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because of the unsound and changeable nature of life. For even the Apostle was anxious, lest, having preached to others, he himself should be disqualified. But the divine words are accustomed to call the pit the dwelling-place of souls in what is called hades; which David himself presents not long after in the 29th psalm, saying: O Lord my God, I cried to you, and you healed me; O Lord, you have brought up my soul from hades; you have saved me from those who go down into the pit. Do you see how through these words he joined hades and the pit together? But in the psalm at hand he sends forth cries to God, begging not to be likened to those who go down into the pit; but in the twenty-ninth he teaches that the things of his prayer have been accomplished for him, saying: O Lord, I cried to you, and you healed me; you have saved me from those who go down into the pit. The dwelling-place of souls in hades is fittingly called a pit. For as the pit is a receptacle for waters carried down into it from above and from a height; in the same way the place of death, called hades, receiving the souls carried down into it from the life of men above, is fittingly called a pit. He begs, therefore, not to be dragged down into the indicated pit. This, he says, will happen, if I become like the rest of men who are not heard by you; which is indeed a sign of your turning away. But instead of: Be not silent from me, Symmachus says, do not be silent from me; lest, when you are quiet from me, I become like those who go down into the pit. Because they did not understand the works of the Lord, and the works of his hands, you will tear them down, and you will not build them up. Now you might say the works of the Lord are the subsistence of all created things, according to which God, the maker of all things, brought all things from non-being into being; and the works of his hands, the administration of things that have come to be, according to which he provides for and arranges, governing all things as with hands by his own providential powers. Blessed be God, because he has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my helper and my defender; in him my heart has hoped 23.249 and I was helped. And my flesh has flourished again, and with my will I will confess to him. The God who does not lie, confirming his own promises, through which he has promised, saying: While you are still speaking, I will say: ‘Behold, I am here’; as standing near to those who purely call upon him, and as not being far from the one who prayed for the things previously mentioned that were done, he made himself attentive to the aforesaid supplications. Then, as it were, he gives a sign through the prophetic spirit to the soul of the one who prayed, that it has been heard. And it, being aware, changes the supplicatory cries into thanksgiving, and confesses to have recognized the benefit that came to it; for which reason he says: Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication; the Lord is my helper and my defender, in him my heart has hoped, and I was helped. For he perceived the right hand of God stretched out to him and taking hold of him so that he would not be dragged down into the indicated pit. And out of exceeding joy the prophet says that not only his soul, but also his flesh rejoiced and was renewed because of the good hope promised also to his body concerning the resurrection of the dead; for which reason he adds: And my flesh has flourished again; to which he connects: And with my will I will confess to him; which seems to me to be similar to: Willingly I will sacrifice to you. But instead of, and my flesh has flourished again, Symmachus says, my heart has blossomed; and Aquila, my heart has exulted; and Theodotion, and my heart has flourished again; and the fifth edition, my heart was strengthened. And again instead of, with my will I will confess to him, Symmachus: And in my songs I will praise him, he rendered; and Aquila, and from my song I will confess to him. The Lord is the strength of the people

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διὰ τὸ σαθρὸν καὶ εὐμετάβολον τοῦ βίου. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἠγωνία, μήπως, ἄλλοις κηρύξας, αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένηται. Λάκκον δὲ εἰώθασιν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι ὀνομάζειν τὸ τῶν ψυχῶν οἰκητήριον τὸ ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ ᾅδῃ· ὃ δὴ παρίστησιν αὐτὸς ὁ ∆αυῒδ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐν τῷ κθʹ ψαλμῷ λέγων· Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, καὶ ἰάσω με· Κύριε, ἀνήγαγες ἐξ ᾅδου τὴν ψυχήν μου· ἔσωσάς με ἀπὸ τῶν καταβαινόντων εἰς λάκκον. Ὁρᾷς ὅπως τὸν ᾅδην καὶ τὸν λάκκον ἐν ταὐτῷ διὰ τούτων συνῆψεν; Ἀλλ' ἐν μὲν τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας βοὰς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀφίησιν, παρακαλῶν μὴ ὁμοιωθῆναι τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐννάτῳ καὶ εἰκοστῷ κατωρθῶσθαι αὑτῷ τὰ τῆς εὐχῆς διδάσκει λέγων· Κύριε, ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, καὶ ἰάσω με· ἔσωσάς με ἀπὸ τῶν καταβαινόντων εἰς λάκκον. Προσφυῶς δὲ λάκκος ὠνόμασται τὸ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ τῶν ψυχῶν οἰκητήριον. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ λάκκος δοχεῖόν ἐστι τῶν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ὕψους εἰς αὐτὸν καταφερομένων ὑδάτων· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ τοῦ θανάτου χῶρος, ὁ καλούμενος ᾅδης τὰς ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίου εἰς αὐτὸν καταφερομένας ψυχὰς ὑποδεχόμενος, προσφυῶς λάκκος ὠνόμασται. Παρακαλεῖ τοίνυν μὴ συνελκυσθῆναι εἰς τὸν δεδηλωμένον λάκκον. Τοῦτο δὲ, φησὶν, ἔσται, εἰ ὅμοιος γενοίμην τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῖς μὴ εἰσακουομένοις ὑπὸ σοῦ· ὃ δὴ σημεῖον τυγχάνει τῆς σῆς ἀποστροφῆς. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· Μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὁ Σύμμαχος, μὴ σιγήσῃς ἐξ ἐμοῦ, φησί· μήποτε, ἡσυχάσαντός σου ἄποθέν μου, ὁμοιωθῶ τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον. Ὅτι οὐ συνῆκαν εἰς τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, καθελεῖς αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐ μὴ οἰκοδομήσεις αὐτούς. Ἔργα δὲ Κυρίου εἴποις ἂν τὴν τῶν γενητῶν πάντων ὑπόστασιν, καθ' ἣν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὰ πάντα παρήγαγεν ὁ τῶν πάντων ποιητὴς Θεός· ἔργα δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ τὴν τῶν γενομένων διοίκησιν, καθ' ἣν προνοεῖ καὶ διέπει ὡσπερεὶ χερσὶ ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ προνοητικαῖς δυνάμεσι διακυβερνῶν τὰ πάντα. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήκουσε τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Κύριος βοηθός μου καὶ ὑπερασπιστής μου· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν ἡ καρδία μοι 23.249 καὶ ἐβοηθήθην. Καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ σάρξ μου, καὶ ἐκ θελήματός μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ. Ὁ ἀψευδὴς Θεὸς, πιστούμενος ἑαυτοῦ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, δι' ὧν ἐπήγγελται λέγων· Ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρῶ· Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι· ὡς ἐγγὺς ἑστὼς τῶν καθαρῶς αὐτὸν ἐπικαλουμένων, καὶ ὡς οὐ πόῤῥω τυγχάνων τοῦ τὰ πραχθέντα προλεχθέντα δεηθέντος, ἐπήκοον ἑαυτὸν παρέσχε ταῖς προλεχθείσαις ἱκετηρίαις. Εἶθ' ὥσπερ σημεῖον δίδωσι διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος τῇ τοῦ δεηθέντος ψυχῇ, περὶ τοῦ εἰσηκοῦσθαι αὐτήν. Ἡ δὲ, συναισθομένη, μεταβάλλει μὲν τὰς ἱκετηρίους φωνὰς εἰς εὐχαριστίαν, ἐγνωκέναι δὲ ὁμολογεῖ τὴν γενομένην αὐτῇ εὐεργεσίαν· διό φησιν· Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος, ὅτι εἰσήκουσε τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου· Κύριος βοηθός μου καὶ ὑπασπιστής μου, ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν ἡ καρδία μου, καὶ ἐβοηθήθην. Συνῄσθετο γὰρ τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκταθείσης μέχρις αὐτῆς καὶ ἀντιλαμβανομένης αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸ μὴ καθελκυσθῆναι εἰς τὸν δηλωθέντα λάκκον. Ἐξ ὑπερβαλλούσης δὲ χαρᾶς ὁ προφήτης οὐ τὴν ψυχὴν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν σάρκα αὐτοῦ φησὶ γεγηθέναι καὶ ἀνανεῶσθαι διὰ τὴν καὶ αὐτῷ σώματι ἐπηγγελμένην ἀγαθὴν ἐλπίδα κατὰ τὴν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν· διὸ ἐπιλέγει· Καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ σάρξ μου· οἷς ἐπισυνάπτει· Καὶ ἐκ θελήματός μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ· ὅπερ ὅμοιον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ τῷ· Ἑκουσίως θύσω σοι. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ σάρξ μου, ὁ μὲν Σύμμαχος, ἄνθησαι, φησὶν, ἡ καρδία μου· ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας, ἐγαυριάσατο ἡ καρδία μου· ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ καρδία μου· ἡ δὲ πέμπτη ἔκδοσις, ἐκρατύνθη ἡ καρδία μου. Καὶ πάλιν ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐκ θελήματός μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ, ὁ μὲν Σύμμαχος· Καὶ ἐν ᾠδαῖς μου ὑμνήσω αὐτὸν, ἐξέδωκεν· ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας, καὶ ἀπὸ ᾄσματός μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ. Κύριος κραταίωμα τοῦ λαοῦ