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The inscription is A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. For since the human race was overcome by the evil of sin and, having been torn away from union with the good, was mingled with contrary passions and needed some intercession with the one who is able to recall it from destruction, the man of God becomes an intercessor, defending the fall of his kinsmen, and beseeching the divine for pity on the lost. For straightway he as it were justifies himself to the hearer and says that to God alone belongs that which is in 5.46 every good thing firm and unmoved and always in the same state; but the human condition, being set in change and alteration, never remains in the same state, neither if it ascends to the better, nor if it falls from participation in the better. For which reason he deems it right that the unchangeable one should become a refuge for salvation in every generation for the one who wanders. And the text runs thus: Lord, you have been our refuge in generation and generation. Why does he say this? Because you, he says, exist before creation, comprehending every eternal interval, from when the nature of the age had its beginning and to whatever end it will advance; and the end of the endless is infinity. For Before the mountains were brought forth, he says, or ever the earth and the world were made, from everlasting and to everlasting, you are. But the human race, through the changeableness of its nature, having been brought down from the height of good things to the low and slippery state of sin, was dragged down. Therefore, stretch out, he says, a hand, O unfailing one, to the one who has slipped, being for us that which you are by nature, and Do not turn him away from the height that is with you to the humiliation of sin. Then he becomes a minister of the Master's voice and utters the philanthropic saying, stating: that And you said: 'Return, O sons of men.' And such a voice is a dogma; for the word looks to nature and suggests the cure for evils. For since, he says, being changeable you have flowed away from the good, use your change again for the good; and from where you have fallen, return again to the same place. So that it is in the choice of men to allot to themselves 5.47 by their own power what they wish, whether the good or the worthless. And what follows is another dogma; for he says For a thousand years in your eyes, O Lord, are as yesterday when it is past, but their contemptible things shall be years. What then are we taught dogmatically in these things? That for the one who by conversion returns again to the good, even if his life is stained with ten thousand transgressions, so that the sum of evils seems to be a thousand years, it is as nothing to God for the one who has turned back; for the divine eye always sees the present, and does not reckon the past, but it is judged by God as one day or a part of the night, which has passed by and run its course. But the present moment in wickedness, even if it is treated as nothing by those who sin, is seen by God as a multitude of years. For he says Their contemptible things shall be years. And he well and fittingly calls transgressions "contemptible things"; because he who works evil is somehow accustomed to consider the transgression as nothing and to find some excuses for each of the things done according to wickedness, so that it is easy to say in each case, Desire is nothing, and Anger is nothing, and Each of such things is nothing; for these are movements of nature; and nature is the work of God. None of these things would be considered in any evil by the one who oversees human life. For this reason he says that these contemptible things, when they are present in the choice of the one acting and do not pass away, are judged each one as a breadth of years by the divine eye. Again he describes in the text the transitory nature of our being, so that he might the more beseech God for mercy. For he says, bringing clearly to view by an example what one must consider 5.48 to be the wretchedness of our nature, morning and evening, that is, youth and old age; grass in the morning, and a flower, and a passing away. And after this, when the moisture of age has been spent and the plant has shed its flower and its natural bloom has been breathed away, dryness and withering is what remains. For thus the word says that

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ἐπιγραφή ἐστιν Προσευχὴ τῷ Μωυσῇ ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ κεκράτητο τῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κακῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἑνώσεως ἀπορραγὲν τοῖς ἐναντίοις συνεφύρετο πάθεσι καί τινος ἐδεῖτο πρεσβείας πρὸς τὸν ἀνακαλέσασθαι τῆς ἀπωλείας δυνάμενον, ἀντὶ πρέσβεως ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται, ὑπεραπολογούμενος μὲν τοῦ τῶν ὁμοφύλων πτώματος, εἰς δὲ τὸν τῶν ἀπολωλότων οἶκτον δυσωπῶν τὸ θεῖον. εὐθὺς γὰρ οἷον δικαιολογεῖται πρὸς τὸν ἀκούοντα καί φησι μόνῳ προσεῖναι τῷ θεῷ τὸ ἐν 5.46 παντὶ ἀγαθῷ πάγιόν τε καὶ ἀκίνητον καὶ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχον· ἐν τροπῇ δὲ καὶ ἀλλοιώσει τὸ ἀνθρώπινον κείμενον μηδέποτε ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μένειν, μήτε εἰ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἀνίοι, μήτε εἰ ἐκπίπτοι τῆς μετουσίας τοῦ κρείττονος. οὗ χάριν καταφυγὴν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀξιοῖ κατὰ πᾶσαν γενεὰν γίνεσθαι τοῦ πλανωμένου τὸν ἀμετάθετον. Ἔχει δὲ ἡ λέξις οὕτως· Κύριε, καταφυγὴ ἐγενήθης ἡμῖν ἐν γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ. διὰ τί τοῦτο λέγων; ὅτι σύ, φησίν, πρὸ τῆς κτίσεως εἶ, πᾶν τὸ αἰώνιον ἐμπεριέχων διάστημα, ἀφ' οὗ τε ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν ἡ τοῦ αἰῶνος φύσις καὶ εἰς ὅ τι προελεύ σεται πέρας· πέρας δὲ τοῦ ἀτελευτήτου ἡ ἀπειρία. Πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη γάρ, φησί, γενηθῆναι καὶ πλασθῆναι τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος σὺ εἶ. τὸ δὲ ἀνθρώπινον τῷ τρεπτῷ τῆς φύσεως ἐκ τοῦ ὕψους τῶν ἀγαθῶν πρὸς τὸ ταπεινόν τε καὶ ὀλισθηρὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατενεχθὲν κατεσύρη· οὐκοῦν ὄρεξον, φησί, χεῖρα ὁ ἄπτωτος τῷ ὀλισθήσαντι, ὅπερ εἶ τῇ φύσει, καὶ ἡμῖν τοῦτο γινόμενος, καὶ Μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ παρὰ σοὶ ὕψους εἰς τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ταπείνωσιν. εἶτα τῆς δεσποτικῆς φωνῆς διάκονος γίνεται καὶ προφέρει τὴν φιλάνθρωπον ῥῆσιν λέγων· ὅτι Καὶ εἶπας· Ἐπιστρέψατε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἡ δὲ τοιαύτη φωνὴ δόγμα ἐστί· βλέπει γὰρ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν ὁ λόγος καὶ τὴν θεραπείαν τῶν κακῶν ὑποτίθεται. ἐπειδὴ γάρ, φησί, τρεπτοὶ ὄντες τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀπερρύητε, χρήσασθε πάλιν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν τῇ τροπῇ· καὶ ὅθεν ἐκπεπτώκατε, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν ἐπαναστρέψατε· ὡς ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τὸ ἑαυτοῖς νέμειν 5.47 κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἃ βούλονται, εἴτε τὸ ἀγαθὸν εἴτε τὸ φαῦλον· τὸ δὲ ἐφεξῆς ἕτερον δόγμα ἐστί· φησὶ γὰρ Ὅτι χίλια ἔτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, κύριε, ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθές, ἥτις διῆλθε, τὰ δὲ ἐξουδενώματα αὐτῶν ἔτη ἔσονται. τί οὖν ἐν τούτοις δογματικῶς παιδευόμεθα; ὅτι τῷ ἐξ ἐπιστροφῆς πάλιν πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀναλύσαντι, κἂν μυρίοις ὁ βίος καταστιχθῇ πλημμελήμασιν, ὡς χιλίων ἐτῶν δοκεῖν εἶναι τῶν κακῶν τὸ ἄθροισμα, ἀντ' οὐδενός ἐστι τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐπιστραφέντος· ὁ γὰρ θεῖος ὀφθαλμὸς τὸ ἐνεστὸς ἀεὶ βλέπει, τὸ δὲ παρῳχηκὸς οὐ λογίζεται, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἢ μέρους νυκτὸς παρὰ τῷ θεῷ κρίνεται, ἥτις παρῆλθέ τε καὶ παρέδραμε. τὸ δὲ ἐνεστὸς ἐν κακίᾳ, κἂν ὡς μηδὲν παρὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἐξευτελίζηται, ὡς ἐτῶν πλῆθος τῷ θεῷ καθορᾶται. φησὶ γὰρ Τὰ ἐξουδενώματα αὐτῶν ἔτη ἔσονται. καλῶς δὲ καὶ προσφυῶς ἐξουδενώματα ὀνομάζει τὰ πλημμελήματα· ὅτι πέφυκέ πως ὁ τὸ κακὸν ἐνεργῶν ἀντ' οὐδενὸς ἡγεῖσθαι τὸ πλημμελούμενον καί τινας ἑκάστου τῶν κατὰ κακίαν γινομένων παρευρίσκειν ἀπολογίας, ὥστε πρόχειρον εἶναι τὸ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ λέγειν Οὐδὲν ἡ ἐπιθυμία καὶ οὐδὲν ἡ ὀργὴ καὶ οὐδὲν ἕκαστον τῶν τοιούτων ἐστί· φύσεως γὰρ ταῦτα κινήματα· ἡ δὲ φύσις ἔργον θεοῦ. οὐκ ἄν τι τούτων ἔν τινι νομισθείη κακῷ τῷ ἐφορῶντι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ζωήν· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι τὰ ἐξουδενώματα ταῦτα, ὅταν παρῇ τῇ προαιρέσει τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος καὶ μὴ παρέλθῃ, ὡς πλάτος ἐτῶν παρὰ τῷ θείῳ ὀφθαλμῷ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον κρίνεται. Πάλιν τὸ παροδικὸν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ὑπογράφει τῷ λόγῳ, ὡς ἂν μᾶλλον εἰς ἔλεον τὸν θεὸν δυσωπήσειε. λέγει γάρ, ἐναργῶς ὑπ' ὄψιν ἄγων τῷ ὑποδείγματι, τί χρὴ νομίζειν 5.48 εἶναι τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀθλιότητα, πρωίαν καὶ ἑσπέραν, τουτέστι νεότητα καὶ γῆρας· χλόην ἐν τῷ ὄρθρῳ καὶ ἄνθος καὶ πάροδον. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν νοτίδος ἀναλωθείσης καὶ τοῦ φυτοῦ ἀπανθήσαντος τῆς τε συμφυοῦς ὥρας διαπνευσθείσης, ξηρότης καὶ μαρασμὸς τὸ λειπόμενον. οὕτω γάρ φησιν ὁ λόγος ὅτι