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9.10 And this circle, those outside call the zodiac, which we also have described second according to their own hypothesis. 9.11 But the other seven, which they call planets, Moses enigmatically placed as seven lamps in the lampstand, having set it up in the south, so that it might give light to the table towards the north, signifying through them at the same time a week of days, signifying through all things days, weeks, months, solstices, a year, indicating days by the daily loaves which were set out fresh each day, a week by the seven lamps, months by the number twelve, the solstices by the four corners, the year by the circle; concerning which things in the epistle to the Hebrews the divine Apostle says thus: "If then he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are those who offer the sacrifices according to the law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to complete the tabernacle. "3For 'See,' he says, 'that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain'3." 9.12 But also the wise Solomon, made wise by the same divine Spirit, says: "The sun rises and the sun sets, and draws toward its place; rising there it goes toward the south and circles toward the north; it circles circling, and on its circuits the spirit goes", and he too having said the same things as Moses and David, that from the east it goes up to the south and circling through the north it produces the solstices and the great circle of the year running through the air; for this is what he means by "the spirit goes", as if in the air. 9.13 And that they are moved by invisible Powers, this too the divine Scripture signifies, saying thus: "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God", that is, at the consummation the angels are freed from this bondage and service, which they perform for the sake of men, when men have become immortal and unchangeable and no longer have need of such things, just as also in the Gospels the Lord says thus concerning the consummation: "For the Powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the stars of heaven will fall to the earth", calling the angels the "Powers of the heavens"; and by "will be shaken" he means from their rank; clearly, then, since the angels who move the stars themselves and the rest are freed from this rank and service, he said that the stars fall to the earth. 9.14 And the saying of the Apostle "are they not all ministering spirits sent out for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation" shows more clearly that they all minister and serve for the sake of men, working nights and days and all other things for the rest and need of men; for when we no longer need these things, they are freed from this bondage and service, releasing the stars upon the earth. 9.15 Again, when the apostle Paul was enduring many labors and afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the Church, and was finally being forced to grow weary from the multitude of threatening dangers, the divine grace encouraged him through frequent visions not to give up, but to persevere and to serve for the growth and increase of the Church. He himself therefore relates to us two causes from these, of which one signifies concerning labor, the other concerning reward; for what does he say? "I know a man, fourteen years ago—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one having been caught up to the third heaven", and again he says: "And I know such a man, that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter", expressly relating the things concerning himself as if in the person of another. I know myself, he says, O Corinthians, if I must come at all to visions and revelations of the Lord, having been caught up in a strange way and beyond reason to a great height, I mean of the distance from the earth

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9.10 Τοῦτον δὲ τὸν κύκλον οἱ ἔξωθεν ζῳδιακὸν καλοῦσιν, ὅνπερ καὶ αὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ὑποθήκην δεύτερον κατεγράψαμεν. 9.11 Τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἑπτά, οὓς καλοῦσι πλανήτας, ἐν τῇ λυχνίᾳ ὁ Μωϋσῆς αἰνιγματωδῶς ἑπτὰ λύχνους ἔθηκε στήσας αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν νότον, ὥστε φαίνειν τῇ τραπέζῃ ἐπὶ τὸν βορρᾶν, σημαίνων ἅμα δι' αὐτῶν ἑβδομάδα ἡμερῶν, διὰ πάντων σημαίνων ἡμέρας, ἑβδομάδας, μῆνας, τροπάς, ἐνιαυτόν, διὰ μὲν τῶν ἐφημερινῶν ἄρτων τῶν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν νεαρῶν τιθεμένων ἡμέρας δηλῶν, διὰ δὲ τῶν ἑπτὰ λύχνων ἑβδομάδα, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν δώδεκα μῆνας, διὰ δὲ τῶν τεσσάρων γωνιῶν τὰς τροπάς, διὰ δὲ τοῦ κύκλου τὸν ἐνιαυτόν· περὶ ὧν ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος οὕτω φησίν· "Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἦν ἐπὶ γῆς, οὐδ' ἂν ἦν ἱερεύς, ὄντων τῶν προσφερόντων κατὰ νόμον τὰς θυσίας· οἵτινες ὑποδείγμασι καὶ σκιᾷ λατρεύουσι τῶν ἐπουρανίων, καθὼς κεχρημάτισται Μωϋσῆς μέλλων ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν σκηνήν. "3Ὅρα γάρ, φησί, ποιήσεις πάντα κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει"3." 9.12 Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ σοφὸς Σολομῶν τῷ αὐτῷ πνεύματι τῷ θείῳ σοφισθείς φησιν· "Ἀνατέλλει ὁ ἥλιος καὶ δύνει ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἕλκει· αὐτὸς ἀνατέλλων ἐκεῖ πορεύεται πρὸς νότον καὶ κυκλοῖ πρὸς βορρᾶν· κυκλοῖ κυκλῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ κύκλους αὐτοῦ πορεύεται τὸ πνεῦμα", καὶ οὗτος τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Μωϋσῇ καὶ τῷ ∆αυῒδ ἐξειπών, ὅτι ἀπὸ μὲν ἀνατολῶν ἄνεισιν ἐπὶ τὸν νότον καὶ διὰ τοῦ βορρᾶ κυκλεύων τὰς τροπὰς καὶ τὸν μέγαν κύκλον τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἀπεργάζεται ἐν τῷ ἀέρι διατρέχων· τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει "πορεύεται τὸ πνεῦμα", ὡσανεὶ ἐν τῷ ἀέρι. 9.13 Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀοράτων ∆υνάμεων κινοῦνται, καὶ τοῦτο σημαίνει ἡ θεία Γραφὴ λέγουσα οὕτως· "Τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη οὐχ ἑκοῦσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα ἐπ' ἐλπίδι ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ", τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ ἐλευθεροῦνται οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς δουλείας καὶ τῆς λειτουργίας, ἧς ποιοῦσι διὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀθανάτων καὶ ἀτρέπτων γινομένων καὶ μηκέτι δεομένων τῶν τοιούτων, καθὰ καὶ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κύριος οὕτως περὶ συντελείας λέγει· "Αἱ γὰρ ∆υνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεσοῦνται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν", τὰς "∆υνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν" τοὺς ἀγγέλους καλῶν· τὸ δὲ "σαλευθήσονται" ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῶν τάξεως λέγει· σαφῶς οὖν ἐλευθερουμένων τῶν ἀγγέλων, τῶν αὐτὰ τὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ κινούντων, τῆς τάξεως καὶ τῆς λειτουργίας ταύτης, πίπτειν εἰς γῆν ἔφησε τὰ ἄστρα. 9.14 Καὶ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου εἰρημένον τὸ "οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν" σαφέστερον δηλοῖ πάντας αὐτοὺς διὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους λειτουργοῦντας καὶ διακονοῦντας, νύκτας τε καὶ ἡμέρας καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ἐργαζομένους εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ χρείαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὅτε γὰρ τούτων οὐκέτι χρῄζομεν, ἐκεῖνοι τῆς δουλείας ταύτης καὶ τῆς διακονίας ἐλευθεροῦνται ἐξεοῦντες τὰ ἄστρα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. 9.15 Πάλιν τοῦ ἀποστόλου Παύλου πολλοὺς κόπους καὶ θλίψεις καὶ διωγμοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑπομένοντος, καὶ λοιπὸν ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐπηρτημένων κινδύνων κατολιγωρεῖν ἀναγκαζομένου, ἡ θεία χάρις δι' ὀπτασιῶν συχνῶν αὐτὸν παρεμυθεῖτο μὴ ἀπειπεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπιμένειν καὶ διακονεῖν πρὸς αὔξησιν καὶ πληθυσμὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. ∆ιηγεῖται οὖν ἡμῖν αὐτὸς ἐκ τούτων δύο αἰτίας, αἵτινες σημαίνουσιν ἡ μὲν περὶ κόπου, ἡ δὲ περὶ μισθοῦ· τί γάρ φησιν; "Οἶδα ἄνθρωπον πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων, εἴτε ἐν σώματι εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα, ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν, ἁρπαγέντα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ", καὶ πάλιν φησί· "Καὶ οἶδα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον ὅτι ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον καὶ ἤκουσεν ἄρρητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι", διαρρήδην τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὡς εἰς ἄλλου πρόσωπον διηγούμενος. Οἶδα, φησίν, ἐμαυτόν, ὦ Κορίνθιοι, εἰ χρὴ ὅλως ἐλθεῖν εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου, παραδόξως πως καὶ ὑπὲρ λόγον ἁρπαγέντα εἰς ὕψος πολύ, λέγω δὴ τοῦ διαστήματος τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς