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free from every annoyance and slavery of the passions, (441) whose whole leisure is concerned with divine things and whose study is of future rewards and retributions, whose life is beyond the life of the living, without care, without distraction, quiet, pure, full of mercy, wisdom, heavenly knowledge, and the good fruits cultivated by the Spirit, but for those who are otherwise and not so, things are false and confused and the whole is a clear deception.

65. Many have called the solitary life blessed, others the mixed or cenobitic life, and still others the leading of a people, admonishing and teaching and establishing churches, from which various people are naturally nourished both corporeally and spiritually. But I would not prefer one of these to the other, nor would I say that one is worthy of praise and the other of blame, but in everything and in all works and actions the life for God and according to God is all-blessed.

66. Just as the life of men is constituted from different sciences and arts, one person clearly working at one thing and contributing it, and so by giving to one another and receiving from one another people live, providing the body’s needs to nature, so it is also to be seen in spiritual matters, one person pursuing one virtue and another traversing another path of life, all run together from both of these toward one goal.

67. The goal of all who struggle according to God is to be well-pleasing to Christ the God and to receive reconciliation with the Father through communion with the Spirit and through this to procure their own salvation; for this is the salvation of every soul and of every person; and if this does not happen, our labor is empty and our work is in vain, and every path of life that does not lead the one running on it to this goal is profitless.

68. He who has left the entire world and (442) withdrawn to the mountain for quiet, and from there writes ostentatiously to those in the world, calling some blessed and flattering and praising others, is like one who was divorced from a prostitute, a badly-dressed and utterly evil woman, and went away to a far country to be rid even of her memory, and then, forgetting the purpose for which he had taken to the mountain, he desires to write to those who associate with, and are defiled with, that prostitute, so to speak, and calls them blessed; who, if not with the body, at least with the heart and mind certainly suffers along with such men by his intention, approving as it were of their intercourse with her.

69. Inasmuch as those who live in the midst of the world and keep their senses and hearts pure from every evil desire are praiseworthy and blessed, to the same degree those who live on mountains and in caves, if they long for the praise and blessings and glory of men, are reprehensible and to be rejected; for they will be as adulterers before God who searches our hearts. For he who desires that his life and name and conduct be heard of in the world, commits fornication, like the ancient people of the Jews, away from God, as David says.

70. He who with unwavering faith in God has renounced the world and the things in the world believes that the Lord is merciful and compassionate and accepts those who approach Him in repentance. And knowing that through dishonor He honors His servants, through extreme poverty He enriches them, and through insults and contempt He glorifies them, and through death He makes them partakers and heirs of eternal life, he hastens like a thirsty deer to the immortal spring through these things and ascends the steep path in them as on a ladder, by which angels (443) ascend and descend to help those who are ascending. And God sits above, awaiting our intention and zeal according to our ability, not that

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ἐλεύθερος ἀπό πάσης ὀχλήσεως καί δουλείας τῶν παθῶν, (441) ὧν ἡ σχολή περί τά θεῖα πᾶσα καί ἡ μελέτη περί μελλόντων ἀμοιβῶν καί ἀνταποδόσεων, ὧν ἡ ζωή ὑπέρ τήν τῶν ζώντων ζωήν ἀμέριμνος, ἀπερίσπαστος, ἥσυχος, καθαρά, μεστή ἐλέους, σοφίας, γνώσεως οὐρανίου καί καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν γεωργουμένων ὑπό τοῦ Πνεύματος, τῶν δ᾿ ἄλλως καί οὐχ οὕτως ἐχόντων, ψευδῆ καί συγκεχυμένα καί τό ὅλον ἀπάτη σαφής.

ξε'. Πολλοί μέν τόν ἐρημικόν, ἄλλοι δέ τόν μιγάδα ἤγουν τόν κοινοβιακόν ἐμακάρισαν βίον, ἕτεροι δέ τό προΐστασθαι λαοῦ, νουθετεῖν τε καί διδάσκειν καί συνιστᾶν ἐκκλησίας, ἐξ ὧν διάφοροι σωματικῶς τε καί ψυχικῶς πεφύκασι διατρέφεσθαι. Ἐγώ δέ οὐδέτερον τούτων τοῦ ἑτέρου προκρίναιμι, οὐδέ τόν μέν ἐπαίνου τόν δέ ψόγου ἄξιον εἴποιμι ἄν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν παντί καί ἐν πᾶσιν ἔργοις καί πράξεσιν ὁ διά Θεόν καί κατά Θεόν βίος παμμακάριστος.

ξστ'. Καθάπερ ἐκ διαφόρων ἐπιστημῶν καί τεχνῶν ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων συνίσταται βίος, ἄλλου ἄλλην ἐργαζομένου δηλονότι καί συνεισφέροντος, καί ἀλλήλοις οὕτω μεταδιδόντες καί ἐξ ἀλλήλων μεταλαμβάνοντες ζῶσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, τάς σωματικάς χρείας τῇ φύσει παρέχοντες, οὕτως ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καί ἐπί τῶν πνευματικῶν, ἄλλου ἄλλην ἀρετήν μετιόντος καί ἑτέρου ἑτέραν βίου ὁδόν διανύοντος, εἰς ἕνα σκοπόν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων οἱ πάντες συντρέχουσιν.

ξζ'. Σκοπός πάντων τῶν κατά Θεόν ἀγωνιζομένων ἐστί τό εὐαρεστῆσαι Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ καί τήν καταλλαγήν διά τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος μετουσίας πρός τόν Πατέρα λαβεῖν καί τήν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν διά τούτου πορίσασθαι˙ τοῦτο γάρ πάσης ψυχῆς καί παντός ἀνθρώπου σωτηρία ἐστίν˙ οὗ μή γενομένου, κενός ὁ κόπος καί ματαία ἡ ἐργασία ἡμῶν, ἀνόνητός τε πᾶσα βίου ὁδός ἡ μή πρός τοῦτο τόν ἐν αὐτῇ τρέχοντα φέρουσα.

ξη'. Ἔοικεν ὁ τόν κόσμον ἅπαντα καταλείψας καί (442) πρός τό ὄρος ὡς πρός ἡσυχίαν ἀναχωρήσας κἀκεῖθεν ἐπιδεικτικῶς γράφων πρός τούς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, τούς μέν μακαρίζων τούς δέ κολακεύων καί ἐπαινῶν, τῷ γυναικός πόρνης δυσείμονός τε καί παγκάκου διαζευχθέντι καί εἰς χώραν μακράν ἀποδημήσαντι πρός τό ἀπαλλαγῆναι καί τῆς μνήμης αὐτῆς, εἶτα ἐπιλαθομένῳ τοῦ σκοποῦ δι᾿ ὅν τό ὄρος κατειλήφει καί πρός τούς τῇ πόρνῃ ἐκείνῃ συναναστρεφομένους, ἵν᾿ εἴπω, καί συμμιαινομένους γράφειν ὀρεγομένῳ καί αὐτούς μακαρίζοντι˙ ὅς εἰ καί μή τῷ σώματι ἀλλά γε τῇ καρδίᾳ πάντως καί τῷ νοΐ συμπασχει ἐκ προθέσεως τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀποδεχόμενος οἱονεί τῆς μετ᾿ ἐκείνης αὐτῶν συμπλοκῆς.

ξθ'. Ὅσῳ οἱ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ κόσμου στρεφόμενοι καί καθαρεύοντες τάς αἰσθήσεις καί τάς καρδίας ἀπό πάσης πονηρᾶς ἐπιθυμίας, ἐπαινετοί καί μακάριοι, τοσοῦτον οἱ ἐν ὄρεσι καί σπηλαίοις ἐνδιαιτώμενοι, εἰ τῶν ἐπαίνων καί μακαρισμῶν καί τῆς δόξης ἐφίενται τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ψεκτοί καί ἀπόβλητοι˙ ὡς γάρ μοιχεύοντες παρά τῷ τάς καρδίας ἡμῶν ἐρευνῶντι Θεῷ ἔσονται. Ὁ γάρ ἐπιθυμῶν ἀκουσθῆναι τόν βίον αὐτοῦ καί τό ὄνομα καί τήν πολιτείαν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐκπορνεύει, κατά τόν πάλαι τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαόν, ἀπό Θεοῦ, ὡς φησίν ὁ ∆αβίδ.

ο'. Ὁ πίστει τῇ πρός τόν Θεόν ἀδιστάκτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ καί τοῖς ἐν κόσμῳ ἀποταξάμενος πιστεύει ὅτι ἐλεήμων ἐστί καί οἰκτίρμων ὁ Κύριος καί προσδέχεται τούς ἐν μετανοίᾳ προσερχομένους αὐτῷ. Εἰδώς δέ ὅτι δι᾿ ἀτιμίας τιμᾷ τούς δούλους αὐτοῦ διά πτωχείας ἄκρας πλουτίζει αὐτούς καί δι᾿ ὕβρεων καί ἐξουδενώσεως δοξάζει αὐτούς καί διά θανάτου τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς μετόχους αὐτούς καί κληρονόμους ἀποκαθιστᾷ, κατεπείγεται ὠς ἔλαφος διψῶσα ἐπί τήν ἀθάνατον πηγήν δι᾿ αὐτῶν καί πρός τό ἄναντες ἐν αὐτοῖς ὡς ἐν κλίμακι βαίνει, δι᾿ ἧς ἄγγελοι μέν (443) ἀναβαίνουσι καί κατέρχονται πρός βοήθειαν τῶν ἀνερχομένων. Θεός δέ ἄνωθεν τήν κατά δύναμιν ἡμῶν πρόθεσιν καί σπουδήν ἀναμένων κάθηται, οὐχ ὅτι