Letter 565

To Basil the Merchant. It has been said that they are vessels of dishonor [an allusion to 2 Timothy 2:20-21 and Romans 9:21]: those who commit fornication, and those who farm the taxes, and those who, to put it in a word, ply every kind of defilement. But nevertheless they will be able, by changing their base character into the most excellent, to become vessels of honor, and useful to the King of the ages [1 Timothy 1:17].

Σκεύη ἀτιμίας ὑπάρχειν εἴρηται, οἷς τε πορνεύοντες, καὶ οἱ τελωνοῦντες, καὶ οἱ πᾶσαν, συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, βεβήλωσιν μεταχειριζόμενοι. Ἀλλ’ ὅμως δυνήσονται μεταβαλόντες τὸ φαῦλον ἦθος ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστότατον, σκεύη γενέσθαι τίμια, καὶ εὔχρηστα τῷ Βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων.