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to minister; for you would be nothing nor would you have been able to do anything, if I, being with you and journeying with you through all the nations, had not strengthened you, having gifted you with endurance and fortitude and power, and secured you with my righteous right hand, so that no hindrance should become an obstacle to you as you preach the gospel to all. And if some, opposing the word preached by you, should try to become an obstacle to you, yet from now on take courage, despising all these things, knowing that all who oppose you will be ashamed and confounded; for they will be as though they were not, and all your adversaries will perish. You will seek them and you will not find the men who behave insolently toward you; for they will be as though they were not, and those who war against you will not be. For even if for a little while some seemed to exist, at the time when they made war and persecuted you; but you will exist and remain and will see their destruction, but they will not be, quickly disappearing from life. Therefore it is fitting for you to be steadfast and to endure the afflictions brought on by them, looking to the end that awaits them and trusting in my promise, as I from this point truthfully foretell to you: that I am the Lord your God who will take hold of your right hand, who says to you, Fear not, I have helped you. But what is not found in the Septuagint: "I have helped you, fear not, worm of Jacob," is added from the other interpreters. And this same one who above was named "elect" according to: "Jacob, whom I have chosen," is now called a worm because, like a worm, he burrows into the cities of the unbelieving nations and corrupts and destroys all their polytheistic error and demonic activity from the very depth of men's minds, and because of the humble and unlearned nature of the apostolic preaching. Thus indeed the Savior himself also called himself a worm, saying: "But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people." Then, since the disciples of our Savior happened to be few in number, being "twelve" apostles and "seventy" after them, for this reason he adds: few in number, Israel, or according to Symmachus, number of Israel, or according to Aquila, dead of Israel, and according to Theodotion it is said, the dead of Israel. Nevertheless, having called them worms and said they were few in number, he adds: Fear not, I have helped you, says God your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And he adds: Behold, I have made you like the new, sharp-toothed wheels of a threshing cart; for thus the power of the one "strengthening" them was shown, when they themselves were no different from a worm, but were also few in number and happened to be the dead and deceased of Israel. Nevertheless, being such, like some straw they cut through, in the manner of the wheels of a cart threshing and sawing down the demonic deification of the foreign and godless nations. Therefore he adds: and you will thresh mountains and make hills fine, alluding to the opposing powers as mountains and hills, those long ago exalted against the knowledge of God. These powers, therefore, as if they were high mountains, and the subordinate evil spirits as if they were certain hills, he says you will make fine and thresh and winnow, and the wind will take them up, and a tempest will scatter them, so that the demonic error no longer stands among the nations. And when the aforementioned mountains and the signified hills have disappeared, "you" yourself, "my elect servant," through whom these things have been accomplished, will rejoice in the Lord and will be praised in the Holy One of Israel; for instead of: in the holy ones of Israel they will rejoice, Aquila has, in the Holy One of Israel you will boast, and Symmachus has, in the Holy One of Israel you will be praised. Having prophesied these things about the apostles, the word next, from another starting point, says concerning the conversion of the nations: the poor and the needy will seek water, and there will be none, their tongue from the

