Letter 45: Do not delay: flee the world before tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom ahead of you.

I know that you are very useful for withdrawal from the world, and that you are able to rule over demons. Why you delay, I do not know. What will a person gain if he wins the whole world but loses or damages his soul? The soul's destruction is a fall from eternal life; its damage is the loss of the natural seeds within us that stir us toward the knowledge of God. Do not delay, I beg you. Flee from this world, so that you do not repent at the end, when you see tax collectors and prostitutes going ahead of you into the kingdom of heaven.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): οιδα σε οτι πανυ χρησιμευεις τηι του κοσμου αναχωρησει και οιος τε ει των δαιμονων εξουσιαζειν και δια τι μελλεις ουκ οιδα· τι δε ωφεληθησεται ανθρωπος εαν τον κοσμον ολον κερδησηι την δε ψυχην αυτου απολεσηι η ζημιωθηι; ολεθρος δε ψυχης εστι πτωσις απο της αιωνιου ζωης, ζημια δε αυτης αποστερησις των φυσικων σπερματων εν ημιν επιγνωσιν θεου υποκινουντων. μη βραδυνις δεομαι σου αλλα φευγε απο τουτου του κοσμου ινα μη επ' εσχατωι σου μετανοησηις οταν οραις τελωνας και πορνας σε παρερχομενους εις την βασιλειαν του ουρανου Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.