it having been said to those disposed toward him, let him hear Isaiah saying "repent, you who are wandering, return to the heart, and remember the former things from of old, for I am God, and there is none besides me." He did not say: I am God, so that also by the addition of the article he might clearly show that he is one God. And what of Hosea the prophet? Does he not also witness to the same things, saying "I brought you up out of Egypt, and you shall know no god but me, and there is no savior besides me"? And again Malachi says, "Did not one God create you? Is not one Father of you all?" But perhaps Asterius will say that David said nothing about this, although he is the most ancient of the other prophets besides Moses, and for this reason to be in doubt, whether it is proper to believe in two gods divided in hypostasis or not. Therefore, so that he may not say this, I think it is fitting to show him that he too says the same things as the aforesaid holy men; "Hear," he says, "my people, and I will speak to you; Israel, and I will testify to you. If you will hear me, there shall be no new god among you, nor shall you worship a foreign god. For I am the Lord your God." He who shows himself and says, "I am," is it not clear that he says there is only one God, that is, himself? 77 What then? Unless, by paying attention to the spirit, we should believe the monad to be indivisible in power, shall we not sin, when the Word clearly teaches us "you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve"? And he preaches the same thing also through the Gospel according to Mark; for when a certain one of the scribes came to him and asked which was the first of the commandments, he answered him, saying thus: "The first of all is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your strength. This is the first; and a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him: Well, Teacher, you have said in truth that God is one and there is none besides him." But the scribe, seeming to have learned piety through the law, is seen praising the saying of the Savior, who said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one," and affirming with an oath that it was well said; for "in truth," he says, "you have said that God is one and there is no other besides him." But those who boast that they know the mysteries of the new covenant, these wish to fashion a second god, separated from the Father in hypostasis and in power. 78 That the divine scripture knows to call the monad Lord and God, has already become clear also from what has been said before, through which God said to his servant Moses: "And God said again to Moses: Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." Do you see how, showing us one person here, he calls the same Lord and God. And again, likewise, the scripture says, "And the Lord spoke all these words, saying: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods besides me"; do you hear how through the pronoun he declares that there is only one God. And again a little later he says, "I am the Lord your God," saying that he himself is Lord and God. And what do we learn also through another scripture? "And you shall know today," it says, "and you shall not be perverted in your mind, that the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below, and there is none besides him." And again in the same Deuteronomy, it says, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And again in the same, "See, see that I am, and there is no god besides me; I will kill and I will make to live; I will strike and I will heal." How then does Asterius, pretending to follow the holy scriptures simply and with fear, not know this part that says, "the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below, and there is none other besides

αὐτῷ διακειμένους λεχθέντος, ἀκουέτω αὐτοῦ Ἡσαΐου λέγοντος "μετανοήσατε, οἱ πλανώμενοι, ἐπιστρέψατε τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ μνήσθητε τὰ πρότερα ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος, ὅτι ἐγὼ ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πλὴν ἐμοῦ". οὐκ εἶπεν· ἐγὼ θεός, ἵνα καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἄρθρου προσθήκης ἕνα θεὸν ὄντα σαφῶς ἐπιδείξῃ. τί δὲ καὶ Ὡσηὲ ὁ προφήτης; οὐ καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ αὐτὰ μαρτυρεῖ, "ἐγὼ ἀνήγαγόν σε ἐξ Αἰγύπτου" λέγων "καὶ θεὸν πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐ γνώσῃ, καὶ σῴζων οὐκ ἔστιν παρὲξ ἐμοῦ"; αὖθίς τε ὁ Μαλαχίας "οὐχὶ θεὸς εἷς ἔκτισεν ὑμᾶς;" φησὶν "οὐχὶ πατὴρ εἷς πάντων ὑμῶν;" ἀλλὰ τὸν ∆αυὶδ φήσει που Ἀστέριος μηδὲν εἰρηκέναι περὶ τούτου, καίτοι πρεσβύτατον παρὰ Μωσέα τῶν ἄλλων προφητῶν ὄντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀμφιγνοεῖν, εἴτε δύο θεοὺς ὑποστάσει διῃρημένους νομίζειν εἶναι προσήκει εἴτε καὶ μή. οὐκοῦν ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο λέγῃ, ἀκόλουθον ἡγοῦμαι καὶ αὐτὸν ἐπιδεῖξαι αὐτῷ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς προειρημένοις ἁγίοις λέγοντα· "ἄκουσον," φησὶν "λαός μου, καὶ λαλήσω σοι· Ἰσραήλ, καὶ διαμαρτύρομαί σοι. ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς μου, οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ θεὸς πρόσφατος, οὐδὲ προσκυνήσεις θεῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ. ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου". ὁ αὑτὸν ἐπιδεικνὺς καὶ λέγων "ἐγώ εἰμι", οὐ δῆλός ἐστιν ἕνα θεὸν μόνον εἶναι λέγων, τουτέστιν ἑαυτόν; 77 τί οὖν; εἰ μὴ τῷ πνεύματι προσέχοντες δυνάμει ἀδιαίρετον τὴν μονάδα εἶναι νομίζοιμεν, ἆρα οὐχ ἁμαρτησόμεθα, σαφῶς τοῦ λόγου διδάσκοντος ἡμᾶς "κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις"; τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦ κατὰ Μᾶρκον Εὐαγγελίου κηρύττει· ἑνὸς γάρ τινος γραμματέως προσελθόντος αὐτῷ καὶ πυνθανομένου, τίς εἴη πρώτη τῶν ἐντολῶν, ἀπεκρίνατο πρὸς αὐτὸν οὕτως εἰπὼν "πάντων πρῶτον· ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν, καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου. αὕτη πρώτη· καὶ δευτέρα ὁμοία ταύτῃ· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. μείζων τούτων ἄλλη ἐντολὴ οὐκ ἔστιν. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ γραμματεύς· καλῶς, διδάσκαλε, ἐπ' ἀληθείας εἶπας ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πλὴν αὐτοῦ". ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν γραμματεὺς διὰ τοῦ νόμου τὴν θεοσέβειαν μεμαθηκέναι δοκῶν, ἐπαινῶν τὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ῥητὸν φαίνεται "ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ", λέγοντος "κύριος ὁ θεός σου εἷς ἐστιν" καὶ ὅρκῳ καλῶς εἰρῆσθαι πιστούμενος· "ἐπ' ἀληθείας" γάρ φησιν "εἶπας ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος πλὴν αὐτοῦ". οἱ δὲ τὰ τῆς νέας διαθήκης αὐχοῦντες εἰδέναι μυστήρια, οὗτοι καὶ δεύτερον ἀναπλάττειν θεὸν βούλονται ὑποστάσει καὶ δυνάμει χωριζόμενον τοῦ πατρός. 78 ὅτι δὲ τὴν μονάδα κύριον καὶ θεὸν οἶδεν καλεῖν ἡ θεία γραφή, ἤδη καὶ ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων δῆλον γέγονεν, δι' ὧν πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντα Μωσέα ὁ θεὸς ἔφη "εἶπεν δὲ ὁ θεὸς πάλιν πρὸς Μωσέα· οὕτως ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακώβ, ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς". ὁρᾷς ὅπως ἓν ἐπιδεικνὺς ἡμῖν ἐνταῦθα πρόσωπον τὸ αὐτὸ κύριον καὶ θεὸν προσαγορεύει. αὖθίς τε ὁμοίως ἡ γραφὴ λέγει "καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους λέγων· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ὁ ἐξαγαγών σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐξ οἴκου δουλείας. οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ"· ἀκούεις ὅπως διὰ τῆς ἀντωνυμίας ἕνα εἶναι θεὸν μόνον ἀποφαίνεται. καὶ αὖθις μικρὸν ὕστερον "ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου" φησίν, ἑαυτὸν κύριον καὶ θεὸν εἶναι λέγων. τί δὲ καὶ δι' ἑτέρας γραφῆς μανθάνομεν; "καὶ γνώσῃ σήμερον" φησὶν "καὶ οὐ διαστραφήσῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ, ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεός σου, οὗτος θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν αὐτοῦ". καὶ αὖθις ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ "ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ" φησὶν "κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν· καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης διανοίας". καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ "ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω· πατάξω καὶ ἰάσομαι". πῶς οὖν Ἀστέριος ταῖς ἁγίαις γραφαῖς ἁπλῶς καὶ ἐμφόβως ἀκολουθεῖν προσποιούμενος οὐκ ἔγνω τὸ μέρος τοῦτο λέγον "κύριος ὁ θεός σου, οὗτος θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι πλὴν