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I see dawn, for I do not see the things themselves but their images. For this reason the Lord said: "Many prophets and righteous kings desired to see what you see and did not see it." And your very commandments, he says, like a light show the straight path. Learn righteousness, you who dwell on the earth. And teaching the ease of learning he added: 10For the impious one has ceased, he will not learn righteousness on the earth, he will not practice truth. For with the tyranny of the devil overthrown through the Lord's epiphany, the achievement of virtue has become easier. But he gained nothing from this; for he could not bear to learn righteousness. Therefore let the impious one be taken away, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord. For he will not see, he says, the pure light prepared for the saints. 11Lord, your arm is high and they did not know it, but when they know it let them be ashamed. This the Lord also said in the holy gospels: "And then they will see the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn." It is clear that those in every nation who disbelieved the Lord's proclamations will mourn their own weakness. Zeal will seize an uninstructed people. He alludes to the Jews who, supposedly out of zeal, nailed the Lord to the cross. This the divine apostle also says: "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." And now fire will consume the adversaries. For since they did not receive the light, they will be handed over to the fire and to the darkness. 12Lord our God, give us peace, for you have rendered to us all our works. 13Lord our God, possess us, Lord, besides you we know no other, we name your name. We have embraced your lordship. May we not fall from your providence; for we know no other god. These things also refute the madness of Arius and Eunomius. For how can they say: 'Besides you we know no other,' when they call the Son a created god? But we, who preach one substance of the Trinity, speak the truth when we say: 'Besides you |132 b| we know no other.' 14But the dead shall not see life. He calls 'dead' those who have been made dead to good works. For so also the Lord said: "Let the dead bury their own dead." These, he says, will be deprived of true life; for they will spend eternity in pain. Nor will physicians raise them up. For when God is punishing, who will be able to help? For this reason you brought upon them and destroyed them and took away every male of theirs. As for: 'you took away every male of theirs,' Symmachus translated it "all their memory," and Aquila and Theodotion "all their memorial." The Septuagint also alluded to this very thing through the word 'male'; for the memory of the fathers is preserved more through the males. 15Add evils to them, Lord, add evils to the glorious ones of the earth. The prophet changed the form from predictive to optative and foretells the destruction of those who persecute the pious. 16Lord, in affliction we remembered you, in a small affliction your discipline was upon us. 17And as a woman with child, pregnant, in labor, draws near to give birth and on account of her labor pain has cried out, so have we become to your beloved. Having shown the misery of the persecutors, he points out the benefit for the persecuted. For "affliction," according to the blessed Paul, "produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope, and hope does not put to shame." And here the prophet showed the remembrance of God as the fruit of affliction, and he also showed the swift help; for having suffered pain similarly to one giving birth, we were delivered from the pain on account of your beloved son. And continuing in the figure he added: Therefore your fear, Lord, 18we received in the womb and were in labor and brought forth a spirit of your salvation, which you have made upon the earth. For since they compared themselves to a woman in labor, they showed the fruit of the labor pains. For we brought forth, he says, a spirit of salvation, which you made upon the earth, that is: which you bestowed upon the earth. For he did not create the spirit on the earth, but through the spirit he worked salvation on the earth. But if those who to the all-holy

65

ὄρθρον ὁρῶ, οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὰ βλέπω τὰ πράγματα ἀλλὰ τὰς τούτων εἰκόν ας . ∆ιὸ δὴ καὶ ὁ κύριος ἔλεγεν· «Πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ βασιλεῖς δίκαιοι ἐπεθύ μησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδον.» Καὶ αὐτὰ δέ φησι τὰ προστάγματά σου φωτὸς δίκην ὑποδείκνυσι τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδόν. ∆ικαιοσύνην μάθετε οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ διδάσκων τὴν τῆς μαθήσεως εὐκολίαν ἐπήγαγεν· 10Πέπαυται γὰρ ὁ ἀσεβής, οὐ μὴ μάθῃ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀλήθειαν οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ. Τῆς γὰρ τοῦ διαβόλου τυραννίδος διὰ τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἐπιφανείας καταλυθείσης ῥᾴων γέγονε τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡ κατόρθωσις. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν ἀπώνατο· τὴν γὰρ δικαιοσύνην μαθεῖν οὐκ ἠνέσχετο. ∆ι ὸ ἀρθήτω ὁ ἀσεβής, ἵνα μὴ ἴδῃ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου. Οὐκ ὄψεται γάρ φησι τὸ ἀκήρατον φῶς τὸ τοῖς ἁγίοις ηὐτρεπισ μένον. 11Κύριε, ὑψηλός σου ὁ βραχίων καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν, γνόντες δὲ αἰσχυνθήτωσαν. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἔφη· «Καὶ τότε ὄψονται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ τότε κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς.» ∆ῆλον δὲ ὡς οἱ ἐν ἑκάστῳ ἔθνει τοῖς δε σπο τικοῖς κ ηρύ γμασιν ἀπ ι στήσαντες θρηνή σουσι τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν. Ζῆλος λήψεται λαὸν ἀπαί δευτον. Τοὺς Ἰουδαίους αἰνίττεται διὰ ζῆλον δῆθεν τῷ σταυρῷ τὸν κύριον προσηλώσαντας. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ θεῖός φησιν ἀπόστολος· «Μαρτυρῶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὅτι ζῆλον θεοῦ ἔχουσιν ἀλλ' οὐ κατ' ἐπίγνωσιν.» Καὶ νῦν πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἔδεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἐδέξαντο, παραδοθήσονται τῷ πυρὶ καὶ τῷ σκότει. 12Κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν εἰρήνην δὸς ἡμῖν, πάντα γὰρ τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἀπέδωκας ἡμῖν. 13Κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κτῆσαι ἡμᾶς, κύριε ἐκτὸς σοῦ ἄλλον οὐκ οἴδαμεν, τὸ ὄνομά σου ὀνομάζομεν. Τὴν σὴν ἠσπασάμεθα δεςποτείαν. Μὴ ἐκπέ σωμέν σου τῆς προμηθείας· οὐδένα γὰρ ἄλλον ἴσμεν θεόν. Ταῦτα καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἀρείου καὶ Εὐνομίου διελέγχει παραπληξίαν. Πῶς γὰρ δύνανται λέγειν· Ἐκτὸς σοῦ ἄλλον οὐκ οἴδαμεν, κτιστὸν θεὸν τὸν υἱὸν ὀνομάζοντες; Ἡμεῖς δὲ μίαν οὐσίαν τῆς τριάδος κηρύττοντες ἀληθεύομεν λέγοντες· Ἐκτὸς σοῦ ἄλλον |132 b| οὐκ οἴδαμεν. 14Οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ ζωὴν οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν. Νεκροὺς καλεῖ τοὺς τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἔργοις νενεκρωμένους. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ κύριος ἔφη· «Ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάπτειν τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς.» Οὗτοί φησι τῆς ἀληθοῦς ζωῆς στερηθήσονται· ἐν ὀδύνῃ γὰρ τὸν αἰῶνα διάξουσιν. Οὐδὲ ἰατροὶ οὐ μὴ ἀναστήσουσιν. Θεοῦ γὰρ κολάζοντος τίς ἐπαμῦναι δυνήσεται; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγες καὶ ἀπώλεσας αὐτοὺς καὶ ἦρας πᾶν ἄρσεν αὐτῶν. Τό· ἦρας πᾶν ἄρσεν αὐτῶν, ὁ Σύμμαχος «πᾶσαν τὴν μνήμην αὐτῶν» ἡρμήνευσεν, Ἀκύλας δὲ καὶ Θεοδοτίων «πᾶν τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν». Ταὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα διὰ τοῦ ἄρσενος ᾐνίξαντο· διὰ γὰρ τῶν ἀρρένων μᾶλλον ἡ τῶν πατέρων φυλάττεται μνήμη. 15Πρόσθες αὐτοῖς κακὰ κύριε, πρόσθες κακὰ τοῖς ἐνδόξοις τῆς γῆς. Εἰς εὐκτικὸν τὸ προαγορευτικὸν ὁ προφήτης μετέβαλε σχῆμα καὶ προλέγει τὸν ὄλεθρον τῶν διωκόντων τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς. 16Κύριε ἐν θλίψει ἐμνήσθημέν σου, ἐν θλίψει μικρᾷ ἡ παιδεία σου ἡμῖν. 17Καὶ ὡς ἡ ἐν γαστρί, ἡ ἔγκυος, ἡ ὠδίνουσα ἐγγίζει τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ὠδῖνι αὐτῆς ἐκέκραγεν, οὕτως ἐγενήθημεν τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου. ∆είξας τῶν διωκόν των τὴν ταλαιπωρίαν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῶν διωκομένων τὴν ὠφέλειαν. «Ἡ» γὰρ «θλῖψις» κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον «ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα, ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει.» Καὶ ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὁ προφήτης τῆς θλίψεως καρπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν μνήμην ὑπέδειξεν, ὑπέδειξε δὲ καὶ τὴν ταχεῖαν ἀντίληψιν· τικ το ύσῃ γὰρ παραπλησίως ὀδυνηθέντες διὰ τὸν ἀγαπητόν σου υἱὸν ἀπηλλάγημεν τῆς ὀδύνης. Καὶ ἐπιμένων τῇ τ ροπῇ ἐπή γαγεν· ∆ιὸ τὸν φόβον σου κύριε 18ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν καὶ ἐτέκομεν πνεῦμα σωτηρίας σου, ὃ ἐποίησας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὠδινούσῃ ἑαυτοὺς ἀπείκασαν γυναικί, ἔδειξαν τὸν τῶν ὠδίνων καρπόν. Πνεῦμα γὰρ σωτηρίας φησὶν ἐτέκομεν, ὃ ἐποίησας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τουτέστιν· ὃ τῇ γῇ ἐδωρήσω. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐδημιούργησεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τῇ γῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν εἰργάσατο. Εἰ δὲ ἀντιλέγουσιν οἱ τῷ παναγίῳ