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having wiped away filth and stain and spot, and having been released from intricate bonds, being conscious of all these things, will say: He has nourished me beside the water of rest. Then, as if long fainting in soul, then having recovered himself through the green pasture that was given and the saving water, and as if returning from death, he will say: He has restored my soul. All these things will belong to the one shepherded by the Lord through the David who has been revealed. He has led me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. These things, he says, He does, so that His name may not be blasphemed, when His sheep are perishing or being badly led. For though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. For sin is far from everyone who is with God. He calls the common death, and the release of the soul from the body, a shadow of death, in contrast to the death of the soul, about which it is said: The soul that sins, it shall die; and, There is a sin that leads to death. For it is not a shadow of death; but the true death happens to be the perdition of the soul. Since, therefore, they have learned that he who believes in the Son of God shall not die for ever, but has passed from death to life, they very precisely say that not death comes upon them, but rather a shadow of death; by this indicating that human dangers and bodily death are nothing other than the separation of soul from body. Your rod and Your staff, they have comforted me. These things, then, comfort the one who is struck and the one who is chastised, being persuaded that God scourges every son whom He receives. 23.220 You have prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil, and Your cup which inebriates is the best! For they know also the spiritual oil with which the head has been anointed, and the inebriation which strengthens but does not dissolve; and the mystical food, which He who became shepherd and bridegroom sets before us. And with these good things, he says, we luxuriate, while our enemies are vexed and worn out; because those who formerly, he says, were slaves have obtained so great a change, you have anointed my head with oil. And Your mercy will follow me all the days of my life, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days. Trusting in Your mercy, and in Your grace, I know that I will not fall away from the hope that is with You, being guided all the days of my life by Your mercy. Indeed, this Your mercy and this Your grace have deemed me worthy to acquire as a dwelling Your house and Your Church; where, spending my time as in the house of God, a sacred and holy temple, I will obtain length of days with You and eternal life. For to dwell in Your house, and never to depart from it nor turn away, but always to spend my time within the sacred enclosures, these things, I believe, will be the cause for me of length of days that subsist from Your light. But instead of, "for length of days," Symmachus translated, "for length of time," signifying the infinite and immortal nature of the life that is in God. A PSALM OF DAVID 23. In some copies I found: "For the first of the Sabbaths." The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers. For if a divine Word, he says, had not presided over it, and if the wisdom of God had not founded it in this way, it would long ago have sunk down into the depths, carried somewhere below by its natural weight. But the wonder-working and marvelous power of the Lord of all was indeed stronger than it, which the so great

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ῥύπον καὶ σπίλον καὶ κηλίδα σμηξάμενος, δεσμῶν τε ἀνεθεὶς πολυπλόκων, συνῃσθημένος τούτων ἁπάντων ἐρεῖ· Ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως ἐξέθρεψέ με. Εἶθ' ὥσπερ ἐκλείπων πάλαι τὴν ψυχὴν, ἔπειτα διὰ τῆς ἀποδοθείσης χλόης καὶ τοῦ σωτηρίου ὕδατος ἀναλαβὼν ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκ θανάτου παλινδρομήσας, φήσει· Τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐπέστρεψε. Ταῦτα πάντα ὑπάρξει τῷ διὰ τοῦ δηλωθέντος ∆αυῒδ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ποιμαινομένῳ. Ὡδήγησέ με ἐπὶ τρίβους δικαιοσύνης ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. Ταῦτα, φησὶ, πράττει, ὡς ἂν μὴ βλασφημῆται αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα, τῶν αὐτοῦ προβάτων ἀπολλυμένων, ἢ κακῶς ἀγομένων. Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ πορευθῶ ἐν μέσῳ σκιᾶς θανάτου, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι κακὰ, ὅτι σὺ μετ' ἐμοῦ εἶ. Μακρὰν γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρτία παντὸς συνόντος Θεῷ. Σκιὰν θανάτου τὸν κοινόν φησι θάνατον, καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος λύσιν, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τοῦ θανάτου τῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ὃ εἴρηται· Ψυχὴ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὕτη ἀποθανεῖται· καὶ, Ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ σκιὰ θανάτου· ἀλλ' ἀληθινὸς θάνατος ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπώλεια τυγχάνει. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μεμαθήκασιν, ὡς ἄρα ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, μεταβέβηκε δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωὴν, σφόδρα ἀκριβῶς οὐ φασὶ θάνατον ἐπιέναι αὐτοῖς ἀλλ' ἢ ἄρα σκιὰν θανάτου· ταύτῃ δηλοῦντες τοὺς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον κινδύνους καὶ τὸν σωματικὸν θάνατον οὐδὲν ἕτερον ὄντα ἢ χωρισμὸν ψυχῆς ἀπὸ σώματος. Ἡ ῥάβδος σου καὶ ἡ βακτηρία σου, αὗταί με παρεκάλεσαν. Ταῦτα οὖν παρακαλεῖ τὸν τυπτόμενον καὶ τὸν κολαζόμενον, πεπεισμένον, ὅτι μαστιγοῖ ὁ Θεὸς πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται. 23.220 Ἡτοίμασας ἐνώπιόν μου τράπεζαν ἐξεναντίας τῶν θλιβόντων με. Ἐλίπανας ἐν ἐλαίῳ τὴν κεφαλήν μου, καὶ τὸ ποτήριόν σου μεθύσκον ὡς κράτιστον! Ἴσασι γὰρ καὶ τὸ πνευματικὸν ἔλαιον, ὃ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπιάνθησαν, καὶ τὴν κρατύνουσαν, ἀλλ' οὐ διαλύουσαν μέθην· καὶ τὴν μυστικὴν τροφὴν, ἣν προτίθησιν ἡμῖν ὁ πρὸς τὸ ποιμαίνειν καὶ νυμφίος γενόμενος. Τούτοις δὲ, φησὶν, ἐντρυφῶμεν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, τῶν δυσμενῶν ἀνιωμένων καὶ τρυχομένων· ὅτι οἱ πάλαι, φησὶ, δουλεύοντες τοσαύτης μεταβολῆς τετυχήκασιν, ἐλίπανας ἐν ἐλαίῳ τὴν κεφαλήν μου. Καὶ τὸ ἔλεός σου καταδιώξεταί με πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου, καὶ τὸ κατοικεῖν με ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου εἰς μακρότητα ἡμερῶν. Πεποιθὼς τῷ σῷ ἐλέει, καὶ τῇ σῇ χάριτι, οἶδ' ὅτι οὐκ ἐκπεσοῦμαι τῆς παρὰ σοὶ ἐλπίδος παιδαγωγούμενος πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου ὑπὸ τοῦ σοῦ ἐλέους. Τοῦτο γοῦν τὸ σὸν ἔλεος καὶ αὐτή σου ἡ χάρις κατηξίωσέ με οἰκητήριον κτήσασθαι τὸν σὸν οἶκον καὶ τὴν σὴν Ἐκκλησίαν· ἔνθα τὰς διατριβὰς ποιούμενος ὡς ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ, ἱερῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ ναῷ, μακρότητος τῶν παρὰ σοὶ ἡμερῶν καὶ ζωῆς αἰωνίου τεύξομαι. Τὸ γὰρ κατοικεῖν με ἐν τῷ σῷ οἴκῳ, καὶ μηδέποτε αὐτοῦ ἐξίστασθαι μηδὲ ἀπονεύειν, ἀεὶ δὲ εἴσω περιβόλων ἱερῶν τὰς διατριβὰς ποιεῖσθαι, ταῦτά μοι αἴτια γενήσεσθαι πιστεύω μακρότητος ἡμερῶν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ σοῦ φωτὸς ὑφισταμένων. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, εἰς μακρότητα ἡμερῶν, εἰς μῆκος χρόνου ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσε, τῆς κατὰ τὸν Θεὸν ζωῆς τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ ἀθάνατον σημήνας. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΚΓʹ. Ἐν ἐνίοις ἀντιγράφοις εὗρον· «Τῆς μιᾶς τῶν Σαββάτων.» Τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ. Αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ ποταμῶν ἡτοίμασεν αὐτήν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ Λόγος αὐτῆς, φησὶν, ἐπεστάτει θεῖος, καὶ εἰ μὴ σοφία Θεοῦ τοῦτον αὐτὴν τεθεμελιώκει τὸν τρόπον, πάλαι ἂν φυσικῷ βάρει κάτω που φερομένη κατὰ βυθῶν κεχωρήκει. Ἀλλ' ἦν ἄρα κρείττων αὐτῆς ἡ θαυματουργὸς καὶ παραδοξοποιὸς τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Κυρίου δύναμις, ἢ τὸν τοσοῦτον