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Is what is sown weak, not knowing where it is sown? How is it not dishonorable, what is cast into a tomb and covered with dust, and is torn and crumbled and without sensation? How is it not honorable, what is raised and abides for eternity and in the hope of God's love for humanity obtains a kingdom in heaven, where "the righteous will shine like the sun," where they will be "equal to angels," where they will dance with the bridegroom, where those with Peter "will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," where the righteous will receive "what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of 2.515 man, what God has prepared for those who love him"? Our resurrection, therefore, is in God, and that of every person, both just and unjust, unbeliever and believer, some being raised to eternal life, and others to eternal judgment. 70. And be silent, Babylon, the ancient confusion renewed for us again; be muzzled, Sodom, and the cry of your great wickedness ascending to God; "for the Deliverer will come from Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob" and "he will sound the trumpet, and the dead will be raised" and "we shall be caught up to meet him in the air"; as our more excellent and blessed elder Methodius said, and building upon these same things we ourselves have added. For from the combined phrases of each statement it is possible to see the conclusions. For the holy apostle, distinguishing the nature of the two modes, brought them together into one hope from the phrase "we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet him," in order to show that it is truly this body and not another besides this that is raised; for the one who is caught up has not yet died. But showing that "we shall not precede the resurrection of the dead," in order that he might prove what is impossible for men to be manageable and possible for God "for we who are alive shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep and their resurrection," he pointed out those who are alive and caught up, in order that from the living he might show that their bodies are raised completely and from the fact that they precede the remaining living ones, he might demonstrate the power of God. "For the dead shall rise and those in the tombs shall be raised," says the prophet. But lest I pass over in silence the things spoken by Ezekiel the prophet in his own apocryphon concerning the resurrection, I will set them forth here also. For narrating enigmatically, 2.516 he speaks concerning the just judgment in which soul and body share, that a certain king in his kingdom had everyone enlisted in service, but he had no civilians except for only two, one lame and one blind, and each of them sat by himself and lived by himself. But the king, making a wedding feast for his own son, invited everyone in his kingdom, but he scorned the two civilians, both the lame and the blind; and they were indignant in themselves and contrived to plot against the king. Now the king had a paradise, and from a distance the blind man spoke to the lame man, saying, "How great was our fragment of bread compared with the crowds who were invited to the celebration? Come, therefore, just as he has done to us, let us get revenge on him." But the other asked, "In what way?" And he said, "Let us go into his paradise and destroy the things of the paradise there." But he said, "And how can I, being lame and not able to walk?" And the blind man said, "Can I myself do anything, not seeing where I am going? But let us devise a scheme." Plucking the nearby grass and weaving a rope, he tossed it to the blind man and said, "Take hold, and come here to me by the rope." And when he had done what he was urged, when he arrived, he says, "Come, be feet for me and carry me, and I will be eyes for you, guiding you from above to the right and to the left." And having done this, they went down into the paradise; Then, for the rest, whether they did wrong or did not do wrong, nevertheless the tracks appeared in the paradise. And when those who had been celebrating, having departed from the wedding feast, went down into the paradise

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ἀσθενὲς τὸ σπειρόμενον καὶ μὴ γινῶσκον ποῦ σπείρεται; πῶς οὐκ ἄτιμον τὸ ἐν μνήματι βαλλόμενον καὶ κόνιν ἐπαμώμενον, λακιζόμενόν τε καὶ θρυπτόμενον καὶ ἀναισθητοῦν; πῶς οὐκ ἔντιμον τὸ ἐγειρόμενον καὶ εἰς αἰῶνα διαμένον καὶ ἐν ἐλπίδι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ἐν οὐρανῷ βασιλείαν κτώμενον, ὅπου λάμψουσιν «οἱ δίκαιοι ὡς ὁ ἥλιος», ὅπου ἔσονται «ἰσάγγελοι», ὅπου μετὰ τοῦ νυμφίου χορεύσουσιν, ὅπου οἱ περὶ Πέτρον «καθέζονται ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνων, τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς κρίνοντες τοῦ Ἰσραήλ», ὅπου λήψονται οἱ δίκαιοι «ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν 2.515 ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν»; ἡμῶν τοίνυν ἡ ἀνάστασις ἐν θεῷ καὶ παντὸς ἀνθρώπου, δικαίου τε καὶ ἀδίκου, ἀπίστου τε καὶ πιστοῦ, τῶν μὲν ἐγειρομένων εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, τῶν δὲ εἰς κρίσιν αἰώνιον. 70. Καὶ σιώπα Βαβυλών, ἡ ἀρχαία πάλιν ἡμῖν ἀνακαινιζομένη σύγχυσις· πεφίμωσο Σόδομα καὶ ἡ τῆς πολλῆς σου δεινότητος πρὸς θεὸν κραυγὴ ἀνερχομένη· «ἥξει γὰρ ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ» καὶ «σαλπίσει, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἀναστήσονται» καὶ «ἡμεῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτῷ εἰς ἀέρα»· ὡς καὶ ὁ καλλίων ἡμῶν πρεσβύτης καὶ μακάριος εἶπε Μεθόδιος, τοῖς δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐποικοδομοῦντες προσεθήκαμεν. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν συνεζευγμένων ἑκάστης λέξεως ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὰ ἐπίχειρα. διαιρῶν γὰρ ὁ ἅγιος ἀπόστολος τῶν δύο τρόπων τὸ εἶδος εἰς μίαν ἐλπίδα συνήγαγεν ἀπὸ τοῦ «ἡμεῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῦ», ἵνα δείξῃ ὄντως τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα καὶ οὐχ ἕτερον παρὰ τοῦτο ἀνιστάμενον· ὁ γὰρ ἁρπαγεὶς οὔπω τέθνηκε. δεικνὺς δὲ ὅτι «οὐ φθάσομεν τὴν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν», ἵνα τὸ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἄπορον θεῷ εὐπόριστον καὶ δυνατὸν ἀποδείξῃ «ἡμεῖς γὰρ οἱ ζῶντες οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κεκοιμημένους καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν ἀνάστασιν», ἔδειξε τοὺς ζῶντας καὶ ἁρπαζομένους, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῶν ζώντων δείξῃ τὰ ἐκείνων σώματα ὁλοσχερῆ ἐγειρόμενα καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκείνους πρωτεύειν τῶν περιλειπομένων ζώντων τὸ δυνατὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποδείξῃ. «Ἀναστήσονται γὰρ οἱ νεκροὶ καὶ ἐγερθήσονται οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις», φησὶν ὁ προφήτης. ἵνα δὲ καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τοῦ προφήτου ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀποκρύφῳ ῥηθέντα περὶ ἀναστάσεως μὴ παρασιωπήσω, καὶ αὐτὰ ἐνταῦθα παραθήσομαι. αἰνιγματωδῶς γὰρ 2.516 διηγούμενος λέγει περὶ τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως ᾗ κοινωνεῖ ψυχὴ καὶ σῶμα, ὅτι βασιλεύς τις ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ βασιλείᾳ πάντας εἶχεν ἐστρατευμένους, παγανὸν δὲ οὐκ εἶχεν ἀλλ' ἢ μόνον δύο, ἕνα χωλὸν καὶ ἕνα τυφλόν, καὶ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν κατ' ἰδίαν ἐκαθέζετο καὶ κατ' ἰδίαν ᾤκει. γάμους δὲ ποιήσας ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ ἰδίῳ υἱῷ ἐκάλεσε πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ βασιλείᾳ, περιεφρόνησε δὲ τῶν δύο παγανῶν, τοῦ τε χωλοῦ καὶ τοῦ τυφλοῦ· οἱ δὲ ἠγανάκτησαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐπιβουλὴν ἐργάσασθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπενόουν. παράδεισον δὲ εἶχεν ὁ βασιλεύς, καὶ ἀπὸ μήκοθεν ὁ τυφλὸς ἐλάλει τῷ χωλῷ λέγων «πόσον ἦν ἡμῶν τὸ κλάσμα τοῦ ἄρτου μετὰ τῶν ὄχλων τῶν κληθέντων εἰς τὴν εὐφρασίαν; δεῦρο τοίνυν, καθὼς ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν, ἀμυνώμεθα αὐτόν». ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἠρώτα «ποίῳ τρόπῳ»; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν «ἀπέλθωμεν εἰς τὸν παράδεισον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀφανίσωμεν ἐκεῖ τὰ τοῦ παραδείσου». ὁ δὲ εἶπεν «καὶ πῶς δύναμαι, χωλὸς ὢν καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος ἐπισαίνειν»; ὁ δὲ τυφλὸς ἔφη «αὐτὸς ἐγὼ δύναμαί τι πράττειν μὴ ὁρῶν ποῦ ἀπέρχομαι; ἀλλὰ τεχνασώμεθα». τίλας χόρτον τὸν πλησίον καὶ πλέξας σχοινίον ἠκόντισε τῷ τυφλῷ καὶ εἶπεν «κράτει, καὶ δεῦρο πρὸς τὸ σχοινίον πρός με». ὡς δὲ ἐποίησεν ὃ προετράπη, ὅτε ἔφθασε λέγει «δεῦρό μοι γενοῦ πόδες καὶ βάστασόν με, καὶ γίνομαί σοι ὀφθαλμοί, ἄνωθεν ὁδηγῶν σε δεξιὰ καὶ εὐώνυμα». τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσαντες κατέβησαν εἰς τὸν παράδεισον· εἶτα λοιπὸν εἴτε ἠδίκησαν εἴτε καὶ οὐκ ἠδίκησαν, ὅμως τὰ ἴχνη πέφηνεν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. καταλύσαντες δὲ ἐκ τῶν γάμων οἱ εὐφρανθέντες καταβάντες εἰς τὸν παράδεισον