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we have received, but the Spirit of God; concerning which it is said: For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God; knowing these things, I am in no way troubled by the irregularity of men; but I rejoice and am glad, comprehending the principles of providence not from human circumstances, but from the works of the hands of God and from his creations. And I rejoice and am exceedingly glad to be counted worthy of such things, of which every foolish and senseless person is deprived, being unable to be instructed in the principles of universal providence from the works of God. 23.1177 When the sinners spring up like grass, and all the workers of iniquity have looked forth, that they might be utterly destroyed for ever and ever. The foolish and senseless man, seeing the impious rejoicing, and the just and pious suffering, does not understand the principles of Providence, but immediately turns to impious reasonings, falling into atheism; but I, looking into your creation, and the works of your hands, along with the others understood, that the end of the impious who rejoice in this life contains destruction and perdition; wherefore I am all the more astonished at the principles of divine judgment. For just as grass and the flowers of the earth appear beautiful for a short time, and charm the sight, and every sense, but in a little while change and turn, and easily wither and perish; in the same way also the sinners who are admired by the many, as soon as they have sprung up, and having flourished for a short time, have looked forth, they have been shown for what they are, and of what disposition; then, not long after, not a short and temporary destruction came upon them, but perpetual perdition. Since your righteous judgment presides over human affairs, for this reason especially I believe it is permitted for sinners and for the workers of iniquity to spring up and look forth; so that their choice might be tested, for not having used the gifts of God well; wherefore a vengeful, eternal destruction will succeed them. But you, Lord, are the Most High for ever. For, lo, your enemies, O Lord, for, lo, your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. And my horn shall be exalted like the horn of a unicorn, and my old age in rich oil. And my eye has looked upon my enemies, and my ear shall hear of the wicked that rise up against me. You, he says, O Lord, being ever the same and likewise, will remain the Most High in the highest for all eternity, not changing, not being humbled, not being altered, not becoming better than yourself, not resembling the humble things on earth, nor thinking and doing anything small and humble, but remaining like yourself for infinity; but we who are humble and far from your power are at different times borne in different ways, and are changed. Your enemies, therefore, O Lord, having made themselves strangers to the life that is with you, and having chosen enmity instead of friendship towards you, the only good one, will perish, having become the cause of their own perdition, because they were not willing to remain with you and be befriended by you; but to take up enmity against you, their own maker and savior. Wherefore even if they gather countless sums of money in this life, and wealth, and treasures, yet all things, together with their souls and their bodies, will be scattered. But I, having embraced the knowledge of and friendship with you, and having become a stranger to your enemies, am persuaded that I will obtain a change for the better, trusting in your righteous judgment; so that even if in the present life I might seem to be someone inglorious and humble among the many, 23.1180 yet at the end of things I will be exalted, or rather my horn will be exalted, that is, the hope of my awaited kingdom from you, which will be exalted as much as that of the unicorn. For if there is a unicorn among the intelligibles, bearing one horn

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ἐλάβομεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ· περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· Τὸ γὰρ Πνεῦμα πάντα ἐρευνᾷ, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἅπερ εἰδὼς, οὐδαμῶς ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνωμαλίᾳ ταράττομαι· χαίρω δὲ καὶ εὐφραίνομαι τοὺς τῆς προνοίας λόγους οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον συμπτωμάτων, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ποιημάτων αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνων. Καὶ χαίρω γε καὶ ὑπερευφραίνομαι τοιούτων καταξιωθεὶς, ὧν ἐστέρηται πᾶς ἄφρων καὶ ἀσύνετος, οὐ δυνάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῖς περὶ τῆς καθόλου προνοίας λόγοις μαθητεύεσθαι. 23.1177 Ἐν τῷ ἀνατεῖλαι ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὡσεὶ χόρτον, καὶ διέκυψαν πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὅπως ἂν ἐξολοθρευθῶσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ὁ μὲν ἄφρων καὶ ἀσύνετος, ὁρῶν ἀσεβεῖς εὐθυμουμένους, δικαίους δὲ καὶ εὐσεβεῖς κακουμένους οὐ συνίησι τοὺς τῆς Προνοίας λόγους, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἐπ' ἀσεβεῖς τρέπεται λογισμοὺς, ἐκπίπτων εἰς ἀθεότητα· ἐγὼ δὲ, τῷ ποιήματί σου ἐνορῶν, καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν σου, μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων συνεῖδον, ὅτι τὸ τέλος τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον εὐθυμούντων ἀσεβῶν ὄλεθρον περιέχει καὶ ἀπώλειαν· διὸ πολὺ πλέον τοὺς τῆς θείας κρίσεως λόγους ὑπερεκπλήττομαι. Ὥσπερ γοῦν χόρτος καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ γῆς ἄνθη πρὸς ὀλίγον ὡραῖα φαίνεται, καὶ θέλγει τὴν ὅρασιν, καὶ τὴν αἴσθησιν ἅπασαν, ὅσον δὲ οὐδέπω μεταβάλλει καὶ τρέπεται, φθίνει τε ῥᾷστα καὶ ἀπόλλυται· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ οἱ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς θαυμαζόμενοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἅμα τε ἀνέτειλαν, καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἀνθήσαντες, διέκυψαν, ἐφάνησάν τε τίνες ποτέ εἰσι, καὶ ὁποίας προαιρέσεως· εἶτ' οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν αὐτοὺς μετῆλθεν οὐκέτι βραχὺς καὶ πρόσκαιρος ὄλεθρος, ἀλλὰ διηνεκὴς ἀπώλεια. Ἐπειδήπερ ἡ σὴ δικαιοκρισία τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ἐφέστηκε πράγμασι, διὸ δὴ μάλιστα συγκεχωρῆσθαι τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐργαζομένοις τὴν ἀνομίαν τὸ ἀνατεῖλαι καὶ διακῦψαι ἡγοῦμαι· ὡς ἂν ἐλεγχθείη αὐτῶν ἡ προαίρεσις, οὐ καλῶς τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρήμασι κεχρημένη· διόπερ ἔκδικος αὐτοὺς ὄλεθρος αἰώνιος διαδέξεται. Σὺ δὲ Ὕψιστος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Κύριε. Ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐχθροί σου, Κύριε, ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐχθροί σου ἀπολοῦνται, καὶ διασκορπισθήσονται πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν. Καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὡς μονοκέρωτος τὸ κέρας μου, καὶ τὸ γῆράς μου ἐν ἐλαίῳ πίονι. Καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπανισταμένοις ἐπ' ἐμὲ πονηρευομένοις ἐπακούσεται τὸ οὖς μου. Σὺ μὲν, φησὶν, ὦ Κύριε, ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχων Ὕψιστος ἐν ὑψηλοῖς διαμενεῖς τὸν σύμπαντα αἰῶνα οὐ τρεπόμενος, οὐ ταπεινούμενος, οὐκ ἀλλοιούμενος, οὐ κρείττων σαυτοῦ γινόμενος, οὐ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ὁμοιούμενος, οὐδὲ μικρόν τι καὶ ταπεινὸν φρονῶν καὶ πράττων, ἀλλ' εἰς ἄπειρον σαυτῷ διαμένων ὅμοιος· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ταπεινοὶ καὶ μακρὰν τῆς σῆς ἀπέχοντες δυνάμεως ἄλλοτε ἄλλως φερόμεθα, καὶ μεταβαλλόμεθα. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐχθροί σου, ὦ Κύριε, ὡς ἂν ἑαυτοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καταστήσαντες τῆς παρὰ σοὶ ζωῆς, ἔχθραν τε ἀντὶ φιλίας πρὸς σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀγαθὸν ἑλόμενοι, ἀπολοῦνται, ἑαυτοῖς αἴτιοι γενόμενοι ἀπωλείας, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐθελῆσαί σοι παραμένειν καί σοι φιλωθῆναι· ἔχθραν δὲ ἄρασθαι τὴν πρὸς σὲ τὸν ἑαυτῶν ποιητήν τε καὶ σωτῆρα. ∆ιὸ κἂν μυρία συναγάγωσιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ χρήματα, καὶ πλοῦτον, καὶ θησαυροὺς, ἀλλὰ τὰ πάντα σὺν ταῖς αὐτῶν ψυχαῖς καὶ αὐτοῖς σώμασι διασκορπισθήσονται. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ τὴν πρὸς σὲ γνῶσιν καὶ φιλίαν ἀσπασάμενος, καὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου ἀλλότριος γεγονὼς, πέπεισμαι, ὅτι τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβολῆς τεύξομαι τῇ σῇ δικαιοκρισίᾳ πιστεύων· ὥστε εἰ καὶ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον ἄδοξός τις εἶναι δοκοίην καὶ ταπεινὸς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς, 23.1180 ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ τέλει τῶν πραγμάτων ὑψωθήσομαι, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ κέρας μου ὑψωθήσεται, τουτέστιν ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς προσδοκωμένης μου παρὰ σοὶ βασιλείας, ἥτις ὑψωθήσεται τοσοῦτον, ὅσον καὶ ἡ τοῦ μονοκέρωτος. Εἰ γάρ ἐστί τις ἐν νοητοῖς μονόκερως ἓν κέρας ἐπιγραφόμενός