On the one hand, all divine teachings are good, in harmony with one another, and (5) useful to those who are able to make use of them; on the other hand, these are undoubtedly [words] more marvellous than the other [useless teachings], words which, like any other remedy, heal the mind, comforting the soul when it suffers from life’s misfortunes and when it is in great distress because of the vile things that people endure of their own volition. 1 Certainly, an account of a lame man (10) who was healed, of a blind man who regained his sight to [receive] the light, even the loaves of bread, the turning of water into wine without wine presses, and anything else that reaches the ears of those who are not present, on the one hand, causes amazement and delights the piety of the devout, whilst, on the other hand, to the unbelievers, they often seem to be things beyond belief (15). Since not everyone readily trusts the truth—but, for example, someone like Thomas, in order to heal his unbelieving ear with things worthy of belief, wishes to be thoroughly convinced by the manifestation of complete assurance, [seeing] that the lame will run in the light of day, that the blind will see, and that no one will remain in that which causes suffering (20). Consequently, when [people’s] conduct suffers, a single word of moral value is spoken once in a healing manner by the holy men, and [this] saves the souls of the listeners for eternity, a word which even now the blessed David, having set it to music, proclaims, saying: ‘Do not envy those who are deceitful, nor (25) approve of those who do wrong.’ (Ps. 36:1)
The words are easy to utter, but putting all these words into practice is a very difficult thing. O blessed David, you say, ‘Do not envy the crafty (ibid.)’? Should I not envy? Why should I not be saddened? Why should I not be irritated, [since] I observe a great anomaly in life (30)? The wicked grow rich, the godly grow poor, thieves prosper. On the one hand, those spared from illness, those who do not suffer, those who are pure and unharmed by any evil stand firm; indeed, even the prophet says: ‘They have no part in human toil, nor are they scourged with men (35)’2. They revel in luxury, despise others, are sated, plot intrigues, plunder and persist in shame without being accused, looking with contempt upon God’s long-suffering. But those who hasten to live always according to God, like ship’s helmsmen who are tossed up and down in the midst of the sea by the violent waves of life, are tormented and suffer (40), since their means of navigating life is the storm, the struggle and the turmoil [of the sea]. Consequently, look at Joseph in prison. Look at Moses, who, from the very first pangs of birth—being born amidst plots to kill him—has no parents, as is natural [for an infant] (45), nor any food to sustain him in the river. Consider Daniel in the den, Susanna facing false accusations, Isaiah cut in two with a saw, Zechariah being killed, and all the prophets who suffer so much at the hands of the wicked inhabitants of the city—things which they themselves could not help but endure at the hands of their own wicked countrymen (50). 3
So, what more can I say to you besides these things, besides such a wealth of [spiritual] meanings? The first [word] is that of the Apostle: ‘But if we have hope in Christ only in this life, we are to be pitied more than all men’4). Let us take even [just] from (55) this word such a basis and foundation for the beginning of the homily and, consequently, for [this] psalm, compose a song of [spiritual meanings] to interpret it.
Since I am overcome by an unusual turmoil, tell me, O righteous and good one, to me and to the wicked of the world, whose image [of such a hymn] should I outline? Which [of the two ways of life] do you wish to follow in this (60) life? If you live for the belly and for the most shameful wickedness, together with the Greeks, the Samaritans, those who frequent the public squares, the charlatans, the butchers, united with all such people, saying with them: ‘Let us drink and eat, for tomorrow (65) we shall die!’ (1 Cor. 15:32), you will be left without our [heavenly] garment! Make your belly your god, make yourself a slave to pleasures, acquiring as many masters as you have passionate desires! Or, rather, therefore, do not even be a human being, not even a dignified creature, nor have anything in the image of 5 [God]6, nor have anything pertaining to your rational, free (70) and decent nature, but, on the one hand, to have the form of a human, and, on the other hand, to lead a life like that of an ox, or a pig, or a donkey—[the lives of animals] that look down and spend their time greedily devouring food! However, if you wish to attain something more through virtue, stand firm with those who endure [suffering]. Do not shirk the toil of the task, nor promise one thing and (75) do another. The wrestler, once he has entered an ascetic contest, since he redeems his toil through his own effort, pays no heed to the hardships, the wounds, or his many misfortunes, but looks to the wreaths, the victory, the judges’ decision [and] the subsequent joy of glory. (80) Therefore, let your aim be but one: how to please the Judge. Likewise, let him who desires [this] in life strike [his unseen adversary]. Let him who desires [this] revile him. Whoever desires [this], let him cry out on the stage of life that ‘we have made a spectacle of ourselves to the world, and to the angels, and to men.’7
