Letter 973

To Zosimus. Sin withers and dries up, but faith in Christ makes one flourish again, and it does not put to shame the person who has hoped without wavering and without grumbling. For it is written that, the more he humbled them, the more numerous they became [Exodus 1:12, of the Israelites oppressed in Egypt].

Ἡ μὲν ἁμαρτία μαραίνει καὶ ξηραίνει, ἡ δὲ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις ἀναθάλλει, καὶ οὐ καταισχύνει τὸν ἀδιστάκτως καὶ ἀγογγύστως ἐλπίσαντα ἄνθρωπον. Γέγραπται δὲ, ὅτι Ἐπαπείνων αὐτούς, τοσούτῳ πλείους ἐγίνοντο.