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the members. The prophet, therefore, pursues evangelical perfection, lamenting the transgressions of others; and he called the multitude of his tears "rivers of waters," instead of, my tears flowed in streams, as I beheld the transgressions of men. The saints are possessed by such grief over those who have transgressed. For Moses also lamented, when the Israelite people turned away from God by making a calf, saying to God: If You will forgive their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me also out of the book of the living. And again the Apostle, seeing the Jews being estranged from the Gospel, said: I could wish that I myself were accursed from God for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. You are just, O Lord, and Your judgments are right. You have commanded justice, Your testimonies, and truth exceedingly. You arrange all things justly, O Master, both caring for men, and wishing to show them to be workers of righteousness. And You gave the law, and You testify to the transgressors what penalties they shall pay, and You promise to those who keep it good recompense, and You confirm the promises by deeds. For this is what "truth exceedingly" signifies. For He has set a day on which He will judge the world, and will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in good work seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who obey unrighteousness, but disobey the truth, there will be wrath and anger, tribulation and distress, upon every soul of man who does evil. And by saying, "truth exceedingly," he indicated the certainty and the outcome of the matter. Your zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words. The prophet both mourns those living in transgression, and, seeing the lawgiver despised, is justly indignant. This zeal proclaimed Phinehas; this made the great Elijah renowned; inflamed by this, the glorious victor Stephen refuted the unbelief of the Jews. It has the meaning of the verse above; for what he said there, "Rivers of waters have run down from my eyes," here he says, "Your zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words." Such, as I said, was Phinehas, who pierced the one who committed fornication; And it was counted to him for righteousness. Such was the divine Paul, carrying the whole of Christ within himself; for this reason he also said: 55.702 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant? And the blessed Luke says of him, that in Athens His spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. Your word is exceedingly refined, and Your servant has loved it. 2. Your word, he says, is tested and genuine and free from all blemish; and for this I have a fervent love. And in another psalm he says: The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. None of the judgments of God, therefore, is untested, or spurious, or counterfeit, but all are free from any blemish. In their purity, therefore, brethren, let us direct our life. I am young and despised; I have not forgotten Your precepts. David was small, and the least among the sons of his father; but because of the longing which he had for God, he was chosen, and received the kingdom and prophetic grace. For God knows how to give rewards to those who love him both in the present age, and more so in the one to come. Therefore, when God commanded the divine Samuel to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, He rejected all the others who were adorned with strength and size and beauty of body, and asked the

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τὰ μέλη. Τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης μετέρχεται τελειότητα, τὰς τῶν ἄλλων παρα νομίας ὀλοφυρόμενος· διεξόδους δὲ ὑδάτων τὸ πλῆθος τῶν δακρύων ἐκάλεσεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, κρουνηδὸν ἔφερον τὰ δάκρυα, τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων παρανομίας θεώμενος. Τοιαύτης λύπης συνέχονται οἱ ἅγιοι ἐπὶ τοῖς παρα βεβηκόσιν. Ὠλοφύρετο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Μωϋσῆς, ὅτε ὁ Ἰσραηλίτης λαὸς ἐξέκλινεν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ μοσχοποιήσας, λέγων πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· Εἰ μὲν ἀφεῖς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἄφες· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἐξάλειψον κἀμὲ ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν ζώντων. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος ὁρῶν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἀλλοτριουμένους τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ἔφη· Ηὐχόμην αὐτὸς ἀνάθεμα εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου, τῶν συγγενῶν μου τῶν κατὰ σάρκα. ∆ίκαιος εἶ, Κύ ριε, καὶ εὐθεῖαι αἱ κρίσεις σου. Ἐνετείλω δικαιοσύ νην, τὰ μαρτύριά σου, καὶ ἀλήθειαν σφόδρα. ∆ικαίως ἅπαντα διέπεις, ὦ ∆έσποτα, καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κηδό μενος, καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐργάτας ἀποφῆναι βουλόμενος. Καὶ νόμον ἔδωκας, καὶ διαμαρτύρῃ τοὺς παραβαίνοντας, ὁποίας τίσουσι δίκας, καὶ ὑπισχνῇ τοῖς φυλάττουσι τὰς ἀγαθὰς ἀντιδόσεις, καὶ βεβαιοῖς τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τοῖς ἔργοις. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ, Ἀλήθειαν σφόδρα. Ἔστησε γὰρ ἡμέραν, ἐν ἧ μέλλει κρίνειν τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ ἀποδιδόναι Ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· τοῖς μὲν καθ' ὑπομονὴν ἔργου ἀγαθοῦ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ζητοῦσι, ζωὴν αἰώνιον· τοῖς δὲ πειθομέ νοις τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, ἀπειθοῦσι δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, θυμὸς καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ θλίψις καὶ στενοχωρία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ἀνθρώπου τοῦ κατεργαζομένου τὸ κακόν. ∆ιὰ δὲ τοῦ εἰπεῖν, Ἀλήθειαν σφόδρα, τὴν βεβαιότητα καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ πράγματος ἐδήλωσεν. Ἐξέτηξέ με ὁ ζῆλός σου, ὅτι ἐπελάθοντο τῶν λόγων σου οἱ ἐχθροί μου. Καὶ τοὺς παρανομίᾳ συζῶντας ὁ προφήτης θρηνεῖ, καὶ καταφρονούμενον ὁρῶν τὸν νομοθέτην ἐνδίκως ἀγανακτεῖ. Οὗτος ὁ ζῆλος τὸν Φινεὲς ἀνεκήρυξεν· οὗτος τὸν μέγαν Ἠλίαν ἀοίδιμον ἀπετέλεσε· τούτῳ πυρπολούμενος ὁ καλ λίνικος Στέφανος, τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἀπιστίαν διήλεγξεν. Ἔχει δὲ τοῦ ἀνωτέρω στίχου τὴν ἔννοιαν· ὅπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἔλεγε, ∆ιεξόδους ὑδάτων κατέδυσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, ὧδε λέγει, Ἐξέτηξέ με ὁ ζῆλός σου, ὅτι ἐπελάθοντο τῶν λόγων σου οἱ ἐχθροί μου. Τοιοῦτος ἦν, ὡς ἔφην, ὁ Φινεὲς, ἐκκεντήσας τὸν πορνεύσαντα· Καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην. Τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦ λος, ὅλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Χριστὸν περιφέρων· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγε· 55.702 Τίς ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; Καὶ ὁ μακάριος δὲ Λουκᾶς περὶ αὐτοῦ φησιν, ὡς ἐν Ἀθήναις συνέσχετο Τὸ πνεῦμα αὐ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, θεωροῦντι κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πό λιν. Πεπυρωμένον τὸ λόγιόν σου σφόδρα, καὶ ὁ δοῦ λός σου ἠγάπησεν αὐτό. βʹ. ∆όκιμος, φησὶ, καὶ ἀκίβδηλός ἐστιν ὁ σὸς λόγος καὶ μώμου παντὸς ἐλεύθερος· ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ τοῦτον θερμὸν ἔχω τὸ φίλτρον. Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ ψαλμῷ λέγει· Τὰ λό για Κυρίου, λόγια ἁγνά· ἀργύριον πεπυρωμένον, δοκίμιον τῇ γῇ, κεκαθαρισμένον ἑπταπλασίως. Οὐδὲν οὖν τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ κριμάτων ἀδόκιμον, ἢ νόθον, ἢ κί βδηλον, ἀλλὰ πάντα μώμου παντὸς ἐλεύθερα. Ἐν τῇ καθαρότητι οὖν αὐτῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, τὸν βίον ἡμῶν διευθύνωμεν. Νεώτερος ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ ἐξουδενωμένος· τὰ δικαιώματά σου οὐκ ἐπελαθόμην. Μικρὸς ἦν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, καὶ ἐλάχιστος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν πόθον, ὃν εἶχε πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἐξελέγη, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἔλαβε καὶ χάριν προφητικήν. Οἶδε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς μισθοὺς ἀποδιδόναι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι, πλέον δὲ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Ἡνίκα τοίνυν τῷ θείῳ Σαμουὴλ παρηγγύησεν ὁ Θεὸς ἕνα τῶν παίδων τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ βασιλέα χειροτονῆσαι, τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους καὶ ῥώμῃ καὶ μεγέθει καὶ κάλλει σώματος κεκοσμημένους ἀπεδοκίμασεν ἅπαντας, ἤρετο δὲ τὸν