ON THE INFERENCE FROM HELL
also known as The Homily of Adam in Hades to Lazarus (THE WORD FOR THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS)
1 Hear, heaven, hear, earth, what the Lord says: "I begot and raised my sons, and they turned their back on me. My people did not recognize me, but the ox recognized me lying, and the donkey was the manger of his master. But I will not give my mercy to another, but I will send my word to the earth, I will save people from the lies of Satan. "
2 Then the great king, the prophet David, exclaimed, sitting in the underworld of hell, imposing many fingers on the golden and living strings. And he said: "We sing, brothers, songs cheerful quiet, and we will be comforted with Christ, king of Glory." For he had already heard that the time was favorable, he heard the tramping of the horses of the Persian sorcerers who carried him gifts, to the heavenly king who was born on earth, whose mother, the pure girl, falls in love with him, binds him with veils, says to him: "O most high, the terrible King of Heaven, why did you want to come down to us, poor people, to the earth? Did you want this cave, or did you want to lie down in a manger for cattle? And you, Lord, heavens the sky with clouds. To you, Lord, heaven is the throne, and the earth is the foot. " On him, Herod the mad man gnashed his teeth, Lord, wishing to kill you. But come, prophets, come, righteous [...] Isaiah, Jeremiah, mocking hell, they said to him: "Oh helpless Devil" [...].
3 And Hell said to the Devil: "Devil, listen, and you, David, speak." And David said: "It is impossible for David to speak - oh, David is firmly imprisoned: the gate is iron, the pillars are copper, the pillar is stone, in which David is imprisoned."
4 And the 70 prophets say: "David, tell us which of us will carry the message to the living light of the Lord?" Then David said in a clear voice: "Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Aaron, Ezekiel, Solomon, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Daniel and all the 70 prophets, listen to my voice in this hell! Here Lazarus, friend of the Lord, wants to come out to us to live the light to Vladyka. "
5 And then Adam, a primordial man, jumped up, as if from a dream, and hit himself with his hands in the face. And Adam said: "Lazarus, friend of the Lord, take the news of the living light to the Lord and tell him:" Did you create me, Lord, for that? Is it, Lord, that I have made people on the earth? I'm not sorry for myself, Lord, and I do not regret that I sinned against you at the time, but that one, Lord, I'm sorry that over your creation, Hell is abused. But if, Lord, I sinned to you, Adam, that your favorites, and my great-grandsons, Abraham the Patriarch with his son Isaac and with his grandson Jacob, are those to you, Lord, what have they done? For their sake, Lord, take us out of hell.
6 If, Lord, both of you have sinned, then, behold, Lord, Moses the prophet, the son of Ambria, who led the Israelites through the Red Sea, who spoke face to face with you on the Sinai mountain in the bush-and he, Lord, with us, in the hell. For his sake, Lord, take us out of hell.
7 If before you, O Lord, in what Moses the prophet sinned, here is to you, Lord, Joshua the son of Nun, the nephew of Moses, went up to the city of Jericho, in which were the seven kings of the reigning. The city was stone, its walls - iron, upholstered in silver and gold plated. The kings laid their hands on the walls and said: "Is not this our city, did not our hands create it?" But they did not call God. Jesus prayed to the Most High, and the Lord commanded the Archangel Michael to blow the trumpet. The walls of the iron fell to the ground, Jesus entered the city and interrupted 300 and 7000 troops. He, Lord, is sitting with us in hell. For his sake, Lord, take us out of hell.
8 If, Lord, this one has sinned before you, then, behold, Lord, Gideon the prophet, the son of Jehoash. He tried the rune of God, put the fleece on the threshing floor: "But I'll ask you a riddle!" And he said: "If it's dry on the rune, and dew on the whole earth, then God will be with us on earth." And it was so. And for the second time he put the fleece on the threshing floor: "But I'll ask you a riddle: if it's on the dew rune, and on all the earth is dry, there will be God and us in the world with us and in us." And it was so. And he squeezed the fleece, and poured out 12 pools of water. That, Lord, is with us, in hell. For this and for us, Lord, get out of hell.
9 If before you, O Lord, Gideon sinned, then to you, Lord, King Solomon, the son of the great King David, who created you a temple of the Holy of Holies in the city of Jerusalem, and forged two golden eagles like the cherub and the seraphim. And he made a riddle, and said: "If there is our God on earth, the Holy Spirit will enter into them." And eagles began to fly around the temple and ascended to heaven. That, Lord, is with us, in hell. For this and for us, take us out of hell. "
10 At that time, on one of the Sabbaths, the Lord heard a prophetic murmur, the seventy prophets were crying: "Lead, O Lord, from the hell of hell." Jesus came to Bethany to the sisters of Lazarus Martha and Mary. And Martha and Mary heard, and hurried quickly, and fell at the feet of Jesus and said: "If you were here, then our brother would not have died." And Christ answered: "Your brother Lazarus will resurrect!" And then Lazarus was resurrected, and Lazarus said: "Adam, the primal man, is calling to you, Lord: lead, O Lord, from hell.Appeals to you, Lord, the patriarch Abraham with his son Isaac and with his grandson Jacob, lead, O Lord, from hell. Appeals to you, Lord, King David about his son Solomon, lead Lord, from hell."
11 And the Lord said to Lazarus: "If it were not for the slave of my beloved, David, for the sake of it, I would have ruined Solomon in hell for his excessive wisdom and for iniquity."
12 And then Christ came in spirit to Hell, and with him all the heavenly powers: Samsail, Mayiamil, Slaviil, Michael, Gabriel went ahead of the Lord and said: "Here comes the King of Glory, Christ, and says to the prisoners:" Those who are in darkness, will be enlightened. "
13 And Hell said from within infernal bonds: "Who is the king of Glory?" And the forces answered: "The Lord is strong and terrible in armor, he is the king of Glory". So the hell said, "He is strong and terrible, but why did he leave the seven heavens and go to us, the poor, to the ground?" And the forces responded: "Goes, chasing the enemy to Satan, and wants to tie him to you, from hell". He turned and said to Satan, "O Beelzebub, the accursed one, the prohibitor of good, the lord of evil, did I not tell you: if the Lord is strong, fight him there: when you said to me:" Strengthen me a place where I would be bound by Jesus, put ", then I answered:" Choose him, go with your children, with the Jews and with Judah in the next world, then you reign with them. " And if he comes here, then, having bound you, he will give it to me, and kindly to himself - will lead away. " Satan said to him: "O fainthearted, he created one evil for you: Lazarus brought you out, and you frighten him. And he did a lot of evil to me, and I here constantly struggled with him. " Hell said, "I completely drove Lazarus's body, so that his veins and joints fell apart." Jesus commanded him with the word: "Lazarus, come out!" And Lazarus rose, unharmed, like a lion on a hunt, hovering in the air, and the voice of Jesus now flew from my ears, and my whole voice shuddered from his voice. Then you told me: "It is deplorable for my soul to release Lazarus with a terrible and glorious name."
14 Then the great king David said, when he was alive: "Let the brass gates collapse and the iron pillars break." And then the Lord destroyed the brass gates and the iron pillars broke. Said the Lord to Adam: "This right hand created you from the beginning of the century, it also led you out of decay." And then the Lord rose and said to the apostles: "Beginning, preach in all the earth, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching people to observe themselves." And he ascended to heaven and sat on the right hand of the Father, and all over the world his Glory has departed, as glory befell him now and always. "
THE SLAVONIC WORD OF BLESSED ZERUBBABEL
1 And Zerubbabel went up from Jerusalem for the remnant of the captives to King Darius, and asked him to release the remnant of the prisoners, in order to fulfill the promises of Cyrus, the Persian king, and commanded him to give him the captives.
2 And Zerubbabel was a warrior of King Darius and guarded the king with two other servants. And one day they got into a dispute and said to each other: "Let's make riddles, each according to his wisdom; writing his own riddles on reading and writing, we'll put the king at the head of the bed, so that he wakes up and sees the puzzles on reading and reading and appreciated them. And he who writes better than the other two, will be the second after the king; the vessels of his table will be golden and silver, and the harness for his horses will be given to him, the second part will have after the king, and any request will be executed, and a friend will be called a king." And they all said: "So be it."
3 And agreed on this according to the Median and Persian rules, which are unchangeable. And they cast lots among themselves; and the first lot fell out, and it was written by him: "Nothing is so strong on earth as the king." The other one wrote: "Wine is stronger than anything on earth." The third, Zerubbabel, wrote: "There is nothing stronger than a woman on earth."
4 They wrote their riddles and put the king at the head of the bed. The king, waking up, heard the whispers of these servants, held out his hand and took the letter, and, having read it, postponed it. When his lords assembled, the king called his servants and said to them: "Explain your riddles, and who will be wiser, for this I will fulfill what is written in this letter."
5 And the first said: "Listen, king and nobles, and I will tell you! Know, the men of the king are brave, the strength of the king and the fortress, and his authority over the whole earth, and over the sea, over the countries, and over all nations. And he will kill, and he will quicken; if he orders to go to war, they will go; if the king orders the city to be ruined, they will be ruined. And all that the king orders will be done: gold is mined and silver, and military equipment is prepared, plowed and sown, cultivated the land and planted gardens, and paid tribute to the tsar, not yet having tasted of his harvest. They are afraid of his wrath, for the king is braver than all. And do not violate his words in anything. Therefore believe me that there is no equal to the king on earth." And the speech of him standing there was astonished.
6 And another answered, saying: "Listen, the king and the men are truly wise, you know the power of the king, because he owns all on earth, as you have heard. The wine is stronger than the king: his courage is beyond doubt, but when he becomes drunk, his heart and speech will change. Some will sing, others will jump, and some will dance, and some will fight. Drunkeness will destroy those who are worthy of pity, and the wicked will honor, and will not have shame before their father and mother. Know everything that wine is stronger.Whoever drinks it will forget that letter, but will remember the song, and bring a person whispering evil. Bad speeches will begin, and angry wine will excite, others and a friend will draw their sword. A shameful man, wine will betray the shame, and make people's feet crooked, and his eyes will stir up, and his mouth will speak without shame. Sober all this is not remembered and unlocked. Know that wine is the strongest. If the saints drank, then those wines would also lead to confusion." And they praised all his speech.
7 The king of Zerubbabel, the third, also called, and said: "Tell and you are a riddle, as your friends said." Zerubbabel answered: "Listen, king, and find out, all the nobles! The strongest thing the tsar wants, crushes, what were the speeches about the power of the king and the power of wine. A woman is stronger than a king and wine, and everything. Therefore the woman is stronger than the king, that she gave birth to the king, nurtured him, brought him up, dressed him and cleaned him, washed him, instructed him and owned it, and held him in severity. He is afraid of her voice and away from her, can overwhelm him with his word. Sometimes he will turn to flight from fear before her. And when he becomes a young man, then she will not forget her fear of punishment and will not break her words. And then, seeing a beautiful woman, fall in love with her beauty, and will not change her love for her for any kind of wealth. Even the father and mother will leave for the sake of love to the woman. Many made mistakes because of her, many were deceived because of the love of a woman. Many became murderers because of her, many went to hell because of her. Many wise fell into her net. And enmity happens between relatives and friends because of it. Do not you understand or do not know that if there is a beautiful woman on the way, then, if the man was carrying something in his hands, but his eyes are looking at her, and the whole thought of it is about her, and not about that , that in the hands carries. And if she answered something to him, then she would have left everything and talked with her.
8 If you do not believe my words, then tell me, for whom do you work, not for women? After all, you buy them all kinds of things, and gold and silver, and incense. And you buy wine and butter for anyone, are not they for women? Some are robbed, some are stolen and killed, are they brought to women?
9 So I saw you, the king, sitting on his throne, and the crown was on your head. And remember, like the daughter of Avios of Macedonia, your concubine, sitting next to you, reached out for your hand and took off the crown from your head, and placed it on your head, and you, the king, laugh at looking at it, and so the king should not have looked. And when she was angry with you, king, you hugged and kissed her, so that she would not be angry. Hear all that the woman is strongest. She defeated Samsonov and she defeated David, and Solomon deceived. So Adam: God was created by the father of the whole world, and did not the woman bring him from Paradise and betray her, and deceive the righteous? Hear that the woman is the strongest.
10 But know, the king and your lords, that vanity is the king who owns the lands, vanity is wine and woman, for the krvda owns all three on earth, and on the sea, and among the people. But where there is faith, there will not be untruth. For the Lord said: "If you have faith in the right, you will be able to rearrange the mountains." Then all the nobles were astonished at his reason and said: "Truly, young man, truly is your word, and all the truth you said."
11 Then said the king to Zerubbabel: "Come near to me." And he came up. The king embraced him and kissed him before the people, and said: "Blessed be the God of Zerubbabel, for he gave him the spirit of faithful to glorify faith before the king and men." And the king commanded to make for Zerubbabel all things as it was written in their writing, for he found in the eyes of the king before all the mercy greater than both his friends. And the king said: "Ask, Zerubbabel, what else your soul desires, except written in the letter, and to half of my kingdom you will be given from me." And Zerubbabel said to the king, "Remember, my lord, the promise, for you and Cyrus promised to create the house of God for the king of heaven, the Lord God Almighty, and to return his holy vessels to the holy place, and release the prisoners to the place where the name of God is called. And for that they will pray to the great God for the king and for his kingdom, for the fulfillment of the promise that you gave to the God of heaven."
