Athanius: Theosis

Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius, , tr. R.C. Gregg, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcelinus, ser. Classics of Western Spirituality (New York, Paulist, 1980): 101-129.
Epistula ad Marcellinum de interpretatione Psalmorum
PG 27, 12-45 [TLG 2035 059]

1. I marvel at your conduct in Christ, dear Marcellinus. Indeed you are successfully enduring the present trial, although you have suffered many tribulations in it, and you do not neglect the discipline.l For when I inquired from your letter-bearer how you fare in your continuing illness, I learned that you maintain a studious attitude toward all the holy Scripture, but that you read most frequently the Book of Psalms, and strive to comprehend the meaning contained in each psalm. On the basis of this, then, I commend you, since I too have a great fondness for the same book--just as I have for all the Scripture. Indeed, it so happens that I had a conversation with a learned old man, and I wish to write you those things that old master of the Psalter told me about it. For there is a certain grace and persuasiveness combined with the reasonable statement. He said this:	̓́Αγαμαί σε τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ προαιρέσεως, φίλε Μαρκελλῖνε. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸν παρόντα πειρασμὸν, καίτοι πολλὰ παθὼν ἐν αὐτῷ, καλῶς φέρεις, καὶ τῆς ἀσκήσεως οὐκ ἀμελεῖς. Πυνθανόμενος γὰρ τοῦ κομίσαντος τὴν ἐπιστολὴν, πῶς ἄρα καὶ μετὰ τὴν νόσον διάγεις· ἔμαθον πρὸς μὲν πᾶσαν τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν ἔχειν σε τὴν σχολὴν, πυκνότερον δὲ μάλιστα τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ψαλμῶν ἐντυγχάνειν, καὶ φιλονεικεῖν τὸν ἐν ἑκάστῳ ψαλμῷ νοῦν ἐγκείμενον καταλαμβάνειν. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν ἀποδέχομαί σε, πολὺν ἔχων εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν βίβλον κἀγὼ πόθον, ὥσπερ καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν Γραφήν. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἔχων, συνέτυχόν τινι φιλοπόνῳ γέροντι, καὶ βούλομαι καί σοι, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνος κατέχων τὸ Ψαλτήριον περὶ αὐτοῦ μοι διηγήσατο, γράψαι· ἔχει γάρ τινα χάριν καὶ πιθανότητα μετ' εὐλόγου τοῦ διηγήματος. ̓́Ελεγε γὰρ οὕτως·
2. All Scripture of ours, my son--both ancient and new--is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, as it is written.2 But the Book of Psalms possesses a certain winning exactitude for those who are prayerful. Each sacred book supplies and announces its own promise. The Pentateuch, for instance, relates the beginning of the world and the deeds of the patriarchs, both the exodus of Israel out of Egypt and the decree of the legislation. The Triteuch3 tells the possession of the land and the exploits of the judges, as well as David’s ancestral line. The books of the Kings and Chronicles recount the stories of the rulers.	Πᾶσα μὲν, ὦ τέκνον, ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς Γραφὴ, παλαιά τε καὶ καινὴ, θεόπνευστός ἐστι καὶ ὠφέλιμος πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, ὡς γέγραπται· ἔχει δέ τινα πιθανὴν παρατήρησιν τοῖς προσέχουσιν ἡ τῶν Ψαλμῶν βίβλος. ̔Εκάστη μὲν γὰρ βίβλος τὸ ἴδιον ἐπάγγελμα διακονεῖ καὶ ἀπαγγέλλει· οἷον ἡ Πεντάτευχος γένεσιν κόσμου καὶ τῶν πατριαρχῶν τὰς πράξεις; τήν τε ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου τοῦ ̓Ισραὴλ ἔξοδον, καὶ τὴν τῆς νομοθεσίας διάταξιν· ἡ Τρίτευχος τὴν κληροδοσίαν, καὶ τῶν κριτῶν τὰς πράξεις, καὶ γενεαλογίαν τοῦ Δαβίδ· αἱ Βασιλεῖαι καὶ Παραλειπόμεναι βασιλέων πράξεις·
And Esdras4 describes the release from the captivity, the return of the people, and the construction of the temple and the city. The books of the Prophets contain foretellings about the sojourn of the Savior, admonitions concerning divine commands and reprimands against transgressors, as well as prophecies for the gentiles. Yet the Book of Psalms is like a garden containing things of all these kinds, and it sets them to music, but also exhibits things of its own that it gives in song along with them.	καὶ ὁ μὲν ̓́Εσδρας ἀπόλυσιν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας καὶ ἐπάνοδον τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τῆς πόλεως· οἱ δὲ Προφῆται προφητείας περὶ τῆς ἐπιδημίας τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὑπομνήσεις τε περὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν, καὶ μέμψεις κατὰ τῶν παραβαινόντων, καὶ προφητείας τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. ̔Η δέ γε βίβλος τῶν Ψαλμῶν, ὡς παράδεισος τὰ ἐν αὑτῇ φέρουσα μελῳδεῖ, καὶ τὰ ἴδια δὲ πάλιν μετ' αὐτῶν ψάλλουσα δείκνυσι.
3. It sings the events of Genesis in Psalm 18: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands, and in Psalm 23: The earth is the Lord ‘s and the fullness thereof the 7world, and all that dxlell in it. He has founded it upon the seas. The themes of Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy it chants beautifully in Psalms 77 and 113 when it says: At thegoingforth qf Israelfrom Egypt, of the house of Jacoh f rom a barbarous people, Judea hecame his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.S It hymns the same events in Psalm 104: He sent forth Aloses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen. He estahlished among them his ^UXords, and his Lvonders in the land of Cham. He sent forth darkness, and made it dark, yet they rehelled against his rzXordg He turned their 7Waters into blood, and he destroyed their fsh. Their land produced frogs abundantly, in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and the dog-fly came, and lice into all their coasts. 6 And it is possible to discover that this whole psalm generally and Psalm lOS were written concerning these same events.	Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Γενέσεως ψάλλει ἐν τῷ ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ· Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ, ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα· καὶ ἐν τῷ κγ#· Τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ· αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτήν. Τὰ δὲ τῆς ̓Εξόδου καὶ τῶν ̓Αριθμῶν καὶ τοῦ Δευτερονομίου ᾄδει καλῶς ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ψαλμῷ, λέγων· ̓Εν ἐξόδῳ ̓Ισραὴλ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, οἴκου 27.13 ̓Ιακὼβ ἐκ λαοῦ βαρβάρου, ἐγενήθη ̓Ιουδαία ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ, ̓Ισραὴλ εἰς ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ. Ψάλλει δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ τετάρτῳ· ̓Εξαπέστειλε Μωϋσῆν τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ, ̓Ααρὼν, ὃν ἐξελέξατο αὐτόν· ἔθετο ἐν αὐτοῖς τοὺς λόγους τῶν σημείων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν τεράτων αὑτοῦ ἐν γῇ Χάμ. ̓Εξαπέστειλε σκότος, καὶ ἐσκότασε, καὶ παρεπίκραναν τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ. Μετέστρεψε τὰ ὕδατα αὐτῶν εἰς αἷμα, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τοὺς ἰχθύας αὐτῶν. ̓Εξῆρψεν ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν βατράχους ἐν τοῖς ταμείοις τῶν βασιλέων αὐτῶν. Εἶπε, καὶ ἦλθε κυνόμυια καὶ σκνῖφες ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῶν. Καὶ ὅλως ὅλον τε τὸν ψαλμὸν τοῦτόν τε καὶ ἑκατὸν πέμπτον περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν γεγραμμένον.
And matters pertaining to the priesthood and the tabernacle it proclaims in the “going out from the tabernacle”7 in Psalm 28: Bring to the Lord, you sons of God, bring to the Lord young rams; bring to tbe Lord glory and honor.	Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἱερατείας καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς ἀναφωνεῖ ἐν ἐξοδίῳ σκηνῆς ἐν τῷ κη# ψαλμῷ· ̓Ενέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ υἱοὺς κριῶν, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν καὶ τιμήν.
4. The things concerning Joshua and the judges it manifests somehow in the one hundred and sixth when it says: And they establish for themselves cities of habitation, and tbey sow fields and plant vineyards. For the land of the promise was given over to the people of Joshua. And when it says repeatedly in the same psalm, Then they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he delivered them from their distresses, it signifies the Book of Judges. When they cry out, he raises judges in the right time and saves his people from their tribulations.	Τὰ δὲ τοῦ Ναυῆ καὶ τῶν Κριτῶν ἐμφαίνει πως ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ ἕκτῳ, λέγων· Καὶ συνεστήσαντο πόλεις κατοικεσίας, καὶ ἔσπειραν ἀγροὺς, καὶ ἐφύτευσαν ἀμπελῶνας. ̓Επὶ γὰρ τοῦ Ναυῆ διαδέδοται αὐτοῖς ἡ γῆ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Λέγων δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ψαλμῷ συνεχῶς· Καὶ ἐκέκραξαν πρὸς Κύριον ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαι αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀναγκῶν αὐτῶν ἔσωσεν αὐτούς· σημαίνει τῶν Κριτῶν τὴν βίβλον· τότε γὰρ κραζόντων αὐτῶν ἤγειρε κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν κριτὰς, καὶ ἔσωζε τὸν λαὸν ἀπὸ τῶν θλιβόντων αὐτούς.
The stories of the kings it sings, surely, in the nineteenth psalm, stating: Some glory in chariots, and some in horses: But we will glory in the name of the Lord our God. They are overthrown and fallen: But we are risen, and have been set upright. O Lord, save the King, and hear us in whatever day we call upon you. The events of Esdras in Psalm 125 (of the gradual psalms)8 it sings: When the Lord overturned the captivity of Sion, we became as comforted ones, and again in 121: I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet stood in your courts, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city whose fellowship is complete. For to that place the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony for Israel.	Καὶ τὰ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ψάλλει πως ἐν τῷ ἐννεακαιδεκάτῳ, λέγων· Οὗτοι ἐν ἅρμασι καὶ οὗτοι ἐν ἵπποις, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Θεοῦ ἡμῶν μεγαλυνθησόμεθα. Αὐτοὶ συνεποδίσθησαν καὶ ἔπεσαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνέστημεν καὶ ἀνωρθώθημεν. Κύριε, σῶσον τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν ἐν ᾖ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπικαλεσώμεθά σε. Τὰ δὲ τοῦ ̓́Εσδρα ἐν τῷ ἑκατονεικοστῷ πέμπτῳ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν ᾄδει· ̓Εν τῷ ἐπιστρέψαι Κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν Σιὼν, ἐγενήθημεν ὡσεὶ παρακεκλημένοι· καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ ἑκατονεικοστῷ πρώτῳ· Εὐφράνθην ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρηκόσι μοι· Εἰς οἶκον Κυρίου πορευσώμεθα. ̔Εστῶτες ἦσαν οἱ πόδες ἡμῶν ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς σου, ̔Ιερουσαλήμ. ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ οἰκοδομουμένη ὡς πόλις, ἧς ἡ μετοχὴ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀνέβησαν αἱ φυλαὶ, αἱ φυλαὶ Κυρίου, μαρτύριον τῷ ̓Ισραήλ.
5. The pronouncements of the Prophets are declared in nearly every psalm. About the visitation of the Savior, and that he will make his sojourn as one who is God, so it says in the forty-ninth psalm: The Lord our God shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence, and in the one hundred and seventeenth: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is Lord and he has shined upon us. And that this one is the Word of the Father, so it sings in Psalm 106: He sent his Word, and healed them, and delivered them out of their destructions.	Τά τε τῶν Προφητῶν σχεδὸν ἐν ἑκάστῳ σημαίνει. Περὶ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας, καὶ ὅτι μὲν Θεὸς ὢν ἐπιδημήσει, οὕτως φησὶν ἐν μὲν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ ἐννάτῳ ψαλμῷ· ̔Ο Κύριος ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑκατοστῷ ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ· Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς ἐξ οἴκου Κυρίου· Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. ̔́Οτι δὲ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος, οὕτως ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ ἕκτῳ ψάλλει· ̓Απέστειλε τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.
The Coming One is God himself, and the Word who is sent. Because the Psalter knows that this Word is the Son of God, it chants the voice of the Father in the forty-fourth psalm My heart has uttered a good Word. And again in Psalm 109: i have begotten you from the womb before the morning. What else would someone say the offspring of the Father is except his Word and his Wisdom? Because Scripture knew that it was this one to whom the Father said, Let there be light, and firmament and all things,9 this book also contains the saying, By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 10	̔Ο γὰρ ἐρχόμενος Θεὸς αὐτός ἐστι καὶ Λόγος ἀποστελλόμενος. Τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Λόγον εἰδὼς ὄντα τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ᾄδει φωνὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ τετάρτῳ ψαλμῷ· ̓Εξηρεύξατο ἡ καρδία μου Λόγον ἀγαθόν· καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ ἑκα- 27.16 τοστῷ ἐννάτῳ· ̓Εκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ̔Εωσφόρου ἐξεγέννησά σε. Τί γὰρ ἂν ἄλλο τις εἴποι γέννημα τοῦ Πάτρος ἢ τὸν Λόγον καὶ τὴν Σοφίαν αὐτοῦ; Τοῦτον εἰδυῖα ὄντα, ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ Πατήρ· Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ στερέωμα, καὶ τὰ πάντα, καὶ αὕτη ἡ βίβλος περιέχει λέγουσα· Τῷ Λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν.
6. It knew Christ himself as the Coming One and indeed it especially speaks concerning him in the forty-fourth psalm: Your throne, O God, isforever and ever: The scepter of your Kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your fellows. And lest someone suppose that he comes only in semblance, it makes clear that this same one will become man and that this is he through whom all things were made,1l as it says in Psalm 86:12 Mother of Sion shall say, a man, and a man was begotten in her, and the Most High himselfformed her.	Καὶ Χριστὸν δὲ αὐτὸν ἐρχόμενον οὐκ ἠγνόησεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τούτου λέγει ἐν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ τετάρτῳ ψαλμῷ· ̔Ο θρόνος σου, ὁ Θεὸς, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου. ̓Ηγάπησας δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀδικίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεός σου ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ κατὰ φαντασίαν τις ἔρχεσθαι αὐτὸν ̔εἶναἰ νομίσῃ, σημαίνει αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον γενησόμενον, καὶ τοῦτον εἶναι δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα γέγονε, λέγων ἐν τῷ ὀγδοηκοστῷ ἕκτῳ· Μήτηρ Σιὼν ἐρεῖ· ̓́Ανθρωπος, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεννήθη ἐν αὐτῇ,
This is tantamount to saying, And the Word was God, and all things were made through him, and the Word became flesh. 13 On this account also, since it knows that this was from a virgin, the Psalter was not silent, but immediately gives some clear expression in the forty-fourth psalm, saying, Hear, O daughter, and see, and zncline your ear; forget also your people and your father’s house, because the King has desired your beauty. Again, this is like that which is said by Gahriel Hail. O fasnrz.~d one the Lord is with you!14 For indeed, having stated that he is Christ, soon thereafter it made known the human birth from the virgin in saying, Hear, O daughter.l5 Take note that Gabriel calls Mary by name, since he is dissimilar to her in terms of origination, but David the Psalmist properly addresses her as daughter, because she happened to be from his seed.	καὶ αὐτὸς ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτὴν ὁ ̔́Υψιστος. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ εἰπεῖν· Καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος· πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ, ἐκ Παρθένου, γινώσκων οὐκ ἐσιώπησεν, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἔμφασίν τινα δίδωσιν ἐν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ τετάρτῳ ψαλμῷ, λέγων· ̓́Ακουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε, καὶ κλῖνον τὸ οὖς σου, καὶ ἐπιλάθου τοῦ λαοῦ σου καὶ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου, ὅτι ἐπεθύμησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους σου. Τοῦτο γὰρ πάλιν ὅμοιόν ἐστι τοῦ λεγομένου παρὰ τοῦ Γαβριήλ· Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ εἰρηκὼς αὐτὸν Χριστὸν, εὐθὺς καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην γένεσιν ἐκ τῆς Παρθένου ἐδήλωσε, λέγων· ̓́Ακουσον, θύγατερ. ̓Ιδὲ ὁ μὲν Γαβριὴλ ἐξ ὀνόματος καλεῖ Μαρίαν, ξένος ὢν αὐτῆς κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν· ὁ δὲ Δαβὶδ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὑτοῦ τυγχάνουσαν αὐτὴν εἰκότως θυγατέρα προσφωνεῖ ταύτην.
7. And having declared that he would become man, afterwards the Psalter also points to his passibility in the flesh. Perceiving, then, that there would be a plot on the part of the Jews, it sings in Psalm 2, Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together against the Lord and against his Anointed. In the twenty-first it tells the manner of the death from the Savior’s own lips: ... you bave brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have surrounded me; the assembly of the wicked has attacked me on all sides. They pierced my hands andfeet. They counted all my bones. They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots upon my raiment. When it speaks of the piercing of the hands and feet, what else than a cross does it signify? After teaching all these things, it adds that the Lord suffers these things not for his own sake, but for ours. And it says again through his own lips in Psalm 87, Your wrath has pressed heavily upon me, and in Psalm 68, Then I restored that which I did not take away.	̓́Ανθρωπον δὲ αὐτὸν εἰρηκυῖα γενησόμενον, ἀκολούθως καὶ παθητὸν αὐτὸν σαρκὶ σημαίνει. Τήν τε ἐπιβουλὴν παρὰ τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων ὁρῶσα γινομένην, ψάλλει ἐν μὲν τῷ δευτέρῳ ψαλμῷ· ̔́Ινα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά; Παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ· ἐν δὲ τῷ εἰκοστῷ καὶ πρώτῳ τὴν ποιότητα τοῦ θανάτου ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Σωτῆρός φησιν· Εἰς χοῦν θανάτου κατήγαγές με· ὅτι ἐκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοὶ, συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων περιέσχον με. ̓́Ωρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας μου, ἐξηρίθμησαν πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Αὐτοὶ δὲ κατενόησαν, καὶ ἐπεῖδόν με· διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον. Τὸ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας ὀρύττεσθαι, τί ἕτερον ἢ σταυρὸν λέγων σημαίνει; Πάντα ταῦτα διδάσκουσα προστίθησιν, ὅτι μὴ δι' ἑαυτὸν, δι' ἡμᾶς δὲ ταῦτα πάσχει ὁ Κύριος. Καί φησιν ἐκ προσώπου πάλιν αὐτοῦ ἐν μὲν τῷ πζ#· ̓Επ' ἐμὲ ἐπεστηρίχθη ὁ θυμός σου· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑξηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ· ̔̀Α οὐχ ἥρπασα, τότε ἀπετίννυον.
For although he was not himself obliged to give account for any crime, he died--but he suffered on our behalf, and he took on himself the wrath directed against us on account of the transgression, as it says in Isaiah, He took on our weaknesses. 16 This is evident also when we say in Psalm 137, The Lord will recompense them on my behalf 17 and the Spirit says in the seventy-first, and he will save the children of the needy, and shall bring low the false accuser . . . for he has delivered the poorfrom the oppressor; and the laborer, who had no helper.	Οὐ γὰρ 27.17 ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ἀπέθνησκεν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἔπασχε, καὶ τὸν καθ' ἡμῶν θυμὸν διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐβάσταζε, λέγοντα διὰ τοῦ ̔Ησαί̈ου· Αὐτὸς τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβε· καὶ λεγόντων μὲν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ τριακοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ· Κύριος ἀνταποδώσει ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ· λέγοντος δὲ καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν ἑβδομηκοστῷ πρώτῳ· Καὶ σώσει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν πενήτων, καὶ ταπεινώσει συκοφάντην, ὅτι ἐῤῥύσατο, πτωχὸν ἐκ χειρὸς δυνάστου, καὶ πένητα, ᾧ οὐχ ὑπῆρχε βοηθός.
8. On this account it foretells his bodily ascension into heaven, and says in Psalm 23, Lift up yourgates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. And in the forty-sixth, God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with a sound of a trumpet. It announces the session at God’s right hand, and says in Psalm 109, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. And in the ninth psalm it shouts aloud the destruction of the devil that took place: You sat on the throne, as one judging righteousnesg You have rebuked the nations, and the ungodly one has perished. It did not even conceal the fact that he received all the authority of judgment from the Father, but also announces that he is coming as judge of all in Psalm 71: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son, that he may judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment. And in the forty-ninth it says: He shall summon the heaven above, and the earth, that he may judge his people.... And the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge. And in the eighty-first we read: God stands in the assembly of the gods; and in the midst of them he will judgegods.	Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς σωματικὴν αὐτοῦ ἄνοδον προμηνύει, καὶ λέγει ἐν μὲν εἰκοστῷ καὶ τρίτῳ· ̓́Αρατε πύλας, οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης· ἐν δὲ τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ· ̓Ανέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, Κύριος ἐν φωνῇ σάλπιγγος. Τὴν μὲν κάθισιν ἀναγγέλλει, καί φησιν ἐν μὲν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ ἐννάτῳ· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐννάτῳ καὶ τὴν γενομένην ἀπώλειαν τοῦ διαβόλου βοᾷ· ̓Εκάθισας ἐπὶ θρόνου, ὁ κρίνων δικαιοσύνην· ἐπετίμησας ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβής. Καὶ γὰρ ὅτι τὴν κρίσιν πᾶσαν ἔλαβε παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὐκ ἔκρυψεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κριτὴν πάντων αὐτὸν ἐρχόμενον προμηνύει ἐν μὲν οα#· ̔Ο Θεὸς, τὸ κρῖμά σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δὸς, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ βασιλέως, κρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς σου ἐν κρίσει· ἐν δὲ τῷ μθ# φησί· Προσκαλέσεται τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω καὶ τὴν γῆν, τοῦ διακρῖναι τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ. Καὶ ἀναγγελοῦσιν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς κριτής ἐστι· καὶ ἐν τῷ πα#· ̔Ο Θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν· ἐν μέσῳ δὲ θεοὺς διακρινεῖ.
Also one may learn from it about the calling of nations--in many psalms, but best in Psalm 46: Clap your hands, all nations; shout to God with a voice of exultation. Likewise in the seventy-first: The Ethiopians shall fall down before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tharsis, and the isles, shall bring presents. The kings of the Arabians and Sheba shall offer giftg And all kings of the earth shall worship him; all the gentiles shall serve him. These things are sung in the Psalms, and they are foretold in each of the other books of Scripture.	Καὶ μὴν καὶ τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔστιν ἀπ' αὐτῆς μαθεῖν ἐπὶ πολλῶν μὲν, μάλιστα δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μϛ#· Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, κροτήσατε χεῖρας, ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Θεῷ ἐν φωνῇ ἀγαλλιάσεως· ἐν δὲ τῷ οα#· ̓Ενώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται Αἰθίοπες, καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ χοῦν λείξουσι· βασιλεῖς Θαρσεῖς καὶ αἱ νῆσοι δῶρα προσοίσουσι· βασιλεῖς ̓Αράβων καὶ Σαβὰ δῶρα προσάξουσι· καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ. Ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς ᾄδεται, ἐν δὲ ἑκάστῃ τῶν ἄλλων βίβλων προαπαγγέλλεται.
9. And not being ignorant, the old man then would say: In each book of Scripture the same things are specially declared. This report exists in all of them, and the same agreement of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, just as it is possible to discover in this book things in the others, so also things in this book are frequently found in the others. For Moses writes a hymn, and Isaiah is hymning, and Habakkuk prays with a hymn.l8 Furthermore, in each book one is able to find prophecies and legislations and narratives. For the same Spirit is over all, and in each case in accordance with the distinction that belongs to it, each serves and fulfills the grace given to it, whether it is prophecy, or legislatlon, or the record of history, or the grace of the psalms. Since it is one and the same Spirit,l9 from whom are all distinctions, and it is indivisible by nature--because of this surely the whole is in each, and as determined by service the revelations and the distinctions of the Spirit pertain to all and to each severally. Furthermore, according to the reserved need, each frequently, when the Spirit takes over, serves the Word.	Οὐκ ἀγνοῶν δὲ πάλιν ἔλεγεν, ὅτι καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῃ βίβλῳ τῆς Γραφῆς τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐξαιρέτως σημαίνεται· καὶ ἔστι τοῦτο πάσαις αὐταῖς ἀπάγγελμα, καὶ συμφωνία ἡ αὐτὴ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν ταύτῃ δυνατὸν εὑρεῖν· οὕτως καὶ τὰ ταύτης ἐν ταῖς ἑτέραις πολλάκις εὑρίσκεται. Καὶ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς ᾠδὴν γράφει, καὶ ̔Ησαί̈ας ᾄδει, καὶ ὁ ̓Αμβακοὺμ προσεύχεται μετ' ᾠδῆς. Πάλιν τε ἐν ἑκάστῃ βίβλῳ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ προφητείας καὶ νομοθεσίας καὶ ἱστορίας. Τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα ἐπὶ πάντας ἐστί· καὶ κατὰ μὲν τὴν εἰς ἕκαστον γενομένην αὐτοῦ διαίρεσιν ἕκαστος τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ 27.20 χάριν διακονεῖ καὶ πληροῖ, εἴτε προφητεία ἐστὶν, εἴτε νομοθεσία, εἴτε τῆς ἱστορίας ἡ μνήμη, εἴτε τῶν ψαλμῶν ἡ χάρις· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν, οὗπερ καὶ πᾶσαι διαιρέσεις εἰσὶν, αὐτὸ δὲ ἀδιαίρετόν ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν· διά τοι τοῦτο τὸ ὅλον μέν ἐστιν ἑκάστῳ, κατὰ δὲ τὴν διακονίαν αἱ φανερώσεις καὶ αἱ διαιρέσεις τοῦ Πνεύματος ἑκάστοις γίνονται· καὶ λοιπὸν κατὰ τὴν ἀποκειμένην χρείαν πολλάκις ἕκαστος, ὑποσχοῦντος τοῦ Πνεύματος, διακονεῖ τὸν λόγον·
Therefore, as I said previously, when Moses is legislating, sometimes he prophesies and sometimes sings, and the Prophets when they are prophesying sometimes issue commands, like Wash yourselves, be clean. Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem,20 and sometimes recount history, as Daniel does the events surrounding Susanna2l and Isaiah does referring to Rabshakeh and Sennacherib.22	ὥστε, καθὰ προεῖπον, νομοθετοῦντα Μωϋσῆν προφητεύειν ποτὲ καὶ ᾄδειν, καὶ προφητεύοντας τοὺς προφήτας ἐντέλλεσθαί ποτε· Λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γίνεσθε. ̓Απόπλυνε ἀπὸ κακίας τὴν καρδίαν σου, ̔Ιερουσαλήμ· καὶ ἱστορεῖν ποτε, τὸν μὲν Δανιὴλ τὰ κατὰ Σουσάνναν, τὸν δὲ ̔Ησαί̈αν τὰ κατὰ τὸν ̔Ραψάκην καὶ τὸν Σενναχηρείμ.


In this way the Book of Psalms, possessing the characteristlc feature of the songs, itself chants those things in modulated voice that have been said in the other books in the form of detailed narrative, as already mentioned. And sometimes at least, it also legislates: Cease from anger, and forsake wrath,23 and Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace, and pursue it24 And it narrates at times about the journeying of Israel, and prophesies concerning the Savior, as was said previously.	Οὕτως γὰρ καὶ ἡ τῶν Ψαλμῶν βίβλος, ἔχουσα τὸ ἴδιον τῶν ᾠδῶν, ὅπερ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις βίβλοις διεξοδικῶς εἴρηται, ταῦτα αὐτὴ τῇ κατὰ πλάτος φωνῇ μετὰ μέλους ψάλλει, καθὼς προείρηται. Νομοθετεῖ γοῦν ποτε καὶ αὐτή· Παῦσαι ἀπὸ ὀργῆς, καὶ ἐγκατάλιπε θυμόν· καὶ, ̓́Εκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν· ζήτησον εἰρήνην, καὶ δίωξον αὐτήν. Καὶ ἱστορεῖ δέ ποτε κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ̓Ισραὴλ, καὶ προφητεύει περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
10. Let there be such a common grace of the Spirit in all, and let it be found existing in each one, the same grace among all, whenever the need demands and the Spirit desires. The more and the less in this need do not differ, as each unstintingly accomplishes and completes its own service.	Κοινὴ μὲν οὖν τοιαύτη τοῦ Πνεύματος χάρις ἔστω παρὰ πᾶσι, καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῳ γινομένη εὑρισκέσθω, καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἡ αὐτὴ, ὡς ἐὰν ἡ χρεία ἀπαιτῇ, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα βούληται. Οὐ διαφέρει γὰρ τὸ πλέον καὶ ἔλαττον ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ χρείᾳ, ὡς ἕκαστος ἀνενδότως τὴν ἰδίαν ἀποπληροῖ καὶ τελειοῖ διακονίαν.
But even so, the Book of Psalms thus has a certain grace of its own, and a distinctive exactitude of expression. For in addition to the other things in which it enjoys an affinity and fellowship with the other books, it possesses, beyond that, this marvel of its own--namely, that it contains even the emotions of each soul, and it has the changes and rectifications of these delineated and regulated in itself. Therefore anyone who wishes boundlessly to receive and understand from it, so as to mold himself, it is written there.	̔Η δέ γε βίβλος τῶν Ψαλμῶν καὶ οὕτως ἔχει τινὰ πάλιν χάριν ἰδίαν καὶ παρατήρησιν ἐξαίρετον· πρὸς γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἐν οἷς πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας βίβλους ἔχει τὴν σχέσιν καὶ κοινωνίαν, λοιπὸν καὶ ἴδιον ἔχει τοῦτο θαῦμα, ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἑκάστης ψυχῆς κινήματα, τάς τε τούτων μεταβολὰς καὶ διορθώσεις ἔχει διαγεγραμμένας καὶ διατετυπωμένας ἐν ἑαυτῇ· ὥστε τινὰ τὸν βουλόμενον ὡς ἄπειρον ἐξ αὐτῆς λαμβάνειν καὶ κατανοεῖν, οὕτω τὸ τυποῦν ἑαυτὸν, ἐκεῖ γέγραπται.
For in the other books one hears only what one must do and what one must not do. And one listens to the Prophets so as solely to have knowledge of the coming of the Savior. One turns his attention to the histories, on the basis of which he can know the deeds of the kings and saints.	̓Εν μὲν γὰρ ταῖς ἄλλαις βίβλοις μόνον τις ἀκούει τὸν νόμον προστάττοντα, ἃ ̔μὴ̓ δεῖ ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ δεῖ πράττειν· προφητείας τε κατακούει, ὥστε μόνον εἰδέναι τὸν ἐρχόμενον Σωτῆρα· καὶ ἱστορίαις δὲ προσέχει, ἐξ ὧν γινώσκειν δύναται τὰς τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τὰς τῶν ἁγίων πράξεις.
But in the Book of Psalms, the one who hears, in addition to learning these things, also comprehends and is taught in it the emotions of the soul, and, consequently, on the basis of that which affects him and by which he is constrained, he also is enabled by this book to possess the image deriving from the words. Therefore, through hearing, it teaches not only not to disregard passion, but also how one must heal passion through speaking and acting.	̓Εν δὲ τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ψαλμῶν, πρὸς τῷ ταῦτα μανθάνειν τὸν ἀκούοντα, ἔτι καὶ τὰ κινήματα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἐν αὐτῇ κατανοεῖ καὶ διδάσκεται· καὶ λοιπὸν πρὸς ὃ πάσχει καὶ ἐν ᾧ συνέχεται, δύναται πάλιν ἐκ ταύτης ἔχεσθαι τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν λόγων· ὥστε μὴ μόνον ἀκούσαντα παρέρχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πῶς δεῖ λέγοντα καὶ ποιοῦντα θεραπεύειν τὸ πάθος, διδάσκει,
Now there certainly are in the other books preventive words that forbid wickedness, but in this book is also prescribed how one must abstain. Of such a sort is the commandment to repent--for to repent is to cease from sin. Herein is prescribed also how to repent and what one must say in the circumstances of repentance. Furthermore, the Apostle said, Suffering produces endurance in the soul, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.(Rom 5:3,5) In the Psalms it is written and inscribed how one must bear sufferings, what one must say to one suffering afflictions, what to say after affflictions, how each person is tested, and what the words of those who hope in God are.	Εἰσὶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις βίβλοις κωλυτικοὶ λόγοι ἀπαγορεύοντες τὰ φαῦλα·ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ πῶς ἀπέχεσθαι δεῖ τετύπωται· οἷον [27.21] παράγγελμά ἐστι τὸ μετανοεῖν· τὸ δὲ μετανοεῖν παύεσθαι τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐστίν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ πῶς μετανοεῖν, καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν ἐπὶ τῇ μετανοίᾳ, τετύπωτος. Καὶ πάλιν εἴρηκεν ὁ Παῦλος· ̔Η θλίψις τῇ ψυχῇ ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμὴν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα, ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει. ̓Εν δὲ τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς καὶ πῶς δεῖ φέρειν τὰς θλίψεις, καὶ τί θλιβόμενον δεῖ λέγειν, καὶ τί μετὰ τὰς θλίψεις, καὶ πῶς ἕκαστος δοκιμάζεται, καὶ τίνες οἱ λόγοι τῶν ἐλπιζόντων ἐπὶ Κύριον, γέγραπται καὶ κεχάρακται.
