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he prophesies their destruction, saying: You cast them down when they were lifted up. How are they brought to desolation, as in a moment? They are utterly consumed, they perished because of their folly, and the things that follow this. B. The second teaches under what circumstances the things in the first were spoken, lamenting the final siege of Jerusalem, which it suffered in Roman times, and indicating the uprising of those who besieged the place; which indeed he shows by saying: O God, why have you cast us off forever, why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? To which he adds next: As with axes in a thicket of trees they have cut down its doors together, with hatchet and stone-axe they have broken it down. They have set your sanctuary on fire; to which again he adds: We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and he will know us no more; for by saying that there were no longer prophets during the indicated siege was a sign of their final fall. And these things follow very consistently the prophecies spoken before concerning Christ. For since they did not receive him when he came, he necessarily prophesies for them the wrath that came upon them after the things they dared against him. G. The third of Asaph refers to the end the one who has encountered the former things, and advises not to destroy. And in addition to this, he inscribes that it is both a psalm and a song; since it contains thanksgiving from those who have believed in Christ. And he presents the righteous judgment of God, teaching how he has appointed a day of judgment, in which he will render to each according to his works. And neither will those who suffer evil in this present life fall from the future hope that is with God, nor will those who in the present time are lifted up and boast against Christ have an unpunished life hereafter. Therefore, from the person of our Savior's apostles and disciples and evangelists he cries out: We will give thanks to you, O God, and we will call upon your name; but concerning 23.825 those who dared to proceed against our Savior, he adds: I said to the transgressors, ‘Do not transgress,’ and to the sinners, ‘Do not lift up the horn.’ Do not lift up your horn on high, do not speak injustice against God. Then next, from the person of Christ himself, he brings forth this: But I will declare forever, I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the sinners I will break, and the horns of the righteous will be exalted. D. And the present psalm is said, "In hymns;" but it is not only this but also a song for the end. And it describes the security of the apostles of the Savior and of his Church, and his own abode and station in peace, and his presence in Judea; and how his true city, and Mount Zion, his true dwelling place, is always at peace, never becoming subject to enemies. Which indeed he signifies, saying: In Judea God is known, his name is great in Israel. His place was made in peace and his dwelling place in Zion. Then next he presents the fall of his enemies and the foes of his Church, speaking thus: There he broke the powers of the bows, the shield and the sword and the battle; and again: All the foolish of heart were troubled. They have slept their sleep, and all the men of wealth have found nothing in their hands. At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, all those who rode on horses have slumbered; to which he attaches the glorious coming of the Savior, saying: From heaven you made judgment to be heard; the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment, to save all the kings of the earth. E. And the one at hand is of Asaph, but it is inscribed, "For Jeduthun;" concerning whom we have spoken before. And he seems to compose the words for Jeduthun, groaning much, as is fitting, over what he had heard concerning the groaning people,

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καταστροφὴν αὐτῶν θεσπίζει λέγων· Κατέβαλες αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ἐπαρθῆναι. Πῶς ἐγένοντο εἰς ἐρήμωσιν ἐξάπινα; Ἐξέλιπον, ἀπώλοντο διὰ τὴν ἀβουλίαν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα. Βʹ. Ὁ δεύτερος ἐπὶ ποίαις περιστάσεσιν τὰ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ λέλεκτο διδάσκει, ἀποδυρόμενος τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὴν ἐσχάτην πολιορκίαν, ἣν πέπονθεν ἐπὶ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν χρόνων, σημαίνων τε τὴν ἐπανάστασιν τῶν τὸν τόπον πολιορκησάντων· ὃ δὴ παρίστησι φήσας· Ἵνα τί, ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπώσω εἰς τέλος, ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου; Οἷς ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγει· Ὡς ἐν δρυμῷ ξύλων ἀξίναις ἐξέκοψαν τὰς θύρας αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, ἐν πέλυκι καὶ λαξευτηρίῳ κατέῤῥαξαν αὐτήν. Ἐνεπύρισαν ἐν πυρὶ τὸ ἁγιαστήριόν σου· οἷς αὖθις ἐπιλέγει· Τὰ σημεῖα ἡμῶν οὐκ εἴδομεν· οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι προφήτης, καὶ ἡμᾶς οὐ γνώσεται ἔτι· τῷ γὰρ φάσκειν μηκέτι προφήτας γεγονέναι κατὰ τὴν δηλουμένην πολιορκίαν σημεῖον ἦν τῆς ὑστάτης αὐτῶν ἀποπτώσεως. Ἕπεται δὲ ταῦτα σφόδρα ἀκολούθως ταῖς διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λεχθείσαις προῤῥήσεσιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐλθόντα αὐτὸν μὴ παρεδέξαντο, ἀναγκαίως τὴν ἐπελθοῦσαν αὐτοῖς ὀργὴν μετὰ τὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ τολμηθέντα αὐτοῖς θεσπίζει. Γʹ. Ὁ τρίτος τοῦ Ἀσὰφ εἰς τὸ τέλος παραπέμπει τὸν τοῖς προτέροις ἐντετυχηκότα, καὶ παραινεῖ μὴ διαφθεῖραι. Ἐπιγράφει τε πρὸς τούτοις, ὅτι καὶ ψαλμὸς εἴη καὶ ᾠδή· ἐπειδὴ περιέχει εὐχαριστίαν τῶν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πεπιστευκότων. Καὶ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοκρισίαν παρίστησι διδάσκων ὅπως ἔστησεν ἡμέραν κρίσεως, ἐν ᾗ ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Καὶ οὔτε οἱ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον κακούμενοι τῆς παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ μελλούσης ἐλπίδος ἀποπεσοῦνται, οὔθ' οἱ κατὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα καιρὸν ἐπαρθέντες καὶ καταλαζονευσάμενοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀτιμώρητον ἕξουσι τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα βίον. ∆ιὸ ἐκ προσώπου μὲν τῶν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ μαθητῶν καὶ εὐαγγελιστῶν ἀναφωνεῖ τό· Ἐξομολογησόμεθά σοι, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐπικαλεσόμεθα τὸ ὄνομά σου· περὶ δὲ 23.825 τῶν τὰ κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡ μῶν τολμησάντων προΐων ἐπάγει τό· Εἶπα τοῖς παρανομοῦσι· Μὴ παρανομεῖτε, καὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι· Μὴ ὑψοῦτε κέρας. Μὴ ἐπαίρετε εἰς ὕψος τὸ κέρας ὑμῶν, μὴ λαλεῖτε κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀδικίαν. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς ἐξ αὐτοῦ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιφέρει τό· Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπαγγελῶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ψαλῶ τῷ Θεῷ Ἰακώβ. Καὶ πάντα τὰ κέρατα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν συνθλάσω, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται τὰ κέρατα τοῦ δικαίου. ∆ʹ. Καὶ ὁ παρὼν ψαλμὸς λέλεκται Ἐν ὕμνοις· οὐ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾠδὴ τυγχάνει ἀναπέμπουσα εἰς τὸ τέλος. ∆ιαγράφει δὲ τῶν μὲν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, αὐτοῦ δὲ τὴν ἐν εἰρήνῃ μονὴν καὶ στάσιν, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας παρουσίαν· καὶ ὡς ἡ ἀληθινὴ αὐτοῦ πόλις, καὶ τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος τὸ ἀληθινὸν αὐτοῦ οἰκητήριον πάντοτε εἰρηνεύεται, οὐδὲ πώποτε ἐχθροῖς ὑποχείριον γιγνόμενον. Ὃ δὴ σημαίνει λέγων· Γνωστὸς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὁ Θεὸς, ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Ἐγενήθη εἰρήνη ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ κατοικητήριον αὐτοῦ ἐν Σιών. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ πολεμίων τὴν πτῶσιν παρίστησιν ὧδε φάσκων· Ἐκεῖ συνέτριψε τὰ κράτη τῶν τόξων, ὅπλον καὶ ῥομφαίαν καὶ πόλεμον· καὶ πάλιν· Ἐταράχθησαν πάντες οἱ ἀσύνετοι τῇ καρδίᾳ. Ὕπνωσαν ὕπνον αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον οὐδὲν πάντες οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦ πλούτου ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν. Ἀπὸ ἐπιτιμήσεώς σου, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακὼβ, ἐνύσταξαν πάντες οἱ ἐπιβεβηκότες τοὺς ἵππους· οἷς ἐπισυνάπτει τὴν ἔνδοξον τοῦ Σωτῆρος παρουσίαν λέγων· Ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠκούτισας κρίσιν, γῆ ἐφοβήθη καὶ ἡσύχασεν ἐν τῷ καταστῆναι εἰς κρίσιν τὸν Θεὸν, τοῦ σῶσαι πάντας τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς. Εʹ. Καὶ ὁ μετὰ χεῖρας τοῦ μὲν Ἀσὰφ τυγχάνει, ὑπογράφει δὲ, Ὑπὲρ Ἰδιθούμ· περὶ οὗ προδιειλήφαμεν διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν. Ἔοικεν δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰδιθοὺμ συντάττειν τοὺς λόγους, πολλὰ ὡς εἰκότως ἐφ' οἷς ἀκήκοεν περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ καταστενάζοντος,