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Of what? Of the congregation, he says; that is, for its sake, *Return on high*; exalt us, lead us up, make our affairs lofty, make it more brilliant and conspicuous, restore it to its former prosperity. But see how everywhere he mixes teaching with his supplications. For even before this, having said, *Have mercy on me, and hear me,* he turns his discourse to counsel, saying thus: *O sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart?* And here, having said, *Return on high, O Lord*, he adds: *The Lord will judge the peoples*. Another says, *The Lord will dispense justice*. He teaches those who think that all things are carried on simply and at random, that a certain providence presides over affairs, demanding an account of what is done. And here by "judgment" he means both the future and the present one. For there it is universal and clear; but here too He demands justice in part, both arousing the more slothful, and drawing the more unbelieving to the notion of providence over all. *Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness.* Another, *According to my right.* *And according to my innocence that is in me.* *Let the wickedness of sinners be brought to an end.* Another says, *Let affliction be completed against the ungodly.* *And you will direct the just.* Another, *And you will establish the just.* How does he who says elsewhere, *Enter not into judgment with your servant,* say here, *Judge me according to my righteousness*? Because this is one thing, and that is another. For there, when he says, *Enter not into judgment with your servant,* he means, do not you be judged against me, nor examine my life in comparison with the benefits from you. Wherefore he also added, *For in your sight shall no man living be justified,* that is, when judged in comparison to you. But here he does not say this; for he does not want to be judged in relation to Him, but in relation to himself. Wherefore he said, *According to my righteousness,* that is, according to my own righteousness. And by righteousness here he means, not to have begun unjust hands; which he said above, *If I have done this*, and what follows. And this same thing is meant by, *According to my innocence*; according to this I wish to be judged, he says. 55.92 Great here too is the confidence of the just man. But he says these things having fallen into necessity. What necessity then? That from what he was suffering, he was acquiring a wicked reputation among many foolish people. For the majority of foolish people are accustomed to slander a person's life based on their misfortunes; which also happened in the case of Job. Wherefore they also said, though conscious of no evil in him: You have not been scourged as much as your sins deserve. And the barbarians thought Paul was some wicked man and an evildoer, because the viper fastened on his hand. Wherefore they also said, *Though this man has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.* And Shimei also called David a man of blood, pronouncing this wicked verdict concerning him from his misfortune. 8. So that you may not suffer this, come let us discourse a little on these things. For I hear many saying: If God loved the poor, he would not have allowed them to be poor; and others again, when they see someone struggling with sickness and long disease: Where are the alms of so-and-so? And where are his good deeds? So that you may not sin in such ways, let us clarify the reasoning concerning these things. For if a man who has sense would become neither a hater of good nor a lover of evil, how do you dare to say such things about the Lord, that God hates those in poverty, even if they are in virtue, but loves those in wealth, even if they are in wickedness, opening a blasphemous mouth, and not considering the magnitude of the absurdity? So that you may not sin in such ways, learn what God loves and hates. Whom then does he love? The one who keeps his commandments. *For this one I will love,* he says, *and I will come to him;* not the one who is rich, not the one who is healthy, but the one who obeys my commands. And whom does he hate and

