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book. The first of Chronicles is joined to the second and is called one book. The first of Kings is joined to the second and is called one book. The third is joined to the fourth and is called one book. The first of Ezra is joined to the second and becomes one book. Thus, therefore, the books are composed in four pentateuchs, and two others remain wanting, so that the covenanted books are as follows: five of the Law, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; this is the Pentateuch, which is also the legislation; and five poetic books: the book of Job, then the Psalter, the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs. Then another pentateuch, the so-called Writings, which by some are called Hagiographa, which are as follows: the book of Joshua the son of Nun, Judges with Ruth, the first of Chronicles with the second, the first of Kings with the second, the third of Kings with the fourth. This is the third pentateuch. Another pentateuch is the twelve prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. And then the prophetic pentateuch was completed. But two others remained, which are of Ezra, two reckoned as one, and the other book is that of Esther. And the twenty-two books were completed, according to the number of the twenty-two letters among the Hebrews. For the two poetic books, that of Solomon, called Panaretos, and that of Jesus the son of Sirach, the grandson of Jesus, for his grandfather was called Jesus, who also wrote the wisdom in Hebrew, which his grandson Jesus translated and wrote in Greek. And these are useful and beneficial, but are not counted in the number of the canonical books. Therefore they were not placed in the *aaron*, that is, in the ark of the covenant. But let this also not escape you, O lover of the good, that the Hebrews also divided the Psalter into five books, so that it too is another pentateuch. For from the first psalm to the fortieth they reckoned one book; and from the forty-first to the seventy-first they considered a second; from the seventy-second to the eighty-eighth they made a third book; and from the eighty-ninth to the one hundred and fifth they made a fourth; and from the one hundred and sixth to the one hundred and fiftieth they composed the fifth. For each psalm having at the end "Blessed be the Lord, amen, amen," they deemed to be the end of a book. And this is found in the fortieth and in the seventy-first and in the eighty-eighth and in the one hundred and fifth. And the four books were completed. And at the end of the fifth book, instead of "Blessed be the Lord, amen, amen," is "Let every breath praise the Lord, hallelujah." For thus considering the whole matter concerning this, they completed it. These twenty-seven, therefore, but numbered as twenty-two with the Psalter and the things that are in Jeremiah, I mean both Lamentations and the letters of Baruch and Jeremiah, even if the letters are not found among the Hebrews, but only Lamentations joined to Jeremiah, were translated in the manner we have said, by turn, being given to each pair of translators, and from the first pair to the second and again from the second to the third, and thus they went around, circling, each being translated thirty and six times, as the story is also told of the twenty-two and seventy-two of the apocrypha. And when they were finished, the king sat on a high throne, and thirty-six readers also sat lower, having the thirty-six identical copies of each book, and one having a copy of the Hebrew book. And while one reader was reading and the others were paying attention, no disagreement was found, but a wonderful work of God, so that it might be known that those men had the gift of the holy spirit, having agreed in the translation and where indeed

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βίβλος. Συνάπτεται ἡ πρώτη τῶν Παραλειπομένων τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ λέγεται μία βίβλος. Συνάπτεται ἡ πρώτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ λέγεται μία βίβλος. Συνάπτεται ἡ τρίτη τῇ τετάρτῃ καὶ λέγεται μία βίβλος. Συνάπτεται ἡ πρώτη τοῦ Ἔσδρα τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ γίνεται μία βίβλος. Οὕτως οὖν σύγκεινται αἱ βίβλοι ἐν πεντατεύχοις τέτταρσι καὶ μένουσιν ἄλλαι δύο ὑστεροῦσαι, ὡς εἶναι τὰς ἐνδιαθέτους βίβλους οὕτως· πέντε μὲν νομικάς, Γένεσιν, Ἔξοδον, Λευιτικόν, Ἀριθμούς, ∆ευτερονόμιον· αὕτη ἡ πεντάτευχος ἡ καὶ νομοθεσία· πέντε δὲ στιχήρεις· ἡ τοῦ Ἰὼβ βίβλος, εἶτα τὸ Ψαλτήριον, Παροιμίαι Σολομῶντος, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων. Εἶτα ἄλλη πεντάτευχος τὰ καλούμενα Γραφεῖα, παρά τισι δὲ Ἁγιόγραφα λεγόμενα, ἅτινά ἐστιν οὕτως· Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ βίβλος, Κριτῶν μετὰ τῆς Ῥούθ, Παραλειπομένων πρώτη μετὰ τῆς δευτέρας, Βασιλειῶν πρώτη μετὰ τῆς δευτέρας, Βασιλειῶν τρίτη μετὰ τῆς τετάρτης. Αὕτη τρίτη πεντάτευχος. Ἄλλη πεντάτευχος τὸ δωδεκαπρόφητον, Ἡσαΐας, Ἱερεμίας, Ἰεζεκιήλ, ∆ανιήλ. Καὶ εἶτα ἐπληρώθη ἡ προφητικὴ πεντάτευχος. Ἔμειναν δὲ ἄλλαι δύο, αἵτινές εἰσι τοῦ Ἔσδρα, δύο εἰς μίαν λογιζόμεναι, καὶ ἡ ἄλλη βίβλος ἡ τῆς Ἐσθήρ. Καὶ ἐκπληρώθησαν αἱ εἴκοσι δύο βίβλοι κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν εἴκοσι δύο στοιχείων παρ' Ἑβραίοις. Αἱ γὰρ στιχήρεις δύο βίβλοι, ἥ τε τοῦ Σολομῶντος, ἡ Πανάρετος λεγομένη, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ Σειράχ, ἐκγόνου δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὁ γὰρ πάππος αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς ἐκαλεῖτο, τοῦ καὶ τὴν σοφίαν ἑβραϊστὶ γράψαντος, ἣν ὁ ἔκγονος αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς ἑρμηνεύσας ἑλληνιστὶ ἔγραψε. Καὶ αὗται χρήσιμοι μέν εἰσι καὶ ὠφέλιμοι, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀριθμὸν τῶν ῥητῶν οὐκ ἀναφέρονται. ∆ιὸ οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ ἀαρὼν ἐνετέθησαν, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ τῆς διαθήκης κιβωτῷ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔτι τοῦτό σε μὴ παρέλθῃ, ὦ φιλόκαλε, ὅτι καὶ τὸ Ψαλτήριον διεῖλον εἰς πέντε βιβλία οἱ Ἑβραῖοι, ὥστε εἶναι καὶ αὐτὸ ἄλλην πεντάτευχον. Ἀπὸ γὰρ πρώτου ψαλμοῦ ἄχρι τεσσαρακοστοῦ μίαν ἐλογίσαντο βίβλον ἀπὸ δὲ τεσσαρακοστοῦ πρώτου ἄχρι τοῦ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ πρώτου δευτέραν ἡγήσαντο· ἀπὸ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ δευτέρου ἕως ὀγδοηκοστοῦ ὀγδόου τρίτην βίβλον ἐποιήσαντο· ἀπὸ δὲ ὀγδοηκοστοῦ ἐνάτου ἕως ἑκατοστοῦ πέμπτου τετάρτην ἐποίησαν· ἀπὸ δὲ ἑκατοστοῦ ἕκτου ἕως τοῦ ἑκατοστοῦ πεντηκοστοῦ τὴν πέμπτην συνέθηκαν. Ἕκαστον γὰρ ψαλμὸν ἔχοντα ἐν τῷ τέλει τὸ εὐλογητὸς Κύριος, γένοιτο, γένοιτο, τέλος εἶναι βιβλίου ἐδικαίωσαν. Εὑρίσκεται δὲ τοῦτο ἔν τε τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ πρώτῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀγδοηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ πέμπτῳ. Καὶ ἐπληρώθησαν αἱ τέσσαρες βίβλοι. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τέλει τῆς πέμπτης βίβλου ἀντὶ τοῦ εὐλογητὸς Κύριος γένοιτο γένοιτο τὸ «πᾶσα πνοὴ αἰνεσάτω τὸν Κύριον, ἀλληλούια». Οὕτω γὰρ λογισάμενοι τὴν περὶ τούτου πᾶσαν ὑπόθεσιν ἀνεπλήρωσαν. Αὗται τοίνυν αἱ εἴκοσι καὶ ἑπτὰ εἴκοσι δύο δὲ ἀριθμούμεναι μετὰ καὶ τοῦ Ψαλτηρίου καὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ φημὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν Θρήνων καὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν Βαρούχ τε καὶ Ἱερεμίου, εἰ καὶ οὐ κεῖνται αἱ ἐπιστολαὶ παρ' Ἑβραίοις, ἢμόνον ἡ τῶν Θρήνων τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ συναφθεῖσα, τὸν τρόπον ὃν εἴπομεν ἡρμηνεύθησαν κατὰ περίοδον ἑκάστῃ ζυγῇ ἑρμηνευτῶν ἐπιδιδόμεναι καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ζυγῆς τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς δευτέρας τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ οὕτω παρῆλθον κυκλεύουσαι ἑκάστη τριακοντάκις καὶ ἑξάκις ἑρμηνευθεῖσαι, ὡς δ' ᾄδεται λόγος καὶ αἱ εἴκοσι δύο καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα δύο τῶν ἀποκρύφων. Ὅτε δὲ ἐτελειώθησαν ἐκαθέσθη ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ τριάκοντα ἓξ ἀναγνῶσται καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκαθέσθησαν ταπεινότερον, ἔχοντες ἑκάστης βίβλου τὰ τριάκοντα ἓξ ἰσότυπα καὶ εἷς ἔχων τῆς βίβλου τῆς ἑβραικῆς ἀντίγραφον. Ἑνὸς δὲ ἀναγινώσκοντος ἀναγνώστου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπεχόντων οὐχ εὑρέθη διαφωνία, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ θαυμάσιον ἔργον εἰς τὸ γνωσθῆναι, ὅτι πνεύματος ἁγίου ἔσχον δωρεὰν ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ἄνδρες ὁμοφωνήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἑρμηνείᾳ καὶ ὅπου μὲν