Furthermore, there is a command to give thanks in all circumstances, (cf 1Th 5:18) but the Psalms also teach what one must say when giving thanks. Then hearing from others that as many as wish to live a godly life will be persecuted, (cf 2Tim 3:12) from these we are taught how one must call out while fleeing, and what words must be offered to God while being persecuted and after being delivered subsequent to persecution. We are asked to bless the Lord, and to acknowledge him. But in the Psalms we are instructed how one must praise the Lord and by speaking what words we properly confess our faith in him. And in the case of each person one would find the divine hymns appointed for us and our emotions and equanimity.	Πάλιν τε ἐντολή ἐστιν ἐν παντὶ εὐχαριστεῖν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν εὐχαριστοῦντας διδάσκουσιν οἱ Ψαλμοί. Εἶτα παρ' ἑτέρων ἀκούοντες· ̔́Οσοι θέλουσιν εὐσεβῶς ζῇν διωχθήσονται, παρὰ τούτων διδασκόμεθα, καὶ πῶς δεῖ φεύγοντας φωνεῖν, καὶ τίνας διωκομένους καὶ μετὰ τὸν διωγμὸν ῥυσθέντας δεῖ λόγους ἀναφέρειν τῷ Θεῷ. Εὐλογεῖν παραγγελλόμεθα τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι αὐτῷ· ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς τυπούμεθα πῶς τε αἰνεῖν δεῖ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ τίνα ῥήματα λέγοντες ἐξομολογούμεθα πρεπόντως. Καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστου δέ τις οὕτως ἂν εὕροι τὰς θείας ᾠδὰς, πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡμῶν κινήσεις καὶ καταστάσεις κειμένας.
11. There is also this astonishing thing in the Psalms. In the other books, those who read what the holy ones say, and what they might say concerning certain people, are relating the things that were written about those earlier people. And likewise, those who listen consider themselves to be other than those about whom the passage speaks, so that they only come to the imitation of the deeds that are told to the extent that they marvel at them and desire to emulate them.	Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο παράδοξόν ἐστι πάλιν ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς, ὅτι ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἄλλαις βίβλοις ἃ λέγουσιν οἱ ἅγιοι, καὶ περὶ ὧν ἂν λέγωσι, ταῦτα καὶ οἱ ἀναγινώσκοντες, περὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνα γέγραπται, ἀπαγγέλλοντές εἰσιν· οἵ τε ἀκούοντες ἄλλους ἑαυτοὺς ἐκείνων ἡγοῦνται, περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος φησὶ, καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελλομένας δὲ πράξεις, ἄχρι τοῦ θαυμάζειν καὶ ζηλοῦν αὐτὰς, εἰς τὸ μιμεῖσθαι γίνονται.
By contrast, however, he who takes up this book- the Psalter - goes through the prophecies about the Savior, as is customary in the other Scriptures, with admiration and adoration, but the other psalms he recognizes as being his own words. And the one who hears is deeply moved, as though he himself were speaking, and is affected by the words of the songs, as if they were his own songs. And for the sake of clarity of expression, do not hesitate, as the blessed Apostle says, to repeat the very things they say.(?Phil 3:1; Rom 12:11)	Ταύτην δὲ βίβλον ὁ λαμβάνων τὰς μὲν περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος προφητείας συνήθως ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις Γραφαῖς θαυμάζων καὶ προσκυνῶν διεξέρχεται, τοὺς δὲ ἑτέρους ψαλμοὺς ὡς ἰδίους ὄντας λόγους ἀναγινώσκει· καὶ ὁ ἀκούων δὲ ὡς αὐτὸς λέγων κατανύσσεται, καὶ συνδιατίθεται τοῖς τῶν ᾠδῶν ῥήμασιν, ὡς ἰδίαν ὄντων αὐτοῦ. Σαφηνείας δὲ χάριν οὐκ ὀκνητέον, κατὰ τὸν μακάριον ̓Απόστολον, ἐπαναλαβόντα τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν.
Most words belong to the patriarchs, and were spoken as their own. And Moses used to speak and God answered, and both Elijah and Elisha, situated on Mount Carmel, would call on the Lord, and they would say: As the Lord lives, before whom I stand today. (1Ki 17:1; 2 Ki 3:4) And the principal words of the holy Prophets are those concerning the Savior. There after a great number have to do with both the gentiles and Israel.	Πλεῖστοι λόγοι τῶν πατριαρχῶν εἰσι, καὶ ἴδιοι παρ' αὐτῶν εἰρημένοι· καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἐλάλει, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἀπεκρίνατο· ̔Ηλίας τε καὶ ̔Ελισσαῖος ἐπὶ τὸ Καρμήλιον ὄρος καθήμενοι ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἀεὶ ἔλεγον· Ζῇ Κύριος, ᾧ παρέστην ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ σήμερον. Οἵ τε τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων προφητῶν λόγοι προηγούμενοι μέν εἰσιν οἱ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ πλεῖστοι γεγόνασι τοῖς τε ἔθνεσι καὶ τῷ ̓Ισραήλ.
Nevertheless no one would ever utter the words of the patriarchs as his own, nor would anyone dare to imitate and to say Moses’ own words; those of Abraham about his slave and Ishmael, and the things concerning the great Isaac no one, even if the same need might perforce seize him, would boldly utter as his own. And if anyone should sympathize with those who suffer, and at some time should hold a desire for something better, he would never speak as Moses: Reveal yourself to me!33 and again, If you willforgive their sin, forgzve it; and if you will not forgive, blot me out of your book whlch you have written.3	Καὶ ὅμως οὐδεὶς οὔτε τῶν πατριαρχῶν λόγους ὡς ἰδίους ἄν ποτε εἴποι, οὔτε τολμήσοι τις μιμήσασθαι καὶ εἰπεῖν τὰ Μωϋσέως ἴδια ῥήματα, οὐδὲ τοῦ ̓Αβραὰμ περὶ τοῦ οἰκογενοῦς καὶ τοῦ ̓Ισμαὴλ καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ μεγάλου ̓Ισαὰκ, κἂν ἡ αὐτὴ χρεία τινὰ καὶ ἀνάγκη καταλάβῃ, τολμήσας ἄν τις ὡς ἴδια εἴποι. ̓̀Αν δὲ καὶ συμπάσχῃ τις τοῖς πάσχουσι, καὶ πόθον ποτὲ λάβῃ τοῦ κρείττονος, οὔποτ' ἂν εἴποι ὡς 27.24 Μωϋσῆς· ̓Εμφάνισόν μοι σεαυτόν· ἢ πάλιν· Εἰ μὲν ἀφῇς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἄφες· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀφῇς, ἐξάλειψόν με ἐκ τῆς βίβλου σου, ἧς ἔγραψας.
But neither would anyone, taking the books of the Prophets as his own words, blame or praise those doing things similar to these, whom the prophets blamed and praised. Nor would anyone imitate by uttering as if his own the saying, As the Lord lives, before whom I stand today. Indeed, it is clear that one who reads the books utters them not as his own words, but as the words of the saints and those who are signified by them.	̓Αλλ' οὐδὲ, τὰς τῶν προφητῶν τις λαμβάνων ὡς ἴδια ῥήματα, μέμψαιτό τις ἢ ἐπαινέσειε τούτοις τὰ ὅμοια πράξαντας, οἷς ἐμέμψαντο καὶ ἐπῄνεσαν ἐκεῖνοι· οὐδὲ τὸ, Ζῇ Κύριος, ᾧ παρέστην ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ σήμερον, μιμήσηται ἄν τις εἰπεῖν ὡς ἴδιον λόγον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ ἐντυγχάνων ταῖς βίβλοις φανερός ἐστι μὴ ὡς ἰδίους, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τῶν δι' αὐτῶν δηλουμένων λέγων τοὺς λόγους.
But contrariwise, remarkably, after the prophecies about the Savior and the nations, he who recites the Psalms is uttering the rest as his own words, and each sings them as if they were written concerning him, and he accepts them and recites them not as if another were speaking, nor as if speaking about someone else. But he handles them as if he is speaking about himself. And the things spoken are such that he lifts them up to God as himself acting and speaking them from himself.	Τοὺς δέ γε Ψαλμοὺς, τὸ παράδοξον, μετὰ τὰς περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν προφητείας ὁ λέγων τὰ ἄλλα ὡς ἴδια ῥήματα λαλῶν ἐστι, καὶ ὡς περὶ αὑτοῦ γραφέντας αὐτοὺς ἕκαστος ψάλλει, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἢ περὶ ἑτέρου σημαίνοντος δέχεται, καὶ διεξέρχεται· ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ λαλῶν διατίθεται· καὶ οἷά ἐστι τὰ λεγόμενα, ταῦτα ὡς αὐτὸς πράξας καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ λαλῶν ἀναφέρει τῷ Θεῷ.
For not as in the case of the sayings of the patriarchs and Moses and the other Prophets will he be cautious of these things, but he who chants these will be especially confident in speaking what is written as if his own and about him. For the Psalms encompass [both] the one who observes the commandment as well as the one who transgresses, and the action of each. And it is necessary for everyone to be constrained by these, and either as a keeper of the law or as its transgressor, to speak the words that have been written about each.	Οὐ γὰρ ὡς τὰ τῶν πατριαρχῶν ῥήματα, καὶ Μωϋσέως, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων προφητῶν, εὐλαβηθήσεται καὶ ταῦτα· ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλιστα ὡς ἴδια καὶ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ γραφέντα θαρσεῖ λέγων ὁ ψάλλων ταῦτα. Τὸν γὰρ φυλάξαντα τὴν ἐντολὴν, καὶ παραβάντα ταύτην, τήν τε ἑκατέρου πρᾶξιν περιέχουσιν οἱ Ψαλμοί. ̓Ανάγκη δὲ πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐν τούτοις συνέχεσθαι, καὶ ἢ ὡς φυλάξαντα τὴν ἐντολὴν, ἢ ὡς παραβάντα ταύτην, λέγειν τοὺς περὶ ἑκάστου γεγραμμένους λόγους.
12. And it seems to me that these words become like a mirror to the person singing them, so that he might perceive himself and the emotions of his soul, and thus affected, he might recite them. For in fact he who hears the one reading receives the song that is recited as being about him, and either, when he is convicted by his conscience,35 being pierced, he will repent, or hearing of the hope that resides in God, and of the succor available to believers--how this kind of grace exists for him--he exults and begins to give thanks to God. Therefore, when someone sings the third psalm, recognizing his own tribulations, he considers the words in the psalm to be his own. And then when someone sings the eleventh and sixteenth he considers how he is one making announcement in reference to his own confidence and prayer, and in the fiftieth, how it is speaking the proper words of his own repentance.	Καί μοι δοκεῖ τῷ ψάλλοντι γίνεσθαι τούτους ὥσπερ εἴσοπτρον, εἰς τὸ κατανοεῖν καὶ αὐτὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς κινήματα, καὶ οὕτως αἰσθόμενον ἀπαγγέλλειν αὐτούς. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ ἀκούων τοῦ ἀναγινώσκοντος ὡς περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγομένην τὴν ᾠδὴν καταδέχεται· καὶ ἢ ἐλεγχόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος κατανυγεὶς μετανοήσει, ἢ περὶ τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἐλπίδος ἀκούων καὶ τῆς εἰς τοὺς πιστεύοντας γινομένης ἀντιλήψεως, ὡς εἰς αὐτὸν γενομένης τοιαύτης χάριτος ἀγαλλιᾶται, καὶ εὐχαριστεῖν ἄρχεται τῷ Θεῷ. ̔́Οτε γοῦν τὸν τρίτον ψάλλει τις εἰς τὰς ἰδίας θλίψεις συνορῶν, ὡς αὑτοῦ εἶναι νομίζει τὰ ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ ῥήματα· καὶ τότε τὸν ια# καὶ τὸν ιϛ# ὡς εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πεποίθησιν καὶ προσευχήν ἐστιν ἀπαγγέλλων· καὶ τὸν μὲν ν# ψαλμὸν ὡς αὐτός ἐστι τὰ ἴδια τῆς μετανοίας ἑαυτοῦ λέγων ῥήματα·
When someone sings the fifty-third, the fifty-fifth, the fifty-sixth, and the one hundred and forty-first, he considers not how someone else is persecuted, but how he, being the one who suffers, is affected. And these words, as his own, he chants to the Lord. And so, on the whole, each psalm is both spoken and composed by the Spirit so that in these same words, as was said earlier, the stirrings of our souls might be grasped, and all of them be said as concerning us, and the same issue from us as our own words, for a remembrance of the emotions in us, and a chastening of our life. For what those who chant have said, these things also can be examples and standards for us.	τὸν δὲ νγ#, καὶ τὸν νε#, καὶ τὸν νϛ#, καὶ τὸν ρμα#, ὅτε ψάλλει τις, οὐχ ὡς ἄλλου διωκομένου, ἀλλ' ὡς ὢν ὁ πάσχων συνδιατίθεται, καὶ ᾄδει τῷ Κυρίῳ ὡς ἰδίους τοὺς λόγους τούτους. Καὶ ὅλως οὕτως ἕκαστος ψαλμὸς παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος εἴρηταί τε καὶ συντέτακται, ὡς ἐν αὐτοῖς, καθὰ πρότερον εἴρηται, τὰ κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν κατανοεῖσθαι, καὶ πάντας αὐτοὺς ὡς περὶ ἡμῶν εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ εἶναι ἡμῶν αὐτοὺς ὡς ἰδίους λόγους, εἰς ἀνάμνησιν τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν κινημάτων καὶ διόρθωσιν τῆς ἡμῶν πολιτείας. ̔̀Α γὰρ οἱ ψάλλοντες εἰρήκασι, ταῦτα καὶ ἡμῶν δύνανται τύποι καὶ χαρακτῆρες εἶναι.
Again, the same grace is from the Savior, for when he became man for us he offered his own body in dying for our sake, in order that he might set all free from death. And desiring to show us his own heavenly and well-pleasing life, he provided its type in himself, to the end that some might no more easily be deceived by the enemy, having a pledge for protection--namely, the victory he won over the devil for our sake.	Αὕτη δὲ πάλιν τοῦ Σωτῆρός ἐστιν ἡ χάρις· ἄνθρωπος γὰρ δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος, τὸ μὲν σῶμα τὸ ἴδιον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσήνεγκεν εἰς θάνατον, ἵνα πάντας ἀπαλλάξῃ τοῦ θανάτου· τὴν δὲ οὐράνιον καὶ 27.25 εὐάρεστον ἑαυτοῦ πολιτείαν δεῖξαι θέλων ἡμῖν, ἐν ἑαυτῷ ταύτην ἐτύπωσεν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηκέτι τινὰς εὐχερῶς ἀπατᾶσθαι παρὰ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ἔχοντας ἐνέχυρον πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν, τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ γενομένην ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου νίκην.
For this reason, indeed, he not only taught, but also accomplished what he taught, so that everyone might hear when he spoke, and seeing as in an image, receive from him the model for acting, hearing him say, Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. (Mt 11:29) A more perfect instruction in virtue one could not find than that which the Lord typified in himself. For whether the issue is forbearance of evil, or love for mankind, or goodness, or courage, or compassion, or pursuit of justice, one will discover all present in him, so that nothing is lacking for virtue to one who considers closely this human life of his. Cognizant of this, Paul said, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1Cor 11:1)	Διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν οὐ μόνον ἐδίδαξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πεποίηκεν ἃ ἐδίδαξεν, ἵνα ἕκαστος ἀκούῃ μὲν αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος, ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι δὲ βλέπων λαμβάνῃ παρ' αὐτοῦ τὸ παράδειγμα τοῦ ποιεῖν, ἀκούων· Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραύ̈ς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Τελειοτέραν δὲ καὶ εἰς ἀρετὴν διδασκαλίαν οὐκ ἄν τις εὕροι, ἧς ὁ Κύριος ἐτύπωσεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Εἴτε γὰρ ἀνεξικακίαν, εἴτε φιλανθρωπίαν, εἴτε ἀγαθότητα, εἴτε ἀνδρίαν, εἴτε ἐλεημοσύνην, εἴτε δικαιοσύνην, πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ τις εὑρήσει γενόμενα, ὥστε μηδὲν εἰς ἀρετὴν λείπειν τῷ κατανοοῦντι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον τοῦτον. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος εἰδὼς ἔλεγε· Μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ.
