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and let them examine one another concerning the dogmas of piety, and let them resolve the ecclesiastical controversies that arise; once in the fourth week of Pentecost, and a second time on the twelfth of Hyperberetaeus. 38. Let the bishop have the care of all ecclesiastical matters, and let him administer them as if under the eye of God. But let it not be lawful for him to appropriate any of them to his own use, or to give the things of God to his own relatives. If they be poor, let him provide for them as for the poor, but let him not, under that pretext, sell the things of the Church. 39. Let the presbyters and deacons do nothing without the consent of the bishop; for he it is who is entrusted with the Lord's people, and who will be required to give an account for their souls. 40. Let the bishop's own possessions be well known, if he has any of his own, and let the Lord's be also well known, so that the bishop may have power at his death to leave his own property as he wishes and to whom he wishes, and that the bishop's own property may not be lost under the pretense of its being ecclesiastical property, he sometimes having a wife and children, or relatives, or servants. For this is just before God and men, that neither the Church should suffer any loss through ignorance of the bishop's property, nor the bishop or his relatives be brought to trouble and have their goods confiscated on account of the Church, or those who belong to him fall into lawsuits, and his death be brought into disrepute. 41. We command that the bishop have authority over the property of the Church. For if the precious souls of men are to be entrusted to him, much more ought he to have charge of the money, so that by his authority all things may be administered to the needy through the presbyters and deacons, and be given out with the fear of God and all reverence. He himself should also take what he needs (if he should need it) for his own necessary uses and for the brethren who are his guests, so that they may in no way be in want. For the law of God has ordained that those who wait at the altar should be nourished from the altar, since not even a soldier bears arms against the enemy at his own expense. 42. A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who is given to dice or drunkenness must either cease or be deposed. 43. A subdeacon, or reader, or psalmist doing the same things must either cease or be excommunicated; and so likewise a layman. 44. A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who demands usury

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καὶ ἀνακρινέτωσαν ἀλλήλους τὰ δόγματα τῆς εὐσεβείας, καὶ τὰς ἐμπιπτούσας ἐκκλησιαστικὰς ἀντιλογίας διαλυέτω σαν· ἅπαξ μὲν τῇ τετάρτῃ ἑβδομάδι τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς, δεύτερον δὲ Ὑπερβερεταίου δωδεκάτῃ. λη. Πάντων τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν πραγμάτων ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐχέτω τὴν φροντίδα, καὶ διοικείτω αὐτὰ ὡς Θεοῦ ἐφορῶντος· μὴ ἐξεῖναι δὲ αὐτῷ σφετερίζεσθαί τι ἐξ αὐτῶν ἢ συγγενέσιν ἰδίοις τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρίζεσθαι· εἰ δὲ πένητες ὦσιν, ἐπιχο ρηγείτω ὡς πένησιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ προφάσει τούτων τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀπεμπολείτω. λθ. Oἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ διάκονοι ἄνευ γνώμης τοῦ ἐπισκόπου μηδὲν ἐπιτελείτωσαν· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πεπι στευμένος τὸν λαὸν Κυρίου καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν αὐτῶν λόγον ἀπαιτηθησόμενος. μ. Ἔστω φανερὰ τὰ ἴδια τοῦ ἐπισκόπου πράγματα, εἴγε καὶ ἴδια ἔχει, καὶ φανερὰ τὰ κυριακά, ἵνα ἐξουσίαν ἔχῃ τῶν ἰδίων τελευτῶν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ὡς βούλεται καὶ οἷς βούλεται καταλεῖψαι, καὶ μὴ προφάσει τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν πραγμά των διαπίπτειν τὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ἔσθ' ὅτε γυναῖκα καὶ παῖδας κεκτημένου ἢ συγγενεῖς ἢ οἰκέτας· δίκαιον γὰρ τοῦτο παρὰ Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις, τὸ μήτε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ζημίαν τινὰ ὑπομένειν ἀγνοίᾳ τῶν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου πραγμάτων, μήτε τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἢ τοὺς αὐτοῦ συγγενεῖς προφάσει τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δημεύεσθαι, ἢ καὶ εἰς πράγματα ἐμπίπτειν τοὺς αὐτῷ διαφέροντας, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ θάνατον δυσφημίᾳ περιβάλ λεσθαι. μα. Προστάσσομεν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πραγμάτων· εἰ γὰρ τὰς τιμίας τῶν ἀνθρώ πων ψυχὰς αὐτῷ πιστευτέον, πολλῷ ἂν δέοι περὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἐντέλλεσθαι, ὥστε κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐξουσίαν πάντα διοικεῖσθαι τοῖς δεομένοις διὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν διακόνων καὶ ἐπιχορηγεῖσθαι μετὰ φόβου Θεοῦ καὶ πάσης εὐλαβείας, μετα λαμβάνειν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τῶν δεόντων, εἴγε δέοιτο, εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐπιξενουμένων ἀδελφῶν χρείας, ὡς κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον αὐτοὺς ὑστερεῖσθαι. Ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ Θεοῦ διετάξατο τοὺς τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ παραμένοντας ἐκ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τρέφεσθαι, ἐπείπερ οὐδὲ στρατιώτης ἰδίοις ὀψωνίοις ὅπλα κατὰ πολεμίων ἐπιφέρεται. μβ. Ἐπίσκοπον ἢ πρεσβύτερον ἢ διάκονον κύβοις σχο λάζοντα καὶ μέθαις ἢ παυσάσθαι ἢ καθαιρείσθαι. μγ. Ὑποδιάκονος ἢ ἀναγνώστης ἢ ψάλτης τὰ ὅμοια ποιῶν ἢ παυσάσθω ἢ ἀφοριζέσθω· ὡσαύτως καὶ λαϊκός. μδ. Ἐπίσκοπος ἢ πρεσβύρετος ἢ διάκονος τόκους