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you wish to give, why do you also strike? If you do not wish to grant a favor, for what reason do you also insult? But he cannot bear to go away otherwise. Therefore, as that wise man commanded, do so: Answer him peaceably in meekness. For he is not willingly so shameless. For there is not, there is not, a man who simply wishes to be put to shame; and even if some were to argue ten thousand times, I would never be persuaded that a man living in abundance would choose to beg. Let no one therefore deceive us. But even if Paul says, If any would not work, neither should he eat, he says it to them; but to us he does not say this, but the contrary: In well doing, do not be weary. Thus also we do in a house; when two are fighting with each other, we take each one aside and advise them contrary things. This both God did, and Moses. For to God he said: If 57.411 you will forgive their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out; but to them he commanded to slay one another and all their kinsmen. And yet these things are contrary, but nevertheless both looked to one end. Again, God said to Moses, while the Jews were listening, Let me alone, and I will destroy the people (for even if they were not present when God said these things, they were going to hear them later); but privately he advises him the opposite of these things. And these things Moses, being compelled, later spoke out, saying thus: Did I conceive them in the womb, that you say to me, 'Carry them, as a nurse carries the suckling child in her bosom'? These things also happen in houses; and often a father privately rebukes the tutor who insulted his child, saying, Do not be harsh, nor severe; but to the young man he says the opposite: Even if he insults you unjustly, bear it; bringing together one useful thing from opposites. So also Paul said to those who are healthy and beg, If any would not work, neither should he eat, that he might compel them to work; but to those able to be merciful, But you, in well doing, do not grow weary, that he might lead them to almsgiving. So also, when he advised those from the Gentiles in the Epistle to the Romans not to be high-minded against the Jews, he brought forward the wild olive tree, and he seems to say some things to these, and other things to those. Let us not then fall into cruelty, but let us hear Paul saying, In well doing, do not be weary; let us hear the Master saying, Give to everyone who asks you; and, Be merciful, as your Father is. And yet, having said many things, he has nowhere placed this, but only in the case of mercies. For nothing makes us equal to God so much as doing good. 5. But nothing is more shameless, he says, than a poor man. Why? I ask; because running up he cries out? Do you wish then that I show that we are more shameless than they, and exceedingly impudent? Remind me now, in the season of the fast, how many times, when the table was set in the evening, you called the serving slave, because he walked too slowly, and you overturned everything, kicking, insulting, reviling, just for a small delay; although knowing full well that even if not immediately, yet a little later you would enjoy the food. Then you do not call yourself shameless when you are turned into a beast over nothing, but the poor man who is afraid and trembling for greater things (for his fear is not about delay, but all about starvation), will you call this man forward, and impudent, and shameless, and everything most shameful? And how is this not the utmost shamelessness? But we do not consider these things; for this reason we think they are burdensome; as if, at least, we examined our own affairs and compared them to theirs, we would not have thought them to be burdensome. Do not, then, be a bitter judge. For even if you were free from all sins, not even so would the law of God permit you to become a strict examiner of others. For if the Pharisee was lost for this reason, what defense shall we obtain? If it does not permit those who have done right to examine bitterly the things of others, much more so those who have sinned. Let us not then be cruel, nor harsh, not unfeeling, not irreconcilable, not of beasts

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βούλει δοῦναι, τί καὶ πλήττεις; εἰ μὴ βούλει χαρίσασθαι, τίνος ἕνεκεν καὶ ὑβρίζεις; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀνέχεται ἀποστῆναι ἑτέρως. Οὐκοῦν ὡς ἐκέλευσεν ὁ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος, οὕτω ποίησον· Ἀποκρίθητι αὐτῷ εἰρηνικὰ ἐν πραΰτητι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἑκὼν τοσαῦτα ἀναισχυντεῖ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν, ἄνθρωπος βουλόμενος ἁπλῶς καταισχύνεσθαι· κἂν μυρία τινὲς φιλονεικήσωσιν, οὐκ ἂν ἀνασχοίμην ἐγὼ πεισθῆναί ποτε, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ ζῶν ἕλοιτο ἂν ἐπαιτεῖν. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἡμᾶς παραλογιζέσθω. Ἀλλὰ κἂν λέγῃ Παῦλος· Εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω, πρὸς ἐκείνους λέγει· πρὸς δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ τοῦτο λέγει, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον· Τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες μὴ ἐκκακεῖτε. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ ποιοῦμεν ἡμεῖς· ὅταν δύο τινὲς μάχωνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους, κατ' ἰδίαν ἕκαστον λαβόντες τἀναντία παραινοῦμεν. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε, καὶ Μωϋσῆς. Πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τὸν Θεὸν ἔλεγεν· Εἰ μὲν 57.411 ἀφεῖς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἄφες· ἐπεὶ κἀμὲ ἐξάλειψον· αὐτοῖς δὲ ἐκέλευε κατασφάττειν ἀλλήλους καὶ τοὺς προσήκοντας ἅπαντας. Καίτοι ταῦτα ἐναντία ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰς ἓν ἀμφότερα ἔβλεπε τέλος. Πάλιν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ μὲν Μωϋσεῖ, Ἰουδαίων ἀκουόντων, ἔλεγεν· Ἄφες με, καὶ ἐκτρίψω τὸν λαὸν (εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ παρῆσαν, ταῦτα λέγοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔμελλον αὐτὰ ἀκούσεσθαι ὕστερον)· κατ' ἰδίαν δὲ τἀναντία τούτων αὐτῷ παραινεῖ. Καὶ ταῦτα Μωϋσῆς ἀναγκασθεὶς ὕστερον ἐξελάλησεν, οὕτω λέγων· Μὴ γὰρ ἐγὼ αὐτοὺς ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβον, ὅτι λέγεις μοι, Ἆρον αὐτοὺς, ὡς ἂν ἄρῃ τιθηνὸς τὸν θηλάζοντα εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτῆς; Ταῦτα καὶ ἐν οἰκίαις γίνεται· καὶ πολλάκις πατὴρ τῷ μὲν παιδαγωγῷ τὸν παῖδα ὑβρίσαντι κατ' ἰδίαν ἐπιτιμᾷ λέγων· Μὴ ἔσο τραχὺς, μηδὲ σκληρός· τῷ δὲ νέῳ τὰ ἐναντία λέγει· Κἂν ἀδίκως ὑβρίζῃ, φέρε· ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων ἕν τι χρήσιμον συνάγων. Οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος, τοῖς μὲν ὑγιαίνουσι καὶ προσαιτοῦσιν ἔλεγεν· Εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω, ἵνα αὐτοὺς εἰς ἔργον ἐμβάλῃ· τοῖς δὲ ἐλεεῖν δυναμένοις· Ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες μὴ ἐκκακήσητε, ἵνα αὐτοὺς εἰς ἐλεημοσύνην ἀγάγῃ. Οὕτω καὶ ἡνίκα τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν παρῄνει ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους Ἐπιστολῇ μὴ ὑψηλοφρονεῖν κατὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ τὴν ἀγριελαίαν παρήγαγεν εἰς μέσον, καὶ ἄλλα μὲν τούτοις, ἄλλα δὲ ἐκείνοις φαίνεται λέγων. Μὴ τοίνυν εἰς ὠμότητα ἐκπέσωμεν, ἀλλ' ἀκούσωμεν Παύλου λέγοντος· Τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες μὴ ἐκκακεῖτε· ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ ∆εσπότου λέγοντος· Παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου· καὶ, Γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες ὡς ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν. Καίτοι πολλὰ εἰπὼν, οὐδαμοῦ τοῦτο τέθεικεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν μόνον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἴσους Θεῷ ποιεῖ, ὡς τὸ εὐεργετεῖν. εʹ. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἀναιδέστερον, φησὶ, πένητος. ∆ιατί; παρακαλῶ· ὅτι ἐπιτρέχων καταβοᾷ; Βούλει οὖν δείξω, ὅτι ἐκείνων ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἀναισχυντότεροι, καὶ σφόδρα ἀναιδεῖς; Ἀναμνήσθητί μοι νῦν ἐν καιρῷ τῆς νηστείας, ποσάκις τραπέζης παρακειμένης ἐν ἑσπέρᾳ, τὸν ὑπηρετοῦντα οἰκέτην καλέσας, ἵνα σχολαιότερον βαδίσῃ, πάντα ἀνέτρεψας, λακτίζων, ὑβρίζων, λοιδορούμενος, ὑπὲρ ἀναβολῆς μόνον μικρᾶς· καίτοι σφόδρα εἰδὼς, ὅτι κἂν μὴ εὐθέως, ἀλλὰ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἀπολαύσῃ τῆς ἐδωδῆς. Εἶτα σαυτὸν μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἐκθηριούμενον οὐ καλεῖς ἀναίσχυντον, τὸν δὲ πένητα τὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν μειζόνων δεδοικότα καὶ τρέμοντα (οὐδὲ γὰρ περὶ μελλήσεως, ἀλλὰ περὶ λιμοῦ πᾶς ὁ φόβος αὐτῷ), τοῦτον καὶ ἰταμὸν, καὶ ἀναιδῆ, καὶ ἀναίσχυντον, καὶ πάντα προσερεῖς τὰ αἴσχιστα; Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἐσχάτης τοῦτο ἀναισχυντίας; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐννοοῦμεν ταῦτα· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκείνους ἐπαχθεῖς εἶναι νομίζομεν· ὡς εἴ γε τὰ ἡμέτερα ἐξητάζομεν καὶ παρεβάλλομεν τοῖς ἐκείνων, οὐκ ἂν αὐτοὺς ἐνομίσαμεν εἶναι φορτικούς. Μὴ δὴ γίνου πικρὸς δικαστής. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ πάντων ἁμαρτημάτων ἦς ἀπηλλαγμένος, οὐδὲ οὕτω σοι ἐπέτρεπεν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμος ἀκριβῆ γενέσθαι ἐξεταστὴν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Φαρισαῖος διὰ τοῦτο ἀπώλετο, ποίας τευξόμεθα ἀπολογίας ἡμεῖς; Εἰ τοῖς κατωρθωκόσιν οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει πικρῶς ἐξετάζειν τὰ ἑτέρων, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐπταικόσι. Μὴ τοίνυν ὠμοὶ, μηδὲ ἀπηνεῖς, μὴ ἄστοργοι, μὴ ἄσπονδοι, μὴ θηρίων