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was prophesied before; but there the reason was successively brought up in the words, Behold, they will speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips, and for the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips; but here after the words, They will return at evening, and they will hunger like a dog, and will go round about the city, it is added: They shall be scattered to eat; and if they are not satisfied, they will also murmur. In place of which Symmachus interpreted it in this way: Let them return for a day, let them make a noise like dogs, wandering about the city roaming, so that they may not lodge unsatisfied. At any rate, having been scattered among all the nations, like starving dogs they seek to eat; but not finding spiritual food, they fail. And if ever they should partake of food from a mere reading of the divine Scriptures, nevertheless, partaking of nothing solid nor tasting the life-giving bread, they remain unsatisfied; and not being satisfied, they murmur, just as they once murmured in the wilderness. For it is customary for them to do this. Therefore the Apostle says to us: Neither murmur, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the serpents. But I will sing of your power, and in the morning I will rejoice in your mercy; because you have been my helper and my refuge in the day of my affliction. My helper, to you I will sing, for you, O God, are my helper, my God, my mercy. These things, then, those who rise up against me will suffer; but I will sing of your power, of my Father. And these things are said from the person of the Savior by a prophetic spirit, as was also said by him in other places: I will declare your name to my brethren, in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to you. And I will rejoice, he says, in your mercy in the morning; which Symmachus 23.552 interpreted: And at dawn I will sing of your mercy. And through this he signifies prophetically the worship accomplished at dawn and every morning of the day of resurrection throughout the whole world in his Church. For in the saying, In the midst of the Church I will sing praise to you, the place was indicated in which Christ promised to praise the Father; but in the words, And at dawn I will sing of your mercy, the time is presented, in which his Only-Begotten, through his own people, sings of the fatherly mercy poured out upon all nations, rejoicing and exulting in this. And all these things I will render to you, he says; because you have been my helper and my refuge in the day of my affliction. For having obtained all these things from the Father, it is fitting that at dawn I will sing of your mercy, and I myself will sing to you; because you have become my helper, and my God and my mercy. For no one of those beneath was able to stretch out a hand to me but you alone, the Father who is over me. Therefore I confess that I depend on you, and I will sing of your power, acknowledging you alone as my helper and refuge. And these would be the words of the Savior, teaching all to be pious toward his own Father.

TO THE END, FOR THOSE WHO SHALL BE CHANGED, FOR AN INSCRIPTION, FOR DAVID FOR INSTRUCTION, WHEN HE BURNED MESOPOTAMIA OF SYRIA, AND SYRIA OF ZOBAH, AND JOAB RETURNED AND STRUCK THE VALLEY OF SALT, TWELVE THOUSAND. 59. "O God, you have cast us off and destroyed us, you have been angry and have pitied us." The present discourse is also for an inscription, but it was not spoken at the same times as those before it. For those were spoken while Saul was still alive and before David became king; the first, "when the Philistines took him in Gath;" the second, "when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave;" and the last, "when Saul sent and watched his house, to kill him." But the one after

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ἔμπροσθεν ἐθεσπίζετο· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ μὲν ἀνεφέρετο ἑξῆς ἡ αἰτία ἐν τῷ, Ἰδοὺ ἀποφθέγξονται τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν, καὶ ῥομφαία ἐν τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίαν στόματος αὐτῶν, καὶ λόγον χειλέων αὐτῶν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ μετὰ τὸ, Ἐπιστρέψουσιν εἰς ἑσπέραν, καὶ λιμώξουσιν ὡς κύων, καὶ κυκλώσουσι πόλιν, ἐπενήνεκται· Αὐτοὶ διασκορπισθήσονται τοῦ φαγεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ χορτασθῶσι καὶ γογγύσουσιν. Ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ Σύμμαχος τοῦτον ἡρμήνευσε τὸν τρόπον· Ἀνακαμπτέτωσαν εἰς ἡμέραν, θορυβείτωσαν ὡς κύνες, περιερχόμενοι πόλιν ῥεμβόμενοι, ἵνα μὴ ἀχόρταστοι αὐλισθῶσι. ∆ιασκορπισθέντες γοῦν εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη δίκην κυνῶν λιμωττόντων ζητοῦσι τοῦ φαγεῖν· μὴ εὑρίσκοντες δὲ τροφὴν λογικὴν, ἐκλείπουσιν. Εἰ δὲ καί ποτε ἀπὸ ψιλῆς τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἀναγνώσεως μεταλάβοιεν τροφῆς, ὅμως, οὐδενὸς στεῤῥοῦ μεταλαμβάνοντες οὔτε ζωοποιοῦ ἄρτου ἀπογευόμενοι, ἀχόρταστοι διαμένουσι· μὴ χορταζόμενοι δὲ, καταγογγύζουσιν, ὥσπερ οὖν κατεγόγγυσάν ποτε ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου. Τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῖς ποιεῖν σύνηθες. ∆ιὸ πρὸς ἡμᾶς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Μηδὲ γογγύζητε, καθὼς τινὲς αὐτῶν ἐγόγγυσαν, καὶ ἀπώλοντο ὑπὸ τῶν ὄφεων. Ἐγὼ δὲ ᾄσομαι τὴν δύναμίν σου, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι τῷ πρωὶ τὸ ἔλεός σου· ὅτι ἐγενήθης ἀντιλήπτωρ μου καὶ καταφυγή μου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεώς μου. Βοηθός μου, σοὶ ψαλῶ, ὅτι Θεὸς ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ, ὁ Θεός μου τὸ ἔλεός μου. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ ἐπαναστάντες μοι πείσονται· ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν δύναμίν σου τοῦ ἐμοῦ Πατρὸς ᾄσομαι. Λέγεται δὲ ταῦτα ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Σωτῆρος προφητικῷ πνεύματι, ὡς καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις ἐλέγετο ἐξ αὐτοῦ· Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ Ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε. Καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι δὲ, φησὶ, τῷ πρωὶ τὸ ἔλεός σου· ὅπερ ὁ Σύμμαχος 23.552 ἡρμήνευσε· Καὶ ὑμνήσω κατ' ὄρθρον τὸ ἔλεός σου. Σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτου προφητικῶς τὴν κατ' ὄρθρον καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην πρωίαν τῆς ἀναστασίμου ἡμέρας καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ αὐτοῦ συντελουμένην λατρείαν. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ λέγεσθαι, Ἐν μέσῳ Ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε, ὁ τόπος ἐδηλοῦτο καθ' ὃν ὑμνήσειν τὸν Πατέρα ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπηγγέλλετο· ἐν δὲ τῷ, Καὶ ὑμνήσω κατ' ὄρθρον τὸ ἔλεός σου, ὁ χρόνος παρίσταται, ἐν ᾧ τὸ ἔλεος τὸ πατρικὸν τὸ εἰς πάντα χυθὲν τὰ ἔθνη ὁ Μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου λαοῦ ὑμνεῖ χαίρων καὶ ἀγαλλιώμενος ἐπὶ τούτῳ. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἀποδώσω σοι, φησίν· ὅτι ἐγενήθης ἀντιλήπτωρ μου καὶ καταφυγή μου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεώς μου. Τούτων γὰρ ἁπάντων παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς τυχὼν, εἰκότως κατ' ὄρθρον ὑμνήσω τὸν ἔλεόν σου, καί σοι ψαλῶ αὐτὸς ἐγώ· ὅτι γέγονάς μου ἀντιλήπτωρ, καὶ Θεός μου καὶ ἔλεός μου. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων οἷός τε ἦν ἐμοὶ ὀρέγειν χεῖρα ἢ σὺ μόνος ὁ ὑπὲρ μὲ Πατήρ. ∆ιὸ καί σου ἀνηρτῆσθαι ὁμολογῶ, καὶ τὴν δύναμίν σου ᾄσομαι, ἀντιλήπτορα καὶ καταφυγὴν ἐμαυτοῦ σὲ μόνον ἐπιγραφόμενος. Εἶεν δ' ἂν αὗται αἱ φωναὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, διδάσκοντος τοὺς πάντας εὐσεβεῖν εἰς τὸν αὑτοῦ Πατέρα.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ, ΤΟΙΣ ΑΛΛΟΙΩΘΗΣΟΜΕΝΟΙΣ ΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΛΟΓΡΑΦΙΑΝ, ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΕΙΣ ∆Ι∆ΑΧΗΝ, ΟΠΟΤΕ ΕΝΕΠΥΡΙΣΕ ΤΗΝ ΜΕΣΟΠΟΤΑΜΙΑΝ ΣΥΡΙΑΣ, ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΣΥΡΙΑΝ ΣΩΒΑΛ, ΚΑΙ ΑΠΕΣΤΡΕΨΕ ΙΩΑΒ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΑΤΑΞΕ ΤΗΝ ΦΑΡΑΓΓΑ ΤΩΝ ΑΛΩΝ ∆Ω∆ΕΚΑ ΧΙΛΙΑ∆ΑΣ ΝΘʹ. «Ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπώσω ἡμᾶς καὶ καθεῖλες ἡμᾶς, ὠργίσθης καὶ ᾠκτείρησας ἡμᾶς.» Εἰς στηλογραφίαν μέν ἐστι καὶ ὁ παρὼν λόγος, οὐ μὴν κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς εἴρηται χρόνους ταῖς πρὸ αὐτῆς. Ἐκεῖναι μὲν γὰρ ἔτι ζῶντος Σαοὺλ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἐλέχθησαν· ἡ μὲν πρώτη, «ὁπότε ἐκράτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἀλλόφυλοι ἐν Γέθ·» ἡ δὲ δευτέρα, «ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδράσκειν ἀπὸ προσώπου Σαοὺλ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον·» ἡ δὲ τελευταία, «ὅτε ἀπέστειλε Σαοὺλ καὶ ἐφύλαξε τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, τοῦ θανατῶσαι αὐτόν.» Τὴν δὲ μετὰ