(85) Since no one ‘is crowned unless they fight according to the rules of the game’8, let them therefore seek only [this] one thing. Let us compete according to the rules of the game, lest we fail in our endeavour and lest we be blamed even more severely for other matters. Therefore, if any of those who live in luxury in the agora, who indulge themselves and are always indolent, (90) happen to come across an athlete hurrying off in the morning [to go] to the gymnasium, to run and to train, and were to seize his right hand and say to him, ‘Why do you endure such suffering?’, he would reply, ‘For the sake of victory.’ ‘Why do you anoint yourself [with oil]?’ (95) ‘So that I may receive the wreath.’ ‘Why do you endure the sun and the heat?’ ‘So that I may receive praise once it has been proclaimed far and wide and once I have won the evergreen wreath of wild olive.’ So, when you too ask me: ‘O good and God-fearing one, (100) why do you endure so much in this life?’, I reply at once: ‘So that I may rejoice in the life to come.’ ‘Why do you suffer here?’ (105) ‘So that I may rejoice in the ages to come.’ ‘Why do you make yourself poor?’ ‘So that I may be enriched by receiving the Kingdom of Heaven.’ ‘And,’ asks [the rich man], ‘who gives you the Kingdom of Heaven?’ ‘And who gives you, O man, anything that is fleeting?’ Why should you wait in vain for an outcome that is uncertain? ‘I am not mistaken in believing in God [and] I lose [nothing] by having as my Lord a guarantor of the promises of the Fathers (110), for the divine word is not a ship, so that you might suffer [in the event of] a shipwreck. It is not a wall, to crumble, nor a brick, to fall along with it. [The Lord] has spoken a word and unfailingly brings it to fulfilment. Surely the Giver of [imperishable] crowns is truthful, for He encourages those who do and (115) suffer much in this life, and indeed affirms through the mouth of Paul ‘that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us’9’.
‘O good and God-fearing one, why do you endure so much in this life?’ I reply at once: ‘So that I may rejoice in the life to come.’
‘Do not envy the wicked, nor follow (120) those who do wrong.’10 (Ps. 36:1) Consider these words as you will, interpret them as you please! The commandments of the Old and New Testaments are in harmony [with one another]: Paul and David speak the same language [of the Holy Spirit]. Let no one dare to oppose this. Consider nothing in this life to be happiness. You saw Pharaoh as he grew rich, as he lived in pleasure, as he was surrounded by the wealth (125) of Egypt, when for a moment he revelled in his treasures, when he terrorised the Hebrews, when he behaved with contempt and boasted of his weapons, his chariots and his great army? Say to yourself and to those around you: ‘Do not envy those who practise deceit’10. Wait a little while for the Red Sea to part [in two] (130) and for the war chariots and the great wreck of the Egyptians’ ship to sink, and then you will see the lofty designs of tyranny that opposes God.’
In turn, Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came with terror to capture the city of Jerusalem, besieging the land (135) with hoplites; and, just as a sea surrounds an island, just as the sea surrounds an island, he uttered words that stirred up the crowd: ‘Tell Hezekiah: ‘Let not your God deceive you when he says 11 that King Sennacherib will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow at it, nor will he attack it (140) with a military encampment fortified with stakes and ditches’12’. [These are] the ravings of savage beasts and the wicked passions of men unworthy of consideration! Indeed, on the one hand, the sun set the hoplites free, but, on the other hand, the night showed them [as] dead—dead those who had not been wounded [in battle], dead those who had not been slain by bloodshed, [dead] those who received sleep in place of death and the grave in place of rest (145) on their beds. Where are the terrors? Where are the insults? The boldness of the evening, like that of the day, resembling the shadow of the leaves, is nowhere to be found, since it suffers what was said of Jonah’s gourd 13, which blossomed in the evening and withered in the morning.
(150) ‘Do not envy those who practise deceit, nor follow those who commit lawlessness.’10 Walk in accordance with the works of the apostles and receive from this, too, a small glimpse of the truth. Herod [the Great]14 was at the height of his wickedness, doing the very things that Herod [Antipas]15 was to carry out. Indeed, this (155) name in Scripture, although it appears in several places, undoubtedly also brings about dramatic events, for one Herod 16 slaughtered in Bethlehem children of the same age, not yet fully developed, another Herod 17, at a banquet, mixed tears and blood into the drink, whilst a third Herod 18, following (160) the killing of the apostles, in keeping with his bloodthirsty disposition and the madness of his judgement, ‘clothed in a royal robe’19 sat there haughtily on display and boasted, believing that along with the robe his very nature was transformed: ‘And the people cried out: “A divine voice, not a human one.”’20 (165) Which people [cried out]? The Jewish people. O, [people] of the wickedness of Egypt! O, once again, [people] of deceit, who in the wilderness were preoccupied with the heifer, the calf, and the vices associated with the obsession with gold! Herod shepherds the fools like himself and greatly values being called a god. What sort of god? According to these words, you still remain, (170) Herod, in your present state, and do not flee from praise contrary to God? Herod, a god? Which sea have you divided, which river have you turned back, what vapour have you transformed into the charm of honey? These were the terrible words of lightning and fire from the scourge sent by God: ‘And immediately (175) the angel of the Lord struck him’21, explicitly rebuking his mortal condition.
‘Do not envy the deceitful, nor follow those who do wrong.’10 Why do you envy what is not to be envied? Why do you cling to things that do not last [after death]? What do you see (180) that is unshakeable amongst human affairs? ‘I see,’ he says, ‘that the wicked prosper.’ What sort of success [is this], that they are rich, prosperous, and have riches pouring in from all sides? By what sort of wealth [are they surrounded]? By the unfaithful friend, the dangerous neighbour, the unjust master [and] the one who attracts many enemies? For how long (185) will you possess riches and gird yourself with chains [that cannot be broken], [that wealth] will ruin your flight [towards God], destroying the covenants [made] with you. And even if [wealth] remains with you, it will raise up many enemies against you—brothers, friends, acquaintances, sons and daughters—who will speak ill of you. Surely there are as many enemies of the rich as there are heirs (190) who pray for your death and hasten [the end] of your life before its appointed [time].
‘Do not envy those who are cunning, for like grass they will soon wither’22; for yesterday’s beauty has blossomed and today is withered. I do not admire (195) a person who imitates the beauty of flower petals, but I admire a mind that adorns itself for the sake of imperishable beauty. So why do you praise the wicked? Because they are insolent? Because they are physically vigorous? Wait for old age and see nature’s rebuke. Even before old age, (200) illness does this which is part of human nature, harming the haughty through fever and making them paler than vegetables. ‘Yes, but,’ [the admirer of the cunning] says, ‘the cunning can do many things: they plot intrigues, destroy, kidnap, kill, so that they can do [various things] with ease’. This is what both the venomous spider and the snake do when, from top to bottom (205), they spit out their venom through a tiny bite, and no predators are found to cross this [boundary]. Bears and wolves, even with a single attack, wipe out a herd of cattle. But you must not judge whether the valour of the unworthy is good, nor be envious of that which is not to be envied. Who plots against the good? Who harbours poison beneath their tongue? (210)
I do not admire a person who imitates the beauty of flower petals, but I admire a mind that adorns itself for the sake of imperishable beauty.
Once you have realised this—namely, that nothing human is permanent, neither failure nor success, neither wealth nor poverty, neither judges nor those who are judged, neither rulers nor the ruled, neither kings nor those who submit to them, remember also the Scriptures with which you are familiar. (215) That evening, the King of the Jews, Zedekiah, was attending to matters of state, but by the following morning he had descended from his throne in chains, [as] a prisoner bound for the labour camp in Media 23. It was the Assyrian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who undoubtedly did these things: he who burnt and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, he who (220) drank from the holy vessels, and who, shortly afterwards, began to go wild, seized by madness, falling completely from the throne, abandoning the lawful way of life and eating grass with the cattle. Belshazzar, in the presence of the cooks of his tyrannical reign, was powerless, whilst Darius the Mede was elevated to the throne through the skills of the stablehands.
(225) Therefore, why do you scrutinise in detail the wealth, luxury, power and surplus [of gain] acquired by men? Simply accept the righteous one as he is, cloaking him, like Elijah, in nothing but a coarse cloak and ennobling him with virtue. This poor man, Elijah, had a word more powerful than the river. (230) How so? Sometimes the River Jordan would bring a great storm and carry it over its banks, [and], since he had no boat and had to cross [to the other bank] with his disciple, he lashed the river with his cloak; the water parted, as if splitting a rock, and with holy feet he crossed a narrow stretch of water. Surely it was God (235) who commanded that all things should be present: nature, with its impetuous character; the water; the earth; the path; and the need for a boat.
We thus have such poor people, ‘like those who have nothing, yet possess everything.’24 For what did Elisha have to bear witness (240) to the double miracle [of his cloak] of the double miracle, other than the indestructible shadow of the Holy Spirit upon his cloak, other than a legacy of prayer? Yet, although he had neither torch nor candlestick, nor roof nor house, nor any other worldly possessions, he kindled the lamp of life for the dead child of the Shunammite woman, raising a dead man from his bed. He who had not even a bed 25 [raised] a dead man. For why would he need a bed, doors and locks, he who (245) held the keys of heaven 26, he who commanded the elements, he who called forth the rains, he who caused the springs [to flow], he who put an end to famine, he whose tongue held a treasure, he who carried within himself words gentler than many remedies?
He who did not even have a bed [could raise] a dead man. For why would he need a bed, doors and locks—he who held the keys to heaven, he who commanded the elements, he who summoned the rains, he who caused the springs [to gush forth], he who put an end to famine, he whose tongue held a treasure, he who carried within himself words gentler than many remedies?
(250) Look at people like these and at the holy apostles: on the one hand, they were lacking in outward things but rich in inward things, earning nothing, yet, on the other hand, able to grant the gift of walking. How so? Listen again: [At the gate of the temple] there lay a man lame from birth27—a pitiful sight, an incurable misfortune, an inconsolable misery. (255) Give money, you rich man, you lord, you proud one, you who indulge yourself in this life, and look upon the suffering [of the cripple]! Yet the cripple remains [still] a cripple! Let Peter and John come, poorer than the cripple, poorer than the poor, those who therefore have not even a trade, and let them say (260) the most surprising words: ‘Look to us’28
‘I take very good note, even though taking note [of you] is not within my power. That is why I lie here [and] am perceived as a wild beast by passers-by when I insistently ask them not to ignore me.’ (265) And Peter said to him: ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give to you.’29 ‘So, join all the others in disregarding me, you who give nothing and who turn a blind eye, shackling my feet in a way (270) that is harder [to bear and] causing suffering!’ ‘“I have neither silver nor gold”29, but, though I have nothing, I shall give you a gift more precious than many riches: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’29’ (275) O, what unseen treasures, O, what a gain that cannot be plundered! Those who had no gold suddenly bestowed the gift of [walking] on their feet, transcending nature, behaving towards them like a father, shaping bodies through faith [and] turning the lame into athletes. ‘And he entered the temple, walking and (280) leaping, and praising God.’30
Those who had no gold suddenly bestowed the gift of [being able to] walk, defying nature, behaving towards them like a father, shaping bodies through faith [and] turning the lame into athletes.
Which would you prefer: to raise up the lame, being destitute alongside the disciples and tormented in this life, or to be cast into the fire of Gehenna with the unbridled debauched and pleasure-seekers? Endure [, O souls,] all [the evils here], but shield me [, O Lord,] from (285) the evils to come! I leave the present ones to your care!
I fear the account of Lazarus and the life he led in accordance with this [account]. ‘There was a certain rich man,’ says [the evangelist Luke], ‘who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day’31; striving for the things of this world, but, (290) being deprived of the things to come, he set his [mind] solely on the pleasures of the mouth and the belly. ‘But there was [also] a certain poor man, namely Lazarus’, wretched, ‘covered with sores’32, a second Job in terms of the suffering caused by his wounds, cast upon the ground before the gates, enduring God’s judgments with gratitude, lying on the ground in good spirits, (295) so that he might rest more joyfully ‘in Abraham’s bosom’33. So what happened after this? We shall learn from those who remind us of this very thing in the Gospel itself. ‘The rich man died’, says [the Gospel], ‘and was buried’33, although he was dead before his burial. ‘And in Hades’, having been taken there, ‘lifting up his eyes (300) from afar, he saw Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom.’34 It is a state of double punishment when one, whilst in misery, sees the other revelling in pleasure. Why, then, was the rich man rich here, yet became poor there? ‘Father Abraham,’ says [the rich man], ‘have mercy on me!’35 Now (305) you call Abraham ‘father’—the man whose conduct you have not imitated, nor [have you followed] his teaching on love for strangers, nor his conduct in doing good? ‘So, even though you only appear to be good on the surface, by [uttering] my name, I wish, my child, to value you even for addressing [me]. [But] he who renounces his brothers is no son, (310) for he regards the poor as enemies! ‘Remember that you received the good things in your life, and Lazarus, likewise, the bad. And now, here he is comforted, whilst you are in torment.’36 Consequently, you have what you were interested in [in life]: he, on the one hand, the delights of Heaven, and you, on the other hand, (315) the river of fire.’
