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Apostle; for he defines the new covenant and true portion; whom he refashioned through the washing of regeneration.] And in the present life the divine people will enjoy fitting providence, since it has been named his inheritance and people. 15. "Until righteousness returns to judgment?" It will indeed obtain this providence, until the righteousness of God appears, executing the judgment of all people. The saying hints at the incarnation of our God and Savior, and the denial of the Jews. For it called the Lord Christ "righteousness." For he has also been named the Sun of righteousness, and about him the blessed Paul said: "He was made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." Therefore, having mentioned the providence of God, and having said that, "The Lord will not cast off his people, and his inheritance he will not forsake," and having foreseen their future denial, he fittingly added, "Until righteousness returns to judgment." For as long as they do not deny the appearance of righteousness, they will obtain providence from above. "And all the upright in heart will hold to it." But Aquila and Theodotion, And after it all the upright in heart. For this salvation, he says, which he called righteousness, will be followed by those who have a mind pure of unbelief, and who use upright reasoning. And the words of the Lord also agree with what has been said. For seeing Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea, he said to them: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." And to the one who said, "Permit me to go and bury my father," the Lord said, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you, come, follow me." Therefore, he says, he will exercise providence for the Jews until their denial, but he will have the upright in heart as followers, holding to him, and cleaving to him, and not tolerating leaving him at all. 16. "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers, or who will stand with me against the workers of lawlessness?" But Symmachus more clearly: Who will rise up on my behalf against malefactors? who will stand on my behalf against those who work un 80.1637 righteousness? I am, he says, bereft of all human help, but I have the great helper, the one who is able to easily scatter the throng of the adversaries; For he has shown this through the following words. 17. "If the Lord had not helped me, my soul would have almost dwelt in Hades." For if I had not enjoyed his providence, they would certainly have delivered me to death. 18. "When I said, 'My foot has slipped,' your mercy, O Lord, helped me." For immediately calling upon your providence, and acknowledging my own weakness, I enjoyed your loving-kindness. 19. "According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, your comforts gladdened my soul." And corresponding to the sorrows, I received consolation from your goodness. Thus also the blessed Paul said: "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ our consolation abounds." And again: "Afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." 20. "Will a throne of lawlessness be allied with you, which devises trouble by decree?" But Symmachus more clearly: Will a throne of insolence be joined with you, which frames misery against ordinance? You will not endure, he says, to have fellowship in injustice with those who judge unlawfully; who, rendering a verdict contrary to what has been commanded by you, draw upon themselves the misery that springs from it. For he called the unjust judges a "throne of insolence and lawlessness," who reap toil and misery as the fruit of injustice. 21. "They will hunt the soul of the righteous, and they will condemn innocent blood." For it is the work of these lawless judges to use every device against the righteous, and to condemn the innocent and blameless to death, [and the other

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Ἀπόστολος· αὐτὸς γὰρ τὴν νέαν δια θήκην καὶ ἀληθινὴν μερίδα ὁρίζεται· οὓς διὰ λου τροῦ παλιγγενεσίας ἀνέπλασεν.] Καὶ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα δὲ βίον τῆς προσηκούσης ἀπολαύσεται προμηθείας ὁ θεῖος λαὸς, ἅτε δὴ κληρονομία καὶ λαὸς αὐτοῦ χρηματίσας. ιεʹ. "Ἕως οὗ δικαιοσύνη ἐπιστρέψῃ εἰς κρίσιν;" Ταύτης μέντοι τεύξεται τῆς προνοίας, ἕως ἂν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη φανῇ, πάντων ἀνθρώπων ποιουμένη τὴν κρίσιν. Αἰνίττεται δὲ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σω τῆρος ἡμῶν τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν, καὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν ἄρνησιν. ∆ικαιοσύνην γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσε τὸν ∆εσπότην Χριστόν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ καὶ Ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης ὠνόμασται, καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔφη ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος· "Ἐδόθη ἡμῖν σοφία ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, δικαιοσύνη τε, καὶ ἁγιασμὸς, καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις." Τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοίνυν μνημονεύσας προνοίας, καὶ εἰρηκὼς, ὅτι "Οὐκ ἀπώσεται Κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ, καὶ τὴν κληρονομίαν αὑτοῦ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει," καὶ τὴν ἐσο μένην αὐτῶν προθεασάμενος ἄρνησιν, εἰκότως ἐπή γαγεν, "Ἕως οὗ ἐπιστρέψῃ δικαιοσύνη εἰς κρίσιν." Ἕως γὰρ ἂν μὴ ἀρνηθῶσι τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὴν ἐπι φάνειαν, τῆς ἄνωθεν τεύξονται προμηθείας. "Καὶ ἐχόμενοι αὐτῆς πάντες οἱ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ" Ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων, Καὶ ὀπίσω αὐτῆς πάντες οἱ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Τούτῳ γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ σωτη ρίῳ, ὃ δικαιοσύνην ἐκάλεσεν, ἀκολουθήσουσιν οἱ κα θαρὰν ἀπιστίας διάνοιαν ἔχοντες, καὶ εὐθέσι χρώ μενοι λογισμοῖς. Συμβαίνει δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου τὰ ῥήματα. Ἰδὼν γὰρ τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὸν Ἀνδρέαν βάλλοντας ἀμφίβληστρον εἰς τὴν θά λασσαν, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· "∆εῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων." Καὶ τῷ εἰρηκότι. "Ἐπί τρεψόν μοι ἀπελθεῖν θάψαι τὸν πατέρα μου," εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος. "Ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάπτειν τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκροὺς, σὺ δὲ ἐλθὼν ἀκολούθει μοι." Ἰουδαίων μὲν οὖν, φησὶ, μέχρι τῆς ἀρνήσεως ποιήσεται πρό νοιαν, τοὺς δὲ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ ἀκολούθους ἕξει, ἐχομένους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀντεχομένους, καὶ κατα λιπεῖν οὐδ' ὅλως ἀνεχομένους. ιʹ. "Τίς ἀναστήσεταί μοι ἐπὶ πονηρευομένους, ἢ τίς συμπαραστήσεταί μοι ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν;" Σαφέστερον δὲ ὁ Σύμμαχος· Τίς ἀναστήσεται ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς κακούργους; τίς ἐνστήσεται ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς ἐργαζομένους ἀδι 80.1637 κίας; Πάσης ἀνθρωπίνης εἰμὶ, φησὶν, ἔρημος βοηθείας, ἀλλ' ἔχω τὸν μέγαν ἐπίκουρον, τὸν σκε δάσαι ῥᾳδίως δυνάμενον τῶν ἐναντίων τὸ στίφος· Τοῦτο γὰρ διὰ τῶν ἐπιφερομένων ἐδήλωσεν. ιζʹ. "Εἰ μὴ ὅτι Κύριος ἐβοήθησέ μοι παρὰ βραχὺ παρῴκησε τῷ ᾅδῃ ἡ ψυχή μου." Εἰ μὴ γὰρ τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ προνοίας ἀπήλαυσα, πάντως ἄν με θα νάτῳ παρέδωκαν. ιηʹ. "Εἰ ἔλεγον, σεσάλευται ὁ πούς μου, τὸ ἔλεός σου, Κύριε, ἐβοήθει μοι." Παραυτίκα γὰρ τὴν σὴν ἐπικαλούμενος πρόνοιαν, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν διδάσκων ἀσθένειαν, τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἀπήλαυον. ιθʹ. "Κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὀδυνῶν μου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου, αἱ παρακλήσεις σου εὔφραναν τὴν ψυ χήν μου." Ἀναλογοῦσαν δὲ ταῖς ὀδύναις τὴν παρὰ τῆς σῆς ἀγαθότητος ἐδεχόμην παραψυχήν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ μακάριος ἔφη Παῦλος· "Καθὼς περισσεύει τὰ πα θήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, οὕτω διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περισσεύει καὶ ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν." Καὶ πάλιν Ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι· ἀπορούμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξαπορούμενοι· διωκόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι· καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι." κʹ. "Μὴ συμπροσέσται σοι θρόνος ἀνομίας, ὁ πλάσσων κόπον ἐπὶ πρόσταγμα." Σαφέστερον δὲ ὁ Σύμμαχος· Μὴ συναφθήσεταί σοι θρόνος ἐπη ρείας, ὁ πλάσσων ταλαιπωρίαν κατὰ προστάγμα τος; Οὐκ ἀνέξῃ, φησὶ, κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἀδικίας τοῖς παρανόμως δικάζουσιν· οἳ ἐναντίαν τοῖς ὑπὸ σοῦ προστεταγμένοις τὴν ψῆφον ἐκφέροντες, τὴν ἐντεῦθεν φυομένην ἐπισπῶνται ταλαιπωρίαν. "Θρόνον γὰρ ἐπηρείας καὶ ἀνομίας" τοὺς ἀδίκους ἐκάλεσε δι καστὰς, οἳ κόπον καὶ ταλαιπωρίαν δρέπονται τῆς ἀδικίας καρπόν. καʹ. "Θηρεύσουσιν ἐπὶ ψυχὴν δικαίου, καὶ αἷμα ἀθῶον καταδικάσονται." Ἔργον γὰρ τοῖς παρανό μοις τούτοις δικασταῖς, πάσῃ μηχανῇ κατὰ τῶν δι καίων κεχρῆσθαι, καὶ τῶν ἀθώων καὶ ἀναιτίων καταψηφίζεσθαι θάνατον, [καὶ τὰς ἄλλας