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With understanding; to sing praises not with voice only, but also with deeds; not with tongue only, but also with life. For God, it says, has reigned over the nations. Another says, Above the nations. And what kingdom does it mean here? Not that according to the principle of creation, but this one of appropriation. For he did reign even before this over all, being their creator and maker; but now also over those who are willing and acknowledge his grace; which is worthy of the greatest praise and of much wonder, that he who was before this insulted by the Jews, prepared such a change to come about, that he is sung of everywhere in the inhabited world; and those who had neither read the prophets, nor were brought up with the law, but were even bestial in their way of life, were suddenly changed, and casting aside all those things of error, they were subjected, not two and three and four nations and ten, but those dwelling everywhere in the inhabited world. God sits upon his holy throne. What does it mean, Sits upon a throne? He reigns, he holds power. And it well said, Holy. For he not only reigns, but he also reigns in a holy manner. What does it mean, Reigns in a holy manner? Purely. For men, when they come to this rule, use that very power for injustice. But that rule is untouched by anything of that sort, pure and holy. For neither deceit nor anything else of that kind corrupts or misleads that tribunal, but it is pure, sincere, shining beyond all purity, gleaming with ineffable glory. The rulers of the peoples were gathered with the God of Abraham; for the mighty ones of God of the earth were greatly exalted. 6. Here he shows the intensification of the Gospel, that it touched not only private individuals, but also those who held the diadem, and those sitting on the royal throne. Then, showing that he is the one God of the New and the Old, he says: With the God of Abraham, instead of, this is he who is also the God of the forefathers, who also gave the law to them. Therefore Jeremiah also said: I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers, in the day that I took them by the 55.216 hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, showing that of both the New and the Old there is one and the same lawgiver. And Baruch again said: This is our God, no other shall be accounted of in comparison to him. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved; and after these things he was seen upon the earth, and conversed with men, showing that the one who gave the law is himself the one who was made flesh; and the one who was made flesh himself also gave the law. This also the prophet says: They were gathered, he says, with the God of Abraham. But the Hebrew, instead of, With the God, has *Em Elohi Abraham*. And how has this happened? Because the mighty ones of God of the earth were greatly exalted. And who are the mighty ones of God, but the apostles, if all are faithful? For since their power, he says, shone so brightly, they prevailed over all. And he rightly called them mighty. For how are they not mighty, who set themselves in array against the whole inhabited world, against demons, against the devil, against peoples, against cities. against nations, against tyrants, against punishments, against torments, against frying pans, against furnaces, against custom, against the tyranny of nature, and having overthrown all things, and having become higher than all, and having been subdued by no one? how are they not mighty, even after death displaying such strength? how are they not mighty, whose words are stronger than adamant and no time has refuted them, but they even increase each day, as the proclamation of the gospel runs through in every way and everywhere to the fullness of the inhabited world? For all these things, then, let us give thanks to the

