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O Lord, your name is forever. He catechizes by turning them away from idols, and teaches knowledge of God. For those from the nations now approaching needed to receive such exhortation; whom he also calls servants, not yet having received the spirit of adoption. And it happens that these, before the bath of regeneration, have a place in the house of God in its outer courts, but not obtaining the innermost parts; for they had an introduction, but not perfection. Indeed, the courts are different, since the lives of those being brought in are also different; and a mark of progress is, after praising the name of the Lord, to praise the Lord himself; for one must first learn that there is a Word of God, who presides over the whole cosmos, and is its master; then to learn about his essence and power, and to know the only-begotten Son of God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good, etc. Since the Lord is good, praise him. The reason for praising is that his goodness is not by participation, just as it is with the Father. We praise not only in word, but also by partaking of his good things, and as it is necessary to act in ways appropriate to the contemplation and the works of which we speak in theology, the phrase, "Sing praises to his name," is added; for this is pleasant and beyond all goodness; and we praise him because he chose for himself Jacob, who supplants the passions and evils, making him elect because he had put an end to the wrestlings that come from evil and passions; but also the one after Jacob, who was shown to be Israel through progress, he chose for himself as a special possession; and for this reason he is a special people from all the nations which became special, all being occupied with essence and existence, by participating in him who is being and wisdom and the Word of God. Whatever the Lord willed, he has done in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps. All that the Lord has done is good, since it came to be 24.32 by the will of God; but if there is anything in heaven, like the spiritual hosts of wickedness, or on the earth like sinful men, or in the seas, like the wickedness of the dragon, or in the deeps like the wickedness of the evils commanded to depart there, this God did not do by his will; for out of the mouth of the Lord, evil and good will not proceed. He who brings forth winds from his treasuries. To say "from treasuries," does not mean that there are certain treasuries of the winds, but the readiness of the one who commands, the ease of creation prepared; just as one who has things in a treasury brings everything out with freedom and whenever he wishes, so also the Creator of the universe made all things with ease and handed them over to nature. Who struck the firstborn of Egypt. And since some say that universal and heavenly things are governed by the providence of God alone, he shows that human affairs are also a concern to him, both in punishing the impious and in making the race of the pious his own. But of old, the portion of the Lord, that is of the Word of God, was his people Jacob, the line of his inheritance Israel; but since that one has fallen away because of the impiety he committed, it was said to him when he became man: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance." O Lord, your name is forever. Nothing is so much a mark of divine Providence as to teach men that the universe is not without a master; whence also his continuous remembrance is established among us, his servants, having learned his greatness through the preceding things, are taught and encouraged to say the present things, having learned that they will be comforted for these things, with judgment following for the rest of the people, for those who have acknowledged his name, and keep his memorial; but for those, as for servants in need of forgiveness, he is entreated. The idols of the nations are silver and gold. Having completed the theology concerning the Lord, and having enumerated the mighty works of his providence, as if still speaking to servants who have just come from the polytheistic error, he contrasts the refutation of the gods formerly believed in among them, in accordance with what he had said above: that, "I have known that the Lord is great, and the

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Κύριε, τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Κατηχεῖ δὲ ἀποστρέφων εἰδώλων, καὶ διδάσκει γνῶσιν Θεοῦ. Τοιαύτης γὰρ τοὺς νῦν ἐξ ἐθνῶν προσιόντας ἔδει τυχεῖν παραινέσεως· οὓς καὶ δούλους καλεῖ, μήπω τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἀνειληφότας. Συμβαίνει δὲ τούτους πρὸ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτροῦ, στάσιν ἔχειν ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ τῶν αὐτοῦ προπύλων, ἀλλ' οὐ τῶν ἐνδοτάτω τυχόντας· εἰσαγωγὴν γὰρ ἔσχον, ἀλλ' οὐ τελείωσιν. ∆ιάφοροί γε μὴν αὐλαὶ, ἐπεὶ καὶ διάφοροι τῶν εἰσαγομένων οἱ βίοι· προκοπῆς δὲ, τὸ μετὰ τὸ αἰνεῖν τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου, αὐτὸν δὴ αἰνέσαι τὸν Κύριον· δεῖ γὰρ πρῶτον μαθεῖν, ὅτι ἔστι Θεοῦ Λόγος, ἐφεστηκὼς τῷ παντὶ κόσμῳ, καὶ δεσπόζων αὐτοῦ· εἶτα περί τε οὐσίας αὐτοῦ μαθεῖν καὶ δυνάμεως, Υἱόν τε γνῶναι μονογενῆ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς Κύριος, κ.τ.λ. Ἐπεὶ ἀγαθὸς Κύριος, αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν. Αἰτία δὲ τοῦ αἰνεῖν, τὸ ἀγαθὸν οὐ κατὰ μέθεξιν εἶναι, ὡσαύτως δὲ τῷ Πατρί. Αἰνοῦμεν δὲ οὐ τῇ λέξει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεθέξει τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῦ, ὡς δέον δὲ τῇ θεωρίᾳ καὶ τοῖς θεολογουμένοις ἔργοις πράττειν ἁρμόδια, τὸ, Ψάλατε τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, ἐπενήνεκται· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡδὺ καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν χρηστότητα· αἰνοῦμεν δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπεὶ ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ τὸν πτερνίζοντα τὰ πάθη καὶ τὰς κακίας Ἰακὼβ, ἐκλεκτὸν αὐτὸν τιθέμενος διὰ τὸ καταλελυκέναι τὰς ἐκ κακίας καὶ παθῶν πάλας· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν μετ' αὐτὸν τὸν Ἰακὼβ, ἐκ προκοπῆς ἀποδειχθέντα Ἰσραὴλ, εἰς περιουσιασμὸν ἑαυτῷ ἐξελέξατο· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λαός ἐστι περιούσιος ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν περιουσίου γενομένου, πάντων περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ τὴν ὕπαρξιν καταγινομένου, τῷ μετέχειν αὐτῆς ὄντος καὶ σοφοῦ καὶ Λόγου Θεοῦ. Πάντα ὅσα ἠθέλησεν ὁ Κύριος ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἐν ταῖς θαλάσσαις καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἀβύσσοις. Πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος, καλά ἐστιν, ἅτε 24.32 θελήματι Θεοῦ γεγενημένα· εἰ δέ τί ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὡς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, ἢ ἐν τῇ γῇ ὡς οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἄνθρωποι, ἢ ἐν ταῖς θαλάσσαις, ὡς ἡ τοῦ δράκοντος κακία, ἢ ἐν ταῖς ἀβύσσοις ὡς ἡ πονηρία τῶν προστασσομένων ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν κακῶν, τοῦτο οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ· ἐκ γὰρ στόματος Κυρίου οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται τὰ κακὰ καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν. Ὁ ἐξάγων ἀνέμους ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὐτοῦ. Τὸ εἰπεῖν ἐκ θησαυρῶν, οὐ τοῦτο δηλοῖ ὅτι θησαυροί τινές εἰσι τῶν ἀνέμων, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἕτοιμον τοῦ ἐπιτάττοντος, τὸ εὔκολον τῆς κτήσεως παρεσκευασμένον· ὥσπερ ἂν ὁ ἐν θησαυρῷ ἔχων μετὰ ἀδείας ἐξάγει πάντα καὶ ὅτε βούλεται, οὕτως καὶ ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ∆ημιουργὸς πάντα εὐκόλως ἐποίησε καὶ τῇ φύσει παρέδωκεν. Ὃς ἐπάταξε τὰ πρωτότοκα Αἰγύπτου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰ καθόλου καὶ οὐράνιά φασί τινες προνοίᾳ διοικεῖσθαι μόνῃ Θεοῦ, δείκνυσιν ὡς μέλει καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων αὐτῷ, καὶ νῦν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς κολάζοντι καὶ τῶν εὐσεβῶν οἰκειουμένῳ τὸ γένος. Ἀλλὰ πάλαι μὲν ἦν μερὶς Κυρίου, δηλαδὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ δι' ἣν ἔδρασεν ἀσέβειαν ἐκεῖνος ἐκπέπτωκεν, ἐνανθρωπήσαντι λέλεκται· Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου. Κύριε, τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Οὐδὲν οὕτω τῆς θείας Προνοίας, ὡς τὸ διδάξαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μὴ ἀδέσποτον εἶναι τὸ πᾶν· ὅθεν καὶ ἡ διηνεκὴς αὐτοῦ μνήμη καθέστηκε παρ' ἡμῖν, οὗ τὸ μέγεθος διὰ τῶν προλαβόντων οἱ δοῦλοι μαθόντες αὐτοῦ, τὰ παρόντα λέγειν διδάσκονται καὶ παραθαῤῥύνονται, μαθόντες ὡς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς παρακληθήσονται, τῆς κρίσεως ἀκολουθούσης τοῖς λοιποῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, τοῖς ἐπεγνωκόσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ μνημόσυνον ἔχουσιν· ἐπ' ἐκείνοις δὲ ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ δούλοις συγγνώμης ἐπιδεομένοις παρακαλεῖται. Τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον. Συντελέσας τὴν περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου θεολογίαν, καὶ τῆς προνοίας αὐτοῦ τὰς μεγαλουργίας καταλέξας, ὡς ἔτι δούλοις ὁμιλῶν τοῖς ἐκ τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης ἄρτι προσεληλυθόσιν, ἀντιπαραβάλλει τῶν πάλαι παρ' αὐτοῖς νενομισμένων θεῶν τὸν ἔλεγχον, ἀκολούθως οἷς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκει· ὅτι, Ἐγὼ ἔγνωκα ὅτι μέγας Κύριος, καὶ ὁ