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διακονήσασθαι· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἂν ἦσθα οὐδ' ἂν ἐδυνήθης τι, εἰ μὴ ἐγὼ μετὰ σοῦ ὢν καὶ σὺν σοὶ διαπορευόμενος πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐνίσχυσά σε ὑπομονὴν καὶ καρτερίαν καὶ δύναμίν σοι δεδωρημένος καὶ ἠσφαλισάμην σε τῇ δεξιᾷ τῇ δικαίᾳ μου, ὡς μηδὲν ἐμποδών σοι γενέσθαι κώλυμα κηρύττοντι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰς πάντας. Εἰ δὲ καί τινες ἀντικείμενοι τῷ ὑπὸ σοῦ κηρυττομένῳ λόγῳ πειραθεῖεν ἐμποδών σοι γενέσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη θάρσει τούτων ἁπάντων καταφρονῶν εἰδώς, ὅτι αἰσχυνθήσονται καὶ ἐντραπήσονται πάντες οἱ ἀντικείμενοί σοι· ἔσονται γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ὄντες καὶ ἀπολοῦνται πάντες οἱ ἀντίδικοί σου. ζητήσεις αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, οἳ παροινήσουσιν εἰς σέ· ἔσονται γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ὄντες καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται οἱ ἀντιπολεμοῦντές σε. εἰ γὰρ καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἔδοξαν εἶναί τινες, καθ' ὃν καιρὸν ἐπολέμουν καὶ ἐδίωκόν σε· ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν ἔσῃ καὶ διαμενεῖς καὶ ὄψει αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν, οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἔσονται ᾗ τάχος ἀφανιζόμενοι τοῦ βίου. ∆ιὸ καρτερεῖν σε προσήκει καὶ ὑπομένειν τὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπαγομένας θλίψεις, τὸ περιμένον αὐτοὺς τέλος ἀφορῶντα καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ θαρσοῦντα ἐπαγγελίᾳ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη ἀψευδῶς ἐμοῦ σοι προλέγοντος· ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός σου καὶ κρατήσω τῆς δεξιᾶς σου, ὁ λέγων σοι Μὴ φοβοῦ, ἐγὼ ἐβοήθησά σοι. μὴ κείμενα δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἑβδομήκοντα τό· ἐγὼ ἐβοήθησά σοι, μὴ φοβοῦ σκώληξ Ἰακώβ, ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν πρόσκειται ἑρμηνευτῶν. οὗτος δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνωτέρω «ἐκλεκτὸς» ὠνομασμένος κατὰ τό· «Ἰακώβ, ὃν ἐξελεξάμην», νῦν σκώληξ ὠνόμασται διὰ τὸ σκώληκος δίκην ὑποδύνειν εἰς τὰς τῶν ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν πόλεις καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῶν τὴν πολύθεον πλάνην καὶ τὴν δαιμονικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐξ αὐτοῦ βάθους τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων διανοίας φθείρειν καὶ ἀφανίζειν καὶ διὰ τὸ εὐτελὲς καὶ ἰδιωτικὸν τοῦ κηρύγματος τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ σκώληκα ἑαυτὸν ἀπεκάλει λέγων· «ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουθένημα λαοῦ». εἶτ' ἐπειδήπερ ὀλίγοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐτύγχανον οἱ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαθηταί, «δώδεκα» μὲν ὄντες ἀπόστολοι, «ἑβδομήκοντα» δὲ οἱ μετὰ τούτους, τούτου χάριν ἐπιλέγει· ὀλιγοστὸς Ἰσραήλ, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον ἀριθμὸς Ἰσραήλ, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν τεθνεῶτες Ἰσραήλ, καὶ κατὰ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα δὲ οἱ νεκροὶ Ἰσραὴλ εἴρηται. πλὴν ἀλλὰ σκώληκας αὐτοὺς ὀνομάσας καὶ ὀλιγοστοὺς εἰπὼν ἐπιφέρει· μὴ φοβοῦ, ἐγὼ ἐβοήθησά σοι, λέγει ὁ θεὸς ὁ λυτρούμενός σε, ὁ ἅγιος Ἰσραήλ. καὶ προστίθησιν· ἰδοὺ ἐποίησά σε ὡς τροχοὺς ἁμάξης ἀλοῶντας καινοὺς πριστηροειδεῖς· οὕτω γὰρ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ «ἐνισχύοντος» αὐτοὺς ἐδείκνυτο, ὅτε αὐτοὶ μὲν σκώληκος οὐδὲν διέφερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀλιγοστοὶ ἦσαν καὶ νεκροὶ καὶ τεθνεῶτες τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐτύγχανον. ὅμως τοιοῦτοι ὄντες ὥσπερ τινὰ καλάμην διέτεμνον τροχῶν ἁμάξης τρόπον ἀλοῶντες καὶ καταπρίζοντες τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἀθέων ἐθνῶν τὴν δαιμονικὴν θεοποιΐαν. διὸ ἐπιλέγει· καὶ ἀλοήσεις ὄρη καὶ λεπτυνεῖς βουνούς, ὄρη καὶ βουνοὺς τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις τὰς πάλαι κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπαιρομένας αἰνιττόμενος. ταύτας τοίνυν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡσπερανεὶ ὑψηλὰ ὄρη, τά τε ὑποβεβηκότα πνεύματα πονηρὰ ὡσανεὶ βουνούς τινας ὄντας λεπτυνεῖς φησι καὶ ἀλοήσεις καὶ λικμήσεις, καὶ ἄνεμος λήψεται αὐτούς, καὶ καταιγὶς διασπερεῖ αὐτούς, ὡς μηκέτι ἐφιστάναι παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν δαιμονικὴν πλάνην. τῶν δὲ ἀποδοθέντων ὀρῶν καὶ τῶν δηλωθέντων βουνῶν ἀφανῶν γενομένων, «σὺ» αὐτός, «ὁ δοῦλός μου ὁ ἐκλεκτός», δι' οὗ ταῦτα κατώρθωται, εὐφρανθήσῃ ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπαινεθήσῃ· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ· ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις Ἰσραὴλ ἀγαλλιάσονται, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας ἐν ἁγίῳ Ἰσραὴλ καυχήσῃ, ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπαινεθήσῃ εἰρήκασι. Ταῦτα περὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων θεσπίσας ὁ λόγος ἑξῆς ἀπὸ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπιστροφῆς ἐπιλέγει· οἱ πτωχοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐνδεεῖς ζητήσουσιν ὕδωρ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται, ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς