Heirs of God, listen to the logoi of God,

co-heirs of Christ, receive the maxims of Christ;

so that you may give them to the hearts of your children,

and teach them the logoi of the wise.

A good father trains his sons;

but an evil father will destroy them.

Faith is the beginning of love.

and the [final] end of love is knowledge of God.

Fear of the Lord guards the soul.

temperance strengthens it.

The patient endurance of a man gives birth to hope;

and good hope will glorify him.

One who dominates his flesh, will be dispassionate;

while one who nurtures it, will suffer pain from it.

[The] spirit of fornication is in the bodies of the intemperate;

while [the] spirit of chastity is in the souls of the temperate.

Withdrawal [into solitude] in love purifies the heart;

while withdrawal [into solitude] accompanied by hatred agitates it.

Better to be one among a thousand in love

than solitary, accompanied by hatred, in inaccessible caves.

One who enchains memory of injury in his soul

is like one who hides fire in chaff.

Do not give much food to your body

and you will not while sleeping see evil fantasies.

For just as flame consumes the oak tree

so hunger extinguishes shameful fantasies.

One who is indignant will be frightened;

one who is gentle will be fearless.

A strong wind chases clouds away;

brooding on wrongs chases the nous away from knowledge.

One who prays for enemies will be forgetful of wrongs

One who uses the tongue sparingly will not cause his neighbor sorrow.

If your brother exasperates you,

lead him to your house,

and do not postpone going to his [home],

but rather eat your morsel with him.

For by doing this you deliver your soul

and you will have no obstacle at the time of prayer.

Just as love delights in poverty,

so hatred makes merry in wealth.

Pascha of the Lord - passing over from vices;

while His Pentecost is resurrection of the soul.

Festal celebration of God -

forgetfulness of vices; one who remembers wrongs, will be grasped by sorrow.

Pentecost of the Lord -

resurrection of love; while who hates his brother will fall very deeply.

Festal celebration of God -

true knowledge; while one who clings to false knowledge will end shamefully.

An angelic dream rejoices the heart;

while a demonic dream disturbs it.

[The] Flesh of Christ - virtues of asceticism (praktiké);

one who eats it will acquire apatheia.

[The] Blood of Christ - contemplation of what has come into being

and one who drinks of it is made wise by it.

Breast of the Lord - knowledge of God;

one who rests upon it will be a theologian.

Just as those who climb up on wheels are brought down again,

so those who exalt their words are humbled by them.

The wisdom of the Lord exalts the heart;

and his prudence purifies it.

The logoi of providence are dark, and hard for the nous are the contemplations of judgment;

but the ascetical [praktikos] man will know them.

One who says that the Holy Trinity is [a] created [being] blasphemes God,

and one who rejects his Christ will not know him.

Contemplations of worlds widen the heart

the logoi of providence and judgment exalt it.

Knowledge of incorporeal [beings] elevates the nous

and presents it to the Holy Trinity.

Remember one who has given you in the Lord clear proverbs,

and do not forget my humble soul at the time of prayer.