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with toil; but the things in the heavens, who has searched out? and your counsel, who has known? Where God wills, the order of nature is overcome. For if he had willed, he would have been able.

TITLE 3. -Concerning God's help; and that when God is well-pleased, the plot

of men is weak, and few prevail over many. Inasmuch as they humbled them, they became more numerous, and grew exceedingly mighty. He said

the Lord to Moses: I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from their taskmasters. For I know their sorrow, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land, and to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. Balaam said: Balak the king of Moab has sent for me from Mesopotamia, saying: Curse Israel for me. How shall I curse whom the Lord does not curse? or how shall I curse whom God does not curse? The Lord said to Gideon: The people with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel boast, that My hand has saved me. And now speak in the ears of the people, saying: Whoever is fearful and timid? Let him return. And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand were left. And the Lord said to Gideon: The people are still too many, bring them down to the water. And he said to Gideon: Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set them apart by themselves; and the number of them was three hundred men. And the Lord said: With these three hundred I will deliver Midian into your hands. David took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five stones, and put them in his shepherd's bag, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. And he saw David, and disdained him, for he was 95.1268 a youth. And the Philistine said: Am I a dog, that you have come out with a staff and with stones? And David said to the Philistine: You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of Sabaoth, the Almighty, and I will strike you, and this whole congregation shall know that the Lord does not save with sword, nor with spear. And David stretched out his hand into the bag, and took one stone from there, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank through the helmet into his forehead, and he fell to the earth, and David ran, and took off his head. Absalom said, and every man of Israel: The counsel of Hushai is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. So that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. Four lepers entered, and with God's good pleasure, they terrified the whole camp of Syria. Hezekiah prevailed, and built the broken wall, and spoke to the heart, saying: Be strong and courageous, do not be dismayed before the king of Assur, and the great nation, because there are more with us than with them. Arms of flesh are with him, but with us is the Lord our God; and the people took courage. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? and the rest. A king will not be saved by great power, nor a giant, and the rest. All my bones shall say, Lord, Lord, who is like you? and the rest. Give us help from trouble, for vain is the salvation of man. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side; now may Israel say; if it had not been the Lord, and the rest. I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me. I will be a tower around her, and I will be for her glory. And I will execute vengeance on all who dishonor them. God is with us; know, O nations, and be vanquished, and hear to the end of the earth. The Lord has become my helper, therefore I was not confounded, but I set my face as a solid rock, and I knew that I should not be ashamed. The Lord is with me as a mighty warrior. The Lord gives life to the brokenhearted. -Sing to the Lord,

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μετὰ πόνου· τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς τίς ἐξιχνίασεν; βουλὴν δέ σου τίς ἔγνω; Ὅπου Θεὸς βούλεται, νικᾶται φύσεως τάξις. Εἰ ἠβουλήθη γὰρ, ἠδυνήθη.

ΤΙΤΛ. Γʹ. -Περὶ βοηθείας Θεοῦ· καὶ ὅτι τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐδοκοῦντος ἐπιβουλὴ

ἀνθρώπων ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ ὀλίγοι πολλῶν κρατοῦσι. Καθότι αὐτοὺς ἐταπείνουν, πλείους ἐγίγνοντο, καὶ ἴσχυον σφόδρα. Εἶπε

Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν· Εἶδον τὴν κάκωσιν τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, καὶ τῆς κραυγῆς αὐτῶν ἀκήκοα, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐργοδιωκτῶν αὐτῶν. Οἶδα γὰρ τὴν ὀδύνην αὐτῶν, καὶ κατέβην τοῦ ἐξελέσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης, καὶ εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν μέλι καὶ γάλα. Εἶπε Βαλαάμ· Ἐκ Μεσοποταμίας κατεπέμψατό με Βαλὰκ βασιλεὺς Μωὰβ, λέγων· Κατάρασαί μοι τὸν Ἰσραήλ. Τί ἀράσομαι ὃν μὴ ἀρᾶται Κύριος; ἢ καταράσομαι ὃν μὴ καταρᾶται ὁ Θεός; Εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Γεδεών· Πολὺς ὁ λαὸς ὁ μετὰ σοῦ, ὥστε παραδοῦναί με τὴν Μαδιὰμ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν, μήποτε καυχήσηται Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι Ἡ χείρ μου ἔσωσέ με. Καὶ νῦν λάλησον εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ, λέγων· Τίς ὁ φοβούμενος καὶ δειλός; Ἐπιστραφήτω. Καὶ ἀπεστράφησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ εἴκοσι δύο χιλιάδες, καὶ δέκα χιλιάδες ἀπελείφθησαν. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Γεδεών· Ἔτι ὁ λαὸς πολὺς, κατένεγκον αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ. Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς Γεδεών· Πᾶς ὃς ἂν λείξῃ τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος, ὡς ἂν λείξῃ κύων, στήσεις αὐτοὺς κατὰ μόνας· καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν τριακόσιοι ἄνδρες. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος· Ἐν τοῖς τριακοσίοις τούτοις παραδώσω τὴν Μαδιὰμ εἰς χεῖράς σου. Ἔλαβε ∆αβὶδ τὴν ῥάβδον ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ πέντε λίθους, καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ καδίῳ τῷ ποιμενικῷ, καὶ σφενδόνη αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ προσῆλθεν πρὸς τὸν ἀλλόφυλον. Καὶ εἶδε τὸν ∆αβὶδ, καὶ ἐξουδένωσεν αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἦν 95.1268 παιδάριον. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἀλλόφυλος· Μὴ κύων ἐγώ εἰμι, ὅτι σὺ ἐξῆλθες ἐν ῥάβδῳ καὶ ἐν λίθοις; Καὶ εἶπε ∆αβὶδ πρὸς ἀλλόφυλον· Σὺ ἔρχῃ πρός με ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν δόρατι καὶ ἐν ἀσπίδι. Ἐγὼ δὲ προσάγω πρὸς σὲ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ παντοκράτορος, καὶ πατάξω σε, καὶ γνώσονται πᾶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία αὕτη, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ, οὐδὲ ἐν δόρατι σώζει Κύριος. Καὶ ἐξέτεινε ∆αβὶδ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ κάδιον, καὶ ἔλαβεν ἐκεῖθεν λίθον ἕνα, καὶ ἐσφενδόνησε, καὶ ἐπάταξε τὸν ἀλλόφυλον εἰς τὸ μέτωπον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ διέδυ ὁ λίθος διὰ τῆς περικεφαλαίας εἰς τὸ μέτωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἔδραμε ∆αβὶδ, καὶ ἀφεῖλε τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. Εἶπεν Ἀβεσαλὼμ, καὶ πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ἰσραήλ· Ἀγαθὴ ἡ βουλὴ Χουσὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν βουλὴν Ἀρχιτόφελ. Ὅπως ἐπάγῃ Κύριος ἐπὶ Ἀβεσαλὼμ τὰ κακά. Εἰσῆλθον τέσσαρες λεπροὶ, καὶ Θεοῦ εὐδοκήσαντος, ὅλον τὸ στρατόπεδον Συρίας ἐφόβησαν. Κατίσχυσεν Ἐζεκίας, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὸ τεῖχος τὸ κατεσπασμένον, καὶ ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ καρδίαν λέγων· Ἰσχύσατε καὶ ἀνδρίζεσθε, μὴ πτοηθῆναι ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσοὺρ, καὶ τοῦ ἔθνους τοῦ μεγάλου, ὅτι μεθ' ἡμῶν πλείους ἢ μετ' αὐτῶν. Βραχίονες σάρκινοι μετ' αὐτοῦ, μεθ' ἡμῶν δὲ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν· καὶ κατεθάῤῥησεν ὁ λαός. Κύριος φωτισμός μου καὶ σωτήρ μου, τίνα φοβηθήσομαι; καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Οὐ σωθήσεται βασιλεὺς διὰ πολλὴν δύναμιν, καὶ γίγας, καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσι, Κύριε, Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; καὶ τὰ λοιπά. ∆ὸς ἡμῖν βοήθειαν ἐκ θλίψεως, καὶ ματαία σωτηρία ἀνθρώπου. Εἰ μὴ ὅτι Κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν· εἰπάτω δὴ Ἰσραήλ· εἰ μὴ ὅτι Κύριος, καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Ἐβόησα ἐν θλίψει μου πρὸς Κύριον τὸν Θεόν μου, καὶ εἰσήκουσέ μου. Ἔσομαι αὐτῇ πύργος κύκλωθεν, καὶ εἰς δόξαν ἔσομαι αὐτῆς. Καὶ ποιήσω ἐκδίκησιν πᾶσι τοῖς ἀτιμάζουσιν αὐτούς. Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· γνῶτε, ἔθνη, καὶ ἡττᾶσθε, καὶ ἀκούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. Κύριος ἐγένετο βοηθός μου, διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐνετράπην, ἀλλ' ἔθηκα τὸ πρόσωπόν μου, ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν, καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ. Κύριος μετ' ἐμοῦ καθὼς μαχητὴς ἰσχύων. Κύριος δίδωσι ζωὴν τοῖς συντετριμμένοις τὴν καρδίαν. -Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ,