11.  Perchance He will say to me, who am not reformed even by blows, I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew,67    Isai. xlviii. 4. the heedless is heedless and the lawless man acts lawlessly,68    Ib. xxi. 2 (LXX.). naught is the heavenly correction, naught the scourges.  The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed,69    Jer. vi. 29. as I once reproached you by the mouth of Jeremiah, the founder melted the silver in vain, your wickednesses are not melted away.  Can ye abide my wrath, saith the Lord.  Has not My hand the power to inflict upon you other plagues also?  There are still at My command the blains breaking forth from the ashes of the furnace,70    Exod. ix. 10. by sprinkling which toward heaven, Moses, or any other minister of God’s action, may chastise Egypt with disease.  There remain also the locusts, the darkness that may be felt, and the plague which, last in order, was first in suffering and power, the destruction and death of the firstborn, and, to escape this, and to turn aside the destroyer, it were better to sprinkle the doorposts of our mind, contemplation and action, with the great and saving token, with the blood of the new covenant, by being crucified and dying with Christ, that we may both rise and be glorified and reign with Him both now and at His final appearing, and not be broken and crushed, and made to lament, when the grievous destroyer smites us all too late in this life of darkness, and destroys our firstborn, the offspring and results of our life which we had dedicated to God.

ΙΑʹ. Γινώσκω, ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ, καὶ νεῦρον σιδηροῦν ὁ τράχηλός σου: ταῦτα τυχὸν ἐρεῖ πρὸς ἐμὲ, τὸν μηδὲ ταῖς πληγαῖς νουθετούμενον: ὁ ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ: ὁ ἀνομῶν ἀνομεῖ: οὐδὲν ἡ ἄνωθεν νουθεσία: οὐδὲν αἱ μάστιγες. Ἐξέλιπε φυσητὴρ, ἐξέλιπε μόλιβδος, ἃ καὶ διὰ Ἱερεμίου πρότερον ὑμῖν ὠνείδισα: Εἰς κενὸν ἀργυροκόπος ἀργυροκοπεῖ: πονηρίαι ὑμῶν οὐκ ἐτάκησαν. Μὴ ἐμὲ ὑπομενεῖτε, λέγει Κύριος, ὠργισμένον; Ἢ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χείρ μου καὶ ἄλλας ἐπενεγκεῖν πληγάς; Ἔτι παρ' ἐμοὶ καὶ φλυκτίδες ἀναζέουσαι ἀπὸ καμινιαίας. αἰθάλης, ἣν πάσσων εἰς οὐρανὸν Μωϋσῆς, ἢ εἴ τις κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὑπηρέτης Θεοῦ κινήσεως, παιδεύει νόσῳ τὴν Αἴγυπτον. Ἔτι καὶ ἀκρὶς, καὶ σκότος ψηλαφητὸν, καὶ ἡ τελευταία πληγὴ τῇ τάξει, πρώτη δὲ τῷ πόνῳ καὶ τῇ δυνάμει, ἡ τῶν πρωτοτόκων φθορὰ καὶ ἀπώλεια, ἣν ὥστε φυγεῖν, καὶ ἀποστρέψαι τὸν ὀλοθρευτὴν, χρῖσαι τὰς τοῦ νοῦ φλιὰς ἄμεινον, θεωρίαν καὶ πρᾶξιν, τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ σωτηρίῳ σφραγῖδι, τῷ τῆς Καινῆς Διαθήκης αἵματι, Χριστῷ καὶ συσταυρουμένους, καὶ συναποθνήσκοντας, ὥστε καὶ συναναστῆναι, καὶ συνδοξασθῆναι, καὶ συμβασιλεῦσαι, νῦν τε καὶ κατὰ τὴν τελευταίαν αὐτοῦ φανέρωσιν: ἀλλὰ μὴ θραυσθῆναι, μηδὲ συντριβῆναι, μηδὲ θρηνῆσαι, πλήσσοντος ἡμᾶς ἀωρίᾳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ σκοτεινῷ τούτῳ βίῳ τοῦ Πονηροῦ, καὶ ὀλοθρεύοντος τὰ πρωτότοκα, καὶ Θεῷ καθιερωμένα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν γεννήματα καὶ κινήματα.