Four Books of the Gospels

Nothing immortal is held in the frame of the world: not the globe, not the kingdoms of men, not golden Rome, not the sea, not the land, not the fiery stars of heaven. For the Father of all things has fixed a time that cannot be revoked, in which the last flame will seize and sweep away the whole world. Yet lofty deeds and the honour of virtue keep countless men alive through long ages, men whose fame and praises the poets heap up. Some are celebrated by the lofty songs that flow from the spring of Smyrna, others by the sweetness of Maro, son of the Mincius. Nor does the glory of those poets themselves spread less widely: it remains like an eternal glory, while the ages fly and the turning sky wheels the starry heaven round the lands and seas under the governance commanded to it. But if songs that weave lies into the deeds of men of old have earned so long a fame, for us sure faith will grant the immortal honour of a praise that lasts for ages and will repay our merit. For my song will be the life-giving deeds of Christ, a divine gift to the peoples, free from the charge of falsehood. Nor do I fear that the fires of the world will carry this work away with them; for this work perhaps will rescue me from the fire then, when Christ, the Judge, the glory of the Father enthroned on high, comes down flashing in a flame-spewing cloud. Come then! Let the Holy Spirit, author of song, be with me, and let the sweet Jordan water the mind of the singer with its pure stream, so that we may say what is worthy of Christ.

There was a king, Herod, cruel, in the nation of Judaea; under him was Zacharias, keeper of justice and priest of the temple, on whom the charge of guarding the temple pressed in his turn, in the appointed order of the chosen priests. To his bridal chamber clung a most worthy wife. Both had an equal care for just conduct; the precepts of the law held both bound together. They had no offspring, and their years were already declining, so that the gift might be the more welcome to those already in despair. But when Zacharias happened to be bringing incense to the sanctuary and the altar, a messenger was seen to come down from the opened heaven and to deliver to him alone the words he was commanded to bring (for the rest of the people were then praying, prostrate at the doors): "Why has the sight struck such terrible fear into your heart, when the grace of a joyful message should calm you? For the one Father of all things sends me down from the high throne of heaven and commands me now to come and speak with you, and he promises you a son soon from your dear wife, for whom great glory awaits, who by his birth will win many joys for the peoples; sober for ever, he will be filled with a bright divine power by the Spirit, shut in his mother's very womb. By his teaching he will turn the greater part of this people to the true way; he will be the first to know at once the Lord and God, and will renew the people."

"Remember to call him by the name John." To him the priest answered with confused mind: "My age stands against such promises, and offspring cannot come to the weary old, which God turned away and denied us in the first flower of youth." So spoke the trembling priest, and the messenger adds: "If any mortal promised you offspring, perhaps your mind's hesitation might rightly have lingered on despair in slow, clinging words. Now I, whom the Lord of heaven, the maker of the earth, willed to stand before his face as his minister, received by a man's ungrateful ears and sight, have delivered the commands of the supreme God only to have them scorned. Therefore the gift remains in the promises beyond recall, but your voice, the messenger of your quick mind, will be shut up, until all God's gifts are made sure to you." So he spoke, and mingled himself with the thin air. Meanwhile the people were long wondering why the priest delayed so long in the temple. Coming forth trembling, he showed by nods that he had seen a heavenly presence, and the loss of his poor voice. Then the priest returned home when his service was completed in its order, and the promises lightened the loss of speech; nor were the gifts of offspring long delayed.

But the wife kept the anxious joys of her womb hidden, until the light had five times filled the hollow moon. Then the same minister was sent down and brought greater commands to the ears of the virgin Mary. Betrothed to her kinsman for an appointed time, she was allowed by her parents' command to grow up chastely, hidden in a virgin's dwelling, and to keep the day. To her the messenger begins a calm speech: "Hail, you who will help the earth with saving offspring; cease to trouble your mind at this awesome sight. For by heaven's command your womb will conceive a son, whom God rejoices and commands to reign through all ages and to be believed his own offspring. When you have brought him into the light, let his name be Jesus." Then the virgin begins thus to him with fearful lips: "They say that no conception happens without a husband; from where, then, shall I hope that offspring will come to me?" The messenger replies quickly: "The lofty power of God will hover around you, overshadowing you, and the pure Spirit will come, most chosen virgin, and soon by a chaste word will command a boy to be born to you, glorious for the peoples, whom it is necessary to believe holy and to call the Son of the supreme God. So too your kinswoman, whom all believed barren, the wife of Zacharias, has lately drawn wonders from mortal seed into limbs worn out with age."

"This is the sixth month: so all things obey commands." Then the virgin: "See, as your words declare, the handmaid is ready now to serve the Lord who commands." The messenger departed and hid himself in the empty air. She then with swift steps entered the city of Judaea and the house of Zacharias and greeted Elisabeth, who was with child, and at once the limbs of the child shut in the womb leapt with a stronger movement in her lap. As soon as the mother started up, shaken with trembling, she was filled with the holy breath of the divine voice and cried aloud: "Happy woman, hail, who carry a happy child in the fold of your womb. Why has the just God willed to honour my house so greatly, that the mother of the high Godhead should visit it? See, the child in my womb leaps for joy, as soon as it heard Mary's first greeting. Happy is the one who believes that the words which God will deign to speak to his servants will soon be fulfilled." She, drawing breath through joy mixed with modesty, utters trembling words in a low voice: "My soul repays glorious praises and thanks to the Lord of the boundless world. This spirit can scarcely hold such joy, that he has deigned to raise me on high from lowliness, and the just God has willed me to be held blessed by all nations and ages.

See, he has taken the throne from the cruel and broken the proud; the lowly and needy he has enriched with abundant wealth." Then she stayed there three months in order, and returned to her own home, now sure of what was to come. And now the time was at hand when the turning day would compel Elisabeth to bring forth into the shores of light the child she was commanded to bear. At the news of the birth the crowd of kinsfolk gathered and ran; in numbers they celebrated wonderful joys and bade that he have his father's name. The mother refused this, and repeated that he be called John. Then they decided to consult the wishes of the mute father, and asked him to declare the name in writing. But, oh wonderful faith, when he tried to write on the tablets, he loosed his entangled tongue in sounding words. Soon the breath of the Spirit also entered his familiar mind, and, filled, he sang words that knew the future: "Let all celebrate praises and give thanks to the Father of the stars and the earth, the sea and mankind, because he has willed to visit and set free his own people. See, he blesses the ancient nation and, raising up the horn of salvation, grants light from the line of David. This is what the prophets of old sang in order; this is that salvation by which he snatches us from dark enemies, so that we may serve the Just One justly.

"But you, little boy, will be called a holy and worthy prophet, and soon you will go before the Lord on his way and lead his people through open light: through you all who follow your teaching will scorn error and break through the darkness of death." From then on the boy's life was always hidden in secret valleys, until, as the years required, he grew to full age for the prophet's office. Meanwhile wonders troubled the mind of Mary's betrothed, because he saw the plain weight of her womb, and he turned over within himself by what means he might hide the disgrace of his kinswoman, keeping it quiet, and refuse the marriage. As he pondered this, his limbs grew heavy with sleep, and above his fearful dreams he heard the voice of God: "Take in marriage the one betrothed to you, who is without any guilt, whose womb the Spirit has filled with holy offspring. The prophet sang that she would come, and the virgin's child, whose name is GOD WITH US." At once he followed these commands and kept the agreed betrothal. But then, as it happened, by the orders of Caesar Augustus a count of heads was being made through most of the earth in a new census; Quirinus then ruled Syria by right, and to him the peoples throughout all the towns declared their own lands, their means, their names and families.

There is a city of Judaea, Bethleem, which bore tuneful David, and which by right required the census of his family. Here Joseph, of David's line, registered Mary, writing her down as betrothed to him and declaring her with child. As lodging for the two of them, beneath the walls of the city of Bethleem, there was a very small dwelling of a poor country place. There the virgin, her child complete at the time now come, is delivered; swaddling bands of old cloth wrap the boy, and a hard manger is given him for a bed. Round about, the anxious watch over the flocks by night kept the shepherds awake through the glad pastures. See, by God's command a messenger was seen to come down from heaven, and sudden terror threw the shepherds' bodies, trembling with fear, on the green earth. And such a voice, sent from heaven, ran to the astonished men: "Put away the terror of your minds, take my words, shepherds, to whom I bring this great joy. For a boy is born of the illustrious line of David, who will soon spread light and gladness to the peoples. I will tell you this sign: that you may now see the boy filling the manger with his thin voice." As he spoke, thousands of the heavenly host join him, and all praise God and entreat him, and such a voice of the united army fills the air: "Glory, as is due, attends the supreme Father;

on earth a worthy peace will follow just men." And with these words they return to the secret places of heaven. The shepherds come quickly and see the boy lying in the lap of the manger; then in numbers they scatter far and wide the wandering seeds of swift report. Wondering, they praise; rejoicing, they were amazed that everything had turned out true to the night's warnings. The boy had seen the eighth day: see, it is necessary that he be circumcised according to the custom of the law and given a name. And the name given him was the one which the voice sent from God had once enjoined on Mary by heavenly warnings: Jesus. Moses had written the rules of the ancient law, among which he gave the command to offer the first offspring to be consecrated, from the ancient blood of the priests, and at the same time to bring unfledged doves to the shrine. When these rites were being kept by Mary in the temple, see, the old man Simeon, worthy to grasp heavenly voices in his mind, to whom a power that knew the future had once revealed that he would lay down the prison of his sick body and see death and rest as a free man, as soon as he had seen the praise of heaven and the salvation of the earth, Christ, whom all the oracles of the prophets promise, bringing the solemn doves to the temple.

And when he, weary, his body bent and now heavier with age, entered the temple, as the Spirit, the author, had prompted, see, at that moment he sensed that little Jesus had come to the temple in his mother's lap; with trembling arms he took the boy and joyfully spoke these words: "Now, now the Lord frees me, his servant, from the dark bonds of the body, and deigns to put an end to his words in peace. See, your splendid light surrounds our eyes and shines with its rays; having lit up all the nations of men, it adds glory to the thronging people of the Israelites. Why were the heart of mother Mary so amazed? This boy is given for the fall of the people; he will grant the peoples to be born again; a sign spoken against will come from him, and a sword gleaming with steel, running through what is owed to death, will pierce even his mother's soul, so that the dark folds of the hidden heart may be laid open." So God spoke in Simeon; soon, see, he fills a woman's mind with the holy breath of prophecy. Anna was advanced in age; in the flower of her youth the untimely death of her husband had left her a widow. But a chaste life in the temple and the worship of God had always taken the place of a husband; at the command of the Godhead she recognized Christ and spoke in like words.

Then, when the mother, and Joseph, wondering at everything, had fulfilled the solemn law for the boy's name, they gladly returned to their homeland and carried the boy back. There is a nation further off, familiar with the rising sun, skilled at noting the risings and settings of the stars; its leading men bore the name of Magi. Then some chosen men from there came down over long roads to Solyma, approached the king, and begged to be told what region of Judaea held the boy born to royal rule: they had come, they said, warned on the way by a shining star from the east, so that with suppliant right hand they might worship the venerable Godhead risen upon the earth. Herod in terror summoned by command the chiefs of the priests of Solyma and those who study the predictions of the ancient prophets, and ordered them to search the whole law, to make plain which is the city of Christ's birth, whom all the oracles of the prophets promise will come. Then it is made plain that he is to be born within the walls of Bethleem, he who must lead the holy people of the Israelites by holy power. Then Herod bids the Persians press on their journey and show him the boy, when found, so that he may worship him. See, in the midst of their journey they see the star running before them, furrowing the air with flames; it stopped at its highest point and showed the dwelling of the boy, lighting it up.

The Magi rejoice with great joy and greet the star, and after they saw the boy at his mother's breast, they threw themselves down and lay prostrate on the ground, and, bowed low, they made their prayer; then they gave three gifts, incense, gold and myrrh, to the King, the Man, and God. Soon fearful dreams troubled them all night long and bade them avoid the savage tyrant. So by other paths the Magi fled Herod's court and returned secretly to their homeland. Joseph too, moved by heavenly warnings, carried the boy himself, together with his mother, to Egypt. But fierce Herod believed that the one whom the Magi, skilled in the stars, had diligently sought was to succeed him. Troubled by their cautious departure, he ordered a horrible slaughter through the streets of Bethleem. All the infants, the tender people at the breast, he tore away with the sword, though charged with no guilt. This slaughter too had long been foretold, which good Hieremias, commanded by the divine power, laments: mothers, for the wretched death of their offspring, beating heaven heavily with dreadful cries. But when the fury was lulled and the savage cruelty of the tyrant was sated with the infants' horrible blood, he thinks he has destroyed all the poor children whom one or two years of mortal life had weighed upon.

Again, his limbs bound by a wondrous sleep, Joseph is urged by warnings to carry Mary and the boy from Egypt to the homeland, where happy Nazara gave the boy the name once foretold for him. And the voice of another prophet, inspired by God, once foretold: "My offspring will come, will come from deep Egypt, a light and salvation to the lands." The infant grew with swift steps of years; his wisdom, outrunning his age, went before it, and grace worthy of reverence shone in his face and words. And now he had reached twelve years of age, when his parents, keeping the rite of the Passover according to custom, were accustomed to bring the boy to the temple at the joyful feast every year. So they were there for the Passover, and when all the days of the festival were completed they were preparing to return to the homeland, when the boy, in the crowd, left the footsteps of his mother, his companion, and gladly sought the inner places of the temple. Through the streets of the city and through hidden houses, along the highways of the journey, among acquaintances and kinsfolk, his mother sought him; but when the third day came she returned quickly to the temple and found him set among the companies of the priests, discussing the obscurities of the laws with an assembly of old men. Hardly adequate was the old men's admiration at the boy's words; but his devoted mother said:

"Son, I have been seeking you, lost to us, with flowing tears, anxious, grieving with your father. What cause has separated you from your parents' steps and keeps you in the temple?" But he said: "Why do you seek me so, why? Do you not yet perceive, mother, that it is right for the son to dwell in his father's seat and house?" He said this, joined them on the way, and returned to the homeland; nor did his mother grasp the weight of so great a saying, yet she kept everything in order in the secret places of her heart. But the boy, by most sweet obedience, fittingly bound them both always to love of him. Meanwhile the course of the ages, running through what the ancient scripture owed, was drawing on all the promises. The offspring of Zacharias in the desert valleys called everyone with his cry to put off their stains, that they might receive the wonderful washing of the clear river, by which the soul's virtue, its filth washed away, might shine; as the prophet Esaias, commanded by the Godhead, sang: "A voice resounds far and wide in the desert valleys: build broad roads, let every path of the ways be straight, to bear the footsteps of the Lord worthily. The hills will sink, every valley will be filled; the good line of a straight road will correct its windings, and the Father and Lord of salvation grants to all to look on the serene light with bodily eyes." So the peoples came and, rushing from every side, filled the banks and eagerly sought the washing.

His garments were woven of camels' hair, a girdle of skin bound the prophet's waist, and wild honey supplied his slender fare. When he saw so many peoples, sprung from different places, rushing to the river, he began thus: "Offspring of a viperous race, who shows you how to escape the punishments you deserve and the wrath that presses on you? But, wretched men, if you repent, bear fitting fruit, and let no confidence in your descent puff up your minds. For easily, even from stones, a people will succeed to your name, since a degenerate offspring goes astray. Now, now, before the eyes of all, the raised edge of the axe presses close on the oaken roots. The barren woods will be cut down and will feed the fire. I have undertaken now to wash away past stains in the pure river; but another, stronger, will come, the thongs of whose feet I am not worthy to touch. He will wash the mind of man with the Holy Spirit and purge guilty hearts with balls of flame. In his hands the farmer's shovel is held; his own threshing floor of crops will be cleansed; the abundance of sifted grain will fill his barns, and eternal fire will devour the light chaff." So he spoke, and saw Jesus himself coming with swift steps through the wood to seek the venerable washing of the Jordan.

But the prophet forbade him, protesting, and spoke thus: "Do you deign to be plunged in the waters by my hands, when your washing could better cleanse me?" So spoke John, and Jesus answered him thus: "Allow it now, for this is fitting: so the holy order of righteousness that we must follow will be fulfilled in all things." Saying this, he went down into the glassy waters of the river. As he rose, the manifest presence of God shone out. The golden sky of the sevenfold heaven was split, and the Spirit, bearing a bodily form, came down from on high in the likeness of an airy dove from a cloud, and poured his holy breath over the body of Jesus. Then the voice of God, sent forth, ran through the long void and addressed Christ, washed in the waters and anointed with the breath: "You, my Son, I testify today with joy, are begotten of me; this glory of my offspring pleases me." Then he sought the shady mountains and the lairs of wild beasts, and the Father's ministers vied swiftly to offer him service; soon the demon's envy seized his dark mind with terror, and meanwhile the deceitful cunning of that sick one did not fail to tempt Christ. Forty suns had passed in order since any nourishment of food or drink had been given him; but the fasts of a firm heart, joined one to another, held the secret places of his mind on the kingdom over the earth.

Then at last the body warned him to seek food. Meanwhile the deceit of horrid wickedness tempted him: "If God has truly begotten you," he said, "you will be able with a strong word to command all these stones to take the use and form of wheaten bread." Christ answers this: "Such things do not frighten me now; for I remember that it is written that the easy substance of bread will not alone sustain the life of the believer, but power fills devout hearts by the word of God." But again the tempter hastened to weave his tricks, fitting them with crafty arts. For as soon as he perceived that Christ had set foot within the walls of the city, the livid power made him stand on the marble summit of the temple. Then he approached him thus, with the deceiving poison of his voice: "If God is truly your Father, from the summit of the temple you will hurl your body with a leap through the empty air. Scripture will be your witness, which openly promises that the supreme Father has given his ministers such a command, that they be eager to protect a body that falls by accident; and they will run to lift your limbs with servant hands, lest striking a stone hurt the soles of your feet." Christ returned contrary words to these: "I must rather remember the heavenly scripture, that confident boldness must not tempt the powers of the Lord." Again, soon the raging deceit perceived Christ standing on the lofty ridges of a steep mountain, and showed him the gleaming kingdoms through the world:

"Do you see," he said, "how great is the glory of such great things? I can grant all of it to your kingdom at once, if you worship and adore me who give such things." Then Jesus rejected him as he pressed thus with words: "Begone, mad rage of pestilent poison, so that the command may always cling to us unmoved, that the just man devoutly adore the Lord of heaven, and serve and venerate the name of the One for ever." Driven off by such words, the demon fled through pathless places. When he learned that John had been plunged into the shadows of prison, he pressed down the grief in his sad heart and decided to settle in the territory of the Zebulonites, so that the saying of Esaias might agree with the long course of events: "The land of the Zebulonites and the region named Naphtali, and the way beyond the sea, far through the fields of Galilee, and beyond the Jordan: the nations and peoples shut in darkness will see a great and sudden light, and for those who sit in the shadow of death a kindly will rises, shining with the light of faith." So Christ announced, calling out, that the gifts of God who reigns were at hand, the abundant proclamation of salvation. And passing by, he saw along the shores of the sea two brothers, Simon, very firm, worthy of the surname Peter, and Andrew with him, setting the winding folds of linen as snares for fish in the marble waters.

"Now," he said, "you catch fish in the high surges of the sea; but if you are willing to follow me, mighty gains will come to you from a most beautiful hunting of men." They at once, sure, with steadfast heart, threw aside their nets and together followed his precepts. After that, when he saw the brothers James and John weaving snares of spotted net for the flocks of the sea, and gave the same call from the shore, they left their father Zebedee in the stern, following at once the most beautiful commands of salvation. From there Christ went through the land of Galilee sowing the holy proclamation of the kingdom, instilling it into the peoples, and giving swift healing to the infirm and sick; and soon frequent report, spreading far, already filled Syria, telling in a thousand words of Christ's present gifts. Then in rivalry they brought to Christ those consumed by the wasting of sickness and bound by various ills, whose limbs' strength a long wasting had ravaged and consumed with pain; but with an easy gift he quickly restored them all, healthy, to wonderful joy. And now the diseases of the soul itself and savage frenzies, and the madness of mind that follows the moon's course, departed, ordered out by the heavy weight of his word.

Thronging round him as he worked great wonders, mixed crowds followed, men of Solyma and Syrians, Judaea crowded with peoples, the people of Galilee, and those whom the Jordan divides with its pooled stream. Seeing these peoples, he sat down on a very high rock and began thus to the disciples who encircled his lap: "Happy the humble, whom a poor spirit surrounds, for the sublime kingdom of heaven receives them. Like them are the meek, whom gentleness crowns: the most beautiful land is owed to their right. So too great consolations will follow those who mourn. Those who now seek the food and drink of righteousness, a full abundance of the table awaits, to satisfy them. Happy is he who has grieved from his heart at the lot of the wretched, for the ample mercy of the Lord will await him. Happy those who look on heaven with a pure heart: God, made visible, will be open to them through all ages. The peacemakers God adopts into the number of his offspring. Very happy those whom gnashing persecution presses for righteousness: for them the palace of heaven will soon be opened. Rejoice, you who hold to just works and whom headlong injury will drive with savage goads; for a very great reward is kept for you in heaven, for such was the persecution of the prophets. Learn that you are the savour of salt on this earth.

If this savour loses its power and now grows stale, what substance of salt will sharpen the taste once it is spent? Nor does any use remain for worthless salt after that, except to be thrown far away and trampled by every foot. You are the bright light of the world (do not hide it). For who could hide a city set on lofty rocks? So let your light reach all, and let the glory of your deeds be set under the clear light. Let the glory of your Father be praised by all, whose royal throne is high heaven. I have not come now to dissolve the ancient laws, nor to overturn the commands that the old prophets laid down; for all things will remain to be fulfilled for you through me. I speak truly: until the destruction of heaven and earth and sea comes, not even a letter of the law, or the slender mark of a small stroke, will be lacking, but all things will come to pass in the appointed order of the age. For if anyone dares to loosen the least part of a commandment, and by his daring teaches men likewise, he will bear the name of least in the heavenly seat. But whoever keeps the rule of his own conduct and also hands on the precepts of the ancients inviolate, will be great and bear a great name beyond the stars. You have heard the command in the rule of the ancient law:

"If anyone has stained his hands with human blood, he as guilty will pay the penalty to the avenging sword." But I will command that no one dare to rise up in anger or be moved by burning hatred of a brother. For he, guilty, pays the penalty under a just judge. Nor will a lesser flame follow the insults of those who call a brother by the name of fool or wretch. But if, venerating the altars, you wish to offer a gift, and then it touches the inner places of your silent mind that you have taken up a quarrel with a brother at home, leave all the gifts you have brought there at the entrance, and first run quickly to seek peace. Then, when you are reconciled to brotherly love, offer welcome gifts to God with a tranquil heart. Moreover, there is always a power of the body opposed to you; let it be cured by a swift love of chastity, while it walks with you through the crossroads of swift life. For the use of a polluted body will accuse you and set you, bound, before the lofty judge. The ministers will drag you, condemned, to savage chains, and you will not be released from the darkness of the black prison until the last portion of the smallest coin is paid. Not unknown to you, I think, is the law's safeguard forbidding the body adultery; but now my commands curb the hidden schemings of the inner mind:

the penalty for what is desired must be paid no less than for what is done. If perhaps the straying of your right eye ensnares you, quickly tear out the author of the wretched fall and throw it far away. For it is better to lose a small member than to give the whole body to the flames and roll the soul with it into everlasting punishment. And if your right hand leads your mind astray, it is better to cut off the cause of error with the sword than to surrender the whole body to eternal flames. The ancients command that if anyone breaks off a marriage, he write a bill of divorce, the deadly words of the law. Only the adulteress will rightly leave her husband's house; but let the other wives remain, for a deserted wife will lose the rights of chaste modesty, and her husband will be the author of it. The ancient laws forbid tongues perjury, but let the boldness of swearing yield to our commands. It is not lawful for a man to swear by high heaven, which is the seat of the Lord; nor will anyone ever swear by the earth, which bears the footsteps of God, nor by the venerable name of the city of Solyma, which is the great king's own. Nor will anyone be allowed to swear by his own head, for you see that you have no power over the least hair, to change its colour to white or black. Let "it is, it is" suffice; what is not, say: "it is not."

Whatever goes beyond these, the foul power of poison creeps in and suggests it, wholly deceitfully, to the sick mind. You hold the precepts of the law, long made public: let like vengeance always follow the one who does harm; but tranquil patience will better conquer evil. And if anyone strikes one side of your face with his palm, remember at once to offer the other side. If anyone, pressing his claim by the power of a judge, will take away your tunic, yield willingly, and let him take your cloak with him too. If perhaps someone orders you to go a road of a thousand paces and bear the labour of a heavy load, go on at once and accompany him for twice as much again. If anyone in need asks, or pretends to be in need, give generously, pitying from the heart; and if anyone begs a loan, grant it, and do not withdraw a gentle face. Nor let it please you to help only your friends, or with blind hatred to count your enemies deserving of it. Rather, I will command you always to show mild compliance to all, and to soften God with kindly prayers for the life of those who rejoice to destroy you and pursue you fiercely with hostile minds and hatred. For our Father has given the common light of the sun and common rains to the just and to the wicked." But if we honour only the friends joined to us, what place can there be here for a just reward?

A race given to gain serves friendship only. But you, be like your perfect Parent. Wherever a fine occasion for righteousness opens, avoid the eyes of men; for no reward will remain to follow such a deed afterward: only the barren praise of the crowd will applaud. What the right hand does, let it do; it will be fitting that the left not know; then the only searcher of the hidden heart will repay worthy rewards for just merits. There are some whom the boasting of a swollen mind lifts up; they rejoice that crowds stand by at their prayers, and they weary the day, drawing it out with flowing words; to such vows the empty fruit of display is the reward. But let the secret inner rooms of the house be closed upon chaste prayers, and you will worship God in few words. The Father himself knows the trembling of your heart. We say nothing when God is absent; the hidden caves of the breast cover nothing shut away; God is present and sees all things. Let it please you, then, to sum up your prayer in these words: "Father, dwelling on the starry summit of heaven, may the reverence of your name, we pray, be hallowed in us, high Father; may your kingdom come in peace to the world, and may a kindly light disclose it.

As in heaven, so on earth may your bright will be done; may the life-giving substance of holy bread come to us today; may your generosity soon release and forgive the countless debts of our depraved error; and grant that we no less forgive what is owed us by our own. Let the savage temptation of the foul demon be far away, and let your right hand lift us out of evils into the light." For so the Father will forgive the peoples their offences, if you are willing to forgive one another your sins and not to turn a hard heart against faults. The fasts of the people are also most pleasing to God; but many labour to disfigure their own faces, so that their fasts may catch the empty fame of men. But you, your hair shining with pleasant olive oil, wash your joyful face from pure springs, so that the Father alone, seeing the deep service of a devoted heart, may praise it and repay the merit. It is vain to watch over talents buried in the ground. There rust and devouring moths rule, and thieves carry off everything dug from its hiding place. Store up treasures for yourselves on the summit of heaven; neither rust nor moths nor the horrid band of thieves will carry them off. Where your wealth is stored, there your hearts too are held under the same rule. The light of the body is that by which you see the common light;

but if the sight in the eyes shines pure and single, the limbs of the whole body will shine clearly. But if it is evil and sees little, dark shadows will lie over all the members. And if the light itself is turned into black shadow, how great will be the horror of darkness without any light? No one can serve two masters alike: he will give way either to hatred of one or to love of him, nor will a slave bear both masters equally. No one will ever be able to serve riches and God at once. But hold to these commands: let not clothing for your body trouble you, nor seek easy food with anxious care. Do we not value the soul more than food for the body? Or does anyone hesitate to put the body before clothing? Let us look at the birds of the air: do they press the ploughshare and break up the backs of the soil, or sow seeds of grain, or cut the stalks of the crops with the curved sickle? Yet they have plenty of drink and food. Is not the care of men closer to God's heart? Nor was it right to hang the care of clothing on our hearts; not even if men could add a cubit's growth to their limbs. See how the lilies shine through the rich fields!

Yet no labours have ever weighed on them, and not even Solomon, when the court of his rich kingdom overflowed, was clothed in such grace of garment. But if God himself clothes the glad green growth of the meadows and shrubs, which is subject to our fires, why do you not have greater confidence in the Father? Leave, then, food, drink, clothing, and every empty earthly care to the unbelieving nations. You rather seek worthily the heavenly kingdom and the righteousness of God — the rest will come running of its own accord — and do not be anxious for tomorrow's supply; each day is enough for itself, with the day's trouble. Let savage condemnation flee from your judging; for the Lord will follow the precedents of justice that you lay down on earth while held in time: you must bear the measure that you set. You see the speck clinging in your brother's eye, yet you do not perceive the beam standing in your own, and you labour first to cleanse another's eye; but tear the deceitful timber out of your own eye, then you will take care to remove the least husk from another's. Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor be willing shamefully to throw necklaces to unclean pigs. For these will lie trampled underfoot in the mud, and the pigs will turn and tear you with a great wound.

To the one who asks it will be given; the one who seeks will hold what he finds; and for the one who knocks, the doors will open and entrance be given. All you men will not give a stone to sons who ask for bread, nor a snake to those who ask for a fish; you, I say, hard men, in whom hardness of heart is deeply rooted, will always give good things to your sons. How much more does the Father, indulgent to men, rejoice to grant gentle good things worthily to those who ask justly! The kindnesses you wish to come to you from men, do the same to all with your favour. This is the sum of the law; this is the right the prophets declared. Go, you just, through the narrow gate above the heavens. How broad and spacious is the way that, on the left-hand path, rolls its headlong road in the gloom of death, and countless troops enter it on the downward slope! The path of life is crowded with huge rocks, and lofty virtue scarcely leads a few through the rough places. But those whom the too deceitful and enticing plain of evils has persuaded, slippery with ugly falls, it seizes and drags headlong, like the rush of a river, or an eager steed run wild with its reins broken, or a ship without a helmsman on the windy seas. Watch out for those who lay snares for you under a false name and are called prophets.

The appearance of sheep clothes them, but by fraud they hide the savage hearts of wolves, and they tear the unwary flocks they drag along, who yield to them, deceived by savage error. Such monsters are known by their own fruits; one must see what end their deceitful teaching seeks. For you have never noticed figs growing from thistles or grapes from thorns across the countryside. And as a tree is clothed with the bud of its own fruit, so their trickery is laid open when the fruit shows it. I will not be moved by the words and honours of flatterers, nor will they win the rewards of the heavenly seat as of right because smooth flattery calls me lord. But those will deservedly rejoice in the gift of the kingdom who willingly do the commands of our Father. Soon the last day will come, which by strict justice will grant rewards to righteousness and Gehenna to crime. Then the weeping of many will cry out to me: "Did not great powers once, under your name, subdue all things for us by holy commands? Often too our voice was counted among the prophets, and the demon served us under your name." Then I will swear to them that such a life of men, foul with wicked deeds, was never known to me. Whoever devotes both his ears and his deeds to my warnings, I will liken him to a man laying foundations on solid rocks, on which balanced walls will rise.

That house will remain unharmed by rains and winds, and with strong timber will overcome the threats of torrents, since its foundations cling to immovable rock. But whoever holds my commands only by hearing, and goes far off on slippery ways with contrary deeds, I will liken him to one who props the foundations of his house on shifting sand; at the first blast of wind, and when the rain began to bear down with pouring streams, the whole mass falls, its weight overturned, and ruin follows with the heavy wreck of the roof." As he said such things, the people stood fixed in boundless wonder, since the authority given to Christ had far surpassed the teaching of the ancients. Then, as he left the summit of the high mountain, the crowd of the peoples following thronged him rejoicing. But see, a young man, whose flesh was pierced by a horrid wasting, whose whole body leprosy had besieged and fouled, fell down in reverence and begged Christ: "For me to be free at last of the weight of so great a sickness, it will be enough that you have willed it." Then the right hand of Christ, by touch alone, cleansed the livid limbs. And he commanded the healed man: "Hide your joy, and, obeying the law, offer your gifts at the temple." As he went away from there, a centurion at once presented himself as a suppliant, and prostrate prayed with these words:

"The sick spirit of a young boy is tormented; a sudden weakness has undone all the functions of his limbs, and pain now holds his life, though he survives. But have mercy by a command, I pray, for our sins forbid the Parent of life and light to come under our roof. Now it is enough that you order health to return by a word. My authority has often compelled the men under me to obey in this way, by a word, the duties I command." He had spoken. Moved by the man's prayers and faith, Jesus turned and spoke these words to the people following: "Never do I remember finding such faith in my ancestral nation; but learn by true words that the sublime kingdom of heaven will call many men, born in different parts of the world, to recline at the life-giving table with our fathers, while their own offspring, plunged in blind darkness, gnashing their teeth horribly and weeping continually, will be driven into the everlasting torments of punishment. But to you now, young man, faithful in strength of mind, as you believe, the fruit will come with the light of health." He had spoken, and quicker than the word, with the voice of the speaker, the gifts of the swift word ran across to the boy; and the soldier, entering his house on a hurried return, rejoiced that the gifts of God the healer had arrived before him. Then holy Jesus entered the house of Peter, whose mother-in-law lay panting with heat and fever. As Jesus the Saviour touched her right hand, the woman, made well, served at the table.

And now the day, departing with sinking light, had fallen into the sea, and the blue night was drawing through the void its dusky mantle, painted with starry flames, when the crowds, vying with one another, were bringing through the blind night many people who were collapsing with sickness of mind and whose souls were bound by the raging art of the demon. But the word of Christ removed so great a sickness and graciously granted all of them the Father's gifts. But see, as the light rose, a greater tumult came with crowds of grateful people; anxious, he ordered the disciples to launch the high ship onto the sail-strewn sea. Then a scribe, with outpoured prayers, asked to go away with the Holy One in the boat. Christ said to him: "Where will you follow me, scribe? For the foxes in the glade the hollowed rock offers lairs, and the wood gives rest to the birds of the air; but the Son of man is allowed to come under no roof: such are the schemes of your nation." Then one of the disciples asked thus: "The last offices are owed to a dead father; but let your will, Holy One, grant us time, so that I may bury the body of my poor father." Christ said to this: "You will do better to come with us on our journey, and leave the dead to bury the dead in the earth." They boarded the ship, the sails swelled with their own wind, and the keel flew over the hissing wave.

When the ship had reached the deep, the sea began to rise in anger and to swell with winds let loose from either side and to lift raging mountains to the sky; now it struck the stern with its mass, now the prow with a whirlwind, the planking of the sides took in the waves dashed upon it, and the sea floor was laid bare as the deep was torn apart. Meanwhile Jesus was sleeping in the stern. The disciples and the sailors alike, in fear, begged him to wake and showed him the dangers of the sea. Then he said: "How little confidence you have! Fear rushes into faithless minds!" Then he commanded the storms and spread a calm peace over the waters. They mingled their wonder in fearful talk among themselves: how great a power had been granted him, or what command it was, to which the straits stirred by the winds and the storms upraised in threat bowed their necks. Now the ship had come to rest under the shore of the Gerasenes; but see, as he stepped out, a young man, wonderful to tell, met him, whose wretched mind a black spirit filled with unclean power, tearing him with frenzy. He was glad to dwell in the foul tombs; no one could restrain his violent frenzy; he even broke strong chains of iron and tore heavy fetters like woollen threads.

And now it was light sport for him to leap about with his fetters broken and to cut his wild breast with stones. When he saw Christ going along the shore, he rushed with a shout and ran up from far off, worshipping him: "Most sure offspring of the ever-reigning Lord, we pray that you do not drive us far from the borders of our accustomed region, tormenting us with torments. For our name is Legion, and the single power of doing harm joins many spirits under one name. Do you see how unclean pigs root up these pastures? At least let us sate our repulsed rage on them, we ask by the sublime name of the Father enthroned on high." Christ commanded them to leave the man's mind, and allowed them to end their frenzy in the herds of pigs. And now the man's dazed breast, the demon shaken out, venerated the unhoped-for gift of his health. And now the pigs, thrown headlong from the edge of the cliffs into the sea, hastened to destroy their lives. But the swineherds, frightened by such great wonders from their lookouts, fled and rushed to the houses of the city, spread the report and drove the people to the shore. And after the crowd of onlookers was compelled to believe that the mad young man had come to his senses, they begged him in fear to leave that region. Then Jesus, the light of the lands, returned home.

See, as he returned, they laid before Christ's feet a young man lying on a bed, his limbs numb, their function undone by a wasting disease. Pitying him in his heart, Jesus addressed him: "Let sure constancy be in your mind, young man, for the past error of your life will be forgiven you." The scribes, in the hidden places of a malignant mind, carped at this saying, because he had spoken words that only the power of God may utter. But Christ, seeing such hearts, said: "The words of the scribes go over this word again. How much lighter it would have been to say what follows, they will prove by the power of word and deed together, and they will see that it is granted to me to forgive sins. Therefore, young man, with the use of your body made firm, rise in strength and carry your bed back home." He rose, fitted the bed to shoulders now strong, and went away in strength through the midst of the wondering people. Then fear and the praises of the Lord filled the hearts of the people, together with the joyful wonders they celebrated. Going on from there, he saw Matthew sitting among the others at the tax office; at once he bade him join the disciples. Refusing nothing, he obeyed Christ's command and rejoiced to follow. Then, setting out on the way, with the same words he urged Philip and enrolled him as a companion among his friends.

When he had come to know Christ's power and way, as soon as he met just Nathanael he said: "See, it has been granted to our age that he should arise of whom the voices of the ancients and the holy prophets sang. Joseph, who comes of the line of David, begot him; happy Nazara is his homeland, and his name is Jesus." He replied: "I wonder whether Nazara ever begot anything worthy of such great powers." Then Philip said: "You will see; stop doubting." When Jesus looked and saw him coming from far off, he said: "Here comes a man whose heart, knowing no falsehood, keeps a pure virtue without malignant deceit." He answered: "Where, or when, did you know me?" The Lord brought forth these words from his divine heart: "When the shade of the spreading fig tree covered you, even before the words of Philip called you, the Spirit, the author, saw you and chose you as a companion." At such words came the voice of astonished Nathanael: "Venerable offspring of God, renowned king of the nation, you are manifest salvation to the peoples and the teacher of life." Christ said to this: "An easy power persuaded you to believe, because I saw you lying beneath the shade of a tree; but greater wonders still remain hereafter.

You will see the whole heaven split open, and the swift ministers of God passing through the sky and bringing down a bright crown to the Son of man." Meanwhile a festive wedding was being prepared in the bridal chambers in the region of Chanan, where the mother of illustrious Jesus was celebrating the feast together with her son. But meanwhile the wine was running out for the guests. Then the mother entreated Christ in these words: "Do you see that the drink of gladness has already run out? Let gifts given by you, son, be present at these good tables." Christ, the glory of the lands, answered her: "You are in haste, mother; the time does not yet compel me to grant such gifts for men's food." Then the mother, gladdened, called the servants of the tables and bade them obey her son's commands. Six very beautiful vessels of hollowed stone were there, whose bellies held three measures each. He ordered the servants to fill them from the bosom of the spring. The young men obeyed his orders and crowned the vessels with water, filling their stone lips; then foam rolled the air mixed with the water up through the rims to the top. Then he ordered them to give it to the chief steward to taste. When he tasted the gift of venerable flavour, not knowing that the water lately drawn from pure springs had passed into the pleasing drink of wine, he rebuked the bridegroom, who knew nothing of it, because he had kept back the fine wine and given the worse first at the tables.

By these signs he firmly strengthened, for ever, the minds of the disciples who rightly believed. Then, when the Passover feast of the Jews was at hand, he set out for Solyma and went up into the temple. Here he found people setting out many goods for sale: some sold sheep, some the great bodies of bullocks, some, gaping for coins, gave their time to the art of counting. Here Christ binds together the lashes of a whip from cords and drives such people out of the holy house, and, overturning the tables, pours out the heaps of bronze, and rebukes them: "Take these things far away, you profane men, so that here my Father, not sordid gain, may be worshipped." Then the people of Judaea roared, demanding a sign, on the strength of which he had so confidently raised his spirit to such deeds. Then Christ mingled things to come with obscure words: "Destroy this venerable temple with your polluted hands; I will restore it when the third light of the sun begins to pour its ruddy light upon the lands." They, debating among themselves with a dark murmur, said: "This temple, built in scarcely forty-six years by the labour of the old kingdom, will you be able to renew in the space of three days?" Worthy men later, after the appointed time, understood this word, that Christ had called his own body the shrine of God. But many, seeing the signs, then came to faith and followed the Holy One.

Under dark night, one of the foremost leaders of the Jewish name, raised to high honour, came and spoke to Christ in a low voice: "There is no doubt, Holy One, that the generous will of God has granted you to rise as a light for human affairs; nor would anyone grant wonders through such signs unless the power of God went with him and bade them shine." Christ said to this: "If you seek the heights of the just way, no one will be able to ascend to the lofty kingdom unless he enters again the beginnings of birth, given back to him, and receives a new life by divine gift." But he, his heart astonished at such words, said: "This is not for our mind to grasp. Who will be able to call back the beginnings of a life already begun? Or shall an old man crawl back into his mother's womb, to come new into the light and live his life again?" He answered: "If anyone is reborn from the clear spring and from the holy breath and begins to stand in new-made limbs, he will ascend free into the heavenly hall. An earthly body is born of an earthly body; just so the Spirit begets a breath like himself. This Spirit is God, whom all things in the world obey. He flies wherever he wills and casts his voice through the air, but you do not know what the beginnings of the voice are, nor what quarter his running blasts seek.

Whoever, then, seeks again the first beginnings of a just life, it is certain that he grows green again in the likeness of the holy breath." And the Jew said to this: "I can perceive none of these things." Then Christ said: "Great teacher of Solyma, do you too, pitiable man, plunge your mind, snatched from the light of life, headlong into murky darkness, and can you not grasp such things with your dulled sense? See, there is no faith, and I have spoken only of earthly things! What if speech begins to ascend to the heavenly powers and to grasp the higher forms of things? Which of you will be able to open your hard mind to me? Receive, then, what the meaning is for these new things. No one will be able to ascend to the starry heaven except the one alone who comes, sent from the hall of heaven, the same Son of man, who abides in the seat of heaven. As the serpent was once lifted up with the highest honour by the hands of Moses in the desert regions, so the Son of man must be lifted up on high, so that whoever has set faith at his name in the deep inner places of the mind may, amid the whirlwind of the world, trample death underfoot and, rising beyond the stars, receive on high the inviolable gift of life. For God loved the world with so great a love that his only offspring came down to the lands, to join believers to the Lord in everlasting life.

Nor did God send this Son to examine the lands with strict justice or to weigh them in harsh judgment, but so that gentle gifts of life might come to the peoples. For where sure faith has embraced salvation, there will be no doubtful pleading of the law. But where the gifts of healing are shut far out, there their own condemnation already tortures the mind; for the only offspring of the Lord was unknown to them. The wretched and proud fled the coming of the light, and rather embraced and held fast blind darkness. So whoever has stained his mind with evil deeds flees in fear into darkness, lest in clear light the filthy contagion of a polluted mind be laid open. But whoever has kept to the footsteps of a devout life hastens into the open and rejoices to shine in the light, so that the glory of virtue may shine in bright deeds." From there Jesus the Saviour went back to Galilee. Passing through, he came by chance to Sichen in Samaria. There was a farm there, made famous by the name of Jacob, and a well sunk with a cold spring into the hidden depths. Here the Saviour had sat down, panting in the fierce heat, and the disciples, scattered here and there buying food within the city walls, had left their master alone. Coming out of the walls, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the hollow depths of the well.

Christ said to her: "Woman, give me a drink of water." The woman answered: "You command me a strange thing: that I, a Samaritan woman, should despise the commands of the Samaritans of old and serve a drink to you, a Jew." Then the Saviour said: "If you knew the gifts of the Lord, and who it is that, thirsting, asks you for a drink from the well, you would rather ask, and he would give you living water." She answered: "The well curves its bosom deep down, there is no pitcher, and you have no rope; from where, then, will you be able to give me living water? Will you be greater in power than our father? For Jacob drank from this well with his children, and often led his flocks here to drink." Jesus, ruler of the world, answered her: "No one will be fully satisfied by that water, for he will thirst again; but the gift of our drink will shut out the burning thirst for eternal ages. Whoever receives the sweet drink of our spring, from him the life-giving grace of the flood will flow more abundantly. But if desire for our water takes hold of you, call your husband and let him come soon with you from the city." The woman said that she was not bound in marriage. Then Jesus, who sees into the mind, went on: "Woman, you speak truthful words about a husband.

For you have already been bound in marriage to five men, and now, besides, you take up the bonds of another's bridal chamber." Then the woman said: "It is certain that you are a holy prophet. But our ancestors once left us the precept that worship must be offered on the height of this mountain of ours, while you say that one must pray in the region of Solyma." As she said this, Jesus soon answered her: "See, the time will come when worship will be far from the summit of your mountain and from all Solyma. But now sure salvation will rise from the lands of the Jews, and now the course of the coming time presses on, when the true worshippers, error removed and armed with just laws, will pray to the holy Father. They will have the Spirit and full faith, and the high Father seeks such hearts of worshippers on earth." She then said: "We know that Christ, a messenger to the world, will by his coming open the ages of life." And then Jesus, generous in pity for the sinner, declared that he was the Christ who had come as a light to the lands. And now the disciples, returning, were amazed at their master, because a woman was sharing secret words with him. But the woman hurriedly left her jar at the spring and led the people out from the whole city. For she related everything she herself had done before, all told in order by the prophet's words.

Then crowds poured out and quickly sought Christ. Meanwhile the disciples were asking him to take food. He answered that he had plenty of fine food. But then the wondering disciples talked among themselves in hidden whispers: "Perhaps someone here has already given our master food, so that, satisfied, he rightly refuses ours." But he, discerning the workings of their inner mind, said: "This is my food, this heart will be satisfied, if I do the commands of the great Father throughout the world. You surely think that four months still remain from now till the beginning of the glad harvest in fruitful summer. Lift up your eyes, then; see the whitening fields and all the countryside already calling for a ripe harvest. Now whoever reaps will rejoice in the reward of fine labour, and will then overflow with the crop of life, and the sower will gladly share the reapers' joy. I have now sent you to cut a heavy harvest that was not put into the furrows by your labour. Others' gifts of a good crop will enrich you." While he filled his companions' hearts with such words, see, the people of the Samaritans came asking and begged him to spend two days there. And now deep faith had been established in many of the people;

no longer did they believe only the woman's words, but manifest power taught them face to face that Jesus, the Saviour of the world, had now come. And now he had returned to the region of Galilee, where he had once changed spring water into wine. Here a young man of the king's court, whose son a disease was burning with panting fever at the farthest shore of life, learned that Christ had surely returned; he flew to him and, pouring out prayers for his son's fate, begged and demanded the gift of swift healing, before his son should be dragged off to bitter death. Christ said to this: "Unless power persuades all with signs, there will be no faith; but go, and embrace your sweet son in your house, his life safe." At these words, fine faith, which was soon to receive the fruit of health, strengthened his mind in his rejoicing heart. And when he had set out on the way, news came to meet him from slaves hurrying towards him, that health had suddenly returned to the boy from the threshold of death into the shores of light. When he learned that the time agreed exactly with the words of Christ who healed, he gave himself and his household over, embracing the venerable gift of faith. It happened one day that a single feast had brought together many of those who had contracted for the public taxes for profit and seize plunder under another's name.

Jesus received them together with his disciples. See, the Pharisees criticized him with hidden mockery, because a teacher of the law went to such banquets. But he, seeing what their closed hearts held, said: "There is no need of physicians where unharmed health invigorates strong limbs with the honour of strength. But healing must rightly be given to the wretched sick. Learn now at least what the words of the prophet command: I seek gentle hearts more than sacrifices. For I have not come to the just who walk on straight paths, but to call back the wicked from the path of sinners." But see, from among those who wondered at Christ's gifts, one of John's disciples asked why they kept the frequent fasts of the law, while the people under Christ kept no fasts. Christ answered calmly: "Those who attend the bridegroom's vows with joyful dances do not bear sad fasts while he is present. But the day will come when the bridegroom will be snatched from the midst of his companions by the whirlwind of the world: then they will give their minds to sad tears, loathing food. How foolish it is to sew old patches into new clothes, so that the ugly tear opens worse! Or to entrust hot new wine to worn-out wineskins, which burst and lose all the living wine!

But it is right to store foaming new wine in new skins: so strong vessels keep it living." As he was speaking of such things, see, a chief of the priests, his heart struck with grief, fell down worshipping and implored him with tears for his daughter, who had died, a pitiable death, and asked for the sure gift of Christ's healing to come even to the dead. Without delay Jesus the Saviour rose and went. As he went on, a woman followed in his footsteps, whom a flow of blood without end had been wasting with heavy sickness for twelve slipping years, her strength consumed and her whole body weary. Believing, she was turning a silent thought in the secret of her heart, and held it with sure faith that the wasting would flee at once from her weary body if she could touch the edge of Christ's garment. When, through the crowd, she touched with trembling hand the threads hanging from the hem of his robe, he at once, seeing both the cause of the disease and the believing heart, granted swift health with these words: "Receive the gift that the constancy of your faith has earned." And soon her veins grew strong, the blood stopped. When they arrived where the girl's funeral was, the huge noise of the lamenting people and the blare of trumpets were celebrating the last offices of the funeral procession:

"Let these sad rites leave your house. For the girl lies sunk in calm sleep, though the weeping crowd, not knowing, thinks her dead." The crowd laughed at him and left him as he said this, because he said that a girl taken by death was sleeping. But Christ, the conqueror of death and the author of life, deigned to take the right hand of the cold girl in his right hand and soon ordered her to rise, to the wondrous joy of her father. As he returned from there, a cry at once met him, from two blind men stumbling along together. Christ said to them: "What do your hearts believe? Will the light taken from you return by my power?" They declared that they believed with a firm heart. Then Christ said: "You who believe, see the light, and after this tell our name to no one." He spoke; but quickly, in their great joy, the unquenchable ardour of those who saw spread the report everywhere. Then a young man was brought, whose power of speaking had been taken from him by the attack of a demon. But when the demon was driven out and fled from his breast, at once the gift of a sound tongue returned. He was hemmed in by the thronging tumult of the people wondering at such things; but seeing so many thousands of men, he groaned like the lord of an estate whose glad pastures are grazed by countless flocks without a shepherd.

Then he spoke these words to the disciples: "How glad the crops that lie open across the countryside! But the few reapers are overwhelmed by the heap of grain. It remains now to ask the lord of so great a crop to fill his fields with a number of labourers." Having said this, he gathered apart, chosen from all the people, strong hearts in a company of twelve. When he had chosen them, he filled them with these precepts: "Avoid the road trodden by the faithless nations and by the footsteps of the deceitful Samaritans. Go where the guarding of the ancestral flock is failing. And as you go, take a mind like mine, so that holy faith may subdue for you the powers of the black demon and apply loving care to sicknesses. These powers will be given you without payment, and you likewise must spend the gifts freely. Let not possession of gold or silver master your mind, nor wicked desire for coins subdue you. Let the minister of bare virtue not desire to keep two garments or two coverings for his feet. When you enter the walls of a city, always seek out those under whose hospitality it is fitting for the just to stay; and when you have entered, call peace upon the house. If the house is peaceful, that peace will remain; but if it bristles with the unworthy ways of its inhabitants, your peace will flee and follow you as you depart.

Whoever fiercely shuts you out from the threshold of his house, or with hard ears scorns the words of life, shake off your footprints as you leave the house, so that no share of an unjust life may cling to you. A worse punishment than that of Sodom will await them in torment, when the end comes for the whole world. Go now as sheep, the prey of hard wolves; but be strong with the shrewd heart of serpents, yet surpass the sweet doves in simplicity. For headlong injury will often press upon you, and your bodies will be set before the councils of men. The gnashing violence of the world will drive you with scourges and fierce chains and hard tyrants, for my sake. When they have handed you over, leave aside the care of words: the grace of speech will be given you, flowing of its own accord; the Spirit in you will speak worthy things for you. For the wicked madness of a brother will betray a brother, and sons will hand over the bodies of their parents to death. Hatred will always press upon you for our name, but the glory of life goes with faith kept to the end. Flee from the houses of a city that persecutes you; from there seek another place, and soon from there another. For cities must always remain for you which may give you a people under the name of the Israelites.

Let the disciple never rise above the lofty heights of his master, nor the slave try to excel his lord. It is enough for the disciple to equal the powers of his master, or for the slave to attain a virtue like his lord's. Let all fear always stay far from your hearts; for everything is brought out, laid bare, from its hiding places. Whatever is commanded you silently in darkness, speak under the bright light of the shining sun. And whatever I say, whispering in your ears, let it be scattered to the peoples from the high roof of the house. Despise the rage of those who will lay your bodies low with the sword: they have no power to send the living mind to death as well. But let the secret places of the heart rather fear him who has all power over body and soul together. Sparrows fetch scarcely a small part of a coin as their price; yet it is not right to believe that one falls into our snares without the Lord's command. What wise man would doubt that in the Lord's heart one man outweighs many thousands of winged creatures? Whoever confesses me before the judges of the earth, I will confess him in the same way before the Father; and likewise before the Father I will deny the one who denies me. I have not come now to send peace upon the lands, but a sword, to sever the son from his father's heart and to sever the sweet daughter from her mother's heart.

If anyone holds his father dearer than love of me, or puts love of me after his mother or his children, he will feel a terrible rejection from our seat. Whoever despises his life for our name will find it flourishing with the glad crop of salvation. Whoever receives you will rejoice that he has received me with kindly service, and likewise that in me he has received the supreme Father, with everlasting life." When he had given these commands to the twelve disciples, just John, from the shadows of his blind prison, ordered men chosen from among his followers to carry these words to Christ and bring back the truth: "Are you the rest for devout souls, which the palace of heaven promised to the lands, shining in our time? Or does it remain for us to hope after this for another salvation?" Christ sent back this message with these words: "The darkness of the blind is changed into the light of day, and the limbs of the weak grow strong with firm strength; livid leprosy is shaken off the scaly body; the sound of the airy voice enters deaf ears. The power of the soul, now free, returns to the body and is given back to life that was lost after the funeral of death; and the shining glory of our coming lies open to its poor, not disdaining them.

Blessed will he be whom error has not deceived." The disciples carried this message back to their master. On this Christ spoke these words to the people: "Why did you wish lately to go into the desert to see a reed stalk shaken by the quivering wind? Why, again, to see one dressed in soft clothing? Those with soft clothing are kept in the houses of kings. He alone was promised long ago, by the judgment of the ancient scripture, to surpass the powers of the prophets. For the reading of the venerable voice speaks of him: See, I send my minister to prepare the roads before your face; and no woman has borne anyone greater in power than our John. But one lesser than he will be higher in the hall of heaven. From his rising the palace of heaven feels force, and fierce violence plunders the kingdom of heaven. The whole law reached its sum at the time of the Baptist, and the end of the prophets is concluded there too. If you wish to know the inner secrets of the swift age, happy Helias took the body of John as his dwelling, Helias whom long ago the likeness of a four-horse chariot with feet of flame, sent in a flashing whirlwind, snatched away. Let him hear this who opens his ears to the words of life.

"Now I give thanks to you, Father, whom the glory of the shining heaven and of the fruitful lands serves, that you have now hidden these things from the proud wise and will the little hearts of infants to grasp them. Now all things of the reigning Father have been handed over to me, and no one will be able to know the Son of the Lord except the Father alone; the Son will see the Father with his mind, or he to whom the same Son opens such things. Let all come here whom the burden of a vast load weighs down; for them my power, by the Father's gift, will be able to restore their former strength with glad rest. Take up the yoke bravely: my burden is light for the just, for it bestows sweet salvation on a humble heart." When he had said this, he passed through the cultivated fields of a heavy harvest, and the company of disciples following him was plucking, in order, the full grain of the ears. That day called for rest by the ancient law, for the sabbath renewed its leisure by the commands of old. See, the Pharisees openly rebuked Christ because the disciples, in reaping, trampled on the commands of the holy law. But then Jesus, the fulfiller of the laws, began to go back over the records of the ancient scripture to them: "Surely you have read that tuneful David once took the consecrated loaves in the temple with his people and relieved his own and his companions' hunger; yet it had been unlawful for anyone to touch those loaves, which only the priest might take by law.

It is written by the just rule of the same law that the priests profane the sabbath in the temple without guilt. Nor is the gathering of your company here less than the power of the temple. If your hearts grasped that God prefers not sacrifices but gentle hearts, your faction would not now so often have condemned holy men who are free of guilt. But now I, ruling of my own accord, will hold every sabbath under the law's authority." Then, after these words, he entered their assembly; soon he saw there at the threshold a young man from whose shoulder hung the useless weight of a withered hand. But then, testing him with deceitful words, they asked whether it is lawful to bring healing to the sick on the sabbath, so that punishment for breaking the law might await him. Christ answered: "If perhaps your little beasts fell into a pit, you would surely pass over the law's rest and lift the cheap beast from the steep depth. How much more, then, ought the care of men to kindle us, raising our minds to good deeds! So come, young man, stretch out your restored right hand." At the word, healed, he stretched out both hands. Then, for these signs, which the reverence of the wondering people could hardly honour with worthy worship, they cried out in fierce councils that he must be ensnared.

Christ, seeing such schemes of the leaders, withdrew; he applied to the various sicknesses of men the healing granted to the peoples by the Father's power. Soon there was brought to him one whom the horrid power of a demon wished to live maimed in tongue and sight, for punishment, and to be food for his own torments. When the blind faction of the Pharisee nation learned that he was healed and strong in sight and voice, they said that Christ had done these things with the help of the demon who, as prince of demons, alone held the powers of wickedness under his rule. But Christ laid bare such hearts and convicted them with truthful words: "If a kingdom, torn apart, gapes in two parts, and its split halves fight against each other, everything will quickly fall, its marrow broken. And if a horrid demon is driven out by a black demon, he is split and fights against himself with hostile power. Who will be able to carry off plunder from men's houses unless the attacker first binds the arms of the guards with knots, so that the plunder may be easily seized? Whoever stands apart and is absent as a soldier from my army will stand as an enemy in the opposing front of battle. Whoever wanders free from gathering my flocks scatters the pastures of my herd along byways.

But whatever error of men there is, beyond all things it can be forgiven; only let the Spirit never be torn by words poured out from an insane mind. If anyone in rage heaps insults on the Son of man, these sins too can be forgiven. But whoever violates the Holy Spirit with the profane rage of words will be burned with fire in punishments that cannot be revoked, now and always. When will the savage brood of the venomous serpent be able to grow gentle with the sweet fruit of speech? For good and sweet things are brought out from just treasures, and evil poisons come out of a death-bearing mouth. By the merits of words punishment will come before the judge; by the merits of words life will be given before the judge. What the Father does, the Son will follow in all things, for the same Father shows the Son all things to be seen, and will then grant greater wonders. For as the Father will restore dead bodies to the bright light of life, so the Son will lead to the light, rising, all the bodies he wills. Nor will the Father, as your judge, inquire into anything; he has given the Son these rights of inquiry through the world, so that like glory may remain to the Son and the Father. For if the Son is refused your honour, with equal wickedness you will despise the Father.

But in whomever the grace of our word fixes faith, soon the gifts of the Father who sent me will lie open to him, and his present constancy will give him eternal life. There is no judgment for him, but he passes far from black death and, full of strength, makes for the threshold of light. The time will come when dead bodies will receive our voice and with the voice will hold life. For as the Father possesses life in himself, so he has given life to the Son and has bidden him to judge, since he came to the lands in the body of man. Nor let it seem wonderful to you that all bodies, at the hearing of the voice, rise from their own tombs, that the souls of the just are joined to a body brought back to life, and that the wretched wicked rise to heavy judgment. Nor does my power alone give me judgment, since all things are commanded by the decision of the Father, who bade me search out justice on the earth. For if I rise as witness for my own name, I shall speak falsely; and since another is held as witness for us, it is always right for me to set such testimony aside. For by the true signs of my works the testimony present in our deeds shines plainer than any light. Granting such things, the Father stays by me as witness, he who sent me to the earth to lay down his commands.

For you have never been able to grasp his voice, nor has he granted you to see his own form. Nor can his word settle in your hearts, since there is no substance of belief in you. Search the reading of the ancient writings, which you think brings everlasting life to all. This reading too bears witness to our gift. Yet you do not dare to come closer to us, lest the grace of true life should reach you. I do not seek the glory of earthly praise. For that I have come in the name of the supreme Father, you reject; but another will come, of a different colour, upheld by his own name, and your nation will follow him. You seek among yourselves the glory of each other's fame, and you avoid seeking the praise of the One alone. Nor would I accuse you before the Father; but there will be an accuser there, whom your hope now celebrates, Moses, whom you have honoured with no faith. For if your error believed his writings, it would believe us too, of whom the writings of Moses speak often." Then these words of the scribes followed in reply: "Undoubted faith will go with these words, if power confirms the wonders with sure signs." Then he said: "A generation polluted with evils seeks signs for itself; but the signs will stand in things to come. For as much time as the prophet spent under the hollow breast of the whale, so long will the offspring of man remain sunk in the deep places of the earth.

The time will come when the race of men, given to weeping over its own deeds, will rise, restored to life. It will condemn this nation with a just charge, because, warned by the voice of the prophet who rose from the bottom of the sea, it fell down in tears and turned the Lord back. Here too things greater than Jonah's warnings are commanded, and the impious nation scorns the light with fierce minds. And the queen of the South will rise to the shores of life. By her example the savage people will be condemned, because she came from the farthest bounds of Libya to hear pious Solomon, devoted to his commanded precepts; now a power greater than Solomon is here, and yet the hearts of the dulled people are blinded. If ever a demon is driven out and flees from a breast, troubled by the holy breath when the body has been cleansed, he roams with poisoned steps through regions where no wave of a spring flows, and, burning, finds no rest in a calm dwelling. Then, thirsting, he seeks again the familiar dwelling of the mind. And if perhaps he sees a heart open to his poisons and a threshold smiling with light adornment, the hostile force gathers seven frenzies like himself, and the serpent enters into the man's insides.

So when this race has fallen away from the true mind, it will lament, bound in chains under everlasting punishments." And while he was giving these words of life to the peoples, his mother with his brothers stood before the doors and asked to speak with him close by, outside. Then he sent back these words in answer to his mother's message: "Here with me sits my mother, with me sit those of my kin. For whoever fulfils the Father's will joins his own body to my blood and is counted under the name of my mother and my family." Jesus, the light of the lands, went out from the temple and sat down on the very edge of sea and land, and countless crowds of people flowed there. But he climbed into a high ship that lay nearest and spoke these words to the people who filled the shore: "See, a sower entrusts seeds to his own field; they fall in different places on the soil and bear the lot of each place according to its strength. For where the trodden part of the road is packed hard underfoot into a solid path, the seeds give bare plunder to the birds of the air. But where rocks are covered with very thin soil, the grain sends up a green shoot; but since there is no moisture in the clods beneath, the threads of the roots dry up as the heat gets in, and soon all the tips of the blades sink to death.

And other seeds meet rough ground; here the strong growth of briars and fierce thorns comes up faster and chokes and kills the crop. But the seeds given to fertile clods bear a fine harvest, whose glad abundance multiplies its growth a hundredfold. Let him hear this who has the ears of his mind open." The disciples, wondering at such words, asked why he closed everything to the people in tangled words. But he, when the people had been sent away, spoke to the believers: "To you, who with firm heart have made your minds strong to grasp the inner things of God, it is granted to stand deep within the entrance of the kingdom; for them, as they deserve, the eyes of the mind are closed. If anyone worthy has, he will receive greater things and overflow; but those who wander without the heavenly gift will lose even whatever they keep as their own. Therefore the grace of our speech touches that people only lightly, covered in obscure windings, so that the saying of Esaias about the people who deserve it may come true: See, the minds of the people are veiled to all things with thick barriers, so that they may not touch the gifts of life with understanding. They stand with closed ears and heavy eyes, lest the guilty people turn and be healed by the good. How blessed now are your ears and eyes!

For many just men of old and holy prophets prayed to see the gifts that shine out for you. Receive then in your minds what the meaning of the seed is: whoever lets my word fall only on the surface of his ears, and his understanding does not receive the precepts with steady vigour, the demon snatches it all from his breast. He is like the hard ground that lays out the shoots of grain as plunder for the swift birds, without fruit. There are others who receive our words with a glad heart, but the grace of the crop they have received is short-lived for them. For if hard constraint presses and confines the mind, at once in fear they betray to death what was entrusted to them. For these the rocky ground grows green with the same shallowness. But the thorny ground answers to those weighed down by a mass of cares, whom the weight of riches presses. So the seeds of our word, pressed down, are burdened, and no fruit follows, killed by the bristling thorns. And likewise the rich fields stand, with equal strength, for those who take in the precepts of bright salvation, which enter the mind as a retentive understanding handles them, and bear a hundredfold crop by the strength of virtue." This he said to the disciples, and to the people he added this as well: "The sublime kingdom of the Thunderer is like a farmer. He sows good seed, entrusting it to his own field; but afterwards a fierce enemy comes stealthily, lying in wait for men's sleep, and sprinkles bitter darnel over it.