12 And the king commanded to bring his scribes and wrote down the request of Zerubbabel, who asked to create Jerusalem. And King Darius sent to King Cyrus, that with him he fulfilled the promise to build the house of God in Jerusalem. And then king Cyrus ordered all his kingdom, saying: "Who among you is afraid of the God of heaven, let him go to build the house of God." And I will give gold and silver from my treasury, and all that is necessary." And the scribes wrote according to the word of Darius, king of the Medes, and Cyrus the king of Persia, to all the princes and rulers of the cities, and to all the cities of Aramea, Tire, and Sidon, and Samaria, and Asaph the captive elder: "Know what God has provoked, the king Heavenly, your hearts let out his captive people, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took prisoner. The son ruined the creation of his father, and then Jerusalem stood empty ninety-three years. Now he returned the vessels to the house of the great God and built an altar, and erected the wall of Jerusalem. Be ready to give everything you need - silver, gold, copper, stone, wood - to the builders, as Zerubbabel and Jesus of Yose- detective asked." And they went, Zerubbabel and Joshadiakovich, with all the survivors of the captivity to Jerusalem, and they began to build the city of Jerusalem and the temple, according to the words of Darius and Cyrus.
13 And when Jerusalem was besieged by Titus, king of the Chaldeans, he besieged him for two years. And the second year in the reign of Vespasian captivated the city. Many captives Titus donated, and they died in theaters from predatory animals and from the sword. Those who were not seventeen years old, sold all with women and children, and at a low price - for ten zlatnikov, since the number of sellers increased, and the number of buyers decreased. And those who were more than seventeen years old were shackled and sent to Egypt to work. The prisoners were nine hundred and seven thousand, killed - a million one hundred thousand, and the lakes of blood flowed, nowhere was there any free place, so that the needle could be put down because of the corpses. Of hunger, eleven thousand died. They did not want to touch the Roman food, because they disdained her. In the caves, four thousand died. Then stood Jerusalem sixty years empty.
14 And if someone says that it was impossible to fit so many people in the city, then learn from the census of Cestius. Since Nero regarded the Jewish people as insignificant and did not expect any resistance from him, Cestius asked the priests to calculate how much they could count the people. When the Passover feast came, in which they have the custom of making sacrifices, and more than ten people are united for one sacrifice, since it is not proper for one to have this sacrifice, and some and for twenty people gather for one victim, they counted priests two hundred and fifty thousand six hundred victims. If we count ten people per sacrifice, no more, then we get two million nine hundred thousand, only pure and undefiled. And those who are sick, or are unworthy, or foreigners, or women who are not clean, all should not concern the victims.
15 From the first creation of the temple, which Solomon built, until the present ruin of Jerusalem Titus passed eight hundred and eighty years and seven months and five days. And from the last creation, when Haggai and Zerubbabel were built during the reign of Cyrus, until this captivity - six hundred and thirty years and nine months and fifteen days.
16 The city was conquered six times: by Susakim, by the Egyptian king, after him by Antiochus, then by Pompey, then by Socium. But all of them, taking Jerusalem, left it without inhabitants. And with the devastation - the first time Nebuchadnezzar, and the second time Titus devastated him for sixty years.
17 The first inhabitant of the city was the Canaanite king, in the local language called "King of Truth", he was sanctified the city. The first to create the city and called it Jerusalem was the Jewish King David, who expelled the remaining Canaanites from that land and placed his hail of David. And four hundred and seventy-seven years later the Babylonians ruined him. From David to this ruin, Titus is a thousand one hundred and seventy-nine years old. And from the first creation to the last capture - two thousand nine hundred and seven years.
18 Know ye, brethren, the power of God, and the wrath of God toward this city. And what city was so strong, or so many people had, and so brave? There is no stronger and stronger city than Jerusalem. There were twelve walls around the city, and such brave men were in it - one went out for a hundred people, and entered the city without a fight. One day, when Titus besieged the city, seven brave ones came out and cut the army to seven rows to Titus, and almost captured him, and returned unharmed.
19 Know the power, but if the mountains were rearranged, without God's help nothing is impossible for people, and nothing will be done without God's help. You see that people can not do anything, but where there is a faithful king who teaches people the law of God to the right, then no one can conquer that city, if there are not enough people in it, but by faith is strong.
20 And such was the end of the captivity of Jerusalem.
2 And Zerubbabel was a warrior of King Darius and guarded the king with two other servants. And one day they got into a dispute and said to each other: "Let's make riddles, each according to his wisdom; writing his own riddles on reading and writing, we'll put the king at the head of the bed, so that he wakes up and sees the puzzles on reading and reading and appreciated them. And he who writes better than the other two, will be the second after the king; the vessels of his table will be golden and silver, and the harness for his horses will be given to him, the second part will have after the king, and any request will be executed, and a friend will be called a king." And they all said: "So be it."
3 And agreed on this according to the Median and Persian rules, which are unchangeable. And they cast lots among themselves; and the first lot fell out, and it was written by him: "Nothing is so strong on earth as the king." The other one wrote: "Wine is stronger than anything on earth." The third, Zerubbabel, wrote: "There is nothing stronger than a woman on earth."
4 They wrote their riddles and put the king at the head of the bed. The king, waking up, heard the whispers of these servants, held out his hand and took the letter, and, having read it, postponed it. When his lords assembled, the king called his servants and said to them: "Explain your riddles, and who will be wiser, for this I will fulfill what is written in this letter."
5 And the first said: "Listen, king and nobles, and I will tell you! Know, the men of the king are brave, the strength of the king and the fortress, and his authority over the whole earth, and over the sea, over the countries, and over all nations. And he will kill, and he will quicken; if he orders to go to war, they will go; if the king orders the city to be ruined, they will be ruined. And all that the king orders will be done: gold is mined and silver, and military equipment is prepared, plowed and sown, cultivated the land and planted gardens, and paid tribute to the tsar, not yet having tasted of his harvest. They are afraid of his wrath, for the king is braver than all. And do not violate his words in anything. Therefore believe me that there is no equal to the king on earth." And the speech of him standing there was astonished.
6 And another answered, saying: "Listen, the king and the men are truly wise, you know the power of the king, because he owns all on earth, as you have heard. The wine is stronger than the king: his courage is beyond doubt, but when he becomes drunk, his heart and speech will change. Some will sing, others will jump, and some will dance, and some will fight. Drunkeness will destroy those who are worthy of pity, and the wicked will honor, and will not have shame before their father and mother. Know everything that wine is stronger.Whoever drinks it will forget that letter, but will remember the song, and bring a person whispering evil. Bad speeches will begin, and angry wine will excite, others and a friend will draw their sword. A shameful man, wine will betray the shame, and make people's feet crooked, and his eyes will stir up, and his mouth will speak without shame. Sober all this is not remembered and unlocked. Know that wine is the strongest. If the saints drank, then those wines would also lead to confusion." And they praised all his speech.
7 The king of Zerubbabel, the third, also called, and said: "Tell and you are a riddle, as your friends said." Zerubbabel answered: "Listen, king, and find out, all the nobles! The strongest thing the tsar wants, crushes, what were the speeches about the power of the king and the power of wine. A woman is stronger than a king and wine, and everything. Therefore the woman is stronger than the king, that she gave birth to the king, nurtured him, brought him up, dressed him and cleaned him, washed him, instructed him and owned it, and held him in severity. He is afraid of her voice and away from her, can overwhelm him with his word. Sometimes he will turn to flight from fear before her. And when he becomes a young man, then she will not forget her fear of punishment and will not break her words. And then, seeing a beautiful woman, fall in love with her beauty, and will not change her love for her for any kind of wealth. Even the father and mother will leave for the sake of love to the woman. Many made mistakes because of her, many were deceived because of the love of a woman. Many became murderers because of her, many went to hell because of her. Many wise fell into her net. And enmity happens between relatives and friends because of it. Do not you understand or do not know that if there is a beautiful woman on the way, then, if the man was carrying something in his hands, but his eyes are looking at her, and the whole thought of it is about her, and not about that , that in the hands carries. And if she answered something to him, then she would have left everything and talked with her.
8 If you do not believe my words, then tell me, for whom do you work, not for women? After all, you buy them all kinds of things, and gold and silver, and incense. And you buy wine and butter for anyone, are not they for women? Some are robbed, some are stolen and killed, are they brought to women?
9 So I saw you, the king, sitting on his throne, and the crown was on your head. And remember, like the daughter of Avios of Macedonia, your concubine, sitting next to you, reached out for your hand and took off the crown from your head, and placed it on your head, and you, the king, laugh at looking at it, and so the king should not have looked. And when she was angry with you, king, you hugged and kissed her, so that she would not be angry. Hear all that the woman is strongest. She defeated Samsonov and she defeated David, and Solomon deceived. So Adam: God was created by the father of the whole world, and did not the woman bring him from Paradise and betray her, and deceive the righteous? Hear that the woman is the strongest.
10 But know, the king and your lords, that vanity is the king who owns the lands, vanity is wine and woman, for the krvda owns all three on earth, and on the sea, and among the people. But where there is faith, there will not be untruth. For the Lord said: "If you have faith in the right, you will be able to rearrange the mountains." Then all the nobles were astonished at his reason and said: "Truly, young man, truly is your word, and all the truth you said."
11 Then said the king to Zerubbabel: "Come near to me." And he came up. The king embraced him and kissed him before the people, and said: "Blessed be the God of Zerubbabel, for he gave him the spirit of faithful to glorify faith before the king and men." And the king commanded to make for Zerubbabel all things as it was written in their writing, for he found in the eyes of the king before all the mercy greater than both his friends. And the king said: "Ask, Zerubbabel, what else your soul desires, except written in the letter, and to half of my kingdom you will be given from me." And Zerubbabel said to the king, "Remember, my lord, the promise, for you and Cyrus promised to create the house of God for the king of heaven, the Lord God Almighty, and to return his holy vessels to the holy place, and release the prisoners to the place where the name of God is called. And for that they will pray to the great God for the king and for his kingdom, for the fulfillment of the promise that you gave to the God of heaven."
12 And the king commanded to bring his scribes and wrote down the request of Zerubbabel, who asked to create Jerusalem. And King Darius sent to King Cyrus, that with him he fulfilled the promise to build the house of God in Jerusalem. And then king Cyrus ordered all his kingdom, saying: "Who among you is afraid of the God of heaven, let him go to build the house of God." And I will give gold and silver from my treasury, and all that is necessary." And the scribes wrote according to the word of Darius, king of the Medes, and Cyrus the king of Persia, to all the princes and rulers of the cities, and to all the cities of Aramea, Tire, and Sidon, and Samaria, and Asaph the captive elder: "Know what God has provoked, the king Heavenly, your hearts let out his captive people, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took prisoner. The son ruined the creation of his father, and then Jerusalem stood empty ninety-three years. Now he returned the vessels to the house of the great God and built an altar, and erected the wall of Jerusalem. Be ready to give everything you need - silver, gold, copper, stone, wood - to the builders, as Zerubbabel and Jesus of Yose- detective asked." And they went, Zerubbabel and Joshadiakovich, with all the survivors of the captivity to Jerusalem, and they began to build the city of Jerusalem and the temple, according to the words of Darius and Cyrus.
13 And when Jerusalem was besieged by Titus, king of the Chaldeans, he besieged him for two years. And the second year in the reign of Vespasian captivated the city. Many captives Titus donated, and they died in theaters from predatory animals and from the sword. Those who were not seventeen years old, sold all with women and children, and at a low price - for ten zlatnikov, since the number of sellers increased, and the number of buyers decreased. And those who were more than seventeen years old were shackled and sent to Egypt to work. The prisoners were nine hundred and seven thousand, killed - a million one hundred thousand, and the lakes of blood flowed, nowhere was there any free place, so that the needle could be put down because of the corpses. Of hunger, eleven thousand died. They did not want to touch the Roman food, because they disdained her. In the caves, four thousand died. Then stood Jerusalem sixty years empty.
14 And if someone says that it was impossible to fit so many people in the city, then learn from the census of Cestius. Since Nero regarded the Jewish people as insignificant and did not expect any resistance from him, Cestius asked the priests to calculate how much they could count the people. When the Passover feast came, in which they have the custom of making sacrifices, and more than ten people are united for one sacrifice, since it is not proper for one to have this sacrifice, and some and for twenty people gather for one victim, they counted priests two hundred and fifty thousand six hundred victims. If we count ten people per sacrifice, no more, then we get two million nine hundred thousand, only pure and undefiled. And those who are sick, or are unworthy, or foreigners, or women who are not clean, all should not concern the victims.
15 From the first creation of the temple, which Solomon built, until the present ruin of Jerusalem Titus passed eight hundred and eighty years and seven months and five days. And from the last creation, when Haggai and Zerubbabel were built during the reign of Cyrus, until this captivity - six hundred and thirty years and nine months and fifteen days.
16 The city was conquered six times: by Susakim, by the Egyptian king, after him by Antiochus, then by Pompey, then by Socium. But all of them, taking Jerusalem, left it without inhabitants. And with the devastation - the first time Nebuchadnezzar, and the second time Titus devastated him for sixty years.
17 The first inhabitant of the city was the Canaanite king, in the local language called "King of Truth", he was sanctified the city. The first to create the city and called it Jerusalem was the Jewish King David, who expelled the remaining Canaanites from that land and placed his hail of David. And four hundred and seventy-seven years later the Babylonians ruined him. From David to this ruin, Titus is a thousand one hundred and seventy-nine years old. And from the first creation to the last capture - two thousand nine hundred and seven years.
18 Know ye, brethren, the power of God, and the wrath of God toward this city. And what city was so strong, or so many people had, and so brave? There is no stronger and stronger city than Jerusalem. There were twelve walls around the city, and such brave men were in it - one went out for a hundred people, and entered the city without a fight. One day, when Titus besieged the city, seven brave ones came out and cut the army to seven rows to Titus, and almost captured him, and returned unharmed.
19 Know the power, but if the mountains were rearranged, without God's help nothing is impossible for people, and nothing will be done without God's help. You see that people can not do anything, but where there is a faithful king who teaches people the law of God to the right, then no one can conquer that city, if there are not enough people in it, but by faith is strong.
20 And such was the end of the captivity of Jerusalem.
SLAVONIC FRAGMENT ON THE FLOOD OF NOAH
1 The time has come when people began to multiply on the earth and their daughters were born to them. The men saw their beautiful daughters and married those whom they had chosen. And the Lord God said: "My spirit will not abide in these people forever, because they are sinful. They will live the way for 120 years, giants." The Lord God saw that the evil increased from the people on the earth, and God said: "May I destroy a man on the earth, I created him myself; from man to beast, and from creeping things to birds of the air."
2 Noah found grace with the Lord God. Noah, the righteous in his generation, pleased God. God saw that the earth was defiled by people and desecrated all who lived their way on earth. And the Lord God said unto Noah, "It is the time of every man to destroy on the earth, that their iniquity was filled with me. Build the Ark on the Arabian Mountains, - and showing him a four-cornered tree, commanded the ark to be made 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high. "And you will make the separate ones in it." Then there were mighty men, giants: their 300 cubits, and our 3000, their 50, and our 1000, their 30 cubits, and our 900. The Egyptians are called elbows. "And thou shalt make windows in the ark and put it on the outside and inside the mountain tar, do the doors in the ark from above, and build the houses in two and three tiers". Noah, on the orders of the angel, began to build the ark and descended from the mountain for food every three months to his house.
3 The devil, who for a time hated the human race, approached Noah's wife and told her: "Find out where your husband is going." She refused: "My husband is stubborn, and I can not get it out of him." And the Devil said to her: "There is grass above the river, winds near the tree. You take the color of that herb and the leaven with flour, and water your husband, and he will tell you everything." She did so at the instigation of the Devil.
4 Noah also came down from the mountain of food for the sake of and ordered: "Wife, let me drink, I longed for my work." She gave him the cup. Noah, after drinking, said: "This hop is a rag, smart for fun, for a wedding, for nepotism and for brotherhood, and for all good deeds, but for a fool to fight, to enmity and to every evil deed." And having drunk three bowls, he rejoiced with his wife Noah. She started at the instigation of the Devil to caress her husband and asked: "Tell me, my lord, where do you go?" He answered her: "The Lord sent his angel to me and told me:" I want to sink the whole earth, "and ordered me to build Ark and enter into it to me and you, and our sons, and their wives."
5 And the wife told the Devil where Noah was going. The devil, having come, broke the building of Noah. And in the morning Noah, having ascended to the mountain, saw an ark, shattered to dust. And Noah wept for 40 days, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him and pointed out to him an unbending tree, named cedar, and said: "From this tree the ark is built." And Noah built the ark in 30 years.
6 It happened in the 600th summer of Noah's life, in the second month of the year, in April, on the 27th day. The flood came to the earth, the Lord God opened the 12 windows of the sea and the heavenly disintegrated, and it rained 40 days and 40 nights. And Noah struck at the beating, and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Afeth, and the wives of his sons, went into Noah's ark. And when they heard the call, they went in unto Noah into the ark, a couple of beasts, and clean beasts, and unclean beasts, a pair of clean birds, and unclean birds; and they entered into the ark to feed themselves with Noah in the ark.
7 The devil, though not kind to the human race, but plotting to destroy him, approached Noah's wife and told her: "Do not enter the ark without my word." And then Noah's wife, at the instigation of the Devil, did not go into the ark. Already all gathered to Noah in the ark, but Noah's wife did not go into the ark. Noah also began to call in the ark: "Go, cursed, into the ark, go, deceiver!" She stood, grieving for her relatives and waiting for the word of the Devil. And Noah said to her: "Go, the devil, to the ark!" She went into the ark, and the Devil with her entered the ark.
8 Then the damned Devil, wishing to destroy the whole human race, turned into a mouse and began to gnaw the bottom of the ark. Noah also prayed to God, and a fierce beast came to the ark and sneezed, and a cat and cat jumped out of his nostrils and struck the mouse. By the command of God, the machinations of the Devil have not come true, and since then cats have begun to be found.
9 And the LORD commanded the water to carry the ark to the Arabian mountains, to the place where it was created. The ark was on waters above the high mountains by 15 cubits. And drowned all living. And the ark swam for 150 days, and Noah sat in the ark for 7 months and 27 days on the Arabian mountains. The water was decreasing until the 10th month. At 11 months, on the 1st day the water ran out from the face of the earth. And Noah opened the roof of the ark, and opened the window, and sent a raven to see if the water had receded from the face of the earth. And, flying, the raven fell upon the bodies of the dead and did not return to Noah in the ark.
10 Noah sent a dove to see if the water had decreased. The dove, not finding support to his feet, flew and returned to Noah in the ark, for water stood all over the face of the earth. And Noah put forth his hand, and received the dove, and brought it into the ark. And yet, after waiting 7 days, I sent a pigeon a second time. The dove, flying, returned at night to Noah's ark and brought a branch of the olive branch in its beak. And Noah understood that water had receded from the face of the earth. And, after waiting another 7 days, sent a dove, and the dove returned to Noah in the ark, because the water came from the face of the earth. And Noah blessed the bird of the dove, so that the wisest and wisest among all the birds. He cursed the bird of the raven, counted it among the unclean birds.
11 It was Noah's 601st summer of his life, the first month in 1 day the water left the face of the earth. And Noah opened the roof of the ark when the water came down from the face of the earth. The flood lasted for 20 months, in the second month, called October, the earth dried up. And the Lord God said unto Noah, "Go forth from the ark, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you, and all your kind, and all the beasts and beasts, and the birds, and every reptile that creep on the earth." Be fruitful and multiply, and multiply on the earth, and fill the earth."
2 Noah found grace with the Lord God. Noah, the righteous in his generation, pleased God. God saw that the earth was defiled by people and desecrated all who lived their way on earth. And the Lord God said unto Noah, "It is the time of every man to destroy on the earth, that their iniquity was filled with me. Build the Ark on the Arabian Mountains, - and showing him a four-cornered tree, commanded the ark to be made 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high. "And you will make the separate ones in it." Then there were mighty men, giants: their 300 cubits, and our 3000, their 50, and our 1000, their 30 cubits, and our 900. The Egyptians are called elbows. "And thou shalt make windows in the ark and put it on the outside and inside the mountain tar, do the doors in the ark from above, and build the houses in two and three tiers". Noah, on the orders of the angel, began to build the ark and descended from the mountain for food every three months to his house.
3 The devil, who for a time hated the human race, approached Noah's wife and told her: "Find out where your husband is going." She refused: "My husband is stubborn, and I can not get it out of him." And the Devil said to her: "There is grass above the river, winds near the tree. You take the color of that herb and the leaven with flour, and water your husband, and he will tell you everything." She did so at the instigation of the Devil.
4 Noah also came down from the mountain of food for the sake of and ordered: "Wife, let me drink, I longed for my work." She gave him the cup. Noah, after drinking, said: "This hop is a rag, smart for fun, for a wedding, for nepotism and for brotherhood, and for all good deeds, but for a fool to fight, to enmity and to every evil deed." And having drunk three bowls, he rejoiced with his wife Noah. She started at the instigation of the Devil to caress her husband and asked: "Tell me, my lord, where do you go?" He answered her: "The Lord sent his angel to me and told me:" I want to sink the whole earth, "and ordered me to build Ark and enter into it to me and you, and our sons, and their wives."
5 And the wife told the Devil where Noah was going. The devil, having come, broke the building of Noah. And in the morning Noah, having ascended to the mountain, saw an ark, shattered to dust. And Noah wept for 40 days, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him and pointed out to him an unbending tree, named cedar, and said: "From this tree the ark is built." And Noah built the ark in 30 years.
6 It happened in the 600th summer of Noah's life, in the second month of the year, in April, on the 27th day. The flood came to the earth, the Lord God opened the 12 windows of the sea and the heavenly disintegrated, and it rained 40 days and 40 nights. And Noah struck at the beating, and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Afeth, and the wives of his sons, went into Noah's ark. And when they heard the call, they went in unto Noah into the ark, a couple of beasts, and clean beasts, and unclean beasts, a pair of clean birds, and unclean birds; and they entered into the ark to feed themselves with Noah in the ark.
7 The devil, though not kind to the human race, but plotting to destroy him, approached Noah's wife and told her: "Do not enter the ark without my word." And then Noah's wife, at the instigation of the Devil, did not go into the ark. Already all gathered to Noah in the ark, but Noah's wife did not go into the ark. Noah also began to call in the ark: "Go, cursed, into the ark, go, deceiver!" She stood, grieving for her relatives and waiting for the word of the Devil. And Noah said to her: "Go, the devil, to the ark!" She went into the ark, and the Devil with her entered the ark.
8 Then the damned Devil, wishing to destroy the whole human race, turned into a mouse and began to gnaw the bottom of the ark. Noah also prayed to God, and a fierce beast came to the ark and sneezed, and a cat and cat jumped out of his nostrils and struck the mouse. By the command of God, the machinations of the Devil have not come true, and since then cats have begun to be found.
9 And the LORD commanded the water to carry the ark to the Arabian mountains, to the place where it was created. The ark was on waters above the high mountains by 15 cubits. And drowned all living. And the ark swam for 150 days, and Noah sat in the ark for 7 months and 27 days on the Arabian mountains. The water was decreasing until the 10th month. At 11 months, on the 1st day the water ran out from the face of the earth. And Noah opened the roof of the ark, and opened the window, and sent a raven to see if the water had receded from the face of the earth. And, flying, the raven fell upon the bodies of the dead and did not return to Noah in the ark.
10 Noah sent a dove to see if the water had decreased. The dove, not finding support to his feet, flew and returned to Noah in the ark, for water stood all over the face of the earth. And Noah put forth his hand, and received the dove, and brought it into the ark. And yet, after waiting 7 days, I sent a pigeon a second time. The dove, flying, returned at night to Noah's ark and brought a branch of the olive branch in its beak. And Noah understood that water had receded from the face of the earth. And, after waiting another 7 days, sent a dove, and the dove returned to Noah in the ark, because the water came from the face of the earth. And Noah blessed the bird of the dove, so that the wisest and wisest among all the birds. He cursed the bird of the raven, counted it among the unclean birds.
11 It was Noah's 601st summer of his life, the first month in 1 day the water left the face of the earth. And Noah opened the roof of the ark when the water came down from the face of the earth. The flood lasted for 20 months, in the second month, called October, the earth dried up. And the Lord God said unto Noah, "Go forth from the ark, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you, and all your kind, and all the beasts and beasts, and the birds, and every reptile that creep on the earth." Be fruitful and multiply, and multiply on the earth, and fill the earth."
NIR'S WIFE
SLAVONIC FRAGMENT ON MELCHIZEDEK
1 The wife of Nir, Sofonima, was barren and did not bear Nir an heir.
2 And so Sofonima grew old, and the day of her death was approaching, when she felt a child in her womb, and Nir did not come to her from the day the Lord set him up as a priest before the people. Afraid of Sofonima and lurked all the days, and none of the people and did not recognize this.
3 And it became the same on the day of childbirth - Nir remembered his wife and called her to his quarters to talk with her. So Sofonima went to her husband, a melting child in the womb, and then the time came for the birthplace. And Nir saw her, and was ashamed of such disgrace, and said to her: "What have you done, wife, and disgraced me before people?And now go away from me, go to where the shame of your womb conceived, so that I will not defile my hands against you and sin against the Lord."
4 And she answered him her husband, saying: "I, my lord, are already old, and there is no young power in me; I do not know how I was conceived in my humble belly." Nir did not believe her, and Nir said to her again: "Get away from me, otherwise I will not kill you and sin for you before the Lord."
5 And when Nir spoke to his wife, Sofonima fell at Nir's feet and died. And Nir was saddened deeply, but he decided in his heart: "If my Lord is so destined for her, now is the Lord merciful and eternal, for he has not lifted my hand against her." And then the archangel Gabriel appeared to Nir, and said to him: "It is not the thought that your wife, Sofonima, died as a punishment: the baby that has been carried is a righteous fruit, and I will take him to Heaven, and not be the father of God's gift."
6 And Nir did not hesitate, and opening the doors of his chambers, he hastened to his brother Noah and told him everything that his Sofonima had done to his wife. And Noah hastened to his brother's house and saw his brother's wife dead, but her belly was still trying to get rid of the burden. And Noah told Nir: "Do not grieve, Nir, my brother, for the Lord hid our shame today, and none of the people know about him. And now we will try to bury her, and the Lord will cover our dishonor." And they put Sofonima on the bed, covered with a black cover and shut the doors. And dug a grave secretly.
7 But when they were preparing her grave, a dead child was born to Sofonima and remained on the bed of the deceased. And Noah and Nir returned to bury Sofonima and saw a baby sitting near the dead, covered with her clothes. And Noah and Nir were amazed, for the child was so beautiful and already spoke and with his mouth praised the Lord.
8 Noah, with Nir, looked at him in amazement, and said: "This is from the Lord, my brother. Here is the sign of the bishopric on his chest, and his appearance is glorious." And Noah told Nir: "Brother, this is the Lord's renewal of the blood of the priests after us." And Nir and Noah delayed no more, and they bathed the baby, and put the saints in the garments, and gave him a bite of the blessed bread. And they called his name Melchizedek.
9 And Noah and Nir took the body of Sofonima, and they removed the black veil from her, washed her body, and dressed them in light and dignified garments, and prepared a tomb for her. And Noah and Nir went with Melchizedek, and buried her with honor.
10 And Noah said to his brother: "Save the child for a while secretly, because people are already talking about us all over the world and, somehow looking after, they will kill him." And Noah returned to his house.
11 And so, in the time of Nir, all the atrocities throughout the land were raised. And Nir bitterly mourned, but even more - about the baby, saying: "What am I to do with it?" Nir stretched out his hands to heaven and called on the Lord, exclaiming: "Alas for me, Lord eternal! All iniquities multiplied on the earth in my days, and I see how close our end is. What does it mean, Lord, the appearance of this baby now? And what is destined for him, or what should I do for him, so as not to shudder him with us from the horror in this death?"
12 The Lord heard Nir, appeared to him in a vision of the night, and said to him: "This, Nir, has already come to earth on earth: I will not tolerate any further reproach, and now I think I will send down great destruction to the earth soon. And do not worry about the baby, Nir, for first I will send the archangel of Gabriel, and he will take the baby and hide him in the garden of Eden, and he will not perish with the doomed. And now I pointed it out; and he shall be with me to the priest for ever and truly - Melchizedek. And I will make him a great man among my people."
13 And Nir rose up from his sleep, and praised the Lord who appeared to him, saying: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who did not allow my fathership to be desecrated in the sanctity of my fathers, for your word was created by the high priest in the falsehoods of Sofonima, my wife, because was to me the offspring. Let this child in posterity be a successor to me and become my son. And you will rank him among your slaves-with Seth, and Enof, and with Rus, and with Milam, and with Roerich, and with Arusam, and with Nail, and with Enoch, and with Methuselah, and with your slave Nir. But Melchizedek will have a head of priests of another people, because this people will exterminate themselves in strife and turmoil and will perish to the one and the same. Only Noah, my brother, will be saved, and he will give the root to a different kind, and from his offspring again people will multiply on the earth. And Melchizedek shall be the head of the priests among the nations obedient to your sovereignty and to you, Lord."
14 And it was so: when the young man passed the forty days under the roof of Nir, the Lord said to the archangel Gabriel: "Go down to the earth to the priest Nir and take the boy Melchizedek and hide the safety for the sake of the garden of Eden, for the time is approaching and I will bring all the waters to the earth , and all that is on earth will perish. And I will set up a new people, and Melchizedek will be the head of the priests in the people."
15 And Gabriel hastened, and flew at night to Nir, sleeping on his bed. And Gabriel appeared to him, and said to him: "Thus says the Lord to Nero: let the young man go to me, whom I have entrusted to you." But Nir did not recognize him who spoke to him, and his heart became confused: "If people know about the boy, they will take him and kill him, for the heart of man is wicked before the face of the Lord." And, answering Gabriel, he said: "I do not have a boy, and I do not know who is addressing me." And Gabriel answered him: "Do not be afraid, Nir: it's me, the archangel Gabriel, and the Lord sent me. And now I take your boyfriend and go with him - and I will cover him in the garden of Eden." And Nir remembered his former dream, believed and answered Gabriel: "Blessed be the Lord who sent you today to me. Bless now that your servant Nir is, and take the young man, and do with him, as it is told you." Then Gabriel the son of Melchizedek took his wings that night, and carried him to the garden of Eden.
16 And Nir awakened in the morning, and went into a secret rest, and did not find a boy. And rejoiced, and deep Nir, because he was a boy for his son, was sad.
17 To God our glory is always - now, and ever, and forever and ever. Amen!
Book of Barlaam, Inspirational Tale from the Eastern Ethiopian Country Called India, in the Offering of the Holy City of Jerusalem by John the Monk, Husband the Honest and Virtuous, from the Monastery of St. Sava
THE SLAVONIC STORY OF BARLAAM AND JOASAPH
1 <...> Of the country called India, which lies far from Egypt, is large and multi-populated. <...> The rules in that country were a certain king named Abner, great by wealth and power [...] he was very devoted to demonic charm. <...> A beautiful son was born to him [...] <...> Joasaph called his king <...> On the very holiday of the birth of the young man, fifty-five chosen husbands, taught by the Chaldean wisdom of stargazers, came to the king. One of these astrologers , the oldest and the wisest, said: "As the movements of the stars tell me, O King, the prosperity [...] of your now-born son is not in your kingdom, but in another, in the best <...> I think that will take he is persecuted by the Christian faith [...]."
2 The king, hearing about this, fell into sorrow instead of joy. Having built a secluded beautiful palace in the city of Domose, he placed his son there as soon as he left the childhood; and ordered that the prince not go anywhere, and put him to the tutors and servants of the young and most beautiful people, forbidding them to tell him about life, about her sorrows [...] so that he would not hear a single word about Christ, his teaching and law [...]. <...>
3 There was at that time a certain monk, wise with divine teaching, adorned with holy life and eloquence [...] Barlaam was the name of that old man. Divine revelation was given to him to learn about the king's son. After leaving the desert, <...> he dressed in worldly clothes and, having boarded the ship, arrived in the Indian kingdom, pretended to be a merchant and came to the city where the prince lived in the palace <...> Once coming, Barlaam said: "I am a merchant <...> I have a precious stone, like which there is nowhere else; <...> he can to those who are blind in heart, to grant the light of wisdom, to open their ears to the deaf, to give a mute voice [...]." <...>
4 Said Joasaph to the old man: "Show me the precious stone <...> I want to hear the word new and good [...]."
5 And Barlaam answered: "There was a certain great and glorious king, he once rode on a golden chariot and surrounded by guards, as befits kings; two men met him, dressed in ragged and dirty clothes, with emaciated and pale faces. The king knew them, exhausting their flesh with bodily exhaustion, labor and then fasting. As soon as he saw them, he immediately descended from the chariot and fell on the ground and bowed to them; having risen, embraced them with love and kissed them. His nobles and princes were indignant at this, believing that he did it unworthy of royal majesty. Not daring to convict him directly, they persuaded the brother of his family to tell the king that he would not offend the grandeur and glory of the royal crown. When the brother said this to the king, indignant at his inappropriate humiliation, the king gave him an answer, which his brother did not understand.
6 And that king had a custom: when he delivered a death sentence to someone, he sent a herald to the door of the man with a death pipe to announce the sentence, and by the sound of the trumpet everyone knew that he had been condemned to death. And when the evening came, the king sent a trumpet of death to blow at the door of his brother's house. When he heard that trumpet of death, he despaired of his salvation and spent the whole night thinking about himself. When morning came, then, dressed in miserable and mourning clothes, he went with his wife and children to the royal palace and stood at the door, crying and sobbing.
7 The king brought him to him and, seeing him crying, said to him: "Oh stupid and insane, if you are so afraid of the herald of the one-half-brother and equal honor of your brother, before which you do not know any of your guilt, how could you reproach me for that, that I humbly greeted the heralds of my God, louder than the trumpets announcing to me death and a terrible appearance before my Lord, before whom I realize in myself many and grave sins. So I thought of doing with you, so that now I will expose your foolishness, and also at the same time advising you to reproach me, I'll openly expose it soon." And so, after advising his brother, he sent him to his house.
8 And the king commanded to make four ark of wood, two to gild and put into them the stinking bones of the dead, hammering with nails; the other two, smeared with tar and tar, filled with precious stones, expensive pearls, smearing them with all kinds of incense. Binding the ark with hair ropes, the king called the nobles, who condemned him for the humble salutation of those two husbands, and placed before them four arks to appreciate the dignity of the gilded and tarred ark. They also estimated the two gilded as worthy of the highest prices, for they believed that they had crowns and belts in them. About the ark, smeared with tar and tar, they said that they are worthy of a small and insignificant price. Then the king said to them: "I knew that you would say so, for, having a superficial vision, you perceive only the external image; but it is not right to do it, but it is necessary to see with inner vision what is hidden inside - it is valuable or does not have a price."
9 And the king commanded to open the gilded ark. As soon as the arks were opened, a terrible stench blew from there and the ugly one opened up to the eyes. And the king said: "This is the likeness of those who are clothed in sparkling and expensive clothes and proud of their glory and power, inside is full of dead and stinking bones and evil deeds." Then he commanded to open the ark, covered with pitch and tar. And when they were opened, everyone was amazed at the beautiful view of the one lying in them, and the fragrance emanated from them. And the king said to the princes: "Do you know who these ark are like? They are similar to those two humble and in pathetic clothes clothed; you, seeing their outer image, scoffed at me because I bowed to the ground before their face. I, knowing their nobility and spiritual beauty with reasonable eyes, considered it an honor to touch them myself, considering them more expensive than a royal crown and better than royal clothes. " So the king embarrassed his nobles and taught them not to be deceived by the visible, but to listen to the intelligent." <...>
10 Joasaph answered him: "Great and wonderful words you say, man. <...> What should we do in order to avoid the torments prepared for sinners, and be rewarded with the joy of the righteous?" <...>
11 Barlaam again answered: "<...> He who does not know God, dwells in darkness and death of the soul and in enslaving idols to the destruction of all nature. <...> To liken and express the ignorance of such people, I will tell you a parable told to me by one wisest man. He said that the worshipers of idols are like a bird-catcher, who, arranging the snare, once caught a small bird called a nightingale. Taking a knife, he was about to slaughter her to eat, when suddenly the nightingale spoke in a human voice and said to the bird-catcher: "What good is it for you, man, if you kill me? You can not even fill my stomach with me, but if you free me from the snares, I will give you three commandments. Observing them, you will gain a great favor in your whole life." The bird-watchers marveled at the speech of the nightingale and promised that it would free him from bondage. Turning around, the nightingale said to the man: "Never strive to achieve the impossible, do not regret that has passed by, and do not believe never a dubious word. Keep these three commandments and prosper."
12 Birds were delighted with a successful meeting and reasonable words, and, releasing the bird from the snares, released it into the air. The nightingale wanted to check whether the person understood the meaning of the words spoken to him and whether any benefit came from them, and the bird said to him, hovering in the air: "Have pity on your folly, man, because what treasure you have missed today. There is inside me a pearl that exceeds the size of an ostrich egg."
13 Hearing this, the bird-boys were grieved, regretting that the nightingale had let go of his hands, and, wanting to catch him again, he said: "Come to my house, and, having accepted you as a friend, I will with honor let go." And the nightingale answered him: "Now you turned out to be very unreasonable. After accepting what was said to you with love and willingly listening, you got no benefit from it. I told you - do not regret that passed by, and you are sad that he let me out of his hands, regretting the loss. Told you - do not try to reach the impossible, and you want to catch me, not being able to catch up. I told you the same thing - do not believe the unbelievable, but you believed that inside me there are pearls more than myself, and you did not realize that I can not contain such a big ostrich egg; How can there be pearls of such magnitude inside me? "Such are the foolishness of those who rely on their idols [...]."
14 And Joasaph said: "<...> I would like to find a way to keep the commandments of God in purity and not to shy away from them [...]."
15 Barlaam answered: "[...] Those who are connected by everyday affairs, and are occupied with their cares and worries, and live in pleasures [...] are like a man running away from an angry unicorn: unable to bear the sound of his roar and the growling of his terrible, man quickly rushed to not be eaten. And as he ran quickly, he fell into a deep ditch. Falling, he stretched out his arms and grabbed the tree, and, holding fast with his feet on the ledge, he considered himself already at peace and security. Looking down, he saw two mice, one white, and the other black, gnawing continuously the root of the tree, for which he held, and already almost gnawed the root to the end. Looking to the depth of the ditch, he saw a dragon, terrible looking and breathing fire, glaring fiercely, opening its mouth and ready to swallow it. After looking at the ledge, which was rested with his feet, he saw four snake heads coming out of the wall, about which he leaned. Looking up, he saw a man dripping honey from the branches of the tree. Forgetting and thinking about the dangers around him: that outwardly the unicorn, furiously raging, seeks to tear it to pieces; below, an evil dragon with an open mouth is ready to swallow it; The tree for which he holds, is ready to fall, and his feet are on a slippery and unstable foundation, - forgetting about these so great misfortunes, he surrendered to the enjoyment of this bitter honey.
16 This is the likeness of those people who succumbed to the deception of earthly life. I will tell you this truth about those who are swaying this world, I will tell you the meaning of this similarity. For the unicorn is the image of death, always pursuing the race of Adam and finally devouring it. The ditch is the whole world, full of all evil and deadly nets. A tree continuously bitten by two mice is the way we do, for while everyone lives, is absorbed and perishes by the change of the hours of the day and night, and the truncation of the root approaches. The four snake heads are insignificant and fragile elements, of which the human body is composed; if they come in disorder and frustration, then the body composition is destroyed. A fire-breathing and merciless dragon depicts the terrible hell of the womb, ready to devour those who prefer the enjoyment of today's life to the benefits of the future. A drop of honey depicts the sweetness of the pleasures of this world, by which he deceives those who love him, and they cease to care for their salvation <...>
17 Those who love the same pleasures of this life and enjoy its sweets, those who prefer a quick-passing and fragile future and reliable, are like a man who had three friends; Of these two he highly esteemed and loved very much, he said that he was ready to accept death and take any tests for them; he neglected the third, did not respect, and never honored him to render him honor and love, showed a very small friendship, if not to say - no at all.
18 Once the terrible and formidable warriors came to this man to immediately take him to the king to answer for a debt of ten thousand talents. Sad, he began to look for a defender to help him answer before the king, and went to his first and closest friend, saying to him: "You know, my friend, that I was always ready to put my soul for you. Now I myself need help in the grief and misery that have grieved me. So tell me, will you help me now and what can I hope for from you, my dear friend? "The same said to him:" I'm not your friend, man, and I do not know who you are; I have other friends, I will have fun with them today and make them friends in the future. I will give you two rags, so that you have them on the road you will go to, but you will not be of any use to them, and no one will expect any help from me."
19 Hearing this and despairing at the answer to the one whose help he had hoped for, the man went to a second friend and said to him: "Do you remember, friend, how many have you seen from me honor and good advice? Now I am in grief and in great misfortune, and I need an assistant. How can you share my difficulties with me, I want to know." A friend answered, "I have no time today to share difficulties with you, for I am in the grief and misfortunes that overpowered me, and in sorrow. However, I will pass a little with you, and if I can not help you, then I will immediately return from you here, my own with cares."
20 Returning and from the second friend with empty hands, that man despaired, lamenting the empty hope for help from his ungrateful friends and the senseless works that he had undergone before to love them; and he went to his third friend, whom he never helped, did not invite, and turned to him with an embarrassed face and looking down: "I dare not open your mouth before you, knowing truly that you will not remember me, that I will ever did you good or showed friendship. Now the evil attacked me. Having received absolutely no hope of salvation from my friends, I came to you and I pray, if only you can, help me at least a little, do not refuse me, mindful of my foolishness." The same answered with a gentle and joyful face: "I consider you my closest friend and, remembering your little favor to me, I will repay you a hundredfold today, I will ask for a king for you. Do not be afraid and do not be afraid, for I will go before you to the king and will not give you into the hands of your enemies. Be brave, my dear friend, and do not be in sorrow and in sorrow." Then, repentant, said that man with tears: "Alas for me, what should I cry before - about love, whether I had that forgetful, ungrateful and deceitful friendship, or I will mourn the maddening despair, which, however, showed this true and close friend?"
21 Joasaph, after listening to this parable, was surprised and asked for clarification, and Barlaam said: "The first friend is wealth and the desire to accumulate gold, because of which many people fall into trouble and many suffer disasters. When a mortal death comes, then nothing of all the wealth will be taken by a man, only to the send-off of vain friends. The second friend is a wife and children and other relatives and domestic people, to whose love we are committed and for whose sake we are ready to renounce our own soul and body. There is no use for them in the hour of death, but only spend to the grave, and then immediately return, having their worries and sorrows, burying memory in oblivion, as the body of a loved one was buried in the grave. The third friend we pass by is considered temporary, we neglect him, we avoid him, and eventually we achieve victory - this is the face of good deeds, namely faith, hope, love, mercy, philanthropy and the rest of the virtues that can go ahead of us at the end of the soul from the body, pray for us to God and deliver us from our enemies, from evil torturers who are moving in the air, demanding a ruthless report from us and steadfastly seeking to take possession of us. This is a sensible and kind friend, who, remembering our little blessing, pays us with a vengeance."
22 Then Joasaph said: "<...> Show me again the image of this vain world and how peaceful and safe it is to pass this life."
23 Having heard him, Barlaam said: "Listen to the example of this parable. I heard about a certain great city, whose inhabitants have long had the custom of choosing a foreigner by the tsar, who is not familiar with the law of that city, who knows nothing about the customs of the inhabitants, and they put him in their place as tsar, and he took all power and unhinderedly fulfilled one's will until the expiry of one year. Then, unexpectedly, on those very days when he lived without sorrow, in unceasing luxuriant luxury and thought that his reign will be eternal, they attacked him and, ripping off the royal clothes, naked led in disgrace throughout the city, expelled him and sent him to the exile was far away to some great desert island on which, without food or clothes, he bitterly suffered, not hoping for luxury and merriment, but there was no hope or hope for him in the affliction.
24 And so, according to the custom of those townspeople, a certain person was appointed by the tsar, very reasonable and careful not to be deprived of his kingdom in the same manner, so that suddenly his wealth, like those who reigned before him and was mercilessly expelled, did not change to sorrow; and, being sad, he was jealous about it. To protect himself, he often consulted and truly learned from one wise counselor about the custom of those townspeople and the place of exile, as befitted him without error to know. And when he learned that he was to be on that island, when he would be deprived of the kingdom, he opened his treasures, which he had at his disposal unrestricted, and taking as much gold, silver and precious stones as he needed, he ordered many of them to be given to his faithful slaves, sending them to the island where he was to go.
25 At the end of the year, the townspeople revolted and, like the previous kings, sent him naked into exile. The former unreasonable kings suffered greatly from hunger; the same, having sent in advance rich stocks, lived in abundance, having endless luxury, having rejected any fear of those artful townspeople, and was pleased with the wise and correct decision.
26 So, under the city, understand this vain world. Citizens are the power and dominance of demons, the rulers of the darkness of this world, deceiving us with the peace of pleasures and inspiring us so that perishable and transient we would accept for eternally residing with us and consider that all who are in sweets are immortal. And here we who are living in error and who do not think about this great and eternal, suddenly realize mortal death. It was then that the evil and cruel townspeople of darkness who all of us stayed with us, taking us, will take us naked from here 'to the country of eternal darkness, where there is no light, no human habitation is visible,' there is no good counselor who revealed all that is true and taught the wise king, - understand this my nonentity by the subconscious, for I came to you to indicate the true path leading to eternal and infinite blessings <...>
27 The parable of another king and a beggar. I heard about a certain king, who wisely controlled his kingdom; he was meek and gracious to his people. In one thing he was mistaken, for he did not have the light of true knowledge of God, but was possessed by the delusion of idolatry. He had a good counselor and was adorned with all piety to God and all the rest of the virtuous wisdom that grieved and mourned for the king's error and wished to convict him of it. But he hesitated with this, fearing to hurt himself and his loved ones and lose the benefits he brought for many, and he was looking for a favorable time to attract the king to the true good.
28 And the king said to him one night: 'Let's go out and walk around the city, will not we see anything useful.' Walking through the city, they saw a ray of light emanating from a small window, and, peering into this window, they saw a dwelling under the earth like a cave in which sat a man who lived in extreme poverty and dressed in wretched rags. Before him stood his wife, pouring wine into the cup. And when the husband took a cup from her, she sang, amusing him, and danced, and appeased her husband with praise. All who were around the king, hearing this, were amazed at those who, in such a grievous poverty, having no home or clothes, are in such a cheerful life.
29 And the king said to his first counselor: 'O miracle, friend, because neither to me, nor to you, living in such glory and splendor, life has never been so sweet as the miserable and miserable life of these unreasonable people enjoys them and quietly amuses and joyful it seems this evil and unenviable life.' Taking advantage of the opportunity, the adviser said: 'And what do you think, Tsar, the life of these people?' The king replied: 'Of all the lives I have seen, this is the most difficult, ridiculous, scorned and ugly.' Then the counselor said to him: 'Know, then, the king, that our life is much worse than the life of those from whom we must learn, who sees the truth of eternal life and glory exceeding all good; at home, glittering in gold and light, the clothes and other luxuries of this life are unacceptable, gloomy and ugly for the eyes of those who saw the unspeakable beauty of heavenly, miraculous houses, god-like garments and imperishable wreaths.'" <...>
30 I heard, said Barlaam, that this king lived further in true faith and piety, and lived peacefully, and ended his life, reaching the bliss of a future life. <...>
31 <...> Joasaph said to the old man: "<...> Take me with you and leave here." <...>
32 Barlaam replied to him: "One rich man nurtured a young chamois. When she grew up, she was longing for freedom, driven by a natural desire. Once she came out, she saw a herd of grazing sheep and stuck to them; She wandered with them across the fields, and in the evening she returned to the house in which she was nourished, in the morning she went out again, by the oversight of the servants, to feed again with the herd of wild chamois. When one day the herd moved away, she followed him. The servants of the rich man, seeing this, sat on horses and chased the herd; having caught their own chamois, they returned it home and locked it up so that it could not get out; from the rest of the herd, they killed whom, who were dispersed, wounded. I'm afraid that there would not be the same way with us, if you follow me, so that I will not lose your cohabitation and do not cause many harm to my comrades." <...>
33 <...> After Barlaam left <...> Arachia <...> the second after the king <...> dignity, said to the king: "[...] I am in possession of one elderly desert man for named Nahor, who is very similar to Barlaam [...] He is our faith <...> and my teacher. <...> Let's imagine Nahor for Barlaam. <...> In a contest with our sages about faith, he will be defeated. The Tsarevich, seeing this, Barlaam's defeat, will understand that he misled him."
34 <...> Then the king commanded to gather all, and idolaters, and Christians [...] And Nahor, imaginary Barlaam, was brought up for a dispute [...]. <...>
35 And the king said to his orators and his wise men: "[...] [...] it is up to you to be ours today and to establish our faith, and Barlaam, and those who are with him, will be mistaken. If you convict him, then <...> will be crowned with victorious crowns. If you are defeated, <...> you die a brutal death."
36 <...> The son of the king [...] hearing about the deception through a dream sent to him from God [...] said to Nahor: "If you are defeated [...] [...] then I will wrest your heart and tongue with my own hands and give to be eaten dogs together with the rest of your body, to be afraid of all your example of seducing the king's sons." Hearing this, Nahor became very sad and ashamed, seeing that he fell into a pit, which he dug [...] After thinking, he decided to side with the prince and confirm his faith <...>; He opened his mouth, as once the Balaam donkey, having decided to utter the immutable, and said, addressing the king:
37 "I, O King, came to the world according to the providence of God, and when I saw the sky and the earth, the sea, the sun and the moon, and everything else, I was amazed at their beauty. Seeing that the world and all things in it are moving as necessary, I realized that the moving and holding all is God. And all the moving is stronger than the movable and holding the stronger the one being held. Therefore, I say that God is the one who created everything and arranged it, it is beginningless and eternal, immortal and does not depend on anything, it is higher than all sins and sins, anger and oblivion, what ignorance does and everything else. Everything exists only through it. He needs no sacrifices, no libations, no other external, but all need it.
38 After I said about God what he honored me to say about him, let's move on to the human race and see who has the truth and who is in error. It is known to us, the king, that there are three kinds of people in the world: admirers of your so-called gods, Jews and Christians. In turn, those who worship many gods are divided into three kinds: Chaldeans, Hellenes and Egyptians; these three peoples were the ancestors and teachers of other nations, who worshiped many gods. Let us now see who has understood the truth and who is mistaken.
39 The Chaldeans, who do not know the true God, being deceived because of the existing elements, began to honor the created creator; Having made some images, they called them images of heaven and earth, of the sea, of the sun, and of the moon, and of other elements and stars, and placing them in temples worship them, calling them gods, and guarding them securely so they do not steal them robbers; and they did not realize that the guard is stronger than the guarded and created the above created; If the gods can not protect themselves, how can they give salvation to others? So, the Chaldeans, who worshiped dead and useless idols, fell into great confusion. And I wonder, O King, as those who are called wise men from them, could not understand that if those elements perishable are not gods, how can the idols made in their honor be gods?
40 Let us now turn to the elements themselves to show that they are not gods, but perishable and changeable, are caused from non-being into being by the command of the true God who is imperishable, immutable and invisible, he sees everything and wants to name and change. What can I say about the elements?
41 Those who regard heaven as heaven are mistaken. For we see that it changes and moves according to necessity and consists of many parts, and beauty is the device of a certain master craftsman; everything arranged has a beginning and an end. The heavenly vault moves with its luminaries, if necessary; the stars are movable in order and in their own way, from the constellation to the constellation, some come, others rise, and in all seasons they make their way, changing summer and winter as commanded by God, and do not break their limits, do not violate the natural current in accordance with the heavenly order. From where it appears that the sky is not a god, but the creation of God.
42 Counting the earth as a god or goddess is also mistaken. For we see that it is polluted by people, is in their possession, they stir and dig it, and it becomes unfit. If it is burned, it becomes dead; so, from the shingles nothing grows. If, in particular, it gets wet, it decays itself and is more fruitful. People and animals stash it, desecrate the blood of the dead, dig it, and it becomes the ark of dead bodies. And since this is so, it is impossible for the earth to be a god, but it is the creation of God for the benefit of people.