Those legislators among the Greeks possess the grace as far as speaking goes, but the Lord, being true Lord of all and one concerned for all, performed righteous acts, and not only made laws but offered himself as a model for those who wish to know the power of acting. It was indeed for this reason that he made this resound in the Psalms before his sojourn in our midst, so that just as he provided the model of the earthly and heavenly man in his own person, so also from the Psalms he who wants to do so can learn the emotions and dispositions of the souls, finding in them also the therapy and correction suited for each emotion.	Οἱ μὲν παρ' ̔́Ελλησι νομοθέται ἄχρι τοῦ λέγειν ἔχουσι τὴν χάριν· ὁ δὲ Κύριος, ὡς ἀληθῶς Κύριος ὢν τοῦ παντὸς, καὶ κηδόμενος ὧν εἰργάσατο, οὐ μόνον νομοθετεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τύπον ἑαυτὸν δέδωκεν, εἰς τὸ εἰδέναι τοὺς βουλομένους τὴν τοῦ ποιεῖν δύναμιν. Διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ πρὸ τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ ἐπιδημίας ἐνήχησε καὶ ἐν τοῖς ψάλλουσι τοῦτο, ἵν' ὥσπερ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν ἐπίγειον καὶ οὐράνιον ἄνθρωπον τυπῶν ἔδειξεν, οὕτω καὶ ἐκ τῶν Ψαλμῶν τὰ κινήματα καὶ τὰς διαθέσεις τῶν ψυχῶν ὁ βουλόμενος καταμαθεῖν δύνηται, εὑρίσκων ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν ἑκάστου κινήματος θεραπείαν τε καὶ διόρθωσιν.
14. If the point needs to be put more forcefully, let us say that the entire Holy Scripture is a teacher of virtues and of the truths of faith, while the Book of Psalms posotsses somehow the perfect image for the souls’ course of life. for as one who comes into the presence of a king assumes a certain attitude, both of posture and expression, lest speaking differently he be thrown out as boorish, so also to the one who is running the race of virtue and wishes to know the life of the Savior in the body the sacred book first calls to mind the emotions of the soul through the reading, and in this way represents the other things in successionl and teaches the readers by those words.	Εἰ γὰρ δεῖ καὶ πιθανώτερον εἰπεῖν, πᾶσα μὲν ἡ θεία Γραφὴ διδάσκαλός ἐστιν ἀρετῆς καὶ πίστεως ἀληθοῦς· ἡ δέ γε βίβλος τῶν Ψαλμῶν ἔχει καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα πως τῆς διαγωγῆς τῶν ψυχῶν. ̔Ως γὰρ ὁ εἰσερχόμενος πρὸς βασιλέα τυποῦται καὶ τῷ σχήματι καὶ τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἵνα μὴ, παρὰ ταῦτα λέγων, ὡς ἀπαίδευτος ἐκβληθῇ· οὕτως ἡ θεία βίβλος τὸν ἐπ' ἀρετῇ τρέχοντα καὶ βουλόμενον κατανοῆσαι τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐν σώματι πολιτείαν ὑπομιμνήσκει πρῶτον διὰ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως τὰ κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ οὕτω λοιπὸν τυποῖ καὶ διδάσκει τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τοῖς τοιούτοις λόγοις.
In order that in that book one may observe closely this first of all, there are psalms that are said in narration, and those consisting of moral admonition, and those in prophecy, and those in prayer and those in confession.	Εἰσὶ μὲν οὖν, ἵνα τοῦτο πρῶτόν τις τῆς βίβλου παρατηρήσηται, οἱ μὲν ἐν διηγήματι λεγόμενοι, οἱ δὲ ἐν παραινέσει, οἱ δὲ ἐν προφητείᾳ, οἱ δὲ ὡς ἐν εὐχῇ, οἱ δὲ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει.
Those cast in the form of narrative are Psalms 18, 43, 48, 49, 72, 76, 88, 89, 106, 113, 126, and 136. Those in the form of prayer are 16, 67, 89, 101, 131, & 141. Those spoken in petition and in prayer and in entreaty are 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 24, 27, 30, 34, 37, 42, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 63, 82, 85, 87, 137, 139, and 142. And that in the mode of appeal and thanksgiving is 138.	Καὶ εἰσὶ μὲν οἱ ἐν διηγήματι ιη#, μγ#, μη#, μθ#, οβ#, οϛ#, οζ#, πη#, ρϛ#, ριγ#, ρκϛ#, ρλϛ#. Οἱ δὲ ὡς ἐν εὐχῇ, ιϛ#, ξζ#, πθ#, ρα# ρλα#, ρμα#. Οἱ δὲ ὡς ἐν ἐντυχίᾳ καὶ εὐχῇ καὶ δεήσει ε#, ϛ#, ζ#, ια#, ιβ#, ιε#, κδ#, κζ#, λ#, λδ#, λζ#, μβ#, νγ#, νδ#, νε#, νϛ#, νη#, νθ#, ξ#, ξγ#, πβ#, πε#, πζ#, ρλζ#, ρλθ#, ρμβ#. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὡς ἐν ἐντυχίᾳ καὶ εὐχαριστίᾳ ρλη#.
Those that feature petition only are 3, 25, 68, 69, 70, 73, 78, 79, 108, 122, 129, and 130. Psalms 9, 74, 91, 104, 105, 106, 107, 110, 117, 135, and 137 have the form of confession. Those having confession and narrative interwoven are 9, 74, 105, 106, 117, and 137.	Οἱ δὲ ὡς ἐν ἐντυχίᾳ μόνῃ γ#, κε#, ξη#, ξθ#, ο#, ογ#, οη#, οθ#, ρη#, ρκβ#, ρκθ#, ρλ#. [27.28] Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐν ἐξομολογήσει θ#, οδ#, ϛα#, ρδ#, ρε#, ρϛ#, ρζ#, ρι#, ριζ#, ρλε#, ρλζ#. Οἱ δὲ συμπεπλεγμένην ἔχοντες ἐξομολόγησιν καὶ διήγησιν θ#, οδ#, ρε#, ρϛ#, ριζ#, ρλζ#.
A psalm that has confession interwoven with narrative, along with praise, is 110. And Psalm 36 features exhortation. Those containing prophecy are 20, 21, 44, 46, and 75. In 109 there is announcement along with prophecy.	̔Ο δὲ συμπεπλεγμένην ἔχων ἐξομολόγησιν καὶ διήγησιν μετὰ αἰνέσεως ρι#. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν παραινέσει ἐστὶ λϛ#. Οἱ δὲ ἐν προφητείᾳ κ#, κα#, μδ#, μϛ#, οε#. Καὶ ἀπαγγελτικὸς μὲν μετὰ προφητείας ρθ#.
The psalms that urge and prescribe are 28, 32, 80, 94, 95, 96, 97, 102, 103, and 113. Psalm 149 was spoken as exhortation combined with the singing of praise. Those describing a life adorned with virtue are 104, 111, 118, 124, 132.	Προτρεπτικοὶ δὲ καὶ ὡς παρακελευόμενοί εἰσι κη#, λβ#, π#, ϛδ#, ϛε#, ϛϛ#, ϛζ#, ρβ#, ργ#, ριγ#· Προτρεπτικὸς δὲ μετὰ ᾄσματος ἐλέχθη ρμθ#. Καὶ οἱ μὲν διαγράφοντες τὸν ἐνάρετον βίον εἰσὶ ρδ#, ρια#, ριη#, ρκδ#, ρλβ#.
Those expressing praise are 90, 112, 116, 134, 144, 145, 146, 148, and 150. Psalms 8, 9, 17, 33, 45, 62, 76, 84, 114, 115, 120, 121, 123, 125, 128, and 143 are songs of thanksgiving. Those announcing a promise of blessedness are 1, 31, 40, 118, and 127.	Οἱ δὲ αἶνον ἀπαγγέλλοντες οὗτοί εἰσιν ϛ#, ριβ#, ριϛ#, ρλδ#, ρμδ#, ρμε#, ρμϛ#, ρμη#, ρν# Καὶ οἱ μὲν εὐχαριστικοί εἰσιν η#, θ#, ιζ#, λγ#, με#, ξβ#, οϛ#, πδ#, ριδ#, ριε#, ρκ#, ρκα#, ρκγ#, ρκε#, ρκη#, ρμγ#. Οἱ δὲ μακαρισμὸν ἀναφωνοῦντές εἰσιν α#, λα#, μ#, ριη#, ρκζ#.
Another demonstrative of holy readiness in song is Psalm 107. Psalm 80 is one that exhorts to courage. Those that lay charges against the impious and law-breakers are 2, 13, 35, 51, and 52. And the fourth psalm has to do with invocation There are also those that announce supplications to God, like 19 and 63.	Καὶ ἄλλος ἐπιδεικτικὸς προθυμίας μετ' ᾠδῆς ρζ#. Καὶ ὁ μὲν προτρεπτικὸς εἰς ἀνδρίαν ἐστὶ π#. Οἱ δὲ κατηγορικοὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν καὶ παρανόμων εἰσὶ β#, ιγ#, λε#, να#, νβ#. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐπικλήσεώς ἐστι δ#. Οἱ δὲ ἐπευκτικὰ ἀπαγγέλλουσιν, ὡς ιθ# καὶ ξγ#
Those proclaiming words that boast in the Lord are 22, 26, 38, 39, 41, 61, 75, 83, 96, 98, and 151. Those that arouse a sense of shame are 57 and 81. And Psalms 47 and 64 voice the phrases of a hymn. Psalm 65 is one of exultation, and concerns resurrection. Another that speaks only exultant words is 99.	Καὶ οἱ μὲν καυχήσεως τῆς ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀπαγγέλλοντες λόγους εἰσὶ κβ# καὶ κϛ#, λη#, λθ#, μα#, ξα#, οε#, πγ#, ϛϛ#, ϛη#, ρνα#. Οἱ δὲ ἐντρεπτικοί εἰσι νζ#, πα#. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὕμνου ῥήματα λέγουσι μζ#, ξδ#. ̔Ο δὲ ἀλαλαγμοῦ καὶ περὶ ἀναστάσεως ξε#. Καὶ ἕτερος ἀλαλαγμοῦ μόνον ῥήματα λέγει ϛθ#.
15. Therefore, since the arrangement of the Psalms is of such a kind, it is then possible for the readers (as I said before) to discover in each one the stirrings and the equanimity of the soul appropriate to them, just as they can discover in relation to each the type and teaching.	Τοιαύτης οὖν τῆς διατάξεως οὔσης τῶν Ψαλμῶν, ἔστι λοιπὸν δυνατὸν τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας εὑρεῖν ἐν ἑκάστῳ, καθὰ προεῖπον, τὰ κινήματα καὶ τὴν κατάστασιν τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς, οὕτως τε περὶ ἑκάστου τὸν τύπον καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν·
And it can be learned, likewise, what one says to be able to gratify the Lord, and by what sort of expressions it is possible to make amends for himself and to return thanks to the Lord. All this is to prevent falling into impiety on the part of the one who speaks strictly according to such phrases. For not only because of deeds, but also because of idle speech, we are obliged to render an account to the Judge.	καὶ τίνα μὲν λέγων ἀρέσκειν δύναται τῷ Κυρίῳ, διὰ ποίων δὲ ῥημάτων ἑαυτὸν διορθοῦσθαι δύναται, καὶ εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἐκπίπτειν τὸν παρὰ τοιαῦτα λέγοντα. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον περὶ τῶν ἔργων, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ἀργοῦ ῥήματος ἀποδοῦναι λόγον ἔχομεν τῷ Κριτῇ.
And if you wish, moreover, to bless someone, you learn how you ought to do so, and in whose name, and what it is necessary to say, in Psalms 1, 31, 40, 111, 118, and 127. Should you wish to censure the treachery of the Jews against the Savior, you have the second psalm.	̓́Αν τε τοίνυν μακαρίσαι τινὰ θελήσῃς, ἔχεις πῶς δεῖ, καὶ ἐπὶ τίνι, καὶ τίνα δεῖ λέγειν, τόν τε α# καὶ τὸν λα#, καὶ μ#, καὶ ρια#, καὶ ριη#, καὶ ρκζ#· ἄν τε μέμψασθαι τὴν ̓Ιουδαίων κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιβουλὴν, ἔχεις τὴν δευτέραν ᾠδήν.
If you are being persecuted by your own people, and you have many who rise up against you, say the third psalm. And if, being afflicted in this manner, you begged the Lord for help, and having been heeded, you desire to give thanks, sing the fourth, as well as Psalms 74 and 114. And whenever, spying the evildoers who want to set a trap for you, you want the Lord to hearken to your prayer, sing the fifth, rising early in the morning.	̓̀Αν δὲ διώκῃ παρὰ τῶν ἰδίων, καὶ πολλοὺς ἔχῃς τοὺς ἐπαναστάντας κατὰ σοῦ, λέγε τὸν γ# ψαλμόν. Εἰ δὲ οὕτως θλιβόμενος ἐπεκαλέσω τὸν Κύριον, καὶ εἰσακουσθεὶς θέλεις εὐχαριστεῖν, ψάλλε τὸν τέταρτον, καὶ οδ#, καὶ ριδ#. Καὶ ἐὰν, ἔτι τοὺς πονηρευομένους βλέπων ἐνεδρεύειν θέλοντας, ἐνωτίζεσθαί σου θέλῃς τὴν εὐχὴν, ὀρθρίζων [27.29] τὸ πρωὶ̈ ψάλλε τὸν ε#.
And when you perceive a threatening from the Lord, should you see that you are disturbed for this reason, it is possible to say Psalms 6 and 37. And even if some people take counsel against you, as Achitophel did against David, and someone reports this to you, sing Psalm 7 and place your confidence in the God who defends you.	Αἰσθόμενος δὲ ἀπειλῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐὰν διὰ τοῦτο ταραττόμενον σεαυτὸν βλέπῃς, δύνασαι λέγειν τὸν ϛ# καὶ τὸν λζ#. ̓Εὰν δὲ καὶ βουλεύωνταί τινες κατὰ σοῦ, ὡς ὁ ̓Αχιτόφελ κατὰ τοῦ Δαβὶδ, καὶ τοῦτό σοί τις ἀπαγγείλῃ, ψάλλε τὸν ζ#, καὶ θάῤῥει τῷ ῥυομένῳ σε Θεῷ.
16. When you behold the Savior’s grace, which has been extended everywhere, and the human race, which has been rescued, if you wish to address the Lord, sing the eighth. And once more, if you wish to sing of the vintage, giving thanks to the Lord, you have the same Psalm 8, as well as the eighty-third. But in honor of conquest of the enemy and the preservation of creation, not boasting in yourself, but knowing the Son of God who accomplished this, recite the ninth psalm, which is spoken to him.	Βλέπων δὲ τὴν πανταχοῦ χάριν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐκτεταμένην, καὶ σωθὲν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐὰν προσφωνεῖν θέλῃς τῷ Κυρίῳ, ψάλλε τὸν η#. ̓Αλλὰ πάλιν ᾆσαι θέλεις ἐπιλήνιον, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἔχεις αὐτὸν πάλιν τὸν η# καὶ τὸν πγ#. ̓Επὶ δὲ τῷ κατηργῆσθαι τὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ σεσῶσθαι τὴν κτίσιν, μὴ καυχώμενος ἐπὶ σαυτῷ, ἀλλὰ εἰδὼς τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦτο κατορθώσαντα, λέγε τὸν εἰς αὐτὸν εἰρημένον θ# ψαλμόν.
Whenever someone seeks to provoke you excessively, hold your boldness in the Lord, and sing the tenth. And when you see the arrogance of the multitude and the evil that abounds, so that nothing is holy as far as men are concerned, flee to the Lord for refuge and say Psalm 11.	Θεοῦ τοῦτο κατορθώσαντα, λέγε τὸν εἰς αὐτὸν εἰρημένον θ# ψαλμόν. Καὶ ἐὰν λίαν σέ τις ταράσσειν ἐθέλῃ, ἔχε σὺ τὴν πεποίθησιν εἰς τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ψάλλε τὸν ι#.
But if the treachery that comes from your enemies becomes chronic, do not become neglectful, like one forgotten by God, but entreat the Lord, chanting the twelfth psalm. * * * * * * [? Why not translated ?]	̔́Οταν δὲ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ὑπερηφανίαν ἴδῃς καὶ πλεονάζουσαν τὴν κακίαν, ὥστε μηδὲν ὅσιον ἐπ' ἀνθρώποις γενέσθαι, κατάφυγε σὺ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ λέγε τὸν ια#. ̓Εγχρονιζούσης δὲ τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλῆς, μὴ ὀλιγώρει ὡς ἐπιλησθεὶς παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ παρακάλει τὸν Κύριον ᾄδων τὸν ιβ#. ̓
Should you hear people blaspheming against God’s providence, do not share with them in their irreligion, but say Psalms 13 and 52, making your appeal to God. And then, if you wish to learn what sort of person the citizen of the kingdom of heaven is, chant Psalm 14.	Επειδὰν βλασφημούντων τινῶν κατὰ τῆς Προνοίας ἀκούσῃς, μὴ κοινώνει μὲν αὐτῶν τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ, ἐντυγχάνων δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, λέγε τὸν ιγ# καὶ νβ#. Καὶ λοιπὸν ἐὰν θέλῃς μαθεῖν ὁποῖός ἐστι τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁ πολίτης, ψάλλε τὸν ιδ#.
17. Let us say you stand in need of a prayer because of those who have opposed you and encompass your soul; sing Psalms 16,85,87, and 140. Or you want to learn how Moses offered prayer--you have Psalm 89. You were preserved from your enemies, and you were delivered from your persecutors. Sing also Psalm 17.	Προσευχῆς σοι χρεία διὰ τοὺς ἀνθεστηκότας σοι καὶ περιέχοντάς σου τὴν ψυχὴν, ᾆδε τὸν ιϛ#, καὶ τὸν πε#, καὶ τὸν πϛ#, καὶ τὸν ρμ#. ̓Αλλὰ θέλεις μαθεῖν, πῶς Μωϋσῆς προσηύξατο, ἔχεις τὸν πθ#. ̓Αλλ' ἐσώθης ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου, καὶ ἐῤῥύσθης ἀπὸ τῶν διωκόντων σε, ᾆδε καὶ σὺ τὸν ιϛ# ψαλμόν.
You marvel at the order of creation, and the grace of the providence in it, and the holy precepts of the Law. Sing the eighteenth and the twenty-third.	Θαυμάζεις τὴν τῆς κτίσεως τάξιν, καὶ τὴν εἰς αὐτὴν τῆς Προνοίας χάριν, τοῦ τε νόμου τὰ ἱερὰ προστάγματα, ψάλλε τὸν ιη# καὶ τὸν κγ#.
When you see those who suffer tribulation, encourage them, praying and speaking the words in Psalm 19. Should you become aware that you are being shepherded and led in the right path by the Lord, sing Psalm 22, rejoicing in this.	Θλιβομένους δὲ ὁρῶν, παρακάλει τούτους, ἐπευχόμενος καὶ λέγων αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐν τῷ ιθ# ψαλμῷ ῥήματα. ̔Ορᾷς σεαυτὸν ποιμαινόμενον καὶ εὐοδούμενον παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, χαίρων ἐπὶ τούτῳ ψάλλε τὸν κβ#.
Again, let us suppose the enemies are all around you. Nevertheless, lifting your soul up to God, say Psalm 24, and he sees that your adversaries commit their wrongs to no avail. They abide still, possessing nothing other than bloody hands, and seeking to wound and destroy you. Do not entrust to a man the judgment over them (for all things human are suspect), but counting God worthy to be judge (for he only is just), say the things in the twenty-fifth, thirty-fourth, and forty-second psalms.	Οἱ ἐχθροὶ περὶ σὲ, ἀλλὰ σὺ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπαίρων πρὸς Θεὸν, λέγε τὸν κδ#, καὶ ὄψει τούτους ἁμαρτάνοντας διακενῆς. ̓Επιμένουσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὰς χεῖρας ἔχοντες αἱμάτων πλήρεις, καὶ ζητοῦντες ἑλκῦσαί σε καὶ ἀπολέσαι, μὴ δῷς ἀνθρώπῳ τὸ κρῖμα ̔ὕποπτα γὰρ πάντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινἀ· ἀλλὰ τὸν Θεὸν ἀξιῶν κριτὴν γενέσθαι ̔μόνος γὰρ αὐτὸς δίκαιος̓, λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ κε#, καὶ τὸν λδ#, καὶ τὸν μβ#.
And if they savagely attack you, and the enemies become multitudinous, as rank upon rank, eyeing you with contempt, as if you have not yet been visited by grace-and on this account they wish to do battle--do not crouch in fear, but sing the twenty-sixth psalm. But since the nature of humankind is weak, should those who lay snares act shamelessly, call out to God in order that you may disregard them, reciting what is in Psalm 27.	̓Εὰν δὲ καὶ τραχύτερον ἐπίθωνται, καὶ πλῆθος ὡς παρεμβολαὶ γένωνται οἱ ἐχθροὶ, καταφρονοῦντες ὡς μήπω σου χρισθέντος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολεμεῖν ἐθέλοντες· μὴ πτήξῃς, ἀλλ' ᾆδε τὸν κϛ# ψαλμόν. ̓Επειδὴ δὲ ἀσθενής ἐστιν ἡ φύσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐὰν πάλιν ἀναισχυντῶσιν οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες, ἵνα μὴ πρὸς ἐκείνους ἔχῃς τὴν σχολὴν, κράζε πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, λέγων τὰ ἐν τῷ κζ#.
And if, in giving thanks, you wish to learn what it is necessary to offer to the Lord, while you think spiritually, chant the twenty-eighth. Further, when consecrating your house--that is, the soul that is being received by the Lord and the somatic house in which you dwell bodily--give thanks and say the twenty-ninth and the one hundred and twenty-sixth, which are among the gradual psalms.	Καὶ ἐὰν θέλῃς εὐχαριστῶν μαθεῖν πῶς δεῖ προσφέρειν τῷ Κυρίῳ, νοητῶς νοῶν ψάλλε τὸν κη#. Καὶ λοιπὸν ἐγκαινίζων τὸν οἶκόν σου τήν τε ψυχὴν τὴν τὸν Κύριον ὑποδεχομένην, καὶ τὸν σωματικὸν οἶκον, ἐν ᾧ σωματικῶς κατοικεῖς, εὐχαρίστει, καὶ λέγε τόν τε κθ# καὶ τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀναβαθμοῖς ρκϛ#.
18. When you see that you are despised and persecuted for the truth’s sake by all your friends and relatives, do not give up concern either for them or for yourself. And if you see your acquaintances turning against you, do not be alarmed, but separate yourself from them and turn your mind to the future and sing Psalm 30. When you see those who are baptized and redeemed from their corrupt birth, and you are filled with wonder over God’s love for mankind, before these people sing your praise in the thirty-first psalm. If you wish to sing in the company of many, gathering men who are righteous and erect in their living, recite also Psalm 32.	̔́Οταν δὲ σαυτὸν διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μισούμενον καὶ διωκόμενον παρὰ πάντων τῶν τε φίλων καὶ συγγενῶν βλέπῃς, μὴ τούτοις μηδὲ σαυτῷ κατανοῶν ὀλιγωρήσῃς, μηδ', ἂν τοὺς γνωρίμους ἴδῃς ἀποστρεφομένους σε, πτήξῃς, ἀλλ' ἐκστὰς ἀπὸ τούτων, καὶ σκοπῶν τὰ μέλλοντα, ψάλλε τὸν λ#. Τοὺς δὲ βαπτιζομένους καὶ λυτρουμένους ἀπὸ τῆς φθαρτῆς γενέσεως βλέπων, καὶ θαυμάζων τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν, ᾆδε εἰς ἐκείνους τὸν λα#. Καὶ ὅταν μὲν ψάλλειν μετὰ πολλῶν ἐθέλῃς, τοὺς δικαίους ἄνδρας καὶ τοὺς ὀρθοὺς τῷ βίῳ συναγαγὼν, λέγε καὶ σὺ τὸν λβ#.
When you encounter your foes, and wisely escape them and avoid their treachery, if you want to express gratitude, summoning gentle men, sing Psalm 33 in their presence. Should you spy the zeal for evil among those who transgress the Law, do not think that the evil is in their very nature, which is what the heretics assert.38 But say Psalm 36 and you will see that they themselves are responsible for the sinning.	̓Εμπεσὼν δὲ εἰς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, καὶ σοφῶς αὐτοὺς διαφυγὼν, καὶ ἐκκλίνας ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς αὐτῶν, εἰ θέλεις εὐχαριστῆσαι, συγκαλέσας τοὺς πραεῖς ἄνδρας, ἐπ' αὐτῶν ψάλλε τὸν λγ#. Καὶ ἐὰν ἴδῃς τῶν παρανομούντων τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κακὸν φιλονεικίαν, μὴ νόμιζε ἐν αὐτοῖς κατὰ φύσιν τὴν κακίαν εἶναι, οἷα λέγουσιν οἱ αἱρετικοί· ἀλλὰ λέγε τὸν λε#, καὶ ὄψει, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν εἰσὶν αἴτιοι.
If you witness worthless people committing numerous lawless acts and exalting themselves against humbler people, and you wish to exhort someone not to devote himself to their service, nor to emulate them--for they are quickly vanished--say the thirty-sixth psalm both to yourself and to the others.	̓Εὰν δὲ πολλὰ πράττοντας ἄνομα τοὺς πονηροὺς βλέπῃς, καὶ ἐπαιρομένους αὐτοὺς κατὰ τῶν μικρῶν, καὶ θέλῃς παραινεῖν τισι μὴ προσέχειν τούτοις, μηδὲ παραζηλοῦν αὐτοὺς, διὰ τὸ ταχέως αὐτοὺς ἀποσβέννυσθαι, λέγε καὶ σαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς ἑτέροις τὸν λϛ#.
19. Then you also, when you propose to attend to yourself, if you should see the foe attacking (for at that time he is especially roused against such people), and should you wish to fortify yourself for the contest against him, recite Psalm 38. And if, when the enemies set upon you, you persevere in the face of the trials, and you want to learn the advantage of endurance, sing Psalm 39. But when you see numerous people in need and poverty, and you wish to treat them mercifully, you are able, by saying Psalm 40, both to approve those who already act with compassion, and to urge others toward doing the same.	̓Αλλὰ δὴ καὶ σὺ, προθέμενος προσέχειν σαυτῷ, ἐὰν βλέπῃς ἐπιτιθέμενον τὸν ἐχθρὸν ̔τότε γὰρ μᾶλλον ἐπεγείρεται κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων̓, καὶ θέλῃς ἐπαλείφειν σαυτὸν κατ' αὐτοῦ, ᾆδε τὸν λη# ψαλμόν. Καὶ ἐὰν, τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιτιθεμένων, ὑπομένῃς τὰς θλίψεις, καὶ θέλῃς μαθεῖν τὴν ἐκ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ὠφέλειαν, ψάλλε τὸν λθ# ψαλμόν. Βλέπων δὲ πολλοὺς πένητας καὶ πτωχοὺς, καὶ θέλεις ἐλεεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς, δύνασαι τοὺς μὲν ἤδη ἐλεήσαντας ἀποδέχεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους εἰς τὸ ποιεῖν προτρέπεσθαι, ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὸν μ#.
Possessing, then, a great desire for God, if you should hear the adversaries chiding you, do not be disturbed, but knowing the imperishable fruit that comes from such yearning, cheer on your own soul by the hope placed in God. And in that hope supporting and mollifying the soul’s sorrows in life, say the forty-first psalm.	Εἶτα ἐὰν, πάνυ τὸν πόθον ἔχων εἰς τὸν Θεὸν, ἀκούσῃς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὀνειδιζόντων, μὴ ταράσσου· ἀλλὰ συνιεὶς τὸν ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου πόθου ἀθάνατον καρπὸν, παρακάλει σαυτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν τῇ εἰς Θεὸν ἐλπίδι, καὶ ταύτῃ ἐπικουφίζων καὶ καταπραύ̈νων τὰς ἐν τῷ βίῳ λύπας αὐτῆς, λέγε τὸν μα# ψαλμόν.
Wishing unceasingly to remember the kind acts of God accomplished for the fathers, and, concerning the exodus from Egypt and the time passed in the wilderness, how God is good, but the men are ungrateful, you have Psalms 43, 77, 88, 104, 105, 106, and 113. And flying to God and being kept safe from the tribulations that take place around you, if you want to thank God and to recount the philanthropy that has come to you, you have the forty-fifth.	Συνεχῶς δὲ ἀναμιμνήσκεσθαι θέλων τὰς εὐεργεσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς γενομένας εἰς τοὺς πατέρας, καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐξόδου τῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διαγωγῆς, πῶς τε ὁ μὲν Θεὸς ἀγαθὸς, οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι ἀχάριστοι, ἔχεις τὸν μγ#, καὶ τὸν οζ#, καὶ πη#, καὶ τὸν ρδ#, καὶ τὸν ρε#, καὶ ρϛ#, καὶ ριγ#. Καταφυγὼν δὲ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ διασωθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ σὲ γενομένων θλίψεων, ἐὰν θέλῃς εὐχαριστῆσαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ διηγήσασθαι τὴν εἰς σὲ γενομένην φιλανθρωπίαν, ἔχεις τὸν με#.
20. But you sinned, and being ashamed, you repent and you ask to be shown mercy. You have in Psalm 50 the words of confession and repentance. And even if you suffered calumny from a wicked ruler, and you see the slanderer boasting, withdraw from that place and say also the things in the fifty-first. When you are being pursued and certain ones are perpetrating slander, hoping to deliver you up to iustice, as the Ziphites and the alien tribes did in the case of David,39 do not succumb to weariness, but being confident in the Lord and hymning him, recite the things in Psalms 53 and 55.	̓Αλλ' ἥμαρτες, καὶ ἐντραπεὶς μεταγινώσκεις καὶ ἐλεηθῆναι ἀξιοῖς, ἔχεις τοὺς τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως καὶ μετανοίας λόγους ἐν τῷ ν#. Εἰ δὲ καὶ διεβλήθης πονηρῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ὁρᾷς τὸν διάβολον κατακαυχώμενον, ἀναχώρει, καὶ λέγε καὶ σὺ τὰ ἐν τῷ να#. Καὶ ὅτε μὲν διώκῃ, καὶ διαβάλλουσί τινες παραδοῦναί σε θέλοντες, ὡς οἱ Ζιφαῖοι καὶ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι τὸν Δαβὶδ, μὴ ἀκηδιάσῃς, ἀλλὰ θαῤῥῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ὑμνῶν αὐτὸν, λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ νγ# καὶ νε#.
And even if your persuer overtakes you, and without knowing it enters the cave in which you are hiding,40 you should not even so cower in fear, for you have in such a necessity the memorially inscribed4l words for encouragement found in Psalms 56 and 114. Should he who is plotting give the order for your house to be kept under surveillance, and you escape, express your gratitude to the Lord, inscribing it on your soul as on a monument--for it is a memorial to the fact that you were spared from destruction--and recite the verses in Psalm 58. And if the foes who afflict you hurl insults and the seeming friends, rising up, level accusations at you, and you are grieved in your meditation for a while,42 nevertheless you also are able to be consoled, praising God and speaking the words of Psalm 54. Against those who posture and are outwardly boastful, say--for their humiliation--Psalm 57.	27.33 δράμῃ ὁ διώκων, καὶ μὴ γινώσκων εἰσέλθῃ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον ἐν ᾧ καὶ σὺ κρύπτῃ, μηδ' οὕτως πτήξῃς· ἔχεις γὰρ τοὺς ἐν τοιαύτῃ ἀνάγκῃ χρησμοὺς εἰς παράκλησιν καὶ στηλογραφίας λόγους, τοὺς ἐν τῷ νϛ# καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ ρμα#. ̓Εὰν δὲ καὶ φυλαχθῆναι τὴν οἰκίαν κελεύσῃ ὁ ἐπιβουλεύων, καὶ διαφύγῃς, ἀνατίθει τῷ Κυρίῳ τὴν χάριν, ὡς ἐν στήλαις γράφων αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, μνημόσυνον οὖσαν τοῦ μὴ διεφθάρθαι σε, καὶ λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ νη# ψαλμῷ. ̓Εὰν δὲ καὶ ὀνειδίζωσι θλίβοντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ, καὶ φλυαροῦντες διαβάλλωσιν οἱ δοκοῦντες εἶναι φίλοι, καὶ λυπηθῇς ἐν τῇ ἀδολεσχίᾳ σου πρὸς ὀλίγον, ἀλλὰ δύνασαι παρακαλεῖσθαι ὑμνῶν καὶ σὺ τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ λέγων τὰ ἐν τῷ νδ# ῥήματα. Καὶ πρὸς μὲν ὑποκρινομένους καὶ ἐν προσώπῳ καυχωμένους λέγε πρὸς ἐντροπὴν ἐκείνων τὸν νζ# ψαλμόν·
But against those rushing savagely toward you, desiring to seize your soul, render your obedience to God, and take courage. For the more they rage, the more you are to submit yourself to the Lord, and say what is in Psalm 61. And if, when persecuted, you go out into the desert, do not be afraid, as though alone, but having God there and rising before dawn, sing the sixty-second psalm.43 When the enemies frighten you away, never ceasing from their Iying in ambush, and also searching everywhere for you, even if they are vast in number, do not give way, for when you sing Psalms 63, 64, 69, and 70, their wounds will be caused by the weapons of thefoolish children.44	πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ὁρμῶντας ἀγρίως κατὰ σοῦ, καὶ θέλοντας λαβεῖν σου τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀντίθες σὺ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν σου ὑποταγὴν, καὶ θάῤῥει. ̔́Οσῳ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μαίνονται, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὑποτάσσου σὺ τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ ξα#. Καὶ ἐὰν μὲν διωκόμενος εἰς ἐρημίαν ἀπέλθῃς, μὴ φοβηθῇς ὡς μόνος ὢν ἐκεῖ, ἔχων δὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἐκεῖ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὀρθρίζων ψάλλε τὸν ξβ#. ̓Εκφοβούντων δὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ μὴ παυομένων τοῦ ἐνεδρεύειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξερευνώντων πᾶν κατὰ σοῦ, κἂν πλῆθος ὦσι, μὴ ὑπενδῷς· βέλη γὰρ νηπίων ἔσονται τούτων αἱ πληγαὶ, ψάλλοντός σου τὸν ξγ#, καὶ τὸν ξδ#, καὶ ξθ#, καὶ ο#.
21. Whenever you want to celebrate God in song, recite the things in Psalm 64. And if you wish to instruct some people about the resurrection, sing the words in Psalm 65. In chanting the sixty-sixth psalm, praise God while you beseech him to treat you mercifully. When you perceive the godless flourishing in peace and yet the righteous who suffer affliction living in complete dejection, say what is in the seventy-second psalm, lest you be caused to stumble and be shaken to the foundation.	Καὶ ὅταν μὲν ὑμνῆσαι βούλῃ τὸν Κύριον, ᾆδε τὰ ἐν τῷ ξδ#. ̓Εὰν δὲ κατηχῆσαι θέλῃς τινὰς περὶ ἀναστάσεως, ᾆδε τὰ ἐν τῷ ξε#. Οἰκτιρμοὺς δὲ αἰτῶν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὕμνει αὐτὸν, ψάλλων τὸν ξϛ#. ̔́Οτε δὲ βλέπεις τοὺς μὲν ἀσεβεῖς ἐν εἰρήνῃ εὐθηνουμένους καὶ καταθυμίως ζῶντας τοὺς δὲ δικαίους θλιβομένους, ἵνα μὴ σκανδαλισθῇς καὶ παρασαλευθῇς, λέγε καὶ σὺ τὰ ἐν τῷ οβ# ψαλμῷ.
And whenever God’s wrath is stirred against the people, you have for consolation in this circumstance the prudent words in Psalm 73. When you stand in need of confession of your sins, sing Psalms 9, 74, 91, 104, 105, 106, 107, 110, 117, 135, and 137. For the purpose of putting to shame the opinions of the Greeks and of the heretics, because the knowledge of God does not reside in a single one among them, but in the Catholic Church alone, you can, if you are so minded, sing and then recite the words in Psalm 75.	Καὶ ὅταν μὲν ὀργισθῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν, ἔχεις εἰς παράκλησιν περὶ τούτου λόγους συνετοὺς τοὺς ἐν τῷ ογ#· ὅτε δὲ χρεία σοι ἐξομολογήσεώς ἐστι ψάλλε τὸν θ#, οδ# καὶ ϛα#, καὶ ρδ#, καὶ ρε#, καὶ ρϛ#, καὶ ρζ#, καὶ ρι#, καὶ ριζ#, καὶ ρλε#, καὶ ρλζ#. Καὶ δυσωπῆσαι μὲν θέλων τὰ τῶν ̔Ελλήνων καὶ τὰ τῶν αἱρετικῶν, ὅτι μὴ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἔνι θεογνωσία, ἀλλ' ἐν μόνῃ τῇ καθολικῇ ̓Εκκλησίᾳ, δύνασαι νοῶν ᾄδειν καὶ λέγειν τὰ ἐν τῷ οε#.
But when the foes cut off your paths of escape, even if, being greatly oppressed, you are cast into confusion, do not despair, but pray. And when your cry is heard, thank God, reciting Psalm 76. Should the adversaries rush in and attack, and continuing their aggression, pollute the house of God and slay the saints and hurl their bodies to the winged creatures of the heaven, in order that you not lie cowering, recoiled on yourself, before their cruelty, you must sympathize with those who suffer, and make your appeal to God, reciting the seventy-eighth psalm.	Τῶν δὲ ἐχθρῶν προκαταλαβόντων τὰς διεκφυγὰς, καὶ πάνυ θλιβόμενος, κἂν ταραχθῇς, μὴ ἀπελπίσῃς, ἀλλὰ εὔχου· καὶ ἐὰν κράζων εἰσακουσθῇς, εὐχαρίστει τῷ Θεῷ, λέγων τὰ ἐν τῷ οϛ#. ̓Εὰν δὲ ἐπιμένοντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἐπεισέλθωσι, καὶ μιάνωσι τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τούς τε ἁγίους ἀποκτείνωσι, καὶ τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν ῥίψωσι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἵνα μὴ συνελκυσθεὶς καταπτήξῃς αὐτῶν τὴν ὠμότητα, σύμπασχε μὲν τοῖς πάσχουσιν, ἐντύγχανε δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, λέγων τὸν οη# ψαλμόν.
22. Wishing to praise the Lord in a festival, when you summon together the servants of God, sing the things in Psalms 80 and 94. And again, when the enemies are all gathered together from all points, and are both issuing threats against the house of God and forming a confederacy against true religion, lest you become despondent because of the magnitude of the crowd and its might, you possess as an anchor of hope the phrases in the eighty-second psalm.	̓Εν ἑορτῇ δὲ, θέλων ᾆσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ, συγκαλέσας τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ δούλους, ψάλλε τὰ ἐν τῷ π# καὶ ϛδ#. Τῶν δὲ ἐχθρῶν πάλιν ἐπισυναχθέντων πάντων πανταχόθεν, καὶ ἀπειλούντων κατὰ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, συνθήκας τε ποιούντων κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας, [27.36] ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμήσῃς διὰ τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὴν δυναστείαν αὑτῶν, ἔχεις ὥσπερ ἄγκυραν ἐλπίδος τὰ ἐν τῷ πβ# ῥήματα.
And seeing the house of God and his eternal tabernacles,45 should you have zeal for these, as the Apostle did, say also the eighty-third psalm. After the wrath has abated and the captivity is ended, if you wish to give thanks, you have what is in Psalms 84 and 125 for the reciting. And if you want to know the excellence of the Church catholic in comparison with the convictions and actions of the schismatics, and to reprove the latter, you may say the words in the eighty-sixth. If you intend to make yourself bold and the others confident in right worship, since hope placed in God brings no shame, but instead makes the soul fearless, praise God with the expressions of Psalm 90. Do you wish to produce melody on the Sabbath? You have Psalm 91.	Καὶ ἐὰν, βλέπων τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὰ αἰώνια αὐτοῦ σκηνώματα, τὸν πόθον ἔχῃς εἰς αὐτὰ, ὡς εἶχεν ὁ ̓Απόστολος, λέγε καὶ σὺ τὸν πγ# ψαλμόν. Παυσαμένης δέ ποτε τῆς ὀργῆς, καὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας λυθείσης, ἐὰν θέλῃς εὐχαριστῆσαι, ἔχεις εἰς τὸ λέγειν τὰ ἐν τῷ πδ# καὶ ρκε#. Καὶ τὴν μὲν διαφορὰν τῆς καθολικῆς ̓Εκκλησίας πρὸς τὰ σχίσματα ἐὰν θέλῃς γινώσκειν, καὶ ἐντρέπειν ἐκείνους, δύνασαι λέγειν τὰ ἐν τῷ πϛ# γεγραμμένα. Παραθαρσῦναι θέλων σεαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς ἑτέρους εἰς θεοσέβειαν, καὶ ὡς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπὶς οὔτε καταισχύνει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄφοβον τὴν ψυχὴν κατασκευάζει, αἴνει τὸν Θεὸν, λέγων τὰ ἐν τῷ ϛ#. Ψάλαι θέλεις τῷ Σαββάτῳ; ἔχεις τὸν ϛα#.
23. Do you wish to return thanks in the Lord’s Day? You have the twenty-third. To chant your praises on the second day of the week? Recite Psalm 47 46 Do you seek to glorify God in the day of preparation? You have the praise written in Psalm 92. For at that time when the crucifixion occurred, the house of God was built up, indeed, to hold off the enemies that assault it. On account of this victory it is fitting to sing to God, using the things said then in Psalm 92, and when captivity befalls you, should the house be destroyed and built once again, chant what is in Psalm 95.47	Εὐχαριστῆσαι θέλεις τῇ Κυριακῇ; ἔχεις τὸν κγ#. ̓͂Ασαι θέλεις δευτέρᾳ Σαββάτων; λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ μζ#. Αἰνέσαι βούλει τῇ Παρασκευῇ; ἔχεις τὸν αἶνον ἐν τῷ ϛβ#. Τότε γὰρ, γενομένου τοῦ σταυροῦ, ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ ᾠκοδομήθη, καίτοι τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιχειρησάντων κωλῦσαι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπινίκιον ᾄδειν τῷ Θεῷ πρέπει τότε τὰ εἰρημένα ἐν τῷ ϛβ#. ̓Εὰν δὲ καὶ, αἰχμαλωσίας γενομένης, καθαιρεθῇ ὁ οἶκος, καὶ πάλιν οἰκοδομηθῇ, ᾆδε τὰ ἐν τῷ ϛε#.
When the land is secured by the warriors and thereafter remains tranquil, and the Lord reigns--if you wish to offer your praises for this, you have Psalm 96. Do you want to sing on the fourth day of the week? You have the ninety-third. For at that time the Lord began to exact vengeance, handing down the punishment unto death, and to declare himself in bold speech. When, therefore, while reading the Gospel, you see the Jews taking counsel in the fourth day of the week against the Lord, as you perceive him then speaking openly in punishment of the devil for our sake, chant the things bearing on this in Psalm 93.	Τῆς δὲ γῆς κατάστασιν λαβούσης ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμούντων, καὶ λοιπὸν ἠρεμούσης, καὶ βασιλεύσαντος τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐὰν θέλῃς ᾆσαι περὶ τούτου, ἔχεις τὸν ϛϛ#. Θέλεις τῇ τετράδι τοῦ Σαββάτου ψάλλειν; ἔχεις τὸν ϛγ#· τότε γὰρ παραδοθεὶς ὁ Κύριος ἐκδικεῖν ἤρξατο τὴν κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου δίκην, καὶ θριαμβεύειν αὐτὸν παῤῥησίᾳ. ̔́Οτ' ἂν οὖν, ἀναγινώσκων τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ἴδῃς τῇ τετράδι τοῦ Σαββάτου συμβούλιον λαβόντας τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, ὁρῶν αὐτὸν τότε παῤῥησιαζόμενον ἐν τῇ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκδικίᾳ, ψάλλε τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ϛγ#.
Seeing, again, the Lord’s providence and his rulership in all things, and wishing to educate some people for trust and obedience in him, and prevailing upon them first to confess their faith, sing Psalm 99. And after coming to know his power for judging, and that the Lord makes a decision, tempering the judgment with mercy, should you wish to approach him, you have the words of Psalm 100 for this purpose.	Πάλιν βλέπων τὴν εἰς πάντα πρόνοιαν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ τὴν κυριότητα αὐτοῦ, καὶ θέλων κατηχῆσαί τινας εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ πίστιν καὶ ὑπακοὴν, πείθων αὐτοὺς πρῶτον ἐξομολογεῖσθαι, ψάλλε τὸν ϛθ#. Καὶ ἐὰν, μαθὼν αὐτοῦ τὴν κριτικὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ὅτι ἐλέῳ τὴν κρίσιν κεράσας κρίνει ὁ Κύριος, θελήσῃς αὐτῷ προσελθεῖν, ἔχεις εἰς τοῦτο λόγους τοὺς ἐν τῷ ρ#.
24. Since our nature is feeble, when you come to be like a beggar because of life’s distresses, if at some time you are exhausted and you wish to be encouraged, you have the one hundred and first psalm. And since it is appropriate for us to give thanks to God through and in all circumstances, when you wish to commend him, for this you must urge your own soul forward, and say Psalms 102 and 103. Do you want to give voice to your praise, and to know how and to whom it is necessary to express it, and what things it is fitting to say in the commendation? You have Psalms 104, 106, 134, 145, 146, 147, 148, and 150.	̓Ασθενοῦς δὲ ἡμῶν τῆς φύσεως οὔσης, ἐὰν διὰ τὰς συνοχὰς τοῦ βίου ὡς πτωχὸς γενόμενος ἀκηδιάσῃς ποτὲ, καὶ θέλῃς παρακληθῆναι, ἔχεις τὸν ρα# ψαλμόν. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ πρέπει διὰ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν εὐχαριστεῖν ἡμᾶς τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτε θέλεις εὐλογεῖν αὐτὸν, ἔχεις εἰς τοῦτο προτρέπεσθαι σαυτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ λέγειν τὸν ρβ# καὶ ργ#. Αἰνεῖν θέλεις τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εἰδέναι πῶς καὶ ἐπὶ τίνι δεῖ αἰνεῖν, καὶ τίνας πρέπει λέγειν τὸν αἶνον; ἔχεις τὸν ρδ#, καὶ τὸν ρϛ#, καὶ ρλδ#, καὶ ρμε#, καὶ τὸν ρμϛ#, καὶ τὸν ρμζ#, καὶ τὸν ρμη#, καὶ τὸν ρν#.
Have you faith, as the Lord said, and when praying do you believe those things you are speaking? Say the one hundred and fifteenth. Do you perceive yourself as one who is progressing by deeds, so as to say, I forget what lies bebind and I strain forward to what lies ahead?48 For each advance you may recite the fifteen odes among the gradual psalms.	̓́Εχεις πίστιν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ πιστεύεις οἷς εὐχόμενος λαλεῖς; λέγε τὸν ριε#. ̓Αλλὰ ἀναβαίνοντα σαυτὸν αἴσθῃ ταῖς πράξεσιν, ὥστε λέγειν· Τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθάνομαι, τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτείνομαι; ἔχεις καθ' ἑκάστην προκοπὴν εἰς τὸ λέγειν τὰς ιε# τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν ᾠδάς.
25. You were enthralled by foreign thoughts, and you perceived yourself as one being seduced, and in repentance determining to desist from this in the future (though remaining among those who seized you when you were in error) now you must sit still and utter your lament, as the people of Israel did then, reciting what is in Psalm 136. When you think of temptations as a testing for you, if you want to give thanks after the trials, you have the one hundred and thirty-eighth psalm.	[27.37] ̓Ηχμαλωτεύθης ὑπὸ ἀλλοτρίων λογισμῶν, καὶ ᾔσθου σεαυτὸν ἀπαγόμενον, καὶ μετέγνως, παῦσαι τοῦ λοιποῦ, καὶ μείνας ἐφ' οἷς ἁμαρτάνοντα σεαυτὸν κατέλαβες, κάθου, καὶ κλαῦσον καὶ σὺ, ὡς πεποίηκεν ὁ τότε λαὸς, λέγων τὰ ἐν τῷ ρλϛ#. Τοὺς δὲ πειρασμοὺς ἡγούμενος εἶναί σου δοκιμὴν, μετὰ τοὺς πειρασμοὺς ἐὰν εὐχαριστῆσαι θελήσῃς, ἔχεις τὸν ρλη# ψαλμόν.
You might find yourself beleaguered once more by the enemies. Do you want to be rescued? Recite Psalm 139. Do you want to offer up supplications and prayers? Chant Psalms 5 and 142. Should a tyrannical foe rise up against the people and against you, as Goliath against David, do not tremble in fear. You too must have faith, like David, and say the things in Psalm 143. After marveling at the kindnesses of God in all things and recalling his benevolence, which affects you and all the rest, if you wish to commend God on account of these, say David’s words that he spoke himself in the one hundred and forty-fourth psalm.	Συνέχῃ πάλιν ἀπὸ ἐχθρῶν, καὶ ῥυσθῆναι θέλεις; λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ ρλθ#. Δεηθῆναι δὲ καὶ προσεύξασθαι θέλεις; ψάλλε τὸν ε# καὶ ρμβ#. ̓Εχθρὸς τύραννος ἐπανέστη τῷ λαῷ καί σοι, ὥσπερ Γολιὰθ τῷ Δαβὶδ, μὴ πτήξῃς· ἀλλὰ πίστευε καὶ σὺ, ὡς ὁ Δαβὶδ, καὶ λέγε τὰ ἐν τῷ ρμγ#. Εἶτα θαυμάζων τὰς εἰς πάντας τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐεργεσίας, καὶ μνημονεύων τῆς τε εἰς σὲ καὶ εἰς πάντας γενομένης ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ, ἐὰν θέλῃς διὰ ταῦτα εὐλογεῖν τὸν Θεὸν, λέγε τὰ τοῦ Δαβὶδ ῥήματα, ἅπερ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶπεν ἐν τῷ ρμδ# ψαλμῷ.
You want to address your praises to the Lord? For your recitation you have Psalms 92 and 97. If, though insignificant, you are selected for some sovereignty over your brothers, do not be exalted against them, but attributing the glory to God who chose you, chant Psalm 151, which is David’s own. Let us say you want to sing those psalms that contain the alleluia to indicate how God has answered prayer49--you may employ Psalms 104, 105, 106, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 134, 135, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150.	̓͂Ασαι θέλεις τῷ Κυρίῳ; ἔχεις εἰς τὸ λέγειν τὸν ϛβ# καὶ ϛζ#. ̓Εὰν μικρὸς ὢν προκριθῇς εἰς ἀρχήν τινα τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου, μὴ ἐπαίρου κατ' αὐτῶν· ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐκλεξαμένῳ Κυρίῳ διδοὺς δόξαν, ψάλλε καὶ σὺ τὸν ρνα# ἴδιον ὄντα τοῦ Δαβίδ. ̓Αλλὰ θέλεις ψάλλειν ἐπακοὴν ἔχοντας τὸ ̓Αλληλούϊα, ἔχεις τὸν ρδ#, ρε#, ρϛ#, ρια#, ριβ#, ριγ#, ριδ#, ριε#, ριϛ#, ριζ# ριη#, ρλδ#, ρλε#, ρμε#, ρμϛ#, ρμζ#, ρμη#, ρμθ#, ρν#.
26. When you desire, in private, to extol the events concerning the Savior, you find such things in nearly every psalm, but you have particularly Psalms 44 and 109, which show forth his true generation from the Father and his incarnate appearance. There are Psalms 21 and 68, which foretell about the divine cross and what great treachery he submitted to on our behalf, and the number of things he suffered; and Psalms 2 and 108, which signal both the plotting and wickedness of the Jews and the betrayal by Judas Iscariot; and the twentieth, forty-ninth, and seventy-first, also making manifest his kingship, his power as judge and, again, his appearance in flesh for us, and also the calling of the gentiles.	̔́Οτε δὲ θέλῃς κατ' ἰδίαν τὰ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ψάλλειν, ἐν ἑκάστῳ μὲν σχεδὸν εὑρίσκεις ψαλμῷ τὰ τοιαῦτα· ἔχεις δὲ μάλιστα τὸν μὲν μδ# καὶ τὸν ρθ# δηλοῦντας τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ γνησίαν γέννησιν καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν· τὸν δὲ κα# καὶ ξη# προλέγοντας περὶ τοῦ θείου σταυροῦ, καὶ ὅσην δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπιβουλὴν ἀνεδέξατο, καὶ πόσα πέπονθε· καὶ τὸν μὲν β# καὶ ρη# σημαίνοντας τήν τε τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ πονηρίαν, καὶ τὴν ̓Ιούδα τοῦ ̓Ισκαριώτου προδοσίαν· τόν τε κ#, καὶ μθ#, καὶ οα# ̔καὶ̓ δηλοῦντας τήν τε βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ καὶ κριτικὴν δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν, καὶ τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν.
Psalm 15 demonstrates his resurrection from the dead. The twenty-third and forty-sixth announce his ascent into heaven, and while reading Psalms 92, 95, 97, and 98 you should be able to contemplate the benefits won for us by the Savior through his sufferings.	Καὶ ὁ μὲν ιε# δείκνυσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν· ὁ δὲ κγ# καὶ μϛ# ἀπαγγέλλουσι τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον αὐτοῦ· τὸν δὲ ϛβ#, καὶ ϛε#, καὶ ϛζ#, καὶ ϛη# ἀναγινώσκων, θεωρῆσαι δυνήσῃ τὰς εἰς ἡμᾶς τοῦ Σωτῆρος διὰ τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ γενομένας εὐεργεσίας.
27. Such, then, is the character of the assistance for mankind to be gained from the Book of Psalms, which contains psalms peculiar to itself, and has in the remainder more frequent prophecies concerning the bodily advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as I said earlier. It is important not to pass over the question of why words of this kind are chanted with melodies and strains. For some of the simple among us, although they believe indeed that the phrases are divinely inspired, imagine, however, on account of the sweetness of sound, that also the psalms are rendered musically for the sake of the ear’s delight. But this is not so.	Τοιοῦτος μὲν οὖν ἐστι καὶ ὁ χαρακτὴρ εἰς ὠφέλειαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν Ψαλμῶν, ἐχούσης αὐτῆς ἰδίους ψαλμοὺς, καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς δὲ περὶ τῆς ἐν σώματι παρουσίας τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτῆρος ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ πυκνοτέρας τὰς προφητείας, καθὰ προεῖπον. Διὰ τί δὲ μετὰ μέλους καὶ ᾠδῆς ψάλλονται οἱ τοιοῦτοι λόγοι, ἀναγκαῖον μηδὲ τοῦτο παρελθεῖν. Τινὲς μὲν γὰρ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἀκεραίων, καίτοι πιστευόντων εἶναι θεόπνευστα τὰ ῥήματα, ὅμως νομίζουσι διὰ τὸ εὔφωνον καὶ τέρψεως ἕνεκεν τῆς ἀκοῆς μελῳδεῖσθαι τοὺς ψαλμούς. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ οὕτως·
For Scripture did not seek out that which is pleasant and winning, but this also has been fashioned for the~ benefit of the soul, and for all number of reasons, but especially on account of two. First, because it is fitting for the Divine Scripture to praise God not in compressed speech alone, but also in the voice that is richly broadened.	οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ πιθανὸν ἐζήτησεν ἡ Γραφή· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ὠφελείας ἕνεκεν τῆς ψυχῆς τετύπωται διὰ πάντα μὲν, μάλιστα δὲ διὰ δύο ταῦτα· πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι ἔπρεπε τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν μὴ μόνον τῇ συνεχείᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ κατὰ πλάτος φωνῇ τὸν Θεὸν ὑμνεῖν.
Things are said, then, in close sequence; such are all the contents of the Law and the Prophets and the histories along with the New Testament. On the other hand, things are expressed more broadly; of this kind are the phrases of the psalms, odes, and songs. For thus will it be preserved that men love God with their whole strength and power.	[27.40] Κατὰ συνέχειαν μὲν οὖν εἴρηται, οἷά ἐστι τὰ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ τὰ ἱστορούμενα πάντα, μετὰ τῆς Καινῆς Διαθήκης· κατὰ πλάτος δὲ λέγεται, οἷά ἐστι τὰ τῶν ψαλμῶν καὶ ᾠδῶν καὶ ᾀσμάτων ῥήματα· καὶ οὕτως γὰρ σωθήσεται τὸ ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος καὶ δυνάμεως ἀγαπᾷν τὸν Θεὸν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.
The second reason is that, just as harmony that unites flutes effects a single sound, so also, seeing that different movements appear in the soul--and in it is the power of reasoning, and eager appetite, and high-spirited passion,50 from the motion of which comes also the activity of the parts of the body--the reason intends man neither to be discordant in himself, nor to be at variance with himself.	Δεύτερον δὲ, ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἁρμονία τοὺς αὐλοὺς συντιθεῖσα μίαν τὴν συμφωνίαν ἀποτελεῖ, οὕτως, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διάφορα κινήματα φαίνεται, καὶ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ λογίζεσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν, καὶ τὸ θυμοειδὲς, ἐκ δὲ τῆς τούτων κινήσεως καὶ ἡ τῶν μελῶν γίνεται τοῦ σώματος ἐνέργεια, βούλεται ὁ λόγος μὴ ἀσύμφωνον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἑαυτῷ, μηδὲ διίστασθαι πρὸς ἑαυτόν·
So the most excellent things derive from reasoning, while the most worthless derive from acting on the basis of desire, as is the case with Pilate when he says, Ifind no crime in him,51 and yet concurs in the purpose of the Jews. A person either craves the commonest things but is unable to do them, like the elders in the story of Susanna; or again he does not commit adultery, but he steals; or he forgoes stealing in favor of committing murder, or he does no murder, but commits blasphemy.	ὥστε λογίζεσθαι μὲν τὰ βέλτιστα, πράττειν δὲ τῷ θυμῷ τὰ φαῦλα, ὡς ὁ Πιλᾶτος λέγων μέν· Οὐδεμίαν αἰτίαν εὑρίσκω εἰς αὐτόν· συντρέχων δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων· ἢ ἐπιθυμεῖν μὲν τὰ φαῦλα, μὴ δύνασθαι δὲ πράττειν, ὡς οἱ κατὰ Σουσάννης πρεσβύτεροι· ἢ πάλιν μὴ μοιχεύειν μὲν, κλέπτειν δέ· ἢ μὴ κλέπτειν μὲν, φονεύειν δέ· ἢ μὴ φονεύειν μὲν, βλασφημεῖν δέ.
28. In order that some such confusion not occur in us, the reason intends the soul that possesses the mind of Christ, as the Apostle said, *(cf.* 1Cor. 2:15)** to use this as a leader, and by it both to be a master of its passions and to govern the body’s members, so as to comply with reason. Thus, as in music there is a plectrum, so the man becoming himself a stringed instrument and devoting himself completely to the Spirit may obey in all his members and emotions, and serve the will of God.	̔́Ιν' οὖν μὴ τοιαύτη τις ἐν ἡμῖν ταραχὴ γίνηται, θέλει τὴν ψυχὴν ὁ λόγος ἔχουσαν Χριστοῦ νοῦν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απόστολος, τούτῳ καθηγεμόνι χρήσασθαι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῶν μὲν ἐν αὐτῇ παθητικῶν κρατεῖν, τῶν δὲ τοῦ σώματος μελῶν ἄρχειν, εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν τῷ λόγῳ· ἵνα, ὡς ἐν ἁρμονίᾳ τὸ πλῆκτρον, οὕτως αὐτὸς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ψαλτήριον γενόμενος, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι προσέχων ὁλοκλήρως, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς μέλεσι καὶ τοῖς κινήμασιν ὑπακούῃ, καὶ δουλεύῃ τῷ βουλήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ.
The harmonious reading of the Psalms is a figure and type of such undisturbed and calm equanimity of our thoughts. For just as we discover the ideas of the soul and communicate them through the words [125] we put forth, so also the Lord, wishing the melody of the words to be a symbol of the spiritual harmony in a soul, has ordered that the odes be chanted tunefully, and the Psalms recited with song.	Τῆς δὲ τοιαύτης τῶν λογισμῶν ἀταραξίας καὶ ἀκύμονος καταστάσεως εἰκὼν καὶ τύπος ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν Ψαλμῶν ἐμμελὴς ἀνάγνωσις. ̔́Ωσπερ γὰρ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς νοήματα γνωρίζομεν καὶ σημαίνομεν δι' ὧν προφέρομεν λόγων, οὕτως, τῆς πνευματικῆς ἐν ψυχῇ ἁρμονίας τὴν ἐκ τῶν λόγων μελῳδίαν σύμβολον εἶναι θέλων ὁ Κύριος, τετύπωκεν ἐμμελῶς τὰς ᾠδὰς ψάλλεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς ψαλμοὺς μετ' ᾠδῆς ἀναγινώσκεσθαι.
The desire of the soul is this--to be beautifully disposed, as it is written: Is anyone among you cheerful? Let him sing praise.(Jas. 5: 13b) In this way that which is disturbing and rough and disorderly in it is smoothed away, and that which causes grief is healed when we sing psalms. Why are you very sad, O my soul, and why do you trouble me? (Ps 41:6,11) That which causes stumbling will be discovered, as it says, But my feet were almost overthrown. (Ps 72:2) With regard to what he fears, he gains strength from hope by saying, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me. (Ps. 117:6)	Καὶ τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸ καλῶς αὐτὴν διακεῖσθαι, ὡς γέγραπται· Εὐθυμεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν; ψαλλέτω. Οὕτως τὸ μὲν ἐν αὐτῇ ταραχῶδες καὶ τραχὺ καὶ ἄτακτον ἐξομαλίζεται· τὸ δὲ λυποῦν θεραπεύεται, ψαλλόντων ἡμῶν· ̔́Ινα τί περίλυπος εἶ, ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἵνα τί συνταράσσεις με; Καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐσφαλμένον ἐπιγνώσεται λέγουσα· ̓Εμοῦ δὲ παρὰ μικρὸν ἐσαλεύθησαν οἱ πόδες· τὸ δὲ φοβηθὲν ἐπιῤῥώσει τῇ ἐλπίδι ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος.
29. Those who do not recite the divine songs in this manner do not sing them wisely. They bring delight to themselves, but they incur blame, because a hymn of praise is not suitable on the lips of a sinner. (Ecclus. 15:9) But when they chant in the way mentioned earlier, so that the melody of the phrases is brought forth from the soul’s good order and from the concord with the Spirit, such people sing with the tongue, but singing also with the mind they greatly benefit not only themselves but even those willing to hear them.	Οἱ μὲν οὖν μὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἀναγινώσκοντες τὰς θείας ᾠδὰς οὐ συνετῶς ψάλλουσιν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτοὺς μὲν τέρπουσιν, ἔχουσι δὲ μέμψιν, ὅτι Οὐχ ὡραῖος αἶνος ἐν στόματι ἁμαρτωλοῦ· οἱ δὲ κατὰ τὸν προειρημένον τρόπον ψάλλοντες, ὥστε τὴν μελῳδίαν τῶν ῥημάτων ἐκ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα συμφωνίας προσφέρεσθαι, οἱ τοιοῦτοι [27.41] ψάλλουσι μὲν τῇ γλώσσῃ, ψάλλοντες δὲ καὶ τῷ νοὶ̈, οὐ μόνον ἑαυτοὺς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς θέλοντας ἀκούειν αὐτῶν μεγάλως ὠφελοῦσιν.
Blessed David, then, making music in this way for Saul, was himself well pleasing to God, and he drove away from Saul the troubled and frenzied disposition, making his soul calm. The priests who sang thus summoned the souls of the people into tranquillity, and called them into unanimity with those who form the heavenly chorus. Therefore the Psalms are not recited with melodies because of a desire for pleasant sounds. Rather, this is a sure sign of the harmony of the soul’s reflections. Indeed, the melodic reading is a symbol of the mind’s well-ordered and undisturbed condition.	̔Ο γοῦν μακάριος Δαβὶδ, οὕτως καταψάλλων τοῦ Σαοὺλ, αὐτὸς εὐηρέστει τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τὸν τάραχον καὶ τὸ μανικὸν πάθος τοῦ Σαοὺλ ἀπήλαυνε, καὶ γαληνιᾷν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ παρεσκεύαζεν. Οὕτως οἱ ἱερεῖς ψάλλοντες, εἰς ἀταραξίαν τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν λαῶν καὶ εἰς ὁμόνοιαν αὐτὰς τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς χορευόντων προσεκαλοῦντο. Τὸ ἄρα μετὰ μέλους λέγεσθαι τοὺς ψαλμοὺς οὐκ ἔστιν εὐφωνίας σπουδὴ, ἀλλὰ τεκμήριον τῆς ἁρμονίας τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ λογισμῶν. Καὶ ἡ ἐμμελὴς δὲ ἀνάγνωσις σύμβολόν ἐστι τῆς εὐρύθμου καὶ ἀχειμάστου καταστάσεως τῆς διανοίας.
Moreover, the praising of God in well-tuned cymbals and harp and ten-stringed instrument was again a [126] figure and sign of the parts of the body coming into natural concord like harp strings, and of the thoughts of the soul becoming like cymbals, and then all of these being moved and living through the grand sound and through the command of the Spirit so that, as it is written, the man lives in the Spirit and mortifies the deeds of the body. *(cf.* Rom 8:13)**	Καὶ γὰρ τὸ αἰνεῖν τὸν Θεὸν ἐν κυμβάλοις εὐήχοις καὶ κιθάρᾳ καὶ δεκαχόρδῳ ψαλτηρίῳ, σύμβολον πάλιν ἦν καὶ σημαντικὸν τοῦ συγκεῖσθαι μὲν νομίμως τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος ὡς χορδὰς, τοὺς δὲ λογισμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὡς κύμβαλα γίνεσθαι, καὶ λοιπὸν τῇ ἠχῇ καὶ τῷ νεύματι τοῦ πνεύματος ταῦτα πάντα κινεῖσθαι καὶ ζῇν· ὥστε, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, τῷ πνεύματι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ζῇν μὲν, καὶ τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦν.
For thus beautifully singing praises, he brings rhythm to his soul and leads it, so to speak, from disproportion to proportion, with the result that, due to its steadfast nature, it is not frightened by something, but rather imagines positive things, even possessing a full desire for the future goods. And gaining its composure by the singing of the phrases, it becomes forgetful of the passions and, while rejoicing, sees ln accordance with the mind of Christ, conceiving the most excellent thoughts.	Οὕτως γὰρ καὶ καλῶς ψάλλων ῥυθμίζει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀνισότητος εἰς ἰσότητα ἄγει· ὥστε ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν αὐτὴν ἑστηκυῖαν μὴ πτοεῖσθαι ὑπό τινος, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον εὐφαντάσιον γίνεσθαι, καὶ πλέον αὐτὴν λαμβάνειν πόθον τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν. Τῇ γὰρ τῶν ῥημάτων μελῳδίᾳ συνδιατιθεμένη ἐπιλανθάνεται τῶν παθῶν, καὶ χαίρουσα βλέπει πρὸς τὸν νοῦν τὸν ἐν Χριστῷ, λογιζομένη τὰ βέλτιστα.
