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there will be a complete dissolution, but of other results, understood in a manner worthy of God, the fulfillment of God's promise. But You have cast off and despised, You have deferred Your Christ. You have broken the covenant of Your servant, You have profaned his sanctuary to the ground; You have broken down all his hedges, You have made his strongholds a terror. All those who pass by the way have plundered him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his oppressors, You have made all his enemies rejoice. You have turned away the help of his sword, and have not helped him in the war. You have made him cease from purification, You have cast his throne down to the ground; You have shortened the days of his time, You have poured shame upon him. Selah. These things have been shown in the more physical succession of David and in his physical kingdom, which was destroyed during the times of the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people. For from that time the Christ, that is, the perceptible king from the lineage of David, has ceased, and the throne of his kingdom has been dashed down, and all the rest of the things foretold have been fulfilled; concerning which things the word laments from the person of the Jewish nation, as though God had promised one thing, but other things had come to pass. But it is fitting for us to apply our mind, that since God is true, it is entirely necessary that His words be verified; and if they were not verified in the case of the perceptible kingdom of David, it is time to understand the promises in another way. What then is the way? The divine Spirit itself taught through the preceding words, in which it was said: Your truth will be prepared in heaven; and again: The heavens will confess Your wonders, O Lord, and indeed Your truth in the church of the saints; and again: You are mighty, O Lord, and Your truth is round about You; and again: Mercy and truth will go before Your face. For all these things 23.1112 are indicative that the promises of God are not falsified, but are fulfilled according to the ways He knows. For in heaven, it says, Your truth will be prepared; clearly showing that the promises of God are heavenly and divine. And the results of the words have been presented as fulfilled through our Savior Jesus Christ, who came from the seed of David; for His kingdom and throne were not human, nor of this world. Therefore He said before Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world. And when asked by him if He was a king, He answered, For this I have been born. Therefore if He has been born, He will remain for this. And the angel Gabriel, who announced His birth to the Virgin, bears witness to the word, saying to her: And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and you will give birth, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High. And God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. He was born, therefore, for this, but His kingdom was not of this world; for the kingdom of this world is not of a nature to last forever, nor is it unending, nor extending into the infinite; but the kingdom promised to the seed of David was one eternal and immortal; For His throne, it says, will be as the sun before me, and as the moon established forever, and the witness in heaven is faithful. Such are the things also promised to the Virgin concerning the one to be born of her. For the angel, giving her an oracle, promised, saying: And God will give Him the throne of His father David. And what sort and of what kind this was, he will interpret next, stating: And He will reign forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Such was the one promised with an oath by God to David. This, indeed, the angel presented, interpreting his own oracle; first saying, And God will give Him

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παντελῶς ἔσται λύσις, ἑτέρων δὲ θεοπρεπῶς νοουμένων ἀποτελεσμάτων τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίας συμπλήρωσις. Σὺ δὲ ἀπώσω καὶ ἐξουδένωσας, ἀνεβάλου τὸν Χριστόν σου. Κατέστρεψας τὴν διαθήκην τοῦ δούλου σου, ἐβεβήλωσας εἰς τὴν γῆν τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ· καθεῖλες πάντας τοὺς φραγμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ἔθου τὰ ὀχυρώματα αὐτοῦ δειλίαν. ∆ιήρπαζον αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ παραπορευόμενοι ὁδόν· ἐγενήθη ὄνειδος τοῖς γείτοσιν αὐτοῦ. Ὕψωσας τὴν δεξιὰν τῶν θλιβόντων αὐτὸν, εὔφρανας πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ. Ἀπέστρεψας τὴν βοήθειαν τῆς ῥομφαίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἀντελάβου αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ. Κατέλυσας ἀπὸ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτὸν, τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ εἰς γῆν κατέῤῥαξας· ἐσμίκρυνας τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ χρόνου αὐτοῦ, κατέχεας αὐτῷ αἰσχύνην· ∆ιάψαλμα. Ἀποδέδεικται ταῦτα τῇ σωματικωτέρᾳ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ διαδοχῇ καὶ τῇ σωματικῇ αὐτοῦ βασιλείᾳ, ἥτις καθῃρέθη κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμαλωσίας τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λαοῦ. Ἐξ ἐκείνου γὰρ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς, τουτέστιν ὁ αἰσθητὸς βασιλεὺς, ὁ ἀπὸ γένους ∆αυῒδ διαλέλοιπε, καὶ ὁ θρόνος τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ κατεῤῥάγη, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα τὰ προπεφητευμένα πεπλήρωται· ἐφ' οἷς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἀπολοφύρεται ὁ λόγος, ὡς ἕτερα μὲν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγειλαμένου, ἑτέρων δὲ ἀποβάντων. Προσήκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν, ὡς, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀψευδοῦς ὄντος, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἐπαληθεύσεσθαι τοὺς αὐτοῦ λόγους· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀληθεύοιντο ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς τοῦ ∆αυῒδ βασιλείας, ὥρα ἕτερον τρόπον νοεῖν τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα. Τίς οὖν ὁ τρόπος, αὐτὸ τὸ θεῖον ἐδίδαξε Πνεῦμα διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν, ἐν οἷς εἴρητο· Ἐν οὐρανῷ ἑτοιμασθήσεται ἡ ἀλήθειά σου· καὶ πάλιν· Ἐξομολογήσονται οἱ οὐρανοὶ τὰ θαυμάσιά σου, Κύριε, καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἁγίων· καὶ πάλιν· ∆υνατὸς εἶ, Κύριε, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου κύκλῳ σου· καὶ αὖθις· Ἔλεος καὶ ἀλήθεια προπορεύσονται πρὸ προσώπου σου. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάν 23.1112 τα παραστατικὰ τυγχάνει τοῦ μὴ διαψεύσασθαι τὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίας, πληροῦσθαι δὲ αὐτὰς, καθ' οὓς οἶδε λόγους. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ οὐρανῷ, φησὶν, ἑτοιμασθήσεται ἡ ἀλήθειά σου· σαφῶς δηλῶν ἐπουρανίους εἶναι καὶ θείας τὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίας. Καὶ παρέστηκε τῶν λόγων τὰ ἀποτελέσματα διὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ πεπληρωμένα· τούτου γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία καὶ θρόνος οὐκ ἀνθρώπινος ἦν, οὐδὲ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. ∆ιὸ ἔλεγεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Πιλάτου· Ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Ἐρωτηθείς τε ὑπ' αὐτοῦ εἰ βασιλεὺς εἴη, ἀπεκρίνατο, Εἰς τοῦτο καὶ γεγέννημαι. Οὐκοῦν εἰ γεγέννηται, μενεῖ εἰς τοῦτο. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τῷ λόγῳ ὁ τὴν γένεσιν αὐτοῦ τῇ Παρθένῳ εὐαγγελισάμενος ἄγγελος ὁ Γαβριὴλ εἰπὼν πρὸς αὐτήν· Καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ, καὶ τέξῃ, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας, καὶ υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται. Καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος. Γεγέννηται τοίνυν εἰς τοῦτο, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἦν ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου· ἡ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου βασιλεία οὐχ οἵα τέ ἐστι διαρκεῖν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, οὐδ' ἐστὶν ἀτελεύτητος, οὐδ' εἰς τὸ ἄπειρον ἐκτεινομένη· ἡ δὲ τῷ σπέρματι ∆αυῒδ ἐπηγγελμένη βασιλεία αἰώνιός τις ἦν καὶ ἀθάνατος· Καὶ ὁ θρόνος, γάρ φησιν, ἔσται αὐτοῦ ὡς ἥλιος ἐνώπιόν μου, καὶ ὡς ἡ σελήνη κατηρτισμένη εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ὁ μάρτυς ἐν οὐρανῷ πιστός. Τοιαῦτα δὲ τυγχάνει τὰ καὶ τῇ Παρθένῳ ἐπηγγελμένα περὶ τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννηθησομένου. Χρηματίζων γοῦν αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος ἐπηγγείλατο λέγων· Καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ. Ποῖος δὲ οὗτος καὶ ποταπὸς ἦν, ἑξῆς διερμηνεύσει φάσκων· Καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος. Τοιοῦτος δ' ἦν ὁ τῷ ∆αυῒδ μεθ' ὁρκωμοσίας ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπηγγελμένος. Ὃ δὴ παριστὰς ἄγγελος, διηρμήνευε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ χρησμόν· πρότερον μὲν εἰπὼν, Καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς