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standing by,” at what he sees, at one time he confesses, at another he supplicates, at another he gives thanks, at another he recounts the rewards to be given by God to the worthy, and at another he enumerates the punishments against them. And he hands down all these things to us through his own writing, so that we might be instructed, being taught all that he himself knew from the illumination of the divine Spirit. And so now he says there was a time, when, O Lord, journeying “the narrow and the afflicted way” we struggled for piety; yet even in that affliction we were not unmindful of you, but being strengthened by the very memory of you we endured steadfastly, so as to say: "afflicted, but not crushed; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed"; for through the affliction itself we are disciplined, knowing that "whom the Lord loves he disciplines." And every affliction was counted as small by us because of our longing for you, so as to say: "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Therefore, enduring every labor, we were like a woman in labor and crying out at the very point of bringing forth to light what is conceived in the womb; for so we also became to your beloved; for having your only-begotten Word within our own soul and the fear of your piety sown in us from you, we bore all labors nobly and the afflictions brought upon us, agonizing lest we should somehow miscarry your beloved conceived in us and the divine fear sown in us from him. And indeed, having endured, we were not cheated of our hope, but we gave birth to a spirit of salvation; for the end of the conception of your beloved and of his fear was the salvation of our spirit. Which having brought forth, we made manifest to all the men dwelling on the earth, so that they too, having learned, might be helped through being zealous to conceive from your fear and to bring forth the same spirit; for those who have not received this fear nor brought forth the spirit of salvation, but otherwise having become barren and fruitless, will fall from the hope that is from you, but those who are of your portion, who for your sake endured every affliction, even if they "strive unto death" against sin, will by no means fall away from the life that is with you. For the dead shall rise, or according to Symmachus and Theodotion: your dead shall live, or according to Aquila: your deceased shall live. And who would his dead be but his holy martyrs, being different from the dead mentioned above, concerning whom it was said: "but the dead shall not see life, nor shall physicians raise them." But those were dead having "sinned unto death," but the dead of the Lord, those who for his sake endured every affliction even unto death, will rise even after their burial in the tombs. But instead of: they will be raised, the others have translated "they will be awakened," as if they were sleeping, and not dead; for which reason the death of the saints is called sleep, and consistent with sleep, the resurrection might be called an awakening. Therefore, according to the other interpreters, those in the tombs are first said "to be awakened"; and secondly, they will rejoice, according to Symmachus, or they will praise, according to Aquila, or they will shout for joy, according to Theodotion. And the cause of their resurrection will be the dew from you; for just as dew coming down upon the earth gently and mildly nourishes and makes grow the seeds lying in it, in the same way the dew from you will provide healing and life and salvation to your dead, whose bodies were sown in their season upon the earth. And you would not err in saying that the dew is the only-begotten Word of God, who, having sprinkled his own life-giving drops upon his dead, together with healing for their sins, if they had transgressed in any way according to human fashion, will provide together with resurrection and salvation and eternal life for them

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παρεστώς», ἐφ' οἷς ὁρᾷ, ποτὲ μὲν ἐξομολογεῖται, ποτὲ δ' ἱκετεύει, ποτὲ δὲ εὐχαριστεῖ, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς ἀποδοθησομένας ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀμοιβὰς τοῖς ἀξίοις διεξέρχεται, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς κατ' αὐτῶν καταλέγει τιμωρίας. πάντα δὲ ταῦτα διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ γραφῆς καὶ ἡμῖν παραδίδωσιν, ὡς ἂν παιδευοίμεθα διδασκόμενοι πάνθ' ὅσα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἐπιλάμψεως ἔγνω. καὶ νῦν οὖν φησιν ἦν ὅτε καιρὸς ἦν, ὅτε ὦ κύριε «τὴν στενὴν καὶ τὴν τεθλιμμένην» ὁδεύοντες ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἠγωνιζόμεθα· πλὴν καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ θλίψει οὐκ ἦμέν σου ἀμνήμονες, ὑπ' αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς σῆς μνήμης δυναμούμενοι καρτερῶς ὑπεμένομεν, ὥστε λέγειν· «θλιβόμενοι ἀλλ' οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι, διωκόμενοι ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι, καταβαλλόμενοι ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι»· δι' αὐτῆς γοῦν τῆς θλίψεως παιδευόμεθα, εἰδότες ὅτι «ὃν ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει». πᾶσα δὲ θλῖψις μικρά τις ἡμῖν ἐλογίζετο διὰ τὸν πρὸς σὲ πόθον, ὡς λέγειν· «οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι εἰς ἡμᾶς». ∆ιὸ πάντα πόνον ὑπομένοντες ἐοικότες ἦμεν ὠδινούσῃ γυναικὶ καὶ βοὰς ἀφιείσῃ περὶ αὐτὸ τὸ μέλλειν τὸ κατὰ γαστρὸς κυόμενον εἰς φῶς προάγειν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγενήθημεν τῷ σῷ ἀγαπητῷ· τὸν γὰρ μονογενῆ σου λόγον ἔνδον ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ ἑαυτῶν ψυχῇ καὶ τὸν ἐκ σοῦ κατασπαρέντα ἡμῖν φόβον τῆς σῆς εὐσεβείας πάντας πόνους γενναίως ἐφέρομεν καὶ τὰς ἐπαγομένας ἡμῖν θλίψεις ἀγωνιῶντες μή πη ἐξαμβλώσωμεν τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν κυούμενον ἀγαπητόν σου καὶ τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατασπαρέντα ἡμῖν ἔνθεον φόβον. καὶ δὴ καρτερήσαντες οὐκ ἐσφάλημεν τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλ' ἐτέκομεν πνεῦμα σωτηρίας· τέλος γὰρ τῆς κυήσεως τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ σου καὶ τοῦ φόβου αὐτοῦ ἡ σωτηρία ἦν τοῦ ἡμετέρου πνεύματος. ὅπερ ἀπογεννήσαντες φανερὸν κατεστήσαμεν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατοικοῦσιν ἀνθρώποις, ὡς ἂν καὶ αὐτοὶ μαθόντες ὠφεληθεῖεν διὰ τοῦ ζηλῶσαι κυῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου σου καὶ ἀποτεκεῖν τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα· οἱ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτον λαβόντες τὸν φόβον μηδὲ τεκόντες τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς σωτηρίας, ἄλλως δὲ ἄγονοι καὶ ἄκαρποι γενόμενοι ἐκπεσοῦνται τῆς παρὰ σοῦ ἐλπίδος οἱ δέ γε τῆς σῆς μερίδος ὄντες, οἱ διὰ σὲ πᾶσαν θλῖψιν ὑπομείναντες, εἰ καὶ «μέχρις θανάτου ἀγωνίσαιντο» πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδαμῶς τῆς παρὰ σοὶ ζωῆς ἀποπεσοῦνται. Ἀναστήσονται γὰρ οἱ νεκροί, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον καὶ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα· ζήσονται οἱ νεκροί σου, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· ζήσονται οἱ τεθνεῶτές σου. νεκροὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ τίνες ἂν εἶεν ἢ οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ μάρτυρες, ἕτεροι ὄντες παρὰ τοὺς ἄνω λεχθέντας νεκρούς, περὶ ὧν εἴρητο· «οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ ζωὴν οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν, οὐδὲ ἰατροὶ οὐ μὴ ἀναστήσουσιν». ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἦσαν νεκροὶ τὰ «πρὸς θάνατον ἡμαρτηκότες», οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ τοῦ κυρίου οἱ δι' αὐτὸν πᾶσαν θλῖψιν ἕως θανάτου ὑπομείναντες ἀναστήσονται καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις ταφήν. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· ἐγερθήσονται, ἐξυπνισθήσονται οἱ λοιποὶ ἡρμήνευσαν ὡς κοιμηθέντων αὐτῶν, οὐχὶ δὲ τεθνεώτων· διὸ τῶν ἁγίων ὁ θάνατος κοίμησις ὀνομάζεται, ἀκολούθως δὲ τῇ κοιμήσει ἡ ἀνάστασις ἐξυπνισμὸς ἂν λεχθείη. διὸ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς ἐξυπνισθήσεσθαι οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις κατὰ τὸ πρῶτον εἴρηνται· κατὰ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον ἀγαλλιάσονται κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, ἢ αἰνέσουσι κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, ἢ ἀλαλάξουσι κατὰ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα. αἰτία δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῖς ἔσται ἡ παρὰ σοῦ δρόσος· ὥσπερ γὰρ δρόσος ἡ ἐπὶ γῆς κατιοῦσα ἠρέμα καὶ πράως ἐκτρέφει καὶ αὔξειν ποιεῖ τὰ ἐναποκείμενα αὐτῇ σπέρματα, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἡ παρὰ σοῦ δρόσος ἴαμα καὶ ζωὴν καὶ σωτηρίαν παρέξει τοῖς σοῖς νεκροῖς, ὧν τὰ σώματα κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐσπάρη. οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἁμάρτοις αὐτὸν εἶναι λέγων δρόσον τὸν μονογενῆ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, ὃς ἐπιστάξας τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ζωοποιοὺς σταγόνας τοῖς αὐτοῦ νεκροῖς, ὁμοῦ καὶ ἴασιν ἁμαρτημάτων, εἴ πού τι αὐτοῖς κατ' ἄνθρωπον πεπλημμέλητο, παρέξει ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀνάστασιν καὶ σωτηρίαν καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον αὐτοῖς