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for the sake of benefit, he increased friendship, and he will depart rejoicing, as one who has received an illumination that dispels darkness.

27. He who rashly interrupts the hearing of words in a council has not escaped being sick with ambition; being captured by which, he puts forward countless courses and roundabout proposals, wishing to disrupt the coherence of what is being said.

28. The wise man, both teaching and being taught, wishes only to be taught and to teach what is beneficial; but the one who seems wise, both asking and being asked, puts forward only the more trivial matters.

29. Whatever good things one has received by the grace of God, he is a debtor to share them abundantly with others. For, it says, "Freely you have received, freely give." For he who hides the free gift under the earth slanders the lord as harsh, forswearing virtue out of concern for the flesh. But he who sells the truth to enemies, later being caught as ambitious, not bearing the shame, hangs himself.

30. Those who are still cowardly in the war against the passions, and fear the attack of invisible enemies, must be silent; that is, they must not employ the method of speaking against them on behalf of virtue; but they must yield to God through prayer the care for themselves; to whom it is said in Exodus: "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." But those who, after the destruction of their persecutors, seek the ways of the virtues for discerning learning, must have only the ear of the mind open; to whom he says, "Hear, O Israel." But for the one who, on account of purification, greatly desires divine knowledge, reverent boldness is fitting; to whom it will be said, "Why do you cry to me?" Therefore, for whomever silence is prescribed because of fear, only taking refuge in God is suitable; for whomever is urged to hear, readiness for obedience to the divine commandments is fitting; but for the gnostic, how suitable it is to cry out unceasingly through supplication, both for the turning away of evils, and for thanksgiving for the participation in good things.

31. A soul can never be stretched out toward the knowledge of God, unless God Himself, using condescension, touches it, and leads it up to Himself. (1096) For the human mind would not have had such strength to ascend, so as to apprehend any divine illumination, unless God Himself had drawn it up, as far as it was possible for a human mind to be drawn up, and enlightened it with divine splendors.

32. He who imitates the disciples of the Lord does not refrain on account of the Pharisees from making his way through the grainfields on the Sabbath and plucking the ears of grain, but after the practical life, having arrived at dispassion, he gathers the principles of things that have come into being, piously nourishing himself on the divine knowledge of beings.

33. The one who is merely a believer according to the Gospel moves the mountain of his own wickedness through practice; thrusting away from himself, by the unstable revolution of things under sense-perception, his former disposition toward them. But he who is able to be a disciple, receiving from the Logos with his hands the fragments of the gnostic loaves, nourishes thousands; showing by deed the power of the word being multiplied. But he who has the strength to be an Apostle heals every disease and infirmity, casting out demons; that is, putting to flight the activity of the passions; healing the sick, leading back through hope to a state of piety those who have been deprived of it, and those who have become soft through sloth, making them firm with the word of judgment. For having been commanded to tread upon serpents and scorpions, he obliterates the beginning and the end of sin.

34. The Apostle and disciple is in every case also a believer; but the disciple is not in every case also an apostle, but is in every case a believer. But he who is only a believer is neither a disciple nor an apostle; nevertheless, through life and contemplation, the third can be transferred to the rank and worth of the second, and the second to that of the first.

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ὠφελείας χάριν, ηὔξησε φιλίαν, καί ἀπελεύσεται χαίρων, ὡς λαβών φωτισμόν σκότους λυτήριον.

κζ΄. Ὁ ἐν συνεδρίῳ λόγων ἀκρόασιν προπετῶς ἀνακόπτων, οὐκ ἔλαβε φιλοδοξίαν νοσῶν· ὑφ᾿ ἧς ἁλισκόμενος, μυρίους προβάλλεται δρόμους καί περιδρόμους προτάσεων, τήν εἰρμόν τῶν λεγομένων διαστῆσαι βουλόμενος.

κη΄. Ὁ σοφός, καί διδάσκων καί διδασκόμενος, μόνα βούλεται τά ὠφελοῦντα διδάσκεσθαι καί διδάσκειν· ὁ δέ δοκήσει σοφός, καί ἐρωτῶν καί ἐρωτώμενος, τά περιεργότερα μόνον προβάλλεται.

κθ΄. Ὧν μετέσχε τις κατά Θεοῦ χάριν ἀγαθῶν, καί ἄλλοις ἀφθόνως μεταδοῦναι χρεώστης ἐστί. ∆ωρεάν γάρ, φησίν, ἐλάβετε, δωρεάν δότε. Ὁ γάρ ὑπό γῆν κρύπτων τήν δωρεάν, ὡς σκληρόν διαβάλλει τόν κύριον, φειδοῖ τῆς σαρκός τήν ἀρετήν ἐξομνύμενος. Ὁ δέ πιπράσκων ἐχθροῖς τήν ἀλήθειαν, ὕστερον ἁλούς ὡς φιλόδοξος, μή φέρων τήν αἰσχύνην ἀπάγχεται.

λ΄. Τούς ἔτι δειλιῶντας τόν πρός τά πάθη πόλεμον, καί φοβουμένους τήν τῶν ἀοράτων ἐχθρῶν ἐπιδρομήν, σιωπᾶν δεῖ· τουτέστι, τόν ὑπέρ ἀρετῆς ἀντιῤῥητικόν μή μεταχειρίζεσθαι τρόπον· ἀλλά παραχωρεῖν τῷ Θεῷ δι᾿ εὐχῆς, τήν ὑπέρ ἑαυτῶν μέριμναν· πρός οὕς ἐν Ἐξόδῳ λέγεται· Κύριος πολεμήσει περί ὑμῶν, καί ὑμεῖς σιγήσεσθε. Τούς δέ ἤδη μετά τήν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν διωκόντων, τούς τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐπιζητοῦντας τρόπους πρός εὐγνώμονα μάθησιν, δέον ἔχειν μόνον ἠνεῳγμένον τῆς διανοίας τό οὖς· πρός οὕς φησιν, Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ. Τῷ δέ σφόδρα διά τήν κάθαρσιν, τῆς θείας ἐφιεμένῳ γνώσεως, ἁρμόδιος ἡ εὐλαβής παῤῥησία· πρός ὅν εἰρήσεται, Τί βοᾷς πρός με; Οὐκοῦν ὅτῳ μέν σιωπή διά φόβον προστέτακται, πρόσφορος μόνον ἡ πρός Θεόν καταφυγή· ὅτῳ δέ ἀκούειν παρακελεύεται, ἁρμόδιος ἡ πρός ὑπακοήν τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν ἑτοιμότης· τῷ δέ γνωστικῷ, τί δι᾿ ἱκεσίαν ἀπαύστως βοᾷν ἐπιτήδειον, ὑπέρ τε τῆς τῶν κακῶν ἀποτροπῆς, καί εὐχαριστίας τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν μετουσίας.

λα΄. Οὐδέποτε ψυχή δύναται πρός γνῶσιν ἐκταθῆναι Θεοῦ, εἰ μή αὐτός ὁ Θεός συγκαταβάσει χρησάμενος ἅψηται αὐτῆς, καί ἀναγάγῃ πρός ἑαυτόν. (1096) Οὐ γάρ ἄν τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν ἀναδραμεῖν ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς, ὡς ἀντιλαβέσθαι τινός θείας ἐλλάμψεως, εἰ μή αὐτός ὁ Θεός ἀνέσπασεν αὐτόν, ὡς δυνατόν ἦν ἀνθρώπινον νοῦν ἀνασπασθῆναι, καί ταῖς θείαις αὐγαῖς κατεφώτισεν.

λβ΄. Ὁ τούς μαθητάς τοῦ Κυρίου μιμούμενος, οὐ παραιτεῖται διά τούς Φαρισαίους ὁδόν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ διά τῶν σπορίμων, καί στάχυας τίλλειν, ἀλλά μετά τήν πρακτικήν ἐν τῇ ἀπαθείᾳ γενόμενος, τούς λόγους ἀναλέγεται τῶν γεγονότων, εὐσεβῶς τήν θείαν τῶν ὄντων ἐπιστήμην τρεφόμενος.

λγ΄. Ὁ κατά τό Εἀγγέλιον μόνον πιστός, τό ὄρος τῆς κακίας αὐτοῦ διά πράξεως μετατίθησιν· ἀπωθούμενος ἑαυτοῦ τῇ ἀστάτῳ περιφορᾷ τῶν ὑπό αἴσθησιν, τήν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς προτέραν διάθεσιν. Ὁ δέ μαθητής εἶναι δυνάμενος, ἐκ τοῦ Λόγου δεχόμενος χερσί τῶν γνωστικῶν ἄρτων τά κλάσματα, διατρέφει χιλιάδας· πράξει δεικνύς πληθυνομένην τοῦ λόγου τήν δύναμιν. Ὁ δέ καί Ἀπόστολος ἰσχύσας εἶναι, πᾶσαν ἰατρεύει νόσον καί μαλακίαν, ἐκβάλλων δαιμόνια· τουτέστι, τήν τῶν παθῶν φυγαδεύων ἐνέργειαν· νοσοῦντας ἰώμενος, πρός ἕξιν εὐσεβείας τούς στερηθέντας αὐτῆς δι᾿ ἐλπίδος ἐπανάγων, καί τούς δι᾿ ὄκνον μαλακισθέντας, ἐπιστύφων τῷ λόγῳ τῆς κρίσεως. Πατεῖν γάρ ἐπάνω ὄφεων καί σκορπίων κελευσθείς, ἀρχήν καί τέλος τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐξαφανίζει.

λδ΄. Ὁ Ἀπόστολος καί μαθητής, πάντως ἐστί καί πιστός· ὁ δέ μαθητής οὐ πάντως μέν καί ἀπόστολος, πάντως δέ πιστός. Ὁ δέ μόνον πιστός, οὔτε μαθητής οὔτε ἀπόστολός ἐστι· πλήν δύναται διά βίου καί θεωρίας, καί ὁ τρίτος εἰς τήν τοῦ δευτέρου, καί ὁ δεύτερος εἰς τήν τοῦ πρώτου μετενεχθῆναι τάξιν καί ἀξίαν.