321

the arrogant ones," he said, "Hear the word of the Lord, rulers of Sodom; give heed to the law of God, people of Gomorrah. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the whole burnt offerings of rams; and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats I do not want. For who has required these things from your hands? You shall no longer tread my court. If you bring fine flour, it is in vain; incense [Sixt. μάταιον θυμίαμα, non satis apte], is an abomination to me. Your new moons and sabbaths, and the great day I cannot bear. Fasting and idleness and your feasts, my soul hates. You have become to me a surfeit; I will no longer bear them. When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my eyes away from you; and if you multiply your prayer, I will not listen to you. Why? For your hands, he says, are full of blood; because he who hates his brother is a murderer. For this reason every spiritual exercise that does not have love becomes foreign to God.

7. For this reason also, reproving our hypocrisy, from afar he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, in vain do they worship me, and so forth. And what our Lord said in pronouncing woes upon the Pharisees, I hear about us, the hypocrites of today, who have been deemed worthy of so much grace, and are in a worse state than they.

(944) Or do we not also bind heavy and hard-to-bear burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but with our finger we are unwilling to move them? Or do we not also do all our works to be seen by men? Or do we not also love the first place at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi; and do we war to the death against those who vehemently bestow these things upon us? Or have we also taken away the key of knowledge, and we shut the kingdom of heaven before men, neither entering ourselves, nor permitting them to enter? Or do we not also traverse sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, we make him a son of Gehenna twice as much as ourselves? Or are we not also blind guides, straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel? Or do we not also cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish; but our inside is full of plunder and greed [Fr. καί ἀκαθαρσίας]; or rather, of intemperance? Or do we not also tithe rue and mint, and every herb; and pass over the judgment and the love of God? Or are we not also like unmarked tombs, appearing righteous to men on the outside, but inside being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness and all impurity? Or do we not also build the tombs of the martyrs, and adorn the monuments of the Apostles, and are like those who killed them? Who then will not weep for us, being in such a state? Who then will lament our so great captivity? For this reason we, the precious sons of God, have been accounted as earthen vessels. For this reason the gold has grown dim; the fine silver is changed. For this reason we, the Nazirites of Zion, who shone brighter than snow, have become like Ethiopians; they who were whiter than milk, have become darker than blackness. For this reason our appearance has grown darker than soot. We who were nurtured in scarlet have embraced dunghills; and our iniquity has become greater than the iniquities of Sodom. For this reason we, the sons of the day and of the light, have become sons of night and of darkness. For this reason we, sons of the kingdom, have become sons of Gehenna. For this reason we, the sons of the Most High, die like men, and fall like one of the princes. For this reason we have been delivered into the hands of lawless enemies, I mean, of savage demons, and to an unjust king, more wicked than any on the earth, that is, to their ruler, because we have sinned and transgressed, having broken the commandments of the Lord our God, and having trampled on the Son of God and the blood

321

τετυφωμένους, ἔλεγεν, Ἀκούσατε λόγον Κυρίου, ἄρχοντες Σοδόμων· προσέχετε νόμον Θεοῦ, λαός Γομόῤῥας. Τί μοι πλῆθος τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν; Πλήρης εἰμί τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων κριῶν· καί στέαρ ἀρνῶν, καί αἷμα ταύρων καί τράγων οὐ βούλομαι. Τίς γάρ ἐξεζήτησε ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν; Πατεῖν τήν αὐλήν μου οὐ προσθήσεσθε. Ἐάν φέρητε σεμίδαλιν, μάταιον· θυμίαμα [Sixt. μάταιον θυμίαμα, non satis apte], βδέλυγμά μοί ἐστι. Τάς νουμηνίας ὑμῶν καί τά σάββατα, καί ἡμέραν μεγάλην οὐκ ἀνέχομαι. Νηστείαν καί ἀργίαν καί τάς ἑορτάς ὑμῶν, μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου. Ἐγενήθητέ μοι εἰς πλησμονήν· οὐκέτι οὐ μή ἀνοίσω. Ὅταν τάς χεῖρας ἐκτείνητε πρός με, ἀποστρέψω τούς ὀφθαλμούς μου ἀφ᾿ ὑμῶν· καί ἐάν πληθύνητε τήν δέησιν, οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν. ∆ιατί, Αἱ γάρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν, φησίν, αἵματος πλήρεις· ἐπειδή ὁ μισῶν τόν ἀδελφόν αὐτοῦ, ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστί. ∆ιά τοῦτο πᾶσα ἄσκησις ἀγάπην μή ἔχουσα ἀλλοτρία τοῦ Θεοῦ καθίσταται.

ζ΄. ∆ιά τοῦτο καί τήν ὑπόκρισιν ἡμῶν ἐλέγχων πόῤῥωθεν ἔλεγεν· Ὁ λαός οὗτος, τοῖς χείλεσί με τιμᾷ· ἡ δέ καρδία πόῤῥω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ, μάτην δέ σέβονταί με, καί τά ἑξῆς. Καί ἅπερ δέ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν ἔλεγε ταλανίζων τούς Φαρισαίους, περί ἡμῶν ἐγώ ἀκούω, τῶν νῦν, ὑποκριτῶν, τῶν τοσαύτην χάριτος ἀξιωθέντων, καί χείρω ἐκείνων διακειμένων.

(944) Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς δεσμοῦμεν φορτία βαρέα καί δυσβάστακτα, καί ἐπιτίθεμεν ἐπί τούς ὤμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τῷ δέ δακτύλῳ ἡμῶν οὐ θέλομεν κινῆσαι αὐτά; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς, πάντα τά ἔργα ἡμῶν ποιοῦμεν πρός τό θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς φιλοῦμεν τήν πρωτοκλισίαν ἐν τοῖς δείπνοις καί τάς πρωτοκαθεδρίας ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς, καί καλεῖσθαι ὑπό τῶν ἀνθρώπων Ῥαββί, Ῥαββί· καί τούς ταῦτα ἡμῶν σφόδρα ἀπονέμοντας, ἕως θανάτου πολεμοῦμεν; Ἤ καί ἡμεῖς ἤραμεν τήν κλεῖδα τῆς γνώσεως, καί κλείομεν τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, μηδέ αὐτοί εἰσερχόμενοι, μηδέ αὐτούς ποιοῦντες εἰσελθεῖν; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς περιάγομεν τήν θάλασσαν καί τήν ξηράν ποιῆσαι ἕνα προσήλυτον, καί ὅταν γένηται, ποιοῦμεν αὐτόν υἱόν γεέννης διπλότερον ἡμῶν; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ὁδηγοί τυφλοί, τόν κόνωπα διυλίζοντες, καί τήν κάμηλον καταπίνοντες; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς καθαρίζομεν τό ἔξωθεν τοῦ ποτηρίου καί τῆς παροψίδος· τό δέ ἔσωθεν ἡμῶν γέμει ἁρπαγῆς καί πλεονεξίας [Fr. καί ἀκαθαρσίας]· μᾶλλον δέ ἀκρασίας; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς ἀποδεκατοῦμεν τό πήγανον καί τό ἡδύοσμον, καί πᾶν λάχανον· καί παρερχόμεθα τήν κρίσιν καί τήν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς ἐσμέν ὡς τά μνημεῖα τά ἄδηλα, ἔξωθεν μέν φαινόμενοι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δίκαιοι, ἔσωθεν δέ ὄντες μεστοί ὑποκρίσεως καί ἀνομίας καί πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας; Ἤ οὐχί καί ἡμεῖς οἰκοδομοῦμεν τούς τάφους τῶν μαρτύρων, καί κοσμοῦμεν τά μνημεῖα τῶν Ἀποστόλων, καί ἐσμέν ὅμοιοι τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων αὐτούς; Τίς οὖν οὐ κλαύσει ἡμᾶς οὕτως διακειμένους; Τίς οὖν θρηνήσει τήν τηλικαύτην ἡμῶν αἰχμαλωσίαν; ∆ιά τοῦτο υἱοί Θεοῦ οἱ τίμιοι, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς ἀγγεῖα ὀστράκινα. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἠμαυρώθη τό χρυσίον· ἠλλοιώθη τό ἀργύριον τό ἀγαθόν. ∆ιά τοῦτο οἱ Ναζωραῖοι Σιών, οἱ ὑπέρ χιόνα λάμψαντες, γεγόναμεν ὡς Αἰθίοπες· οἱ ὑπέρ γάλα λευκανθέντες, ὑπέρ μέλαν ἐζοφώθησαν. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἐσκότασεν ὑπέρ ἀσβόλην τό εἶδος ἠμῶν. Οἱ τιθηνούμενοι ἐπί κόκκων, περιεβαλόμεθα κοπρίας· καί ἐμεγαλύνθη ἡ ἀνομία ἡμῶν, ὑπέρ ἀνομιῶν Σοδόμων. ∆ιά τοῦτο οἱ υἱοί τῆς ἡμέρας καί τοῦ φωτός, υἱοί γεγόναμεν νυκτός καί σκότους. ∆ιά τοῦτο υἱοί τῆς βασιλείας, υἱοί γεέννης γεγόναμεν. ∆ιά τοῦτο οἱ υἱοί τοῦ Ὑψίστου, ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκομεν, καί ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτομεν. ∆ιά τοῦτο παρεδόθημεν εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν ἀνόμων, τῶν ἀγρίων λέγω δαιμόνων, καί βασιλεῖ ἀδίκῳ καί πονηρωτάτῳ παρά πᾶσαν τήν γῆν, δηλαδή τῷ τούτων ἄρχοντι, ὅτι ἡμάρτομεν καί ἠνομήσαμεν, παραβάντες τάς ἐντολάς Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καί καταπατήσαντες τόν Υἰόν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τό αἷμα