worldly things, and having bound their own mind to the turmoil of this present life, are always somehow enraged at those who live the pure and select life, and they consider the lover of righteousness an enemy. Verse 14. The sinners have drawn a sword; they have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay the upright in heart. Just as there is a certain panoply of God, so there is a certain panoply of the devil, which his soldier puts on: the breastplate of unrighteousness, the helmet of destruction, the shield of unbelief, the sword of the evil spirit, which the sinner draws, whose feet run to iniquity. There is a certain preparation of the Gospel, there is also footwear most ready for sin. Here, therefore, they drew a sword; because they have sin at hand, and are ready to do it; they who hide in the sheath of sin the sword of the evil spirit. The arrow of the righteous is Jesus Christ. You have set [me] as a choice arrow. The word of sinners is an arrow; it has the poison of sin; it wounds one who is not armed with the shield of faith. They know that they cannot cast down the rich man who is rich in wisdom, in good works. For this reason they do not even attack him at the start. But the whole plot is against the poor man; since a man's own wealth is the ransom for his soul; but the poor man does not withstand a threat. It is good, then, not to have the sword of sin; and second, having it, not to draw it, but to make it be at rest. For being inactive, it not only rusts, nor is it blunted, but it is completely destroyed. And we have no need of fire, where the work of each is tested; which does not touch Peter, but he hears, "Though you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you;" but the lake of fire touches sinners, as the Red Sea did the Egyptians, but not the Hebrews. Just as the Savior, however, is a choice arrow, and analogous to the Savior the saints are arrows of God, wounding with a choice arrow, so that the one wounded may say: "I am wounded by love;" so the Antichrist is the arrow of the evil one. And all sinners are arrows of the devil, which 17.129 he uses against the righteous. You saw a woman, and they plotted against you. Is she not a fiery dart, having fire in her mouth, that she may speak and burn you, in her hand, in her whole body, in her whole soul? And just as God places a bow in the cloud, that he may stop a storm, and a flood may not happen; so, conversely, the evil one uses a bow, that he may stop the calm from a soul, and extinguish peace, and raise up war, and make a storm. Perhaps the poor and needy are brothers of the upright in heart, the poor in spirit, whom the demons seek to cast down. If you see one being scandalized, and overcome by sin, see that this one has been slain, and his blood flows, which God seeks. For his life force has been destroyed; and he seeks it from a brother and from a beast; from a believer who causes scandal, and from one foreign to the faith, and from the hand of the watchman. But these things perhaps have been said too curiously. The one singing the psalm, however, clarifies everything that has already been said, that is: "The sinner watches the righteous," I say. For just as on a tablet he paints one clearly raging, and brings him in arrayed for battle, and shows him murdering, and unsheathing the sword, and already shooting with the bow, and he makes his iniquity manifest. For the sinner's targets are not some one of those who have wronged him, or have offended him in some way, and have given reasonable pretexts for war to defend oneself; but that he may cast down the poor, that is the gentle and modest, and humble in heart, whom the Savior also called poor in spirit, and says is worthy of the kingdom of heaven. What reason, then, have sinners against the upright in heart, and the poor in spirit? Absolutely none. For those who direct their own ways to righteousness have wronged them in nothing. But what sharpens, I think, the aforementioned against them, is some simply vain and not well-motivated envy, kindled in them from diabolical malevolence. Verse 15. May their sword enter into their hearts

κοσμικὰ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τύρβῃ τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἐνδήσαντες νοῦν, ἀεί πως ἐπιμεμήνασι τοῖς τὸν εὐαγῆ καὶ ἀπόλεκτον διαβιοῦσι βίον, καὶ ἐχθρὸν ἡγοῦνται τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὸν ἐραστήν. Στίχ. ιδʹ. Ῥομφαίαν ἐσπάσαντο οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί· ἐν ετείναντο τόξον αὐτῶν, τοῦ καταβαλεῖν πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα, τοῦ σφάξαι τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρ δίᾳ. Ὥσπερ ἐστὶ πανοπλία Θεοῦ τις, οὕτως ἐστί τις πανοπλία τοῦ διαβόλου, ἣν ὁ αὐτοῦ στρατιώτης ἐνδέ δυται· τὸν θώρακα τῆς ἀδικίας, τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τῆς ἀπωλείας, τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς ἀπιστίας, τὴν μάχαι ραν τοῦ πονηροῦ πνεύματος, ἣν σπᾶται ἁμαρτωλὸς, οὗ οἱ πόδες ἐπ' ἀδικίαν τρέχουσιν. Ἔστι τις ἑτοιμα σία τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ἔστι καὶ ὑπόδημα ἑτοιμότατον εἰς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν ῥομφαίαν ἐσπάσαντο· ὅτι πρόχειρον ἔχουσι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ ἕτοιμοί εἰσιν ἐπὶ τὸ ποιεῖν αὐτήν· οἱ κρύπτοντες ἐν τῷ κουλεῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ῥομφαίαν τοῦ πονηροῦ πνεύματος. Βέλος τῶν δικαίων, Χριστός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς. Ἔθηκαςὡς βέλος ἐκλεκτόν. Ὁ λόγος τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν βέλος ἐστίν· ἁμαρτίας ἰὸν ἔχει· τιτρώσκει τὸν μὴ καθ ωπλισμένον τῷ τῆς πίστεως θυρεῷ. Οἴδασιν, ὅτι οὐ δύνανται καταβαλεῖν πλούσιον πλουτοῦντα ἐν σοφίᾳ, ἐν ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐδὲ ἐπιβάλ λουσιν αὐτῷ. Ἀλλ' ἡ πᾶσα ἐπιβουλή ἐστι κατὰ τοῦ πτωχοῦ· ἐπεὶ λύτρον ψυχῆς ἀνδρὸς ὁ ἴδιος πλοῦ τος· πτωχὸς δὲ οὐχ ὑφίσταται ἀπειλήν. Καλὸν μὲν οὖν μὴ ἔχειν ῥομφαίαν ἁμαρτίας· δεύτερον δὲ, ἔχοντα, μὴ σπᾶσθαι αὐτὴν, ἀλλὰ ποιεῖν αὐτὴν ἡσυχάζειν. Ἀργοῦσα γὰρ, οὐ μόνον ἰοῦται, οὐδὲ ἀμβλύνεται, ἀλλὰ τέλεον ἐξαφανίζεται. Καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχομεν πυ ρὸς, ὅπου ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον δοκιμάζεται· ὃ Πέτρου μὲν οὐχ ἅπτεται, ἀλλ' ἀκούει, Κἂν διέλθῃ διὰ πυρὸς, φλὸξ οὐ κατακαύσει σε· ἁμαρτωλῶν δὲ ἅπτεται ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρὸς, ὡς ἡ Ἐρυθρὰ Αἰγυπτίων, οὐ μὴν καὶ Ἑβραίων. Ὥσπερ μέντοι ὁ Σωτὴρ βέλος ἐκλεκτὸν, καὶ ἀνάλογα τῷ Σωτῆρι βέλη τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ ἅγιοι τιτρώσκοντες βέ λει ἐκλεκτῷ, ἵνα ὁ τετρωμένος λέγω· Τετρωμένη ἀ γάπης ἐγώ· οὕτως ὁ Ἀντίχριστος βέλος τοῦ πονη ροῦ. Καὶ πάντες οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ βέλη τοῦ διαβόλου, οἷς 17.129 κατὰ τῶν δικαίων χρᾶται. Ἴδε γυναῖκα, καὶ ἐπ εβούλευσάν σοι. Εἰ μὴ βέλος ἐστὶ πεπυρωμένον, πῦρ ἔχουσα ἐν στόματι, ἵνα λαλήσῃ καὶ καύσῃ σε, ἐν χει ρὶ, ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ σώματι, ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ; Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ Θεὸς τίθησι τόξον ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ, ἵνα παύσῃ χειμῶνα, καὶ μὴ γίνηται κατακλυσμός· οὕτω, κατὰ τὸ ἀντικείμενον, ὁ πονηρὸς χρᾶται τόξῳ, ἵνα παύσῃ γαλήνην ἀπὸ ψυχῆς, καὶ εἰρήνην σβέσῃ, καὶ πόλε μον ἐγείρῃ, καὶ χειμῶνα ποιήσῃ. Μήποτε δὲ οἱ πτω χοὶ καὶ πένητες ἀδελφοί εἰσι τῶν εὐθέων τῇ καρ δίᾳ, οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, οὓς ζητοῦσι καταβα λεῖν οἱ δαίμονες. Ἐὰν ἴδῃς σκανδαλιζόμενον, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κεκρατημένον, βλέπε, ὅτι οὗτος ἔσφα κται, καὶ τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ῥεῖ, ὃ ἐκζητεῖ Θεός. Ἀπ ώλετο γὰρ ἡ ζωτικὴ δύναμις αὐτοῦ· ἐκζητεῖ δὲ αὐτὸ ἀπὸ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ θηρίου· ἀπὸ πιστοῦ σκαν δαλίζοντος, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀλλοτρίου τῆς πίστεως, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ σκοποῦ. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἴσως περιεργότερον εἴρηται. Ὁ μέντοι ψάλλων διαλευκαίνει πᾶν τὸ ἤδη ῥηθὲν, τό· Κατανοεῖ ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τὸν δίκαιον, φημί. Καθά περ γὰρ ἐν πίνακι σαφῶς μηνιῶντα ζωγραφεῖ, καὶ παραταττόμενον εἰσφέρει, καὶ φονῶντα δεικνύει, καὶ ἀπογυμνοῦντα τὸ ξίφος, καὶ ἤδη τοξεύοντα, καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν αὐτοῦ καθίστησιν ἐναργῆ. Σκοποὶ γὰρ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ οὐχ ἕνα τινὰ τῶν ἀδικησάντων αὐτῷ, ἢ κατά τι προσκεκρουκότων, καὶ προφάσεις τῷ πολέμῳ δεδωκότων εὐλόγους ἀμύνεσθαι· ἀλλ' ἵνα καταβάλῃ πτωχὸν, τουτέστι τὸν ἐπιεικῆ καὶ μετριόφρονα, καὶ ταπεινὸν τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὃν καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ πτωχὸν ἔφη τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας ἄξιον εἶναί φησι. Τίς οὖν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς λόγος πρὸς τοὺς εὐ θεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ πνεύματι; παντελῶς οὐδείς. Ἠδικήκασι γὰρ ἐκείνους οὐδὲν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ὁδοὺς ἀπευθύνοντας εἰς δικαιοσύνην. Ἀκονᾷ δὲ, οἶμαι, κατ' αὐτῶν τοὺς ὠνομασμένους, μάταιός τις ἁπλῶς, καὶ οὐκ εὐάφορμος φθόνος, ἐκ διαβολικῆς σκαιότητος ἐκκεκαυμένος ἐν αὐτοῖς. Στίχ. ιεʹ. Ἡ ῥομφαία αὐτῶν εἰσέλθοι εἰς τὰς καρ