Whom God relieves and accepts
After this he takes for granted what is not conceded by those who believe more rationally, though it is perhaps held by some foolish people: that God, like those who are slaves to pity, is a slave to pity for those who wail, and so relieves the wicked, while he casts away the good who do nothing of the sort, which is most unjust. For in our view God does not relieve any wicked man who has not yet turned to virtue, and he casts away no one who is already good; nor does he relieve anyone who wails, or show him mercy, to use “mercy” in its more ordinary sense, on account of his wailing.
But those who have condemned themselves severely for their sins, so that on this account they mourn and lament for themselves, as it were, as lost, so far as their past deeds go, and who show a notable change, God accepts for the sake of their repentance; so too those who have changed from a most wicked life. For virtue grants such people an amnesty, when it comes to dwell in their souls and has cast out the evil that had seized them before. And even if it is not virtue but notable progress that arises in the soul, this too is enough, in proportion to how far the progress goes, to cast out and blot out the flood of evil, so that it is almost no longer found in the soul.
Greek
Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ αὑτῷ λαμβάνει τὸ μὴ διδόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν λογικώτερον πιστευόντων, τάχα ὑπό τινων ἀνοήτων νομιζόμενον, ὡς ἄρα ὁμοίως τοῖς οἴκτῳ δουλεύουσι δουλεύσας οἴκτῳ τῶν οἰκτιζομένων ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κακοὺς κουφίζει καὶ μηδὲν τοιοῦτο δρῶντας τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἀποῤῥίπτει, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀδικώτατον. καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἔτι οὐδένα μὴ προτετραμμένον ἐπ᾿ ἀρετὴν κακὸν κουφίζει ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐδένα ἤδη ἀγαθὸν ἀποῤῥίπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐδένα οἰκτιζόμενον παρὰ τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι κουφίζει ἢ ἐλεεῖ. ἵνα κοινότερον τῷ ἐλέει χρήσωμαι. ἀλλὰ τοὺς σφόδρα ἑαυτῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις κατεγνωκότας, ὡς ἐπὶ τούτῳ οἱονεὶ πενθεῖν καὶ θρηνεῖν ἑαυτοὺς ὡς ἀπολωλότας ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς προπεπραγμένοις καὶ ἀξιόλογον ἐπιδεικνυμένους μεταβολὴν, προσίεται τῆς μετανοίας χάριν ὁ θεὸς. καὶ τοὺς ἐκ μεταβολῆς κακίστου βίου. ἀμνηστίαν γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις δίδωσιν ἀρετὴ. ἐπιδημοῦσα αὐτῶν ταῖς ψυχαῖς καὶ ἐκβεβληκυῖα τὴν προκαταλαβοῦσαν κακίαν. εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ ἀρετὴ ἀξιόλογος δὲ προκοπὴ ἐγγένοιτο τῇ ψυχῇ, ἱκανὴ καὶ αὕτη κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τοῦ πῶς εἶναι προκοπῆς ἐκβαλεῖν καὶ ἐξαφανίσαι τὴν τῆς κακίας χύσιν. ὥστ᾿ αὐτὴν ἐγγὺς τοῦ μηκέτι τυγχάνειν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ.