Беседа XXII

“And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. And it came to pass, when men began to be many on the earth, that they were born to daughters” (Gen. 5:32, 6:1). 1. I would like to offer you today the remains of yesterday’s meal; but do not be distressed, beloved, by hearing what is left. Of course, sensual foods, after a day or two, often spoil and become unpleasant and unfit for food, but regarding spiritual meals one cannot be afraid of this; on the contrary, the more time passes, the more pleasant they become and the fresher and tastier they become. So let us fulfill the promise we made yesterday by our very actions, pay off the debt of teaching and show honesty. This benefits not only those who receive, as happens in (ordinary) debts, but also me, who pays the debt. And what do I say: to me, the one who pays? The property of this spiritual debt is such that the more it is paid, the more it increases and the more it brings abundance and unspeakable wealth to both the giver and the recipient. Do you see the extraordinary property of debt and the special type of payment? This is what is spiritual: being distributed, it multiplies even more, and the more it is communicated to, the more it increases, so that the giver does not feel any loss, on the contrary, his property also increases, and those who receive become richer. And if this is the property of spiritual objects, then with all diligence we will hasten to pay, and you prepare your ears to accept this, so that each of you will receive our words into the openings of the depths of the soul and with that return home. The subject of our discussion will again be the righteous Noah, so that you will recognize his great virtue and God’s ineffable love for mankind and patience, which surpasses all understanding. You learned yesterday how this righteous man, having received his name from his father, from his very birth was a herald of misfortunes for all people of that time, and in his name he seemed to cry out and say this: abandon wickedness, do virtue, fear the threatening execution; a general flood will overtake the entire universe. The wrath (of God) is very strong, because wickedness has also increased greatly. And so he exhorted not for two or three years, but for five hundred years. Have you seen the long-suffering of the Lord? Have you seen immeasurable goodness? Have you seen unspeakable condescension? Have you seen the increase of wickedness? Have you seen their great recklessness? As you know, this is where our teaching stopped yesterday. Today we should learn how the humane Lord, in his goodness, did not limit himself to five hundred years, but also showed a new experience of caring for such great sinners. “And Noah,” says Scripture, “was five hundred years old.” Divine Scripture deliberately indicated the number of years of the righteous man, so that we could see how long he admonished his contemporaries, and how they, having chosen the path of wickedness, died on it; and the righteous man, following a completely opposite path, showed such high virtue that he attracted the favor of God and, while everyone else was punished, he and his family alone escaped it. From this we learn that if we are vigilant and not careless, then living among evil people not only does not harm us, but also makes us more careful in virtue. For this reason, the humane God arranged it so that both the evil and the good would live together, so that from this the wickedness of the evil would be weakened, and the virtue of the good would be shown more brilliantly, and the careless would receive, if they wish, the greatest benefit from dealing with those who are zealous (about virtue). Imagine how devoted this righteous man was to virtue, when, among so many people striving with great strength for wickedness, he alone walked the opposite path, preferring virtue to wickedness; and neither unanimity nor such a great multitude (of the evil) stopped him on the path of good, but he already fulfilled in advance what blessed Moses later had to say: “Do not be with many in malice” (Ex. 23:2). And what is especially surprising and wonderful: while many, or better to say, everyone, were inclined towards wickedness and evil deeds, and no one was disposed towards virtue, he himself rushed towards it with such strength that he went against such a multitude; He was not afraid and was not afraid of the unanimity of the evil; I did not act as the careless usually do, who, when they see that many show unanimity in something, take advantage of this opportunity to cover up their negligence and say: why should I, in spite of all these people, undertake something new and special, contradict such a multitude and enter into a fight with such a crowd? Am I more righteous than all of them? What good does such enmity benefit me? What is the benefit of such hatred? But (the righteous man) did not make such fruitless considerations, and did not even think of doing so; he again fulfilled in advance what was said by the prophet, that “one who does the will of the Lord is better than the multitude of lawless ones” (Sir. 16:3). Can communication, he thought, and agreement with the multitude, striving for evil, save me from punishment? He knew, truly knew, that everyone would be responsible for their own salvation and that it was impossible for another to either suffer punishment for the sinner or receive someone else’s reward. Therefore, the righteous man, like a spark in the middle of the sea, not only did not go out, but every day he emitted the clearest light, teaching everyone with his deeds. Do you see how the Lord created our nature free? Why, tell me, did those (Noah’s contemporaries) strive for wickedness and incur punishment on themselves, but this (Noah), choosing virtue and fleeing from the community with them, did not suffer punishment? Is it not obvious that everyone chooses wickedness 152 or virtue of his own free will? If it were not so, if power were not inherent in our nature, then we should neither endure punishment nor receive a reward for virtue. But since everything, after the highest grace, depends on our will, therefore punishments are prepared for those who sin, and rewards and rewards for those who live virtuously. “And Noah,” says the Scripture, “was five hundred years old, and gave birth to three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.” Notice the accuracy of Divine Scripture. Having told us about the number of years of the righteous, in order to show the greatness of the Lord’s long-suffering, it also wants to explain to us both the increase in the Lord’s condescension and the intensification of human wickedness. 2. But let us listen to the very words of Moses, who, speaking by the inspiration of the Spirit, wants to teach us everything with precision. “And it came to pass,” he says, “when many men began to be on the earth, and daughters were born to them.” Not without reason he added: “and daughters were born to him,” but in order to give us an idea of ​​the great proliferation of people. Where there are so many roots, many branches are born of necessity. “Having seen,” he says, “the sons of God 153 daughters of men, how they are good, having girded for themselves wives from all those whom they chose.” Let us consider each of these words carefully, so that nothing hidden in the depths may be hidden from us. Yes, and we need to carefully examine this place and refute the idle talk of those who talk about everything thoughtlessly. And firstly, it is necessary to show that these people dare to speak, and, having discovered the absurdity of their words, then explain to your love the true meaning of Scripture, so that you do not innocently listen to those who utter blasphemous speeches and dare to speak on their own heads. They say that this is said not about people, but about angels; It is as if (Scripture) called them sons of God. But, firstly, let them show where the angels are called sons of God: they cannot show this anywhere. People are called sons of God, but angels are never called. About angels (Scripture) says: “Angels make their spirits, and their servants burn with fire” (Ps. 103:4), and about people: “Az reh: you are gods” (Ps. 82:6); and again: “they gave birth to sons and raised them up” (Is. 1:2); and again: “my firstborn son Israel” (Ex. 4:22); and the angel is nowhere called either a son or son of God. But what are they saying? Truly, they were angels, but since they descended (from heaven to earth) for a lawless deed, they lost their dignity. Another even greater idle talk! So what? Now they have lost (their dignity), and this was precisely the reason for their fall? But Scripture teaches us differently, namely, that even before the creation of the first man, they were deprived of that dignity of theirs - both the devil and those (spirits) who along with him sought the highest dignity, as the wise one says: “Because of the devil’s envy, death came into the world” (Wisdom 2:24). In fact, tell me, if the devil had not fallen even before the creation of man, then how could he, remaining in his dignity, envy man? What does it mean that an angel envied a man, incorporeal and in such honor - surrounded by a body? But since (the devil) fell from the highest glory to extreme dishonor and fell being incorporeal, and meanwhile he saw that man was created and, being in the body, was awarded, by the love of the Creator, such a great honor, he became inflamed with envy and, through the deception he committed through the serpent, subjected man to the punishment of death. This is the property of anger: it cannot indifferently endure the happiness of others. It is obvious to everyone that the devil and all his hordes have already lost their heavenly glory and become dishonorable. On the other hand, isn’t it crazy to say that angels descended to cohabit with wives and incorporeal nature degraded to copulate with bodies? Don’t you hear what Christ says about the angelic nature: “In the resurrection they neither marry nor commit violence, but as the angels of God they are” (Matthew 22:30)? And it is unusual for this incorporeal nature to have such (carnal) lust. And besides, you need to think about the fact that to accept such an opinion even on the basis of reason would be the greatest absurdity. If the saints, honored by the Holy Spirit, men were not able to endure even the appearance of angels, if the man of desires, seeing the presence of an angel, not the being itself (because how can one see an incorporeal being?), but the image perceived by him, lost strength and almost life itself, if such a great and tall man fell almost lifeless - then who, even the most reckless, will agree with this blasphemous and extremely insane opinion that did the incorporeal and spiritual nature have intercourse with bodies? 