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he provoked, he reviled, Aquila has interpreted. For they truly revile the words concerning the judgment of God. But one who persists in sins is hindered from seeking God, gathering for himself a multitude of wrath. Therefore do not seek, both cutting off the natural notions about God, and having the ways of life unclean; for this reason, always not taking the judgments of God into mind, being especially permitted to overcome his enemies. His mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and deceit; under his tongue are trouble and pain. For the mouth of the heterodox is full of cursing, of those who speak evil of the Creator, and of revilers; of bitterness from the wrathful, of deceit from the deceitful. He sits in ambush with the rich in secret places, to kill the innocent. And he does these things, deceiving himself, as if God does not see. For he said in his heart: God has forgotten, He has turned away His face so as not to see to the end. And the ungodly man does all these things against the poor of God, deceiving himself and thinking in his own reasonings that God is not an overseer. Arise, O Lord my God, let Your hand be lifted up; do not forget Your poor forever. You see, for You observe trouble and anger, to deliver them into Your hands. The poor man is left to You; You were a helper to the orphan. Break the arm of the sinner and the wicked man; his sin shall be sought, and it shall not be found. Thus, then, he rouses the forbearance of God to the judgment of the ungodly. But the uplifted hand signifies the power of judgment. For while it does not punish the ungodly, it seems to be punished; but when it repays each according to what is just, it is said to be lifted up, and no one will escape it. Therefore he says: To deliver him into Your hand. Therefore, Your poor man, having heard Your words saying: Do not avenge yourselves, beloved; but give place to wrath. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID 10. Since it is also written for David, "to the end;" and according to Aquila, "to the victor," but according to Symmachus, "a victory song of David," you will say that David also spoke the preceding things after the disaster that befell him. In the Lord I trust; how will you say to my soul: Flee to the mountains like a sparrow? The voice of a perfect man, and one who can say, according to the Apostle, "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" Not according to the imperfect one who flees, migrating from place to place, and avoiding his persecutors. Just as a sparrow flees its hunters, which, even if it escapes, would say: Our soul has been delivered like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters. For what You have perfected, they have destroyed; but what has the righteous man done? The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes look upon the poor man, His eyelids examine the sons of men. The Lord examines the righteous and the ungodly. God, the only righteous one and judge, seeing His own being warred against, what has He done? Dwelling in heaven and having an unshakable kingdom, He overlooks nothing on earth. And He grants to the poor man the oversight of His beneficent powers, which he calls eyes; so then also eyelids, His judging and all-discerning providence. But for righteousness He will also judge the righteous, lest he himself has transgressed. He will rain snares upon sinners; fire and brimstone and a storm-wind will be the portion of their cup. The cup in many places signifies painful punishments, as in Isaiah: Awake, awake, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of staggering, the bowl of wrath. And God says also to Jeremiah: Take the unmixed wine from My hand, and you shall make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.
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παρώξυνε, διέσυρεν Ἀκύλας ἡρμήνευσε. Τοὺς περὶ Θεοῦ γὰρ κρίσεως λόγους ἀληθῶς διασύρουσιν. Ἐπιμένων δέ τις ἁμαρτίαις, πρὸς τὸ Θεὸν ζητεῖν ἐμποδίζεται, συνάγων ἑαυτῷ πλῆθος ὀργῆς. ∆ιὸ μὴ ζήτει καὶ τὰς περὶ Θεοῦ φυσικὰς ἐννοίας περικοπτόμενος, καὶ τοῦ βίου τὰς ὁδοὺς ἀκαθάρτους ἔχων· τούτου γε χάριν διὰ παντὸς καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ κρίματα μὴ λαμβάνων εἰς νοῦν, ἐν τῷ συγχωρεῖσθαι μάλιστα κατακυριεῦσαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν. Οὗ ἀρᾶς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ γέμει καὶ πικρίας καὶ δόλου, ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτοῦ κόπος καὶ πόνος. Τῶν γὰρ ἑτεροδόξων τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς γέμει, κακολογούντων τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν, καὶ τῶν λοιδόρων· πικρίας δὲ τῶν θυμικῶν, δόλου τῶν δολίων. Ἐγκάθηται ἐνέδρᾳ μετὰ πλουσίων ἐν ἀποκρύφοις, τοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι ἀθῶον. Καὶ ταῦτα πράττει παραλογιζόμενος ἑαυτὸν, ὡς οὐχ ὁρῶντος Θεοῦ. Εἶπε γὰρ ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ· Ἐπιλέλησται ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπέστρεψε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰδεῖν εἰς τέλος. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ὁ ἀσεβὴς κατὰ τῶν πενήτων τοῦ Θεοῦ διαπράττεται, ἑαυτὸν ἀπατῶν καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ λογισμοῖς μὴ εἶναι Θεὸν ἔφορον διανοούμενος. Ἀνάστηθι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ὑψωθήτω ἡ χείρ σου, μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ τῶν πενήτων σου εἰς τέλος. Βλέπεις, ὅτι σὺ πόνον καὶ θυμὸν κατανοεῖς, τοῦ παραδοῦναι αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖράς σου. Σοὶ ἐγκαταλέλειπται ὁ πτωχὸς, ὀρφανῷ σὺ ἦσθα βοηθός. Σύντριψον τὸν βραχίονα τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ· ζητηθήσεται ἡ ἁμαρτία αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ. Οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν κρίσιν διεγείρει λοιπὸν τὴν ἀνοχὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ δὲ χεὶρ ὑψουμένη δύναμιν ἐδήλωσε κριτικήν. Ἐν ὅσῳ γὰρ αὐτὴ μὴ τιμωρεῖται τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, τετιμωρεῖσθαι δοκεῖ· ἀποδιδοῦσα δὲ ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον, ὑψοῦσθαι λέ 23.137 γεται, καὶ ταύτην οὐδεὶς ἀποδράσεται. ∆ιό φησι· Τοῦ παραδοῦναι αὐτὸν εἰς χεῖρά σου. Τοιγαροῦν ὁ σὸς πτωχὸς ἀκούσας τῶν σῶν λόγων φασκόντων· Μὴ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδικοῦντες, ἀγαπητοί· ἀλλὰ δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ. Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει Κύριος. ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ Ιʹ. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ τῷ ∆αυῒδ εἰς τὸ τέλος γέγραπται· καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, τῷ νικοποιῷ, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, ἐπινίκιος τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, φήσεις, ὅτι καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ μετὰ τὴν συμβᾶσαν αὐτῷ συμφορὰν ἔφασκε τὰ προκείμενα. Ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πέποιθα· πῶς ἐρεῖτε τῇ ψυχῇ μου· Μεταναστεύου ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον; Τελείου φωνὴ, καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον εἰπεῖν δυναμένου, Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ; Οὐ κατὰ τὸν ἀτελῆ τὸν φυγῇ μεταναστεύοντα τόπον ἐκ τόπου, καὶ περιφεύγοντα τοὺς διώκοντας. Καθὰ δὴ στρουθίον τοὺς θηρεύοντας, ὃς, κἂν διαφύγοι, λέγοι ἄν· Ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὡς στρουθίον ἐῤῥύσθη ἐκ τῆς παγίδος τῶν θηρευόντων. Ὅτι ἃ κατηρτίσω καθεῖλον· ὁ δὲ δίκαιος τί ἐποίησε; Κύριος ἐν ναῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ, Κύριος ἐν οὐρανῷ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ. Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν πένητα ἀποβλέπουσι, τὰ βλέφαρα αὐτοῦ ἐξετάζει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Κύριος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ. Ὁ μόνος δίκαιος καὶ κριτὴς Θεὸς, τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ πολεμουμένους ὁρῶν, τί ἐποίησεν; Ἐν οὐρανῷ κατοικῶν καὶ βασιλείαν ἔχων ἀσάλευτον, οὐδὲν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς παρορᾷ. Χαρίζεται δὲ τῷ πένητι τῶν εὐεργετικῶν αὐτοῦ δυνάμεων τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν, ἅς φησιν ὀφθαλμούς· ὥσπερ οὖν βλέφαρα τὴν κριτικὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντα διακρίνουσαν πρόνοιαν. ∆ιὰ δικαιοσύνην δὲ κρινεῖ καὶ τοὺς δικαίους, μή τι καὶ αὐτὸς πεπλημμέληται. Ἐπιβρέξει ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλοὺς παγίδας, πῦρ καὶ θεῖον, καὶ πνεῦμα καταιγίδος ἡ μερὶς τοῦ ποτηρίου αὐτῶν. Τὰς ἐπιπόνους κολάσεις πολλαχῆ δηλοῖ τὸ ποτήριον, ὡς ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ· Ἐξεγείρου, ἐξεγείρου, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἡ πιοῦσα τὸ ποτήριον εἰσπτώσεως, τὸ κόνδυ τοῦ θυμοῦ. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ Θεός· Λάβε τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ ἀκράτου ἐκ χειρός μου, καὶ ποτίσεις αὐτὸ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, πρὸς οὓς ἐγὼ ἀποστελῶ σε.