Clemens Romanus (Clement of Rome), Homiliae [Sp.]

Καὶ γὰρ μιαιφονεῖν ἤρξατο, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔτι ὡς φίλος φίλοις ἐξέφηνεν, ὅτι παιδίου ψυχὴν τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος χωρίσας ἀποῤῥήτοις ὅρκοις, συνεργὸν πρὸς τὴν τῶν αὐτῷ δοκούντων φαντασίαν, τὸν δὲ παῖδα διαγράψας ἐπ᾽ εἰκόνος, ἐνδοτέρῳ οἴκῳ ὅπου αὐτὸς ὑπνοῖ ἀνατεθειμένην ἔχει, φάσκων, ποτὲ τοῦτον ἐξ ἀέρος πλάσας θείαις τροπαῖς καὶ τὸ εἶδος ἀναγράψας ἀποδεδωκέναι λέγει πάλιν τῷ ἀέρι. τὴν δὲ πρᾶξιν ἐρμηνεύει οὕτως πεποιηκέναι. πρῶτον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πνεῦμα λέγει τραπὲν εἰς θερμοῦ φύσιν τὸν περικείμενον αὐτῷ σικύας δίκην ἐπισπασάμενον συμπιεῖν ἀέρα, εἶτα ἔνδοθεν τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος εἰδέας γενόμενον αὐτὸν τρέψαι εἰς ὕδωρ. ὑπὸ δὲ συνεχείας τοῦ πνεύματος χυθῆναι μὴ δυνάμενον, εἰς αἵματος φύσιν μετατρέπειν ἔφασκεν τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀέρα, τὸ δὲ αἶμα πῆξαν τὰς σάρκας ποιῆσαι· εἶθ’ οὕτως τῆς σαρκὸς παγείσης ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἀέρος ἀναδεῖξαι. καὶ οὕτως ἑαυτὸν πείσας καινὸν ἄνθρωπον δύνασθαι ποιῆσαι, τὰς τροπὰς ἀναλύων πάλιν ἀποδεδωκέναι ἔλεγεν τῷ ἀέρι. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἄλλοις λέγων ἐπιστεύετο, ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ τελετῇ συμπαρόντων εὐσεβῶς ἠπιστεῖτο. διὸ ἀσεβείας καταγνόντες ἀπέστημεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.

For he even began to commit murder, as he himself, still as a friend to friends, disclosed: that, having separated the soul of a child from its own body by unspeakable oaths, [to be his] helper in making appear whatever he pleases, and having painted the boy's portrait, he keeps it set up in the inner room where he himself sleeps; claiming that he once formed this [boy] out of air by divine transformations and, having painted his form, he says he gave him back again to the air. And he explains that he did the deed in this way. First, he says, the human spirit, turned into the nature of heat, drew in and swallowed the surrounding air like a cupping-glass; then, when it had come inside the form of the spirit, he turned it into water; and since it could not flow away because of the cohesion of the spirit, he said he changed the air in it into the nature of blood, and the blood, congealing, made flesh; and then, the flesh having thus solidified, he produced a man not from earth but from air. And having thus persuaded himself that he could make a new man, he said he had undone the transformations and given him back again to the air. And when he told these things to others he was believed, but by us, who were present with him at the rite, he was, in piety, disbelieved. Therefore, condemning [him] for impiety, we left him.

Ταῦτα τοῦ Ἀκύλα εἰπόντος, ἐγὼ Κλήμης ἐπυθόμην, τίνα ἄρα ἐστὶν ἅ ποιεῖ θαυμάσια. οἱ δὲ ἔλεγόν μοι, ὅτι ἀνδριάντας ποιεῖ περιπατεῖν , καὶ ἐπὶ πῦρ κυλιόμενος οὐ καίεται· ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ πέταται· καὶ ἐκ λίθων ἄρτους ποιεῖ· ὄφις γίνεται, εἰς αἶγα μεταμορφοῦται, διπρόσωπος γίνεται, εἰς χρυσὸν μεταβάλλεται· θύρας κεκλεισμένας ἀνοίγει, σίδηρον λύει, ἐν δείπνοις εἴδωλα παντοδαπῶν εἰδεῶν παρίστησιν· τὰ ἐν οἰκίᾳ σκεύη ὡς αὐτόματα φερόμενα πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν βλέπεσθαι ποιεῖ, τῶν φερόντων οὐ βλεπομένων. ταῦτα αὐτῶν λεγόντων ἀκούων ἐθαύμαζον. ἐμαρτύρουν δὲ πολλοὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα αὐτοὶ παρόντες ἱστορηκέναι.

