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Because of our iniquities we were humbled, but we were called back, and, the snare having been broken, we were rescued by the grace of Him who called us, and of God who comforts the humble in heart.

17. Do you see how I weave the ode with divine words and thoughts? and I know not how I am both exalted and adorned by things that are not my own, and become as if inspired by pleasure; but I disdain all that is humble and human, combining and fitting some things with others, and bringing into one the things of the same Spirit?

15. For formerly, then, the wonders of God were shown by Enoch being translated, Elijah being taken up, Noah being saved, and saving the seeds of the races, in a small piece of wood the world, of those who fled the deluge of the inhabited earth, so that the earth might be adorned again with more pious inhabitants; Abraham being called, and being honored with a child beyond his years, unto the faith of another promised seed, and offering his only-begotten son as a willing sacrifice, and receiving a strange victim in place of his child; the wondrous destruction of the impious, 35.548 deluged by fire and brimstone, the more wondrous rescue of the pious, a pillar of salt celebrating the turning back to evil; And Joseph being sold, and lusted after, and being temperate, and being made wise by God, and being freed, and ruling, and distributing grain for a greater economy; Moses being deemed worthy of a theophany, and receiving law and giving law, and becoming a god to Pharaoh, and leading Israel to the land of promise; and the enumerated plagues of the Egyptians, and the salvation of the afflicted in the midst of the Egyptians; and the sea receding at a rod, and coming together at a word, and sending some through as on dry land, but flowing over others according to its own nature.

19. And the other things, as many as followed these: a pillar of cloud overshadowing by day, a pillar of fire giving light by night, and both guiding; bread rained down in the desert, relish sent from heaven; the one commensurate with need, the other even beyond need; water from a rock, the one given forth, the other made sweet; Amalek warred down by prayer, and by the ineffable and mystical sign of hands; and the sun standing still, and the moon being held back, and the Jordan being checked; walls shaken down by the circuit of priests, and by the sound of trumpets, and by a number having power; earth and fleece, alternately rained upon and remaining dry; power in hair, a counterweight to a whole army; a few chosen men lapping, and believed to be victorious, and being victorious, according to their hopes, the small number the many thousands. Why must I recount each thing, all that was wondrously wrought by Christ himself during his saving advent and incarnation, all that after him and through him was wondrously wrought for his holy apostles and servants of the word? How many books and records bear these things? 35.549 so that another generation might know, and the successions of generations, the wonders of the power of God. But since it is not possible to declare these things, without setting forth the magnitude of the danger; and this is not possible, without refuting the malevolence of his character, and from what beginnings and seeds of wickedness he fell into such great misfortune, having little by little increased his impiety, like the venom of serpents and of the most bitter beasts, we will therefore leave the full dramatic telling of his deeds to books and histories; for we do not have leisure to declaim things longer than the present subject; but we ourselves, having gone through a few things out of many, will leave behind a kind of inscription for those after us, having proceeded in our account to the most important and most conspicuous of his deeds.

21. That man, for one and first thing, having been saved by the great Constantius, who had recently succeeded his father in power (when the military took up arms against those in authority, making a revolution for fear of revolution, and the palace was being set up under new leaders); and having been saved with his brother a salvation unbelievable and wondrous, neither to God thanks

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διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν ἐταπεινώθημεν, ἀλλ' ἀνεκλήθημεν, καὶ, τῆς παγίδος συντριβεί σης, ἐῤῥύσθημεν ἐν χάριτι τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοὺς ταπεινοὺς τῇ καρδίᾳ παρακαλοῦντος Θεοῦ.

ΙΖʹ. Ὁρᾶτε ὅπως πλέκω τὴν ᾠδὴν θείοις καὶ ῥήμασι καὶ διανοήμασι; καὶ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπαί ρομαί τε καὶ καλλωπίζομαι, καὶ ὥσπερ ἔνθους ὑφ' ἡδονῆς γίνομαι· ἀτιμάζω δὲ ἅπαν ταπεινὸν καὶ ἀν θρώπινον, ἄλλα ἄλλοις συμβιβάζων καὶ συναρμόζων, καὶ εἰς ἓν ἄγων τὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος;

ΙΕʹ. Πρότερον μὲν οὖν ἐδείκνυ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ θαυμά σια Ἐνὼχ μετατιθέμενος, Ἡλίας ἀναλαμβανόμενος, Νῶε διασωζόμενος, καὶ διασώζων τὰ σπέρματα τῶν γενῶν, ἐν μικρῷ ξύλῳ τὸν κόσμον, φυγόντων οἰκουμένης ἐπίκλυσιν, ἵν' ἡ γῆ κοσμηθῇ πάλιν εὐσε βεστέροις οἰκήτορσιν· Ἀβραὰμ καλούμενος, καὶ παιδὶ παρ' ἡλικίαν τιμώμενος, εἰς πίστιν ἑτέρου τοῦ ἐπηγ γελμένου σπέρματος, καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ προσφέρων θυσίαν πρόθυμον, καὶ ἱερεῖον ξένον ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδὸς κομιζόμενος· παράδοξος ἀσεβῶν ἀπώλεια, 35.548 πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ κατακλυσθέντων, εὐσεβῶν κλοπὴ παραδοξοτέρα, στήλη ἁλὸς τὴν πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ἐπιστροφὴν θριαμβεύουσα· Ἰωσήφ τε πι πρασκόμενος, καὶ ἐρώμενος, καὶ σωφρονῶν, καὶ παρὰ Θεοῦ σοφιζόμενος, καὶ ἐλευθερούμενος, καὶ δυνα στεύων, καὶ σιτοδοτῶν ἐπ' οἰκονομίᾳ μείζονι· Μωϋσῆς θεοφανείας ἀξιούμενος, καὶ νομοθετούμενος καὶ νομοθετῶν, καὶ Θεὸς Φαραὼ γινόμενος, καὶ πρὸς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐξηγούμενος· Αἰγυπτίων τε ἀριθμούμεναι μάστιγες, καὶ σω τηρία τῶν πονουμένων ἐν μέσοις τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις· θάλασσά τε ὑποχωροῦσα ῥάβδῳ, καὶ συνιοῦσα λόγῳ, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ὡς ξηρὰ παραπέμπουσα, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἑαυτῆς ἐπιῤῥέουσα. Ιθʹ. Τἄλλα τε, ὅσα τούτοις ἐπηκολούθησε, στύ λος νεφέλης ἐπισκιάζων ἡμέρας, στύλος πυρὸς φωτί ζων νυκτὸς, καὶ ὁδηγοῦντες ἀμφότεροι· ἄρτος ὑόμε νος ἐν ἐρήμῳ, ὄψον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πεμπόμενον· ὁ μὲν τῇ χρείᾳ σύμμετρος, τὸ δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν χρείαν· ὕδωρ ἐκ πέτρας, τὸ μὲν ἐκδιδόμενον, τὸ δὲ γλυκαινό μενον· Ἀμαλὴκ εὐχῇ καταπολεμούμενος, καὶ χειρῶν ἀποῤῥήτῳ καὶ μυστικῷ σχήματι· ἥλιός τε ἱστάμενος, καὶ σελήνη κατεχομένη, καὶ Ἰορδάνης ἀνακοπτόμενος· τείχη κατασειόμενα ἱερέων περιόδῳ, καὶ σαλπίγγων ἤχῳ, καὶ ἀριθμῷ δύναμιν ἔχοντι· γῆ καὶ πόκος, ἐναλλὰξ ὑόμενά τε καὶ ἄβροχα διαμέ νοντα· δύναμις ἐν θριξὶ, στρατιᾶς ὅλης ἀντίῤῥοπος· λογάδες ὀλίγοι λάπτοντες, καὶ νικᾷν πιστευόμενοι, καὶ νικῶντες, κατὰ τὰς ἐλπίδας, ὁ βραχὺς ἀριθμὸς τὰς πλείονας χιλιάδας. Τί με δεῖ καταριθμεῖν ἕκαστα, ὅσα δι' αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ κατὰ τὴν σωτήριον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν καὶ σάρκωσιν, ὅσα μετ' ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ δι' ἐκείνου τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑπηρέ ταις τοῦ λόγου τεθαυματούργηται; Πόσαι ταῦτα καὶ βίβλοι καὶ μνῆμαι φέρουσι; 35.549 ὅπως ἂν γνῷ γενεὰ ἑτέρα, καὶ διαδοχαὶ γενεῶν, τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυναστείας τὰ θαύματα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐχ οἷόν τε ταῦτα δηλῶσαι, μὴ τὸ τοῦ κινδύνου παρα στήσαντας μέγεθος· τοῦτο δὲ οὐχ οἷόν τε, μὴ τὸ τοῦ τρόπου κακόηθες διελέγξαντας, καὶ ἐξ οἵων ἀρχῶν καὶ τῆς κακίας σπερμάτων ἐπὶ τὴν κακοδαιμονίαν τοσαύτην ἐξέπεσε, κατὰ μικρὸν τὴν ἀσέβειαν συν αυξήσας, ὥσπερ τὸν ἰὸν τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν θη ρίων ὅσα πικρότατα, πάντα μὲν οὖν ἐκτραγῳδεῖν τὰ ἐκείνου βίβλοις καὶ ἱστορίαις παρήσομεν· οὐ γὰρ ἡμῖν γε σχολὴ μακρότερα τῆς παρούσης ὑποθέσεως ῥαψῳδεῖν· αὐτοὶ δὲ ὀλίγα ἐκ πολλῶν διελθόντες, στη λογραφίαν ὥσπερ τινὰ τοῖς μεθ' ἡμᾶς καταλείψομεν ἐπὶ τὰ κυριώτατα καὶ περιφανέστατα τῶν κατ' ἐκεῖνον τῷ λόγῳ χωρήσαντες. ΚΑʹ. Ἐκεῖνος ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὑπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίου σωθεὶς, ἄρτι παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς διαδεξαμένου τὸ κράτος (ἡνίκα τὸ στρατιωτικὸν ἐξ ωπλίσθη κατὰ τῶν ἐν τέλει, καινοτομοῦν φόβῳ καινο τομίας, καὶ διὰ νέων προστατῶν καθίστατο τὰ βα σίλεια)· καὶ σωθείς γε σὺν τῷ ἀδελφῷ σωτηρίαν ἄπιστον καὶ παράδοξον, οὔτε τῷ Θεῷ χάριν