holiness did appear from God, doing away fornication, overthrowing the enemy, well-pleasing
unto God: for she is an invincible champion (athlete), having honour from God, glorified of
many: she is an ambassador of peace, announcing peace: if any gain her he abideth without care,
pleasing the Lord, expecting the time of redemption: for she doeth nothing amiss, but giveth life
and rest and joy unto all that gain her. [P has nothing of this, and Syr. makes better sense, but is
not very interesting.]
86 But meekness hath overcome death and brought him under authority, meekness hath enslaved
the enemy (U and P and Syr. now present the same text), meekness is the good yoke: meekness
feareth not and opposeth not the many: meekness is peace and joy and exaltation of rest. Abide
ye therefore in holiness and receive freedom from me, and be near unto meekness for in these
three heads is portrayed the Christ whom I proclaim unto you. Holiness is the temple of Christ,
and he that dwelleth in her getteth her for an habitation [SYR. is the of God rest temperance
and], because for forty days and forty nights he fasted, tasting nothing: and he that keepeth her
shall dwell in her as on a mountain. And meekness is his boast: for he said unto Peter our fellow
apostle: Turn back thy sword and put it again into the sheath thereof: for if I had willed so to do,
could I not have brought more than twelve legions of angels from my Father?
87 And when the apostle had said these things in the hearing of all the multitude, they trode and
pressed upon one another: and the wife of Charisius the king's kinsman leapt out of her chair and
cast herself on the earth before the apostle, and caught his feet and besought and said: O disciple
of the living God, thou art come into a desert country, for we live in the desert; being like to
brute beasts in our conversation, but now shall we be saved by thy hands; I beseech thee,
therefore, take thought of me, and pray for me, that the compassion of the God whom thou
preachest may come upon me, and I may become his dwelling place and be joined in prayer and
hope and faith in him, and I also may receive the seal and become an holy temple and he may
dwell in me.
88 And the apostle said: I do pray and entreat for you all, brethren, that believe on the Lord, and
for you, sisters, that hope in Christ, that in all of you the word of God may tabernacle and have
his tabernacle therein: for we have no power over them (Syr. because ye are given power over
your own souls). And he began to say unto the woman Mygdonia: Rise up from the earth and
compose thyself (take off thine ornaments, P; be mindful of thyself, Syr.). For this attire that is
put on shall not profit thee nor the beauty of thy body, nor thine apparel, neither yet the fame of
thy rank, nor the authority of this world, nor the polluted intercourse with thine husband shall
avail thee if thou be bereaved of the true fellowship: for the appearance (fantasy) of ornamenting
cometh to nought, and the body waxeth old and changeth, and raiment weareth out, and authority
and lordship pass away (U corrupt; P abridges; Syr. has: passeth away accompanied with
punishment, according as each person hath conducted himself in it), and the fellowship of
procreation also passeth away, and is as it were condemnation. Jesus only abideth ever, and they
that hope in him. Thus he spake, and said unto the woman: Depart in peace, and the Lord shall
make thee worthy of his own mysteries. But she said: I fear to go away, lest thou forsake me and
depart unto another nation. But the apostle said to her: Even if I go, I shall not leave thee alone,
but Jesus of his compassion will be with thee. And she fell down and did him reverence and
departed unto her house.
89 Now Charisius, the kinsman of Misdaeus the king, bathed himself and returned and laid him
down to dine. And he inquired concerning his wife, where she was; for she had not come out of
ron
(Ron)
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