When Aquila had said this, I, Clement, asked what, then, are the marvels he does. And they told me that he makes statues walk, and rolls on fire and is not burned; sometimes he even flies; and he makes loaves from stones; he becomes a serpent, is transformed into a goat, becomes two-faced, changes into gold; he opens locked doors, melts iron, at dinners he presents phantoms of all kinds of shapes; he makes the vessels in a house be seen moving as if of their own accord to serve, while those who carry them are not seen. As I listened to them saying these things I was amazed. And many testified that they had themselves been present and witnessed such things.

Ταῦτα ἐγὼ προϊδὼν περὶ τοῦ Ἀππίωνος, ἅμα τῷ πυθέσθαι αὐτὸν τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς νόσου προσποιητῶς ἀπεκρινάμην, ὅτι τὰ νέων πάσχω καὶ ἀλγῶ τὴν ψυχήν. ὁ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ἔφη· τέκνον, ὡς πατρὶ θαρσήσας λέγε, τις σου τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ νόσος. ἐμοῦ δὲ προςποιητῶς πάλιν ἀναστενάξαντος, ὡς δὴ περὶ ἔρωτος εἰπεῖν αἰδουμένου, διά γε τῆς σιωπῆς καὶ τοῦ κάτω νεύειν, περὶ οὗ ἤθελον ἐνδείκνυσθαι, παρεῖχον τὴν ὑπόνοιαν· ὁ δὲ ἐρᾶν με γυναικὸς ἀληθῶς ἀναπεισθεὶς ἔφη· οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ, βοηθείας τυχεῖν μὴ δυνάμενον. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὅτε νέος ἤμην, ἐρασθεὶς γυναικὸς ἀξιολογωτάτης οὐ μόνον αὐτὴν τυχεῖν ἡγούμην ἀδύνατον εἶναι, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ προσαγορεῦσαί ποτε ἤλπιζον· καὶ ὅμως περιτυχών τινι Αἰγυπτίῳ, πάνυ τὰ μάγων ἀκριβοῦντι, καὶ φιλωθεὶς ἐκφαίνω μου τὸν ἔρωτα, καὶ οὐ μόνον ἑαυτόν μοι παρεῖχεν πρὸς πᾶν ὅ ἐβουλόμην, ἀλλὰ δαψιλέστερον πρός με φιλοτιμέμενος καὶ τὴν ἐπαοιδὴν, δι᾽ ἧς ἔτυχον, διδάσκειν οὐκ ἐφθόνησεν. ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἐκείνου λαθραίας ὑποδείξεως, πεισθεὶς τῇ τοῦ διδάξαντος ἀφθονίᾳ, καὶ ἅπαξ ἐπιτυχών, ἐπαυσάμην τοῦ ἔρωτος.

Having foreseen this about Apion, as soon as he asked the cause of my illness, I answered, pretending, that I was suffering what the young suffer and was sick at heart. And he said to this: Child, speak boldly, as to a father: what is the sickness of your soul? And when I again sighed, pretending, as though ashamed to speak about love, by my silence and by looking down I gave him the suspicion of what I wanted to convey. And he, truly convinced that I was in love with a woman, said: There is nothing in life for which help cannot be had. For I myself too, when I was young, fell in love with a most distinguished woman, and not only thought it impossible to win her, but did not even hope ever to speak to her; and yet, meeting a certain Egyptian, a thorough master of the magicians' arts, and becoming his friend, I disclosed my love to him; and not only did he put himself at my service for everything I wanted, but, showing me still more generous goodwill, he did not begrudge teaching me the incantation too, by which I won her. And by his secret instruction, trusting the generosity of the one who taught me, and succeeding once, I ceased to be in love.

Τῶν γὰρ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐποικούντων πνευμάτων οἱ τὴν κατωτάτω χώραν κατοικοῦντες ἄγγελοι, ἀχθεσθέντες ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς Θεὸν ἀχαριστίᾳ, αἰτοῦνται εἰς τὸν ἀνθρώπων ἐλθεῖν βίον, ἵνα ὄντως ἄνθρωποι γενόμενοι, ἐπὶ πολιτείᾳ πλείονι τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀχαριστήσαντας ἐλέγξαντες αὐτόθι τῇ κατ᾽ ἀξίαν ἕκαστον ὑποβάλωσι τιμωρίᾳ. ὁπότε οὖν αἰτήσαντες ἔλαβον, πρὸς πᾶσαν ἑαυτοὺς μετέβαλον φύσιν, ἅτε θειωδεστέρας ὄντες οὐσίας καὶ ῥᾳδίως πρὸς πάντα μετατρέπεσθαι δυνάμενοι. καὶ ἐγένοντο λίθος τίμιος, καὶ μαργαρίτης περίβλεπτος, πορφύρα τε εἰ τύχοι καλλίστη, καὶ χρυσὸς ἔνδοξος, καὶ πᾶσα πολυτίμιος ὕλη. καὶ τῶν μὲν εἰς χεῖρας, τῶν δὲ εἰς κόλπον ἐνέπιπτον, καὶ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἑκόντες ἐκλέπτοντο. μετεβάλλοντο δὲ καὶ εἰς τετράποδα καὶ εἰς ἑρπετά, νηκτά τε καὶ πτηνά, καὶ εἰς πᾶν ὅπερ ἤθελον. ἅτινα καὶ οἱ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ποιηταὶ ἀφοβίας αἰτίαν ὡς ἔτυχεν ᾄδουσιν, ἑνὶ τοίνυν τὰς πάντων πολλὰς καὶ διαφόρους πράξεις ἀπονέμοντες.

For of the spirits who dwell in heaven, the angels who inhabit the lowest region, vexed at the ingratitude of men towards God, ask to come into the life of men, so that, by truly becoming men and by a superior way of life, they might convict those who had been ungrateful to him and there subject each to the punishment he deserved. When, then, they had asked and received [this], they changed themselves into every kind of nature, since they were of a more divine substance and could easily be transformed into anything. And they became precious stone, and splendid pearl, and purple of the most beautiful kind, and glorious gold, and every very costly material. And they fell into the hands of some and into the laps of others, and willingly let themselves be stolen by them. They also changed into four-footed beasts and reptiles, swimming and flying creatures, and into whatever they wished. These things your poets too sing of, at random, as a cause of fearlessness, assigning to one [being] the many and various deeds of all.

Πλὴν ὅτε ταῦτα γενόμενοι τοὺς διαρπάσαντας αὐτοὺς πλεονέκτας ἤλεγξαν, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ἑαυτοὺς μετέβαλον, ἵνα ὁσίως πολιτευσάμενοι καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν τοῦ πολιτεύεσθαι δείξαντες τοὺς ἀχαρίστους εὐθύναις ὑποβάλωσιν, ἐπειδὴ ὄντως τὰ πάντα ἄνθρωποι ἐγίνοντο καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔσχον τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, ὑπὸ ταύτης κρατούμενοι εἰς γυναικῶν μῖξιν ὤλισθον, αἷς συμπλακέντες καὶ μιασμῷ παγέντες καὶ τῆς πρώτης δυνάμεως παντελῶς κενωθέντες, τὰ ἐκ πυρὸς τραπέντα μέλη εἰς τὸ πρῶτον αὐτῶν τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως ἀμίαντον μετασυγκρῖναι οὐκ ἐξίσχυσαν. τῷ γὰρ βάρει τῷ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας εἰς σάρκα τελευτήσαντος αὐτῶν πυρός, τὴν ἀσεβοῦσαν ὥδευσαν ὁδὸν κάτω· σαρκὸς γὰρ αὐτοὶ δεσμοῖς πεπεδημένοι κατέχονται καὶ ἰσχυρῶς δέδενται, οὗ ἕνεκεν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνελθεῖν οὐκέτι ἐδυνήθησαν.

But when, having become these things, they had convicted the greedy who seized them, and had changed themselves into human nature, so that, by living holily and showing that it is possible to live [so], they might bring the ungrateful to account, then, since they had in every respect truly become men and had human desire, overcome by it they slipped into intercourse with women; and having been entangled with them, and set fast in defilement, and wholly emptied of their first power, they were unable to change the limbs that had been turned from fire back into the original purity of their own nature. For because of the weight of their fire, which through desire had ended in flesh, they travelled the impious road downward; for they themselves, fettered with the bonds of flesh, are held fast and strongly bound, and for this reason they were no longer able to go up into the heavens.

Μετὰ γὰρ συνουσίαν, ὅ τὸ πρῶτον ἐγίνοντο ἀπαιτηθέντες καὶ παρασχεῖν μηκέτι δυνηθέντες, διὰ τὸ ἄλλο τι μετὰ μιασμὸν αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι μὴ δύνασθαι, ἀρέσκειν τε ταῖς ἐρωμέναις βουλόμενοι ἀνθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν τοὺς τῆς γῆς μυελοὺς ὑπέδειξαν, λέγω δὲ τὰ ἐκ μετάλλων ἄνθη, χρυσόν, χαλκόν, ἄργυρον, σίδηρον καὶ τὰ ὅμοια, σὺν τοῖς τιμιωτάτοις ἅπασιν λίθοις. σὺν τούτοις δὲ τοῖς μαγευθεῖσιν λίθοις καὶ τὰς τέχνας τῶν πρὸς ἕκαστα πραγμάτων παρέδοσαν, καὶ μαγείας ὑπέδειξαν καὶ ἀστρονομίαν ἐδίδαξαν, δυνάμεις τε ῥιζῶν καὶ ὅσα ποτὲ ὑπ᾽ ἀνθρωπίνης ἐννοίας εὑρεθῆναι ἀδύνατον, ἔτι δὲ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων χύσιν, τάς τε τῶν ἐσθήτων ποικίλας βαφάς. καὶ πάνθ᾽ ἁπλῶς ὅσαπερ πρὸς κόσμου καὶ τέρψεώς ἐστι γυναικῶν, τῶν ἐν σαρκὶ δεθέντων δαιμόνων ἐστὶν εὑρήματα.

For after intercourse, when they were asked for what they had at first become and could no longer supply it, because after their defilement they could not make themselves into anything else, and wishing to please the women they loved, they showed them, instead of themselves, the marrow of the earth, I mean the flowers of the mines: gold, bronze, silver, iron and the like, together with all the most precious stones. And along with these enchanted stones they also handed down the crafts concerned with each of these things, and showed [them] magic, and taught astronomy, and the powers of roots, and whatever could never have been found out by human thought; and further the casting of gold and silver and the like, and the varied dyeing of garments. And, in a word, all things that serve the adornment and delight of women are the inventions of the demons bound in flesh.

Ἐκ δὲ τῆς νόθου μίξεως αὐτῶν ἄνθρωποι ἐγένοντο νόθοι, πολλῷ γε τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ κορυφὴν μείζους, οὕς μετὰ τοῦτο γίγαντας ὠνόμασαν, οὐ δρακοντόποδες ὄντες καὶ πρὸς Θεὸν πόλεμον ἀράμενοι, ὡς οἱ βλάσφημοι τῶν Ἐλλήνων ᾄδουσιν μῦθοι, ἀλλὰ θηριώδεις τὸν τρόπον, καὶ μείζους μὲν ἀνθρώπων τὰ μεγέθη, ἐπείπερ ἐξ ἀγγέλων ἐγένοντο , ἀγγέλων δὲ ἐλάττους, ἐπείπερ ἐκ γυναικῶν γεγένηντο. ὁ οὖν Θεὸς εἰδὼς αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ θηριῶδες ἐξηγριωμένους, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῶν πλησμονὴν τὸν κόσμον οὐκ ἔχοντας αὐτάρκη, (πρὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἀναλογίαν ἐδημιουργήθη καὶ χρῆσιν ἀνθρωπίνην) ἵνα μὴ ἐν διατροφῇ ἐπὶ τὴν παρὰ φύσιν τῶν ζώων βορὰν τρεπόμενοι ἀνεύθυνοι δοκῶσιν εἶναι, ὡς δι᾽ ἀνάγκην τοῦτο τετολμηκότες, μάννα αὐτοῖς ὁ παντοδύναμος Θεὸς ἐπώμβρισεν ἐκ ποικίλης ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ παντὸς οὗπερ ἐβούλοντο ἀπήλαυον· οἱ δ᾽ ὑπὸ νόθου φύσεως, τῷ καθαρῷ τῆς τροφῆς οὐκ ἀρεσκόμενοι, μόνης τῆς τῶν αἱμάτων γεύσεως ἐγλίχοντο. διὸ καὶ πρῶτοι σαρκῶν ἐγεύσαντο.

And from their bastard union bastard men were born, far greater than men in stature, whom afterwards they named giants; not dragon-footed and having waged war against God, as the blasphemous myths of the Greeks sing, but bestial in their ways, and greater than men in size, since they were born of angels, but less than angels, since they had been born of women. So God, knowing that they had grown wild to the point of bestiality, and that the world was not sufficient for their satiety (for it was made in proportion to men and for human use), so that they should not, for their sustenance, turn to the unnatural eating of animals and seem to be blameless, as having dared this out of necessity, the almighty God rained manna on them to suit every desire, and they enjoyed whatever they wished. But they, because of their bastard nature, not content with the purity of the food, craved only the taste of blood. Therefore they were also the first to taste flesh.

Ἐπεὶ οὖν αἱ τῶν τεθνεώτων γιγάντων ψυχαὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν μείζους ἦσαν, ἅτε δὴ καὶ τοῖς σώμασιν ὑπερέχουσαι, ὡς καινὸν γένος καινῷ καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι προσηγορεύθησαν. οἷς ἐπιλοίποις τῷ κόσμῳ ὡς δεῖ βιοῦν, ὑπὸ Θεοῦ δι᾽ ἀγγέλου νόμος ὡρίσθη. ὄντες γὰρ νόθοι τῷ γένει ἐκ πυρὸς ἀγγέλων καὶ αἵματος γυναικῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἰδίου τινὸς γένους ἐπιθυμεῖν μέλλοντες, δικαίῳ τινὶ προελήφθησαν νόμῳ. ἐξεπέμφθη γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄγγελός τις, τὴν αὐτοῦ βουλὴν μηνύων καὶ λέγων.

Since, then, the souls of the dead giants were greater than human souls, inasmuch as they had also surpassed [them] in their bodies, they were addressed, as a new race, by a new name as well. To these, who were left over in the world, a law was laid down by God through an angel as to how they must live. For being bastards in race, from the fire of angels and the blood of women, and for this reason likely to desire some kind [of thing] of their own, they were forestalled by a just law. For a certain angel was sent to them by God, declaring his will and saying:

Τάδε δοκεῖ τῷ παντεπόπτῃ Θεῷ, μηδενὸς ἀνθρώπων ὑμᾶς κυριεύειν, μηδὲ παρενοχλεῖν μηδενί, ἐὰν μή τις ἑκὼν ἑαυτὸν ὑμῖν καταδουλώσῃ, προσκυνῶν ὑμᾶς, καὶ θύων καὶ σπένδων καὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας μεταλαμβάνων τραπέζης, ἢ ἕτερόν τι ὧν οὐ χρὴ ἐκτελῶν, ἢ αἷμα χέων, ἢ σαρκῶν γευόμενος, ἢ θηρίου λειψάνου ἢ θνητοῦ ἢ πνικτοῦ ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς ἀκαθάρτου ἐμπιμπλώμενος. τῶν δὲ νόμῳ ἐμῷ προσφευγόντων οὐ μόνον οὐ ψαύσετε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμὴν δώσετε, καὶ ἐκ προσώπου φεύξεσθε. ὅ τι γὰρ ἄν αὐτοῖς δικαίοις οὖσιν καθ᾽ ὑμῶν δοκῇ, τουθ᾽ ὑμᾶς δεήσει παθεῖν. ἐὰν δέ τινες τῶν ἐμοὶ προκειμένων ἐξαμαρτῶσιν , ἢ μοιχησάμενοι ἢ μαγεύσαντες ἢ ἀκαθάρτως βιώσαντες ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐμοὶ μὴ δοκούντων πράξαντες, τότε ἐξ ἐμῆς κελεύσεως πάσχειν τι αὐτοὺς ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἢ ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρων δεήσει· οἷς καὶ μετανοήσασιν, τὴν μετάνοιαν κρίνας, εἴτε ἀξία ἐστὶν συγγνώμης εἴτε καὶ οὔ, τὴν ἀπόφασιν ποιήσομαι. ταῦτα οὖν μνημονεύειν καὶ ὀφείλετε, εὖ εἰδότες, ὅτι οὐδὲ αἱ ἐνθυμήσεις ὑμῶν λαθεῖν αὐτὸν δυνήσονται.

This is the decision of the all-seeing God: that you are to lord it over no human being, nor to trouble anyone, unless someone of his own will makes himself your slave, worshipping you, and sacrificing and pouring libations and partaking of your table, or doing anything else that he ought not, or shedding blood, or tasting flesh, or filling himself with what a wild beast has left, or with what has died, or with what is strangled, or with anything else unclean. But those who take refuge in my law you shall not only not touch, but you shall also pay [them] honour, and flee from their presence. For whatever they, being righteous, decide against you, that you will have to suffer. But if any of those who are devoted to me sin, either by committing adultery or by practising magic or by living impurely or by doing anything else that does not please me, then by my command they will have to suffer something from you or from others; and when they repent, I will judge their repentance, whether it is worthy of pardon or not, and give my verdict. These things, then, you are bound to remember, knowing well that not even your thoughts will be able to escape him.

Τοιαῦτα παρακελευσάμενος αὐτοῖς ὁ ἄγγελος ἀπηλλάγη. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἔτι τοῦτον ἀγνοεῖτε τὸν νόμον, ὅτι προσκυνῶν τις δαίμονας ἢ θύων ἢ τραπέζης αὐτοῖς κοινωνῶν ὑπόδουλος αὐτοῖς γενόμενος ὡς ὑπὸ κακῶν δεσποτῶν πάσης τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν μεθέξει τιμωρίας καὶ διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ταύτην τοῖς αὐτῶν βωμοῖς προσφθαρέντες καὶ αὐτῶν ἐκπληρωθέντες ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν γεγόνατε, καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ ὑβριζόμενοι τὰ σώματα ἀγνοεῖτε. εἰδέναι δὲ ὑμᾶς χρὴ ὅτι οὐδενὸς οἱ δαίμονες ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν, ἐὰν μὴ πρότερόν τις αὐτοῖς ὁμοδίαιτος γένηται. ὁπότε οὐδὲ ὁ αὐτῶν ἄρχων παρὰ τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτῶν κινούμενον νόμον ποιεῖν τι δύναται, δἰ ὅ ἐξουσίαν τινὸς οὐκ ἔχει μὴ προσκυνήσαντος αὐτόν· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ λαβεῖν τις παρ᾽ αὐτῶν δύναταί τι ὧν θέλει, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ βλαβῆναι οὐδέν, ὡς μαθεῖν.

Having given them such commands, the angel departed. But you are still ignorant of this law, that anyone who worships demons, or sacrifices, or shares their table, becomes their slave and will share, as under evil masters, in all the punishment that comes from them; and through this ignorance, having been corrupted at their altars and filled with them, you have come under their power, and you do not know that you are being abused in your bodies in every way. But you ought to know that the demons have power over no one unless someone first becomes their table-companion. For not even their ruler can do anything contrary to the law set in motion by God against them, and for this reason he has no power over anyone who has not worshipped him; but neither can anyone receive from them anything he wants, nor be harmed at all, as [you may] learn.