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death, and having destroyed death, and having given us the hopes of the resurrection. This same Psalm is also spoken with reference to the blessed Hezekiah. For after the 80.1072 destruction of the Assyrians, and the deliverance from sickness, he celebrated, as was fitting, a very great feast, giving thanks to God, because he had both granted them salvation, and had freed his holy temple from the fire of the enemies. Since, therefore, the things celebrated resembled a festival of dedication, it rightly received this inscription as well. It must be known, however, that it applies to Hezekiah as a type, but to the whole nature of men according to the truth itself. For just as he, having adopted a lofty mindset—for the history of Chronicles taught this—received the sentence of death, but by divine grace obtained life; so Adam the forefather, expecting to be God, and thinking great things against his maker, was delivered over to death; but by divine love for humanity, he obtained the resurrection. βʹ. "I will exalt you, Lord, for you have taken me up; and you have not made my enemies rejoice over me." For the Master, having taken our first-fruits, deemed the whole nature worthy of salvation through it, and did not allow it to become an object of joy to the enemy and hostile demons. γʹ, δʹ. "O Lord my God, I cried to you, and you healed me. Lord, you have brought up my soul from Hades; you have saved me from those who go down into the pit." We hear these things as human nature relates them; however, "I cried to you, and you healed me," applies to Hezekiah according to the obvious meaning, but no longer to human nature. For it neither supplicated God, nor sought freedom from corruption; but it continued using wailing and lamentation, seeing death, but not expecting the resurrection. Therefore, he has set the tears and the wailings, which happen over the sick and the dying, in place of prayer, showing the ineffable love of God for humanity, that although not being called upon, but only seeing the lamentations, he pitied what was happening, and abolished death. For here again he has called death a pit. εʹ, ʹ. "Sing psalms to the Lord, you his saints, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For there is anger in his wrath; and life in his will." He rightly assigns the hymn to the saints, and the confession of grace; for since he gave the gift of resurrection to all men, but not all are worthy of the grace, he fittingly dedicates the worthy ones to the hymns. And he has made the other distinction very well indeed; for he assigned anger 80.1073 to wrath—for he calls discipline anger—but life, to his will; for this is what he wants, not that. For we draw that upon ourselves. "For God," he says, "did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living; for he created all things to exist, and the generations of the world are for salvation." And we hear him also saying through Ezekiel the prophet: "Do I indeed desire the death of the sinner, as much as that he should turn and live?" - "Weeping may tarry for the evening; but joy comes in the morning." And this happened so both in the case of Hezekiah, and in the case of the common salvation. For the Assyrians, having used those threats, and having moved the city to weeping, received the plague by night, and at dawn, they filled with cheerfulness those whom they had forced to weep. And the divine Isaiah, having brought the sentence of death to Hezekiah in the evening, by the morning again brought him the good news of life; so also it happened with the common salvation. For while the holy apostles, and those who believed with them, were lamenting the passion of the Lord, the women came by the morning, bringing the joy of the resurrection. ζʹ. "But I said in my prosperity, I shall not be moved for ever." This Adam also hoped, living in paradise before the deceit, and Hezekiah having conquered the Assyrian; and the book of Chronicles clearly teaches this, saying that the heart of King Hezekiah was lifted up. ηʹ. "Lord, by your will you have furnished my beauty with power; but you turned away your face,

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θάνατον, καὶ καταλύσας τὸν θάνατον, καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῖν δεδωκὼς τὰς ἐλπίδας. Εἴρηται δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν μακάριον Ἐζε κίαν οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ Ψαλμός. Μετὰ γὰρ τῶν Ἀσσυ 80.1072 ρίων ἀναίρεσιν, καὶ τὴν τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας ἀπαλλαγὴν, ἑορτὴν ὡς εἰκὸς μεγίστην ἐπετέλεσε, τῷ Θεῷ χά ριν ὁμολογῶν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐδωρήσατο σωτηρίαν, καὶ τὸν ἅγιον αὑτοῦ ναὸν τοῦ τῶν πολεμίων πυρὸς ἠλευθέρωσεν. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἐγκαινίων ἐῴκει τὰ τε λούμενα πανηγύρει, εἰκότως καὶ ταύτην ἐδέξατο τὴν ἐπιγραφήν. Ἰστέον μέντοι, ὡς τῷ Ἐζεκίᾳ κατὰ τύπον ἁρμόττει, πάσῃ δὲ τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ὑψηλὸν εἰσδεξάμενος φρόνημα· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἐδίδαξεν ἱστορία· τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ψῆφον ἐδέξατο, χάριτι δὲ θείᾳ τετύχηκε τῆς ζωῆς· οὕτως Ἀδὰμ ὁ προπάτωρ, Θεὸς ἔσεσθαι προσδοκή σας, καὶ μέγα κατὰ τοῦ πεποιηκότος φρονήσας, παρεδόθη μὲν θανάτῳ· τῇ δὲ θείᾳ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔτυχεν. βʹ. "Ὑψώσω σε, Κύριε, ὅτι ὑπέλαβές με· καὶ οὐκ εὔφρανας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐπ' ἐμέ." Λαβὼν γὰρ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀπαρχὴν ὁ ∆εσπότης, πᾶσαν δι' αὐτῆς τὴν φύσιν τῆς σωτηρίας ἠξίωσε, καὶ ἐπίχαρτον γε νέσθαι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καὶ πολεμίοις οὐκ εἴασε δαί μοσιν. γʹ, δʹ. "Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, καὶ ἰάσω με. Κύριε, ἀνήγαγες ἐξ ᾅδου τὴν ψυχήν μου· ἔσωσάς με ἀπὸ τῶν καταβαινόντων εἰς λάκ κον." Ταῦτα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως διηγουμένης ἀκούομεν· τὸ μέντοι, "Ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, καὶ ἰάσω με, τῷ μὲν Ἐζεκίᾳ ἁρμόττει κατὰ τὸν πρόχειρον νοῦν, τῇ δὲ ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει οὐκ ἔτι. Οὔτε γὰρ αὕτη τὸν Θεὸν ἱκέτευσε, καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἐζήτησεν· ὀδυρμοῖς δὲ καὶ ὀλοφυρ μοῖς χρωμένη διετέλει, τὸν μὲν θάνατον ὁρῶσα, τὴν δὲ ἀνάστασιν οὐ προσμένουσα. Τὰ δάκρυα τοίνυν καὶ τοὺς ὀδυρμοὺς, τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀῤῥωστοῦσι καὶ τελευτῶσι γιγνομένους, τέθεικεν ἀντὶ προσευχῆς, τὴν ἄφατον τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν δεικνὺς, ὅτι καί τοι μὴ καλούμενος, ἀλλ' ὁρῶν μόνον τοὺς θρήνους, ᾤκτειρε τὰ γινόμενα, καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἔλυσε. Κἀνταῦθα γὰρ πάλιν λάκκον τὸν θάνατον προσ ηγόρευσε. εʹ, ʹ. "Ψάλατε τῷ Κυρίῳ οἱ ὅσιοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ἁγιωσύνης αὐτοῦ. Ὅτι ὀργὴ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ζωὴ ἐν τῷ θε λήματι αὐτοῦ." Εἰκότως τοῖς ὁσίοις ἀπονέμει τὸν ὕμνον, καὶ τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς χάριτος· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἔδωκε τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως δῶρον, οὐ πάντες δὲ τῆς χάριτος ἄξιοι, ἁρμοδίως τοὺς ἀξίους εἰς τοὺς ὕμνους ἀφιεροῖ. Ἀρίστην δὲ κομιδῆ πε ποίηται καὶ τὴν ἄλλην διαίρεσιν· τὴν γὰρ ὀργὴν 80.1073 ἀπένειμε τῷ θυμῷ· ὀργὴν γὰρ τὴν παιδείαν καλεῖ· τὴν δὲ ζωὴν, τῷ θελήματι· τοῦτο γάρ τοι βούλεται, οὐκ ἐκεῖνο. Ἐκεῖνο γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐπισπώμεθα. "Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς, φησὶ, θάνατον οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ τέρπε ται ἐπ' ἀπωλείᾳ ζώντων· ἔκτισε γὰρ εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὰ πάντα, καὶ σωτήριοι αἱ γενέσεις τοῦ κόσμου." Ἀκούομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τοῦ προφήτου· "Μὴ θελήσει θελήσω τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτὸν καὶ ζῇν;" - "Τὸ ἑσπέρας αὐλισθήσεται κλαυθμός· καὶ εἰς τὸ πρωῒ ἀγαλλίασις." Τοῦτο δὲ οὕτω συνέβη καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἐζεκίου, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κοινῆς σωτηρίας. Οἱ γὰρ Ἀσσύριοι ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς ἐκείναις χρησάμενοι, καὶ εἰς κλαυθμὸν τὴν πόλιν κινήσαντες, νύκτωρ ἐδέξαντο τὴν πληγὴν, καὶ ἕωθεν, οὓς δακρύειν ἠνάγ κασαν, εὐθυμίας ἐνέπλησαν. Καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἡσαΐας τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ψῆφον ἑσπέρας τῷ Ἐζεκίᾳ κομί σας, ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω πάλιν ἤνεγκεν αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς ζωῆς εὐαγγέλια· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἐγένετο σωτη ρίας. Τῶν γὰρ ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς πεπιστευκότων, ὀδυρομένων τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ πάθος, ἧκον αἱ γυναῖκες ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω, τῆς ἀναστάσεως τὴν εὐφροσύνην κομίζουσαι. ζʹ. "Ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπον ἐν τῇ εὐθηνίᾳ μου, Οὐ μὴ σαλευθῶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἤλπισε, τῷ παραδείσῳ πρὸ τῆς ἀπάτης ἐμπολιτευό μενος, καὶ ὁ Ἐζεκίας νενικηκὼς τὸν Ἀσσύριον· καὶ διδάσκει τοῦτο σαφῶς τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἡ βίβλος, λέγουσα ὑψωθῆναι τὴν καρδίαν Ἐζεκίου τοῦ βασιλέως. ηʹ. "Κύριε, ἐν τῷ θελήματί σου παρέσχου τῷ κάλλει μου δύναμιν· ἀπέστρεψας δὲ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου,