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he says, you may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of the heavens; and to whomsoever it seems good, he will give it. Christ, therefore, indeed rules all those in the heavens. But now for the time being he speaks about those on earth; but proceeding, he shows him ruling also the holy orders in the heavens. To him who loved us, he says, and washed us from our sins in his blood; and he has made us a kingdom, priests to God and his prophets; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever, amen. The syntax of the saying returns from the last things to the first. To him, he says, be the glory and the dominion, to him who loved us; for how did he not love, who gave himself as a ransom for the life of the world? and washed us from our sins in his blood. For he himself took away the handwriting against us, which was contrary to us in its ordinances; and nailed it to the wood of his cross, having stretched out our sins by his own death and in his blood set us free from transgressions, healing our disobedience by his submitting himself unto death, even the death of the cross. and he has made us a kingdom. And what, he says, is the benefit in our becoming priests to God and his prophets? For that men have been deemed worthy of these things both confirms the future kingdom for us and in the pre 37 sent procures indescribable glory. For to wash away our sins with his own blood, this is greater and more wonderful, and worthy of the divine gift. But that we, who brought nothing beforehand, should become priests of God and prophets, is of such a gift. Behold, he comes on the clouds of heaven and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him; yea, amen. His coming on the clouds of heaven, the Lord himself also said about himself in the Gospel according to Mark, saying thus: and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken; and then they will see the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory; For just as, I think, it is written in the Acts concerning his ascending into the heavens on the day of his ascension, that a cloud received him out of their sight, so again he will come with a cloud. But I think that holy scripture figuratively calls the holy angels clouds because of their lightness and sublimity and treading of the air, as if it said the Lord will come borne by and escorted by divine angels. For thus also the prophet introduces him saying, and he rode upon a cherub and did fly; he did fly upon the wings of the winds. And every eye, he says, will see him, and they who pierced him. For he will not come in a corner in his second glorious advent, nor secretly, as before, when he visited the world with flesh; of which advent the prophet, indicating its hiddenness, said: He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like a drop that falls upon the earth. But with boldness and openly, so as to be seen by every eye, even by the very sinful and impious. in whose portion must be placed those who 38 acted insolently toward him or pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him, he says, clearly those who persisted in unbelief, and who did not choose to bow their own neck to his saving yoke. But the 'over him,' you will understand as at his appearance and advent. Then, indicating what will certainly be, he added Yea amen, all but saying these things will be exactly and indisputably so, for just as among the Greeks 'yea' indicates assent to what will be, so also 'amen' among the Hebrews. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God; who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty, and Lord of creation. The Alpha signifies beginning, and the Omega, end; I therefore, he says, am the first and the last, signifying through the first the beginninglessness of God, and through the last, the endlessness. For since there is nothing among men that is without beginning and without end, he used our beginning and end in place of without beginning and without end. This also God said through Isaiah; I am God, the first; and unto the

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φησιν γνῷς ὅτι κυριεύει ὁ ὕψιστος τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν· καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν δόξῃ δώσει αὐτήν. βασιλεύει μὲν οὖν ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἁπάντων. ἀλλὰ νῦν τέως περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς λέγει· προϊὼν δὲ δείκνυσιν αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἁγίων ταγμάτων βασιλεύοντα. τῷ ἀγαπήσαντί φησιν ἡμᾶς καὶ λούσαντι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν βασι λείαν, ἱερεῖς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ προφήτας αὐτοῦ· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν. ἡ σύνταξις τοῦ ῥητοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν τελευταίων ἐπὶ τὰ πρῶτα ἐπάνεισιν. αὐτῷ φησιν, ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος τῷ ἀγαπήσαντι ἡμᾶς· πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἠγάπησεν ὁ ἑαυτὸν δοὺς ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ζωῆς; καὶ λούσαντι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ. αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦρεν τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς δόγμασιν· καὶ προσήλωσε τῷ ξύλῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, ἐκτείνας ἡμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῷ οἰκείῳ θανάτῳ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ ἐλευθέρους πλημμελημάτων ἀφείς, τῷ αὐτὸν ὑποταγῆναι ἀχρὶ θανάτου καὶ θανάτου σταυροῦ τὴν ἡμῶν ἰασάμενος παρακοήν. καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν βασιλείαν. καὶ τίς ἡ ἐν τῷ γενέσθαι ἡμᾶς φησιν ἱερεῖς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ προφήτας αὐτοῦ ὠφέλεια; τὸ γὰρ τούτων ἠξιῶσθαι τοῦς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἡμῖν βεβαιοῖ βασιλείαν καὶ ἐν τῷ πα 37 ρόντι δόξαν ἀμύθητον προξενεῖ. τοῦ γὰρ ἀποπλῦναι ἡμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῷ οἰκείῳ αἵματι, τοῦτο μεῖζον καὶ παραδοξότερον, καὶ τῆς θείας δωρεᾶς ἐπάξιον. τὸ δὲ ἱερεῖς ἡμᾶς Θεοῦ καὶ προφήτας γενέσθαι τοὺς οὐδὲν προεισενεγκόντας, τῆς τοιαύτης δωρεᾶς. ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὄψεται αὐτὸν πᾶς ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν· καὶ κόψονται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς· ναὶ ἀμήν. τὸ ἔρχεσθαι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔφη περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ κατὰ Μάρκον Εὐαγγελίῳ οὕτω λέγων· καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ σαλευθήσονται· καὶ τότε ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν νεφέλαις μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ δόξης· ὥσπερ γὰρ οἶμαι ἀνιόντος αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἐν τῇ τῆς ἀναλήψεως ἡμέρᾳ γέγραπται ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν, ὅτι νεφέλη αὐτὸν ὑπέλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, οὕτω πάλιν ἥξει μετὰ νεφέλης. οἶμαι δὲ τροπικῶς τὴν θείαν γραφὴν τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγγέλους νεφέλας καλεῖν διὰ τὸ κοῦφον αὐτῶν καὶ μετάρσιον καὶ ἀεροβατές, ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν ἥξει ὁ Κύριος θείοις ἀγγέλοις ἐποχούμενος καὶ δορυφορούμενος. οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ προφήτης εἰσάγει λέγων καὶ ἐπέβη ἐπὶ χερουβὶμ καὶ ἐπετάσθη· ἐπετάσθη ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων. καὶ ὄψεται αὐτόν φησιν πᾶς ὀφθαλμός, καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν. οὐκ ἐν παραβύστῳ γὰρ ἐλεύσεται ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ αὐτοῦ τῇ ἐνδόξῳ παρουσίᾳ, οὔτε λαθραίως, ὡς τὸ πρότερον, ἡνίκα μετὰ σαρκὸς ἐπεφοίτα τῷ κόσμῳ· ἧς παρουσίας τὸ συνεσκιασμένον δηλῶν ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον καὶ ὥσει σταγὼν ἡ στάζουσα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. ἀλλ' ἐν παρρησίᾳ καὶ φανερῶς ὡς παντὶ ὀφθῆναι ὀφθαλμῷ, καὶ τοῖς λίαν ἁμαρτωλοῖς καὶ ἀσεβέσιν. ὧν ἐν τῇ μερίδι τακτέον τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν 38 παροινήσαντας ἢ ἐκκεντήσαντας. καὶ κόψονται ἐπ' αὐτόν φησιν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆςαἱ ἐπιμείνασαι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ δηλονότι, καὶ μὴ ἑλόμεναι κλῖναι τὸν ἑαυτῶν αὐχένα τῷ σωτηρίῳ αὐτοῦ ζυγῷ. τὸ δὲ ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ἐν τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρουσίᾳ νοήσεις. εἶτα τὸ πάντως ἐσόμενον δηλῶν, προσέθηκεν Ναὶ ἀμήν, μόνον οὐχὶ λέγων ἀκριβῶς ἔσται ταῦτα καὶ ἀναμφισβητηκώς, ὥσπερ γὰρ παρ' Ἕλλησι τὸ ναὶ τὴν συγκατάθεσιν τῶν ἐσομένων ἐνδείκνυται, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἀμὴν παρὰ τοῖς Ἑβραίοις. ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ˉα καὶ τὸ ˉω, λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεός· ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, καὶ Κύριος τῆς κτίσεως. τὸ μὲν ˉα, ἀρχήν, τὸ δὲ ˉω, τέλος δηλοῖ, ἐγὼ οὖν φησίν εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, διὰ μὲν τοῦ πρώτου, τὸ ἀνάρχον τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ δὲ τοῦ τελευταίου, τὸ ἀτελεύτητον δηλῶν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀνάρχον τι καὶ ἀτελεύτητον, τῇ παρ' ἡμῖν ἀρχῇ καὶ τῷ τέλει ἀντὶ ἀνάρχου καὶ ἀτελευτήτου κατεχρήσατο. τοῦτο καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαίου ἔλεγεν ὁ Θεός· ἐγὼ Θεὸς πρῶτος· καὶ εἰς τὰ