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was made firm; that is, they have vigor and certainty and stability in sanctification, and in every virtue befitting the holy powers, from the assistance of the Spirit. Here, then, "the breath of his mouth" has been written. And we will find elsewhere "the word of his mouth" also mentioned, so that the Savior and his Holy Spirit may be understood. Both, however, worked together in the creation of the heavens and the powers in them; for this reason it is said: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the breath of his mouth all their power." For nothing is sanctified without the presence of the Spirit. For instance, the Creator Word, the maker of all things, provided the angels' entry into being; but the Holy Spirit brought them their sanctification; for the angels were not created as infants. Let all the earth fear the Lord; and let all the inhabitants of the 23.284 world be moved by him. And having very consistently presented the mighty works of God, and, so to speak, shown with eyes how great is the Lord, the creator of such things, he exhorts to fear him. And he proclaims the good news not to pay attention to idols any longer, nor to worship demons, but the maker of so many things. And instead of "be moved," Symmachus rendered it "be reverent." You will understand how all the inhabitants of the world were to be moved by him, by fixing your thought on how, at the evangelical proclamation and the saving teaching, Churches were established for God throughout the whole world; and every ear was filled with the word, and all men have been moved by such great power, changing from the former error concerning idols, and coming to the remembrance of true piety; For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. The Lord scatters the counsels of nations, and thwarts the thoughts of peoples, and thwarts the counsels of rulers. Since the prophetic spirit foresaw the persecutions that were about to be kindled against those who were withdrawing from their former superstition and turning away from the polytheistic error, and were turning to the Lord of all, he necessarily exhorts those who have come to know the maker of all things not to fear the terrors and threats of the nations that remained in unbelief. For even if they devise countless things against you, yet, he says, they will be able to effect nothing against you. For he himself, the creator and Lord of all, to whom you have fled for refuge, will scatter with a single nod the plots of the nations and of the unbelieving peoples against you, the thoughts against you. And if ever rulers and kings should be kindled against you, yet he will thwart their counsels too; and his counsel alone will prevail forever. But also the thoughts of his wisdom will not be thwarted in the same way as the thoughts of men; and his judgments remain for generation after generation. For he keeps his thoughts for those worthy of him; and since in each generation and succession of men some are found worthy, it is fitting that, preserving his thoughts for these very ones, he extends them for generation and generation. And these things were foretold prophetically long ago; but we have received the outcome of the words in the deeds themselves. For how many things they contrived against his Church, and what sort of persecutions they raised against us, and what counsels the rulers of this age devised against us, it is not possible to narrate worthily; and how all these things were scattered by the power of God; and how not in our time only, but in every generation these things were fulfilled in deeds, beginning from the times of the Savior's theophany. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen for his inheritance. For of old Israel was his portion and his inheritance; but since it transgressed, grace has been transferred to the nations. From heaven

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ἐστερεώθη· τουτέστι τὸ εὔτονον καὶ βέβαιον καὶ πάγιον ἐν ἁγιασμῷ, καὶ πάσῃ πρεπούσῃ ταῖς ἱεραῖς δυνάμεσιν ἀρετῇ, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπικουρίας ἔχουσιν. Ἐνθάδε μὲν οὖν πνεῦμα στόματος αὐτοῦ ἀναγέγραπται. Εὑρήσομεν δὲ ἀλλαχοῦ καὶ λόγον στόματος αὐτοῦ εἰρημένον, ἵνα νοηθῇ ὁ Σωτὴρ καὶ τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ Πνεῦμα. Ἀμφότερα δὲ συνήργησεν ἐν τῇ κτίσει τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς δυνάμεων· διὰ τοῦτο εἴρηται· Τῷ λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἁγιάζεται μὴ τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἀγγέλων γοῦν τὴν μὲν εἰς τὸ εἶναι πάροδον ὁ δημιουργὸς Λόγος, ὁ ποιητὴς τῶν ὅλων, παρείχετο· τὸν ἁγιασμὸν δὲ αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον συνεπέφερεν· οὐ γὰρ νήπιοι κτισθέντες οἱ ἄγγελοι. Φοβηθήτω τὸν Κύριον πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· ἀπ' αὐτοῦ δὲ σαλευθήτωσαν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν 23.284 οἰκουμένην. Σφόδρα δὲ ἀκολούθως τὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγαλουργίας παραστήσας, καὶ μονονουχὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπιδείξας ὁπηλίκος ἐστὶν ὁ τῶν τοιούτων δημιουργὸς Κύριος, παρακελεύεται τοῦτον φοβεῖσθαι. Εὐαγγελίζεται δὲ εἰδώλοις μηκέτι προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, μήτε δαίμονας σέβεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὸν τοσούτων ποιητήν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, σαλευθήτωσαν, ὁ Σύμμαχος, εὐλαβείσθωσαν, ἐξέδωκε. Νοήσεις ὅπως ἔμελλον σαλεύεσθαι ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἐπιστήσας τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ κηρύγματι τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ καὶ τῇ σωτηρίῳ διδασκαλίᾳ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης Ἐκκλησίαι τῷ Θεῷ συνέστησαν· πᾶσά τε ἀκοὴ ἐπληρώθη τοῦ λόγου, καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἐπὶ τῇ τοσαύτῃ δυνάμει κεκίνηνται, μεταβάλλοντες ἀπὸ τῆς προτέρας περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα πλάνης, καὶ εἰς ὑπόμνησιν ἐλθόντες τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας· Ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν· αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο, καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν. Κύριος διασκεδάζει βουλὰς ἐθνῶν, ἀθετεῖ δὲ λογισμοὺς λαῶν, καὶ ἀθετεῖ βουλὰς ἀρχόντων. Ἐπεὶ συνεώρα τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα μέλλοντας ἐξάπτεσθαι διωγμοὺς κατὰ τῶν ἀναχωρούντων μὲν τῆς προτέρας δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ ἀποστρεφομένων τὴν πολύθεον πλάνην, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Κύριον ἐπιστρεφόντων, ἀναγκαίως τῶν ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ μεινάντων ἐθνῶν τοὺς φόβους καὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς μὴ δεδιέναι παρακελεύεται τοῖς τῶν ὅλων ποιητὴν ἐπεγνωκόσιν. Κἂν γὰρ μυρία καθ' ὑμῶν ἐπιβουλεύσωνται· ἀλλ' οὐδὲν, φησὶν, ἰσχύσουσι καθ' ὑμῶν ἐνεργῆσαι. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ πάντων δημιουργὸς καὶ Κύριος, ᾧ προσεφύγετε, τὰς καθ' ὑμῶν ἐπιβουλὰς τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τῶν ἀπίστων λαῶν, τοὺς καθ' ὑμῶν λογισμοὺς ἑνὶ νεύματι διασκεδάσει. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἄρχοντές ποτε καὶ βασιλεῖς μέλλοιεν καθ' ὑμῶν ἐξάπτεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων ἀθετήσει βουλάς· κρατήσει δὲ μόνη ἡ αὐτοῦ βουλὴ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς σοφίας οἱ λογισμοὶ αὐτοῦ οὐχ ὁμοίως τοῖς λογισμοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀθετήσονται· παραμένουσι δὲ ἑαυτοῦ κρίσεις εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν. Φυλάττει γὰρ τοὺς αὐτοῦ λογισμοὺς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἀξίοις· καὶ ἐπειδήπερ καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν καὶ διαδοχὴν ἀνθρώπων εὑρίσκονταί τινες ἄξιοι, εἰκότως τούτοις αὐτοῖς διατηρῶν τοὺς αὐτοῦ λογισμοὺς, εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν αὐτοὺς παρεκτείνει. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν πάλαι προελέγετο προφητικῶς· ἔργοις δὲ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἔκβασιν τῶν λόγων ἡμεῖς παρειλήφαμεν. Ὅσα γὰρ ἐμηχανήσαντο κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁποίους καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπήγειραν διωγμοὺς, ὁποίας τε βουλὰς ἐβουλεύσαντο οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καθ' ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπαξίως διηγήσασθαι· καὶ ὡς ταῦτα πάντα Θεοῦ δυνάμει διεσκεδάννυντο· καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἔργοις ταῦτα ἐπληροῦτο ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος θεοφανείας ἀρξάμενα. Μακάριον τὸ ἔθνος οὗ ἐστιν ὁ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ, λαὸς ὃν ἐξελέξατο εἰς κληρονομίαν ἑαυτῷ. Πάλαι μὲν γὰρ ἦν Ἰσραὴλ μερὶς καὶ κληρονομία αὐτοῦ· ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ ἠθέτησε μεταβέβληται ἡ χάρις ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη. Ἐξ οὐρανοῦ