3. But so that it does not seem that we ourselves, by talking a lot about this, are wasting time in vain, for this, having proven to your love the impossibility of such an event, we will now reveal to you the true meaning of the proposed words, again reading what was said by the Divine Scripture. “And it came to pass when men began to be many on the earth, and daughters were born to them: when the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were good, they girded for themselves wives from all those whom they had chosen” (Gen. 6:1-2). We have already told you before that Scripture has a custom of calling people sons of God. Since they 154 descended from Seth and from his son, named Enos (“this,” says Scripture, “hoped to call on the name 155 of the Lord God”), then his further descendants in the Divine Scripture are called sons of God, because until then they imitated the virtues of their ancestors; and the sons of men are those who were born before Seth, from Cain, and descended from him. “And it came to pass,” says the Scripture, “when there began to be many men on the earth, and daughters were born to them: and when the sons of God (the descendants of Seth and Enos) saw the daughters of men (the daughters born of those about whom [the Scripture] said, “and the daughters were born to them”), they were good.” See how with this expression Scripture showed us all their unbridledness. They rushed to this business not out of desire for childbearing, but out of immoderate lust. “Having seen,” says Scripture, “the daughters of men, they are good.” The lust for beauty carried them into this destruction; the beauty of the face was for them the reason for fornication and unbridledness. But the Scripture did not limit itself to this, but added: “Girding for himself wives from all those whom he had chosen.” And this again indicates their great unbridledness, that they, i.e. they were overcome by beauty and did not want to curb disorderly lust, but, carried away by the sight (of women), they became mired (in impurity), and by this lawlessness they made themselves unworthy of the highest industry. And so that we know that they did this not according to the law of marriage and not for the sake of childbearing, for this (Scripture) says: “having seen that they are good, they have girded for themselves wives from all those whom they had chosen.” What then? Who can really blame the eyes for what they see? Not at all: it was not the eye that caused the death of these people, but their careless will and unbridled lust. The eye was created for this purpose, so that when we see God’s creations, we glorify their Creator. Therefore, the job of the eye is to see; and to see evil depends on the mind that controls it. The Lord arranged the members (of our body) so that they would be useful to us for doing good, and left control of them to an incorporeal being, i.e. soul. So, when the soul indulges in negligence and weakens the reins, then, just as a driver who does not know how to restrain the disorderly impulses of his horses, by letting go of the reins, endangers both the horses driving the chariot and himself, so our will, when it does not know how to properly use its members, giving freedom to disorderly lusts, destroys itself. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the weakness of our nature and the carelessness of the will, gave a law prohibiting and forbidding unnecessary views, in order to extinguish the flame that was burning in us from afar, and said: “Whoever looks at a woman and lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). For this reason, he says, I forbid unbridled gaze, in order to protect against lawless deeds. Do not think that only intercourse constitutes sin; the very thought is subject to condemnation. So these people, seeing beauty, were captivated by their sight. “Having seen,” says (Scripture), “how they are good, they have girded for themselves from all, even they have chosen.” But let us see what kindness the Lord showed even after this lawless deed and their disorderly disposition. “And the Lord God said,” says the Scripture: “My Spirit shall not abide in these men forever, for they are flesh; but their days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3). In these few words one can see the abyss of philanthropy. “And the Lord God said,” it is said, “My Spirit shall not abide in these men, for they are flesh.” (The Lord) here called His providential power Spirit, already foretelling their destruction. And so that you know that this is precisely what we are talking about, look at what is added: “they are flesh,” that is, because they were completely given over to carnal affairs and did not properly use the abilities of the soul, but led such a life as if they were clothed only with flesh and did not have a soul. Divine Scripture always has the custom of calling carnal people flesh, and virtuous