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suffer, but those who do evil. For the covetous man, the slanderer, and he who works any other evil, injure themselves most of all; but they benefit us most greatly if we do not avenge ourselves. For instance: So-and-so has seized your goods? Have you given thanks for the injury, and glorified God? You have reaped countless rewards through that thanksgiving; just as he, then, has gathered unspeakable fire for himself. But if someone should say: What then, if I was not able to defend myself against the one who wronged me, being weaker? I would say this, that you were able to be vexed, to be indignant; for these things are in our power: to pray against the one who has grieved us, to 59.388 curse him with a thousand curses, to slander him to everyone. He, therefore, who does not do these things, will receive a reward also for not defending himself. For it is clear that even if he had power over that man, he would not have done it. For the one who has been wronged, when he is small-minded, uses whatever weapon is at hand, and defends himself against the wrongdoer with curses, insults, and plots. Therefore, not only do not do these things, but also pray for him; for if you not only do not do these things, but also pray for him, you have become like God. For, he says, pray for those who mistreat you, that you may be like your Father who is in heaven. Do you see how we gain the greatest things from the mistreatment of others? Nothing so gladdens God as not returning evil for evil. And why do I say, not returning evil for evil? We have been commanded, in fact, to return the opposite: benefits, prayers. For this reason also Christ requited the one who was about to betray him with all the opposites; for instance, he washed his feet, he rebuked him secretly, he struck him sparingly, he healed him, he shared his table and a kiss; and not even by these things did he become better, and yet he himself persisted in doing his own part. But come, let us instruct you also from the servants, and from the abundance of those in the Old Testament, so that you may know that we have no occasion for an excuse when we bear a grudge. Do you wish then that I speak of Moses, or shall we carry the argument even higher? For the more ancient the examples shown, the more are we defeated. And why indeed? Because then virtue was more difficult. For they did not then have written precepts, nor examples from lives; but nature itself struggled naked, and was forced to swim everywhere unballasted. For this reason also, in praising Noah, he did not simply call him perfect, but added, In his generation, showing that it was in that time, when there were many hindrances; since after him others shone forth, and yet he will have nothing less than they. For in his own times he was perfect. Who then before Moses was long-suffering? The blessed and noble Joseph, who, having shone with self-control, shone no less with long-suffering. For he was sold, having done no wrong, but serving, being a slave, displaying all the duties of a household servant. They brought, at any rate, an evil accusation against him, and he did not defend himself, although he had his father with him; but he even went away, bringing them food in the desert; and not finding them, he did not grow weary of his good deed, nor did he turn back (although he had an excuse, if he had wished), but he remained with those wild beasts and cruel men, preserving the disposition of a true brother. Again, having inhabited the prison, and having been asked the reason, he said nothing evil about them, but that I have done nothing, and, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews. And after these things, again becoming lord, he both nourished them and delivered them from countless dreadful things. For if we are sober, the malice of our neighbor does not have the power to cast us out of our own virtue. But they were not such; but they both stripped him, and attempted to kill him, and reproached him for the dream, although they had even brought food from him, and they attempted to cast him out of life and freedom. And while they were eating, they looked upon their brother cast naked into a pit. What could be worse than this savagery? 59.389 How many murderers were they not worse than? And after these things, having drawn him up, they delivered him to countless deaths, selling him to barbarous and savage men to barbarians

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πάσχοντες, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιοῦντες κακῶς. Ἑαυτοὺς μὲν γὰρ μέγιστα ἀδικοῦσιν ὅ τε πλεονέκτης, ὅ τε συκοφάντης, ὅ τε ἕτερόν τι κακὸν ἐργαζόμενος· ἡμᾶς δὲ ὠφελοῦσι τὰ μέγιστα ἐὰν μὴ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδικῶμεν. Οἷόν τι λέγω· Ἥρπασεν ὁ δεῖνα; ηὐχαρίστησας ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀδικίας σὺ, καὶ ἐδόξασας τὸν Θεόν; Μυρίους διὰ τῆς εὐχαριστίας ἐκείνης ἐκαρπώσω μισθούς· ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖνος ἄφατον ἑαυτῷ συνήγαγε πῦρ. Εἰ δὲ λέγοι τις· Τί γὰρ, εἰ μὴ ἠδυνάμην ἀμύνασθαι τὸν ἀδικήσαντα; ἀσθενέστερος ὤν; ἐκεῖνο ἂν εἴποιμι, ὅτι Ἠδύνασο πρᾶξαι τὸ δυσχερᾶναι, τὸ ἀποδυσπετῆσαι· ταῦτα γὰρ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἡμῶν, τὸ κατεύξασθαι τοῦ λελυπηκότος, τὸ 59.388 καταράσασθαι αὐτῷ μυρία, τὸ πρὸς πάντας διαβαλεῖν. Ὁ τοίνυν ταῦτα μὴ ποιήσας, καὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀμύνασθαι μισθὸν λήψεται. ∆ῆλον γὰρ ὅτι καὶ ἐκείνου κύριος ὢν, οὐκ ἂν ἐποίησεν. Ὁ γὰρ ἠδικημένος, τῷ παρατυχόντι κέχρηται ὅπλῳ, ὅταν μικρόψυχος ὢν, κατάραις, λοιδορίαις, ἐπιβουλαῖς ἀμύνηται τὸν ἠδικηκότα. Ταῦτα τοίνυν καὶ σὺ μὴ ποιήσῃς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὖξαι περὶ αὐτοῦ· καὶ γὰρ ἂν ταῦτα μὴ ποιήσῃς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὔξῃ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, τῷ Θεῷ γέγονας ὅμοιος. Εὔχεσθε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς, ὅπως γένησθε ὅμοιοι τῷ Πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ὁρᾷς πῶς μέγιστα κερδαίνομεν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἑτέρων ἐπηρείας; Οὐδὲν οὕτω τὸν Θεὸν εὐφραίνει, ὡς τὸ μὴ ἀποδιδόναι κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ. Καὶ τί λέγω, μὴ ἀποδιδόναι κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ; Τἀναντία μὲν οὖν ἀποδιδόναι ἐπετάγημεν, εὐεργεσίας εὐχάς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τὸν μέλλοντα αὐτὸν προδιδόναι τοῖς ἐναντίοις πᾶσιν ἠμείψατο· οἷον, τοὺς πόδας ἔνιπτεν, ἤλεγχε λάθρα, φειδομένως ἔπληττεν, ἐθεράπευσε, τραπέζης καὶ φιλήματος μετεδίδου· καὶ οὐδὲ τούτοις ἐγένετο βελτίων, καὶ ὅμως παρέμενεν αὐτὸς τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ποιῶν. Ἀλλὰ φέρε καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν δούλων σε παιδεύσωμεν, καὶ ἐκ περιουσίας τῶν ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ, ἵνα εἰδῇς οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντας ἡμᾶς ἀπολογίας ἀφορμὴν, ὅταν μνησικακῶμεν. Βούλεσθε οὖν εἴπω Μωϋσέα, ἢ ἔτι τὸν λόγον ἀνωτέρω ἀγάγωμεν; Ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν ἀρχαιότερα δειχθῇ τὰ παραδείγματα, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς νικώμεθα. Τί δήποτε δέ; Ὅτι τότε δυσκολωτέρα ἦν ἡ ἀρετή. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑποθήκας ἐγγράφους εἶχον ἐκεῖνοι τότε, οὐ βίων παραδείγματα· ἀλλὰ γυμνὴ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἡ φύσις ἠγωνίζετο, καὶ ἀνερμάτιστος πανταχοῦ νήχεσθαι ἠναγκάζετο. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸν Νῶε ἐπαινῶν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς τέλειον ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν, Ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ, δηλῶν, ὅτι ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ, ὅτε πολλὰ τὰ κωλύματα ἦν· ἐπεὶ μετ' αὐτὸν ἔλαμψαν ἕτεροι, καὶ ὅμως οὐδὲν ἔλαττον αὐτῶν ἕξει. Ἐν γὰρ τοῖς χρόνοις αὐτοῦ τέλειος ἦν. Τίς οὖν πρὸ Μωϋσέως μακρόθυμος; Ὁ μακάριος καὶ γενναῖος Ἰωσὴφ, ὃς τῇ σωφροσύνῃ λάμψας, οὐκ ἔλαττον ἔλαμψε τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ. Ἐπράθη γὰρ οὐδὲν ἠδικηκὼς, ἀλλὰ θεραπεύων, δουλεύων, τὰ οἰκετῶν πάντα ἐπιδεικνύμενος. Κατήνεγκαν γοῦν αὐτῷ ψόγον πονηρὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἠμύνατο, καίτοι τὸν πατέρα ἔχων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπῆλθε κομίζων αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν ἔρημον τροφήν· καὶ οὐχ εὑρὼν αὐτοὺς, οὐ περιεκάκησεν, οὐδὲ ὑπέστρεψε (καίτοι γε εἶχε πρόφασιν, εἴ γε ἐβούλετο), ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ θηρία καὶ τοὺς ὠμοὺς ἐκείνους ἔμενεν ἀδελφοῦ γνησίου φυλάττων προαίρεσιν. Πάλιν τὸ δεσμωτήριον οἰκήσας, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐρωτηθεὶς, οὐδὲν εἶπε περὶ αὐτῶν πονηρὸν, ἀλλ' ὅτι Οὐδὲν ἐποίησα, καὶ, Κλοπῇ ἐκλάπην ἐκ γῆς Ἑβραίων. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν γενόμενος κύριος, καὶ ἔθρεψε, καὶ ἀπήλλαξε μυρίων δεινῶν. Ἂν γὰρ νήφωμεν, οὐκ ἰσχύει τοῦ πλησίον ἡ κακία τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡμᾶς ἐκβαλεῖν τῆς ἑαυτῶν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκεῖνοι τοιοῦτοι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπέδυσαν, καὶ ἀνελεῖν ἐπεχείρησαν καὶ ὀνειδίζουσι τὸ ἐνύπνιον, καίτοι καὶ τροφὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ κομισάμενοι, καὶ ζωῆς καὶ ἐλευθερίας αὐτὸν ἐκβαλεῖν ἐπεχείρουν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἤσθιον, τὸν δὲ ἀδελφὸν περιεώρων ἐν λάκκῳ γυμνὸν ἐῤῥιμμένον. Τί ταύτης τῆς θηριωδίας 59.389 γένοιτ' ἂν χεῖρον; πόσων ἀνδροφόνων οὐκ ἦσαν χείρους; Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνελκύσαντες, μυρίοις θανάτοις παρέδωκαν, ἀνθρώποις βαρβάροις καὶ ἀγρίοις αὐτὸν ἀποδόμενοι πρὸς βαρβάρους