28

Such is the cup set before us, whose contents are fire and brimstone, and a tempestuous wind; of which, indeed, the things brought against Sodom are symbols. The fire signifies the threat of burning, the brimstone the occasion that stirs the fire even more, and the tempestuous wind, a whirlwind of temptation. For it is said in Isaiah: As a tempest passing through the desert, it comes near; a terrible and harsh vision has been announced to me. But there is also for the pious a cup that intoxicates most excellently, about which perhaps that also was said: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. And through good works to flee the one, but to choose the other. 23.140 For the Lord is righteous and has loved righteousness; His face has seen uprightness. For as righteous He looks upon the poor man, but chastises sinners; but He is righteous by essence, not by participation. Nevertheless, being so, He loves the righteousnesses in the many righteous, accepting the purpose of each. But also of each judgment there is a certain righteousness; and the judgments of God are many, about which it is written: The judgments of the Lord are true, justified altogether. Therefore, righteousnesses are also many. And He sees uprightness, the mind toward right reason; for He rejoices in those who have it, even if He sees them being reviled. Perhaps just as there are many righteousnesses in the judgments, so too there are uprightnesses. And because He accepts uprightness, His face sees. For God appears present by the works of providence and by the results of His judgments.

A PSALM OF DAVID 11. For the end, concerning the eighth.

It is the same as the inscription of the 6th. And we were saying, that he also breaks the law of Moses, if he should bring an infant on the Sabbath, the eighth day of circumcision occurring on it. We were saying that the Lord's Day has a similar power, being the day of the Lord's resurrection, and being the eighth from the first, but being first by nature; for it is a purification of every soul. Save me, Lord, for the holy man has failed, for truths have diminished from the sons of men. They have spoken vanity, each to his neighbor; deceitful lips, in heart and in heart they have spoken. He maligns his whole generation; for he will also say as he proceeds: You, Lord, will guard us and preserve us from this generation and for ever. For such was the former generation, about which the Savior also said: The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; and the queen of the South, and so forth; and again thus: it will be with this wicked generation. And I do not unjustly accuse this generation, says the Prophet; but because there is no one holy in it, no one true. Since, therefore, I find for myself no cause of salvation, You Yourself, Lord, be this for me. And he refutes the unbelief of the Jews, about whom Moses also says: Sons, in whom there is no faith. And that they spoke vanity, plotting against the Savior and approaching him deceitfully, the writing of the Gospels clearly teaches. May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, a great-speaking tongue. Those who said: We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own; who is our Lord? For it was of God, not of man, to overcome their 23.141 wickedness, and to quench words blaspheming Jesus. And similarly to Pharaoh who said: I do not know the Lord, they too say: Who is our Lord? thinking themselves to be lords through their own words to quench the teaching of the Savior, as though they were self-determining. These were the lips of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who approached the Savior with hypocrisy, and called him Rabbi, but secretly plotted against him. And the great-speaking were the elders and the chief priests of the people, who dared to question the Savior and say

28

Ὁποῖον τὸ προκείμενον ποτήριον, οὗ τὸ πλήρωμα πῦρ καὶ θεῖον, καὶ πνεῦμα καταιγίδος· οὗ δὴ σύμβολα τὰ κατὰ Σοδόμων ἐπενεχθέντα. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ τὸ πῦρ τὴν διακαύσεως ἀπειλὴν, τὸ δὲ θεῖον τὴν διεγείρουσαν ἔτι μᾶλλον τὸ πῦρ ἀφορμὴν, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τῆς καταιγίδος, πειρασμοῦ συστροφήν. Εἴρηται γὰρ ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ· Ὡς καταιγὶς δι' ἐρήμου διέλθοι ἐρχομένη ἐγγύς· φοβερὸν τὸ ὅραμα καὶ σκληρὸν ἀνηγγέλη μοι. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι ποτήριον τὸ μεθύσκον ὡς κράτιστον, περὶ οὗ τάχα κἀκεῖνο λέλεκται· Κύριος ἡ μερὶς τῆς κληρονομίας μου καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου. Καὶ δι' ἔργων ἀγαθῶν τὸ μὲν φυγεῖν, τὸ δὲ αἱρήσασθαι. 23.140 Ὅτι δίκαιος Κύριος καὶ δικαιοσύνας ἠγάπησεν, εὐθύτητα εἶδε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Ὡς γὰρ δίκαιος ἐπιβλέπει μὲν τὸν πένητα, παιδεύει δὲ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς· οὐσίᾳ δὲ δίκαιός ἐστιν, οὐ μετοχῇ. Πλὴν καὶ οὕτως ἔχων ἀγαπᾷ τὰς ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς δικαίοις δικαιοσύνας, τὴν ἑκάστου πρόθεσιν ἀποδεχόμενος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑκάστου κρίματός ἐστί τις δικαιοσύνη· πολλὰ δὲ τὰ κρίματα τοῦ Θεοῦ, περὶ ὧν γέγραπται· Τὰ κρίματα Κυρίου ἀληθινὰ δεδικαιωμένα ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. Πολλαὶ ἄρα καὶ αἱ δικαιοσύναι. Βλέπει δὲ καὶ εὐθύτητα, τὴν πρὸς τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον γνώμην· χαίρει γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔχουσι, κἂν ὀνειδιζομένους ὁρᾷ. Μήποτε δὲ ὡς πολλαὶ δικαιοσύναι ἐπὶ τοῖς κρίμασιν, οὕτως εὐθύτητες. ∆ιὰ δὲ τὸ ἀποδέχεσθαι τὴν εὐθύτητα, τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὁρᾷ. Ἐπιφαίνεται γὰρ παρὼν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἔργοις τῆς προνοίας καὶ τοῖς ἀποτελέσμασι τῶν κριμάτων.

ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΙΑʹ. Εἰς τὸ τέλος περὶ τῆς ὀγδόης.

Ἡ αὐτή ἐστι τῇ τοῦ ʹ ἐπιγραφή. Ἐλέγομεν δὲ, ὡς καὶ τὸν νόμον λύει Μωϋσέως, εἰ ἄγοι βρέφος ἐν Σαββάτῳ, ἡμέραν ὀγδόην τῆς περιτομῆς ἐν αὐτῇ γινομένης. Τὴν ὁμοίαν ἔχειν ἐλέγομεν δύναμιν καὶ τὴν Κυριακὴν, τὴν ἀναστάσιμον οὖσαν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ τυγχάνουσαν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ὀγδόην, πρώτην δὲ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχουσαν· καθαρτικὴ γάρ ἐστι πάσης ψυχῆς. Σῶσόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπεν ὅσιος, ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Μάταια ἐλάλησαν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ, χείλη δόλια ἐν καρδίᾳ καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἐλάλησαν. ∆ιαβάλλει πᾶσαν τὴν καθ' ἑαυτὸν γενεάν· λέξει γὰρ καὶ προϊών· Σὺ, Κύριε, φυλάξεις ἡμᾶς καὶ διατηρήσεις ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ προτέρα γενεὰ, περὶ ἧς ἔφη καὶ ὁ Σωτήρ· Ἄνδρες Νινευῗται ἀναστήσονται ἐν τῇ κρίσει μετὰ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης, καὶ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτήν· καὶ βασίλισσα Νότου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· καὶ πάλιν οὕτως· Ἔσται τῇ γενεᾷ τῇ πονηρᾷ ταύτῃ. Οὐκ ἀδίκως δὲ ταύτης κατηγορῶ, φησὶν ὁ Προφήτης· ἀλλ' ὅτι μηδεὶς ὅσιος ἐν αὐτῇ, μηδεὶς ἀληθής. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μηδένα μοι σωτηρίας αἴτιον εὑρίσκω, αὐτός μοι, Κύριε, τοῦτο γενοῦ. ∆ιελέγχει δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν ἀπιστίαν, περὶ ὧν φησι καὶ Μωϋσῆς· Υἱοὶ, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι πίστις ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ὅτι δὲ μάταια ἐλάλουν ἐπιβουλεύοντες τῷ Σωτῆρι καὶ δολίως αὐτῷ προσερχόμενοι, σαφῶς ἡ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων διδάσκει γραφή. Ἐξολοθρεύσαι Κύριος πάντα τὰ χείλη τὰ δόλια, γλῶσσαν μεγαλοῤῥήμονα. Τοὺς εἰπόντας· Τὴν γλῶσσαν ἡμῶν μεγαλυνοῦμεν, τὰ χείλη ἡμῶν παρ' ἡμῶν ἐστι· τίς ἡμῶν Κύριός ἐστι; Θεοῦ γὰρ ἦν, οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, τῆς ἐκείνων περιγενέ 23.141 σθαι κακίας, καὶ σβέσαι λόγους βλασφημοῦντας τὸν Ἰησοῦν. Ὁμοίως δὲ τῷ Φαραὼ φήσαντι· Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν Κύριον, καὶ αὐτοί φασι· Τίς ἡμῶν Κύριός ἐστι; νομίσαντες εἶναι κύριοι διὰ τῶν ἰδίων λόγων τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος σβέσαι διδασκαλίαν, ὡς ἂν ὄντες αὐτεξούσιοι. Ταῦτα δὲ ἦν τὰ Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων χείλη, μεθ' ὑποκρίσεως προσιόντων τῷ Σωτῆρι, καὶ Ῥαββὶ καλούντων αὐτὸν, λάθρα δὲ κατ' αὐτοῦ τυρευόντων. Μεγαλοῤῥήμονες δὲ ἦσαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, τολμῶντες ἀνακρίνειν τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ λέγειν