Letter 409

To Dracontius the Monk. You keep your eyes fixed on the army of the spiritual Egyptians pursuing you from behind, and on the sea before you of the foam-bearing and utterly defiled passions; but God, who holds His shield over you and wards off your enemies with an invisible hand and an uplifted arm [an allusion to the Exodus, where God delivers Israel from the pursuing Egyptians at the Red Sea], and who rescues you — Him you do not take to heart.

Τὴν μὲν τῶν νοητῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὄπισθεν διώκουσαν στρατιὰν κατοπτεύεις, καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἔμπροσθεν ἀφροφόρων καὶ παμμιάρων παθῶν, τὸν δὲ Θεὸν ὑπερασπίζοντά σου, καὶ ἀοράτῳ χειρὶ, καὶ βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀμυνόμενον, καὶ ἐξαιρούμενόν σε οὐκ ἐνθυμῇ.