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to render to each according to his deeds. Then the wicked will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life, inheriting those things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and have not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him, and they will rejoice in the kingdom of God which is in Christ Jesus. And having been deemed worthy of so many good things from him, let us become his supplicants, calling upon him through constant prayer and saying: Our eternal Savior, the king of gods, who alone are almighty and Lord, the God of all beings and God of our holy and blameless fathers before us, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the merciful and compassionate, the long-suffering and full of mercy, to whom every heart is seen laid bare and every hidden thought is revealed, to you the souls of the righteous cry out, in you the hopes of the holy have trusted, the Father of the blameless, who hearkens to those who call upon you with uprightness, who also knows silent petitions (for your providence reaches to the very inward parts of men, and through the conscience of each you search out the mind), and in every region of the inhabited world the incense of prayer and words is sent up to you. You who have established the present age as an arena of righteousness, and have opened to all a gate of mercy, having shown to each person through innate knowledge and natural judgment and from the prompting of the law, that the possession of wealth is not eternal, the beauty of comeliness is not everlasting, the strength of power is easily dissolved, and all things are vapor and vanity, but only the conscience of a sincere faith remains, ascending through the midst of the heavens with truth, it receives the right hand of the delight to come, and at the same time, even before the promise of regeneration is present, the soul itself, exulting in hope, rejoices. For from the beginning, when our forefather Abraham was converting to the way of truth, you guided him by a vision, teaching him what this age is; and his faith went before his knowledge, and the covenant was a consequence of his faith; for you said: "I will make your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore"; but indeed, having also granted Isaac to him, and knowing him to be like him in character, you were also called his God, saying: "I will be your God and of the seed

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ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν αὐτοῦ. Τότε ἀπε λεύσονται οἱ μὲν πονηροὶ εἰς αἰώνιον κόλασιν, οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι πορεύσονται εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, κληρονομοῦντες ἐκεῖνα, ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν, καὶ χαρήσονται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Τοσούτων δὲ ἠξιωμένοι τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν, γενώμεθα αὐτοῦ ἱκέται, ἐπικαλούμενοι αὐτὸν διὰ συνεχοῦς δεήσεως καὶ λέγοντες· Aἰώνιε Σῶτερ ἡμῶν, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν θεῶν, ὁ ὢν μόνος παντοκράτωρ καὶ Κύριος, ὁ Θεὸς πάντων τῶν ὄντων καὶ Θεὸς τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἀμέμπτων πατέρων ἡμῶν τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν, ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, ὁ ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων, ὁ μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος, ᾧ πᾶσα γυμνοφανὴς βλέπεται καρδία καὶ πᾶν κρύφιον ἐνθύμημα ἀποκαλύπτεται, πρὸς σὲ βοῶσιν ψυχαὶ δικαίων, ἐπὶ σοὶ πεποίθασιν ἐλπίδες ὁσίων, ὁ τῶν ἀμέμπτων Πατήρ, ὁ τῶν μετ' εὐθύτητος ἐπικαλουμένων σε ἐπήκοος, ὁ καὶ σιωπωμένας ἐπιστάμενος ἐντεύξεις (χωρεῖ γὰρ μέχρι σπλάγ χνων ἀνθρωπίνων ἡ σὴ πρόνοια, καὶ διὰ συνειδήσεως ἑκάστου ἐρευνᾷς τὴν γνώμην), καὶ κατὰ πᾶν κλίμα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ λόγων ἀναπέμπεταί σοι θυμίαμα. Ὁ τὸν παρόντα αἰῶνα στάδιον δικαιοσύνης ἐνστη σάμενος, πᾶσι δὲ ἀνοίξας πύλην ἐλεημοσύνης, ὑποδείξας δὲ ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς ἐμφύτου γνώσεως καὶ φυσικῆς κρίσεως καὶ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ νόμου ὑποφωνήσεως, ὡς πλούτου μὲν οὐκ ἀΐδιον τὸ κτῆμα, εὐπρεπείας οὐκ ἀένναον τὸ κάλλος, δυνάμεως εὐδιάλυτος ἡ ἰσχὺς καὶ ἀτμὸς μὲν καὶ ματαιότης τὰ σύνολα, μόνη δὲ συνείδησις πίστεως ἀνύπου λος διαμένει διὰ μέσων οὐρανῶν μετὰ ἀληθείας ἀνερχομένη, τῆς μελλούσης τρυφῆς δεξιὰν ἀπολαμβάνει, ἅμα καὶ πρὸ τοῦ παραστῆναι τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν τῆς παλιγγενεσίας αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ τῇ ἐλπίδι γαυρουμένη εὐφραίνεται· ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς γὰρ τοῦ προπάτορος ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ μεταποιουμένου τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁραματισμῷ ὡδήγησας, διδάξας ὅ τι ποτέ ἐστιν ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος· καὶ τῆς μὲν γνώσεως αὐτοῦ προώδευσεν ἡ πίστις, τῆς δὲ πίστεως ἀκόλουθος ἦν ἡ συν θήκη· εἶπας γάρ· «Ποιήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τοὺς ἀστέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσηςή· ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ αὐτῷ δωρησά μενος καὶ ὅμοιον αὐτὸν εἰδὼς ἐκείνου τῷ τρόπῳ, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπεκλήθης Θεὸς εἰπών· «Ἔσομαί σου Θεὸς καὶ τοῦ σπέρ