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the Apostle, concerning whom he himself teaches, saying: For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ; then after him, the foundations of the Church are the prophetic and apostolic words, according to the Apostle who said: Built upon 23.176 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone; you would not be outside the truth. These foundations of the world, then, were uncovered; the enemies of God who formerly darkened the eyes of our soul so that we could not see divine things having been removed from our path, and having been scattered by the arrows sent from the Lord, and having fled from the rebuke of the Lord, and from the blast of the breath of his anger. Rightly, therefore, having been freed from these things and having looked up, we beheld the springs of the waters, and we looked upon the foundations of the world. And this has happened in our time in many regions. He sent from on high, and took me, he drew me out of many waters. For God the Father of all, having sent forth his own Son, took him who was swallowed up and taken as a captive. But from where he took him, he teaches next, saying, out of many waters. For he says also in the sixty-eighth psalm: Save me, O God, for the waters have come in to my soul; I am stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no place to stand. Therefore, in accordance with these things and giving thanks in the present words, he says: He drew me out of many waters. And what the waters are, he adds more clearly, saying: From my strong enemies and from those who hate me, for they were stronger than I. They confronted me in the day of my affliction. And the Holy Spirit proclaims these things, that he was taken up from the many waters, and that freedom from the enemies who had long held power over him had come to be. And the Lord became my support. And he brought me out into a broad place; he will deliver me, because he delighted in me. And the Lord will reward me according to my righteousness. Already, he says, the Lord, having heard my confession and my prayers and my supplications, has become my support. For when I was about to be overturned, and to suffer a great fall, if after my sin I had fallen into complete apostasy, he himself stood by and became a stay and a support for me, when, sending his prophet Nathan, he brought upon me a reproof for my sin, and set me aright. But he also brought me out into a broad place, and into a wide space, according to Symmachus. For when I was straitened, and had all but despaired of my own salvation, he delivered me and brought me out into a broad place, so that I was able to recover myself in breadth, and to take care of my own healing. But he will also deliver me completely, he says, giving remission of sin at the prophesied time of his coming. And the Lord will do this, benefiting me, because he delighted in me; or according to Aquila, because he was pleased in me; for I would not have been turned back, nor would he have brought the reproof to me, nor would he have sent his prophet to me, unless he wished to save me. But I know well and am precisely persuaded, that at the time of his 23.177 righteous judgment, not remembering my sin and the audacious things done by me in the day of my misery, he will reward me according to my righteousness. For my other deeds in virtue and righteousness, having taken them and set them against my sin as on a scale and a balance, he will find them to be far more abundant than the sin that was committed. Wherefore he will reward me not according to what I sinned (for he has already rendered recompense, having visited me in the present life through the misfortunes that befell me), but according to my other deeds in righteousness, he will reward me on the day of his righteous judgment, and he will make recompense for the cleanness of my hands; for I have washed away the filth that was previously on them; And I shall be blameless

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Ἀπόστολον, περὶ οὗ διδάσκει αὐτὸς λέγων· Θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· εἶτα μετ' αὐτὸν θεμέλιοι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας προφητικοὶ καὶ ἀποστολικοὶ λόγοι κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον φήσαντα· Ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ 23.176 τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· οὐκ ἂν ἐκτὸς βάλοις τῆς ἀληθείας. Ταῦτ' οὖν τὰ θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀνεκαλύφθησαν· τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν πάλαι ἐπισκοτούντων τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν ὄμματα πρὸς τὸ μὴ τὰ θεῖα βλέπειν ἐκ ποδῶν μεταστάντων, καὶ τοῖς ἀποδοθεῖσι τοῦ Κυρίου βέλεσι διασκορπισθέντων, πεφευγότων τε ἀπὸ ἐπιτιμήσεως Κυρίου, καὶ ἀπὸ ἐμπνεύσεως πνεύματος ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ. Εἰκότως οὖν ἐλευθερωθέντες τούτων ἡμεῖς καὶ ἀναβλέψαντες, τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων ἐθεασάμεθα, καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπωπτεύσαμεν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἐν πολλοῖς γεγένηται κλίμασιν. Ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐξ ὕψους, καὶ ἔλαβέ με, προσελάβετό με ἐξ ὑδάτων πολλῶν. Καταποθέντα γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ληφθέντα ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτον ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ, ἐξαποστείλας τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν, ἔλαβε. Πόθεν δὲ αὐτὸν ἔλαβεν, ἑξῆς διδάσκει λέγων, ἐξ ὑδάτων πολλῶν. Φησὶ γοῦν καὶ ἐν ἑξηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ ψαλμῷ· Σῶσόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου· ἐνεπάγην εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις. Τούτοις τοιγαροῦν ἀκολούθως καὶ ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις εὐχαριστῶν, φησί· Προσελάβετό με ἐξ ὑδάτων πολλῶν. Τίνα δὲ τὰ ὕδατα, ἐπιφέρει σαφέστερον εἰπών· Ἐξ ἐχθρῶν μου δυνατῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν μισούντων με, ὅτι ἐστερεώθησαν ὑπὲρ ἐμέ. Προέφθασάν με ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακώσεώς μου. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον εὐαγγελίζεται αὐτὸν ἀναλαβεῖν ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ὑδάτων, ἐλευθερίαν δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῶν πάλαι κατακεκρατηκότων αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι. Καὶ ἐγένετο Κύριος ἀντιστήριγμά μου. Καὶ ἐξήγαγέ με εἰς πλατυσμὸν, ῥύσεταί με, ὅτι ἠθέλησέ με. Καὶ ἀνταποδώσει μοι Κύριος κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου. Ἤδη μὲν, φησὶ, τῆς ἐξομολογήσεώς μου καὶ τῶν προσευχῶν καὶ τῶν ἱκετηρίων ἐπακούσας ὁ Κύριος, γέγονέ μοι ἀντιστήριγμα. Μέλλοντα γάρ με περιτρέπεσθαι, καὶ μέγα πτῶμα ὑπομένειν, εἰ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν εἰς παντελῆ ἐξέπιπτον ἀποστασίαν, αὐτὸς παραστὰς ἔρεισμά μοι καὶ ἀντιστήριγμα γέγονεν, ὁπηνίκα, τὸν αὑτοῦ προφήτην Ναθὰν πέμψας, ἔλεγχόν μοι ἐπήγαγε τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ ἀνώρθωσεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξήγαγέν με εἰς πλατυσμὸν, καὶ εἰς εὐρυχωρίαν, κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον. Στενοχωρηθέντα γάρ με, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπογνόντα ἑαυτοῦ τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἐῤῥύσατο καὶ εἰς πλατυσμὸν ἐξήγαγεν, ὡς κατὰ πλάτος δυνηθῆναι ἐμαυτὸν ἀναλαβεῖν, καὶ τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ θεραπείας ἐπιμέλειαν ποιήσασθαι. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παντελῶς ῥύσεταί με, φησὶν, διδοὺς ἄφεσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατὰ τὸν προφητευόμενον καιρὸν τῆς αὑτοῦ παρουσίας. Καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσει εὐεργετῶν με ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι ἠθέλησέ με· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, ὅτι ἐβουλήθη ἐν ἐμοί· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐπεστράφην, οὐδ' ἂν τὸν ἔλεγχόν μοι προσήγαγεν, οὐδ' ἂν τὸν προφήτην ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἀπεστάλκει, εἰ μὴ σῶσαί με ἤθελεν. Εὖ δὲ οἶδα καὶ ἀκριβῶς πέπεισμαι, ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς δι 23.177 καιοκρισίας αὐτοῦ, οὐ μνημονεύσας μου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τῶν τολμηθέντων μοι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ταλαιπωρίας μου, κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου ἀποδώσει μοι. Τὰς γὰρ ἄλλας μου πράξεις τὰς ἐν ἀρετῇ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ, ὥσπερ ἐν τρυτάνῃ καὶ ζυγῷ ἀντιπαραλαβὼν, καὶ ἀντιστήσας τῷ ἁμαρτήματί μου, κατὰ πολὺ πλεοναζούσας εὑρήσει τοῦ γενομένου ἁμαρτήματος. ∆ιὸ ἀνταποδώσει μοι οὐ καθ' ὃ ἥμαρτον (ἤδη γὰρ ἀνταπέδωκε, μετελθών με κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον διὰ τῶν καταλαβουσῶν με συμφορῶν), κατὰ δὲ τὰς λοιπὰς πράξεις, τὰς ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἀποδώσει μοι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς αὑτοῦ δικαιοκρισίας, καὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου κατὰ τὴν καθαριότητα τὴν ἀμοιβὴν ποιήσεται· ἀπέπλυνα γὰρ τὸν πρότερον αὐταῖς ἐγγενόμενον ῥύπον· Καὶ ἔσομαι ἄμωμος