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The silversmith refines silver; your wickednesses have not been melted away. Will you not endure me, says the Lord, in my anger? Or is my hand not strong enough to bring on other plagues? Still with me are also boils breaking out from furnace ashes, which Moses, sprinkling into heaven, or any such servant of a divine impulse, chastises Egypt with disease. Still also the locust, and a palpable darkness, and the last plague in order, but first in pain and in power, the destruction and loss of the firstborn, which, in order to escape it, and to turn away the destroyer, it is better to anoint the doorposts of the mind, contemplation and action, with the great and saving seal, with the blood of the New Covenant, with Christ both being 35.949 crucified with and dying with, so as also to rise with Him, and be glorified with Him, and reign with Him, both now and at His final manifestation; but not be broken, nor crushed, nor mourned, when the Evil One strikes us unseasonably, and in this dark life, and destroys the firstborn, and the offspring and movements of our life consecrated to God.

12. May it not happen to me, along with the other plagues, also to be reproached with these things by the Good One, coming against me with a crooked wrath because of my own crookedness: I have struck you with blight, and with mildew, and with gangrene; and to no avail. Without, the sword has made you childless, and not even so have you returned to me, says the Lord. May I not become the vineyard of the beloved, after being planted and trenched, and with a fence, and a tower, and secured with all things, as much as was possible, running wild and bearing thorns, and for this reason being despised, so that the tower is torn down, and the fence removed, and not to be pruned, nor dug, but to become plunder for all, and a common disgrace, and a trampling place. This then is my fear and my discourse; and so I am distressed at the plague, and I pray such a prayer, which I will also add to what has been said: We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have acted impiously, for we have forgotten your commandments, and we have walked after our own evil thought; for we have lived unworthily of the calling and of the Gospel of your Christ, and of His holy sufferings, and of His emptying for our sake; for we have become a reproach to your beloved. Priest and people, we have gone astray together; we have all turned aside, we have together become worthless. There is none who does judgment and righteousness, there is not even one. We have shut out your compassions, and your love for mankind, and the tender mercies of our God, because of our malice, and the wickedness of our practices, in which we have lived. You are good, but we have committed iniquity; you are long-suffering, but we are worthy of plagues. We know your goodness, although we are without understanding; we have been scourged for few of the things wherein we have sinned. You are fearsome, and who shall stand against you? trembling shall seize the mountains from you, and who shall resist the greatness of your arm? If you shut up heaven, who will open it? and if you loose your floodgates, who will hold them back? It is a light thing in your eyes to make poor 35.952 and to make rich, to give life and to put to death, to strike and to heal; and your willing it, is a completed action. You were angry, and we have sinned, says one of old confessing. But for me it is time to say the opposite: We have sinned, and you were angry; therefore we have become a reproach to our neighbors. You have turned away your face, and we were filled with dishonor. But cease, O Lord; forbear, O Lord; be merciful, O Lord; do not give us up completely because of our iniquities, nor by scourging us, teach others, when it is possible for us to be chastened by the torment of others; of whom are these? Of the nations that do not know you, and of the kingdoms that have not submitted to your power. But we are your people, O Lord, and the rod of your inheritance. Therefore chasten us, but in kindness, and not in

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ἀργυροκόπος ἀργυροκοπεῖ· πονηρίαι ὑμῶν οὐκ ἐτάκησαν. Μὴ ἐμὲ ὑπομενεῖτε, λέγει Κύριος, ὠργισμένον; Ἢ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χείρ μου καὶ ἄλλας ἐπενεγκεῖν πληγάς; Ἔτι παρ' ἐμοὶ καὶ φλυκτίδες ἀναζέουσαι ἀπὸ καμινιαίας. αἰθά λης, ἣν πάσσων εἰς οὐρανὸν Μωϋσῆς, ἢ εἴ τις κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὑπηρέτης Θεοῦ κινήσεως, παιδεύει νόσῳ τὴν Αἴγυπτον. Ἔτι καὶ ἀκρὶς, καὶ σκότος ψηλαφητὸν, καὶ ἡ τελευταία πληγὴ τῇ τάξει, πρώτη δὲ τῷ πόνῳ καὶ τῇ δυνάμει, ἡ τῶν πρωτοτόκων φθορὰ καὶ ἀπώλεια, ἣν ὥστε φυγεῖν, καὶ ἀποστρέψαι τὸν ὀλο θρευτὴν, χρῖσαι τὰς τοῦ νοῦ φλιὰς ἄμεινον, θεωρίαν καὶ πρᾶξιν, τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ σωτηρίῳ σφραγῖδι, τῷ τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης αἵματι, Χριστῷ καὶ συσταυ 35.949 ρουμένους, καὶ συναποθνήσκοντας, ὥστε καὶ συνανα στῆναι, καὶ συνδοξασθῆναι, καὶ συμβασιλεῦσαι, νῦν τε καὶ κατὰ τὴν τελευταίαν αὐτοῦ φανέρωσιν· ἀλλὰ μὴ θραυσθῆναι, μηδὲ συντριβῆναι, μηδὲ θρη νῆσαι, πλήσσοντος ἡμᾶς ἀωρίᾳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ σκοτεινῷ τούτῳ βίῳ τοῦ Πονηροῦ, καὶ ὀλοθρεύοντος τὰ πρωτό τοκα, καὶ Θεῷ καθιερωμένα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν γεννήματα καὶ κινήματα.

