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you are my helper and my refuge, my God is my helper, and I will hope in him.” 9.7.16 Since, then, you, O Lord, "have made the Most High your refuge," for this reason the Most High himself, it says, "will deliver" you "from the snare of the fowlers, and from the troubling word," and "he will overshadow you with his shoulders." Wherefore, having such paternal help from the Most High, "you shall not be afraid of the terror by night," nor of any of the things mentioned before, nor indeed of those that follow. 9.7.17 For since "you, O Lord, have made the Most High your refuge," for this reason "no evil shall come near you, and no plague shall come near your dwelling." And you would find "plagues" named in the Gospels as the activities of demons, which, he says, are not even able to dare to approach the dwelling of Christ, that is, his body. 9.7.18 For how could they, when by word alone he cast them out of men? And concerning this dwelling David once swore to the Lord and vowed to the God of Jacob, saying: "If I shall go up into the bed of my couch, if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the God of Jacob." 9.7.19 And it was on account of this dwelling that it was said, "you shall not be afraid of the terror by night," and "he will deliver you from the snare of the fowlers, and from the troubling word," and "no evil shall come near you, and no plague shall come near your dwelling," and as many things as have been said about him in a more human way, such as "he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you," and "they will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone." 9.7.20 For these things would not be fittingly said as to God, but to his dwelling which he assumed for our sake, when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." But it seems good to me for the precise confirmation of what has been said to set forth also the words of the other interpreters; of whom Aquila said thus: "Because you, Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your dwelling-place. 9.7.21 No evil shall be brought to you, and no touch shall come near your shelter; because he will command his angels to guard you in all your ways," and Symmachus: "For you, Lord, are my fearlessness, you have made your habitation most high. 9.7.22 No evil will prevail against you, nor will a touch come near your tent; because he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." Therefore through these very things it was said to the Lord, as concerning another greater, "he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will bear you up in their hands," that is, you, the Lord, "lest" you, the Lord, "strike your foot against a stone." 9.7.23 And the devil also used these words in the temptation against our Savior, when taking him "to the holy city, he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here; for it is written that he will command his angels concerning you, and they will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone." To whom our Lord answered and said, "It is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." 9.7.24 Then, since in the temptation he was "with the wild beasts," according to the evangelist, but it is not recorded what kind, the prophecy of the psalm itself, hinting at the kinds of beasts, says this more clearly: "You will tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the lion and the dragon." 9.7.25 He himself, then, has been testified to trample upon the chief of the intelligible beasts, the lion and the dragon, the asp and the basilisk, that is, the devil himself and the ruling and wicked powers with him. 9.7.26 But to his disciples and apostles who have acquired virtue like his, he himself gives "the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions," not allowing them to be tempted beyond what they could bear. For it was his alone to... the worse in wickedness

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ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ θεός μου βοηθός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ' αὐτόν». 9.7.16 ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν σύ, ὦ κύριε, «τὸν ὕψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου», τούτου χάριν αὐτὸς ὁ ὕψιστος, φησί, «ῥύσεταί» σε «ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους», καὶ «ἐν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι». διόπερ τὴν τοιαύτην ἔχων πατρικὴν τοῦ ὑψίστου βοήθειαν «οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ» οὔτε ἀπό τινος τῶν προκατειλεγμένων, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ἑξῆς ἐπιφερομένων. 9.7.17 ἐπεὶ γὰρ «σύ, κύριε, τὸν ὕψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου», διὰ τοῦτο «οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακά, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου». «μάστιγας» δὲ τὰς ἀπὸ δαιμόνων ἐνεργείας καὶ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὀνομαζομένας ἂν εὕροις, ἃς οὐδὲ πλησιάζειν τολμᾶν τῷ σκηνώματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τουτέστιν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ, δυνατὰς εἶναί φησιν. 9.7.18 πῶς γάρ, ὅτε λόγῳ μόνον αὐτὰς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἤλαυνεν; περὶ τούτου δὲ τοῦ σκηνώματος καὶ ὁ ∆αβίδ ποτε ὤμοσεν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ηὔξατο τῷ θεῷ Ἰακώβ, λέγων· «εἰ ἀναβήσομαι ἐπὶ κλίνης στρωμνῆς μου, εἰ δώσω ὕπνον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου καὶ τοῖς βλεφάροις μου νυσταγμὸν καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν τοῖς κροτάφοις μου, ἕως οὗ εὕρω τόπον τῷ κυρίῳ, σκήνωμα τῷ θεῷ Ἰακώβ». 9.7.19 καὶ τούτου γε ἕνεκα τοῦ σκηνώματος ἐλέγετο τὸ «οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ», καὶ τὸ «αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους», καὶ τὸ «οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακά, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου», καὶ ὅσα ἀνθρωπινώτερα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέλεκται, ὡς καὶ τὸ «τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε», καὶ τὸ «ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου». 9.7.20 ταῦτα γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ὡς πρὸς θεὸν λέγεσθαι ἁρμόσοι, πρὸς δὲ τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ ὅπερ δι' ἡμᾶς ἀνείληφεν, ὅτε «ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν». δοκεῖ δέ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν ὑπὲρ ἀκριβοῦς βεβαιώσεως τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ τὰς τῶν λοιπῶν ἑρμηνευτῶν παραθεῖναι φωνάς· ὧν ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας οὕτως ἔφησεν· «ὅτι σύ, κύριε, ἐλπίς μου, ὕψιστον ἔθηκας οἰκητήριόν σου. 9.7.21 οὐ μεταχθήσεται πρὸς σὲ κακά, καὶ ἁφὴ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ ἐν σκέπῃ σου· ὅτι ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται τοῦ φυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου», ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· «σὺ γάρ, κύριε, ἀφοβία μου, ὑψίστην ἔθου τὴν οἴκησίν σου. 9.7.22 οὐ κατισχύσει σου κακόν, οὐδὲ ἁφὴ ἐγγιεῖ τῇ σκηνῇ σου· ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς». οὐκοῦν διὰ τούτων αὐτῶν τῷ κυρίῳ λέλεκται ὡς περὶ ἑτέρου μείζονος τὸ «τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάσσειν σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς· ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε» δηλαδὴ σὲ τὸν κύριον, «μήποτε» σὺ ὁ κύριος «προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου». 9.7.23 ταύταις δὲ καὶ ὁ διάβολος ταῖς λέξεσιν ἐν τῷ κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πειρασμῷ κέχρηται, ὅτε παραλαβὼν αὐτὸν «εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν, ἔστησεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν κάτω· γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου». πρὸς ὃν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· «γέγραπται, οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου». 9.7.24 Εἶτ' ἐπεὶ ἐν τῷ πειρασμῷ «μετὰ τῶν θηρίων» κατὰ τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν διέτριβεν, ποίων δὲ οὐκ ἀναγέγραπται, σαφέστερον τοῦτο αὐτὸ ἡ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προφητεία, τὰ εἴδη τῶν θηρίων αἰνιττομένη, φησίν· «ἐπὶ ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα». 9.7.25 αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν τὰ ἀρχικώτατα τῶν νοητῶν θηρίων, λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα, ἀσπίδα τε καὶ βασιλίσκον, αὐτὸν δηλαδὴ τὸν διάβολον καὶ τὰς μετ' αὐτὸν ἀρχοντικὰς καὶ πονηρὰς δυνάμεις καταπατήσειν μεμαρτύρηται. 9.7.26 τοῖς δὲ τὴν ὁμοίαν ἀρετὴν αὐτῷ κεκτημένοις μαθηταῖς καὶ ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ «τὴν ἐξουσίαν» αὐτὸς «τοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων» δωρεῖται, οὐκ ἐῶν αὐτοὺς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὃ δύναιντο. μόνου γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῦ τὸ τὰς χείρους ἐν πονηρίᾳ