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τίνος; Τῆς συναγωγῆς, φησί· τουτέστι, διὰ ταύτην Εἰς ὕψος ἐπίστρεψον· ὕψωσον ἡμᾶς, ἀνάγαγε ἡμᾶς, ὑψηλὰ ποίησον πράγματα, λαμπροτέραν αὐτὴν καὶ περιφανῆ ποίησον, ἐπὶ τὴν προτέραν αὐτὴν εὐπραγίαν ἐπανάγαγε. Ὅρα δὲ πανταχοῦ ταῖς ἱκετηρίαις ἀναμιγνύντα καὶ διδασκαλίαν. Καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τούτου εἰπὼν, Οἰκτείρησόν με, καὶ εἰσάκουσόν μου, τρέπει τὸν λόγον εἰς συμβουλὴν, οὕτω λέγων· Υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων ἕως πότε βαρυκάρδιοι; Καὶ ἐνταῦθα εἰπὼν, Εἰς ὕψος ἐπίστρεψον, Κύριε, ἐπάγει· Κύριος κρινεῖ λαούς. Ἄλλος δέ φησι, Κύριος δικάσει. ∆ιδάσκει τοὺς νομίζοντας ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἅπαντα φέρεσθαι, ὅτι πρόνοιά τις ἐφέστηκε τοῖς πράγμασιν, ἀπαιτοῦσα εὐθύνας τῶν γινομένων. Κρίσιν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τήν τε μέλλουσαν λέγει, τήν τε παροῦσαν. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ καθόλου καὶ ἡ σαφὴς ἐκείνη· ἐκ μέρους δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀπαιτεῖ δίκας, τούς τε ῥᾳθυμοτέρους διεγείρων, καὶ τοὺς ἀπιστοτέρους ἐφελκόμενος εἰς τὴν ἔννοιαν τῆς περὶ τοῦ παντὸς προνοίας. Κρῖνόν με, Κύριε, κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου. Ἄλλος, Κατὰ τὸ δίκαιόν μου. Καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν μου ἐπ' ἐμοί. Συντελεσθήτω δὴ πονηρία ἁμαρτωλῶν. Ἄλλος φησὶν, Ἀπαρτισθήτω κάκωσις κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν. Καὶ κατευθυνεῖς δίκαιον. Ἄλλος, Καὶ ἑδράσεις δίκαιον. Πῶς ὁ λέγων ἀλλαχοῦ, Μὴ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου, ἐνταῦθά φησι, Κρῖνόν με κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου; Ὅτι ἕτερον τοῦτο, καὶ ἕτερον ἐκεῖνο. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ λέγων, Μὴ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου, μὴ κριθῇς σὺ πρὸς ἐμὲ, δηλοῖ, μηδὲ πρὸς ἀντιπαράθεσιν τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν τῶν παρὰ σοῦ τὸν ἐμὸν βίον ἐξετάσῃς. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγεν, Ὅτι οὐ δικαιωθήσεται ἐνώπιόν σου πᾶς ζῶν, τουτέστι, πρὸς σὲ κρινόμενος. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐ τοῦτό φησιν· οὐ γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν κρίνεσθαι βούλεται, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἑαυτόν. ∆ιὸ καὶ, Κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου, εἶπε, τουτέστι, κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐμήν. ∆ικαιοσύνην δὲ ἐνταῦθα λέγει, τὸ μὴ ἄρξαι χειρῶν ἀδίκων· ὅπερ ἔλεγεν ἀνωτέρω, Εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τὸ, Κατὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν μου· κατὰ τοῦτο βούλομαι κριθῆναι, φησί. 55.92 Πολλὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἡ παῤῥησία τοῦ δικαίου. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγει εἰς ἀνάγκην ἐμπεσών. Ποίαν δὴ ταύτην; Ὅτι πονηρὰν παρὰ πολλοῖς ἀνοήτοις, ἀφ' ὧν ἔπασχεν, ἐκτᾶτο δόξαν. Οἱ γὰρ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνοήτων, ἀπὸ τῶν συμφορῶν καὶ τὸν βίον διαβάλλειν εἰώθασιν· ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ γέγονε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἔλεγον, μηδὲν αὐτῷ συνειδότες πονηρόν· Οὐκ ἄξια ὧν ἡμάρτηκας μεμαστίγωσαι. Καὶ τὸν Παῦλον δὲ πονηρόν τινα καὶ κακοῦργον ᾤοντο εἶναι οἱ βάρβαροι, ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἔχις εἴχετο αὐτοῦ τῆς χειρός. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἔλεγον, Σωθέντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ δίκη ζῇν οὐκ εἴασε. Καὶ ὁ Σεμεεὶ δὲ ἀνδροφόνον ἐκάλει τὸν ∆αυῒδ, ἀπὸ τῆς συμφορᾶς ταύτην τὴν πονηρὰν περὶ αὐτοῦ φέρων ψῆφον. ηʹ. Ἵν' οὖν καὶ ὑμεῖς μὴ τοῦτο πάθητε, φέρε μικρὸν περὶ τούτων διαλεχθῶμεν. Καὶ γὰρ πολλῶν ἀκούω λεγόντων· Εἰ ἐφίλει ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς πένητας, οὐκ ἂν εἴασεν εἶναι πένητας· ἑτέρων πάλιν, ὅταν ἴδωσί τινα ἀῤῥωστίᾳ καὶ νόσῳ μακρᾷ παλαίοντα· Ποῦ αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι τοῦ δεῖνος; ποῦ δὲ αἱ εὐπραγίαι; Ἵν' οὖν μὴ τοιαῦτα ἁμαρτάνητε, τὸν περὶ τούτων διευκρινήσωμεν λόγον. Εἰ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος νοῦν ἔχων, οὔτε μισάγαθος, οὔτε φιλοπόνηρος γένοιτ' ἂν, πῶς σὺ τολμᾷς τοιαῦτα λέγειν περὶ Κυρίου, ὅτι τοὺς ἐν πενίᾳ, κἂν ἐν ἀρετῇ ὦσι, μισεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, τοὺς δὲ ἐν πλούτῳ, κἂν ἐν κακίᾳ, φιλεῖ, βλάσφημον στόμα ἀνοιγνὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐννοῶν τῆς ἀτοπίας τὸ μέγεθος; Ἵν' οὖν μὴ τοιαῦτα ἁμαρτάνῃς, μάθε τί φιλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ μισεῖ. Τίνα τοίνυν φιλεῖ; Τὸν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηροῦντα. Τοῦτον γὰρ ἀγαπήσω, φησὶ, καὶ ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς αὐτόν· οὐ τὸν πλουτοῦντα, οὐ τὸν ὑγιαίνοντα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑπακούοντα τοῖς ἐμοῖς προστάγμασι. Τίνα δὲ μισεῖ καὶ