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his face beheld uprightness. If two rules are placed beside each other, their straightness harmonizes with each other; but if a crooked piece of wood is placed beside a rule, the twisted is found to be disharmonious with the straight. Since, therefore, the praise of God is upright, there is need of an upright heart, so that the praise may be fitting for it and conform to it. But if no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, how could you offer praise, not having an upright spirit renewed in your inward parts? Give thanks to the Lord on the lyre, sing praise to him on the ten-stringed psaltery. First one must give thanks to the Lord on the lyre; that is, to render the energies of the body harmoniously. For since we sinned in the body, when we presented our members as slaves to sin for lawlessness, let us also make confession with the body, using the same instrument for the dissolution of sin. Did you revile? Bless. Were you greedy? Give back. Did you get drunk? Fast. Were you boastful? Humble yourself. Did you envy? Comfort. Did you murder? Bear witness; or, what is equivalent to 29.328 martyrdom, afflict your body through confession. And then after confession you are worthy to sing to God on the ten-stringed psaltery. For it is necessary first to set right the energies of the body, so as to perform them harmoniously with the divine word, and thus to ascend to the contemplation of intelligible things. For perhaps the psaltery is said to be the mind which seeks the things above, because the construction of this instrument has its sounding power from above. The works of the body, therefore, are confessed to God as if from below; but the mysteries proclaimed through the mind have their origins from above, as if sounded through the spirit. He, therefore, who looks upon all the commandments, and makes of them, as it were, a consonance and symphony, this one sings to God on a ten-stringed psaltery, because there are ten general commandments written according to the first tradition of the law. Sing to the Lord a new song. That is, Do not serve God in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit. He who does not take the law in a bodily sense, but recognizes its spiritual meaning, this one sings the new song. Because that of the Covenant which was growing old and aging has passed away; but the new and renewing song of the Lord's teaching has succeeded it for us, which renews our youth like an eagle's, when we corrupt the outer man, but are renewed day by day. But also he who stretches forward to the things that are before is always becoming newer than himself. So that he who is always becoming newer than himself sings a newer song to God. And "newer" is said either of that which is paradoxical by custom, or of that which has recently come into being. Therefore, if you recount the wondrous and all-nature-surpassing manner of the Lord's incarnation, you sing a newer and strange song; and if you describe the regeneration and renewal of the whole world made old by sin, and proclaim the mysteries of the resurrection, you thus sing a new and recent song. Sing psalms to him well with a loud cry. Hear the command. Sing psalms well: with an undistracted mind, with a sincere disposition. Sing psalms with a loud cry. Like good soldiers after the victory celebrations over the enemy, offer up hymns to the cause of victory. Take heart, he says, I have overcome the world. What man is able to fight against the evil one, unless, having taken refuge in the protection of the chief captain of the power, from there, from 29.329 faith in him, we strike our enemy, and shoot our arrows? Sing psalms well, therefore, with a loud cry. A loud cry is a certain inarticulate sound, which those who stand shield to shield in war sound forth in harmony with one another. Sing psalms, therefore, in symphony and in concord, and in the unity which comes through love. What then must we who are singing say? That the word of the Lord is upright. For this reason he first calls the upright to praise, since

