Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and baptism in fire
That is why Jesus baptizes (perhaps I find the meaning now) 'in the Holy Spirit and fire.' Not that he baptizes the same person 'in the Holy Spirit and fire,' but the holy one 'in the Holy Spirit,' and the one who, after believing, after being counted worthy of the Holy Spirit, has sinned again, he washes in 'fire' — so that it is not the same person being baptized by Jesus 'in the Holy Spirit and fire.' Blessed, then, is the one baptized in the Holy Spirit and not needing the baptism from fire. Thrice-wretched is that one who has need to be baptized with the fire. Yet Jesus has both. 'For a rod will come out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will go up from the root.' A 'rod' upon those being punished; a 'flower' upon the righteous. So 'God is a consuming fire,' and 'God is light': a consuming fire to sinners, light to the righteous and holy.
And blessed is the one who has a part in the first resurrection, who has kept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Who is the one saved in another resurrection? The one who needs the baptism from fire, when he comes to that fire, and the fire tests him, and that fire finds wood, hay, and stubble, so as to burn them. Therefore, these things being said, gathering as far as we can the words of the Scriptures, let us store them in the heart and try to live according to them, if perhaps we may be able to become clean before the departure, and, having prepared our works for the departure, going out may be taken up in those good things and be saved in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the power to the ages of the ages. Amen.
Greek
Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Ἰησοῦς βαπτίζει (τάχα νῦν εὑρίσκω τὸν λόγον) «ἐν πνεύματι [καὶ] ἁγίῳ καὶ πυμί. οὐχ ὅτι τὸν αὐτὸν «ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί«, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἅγιον «ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ«, τὸν δὲ μετὰ τὸ πιστεῦσαι, μετὰ τὸ ἀξιωθῆναι ἁγίου πνεύματος, πάλιν ἡμαρτηκότα λούει ἐν «πνρί«’ ὡς μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν εἰναι βαπτιζόμενον ὑπὸ Ἱησοῦ «ἐν πνεύματι ἀγίῳ καὶ πυρί. μακάριος οὖν ὁ βαπτιζόμενος ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι καὶ μὴ δεόμενος βαπτίσματος τοῦ ἀπὸ πυρός. τρισάθλιος δὲ ἐκεῖνος, ὅστις χρείαν ἔχει βαπτίσασθαι τῷ πυρί. πλὴν ἀμφότερα ἔχει ὁ Ἰησοῦς. «ἐξελεύσεται« γὰρ «ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἱεσσαί, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται. «ῥάβδος« ἐπὶ τοὺς κολαζομένους «ἄνθος« ἐπὶ τοὺς όικαίους. οὕτως «ὁ θεὸς πῦρ καταναλίσκον« ἐστί, καὶ «ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι«· πῦρ καταναλίσκον τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς, φῶς τοῖς δικαίοις καὶ ἁγίοις. καὶ >μακάριος ὁ ἕχων μέρος ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῇ πρώτῃ ὀ τηρήσας τὸ βάπτισμα τοῦ ἀγίου πνεύματος. τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ σῳζόμενος ἀναστάσει; ὁ δεόμενος βαπτίσματος τοῦ ἀπὸ πυρός, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτὸν δοκιμάζῃ, καὶ εὕρῃ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο ξύλα, χόρτον καὶ , ὥστε αὐτὰ κατακαῦσαι. διὰ τοῦτο τούτων λεγομένων, ὅση δύναμις συναγαγόντες τοὺς λόγους τοὺς τῶν γραφῶν, εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἀποτιθώμεθα αὐτοὺς καὶ κατ’ αὐτοὺς πειραθῶμεν ζῆν, ἐὰν ἄρα δυνηθῶμεν πρὸ τῆς ἐξόδου καθαροὶ γενέσθαι, καὶ ἑτοιμάσαντες εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἐξελθόντες ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς παραληφθῆναι καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ σωθῆναι, ᾣ έστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
Ἀμήν.
About this text
Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page publishes the Pass B English for Homilies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Homily 8 remains a machine draft and is not shipped yet. The rest of the volume is still being translated.
English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
- Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
- Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)
Where the prints differ
- Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
- Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
- Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
- Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.