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filled, he said: Who will give my head water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, and I will weep for this people day and night? Concerning us [Fr. concerning us] I hear Moses also saying: And Jacob ate, and was filled; and the beloved kicked back; he grew fat, he grew thick, he grew broad, and he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior. And Micah lamenting and saying: Woe is me, O soul! because the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none that does right among men. Each one oppresses his neighbor with affliction; they prepare their hands for evil. And the Psalmist likewise saying concerning us: Save me, Lord, for the holy one has failed; for truths have diminished from the sons of men, and the rest.

32. Prophetically the Apostle also, lamenting us, said: There is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips: (937) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery are in their ways, And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Therefore again, foreseeing the future things, concerning our present evil conduct he writes to Timothy: But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, and so forth. Therefore woe to us, because we have arrived at the extremities of evil. For who among us, tell me, is without a share in the aforementioned evils? Has not the prophecy been fulfilled upon us? Are we not all gluttons? Are we not all lovers of pleasure? Are we not all mad for and lovers of material things? Are we not all prone to anger? Are we not all resentful? Are we not all bearing grudges? Are we not all betrayers of every virtue? Are we not all revilers? Are we not all lovers of mockery [Fr. lovers of mockery]? Are we not all reckless? Are we not all vainglorious? Are we not all hypocrites? Are we not all deceitful? Are we not all envious? Are we not all insubordinate? Are we not all slothful? Are we not all meddlesome? [Fr. meddlers] Are we not all indolent? Are we not all neglectful of the Savior's commandments? Are we not all full of all wickedness? Have we not become, instead of a temple of God, a temple of idols? Are we not, instead of the Holy Spirit, dwellings of wicked spirits? Do we not hypocritically call upon God the Father? Have we not, instead of sons of God, become sons of Gehenna? Have not we, who now bear about the great name of Christ, become worse than the Jews? and let no one be vexed at hearing the truth, since they too, being lawless, said, We have one Father, God; but they heard from the Savior that, You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

33. How then do we, being transgressors of His commandments, not hear similar things from Him? Since the Apostle also said that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, he says, these are sons of God. How then can we, being led by death, be called sons of God? For the mindset of the flesh is death. But those who are led by the Spirit are manifest from the fruits of the Spirit. Let us see then the fruits of the Spirit: For the fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Do we have these things in ourselves? But would that we did not have all the opposite things. How then can we be called sons of God, and not rather of the opposite? For that which is (940) born of someone is like the one who begot it. And the Lord also makes this clear, saying: That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. But we have become flesh, lusting against the Spirit, and for this reason we rightly hear from Him: My Spirit shall not remain among these men, because they are

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πεπληρωμένους, ἔλεγε· Τίς δώσει τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ, καί τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου πηγήν δακρύων, καί κλαύσομαι τόν λαόν τοῦτον ἡμέρας καί νυκτός; Περί ἡμᾶς [Fr. περί ἡμῶν] ἐγώ ἀκούω καί τοῦ Μωϋσέως λέγοντος· Καί ἔφαγεν Ἰακώβ, καί ἐνεπλήσθη· καί ἀπελάκτισεν ὁ ἠγαπημένος· ἐλιπάνθη, ἐπαχύνθη, ἐπλατύνθη, καί ἐγκατέλιπε Θεόν τόν ποιήσαντα αὐτόν, καί ἀπέστη ἀπό Θεοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ. Καί τοῦ Μιχαίου θρηνοῦντος καί λέγοντος· Οἴμοι ψυχή! ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν εὐλαβής ἀπό τῆς γῆς, καί ὁ κατορθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐχ ὑπάρχει. Ἕκαστος τόν πλησίον αὐτοῦ θλίβουσιν ἐκθλιβῇ· ἐπί τό κακόν τάς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἑτοιμάζουσι. Καί τοῦ Ψαλμῳδοῦ ὁμοίως περί ἡμῶν λέγοντος· Σῶσόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐλέλοιπεν ὅσιος· ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπό τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καί τά λοιπά.

λβ΄. Προφητικῶς καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος θρηνῶν ἡμᾶς, ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἔστι ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν· ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν. Ἰός ἀσπίδων ὑπό τά χείλη αὐτῶν· (937) ὧν τό στόμα ἀρᾶς καί πικρίας γέμει. Σύντριμμα καί ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, καί ὁδόν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν· οὐκ ἔστι φόβος Θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν. ∆ιά τοῦτο πάλιν προβλέπων τά μέλλοντα, περί τῆς νῦν ἡμῶν πονηρᾶς διαγωγῆς πρός τόν Τιμόθεον γράφει· Τοῦτο δέ γίνωσκε, ὅτι ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐνστήσονται καιροί χαλεποί· ἔσονται γάρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι φίλαυτοι, φιλάργυροι, ἀλαζόνες, ὑπερήφανοι, βλάσφημοι, γονεῦσειν ἀπειθεῖς, ἀχάριστοι, ἀνόσιοι, ἄστοργοι, ἄσπονδοι, διάβολοι, ἀκρατεῖς, ἀνήμεροι, ἀφιλάγαθοι, προδόται, προπετεῖς, καί τά ἑξῆς. ∆ιά τοῦτο οὐαί ἡμῖν, ὅτι εἰς τά ἔσχατα τῶν κακῶν κατηντήσαμεν. Τίς γάρ ἐξ ἡμῶν, εἰπέ μοι, τῶν προειρημένων κακῶν ἐστιν ἀμέτοχος. Οὐχί ἐπί ἡμῶν ἐπληρώθη ἡ προφητεία; Οὐ πάντες ἐσμέν γαστρίμαργοι; Οὐ πάντες φιλήδονοι; Οὐ πάντες ὑλομανεῖς καί φιλόϋλοι; Οὐ πάντες θυμώδεις; Οὐ πάντες μηνιασταί; Οὐ πάντες μνησίκακοι; Οὐ πάντες προδόται πάσης ἀρετῆς; Οὐ πάντες λοιδοροί; Οὐ πάντες φιλόσκοπται [Fr. φιλοσκῶπται] ; Οὐ πάντες προπετεῖς; Οὐ πάντες κενόδοξοι; Οὐ πάντες ὑποκριταί; Οὐ πάντες δόλιοι; Οὐ πάντες φθονεροί; Οὐ πάντες ἀνυπότακτοι; Οὐ πάντες ἀκηδιασταί; Οὐ πάντες περίακτοι; [Fr. περιάκται] Οὐ πάντες ῥάθυμοι; Οὐ πάντες ἀμελεῖς τῶν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐντολῶν; Οὐ πάντες πάσης κακίας ἀνάμεστοι; Οὐχί γεγόναμεν ἀντί ναοῦ Θεοῦ, ναός εἰδώλων; Οὐχί ἀντί Πνεύματος ἁγίου, πνευμάτων πονηρῶν ἐσμεν καταγώγια; Οὐχί πεπλασμένως τόν Θεόν Πατέρα ἐπικαλούμεθα; Οὐχί ἀντί υἱῶν Θεοῦ υἱοί γεέννης γεγόναμεν; Οὐχί χείρονες τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οἱ νῦν τό μέγα Χριστοῦ ὄνομα περιφερόμενοι, γεγόναμεν; καί μηδείς ἀγανακτείτω τήν ἀλήθειαν ἀκούων, ἐπεί κἀκεῖνοι παράνομοι ὄντες ἔλεγον, Ἡμεῖς ἕνα Πατέρα ἔχομεν, τόν Θεόν· ἀλλ᾿ ἤκουον παρά τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὅτι Ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρός τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστέ, καί τάς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ πατρός ὑμῶν θέλετε ποιεῖν.

λγ΄. Πῶς οὖν καί ἡμεῖς παραβάται ὄντες τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ, τά ὅμοια παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀκούομεν; Ἐπεί καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος τούς Πνεύματι ἀγομένους εἶπεν εἶναι υἱούς θεοῦ· Ὅσοι γάρ, φησί, Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοί εἰσιν υἱοί Θεοῦ. Πῶς οὖν καί ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου ἀγόμενοι, υἱοί Θεοῦ ἀκούειν δυνάμεθα; Τό γάρ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός, θάνατος. Οἱ δέ Πνεύματι ἀγόμενοι, ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος δῆλοί εἰσιν. Εἴδωμεν οὖν τούς καρπούς τοῦ Πνεύματος· Ὁ γάρ καρπός τοῦ Πνεύματος, φησίν, ἐστίν ἀγάπη, χαρά, εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης, ἀγαθοσύνη, πίστις, πραότης, ἐγκράτεια. Ἆρα ἔχομεν ταῦτα ἐν ἑαυτοῖς; Ἀλλ᾿ εἴθε μή πάντα τά ἐναντία. Πῶς οὖν υἱοί Θεοῦ ἀκούειν δυνάμεθα, καί οὐχί μᾶλλον ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου; Τό γέ ἔκ τινος (940) γεγεννημένον, ὅμοιον τοῦ γεγεννηκότος ἐστί. ∆ηλοῖ δέ καί Κύριος, λέγων· Τό γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος, πνεῦμα ἐστιν. Ἡμεῖς δέ γεγόναμεν σάρκες ἐπιθυμοῦντες κατά τοῦ Πνεύματος, καί διά τοῦτο δικαίως ἀκούομεν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ· Οὐ μή ἐγκαταμείνῃ τό Πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις, διά τό εἶναι