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Συνετῶς· τὸ μὴ φωνῇ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργοις ψάλλειν· τὸ μὴ γλώττῃ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ βίῳ. Ἐβασίλευσε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη. Ἄλλος φησὶν, Ἐπάνω τῶν ἐθνῶν. Καὶ ποίαν βασιλείαν ἐνταῦθά φησιν; Οὐκ ἐκείνην τὴν κατὰ τὸν τῆς δημιουργίας λόγον, ἀλλὰ ταύτην τὴν τῆς οἰκειώσεως. Ἐβασίλευσε μὲν γὰρ καὶ πρὸ τούτου πάντων, ἅτε δημιουργὸς καὶ ποιητὴς ὤν· νυνὶ δὲ καὶ ἑκόντων καὶ χάριν εἰδότων· ὅπερ μεγίστης εὐφημίας ἄξιον καὶ πολλοῦ τοῦ θαύματος, ὅτι ὁ πρὸ τούτου ὑβριζόμενος ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων, τοσαύτην παρεσκεύασε γενέσθαι τὴν μεταβολὴν, ὡς πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ᾄδεσθαι· καὶ οἱ μήτε προφήτας ἀναγνόντες, μήτε νόμῳ συντραφέντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ θηριώδεις τὸν τρόπον ὄντες, ἀθρόον μετεβάλλοντο, καὶ πάντα ἐκεῖνα ῥίψαντες τὰ τῆς πλάνης, ὑπετάγησαν, οὐχὶ δύο καὶ τρία καὶ τέσσαρα ἔθνη καὶ δέκα, ἀλλ' οἱ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης οἰκοῦντες. Ὁ Θεὸς κάθηται ἐπὶ θρόνου ἁγίου αὐτοῦ. Τί ἐστι, Κάθηται ἐπὶ θρόνου; Βασιλεύει, κρατεῖ. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπεν, Ἁγίου. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ βασιλεύει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἁγίως βασιλεύει. Τί ἐστιν, Ἁγίως βασιλεύει; Καθαρῶς. Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐρχόμενοι ταύτην, αὐτῇ τῇ δυνάμει πρὸς ἀδικίαν κέχρηνται. Ἐκείνη δὲ ἀνέπαφος ἡ ἀρχὴ παντὸς τοιούτου, καθαρὰ καὶ ἁγία. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπάτη, οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιούτων τὸ δικαστήριον ἐκεῖνο διαφθείρει καὶ παραλογίζεται, ἀλλ' ἔστι καθαρὸν, εἰλικρινὲς, πάσης ἐπέκεινα καθαρότητος ἀπαστράπτον, διαλάμπον ἀφάτῳ τῇ δόξῃ. Ἄρχοντες λαῶν συνήχθησαν μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἀβραάμ· ὅτι τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ κραταιοὶ τῆς γῆς σφόδρα ἐπήρθησαν. ςʹ. Ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσι τὴν ἐπίτασιν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ὅτι οὐκ ἰδιωτῶν ἥψατο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν τὸ διάδημα ἐχόντων, καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου καθημένων τοῦ βασιλικοῦ. Εἶτα δεικνὺς αὐτὸν ὄντα Καινῆς καὶ Παλαιᾶς ἕνα Θεὸν, φησί· Μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, ἀντὶ τοῦ, αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ καὶ τῶν προπατόρων Θεὸς, ὁ καὶ τὸν νόμον ἐκείνοις δεδωκώς. ∆ιὸ καὶ Ἱερεμίας ἔλεγε· ∆ιαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην καινὴν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην, ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς 55.216 χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ Καινῆς καὶ Παλαιᾶς εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτός ἐστι νομοθέτης. Καὶ ὁ Βαροὺχ πάλιν ἔλεγεν· Οὗτος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. Ἐξεῦρε πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰακὼβ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη, δεικνὺς ὅτι ὁ τὸν νόμον δεδωκὼς, αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ σαρκωθείς· καὶ ὁ σαρκωθεὶς αὐτὸς καὶ τὸν νόμον δέδωκε. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ προφήτης λέγει· Συνήχθησαν μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, φησὶν, Ἀβραάμ. Ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος, ἀντὶτοῦ, Μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, Ἒμ Ἐλωῒ Ἀβραάμ. Καὶ πῶςτοῦτο γέγονεν; Ὅτι τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ κραταιοὶ τῆς γῆς σφόδρα ἐπήρθησαν. Τίνες δὲ οἱ κραταιοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἢ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, εἰ πιστοὶ πάντες; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἔλαμψεν ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν, φησὶν, ἐκράτησαν ἁπάντων. Καὶ καλῶς αὐτοὺς κραταιοὺς ἐκάλεσε. Πῶς γὰρ οὐ κραταιοὶ, οἱ πρὸς ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην παραταξάμενοι, πρὸς τοὺς δαίμονας, πρὸς τὸν διάβολον, πρὸς δήμους, πρὸς πόλεις. πρὸς ἔθνη, πρὸς τυράννους, πρὸς τιμωρίας, πρὸς κολάσεις, πρὸς τήγανα, πρὸς καμίνους, πρὸς συνήθειαν, πρὸς φύσεως τυραννίδα, καὶ πάντα καθελόντες, καὶ ὑψηλότεροι πάντων γενόμενοι, καὶ μηδενὶ χειρωθέντες; πῶς οὐ κραταιοὶ, καὶ μετὰ τελευτὴν τοσαύτην ἐπιδεικνύμενοι τὴν ἰσχύν; πῶς οὐ κραταιοὶ, ὧν τὰ ῥήματα ἀδάμαντός ἐστι στεῤῥότερα καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτὰ χρόνος ἤλεγξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπιδίδωσι τὴν ἡμέραν, τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος πάντῃ καὶ πανταχοῦ διατρέχοντος εἰς τὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης πληρώματα; Ὑπὲρ δὴ τούτων ἁπάντων εὐχαριστήσωμεν τῷ