ΙΒʹ. Μή μοι γένοιτο μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων πληγῶν, καὶ ταῦτα ὀνειδισθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ Ἀγαθοῦ, πορευομένου πρὸς μὲ θυμῷ πλαγίῳ διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν πλαγιότητα· Ἐπάταξα ὑμᾶς ἐν ἰκτέρῳ, καὶ ἐν πυρώσει, καὶ σφακελισμῷ· καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον. Ἔξωθεν ἠτέ κνωσεν ὑμᾶς μάχαιρα, καὶ οὐδ' ὣς ἐπεστρέψα τε πρὸς μὲ, λέγει Κύριος. Μὴ γενοίμην ἀμπε λὼν τοῦ ἠγαπημένου, μετὰ τὸ φυτευθῆναι καὶ χαρα κωθῆναι, καὶ φραγμῷ, καὶ πύργῳ. καὶ πᾶσιν ἀσφα λισθῆναι, ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα, χερσομανῶν καὶ ἀκαν θοφορῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καταφρονούμενος, ὡς καθαιρεθῆναι τὸν πύργον, καὶ περιαιρεθῆναι τὸν φραγμὸν, καὶ μὴ τμηθῆναι, μηδὲ σκαφῆναι, ἀλλὰ γενέσθαι πᾶσιν εἰς διαρπαγὴν, καὶ κοινὴν ὕβριν, καὶ καταπάτημα. Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ἐμὸς φόβος καὶ λόγος· καὶ οὕτως ἐγὼ δυσφορῶ πρὸς τὴν πληγὴν, καὶ τοιαύτην εὔχομαι τὴν εὐχὴν, ἣν καὶ προσθήσω τοῖς εἰρημένοις· Ἡμάρτομεν, ἠνομήσαμεν, ἠσεβήσαμεν, ὅτι ἐπε λαθόμεθα τῶν ἐντολῶν σου, καὶ ὀπίσω τῆς διανοίας ἡμῶν τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐπορεύθημεν· ὅτι ἀναξίως τῆς κλήσεως καὶ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου πεπολιτεύμεθα, καὶ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ παθημάτων, καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κενώσεως· ὅτι ἐγενήθημεν ὄνει δος τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου. Ἱερεὺς καὶ λαὸς ἐξέστημεν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· πάντες ἐξεκλίναμεν, ἅμα ἠχρειώθημεν. Οὐκ ἔστι ποιῶν κρῖμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. Ἀπεκλείσαμεν τοὺς οἰκτιρμούς σου, καὶ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν σου, καὶ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, διὰ τὴν κακίαν ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἡμῶν, μεθ' ἧς ἀνεστράφημεν. Σὺ χρηστὸς, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἠνομήσαμεν· σὺ μακρόθυμος, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς πληγῶν ἄξιοι. Γινώσκομέν σου τὴν ἀγαθό τητα, καίπερ ἀσυνετοῦντες· ὀλίγα ὧν ἡμάρτομεν μεμαστιγώμεθα. Σὺ φοβερὸς, καὶ τίς ἀντιστήσε ταί σοι; τρόμος λήψεται ἀπὸ σοῦ ὄρη, καὶ μεγέθει βραχίονός σου τίς ἀντερίσει; Ἐὰν κλείσῃς τὸν οὐρανὸν, τίς ἀνοίξει; καὶ ἐὰν λύσῃς τοὺς καταῤῥάκτας σου, τίς συνέξει; Κοῦφον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου πτω 35.952 χίσαι καὶ πλουτίσαι, ζωῶσαι καὶ θανατῶσαι, πατάξαι καὶ ἰάσασθαι· καὶ τὸ θελῆσαί σου, πρᾶξίς ἐστι συντετελεσμένη. Σὺ ὠργίσθης, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἡμάρτομεν, λέγει τις τῶν πάλαι ἀνθομολογούμενος. Ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον καιρὸς εἰπεῖν· Ἡμεῖς ἡμάρτομεν, καὶ σὺ ὠργίσθης· διὰ τοῦτο ἐγενήθημεν ὄνειδος τοῖς γείτοσιν ἡμῶν. Ἀπέστρεψας τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ ἀτιμίας ἐπλήσθημεν. Ἀλλὰ κόπασον, Κύριε· ἄνες, Κύριε· ἱλάσθητι, Κύριε· μὴ παραδῷς ἡμᾶς εἰς τέλος διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν, μηδὲ διὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων παιδεύσῃς ἄλλους μαστίγων, ἐνὸν ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἑτέ ρων βασάνου σωφρονισθῆναι· τίνων τούτων; Ἐθνῶν τῶν οὐ γινωσκόντων σε, καὶ βασιλειῶν, αἳ τῷ σῷ κράτει οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ λαός σου, Κύριε, καὶ ῥάβδος κληρονομίας σου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο παί δευσον ἡμᾶς, πλὴν ἐν χρηστότητι, καὶ μὴ ἐν