἔθου, ὃ οὐ παρελεύσεται»· καὶ πάλιν περὶ τῆς θαλάσσης· «Ἐθέμην δὲ αὐτῇ ὅρια περιθεὶς κλεῖθρα καὶ πύλας, εἶπα δὲ αὐτῇ· Μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσῃ»· πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὑμεῖς ὀφείλετε οὐδὲν τολμᾶν παρακινεῖν τῶν ὑμῖν κατὰ γνώμην Θεοῦ παρ' ἡμῶν ὁρισθέν των; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πάρεργον οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ τοῦτο ἡγήσαντο εἶναι, συγχέειν δὲ τὰς τάξεις καὶ τὴν ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ χειροτονίαν παρακινεῖν τολμῶσιν, ὑφαρπάζοντες ἑαυτοῖς ἀξιώματα μὴ δεδομένα καὶ ἐπιτρέποντες ἑαυτοῖς τυραννικῶς, ἃ μὴ ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν διδόναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παροργίζουσι μὲν Θεόν, ὥσπερ οἱ Κορεῖται καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ὀζίας, παρ' ἀξίαν ἐπιθέμενοι ἄνευ Θεοῦ τῇ ἀρχιερωσύνῃ καὶ γενόμενοι οἱ μὲν πυρίφλεκτοι, ὁ δὲ κατὰ τοῦ μετώπου λεπρός, παροξύνουσι δὲ καὶ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν διαταξάμενον, λυποῦσι δὲ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἀκυροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὴν μαρτυρίαν· Eἰκότως τὸν ἐπηρτημένον κίνδυνον τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα πράτ τουσι προϊδόμενοι καὶ τὴν εἰς τὰς θυσίας καὶ εὐχαριστίας ἀμέλειαν ἐκ τοῦ ὑφ' ὧν μὴ χρὴ προσαγομένας ἀσεβῶς, παιδιὰν ἡγουμένων τὴν ἀρχιερατικὴν τιμήν, ἥτις μίμησιν περιέχει τοῦ μεγάλου ἀρχιερέως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡμῶν, ἀνάγκην ἔσχομεν καὶ τοῦτο παραινέσαι· ἤδη γάρ τινες ἐξετράπησαν ὀπίσω τῆς ἑαυτῶν ματαιότητος. Λέγομεν δὲ ὡς Μωϋσῆς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράπων, ᾧ ὁ Θεὸς ἐνώπιος ἐνωπίῳ ὡμίλει, ὡς εἴ τις λαλήσαι πρὸς ἑαυτοῦ φίλον, ᾧ εἶπεν· «Oἶδά σε παρὰ πάντας», ᾧ κατὰ πρόσωπον ὡμί λει καὶ οὐ δι' ἀδήλων ἢ ἐνυπνίων ἢ ἀγγέλων ἢ αἰνιγμάτων· οὗτος, ἡνίκα τὴν θείαν νομοθεσίαν διετάσσετο, διεῖλεν, τίνα