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to those who dared to do the aforementioned things. Aquila, at least, translated more correctly, saying: He will bring death upon them. And who will bring death upon them but their own works? For these things have become for them the causes of death, or he who judged them worthy of death because of their impious deeds. But the death that comes upon the impious would not be called the common one; for this one has come upon all the just as well, who even after the common death live with God; just as, then, the Savior taught, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; and the death of souls has also been declared by Ezekiel, who states: The soul that sins, it shall die. Since, 23.484 therefore, those indicated have separated themselves from life, and our Savior was the life; For what was made in him was life, and the life was the light of men; fittingly, being cut off from him, they were delivered to the death of the soul; not so that it might perish and vanish, having passed into non-being, but so that it might continue, being alive and possessing an immortal substance, in the aforementioned death. Therefore it is said: And let them go down alive into Hades. He was not indicating the annihilation of souls when he said: Let death come upon them, but the separation from the life which is according to God, and the dwelling in Hades. Or perhaps they also went down alive into Hades in another sense, sinning with knowledge, and knowing the Savior that he is the Christ of God, yet pretending that he is not? Therefore he foretells that they also will be swallowed up, like those with Dathan and Abiram, and will go down alive into Hades. Instead of, Evils are in their dwellings in their midst; for the conspiracies and the assemblies against the Savior have become evil, wherefore Aquila also says: Because evils are in their company. Since, therefore, they were not assembling for good, and were making evil companies and conspiracies, he fittingly prophesied what sort of end would overtake them. I cried to God, and the Lord saved me, and the rest. Even though, he says, having seen by the prophetic spirit the lawlessness that was to be in the aforementioned city, I was grieved in my meditation, and was troubled; nevertheless, having perceived the outcomes of the matters, I know well that, having cried out to God, I shall not be forsaken, but I shall obtain salvation, as the grace of the common Savior will cross over even to me. And the prophet says these things, according to the Seventy, interpreting what is to be as what has passed; wherefore it is said: I cried to God, and the Lord saved me; but according to the other translators, he prophesies these things also in the future tense. Aquila, at least, says: I will call to God, and the Lord will save me; and Theodotion: I will cry to God, and the Lord will save me. For since such things were to be dared against the Savior, I, who formerly said, My heart was troubled within me, and the fear of death fell upon me; fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me, having suffered these things because of the vision of the things revealed to me, cried to God. But he, not overlooking me, deemed it worthy to make clear to me, just as he had previously shown the grim things, so also the brighter things; I mean both the resurrection of the Savior and his glory with the Father. And having seen these things, I was saved; wherefore I say: I cried to God, and the Lord saved me. But having been saved, I am no longer at rest, nor can I keep quiet; but I proclaim and announce the good news to all people, recounting each day and hour, and reporting to all the wonderful and extraordinary things which I have seen 23.485 in the holy prophetic spirit. Wherefore I say: In the evening and morning and at midday I will recount and report. And as I cry these things out to all from then until evening, and in the very brightest light of the midday proclaiming the saving ends, he will hear my voice the
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τοῖς τὰ προλεχθέντα τετολμηκόσιν. Ὁ γοῦν Ἀκύλας ὀρθότερον ἡρμήνευσεν εἰπών· Ἐπάξει θάνατον ἐπ' αὐτούς. Τίς δὲ θάνατον ἐπάξει ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἢ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν; Αὐτὰ γὰρ αὐτοῖς αἴτια γεγένηται θανάτου, ἢ ὁ κρίνας αὐτοὺς θανάτου ἀξίους διὰ τὰς ἀσεβεῖς πράξεις αὐτῶν. Θάνατος δὲ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς μετερχόμενος οὐχ ὁ κοινὸς ἂν λέγοιτο· οὗτος γὰρ καὶ τοὺς δικαίους ἅπαντας μετῆλθεν· οἳ καὶ μετὰ τὸν κοινὸν θάνατον ζῶσι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ· ὥσπερ οὖν ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Σωτὴρ εἰπών· Ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακὼβ,οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς νεκρῶν, ἀλλὰ ζώντων· ψυχῶν δὲ θάνατος καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἐζεκιὴλ δεδήλωται φάσκοντι· Ψυχὴ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὕτη ἀποθανεῖται. Ἐπεὶ 23.484 τοίνυν ἑαυτοὺς τῆς ζωῆς οἱ δηλούμενοι κεχωρίκασιν, ἦν δὲ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἡ ζωή· Ὃ γέγονε γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· εἰκότως, ἀποτμηθέντες αὐτοῦ, τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς θανάτῳ παρεδόθησαν· οὐχ ὥστε φθαρῆναι αὐτὴν καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν χωρήσασαν, ἀλλ' ὥστε ζῶσαν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον τὴν οὐσίαν κεκτημένην ἐν τῷ λεχθέντι θανάτῳ διάγειν. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Καὶ καταβήτωσαν εἰς ᾅδου ζῶντες. Οὐ τὸν ἀφανισμὸν ψυχῶν ἐδήλου λέγων· Ἐλθέτω θάνατος ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ζωῆς χωρισμὸν, καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν ᾅδην κατοίκησιν. Μήποτε δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ζῶντες εἰς ᾅδου κατῄεσαν, ἐν γνώσει ἁμαρτάνοντες, καὶ εἰδότες μὲν τὸν Σωτῆρα ὡς αὐτὸς εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, προσποιούμενοι δὲ μὴ εἶναι; ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁμοίως τοῖς περὶ ∆αθὰν καὶ Ἀβηρὼν καταποθήσεσθαι καὶ αὐτοὺς, εἰς ᾅδου τε ζῶντας καταβήσεσθαι προαγορεύει. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Πονηρίαι ἐν ταῖς παροικίαις αὐτῶν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν· τῶν γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος γενομένων αἱ συστάσεις καὶ αἱ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ σύνοδοι πονηραὶ γεγόνασι, διὸ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας φησίν· Ὅτι πονηρίαι ἐν συστροφῇ αὐτῶν. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οὐκ ἐπὶ καλῷ συνήρχοντο, συστροφάς τε καὶ συστάσεις πονηρὰς ἐποιοῦντο, εἰκότως ἐθέσπισεν ὁποῖον αὐτοὺς διαλήψεται τέλος. Ἐγὼ πρὸς Θεὸν ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἔσωσέ με, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα, φησὶ, τῷ πνεύματι τῷ προφητικῷ τὴν μέλλουσαν γενήσεσθαι ἀνομίαν ἐν τῇ προλεχθείσῃ πόλει θεασάμενος, ἐλυπήθην ἐν τῇ ἀδολεσχίᾳ μου, καὶ ἐταράχθην· ὅμως δ' οὖν, τὰ τέλη συνιδὼν τῶν πραγμάτων, εὖ οἶδ', ὅτι, βοήσας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, οὐ καταλειφθήσομαι, τεύξομαι δὲ σωτηρίας, τῆς τοῦ κοινοῦ Σωτῆρος χάριτος καὶ μέχρις ἐμοῦ διαβησομένης. Λέγει δὲ ταῦτα ὁ προφήτης, κατὰ μὲν τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα, τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι ὡς παρῳχηκὸς ἑρμηνεύων· διὸ λέλεκται· Ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἔσωσέ με· κατὰ δὲ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς, μελλητικῶς προφητεύει καὶ ταῦτα. Ὁ γοῦν Ἀκύλας φησίν· Ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καλέσω, καὶ Κύριος σώσει με· καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων· Ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν κεκράξομαι, καὶ Κύριος σώσει με. Τῶν γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος τολμηθησομένων τοιούτων ὄντων, ἐγὼ ὁ πρότερον εἰρηκὼς, Ἡ καρδία μου ἐταράχθη ἐν ἐμοὶ, καὶ δειλία θανάτου ἐπέπεσεν ἐπ' ἐμέ· φόβος καὶ τρόμος ἦλθεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ, καὶ ἐκάλυψέ με σκότος, ταῦτα παθὼν διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀποκαλυφθέντων μοι θέαν, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξα. Ὁ δὲ, μὴ παριδών με, κατηξίωσε φανερά μοι καταστῆσαι, ὥσπερ τὰ σκυθρωπὰ πρότερον ἐδείκνυ, οὕτω καὶ τὰ φαιδρότερα· λέγω δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ τὴν παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξαν. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἰδὼν, ἐσώθην· διό φημι· Ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξα, καὶ Κύριος ἔσωσέ με. Σωθεὶς δὲ οὐκέτι ἠρεμῶ, οὐδὲ ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν δύναμαι· ἀλλὰ κηρύττω καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους εὐαγγελίζομαι, διηγούμενος ἐφ' ἑκάστης ἡμέρας καὶ ὥρας, ἀπαγγέλλων τε εἰς πάντας ἅπερ ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι τῷ προφητικῷ τεθέαμαι 23.485 θαυμαστὰ καὶ παράδοξα. ∆ιό φημι· Ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωὶ καὶ μεσημβρίας διηγήσομαι καὶ ἀπαγγελῶ. Ἐμοῦ δὲ ταῦτα βοῶντος εἰς πάντας ἐξότε καὶ μέχρις ἑσπέρας, ἐν αὐτῷ τε τῷ ἀκμαιοτάτῳ φωτὶ τῆς μεσημβρινῆς ἡμέρας τὰ σωτήρια τέλη κηρύττοντος, εἰσακούσεται τῆς φωνῆς μου ὁ