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He accuses the ingratitude of those who received benefits, and teaches of the various punishments inflicted upon them. It is fashioned as from the person of the more pious, who are lamenting their common misfortunes and entreating to obtain mercy. 1. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever." And for the former benefits praise the Master, and await better hopes. For the Master is good and loves mankind, and always continues 80.1724 to use mercy. Then he teaches how the narration of the divine wonders surpasses human nature. 2. "Who will declare the mighty acts of the Lord, or show forth all his praise?" No word is sufficient for the hymnody of the God of all. 3. "Blessed are they who keep justice, and do righteousness at all times." With the sense of sin, the blessing of virtue enters. For he who pays the penalties for it blesses those who are delivered from it, and who adorn their own life with righteousness. But he blesses not the one who practices righteousness once, but the one who always and continually follows in its footsteps. 4. Remember us, O Lord, with the favor of your people; visit us with your salvation." Here he alludes to the new people, and the Church from the Gentiles, which he deemed worthy of salvation, whose communion the multitude of the Jews is taught to seize. And what follows agrees with this thought. 5. "That I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance." We entreat, he says, to partake of the gladness of your new nation, and to become partakers of the goodness granted to them. ʹ. "We have sinned with our fathers; we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly." For as a certain inheritance, he says, we received from our fathers the transgression of your laws; and he calls fathers, not the holy patriarchs, but those who came after them. For this he has shown through what follows. 7. "Our fathers in Egypt did not understand your wonders, and they did not remember the multitude of your mercy." For with so many wonders having been performed in Egypt on their account, they did not wish to perceive your power. "And they provoked him as they went up at the Red Sea." For when they saw the Egyptians pursuing, and the sea blocking their flight, they were not willing to await your assistance; but they cried out against the great Moses, saying: 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you brought us out to die in this wilderness?' But nevertheless, though they appeared ungrateful, you deemed them worthy of salvation. For this he added: 8-10. "And he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known. And he rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; and 80.1725 he led them through the deep, as through a wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy." For by a word, having laid bare the bottom of the sea, he made that great abyss a traversable desert for them. For since in deserts there is great ease for those running, there being neither plants nor obstructing barriers, he has shown the ease of the crossing by the comparison with the desert. 11. "The water covered their oppressors; not one of them was left." For he made all the Egyptians to be submerged; and the same sea brought salvation to the Hebrews, but punishment to the Egyptians. 12. "And they believed his word, and they sang his praise." For the great Moses led the men in singing praises, and Miriam the prophetess led the chorus of women. And the song is also recorded. 13, 14. "They soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. And they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert." For having so many and such pledges of the divine power, they did not ask to receive what was needed, nor did they wait for the divine gift, but immediately used revilings against the divine serv

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εὐεργετηθέντων ἀχαριστίας κατηγορεῖ, καὶ τὰς ἐπενεχθείσας αὐτοῖς διαφόρως τιμωρίας διδά σκει. Ἐσχημάτισται δὲ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τῶν εὐσεβε στέρων, τὰς κοινὰς ὀλοφυρομένων συμφορὰς, καὶ φειδοῦς τυχεῖν ἀντιβολούντων. αʹ. "Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι χρηστὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ." Καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς προ τέραις εὐεργεσίαις τὸν ∆εσπότην ὑμνήσατε, καὶ τὰς χρηστοτέρας ἐλπίδας προσμείνατε. Ἀγαθὸς γὰρ καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ὁ ∆εσπότης, καὶ ἀεὶ τῷ ἐλέῳ διατελεῖ 80.1724 χρώμενος. Εἶτα διδάσκει ὡς ὑπερβάλλει τῶν ἀν θρώπων τὴν φύσιν ἡ τῶν θείων θαυμάτων διήγη σις. βʹ. "Τίς λαλήσει τὰς δυναστείας τοῦ Κυρίου, ἀκουστὰς ποιήσει πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις αὐτοῦ;" Οὐ δεὶς ἀπόχρη λόγος εἰς ὑμνῳδίαν τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ. γʹ. "Μακάριοι οἱ φυλάσσοντες κρίσιν, καὶ ποιοῦν τες δικαιοσύνην ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ." Τῇ αἰσθήσει τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς μακαρισμὸς ὑπεισέρχεται. Ὁ γὰρ τὰς ὑπὲρ ταύτης εὐθύνας ἐκτίνων μακαρί ζει τοὺς ταύτης ἀπηλλαγμένους, καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ τὸν οἰκεῖον βίον διακοσμοῦντας. Μακαρίζει δὲ οὐ τὸν ἅπαξ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ χρησάμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀεὶ καὶ διηνεκῶς τοῖς ταύτης ἑπόμενον ἴχνεσι. δʹ. Μνήσθητι ἡμῶν, Κύριε, ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ σου, ἐπίσκεψαι ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ σου." Ἐν ταῦθα τὸν νέον λαὸν αἰνίττεται, καὶ τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἢν τῆς σωτηρίας ἠξίωσεν, ἧς ἁρπάσαι διδάσκεται τὴν κοινωνίαν ἡ Ἰουδαίων πληθύς. Συμ φωνεῖ δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα. εʹ. "Τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἐν τῇ χρηστότητι τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν σου, τοῦ εὐφρανθῆναι ἐν τῇ εὐφροσύνῃ τοῦ ἔθνους σου, τοῦ ἐπαινεῖσθαι μετὰ τῆς κληρονομίας σου." Ἀντιβολοῦμεν, φησὶ, τῆς τοῦ νέου σου ἔθνους μεταλαχεῖν εὐφροσύνης, καὶ κοινωνοὶ γενέσθαι τῆς ἐκείνοις χορηγουμένης χρηστότητος. ʹ. "Ἡμάρτομεν μετὰ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν· ἠνο μήσαμεν, ἠδικήσαμεν." Ὥσπερ γάρ τινα, φησὶ, κλῆρον, παρὰ τῶν πατέρων διεδεξάμεθα τὴν τῶν σῶν νόμων παράβασιν· πατέρας δὲ καλεῖ, οὐ τοὺς ἁγίους πατριάρχας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μετ' ἐκείνους γενο μένους. Τοῦτο γὰρ διὰ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐδήλωσεν. ζʹ. "Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ οὐ συνῆκαν θαυμάσιά σου, καὶ οὐκ ἐμνήσθησαν τοῦ πλήθους τοῦ ἐλέους σου." Τοσούτων γὰρ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δι' αὐ τοὺς γεγενημένων θαυμάτων, συνιδεῖν τὴν σὴν οὐκ ἐθέλησαν δύναμιν. "Καὶ παρεπίκραναν ἀναβαίνον τες ἐν τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ." Θεασάμενοι γὰρ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους διώκοντας, καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἐπ έχουσαν τὴν φυγὴν, τὴν ἐπικουρίαν προσμεῖναι τὴν σὴν οὐκ ἐθέλησαν· ἀλλὰ τοῦ μεγάλου Μωσοῦ κατ εβόων, λέγοντες· "Παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι μνήματα ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν τῇ ἐρή μῳ ταύτῃ." Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ ἀγνώμονας φανέντας σωτηρίας ἠξίωσας. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπήγαγεν· ηʹ-ιʹ. "Καὶ ἔσωσεν αὐτοὺς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὑτοῦ, τοῦ γνωρίσαι τὴν δυναστείαν αὑτοῦ. Καὶ ἐπετίμησε τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ ἐξηράνθη· καὶ 80.1725 ὡδήγησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀβύσσῳ, ὡς ἐν ἐρήμῳ. Καὶ ἔσω σεν αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς μισοῦντος, καὶ ἐλυτρώσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθροῦ." Λόγῳ γὰρ τῆς θαλάσσης τὸν πυθμένα γυμνώσας, τὴν πολλὴν ἐκείνην ἄβυσ σον ἱππήλατον αὐτοῖς ἀπέφηνεν ἔρημον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις πολλὴ τοῖς τρέχουσιν εὐκο λία, μήτε φυτῶν ὄντων, μήτε φραγμῶν κωλυόντων, τὴν τῆς διαβάσεως εὐκολίαν δεδήλωκε τῇ τῆς ἐρή μου παραβολῇ. ιαʹ. "Ἐκάλυψεν ὕδωρ τοὺς θλίβοντας αὐτοὺς, εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐχ ὑπελείφθη." Πάντας γὰρ τοὺς Αἰγυ πτίους ὑποβρυχίους πεποίηκε· καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλασσα Ἑβραίοις μὲν σωτηρίαν, Αἰγυπτίοις δὲ τιμωρίαν ἐπήγαγε. ιβʹ. "Καὶ ἐπίστευσαν τῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ᾖσαν τὴν αἴνεσιν αὐτοῦ." Τῶν γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ὑμ νούντων Μωσῆς ὁ μέγας ἡγεῖτο, τοῦ δὲ χοροῦ τῶν γυναικῶν Μαριὰμ ἡ προφῆτις. Ἀνάγραπτος δὲ καὶ ἡ ᾠδή. ιγʹ, ιδʹ. "Ἐτάχυναν, ἐπελάθοντο τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ὑπέμειναν τὴν βουλὴν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐπεθύμησαν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ ἐπείρασαν τὸν Θεὸν ἐν ἀνύδρῳ." Τοσαῦτα γὰρ ἔχοντες καὶ τοιαῦτα ἐχέγγυα τῆς θείας δυνάμεως, οὐκ ᾔτησαν τὴν χρείαν λαβεῖν, οὐδὲ τὴν θείαν προσέμειναν δωρεὰν, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς λοιδορίαις κατὰ τῶν θείων ἐχρήσαντο θερα