[GREEK COLUMN] A Me, O Lord, from an evil man; not from demons. For demons are driven away by the sign of the cross, but the evil man opposes the Lord himself. Paul indeed drove out demons with a word, but he was not able to conquer the wickedness of Alexander the coppersmith; for he says, "Alexander the coppersmith did me many evil things; may the Lord repay him." Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; not from a good man. For a good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of the heart; but an evil man brings forth evil things from the evil treasure. And just as from some mixture, each one of them brings forth his own saplings from the heart—the good man goodness, and the evil man wickedness. And just as from a bitter root the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit are bitter; so too the walk, the look, the manner, and the hands of an evil man are evil. For concerning the feet, as when Wisdom says: "Turn away from them and pass by; for their feet run to evil." And concerning the hands, as when the prophet says in prayer: B "Deliver me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawless and unjust man." And concerning an evil eye, as when the Lord cries out: "If your eye is evil, is it because I am good?" Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man. Such a person weaves deceits, practices hypocrisy, and forges envy in his heart. From an evil man; not from a righteous man. For a righteous man pities the souls of beasts, as it is written; but the unjust even strip away those of men. A righteous man pities the souls of cattle, as Moses, having run up into the mountain, watered the thirsty sheep of Jethro; but the unjust Pharaoh drowned the firstborn of the Hebrews in the river; and the one watered sheep through water, but the other killed men through water.
2. It is necessary, therefore, to flee from wickedness and injustice, with all our might; and not only to flee, but also to rescue those who are being wronged from the hand of those who wrong them, as Abraham rescued Lot when he was taken captive C from the hand of the foreigners; as Lot himself rescued the angels from the lawlessness of the Sodomites. For even if the nature of the angels is unassailable, yet the boldness of men is ready. As Moses rescued the people of the Hebrews from the hand of the Egyptians; as David rescued Saul from the violence of the demon; as the angel who descended with them rescued the three children from the burning furnace; as faith rescued Daniel from the lions' den; as repentance rescued Jonah from the belly of the whale; as the eunuch Abimelech rescued Jeremiah from the mire of the pit; as Daniel in Babylon rescued Susanna from the judgment of the lawless; as the Lord rescued all of humanity from the hand of the devil; as the apostles rescued those possessed by spirits and diseases. But the word does not only legislate for men to do this, but also teaches women. For many women rescued many from death and dangers, as Sarah rescued Abraham from the hand of Abimelech, by sophistically claiming [that she was] his sister; as Rebekah [rescued] her son Jacob from the hand of his brother D Esau, by counseling flight to him; as Rachel rescued her father from idolatry, having stolen the lifeless idols; for she stole them for no other reason than to rescue her father from idolatry; as Rahab the harlot rescued the spies from the hand of the foreigners, having hidden them in the flax; as Michal [rescued] David from the hand of Saul, having announced the secret to him; as Abigail [rescued] Nabal from death, having fallen before David; as the mother of Moses [rescued] the infant from the hand of Pharaoh, having cast [him] into the Nile; as Martha and Mary [rescued] their brother Lazarus from Hades, having wept before the Lord; as the widows [rescued] Tabitha from death, having entreated Peter; as faith [rescued] the woman with the issue of blood, and fasting [rescued] the Ninevites. Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man, and rescue me from an unjust man. Let us see from whom the prophet prays specifically to be rescued. For indeed Doeg is an evil man, and Saul is an unjust man. Accordingly, David was fleeing from the presence of Saul to Nob, the city of the priests, and there Abimelech the priest gave him the spear of Goliath the foreigner and provisions. Then Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of the mules of Saul, being present and seeing what was happening, went away and slandered David and Abimelech the priest, saying: "Yesterday I was in Nob the city, and David was there; and Abimelech the priest gave him provisions and the spear of Goliath the foreigner." Then Saul, having become angry and full of wrath, says to the soldiers running by him: "Slay the priests in the city of Nob." But they did not dare to lay a hand upon the priests, having their hands bridled by the fear of God, and before their hands, their minds. Then Saul, turning to Doeg, says: "You, kill all the priests of the Lord, and do not spare: not of the elder, not of the younger, not of a woman, not of a virgin, not of an infant, not of one who is nursing; even to an ass and a sheep and a calf, kill all for destruction." Then Doeg, having turned and divided the people he commanded, runs, and prepared some to encircle the city, so that no one might flee and provide for their own safety, and ordered others to cast fire into the city, and he himself, like a lion eager for prey, rushed against them in the city, like sheep being butchered, and slaughtered on that day three hundred and fifty priests wearing the ephod, and he did not spare elder, or younger, or virgin, or woman, or nursing infant, and [he destroyed] from sheep and calf and ass, and burned the city with fire. Then David, having observed this, while fleeing said: "Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; rescue me from an unjust man." For it was truly possible to see most cruel things: the blood of youths and infants mingled together, and the tips of infants' mouths attached to their mothers' breasts, and hair cut before its time, and ears of grain reaped before their time, and clusters of grapes not yet matured, killed by the wrath of hail, and the dignity of female tresses, which should have been hidden, paraded about. For with the linen tunic on the head being tossed away, the skull was shown bare of hair, and chests were bared, which even to look upon the sun is ashamed, and parts of the body, and nature itself taught to cover. And who would be able to equal in words the necessity that happened then? Since, therefore, the evil man and the unjust man perpetrate such things, let us not cease always to entreat God intensely and to say: "Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; rescue me from an unjust man." And let us not only pray for these things with our mouth, but also, through good works, let us make even ourselves worthy to have our petition heard. For thus, by beseeching God, we shall be heard, and He will not only deliver and rescue us from an evil man and an unjust man, but He will also redeem us from our invisible enemies, and along with earthly goods, He will deem us worthy of His eternal goods. In particular, let us keep our love for one another sincere and without guile, and let us consider the progress of our neighbor to be our own gain. For in this we become imitators of God as far as is possible for men. For our God is and is called Love. To Him be the glory and the power, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.