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Zion, and will do the things that were said. Let this be written for another generation; and a people that is being created will praise the Lord. The prayer through the psalm, and the promise concerning the gentiles being prophesied, as if inscribed on a pillar, has been given to the Jews to be kept for the new people and for the generation according to Christ, in which the gentiles were created through faith; concerning whom the blessed Paul also says: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And the divine David himself said in the twenty-first psalm: The coming generation will be told of the Lord, and they will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet to be born, whom the Lord has made. In Christ himself the two are created, the people from the gentiles and the people from the circumcision, into one new man. For now "creation" signifies alteration, but not substantial creation; just as also, "Create in me a clean heart, O God"; and, "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works." For the person speaking was not created absolutely, but as a beginning of the ways of God for his works. For to be created as the beginning of certain things denotes a relationship, but not an alteration. Therefore, the people so created will praise the Lord, coming to the knowledge of the only God. But if it signified substantial creation, he would not have said, "The one being created," but, "The one who was created." For it is not possible to remain in the state of being substantially created, but in being transformed. Thus the people, being taught both the old and the new, sends up a fitting hymn to God the Savior. Because he has looked down from his holy height, the Lord from heaven has looked upon the earth. The Savior is said to have looked down from the height at the time of the incarnation, as one remaining above and appearing below. For this is characteristic of those who look down from a height. And he looked down to see the earth, that is, to visit it. But the Lord, being an incorporeal and intelligent substance, or rather, beyond these things, being in no way limited, is not circumscribed by place; but he pervades the whole of creation with his power. For he was in the world, and the world was made through him. And he is said to dwell in the better parts of the world, according to, "He who dwells in the heavens"; and, "Our Father who is in heaven," not by limitation, but present to his own works by an ineffable power. Therefore, being thus said to be in heaven, by his providence also for the earth, he looked upon it. To hear the groaning of the fettered, to release the sons of the slain; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem. He sets before us the cause of the calling of the gentiles. 55.640 And this is the epiphany of the Savior, which he made by bowing the heavens. And who are the fettered, but those whom the hater of good, the demon, has bound with chains of sins? And the sons of the slain would be those from the gentiles, in that their fathers died in their own sins, still practicing idolatry, and each one being bound by the chains of his own sins; whose conversion Isaiah proclaimed, saying to God: And they will follow you, bound in fetters, and in you they will pray and they will worship you. For the Gospel, beginning from Zion, was spread throughout all the earth. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among many nations.

When the peoples are gathered together, and the kings, to serve the Lord. He answered him in the way of his strength; Declare to me the fewness of my days. Do not take me away in the midst of my days. He calls his presence on earth the way of his strength. For he came that he might bind the strong man. For he prayed to see if his life would reach those days in which the Only-Begotten was about to appear on earth, having become man. For for the time being, at present, when I prophesy these things, and foresee things that are to be, I seem to be in a part of the day of God; but I lack the sight of the outcome of the things prophesied, which if I should obtain, I will receive my own life complete; but if I miss the mark of the prayer,

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τὴν Σιὼν, καὶ τὰ ῥηθέντα ποιήσει. Γραφήτω αὕτη εἰς γενεὰν ἑτέραν· καὶ λαὸς ὁ κτιζόμενος αἰνέσει τὸν Κύριον. Ἡ διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προσευχὴ, καὶ ἡ περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπαγγελία προφητευομένη, καθάπερ ἐν στήλῃ τυπωθεῖσα, δέδοται τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις εἰς τὸ φυλάττεσθαι τῷ νέῳ λαῷ καὶ τῇ κατὰ Χριστὸν γενεᾷ, καθ' ἣν ἐκτίσθη τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τῆς πίστεως· περὶ ὧν καὶ ὁ μακάριος λέγει Παῦλος· Εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεσπέσιος ∆αυῒδ ἐν τῷ εἰκοστῷ πρώτῳ ἔφη ψαλμῷ· Ἀναγγελήσεται τῷ Κυρίῳ γενεὰ ἡ ἐρχομένη, καὶ ἀναγγελοῦσι τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ λαῷ τῷ τεχθησομένῳ, ὃν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος. Ἐν αὐτῷ τε τῷ Χριστῷ κτίζονται οἱ δύο, ὁ ἐξ ἐθνῶν καὶ ὁ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαὸς, εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἀλλοίωσιν γὰρ νῦν, ἀλλ' οὐκ οὐσίω σιν ἡ κτίσις δηλοῖ· ὁποῖον καὶ τὸ, Καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεός· καὶ τὸ, Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρ χὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ καθάπαξ ἐκτίσθη τὸ λέγον πρόσωπον, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν Θεοῦ τῶν εἰς τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Τὸ γὰρ ἀρχήν τινων κτισθῆναι δηλοῖ σχέσιν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀλλοίωσιν. Ὁ κτιζόμενος οὖν οὕτω λαὸς, αἰνέσει τὸν Κύριον, εἰς γνῶσιν ἐρχόμενος τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ οὐσίωσιν ἐσήμανεν, οὐχ, Ὁ κτι ζόμενος, ἂν εἶπεν, ἀλλ', Ὁ κτισθείς. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἐν τῷ οὐ σιῶσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ μετασκευάζεσθαι μένειν δυνατόν. Οὕτως ὁ λαὸς καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ καὶ τὰ νέα παιδευόμενος, τὸν προσήκοντα ὕμνον ἀναπέμπει τῷ Σωτῆρι Θεῷ. Ὅτι ἐξέκυψεν ἐξ ὕψους ἁγίου αὐτοῦ, Κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐπέβλεψεν. Ἐκκύψαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕψους ὁ Σωτὴρ λέγεται κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς σαρκώσεως, ὡς ἄνω μείνας καὶ κάτω φανείς. Τοῦτο γὰρ τῶν ἐκκυπτόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕψους ἴδιον. Ἐξέκυψε δὲ τὴν γῆν ἐπιδεῖν, τουτ έστιν ἐπισκέψασθαι. Ὑπάρχων δὲ ὁ Κύριος ἀσώματος οὐσία καὶ νοερὰ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, μηδαμοῦ πε ρατούμενος, οὐ περιγράφεται τόπῳ· διαφοιτᾷ δὲ τῇ δυ νάμει δι' ὅλης τῆς κτίσεως. Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ γὰρ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο. Καὶ λέγεται διατρίβειν ἐν τοῖς κρείττοσι τοῦ κόσμου μέρεσι, κατὰ τὸ, Ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς· καὶ, Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, οὐ κατὰ περιοχὴν, ἀλλ' ἀφάτῳ δυνάμει τοῖς ἰδίοις ἔργοις παρών. Ἐν οὐρανῷ τοίνυν οὕτω λεγόμενος εἶναι, τῷ προνοεῖσθαι καὶ τῆς γῆς, ἐπέβλεψεν εἰς αὐτήν. Τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ στεναγμοῦ τῶν πεπεδημένων, τοῦ, λῦ σαι τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν τεθανατωμένων· τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαι ἐν Σιὼν τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου, καὶ τὴν αἴνεσιν αὐτοῦ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Τὴν αἰτίαν ἡμῖν τῆς κλήσεως τῶν ἐθνῶν 55.640 παρατίθεται. Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιφάνεια, ἣν ἐποίησε κλίνας οὐρανούς. Τίνες δὲ οἱ πεπεδημένοι, ἢ οὓς σειραῖς ἁμαρτιῶν ἔσφιγξεν ὁ μισόκαλος δαίμων; Υἱοὶ δὲ τῶν τεθανατωμένων εἶεν οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, καθ' ὃ ἀπέθανον οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν ταῖς ἰδίαις ἁμαρτίαις, εἰδω λολατροῦντες ἔτι, σειραῖς τε τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων ἕκαστος σφιγγόμενοι· ὧν τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν μηνύων ὁ Ἡσαΐας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἔλεγεν· Καὶ σοὶ ἀκολουθή σουσι δεδεμένοι χειροπέδαις, καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσ εύξονται καὶ προσκυνήσουσί σοι. Ἐκ Σιὼν γὰρ ἀρ ξάμενον τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν διεδόθη. Ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος Κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ κρινεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον ἐθνῶν πολλῶν.

Ἐν τῷ ἐπισυναχθῆναι λαοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, καὶ βασι λεῖς τοῦ δουλεύειν τῷ Κυρίῳ. Ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ἐν ὁδῷ ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ· Τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῶν ἡμερῶν μου ἀνάγγειλόν μοι. Μὴ ἀναγάγῃς με ἐν ἡμίσει ἡμερῶν μου. Ὁδὸν ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς παρουσίαν φησίν. Ἦλθε γὰρ ἵνα δήσῃ τὸν ἰσχυρόν. Ηὔχετο γὰρ ἰδεῖν, εἰ φθάσει εἰς ἐκείνας τὰς ἡμέρας ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, καθ' ἃς ἔμελλεν ἐνανθρωπήσας ἐπὶ γῆς φαίνεσθαι ὁ Μονογενής. Τέως μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος, ὅτε ταῦτα προφητεύω, καὶ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι προορῶ, ἔοικα ἐν μέρει ἡμέρας εἶναι Θεοῦ· λείπει δέ μοι ἡ αὐτοψία τῆς τῶν προφητευο μένων ἐκβάσεως, ἧς εἰ τύχοιμι, τελείαν λήψομαι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ζωήν· εἰ δὲ ἀστοχήσω τῆς εὐχῆς,