Letter 592

To Eleutherius, Count of the East. [comes Orientis, a senior provincial commander] The "by a little" is no small thing; for by a little, by a single night, Judas would have entered into the kingdom of God, and by a little that man who deserted at Sebasteia [one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, who abandoned his confession at the last moment] would have been crowned together with the other martyrs. Therefore, letting go of false constructions, let us urge ourselves on toward every good and steadfast deed.

Οὐ μικρὸν τὸ παρὰ μικρόν· παρὰ μικρὸν γὰρ, καὶ παρὰ μίαν νύκτα ὁ Ἰούδας εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελήλυθε, καὶ παρ᾽ ὀλίγον ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἐν τῇ Σεβαστίᾳ λειποτακτήσας, σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις μάρτυσι ἐστεφανώθη. Διόπερ τῶν παρεξηγήσεων ἀφέμενοι, πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀγαθὴν, καὶ βεβαίαν πρᾶξιν ἑαυτοὺς κατεπείξωμεν.