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to sin. But the prophet is not such a one, who indeed says: "I did not sit in the council of those who make sport." 72 He has emptied, he says, every one of his arrows against me, wounding my desire and not allowing me to do as I wish. 73 And in scripture, the reins are the desiring faculty, and the arrows are the shafts. And then they reviled me as a liar, making me a song. And he had already said: "I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness," and what follows. For he was praying for them, but they were plotting, and yet it was not possible to refuse the ministry. Therefore he was embittered both suffering at their hands and grieving with those who suffer; and being greatly vexed with the impious. 74 By a pebble, he says, or by number, with each tooth being struck against the jaw, or with a hard stone. And according to David he says: "I ate my bread with ashes," showing that from affliction he did not even take bread with pleasure. It was not possible, therefore, for the soul to be at peace, being troubled itself and moreover seeing tumults without, conflicts within. Wherefore, hoping for nothing good, I uttered the words of Job: "Mercy has forsaken me, and my hope from the Lord." For it was not possible to overcome the surrounding terrors. 75 For being good to all, he demands patience from us. For to the soul that will seek him, it is good to seek, that it might wait untroubled, until mercy should come, nor be moved, until the salvation of the Lord should appear, to hope in another. Perhaps he also says it will be at rest, not meddling with the judgments of providence. Therefore, even if we are ignorant, we must not rebel against the Lord. 76 Because "his yoke is easy and his burden is light." Therefore even if no one agrees with him about something, one must not be led astray, but even if one is isolated in this, one must persevere in what has been decided and be firmly established. For "the Lord," says David, "makes the solitary to dwell in a house," and "I am alone, until I pass by," that is, having obtained loving-kindness, the temptations. 77 For he will humble himself saying: "But I am earth and ashes," if he is truly a man, and is filled with the hope that does not put to shame, such as "my soul has cleaved to the ground." 78 This is also fitting for those in captivity who say the things in the seventy-third Psalm: "Why, O God, have you cast us off forever? Has your wrath been kindled against the sheep of your pasture?" And in harmony is "the Lord will not cast off forever, nor will he be angry for eternity." But he will say to the one who has repented worthily: "Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears." 79 Through these things we learn that the Lord has not said, nor is he the cause, that the prisoners of the earth are humbled by sin, nor that human judgments incline before God, for he loves what is just and right, nor that it is worthy to condemn a man. For opposites, he says, cannot come forth from the mouth of the Lord, good things and evil. For "neither does a good tree bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit." Therefore, for men to be wronged by evil men is contrary to the divine judgment, yet it happens among those who are overlooked by God, just as it happened to the Israelites by their enemies, and it is loosed in repentance to God. Therefore those handed over for punishment must seek this. 80 In vain then, murmuring, do we refer the cause to the Creator. This a living man cannot do. For such a choice belongs to those dead in sins, unless it convicts the one who lives in sin and blames God. Therefore, since we have no other cause than ourselves alone, having judged the things that came from ourselves, let us turn back. 81 For it is not possible for one who is ignorant of himself to turn to the Lord. But one knows oneself by bringing the mind to bear on one's actions, both by examining them and by performing them intelligently. For then "with unveiled face we behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord," and confessing the things of before, we will say that "we have sinned and acted lawlessly by departing from you," and "that you are just in all that you have brought upon us." 82 To lift up hearts upon hands seems to mean that, as it were, taking our own thoughts with our hands, we should examine them, if indeed

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ἁμαρτεῖν. ἀλλ' οὐ τοιοῦτος ὁ προφήτης, ὅς γέ φησιν· «οὐκ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου παιζόντων». 72 Πᾶν αὐτοῦ, φησί, βέλος ἐκένωσε κατ' ἐμοῦ, τὴν ἐμὴν τιτρώσκων ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ μὴ συγχωρῶν μοι πράττειν ὡς βούλομαι. 73 Νεφροὶ δὲ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν, ἰοὶ δὲ τὰ βέλη. καί με λοιπὸν ὡς ψεύστην διέσυρον ᾠδήν με ποιήσαντες. καὶ φθάσας δὲ ἔλεγε· «κατὰ μόνας ἐκαθήμην, ὅτι πικρίας ἐνεπλήσθην» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐδεῖτο ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, οἱ δὲ ἐπεβούλευον, καὶ ὅμως τὴν διακονίαν οὐκ ἦν παραιτήσασθαι. ἐπικραίνετο τοίνυν καὶ πά σχων ὑπ' αὐτῶν <καὶ> πάσχουσι συναλγῶν· καὶ ἀσεβοῦσιν ὑπερα χθόμενος. 74 Ψήφῳ φησὶν ἢ ἀριθμῷ, καθ' ἕκαστον ὀδόντα παιομένου κατὰ τῆς σιαγόνος, ἢ λίθῳ σκληρῷ. καὶ κατὰ τὸν ∆αβὶδ δέ φησι· «μετὰ σποδοῦ ἄρτον μου ἤσθιον», τὸ μηδὲ ἄρτον σὺν ἡδονῇ λαμβάνειν δη λῶν ὑπὸ θλίψεως. οὐκ ἦν οὖν εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν εἰρήνῃ , αὐτὴν ταραττομένην καὶ προσέτι βλέπουσαν ἔξωθεν θορύβους, ἔσωθεν μάχας. διὸ μηδὲν ἐλπίσας χρηστόν, τὰς Ἰὼβ ἀφῆκα φωνάς· «ἀπείπατό με ἔλεος, καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου παρὰ κυρίου». οὐ γὰρ ἦν νικῆσαι τὰ περιεστῶτα δεινά. 75 Πρὸς πάντας γὰρ ὢν ἀγαθὸς τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ὑπομονὴν ἀπαι τεῖ. τῇ γὰρ ψυχῇ, ἣ ζητήσει αὐτόν, ἀγαθὸν τὸ ζητεῖν, ἥτις ὑπο μένοι μὴ ταραττομένη, μέχρι τὸ ἔλεος ἀπαντήσειεν, μηδὲ μεθισταμένη, μέχρι τὸ σωτήριον ἐπιφανείη κυρίου , εἰς τὸ ἐλπίζειν εἰς ἕτερον. ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἡσυχάσει λέγει μὴ πολυπραγμονοῦσα τῆς προνοίας τὰ κρίματα. δεῖ τοίνυν, κἂν ἀγνοῶμεν, μὴ ἀφηνιάσαι κυρίου. 76 Ὅτι «ὁ ζυγὸς αὐτοῦ χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον ἐλαφρόν». κἂν οὖν μηδεὶς αὐτῷ συναινῇ περί του, δεῖ μὴ συναπάγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ κἂν μονωθῇ πρὸς τοῦτο, τοῖς δεδογμένοις ἐγκαρτερεῖν καὶ ἐνιδρῦσθαι βεβαίως. «κύριος» γὰρ «κατοικίζει μονοτρόπους ἐν οἴκῳ» φησὶν ὁ ∆αβίδ, καὶ «κατὰ μόνας εἰμὶ ἐγώ, ἕως οὗ παρέλθω», δηλονότι τοὺς πειρασμοὺς φιλανθρωπίας τυχών. 77 Ταπεινώσει γὰρ ἑαυτὸν φάσκων· «ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός», εἴπερ ὄντως ἐστὶν ἀνήρ , καὶ τῆς μὴ καταισχυνούσης ἐλπίδος πε πλήρωται, ὁποῖον καὶ τὸ «ἐκολλήθη τῷ ἐδάφει ἡ ψυχή μου». 78 Ἁρμόζει τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ λέγοντας τὰ ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ τρίτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «ἱνατί, ὁ θεός, ἀπώσω εἰς τέλος; ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου;» σύμφωνον δὲ τὸ «οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἀπώσεται κύριος οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μηνιεῖ»· ἐρεῖ δὲ τῷ πρὸς ἀξίαν μετανοήσαντι· «διαλειπέτω ἡ φωνή σου ἀπὸ κλαυθμοῦ, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ἀπὸ δακρύων». 79 ∆ιὰ τούτων μανθάνομεν μὴ εἰρηκέναι τὸν κύριον μηδὲ αἴτιον εἶναι τοῦ ταπεινωθῆναι τοὺς δεσμίους τῆς γῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, οὐδὲ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα κρίματα ἐγκλίνειν κατέναντι τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ἀγαπᾷ καὶ εὐθύ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦ ἄξιον γενέσθαι καταδικάσαι ἄνθρωπον · οὐ γὰρ δύναται, φησί, τὰ ἐναντία ἐκ στόματος κυρίου ἐξεληλυθέναι, τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὸ κακόν · οὔτε γὰρ «δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς πονηροὺς ποιεῖ, οὔτε δένδρον πονηρὸν καρποὺς ἀγαθούς». τὸ οὖν ἀδικεῖσθαι ἄνδρας ὑπὸ πονηρῶν παρὰ τὴν θείαν κρίσιν ἐστί, γίνεται δὲ ὅμως ἐν τοῖς περιορωμένοις ὑπὸ θεοῦ, καθὰ τοῖς Ἰσραηλί ταις ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων συνέβη, καὶ ἐν ἐπιστροφῇ θεοῦ λύεται. διὸ χρὴ ταύτην ἀναζητεῖν τοὺς ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ παραδοθέντας. 80 Μάτην ἄρα γογγύζοντες ἐπὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν τὴν αἰτίαν ἀνά γομεν· ὅπερ ὁ ζῶν ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔχει ποιεῖν· νεκρῶν γὰρ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἡ τοιαύτη προαίρεσις, εἰ μὴ ἄρα διελέγχει τὸν ζῶντα καθ' ἁμαρτίαν , καὶ θεὸν αἰτιώμενον. ὡς οὖν ἑτέραν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχοντες ἢ μόνους ἑαυτούς, τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν γενόμενα κρίναντες ἐπιστρέψωμεν . 81 Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς κύριον τὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοή σαντα· ἐπιγινώσκει δέ τις ἑαυτόν, ἐπάγων ταῖς πράξεσι τὴν διάνοιαν, ἅμα μὲν ἐπισκοπῶν αὐτάς, ἅμα δὲ καὶ νοερὰς ἐργαζόμενος. τότε γὰρ «ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα» καὶ τὰ πρὶν ἐξομολογούμενοι λέξομεν ὅτι «ἡμάρτομεν καὶ ἠνομήσαμεν ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ σοῦ» καὶ «ὅτι δίκαιος εἶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ἐπήγαγες ἡμῖν». 82 Τὸ ἀναλαβεῖν καρδίας ἐπὶ χειρῶν δοκεῖ δηλοῦν τὸ οἱονεὶ μετὰ χεῖρας λαβόντες τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐννοίας ἐξετάσωμεν, εἴπερ