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I had boldness toward you, Master; but now I have been stripped of this, and I have been deprived of cheerfulness. The slavery of pleasure has stripped me of boldness. Therefore, I beseech that my mind might receive its former governance, and might receive authority over the passions. [For here again he called the sovereign reason a governing spirit.] And what do you give me, O David, if you receive the Spirit? I will teach transgressors your ways, and the ungodly shall be converted to you. If I receive the Spirit, I speak to the world: All you nations, clap your hands; shout to God with the voice of joy. For the Lord is most high, terrible; a great king over all the earth. If I receive the Spirit, I say: Rule in the midst of your enemies. If I receive the Spirit, I say: He shall not give to God a ransom for himself, nor the price of the redemption of his soul; and again I say: Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation; and again: All iniquity shall stop her mouth. If I receive the Spirit, I say: Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. I will declare your benefits toward me, and I will say: Come, hear, and I will tell you, all you that fear God, what great things he has done for my soul. I will teach transgressors your ways, and the ungodly shall be converted to you. And where are the Jewish things? Do you not sacrifice sheep or calves to me? You do not seek these things. For sacrifice and offering you did not desire; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. You said: I will not take calves out of your house, nor he-goats out of your flocks. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise. You do not want these things, but you seek the things of your Son; you want the turning from error, and the choice of the truth; that is the sacrifice you want. Deliver me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation. [He continually turns his mind to the memory of the murder of Uriah. For he has shown this even in the preface, that My sin is always before me. My tongue shall rejoice in your justice. Symmachus interpreted this thus: My tongue shall proclaim your mercy. For I will not be silent, having enjoyed forgiveness, but I will continue praising you, and recounting your graces. O Lord, you shall open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise. For sin by nature binds the tongue, it stops the mouth. The prophet therefore implores, through forgiveness, to partake of his former boldness, and to move his tongue to hymnody. For if you had desired sacrifice, I would have given it; with whole-burnt offerings you will not be pleased. And these things are in harmony with what was said in the psalm before this. For we heard God saying there: I will not take calves out of your house. Therefore, having heard from the divine voice, he rightly said, 'For if you had desired sacrifice, I would have given it,' and what follows. For you, he says, have said that the sacrifices of irrational animals are not pleasing to you, for which reason I will also offer the sacrifice that is pleasing to you.] Since, therefore, I do not want these things, what do you give me? I have also another sacrifice, with which you were pleased; A sacrifice 55.587 to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise. [A pleasing victim, he says, and an acceptable offering to you, our God, is moderation of thought. Therefore, having greatly humbled my heart, and having as it were made it exceedingly fine, I will offer to you the pleasing sacrifice.] I will offer to you the sacrifice of humility; only loose my sin, give me the Holy Spirit. 10. For that this sacrifice is much better than the Jewish one, not only now, but was even then, I mean humility; for those three children, who in the Babylonian furnace made the flame as clay, the young and the old, the few and

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εἶχον πρὸς σὲ, ∆έσποτα, παῤῥησίαν· νῦν δὲ ταύτης γεγυμνωμένος, καὶ τῆς εὐθυμίας ἐστέρημαι. Ἐγύμνωσε δέ με τῆς παῤῥησίας ἡ δουλεία τῆς ἡδονῆς. ∆ιὸ ἱκετεύω τὴν προτέραν ἡγεμονίαν ἀπολαβεῖν μου τὸν νοῦν, καὶ τὴν κατὰ τῶν παθῶν ἀπολαβεῖν ἐξουσίαν. Πάλιν γὰρ ἐν ταῦθα πνεῦμα ἡγεμονικὸν ἐκάλεσε τὸν αὐτοκράτορα λο γισμόν.] Καὶ τί μοι δίδως, ὦ ∆αυΐδ, ἐὰν λάβῃς τὸ Πνεῦ μα; ∆ιδάξω ἀνόμους τὰς ὁδούς σου, καὶ ἀσεβεῖς ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπιστρέψουσιν. Ἐὰν λάβω τὸ Πνεῦμα, διαλέγομαι τῇ οἰ κουμένη· Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, κροτήσατε χεῖρας, ἀλαλά ξατε τῷ Θεῷ ἐν φωνῇ ἀγαλλιάσεως· ὅτι Κύριος ὕψι στος, φοβερὸς, βασιλεὺς μέγας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Ἐὰν λάβω τὸ Πνεῦμα, λέγω· Κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Ἐὰν λάβω τὸ Πνεῦμα, λέγω· Οὐ δώσει τῷ Θεῷ ἐξίλασμα ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῆς λυτρώ σεως τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν λέγω· Μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπι κρασμῷ· καὶ πάλιν· Πᾶσα ἀνομία ἐμφράξει τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς. Ἐὰν λάβω τὸ Πνεῦμα, λέγω· Ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν· ζήτησον εἰρήνην, καὶ δίωξον αὐτήν. ∆ιηγήσομαι τὰς εὐεργεσίας σου τὰς εἰς ἐμὲ, καὶ ἐρῶ· ∆εῦτε, ἀκούσατε, καὶ διηγήσομαι ὑμῖν, πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεὸν, ὅσα ἐποίησε τῇ ψυχῇ μου. ∆ιδάξω ἀνόμους τὰς ὁδούς σου, καὶ ἀσεβεῖς ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπιστρέψουσι. Καὶ τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ ποῦ εἰσιν; Οὐ θύεις μοι πρόβατα οὐδὲ μόσχους; Οὐ ζητεῖς ταῦτα. Θυσίαν γὰρ καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας· ὁλοκαυτώ ματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ἐζήτησας. Σὺ εἶπας· Οὐ δέξομαι ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου σου μόσχους, οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ποιμνίων σου χιμάρους. Θῦσον τῷ Θεῷ θυσίαν αἰ νέσεως. Οὐ θέλεις ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ ζητεῖς τὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ σου· θέλεις τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν τῆς πλάνης, καὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς ἀληθείας· ἐκείνην θέλεις τὴν θυσίαν. Ῥῦσαί με ἐξ αἱ μάτων, ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τῆς σωτηρίας μου. [Συνεχῶς ἐπὶ τῇ μνήμῃ περιστρέφει τοῦ Οὐρίου τὸν φόνον. Τοῦτο γὰρ κἀν τῷ προοιμίῳ δεδήλωκεν, ὅτι Ἡ ἁμαρτία μου ἐνώπιόν μου ἐστὶ διὰ παντός. Ἀγαλλιάσεται ἡ γλῶσσά μου τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου. Τοῦτο ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσε· ∆ιαλαλήσει ἡ γλῶσσά μου τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην σου. Οὐ γὰρ σιγήσω τῆς ἀφέσεως ἀπο λαύσας, ἀλλ' ὑμνῶν σε διατελέσω, καὶ τὰς σὰς διηγούμε νος χάριτας. Κύριε, τὰ χείλη μου ἀνοίξεις, καὶ τὸ στόμα μου ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν αἴνεσίν σου. Ἡ γὰρ ἁμαρ τία πέφυκε τὴν γλῶτταν δεσμεῖν, ἐμφράττειν τὸ στόμα. Ἀντιβολεῖ τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης, διὰ τῆς ἀφέσεως τῆς προ τέρας παῤῥησίας μεταλαχεῖν, καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν εἰς ὑμν ωδίαν κινῆσαι. Ὅτι εἰ ἠθέλησας θυσίαν, ἔδωκα ἄν· ὁλοκαυτώματα οὐκ εὐδοκήσεις. Συνᾴδει καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου ψαλμῷ. Ἀκηκόαμεν γὰρ ἐκεῖ τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγοντος· Οὐ δέξομαι ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου σου μόσχους. Τοιγάρτοι παρὰ τῆς θείας ἀκούσας φωνῆς, εἰκότως ἔφη, Ὅτι εἰ ἠθέλησας θυσίαν, ἔδωκα ἂν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Σὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, εἴρηκας μὴ θυμήρεις εἶναί σοι τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων θυσίας, οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ τὴν ἀρέσκουσάν σοι θυσίαν προσοίσω.] Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ θέλω ταῦτα, τί μοι δίδως; Ἔχω καὶ ἄλλην θυσίαν, ἢν ηὐδόκησας· Θυσία 55.587 τῷ Θεῷ, πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον· καρδίαν συντε τριμμένην καὶ τεταπεινωμένην ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἐξουδενώ σει. [Ἱερεῖον, φησὶν, ἀρεστὸν, καὶ θυμῆρές σοι τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν, μετριότης φρονήματος. ∆ιὸ σφόδρα τὴν καρδίαν μου ταπεινώσας, καὶ οἱονεὶ λίαν αὐτὴν λεπτύνας, τὴν ἀρεστήν σοι θυσίαν προσκομιῶ.] Θύσω σοι θυσίαν τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην· μόνον λῦσόν μου τὸ ἁμάρτημα, δός μοι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. ιʹ. Ὅτι γὰρ αὕτη ἡ θυσία πολὺ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς οὐ μόνον ἐστὶ νῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τότε ἦν βελτίων, λέγω δὲ τὴν ταπει νοφροσύνην· οἱ παῖδες γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι οἱ τρεῖς, οἱ ἐν τῇ Βα βυλωνίᾳ καμίνῳ τὴν φλόγα πηλὸν ἐργασάμενοι, οἱ νέοι καὶ γεγηρακότες, οἱ ὀλίγοι καὶ