and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthenware ones; some are valuable, others are not. If, then, you disobey the Lord by accomplishing the works of sin, you are a worthless vessel. But if you do the works of the Lord, you will be a chosen vessel, prized, sanctified and useful to the Master, ready for every good deed. Cherish good company but keep away from bad company, since no sorcerer, brigand, or grave-robber was ever born such, but learned these things from men whose minds were corrupted by Satan. For God made all things exceedingly good. Do not take delight in baths, drinking, gath-erings in the marketplace, and luxury, lest you fall into fatal dangers. Always keep in mind the affliction of sinners, lest you should one day be reckoned among them. Have you never entered a home where peo-ple were in mourning and, after seeing the lamentation and the wail-ing, hastened to depart from that house? Hence it is that we make con-jectures about eternal realities on the basis of temporal phenomena. For the Old Testament says: "Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will become wiser" (Proverbs 9:9). Be guileless in accepting the com-mandments of God, but crafty in repelling the wiles of the Devil and in cutting off harmful relationships, so that your inner man may be at peace. Do not spend time with actors and comedians, so as not to corrupt your thoughts; for their words cause more damage to their audience than