A saying. For either the Lord of the one whose steps are directed desires his way, and accepts the journey which he makes according to the law, not desiring the way of the wicked, or of those who walk crookedly; or he himself, whose steps are directed by the Lord, desires the way of the Lord, having tasted, in his steps being directed, of the sweetness of the way, in which he would be directed by the Lord. But it is perhaps better to understand that the Lord will desire the way of man, that is, he will make it desirable and accept it. For just as he holds the ways of the lawless as undesirable, so he makes the ways of those who do good desirable. But what is pleasing to God, this is certainly also excellent, and full of all praise. For God would not have desired what is not so. But those from the heresies are indeed in steps, yet not directed by the Lord, but made crooked by the evil one; they turn aside to the right and to the left, not being content with simple faith, but thinking more deeply, yet not truly. Whose way the Lord does not desire, because their steps are not of men, but of a beast or a reptile or a domestic animal. Verse 24. When he falls he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds his hand. Those who wrestle in the contests have fallen the first time, have won the three. Concerning these you might say in a physical sense, that: He has fallen, but he is not broken, for he has conquered after falling. If you see a man who has been conquered, and after being conquered has not given himself over to licentiousness for the working of all uncleanness, but has risen up, remembering the Scripture: Does not he who falls rise again? Or does he who turns away not return? say that, such a one, having fallen, was not utterly cast down. But if after falling he gives up, he was utterly cast down. It is good, then, to be an athlete who does not fall, and, so I might name it from the examples, uninterrupted, ungirt. But if he has fallen, let him rise up. For those are mourned who have fallen, and after sinning have become callous, and have given themselves over to every sin. Among the beardless, among men be crowned. Have you fallen among children? Compete in the contest of the beardless, and be victorious in it. In the womb Jacob supplanted Esau; from a child Daniel prophesied, and convicted the 17.136 elders. Are you not able to become such a one? Become the next athlete, like the righteous man, who, even if he falls while wrestling or running, is not utterly cast down, because the Lord upholds his hand. The saying is ambiguous: for whether it is his own hand, or that of the one wrestling and already about to be utterly cast down, so that he may not fall completely on his face, and lie wholly on the ground. Verse 25. I have been young; and indeed I have grown old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken. But we know of another age according to the inner man, that of a child, of a youth, of an old man. For instance, those who lived longer than Abraham before him are not called elders; but he himself was first called an elder on account of virtue, and because his inner man had done away with the things of a child. And hear Jeremiah: Do not say, that I am a youth. Understand something like this for me concerning David also: A child, he says, I became according to my inner man. But changing from a youthful and unsteady character, according to which, being young in my ways, I was young, I came to old age, having a spotless life and grey-haired wisdom. And having thus progressed, I have not seen the righteous forsaken. If you hear it physically, it is a falsehood. But there are two kinds of forsaking: the one physical, which does not harm us at all; the other of the soul, which is destructive. Therefore, as much as we are rich in righteous works, so much the more are we helped so as not to be forsaken until the end. Wherefore he did not say, having been forsaken, but remaining forsaken. Since, for a time even the righteous are forsaken, like Job, so that he might be revealed as righteous. PSALM 41. Verse 10. I will say to God: You are my helper. Why have you forgotten me? And why do I go mourning, while the enemy oppresses me? Verse 11. While my bones are being broken, my enemies reproach me in that they say to me every day: Where is your God? But do we not all see how God has mercy? And often towards things according to mercy

λέξις. Ἢ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος τοῦ κατευθυνομένου τοῖς διαβήμασι θέλει τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ ἀποδέχε ται ἣν ποιεῖται κατὰ τὸν νόμον πορείαν, μὴ θέλων ὁδὸν ἀσεβῶν, ἢ λοξῶς πορευομένων· ἢ αὐτὸς, οὗ τὰ διαβήματα ὑπὸ Κυρίου κατευθύνεται, θέλει τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ Κυρίου, γευσάμενος, ἐν τῷ κατευθύνεσθαι αὐτοῦ ὡς τὰ διαβήματα, τῆς γλυκύτητος τῆς κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν, ἐν ᾗ κατευθυνθείη ὑπὸ Κυρίου. Ἄμεινον δὲ ἴσως νοεῖν, ὅτι ὁ Κύριος θελήσει τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώ που, τουτέστι ποιήσεται θελητὴν καὶ ἀποδέξεται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀνεθελήτους ἔχει τὰς τῶν παρανόμων ὁδοὺς, οὕτω ποιεῖται θελητὰς τὰς τῶν ἀγαθουργούν των. Ὃ δὲ ἀρέσκει Θεῷ, τοῦτο πάντως ἐστὶ καὶ ἐξαί ρετον, καὶ παντὸς ἐπαίνου μεστόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἠθέλησε Θεὸς τὸ μὴ οὕτως ἔχον. Οἵ γε μὴν ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων γίνονται μὲν ἐν διαβήμασιν, οὐ μὴν κατευθυνουμέ νοις ὑπὸ Κυρίου, ἀλλὰ λελοξωμένοις ὑπὸ τοῦ πονη ροῦ· ἐκκλίνουσι δεξιὰ καὶ ἀριστερὰ, μὴ ἀρκούμενοι ψιλῇ τῇ πίστει, νοοῦντες δὲ βαθύτερον μὲν, οὐκ ἀλη θὲς δέ. Ὧν τὴν ὁδὸν οὐ θέλει Κύριος, ὅτι οὐκ ἀνθρώ πων αὐτῶν τὰ διαβήματα, ἀλλὰ θηρὸς ἢ ἑρπετοῦ ἢ κτήνους. Στίχ. κδʹ. Ὅταν πέσῃ οὐ καταῤῥαχθήσεται, ὅτι Κύριος ἀντιστηρίζει χεῖρα αὐτοῦ. Οἱ ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσι παλαίοντες πεπτώκασι τὸ πρῶ τον, νενικήκασι τὰ τρία. Ἐπὶ τούτοις εἴποις ἂν κατὰ τὸ σωματικὸν, ὅτι· Πέπτωκεν, οὐ κατεῤῥάγη δὲ, νενί κηκε γὰρ μετὰ τὸ πεσεῖν. Ἐὰν ἴδῃς ἄνθρωπον νενι κημένον, καὶ μετὰ τὸ νενικῆσθαι οὐ παραδόντα ἑαυ τὸν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας πάσης, ἀναστάντα δὲ, ὑπομνησθέντα τῆς Γραφῆς· Μὴ ὁ πεσὼν οὐκ ἀνίσταται; ἢ ὁ ἀποστρέφων οὐκ ἐπιστρέφει; λέγε, ὅτι, πεσὼν ὁ τοιοῦτος, οὐ κατ εῤῥάχθη. Ἐὰν δὲ μετὰ τὸ πεσεῖν ἀπαυδήσῃ, κα τεῤῥάχθη. Καλὸν μὲν οὖν ἀθλητὴς εἶναι ἄπτωτος, καὶ ἵνα οὕτως ὀνομάσω ἀπὸ τῶν παραδειγμάτων, ἀμεσολάβητος, ἀσυνέζωστος. Εἰ δὲ πέπτωκεν, ἀναστή τω. Πενθοῦνται γὰρ οἱ πεσόντες, καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἁμαρ τῆσαι ἀπαλγήσαντες, καὶ παραδόντες ἑαυτοὺς πάσῃ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ἐν ἀγενείων, ἐν ἀνδράσι στεφανώθητι. Πέπτωκας ἐν παισί; τὸν ἀγένειον ἀγώνισαι, καὶ νί κησον ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπτέρνισε τὸν Ἠσαῦ ὁ Ἰακώβ· ἐκ παιδὸς ὁ ∆ανιὴλ προεφήτευσε, καὶ τοὺς 17.136 πρεσβυτέρους ἤλεγξεν. Οὐ δύνασαι τοιοῦτος γενέ σθαι; Γενοῦ ἑξῆς ἀθλητὴς, ὡς ὁ δίκαιος, ὃς, κἂν πέσῃ παλαίων ἢ τρέχων, οὐ καταῤῥήγνυται, ὅτι Κύριος ἀντιστηρίζει χεῖρα αὐτοῦ. Ἀμφίβολος ἡ λέξις· πό τερον γὰρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, ἢ τὴν τοῦ παλαίοντος καὶ ἤδη μέλλοντος καταῤῥήγνυσθαι, ἵνα μὴ ὅλως ἔλθῃ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον, καὶ γένηται χαμαὶ ὅλος κείμενος. Στίχ. κεʹ. Νεώτερος ἐγενόμην· καὶ γὰρ ἐγήρασα· καὶ οὐκ εἶδον δίκαιον ἐγκαταλελειμμένον. Ἑτέρως δὲ ἴσμεν ἡλικίαν κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, παιδίου, νεανίσκου, γέροντος. Πρὸ γοῦν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οἱ πολυχρονιώτεροι αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἴρηνται πρεσβύτεροι· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς πρῶτος δι' ἀρετὴν πρεσβύτερος ἐχρημάτι σε, καὶ διὰ τὸ τὸν ἔσω αὐτοῦ ἄνθρωπον κατηργηκέ ναι τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. Καὶ Ἱερεμίου ἄκουε· Μὴ λέ γετε, ὅτι νεώτερος ἐγώ εἰμι. Τοιοῦτόν τί μοι νόει καὶ περὶ τοῦ ∆αβίδ· Νήπιος, φησὶν, ἐγενόμην κατὰ τὸν ἔσω μου ἄνθρωπον. Μεταβαλὼν δὲ ἐκ νεαροῦ ἤθους καὶ ἀβεβαίου, καθ' ὃν νεωτερίζων νεώτερος ἤμην, εἰς γῆρας ἦλθον, βίον ἀκηλίδωτον ἔχων καὶ πολιὰν φρόνησιν. Καὶ οὕτω προκόψας, οὐκ εἶδον δί καιον ἐγκαταλελειμμένον. Ἐὰν σωματικῶς ἀκούῃς, ψεῦδός ἐστι. ∆ύο δέ εἰσιν ἐγκαταλείψεις· ἡ μὲν σω ματικὴ, ἥτις οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς βλάπτει· ἡ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἥτις ὀλέθριός ἐστιν. Ὅσον μὲν οὖν πλουτοῦμεν ἐν ἔργοις δικαίοις, τοσοῦτον μᾶλλον βοηθούμεθα πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐγκαταλείπεσθαι μέχρι τέλους. ∆ιὸ οὐκ εἶ πεν, ἐγκαταλειφθέντα, ἀλλ' ἐγκαταλελειμμένον. Ἐπεὶ, πρὸς καιρὸν καὶ ἐγκαταλιμπάνονται δίκαιοι, ὡς ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἵνα ἀναφανῇ δίκαιος. ΨΑΛ. ΜΑʹ. Στίχ. ιʹ. Ἐρῶ Θεῷ· Ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ ∆ιὰ τί μου ἐπελάθου; Καὶ ἵνα τί σκυθρωπάζων πορεύομαι, ἐν τῷ ἐκθλίβειν τὸν ἐχθρόν; Στίχ. ιαʹ. Ἐν τῷ καταθλᾶσθαι τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, ὠνεί διζόν με οἱ ἐχθροί μου ἐν τῷ λέγειν αὐτούς μοι καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν· Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός σου; Οὐχ ὁρῶμεν δὲ πάντες πῶς ἐλεεῖ ὁ Θεός. Καὶ πολ λάκις πρὸς τὰ κατ' ἐλεημοσύνην