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And the one saying the preceding words prays to be rescued and delivered from unjust men, take note. For it seems to follow logically to suggest this from what is said in the title, *Concerning those taken captive for the sake of others*; for these rightly demand to be rescued and delivered. For the one group was doing wrong, but the Israelites did no wrong. It will also be said thus: since practical virtue is called righteousness, and conversely, all sin in action is unrighteousness, in righteousness he desires to be rescued from the unrighteousness which the one who loves his own soul hates. And testimony that universal virtue is spoken of thus is *He that walks blamelessly and works righteousness*, and testimony that universal sin is called unrighteousness is *I have hated and abhorred unrighteousness*, and *The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness*. And he will say this who wishes to pass beyond the shadow according to the law, that he may have the righteousness of God by believing in Jesus Christ, so that he may be found not having in himself his own righteousness which is from the law but that of God which is accounted for righteousness. 733a Ps 70,2b Since your superiority is great, O Lord, over creatures, and especially over us men, we are not able to cry out so much that the prayer which we send up reaches your ears; therefore I beseech you in your great goodness to incline your ear to me in a manner of condescension, that you may save me, having received my supplication for salvation. 734a Ps 70,3 Since many wish to war against me, become my defender, sheltering me with your shield, about which it is said *His truth will surround you as a shield*. And since I want you to be everything for me, also become for me an unconquerable fortress and an indestructible stronghold, so that having you as a most secure place I may remain outside of all fear from enemies, you being my refuge and my firmament. 735a Ps 70,4 The hand of a sinner is the sinful action from which he desires to be rescued, so that he may not in any measure be at work acting according to it; likewise the actions of one who transgresses and acts unjustly are the effective energies from which he also longs to be free, God having rescued him. And whether the sinner is the same or different in substance from the one who transgresses and acts unjustly, take note. for it seems to lean both ways, since everyone who transgresses and acts unjustly is a sinner. But if the devil is signified by these names, his hand must be understood as also his military-like power arrayed from every wicked and unclean spirit. Therefore he who is rescued from the hand of those mentioned, having come under the mighty hand of God, is snatched from it by no one. 736a Ps 70,5 Just as God is the wisdom and power of the saint, so also he is the patience and hope of the one who endures unto salvation and hopes in him. For it is said concerning these things in the 38th psalm, setting forth *And now what is my patience? Is it not the Lord?* and in the verse *The hope of all the ends of the earth*. One must consider the phrase *My hope from my youth*, as it can mean that he who was brought up according to God from infancy never had any other hope than God. And in addition to these things, you will say that God is someone's hope from his youth, from when, having put off the old man, he put on the new and young man created according to God in holiness and knowledge of the truth. 737a Ps 70,6ab 737a The phrase *From the womb, from my mother's belly* must be understood wisely, not meaning from the hour of birth, since the one who is born is not yet moved rationally and piously then. for it is written *And Samuel before he knew God*, although he was brought up piously from his earliest childhood by pious parents. for the children of men have a time from which they are able to be moved rationally. the great Moses says in the wilderness *And all the children with us today who do not know good or evil will enter into the land of promise*. If therefore children do not know good or evil before the completion of immanent reason, how is it possible for one who is at this age to know God, so as also to

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καὶ ἐξ ἀδικούντων ἀνθρώπων ευχεται ῥυσθῆναι καὶ ἐξαιρεθῆναι ὁ τὰ προκείμενα λέγων, ἐπίστησον. δοκεῖ γὰρ ἀκολουθίαν εχειν τὸ ὑποβαλεῖν τοῦτο τοῖς ἐν τῇ προγραφῇ εἰρημένοις Περὶ τῶν αἰχμαλωτισθέντων αλλων χάριν· δικαίως γὰρ ουτοι ῥυσθῆναι καὶ ἐξαιρεθῆναι ἀπαιτοῦσιν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἠδίκουν, οἱ δὲ ̓Ισραηλῖται οὐδὲν ἠδίκησαν. Λελέξεται καὶ ωδε· ἐπεὶ ἡ πρακτικὴ ἀρετὴ δικαιοσύνη ὀνομαζομένη καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἀδικία πᾶσα ἡ ἐν πράξεσιν ἁμαρτία, ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ἀξιοῖ ῥυσθῆναι ἐκ τῆς ἀδικίας ην ὁ ἀγαπῶν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν. μαρτυρία δὲ τοῦ τὴν καθόλου ἀρετὴν ουτως εἰρῆσθαι τὸ Πορευόμενος αμωμος καὶ ἐργαζόμενος δικαιοσύνην, τοῦ δὲ τὴν καθόλου ἁμαρτίαν προσαγορεύεσθαι ἀδικίαν μαρτυρία τὸ ̓Αδικίαν ἐμίσησα καὶ ἐβδελυξάμην, καὶ Τὸ αιμα ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ καθαρίσει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας. ̓Ερεῖ τὴν φωνὴν καὶ ὁ ὑπερβῆναι βουλόμενος τὴν κατὰ τὸν νόμον σκιάν, ινα σχῇ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην πιστεύσας εἰς ̓Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, οπως εὑρεθῇ μὴ εχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ἀλλὰ τὴν θεοῦ τὴν εἰς δικαιοσύνην λελογισμένην. 733a Ps 70,2b Πολλῆς ὑπεροχῆς ουσης σου, ω δέσποτα, πρὸς τὰ κτίσματα, μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους κράζειν τοσοῦτον, οὐ σθένομεν τοῦ φθάνειν εἰς τὰ ωτά σου τὸν προσευχὴν ην ἀναπέμπομεν· διὸ παρακαλῶ ἀγαθότητι πολλῇ κλῖναί σε τρόπῳ συγκαταβάσεως τὸ ους σου πρὸς μέ, ινα σώσῃς με δεξάμενος τὴν περὶ σωτηρίας δέησίν μου. 734a Ps 70,3 Πολλῶν πολεμεῖν με θελόντων, ὑπερασπιστής μου γενοῦ σκέπων με τῇ σῇ ἀσπίδι περὶ ης ειρηται Οπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐπειδὴ σὲ θέλω ειναί μοι πάντα, καὶ φρούριον ἀκαταμάχητον καὶ ερυμα ἀκαθαίρετον γενοῦ μοι, ιν' ὀχυρώτατον τόπον σε εχων παντὸς φόβου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐχθρῶν ἐκτὸς μένω, σοῦ καταφυγῆς καὶ στερεώματός μου οντος. 735a Ps 70,4 Χεὶρ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἡ ἁμαρτητική ἐστι πρᾶξις ἀφ' ης ῥυσθῆναι ἀξιοῖ, ινα μηδὲ κατὰ ποσὸν ἐνεργῇ κατ' αὐτὴν πράττων, ὡσαύτως παρανομοῦντος καὶ ἀδικοῦντος πράξεις αἱ ἀποτελεστικαὶ ἐνέργειαι ων καὶ αὐτῶν εξω ειναι ποθεῖ, ῥυσαμένου θεοῦ. πότερον δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς η ετερος καθ' ὑποκείμενον ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τῷ παρανομοῦντι καὶ ἀδικοῦντι, ἐπίστησον. δοκεῖ γὰρ εἰς ἑκάτερα ῥέπειν, παντὸς παρανομοῦντος καὶ ἀδικοῦντος ἁμαρτωλοῦ οντος. ἐὰν δὲ ὁ διάβολος ῃ ἐκ τούτων τῶν ὀνομάτων σημαινόμενος, χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐκληπτέον καὶ τὴν ὡσεὶ στρατιωτικὴν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν συνταττομένην ἐκ παντὸς πνεύματος πονηροῦ καὶ ἀκαθάρτου. ὁ ῥυσθεὶς ουν ἐκ χειρὸς τῶν ἐκκειμένων ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ γενόμενος ὑπ' οὐδενὸς ἁρπάζεται ἐξ αὐτῆς. 736a Ps 70,5 Ωσπερ σοφία καὶ δύναμις τοῦ ἁγίου ὁ θεός, ουτω καὶ ὑπομονὴ καὶ ἐλπὶς ὑπομείναντος εἰς σωτηρίαν καὶ ἐλπίζοντος ἐπ' αὐτόν. ειρηται γοῦν περὶ τούτων ἐν τῷ ΛΗ ψαλμῷ, προκειμένου Καὶ νῦν τίς ἡ ὑπομονή μου; οὐχὶ κύριος; καὶ ἐν τῷ ̔Η ἐλπὶς πάντων τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς. ̓Επιστατέον τὸ ̔Η ἐλπίς μου ἐκ νεότητός μου δυναμένου δηλοῦν ὡς ὁ ἐκ βρέφους κατὰ θεὸν ἀνατραφεὶς αλλην τοῦ θεοῦ ἐλπίδα οὐκ εσχε ποτέ. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἐκ νεότητος ειναί τινος ἐλπίδα τὸν θεὸν ἐρεῖς, ἀφ' ου τὸν παλαιὸν ανθρωπον ἐκδυσάμενος τὸν καινὸν καὶ νέον ἐνεδύσατο κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ γνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας. 737a Ps 70,6ab 737a Τὸ ̓Απὸ γαστρὸς ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου ἐκληπτέον συνετῶς, οὐ σημαινομένου τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ωρας τῆς ἀποτέξεως, ουπω τότε κινουμένου λογικῶς καὶ θεοσεβῶς τοῦ τικτομένου· γέγραπται γὰρ Καὶ τὸν Σαμουὴλ πρὶν γνῶναι θεόν, καίτοι παρὰ θεοσεβέσι γονεῦσιν ἐξ ἀπαλῶν ὀνύχων θεοσεβῶς ἀνατραφέντος. εχει γὰρ τὰ ἀνθρώπων τέκνα καιρὸν ἀφ' ου λογικῶς κινεῖσθαι δύναται. φησὶν ὁ μέγας Μωσῆς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Καὶ πάντα τὰ παιδία μεθ' ἡμῶν σήμερον α οὐκ οιδεν ἀγαθὸν η κακὸν εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εἰ τοίνυν ἀγαθὸν η κακὸν οὐκ ἐπίστανται τὰ παιδία πρὸ τῆς τοῦ ἐνδιαθέτου λόγου συμπληρώσεως, πῶς οιόν τε τὸν ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ οντα θεὸν εἰδέναι, ὡς καὶ