30. Now, my son, it is necessary for each of the readers of that book to read it in its entirety, for truly the things in it are divinely inspired, but then to take benefits from these, as from the fruits of a garden on which he may cast his gaze when the need arises. For I believe that the whole of human existence, both the dispositions of the soul and the movements of the thoughts, have been measured out and encompassed in those very words of the Psalter. And nothing beyond these is found among men.	Δεῖ τοίνυν, ὦ τέκνον, τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ἕκαστον ταύτῃ τῇ βίβλῳ ἐντυγχάνειν μὲν ἅπασι γνησίως τοῖς ἐν αὐτῇ θεοπνεύστοις οὖσι, λαμβάνειν δὲ λοιπὸν ἀπ' αὐτῶν ὡς ἐκ παραδείσου καρπῶν ὠφελείας, πρὸς ὃ τὴν χρείαν ἑαυτὸν ἔχοντα συνορᾷ. ̔Ηγοῦμαι γὰρ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις τῆς βίβλου τὸν πάντα βίον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τάς τε τῆς ψυχῆς διαθέσεις, καὶ τὰ τῶν λογισμῶν κινήματα μεμετρῆσθαι καὶ περιέχεσθαι· καὶ μηδὲν πλέον τούτων ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὑρίσκεσθαι.
For whether there was necessity of repentance or confession, or tribulation and trial befell us, or someone was persecuted, or, being plotted against, he was protected, or if, moreover, someone has become deeply sorrowful and disturbed and he suffers something of the sort that is described in the things just mentioned, and he either attends to himself as one who is advancing, being set free from his foe, or he wants to sing praises and give thanks to the Lord--for any such eventuality he has instruction in the divine Psalms. Let him therefore select the things said in them about each [127] of these circumstances, and reciting what has been written as concerning him, and being affected by the writings, lift them up to the Lord.	Εἴτε γὰρ μετανοίας ἢ ἐξομολογήσεως χρεία, ἢ θλίψις καὶ πειρασμὸς κατέλαβεν, ἢ ἐδιώχθη τις, καὶ ἢ ἐπιβουλευόμενος ἐῤῥύσθη, εἰ δὲ καὶ περίλυπός τις γέγονεν καὶ ταράττεται, καὶ πάσχει τι τοιοῦτον, οἷον ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται, ἢ καὶ συνορᾷ ἑαυτὸν μὲν προκόπτοντα, τὸν δὲ ἐχθρὸν καταργούμενον, ἢ καὶ αἰνέσαι καὶ εὐχαριστῆσαι, καὶ εὐλογῆσαι βούλεται τὸν Κύριον, ἔχει τὴν διδασκαλίαν τούτων ἐν τοῖς θείοις ψαλμοῖς. ̓Εκλεγέσθω γὰρ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς περὶ ἑκάστου τούτων εἰρημένα, καὶ οὕτως ὡς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ γεγραμμένα λέγων, καὶ συνδιατιθέμενος τοῖς γεγραμμένοις, ἀναφέρει τῷ Κυρίῳ.
31. Do not let anyone amplify these words of the Psalter with the persuasive phrases of the profane, and do not let him attempt to recast or completely change the words. Rather let him recite and chant, without artifice, the things written just as they were spoken, in order for the holy men who supplied these, recognizing that which is their own, to join you in your prayer, or, rather, so that even the Spirit who speaks in the saints, seeing words inspired by him in them, might render assistance to us.	Μὴ περιβαλλέτω μέντοι τις αὐτὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν πιθανοῖς ῥήμασι, μηδὲ πειραζέτω τὰς λέξεις μεταποιεῖν ἢ ὅλως ἐναλλάσσειν· ἀλλ' οὕτως ἀτεχνῶς τὰ γεγραμμένα λεγέτω καὶ ψαλλέτω, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ὑπὲρ τοῦ καὶ τοὺς διακονήσαντας ἀνθρώπους αὐτὰ [27.44] ἐπιγινώσκοντας τὸ ἑαυτῶν συνεύχεσθαι ἡμῖν· μᾶλλον δὲ ἵνα καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ λαλῆσαν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις, θεωροῦν τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῦ λόγους ἐνηχηθέντας ἐκείνοις, συναντιλαμβάνηται ἡμῖν.
For as much better as the life of the saints is than that of other people, by so much also are their expressions superior to those we construct and, if one were to speak the truth, more powerful as well. For they greatly pleased God in these, and when saying them, as the Apostle put it, they conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, and women received their dead by resurrection. 59	̔́Οσῳ γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων ὁ βίος βελτίων τῶν ἄλλων ἐστὶ, τοσούτῳ καὶ τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν ῥήματα τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν συντιθεμένων βελτίονα καὶ ἰσχυρότερα ἄν τις εἴποι δικαίως. ̓Εν τούτοις γὰρ εὐηρέστησαν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απόστολος· Κατηγωνίσαντο βασιλείας, εἰργάσαντο δικαιοσύνην, ἐπέτυχον ἐπαγγελιῶν, ἔφραξαν στόματα λεόντων, ἔσβεσαν δύναμιν πυρὸς, ἔφυγον στόματα μαχαίρας, ἐνεδυναμώθησαν ἀπὸ ἀσθενείας, ἐγενήθησαν ἰσχυροὶ ἐν πολέμῳ, παρεμβολὰς ἔκλιναν ἀλλοτρίων, ἔλαβον γυναῖκες ἐξ ἀναστάσεως τοὺς νεκροὺς αὐτῶν.
32. Therefore, reciting even now the same words, let each person be confident, for God will pay heed quickly to those who make supplications through these. Whether one is afflicted at the time he recites these things, he will regard as great the encouragement that is in them; or whether he is tested and persecuted while chanting thus, he will be shown forth as more worthy, and will be protected by the Lord, who watched over the one who originally said these things.	Οὐκοῦν καὶ νῦν ταῦτα λέγων ἕκαστος ἔστω θαῤῥῶν, ὅτι δι' αὐτῶν ταχέως ὁ Θεὸς ἐπακούσεται τοῖς δεομένοις· εἴτε γὰρ θλίβεται λέγων ταῦτα, μεγάλην ὄψεται τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς παράκλησιν· εἴτε πειράζεται καὶ διώκεται ψάλλων οὕτως, δοκιμώτερος ἀναφανήσεται, καὶ σκεπασθήσεται παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, τοῦ καὶ τὸν εἰπόντα ταῦτα σκεπάσαντος·
In these he will overthrow the devil, and he will drive away his demons. By saying these things if he sinned, he will reprove himself and stop; but if he did not sin, he will see himself as one rejoicing. And he strains forward to what lies ahead,60 and contending for the prize he will be strengthened when he sings in that way, and will not be shaken from the truth forever, but he will even bring to disgrace those who deceive and those who seize you, hoping to lead you into error.	ἐν τούτοις τὸν μὲν διάβολον ἀνατρέψει, τοὺς δὲ δαίμονας αὐτοῦ σοβήσει. Ταῦτα λέγων εἰ μὲν ἥμαρτεν, ἑαυτὸν ἐντρέψει καὶ παύσεται· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἥμαρτεν, ὄψεται ἑαυτὸν χαίροντα, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτείνεται, καὶ ἀγωνιζόμενος μὲν ἰσχύσει ψάλλων οὕτως, οὐ σαλευθήσεται δὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀπατῶντας καὶ πλανᾷν ἐπιχειροῦντας ἐλέγξει·
And of this man is not a guarantor, but the Divine Scripture itself. For God commanded Moses to write the great song61 and to teach it to the people, and he orders the one who is established as ruler to write Deuteronomy, to hold this in his hands, and to diligently obey its contents forever,62 since the words in it are sufficient both for recalling virtue to the mind and for bringing help to those who sincerely heed them.	καὶ τούτου οὐκ ἄνθρωπος ἐγγυητὴς, ἀλλ' αὐτὴ ἡ θεία γίνεται Γραφή. ̔Ο γὰρ Θεὸς ἐνετείλατο τῷ Μωϋσῇ γράψαι τὴν μεγάλην ̓Ωδὴν, καὶ διδάξαι τὸν λαόν· τόν τε καθιστάμενον ἄρχοντα κελεύει γράψαι τὸ Δευτερονόμιον, ἔχειν τε τοῦτο μετὰ χεῖρας, καὶ μελετᾷν ἀεὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ῥήματα, ὡς ἀρκούντων τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς λόγων πρός τε ὑπόμνησιν ἀρετῆς, καὶ βοήθειαν φέρειν τοῖς γνησίως αὐτοὺς μελετῶσιν.
For instance, at the time Joshua entered the land, he saw the battle array of the enemy and all the rulers of the Amorites amassed for war.63 And confronted by the camps and swords he read Deuteronomy into all ears, calling the words of the Law to remembrance, and arming the people with them, and he prevailed over the foes. And King Josiah, when the book was discovered and was read in the hearing of all, was no longer afraid of the enemy.64	̓Αμέλει ὁπηνίκα εἰς τὴν γῆν εἰσῆλθεν ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ, βλέπων τὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν διατάξεις, καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῶν ̓Αμοῤῥαίων πάντας συνελθόντας εἰς πόλεμον, αὐτὸς ἀνθ' ὅπλων καὶ ξιφῶν τὸ Δευτερονόμιον ἀναγνοὺς εἰς τὰ ὦτα πάντων, τά τε ῥήματα τοῦ νόμου ὑπομνήσας, καὶ τούτοις τὸν λαὸν καθοπλίσας, περιγέγονε τῶν πολεμίων. ̔Ο δὲ βασιλεὺς ̓Ιωσίας, εὑρεθέντος τοῦ βιβλίου, καὶ ἀναγνωσθέντος εἰς τὰς πάντων ἀκοὰς, οὐκέτι τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐφοβεῖτο.
And if at some time there was war in the land, the ark containing the tablets of Law went before them all, and provided sufficient help to them in the face of every army, unless someone was alongside its bearers, and sin and hypocrisy, which were prevalent beforehand, were in the people.65 For theirs must be a disposition of faith and genuineness so that the Law may work in favor of the things sought through prayer.	Καὶ εἴ ποτε δὲ πόλεμος ἦν τῷ λαῷ, ἡ κιβωτὸς ἔχουσα τὰ πυξία τοῦ νόμου προώδευε πάντων, καὶ ἠρκεῖτο τούτοις ἀντὶ πάσης παρατάξεως εἰς βοήθειαν, εἰ μή τις ἦν παρὰ τοῖς βαστάζουσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς προκρατήσασα ἁμαρτία καὶ ὑπόκρισις. Πίστεως γὰρ καὶ γνησίας διαθέσεως χρεία, ἵνα ὁ νόμος εἰς τὰ κατ' εὐχὴν συνεργάζηται.
33. The old man said, “Indeed, I have heard from wise men how long ago in Israel they drove demons away and turned aside the treacheries directed against them by merely reading the Scriptures.” For this reason he said those deserve judgment who abandon them, fashioning phrases meant to be persuasive in the pagan style, and naming themselves exorcists in the use of these. They indulge themselves too much in play, and they expose themselves to being mocked by those demons.	̓Εγὼ γοῦν, ἔλεγεν ὁ γέρων, ἤκουσα καὶ παρὰ φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν, ὡς ἄρα τὸ παλαιὸν ἐν τῷ [27.45] ̓Ισραὴλ, μόνον ἀναγινώσκοντες τὰς Γραφὰς, ἐδίωκον δαίμονας, καὶ ἠλέξουν τὰς παρ' αὐτῶν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γινομένας ἐπιβουλάς. ̔́Οθεν καὶ καταγνώσεως πάσης ἀξίους εἶναι ἔλεγε τοὺς ταῦτα μὲν ἀφιέντας, συντιθέντας δὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἔξωθεν πιθανὰ ῥήματα, καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἐξορκιστὰς ἑαυτοὺς ὀνομάζοντας. Μᾶλλον γὰρ παίζουσι, καὶ παρέχουσιν ἑαυτοὺς ἐκείνοις εἰς τὸ χλευάζεσθαι·
How the Jews, the sons of Sceva, suffered when they attempted to exorcise in this manner!66 When hearing these things issuing from such men, the demons began their sport with them, but they feared the words of the saints, and were not even able to endure them. For the Lord is in the phrases of the Scriptures, and since they cannot withstand him, they cry out, I beseechyou, do not torment me before the tiMe.67 For seeing the Lord present, they were consumed.	οἷα πεπόνθασιν ̓Ιουδαῖοι οἱ Σκευᾶ υἱοὶ, ἐπιχειρήσαντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον ἐξορκίζειν. Ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ ἀκούοντες παρὰ τῶν τοιούτων οἱ δαίμονες παίζουσι· τὰ δὲ τῶν ἁγίων ῥήματα φοβοῦνται, ἢ καὶ φέρειν αὐτὰ οὐ δύνανται. ̓́Εστι γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τῶν Γραφῶν ῥήμασιν ὁ Κύριος, ὃν μὴ δυνάμενοι φέρειν ἔκραζον· Δέομαί σου, μή με πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσῃς· ἐκαίοντο γὰρ καὶ μόνον βλέποντες παρόντα τὸν Κύριον.
So Paul commanded the unclean spirits,63 and likewise things demonic were subjected to the disciples.69 And the hand of the Lord came over Elisha the prophet, and he prophesied about the waters to the three kings, [4 Ki 3:15(2Ki 3:15)] when he who chanted was singing in accordance with the Lord’s command. So also now, if someone is concerned for those who suffer, and he recites these things himself, he also will benefit the sufferer more, and will show his faith to be true and steadfast, with the result that God, seeing that, supplies perfect healing to those in need.	Οὕτως καὶ ὁ Παῦλος παρήγγειλε τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις πνεύμασιν· οὕτως καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὑπετάσσετο τὰ δαιμόνια. Καὶ ἐπὶ ̔Ελισσαίου δὲ τοῦ προφήτου ἐγένετο χεὶρ Κυρίου, καὶ προεφήτευσε περὶ τῶν ὑδάτων τοῖς τρισὶ βασιλεῦσιν, ὅτε ἔψαλλε κατ' ἐντολὴν αὐτοῦ ὁ ψάλλων. Οὕτως καὶ νῦν, εἴ τις κήδεται τῶν πασχόντων, ταῦτα λεγέτω, καὶ μᾶλλον τόν τε πάσχοντα ὠφελεῖ, καὶ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πίστιν ἀληθῆ καὶ βεβαίαν ἐπιδείξεται· ὥστε, καὶ ταύτην ὁρῶντα τὸν Θεὸν, τελείαν τὴν θεραπείαν παρασχεῖν τοῖς δεομένοις.
Knowing this, the holy one said in the one hundred and eighteenth psalm: I will meditate on your ordinances; I will not forget your words. [Ps 118:6] And again, Your ordinances were my songs in the place of my sojourning.[Ps 118:54] For in those they were gaining salvation, saying, Were it not that your law is my meditation, then I should have perished in my affliction.[Ps 118:92] It was for this reason also that Paul fortified his own disciple by these things, saying, Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that your progress may become manifest.[1Tim 4:15]	Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ ἅγιος γινώσκων, ἔλεγεν ἐν τῷ ριη# ψαλμῷ· ̓Εν τοῖς δικαιώμασί σου μελετήσω, οὐκ ἐπιλήσομαι τῶν λόγων σου· καὶ πάλιν· Ψαλτὰ ἦσάν μοι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐν τόπῳ παροικίας μου. ̓Εν τούτοις γὰρ καὶ σωτηρίαν ἐκέρδαινον, λέγοντες· Εἰ μὴ ὅτι ὁ νόμος σου μελέτη μου ἐστὶ, τότε ἂν ἀπωλόμην ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει μου. ̔́Οθεν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τούτοις ἠσφαλίζετο τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὴν, λέγων· Ταῦτα μελέτα, ἐν τούτοις ἴσθι, ἵνα σου ἡ προκοπὴ φανερὰ γένηται.
You too, practicing these things and reciting the Psalms intelligently in this way, are able to comprehend the meaning in each, being guided by the Spirit. And the kind of life the holy, God-bearing men possessed who spoke these things--this life you also shall imitate.	Ταῦτα καὶ σὺ μελετῶν, καὶ συνετῶς ἐντυγχάνων· οὕτως τοῖς ψαλμοῖς, τὸν μὲν ἐν ἑκάστῳ νοῦν ὁδηγούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματοσ καταλαβεῖν δυνήσῃ. Τοιοῦτον δὲ καὶ σὺ ζηλώσεις βίον, οἷον ἔσχον οἱ ταῦτα θεοφορούμενοι λαλήσαντες ἄνδρες ἅγιοι.