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concerning each of them: His righteousness endures forever and ever. And since a stele is otherwise called a place where writings are set up concerning laws, which they call "kyrbikas" and tablets, one must also speak thus of the inscription of the saints, which teachings they have handed down, written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of fleshly hearts, that is, those that are well-disposed and readily receptive to the writing. And as for the matters of the inscription of the psalm, we will know them as God reveals them. 91 Ps 15,1b.2 Since I have hope in you, O master, Preserve me; for thus I will be able to continue unharmed, with myriads of enemies, both visible and invisible, lying in wait. Having prayed these things, he added, I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord.’ Who that is sinning can speak this utterance truthfully? For being a slave to the sin that he commits, he cannot serve God; for No one, he says, can serve two masters. It might also be said in another way concerning the text at hand. The apostle writes that No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit, the saying in this case being accomplished by action and disposition. For if it were taken as a mere utterance, it would not be true, since myriads of heretics and hypocrites say the mere utterance and certainly do not have the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Savior himself says: Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord;’ and I, he says, will declare to them, ‘Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you.’ And again: Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say? As, therefore, the one who says ‘Jesus is Lord’ in the Holy Spirit, not by mere utterance but by zealous work and disposition, is truly a servant, so as to hear with the apostles, ‘You call me, "the Lord" and "the Teacher," and you say well, for so I am;’ thus the one who proclaims the present words with an active and contemplative life, for which he has erected an indestructible stele, cries out, I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord.’ And since you are my Lord, from your doctrines I offer you gifts, not as to one who is in need or wanting; for I know that having no need of our good things, you receive them in order to bestow exceedingly more and greater things. And not only concerning things offered sensibly, but also spiritually, is this utterance to be offered. For we also offer virtues as a sacrifice, and even our own bodies through complete self-control. We know that God receives them, not for his own benefit, but so that he might give to us who ask him the good things from heaven. For for what reason does God seek human virtue, if not to bestow worthy things in return for what we have offered to him? 92 Ps 15,3a The saints of God live upon his land. And this is the heavenly Jerusalem upon which they come to be, having their citizenship in heaven, even if they still live on earth. 93 Ps 15,4bc He does not say absolutely that he will not gather their assemblies, but 'From blood;' nor does he say without qualification that he will not be mindful of their names, but 'Through my lips.' Is it not then that, since there are some who gather assemblies from blood, shedding it by harming those who are gathered, he himself, helping—or rather, giving life to—those who are called, gathers them not from blood but from immortality, being mindful of their names not superficially but from a disposition having depth. It will also be said thus: even if many prophets and apostles were killed, their blood having been shed, yet not in these many bloods will I gather their assemblies, but in the one blood alone of the blameless and spotless lamb, Christ; for to this has honor been given, that they might be redeemed from their futile way of life handed down from their fathers. Of those so redeemed he will be mindful not with utterance alone but with deep understanding. 94Ps 15,5a The one who by disposition has become above the whole world has no other portion and inheritance than God; therefore one must renounce all things so that one might be able to say, God is my portion forever and ever. And just as of the inheritance, so also of the cup that gladdens the just, the Lord is the portion. It is worthy to consider how the Lord becomes someone's cup. Perhaps, then, by providing moral teaching and by this nourishing the hidden man

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περὶ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν· ̔Η δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἑτέρως λέγεται στήλη, ενθα γραφαὶ ἀνάκεινται περὶ νόμων ας καλοῦσιν κυρβικὰς καὶ πίνακας, λεκτέον καὶ ουτως στηλογραφίαν τῶν ἁγίων, ας παραδεδώκασιν διδασκαλίας γραφείσας οὐκ ἐν πλαξὶν λιθίναις ἀλλ' ἐν πλαξὶν καρδίαις σαρκίναις, τουτέστιν εὐέκτοις καὶ εὐπαραδέκτως ἐχούσαις πρὸς τὴν γραφήν. οπως δ' εχει τὰ τῆς προγραφῆς τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, θεοῦ φανεροῦντος εἰσόμεθα. 91 Ps 15,1b.2 ̓Επεὶ σὲ ἐλπίδα εχω, ω δέσποτα, Φύλαξόν με· ουτως γὰρ ἀβλαβῶς διατελέσαι δυνήσομαι, μυρίων ἐφεδρευόντων ἐχθρῶν ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων. ταῦτα εὐξάμενος ἐπήγαγεν τὸ Ειπα τῷ κυρίῳ Κύριός μου ει σύ. τίς ἁμαρτάνων δύναται ἐπαληθεῦσαι τῇ φωνῇ; δοῦλος γὰρ ων ης ποιεῖ ἁμαρτίας οὐ δύναται δουλεύειν θεῷ· Οὐδεὶς γὰρ δύναται, φησίν, δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν. Λεχθείη καὶ ἑτέρως εἰς τὸ προκείμενον. γράφει ὁ ἀπόστολος ὡς Οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν Κύριος ̓Ιησοῦς εἰ μὴ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, τοῦ λέγειν ἐν τούτοις γινομένου πράξει καὶ διαθέσει. εἰ γὰρ ψιλῶς ἐκληφθείη, ἀληθὲς οὐκ εσται, μυρίων αἱρετικῶν καὶ ὑποκριτῶν λεγόντων ψιλὴν τὴν προφορὰν καὶ οὐ δήπου πνεῦμα αγιον ἐχόντων. φησὶν γοῦν αὐτὸς ὁ σωτήρ· Πολλοὶ ἐροῦσίν μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ Κύριε κύριε· κἀγώ, φησίν, ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ̓Αποχωρεῖτε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἐργάται ἀνομίας, οὐδέποτε ὑμᾶς εγνων. καὶ πάλιν· Τί με λέγετε Κύριε κύριε καὶ οὐ ποιεῖτε α λέγω; ὡς τοίνυν ὁ λέγων κύριον ̓Ιησοῦν ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ οὐ ψιλῇ προφορᾷ ἀλλ' εργῳ σπουδαίῳ καὶ διαθέσει ἀληθῶς δοῦλός ἐστιν, ὡς ἀκοῦσαι μετὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ̔Υμεῖς φωνεῖτέ με ̔Ο κύριος καὶ ̔Ο διδάσκαλος καὶ καλῶς λέγετε, εἰμὶ γάρ· ουτως ὁ τὰ προκείμενα ἀπαγγέλλων πρακτικῷ καὶ θεωρητικῷ βίῳ ῳ εστησεν ἀκατάλυτον στήλην βοᾷ Ειπα τῷ κυρίῳ Κύριός μου ει σύ. Καὶ ἐπεὶ κύριός μου τυγχάνεις, ἐκ τῶν σῶν δογμάτων προσάγω σοι δῶρα οὐχ ὡς ἐνδεεῖ η χρῄζοντι· οιδα γὰρ ὡς οὐκ εχων χρείαν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν δέχῃ αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τῷ καθ' ὑπερβολὴν πλείονα καὶ μείζονα χαρίσασθαι. οὐ μόνον δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶς προσαγομένων ἀλλὰ καὶ πνευματικῶς προσενεκτέα ἡ φωνή. καὶ γὰρ ἀρετὰς ἱερουργοῦμεν, καν τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα διὰ παντελῶς σωφροσύνης. ισμεν οτι δέχεται αὐτὰ ὁ θεός, οὐκ εἰς ἰδίαν ὠφέλειαν ἀλλ' οπως ἡμῖν δῷ τὰ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἀγαθὰ αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν· τίνος γὰρ χάριν ζητεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀρετήν, οὐχ ινα τὰ ἐπάξια χαρίσηται ἀνθ' ων αὐτῷ προσηγάγομεν; 92 Ps 15,3a Οἱ θεοῦ αγιοι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ διατρίβουσιν. εστι δὲ αυτη ἡ ἐπουράνιος ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ ἐφ' ην γίνονται ἐν οὐρανῷ τὸ πολίτευμα εχοντες, καν ἐν γῇ ετι διατρίβωσιν. 93 Ps 15,4bc Οὐ καθάπαξ λέγει μὴ συνάξειν τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν ἀλλ' ̓Εξ αἱμάτων· οὐδ' ἀπολελυμένως λέγει μὴ μνησθήσεσθαι τῶν ὀνομάτων αὐτῶν ἀλλ' η ∆ιὰ χειλέων μου. μήποτ' ουν ἐπεί εἰσίν τινες συνάγοντες συναγωγὰς ἐξ αἱμάτων, ἐκχέοντες αὐτὰς διὰ τοῦ βλάπτειν τοὺς συναγομένους, αὐτὸς ὠφελῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ ζωοποιῶν τοὺς προκαλουμένους, οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀθανασίας συνάγει αὐτούς, τῶν προσηγοριῶν αὐτῶν μεμνημένος οὐκ ἐξ ἐπιπολῆς ἀλλ' διαθέσεως βάθος ἐχούσης. Λελέξεται καὶ ουτως· εἰ καὶ πολλοὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι, ἐκχυθέντος τοῦ αιματος αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς πολλοῖς αιμασιν συνάξω τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν ἀλλ' ̣ μόνῳ ἑνὶ αιματι ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου Χριστοῦ· τοῦτο γὰρ τιμὴ δέδοται, ινα λυτρωθῶσιν ἐκ τῆς ματαίας πατροπαραδότου αὐτῶν ἀναστροφῆς. τῶν ουτω λελυτρωμένων μεμνήσεται οὐ προφορᾷ μόνῃ ἀλλὰ βαθείᾳ νοήσει. 94Ps 15,5a ̔Ο ἀνωτέρω παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου γεγονὼς διαθέσει οὐδὲν ετερον μερίδα καὶ κληρονομίαν εχει η τὸν θεόν· οθεν πᾶσιν ἀποτακτέον ιν' εἰπεῖν δυνηθῇ τις Μερίς μου ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. ωσπερ δὲ τῆς κληρονομίας, ουτω καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου τοῦ εὐφραίνοντος τὸν δίκαιον μερίς ἐστιν ὁ κύριος. αξιον θεωρῆσαι πῶς ποτήριον ὁ κύριος γίνεταί τινος. μήποτ' ουν ἠθικὴν διδασκαλίαν παρέχων καὶ ταύτῃ τρέφων τὸν ἐν κρυπτῷ ανθρωπον