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an avenger of the wronged, so that these might breathe again, and those might be brought to their senses. Therefore, let no one pursue a surplus of money. Many evils are born from this for those who are not attentive: despair, indolence, envy, vainglory, and many others more than these. But that you may be rid of all these, cut out the root; for if it does not remain, the wicked offshoots do not sprout. For this reason these things have been said, not that we might only hear, but that we might also be corrected, and show forth great virtue in Christ Jesus; to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
ON THE 10TH PSALM.
To the end, for David. Another, A victory song for David. Another, To the giver of victory. 1. In the Lord I have put my trust; how will you say to my soul: Flee to the mountains like a sparrow? Another, Flee up to the mountains like a sparrow. Another, Move away. For behold, the sinners have bent their bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart. Another, As in gloom. For what you have established,they have destroyed. Another, For the ordinances were abolished. Another, For the teachings will be crushed. Great is the power of hope in the Lord, an unconquerable fortress, an impregnable wall, an invincible alliance, a calm harbor, an unassailable tower, an unbeatable weapon, an invincible power that finds a way even out of impossible situations. Through it the unarmed have overcome the armed, and women have overcome men, and children have appeared stronger with much ease than those practiced in warfare. And what wonder is it if they prevailed over enemies, when indeed they overcame the world itself? For the elements, forgetting their own nature, were changed for their benefit, and the beasts were no longer beasts, nor the furnace a furnace. For hope in God reshapes everything. Sharpened teeth, and a narrow prison, the wildness of nature, and famine arming nature, no partition, and mouths near the body of the Prophet; but hope in God, stronger than any bridle, falling upon their mouths, drew them back. Contemplating these things, he said to those who ordered him to flee and run away, and to procure safety for himself from the security of places: In the Lord I have put my trust; how will you say to my soul? What are you saying? I have the Master of the world as an ally; I have him who easily works all things everywhere, leading and standing by me; and you send me to the uninhabited place, and from the wilderness you gather safety for me? For is the help of the wilderness greater than he who can do all things with all ease? Why do you prepare me, who am strongly armed, to flee like one naked and unarmed, and command me to be a fugitive? Then you would not command one who has an army, and is fenced in with walls and weapons, to take refuge in the desert, but you would have appeared ridiculous advising these things; but me, who has the Master of the world with me, you exile, and put to flight, and make a fugitive 55.141 because of the war from sinners? For along with what has been said, I have this other justification for not fleeing. For when God helps, and the ones warring are sinners, how does one advising to imitate the timidity of birds not incur the utmost shame? Do you not consider the army arrayed against me, how it is more worthless than a spider's web? For if the enemy of the earthly king, wherever he may be, lives precariously and is afraid, and
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ἔκδικον τῶν ἀδικουμένων, ὥστε καὶ τούτους ἀναπνεῦσαι, κἀκείνους σωφρονισθῆναι. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν διωκέτω χρημάτων περιουσίαν. Πολλὰ ἐντεῦθεν τοῖς μὴ προσέχουσι τίκτεται κακά· ἀπόνοια, ῥᾳθυμία, φθόνος, κενοδοξία, καὶ ἕτερα πολλῷ πλείονα τούτων. Ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀπαλλαγῆτε τούτων ἁπάντων, τὴν ῥίζαν ἐκκόψατε· μὴ μενούσης γὰρ αὐτῆς, οὐ βλαστάνει τὰ πονηρὰ βλαστήματα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ταῦτα εἴρηται, οὐχ ἵνα ἀκούωμεν μόνον, ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ διορθώμεθα, καὶ πολλὴν τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδειξώμεθα· ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ Ιʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ.
Εἰς τὸ τέλος τῷ ∆αυΐδ. Ἄλλος, Ἐπινίκιος τῷ ∆αυΐδ. Ἄλλος, Τῷ νικοποιῷ. αʹ. Ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πέποιθα· πῶς ἐρεῖτε τῇ ψυχῇ μου· Μεταναστεύου ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον; Ἄλλος, Ἀναστατοῦ εἰς τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον Ἄλλος, Μετακινοῦ. Ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐνέτειναν τόξον, ἡτοίμασαν βέλη εἰς φαρέτραν, τοῦ κατατοξεῦσαι ἐν σκοτομήνῃ τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Ἄλλος, Ὡς ἐν ζόφῳ. Ὅτι ἃ σὺ κατηρτίσω,αὐτοὶ καθεῖλον. Ἄλλος, Ὅτι οἱ θεσμοὶ κατελύθησαν. Ἄλλος, Ὅτι αἱ διδασκαλίαι συντριβήσονται. Μεγάλη τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον ἐλπίδος ἡ δύναμις, φρούριον ἀχείρωτον, τεῖχος ἄμαχον, συμμαχία ἀκαταγώνιστος, λιμὴν εὔδιος, πύργος ἀκαταμάχητος, ὅπλον ἀήττητον, δύναμις ἄμαχος καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀπόρων εὑρίσκουσα πόρον. ∆ιὰ ταύτης ἄοπλοι τῶν ὡπλισμένων, καὶ γυναῖκες ἀνδρῶν περιεγένοντο, καὶ παῖδες τῶν τὰ πολεμικὰ μεμελετηκότων ἰσχυρότεροι μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐκολίας ἀνεφάνησαν. Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ πολεμίων ἐκράτησαν, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κόσμου περιεγένοντο; Τὰ γὰρ στοιχεῖα τὴν οἰκείαν ἀγνοήσαντα φύσιν πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκείνοις μετεβάλλοντο, καὶ τὰ θηρία οὐκ ἔτι θηρία ἦν, οὐδὲ ἡ κάμινος, κάμινος. Ἡ γὰρ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπὶς πάντα μεταῤῥυθμίζει. Ὀδόντες τεθηγμένοι, καὶ δεσμωτήριον στενὸν, φύσεως ἀγριότης, καὶ λιμὸς ὁπλίζων τὴν φύσιν, διάφραγμα οὐδαμοῦ, καὶ στόματα τοῦ σώματος πλησίον τοῦ Προφήτου· ἀλλ' ἡ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπὶς χαλινοῦ παντὸς ἰσχυροτέρα, εἰς τὰ στόματα ἐμπεσοῦσα, εἰς τοὐπίσω ταῦτα ἀνεῖλκε. Ταῦτα δὴ καὶ οὗτος φιλοσοφῶν, ἔλεγε πρὸς τοὺς κελεύοντας αὐτῷ φεύγειν καὶ δραπετεύειν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν τόπων ἀσφαλείας τὴν σωτηρίαν ἑαυτῷ πορίζεσθαι· Ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πέποιθα· πῶς ἐρεῖτε τῇ ψυχῇ μου; Τί λέγεις; Τὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης ∆εσπότην ἔχω σύμμαχον· τὸν πανταχοῦ εὐκόλως ἐργαζόμενον πάντα, ἐκεῖνον στρατηγοῦντα ἔχω καὶ παριστάμενον· καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀοίκητόν με πέμπεις, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρημίας μοι συνάγεις τὴν ἀσφάλειαν; Μὴ γὰρ μείζων ἡ τῆς ἐρημίας βοήθεια τοῦ πάντα δυναμένου μετ' εὐκολίας ἁπάσης; Τί με τὸν ὡπλισμένον ἰσχυρῶς, καθάπερ γυμνὸν καὶ ἄοπλον, δραπετεύειν παρασκευάζεις, καὶ μετανάστην εἶναι κελεύεις; Εἶτα τὸν μὲν στρατόπεδον ἔχοντα, καὶ τείχεσι πεφραγμένον καὶ ὅπλοις, οὐκ ἂν ἐκέλευσας καταφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον, ἀλλὰ καταγέλαστος ἂν ἐφάνης ταῦτα συμβουλεύων· τὸν δὲ ἔχοντα τὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης ∆εσπότην μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐξορίζεις, καὶ φυγαδεύεις, καὶ μετανάστην 55.141 ποιεῖς, διὰ τὸν παρὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν πόλεμον; Μετὰ γὰρ τῶν εἰρημένων, καὶ τοῦτο ἕτερον δικαίωμα ἔχω τοῦ μὴ φεύγειν. Ὅταν γὰρ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς βοηθῇ, καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ οἱ πολεμοῦντες, πῶς οὐ τὴν ἐσχάτην ὀφλισκάνει αἰσχύνην ὁ συμβουλεύων τῶν ὀρνίθων μιμεῖσθαι τὸ ψοφοδεές; Οὐκ ἐννοεῖς τὸ ἀντιπαραταττόμενόν μοι στρατόπεδον, πῶς ἀράχνης εὐτελέστερον; Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐχθρὸς τοῦ ἐπιγείου, ὅπου ἂν παραγένηται, ἐπισφαλῶς ζῇ καὶ δέδοικε, καὶ