The monk's prayer outranks the king's sword
Chrysostom is comparing the king and the monk, showing that even kings flee to the monks' prayers in danger, and that the monk recovers more easily from falls and faces death more securely.
For the sword is not so terrifying to wolves as the prayers of the righteous are to demons. So it is not only we who flee for refuge to the holy monks in our times of need; kings themselves flee to them in fearful seasons, just as the poor in a famine flee to the houses of the rich. Did not Ahab, the king of the Jews, in famine and scarcity of grain, place the hope of his salvation in the prayers of Elijah? Did not Hezekiah, who held the same rule and power, when he was sick and about to die and saw death standing over him, flee to the prophet as one stronger than death and a supplier of life? And indeed, when war broke out and Palestine was in danger of being torn up from its very foundations, the kings of the Jews abandoned the army—the infantry, the archers, the cavalry, the generals, and the commanders—and fled to the prayers of Elisha. For they considered the servant of God to be worth many tens of thousands. Hezekiah did the same thing when the Persian war arose and the city had sunk into the greatest danger of being razed to its foundations, and those on the wall were trembling, afraid, and shaken as if in expectation of thunder or an earthquake moving everything. The king set the prayers of Isaiah against the many tens of thousands of the Persians, and he was not disappointed in his hope. For as soon as the prophet lifted his hands to heaven, God destroyed the Persian war with weapons from heaven, teaching the kings to consider his own servants common saviors of the earth, so that they might be instructed, and when they were called upon by the righteous to every good action and work of love for humanity, they might respect their counsels and obey their good admonitions.
It is possible to see the difference between the two not only from these things, but also if it happens that both fall—the one deprived of kingship, the other of virtue. The monk can readily become his own master, and quickly, through prayer and tears and mourning and care for the poor, wipe away his sins and run back readily to his former rule. But a king who has fallen would need many allies, many hoplites, horsemen, horses, money, and would face many dangers. The king altogether has his hope of salvation in others; the monk will have salvation following immediately upon his will and zeal and change of mind. For it says, "The kingdom of heaven is within you" (Luke 17:21). And indeed, death is fearful to the king, but painless to the one who follows the way of life. For the one who despises wealth and pleasure and luxury—the things for whose sake most people desire to live—must also bear departure from this world readily. And if it happens that both are slain, the one will draw dangers upon himself on behalf of devotion to God, procuring immortal and heavenly life through death. But a king will have a tyrant as his slayer, a lover of his power, and after the slaughter he becomes a pitiful and terrible sight. To see a monk slain on behalf of devotion to God, however, is a sweet and saving sight. And the one will have many lovers and imitators and disciples of his own good things, praying that they may appear like him. But the other would spend many words in prayers, begging God that no lover of his kingship may ever appear.
Greek
Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω φοβερὸν τοῖς λύκοις τὸ ξίφος, ὡς τοῖς δαίμοσιν αἱ προσευχαὶ τῶν δικαίων. Οὐ τοίνυν μόνον ἡμεῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους μοναχοὺς ἐν ταῖς χρείαις καταφεύγομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς αὐτοὶ πρὸς τούτους καταφεύγουσιν ἐν καιροῖς φοβεροῖς, ὥσπερ οἱ πτωχεύοντες ἐν λιμῷ πρὸς τὰς τῶν πλουσίων οἰκίας. Οὐκ Ἀχαὰβ, ὁ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεὺς, ἐν λιμῷ καὶ σιτοδείᾳ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας εἶχεν ἐν ταῖς Ἠλίου προσευχαῖς; οὐκ Ἐζεκίας τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχων ἀρχὴν καὶ δυναστείαν, νοσῶν καὶ μέλλων τελευτᾷν, ἐφεστηκότα τὸν θάνατον ὁρῶν, ἐπὶ τὸν προφήτην κατέφυγεν, ὡς θανάτου δυνατώτερον καὶ ζωῆς χορηγόν; Καὶ μὴν καὶ πολέμου καταῤῥαγέντος, καὶ τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐκ βάθρων αὐτῶν ἀνασπασθῆναι κινδυνευούσης, οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεῖς, ἀφέντες τὴν στρατιὰν, καὶ πεζοὺς καὶ τοξότας καὶ ἱππέας καὶ στρατηγοὺς καὶ ταξιάρχους, ἐπὶ τὰς Ἑλισσαίου προσευχὰς κατέφυγον· ἡγοῦντο γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀντὶ πολλῶν μυριάδων ἔσεσθαι τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ Ἐζεκίας, τοῦ Περσικοῦ πολέμου συστάντος, καὶ τῆς πόλεως περὶ τῶν ἐδάφων αὐτῶν εἰς κίνδυνον μέγιστον κατακεκλιμένης, καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ τείχει τρεμόντων καὶ δεδοικότων καὶ σειομένων, καθάπερ ἐν προσδοκίᾳ βροντῆς, ἢ σεισμοῦ πάντα κινοῦντος, τὰς Ἡσαΐου προσευχὰς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀντέστησε ταῖς πολλαῖς τῶν Περσῶν μυριάσι· καὶ οὐκ ἐψεύσθη τῆς ἐλπίδος. Ἅμα τε γὰρ ὁ προφήτης τὰς χεῖρας ἦρεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τοῖς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ βέλεσιν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Περσικὸν κατέλυσε πόλεμον, παιδεύων τοὺς βασιλεῖς κοινοὺς τῆς γῆς ἡγεῖσθαι σωτῆρας τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντας, ὅπως ἂν παιδευθεῖεν, καὶ παρακαλούμενοι παρὰ τῶν δικαίων ἐπὶ πᾶσαν πρᾶξιν ἀγαθὴν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, αἰδεῖσθαι τὰς συμβουλίας, καὶ πείθεσθαι ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς νουθεσίαις. Οὐ τοίνυν ἐκ τούτων μόνον ἔστι τὸ διάφορον ἰδεῖν ἀμφοτέρων, ἀλλὰ κἂν ἐκπεσεῖν συμβῇ καὶ τοῦτον κἀκεῖνον, τὸν μὲν τῆς ἀρετῆς, τὸν δὲ τῆς βασιλείας στερηθέντα, ὁ μὲν ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἑαυτοῦ γένοιτο, καὶ ταχέως διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ δακρύων καὶ πένθους καὶ θεραπείας πτωχῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀποτριψάμενος, πάλιν ῥᾳδίως ἐπὶ τὴν προτέραν ἀρχὴν ἀνατρέχει· βασιλεὺς δὲ ἐκπεσὼν πολλῶν μὲν ἂν δεηθείη συμμάχων, πολλῶν δὲ ὁπλιτῶν καὶ ἱππέων καὶ ἵππων καὶ χρημάτων καὶ κινδύνων· καὶ ὁ μὲν ὅλως ἐν ἑτέροις ἔχει τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας· ὁ δὲ τῇ βουλήσει καὶ τῇ σπουδῇ καὶ τῇ μεταβολῇ τῆς γνώμης ἑπομένην ἕξει τὴν σωτηρίαν εὐθέως· Ἡ βασιλεία γὰρ, φησὶ, τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστι. Καὶ μὴν ὁ θάνατος τῷ μὲν βασιλεῖ φοβερὸς, τῷ φιλοσοφοῦντι δὲ ἄλυπος· τὸν γὰρ ὑπερορῶντα πλούτου καὶ ἡδονῆς καὶ τρυφῆς, ὧν ἕνεκα ζῇν ἐπιθυμοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ, καὶ τὴν ἐνθένδε μετάστασιν ἀνάγκη ῥᾳδίως φέρειν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ σφαγῆναι τοῦτον συμβαίη κἀκεῖνον, ὁ μὲν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἐπισπάσεται κινδύνους, ἀθάνατον ζωὴν καὶ οὐράνιον διὰ θανάτου πραγματευόμενος· βασιλεὺς δὲ τύραννον ἕξει σφαγέα καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐραστὴν, ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα καὶ δεινὸν μετὰ τὴν σφαγὴν γινόμενος· μοναχὸν δὲ ἰδεῖν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἐσφαγμένον ἡδὺ καὶ σωτήριον θέαμα. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τοὺς ἐραστὰς τῶν οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν καὶ μιμητὰς ἕξει καὶ μαθητὰς πολλοὺς εὐχομένους αὐτῷ φανῆναι παραπλησίους· ὁ δὲ πολλοὺς ἂν ἐν προσευχαῖς ἀναλώσειεν λόγους δεόμενος τοῦ Θεοῦ μηδένα φανῆναι τῆς βασιλείας ἐραστήν.