Sin hands the soul to a spiritual Babylon
See then how great an evil it is to sin, so that people are handed over to Satan, who takes captive the souls of those left by God. God does not leave without cause, and not without judgment, those he has left. For when he sends the rain on the vineyard, and the vineyard bears thorns instead of grapes, what will God do but 'command the clouds not to rain' on the vineyard?
Because of our sins a captivity hangs over us too, and we are about to be handed over, if we do not repent, to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, so that the spiritual Babylonians may tear us. With these things hanging over us, the words of the prophets, the words of the Law, the words of the apostles, the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, speak to us about repentance and call us to a turning. If we hear, let us believe the one who said, 'I also will repent of all the evils which I spoke of doing to them.' So much for the preface.
Greek
ὅρα οὖν πηλίκον κακόν ἐστι τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν, ἵνα παραόοθῶσι τῷ σατανᾷ αἰχμαλωτίζοντι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐγκαταλειπομένων μένων ὑπὸ θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀναιτίως δὲ οὐδὲ ἀκρίτως ἐγκαταλιπόντος θεοῦ, οὓς ἐγκατέλιπε· ἐπὰν γὰρ πέμψῃ τὸν ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα, ὁ δὲ ἀμπελὼν φέρῃ ἀντὶ σταφυλῆς ἀκάνθας, τί ποιήσει ὁ θεὸς ἢ >ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐντελεῖται τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι ὑετὸν> ἐπὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνα; ἐπίκειται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ ἡμῖν αἰχμαλωσία καὶ μέλλομεν παραδίδοσθαι, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοῶμεν, τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ καὶ τοῖς Βαβυλωνίοις, ἵνα ἡμᾶς σπαράξωσιν οἱ νοητοὶ Βαβυλώνιοι. ἐπικειμένων τούτων οἱ λόγοι τῶν προφητῶν, οἱ λόγοι τοῦ νόμου, οἱ λόγοι τῶν ἀποστόλων, οἱ λόrοι τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγουσιν ἡμῖν περὶ μετανοίας, παρακαλοῦσιν ἡμᾶς εἰς ἐπιστροφήν· ἐὰν ἀκούσωμεν, πιστεύωμεν τῷ εἰρηκότι· «μετανοήσω κἀγὼ περὶ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ὡν ἐλάλησα τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς. ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τὸ προοίμιον.