But He put no question to the serpent; for He knew that he had been the prime mover in the guiltydeed; but He pronounced the curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with a mitigated rebuke. For Goddetested him who had led man astray, but by degrees, and little by little, He showed compassion to him who had been beguiled.
And this same thing does the Lord also say in the Gospel, to those who are found upon the left hand: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels;”3762
