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saying: I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will accomplish my anger upon you: and I will judge you in your ways, and I will bring upon you all your abominations; and my eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity: and then you shall know that I am the Lord. Who, hearing Daniel, is not moved to compunction; who clearly describes the day of the terrible judgment, in which he says: I, Daniel, beheld, until thrones were set. And the Ancient of days sat. His garment was white as snow; and the hair of his head as pure wool. And his throne was a flame of fire; his wheels were burning fire. A river of fire drew, coming forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand myriads stood before him. The court sat, and the books were opened; the deeds of each one, it is clear. And again: I beheld in a vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like the Son of man was coming; and he came to the Ancient of days; and was brought before him; and to him was given dominion and honor and the kingdom. And all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him; and his power is an everlasting power; and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. My spirit shuddered, I, Daniel, in my frame, and the visions of my head troubled me.

28. And who, hearing David, is not afraid, when he says: God has spoken once, these two things have I heard, that power belongs to God, and mercy to you, O Lord; for you will render to each one according to his works. And again, Ecclesiastes saying: The end of the matter, hear the whole: Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man; for God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

29. And who, hearing the like things from the Apostle, does not tremble: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. Who then will lament our unbelief, and the blindness of our soul; that hearing all these things, we do not repent, and weep bitterly over our great negligence and slothfulness? Foreseeing this (936), Jeremiah said: Cursed is he that does the work of the Lord negligently. For if we had a care for the salvation of our souls, we would tremble at the word of the Lord, and would hasten to keep his commandments, through which we are saved. But we, hearing the Lord say: Enter through the narrow gate, which leads to life; we have preferred the wide and broad one, which leads to destruction. For this reason we hear, When he comes from heaven to judge the living and the dead: Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

30. And we hear these things, not as having done evil, but as having neglected good things, and not having loved our neighbor. But if we have also done evil, how shall we endure that day, being so negligent? However, You shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not murder, and so forth, was said to the ancients through Moses; but the Lord, knowing that for the Christian the observance of these alone is not sufficient for perfection, said: Amen I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. For this reason, he legislated up and down the sanctification of the soul, through which the body is also sanctified, and sincere love towards all men, through which we are also able to acquire love for him; and he gave himself as an example unto death, and his disciples to us, as has often been said.

31. What defense, then, shall we have on that day, having such an example, and being so negligent? Jeremiah laments for us who have been cast out from so great a grace, and are so negligently disposed, or rather, of all wickedness

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λέγοντος· Ἐκχεῶ τήν ὁργήν μου ἐπί σέ, καί συντελέσω τόν θυμόν μου ἐπί σοί· καί κρινῶ σε ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου, καί δώσω ἐπί σέ πάντα τά βδελύγματά σου· καί οὐ φείσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου, οὐδ᾿ οὐ μή ἐλεήσω· καί τότε ἐπιγνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγώ Κύριος. Τίς δέ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ ἀκούων οὐ κατανύγεται· διαγράφοντος διαῤῥήδην τήν ἡμέραν τῆς φοβερᾶς κρίσεως, ἐν οἷς φησιν· Ἐγώ ∆ανιήλ ἐθεώρουν, ἕως οὗ θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν. Καί Παλαιός ἡμερῶν ἐκάθησεν. Τό ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκόν ὡσεί χιών· καί ἡ θρίξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡς ἔριον καθαρόν. Καί ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ φλόξ πυρός· οἱ τροχοί αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον. Ποταμός πυρός εἷλκεν, ἐκπορευόμενος ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ. Χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ, καί μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ. Κριτήριον ἐκάθισε, καί βίβλοι ἠνεῴχθησαν· τά πεπραγμένα ἑκάστου δῆλον ὅτι. Καί πάλιν· Ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτός, καί ἰδού μετά τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὡς Υἱός ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος ἦν· καί ἕως τοῦ Παλαιοῦ ἡμερῶν ἔφθασεν· καί ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ· καί αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχή καί ἡ τιμή καί ἡ βασιλεία. Καί πάντες οἱ λαοί, φυλαί, γλῶσσαι αὐτῷ δουλεύσουσι· καί ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ, ἐξουσία αἰώνιος· καί ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, βασιλεία αἰώνιος. Ἔφριξε τό πνεῦμα μου, ἐγώ ∆ανιήλ, ἐν τῇ ἕξει μου, καί αἱ ὁράσεις τῆς κεφαλῆς μου συνετάρασσόν με.

κη΄. Τίς δέ τοῦ ∆αβίδ ἀκούων οὐ φοβεῖται, λέγοντος· Ἅπαξ ἐλάλησεν ὁ Θεός, δύο ταῦτα ἤκουσα, ὅτι τό κράτος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί σοῦ, Κύριε, τό ἔλεος· ὅτι σύ ἀποδώσεις ἑκάστῳ κατά τά ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Καί πάλιν τοῦ Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ λέγοντος· Τέλος λόγου, τό πᾶν ἄκουε· τόν Θεόν φοβοῦ, καί τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ φύλασσε, ὅτι τοῦτο πᾶς ἄνθρωπος· ὅτι σύμπαν τό ποίημα ἄξει ὁ Θεός ἐν κρίσει ἐν παντί παρεωραμένῳ, ἐάν ἀγαθόν, καί ἐάν πονηρόν.

κθ΄. Τίς δέ τά ὅμοια ἀκούων τοῦ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος, οὐ τρέμει· ∆εῖ γάρ πάντας ἡμᾶς παραστῆναι τῷ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος ἡμῶν τά διά τοῦ σώματος, εἴτε ἀγαθόν, εἴτε κακόν. Τίς οὖν θρηνήσει τήν ἀπιστίαν ἡμῶν, καί τήν τύφλωσιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν· ὅτι τούτων πάντων ἀκούοντες, οὐ μετανοῦμεν, καί πικρῶς κλαίομεν ἐπι τῇ τοσαύτῃ ἡμῶν ἀμελείᾳ καί ῥαθυμίᾳ; ἥν προθεωρῶν (936) Ἰερεμίας, ἔλεγεν· Ἐπικατάρατος ὁ ποιῶν τά ἔργα Κυρίου ἀμελῶς. Εἰ γάρ εἴχομεν φροντίδα περί τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν, ἐτρέμομεν ἄν τόν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου, καί ἐσπεύδομεν κατορθῶσαι τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ, δι᾿ ὧν καί ἐσωζόμεθα. Ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς ἀκούοντες τοῦ Κυρίου, λέγοντος· Εἰσέλθετε διά τῆς στενῆς πύλης, τῆς εἰσαγούσης εἰς τήν ζωήν· προετιμήσαμεν τήν πλατεῖαν καί εὐρύχωρον, τήν ἀπάγουσαν εἰς τήν ἀπώλειαν. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἀκούομεν, Ὅταν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν παραγίνηται κρῖναι ζῶντας καί νεκρούς· Ὑπάγετε ἐπ᾿ ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατηραμένοι, εἰς τό πῦρ τό αἰώνιον, τό ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καί τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ.

λ΄. Καί ταῦτα ἀκούομεν, οὐχ ὡς κακῶς πράξαντες, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς τῶν καλῶν ἀμελήσαντες, καί τόν πλησίον μή ἀγαπήσαντες. Εἰ δέ καί κακά ἐπράξαμεν, πῶς ὑποίσομεν τήν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, οὕτως ἀμελῶς διακείμενοι; Πλήν τό, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, καί τά ἑξῆς, τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἐῤῥέθη διά Μωϋσέως· ὁ δέ Κύριος, εἰδώς ὅτι οὐκ ἀρκεῖ τῷ Χριστιανῷ ἡ τούτων μόνον τήρησις πρός τελείωσιν, ἔλεγεν· Ἀμήν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι Ἐάν μή περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλέον τῶν Γραμματέων καί Φαρισαίων, οὐ μή εἰσέλθητε εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἄνω καί κάτω τόν τῆς ψυχῆς ἁγιασμόν, δι᾿ ἥν καί τό σῶμα ἁγιάζεται, καί τήν πρός πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰλικρινῆ ἀγάπην ἐνομοθέτησε, δι᾿ ὧν καί τήν εἰς αὐτόν ἀγάπην κτήσασθαι δυνάμεθα· καί ἑαυτόν τύπον μέχρι θανάτου, καί τούς αὐτοῦ μαθητάς ἡμῖν παρέσχεν, ὡς πολλάκις εἴρηται.

λα΄. Ποίαν οὖν ἀπολογίαν ἔξομεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, τοιοῦτον ὑπόδειγμα ἔχοντες, καί οὕτως ἀμελοῦντες; Ἡμᾶς θρηνῶν Ἱερεμίας τούς τοσαύτης χάριτος ἐξιωθέντας, καί οὕτως ἀμελῶς διακειμένους, μᾶλλον δέ, πάσης κακίας