495
you willed. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory; for your mercy and for your truth, lest the nations should say, Where is their God? But our God is in heaven and on earth; he has done all that he willed. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands; they have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see; they have ears, and will not hear; they have nostrils, and will not smell; they have hands, and will not feel; they have feet, and will not walk; they will not make a sound in their throat. May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them. The house of Israel has hoped in the Lord; he is their helper and defender. The house of Aaron has hoped in the Lord; he is their helper and defender. Those who fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord; he is their helper and defender. The Lord has remembered us and blessed us. He has blessed the house of Israel; he has blessed the house of Aaron; he has blessed those who fear the Lord, the small with the great. May the Lord add to you, to you and to your children. You are blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The heaven of heaven is the Lord's, but he has given the earth to the sons of men. The dead will not praise you, O Lord, nor all those who go 23.1357 down into Hades. But we, the living, will bless the Lord, from now and forever. In some of the copies, the preceding text is separated and specifically set apart from the 113th psalm, so that what we have at hand is the 114th psalm. But since, having looked closely at the Hebrew book itself, I found their characters and words joined together, I have rightly chosen to follow the Hebrew book, and to join the preceding text to what came before, so that they are part of the 113th hymn. It seems, therefore, that the preceding text is connected to what came before; for the children to whom it was said, "Praise the Lord, O children," that is, the new people, are taught what sort of Lord it is fitting to praise; and it is clear that he is the one who, at the exodus of Israel from Egypt, performed such great wonders. Therefore, following these things, these same people are taught not to be ignorant of what sort their formerly reputed gods were, that they were lifeless and deprived of all sensation, that they were dead, and deaf and blind idols, having nothing similar, I do not say to the great and wonder-working maker of all things, but not even to the least of living creatures, which partake of sensation; but it is entirely lifeless matter. And those things, I mean the living creatures, were constituted by the Word of God; but the reputed gods of the nations happen to be fabrications of human works. HALLELUJAH. 114. I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me, and in my days I will call upon him. The one who formerly feared the Lord, having now advanced from fear and passed over to the love of God, would say, "I have loved"; but whom, if not clearly the Lord God with all his heart, and strength, and soul, so as for His sake to strive for truth even unto death, and to endure every temptation, and to undergo every danger readily for the love of God? Because he has inclined his ear to me, and in my days I will call upon him. The sorrows of death have encompassed me, the dangers of Hades have found me; I found affliction and sorrow, and I called on the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul. The Lord is merciful and just, and our God has mercy. The Lord preserves the simple; I was humbled, and he saved me. Return, my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you; because he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from
495
ἠβουλήθης. Μὴ ἡμῖν, Κύριε, μὴ ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ ὀνόματί σου δὸς δόξαν· ἐπὶ τῷ ἐλέει σου καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου, μή ποτε εἴπωσι τὰ ἔθνη· Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῶν; Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, πάντα ὅσα ἠθέλησεν ἐποίησεν. Τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων· στόμα ἔχουσι καὶ οὐ λαλήσουσιν, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι καὶ οὐκ ὄψονται· ὦτα ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούσονται, ῥῖνας ἔχουσι καὶ οὐκ ὀσφρανθήσονται· χεῖρας ἔχουσι καὶ οὐ ψηλαφήσουσι, πόδας ἔχουσι καὶ οὐ περιπατήσουσιν, οὐ φωνήσουσιν ἐν τῷ λάρυγγι αὐτῶν. Ὅμοιοι αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ, καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ Κύριον, βοηθὸς καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς αὐτῶν ἐστιν. Οἶκος Ἀαρὼν ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ Κύριον, βοηθὸς καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς αὐτῶν ἐστιν. Οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον ἤλπισαν ἐπὶ Κύριον, βοηθὸς καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς αὐτῶν ἐστιν. Κύριος μνησθεὶς ἡμῶν εὐλόγησεν ἡμᾶς. Εὐλόγησε τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ, εὐλόγησε τὸν οἶκον Ἀαρών· εὐλόγησε τοὺς φοβουμένους τὸν Κύριον, τοὺς μικροὺς μετὰ τῶν μεγάλων. Προσθείη Κύριος ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, ἐφ' ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ὑμῶν. Εὐλογημένοι ὑμεῖς τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ ποιήσαντι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Ὁ οὐρανὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ, τὴν δὲ γῆν ἔδωκε τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Οὐχ οἱ νεκροὶ αἰνέσουσί σε, Κύριε, οὐδὲ πάντες οἱ καταβαί 23.1357 νοντες εἰς ᾅδου. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες εὐλογήσομεν τὸν Κύριον ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος. ∆ιέσταλται καὶ ἰδίως ἀφώρισται τοῦ ριγʹ ψαλμοῦ ἔν τισι τῶν ἀντιγράφων τὰ προκείμενα, ὥστε εἶναι ριδʹ ψαλμὸν τὸν μετὰ χεῖρας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ, ἐγκύψας αὐτῇ τῇ Ἑβραίων βίβλῳ, τοὺς αὐτῶν χαρακτῆρας συνημμένους εὗρον καὶ τὰς λέξεις, ἐπέστησα καλῶς ἀκολουθῆσαι τῇ Ἑβραίων βίβλῳ, συνάψαι τε τοῖς προτέροις τὰ προκείμενα, ὥστε εἶναι μέρος αὐτὰ τοῦ ριγʹ ὕμνου. ∆οκεῖ οὖν τὰ προκείμενα ἀνηρτῆσθαι τῶν προτέρων· παιδεύονται γὰρ οἱ παῖδες οἷς ἐλέγετο· Αἰνεῖτε, παῖδες, Κύριον, τουτέστιν ὁ νέος λαὸς, ποῖον Κύριον προσήκει αἰνεῖν· δῆλον δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐξόδῳ Ἰσραὴλ τῇ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τὰ τοσαῦτα θαυμάσια διαπραξάμενον. Ἐκείνοις οὖν ἀκολούθως οἱ αὐτοὶ διδάσκονται τοὺς πάλαι νενομισμένους αὐτῶν θεοὺς ὁποῖοί τινες ἦσαν μὴ ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι ἄψυχοι καὶ πάσης αἰσθήσεως ἐστερημένοι, ὅτι νεκρὰ, καὶ κωφὰ καὶ τυφλὰ εἴδωλα, οὐδὲν ὅμοιον ἔχοντα, οὐ φημὶ τῷ μεγάλῳ καὶ παραδοξοποιῷ ποιητῇ τῶν ὅλων, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τῶν ἐμψύχων, οἷς μέτεστιν αἰσθήσεως· πάντη δὲ ἄψυχος ὕλη καθέστηκεν. Κἀκεῖνα μὲν, λέγω δὴ τὰ ἔμψυχα ζῶα, Θεοῦ Λόγῳ συνέστηκεν· οἱ δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν νενομισμένοι θεοὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ἔργων ἀναπλάσματα τυγχάνουσιν. ΑΛΛΗΛΟΥΙΑ. ΡΙ∆ʹ. Ἠγάπησα, ὅτι εἰσακούσεται Κύριος τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου, ὅτι ἔκλινε τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ ἐμοὶ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις μου ἐπικαλέσομαι. Ὁ πάλαι φοβούμενος τὸν Κύριον, ἤδη προκόψας ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου, καὶ μεταβὰς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἴποι ἂν, Ἠγάπησα· τίνα δὲ, ἢ δηλαδὴ Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας, καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ψυχῆς, ὥστε ἕνεκεν αὐτοῦ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, πάντα τε ὑπομεῖναι πειρασμὸν, καὶ πάντα κίνδυνον ὑποστῆναι προθύμως διὰ τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπην; Ὅτι ἔκλινε τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ ἐμοὶ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις μου ἐπικαλέσομαι. Περιέσχον με ὠδῖνες θανάτου, κίνδυνοι ᾅδου εὕροσάν με· θλίψιν καὶ ὀδύνην εὗρον, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου ἐπεκαλεσάμην. Ὦ Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου· ἐλεήμων καὶ δίκαιος ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐλεεῖ. Φυλάσσων τὰ νήπια ὁ Κύριος, ἐταπεινώθην, καὶ ἔσωσέ με. Ἐπίστρεψον, ψυχή μου, εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσίν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐηργέτησέ σε· ὅτι ἐξείλετο τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου, τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου ἀπὸ δακρύων, καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου ἀπὸ