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You who make all things grow and increase and ripen; and having put him to sleep for a little while, you called him by an oath to a new birth, having loosed the boundary of death, you promised life from resurrection. And not this only, but also having poured forth from him an innumerable multitude, you glorified those who remained with you, but you punished those who fell away from you, and having accepted the sacrifice of Abel as of a holy man, but having turned away from the gift of the fratricide Cain as of an accursed one; and in addition to these, you received Seth and Enos, and you translated Enoch. For you are the creator of men and the giver of life and the fulfiller of need and the giver of laws and the rewarder of those who keep them and the avenger of those who transgress them, who brought the great flood upon the world because of the multitude of the ungodly, and saved the righteous Noah from the flood in an ark with eight souls, an end of things that had passed, and a beginning of things to come; who kindled the terrible fire against the five cities of Sodom and turned a fruitful land into a salt marsh because of the wickedness of those dwelling in it, and snatched the holy Lot from the conflagration. You are the one who saved Abraham from the impiety of his forefathers and made him heir of the world and revealed to him your Christ, who appointed Melchizedek high priest of your worship, who showed your much-enduring servant Job to be the victor over the ancient serpent, who made Isaac a son of promise, who made Jacob the father of twelve sons and poured forth from him a multitude and brought him into Egypt with seventy-five souls. You, Lord, did not overlook Joseph, but as a reward for his chastity for your sake, you gave him rule over the Egyptians; you, Lord, did not overlook the Hebrews being oppressed by the Egyptians because of the promises to their fathers, but you rescued them, punishing the Egyptians. But when men had corrupted the natural law and at one time considered creation to be spontaneous, and at another time honored it more than is right and ranked it with you, the God of all, you did not allow them to wander, but having revealed your holy servant Moses, through him you gave the written law to aid the natural law, and you showed creation to be your work, and you banished the polytheistic error; you glorified Aaron and his descendants with priestly honor, you punished the Hebrews when they sinned, you received them when they returned. The

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σοῦ πάντα φύοντος καὶ αὔξοντος καὶ πεπαίνοντος· χρόνῳ δὲ πρὸς ὀλίγον αὐτὸν κοιμίσας ὅρκῳ εἰς παλιγγενεσίαν ἐκάλεσας, ὅρον θανάτου λύσας ζωὴν ἐξ ἀναστάσεως ἐπηγ γείλω. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἰς πλῆθος ἀνάριθμον χέας, τοὺς ἐμμείναντάς σοι ἐδόξασας, τοὺς δὲ ἀποστάντας σου ἐκόλασας, καὶ τοῦ μὲν Ἄβελ ὡς ὁσίου προσδεξάμενος τὴν θυσίαν, τοῦ δὲ ἀδελφοκτόνου Καν ἀποστραφεὶς τὸ δῶρον ὡς ἐναγοῦς· καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὸν Σὴθ καὶ τὸν Ἐνὼς προσελάβου καὶ τὸν Ἐνὼχ μετατέθεικας. Σὺ γὰρ εἶ ὁ δημιουργὸς τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῆς ζωῆς χορηγὸς καὶ τῆς ἐνδείας πληρωτὴς καὶ τῶν νόμων δοτὴρ καὶ τῶν φυλαττόντων αὐτοὺς μισθαποδότης καὶ τῶν παρα βαινόντων αὐτοὺς ἔκδικος, ὁ τὸν μέγαν κατακλυσμὸν ἐπαγα γὼν τῷ κόσμῳ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀσεβησάντων, καὶ τὸν δίκαιον Νῶε ·υσάμενος ἐκ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἐν λάρνακι σὺν ὀκτὼ ψυχαῖς, τέλος μὲν τῶν παρῳχηκότων, ἀρχὴν δὲ τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιγίνεσθαι· ὁ τὸ φοβερὸν πῦρ κατὰ τῆς σοδο μηνῆς πενταπόλεως ἐξάψας καὶ γῆν καρποφόρον εἰς ἅλμην θέμενος ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὸν ὅσιον Λὼτ ἐξαρπάσας τοῦ ἐμπρησμοῦ. Σὺ εἶ ὁ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ·υσάμενος ἐκ προγονικῆς ἀσεβείας καὶ κληρονόμον τοῦ κόσμου καταστήσας καὶ ἐμφανίσας αὐτῷ τὸν Χριστόν σου, ὁ τὸν Μελχισεδὲκ ἀρχιερέα σῆς λατρείας προχειρισά μενος, ὁ τὸν πολύτλαν θεράποντά σου Ἰὼβ νικητὴν τοῦ ἀρχεκάκου ὄφεως ἀναδείξας, ὁ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἐπαγγελίας υἱὸν ποιησάμενος, ὁ τὸν Ἰακὼβ πατέρα δώδεκα παίδων καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἰς πλῆθος χέας καὶ εἰσαγαγὼν εἰς Aἴγυπτον ἐν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ψυχαῖς. Σύ, Κύριε, τὸν Ἰωσὴφ οὐχ ὑπερεῖδες, ἀλλὰ μισθὸν τῆς διὰ σὲ σωφροσύνης ἔδωκας αὐτῷ τὸ τῶν Aἰγυπτίων ἄρχειν· σύ, Κύριε, Ἑβραίους ὑπὸ Aἰγυπτίων καταπονουμένους οὐ περιεῖδες διὰ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν ἐπαγγελίας, ἀλλ' ἐρρύσω, κολάσας Aἰγυ πτίους. Παραφθειράντων δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν φυσικὸν νόμον καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ποτὲ μὲν αὐτόματον νομισάντων, ποτὲ δὲ πλεῖον ἢ δεῖ τιμησάντων καὶ σοί, τῷ Θεῷ τῶν πάντων, συνταττόντων, οὐκ εἴασας πλανᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ ἀναδείξας τὸν ἅγιόν σου θεράποντα Μωϋσῆν, δι' αὐτοῦ πρὸς βοήθειαν τοῦ φυσικοῦ τὸν γραπτὸν νόμον δέδωκας, καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ἔδειξας σὸν ἔργον εἶναι, τὴν δὲ πολύθεον πλάνην ἐξώρισας· τὸν Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἱερατικῇ τιμῇ ἐδόξασας, Ἑβραίους ἁμαρτόντας ἐκόλασας, ἐπιστρέψαντας προσεδέξω. Τοὺς