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But you would not be able. And I do not yet speak of the harms that come from this, but for now I am discussing with you the pleasure that withers at once; for as soon as the banquet was broken up, the things of merriment also flew away. But when I also mention the vomiting, and the headaches, and the countless diseases, and the captivity of the soul, what will you say to these things? For surely, because we are poor, we ought not to behave indecently? I say these things, not forbidding you to gather or to dine together, but forbidding you to act indecently, and wanting luxury to be luxury, and not punishment nor chastisement and drunkenness and revelry. Let the Greeks learn that Christians especially know how to live luxuriously, and to live luxuriously with decorum. For, it says, "Rejoice in the Lord with trembling." But how is it possible to rejoice? By speaking hymns, by making prayers, by introducing psalms instead of those debased songs. Thus Christ also will be present at the table, and will fill the whole feast with blessing, when you pray, when you sing spiritual songs, when you call the poor to share in the things set before you, when you establish great order and sobriety at the banquet; thus you will also make the place a church, hymning the Master of all instead of unseasonable shouts and acclamations. And do not tell me that another law has prevailed, but correct what is wrong. For "whether you eat," it says, "or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." For indeed from such tables come your wicked desires, from here come licentiousness, from here wives are held in contempt while prostitutes are held in honor by you; from here come the subversions of households, and countless evils, and all things have been turned upside down, and leaving the pure spring, you run to the channel of filth. For that the prostitute's body is filth, I ask no one else, but you yourself who wallow in the filth, if you do not blush for yourself, if you do not consider yourself unclean after the sin. Therefore, I beseech you, flee fornication and its mother, drunkenness; Why do you sow where there is no reaping, or rather, even if you reap, the fruit brings you much shame? For even if a child is born, it has both shamed you, and it has been wronged by you, having become illegitimate and baseborn. Even if you leave him countless riches, he is dishonored in the household, dishonored in the city, dishonored in the court of law, both he who is from a prostitute and he who is from a slave-woman; and you too are dishonored again, both living and dead; for even if you depart, the memorials of your indecency remain. Why then do you disgrace everything? 4. Why do you sow where the field strives to destroy the fruit? where there are many abortions? where there is murder before birth? For you do not allow the prostitute to remain a prostitute only, but you also make her a murderess. Do you see from drunkenness, fornication; from fornication, adultery; from adultery, murder? Or rather, something even worse than murder; for I do not even know what to call it; for it does not destroy what is born, but prevents it from being born. Why then? You both insult the gift of God, and fight against His laws, and what is a curse, this you pursue as a blessing, and you make the treasury of generation a treasury of slaughter, and the woman given for procreation 60.627 you prepare for murder? For in order that she may always be useful to her lovers and desirable and draw more money, she does not shrink from doing this, heaping up from this a great fire upon your own head; for even if the daring deed is hers, the cause becomes yours. From this comes also idolatries. For many women, in order to become attractive, devise incantations and libations and love-potions and countless other things. But nevertheless, after so much indecency, after murders, after idolatries, to many the matter seems to be indifferent, to many even who have wives; where the heap of evils is even greater. For then sorceries are set in motion, not against the womb of the fornicatress, but against the wronged wife, and countless plots, and invocations of demons, and necromancies, and daily wars, and truceless battles, and ingrained contentions. Therefore Paul, after saying, "not in chambering and wantonness," added, "not in strife and envying;" knowing those that come from this

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ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις. Καὶ οὔπω λέγω τὰς ἐντεῦθεν βλάβας, ἀλλὰ τέως περὶ τῆς ἡδονῆς σοι διαλέγομαι τῆς εὐθέως μαραινομένης· ὁμοῦ τε γὰρ διελύθη τὸ συμπόσιον, καὶ ἀπέπτη τὰ τῆς εὐφροσύνης. Ὅταν δὲ καὶ τὸν ἔμετον εἴπω, καὶ τὰς καρηβαρίας, καὶ τὰ μυρία νοσήματα, καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς αἰχμαλωσίαν, τί πρὸς ταῦτα ἐρεῖς; Μὴ γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ πένητές ἐσμεν, καὶ ἀσχημονεῖν ὀφείλομεν; Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω, οὐ κωλύων συνιέναι οὐδὲ κοινῇ συνδειπνεῖν, ἀλλὰ κωλύων ἀσχημονεῖν, καὶ βουλόμενος τὴν τρυφὴν εἶναι τρυφὴν, ἀλλὰ μὴ κόλασιν μηδὲ τιμωρίαν καὶ μέθην καὶ κῶμον. Μαθέτωσαν Ἕλληνες, ὅτι μάλιστα Χριστιανοὶ τρυφᾷν ἴσασι, καὶ τρυφᾷν μετὰ κόσμου. Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν τρόμῳ. Πῶς δὲ ἔστιν ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι; Ὕμνους λέγοντας, εὐχὰς ποιουμένους, ψαλμοὺς ἐπεισάγοντας ἀντὶ τῶν ἀνελευθέρων ἐκείνων ᾀσμάτων. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τῇ τραπέζῃ παρέσται, καὶ εὐλογίας ἐμπλήσει τὴν εὐωχίαν ἅπασαν, ὅταν εὔχῃ, ὅταν ᾄδῃς πνευματικὰ, ὅταν πένητας ἐπὶ τῶν προκειμένων τὴν κοινωνίαν καλῇς, ὅταν εὐταξίαν πολλὴν καὶ σωφροσύνην ἐπιστήσῃς τῷ συμποσίῳ· οὕτω καὶ ἐκκλησίαν ἐργάσῃ τὸν τόπον, ἀντὶ τῶν ἀκαίρων κραυγῶν καὶ εὐφημιῶν τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων ∆εσπότην ὑμνῶν. Καὶ μή μοι λέγε, ὅτι ἕτερος ἐκράτησε νόμος, ἀλλὰ διορθοῦ τὰ κακῶς ἔχοντα. Εἴτε γὰρ ἐσθίετε, φησὶν, εἴτε πίνετε, εἴτε τι ποιεῖτε, πάντα εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ ποιεῖτε. Καὶ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων τραπεζῶν ὑμῖν αἱ πονηραὶ ἐπιθυμίαι, ἐντεῦθεν αἱ ἀσέλγειαι, ἐντεῦθεν αἱ γυναῖκες μὲν ἐν καταφρονήσει, αἱ δὲ πόρναι ἐν τιμῇ παρ' ὑμῖν· ἐντεῦθεν αἱ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἀνατροπαὶ, καὶ τὰ μυρία κακὰ, καὶ ἄνω καὶ κάτω πάντα γέγονε, καὶ τὴν πηγὴν ἀφέντες τὴν καθαρὰν, ἐπὶ τοῦ βορβόρου τὸν ὀχετὸν τρέχετε. Ὅτι γὰρ βόρβορος τὸ τῆς πόρνης σῶμα, οὐδένα ἕτερον ἐρωτῶ, ἀλλ' αὐτόν σε τὸν ἐγκαλινδούμενον τῷ βορβόρῳ, εἰ μὴ σαυτὸν ἐρυθριᾷς, εἰ μὴ ἀκάθαρτον εἶναι νομίζεις μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. ∆ιὸ, παρακαλῶ, φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν καὶ τὴν ταύτης μητέρα τὴν μέθην· Τί σπείρεις ὅπου θερίσαι οὐκ ἔνι, μᾶλλον δὲ, κἂν θερίσῃς, πολλήν σοι φέρει τὴν αἰσχύνην ὁ καρπός; Κἂν γὰρ τεχθῇ παιδίον, καὶ σὲ ᾔσχυνε, καὶ αὐτὸ ἠδίκηται διὰ σὲ νόθον καὶ δυσγενὲς γενόμενον. Κἂν μυρία αὐτῷ καταλίπῃς χρήματα, ἄτιμος ἐν οἰκίᾳ, ἄτιμος ἐν πόλει, ἄτιμος ἐν δικαστηρίῳ, καὶ ὁ ἐκ πόρνης καὶ ὁ ἐκ δούλης· ἄτιμος δὲ καὶ σὺ πάλιν, καὶ ζῶν καὶ τετελευτηκώς· κἂν γὰρ ἀπέλθῃς, μένει τὰ ὑπομνήματα τῆς ἀσχημοσύνης. Τί τοίνυν ἅπαντα καταισχύνεις; δʹ. Τί σπείρεις ἔνθα ἡ ἄρουρα σπουδάζει διαφθεῖραι τὸν καρπόν; ἔνθα πολλὰ τὰ ἀτόκια; ἔνθα πρὸ τῆς γενέσεως φόνος; καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὴν πόρνην οὐκ ἀφίης μεῖναι πόρνην μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνδροφόνον ποιεῖς. Εἶδες ἀπὸ μέθης πορνείαν, ἀπὸ πορνείας μοιχείαν, ἀπὸ μοιχείας φόνον; μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ φόνου τι χεῖρον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς αὐτὸ καλέσω· οὐ γὰρ τεχθέντα ἀναιρεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τεχθῆναι κωλύει. Τί τοίνυν; Καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δωρεὰν ὑβρίζεις, καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ μάχῃ νόμοις, καὶ ὅπερ ἐστὶ κατάρα, τοῦτο ὡς εὐλογίαν μεταδιώκεις, καὶ τὸ ταμιεῖον τῆς γενέσεως ταμιεῖον ποιεῖς σφαγῆς, καὶ τὴν πρὸς παιδοποιίαν δοθεῖσαν 60.627 γυναῖκα πρὸς φόνον παρασκευάζεις; Ἵνα γὰρ ἀεὶ τοῖς ἐρασταῖς εὔχρηστος ᾖ καὶ ποθεινὴ καὶ πλέον ἀργύριον ἕλκῃ, οὐδὲ τοῦτο παραιτεῖται ποιῆσαι, μέγα ἐπὶ τὴν σὴν κεφαλὴν τὸ πῦρ ἐντεῦθεν σωρεύουσα· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐκείνης τὸ τόλμημα, ἀλλὰ σὴ ἡ αἰτία γίνεται. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ εἰδωλολατρεῖαι. Πολλαὶ γὰρ ὥστε ἐπιχαρεῖς γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐπῳδὰς καὶ σπονδὰς καὶ φίλτρα καὶ μυρία ἕτερα μηχανῶνται. Ἀλλ' ὅμως μετὰ τοσαύτην ἀσχημοσύνην, μετὰ φόνους, μετὰ εἰδωλολατρείας, πολλοῖς ἀδιάφορον τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναι δοκεῖ, πολλοῖς καὶ γυναῖκας ἔχουσιν· ἔνθα καὶ πλείων ὁ φορυτὸς τῶν κακῶν. Καὶ γὰρ φαρμακεῖαι λοιπὸν κινοῦνται, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὴν νηδὺν τὴν πορνευομένην, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν ἠδικημένην γυναῖκα, καὶ ἐπιβουλαὶ μυρίαι, καὶ δαιμόνων κλήσεις, καὶ νεκυομαντεῖαι, καὶ πόλεμοι καθημερινοὶ, καὶ ἄσπονδοι μάχαι, καὶ σύντροφοι φιλονεικίαι. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος εἰπὼν, Μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, ἐπήγαγε, Μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ· εἰδὼς τοὺς ἐντεῦθεν