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εὐθύτητας εἶδε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Ἐὰν δύο κανόνες ἀλλή λοις παρατεθῶσιν, ἡ εὐθύτης αὐτῶν συναρμόζει ἀλλήλοις· ἐὰν δὲ διάστροφον ξύλον κανόνι παρατεθῇ, ἀσυνάρμοστον εὑρίσκεται τῷ ὀρθῷ τὸ στρεβλόν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν εὐθής ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ αἴνεσις, εὐθείας χρεία καρδίας, ἵνα ἐπιπρέψῃ αὐτῇ καὶ ἐφαρμόσῃ ὁ αἶνος. Εἰ δὲ οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰπεῖν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν εἰ μὴ ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, πῶς ἂν ἐνέγκῃς τὸν αἶνον, μὴ ἔχων τὸ εὐθὲς πνεῦμα ἐγκαινισθὲν ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις σου; Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν κιθάρᾳ, ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ δεκαχόρδῳ ψάλατε αὐτῷ. Πρότερον ἐν κιθάρᾳ δεῖ ἐξομολογήσασθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ· του τέστι, τὰς διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργείας ἀποδοῦναι ἐναρμονίως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμάρτομεν, ὅτε παρεστήσαμεν τὰ μέλη ἡμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν, τῷ σώματι καὶ ἐξομολογησώμεθα, τῷ αὐτῷ κεχρημένοι ὀργάνῳ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάλυσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Ἐλοιδόρησας; εὐλόγησον. Ἐπλεονέκτησας; ἀπόδος. Ἐμεθύσθης; νήστευσον. Ἠλαζο-νεύσω; ταπεινώθητι. Ἐφθόνησας; παρακάλεσον. Ἐφόνευσας; μαρτύρησον· ἢ τὰ ἰσοδυναμοῦντα τῷ 29.328 μαρτυρίῳ, διὰ τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως σεαυτοῦ τὸ σῶμα κάκωσον. Καὶ τότε μετὰ τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν ἄξιος εἶ ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ δεκαχόρδῳ ψάλλειν τῷ Θεῷ. ∆εῖ γὰρ πρότερον κατορθῶσαι τὰς διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐνερ γείας, ὥστε ἁρμονίως τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ ἀποτελεῖν, καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν θεωρίαν τῶν νοητῶν ἀναβῆναι. Ψαλ τήριον γὰρ τάχα ὁ νοῦς εἴρηται ὁ τὰ ἄνω ζητῶν, διὰ τὸ τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ ὀργάνου τούτου τὴν ἠχοῦσαν δύναμιν ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν ἔχειν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ σώ ματος ἔργα οἱονεὶ κάτωθεν ἐξομολογεῖται τῷ Θεῷ· τὰ δὲ διὰ τοῦ νοῦ ἐπαγγελλόμενα μυστήρια τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἄνωθεν ἔχει, οἱονεὶ ἐνηχουμένου διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος. Ὁ τοίνυν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ἐπιβλέ πων, καὶ οἱονεὶ συνῳδίαν αὐτῶν καὶ συμφωνίαν ποιῶν, οὗτος ἐν δεκαχόρδῳ ψαλτηρίῳ ψάλλει τῷ Θεῷ, διὰ τὸ δέκα εἶναι τὰς γενικὰς ἐντολὰς κατὰ τὴν πρώτην τοῦ νόμου παράδοσιν γεγραμμένας. Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινόν. Τουτέστιν, Μὴ ἐν τῇ παλαιότητι τοῦ γράμματος, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ καινότητι τοῦ πνεύματος λατρεύετε τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ μὴ σωματικῶς ἐκλαμβάνων τὸν νόμον, ἀλλὰ τὸ πνευματικὸν αὐτοῦ γνωρίζων, οὗτος ᾄδει τὸ καινὸν ᾆσμα. ∆ιότι τὸ μὲν παλαιούμενον καὶ γηράσκον τῆς ∆ιαθήκης διέβη· τὸ δὲ καινὸν καὶ ἀνανεούμενον ᾆσμα ἡμᾶς τῆς τοῦ Κυ ρίου διδασκαλίας διεδέξατο, ἥτις ἀνακαινίζει ἡμῶν, ὡς ἀετοῦ, τὴν νεότητα, ὅταν φθείρωμεν μὲν τὸν ἔξω ἄνθρωπον, ἀνακαινώμεθα δὲ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος ἀεὶ ἑαυ τοῦ καινότερος γίνεται. Ὥστε ὁ ἀεὶ καινότερος ἑαυ τοῦ γινόμενος καινότερον ᾆσμα ᾄδει τῷ Θεῷ. Καινό τερον δὲ ἢ τὸ παράδοξον ὑπὸ τῆς συνηθείας λέγεται, ἢ τὸ προσφάτως παρελθὸν εἰς τὴν γένεσιν. Ἐάν τε οὖν τὸν θαυμάσιον τρόπον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν φύσιν ὑπερβαίνοντα τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως διηγῇ τοῦ Κυρίου, καινότερον ᾆσμα καὶ ξένον ᾄδεις· ἐάν τε τὴν ἀναγέν νησιν καὶ ἀνανέωσιν τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου τοῦ ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας παλαιωθέντος διεξίῃς, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναστά σεως ἀπαγγέλλῃς μυστήρια, καὶ οὕτω καινὸν καὶ πρόσφατον ᾄδεις τὸ ᾆσμα. Καλῶς ψάλατε αὐτῷ ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ. Ἀκούετε τοῦ παραγγέλματος. Καλῶς ψάλατε· ἀμετεωρίστῳ τῇ διανοίᾳ, εἰλικρινεῖ τῇ διαθέσει. Ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ ψάλατε. Ὥσπερ τινὲς καλοὶ στρατιῶται μετὰ τὰ νικητήρια τὰ κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἀνενέγκατε ὕμνους τῷ αἰτίῳ τῆς νίκης. Θαρσεῖτε, φησὶν, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον. Τίς ἀνθρώπων ἱκανὸς ἀντιστρατεύσα σθαι τῷ πονηρῷ, ἐὰν μὴ τῇ σκέπῃ τοῦ ἀρχιστρατή γου τῆς δυνάμεως προσφυγόντες, ἐκεῖθεν ἀπὸ 29.329 τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ πίστεως βάλωμεν ἡμῶν τὸν ἐχθρὸν, καὶ τοξεύσωμεν; Καλῶς οὖν ψάλατε ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ ἀλαλαγμὸς φωνή τις ἄναρθρος, συμφώνως ἀλλήλοις τῶν συνασπιζόντων ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ συν επηχούντων. Ἐν συμφωνίᾳ οὖν καὶ ἐν συμπνοίᾳ, καὶ τῇ διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ἑνώσει ψάλατε. Τί οὖν δεῖ ψάλλον τας λέγειν; Ὅτι εὐθὴς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρότερον τοὺς εὐθεῖς καλεῖ πρὸς τὴν αἴνεσιν, ἐπειδὴ