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to fulfill in you a prophecy, through which it has been said 10.4.62 Behold, I am preparing for you your stone a carbuncle and your foundations sapphire and your battlements jasper and your gates stones of crystal and your surrounding wall choice stones and all your sons taught by God and your children in great peace; and in righteousness you shall be built. 10.4.63 Building then with righteousness, according to the worth of all the people he distributed the powers, for some fencing in only the outer enclosure itself, having fortified the unerring faith; and such a people is numerous and great, being sufficient to bear no better structure; but for others entrusting the entrances to the house, appointing them to keep the door and to guide those who enter, not inappropriately considered the gateways of the temple; and others he supported with the first outer pillars around the court four-square, initiating them with the first approaches to the letter of the four gospels; but those already around the royal house he yokes on either side, being still catechumens and in a state of growth and progress, yet not separated somewhere far and distant from the innermost divine vision of the faithful. 10.4.64 Having then taken from these the pure souls, cleansed like gold in the divine laver, and here he supports some with pillars far better than the outermost ones, from the innermost mystical doctrines of the scripture, and illuminates others with openings towards the light, 10.4.65 adorning the whole temple with the one greatest gateway of the doxology of the one and only God, the King of all, and having provided the secondary rays of light of Christ and of the Holy Spirit on either side of the authority of the Father. And showing forth the clear and luminous nature of each particular truth, abundant and greatly varied, for the rest throughout the whole house, and on every side and from every direction having selected the living and firm and well-compacted stones of souls, he constructs from them all the great and royal house, brilliant and full of light both within and without, because not only soul and mind, but their body also was resplendent with the many-flowered adornment of purity and temperance. 10.4.66 And there are in this sanctuary also thrones and countless benches and seats, in as many souls as the gifts of the divine Spirit rest upon, such as were also seen of old by those around the holy apostles, to whom there appeared tongues being distributed as if of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. 10.4.67 But in the ruler of all, perhaps Christ himself sits enthroned whole, and in those who are second after him, in proportion, according as each has capacity, through distributions of the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. And the souls of some might be benches of angels also, of those delivered to each for instruction and guardianship, 10.4.68 And what would be the august and great and only-begotten altar other than the sincerity and holy of holies of the soul of the common priest of all? At which, standing on the right, the great high priest of the universe, Jesus himself, the only-begotten of God, receiving with a cheerful countenance and with upturned hands the sweet-smelling incense from all and the bloodless and immaterial sacrifices through prayers, sends them on to the Father in heaven and God of all, first himself worshipping and alone rendering to the Father the reverence that is his due, and then also entreating that he remain gracious and favorable to us all forever. 10.4.69 Such is the great temple which throughout the whole inhabited world under the sun the great creator of the universe, the Word, has constructed, he himself having also fashioned this intellectual image on earth of the things beyond the heavenly vaults, so that through all of creation and the rational beings on earth the Father might be honored and worshipped by him. 10.4.70 But the region above the heavens and the patterns there of the things here, and the so-called Jerusalem which is above and the heavenly Mount Sion and the supracelestial city of the living God, in which are myriads of angels in festal assembly and the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven with the ineffable

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εἰς ὑμᾶς ἀποπληροῦν προφητείαν, δι' ἧς εἴρηται 10.4.62 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἑτοιμάζω σοι ἄνθρακα τὸν λίθον σου καὶ τὰ θεμέλιά σου σάπφειρον καὶ τὰς ἐπάλξεις σου ἴασπιν καὶ τὰς πύλας σου λίθους κρυστάλλου καὶ τὸν περίβολόν σου λίθους ἐκλεκτοὺς καὶ πάντας τοὺς υἱούς σου διδακτοὺς θεοῦ καὶ ἐν πολλῇ εἰρήνῃ τὰ τέκνα σου· καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ. 10.4.63 δικαιοσύνῃ δῆτα οἰκοδομῶν, κατ' ἀξίαν τοῦ παντὸς λαοῦ διῄρει τὰς δυνάμεις, οἷς μὲν τὸν ἔξωθεν αὐτὸ μόνον περιφράττων περίβολον, τὴν ἀπλανῆ πίστιν περιτειχίσας πολὺς δὲ ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ μέγας λεώς, οὐδὲν κρεῖττον φέρειν οἰκοδόμημα διαρκῶν, οἷς δὲ τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον ἐπιτρέπων εἰσόδους, θυραυλεῖν καὶ ποδηγεῖν τοὺς εἰσιόντας κατατάττων οὐκ ἀπεικότως τοῦ νεὼ πρόπυλα νενομισμένους, ἄλλους δὲ πρώτοις τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἀμφὶ τὴν αὐλὴν ἐκ τετραγώνου κίοσιν ὑπεστήριζεν, ταῖς πρώταις τῶν τεττάρων εὐαγγελίων τοῦ γράμματος προσβολαῖς ἐμβιβάζων· τοὺς δ' ἤδη ἀμφὶ τὸν βασίλειον οἶκον ἑκατέρωσε παραζεύγνυσιν, ἔτι μὲν κατηχουμένους καὶ ἐν αὔξῃ καὶ προκοπῇ καθεστῶτας, οὐ μὴν πόρρω που καὶ μακρὰν τῆς τῶν ἐνδοτάτω θεοπτίας τῶν πιστῶν διεζευγμένους. 10.4.64 ἐκ δὴ τούτων τὰς ἀκηράτους ψυχὰς θείῳ λουτρῷ χρυσοῦ δίκην ἀποσμηχθείσας παραλαβών, κἀνταῦθα τοὺς μὲν κίοσιν τῶν ἐξωτάτω πολὺ κρείττοσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐνδοτάτω μυστικῶν τῆς γραφῆς δογμάτων ὑποστηρίζει, τοῖς δὲ πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἀνοίγμασιν καταυγάζει, 10.4.65 προπύλῳ μὲν ἑνὶ μεγίστῳ τῆς τοῦ παμβασιλέως ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου θεοῦ δοξολογίας τὸν πάντα νεὼν κατακοσμῶν, Χριστοῦ δὲ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος παρ' ἑκάτερα τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐθεντίας τὰς δευτέρας αὐγὰς τοῦ φωτὸς παρασχόμενος. τῶν τε λοιπῶν διὰ τοῦ παντὸς οἴκου ἄφθονον καὶ πολὺ διάφορον τῆς καθ' ἕκαστον ἀληθείας τὸ σαφὲς καὶ φωτεινὸν ἐνδεικνύμενος, πάντῃ δὲ καὶ πανταχόθεν τοὺς ζῶντας καὶ βεβηκότας καὶ εὐπαγεῖς τῶν ψυχῶν λίθους ἐγκρίνας, τὸν μέγαν καὶ βασιλικὸν ἐξ ἁπάντων οἶκον ἐπισκευάζεται λαμπρὸν καὶ φωτὸς ἔμπλεω τά τε ἔνδοθεν καὶ τὰ ἐκτός, ὅτι μὴ ψυχὴ μόνον καὶ διάνοια, καὶ τὸ σῶμα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἁγνείας καὶ σωφροσύνης πολυανθεῖ κόσμῳ κατηγλάϊστο. 10.4.66 ἔνεισιν δ' ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ θρόνοι βάθρα τε μυρία καὶ καθιστήρια, ἐν ὅσαις ψυχαῖς τὰ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἐφιζάνει δωρήματα, οἷα καὶ πάλαι ὤφθη τοῖς ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀποστόλους οἷς ἐφάνησαν διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡς εἰ πυρὸς ἐκάθισέν τε ἐφ' ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν. 10.4.67 ἀλλ' ἐν μὲν τῷ πάντων ἄρχοντι ἴσως αὐτὸς ὅλος ἐγκάθηται Χριστὸς ἐν δὲ τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν δευτερεύουσιν ἀναλόγως, καθ' ὅσον ἕκαστος χωρεῖ, Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου μερισμοῖς. βάθρα δ' ἂν εἶεν καὶ ἀγγέλων αἱ τινῶν ψυχαὶ τῶν εἰς παιδαγωγίαν καὶ φρουρὰν ἑκάστῳ παραδεδομένων, 10.4.68 σεμνὸν δὲ καὶ μέγα καὶ μονογενὲς θυσιαστήριον ποῖον ἂν εἴη ἢ τῆς τοῦ κοινοῦ πάντων ἱερέως τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ εἰλικρινὲς καὶ ἁγίων ἅγιον; ᾧ παρεστὼς ἐπὶ δεξιᾷ ὁ μέγας τῶν ὅλων ἀρχιερεὺς αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς, ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ παρὰ πάντων εὐῶδες θυμίαμα καὶ τὰς δι' εὐχῶν ἀναίμους καὶ ἀΰλους θυσίας φαιδρῷ τῷ βλέμματι καὶ ὑπτίαις ὑποδεχό μενος χερσὶν τῷ κατ' οὐρανὸν πατρὶ καὶ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων παραπέμπεται, πρῶτος αὐτὸς προσκυνῶν καὶ μόνος τῷ πατρὶ τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἀπονέμων σέβας, εἶτα δὲ καὶ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν εὐμενῆ διαμένειν καὶ δεξιὸν εἰς ἀεὶ παραιτούμενος. 10.4.69 τοιοῦτος ὁ μέγας νεὼς ὃν καθ' ὅλης τῆς ὑφ' ἥλιον οἰκουμένης ὁ μέγας τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς λόγος συνεστήσατο, τῶν ἐπέκεινα οὐρανίων ἁψίδων πάλιν καὶ αὐτὸς νοερὰν ταύτην ἐπὶ γῆς εἰκόνα κατεργασάμενος, ὡς ἂν διὰ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως τῶν τε ἐπὶ γῆς λογικῶν ζῴων ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ τιμῷτό τε καὶ σέβοιτο. 10.4.70 τὸν δὲ ὑπερουράνιον χῶρον καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖσε τῶν τῇδε παραδείγματα τήν τε ἄνω λεγομένην Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος τὸ ἐπουράνιον καὶ τὴν ὑπερκόσμιον πόλιν τοῦ ζῶντος θεοῦ, ἐν ᾗ μυριάδες ἀγγέλων πανηγύρεις καὶ ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς ταῖς ἀρρήτοις