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to feed them; not only relatives, but also doing good to enemies. 2. And what at all is difficult among the things that have been said? For he did not say, “Cross over the mountain, pass through the sea, dig up so and so many plethra of land, remain without food, put on sackcloth;” but, “Share with your own people, share your bread, tear up the documents unjustly composed.” What is easier than these things, tell me. But if you think them to be difficult, consider for me also the prizes, and they will be easy for you. For just as kings in the hippodromes set out crowns and prizes and garments before the competitors, so indeed Christ also places the prizes in the middle of the stadium, as if extending them through the many hands of the Prophet's words. And kings, on the one hand, even if they are kings ten thousand times over, since they are human beings and have wealth that can be spent and a love of honor that can be used up, ambitiously strive to show the few things as many; for which reason, entrusting each single thing to each of the attendants, they bring them forth into the middle. But our King, on the contrary, having gathered everything together, since he is exceedingly wealthy and does nothing for show, thus sets them forth in the middle, which, when spread out, will be infinite, and will require many hands to hold them. And that you may learn this, examine each of them with precision. Then, he says, your light shall break forth as the morning. Does this gift not seem to you to be one thing? But it is not one; for it has many things within, both prizes 58.540 and crowns and other rewards. And if you wish, let us untie it and show all the wealth, as it is possible for us to show; only do not grow weary. And first let me inquire: what is meant by, "It shall break forth." For he did not say, "It will appear," but, "It shall break forth;" showing us its swiftness and abundance, and how strongly he desires our salvation, and how the good things themselves are in pangs to come forth, and how they hasten, and there will be nothing to hinder their unspeakable rush; through all of which he indicates their abundance, and the infinity of their superabundance. And what is "as the morning"? That is, not after being in temptations, nor after the assault of evils, but it even comes beforehand. For just as in the case of fruits we call "early" that which appears before its season, so also here, again showing its swiftness, he spoke thus; just as he said above: "While you are still speaking, I will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" But what light does he mean? and what ever is this light? Not this perceptible one, but another far better, which shows us heaven, the angels, the archangels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim, the thrones, the dominions, the principalities, the powers, the whole army, the royal courts, the tabernacles. For if you are deemed worthy of that light, you will see these things, and you will be delivered from Gehenna, and from the venomous worm, and from the gnashing of teeth, and from the unbreakable bonds, and from the distress, and from the affliction, and from the lightless darkness, and from being cut in two, and from the river of fire, and from the curse, and from the places of pain; and you will go away where sorrow and grief have fled; where there is much joy, and peace, and love, and delight, and gladness; where there is eternal life, and unutterable glory, and ineffable beauty; where there are eternal tabernacles, and the secret glory of the King, and those good things, which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man; where there is the spiritual bridal chamber, and the nuptial chambers of the heavens, and the virgins who have the bright lamps, and those who have the wedding garment; where there are the many possessions of the Master, and the royal treasuries. Have you seen how great are the prizes, and how many things he has shown through one saying, and how he has gathered everything together? Thus also, by unfolding each of the subsequent sayings, we will find great superabundance, and a boundless sea. Shall we still delay, then, tell me, and shall we hesitate to have mercy on those in need? No, I beseech you, but even if it be necessary to cast away everything, or to be thrown into fire, or to brave the sword, or to leap upon knives, or to suffer anything whatsoever, let us bear all things readily, so that we may obtain the garment of the kingdom of heaven, and the ineffable glory.

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αὐτοὺς διαθρέψαι· οὐ συγγενεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐχθροὺς εὐεργετοῦντες. ʹ. Τί δὲ ὅλως καὶ δύσκολον τῶν εἰρημένων; Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ὑπέρβηθι τὸ ὄρος, διάβηθι τὸ πέλαγος, διάσκαψον πλέθρα γῆς τόσα καὶ τόσα, ἄσιτος διάμενε, σάκκον περιβαλοῦ· ἀλλὰ, Μετάδος τοῖς οἰκείοις, μετάδος τοῦ ἄρτου, τὰ ἀδίκως συγκείμενα γραμματεῖα διάῤῥηξον. Τί τούτων εὐκολώτερον, εἰπέ μοι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ δύσκολα εἶναι νομίζεις, σκόπει μοι καὶ τὰ ἔπαθλα, καὶ ἔσται σοι ῥᾴδια. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐν ταῖς ἱπποδρομίαις πρὸ τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων στεφάνους καὶ βραβεῖα καὶ ἱμάτια συντιθέασιν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν μέσῳ τίθησι τῷ σταδίῳ τὰ ἔπαθλα, καθάπερ διὰ πολλῶν χειρῶν τῶν τοῦ Προφήτου ῥημάτων ἐκτείνων αὐτά. Καὶ οἱ μὲν βασιλεῖς, κἂν μυριάκις ὦσι βασιλεῖς, ἅτε ἄνθρωποι ὄντες, καὶ εὐπορίαν δαπανωμένην ἔχοντες, καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ἀναλισκομένην, τὰ ὀλίγα πολλὰ φιλοτιμοῦνται δεῖξαι· διὸ καὶ ἓν ἕκαστον ἑκάστῳ τῶν διακόνων ἐγχειρίζοντες, οὕτως εἰσάγουσιν εἰς μέσον. Ὁ δὲ Βασιλεὺς ὁ ἡμέτερος τοὐναντίον· ἅπαντα ὁμοῦ συμφορήσας, ἐπειδὴ σφόδρα ἐστὶν εὔπορος, καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν ποιεῖ, οὕτως εἰς μέσον προτίθησιν, ἅπερ ἐκταθέντα ἄπειρα ἔσται, καὶ πολλῶν δεήσεται τῶν κατεχουσῶν χειρῶν. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς τοῦτο, ἕκαστον αὐτῶν περισκόπει μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Τότε ῥαγήσεται, φησὶ, πρώϊμον τὸ φῶς σου. Ἆρα οὐ δοκεῖ σοι ἕν τι εἶναι τὸ δῶρον τοῦτο; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν ἕν· καὶ γὰρ πολλὰ ἔνδον ἔχει, καὶ βραβεῖα 58.540 καὶ στεφάνους καὶ ἕτερα ἔπαθλα. Καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε, λύσαντες δείξωμεν τὸν πλοῦτον ἅπαντα, καθὼς ἡμῖν οἷόν τέ ἐστι δεῖξαι· μόνον μὴ ἀποκάμητε. Καὶ πρῶτον μάθω· ἐν τί ἐστι, Ῥαγήσεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπε, Φανεῖται, ἀλλὰ, Ῥαγήσεται· τὸ ταχὺ καὶ δαψιλὲς ἡμῖν ἐμφαίνων, καὶ πῶς σφόδρα ἐφίεται τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας, καὶ πῶς ὠδίνει τὰ ἀγαθὰ αὐτὰ προελθεῖν, καὶ ἐπείγεται, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔσται τὸ κωλύον τὴν ἄφατον ῥύμην· δι' ὧν ἁπάντων τὴν δαψίλειαν αὐτῶν ἐνδείκνυται, καὶ τὸ ἄπειρον τῆς περιουσίας. Τί δέ ἐστι, Πρώϊμον; Τουτέστιν, οὐ μετὰ τὸ ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς γενέσθαι, οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν τῶν κακῶν ἔφοδον, ἀλλὰ καὶ προφθάνει. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν καρπῶν λέγομεν πρώϊμον τὸ πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ φανὲν, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, τὸ ταχινὸν πάλιν ἐμφαίνων, οὕτως εἶπεν· ὥσπερ ἄνω ἔλεγεν· Ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρῶ, Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι. Ποῖον δὲ λέγει φῶς; καὶ τί ποτέ ἐστι τοῦτο τὸ φῶς; Οὐ τοῦτο τὸ αἰσθητὸν, ἀλλ' ἕτερον πολλῷ βέλτιον, ὃ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡμῖν δείκνυσι, τοὺς ἀγγέλους, τοὺς ἀρχαγγέλους, τὰ Χερουβὶμ, τὰ Σεραφὶμ, τοὺς θρόνους, τὰς κυριότητας, τὰς ἀρχὰς, τὰς ἐξουσίας, τὸ στρατόπεδον ἅπαν, τὰς αὐλὰς τὰς βασιλικὰς, τὰς σκηνάς. Ἂν γὰρ τοῦ φωτὸς ἐκείνου καταξιωθῇς, καὶ ταῦτα ὄψει, καὶ ἀπαλλαγήσῃ γεέννης, καὶ τοῦ σκώληκος τοῦ ἰοβόλου, καὶ τοῦ βρυγμοῦ τῶν ὀδόντων, καὶ τῶν δεσμῶν τῶν ἀλύτων, καὶ τῆς στενοχωρίας, καὶ τῆς θλίψεως, καὶ τοῦ σκότους τοῦ ἀφεγγοῦς, καὶ τοῦ διχοτομηθῆναι, καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ πυρὸς, καὶ τῆς κατάρας, καὶ τῶν τῆς ὀδύνης χωρίων· καὶ ἀπελεύσῃ ἔνθα Ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη· ἔνθα πολλὴ ἡ χαρὰ, καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη, καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη, καὶ ἡ τρυφὴ, καὶ ἡ εὐφροσύνη· ἔνθα ζωὴ αἰώνιος, καὶ δόξα ἄῤῥητος, καὶ κάλλος ἄφραστον· ἔνθα αἰώνιοι σκηναὶ, καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ Βασιλέως ἡ ἀπόῤῥητος, καὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐκεῖνα, Ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη· ἔνθα ὁ νυμφὼν ὁ πνευματικὸς, καὶ αἱ παστάδες τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ αἱ παρθένοι αἱ τὰς φαιδρὰς ἔχουσαι λαμπάδας, καὶ οἱ τὸ ἔνδυμα τοῦ γάμου ἔχοντες· ἔνθα πολλὰ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα τοῦ ∆εσπότου, καὶ τὰ ταμεῖα τὰ βασιλικά. Εἶδες ἡλίκα τὰ ἔπαθλα, καὶ ὅσα διὰ μιᾶς ῥήσεως ἐπεδείξατο, καὶ πῶς πάντα συνεφόρησεν; Οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς ῥήσεων ἑκάστην ἀναπτύξαντες, πολλὴν εὑρήσομεν τὴν περιουσίαν, καὶ πέλαγος ἀχανές. Ἔτι οὖν ἀναβαλούμεθα, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ ὀκνήσομεν ἐλεεῖν τοὺς δεομένους; Μὴ, παρακαλῶ, ἀλλὰ κἂν πάντα ῥῖψαι δέῃ, κἂν εἰς πῦρ ἐμβληθῆναι, κἂν ξίφους κατατολμῆσαι, κἂν κατὰ μαχαιρῶν ἅλλεσθαι, κἂν ὁτιοῦν παθεῖν, πάντα φέρωμεν εὐκόλως, ἵνα τοῦ ἐνδύματος ἐπιτύχωμεν τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ τῆς ἀποῤῥήτου δόξης