people incorporeal, as Paul says: “But you are in the flesh” (Rom. 8:9), not because they were not clothed with flesh, but because, being clothed with flesh, they were above carnal thoughts. And just as Paul said, “You are in the flesh” because of your contempt for carnal things, so (God) called those, because they were constantly engaged in carnal affairs, flesh. “They are flesh,” therefore I will no longer allow them to be defiled by sins. 4. Have you seen the greatness of (God’s) wrath? Did you see the excessive force of the threat? Look how (God) dissolved threat and anger with love for mankind. This is our Lord: He often threatens not in order to fulfill the threat, but so that, having corrected people, He no longer carries out the threat. After all, if He wanted (only) to punish, then why did He predict? But since He does not want (only to punish), He always hesitates and postpones, and predicts, instilling (through this) the guilty with an incentive to evade wickedness, choose virtue and avoid punishment. Therefore, after he uttered the threat to betray them to complete destruction (and this is what the words mean: “My Spirit shall not abide in these men who are flesh,” i.e. I will not allow them to live any longer), He, not content with five hundred years of long-suffering, according to which people throughout Noah’s life were admonished by his name, now, again holding back His anger, assigns them another term and says: I have already made a threat, and said, and declared My wrath, which you should have been subjected to for the many sins you have committed; but since I want those who have sinned without healing to be saved and no one to perish, I add another hundred and twenty years to you, so that you can, if you want, wash away your sins through turning to something better, and, by choosing virtue, get rid of punishment. “Their days will be a hundred and twenty years. “And they performed,” says (Scripture), “they sang upon the earth in those days: and then 156 when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and gave unto themselves, they sang they sang, from the beginning of time, men of means” (Gen. 6:3-4). I think the Divine Scripture here calls people strong in body giants. From them, he says, their race multiplied. This is also said in another place: “Giants,” it is said, “are coming to fulfill my wrath” (Is. 13:3). The number: one hundred and twenty years is considered by some to be the limit of life; but this does not mean, but (Scripture) wants to show by this the long-suffering that (the Lord) shows people even after so many of their sins. So, so that we know that people, even after (discovered by God) anger and threat, and after the long patience that He gave them for repentance, not only did not correct themselves, but continued to sin, Scripture says: “Whenever the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and gave unto themselves, these were the giants who have come from the ages, men of wealth.” Do you see the excessive recklessness? What insensibility of the soul? Neither the fear of punishment nor the length of (God's) patience turned them away from evil deeds; Having once fallen into the abyss and having lost their spiritual vision, they, overwhelmed by unclean lust, as if intoxicated, no longer wanted to correct themselves, just as the wise one says: “When the wicked comes into the depths of evil, he is negligent” (Prov. 18:3). It's scary, scary, beloved, to be caught in the wiles of the devil. Then the soul is already entangled, as it were, in a net, and just as an unclean animal, wallowing in the mud, enjoys this, so it, having indulged in a sinful habit, no longer feels the stench of sins. Therefore, we need to be sober and watchful, so as not to give the evil demon any access (to us) from the very beginning, so that he, having darkened our mind and blinded the eye of the soul, does not force us, who cannot look at the light of the sun of truth, like those deprived of sunlight, to strive into the abyss, which is what happened to these people. Listen also to the long-suffering of the good God. “When the Lord God saw,” says Scripture, “the wickedness of men multiply upon the earth” (Gen. 6:5). What do the words “having seen” mean? It’s not that the Lord doesn’t know; no: Divine Scripture tells about everything in accordance with our weakness. To make us understand that these people, even after such great long-suffering of God, remained in the same sins or fell again into even greater ones, it says: “Having seen how the wickedness of men had multiplied on earth.” From this evil deed 157, as from a source, many other sins were born among them; that is why it is said: “the malice of men.” Where there is fornication, intemperate and unclean life, drunkenness, disorderly conduct, great injustice, covetousness, and a great deal of evil are naturally born. “When the Lord God saw,” it is said, “the wickedness of men multiplying on earth, and everyone diligently thinks in his heart about evil all the days.” 5. See how every word here points to a multitude of sins. Having said in general: “As the wickedness of men has multiplied on the earth,” Scripture added: “and everyone.” This word is significant. Not only the young man (sins), but also the old man does the same; not only the husband, but also the wife; not only a slave, but also a free one; not only the rich, but also the poor. And the word “thinks” is also significant. They, i.e. do it. Not in fits and starts, 158 but reflecting in the heart, every hour striving for this and deliberately caring about it - not that once or twice, simply and accidentally, being carried away by sin, they then abandon wickedness, but diligently practice it and do evil; those. the sin is committed by them with great care, not in passing, not carelessly and not in a short time, but all the days, throughout their entire life. Have you seen the increase in wickedness? Did you see how they made this their occupation, diligently committing all kinds of evil, and how every age willingly strove to do evil? “Everyone,” says (Scripture); there was no immature age that was not involved in evil, but everyone immediately and from the very beginning competed in this evil feat, trying to outdo each other in lawless deeds. Imagine now the extraordinary wisdom of the righteous man, when, in the midst of such unanimity of evil people, he could avoid infection and not suffer any harm from them, but, as if having a different nature, he retained firmness of spirit and, by his own free will, striving to do good, avoided sinful unanimity with them, and got rid of the destruction that befell everyone. “And think,” says Scripture, “the Lord God 159, that he will create man on the earth” (Gen. 6:6). Notice here too the rudeness and adaptability of expression. “Thoughts,” it is said, instead of “repented,” not because God repents—let him not—but Divine Scripture speaks to us in a human way to teach us that the excessive multitude of human sins has brought the man-loving God into such great wrath. “And the Lord God thought that he would create man on the earth.” Was it for this, says God, that I created him, so that he, having fallen into such great wickedness, would become the author of his own destruction? For this reason, from the very beginning I honored him with such honor and showed so much care for him, so that he, having chosen virtue, would be safe from destruction. But since he abused My love for mankind, it is better to interrupt his evil plans. “And think, and the Lord God said 160: I will consume man, whom I created, from the face of the earth, from man, even to cattle, and from the creeping things, even to the birds of the air: I thought 161 beforehand, as I have created” (Gen. 6:6-7). For my part, says God, I did everything: I brought (people) from non-existence into being, put into (their) nature the knowledge of what should be done and what not to do, gave them free will 162, showed ineffable patience (towards them), and even after that long time after the anger and threat I discovered, I appointed another term, wanting them, having realized their sins, to turn away My wrath; but since no benefit came from this, it is necessary to carry out the threat, to destroy them in the end and destroy their entire race, like unusable leaven, so that they do not become teachers of wickedness for subsequent generations. “And the Lord God said: I will consume man whom I created from the face of the earth, from man even to beast.” But perhaps someone will say: why are animals subjected to the same punishment for man’s deviation towards wickedness? That's how it should be. Are animals created for themselves? They were created for man; therefore, when it is destroyed, then what is the need for them? Then they also share (with man) the punishment, so that you know how strong the wrath (of God is against the sinner). Just as in the beginning the earth fell under a curse because of the sin of the ancestor, so now, when man is threatened with destruction, the dumb also become participants in the punishment. Just as during a godly life of man and creation participates in human well-being, according to the words of Paul: “and the creation itself will be freed from the work of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21), so now, when man must suffer punishment for his many sins and undergo final destruction, along with him livestock, creeping things, and birds are subject to the flood that is about to cover the entire universe. And just as in a house, when the main servant falls under the wrath of the master, usually all his co-servants share the sorrow with him, so here, when, as in a house, people die, of necessity, and everything in the house and subject to them is subjected to the same punishment. “And I thought,” says Scripture, “what I have done.” How much condescension there is in this word! Did I want, says (God), to subject them to such punishment? They themselves, with their great iniquities, brought Me into such strong anger. However, so that we do not think that the human race is completely destroyed and our nature is exterminated from the roots, on the contrary, we would know how great the evil is sin, and how great the good is virtue, and that “better is one righteous man than a thousand sinners” (Sir. 16:3), Scripture says: “But you will find grace before the Lord God” (Gen. 6:8). If, he says, the entire multitude (of people) fell into such great wickedness, then this righteous man retained a spark of virtue, and at the same time, throughout all this time he preached to all these people and encouraged them to abandon wickedness, and kept himself free from their filth. And just as they, by their evil deeds, provoked the wrath of the man-loving God, so this one, having loved virtue, “will find grace before the Lord God.” “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34); If in such a multitude He finds at least one doing what is pleasing to Him, then He does not leave him without attention, but honors Him with His care and shows the greater concern for him, the more zealously he himself, with so many attracting him to wickedness, follows the path of virtue. 