But see, when the bristling ear came out on the stalks to bear fruit, the harvest overflowed, stained with darnel. Then the servants, wondering, said to their master: "Did you not sow good seed across the land? Where, then, does the foul darnel come from that burdens your fields? But now, if you order it, we will clean the whole harvest, and the bright wheat will remain when the filth has been picked out." Then the master answered with gentle words: "This is your trick, enemy; but let us allow the grain to grow with the darnel. For at the full time of harvest I will order the darnel to be separated, bound in bundles, and burned with fire; but the reaper will then fill our barns with clean grain from our seed." In the same way, if you open the ears of your heart, the heavenly kingdom is like a very small grain of mustard, which the farmer sows and sets in his own little field. It is believed to be smaller than all the seeds of green plants; but when it has soon grown to its proper greenness, it lifts its top above all the crops of the fields, so that the feathered throng may play in its branches and dwell in its green shade. The heavenly gift is like wholesome leaven, which a woman hides in a great mass of flour. Then the flour, mixed with the moderate warmth of the leaven worked into it, grows together into the body of a single mass." Such things, hidden in perplexing words, he then set before the people, so that the sayings of the prophet of old might agree with the things commanded in the order of the ages: I will deign to open my mouth; the image of varied speech will pour forth and unroll the things hidden since the world began. Then, late, he went home and left the crowds.

The fire-haired sun had poured its rosy radiance over the lands. The disciples asked what the riddle of the darnel and the crop meant; bright Jesus explained it to them: "He who entrusts the best seeds of grain to the soil is the Son of man; take the world under the name of the field, and just men for the pure seed. But the unhappy darnel are men made so by the art of the hidden demon; the enemy will be the demon, a horrid power; the last end of the world stands for the time of harvest. The Father's ministers will come through the fields as reapers, whom the Son of man will order to gather out of the body of his own kingdom the snares and stains of error, and when they are gathered, to burn them together with swift flames. For them there will be gnashing of teeth always and endless weeping; and to the devout, set apart, the golden light of life will come, as the lights of the sun shimmer in the dwellings of heaven." This he taught, and the Saviour returned to his home town. There, setting out to the people, wonderful to say, the laws of righteousness and the healthful commands of life, he taught them, at the same time making known the Father's powers. Then the people of his own town, stirred by heavy envy, pondering the wonders of the gift before them and reckoning over the family of a household they knew, muttered among themselves: "Is not this the son of the craftsman whose name is Joseph?

Is not Mary his mother, and is not the line of his brothers known? Where, then, does he come from, a teacher of the law and minister of such great power, to whom the stain of evils yields, conquered?" So said the people of Nazara; and Jesus answered them: "Wonders are always scorned in their own country, and prophets remain without honour in their native place." Indignant at such things, Christ held back his gifts. Meanwhile report flew to the proud king that a divine power in him was mastering every evil. But Herod thought that John, released from the law of death, now held such great gifts of power. For once the demon, seeing with envious heart that just John was washing away the stain of error in pure waters, and inflamed by the losses of evil, that most savage pest went to King Herod and, easily entering the dwelling of an unjust heart, drove him to heap up impious crimes with fierce deeds. Herod had burned, inflamed with unlawful love, for his brother's marriage bed, which learned John forbade by the law of chastity. But his savagery, knowing nothing of right, put the laws under its feet and enjoyed the abominable marriage, and moreover loaded with chains the very man who forbade the wrong, plunged into the darkness of prison. For the thirsting savagery at first held back from the blood of the just man, restrained by fear, because the great veneration of the people received John as a prophet.

But it happened that on his birthday, when the tyrant Herod was laying out a glad banquet on high tables, since pride delights in being joined to luxury, in the midst of the young men the virgin daughter of the queen, quickening the alternating movements of her sides as she swayed, joined measured dances to her modulated song. Herod himself above all was astonished, struck with wonder at the girl's art; then he swore and promised that every reward lay open to her, whatever the girl should ask. But she, holding to the impious crimes of her horrible mother, pressed for John's head to be torn from his neck and brought on a dish, demanding it as a present gift. Herod, sad, under the weight of the leading men present, yet mindful of the force of his oath, reluctantly ordered the innocent man's head to be brought and given to the girl. She, wicked one (the horror of it!), carried it to her mother for her joy. But the disciples, weeping, buried in the earth the mangled trunk of the body, without a name, and followed Christ. When he learned of the just man's pitiable death, he left the land polluted with innocent blood and hid in the leafy shade of a secluded valley. But the peoples followed the gifts of his immense power. When he saw that crowds of believers had gathered in the remote valley, he took pity on them, drove off the wasting of diseases, and brought many bodies to healing.

And now, in the last light of the setting sun, the disciples urged Christ to send the crowds away, so that each might look for food for himself through the villages. He ordered a meal to be set out for all of them there. The disciples showed him that there was no more food than two fish and five pieces of bread. "This," he said, "is enough." Then at once he ordered the people to recline and to settle their limbs on couches of grass. And looking up to heaven, after praying to the Father, he himself divided the two fish and the five loaves in order and loaded the tables with rich food. And now the people lay satisfied (wonderful to say), and then the servants gathered the leftovers from the tables and filled the folds of twelve baskets with fragments. The number of those who ate was five thousand men, and besides them there was a crowd of mothers and children. Then he ordered the disciples to board the ship and cross the strait while he sent all the men away, each to his home. Then he went up to the heights of the mountain and there, alone, adored the name of the Father. And now all things lay numb in the sleeping night, while the ship furrowed the waves in the middle of the sea, tossed by the opposing blast of a rising wind.

But when, in the fourth watch of the night, the morning star was pressing on the night's course and lifting up its swift rising, he made his way, upheld, over the liquid waves with dry steps (wonderful to see!). And now he was drawing near the ship; but the sailors, astonished and not knowing him, felt their hearts quiver with trembling fear and cried out with confused minds. Then Christ spoke to them in their fear: "Let all fear be gone, and let a living constancy rule the minds of those who believe. See, it is I; know the teacher of your light." Peter, confident, answered him: "If your power truly deigns to visit us, allow me too, at your command, to plant my steps on the liquid waves above the sea." The Lord agreed; soon Peter dared to leave the ship and, leaning on the sea, planted his footsteps on it. But when the wonder of such great things terrified his mind and he saw the threats of the winds growing stronger, little by little the waters that had borne the strong power of faith gave way, melted by doubtful fear. And now Simon, sunk to the middle of his body, cried out: "Snatch me from the dreadful waves, Christ, I am perishing!" At once a right hand was stretched out to meet Peter; his doubting faith was punished with bitter words, and when they had climbed aboard the boat, the contrary winds gave way.

All whom chance had made companions on the boat were amazed and entreated him as the offspring of God present among them. At last the ship had crossed, furrowing the boiling straits, and the heavy anchor had taken hold of the longed-for harbour. The peoples gathered along the shore at a run, carrying the sick, and longed to touch the outermost threads of his garment; and, wonderful to say, by this gift all who believed carried back full health through their limbs. See, Pharisees and deceitful scribes from here and there, trying to catch Christ, brought out deceitful words: "Why does your teaching allow your disciples to fall away from the precepts of the ancients? For they neglect the care of washing their hands and take their food with dirt." He answered: "It is more fitting to ask this: why you all transgress and betray the precepts of God. For God threatens death by a fixed law if anyone hurts his father with a bitter word or strikes his mother with harsh words. You make these void by teaching perverse things. How plainly the prophet's words about you hold good: This people raises me in honour with the tips of its lips, but the secret places of the heart wander far in another direction. Hear, then, all of you, and turn the ears of your heart: whatever is brought into a man will not sprinkle him with shameful filth nor settle in his life or mind.

But what bursts out from the inner places of men's mouths, once uttered, will wretchedly stain the inner mind." The disciples told Christ that the scribes had received his words with hidden laughter in their hearts. He said: "Our Father will throw far away, torn up by the roots, the seeds of plants that he himself did not sow in the plain of his field. If a blind man wanders, having by chance found a blind guide, both will fall together, plunged into the pit." Then Peter asked to have explained what the riddle meant that he had just given to the Pharisees and scribes. Then the sower of eternal life answered: "You too shut out all commands with a hard heart, and the doubt of your mind does not let in the light. For whatever comes into men's mouths from outside passes into the belly and runs on without the mind's knowledge. But what men's mouths bring out, conceived in the inner heart, can pollute the mind with a sprinkling of stain and defile the man with unclean guilt. From the secret of the heart come out harmful counsels of life, murders, the abominable thefts of the marriage bed, frauds, the deceitful error of men as witnesses, and the madness of a rash voice beating against heaven. These are what stain a man, what fill him with filth.

But to take earthly food as the body pleases, with unwashed hands, never pollutes." When he had said this, he went to the most beautiful lands of the Syrians, to Sidon and Tyre; and a woman with loosened hair, pleading with prayers for her daughter who lay sick, threw herself down and in her anxiety did not stop begging Christ, who kept silent, to restore the mind vexed by a savage demon and to let the poor girl at last come to her senses. Then, in answer to the prayers of the disciples following him, he said that he preferred to gather the Father's own sheep, which vain error had scattered far and wide. Then, as she pressed him more often, Jesus said: "No one will ever take bread from his own children and throw it to dogs." Then the woman said: "At least a share of crumbs from the table falls to the dogs, and the masters' dinner is in no way burdened." Then the Lord said: "Let the worthy rewards of salvation come to you, which the strength of such great faith has earned." So the Saviour spoke with heavenly words, and the fruitful power, striking out the demon, filled the girl's mind, which it embraced, with the gifts of health. From there the Saviour returned to the region of Galilee and sat down far off on the height of a lofty mountain. Without delay the peoples came together, bringing with them some deprived of their eyes, and a crowd weak in their legs,

and others without speech, and diseases of a thousand names. Yet he took away the bitter sicknesses of all, and gave them strong health as a venerable gift. Then the peoples together thronged to such great wonders and celebrated praise and thanks to the eternal Father. Christ gathered the disciples on the top of the mountain and spoke to them in private: "Great is my pity for the people, for the third light of the sun is already returning to the lands since they have taken any food; I would not wish to send so great a people away fasting, lest weariness overcome them as they travel long roads." The disciples showed Christ that they had seven loaves and a few small fish as food at hand. Then he ordered the people to lie down on the ground, and broke all there was with his own hands, and had it given to all the people, table by table. The disciples set out the food, and the people were filled to satiety; soon they gathered the fragments of bread and brought back seven baskets heaped full. There were then four thousand of all the people, and no one counted the mothers and children. From there he crossed by ship to the region of the Magedae. See, the Pharisees and the deceitful Sadducees pressed him, testing him, to demand signs from heaven. But Christ, seeing their deceitful hearts, said:

"Whenever the moist night closes the vaulted sky, if a red evening comes forth from starry Olympus, you say: Fair weather will come with the coming day. And when at the rising of the sun the gloomy clouds are mixed with red in a confused light, you say that a crashing rage of winds and fury of storms is coming upon farmers and sailors. Deceivers, you know how to discern the face of the sky, but do you not know how to search out the times of the ages by their signs? But signs will be given you, those that came once from the immense depth of the sea, when the beast held the prophet in the prison of its belly." He said this, and quickly loosing the ship's moorings, he hastened across the straits to reach the lands of Philippi on a swift course, and said to his companions: "Take care to avoid harmful grain and fierce leaven: turn them away from your tables. The Pharisees and deceitful Sadducees mix it into food and deceive under the name of bread. Why has hesitation set your silent minds turning? Ah, how small a faith grows faint with dulled understanding!

Turned aside, you say that you had no room to take loaves on the ship, and that I am ordering you to beware of the snares of grain. I thought you remembered and knew that five loaves filled five thousand of the people for me, and that from so many baskets the superfluous fragments were collected into a heap of food; and again that seven loaves easily filled four thousand who ate, and that you saw seven baskets brought back, again full of leftovers. But I warn you always to beware of the leaven of these men." The disciples, at last following the words of life, saw that it was their teaching that was meant by the name of leaven. Then, when they had arrived over the liquid deep at the famous lands that bear the name of Philip, he called together the council of his disciples and asked who the report of the peoples thought he was. They answered that there was much talk among the people: they had often heard, and many affirmed, that he was just John, who washed the peoples in the river. Some told of words of swift report they had heard, that Helias had come again, whom long ago the fervent power of a swift flame, in the likeness of a four-horse chariot, set among the stars in a heavenly whirlwind. Others said that the prophet Hieremias had appeared.

Then Christ, smiling on them all with a kindly heart, asked what the disciples' opinion was. But steadfast Peter said: "You are the Son of the Holy One, the Christ, who fill the lands with glorious light." Then the Lord answered strong Peter thus: "Peter, you will be blessed, for human blood or the body, a portion of earth, could surely never reveal such things. Only the gifts of the Father can grant so strong a power of faith. You keep the name of Peter with worthy virtue. On this mass, on the strength of this rock, I will set a house that will remain for ever with eternal walls. This house will have a bar that the gates of the underworld cannot overcome, fortified with everlasting strength; and it is my purpose to entrust to you the keys of the heavenly kingdom; and what you leave bound on earth by your decision will remain bound likewise in heaven; and again what your sentence has loosed on earth will be loosed in the same way beneath the seat of heaven. But you, my disciples, refrain from telling everyone that I am the Christ, so that only the worthy may know such things. Now the day will come, pressing on me with swift course, when within the walls of Solyma a headlong madness will in its fury glut the eminent priests with our blood.

But when the third sun gives back its light-flowing rising, my life will rise, crowned with the rays of salvation, and will give its gifts to all the lands." Then Peter, his heart struck with great grief, said: "Far be such sad portents, Christ, from your holy limbs; it is not right to believe so much, nor can so hard a fate befall you." Christ answered: "Away from here, away, flee, demon. Divine wisdom does not touch your mind, but you think earthly things and tremble with soft fear. But if any of you will follow our footsteps, let him deny himself, refusing body and soul, and rejoice to add his own cross to our company; glory will redeem for him the life he has lost; for the possession of light kept safe on earth perishes. What will the mortal gains of the world profit, if they bring the loss of light and everlasting life? Or what worthy exchange can be offered for the soul? The Son of man will come here in the name of the Father, and the heavenly ministers will throng about him with roaring accompaniment, and he will repay men's lives what is due. I speak truly: some here I shall find at the threshold of light, when I take up, shining, the kingdom of heaven." When he had said this, he let six days' light pass over the lands as the sky turned, and then ordered Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to climb a steep mountain with him by pathless ways.

When they reached the summit of the secluded mountain, at once Christ was changed in face with flashing brightness, and his garment shone with the whiteness of snow. His companions looked and saw Helias and Moses standing in the midst with the holy one. Then Peter said: "Consider whether it is better for us to go far away, or to stay here and see the sight of so great a thing; yet, if you command, I will make three tents here for you, each prepared with leaves, as curtains to receive you, each one, at night." While he spoke, a very bright cloud from heaven, cast about their eyes, clothed the mountain with light, and a clear voice ran out from the midst of the light: "This is my only Son, my highest will; grasp his righteousness with a just heart." The disciples pressed the earth with fearful bodies and did not dare to lift their faces from where they had fallen, until the right hand of Christ, soothing them with holy touch, strengthened their hearts with kind words: "Rise, and bravely trample down the fear you have cast off; and let the present vision be told to no one, until the beautiful offspring of man first brings back here into the light trophies from the seat of death." They rose and saw him alone, and asked aloud why the faction of the scribes contends, from the writings of the ancients, that Helias first returns from the seat of heaven to the lands, and then the light of Christ rises.

Christ answered: "Helias, at the bidding, will come at a set time, soon restoring to the world all that is owed. But, if anyone believes it, he had already come before, born again, whom, as one unknown, the blind rage of fury plunged into death; soon another, more savage slaughter, see, presses upon the Son of man with fierce tearing." He said this, went back to the people, and left the mountain. But see, an older man, on bended knees and dissolved in tears, worshipped Christ with prayers and adored him: "Offspring of David, light and salvation of men, I pray you, drive the horrible disease out of my son's body and give an old man back the comforts of life. For the course of the moon, by a demon's art, tortures my son and throws him down into the liquid waters, or rolls the poor boy, thrown into the midst of the fire. Your disciples, following your commands, often tried but gave me no lasting help." Then Christ, his heart moved with great grief, said: "O nation without any faith, nation ever savage, see, shall I endure to be with you on earth still?" So he spoke, and commanded the boy to be brought by his father before his face. Then he bore down on him with great weight of voice, and, cleansing his heart, drove off the convulsing poisons of the horrible demon from his mind.

The disciples asked why the healing of the same boy, attempted so often, had not succeeded for them. The Lord answered: "Because in your heart the wavering step of unstable faith slips on slippery ground. For if you had a sure share of belief, even one that could equal the smallest mustard seed, you could by a word pluck up the mass of this mountain from here and roll it all over to another place. For this kind of disease is kept off by unceasing prayers, by faith, and by the many fasts of a strong heart." From there he went on and came to the region of Capharnaum. Those charged with collecting the tribute met Peter and demanded that he pay the customary sum on behalf of Christ. But Christ turned to Peter and said: "Tell me, from whom have kings ordered tribute to be paid them: from foreign sons or from their own?" Peter answered: "It is certain that foreigners pay." "You see," said Christ, "that the king's son does not pay; but so that I may offend no one, take our command: see, climb, Simon, the highest rock of the wave-sounding sea that juts out into the deep, and throw down into the deep a hook tied to a line of bristles. And the first fish that clings to the curved point, cut open its belly and open its inner parts;

pay the double tribute you find there." After that the disciples asked who was greatest in the high kingdom of heaven, and for what merits. Then Christ ordered a boy to stand in the middle of the company and, as teacher, spoke calmly: "Whoever desires to climb to the high seat of heaven, see, let him shape his ways to be like this boy. It is certain that the snares of error grow in the world, but unhappy is he through whom error is brought about. Whoever deceives any of these little ones, if he is wise, let him tie a millstone to his neck and hurl himself headlong into the waves of the sea. Let no one despise these little ones in his pride. Their guardians in the heavenly seat look upon the face of the high-throned Father above the stars. If any shepherd, whose hundred bleating sheep crop the pastures entrusted to him, finds that one has wandered off, unknowing, he leaves them all and seeks it, tracing the footsteps of the one through all the woods, if with great labour he can find it; then greater joy arises over the lamb that is found than over the whole number of those that did not stray. So the Father does not allow any of these little ones to perish, and rejoices that they grow in his kingdom. If you see your own brother stained with a fault, soon rebuke him in words, in private, alone.

If he accepts your words of guidance patiently and approves them, you will win, brother, the mind of your falling brother. But if he leaves and despises your words when you are alone, then let the admonisher repeat the devout commands together with others. But if he shakes off the reins of two teachers, then let his faults be brought before the full assembly, so that, overcome at least by the weight of the people, he may be healed. But if in his savagery he despises the voices of many as well, let him be to you as one punished under the name of a foreign nation. For our presence will always come into the assembly, and I must stand in the midst of two, or of a company of three, gathered in our name." Then Peter asked how many faults he should forgive his brother, whether perhaps he might forgive the lapses of men seven times. Christ went on: "Not seven faults only, but let his brother's wounds be forgiven ten times more besides. For the kingdom of heaven is like the court of a very rich lord, who ordered an account of his money to be drawn up, and commanded a slave who owed many talents to be seized and set out for sale with his wife and children and all his property. Then the slave threw himself down and adored his lord, and promised, if he had any time allowed, to pay the whole sum of money to his lord.

Pity for the weeping servant moved the lord, and beyond his desert he forgave the slave all his debts. But he went out, found a fellow slave on the very threshold, and seized him; then, being stronger, he pressed him to pay his debts, truculently refused any place to prayers, and kept him plunged in the darkness of prison and punishment. When the lord began to learn of this from the words of his servants, he had the slave brought and, grieving, heaped most just words on him; he was moved to anger and with severe commands thrust the savage man into torments, reviving all his debts, until he should pay them in chains with deserved punishment. So the Father, who possesses the heights of heaven, will do to you, if with savage and unmerciful hearts you choose to punish harshly the sins of brothers who entreat you." He said these words, left the fields of Galilee and went to Judaea, where the green Jordan silently breaks through the rich lands in its pleasant course. There too he excelled no less in giving health to the sick along the roads and in granting the gifts of the lofty Father. See, the Pharisees went on to question him, testing him, whether it is lawful to cut the bond of a rejected wife for whatever it may be that touches the heart of an offended husband. When he understood this, Christ answered: "In the beginning God set on earth a pair of unlike sex, and ordered them to be joined from one body, and the souls of both to grow together into joined limbs.

What God, then, commands by his own word to grow together, it is unlawful to separate through the foul self-indulgence of men. Moses commanded, because he saw hard hearts, that a bill of divorce be written, so that stony hearts might be convicted by their own letters before the flame of the Judge. For whoever rashly dissolves the rights of the chaste bed, and another wife is joined to his bridal chamber, will incur the charge of adultery, with the people as witness." The disciples answered: "This law bears hard on men and presses one side with an unequal weight of servitude, so that it would be better to have done without the hated bridal chamber." The Lord answered: "Not all will put their shoulders under so great a weight; such gifts belong to a chosen virtue. Bodies are cut off in three ways from enjoying the law of generation in marriage. For we know that some are born such into the shores of light; iron force strips many men of their sex; and it is clear that others take away from themselves, for the kingdom of heaven, the downward love from their heart. Whoever is able, let him take it up with lofty virtue, a gift which God wills to open to a few, the chosen." So he spoke; and the children, whom the glad care of their parents was bringing from every side, eagerly and with glad prayers, he received, and rebuked the following crowd for forbidding them, and declared that such deserve the kingdom of the heavenly hall. In order he laid his holy hands on them and gave them back to be carried in their parents' arms.

But see, from the crowd came a young man who had fields and a house and treasure, a shining wealth of possessions; he approached and, bowing low, openly worshipped Christ: "O good teacher, tell me now what deeds I should follow, so that I may lay hold of everlasting life." To this Jesus, the author of life, replied: "Do you only now ask what is held in the ancient law? You will not destroy a man's life; you will not invade the marriage bed by theft; your mind or your right hand will not gather gain from harm to others' goods; you will not speak as a false witness. Let your father and mother be high in your honour, and let your neighbour and brother receive your love as you love yourself." He then said: "These I believe I have always kept with constant care; but lest anything perhaps left undone be lacking, let me be advised by your voice now." Then Christ said: "Now, if you seek to reach the perfect heights of life by lofty merits, sell everything you hold under your own sole ownership, and give it without care to the wretched poor. Then you will have treasure stored in the citadel of heaven, and holding fast to virtue you will follow our footsteps." When these words came to the young man's ears, he cast down his face and fled sadly home. Then the only hope of life spoke thus to his disciples:

"It is hard for those fastened to the earth by rich treasure to be torn away and come, lightened, into the kingdom of heaven. For the huge limbs of the ugly camel could pass through the slender eye of a needle sooner than a rich man could see the heavenly kingdom." At such words his companions, astonished and dumbfounded, were silent, wondering what power could be in a human heart great enough to lay hold of such a life. The glory of the eternal life of the just looked at them and said: "These things may perhaps seem harsh to man; but God opens to the chosen an easy and possible way into heaven, which lofty virtue may take." Then Peter, fortified by the walls of faith, began: "Long ago we threw away and left all that was ours, and the only hope left to us is to follow your commands. What remains for our souls? Tell us, Christ, we pray." Jesus answered Peter with these words: "All you who, believing in the deep inner places of the mind, keep to my way: when the offspring of man sits on high, girded by majesty with lofty honour, there a most beautiful power will set up for you twelve seats on the sublime summit, and you will be allowed likewise to deal out the judgment of men. And whoever here leaves the treasures and all the loved ones of his family and house for our name will receive a hundredfold thereafter, and everlasting life.

The last will pass beyond the merit of the first, and the first, passed by, will scarcely receive the last rewards. As a diligent lord of an estate, whose farm is crowned far and wide with sweet vineyards in rich fields, went out at the first light of the sun and hired the strongest young men, agreeing on a fixed wage for one day's labour, and then ordered them to dress his vineyards; but going out himself when the third hour had come, see, he found others and ordered them to join the work, promising worthy rewards for the merits of the work; and they gladly followed his orders in the same way. And when the sixth hour of the day had flowed by, he went on likewise to hire other young men. And when the ninth hour had then been driven on by the sun's course, he ordered others, hired in the same way, to go in. The last portion of the slipping day remained: he went out, saw young men, and asked why they grew numb in slow leisure with idle hands. They said that no hirer had given them any orders. Then the lord soon ordered these too to set to work in the field. But as soon as evening came, he commanded that all should receive the honour of the wage and all carry away the reward of an equal coin.

Then that band of men who had taken up their labour at first light and borne a full day of work, indignant, said among themselves with this murmur: "It is unjust that we should get the same coin as these, whom the last hour joined to the work so late." Then the lord of the estate said, with a calm heart: "Your portion of the wage is paid you whole and untouched, and the terms of a faithful agreement are kept. Let me be allowed to grant as much from what is mine to these, whom the last portion of the working day gathered to the field. For holy favour has called many men, of whom it is fitting to set apart a very small part." He said this and set out again for Solyma, and spoke to his companions apart, and began to them alone on the road: "We go in knowing it, and approach the truculent walls. Here the Son of man will be betrayed to the uttermost of death, bearing in his limbs the mockery of the scribes and leaders, and fastened to the cross he will rise after the third day." Then the wife of Zebedee humbly asked that her happy sons might sit at the right and left, with Christ in the midst, on the lofty height of heaven. Then Christ asked whether they could drink the cup which, by the Father's commands, he must soon drink. They answered together that they could. Then Christ said:

"It is right for you to drink our cup; but to sit with me in equal honour on the high seats, our power will not give this to anyone as a gift. The Father keeps these sublime gifts for those appointed." Then all the disciples were stirred by these words, and he soothed them with this gracious speech: "Among the faithless nations, power with lofty rule sets over them those who lord it over them and practise fierce anger on subject cities. Among you, gentle moderation spreads the sea of life far calmer with harmonious peace, and the minister grows great above the heights by his services. Nor can anyone be the one first, unless he serves all. So the Son of man alone, as minister, performs devout offices for you by his own service, and, redeeming many, saves them with his precious blood. But you wish to rise from the least means, and so, falling from the highest, you take the lowest. If anyone invites you, setting out a dinner party, whoever is wise will avoid placing himself on the highest couches. If perhaps another, a noble, comes, he will be shamefully compelled to give up the place of honour, the man whom the swelling of a puffed-up heart had set at the top.

But if he is content to take the middling places at the dinner, and then soon a lower guest comes in, he will modestly move up to the better couches." Then he climbed the nearest heights of the mountain near Solyma, which shine with rows of grey-leaved olives. From there Christ ordered chosen disciples among his followers, pointing out the dwellings of a village opposite, to bring from there a she-ass they would find together with her foal; and if anyone wished to ask why his beasts were being led off so suddenly, they should say that the Lord wished to take their service for himself. The disciples carried out his commands with quick preparation. They brought them, spread the soft covering of their garments over the calm foal, and offered it to him to sit on. Of this the voice of the prophet of old had once flowed forth in announcement: "See, your king comes to you, calm, carried as he sits by the backs of the very gentle she-ass and the following foal." Then all the people covered the roads with their garments, and wherever Christ's way went they crowned it with woven foliage. Others then stripped the nearest palm groves of greenery, and all shouted: "To him born of the line of David, Hosanna in the highest; let glad glory be with his trophies!" So at last Christ entered the walls of Solyma. As he entered, at the first threshold of the temple, a crowd weak in their legs and eyes came eagerly to meet him.

When the whole faction of the priests learned with wonder that these were so suddenly strong in step and sight, and saw the boys filling the roofs of the temple with the shout, "Hosanna to him born of the excellent stock of David," they all questioned him about what cause of shouting lifted up such a youthful crowd in joy. Christ answered: "You are believed to hold the writings of the holy law, which say that just praise comes from the mouth of infants and rises from the tongues of sucklings." He said this, left the ungrateful city with its citizens, and went to Bethany; and on his return he saw at the edge of the road a fig tree spreading wide its shade. There, as it happened, the desire for food tested his heart; he took hold of the branches of the tree, but no store of fruit had grown in the barren shade of its leaves. Christ said to it: "May you never have plenty to bring forth fruit." Then at once the tree withered. The disciples wondered at the tree's swift death. But Christ stood by them in their astonishment and said: "Now you are astonished at the honour shown us by this tree, that it has ceased to draw earthly sap for its strength. But with true words I will warn you again and again: if sure faith stands firm in the citadel of the mind and does not lie trembling, wavering with doubtful faults, the substance of this tree will yield to us.

And not only this tree; the heights of a mountain too could be torn up by the word of believers and buried in the waves of the deep, with its woods and rocks and wild beasts. And whatever faith asks with a strong heart, it will always obtain through the worthy power of believers." When he had said this, he went within the walls of the temple. At once the leaders of the people gathered and asked about the wonders, what great power had given them. Christ said to them: "It is easy now to tell you all you ask, if first your opinion, in turn, briefly answers what we ask. Lately John, who in the pure stream washed away the stains of the filthy people: did he seem to you a divine power, or rather the deceit of a man?" So he spoke, shutting in the minds of the leaders who were trying to catch him with the double-edged weight of his words; for the great veneration of the people received John as a prophet, and they could not call his life deceitful. On the other hand, had they said he was a lofty prophet, the admission that they had killed him would bring guilt upon them. Yet the deceitful faction answered that they did not know. Then Christ said: "It is not unjust for me to shut my mouth, when the proud answers of the leaders are shut to me. For the father of two sons spoke these words in the ears of the elder: The greater part of my vineyard lies half-pruned. Go, then, and with strong strength, now with trenches, now pressing with the sickle, cut back the vines.

Then the young man said that he would not put up with such mean words of labour. Afterwards he carried out all his father's commands and, condemning himself, held back his own answer. Afterwards the father ordered the other son in the same words to give the vineyard the labour commanded. The young man agreed to this, but did not repay his words with deeds. Tell me, which of them rather followed his father's commands?" They praised the answer of the latter. Christ went on: "Now attend to true words. Those who seek sordid gain from the vices of the body can now reach the seat of heaven sooner than any of you. For just John had come to you before, but it is not your way to believe. The hearts of harlots rather drank in sure faith and laid aside the shameful filth of the mind. But you never repent at all of such great crimes. So a certain rich man, whose many acres of shining vineyard a thick hedge enclosed, built in the middle a tower, a press and jars, and gave it to cultivators and let out the fruits to be held by them, setting a fixed law of rent to be paid. Then he went to distant lands; but at the set time of fruit he sent slaves as his agents, to whom a safe share should be given by the cultivators, at the fixed rent of the estate.

See, the madness of the tenants drove off some with savage scourging, others with volleys of stones from every side; at last they laid many low with deadly wounds. Then the lord of the estate ordered more slaves to go and again demanded the agreed rent; but a greater and bolder injury rose against the greater number. Lastly the lord decided to send his son, because the worthy force of respect would require that his offspring, part of himself, be revered in the tenants' hearts. But against this, their mind already stained with blood, believing that once the lord's offspring was destroyed the lordship would pass to them, they cut him down, pierced with a cruel wound, and threw the corpse outside beyond the hedge. After this the lord will come and demand punishment for such great crimes. But the seat of the shining kingdom, once handed over to you, will be transferred and given to a gentle nation that can render fruits. As a king who, binding the marriage bond for his son, ordered the leading men to attend a glad banquet, summoned by servants to celebrate together the honour of the king's wish; but all refused to come to the royal wedding, to the cups of the royal table. Afterwards he sent others to say that he had prepared everything most lavishly, magnificent food and a glad banquet. They, neglecting the riches, went off to other things.

One went back to his own house, one to the buildings of a nearby farm, and another rather to his wares and his profits. Many besides seized the innocent servants who had been sent to call them to the celebration and tortured their bodies to death with the sword. Then the king, when he learned what had been done, overthrew the citizens with their very walls by thousands of armed men, avenging the blood of his servants that had been shed. Then he said to the servants: "The festive wedding dinner, all that we prepared with most lavish riches, those leading men have scorned to touch at my tables. Go, then, quickly through the public enclosures of the roads, and whoever chance has gathered there, call them all and bring them here to my son's glad wedding." The servants went out through all the crossroads and brought together those they found. Now at last all the tables were filled with a mixed crowd without names. Here the just and the unjust reclined together, invited. But the king came in and looked over the glad banquet. Here he saw one wearing the covering of a polluted garment, whose tongue had been out of tune with the joys of the wedding. And when he was ordered by the weight of the king's word to give the reasons for the stains and blemish of his garment, he was silent, his impure heart's mouth pressed shut. Then the king turned to the servants and ordered that he be bound hand and foot and in his whole body, seized, and soon thrown headlong into deep darkness. "There will be gnashing of vast pain without end, and weeping always. For of the many who are often called, a happy few men will be chosen."

As he said such things, the gnashing faction at once set about testing him with malignant and deceitful words: "It is certain that you have now come as a truthful teacher, and that you fear no one but keep to the footsteps of the Lord. Tell us, then, is it lawful for our nation to pay the tribute under the law of Caesar, who always presses us?" But he, looking into the inner places of their savage heart, said: "Why do you now try to shut me in with words, deceivers? The deceit of the mind betrays its fruit. Look at the coin, at the bronze of the stamped money, where it is easy to see Caesar's face portrayed. Pay him now the tribute under his own law, and let us keep for God the honour of the law that is his." After that the Sadducees pressed him from every side with their barking: "Moses, who laid down the precepts of the laws, commands that if anyone leaves his marriage by an early death, with no children yet sprung from his seed between them, a bond of union is owed again to his brother, so that no portion of the fallen family may perish. In our land there were seven brothers; the eldest first took the bonds of a bride and soon fell under the very swift point of death; afterwards another brother died in the same marriage bed without fruit, and all the brothers in order lay dead. And the tears of a single wife mourned them all;

after that the harshness of cold death carried her off too. If, then, all will come to the threshold of life, to whose marriage will the woman rise again, to be given back?" Christ said to them: "A hard mind, subject to depraved error, resists the laws and commands of the Lord. For the second restoration of glad life that follows knows no marriage beds and no vain joys of the earth; the sublime power of the kingdom will set them, in the hall, like the light ministers who stand beside the Father. Nor does God choose to make himself lord of those who have sunk down and deserved to receive foul death, but rather of those who can lay hold of the light of life." See, others asked which are the firmest commands of the law. He, unwearied, denied his answers to no one: "Let the devotion of the heart love the sublime Lord of heaven; this is the firmest power of the law. Like it is this: let the inner places of a just mind be held by great love to the rights of brothers; for on these two commands all things depend. But whose offspring do you think the Christ will be, who is to come, whom all the prophets promise for the ages?" They answered that he is born of David's seed. Christ went on: "Why, then, is it written that David, by the divine breath, calls him Lord and God, which it is not fitting for a father to say to his own son?"

So spoke the Saviour; all were struck dumb and silent. But he called together the crowd of believers and said: "Look at the scribes, proud in their lofty seat. Whatever they teach, it is right to take up with an obedient heart; but despise the stains of their life. For they lay steep burdens on your shoulders which they themselves will not touch even with a finger. They are lifted up by the first place at dinner, by proud haughtiness and the empty honour of greetings, and they wish to bear the lofty name of teacher. But I would not have you aim at the citadel of a very lofty name; you have one power of teacher, set over you for ever by the law of heaven, and it has joined you in the equal love of brothers. Likewise there is one Father, who reigns on the summit of heaven. If anyone among you lifts his neck high, he will fall and be plunged into the mud at the bottom of the abyss; but the humble will ascend, free, into the bright heaven. Always to be lamented are the scribes, and for all to mourn is the blind deceit of the Pharisee people of a lamentable age. Because the way is shut and rightly denied to you, you allow no one to pass through the steep heights of light, and you drag all into the company of the savage flame. I will call you like tombs with splendid roofs, whose face is shining but whose inside is foul with the dead.

So the voice is veiled under the image of a just life, and filthy hearts are hidden in the inner places of the mind. O Solymi, Solymi, you who have without end killed with the sword the prophets often sent for your life, how I wished to protect your nation and people, as a bird is wont to cherish her sweet chicks under her body, embracing them round with the barrier of her wings! But heavenly gifts are always worthless to you. Now this house is already deserted, to be laid waste in ruins, and it is not right for you to see our face any longer." He went out of the temple, and, as the disciples were noting its very lofty walls, he taught them with these words: "These marvels of work seem worthy to you as you gaze in astonishment; but learn from true words that soon all will lie scattered everywhere on the ground." Saying this, he came to the height of Olivet. When the disciples saw him alone, they asked him to mark out for them the time of the age to come, what end they should look for to receive his promises, and when his coming would consume the globe of the earth. Christ answered their questions thus: "Watch out for deceit, lest your credulity, caught by a false name, be thrown headlong into the snares of those who stray. The fires of wars will run through all lands;

but you, stand firm with very strong strength of heart, lest your mind lie troubled at the tumult you hear; for the first battles will not soon bring the end; nation will bear standards against nation and king against king, nor will diseases then spare to corrupt the expanse of the air, or plagues to lay bodies low. The earth too, fixed with solid weight in the void, will tremble in different places with shaking motion. These will remain small trials at the beginning. Many of you will be betrayed and put to death, and the nations must press upon you for my name with torments, fierce punishments and hatred. There will be envy on earth, all things full of error, and false prophets will rise to the ruin of the peoples. Amid all this, whoever can keep his breast protected from wounds to the end will come, crowned with the eternal garlands of life, to the sublime places of light. The proclamation of the kingdom of heaven will fly to all the bounds of the earth; every nation will have its witness in the light-flowing word of holy salvation. And then will come the end that dissolves the running ages. Then already the sad lamentation will come upon the lands, which the most true voice of Daniel was bidden to tell; only the worthy reader will be able to understand these things.

Those of Judaea will flee far away and take to the mountains, and let no one go back to his house to take with him whatever might go with him in flight, clothing or anything movable. Then mothers will be pitied who carry the weight of the womb, and those who will feed their wretched infants with sweet milk. Ask now in your prayers that your flight may not come in the cold of sad winter, nor anxious trembling disturb the festive sabbath with headlong running; for the most savage burdens will come upon all lands. Such evil no ages before have known, nor will any after. And unless the sublime Father, in pity, chose to cut short the time and shorten the number of days, no bodies would survive of trembling life. But for the sake of the chosen just, mercy will come. Deceivers in the name of Christ and false prophets will rise on earth and fashion mighty portents, wonders that might perhaps capture even the chosen just. See, the coming ages lie open to you, foretold. If anyone says that Christ is wandering in the deserts, or is hidden far away in secret inner rooms, let the emptiest credulity be far from you. For as lightning runs across the open sky and is easily seen by all from the shores of the east to the western circle of the declining sky, so the lights of Christ will shine at his swift coming.

The sun will hide its ruddy rays in murky shadows, the grace of the moon's light will lose its course, and the fire-haired stars will rush down and leave the sky. Every power of the heaven above, shaken, will give signs by which the offspring of man may shine on the summit of heaven; and unceasing lamentation will press upon the tribes of every kind, when the Son of man comes through the stars with fire-coloured clouds, mighty in majesty. Then the trumpet, shrilling with a terrifying blare, will gather the just who are called from the four quarters of the world. For the present generation of the world will not pass away until the end comes after and closes all that is owed. This earth and the heaven above will be dissolved into fire, but my words will never be dissolved from their order. What that day will be, it is right that all should not know, except the Lord of all things alone, who turns the stars. As once the raging waters covered the lands, and the violence of the flood with a sudden sweep carried off all as they went about their different tasks, so our coming will suddenly come down from the sky, rolling flames; nor will it press all under one condition. For then, when two are cleaving the glad acres into furrows with the ploughshare pressed down, one ploughman will be taken, his body seized, and the other, unknowing, will be left in the vast field.

Even those lying on the one coverlet of a bed will meet different judgment by different lot: one, left behind, will look for his companion among the covers. Therefore let the servants keep watch, because the Lord's coming, unknown to them, will come down at a sudden hour. If the keeper of a house knew the sure time when the thief would come, he would keep watch and carry his weapons far out to meet him, so that no one might break into the house. But you, always stand by with attentive minds, for the Son of man will return here to you suddenly and unexpectedly, keeping his rewards for the just. That servant will be faithful to whom the man who is himself father of the house, setting out on a long journey, chose to entrust the whole house and the servants: wise and very blessed is he whom the Lord, when he comes, will see keeping his commands. He will crown that servant with greater honour. But that unhappy servant who, indulging in sordid luxury, despises his master's delay, wearies his fellow servants with beatings, gives himself to sluggish drunkenness and keeps company at the banquets of the luxurious: his lord will come and will throw the servant, raging heedlessly, headlong into the punishment he deserves. Everlasting weeping and gnashing will await him. The heavenly kingdom can be compared to ten maidens, of whom one part was wiser, the other part most foolish, with very dull hearts.

They all ran to meet the wedding procession, girded with the adornment of flame-haired torches. But the wise part took care to carry oil with them, so that their lamps might take up the flame. Such prudence the foolish did not have. And when the bridegroom was delayed, they all fell asleep along the broad streets. Now in the middle of the night a great shout arose and grew, and warned them to run to meet the glad procession and adorn the roads with flashing torches. The maidens hurried to rise, to trim the lights on their torches and to feed the flames with rich oil. Then the foolish asked to be given a share of the oil which they now saw the prudent carrying with them. But the wise company feared that if an equal portion were given to all out of so little, the rich nourishment of the bright flame would fail them all alike; so the foolish went off to buy liquid oil. While they were gone, the whole glad procession passed by, and only the prudent band went along with the bridegroom. The dull ones arrived later, too slow, and in vain knocked again and again at the bridegroom's doors and closed threshold, plying unwelcome prayers that they, poor things, might be allowed to enter the glad threshold.

None of the bridegroom's companions, nor the bridegroom himself, would know them. Keep watch, then, in fear, because the hour of the coming is not certain to you. For as a man whose lot it was to set out into distant lands, entrusting talents to his slaves to be managed, gave five to one; another received two to keep; a third undertook the care of managing one talent, since different strengths merit different charges. Those to whom the larger portion of money was entrusted increased it, vying with each other, with double gains. But he to whom the care of one talent was entrusted dug into the earth and kept the money without fruit. And now the lord was present again: then the first and the second showed him that they had doubled what was entrusted to them. The master praised them and promised to entrust greater things to such faithfulness. But the third dug up the talent and gave it back to his lord with these words: Because I knew that I served a severe lord, who reaps crops grown from another's seed, I was afraid, and preferred to entrust your silver to the earth, so that I could always give it back to you safe. Then the lord answered the servant thus: If you dared to say that you did not know my ways, I could grant pardon for such great wickedness.

But knowing this, you should rather have seen to it that the money you managed brought us fruit. Therefore let our portion be taken from the lazy one, and let a greater possession then be given to the prudent one, whom I found to have heaped up my five talents with double gains. For it is certain that those deserve greater things whose fuller estate abounds with a heaped-up store. But he who has small means and a lazy heart, that little will justly be taken from him altogether, so that the worthless slave, plunged into the lowest darkness, may ply everlasting weeping with the gnashing of punishment. See, the Son of man will come, and, thronged by the Father's ministers, will sit as judge on the lofty seat. Then all nations will come together from the different parts of the world, and he will separate all the just from the stain of the wicked and gladly set them on the right side, but will leave the depraved, despised, on the left; as a shepherd separates the pastures of a mixed flock, giving the woolly sheep the soft grass of the meadow on the right, and leaving the thickets on the left for the shaggy goats to crop. Then the king will turn to those on the right and say: Let the holy come here; let them receive the gifts of the Father long owed them, which are as old as the shining world and have been prepared and promised to the just from the first beginning.

For this grateful people once refreshed me when I was weary with hunger, often took away my thirst with drink, often opened the hospitality of their house to me when I came, and when I was naked I received the kindest coverings of clothing, and in the punishments of prison I found comfort from them. Then the blessed will answer the Lord: None of us remembers seeing you naked, nor did anyone see you oppressed by the hard rule of hunger, nor remembers seeing you bound in the punishments of prison. Then the judge will answer them: Whoever in pity has done these humble labours for my brothers, it is certain that he sets sweet fruit before me. But you, unjust, go into the just flames and burn your malignant minds for ever in punishments, which the Father has prepared in the horrible depths, through the pools of the abyss, for the horrible demon himself and his allies. For once, when I suffered thirst, you gave me no cups; when I was punished with hunger, not the mercy of a little bread; when I was a stranger, no cover of roof or clothing even for a little while, a small portion out of great wealth; nor, when I lay shut in behind prison bars or in sickness, was the comfort of your visiting ever mine. To these words the condemned faction will then answer:

None of us ever remembers seeing you, either suffering the sickly labour of thirst or of savage hunger, or wandering as a stranger through the towns in weary want, or plunged into the punishments of prison or weighed down by sickness, so that just pity might be shown you in your distress. To them the Lord will say: When your savagery swelled in a proud heart against those in narrow circumstances and trampled on the humble and least, it spurned me in them. When he has said these words, he will repay each according to merit. The wretched unjust will be pierced with punishment for ever, and the salvation granted to the just will remain for ever." While he was saying such things, a sister, tearing her hair in her grief, anxious with just care over her brother's sickness, urged a young man to run quickly, so that Christ might save his friend from such great misfortune. For the woman had been accepted for her kindly merits, and for her service Christ embraced her deserving brother and household with full love and held them dear. The messenger came and reported that the young man whom Christ loved lay at the end, through the sorrows of sickness, holding the very border between death and life.

His name was Lazarus; but Christ, struck by the bitter words, said: "This violent sickness, if you believe it, does not lead to death, but is so that God may be celebrated with worthy honour by the just and the offspring of man may shine with holy power." Then he said to the disciples: "Lazarus is sleeping now, but I will make the dear young man rise again." The disciples said: "Full health can follow sleep and return"; they did not grasp that Christ spoke of death under the name of sleep. He removed their error with these words: "Lazarus has fallen into death; but joy comes to my mind from this, and it arms your faith more strongly in me, that you see that I, far away, see all things. But let us hurry," he said. Then Didymus said: "Let us go, and let us all be forced to fall in death together, as the Jewish nation has so often threatened." And now Christ arrived; but it happened to be the fourth day since he was buried, and grief and tearful houses held the sisters, sunk in the black darkness of death. The leaders of the Jewish nation and dear kinsfolk had gathered there, giving due comfort. But Martha, hearing that Christ had come, ran to meet him and left the house and her grieving sister, and called from far off: "O, if only your power had been with us and had snatched our brother from bitter death!

For whatever you ask, it is certain that it can come to you." The Lord comforted her in her groaning with these words: "Take up again, woman, a strong mind with courage. Lazarus will rise again into the light of life." And the woman said: "Surely all mortals will rise to the gifts of life when the end comes to the world." Christ likewise brought forth this word from his holy heart: "See, I am the restoration of bright life for you. Whoever believes in me will be able to lay down the death he has taken on and join his life to an unending age. And whoever takes faith into a living heart will never touch the horrid threshold of death. Do you believe this from a pure heart, Martha?" She then said: "This one faith will hold my heart: that in you the sublime and venerable heavenly offspring of God has come under the lofty name of Christ." She said this and went into the house to make her sister Mary hurry; she told her sister, overwhelmed with grief, that the holy teacher had come and was calling her too, signalling everything with a silent nod. Mary leapt out at the name of Christ; and the crowd of believers from Solyma followed her as she groaned, thinking that the sisters were bringing their weeping to the tomb. When she saw Jesus, the bringer of salvation, she fell at his feet and burst out with this cry from her heart:

"If you could have seen my brother alive, Lazarus could not have yielded to hard death." Christ, joining the grief of his heart to these tears, asked where the tomb was in which the limbs, robbed of the warmth of the winged soul, had lately been laid. Without delay they showed him, weeping and sad, the tomb under a hewn rock; when the Holy One saw it closed with a weighty stone, he ordered it soon to be moved with many levers; but Martha's voice struck the air: "See, four days and as many nights in order have passed since the limbs were laid in the ground and rest there. I would think that the body, as its warmth has fled, gives off a wretched stench from its dissolving limbs." Christ answered these words thus: "It has been said so often already that faith stands firm in great things by the power of believers; but the glory of the supreme Father is now present, if you have the strength of faith." When he had said this, and the huge stone lay open, its barriers torn away, his power, knowing itself, soon lifted its eyes to heaven and prayed to the Father with these words: "Outstanding thanks, holy Father, we give you; you always hear me calmly with venerable ears; but let the people present learn to believe that I am sent." When he had said this, he stood at once on the very threshold of the tomb, filling the hollow rock with a shout directed into it:

"Lazarus, receive, see, your soul returning to your sleeping limbs, and bring yourself out of the tomb." Without delay, his hands and feet bound, he suddenly came out of the tomb, his face wrapped in woven linen and his whole body bound with a slender bandage. Then Jesus ordered him to be loosed and sent him home rejoicing. When the Jews who had followed Mary and Martha saw the venerable deed of so great a one, some believed and followed the honour of such power; but others went back to the city and told all the wonders to the proud Pharisees among the leaders. So a council of the scribes, and now a larger number of the people, was called, where the beautiful halls of Caiaphas's house, the chief of the priests, shine on high. There they resolved to lay Christ low in death, but to avoid the days of the Passover, lest, with the crowds of people present, the discordant peoples should turn their fury to war. He was in the house of Simon, from whom livid leprosy had fled by his power. See, as he reclined, a woman came near and, from an alabaster jar holding precious ointment of widely fragrant oil, poured it over holy Christ from the top of his head. The disciples protested, saying that the bodies of the wretched poor could have been helped with the price of the ointment. The Lord stopped these words and approved the deed:

"Stop hindering this just woman's service. There will always be time given you to help the poor, but you will not always be granted to see me. She performs this, greatly to be praised, as an office for my burial, and such deeds will fill the world." Then one of the disciples, Judas, madly withdrew and ran to the leaders with these words: "What price may I hope for, if I can betray to you and show you the master you have long sought?" They at once fixed thirty weights of silver; for these Judas gave himself over to deep crime. And now the day of the Passover had come forth at first dawn. The disciples asked where he wished to eat the Passover supper; he ordered that a certain man, unnamed, be sought out for him, who would receive the last commands of the master. Soon, at the beginning of evening, as the twelve disciples reclined together, the master foretold in these words: "See, the time presses when one of you is turning over in his wicked heart how to betray Christ to death." At once they all asked who, with such daring, had taken so much poison into an insane heart. He then said: "He is eating with me at the meal now.

But the offspring of man will undergo, in its time, the punishment long foretold. Wretched through all ages is he who will give up the Just One; how much happier he would be if he had never touched the light of life on earth!" And Judas, heavily pressed in his guilty heart, said: "Does such suspicion touch Judas?" The Lord answered: "I see that you say such things." When he had said this, he broke bread with his hands, then gave it out, divided, and, having prayed in holiness, taught the disciples that they were thus eating his own body. Then the Lord took a cup and, when it was filled with wine, sanctified it with words of thanks and gave them to drink, and taught them that he had divided his own blood, and said: "This blood has redeemed the offences of the people; drink this, which is mine. For believe true words: after this I will never taste the drink of the vine, until the kingdom of the Father, by the gift of a better life, grants me to rise again to new wine." Then, having sung a hymn in holy harmonies, they all climbed the heights of the Mount of Olives. Then Christ brought forth these words from his heart: "At this present time of night, terror will scatter you all far and wretchedly, your prince deserted. For so it is written: At the fall of the shepherd all the sheep will take flight in different directions through the countryside.

Afterwards, when life gives me back new honours of heaven, I will go ahead of you, and flying through the pleasant countryside of Galilee I will teach your companies in their native fields." Peter answered: "All others, if one may believe it, may waver and deny your precepts, but no chance will ever change my heart." Then he said: "This night, which brings the bright stars over the lands and now, pressing down the light, broods over the waves, will hear you in fear tell lies three times and deny Christ, most valiant Peter, even before the roofs of houses ring with the birds." But Peter said: "I would rather suffer hard death than that this voice should forget and deny its master." They all persisted in promising this strength of heart. There are fields with a Hebrew name, Gessamane. There the author of light and life went forth, and the disciples followed around him, Judas having fled. And there he ordered the rest of his ministers to sit down. But he himself took Peter and the sons of Zebedee and went on far through pathless places. Then, sad with heavy anguish, he said: "Now my mind, turning over sad things, troubles my heart even to death; but now shut out lazy sleep, and spend this anxious night with me in watching." He said this, went forward a little, pressed his body to the earth, and lying prostrate prayed in these words:

"If it is right, Father, let the violence of this cup, pressing on us with its strong draught, pass from me. But let your will come rather than ours, the sentence you have decreed for such great things." Then he returned to the disciples, but sleep had undone them all, lying on the ground with panting limbs. Then he said to Peter: "Have you no strength to give me one wakeful hour in such great misfortunes? But watch, I pray, lest horrid temptation seize you and throw you headlong down the slippery slopes of savage death. This spirit is strong, but the body is weak and totters." He withdrew again to the height of the secluded mountain and prayed to the Father: "Most gentle ruler of all things, since this cup cannot pass, let your will now come forth in our lot." Again he found the disciples weighed down by sleep, and again, having prayed the same to the Father, he addressed them as they lay bound in the weary languor of rest: "Now you may sleep and go back to your companions; for see, he is coming who will give up my body to all that the stained faction will lay upon my limbs." As he spoke, Judas arrived with a crowded band, at the command of the leaders and the fierce people. Some with drawn swords, some trusting in the weight of their clubs, followed the signal promised by raging Judas.

For he had agreed that he would touch Christ with a kiss, so that the wretched crowd could easily seize him whom they did not know. When he, dissembling, greeted him with a soft voice and touched the venerable mouth of the Just One with his lips, at once Christ said: "You may fulfil it all, whatever the cause for which you have come here so prepared." The crowds laid hands on Christ and seized him. Then one of the disciples, raised up in anger, rushed with a gleaming sword at the priest's servant and by the force of the blow snatched off his ear, struck from his temple. Christ said to him: "Put down your sword, my friend; for whoever fiercely trusts in the avenging sword, the same vengeance of the sword will justly await him. Or could I not call the camps of heaven and lead the Father's countless squadrons into battle? But the scripture must be fulfilled, as is due, in what befalls me. But you who run together with drawn swords and clubs to seize me: see, I come to meet you, I who always sat with you in the midst of the temple's height and taught, and no one dared such things against one man alone, though so many bark around me." The disciples fled in every direction, leaving Christ. And now the Saviour stood in the hall of Caiaphas, when all the scribes and leaders who had been summoned came.

But Peter, following at a distance alone, sat secretly and sadly with the servants, awaiting the final end in so great a storm. See, the priests pressed on to seek false witnesses and wished to weave together invented charges by which they might lay death upon innocent Christ. But no one seemed enough for such great fury. At last witnesses leapt forward who had heard Jesus say that he alone could overturn the temple and, once it was overturned, restore it again in three days. The chief of the priests himself, gnashing in his fury, pressed him as he kept silent, and said: "Why do you dare to answer nothing now to such great charges, convicted as you are by true witnesses among the leaders? I will adjure you, then, by the kingdom of the supreme Thunderer, to confess openly whether it is right to believe you the Christ." Then he answered the proud man thus: "These words alone come forth true from your heart; you will see the majesty of the offspring of man coming through the air, when he sits at the right hand of holy power beneath fire-coloured clouds." Hearing this, the priest tore his garment from his breast, exulting in fury and with a blind heart, and said: "You have heard the foul words of a profane man fighting against God; let polluted religion rather rise up in anger, and all of you now declare your mind." All cried out and vied to condemn him to death.

Then shameless spittle filled the holy face of Christ, and slaps on his cheeks and frequent blows on his head insulted him, and all vied to mock him with words: "Christ, prophesy whose palm has struck you!" But a woman, because she had seen Peter sad inside, said: "Were you too, young man, added as a companion to this man, whom the leaders' sentence mockingly condemns?" He denied it and tried to get himself out of the fierce house. But see, another, seeing him as he went out at the first threshold, betrayed him to the servants in the same words. Again he swore and denied that he knew him. Then many of those following came up to question him, and said they recognized him by the sound of his voice, because all his words rang with the speech of Galilee. And Peter, swearing in words of cursing, affirmed in denial that he did not know him, whoever he was. This word the bird followed with its song, shaking its flapping wings beneath the roof, and Christ's prophecies surrounded Simon's sad mind; and going out from there he wept bitterly. Now the stars gave way to the light, and the swift sun came forth, filling the trembling lands with its rays. And now they were dragging Christ, his hands bound behind his back, from the council to the governor's presence, with great shouting.

Meanwhile the Lord Jesus, standing before the lofty tribunal, received these words from Pilate: "Do you stand here as king of the Judaean nation, as is said?" Christ answered: "I hear this in your words." Then a terrible accusation of the Just One rose up and roared, and wicked eloquence pressed hard on the Holy One. Jesus did not deign to answer the fierce men at all. Pilate asked what the reason for his silence was. He, persisting all the more, kept a wondrous silence. It happened that on the solemn day the laws, by custom, required that one man condemned to death be granted release; and there was in chains a robber of notorious name, whom the people, hostile to Christ, burned to set free to life. But Pilate's wife, terrified in sleep by fierce visions, anxiously begged her husband by messages and prayers to keep away from punishing the Just One. Then the judge tried again to search out the minds of the leaders, and asked that the one they wished to free from the punishment at hand be released under the law at the people's choice. But the leaders, with lavish canvassing, urged the people to ask for the robber under the law and to refuse Christ. And after the leaders' opinion had inflamed the crowd and it asked rather that the robber's life be granted to it, the governor consulted the people as to what they wanted done with Jesus.

The people, inflamed with evil, stirred up savage tumults, and again and again demanded the punishment of the cross for him who, they said, desired the name of king, and who, having confessed himself an enemy of Caesar, had condemned himself with his own mouth. At last, overcome by force and detesting the bloody office, Pilate protested that he kept his heart free of this blood, and washed his hands of the crime before them, so that the stain might remain on the nation alone. At this they cried out all the more: "Let this blood follow us, us, and let this crime and guilt overflow upon our race." Pilate granted Barabbas to the people and the law, and, overcome, gave up Jesus to the punishment of the cross. But Judas the traitor, after he saw that, having taken the price of crime, he had marked him out for the raging crowd, unhappy man, condemned his own deeds with true complaints and threw the silver into the temple, detesting it. And beginning to take his own punishment by the noose, he seized a shapeless death from the top of a fig tree. Then the priests, saying that it was unlawful to give to the temple treasury what was the price of blood, though they had believed it lawful to give it when the blood was being sold, bought a field under the true name of blood, and so marked their impious crimes with a horrid deed. This the true voice of the prophet, singing in veiled words long ago, had revealed, the outcome of things in the order of the ages:

"The profane set down thirty minas of silver, fixing this as the price of the precious body, which is soon passed on again for the potter's little field." The Just One was handed over to the fierce soldiers, ministers of crime: he offered his body to wicked mockery. They put on him a purple tunic and a red cloak, bound his head with bloody thorns, and a reed went with his right hand in place of a sceptre. Then, kneeling, they hailed him king and lord of the Judaean nation, washed his face with spittle, and mocked him with wicked blows on his holy head. When the mad soldiers had carried out this mockery, they clothed him in the covering of his own garment and dragged the holy and just one to the punishment of the cross. But see, as they went out they seized a certain Simon, born in Cyrene, and ordered him to carry the wood on which the unchangeable order of the world, pressing on, drove them by savage commands to fasten the Lord of light. And when they came to the place whose name is Golgatha, they gave Christ a cup of wine mixed with gall. But when he had touched it with the tip of his taste, he refused it, so that the ancient sayings might be fulfilled by such things; and yet the insulting fury of men did not demand everything. And now the body hung fastened to the cross on the tree, and the possession of a single soldier, keeping the weave untouched, received the seamless tunic by lot among them all.

And they set up a written title of the charge and his desert, that he had been king of the Judaean people and nation. It happened that two robbers, one on either side, shared the punishment with him; but the blind madness of the raging people insulted Christ as he hung there: "This is he who alone could destroy the temple; this is he who could restore it in the course of three days. But now let the venerable offspring of the Thunderer come down and release body and soul from the punishment of the cross." The leaders of the mad crowd followed with these words; and the Pharisees and scribes and the mad faction mocked him, shaking their heads and wagging their tongues in insane speech, to their own bonds of eternal punishment: "Did he not once save others from the fierce bonds of disease? Why can he not release himself from punishment? See the king of our nation whom we were to believe: let him free his body from the strong wood! Then we shall be able to believe his holy signs as they deserve. He trusts in God the Father: why does the venerable power not wish to free his own offspring from punishment?" No less did the robbers, groaning on the right and the left, fastened to crosses for the lot of their crimes, revile him. Now the course of the light had climbed to the middle of the sky, when suddenly the sun fled from their eyes, clothed itself in murky darkness, and hid the trembling day in night.

But when the troubled sun had passed the ninth hour, the dismayed light returned to its world. And Christ called on the Father with a loud voice in the manner of the Hebrew tongue; but the people, not understanding, thought he was calling Helias. Then one man, roused, pressed a foul sponge bound to a reed against his lips and made him drink a sour taste. The rest of the raging crowd cackled, saying: "Let us watch together whether Helias, who rests in his lofty seat, may perhaps be sent back from heaven and come to free the wretched king fastened to the stake." Then the Lord's cry, sent forth with great effort, mingled his soul, its companion, with the airs of heaven. At once the veil of the holy temple was torn, and the linen, burst into two parts, gaped open; the trembling earth was shaken with all its weight, and the broken rocks leapt apart from their mass. Then the tombs of men of old lay open, their barriers thrust back, and just souls returned through their limbs and were seen wandering here and there by the people, far and wide through the city walls: so all things terrified the world. The hearts of the soldiers were the first to be shaken with fear, those who were guarding the bodies given over to savage punishment, and they called him the offspring of God and confessed him the Christ.

From a lookout all the women who used to serve Christ watched such great wonders. Now evening had begun to follow the departing sun, and one of the leaders, more just than the rest, alone dared to ask for the body of Christ for the last offices. He bore the name of Joseph from Arimathea, and had once lent his ears to the words of Jesus. He asked Pilate to grant him the limbs from which the horrid power of punishment had lately taken life. The governor granted it; shining woven linen covered the body, and it was laid in a new cave in the rock. Immense rolling stones closed the threshold; from a lookout the women kept watch and saw everything. And now the day was filling the lands with ruddy light which by the ancient law always commanded rest; but the unmerciful fury of the leaders kept no rest. They gathered and burdened the judge's ears with these words: "A most just punishment has undone the snares of error. Now it is fitting to remember that that deceiver used always to boast to the common people and promise that he would return from the darkness of death to the light of life with the sun's third return.

We ask this: that a guard of soldiers watch the new grave, lest a fierce boldness arise in the disciples to steal the body, and a fresh madness disturb the people." And Pilate answered: "A soldier is granted to guard, as you wish, the body buried in the earth." They came together and rolled the huge weight of the rock, and guarded the threshold with seals and the stone with soldiers. Now the stars of the night began to yield to the coming sun; then the women ran together to visit the tomb's enclosure; but at once an earthquake shook all the earth, and a messenger, gliding from the opened heaven, came down and rolled the stone from the threshold of the tomb. His face shone like the fire of lightning, and the covering of his garment gleamed like snow. Terror had shut out all sense from the soldiers, and they lay together like corpses laid low in death. But he spoke to the women thus: "Let no fear shake and weary your hearts now; for it is plain that you seek the holy body, which wicked madness fastened to the wood of the cross. Christ has risen, and with his holy body, death defeated, he has received the eternal light of life. Now you may see that the limbs that were buried lie here no longer in the seat of the tomb.

And tell the disciples besides, returning quickly and in haste, that Christ has come back to the shores of light and goes before them, rejoicing, into the land of Galilee." At these words and sights burning joy flooded their astonished minds, with amazement and wavering fear. Then, celebrating their joy as they ran headlong, they left the tomb and reported this to the disciples. See, in the middle of the way bright Jesus showed himself and kindly bade the faithful women greet him. They ran to meet him, took hold of his knees and feet, and in fear venerated Jesus, the conqueror of death. Then he strengthened their hearts with these words: "Let all fear leave your minds; and see, carry these commands quickly to our brothers: if you care to see us, go gladly and cross quickly into the land of Galilee." Meanwhile the hearts of the guards at the tomb were terrified; they sent a part of their number to report such great wonders to the Jews. But the mad band, already once wholly given over to insane fury, eagerly paid the soldiers great rewards and bought a report with silver: that the boldness of the disciples, protected by darkness, had broken the threshold and secretly stolen and carried off the body.

And now the anxious company of his own, gathering at Christ's commands, had climbed the mountains of Galilee: see, the venerable offspring of the Thunderer is seen by his own. The whole company fell down and worshipped him in holiness; yet strength did not remain equally founded in all hearts, for some of them doubted. Then bright Jesus addressed the disciples thus: "In heaven and on earth the Father has subjected all things to me; the Father has deigned to send me to you as light. In the same way I have now resolved to send you to all the nations; it is your task to join all nations to me. Go, and wash men, cleansing them in purifying waters in the holy name of the Father and the Son, and let the breathings of the life-giving Spirit flow with them. Then, to those who have been washed, make known our precepts by teaching, so that they may lead an everlasting life; and our presence will never be lacking to you, until the end consumes and dissolves the ages." This strength of faith and holy fear my mind has received, and the grace of Christ shines on me so greatly that the glory of the divine law has gladly taken on in our verses the earthly ornaments of language. This the peace of Christ has granted me, this the peace of the age, which Constantine fosters, the indulgent ruler of the wide earth, on whom deserved grace rests as he merits, who alone of rulers shrinks from having the weight of a sacred name laid upon himself, so that, worthier by his just deeds, he may receive eternal life in the divine ages, through Christ, the Lord of light, who reigns for ever.