7. Let us speak then first to these who fear God, just in the manner of that woman who delights in wickedness; namely, she fears her husband lest he condemn her; to such let us first speak. O soul, which fearest God lest He condemn thee, just as the woman fears, who delights in wickedness: fears her husband, lest she be condemned by her husband: as thou art displeased at this woman, so be displeased at thyself. If perchance thou hast a wife, wouldest thou have thy wife fear thee thus, that she be not condemned by thee? that delighting in wickedness, she should be repressed only by the weight of the fear of thee, not by the condemnation of her iniquity? Thou wouldest have her chaste, that she may love thee, not that she may fear thee. Show thyself such to God, as thou wouldest have thy wife be to thee. And if thou hast not yet a wife, and wishest to have one, thou wouldest have her such. And yet what are we saying, brethren? That woman, whose fear of her husband is to be condemned by her husband, perhaps does not commit adultery, lest by some means or other it come to her husband’s knowledge, and he deprive her of this temporal light of life: now the husband can be deceived and kept in ignorance; for he is but human, as she is who can deceive him. She fears him, from whose eyes she can be hid: and dost thou not fear the face ever upon thee of thine Husband? “The countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil.” She catches at her husband’s absence, and haply is incited by the delight of adultery; and yet she saith to herself, I will not do it: he indeed is absent, but it is hard to keep it from coming in some way to his knowledge. She restrains herself, lest it come to the knowledge of a mortal man, one who, it is also possible, may never know it, who, it is also possible, may be deceived, so that he shall esteem a bad woman to be good, esteem her to be chaste who is an adulteress: and dost thou not fear the eyes of Him whom no man can deceive? thou not fear the presence of Him who cannot be turned away from thee? Pray God to look upon thee, and to turn His face away from thy sins; “Turn away Thy face from my sins.” But whereby dost thou merit that He should turn away His face from thy sins, if thou turn not away thine own face from thy sins? For the same voice saith in the Psalm: “For I acknowledge mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me.” Acknowledge thou, and He forgives.