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likewise the third at the third hour, and again the fourth at the sixth, the fifth at the ninth hour, the sixth at the twelfth, then in the evening after the care of the body, being about to turn to bed he would offer up the seventh hymn, and thus he fulfilled this: Seven times a day have I praised thee. Great peace have they who love thy law, and for them there is no stumbling block. For those who long for the name of God there is great peace, not so much the external peace; for this is not in our power; but the peace in our thoughts, by which it happens that we have the tranquility and freedom from disturbance that comes from dispassion. This, along with the appropriate grace, they have received, those who have it from God and the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Possessing it, therefore, on account of the name of God, being exceedingly perfect, they have no stumbling block in themselves; for it is of the little ones, and not the great, to have this, as the Savior says: See that you do not cause one of these little ones to stumble. And if there is great peace for those who love the law of God, he has great peace, war does not touch his soul; for none of the sins inflames his soul, and since he has peace, he has become such that he is no longer scandalized by anything, saying: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, and so on. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord, and have loved thy commandments. Awaiting the true salvation from you, I not only kept, but also loved your commandments. For when the activity of the commandments has been achieved with love, the expected Salvation will immediately follow, being nothing other than the salvation of those who are saved. And if he also awaits the Savior, of whom it is said: All flesh shall see the Salvation of God, he consequently loves the commandments of God, whose Salvation he also expected, so that he may be pure in his practice, and contemplative in his expectation, always expecting and contemplating the God Logos who has come to seek and to save that which was lost. My soul has kept thy testimonies, and has loved them exceedingly. Not only have I loved your commandments, but my soul has also loved your testimonies exceedingly, and has kept them. First, in one part, I was loving, and, I have loved your commandments; second: My soul has kept your testimonies; and in the third, bringing both together into one, he says: I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee, O 23.1393 Lord. The sinner will not say: All my ways are before you; for the ways of the sinner are not in the eyes of God, but only those of the just man; so that our ways may all be before God, the laws, the prophets, the perfect, true, and good way over all, he who said: I am the way, Christ Jesus, let us pray that by traveling on the way to the end we may reach God and the Father of all through Christ Jesus. Let my prayer come near before thee, O Lord; give me understanding according to thy word. Let my supplication come before thee, O Lord; deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall pour forth a hymn, when thou shalt have taught me thy statutes; my tongue shall speak of thy words, for all thy commandments are righteousness. Very consistently after praying for understanding; for to be given understanding of the oracles of God was not a matter of lips nor of tongue, but of the intellect according to the soul; having therefore asked for the primary things, he proceeds to the secondary, and requests that the organs of speech in him, the lips and the tongue, be consecrated, so that his lips may always pour forth a hymn, as his mind is taught by God himself his statutes; and that his tongue may utter nothing else than the oracles of God, and do this because all his ways are righteousness. Let thy hand be for to save me, for I have chosen thy commandments. Seeing the magnitude of what is prepared, he needs help from God to accomplish the things foretold; but great

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τὴν τρίτην ὡσαύτως τὴν τρίτον, καὶ πάλιν κατὰ τὴν ἕκτην τὸν τέταρτον, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐνάτην ὥραν τὸν πέμπτον, κατὰ δὲ τὴν δωδεκάτην τὸν ἕκτον, εἶθ' ἑσπέρας μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος θεραπείαν, ἐπὶ κοίτην μέλλων τρέπεσθαι τὸν ἕβδομον ὕμνον ἀπεδίδου, καὶ οὕτως ἐπλήρου τό· Ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ᾔνεσά σε. Εἰρήνη πολλὴ τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν νόμον σου, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς σκάνδαλον. Τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄνομα ποθοῦσιν εἰρήνη τυγχάνει πολλὴ, οὐ τοσοῦτον ἡ ἔξωθεν· οὐ γὰρ ἐφ' ἡμῖν αὕτη· ἀλλ' ἡ ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς, καθ' ἣν συμβαίνει ἀταραξίαν καὶ ἀνενοχλησίαν τῆς ἐξ ἀπαθείας ἔχειν. Ταύτην ἅμα τῇ καταλλήλῳ χάριτι εἰλήφασιν οἱ ἔχοντες ἀπὸ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Κεκτημένοι γοῦν αὐτὴν διὰ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὑπερβαλλόντως ὑπάρχοντες τέλειοι, σκάνδαλον οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· μικρῶν γὰρ ἀλλ' οὐ μεγάλων τὸ ἔχειν τοῦτο, ὥς φησιν ὁ Σωτήρ· Ὁρᾶτε μὴ σκανδαλίσητε ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων. Εἰ δὲ εἴη εἰρήνη πολλὴ τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν νόμον τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰρήνην ἔχει πολλὴν, πόλεμος οὐχ ἅπτεται τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐκκαίει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἅτε εἰρήνην ἔχων τοιοῦτος γεγένηται ὡς ὑπὸ μηδενὸς ἔτι σκανδαλισθῇ λέγων· Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Θλίψις ἢ στενοχωρία, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Προσεδόκων τὸ Σωτήριόν σου, Κύριε, καὶ τὰς ἐντολάς σου ἠγάπησα. Προσδοκῶν τὴν ἀπὸ σοῦ σωτηρίαν τὴν ἀληθινὴν, οὐ μόνον ἐτήρησα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἠγάπησα σου τὰς ἐντολάς. Τῆς γὰρ μετ' ἀγαπήσεως τῶν ἐντολῶν κατωρθωμένης ἐνεργείας ὑπαρξάσης, εὐθὺς ἀκολουθήσει τὸ προσδοκώμενον Σωτήριον, οὐχ ἕτερον ὂν τῆς τῶν σωζομένων σωτηρίας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα προσδοκᾷ, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· Πᾶσα σὰρξ ὄψεται τὸ Σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀκολούθως ἀγαπᾷ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗ καὶ τὸ Σωτήριον προσεδόκησεν, ἵνα καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ᾖ καθαρῶς, καὶ τὴν προσδοκίαν θεωρητικῶς, προσδοκῶν ἀεὶ καὶ θεωρῶν ἐληλυθότα τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός. Ἐφύλαξεν ἡ ψυχή μου τὰ μαρτύριά σου, καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὰ σφόδρα. Οὐ μόνον τὰς ἐντολάς σου ἠγάπησα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μαρτύριά σου σφόδρα ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἐφύλαξεν αὐτά. Πρότερον μὲν κατὰ ἓν, ἠγάπων, καὶ, ἠγάπησα τὰς ἐντολάς σου· δεύτερον· Ἐφύλαξεν ἡ ψυχή μου τὰ μαρτύριά σου· κατὰ δὲ τὸ τρίτον συναγαγὼν ἀμφότερα εἰς ἓν, φησίν· Ἐφύλαξα τὰς ἐντολάς σου καὶ τὰ μαρτύριά σου, ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοί μου ἐναντίον σου, Κύ 23.1393 ριε. Ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς οὐκ ἐρεῖ· Πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοί μου ἐναντίον σου· αἱ γὰρ ὁδοὶ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ μόνον αἱ τοῦ δικαίου· ἵν' οὖν καὶ αἱ ἡμέτεραι γένωνται πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοὶ ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἱ νόμοι, οἱ προφῆται, ἡ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τελεία, ἀληθινὴ καὶ ἀγαθὴ ὁδὸς, ὁ εἰπών· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς, Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, εὐξώμεθα ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μέχρι τέλους ὁδεύοντας φθάσαι πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα τῶν ὅλων διὰ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Ἐγγισάτω ἡ δέησίς μου ἐνώπιόν σου, Κύριε, κατὰ τὸ λόγιόν σου συνέτισόν με. Εἰσέλθοι τὸ ἀξίωμά μου ἐνώπιόν σου, Κύριε, κατὰ τὸ λόγιόν σου ῥῦσαί με. Ἐξηρεύξαντο τὰ χείλη μου ὕμνον, ὅταν διδάξῃς με τὰ δικαιώματά σου· φθέγξαιτο ἡ γλῶσσά μου τὰ λόγιά σου, ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ἐντολαί σου δικαιοσύνη. Σφόδρα ἀκολούθως μετὰ τοῦ εὔξασθαι περὶ τῆς διανοίας· τὸ γὰρ συνετισθῆναι τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἦν χειλέων οὐδὲ γλώσσης, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κατὰ ψυχὴν διανοητικοῦ· τὰ ἡγούμενα τοίνυν αἰτήσας ἐπὶ τὰ δεύτερα μέτεισι, καὶ ἀξιοῖ τὰ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λόγου ὄργανα τὰ χείλη καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ἀφιερωθῆναι, ὡς ἂν διαπαντὸς τὰ μὲν χείλη ὕμνον διερεύγοιντο, διδασκομένου τοῦ νοῦ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ δικαιώματα αὐτοῦ· ἡ δὲ γλῶττα φθέγγοιτο μηδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦτο πράσσοι, ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύναι. Γενέσθω ἡ χείρ σου τοῦ σῶσαί με, ὅτι τὰς ἐντολάς σου ᾑρετισάμην. Συνιδὼν τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ἑτοίμου, βοηθείας δεῖται τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸ κατορθῶσαι τὰ προλελεγμένα· μεγάλα δὲ