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dwelling on the earth, they will attain the universal resurrection, to stand before the judge, and to receive what is worthy. But when they have been judged, they will fall away from good hope, being delivered to punishments, then falling away from God, they will no longer be able to rise again. But having spoken sufficiently about the earth, that is, of the inhabitants of the earth, he moves on to the heaven and the heavenly things, saying: On that day, that is, at the time of judgment, God will bring his hand upon the host of heaven, signifying the end of all things, at which heaven and earth will pass away, as the Savior says; and "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars of heaven will fall," and the things that follow these. And the host of heaven, he calls the luminaries according to Moses who says: "Take heed lest you look up to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the host of heaven, you be led astray and worship them." For the prophet, signifying these things, adds: And the brick shall melt, and the wall shall fall. Instead of which Symmachus says: And the moon shall be abashed, and the sun shall be ashamed, and the others say similar things. Which things the Seventy veiled, as publishing the scripture to the Greeks, on account of the offensiveness of the expression. Therefore God brings his hand upon these things, working the consummation. But as for the kings of the earth being shut up, understand the rulers of this age. As Gabriel also says in Daniel 2205: And the prince of the kingdom of the Persians came out to meet me, and the prince of the kingdom of the Medes. For it was fitting that, with Christ now reigning in a new age, the opposing kings should be cast down into the proper place. Two. Symmachus says: And they will be gathered together as a prisoner is gathered into a pit, and they will be shut up in a prison. For they fell into the pit which they had made, so as to no longer trouble those who are ruled by Christ. But it is kept silent, they say, as a secret, by whom their visitation will be, or according to the others, they will be visited, that is, by God. But he says that the sun and moon will be abashed, when those who have been under their rays are being punished, just as stewards of masters' households for a long time, when the Master arrives, see those who served under them being punished, not having been able to contribute anything to them for virtue. Upon which things it is added: The Lord will reign on Mount Zion. For it was fitting in the discourse concerning the consummation to speak of the future heavenly kingdom of Christ after the overthrow of the opposing tyrants. And Zion and Jerusalem he calls the heavenly places according to the great Paul, in which the true elders will be deemed worthy of his divinity. CHAP. 25. ah'. 9O Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will sing praise to your name, for you have done wonderful things, an ancient, true counsel. So be it, O Lord, for you have made cities into a heap, fortified cities, so that their foundations fall. The city of the ungodly shall not be built for ever9, etc. Having spoken about the universal judgment of the ungodly and the just, the end of which was the kingdom of Christ, he praises and glorifies God for these things. For having been fully informed about these things from God, and his mind not being fruitless as grace came upon him, and perceiving both the things from God and the movements of his own mind, he marvels at God the benefactor, as for a wonderful and ancient counsel. And Christ revealed its ancientness: "Come, he says, you blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And the divine Paul, starting from this, wrote: "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us for adoption in him." But according to those who say that these things were said about the incarnation, Simeon shows the ancientness of the counsel, saying: "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples." And Zacharias, saying: "And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his

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τὴν γῆν οἰκοῦντες, τῆς καθολικῆς ἀναστάσεως τεύξονται, παραστῆναι τῷ δικαστῇ, καὶ τῶν πρὸς ἀξίαν τυχεῖν. Ἐπειδ' ἂν δὲ κριθέντες, τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος ἐκπέσωσι παραδοθέντες κολάσεσιν, ἐκπεσόντες τότε Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἔτι λοιπὸν ἀναστῆναι δυνήσονται. Περὶ δὲ τῆς γῆς αὐτάρκως εἰπὼν, τοῦτ' ἔστι τῶν οἰκητόρων τῆς γῆς, ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν μεταβαίνει καὶ τὰ οὐράνια, λέγων· Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, τῷ τῆς κρίσεως δηλονότι καιρῷ, ἐπάξει ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὴν χεῖρα, τὴν συντέλειαν δηλῶν τοῦ παντὸς, καθ' ἣν οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ παρελεύσεται, ὡς ὁ Σωτήρ φησι· καὶ "Ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεσοῦνται," καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Κόσμον δὲ οὐρανοῦ, τοὺς φωστῆρας κατὰ τὸν Μωσέα καλεῖ λέγοντα· "Ἔπεχε μὴ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ τὴν σελήνην, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πλανηθεὶς προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς." Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ ὁ προφήτης δηλῶν ἐπιφέρει· Καὶ τακήσεται ἡ πλίνθος, καὶ πεσεῖται τὸ τεῖχος. Ἀνθ' οὗ Σύμμαχός φησι· Καὶ ἐντραπήσεται ἡ σελήνη, καὶ αἰσχυνθήσεται ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ τὰ ὅμοια. Ἅπερ οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα συνεκάλυψαν, ὡς Ἕλλησιν ἐκδιδόντες τὴν γραφὴν διὰ τὸ ἀπεμφαῖνον τῆς λέξεως. Τὴν οὖν χεῖρα τούτοις ἐπιφέρει Θεὸς συντέλειαν ἐργαζόμενος. Βασιλέας δὲ γῆς συγκλειομένους, νόει τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τοὺς ἄρχοντας. Ὡς καὶ Γαβριήλ φησιν ἐν τῷ 2205 ∆ανιήλ· Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς συνάντησίν μου ἄρχων βασιλείας Περσῶν, καὶ ἄρχων βασιλείας Μήδων. Ἀκόλουθον γὰρ ἦν Χριστοῦ λοιπὸν βασιλεύοντος ἐν αἰῶνι νέῳ, τοὺς ἐναντίους βασιλέας εἰς τόπον καταβληθῆναι τὸν πρέποντα. ∆ύο Σύμμαχός φησι· Καὶ ἀθροισθήσονται ἀθροισμὸν δεσμίου εἰς λάκκον, καὶ συγκλεισθήσονται εἰς συγκλεισμόν. Ἐνέπεσον γὰρ εἰς ὂν εἰργάσαντο λάκκον, μηκέτι τοῖς ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ βασιλευομένοις παρενοχλήσοντες. Σεσίγηται δὲ φασὶν, ὡς ἀπόῤῥητον, ὑπὸ τίνος ἡ ἐπισκοπὴ ἔσται αὐτῶν, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς, ἐπισκεφθήσονται, Θεοῦ δηλονότι. Ἐντραπήσεσθαι δέ φησιν ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην, δίκας διδόντων τῶν ὑπ' αὐγὰς αὐτῶν γεγονότων, ὡς οἱ ∆εσποτικῶν οἴκων μακρῷ χρόνῳ γεγονότες ἐπίτροποι, ἐπιστάντος τοῦ ∆εσπότου, τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῖς τελέσαντας κολαζομένους θεώμενοι, μὴ δυνηθέντες συνεισενέγκαι τι τούτοις εἰς ἀρετήν. Ἐφ' οἷς ἐπιφέρεται· Βασιλεύσει Κύριος ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιών. Ἔπρεπε γὰρ τῷ περὶ συντελείας λόγῳ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπουράνιον Χριστοῦ βασιλείαν εἰπεῖν μετὰ τὴν τῶν ἐναντίων τυράννων καθαίρεσιν. Σιὼν δὲ καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὰς κατὰ Παῦλον τὸν μέγαν ἐπουρανίους φησὶν, ἐν αἷς καταξιωθήσονται τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος οἱ κυρίως πρεσβύτεροι. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΕʹ. αηʹ. 9Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου, δοξάσω σε, ὑμνήσω τὸ ὄνομά σου, ὅτι ἐποίησας θαυμαστὰ πράγματα βουλὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀληθεινήν. Γένοιτο, Κύριε, ὅτι ἔθηκας πόλεις εἰς χῶμα, πόλεις ὀχυρὰς, τοῦ πεσεῖν αὐτῶν τὰ θεμέλια. Τῶν ἀσεβῶν πόλις τὸν αἰῶνα οὐ μὴ οἰκοδομηθῇ9, κ.τ.λ. Περὶ τῆς καθόλου κρίσεως τῶν ἀσεβῶν τε καὶ δικαίων εἰπὼν, ἧς τέλος ἦν ἡ Χριστοῦ βασιλεία, τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀνυμνεῖ καὶ δοξάζει. Πληροφορηθεὶς γὰρ περὶ τούτων παρὰ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὸν νοῦν οὐκ ἔχων ἄκαρπον φοιτώσης τῆς χάριτος ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ἀντιλαμβανόμενός τε τῶν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων τοῦ νοῦ κινημάτων, ἀποθαυμάζει τὸν εὐεργέτην Θεὸν, ὡς ἐπὶ θαυμασίᾳ τε καὶ ἀρχαίᾳ βουλῇ. Τὸ δὲ ταύτης ἀρχαῖον ἐδήλωσεν ὁ Χριστός· "∆εῦτε, λέγων, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρὸς, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου." Καὶ ὁ θεῖος δὲ Παῦλος ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμώμενος γέγραφε· "Καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατ' ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν ἐν αὐτῷ." Κατὰ δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας ταῦτα περὶ τῆς ἐπιδημίας εἰρῆσθαι, τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῆς βουλῆς παρίστησι Συμεὼν εἰπών· "Ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου, ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν." Καὶ Ζαχαρίας λέγων· "Καὶ ἤγειρε κέρας σωτηρίας ἡμῖν ἐν οἴκῳ ∆αβὶδ τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν διὰ στόματος τῶν