Letter 942

To Aristobulus the Bishop. Imitate the great Job [the patriarch of the Book of Job], scraping away the discharge and picking off the worms from his wounds, and purge away every care of the present age, casting aside shameful reasonings and the earthly pleasures that lurk within you like worms. For if Job did so in what was visible, you ought to contend and struggle in what is hidden, so that you may bring joy to the choir of the angels. For just as the angels of God rejoice when we repent and turn back toward salvation, so again they grieve and groan when they perceive us willingly enslaved to the demons through sin.

Μιμοῦ τὸν μέγαν Ἰὼβ ἐπιξέοντα τὸν ἰχῶρα, καὶ τοὺς σκώληκας τῶν τραυμάτων ἀπομυσσόμενον, καὶ ἀποκάθαρον πᾶσαν φροντίδα τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶ- νος ἀποτιθέμενος τοὺς αἰσχροὺς λογισμούς, καὶ τὰς γηΐνας ἡδονὰς δίκην σκωλήκων ἐμφωλευούσας σοι. Εἰ γὰρ Ἰὼβ κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον, ὀφείλεις σὺ κατὰ τὸ κρυπτόμενον διαθλῆσαι διαγωνίσασθαι, ἵνα τὸν χορὸν τῶν ἀγγέλων χαροποιήσῃς. Ὥσπερ δὲ χαίρου- σιν οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ Θεοῦ μετανοούντων ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐπιστρεφόντων πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν· οὕτω πάλιν λυποῦνται καὶ στενάζουσιν, ὅταν νοήσωσιν ἡμᾶς τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἑκουσίως διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δουλεύον- τας.