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of men to know the mysteries of impiety. 7. "The swords of the enemy have failed utterly, and you have destroyed cities." For he was stripped of his own weapons, not having the ministers of impiety; but they, having made themselves his instruments, these now having changed sides, have taken up the war against him. And the cities, too, with the impiety that formerly held sway in them being destroyed, have received the building up of piety. For it was among the impossible things to build up piety without first destroying impiety. This the divine Apostle also said: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age," and so forth. So each one does not rise with Christ before receiving communion with death. Wherefore the divine Paul also says: "For if we have been united together in the 80.925 likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." And again: "If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him." So also by destroying the impiety of the enemies He built up piety. "Their memorial has perished with a sound; [8] and the Lord endures forever." He, he says, has undergone a destruction that is manifest and exceedingly clear to all. For "with a sound" signifies this, from the metaphor of houses collapsing from some earthquake, and making a great noise. But our God and Master, he says, has eternal might, and an indestructible kingdom. "He has prepared his throne in judgment; [9] and he will judge the world in righteousness, he will judge the peoples in uprightness." For not only in the present life has he shown his own power, but also in the future will he show his dread tribunal, judging all men, and assigning to each what is according to his worth. 10. "And the Lord became a refuge for the poor, a helper in opportune times, in tribulations." The phrase, "in opportune times," Aquila translated as "in season," and Symmachus as "seasonably." But the text teaches that he worked out our salvation at a suitable time. For he calls human nature "poor," on account of the great poverty of lawlessness. The blessed Paul teaches the fitness of this time: "For when we were children," he says, "we were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." 11. "And let them who know your name hope in you, for you have not forsaken those who seek you, O Lord." The word "let them hope," Aquila and Symmachus rendered as "they will trust," using an indicative verb instead of an imperative. For, he says, when this salvation has come from you, those who have learned that you are creator and God will have their hopes in you. 12. "Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Sion." The prophet said this according to the ancient opinion of the Jews; but we have learned nevertheless from the apostolic teaching, that Sion is also heavenly. "For you have come," he says, "to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." - "Declare among the nations his doings 80.928." The word "doings" Symmachus rendered as "contrivances," and Aquila "exchanges." For in reality a very great exchange of things came to pass. Those formerly enemies are friends, those far off are near, slaves are sons, those in ignorance are in knowledge, those in darkness in light, the dead in hope of life, the poor are heirs of the kingdom of heaven; Jews are far away, and the gentiles are near; the sons are dogs, and the dogs are sons; and the contrivances of the Savior are befitting of God. For immortality was gifted through mortality, and life through death, honor through dishonor, blessing through a curse, salvation through a cross. These are the contrivances, these are the doings of our God. 13. "For he who seeks their blood has remembered; he has not forgotten the cry of the poor. "He who, he says, oversees all things, and precisely seeks out what is done, saw the deeds dared by the devil

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ἀνθρώπων εἰδέ ναι τὰ τῆς ἀσεβείας μυστήρια. ζʹ. "Τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἐξέλιπον αἱ ῥομφαῖαι εἰς τέλος, καὶ πόλεις καθεῖλες." Ἐγυμνώθη γὰρ τῶν οἰκείων ὅπλων, οὐκ ἔχων τῆς ἀσεβείας τοὺς ὑπουργούς· οἱ δὲ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐκείνου καταστήσαντες ὄργανα, οὗ τοι νῦν μεταταξάμενοι τὸν κατ' ἐκείνου πόλεμον ἀνεδέξαντο. Καὶ αἱ πόλεις δὲ, τῆς ἐν αὐταῖς πά λαι πολιτευομένης ἀσεβείας καταλυθείσης, εὐσε βείας τὴν οἰκοδομίαν ἀνεδέξαντο. Τῶν ἀδυνάτων γὰρ ἦν δείμασθαι τὴν εὐσέβειαν μὴ πρότερον καταλύσαντας τὴν ἀσέβειαν. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἔφη· "Ἐπεφάνη ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, διδάσκουσα ἡμᾶς ἵν' ἀρνησάμενοι τὴν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς ἐπιθυμίας, σωφρόνως καὶ εὐσεβῶς ζήσωμεν ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Οὕτως ἕκαστος οὐ πρότερον συνανίσταται τῷ Χριστῷ, πρὶν δέξασθαι τοῦ θανάτου τὴν κοινωνίαν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλός φησιν· "Εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ 80.925 ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀνα στάσεως ἐσόμεθα." Καὶ πάλιν· "Εἰ συναπεθάνο μεν, καὶ συζήσομεν." Οὕτω καὶ τῶν πολεμίων τὴν ἀσέβειαν καταλύσας ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν εὐσέβειαν. "Ἀπώλετο τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν μετ' ἤχου· [ηʹ] καὶ ὁ Κύριος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει." Ἐκεῖ νος μὲν, φησὶν, ἔκδηλον ἅπασι καὶ διαφανῆ λίαν ὑπομεμένηκε τὴν ἀπώλειαν. Τὸ γὰρ, μετ' ἤχου, τοῦτο σημαίνει, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἀπό τινος σεισμοῦ συμπιπτουσῶν οἰκιῶν, καὶ πολὺν ἐργαζομέ νων τὸν κτύπον. Ὁ δέ γε ἡμέτερος, φησὶ, Θεὸς καὶ ∆εσπότης αἰώνιον ἔχει τὸ κράτος, καὶ τὴν βασι λείαν ἀνώλεθρον. "Ἡτοίμασεν ἐν κρίσει τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ· [θʹ] καὶ αὐτὸς κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιο σύνῃ, κρινεῖ λαοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι." Οὐ γὰρ μόνον κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον τὴν οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἔδειξεν, ἀλλὰ κἀν τῷ μέλλοντι τὸ φρικῶδες αὑτοῦ δείξει κριτήριον, πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις δικάζων, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀπονέμων ἑκάστῳ. ιʹ. "Καὶ ἐγένετο Κύριος καταφυγὴ τῷ πένητι, βοηθὸς ἐν εὐκαιρίαις, ἐν θλίψεσι." Τὸ, ἐν εὐκαι ρίαις ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας εἰς καιρὸν, ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ἐπικαίρως ἡρμήνευσε. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς ἐν προσφόρῳ καιρῷ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐπραγματεύσατο σω τηρίαν. Πένητα γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν ἀποκαλεῖ, διὰ τὴν πολλὴν τῆς παρανομίας πτω χείαν. Τούτου τοῦ καιροῦ τὸ ἐπιτήδειον ὁ μα κάριος διδάσκει Παῦλος· "Ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν, φησὶ, νήπιοι, ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου ἦμεν δεδουλω μένοι· ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπ έστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν αὑτοῦ, γενόμενον ἐκ γυναι κὸς, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξ αγοράσῃ, ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν." ιαʹ. "Καὶ ἐλπισάτωσαν ἐπὶ σοὶ οἱ γινώσκοντες τὸ ὄνομά σου, ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπες τοὺς ἐκζητοῦντάς σε, Κύριε." Τὸ ἐλπισάτωσαν Ἀκύλας καὶ Σύμμαχος πεποιθήσουσιν εἶπον, ὁριστικῷ ἀντὶ προστακτι κοῦ χρησάμενοι ῥήματι. Ταύτης γὰρ, φησὶ, τῆς σω τηρίας παρὰ σοῦ γενομένης, οἱ ποιητήν σε καὶ Θεὸν μεμαθηκότες εἰς σὲ ἕξουσι τὰς ἐλπίδας. ιβʹ. "Ψάλατε τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ κατοικοῦντι ἐν Σιών." Κατὰ τὴν πάλαι τῶν Ἰουδαίων δόξαν τοῦτο εἴρηκεν ὁ προφήτης· μεμαθήκαμεν δ' ὅμως ἐκ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς διδασκαλίας, καὶ ἐπουράνιον εἶναι Σιών. "Προσεληλύθατε γὰρ, φησὶ, Σιὼν ὄρει, καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ." - "Ἀναγγείλατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα 80.928 αὐτοῦ." Τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ὁ Σύμμαχος μηχα νὰς εἶπεν, ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας ἐναλλαγάς. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ἐναλλαγὴ μεγίστη πραγμάτων ἐγένετο. Οἱ πάλαι ἐχθροὶ φίλοι, οἱ μακρὰν ἐγγὺς, οἱ δοῦλοι υἱοὶ, οἱ ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ ἐν γνώσει, ἐν φωτὶ οἱ ἐν σκότῳ, ἐν ἐλ πίδι ζωῆς οἱ νεκροὶ, οἱ πτωχοὶ κληρονόμοι τῆς βα σιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν· Ἰουδαῖοι πόῤῥω, καὶ τὰ ἔθνη πλησίον· οἱ υἱοὶ κύνες, καὶ οἱ κύνες υἱοί· καὶ αἱ μηχαναὶ δὲ τοῦ Σωτῆρος θεοπρεπεῖς. Ἀθανασία γὰρ διὰ θνητότητος ἐδωρήθη, καὶ διὰ θανάτου ζωὴ, δι' ἀτιμίας τιμὴ, εὐλογία διὰ κατάρας, διὰ σταυροῦ σωτηρία. Ταῦτα τὰ μηχανήματα, ταῦτα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα. ιγʹ. "Ὅτι ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὰ αἵματα αὐτῶν ἐμνήσθη, οὐκ ἐπελάθετο τῆς κραυγῆς τῶν πενήτων. "Ὁ πάντα, φησὶν, ἐφορῶν, καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐκζητῶν τὰ γινόμενα, εἶδε τὰς τολμωμένας ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου