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They surrounded me, and in the name of the Lord I defended myself against them. Surrounding, they surrounded me, and in the name of the Lord I defended myself against them. They surrounded me as bees do a honeycomb, and they were burned up as a fire among thorns, and in the name of the Lord I defended myself against them. Being pushed, I was overturned that I might fall, and the Lord took hold of me. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. But I was also helped by taking in with my eyes the end of the ungodly. For I knew that they were burned up as a fire among thorns, or were extinguished as a fire in thorns, so that I should no longer be troubled, if ever I saw the ungodly being exalted and rising up against the people of God. For I have been taught what kind of end awaits them. The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength, the right hand of the Lord has exalted me, the right hand of the Lord has wrought strength. I shall not die, but I shall live, and I will declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me with chastisement, but he has not given me over to death. That persecutions are not useless, but have come for the benefit and testing of those who are tempted, he teaches, saying: The Lord has chastened me with chastisement. For I knew my own weakness, and I was not ignorant of the power granted to me from God. And I was taught what kind of right hand of the Lord it was, the one which humbled the enemies. Open to me the gates of righteousness; having entered into them, I will give thanks to the Lord; this is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter into it. I will give thanks to you, for you have heard me, and have become my salvation. Therefore, the general name of all the virtues is designated by righteousness; but then dividing by kind, one might say analogously, 'Open to me the gates of righteousness,' and gates of prudence, and of the rest of the deeds according to God. When he has passed through all the gates, then coming to the end of, as one might say, the inmost holy places, he will no longer see many, but one gate, that of the Lord himself, through which all the righteous will enter. And one might call this the latter and 23.1365 final one, beyond which it is no longer possible to approach The final gate of the Lord would be the vision of him, according to, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save now; O Lord, grant success now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Since he saw the beneficence of the inhabited world and the change of things, and the transfer to the better, rejoicing with those who enjoy it he says: O Lord, save now; O Lord, grant success now. That is, save those who enjoy it, so that they may be filled, and show forth fruits worthy of grace; make the way easy for them, so that, after obtaining, they may not fall away from such good things. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us. Confessing that no one else but the Lord himself has appeared and shown these things to them; wherefore they say, 'We have blessed you'; because he has appeared, showing your salvation. Having prayed and foreseen the future things by the Holy Spirit, the prophets pronounce blessed those who are destined to be deemed worthy of the results at some time. Appoint a festival with dense boughs, up to the horns of the altar, you who are from the nations with dense boughs. But Aquila interpreted this, saying: Bind the festival with fat offerings; and Symmachus: Bind together the dense boughs at the solemn assembly up to the horns of the altar. And through these things he commands to fill the house of God with many treasures and to crown it with thick votive offerings at the times of the festivals. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. And the people assembled in Christ both from Israel and from the house

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ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. Κυκλώσαντες ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. Ἐκύκλωσάν με ὡσεὶ μέλισσαι κηρίον, καὶ ἐξεκαύθησαν ὡσεὶ πῦρ ἐν ἀκάνθαις, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. Ὠσθεὶς ἀνετράπην τοῦ πεσεῖν, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἀντελάβετό μου. Ἰσχύς μου καὶ ὕμνησίς μου ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ἐγένετό μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν. Φωνὴ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ σωτηρίας ἐν σκηναῖς δικαίων. Ὠφελήθην δὲ καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς παραλαβὼν τὰ τέλη τῶν ἀσεβῶν. Ἔγνων γὰρ, ὅτι ἐξεκαύθησαν ὡς πῦρ ἐν ἀκάνθαις, ἢ ἐπεσβέσθησαν ὡς πῦρ ἐν ἀκανθῶν ὡς μηκέτι με ταράττεσθαι, εἴ ποτε ὁρῶν ἀσεβεῖς ἐπαιρομένους, καὶ τῷ λαῷ Θεοῦ ἐπανισταμένους. Πεπαίδευμαι γὰρ ὁποῖον αὐτοὺς τέλος περιμένει. ∆εξιὰ Κυρίου ἐποίησε δύναμιν, δεξιὰ Κυρίου ὕψωσέ με, δεξιὰ Κυρίου ἐποίησε δύναμιν. Οὐκ ἀποθανοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ ζήσομαι, καὶ διηγήσομαι τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου. Παιδεύων ἐπαίδευσέ με ὁ Κύριος, τῷ δὲ θανάτῳ οὐ παρέδωκέ με. Ὅτι μὴ εἰς ἄχρηστον οἱ διωγμοὶ, ἀλλ' ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ καὶ δοκιμῇ τῶν πεπειρασμένων γεγόνασι, διδάσκει λέγων· Παιδεύων ἐπαίδευσέ με ὁ Κύριος. Ἔγνων γὰρ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ἀσθένειαν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ μοι παρασχεθεῖσαν δύναμιν οὐκ ἠγνόησα. Ἐπαιδεύθην δὲ ὁποία τις ἦν ἡ δεξιὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἡ τοὺς πολεμίους ταπεινώσασα. Ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης, εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ· αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ. Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, ὅτι ἐπήκουσάς μου, καὶ ἐγένου μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν γενικὸν ὄνομα πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ προγράφεται· κατ' εἶδος δὲ λοιπὸν διαιρῶν τις, εἴποι ἀναλόγως τὸ, Ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης, καὶ πύλας φρονήσεως, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν κατὰ Θεὸν πράξεων. Ἐπειδὰν διὰ πασῶν παρέλθῃ τῶν πυλῶν, λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος τῶν, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ἐνδοτάτω ἁγίων ἐλθὼν, οὐκέτι πολλὰς, ἀλλὰ μίαν ὄψεται πύλην τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου, δι' ἧς πάντες εἰσελεύσονται οἱ δίκαιοι. Εἴποι δ' ἄν τις ταύτην τὴν ὑστάτην καὶ 23.1365 τελευταίαν, ἧς ἐπέκεινα οὐκέτι οἷόν τε εἶναι προσελθεῖν Ὑστάτη δὲ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ θεωρία ἂν εἴη αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸ, Μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται. Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες· οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. Παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη, καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ. Ὦ Κύριε, σῶσον δὴ, ὦ Κύριε, εὐόδωσον δή. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Ἐπειδὴ εἶδε τῆς οἰκουμένης τὴν εὐεργεσίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολὴν, καὶ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον μετάστασιν, συγχαίρων τοῖς ἀπολαύουσί φησιν· Ὦ Κύριε, σῶσον δή· ὦ Κύριε, εὐόδωσον δή. Τουτέστι, διάσωσον τοὺς ἀπολαύοντας, ὥστε ἐμπλησθῆναι, καὶ καρποὺς ἀξίους διαδείξασθαι τῆς χάριτος· ῥᾳδίαν αὐτοῖς ποίησον τὴν ὁδὸν, ὥστε, μετὰ τὸ τυχεῖν, μὴ ἐκπεσεῖν τῶν τοιούτων καλῶν. Εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς ἐξ οἴκου Κυρίου, Θεὸς Κύριος καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. Ὁμολογοῦντες, ὅτι ταῦτα αὐτοῖς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐπέφανέ τε καὶ ἔδειξε· διό φασιν, Εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς· ὅτι ἐπέφανε τὴν ὑμετέραν δείξας σωτηρίαν. Ἐπευξάμενοι καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προθεωρήσαντες τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τὰ προκείμενα οἱ προφῆται, μακαρίζουσι τοὺς μέλλοντας τῶν ἀποτελεσμάτων ποτὲ καταξιοῦσθαι. Συστήσασθε ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσιν ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, ὑμεῖς οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσι. Τοῦτο δὲ ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας ἡρμήνευσεν εἰπών· ∆ήσατε ἑορτὴν ἐν πιμελέσιν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Συνδήσατε ἐν πανηγύρει πυκάσματα ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου. Προστάττει δὲ διὰ τούτων πολλοῖς κειμηλίοις πληροῦν τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀναθήμασι πυκνοῖς στεφανοῦν αὐτὸν κατὰ τοὺς τῶν ἑορτῶν καιρούς. Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι· Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ὑψώσω σε. Προστάττεται δὲ ὁ συγκροτηθεὶς ἐν Χριστῷ λαὸς ἔκ τε τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου