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and to interrupt its continuity with your disciplinary scourges. And arise, O Lord my God, in the precept which you commanded. The saying can indeed be referred to the mystery of the resurrection, with the Prophet calling upon the judge to arise for the vengeance of every sin, and for the commandments pre-ordained for us to be fulfilled; but it can also be taken in reference to the then-current state of the Prophet's affairs, with him calling upon God to arise for the vengeance of the precept which He commanded. And the precept was, 'Honor your father and your mother,' given by God, which his son transgressed. Therefore he calls upon God not to be long-suffering, for the correction of that man and the chastening of the many, but to arise in anger, and rising up to avenge His own commandment. For not me, he says, will you avenge, but your precept that was despised, which you yourself commanded. And a congregation of peoples will surround you. And it is clear that, when one unjust man is chastened, many 29.237 will turn back. Punish, therefore, the wickedness of this man, so that a great congregation of peoples may surround you. And for her sake return on high. For the sake of the congregation that surrounds you, which you acquired through the condescension and dispensation according to grace, return to the height of the glory which you had before the world was made. The Lord will judge the peoples. In many places of Scripture the word concerning the judgment is interspersed, as most necessary and comprehensive for the teaching of piety to those who have believed in God through Jesus Christ. But since the word concerning judgment is written in many ways, it will seem to have some confusion for those who do not accurately distinguish its meanings. For he who believes in me is not judged; but he who does not believe is already judged. But if he who does not believe is like the impious, how is it said that the impious will not rise in judgment? And if those who believe have become sons of God through faith, and because of this are worthy of being called gods themselves, how did 'God stand in the congregation of the gods, and in the midst he judges gods'? But it seems that 'to be judged' is sometimes taken by Scripture to mean 'to be tested,' and sometimes 'to be condemned;' to mean 'to be tested,' as in, 'Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence;' for there he adds: 'Test me, O Lord, and try me;' and to mean 'to be condemned,' as in, 'For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged;' for if we examined ourselves, he says, we would not be subjected to condemnation. Again, it is said that the Lord will enter into judgment with all flesh; that is, in the examination of each one's life he submits himself to judgment, and he sets his own commandments against the deeds done by sinners, defending himself with proofs, that he has done everything in his power for the salvation of those being judged, so that sinners, being persuaded that they are guilty of their sins, accepting the divine justice, may willingly accept the penalty that falls to them. There is also another meaning of the word 'to be judged,' as the Lord says: The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment and condemn this generation. For he says that those who turn away from divine teaching, and are lovers of what is not beautiful, and are completely averted from the disciplinary doctrines of wisdom, receive a heavier condemnation for the things set before them, 29.240 by comparison and contrast with those of their own generation who excelled in the pursuit of what is beautiful. But I think that not all those who have received this earthly body will be judged in the same way by the just judge, because the external circumstances that befall each of us, being very different, cause each one's judgment to be varied. For the confluence of things not in our power, but that involuntarily surround us, either makes our sins heavier, or even lightens them. For let the matter being judged be supposed to be fornication. But one person sinned in this way, having been nourished from the beginning in wicked habits; for he was also brought into life by licentious parents, and was raised up together with a habit for base things, with drunkenness

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καὶ διακόψαι αὐτῆς τὴν συνέχειαν ταῖς παιδευτικαῖς σου πληγαῖς. Καὶ ἐξεγέρθητι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐν προσ τάγματι ᾧ ἐνετείλω. ∆ύναται μὲν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μυστή ριον τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὁ λόγος ἀναφέρεσθαι, παρακα λοῦντος τοῦ Προφήτου ἐξεγερθῆναι τὸν κριτὴν εἰς ἐκ δίκησιν παντὸς ἁμαρτήματος, καὶ τὰς προδιατετα γμένας ἡμῖν ἐντολὰς τελεσθῆναι· δύναται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν τότε κατάστασιν τῶν πραγμάτων τοῦ Προφήτου λαμβάνεσθαι, παρακαλοῦντος ἐξεγερθῆναι τὸν Θεὸν εἰς ἐκδίκησιν τοῦ προστάγματος οὗ ἐνετείλατο. Πρόσ ταγμα δὲ ἦν, Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέ ρα, παρὰ Θεοῦ δεδομένον, ὅπερ παρέβη ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὸ παρακαλεῖ εἰς αὐτοῦ τε ἐκείνου ἐπανόρ θωσιν καὶ σωφρονισμὸν τῶν πολλῶν μὴ μακροθυμεῖν τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλ' ἐγερθῆναι ἐν ὀργῇ, καὶ διαναστάντα ἐκδικῆσαι τὴν ἰδίαν ἐντολήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐμὲ, φησὶν, ἐκ δικήσεις, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσταγμα τὸ σὸν καταφρονηθὲν, ὃ αὐτὸς ἐνετείλω. Καὶ συναγωγὴ λαῶν κυκλώσει σε. ∆ῆλον δὲ ὅτι, ἑνὸς ἀδίκου σωφρονισθέντος, πολλοὶ 29.237 ἐπιστρέψουσι. Τὴν οὖν τούτου πονηρίαν κόλασον, ἵνα πολλὴ συναγωγὴ λαῶν κυκλώσῃ σε. Καὶ ὑπὲρ ταύ της εἰς ὕψος ἐπίστρεψον. Ὑπὲρ τῆς κυκλούσης σε συναγωγῆς, ἣν ἐκτήσω διὰ τῆς κατὰ χάριν συγκατα βάσεως καὶ οἰκονομίας, ἐπίστρεψον εἰς τὸ ὕψος τῆς δόξης, ἣν εἶχες πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον γενέσθαι. Κύριος κρινεῖ λαούς. Πολλαχοῦ τῆς Γραφῆς ὁ περὶ τῆς κρί σεως ἐγκατέσπαρται λόγος, ὡς ἀναγκαιότατος καὶ συνεκτικώτατος εἰς διδασκαλίαν εὐσεβείας τοῖς εἰς Θεὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πεπιστευκόσιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲπολυτρόπως ὁ περὶ τῆς κρίσεως ἐγγέγραπται λόγος, δόξει τινὰ καὶ σύγχυσιν ἔχειν τοῖς μὴ ἀκριβῶς τὰ σημαινόμενα διαστέλλουσιν. Ὁ πιστεύων γὰρ εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ κρίνεται· ὁ δὲ ἀπιστῶν ἤδη κέκριται. Εἰ δὲ ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ ἀσεβεῖ, πῶς εἴρηται τὸ μὴ ἀναστήσεσθαι ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει; Καὶ εἰ οἱ πιστεύοντες υἱοὶ Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς πίστεως γεγόνασι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἄξιοί εἰσι τοῦ καὶ αὐτοὶ θεοὶ χρηματί ζειν, πῶς Θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ θεοὺς διακρινεῖ; Ἀλλ' ἔοικε τὸ κρίνεσθαι ποτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ δοκιμάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς παρα λαμβάνεσθαι, ποτὲ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι· ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ δοκιμάζεσθαι, ὡς τὸ, Κρῖνόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην· ἐπάγει γὰρ ἐκεῖ· ∆οκίμασόν με, Κύριε, καὶ πείρασόν με· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι, ὡς τὸ, Εἰ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκρίνο μεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα· εἰ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐξητάζομεν, φησὶν, οὐκ ἂν κατακρίσει ὑπεβαλλόμεθα. Πάλιν εἴ ρηται κριθήσεσθαι τὸν Κύριον πρὸς πᾶσαν σάρκα· τουτέστιν, ἐν τῷ ἐξετασμῷ τῶν βεβιωμένων ἑκάστῳ ἑαυτὸν ὑποβάλλει τῇ κρίσει, καὶ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ προστά γματα ἀντιπαρεξάγει τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων, ἀπολογούμενος μετὰ ἀποδείξεων, ὅτι πάντα τὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἥκοντα ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν κρινο μένων πεποίηκεν, ἵνα πειθόμενοι οἱ ἡμαρτηκότες ὡς ἔνοχοι τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἀποδεχόμενοι τὴν θείαν δί κην, ἑκόντες προσῶνται τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτοῖς ἐπι τίμιον. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο σημαινόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ κρίνεσθαι φωνῆς, καθά φησιν ὁ Κύριος· Βασίλισσα νότου ἐγερθήσεται ἐν τῇ κρίσει, καὶ κατακρινεῖ τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην. Τοὺς γὰρ ἀποστρεφομένους τὴν θείαν διδασκαλίαν, καὶ ἀφιλοκάλους, καὶ παντελῶς ἀπεστραμμένους τὰ παιδευτικὰ τῆς σοφίας δόγματα, συγκρίσει καὶ ἀντιπαραθέσει τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν γε νεὰν ἐπὶ τῇ περὶ τὰ καλὰ σπουδῇ διενεγκόντων, βα ρυτέραν φησὶ λαμβάνειν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς παρεθεῖσι κα 29.240 τάκρισιν. Οἶμαι δὲ, ὅτι οὐχ ὁμοίως κριθήσονται πάν τες οἱ τὸ γήϊνον τοῦτο σῶμα ἀναλαβόντες παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ, διότι τὰ ἔξωθεν συμπίπτοντα ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν παρὰ πολὺ διαφέροντα παραλλαγῆναι ποιεῖ τὴν ἑκάστου κρίσιν. Ἢ γὰρ βαρύνει ἡμῖν τὰ ἁμαρ τήματα, ἢ καὶ κουφίζει ἡ τῶν οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' ἀκουσίως περιϊσταμένων ἡμᾶς συνδρομή. Ὑποκείσθω γὰρ πορνείαν εἶναι τὸ κρινόμενον. Ἀλλὰ ταύτην ὁ μέν τις ἥμαρτε, πονηροῖς ἤθεσι τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐντε θραμμένος· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὑπὸ γονέων ἀσελγῶν εἰς τὸν βίον παρήχθη, καὶ συνανετράφη τῇ περὶ τὰ φαῦλα συνηθείᾳ, μέθαις