6. Knowing this, let us keep in mind one thing that pleases Him (God) and that can attract His favor to us; and neither out of gratification to friendship, nor out of obedience to any custom, we will not neglect virtue, but we will use, as we should, the long-suffering of God and, while there is still time, putting aside all laziness, we will love virtue and hate vice. If we do not strive for virtue with love and desire, and do not harbor great hatred for vice, then we will be unable to either avoid harm from it or achieve it. And that virtue deserves that we desire it and burn with love for it - listen to what the prophet says: “The destinies 163 of the Lord are true, justified together, desirable more than gold, and much more honorable than stone” (Ps. 19:10-11). I said this not because this alone 164 was the most desirable, but because we cannot find anything else more precious than these objects. That’s why he added: “and sweeter than honey and honeycomb.” And here again he used this comparison because he could not find a substance sweeter than honey. And those who are possessed by an insane passion and love for collecting wealth exhaust all their strength on this and are never satisfied, because the love of money is insatiable drunkenness; and just as drunks, the more wine they pour into themselves, the more they become inflamed with thirst, so these (money lovers) can never stop this indomitable passion, but the more they see the increase of their property, the more they are inflamed by greed and do not lag behind this evil passion until they plunge into the very abyss of evil. If these people show with such intensity this destructive passion, the culprit of all evils, then all the more should we always have in our thoughts the fate of the Lord, which is “greater than gold and stone”, and prefer nothing to virtue, and eradicate these destructive passions from our souls and know that this temporary pleasure usually gives rise to constant sorrow and endless torment, and not to deceive ourselves and not think that real life ends our existence. True, most people do not express this in words; on the contrary, they even say that they believe in the doctrine of the resurrection and future reward; but I pay attention not to words, but to what is done every day. If you really expect resurrection and reward, then why are you so concerned about worldly glory? Why, tell me, do you torment yourself every day, collecting more money than sand, buying villages and houses and baths, often acquiring it even through robbery and extortion and fulfilling the prophetic word on yourself: “Woe to those who join house to house, and village to village, so that they may take away from their neighbor” (Is. 5:8)? Isn't this what we see every day? One says: “So-and-so’s house is taking away my light,” and invents a thousand pretexts to take it away; and another, taking a field from a poor man, adds it to his own. And what is especially remarkable, unusual, strange, and unforgivable is that someone himself lives in one place, often does not even have the opportunity, even if he wanted, to move to another place, either due to bodily weakness, or due to other circumstances, and yet he wants everywhere and in all, so to speak, cities to have monuments of his extortion, to erect eternal pillars of his wickedness everywhere, and places the sins with which all this is collected on his own head, and - bearing this heavy and not a burden he can easily bear, does not feel it, but leaves the enjoyment of the treasures he has collected to others, not only after his migration from this life, but even before his departure from here. Even if he does not lose them against his will, then they are all squandered and, so to speak, torn apart piece by piece by his household, and he himself does not enjoy even an insignificant part of them. And what am I saying: he doesn’t enjoy it? Even if he wanted it, how would he get it when he has only one belly with such great wealth? 7. The cause of all evil is vanity and the desire to give one’s name to fields, baths, and houses. What good is it to you, man, when a little later, from the fever that has befallen you, your soul, suddenly flying away, leaves you without everything and naked, or better yet, deprived of virtue, and clothed in untruths, thefts, covetousness, groans, sighs, tears of orphans, intrigues, deceptions? How can you, having such a great burden of sins on you, be able to pass through those narrow gates that cannot accommodate such a great burden? Of necessity, you will remain outside (the Kingdom) and, under the weight of this burden, you will repent in vain, seeing before your eyes the prepared punishments, that terrible and never-burning fire and the undying worm. But if we care at all about our salvation, then, while there is still time, we will retreat from sin, turn to virtue, and reject vanity. That is why it is called vain, because it is empty and has nothing solid and permanent in itself; it is only a deception of the eyes, disappearing before it appears. Do we not see how often the one who today is preceded by lictors and surrounded by spearmen, tomorrow finds himself in prison, along with criminals? What is more deceptive than this empty and vain glory? If in this life such a change does not happen to him, then death will certainly befall him and interrupt his well-being; and the one who today spoke importantly in the square, put (others) in prison, sat on an elevated place, behaved very proudly and looked at all people as shadows, tomorrow suddenly lies dead, lifeless, full of stench, showered with a thousand reproaches both from those who were offended by him, and from those who were not offended, but who sympathize with the offended. What could be more unfortunate than such a person? And everything that he has collected is often divided among himself by his enemies and enemies; and he takes away the sins that have accumulated from this with him and is subject to a very strict account for them. Therefore, I beg: fleeing this vain glory, let us love the glory that is true and abiding forever, and let neither the passion for wealth deceive us, nor the flame of lust burn us, nor envy and hatred dry us out, nor anger inflame us, but having extinguished all these evil and destructive passions with the dew of the spirit, let us despise the present, desire the future, think about the future day (of judgment) and let us show great care in life. We did not come into this life just to eat and drink. Life was not made for food and drink, but food and drink were made for life. So let us not pervert this order, and let us not please the belly and carnal pleasures as much as if we were created for this; but, reflecting on the harm that is happening to us from this indulgence, let us begin to tame the movements of the flesh, we will not be lazy and will not allow it to rebel against the soul. If Paul, such a great and lofty man, who seemed to have flown around the entire universe on wings, who rose above bodily needs and who was worthy to hear unspeakable verbs that no one else had heard before, said in his epistle: “I mortify my body and enslave it, lest I preach to others, and I myself will appear without closure” (1 Cor. 9:27), - so if he, who was worthy of such grace, after so many and high deeds, had the need to pacify and enslave, to subdue the strong impulses of the flesh under the power of the soul and subject it to its dominion (they pacify that which rebels, and enslave that which throws off the bridle), then what will we say, having nothing good, burdened with grave sins, and for all that, devoted to great carelessness? Is there a truce in this war? Is there a specific time to attack? We must always be sober and watchful, and never consider ourselves safe, because there is no appointed time when the enemy and adversary will attack us. So, let us always think about, always take care of our salvation, so that in this way we can be undefeated and, having escaped the snares of the enemy, receive mercy from God, through the grace and bounty of His Only Begotten, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Here, in the text of the works according to Min’s edition, the word is obviously missing: κακίαν, as indicated by the following after the omitted word “or” before τὴν ἀρετὴν, why this word, as necessary, was included in the Russian translation. Zlat. reads: οί ὑιοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ according to Lucian. and other Greek sp., contrary to Alex. sp., where instead οί ἄγγελλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ - “angels of God”. (οὕτοι) - Of course, those who are called the sons of God. Here in Chrysostom, instead of τὸ ὄνομα, some publishers read τῷ ὀνόματι, i.e. “to be called (έπικαλεῖσθαι) by name,” as some of the teachers of the church (Blessed Theodoret and others) understand the quoted words of Scripture. This is the last understanding of Zlat. however, does not appear clearly. Zlat. reads: μετ᾿ ἔκεῖνα - “until now” instead of the usual reading in Greek. lists: μετ᾿ ἔκεῖνο. Those. from the confusion of the sons of God with the daughters of men. Zlat. reads here Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς contrary to Lucian. and other Greek lists where instead ὁ Θεὸς – God; in euros text – Jehovah – Lord. And here it is repeated by Chrysostom in the outline of the deities. The name has the same feature as in Art. 6. Chrysostom reads: ἔνεθυμήθην instead of ἐθυμώθην “was angry,” as in Alex., Cottonian. and other sp. Τἀ κρίματα according to the usual reading of the Greek. lists actually means: courts, definitions of God. law. Those. that with which the judgments of the Lord are compared are gold, precious stones, copper. You might be interested in: