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to meditate like doves. And "I will cry" and "I will meditate" are used instead of "I cried" and "I meditated," one tense for another, just as this idiom is found in many places in the divine Scripture, as when Isaiah says concerning the Lord Christ, "as a sheep he was led to the slaughter," instead of "he will be led." 8.12 "For my eyes failed from looking up to the height of heaven to the Lord, who delivered me and took away the anguish of my soul. Lord, for it was also announced to you concerning it," that is to say: And I strained the eye of my mind so much, looking to the height of heaven, entrusting to you, the Savior God of all, the anguish of my soul, which you also took from me, turning the form of pride into humility and the obedience of godliness, for which I also give thanks to you always, O Master. "And you revived my breath, and being comforted I lived; for you have chosen my soul, that it might not perish, and you have cast all my sins behind me," that is to say: For you revived my breath with your comfort and I lived, you turned back my perishing soul, whose sins you turned behind, not allowing them to stretch out before me any longer. 8.13 "For those in Hades will not praise you, nor will the dead bless you, nor will those in Hades hope for your mercy; the living will bless you, in the same way as I do," that is to say: For if you had not permitted me to live any longer, how could I have turned back, or repented and been saved, or hoped for your mercy, since the dead in Hades are not able to do such a thing? But rather, since you, in your compassion, have granted me to live, I will bless and glorify you always, just as every living person is a debtor to do these things. "For from this day I will beget children, who will declare your righteousness, O Lord of my salvation." But also from now on, he says, I will no longer deceive myself by imagining things beyond me. For I am taking a wife and I will have children, and I will teach them to follow your statutes. "And I will not cease blessing you with a psaltery all the days of my life before the house of God," that is to say: Not only will I teach my children to follow your commandments, but I will also regulate myself throughout my whole life to hasten to your praise and to cling always to your temple, no longer departing or neglecting to be present there. 8.14 Having said these things in the ode, Hezekiah, having been raised from his illness and having received the addition of fifteen years to his life, immediately married and begot Manasseh, whom he left as a full successor at twelve years of age, and departed this life according to the promise of God, having completed in his reign after the illness the fifteen years of God's addition. And these things concerning the ode; and the things said before in the preface are made clear by the detailed interpretation, that Hezekiah preserved the aforementioned reasoning. 8.15 But I must begin to speak, as I have promised, concerning the turning back of the sun, with divine grace guiding us in this as well. First, how Hezekiah's house was situated, and that it was late afternoon, about the ninth hour, when the sign occurred, and what the cause of such a sign was and what profit came from it. The door, therefore, of Hezekiah's house where the ten steps were, faced the east; so when the sun declined to the west about the ninth hour of the day, the shadow necessarily descended, since the house was to the west of the steps, to the last of the ten steps. Therefore, when the prophet Isaiah, through the mouth of God, told Hezekiah to ask for a midday sign, either for the shadow to advance ten steps forward or for the shadow to return ten steps, Hezekiah answered, saying: "It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow return ten steps backward." 8.16 After the sun's shadow had advanced the ten steps, then by divine power through the prayer of the prophet the sun was turned backward, and it was again at midday, and the shadow was found to have run back

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πελειάσι μελετᾶν. Τὸ δὲ "φωνήσω" καὶ "μελετήσω" ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐφώνησα καὶ ἐμελέτησα κεῖται, χρόνος ἀντὶ χρόνου, ὥσπερ καὶ πολλαχοῦ ἐν τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ κεῖται τὸ τοιοῦτον ἰδίωμα, ὡς ὅταν ὁ Ἠσαΐας λέγῃ περὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ "ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη", ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀχθήσεται. 8.12 "Ἐξέλιπον γάρ μου οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ βλέπειν με εἰς τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, ὃς ἐξείλετό με καὶ ἀφείλετό μου τὴν ὀδύνην τῆς ψυχῆς. Κύριε, καὶ περὶ αὐτῆς γὰρ ἀνηγγέλη σοι", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀνέτεινον τὸ ὄμμα τῆς διανοίας ἀποβλέπων εἰς τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πρὸς σὲ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Σωτῆρα Θεὸν ἀνατιθέμενος τὴν τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς ὀδύνην, ἣν καὶ ἀφείλου παρ' ἐμοῦ ἀντιστρέψας τὸ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας εἶδος εἰς ταπείνωσιν καὶ ὑπακοὴν θεοσεβείας, ὑπὲρ ἧς καὶ διαπαντός, ὦ ∆έσποτα, εὐχαριστῶ σοι. "Καὶ ἐξήγειράς μου τὴν πνοήν, καὶ παρακληθεὶς ἔζησα· εἵλου γάρ μου τὴν ψυχήν, ἵνα μὴ ἀπόληται, καὶ ἀπέρριψας ὀπίσω μου πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Ἐξήγειρας γάρ μου τὴν πνοὴν τῇ σῇ παρακλήσει καὶ ἔζησα, ἐπέστρεψάς μου τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπολλυμένην, ἧς τὰς ἁμαρτίας εἰς τοὐπίσω ἀπέστρεψας, μὴ ἐάσας ἔτι ταύτας ἐπεκτείνεσθαι ἔμπροσθέν μου. 8.13 "Οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἐν ᾅδου αἰνέσουσί σε, οὐδὲ οἱ ἀποθανόντες εὐλογήσουσί σε, οὐδὲ ἐλπιοῦσιν οἱ ἐν ᾅδου τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην σου· οἱ ζῶντες εὐλογήσουσί σε, ὃν τρόπον κἀγώ", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Εἰ γὰρ οὐ συνεχώρησάς με τοῦ ζῆν ἔτι, πῶς ἂν εἶχον ἐπιστρέψαι, ἢ μετανοῆσαι καὶ σωθῆναι, ἢ ἐλπίσαι τὸ παρὰ σοῦ ἔλεος, τῶν ἐν ᾅδου νεκρῶν οὐ δυναμένων τοιοῦτό τι ποιῆσαι; Ἀλλά σου μᾶλλον τῇ σῇ εὐσπλαγχνίᾳ χαρισαμένου μοι τὸ ζῆν εὐλογήσω καὶ δοξάσω σε διὰ παντός, ὥσπερ καὶ πᾶς ζῶν ὀφειλέτης ἐστὶ ταῦτα ποιεῖν. "Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς σήμερον παιδία ποιήσω, ἃ ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου, Κύριε τῆς σωτηρίας μου." Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, φησίν, οὐκέτι ἐμαυτὸν ἀπατήσω τὰ ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ φανταζόμενος. Λαμβάνω γὰρ σύμβιον καὶ ποιήσω τέκνα καὶ ταῦτα διδάξω τοῖς σοῖς δικαιώμασιν ἕπεσθαι. "Καὶ οὐ παύσομαι εὐλογῶν σε μετὰ ψαλτηρίου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου κατέναντι τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Οὐ μόνον δὲ τὰ τέκνα διδάξω τοῖς σοῖς προστάγμασιν ἕπεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμαυτὸν κανονίσω παρ' ὅλον τὸν τῆς ζωῆς μου χρόνον εἰς σὴν αἴνεσιν σπεύδειν καὶ κολλᾶσθαι διὰ παντὸς τῷ σῷ ναῷ, μὴ ἀφιστάμενος ἢ ἀμελῶν ἔτι ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι παραγίνεσθαι. 8.14 Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἐν τῇ ᾠδῇ ὁ Ἐζεκίας καὶ διεγερθεὶς ἐκ τῆς ἀρρωστίας, λαβὼν καὶ τῶν δεκαπέντε ἐτῶν τὴν προσθήκην τῆς ζωῆς ἔγημεν εὐθέως καὶ ἐγέννησε τὸν Μανασσῆν, ὃν δώδεκα ἐτῶν ἐάσας πλήρη διάδοχον τὸν βίον ὑπεξῆλθε κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, πληρώσας ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ μετὰ τὴν ἀρρωστίαν τὰ τῆς προσθήκης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔτη δεκαπέντε. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τῆς ᾠδῆς· ἅπερ καὶ δῆλα τυγχάνουσι τὰ προειρημένα ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ μέρος ἑρμηνείας, ὡς τὸν προειρημένον λογισμὸν ἀπέσῳζεν ὁ Ἐζεκίας. 8.15 Ἀρκτέον δὲ λέγειν, ὡς ἐπήγγελμαι, περὶ τοῦ ἀναποδισμοῦ τοῦ ἡλίου, τῆς θείας χάριτος καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὁδηγούσης ἡμᾶς. Πρῶτον μὲν πῶς συμβέβηκεν εἶναι τὸν οἶκον Ἐζεκίου, καὶ ὅτι δείλης ὀψία ἦν, ὡς ὥρα ἐνάτη, ὅτε τὸ σημεῖον ἐγένετο, καὶ τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῦ τοιούτου σημείου καὶ τί τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ κέρδος γενόμενον. Ἡ θύρα τοίνυν τοῦ οἴκου Ἐζεκίου ἔνθα ἦσαν οἱ δέκα ἀναβαθμοὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνατολὴν προσεῖχε· κλίναντος οὖν τοῦ ἡλίου ἐπὶ δυσμὰς περὶ ὥραν ἐνάτην τῆς ἡμέρας, ἀνάγκῃ κατῆλθεν ἡ σκιά, τοῦ οἴκου δυτικωτέρου ὑπάρχοντος τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν, ἕως τοῦ ἐσχάτου τῶν δέκα ἀναβαθμῶν. Τοῦ προφήτου οὖν Ἠσαΐου διὰ στόματος τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰπόντος τῷ Ἐζεκίᾳ τὸ μεσημβρινὸν αἰτήσασθαι σημεῖον, ἢ προβῆναι εἰς τὰ ἔμπροσθεν τὴν σκιὰν δέκα ἀναβαθμοὺς ἢ ὑποστρέψαι τὴν σκιὰν δέκα ἀναβαθμούς, ἀπεκρίνατο Ἐζεκίας λέγων· "Κοῦφον τὴν σκιὰν κλῖναι δέκα ἀναβαθμούς· οὐχί, ἀλλὰ ἐπιστρα φήτω ἡ σκιὰ δέκα ἀναβαθμοὺς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω." 8.16 Μετὰ τὸ κλῖναι οὖν τὴν σκιὰν προβάντος τοῦ ἡλίου τοὺς δέκα ἀναβαθμούς, τότε δυνάμει θείᾳ διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς τοῦ προφήτου ἀπεστράφη εἰς τοὐπίσω ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ γέγονε πάλιν μεσουράνιος, καὶ εὑρέθη ἀναδραμοῦσα ἡ σκιὰ