43 Counting water God is mistaken. After all, it also exists for the benefit of people; They dispose of it, it is defiled and destroyed by them and changed; it is boiled and the color changes with its colors, and it hardens from the cold, and becomes contaminated with blood, and is used to wash all the unclean, and wear it for washing. Therefore, it is impossible for water to be a god.
44 Fire is also created for the benefit of people, they dispose of it and carry it from place to place for roasting and cooking all kinds of meat, as well as for burning dead bodies. He destroys, and in many ways people repay him. Therefore, it is not proper for a fire to be a god, it is only the creation of God.
45 Those who regard man as a god are mistaken. For we see that he also obeys necessity, and uses food, and grows old against his will. He is happy, sad, in need of food, drink and clothes. In this case, he is angry, jealous, is in disregard, has many shortcomings; he will be destroyed in many ways, from the elements and animals and from his imminent death. Therefore, one can not consider man a god, but only a creation of God. So, the Chaldeans fell into great error, following their inventions. After all, they worship corruptible elements and dead idols and do not understand that they themselves make gods out of them.
46 Let us now turn to the Hellenes, what do they think of God. The Greeks, who consider themselves wise, are even more stupid than the Chaldeans, claiming that there are many gods, some males, others females, who are the creators of all sorts of sins and lawless deeds. Therefore, ridiculous, stupid and impious speeches, O King, speak the Hellenes, proclaiming the nonexistent gods in their own evil passions, so that, with their defenders of evil deeds and malice, they could commit adultery, steal, commit adultery with murder. For their gods did these things. It was from these misconceptions that people began wars, frequent riots, murders, and heavy captures. But for each of their gods you will see the nonsense and bad deeds that have gone from them.
47 The first of all their gods is Kronos, and they sacrifice to their children; He had many sons from his wife, Rhea, but, falling into insanity, he ate his children. They say that he cut off his childbearing penis and threw him into the sea, where, as they say in fables, Aphrodite appeared, Connected his father, Zeus plunged him into tartar. Do you now see how they are mistaken and deceived, ascribing debauchery to their gods? Is it fitting that God is bound and deprived of a childbearing member? O foolishness, who among those who have reason can say this?
48 Zeus is honored with the second; they say that he reigns over the gods and turns into animals to commit adultery with mortal women. It is said that he turned into a bull for the sake of Europe, for gold for the sake of Danae, for a satire for the sake of Antioop and for a lightning for Semele. From these women, then many children were born to Zeus: Dionysus, Zeth, Amphion, Hercules, Apollo, Artemis, Perseus, Castor and Helena, Polydeuk, Minos, Radamant, Sarpedon and nine daughters who are called goddesses. Then they tell about Ganymede. So, the king, people began to imitate all this and fell into debauchery, and into a criminal passion for boys, and in other evil deeds, in the likeness of their gods. How can a god be an adulterer and a sodomite or a parricide?
49 Together with those they worship as God and a certain Hephaestus, who owns a hammer and mites and is engaged in forging craft for the sake of sustenance. Is it required anything to God and can it be that God is engaged in such a business and asked people for food?
50 Further, they are revered as the god of Hermes, the covetous, the thief, the fortune-teller and the crippled interpreter of dreams, but it is not fitting that such was God.
51 They worship the god Asclepius, the doctor who makes up medicines and mashing the food for the sake of, for he is in need, and then Zeus struck him to death because of the Tindiary-Lacedaemonians, and he died. If Asclepius, being a god, could not help himself, struck by thunder, then how can he help others?
52 Ares is revered by them as a god, warrior, envious, greedy for herds and other property; then he, an adulterous with Aphrodite, was bound by Eros and Hephaestus. How can an avid warrior, imprisoned in chains, be a god and a debauchee?
53 Honored by the god Dionysus, the organizer of night festivities, taught drunkenness, dragging along other people's wives, falling into a frenzy and a fugitive. He was killed by the Titans. If Dionysus could not save himself from murder and was a madman, a drunkard, and a fugitive, then how can he be a god?
54 And they worship Hercules as a god. He, intoxicated, ravages and kills his children, and then burned in the fire and died. How can a drunkard and a child killer be a god burned in the fire, how can someone who could not protect himself help others?
55 They are considered the god of Apollo, an envious person holding an onion and a quiver, sometimes playing and composing songs, and guessing people for a fee. Therefore, he is in need, but it is not proper that the needy was God, and the envious, and the playing.
56 They revere Artemis, sister of Apolloia, a hunter, the owner of an onion with a quiver, hanging around the mountains with a pack of dogs to track down a doe or boar. How can there be a goddess such a woman and huntress, running with a pack of dogs?
57 Aphrodite is said to be both a goddess and an adulteress, for she creates adultery with Ares, now with Anchises, and with Adonis, whose death she mourns for her lover; they say that she also descended to hell, in order to redeem Adonis from Persephone. Have you seen, O King, more insanity, for they enter as a goddess a murderer, an adulteress sobbing and weeping.
58 They are considered the god of Adonis, the hunter, who died a grave death, killed by his son, and could not help his misfortune. How can an adulterer and a hunter who died a violent death take care of people?
59 All this and much of this and a great many terrible and evil things were invented by the Hellenes, O King, about their gods; they are truly sinful and talk, and keep them in mind. And people, taking such examples from their gods, create all kinds of lawlessness, and evil and evil deeds, and dishonor, desecrating the earth and the air with evil deeds.
60 The Egyptians are even more foolish and foolish, deceived worse than all other nations, for they, not content with the Chaldean and Hellenic faith and worship, began to worship still an animal, earthly and waterless, calling them gods, trees and grasses; by their every folly and bad deeds, they are worse than all the nations that exist on earth. First they believed in Isis, who had a brother and husband named Osiris, killed by his brother Typhon, and so Isis runs with his son Orom on the Syrian land, seeking Osiris and weeping bitterly until Or grew up and killed Typhon. And neither Isis could help her brother and husband, nor Osiris, killed by Typhon, could not resist him; nor Typhon the fratricide could not rid himself of death, ruined by Orom and Isis. And those who were in such misfortunes, they were recognized as gods by unreasonable Egyptians; and the Egyptians, not content with these or other objects of worship of the Gentiles, also introduced animals as gods and animals devoid of reason, for some of them worship a sheep, other goats, other calves, other crocodiles, snakes, and dogs, and wolves, and chicken, and monkey, and aspidum, and onions, and thorns, and garlic, and did not understand, accursed, that they can not do anything.
61 Let us now turn, O King, and to the Jews, and see what they think of God. For they, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, came to Egypt, whence God brought them out with a mighty hand and a high arm through Moses, their lawgiver, with many wonders and signs showed them their strength, but they were unreasonable and ungrateful, and often served pagan worship and faith, and the prophets and the righteous sent to them were killed. After the Son of God deigned to come to earth, they rejected him and betrayed him to Pilate, the chief of Rome, and, having condemned him, crucified him, not ashamed of his benefits and the countless miracles that he created for them. And they perished through their iniquity, though they now believe in one God Almighty, but not with reason, for they reject Christ, the Son of God, being lawless. For how do they think that they are close to the truth, in fact withdrawing from it? This is about the Jews.
62 Christians, however, lead their race from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is confessed as the son of the Most High God, through the Holy Spirit, descended from heaven for the salvation of people, born of the Virgin holy without conception and without decay, perceived the flesh and became a man to return people from the polytheistic delusion to the truth, and, death through crucifixion at will, by great predestination. After three days he rose again and ascended to heaven. The glory of his coming is to be known to you, O King, from books called by the Christians themselves the gospel Scripture, if you want to talk about it. Christ had twelve disciples, who, in his ascendance to heaven, dispersed throughout the regions of the whole universe to teach about his greatness. One of them came to our country, preaching the doctrine of truth. Where it came from, those who serve the teaching of their preaching are called Christians, they have obtained truth more than any other people. We have known God, the creator and creator of everything, through the Son of the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit. They do not honor any other god and do not worship anyone else; the commandments of the same Lord Jesus Christ have been written down in their hearts and, while preserving them, await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future age. They do not commit adultery, do not commit fornication, do not misbehave, do not want strangers, honor their father and mother and close friends, judge according to justice: they do not want to do anything to themselves, they do not do to either; those who offend them, comfort them, and make them friends with their own, try to do good; gentle and gentle, abstain from all lawless cohabitation and from all uncleanness; widows are not despised, orphans do not offend; He who gives to the poor gives without regret. If they see a stranger they take shelter and rejoice as a brother to him, for not according to the flesh they call people their brothers, but their heart and soul. They are ready for Christ's sake to lay down their souls, keep their commandments firmly, living godly and righteous, as the Lord God commanded them, thanks to him at all times for food and drink and other blessings. Truly this is the right path; all who go to them, Christ leads to the eternal kingdom, to the future life promised to them.
63 And know, the king, that I do not say this from myself, then, having looked into Christian books, you will not find anything there except the truth told by me. Therefore, your son understood rightly and truly learned to honor the true God, in order to be saved in the future life. For great and wonderful is what the Christians say and do, for they do not speak human words, but God's. The rest of the nations are mistaken and deceive themselves and those who listen to them, for they are walking in darkness and will fall themselves as if drunk. This is my word for you, tsar.
64 Before that which is uttered by the truth through my mind, let your foolish ones be silent, for they are gossiping, arguing about God. After all, be honored, honoring the Creator God and worshiping him, listen to his immortal words, so that, avoiding the Last Judgment and eternal torment, you would become the heirs of an inextricable life."
2 The king, hearing about this, fell into sorrow instead of joy. Having built a secluded beautiful palace in the city of Domose, he placed his son there as soon as he left the childhood; and ordered that the prince not go anywhere, and put him to the tutors and servants of the young and most beautiful people, forbidding them to tell him about life, about her sorrows [...] so that he would not hear a single word about Christ, his teaching and law [...]. <...>
3 There was at that time a certain monk, wise with divine teaching, adorned with holy life and eloquence [...] Barlaam was the name of that old man. Divine revelation was given to him to learn about the king's son. After leaving the desert, <...> he dressed in worldly clothes and, having boarded the ship, arrived in the Indian kingdom, pretended to be a merchant and came to the city where the prince lived in the palace <...> Once coming, Barlaam said: "I am a merchant <...> I have a precious stone, like which there is nowhere else; <...> he can to those who are blind in heart, to grant the light of wisdom, to open their ears to the deaf, to give a mute voice [...]." <...>
4 Said Joasaph to the old man: "Show me the precious stone <...> I want to hear the word new and good [...]."
5 And Barlaam answered: "There was a certain great and glorious king, he once rode on a golden chariot and surrounded by guards, as befits kings; two men met him, dressed in ragged and dirty clothes, with emaciated and pale faces. The king knew them, exhausting their flesh with bodily exhaustion, labor and then fasting. As soon as he saw them, he immediately descended from the chariot and fell on the ground and bowed to them; having risen, embraced them with love and kissed them. His nobles and princes were indignant at this, believing that he did it unworthy of royal majesty. Not daring to convict him directly, they persuaded the brother of his family to tell the king that he would not offend the grandeur and glory of the royal crown. When the brother said this to the king, indignant at his inappropriate humiliation, the king gave him an answer, which his brother did not understand.
6 And that king had a custom: when he delivered a death sentence to someone, he sent a herald to the door of the man with a death pipe to announce the sentence, and by the sound of the trumpet everyone knew that he had been condemned to death. And when the evening came, the king sent a trumpet of death to blow at the door of his brother's house. When he heard that trumpet of death, he despaired of his salvation and spent the whole night thinking about himself. When morning came, then, dressed in miserable and mourning clothes, he went with his wife and children to the royal palace and stood at the door, crying and sobbing.
7 The king brought him to him and, seeing him crying, said to him: "Oh stupid and insane, if you are so afraid of the herald of the one-half-brother and equal honor of your brother, before which you do not know any of your guilt, how could you reproach me for that, that I humbly greeted the heralds of my God, louder than the trumpets announcing to me death and a terrible appearance before my Lord, before whom I realize in myself many and grave sins. So I thought of doing with you, so that now I will expose your foolishness, and also at the same time advising you to reproach me, I'll openly expose it soon." And so, after advising his brother, he sent him to his house.
8 And the king commanded to make four ark of wood, two to gild and put into them the stinking bones of the dead, hammering with nails; the other two, smeared with tar and tar, filled with precious stones, expensive pearls, smearing them with all kinds of incense. Binding the ark with hair ropes, the king called the nobles, who condemned him for the humble salutation of those two husbands, and placed before them four arks to appreciate the dignity of the gilded and tarred ark. They also estimated the two gilded as worthy of the highest prices, for they believed that they had crowns and belts in them. About the ark, smeared with tar and tar, they said that they are worthy of a small and insignificant price. Then the king said to them: "I knew that you would say so, for, having a superficial vision, you perceive only the external image; but it is not right to do it, but it is necessary to see with inner vision what is hidden inside - it is valuable or does not have a price."
9 And the king commanded to open the gilded ark. As soon as the arks were opened, a terrible stench blew from there and the ugly one opened up to the eyes. And the king said: "This is the likeness of those who are clothed in sparkling and expensive clothes and proud of their glory and power, inside is full of dead and stinking bones and evil deeds." Then he commanded to open the ark, covered with pitch and tar. And when they were opened, everyone was amazed at the beautiful view of the one lying in them, and the fragrance emanated from them. And the king said to the princes: "Do you know who these ark are like? They are similar to those two humble and in pathetic clothes clothed; you, seeing their outer image, scoffed at me because I bowed to the ground before their face. I, knowing their nobility and spiritual beauty with reasonable eyes, considered it an honor to touch them myself, considering them more expensive than a royal crown and better than royal clothes. " So the king embarrassed his nobles and taught them not to be deceived by the visible, but to listen to the intelligent." <...>
10 Joasaph answered him: "Great and wonderful words you say, man. <...> What should we do in order to avoid the torments prepared for sinners, and be rewarded with the joy of the righteous?" <...>
11 Barlaam again answered: "<...> He who does not know God, dwells in darkness and death of the soul and in enslaving idols to the destruction of all nature. <...> To liken and express the ignorance of such people, I will tell you a parable told to me by one wisest man. He said that the worshipers of idols are like a bird-catcher, who, arranging the snare, once caught a small bird called a nightingale. Taking a knife, he was about to slaughter her to eat, when suddenly the nightingale spoke in a human voice and said to the bird-catcher: "What good is it for you, man, if you kill me? You can not even fill my stomach with me, but if you free me from the snares, I will give you three commandments. Observing them, you will gain a great favor in your whole life." The bird-watchers marveled at the speech of the nightingale and promised that it would free him from bondage. Turning around, the nightingale said to the man: "Never strive to achieve the impossible, do not regret that has passed by, and do not believe never a dubious word. Keep these three commandments and prosper."
12 Birds were delighted with a successful meeting and reasonable words, and, releasing the bird from the snares, released it into the air. The nightingale wanted to check whether the person understood the meaning of the words spoken to him and whether any benefit came from them, and the bird said to him, hovering in the air: "Have pity on your folly, man, because what treasure you have missed today. There is inside me a pearl that exceeds the size of an ostrich egg."
13 Hearing this, the bird-boys were grieved, regretting that the nightingale had let go of his hands, and, wanting to catch him again, he said: "Come to my house, and, having accepted you as a friend, I will with honor let go." And the nightingale answered him: "Now you turned out to be very unreasonable. After accepting what was said to you with love and willingly listening, you got no benefit from it. I told you - do not regret that passed by, and you are sad that he let me out of his hands, regretting the loss. Told you - do not try to reach the impossible, and you want to catch me, not being able to catch up. I told you the same thing - do not believe the unbelievable, but you believed that inside me there are pearls more than myself, and you did not realize that I can not contain such a big ostrich egg; How can there be pearls of such magnitude inside me? "Such are the foolishness of those who rely on their idols [...]."
14 And Joasaph said: "<...> I would like to find a way to keep the commandments of God in purity and not to shy away from them [...]."
15 Barlaam answered: "[...] Those who are connected by everyday affairs, and are occupied with their cares and worries, and live in pleasures [...] are like a man running away from an angry unicorn: unable to bear the sound of his roar and the growling of his terrible, man quickly rushed to not be eaten. And as he ran quickly, he fell into a deep ditch. Falling, he stretched out his arms and grabbed the tree, and, holding fast with his feet on the ledge, he considered himself already at peace and security. Looking down, he saw two mice, one white, and the other black, gnawing continuously the root of the tree, for which he held, and already almost gnawed the root to the end. Looking to the depth of the ditch, he saw a dragon, terrible looking and breathing fire, glaring fiercely, opening its mouth and ready to swallow it. After looking at the ledge, which was rested with his feet, he saw four snake heads coming out of the wall, about which he leaned. Looking up, he saw a man dripping honey from the branches of the tree. Forgetting and thinking about the dangers around him: that outwardly the unicorn, furiously raging, seeks to tear it to pieces; below, an evil dragon with an open mouth is ready to swallow it; The tree for which he holds, is ready to fall, and his feet are on a slippery and unstable foundation, - forgetting about these so great misfortunes, he surrendered to the enjoyment of this bitter honey.
16 This is the likeness of those people who succumbed to the deception of earthly life. I will tell you this truth about those who are swaying this world, I will tell you the meaning of this similarity. For the unicorn is the image of death, always pursuing the race of Adam and finally devouring it. The ditch is the whole world, full of all evil and deadly nets. A tree continuously bitten by two mice is the way we do, for while everyone lives, is absorbed and perishes by the change of the hours of the day and night, and the truncation of the root approaches. The four snake heads are insignificant and fragile elements, of which the human body is composed; if they come in disorder and frustration, then the body composition is destroyed. A fire-breathing and merciless dragon depicts the terrible hell of the womb, ready to devour those who prefer the enjoyment of today's life to the benefits of the future. A drop of honey depicts the sweetness of the pleasures of this world, by which he deceives those who love him, and they cease to care for their salvation <...>
17 Those who love the same pleasures of this life and enjoy its sweets, those who prefer a quick-passing and fragile future and reliable, are like a man who had three friends; Of these two he highly esteemed and loved very much, he said that he was ready to accept death and take any tests for them; he neglected the third, did not respect, and never honored him to render him honor and love, showed a very small friendship, if not to say - no at all.
18 Once the terrible and formidable warriors came to this man to immediately take him to the king to answer for a debt of ten thousand talents. Sad, he began to look for a defender to help him answer before the king, and went to his first and closest friend, saying to him: "You know, my friend, that I was always ready to put my soul for you. Now I myself need help in the grief and misery that have grieved me. So tell me, will you help me now and what can I hope for from you, my dear friend? "The same said to him:" I'm not your friend, man, and I do not know who you are; I have other friends, I will have fun with them today and make them friends in the future. I will give you two rags, so that you have them on the road you will go to, but you will not be of any use to them, and no one will expect any help from me."
19 Hearing this and despairing at the answer to the one whose help he had hoped for, the man went to a second friend and said to him: "Do you remember, friend, how many have you seen from me honor and good advice? Now I am in grief and in great misfortune, and I need an assistant. How can you share my difficulties with me, I want to know." A friend answered, "I have no time today to share difficulties with you, for I am in the grief and misfortunes that overpowered me, and in sorrow. However, I will pass a little with you, and if I can not help you, then I will immediately return from you here, my own with cares."
20 Returning and from the second friend with empty hands, that man despaired, lamenting the empty hope for help from his ungrateful friends and the senseless works that he had undergone before to love them; and he went to his third friend, whom he never helped, did not invite, and turned to him with an embarrassed face and looking down: "I dare not open your mouth before you, knowing truly that you will not remember me, that I will ever did you good or showed friendship. Now the evil attacked me. Having received absolutely no hope of salvation from my friends, I came to you and I pray, if only you can, help me at least a little, do not refuse me, mindful of my foolishness." The same answered with a gentle and joyful face: "I consider you my closest friend and, remembering your little favor to me, I will repay you a hundredfold today, I will ask for a king for you. Do not be afraid and do not be afraid, for I will go before you to the king and will not give you into the hands of your enemies. Be brave, my dear friend, and do not be in sorrow and in sorrow." Then, repentant, said that man with tears: "Alas for me, what should I cry before - about love, whether I had that forgetful, ungrateful and deceitful friendship, or I will mourn the maddening despair, which, however, showed this true and close friend?"
21 Joasaph, after listening to this parable, was surprised and asked for clarification, and Barlaam said: "The first friend is wealth and the desire to accumulate gold, because of which many people fall into trouble and many suffer disasters. When a mortal death comes, then nothing of all the wealth will be taken by a man, only to the send-off of vain friends. The second friend is a wife and children and other relatives and domestic people, to whose love we are committed and for whose sake we are ready to renounce our own soul and body. There is no use for them in the hour of death, but only spend to the grave, and then immediately return, having their worries and sorrows, burying memory in oblivion, as the body of a loved one was buried in the grave. The third friend we pass by is considered temporary, we neglect him, we avoid him, and eventually we achieve victory - this is the face of good deeds, namely faith, hope, love, mercy, philanthropy and the rest of the virtues that can go ahead of us at the end of the soul from the body, pray for us to God and deliver us from our enemies, from evil torturers who are moving in the air, demanding a ruthless report from us and steadfastly seeking to take possession of us. This is a sensible and kind friend, who, remembering our little blessing, pays us with a vengeance."
22 Then Joasaph said: "<...> Show me again the image of this vain world and how peaceful and safe it is to pass this life."
23 Having heard him, Barlaam said: "Listen to the example of this parable. I heard about a certain great city, whose inhabitants have long had the custom of choosing a foreigner by the tsar, who is not familiar with the law of that city, who knows nothing about the customs of the inhabitants, and they put him in their place as tsar, and he took all power and unhinderedly fulfilled one's will until the expiry of one year. Then, unexpectedly, on those very days when he lived without sorrow, in unceasing luxuriant luxury and thought that his reign will be eternal, they attacked him and, ripping off the royal clothes, naked led in disgrace throughout the city, expelled him and sent him to the exile was far away to some great desert island on which, without food or clothes, he bitterly suffered, not hoping for luxury and merriment, but there was no hope or hope for him in the affliction.
24 And so, according to the custom of those townspeople, a certain person was appointed by the tsar, very reasonable and careful not to be deprived of his kingdom in the same manner, so that suddenly his wealth, like those who reigned before him and was mercilessly expelled, did not change to sorrow; and, being sad, he was jealous about it. To protect himself, he often consulted and truly learned from one wise counselor about the custom of those townspeople and the place of exile, as befitted him without error to know. And when he learned that he was to be on that island, when he would be deprived of the kingdom, he opened his treasures, which he had at his disposal unrestricted, and taking as much gold, silver and precious stones as he needed, he ordered many of them to be given to his faithful slaves, sending them to the island where he was to go.
25 At the end of the year, the townspeople revolted and, like the previous kings, sent him naked into exile. The former unreasonable kings suffered greatly from hunger; the same, having sent in advance rich stocks, lived in abundance, having endless luxury, having rejected any fear of those artful townspeople, and was pleased with the wise and correct decision.
26 So, under the city, understand this vain world. Citizens are the power and dominance of demons, the rulers of the darkness of this world, deceiving us with the peace of pleasures and inspiring us so that perishable and transient we would accept for eternally residing with us and consider that all who are in sweets are immortal. And here we who are living in error and who do not think about this great and eternal, suddenly realize mortal death. It was then that the evil and cruel townspeople of darkness who all of us stayed with us, taking us, will take us naked from here 'to the country of eternal darkness, where there is no light, no human habitation is visible,' there is no good counselor who revealed all that is true and taught the wise king, - understand this my nonentity by the subconscious, for I came to you to indicate the true path leading to eternal and infinite blessings <...>
27 The parable of another king and a beggar. I heard about a certain king, who wisely controlled his kingdom; he was meek and gracious to his people. In one thing he was mistaken, for he did not have the light of true knowledge of God, but was possessed by the delusion of idolatry. He had a good counselor and was adorned with all piety to God and all the rest of the virtuous wisdom that grieved and mourned for the king's error and wished to convict him of it. But he hesitated with this, fearing to hurt himself and his loved ones and lose the benefits he brought for many, and he was looking for a favorable time to attract the king to the true good.
28 And the king said to him one night: 'Let's go out and walk around the city, will not we see anything useful.' Walking through the city, they saw a ray of light emanating from a small window, and, peering into this window, they saw a dwelling under the earth like a cave in which sat a man who lived in extreme poverty and dressed in wretched rags. Before him stood his wife, pouring wine into the cup. And when the husband took a cup from her, she sang, amusing him, and danced, and appeased her husband with praise. All who were around the king, hearing this, were amazed at those who, in such a grievous poverty, having no home or clothes, are in such a cheerful life.
29 And the king said to his first counselor: 'O miracle, friend, because neither to me, nor to you, living in such glory and splendor, life has never been so sweet as the miserable and miserable life of these unreasonable people enjoys them and quietly amuses and joyful it seems this evil and unenviable life.' Taking advantage of the opportunity, the adviser said: 'And what do you think, Tsar, the life of these people?' The king replied: 'Of all the lives I have seen, this is the most difficult, ridiculous, scorned and ugly.' Then the counselor said to him: 'Know, then, the king, that our life is much worse than the life of those from whom we must learn, who sees the truth of eternal life and glory exceeding all good; at home, glittering in gold and light, the clothes and other luxuries of this life are unacceptable, gloomy and ugly for the eyes of those who saw the unspeakable beauty of heavenly, miraculous houses, god-like garments and imperishable wreaths.'" <...>
30 I heard, said Barlaam, that this king lived further in true faith and piety, and lived peacefully, and ended his life, reaching the bliss of a future life. <...>
31 <...> Joasaph said to the old man: "<...> Take me with you and leave here." <...>
32 Barlaam replied to him: "One rich man nurtured a young chamois. When she grew up, she was longing for freedom, driven by a natural desire. Once she came out, she saw a herd of grazing sheep and stuck to them; She wandered with them across the fields, and in the evening she returned to the house in which she was nourished, in the morning she went out again, by the oversight of the servants, to feed again with the herd of wild chamois. When one day the herd moved away, she followed him. The servants of the rich man, seeing this, sat on horses and chased the herd; having caught their own chamois, they returned it home and locked it up so that it could not get out; from the rest of the herd, they killed whom, who were dispersed, wounded. I'm afraid that there would not be the same way with us, if you follow me, so that I will not lose your cohabitation and do not cause many harm to my comrades." <...>
33 <...> After Barlaam left <...> Arachia <...> the second after the king <...> dignity, said to the king: "[...] I am in possession of one elderly desert man for named Nahor, who is very similar to Barlaam [...] He is our faith <...> and my teacher. <...> Let's imagine Nahor for Barlaam. <...> In a contest with our sages about faith, he will be defeated. The Tsarevich, seeing this, Barlaam's defeat, will understand that he misled him."
34 <...> Then the king commanded to gather all, and idolaters, and Christians [...] And Nahor, imaginary Barlaam, was brought up for a dispute [...]. <...>
35 And the king said to his orators and his wise men: "[...] [...] it is up to you to be ours today and to establish our faith, and Barlaam, and those who are with him, will be mistaken. If you convict him, then <...> will be crowned with victorious crowns. If you are defeated, <...> you die a brutal death."
36 <...> The son of the king [...] hearing about the deception through a dream sent to him from God [...] said to Nahor: "If you are defeated [...] [...] then I will wrest your heart and tongue with my own hands and give to be eaten dogs together with the rest of your body, to be afraid of all your example of seducing the king's sons." Hearing this, Nahor became very sad and ashamed, seeing that he fell into a pit, which he dug [...] After thinking, he decided to side with the prince and confirm his faith <...>; He opened his mouth, as once the Balaam donkey, having decided to utter the immutable, and said, addressing the king:
37 "I, O King, came to the world according to the providence of God, and when I saw the sky and the earth, the sea, the sun and the moon, and everything else, I was amazed at their beauty. Seeing that the world and all things in it are moving as necessary, I realized that the moving and holding all is God. And all the moving is stronger than the movable and holding the stronger the one being held. Therefore, I say that God is the one who created everything and arranged it, it is beginningless and eternal, immortal and does not depend on anything, it is higher than all sins and sins, anger and oblivion, what ignorance does and everything else. Everything exists only through it. He needs no sacrifices, no libations, no other external, but all need it.
38 After I said about God what he honored me to say about him, let's move on to the human race and see who has the truth and who is in error. It is known to us, the king, that there are three kinds of people in the world: admirers of your so-called gods, Jews and Christians. In turn, those who worship many gods are divided into three kinds: Chaldeans, Hellenes and Egyptians; these three peoples were the ancestors and teachers of other nations, who worshiped many gods. Let us now see who has understood the truth and who is mistaken.
39 The Chaldeans, who do not know the true God, being deceived because of the existing elements, began to honor the created creator; Having made some images, they called them images of heaven and earth, of the sea, of the sun, and of the moon, and of other elements and stars, and placing them in temples worship them, calling them gods, and guarding them securely so they do not steal them robbers; and they did not realize that the guard is stronger than the guarded and created the above created; If the gods can not protect themselves, how can they give salvation to others? So, the Chaldeans, who worshiped dead and useless idols, fell into great confusion. And I wonder, O King, as those who are called wise men from them, could not understand that if those elements perishable are not gods, how can the idols made in their honor be gods?
40 Let us now turn to the elements themselves to show that they are not gods, but perishable and changeable, are caused from non-being into being by the command of the true God who is imperishable, immutable and invisible, he sees everything and wants to name and change. What can I say about the elements?
41 Those who regard heaven as heaven are mistaken. For we see that it changes and moves according to necessity and consists of many parts, and beauty is the device of a certain master craftsman; everything arranged has a beginning and an end. The heavenly vault moves with its luminaries, if necessary; the stars are movable in order and in their own way, from the constellation to the constellation, some come, others rise, and in all seasons they make their way, changing summer and winter as commanded by God, and do not break their limits, do not violate the natural current in accordance with the heavenly order. From where it appears that the sky is not a god, but the creation of God.
42 Counting the earth as a god or goddess is also mistaken. For we see that it is polluted by people, is in their possession, they stir and dig it, and it becomes unfit. If it is burned, it becomes dead; so, from the shingles nothing grows. If, in particular, it gets wet, it decays itself and is more fruitful. People and animals stash it, desecrate the blood of the dead, dig it, and it becomes the ark of dead bodies. And since this is so, it is impossible for the earth to be a god, but it is the creation of God for the benefit of people.
43 Counting water God is mistaken. After all, it also exists for the benefit of people; They dispose of it, it is defiled and destroyed by them and changed; it is boiled and the color changes with its colors, and it hardens from the cold, and becomes contaminated with blood, and is used to wash all the unclean, and wear it for washing. Therefore, it is impossible for water to be a god.
44 Fire is also created for the benefit of people, they dispose of it and carry it from place to place for roasting and cooking all kinds of meat, as well as for burning dead bodies. He destroys, and in many ways people repay him. Therefore, it is not proper for a fire to be a god, it is only the creation of God.
45 Those who regard man as a god are mistaken. For we see that he also obeys necessity, and uses food, and grows old against his will. He is happy, sad, in need of food, drink and clothes. In this case, he is angry, jealous, is in disregard, has many shortcomings; he will be destroyed in many ways, from the elements and animals and from his imminent death. Therefore, one can not consider man a god, but only a creation of God. So, the Chaldeans fell into great error, following their inventions. After all, they worship corruptible elements and dead idols and do not understand that they themselves make gods out of them.
46 Let us now turn to the Hellenes, what do they think of God. The Greeks, who consider themselves wise, are even more stupid than the Chaldeans, claiming that there are many gods, some males, others females, who are the creators of all sorts of sins and lawless deeds. Therefore, ridiculous, stupid and impious speeches, O King, speak the Hellenes, proclaiming the nonexistent gods in their own evil passions, so that, with their defenders of evil deeds and malice, they could commit adultery, steal, commit adultery with murder. For their gods did these things. It was from these misconceptions that people began wars, frequent riots, murders, and heavy captures. But for each of their gods you will see the nonsense and bad deeds that have gone from them.
47 The first of all their gods is Kronos, and they sacrifice to their children; He had many sons from his wife, Rhea, but, falling into insanity, he ate his children. They say that he cut off his childbearing penis and threw him into the sea, where, as they say in fables, Aphrodite appeared, Connected his father, Zeus plunged him into tartar. Do you now see how they are mistaken and deceived, ascribing debauchery to their gods? Is it fitting that God is bound and deprived of a childbearing member? O foolishness, who among those who have reason can say this?
48 Zeus is honored with the second; they say that he reigns over the gods and turns into animals to commit adultery with mortal women. It is said that he turned into a bull for the sake of Europe, for gold for the sake of Danae, for a satire for the sake of Antioop and for a lightning for Semele. From these women, then many children were born to Zeus: Dionysus, Zeth, Amphion, Hercules, Apollo, Artemis, Perseus, Castor and Helena, Polydeuk, Minos, Radamant, Sarpedon and nine daughters who are called goddesses. Then they tell about Ganymede. So, the king, people began to imitate all this and fell into debauchery, and into a criminal passion for boys, and in other evil deeds, in the likeness of their gods. How can a god be an adulterer and a sodomite or a parricide?
49 Together with those they worship as God and a certain Hephaestus, who owns a hammer and mites and is engaged in forging craft for the sake of sustenance. Is it required anything to God and can it be that God is engaged in such a business and asked people for food?
50 Further, they are revered as the god of Hermes, the covetous, the thief, the fortune-teller and the crippled interpreter of dreams, but it is not fitting that such was God.
51 They worship the god Asclepius, the doctor who makes up medicines and mashing the food for the sake of, for he is in need, and then Zeus struck him to death because of the Tindiary-Lacedaemonians, and he died. If Asclepius, being a god, could not help himself, struck by thunder, then how can he help others?
52 Ares is revered by them as a god, warrior, envious, greedy for herds and other property; then he, an adulterous with Aphrodite, was bound by Eros and Hephaestus. How can an avid warrior, imprisoned in chains, be a god and a debauchee?
53 Honored by the god Dionysus, the organizer of night festivities, taught drunkenness, dragging along other people's wives, falling into a frenzy and a fugitive. He was killed by the Titans. If Dionysus could not save himself from murder and was a madman, a drunkard, and a fugitive, then how can he be a god?
54 And they worship Hercules as a god. He, intoxicated, ravages and kills his children, and then burned in the fire and died. How can a drunkard and a child killer be a god burned in the fire, how can someone who could not protect himself help others?
55 They are considered the god of Apollo, an envious person holding an onion and a quiver, sometimes playing and composing songs, and guessing people for a fee. Therefore, he is in need, but it is not proper that the needy was God, and the envious, and the playing.
56 They revere Artemis, sister of Apolloia, a hunter, the owner of an onion with a quiver, hanging around the mountains with a pack of dogs to track down a doe or boar. How can there be a goddess such a woman and huntress, running with a pack of dogs?
57 Aphrodite is said to be both a goddess and an adulteress, for she creates adultery with Ares, now with Anchises, and with Adonis, whose death she mourns for her lover; they say that she also descended to hell, in order to redeem Adonis from Persephone. Have you seen, O King, more insanity, for they enter as a goddess a murderer, an adulteress sobbing and weeping.
58 They are considered the god of Adonis, the hunter, who died a grave death, killed by his son, and could not help his misfortune. How can an adulterer and a hunter who died a violent death take care of people?
59 All this and much of this and a great many terrible and evil things were invented by the Hellenes, O King, about their gods; they are truly sinful and talk, and keep them in mind. And people, taking such examples from their gods, create all kinds of lawlessness, and evil and evil deeds, and dishonor, desecrating the earth and the air with evil deeds.
60 The Egyptians are even more foolish and foolish, deceived worse than all other nations, for they, not content with the Chaldean and Hellenic faith and worship, began to worship still an animal, earthly and waterless, calling them gods, trees and grasses; by their every folly and bad deeds, they are worse than all the nations that exist on earth. First they believed in Isis, who had a brother and husband named Osiris, killed by his brother Typhon, and so Isis runs with his son Orom on the Syrian land, seeking Osiris and weeping bitterly until Or grew up and killed Typhon. And neither Isis could help her brother and husband, nor Osiris, killed by Typhon, could not resist him; nor Typhon the fratricide could not rid himself of death, ruined by Orom and Isis. And those who were in such misfortunes, they were recognized as gods by unreasonable Egyptians; and the Egyptians, not content with these or other objects of worship of the Gentiles, also introduced animals as gods and animals devoid of reason, for some of them worship a sheep, other goats, other calves, other crocodiles, snakes, and dogs, and wolves, and chicken, and monkey, and aspidum, and onions, and thorns, and garlic, and did not understand, accursed, that they can not do anything.
61 Let us now turn, O King, and to the Jews, and see what they think of God. For they, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, came to Egypt, whence God brought them out with a mighty hand and a high arm through Moses, their lawgiver, with many wonders and signs showed them their strength, but they were unreasonable and ungrateful, and often served pagan worship and faith, and the prophets and the righteous sent to them were killed. After the Son of God deigned to come to earth, they rejected him and betrayed him to Pilate, the chief of Rome, and, having condemned him, crucified him, not ashamed of his benefits and the countless miracles that he created for them. And they perished through their iniquity, though they now believe in one God Almighty, but not with reason, for they reject Christ, the Son of God, being lawless. For how do they think that they are close to the truth, in fact withdrawing from it? This is about the Jews.
62 Christians, however, lead their race from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is confessed as the son of the Most High God, through the Holy Spirit, descended from heaven for the salvation of people, born of the Virgin holy without conception and without decay, perceived the flesh and became a man to return people from the polytheistic delusion to the truth, and, death through crucifixion at will, by great predestination. After three days he rose again and ascended to heaven. The glory of his coming is to be known to you, O King, from books called by the Christians themselves the gospel Scripture, if you want to talk about it. Christ had twelve disciples, who, in his ascendance to heaven, dispersed throughout the regions of the whole universe to teach about his greatness. One of them came to our country, preaching the doctrine of truth. Where it came from, those who serve the teaching of their preaching are called Christians, they have obtained truth more than any other people. We have known God, the creator and creator of everything, through the Son of the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit. They do not honor any other god and do not worship anyone else; the commandments of the same Lord Jesus Christ have been written down in their hearts and, while preserving them, await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future age. They do not commit adultery, do not commit fornication, do not misbehave, do not want strangers, honor their father and mother and close friends, judge according to justice: they do not want to do anything to themselves, they do not do to either; those who offend them, comfort them, and make them friends with their own, try to do good; gentle and gentle, abstain from all lawless cohabitation and from all uncleanness; widows are not despised, orphans do not offend; He who gives to the poor gives without regret. If they see a stranger they take shelter and rejoice as a brother to him, for not according to the flesh they call people their brothers, but their heart and soul. They are ready for Christ's sake to lay down their souls, keep their commandments firmly, living godly and righteous, as the Lord God commanded them, thanks to him at all times for food and drink and other blessings. Truly this is the right path; all who go to them, Christ leads to the eternal kingdom, to the future life promised to them.
63 And know, the king, that I do not say this from myself, then, having looked into Christian books, you will not find anything there except the truth told by me. Therefore, your son understood rightly and truly learned to honor the true God, in order to be saved in the future life. For great and wonderful is what the Christians say and do, for they do not speak human words, but God's. The rest of the nations are mistaken and deceive themselves and those who listen to them, for they are walking in darkness and will fall themselves as if drunk. This is my word for you, tsar.
64 Before that which is uttered by the truth through my mind, let your foolish ones be silent, for they are gossiping, arguing about God. After all, be honored, honoring the Creator God and worshiping him, listen to his immortal words, so that, avoiding the Last Judgment and eternal torment, you would become the heirs of an inextricable life."