This is the content of the sermon, according to these words. Let him who wishes to live in luxury [live so], let him who wishes to plunder [plunder], but let me [plunder] the things to come. All things pass away, all things wither, but all that can endure remain immortal. All that can, through virtue or vice, (320) receive within themselves praise or punishment remain [immortal]. All that we have suffered suffer with us as well. All that cannot perish with us, even though we die, remain [immortal]. All that reach ahead towards the life to come do not seek here means of persuasion, nor do they bring forward witnesses. Surely there deeds speak for themselves, the truth (325) stands naked before us, and the art of words is of no use. Therefore, let us admire blessed David when he turns us away from the worst and says: ‘Do not envy those who practise deceit; put your hope in the Lord and do good, and dwell on the earth, and feed on its riches’37 (330), which 38 may we all attain, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to whom be the glory [for ever]. Amen.
- 1
I have produced a translation from Ancient Greek of [Τοῦ αὐτοῦ] εἰς τὸν λς΄ ψαλμόν· Μὴ παραζήλου ἐν πονηρευομένοις // In illud: Noli aemulari in malignantibus (Ps. 36:1) found in the codex: Mosquensis Bibl. Synod. 128 (Vlad. 159), ff. 347–351, taken from: Karl-Heinz Uthemann (ed.), Homiliae pseudochrysostomicae: instrumentum studiorum, Brepols, s.l., 1994, 202–209. We would like to emphasise that we have, without any doubt, translated this homily as belonging to Saint John Chrysostom, disregarding the title ‘Homiliae pseudochrysostomicae’
- 2
Psalm 22:5.
- 3
I have revised this passage following a translation I had previously published in the 2022 Pastoral Guide: Dr Andrei-Ion Popescu, ‘Through Water and the Spirit’
- 4
1 Corinthians 15:19.
- 5
In the image of.
- 6
Genesis 1:26.
- 7
1 Corinthians 4:9.
- 8
2 Timothy 2:5.
- 9
Romans 8:18.
- 10a10b10c10d
Psalm XXXVI, 1.
- 11
Isaiah 37:20.
- 12
Isaiah 37:33.
- 13
Jonah 4:6 ff.
- 14
Herod the Great (74 BC/73 BC–4 BC).
- 15
Herod Antipas (21 BC – 39 AD) was the son of Herod the Great (n. trans.).
- 16
Herod the Great.
- 17
Irod Antipa.
- 18
This refers to Herod Agrippa (10 BC – d. 44 AD), who was the grandson of Herod the Great (translator’s note).
- 19
Acts of the Apostles 12:21.
- 20
Acts of the Apostles 12:22.
- 21
Acts of the Apostles 12:23.
- 22
Psalms XXXVI, 1–2.
- 23
“Media was an ancient region situated in north-western Iran, corresponding roughly to the modern-day areas of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and parts of Kermanshah. The quoted text marks an early mention of Media in historical sources, particularly in the texts of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858–824 BC), which refer to the inhabitants of the land of ‘Mada’
- 24
2 Corinthians 6:10.
- 25
IV Kings 4:8–11, 32–35.
- 26
See Matthew 16:19.
- 27
See Acts of the Apostles 3:2.
- 28
Acts of the Apostles III, 4.
- 29a29b29c
Acts of the Apostles 3:6.
- 30
Acts of the Apostles III, 8.
- 31
Luke 16:19.
- 32
Luke 16:20.
- 33a33b
Luke 16:22.
- 34
Luke 16:23.
- 35
Luke 16:24.
- 36
Luke 16:25.
- 37
Psalms 36:1, 3.
- 38
St John Chrysostom, at the end of his homily, is most likely referring to ‘the land of the blessed’