Letter 700

To Carinus the Palatine [a palatinus, an official of the imperial court]. When we sin, we draw down upon ourselves the punishments and the chastisements of God. For this reason the Lord says: "Behold, I am laying upon this people a weakness, and fathers and sons together shall be weakened by it" [Jeremiah 6:21]. But if even so we persist, adding sin upon sin, he will bring death also upon us. Therefore he goes on at once to say: "The neighbor and the one near him shall perish." Let us, then, be afraid, and let us not be contemptuous.

Ἡμεῖς ἁμαρτάνοντες τὰς τιμωρίας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰς παιδείας καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπισπώμεθα. Διὰ τοῦτό φησι Κύριος· « Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῦ- τον ἀσθένειαν, καὶ ἀσθενήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ πατέρες καὶ υἱοὶ ἅμα. » Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ οὕτως ἐπιμείνωμεν ἁμαρτίαν ἐφ' ἁμαρτίας προστιθέντες, καὶ θάνατον ἐπάξει ἡμῖν. Διόπερ εὐθὺς λέγει, ὅτι « Γείτων καὶ ὁ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἀπολοῦνται. » Φοβηθῶμεν τοίνυν καὶ μὴ καταφρονήσωμεν.