Letter 826

To the same person. When we have contended fittingly, and have obtained the blessing of Jacob [the patriarch, Genesis 27-28], then the lords who bear a grudge against our way of life grow powerless in their archery, and, with might, according to what is written, their shamefully-aimed bows are shattered, and the sinews of the arms of their hands are unstrung [cf. 1 Samuel 2:4: "the bows of the mighty are broken"], and we shall be glorified together with the company of those who carry off the trophies of victory.

Ὅταν διαθλήσωμεν προσηκόντως, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἰακὼβ τύχωμεν εὐλογίας, τότε οἱ ἐγκοτοῦντες τῇ πολιτείᾳ ἡμῶν κύριοι, τοξευμάτων ἀτονοῦσι, καὶ μετὰ κράτους, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, συντρίβεται τὰ αἰσχροβόλα τόξα, καὶ ἐκλύεται νεῦρα βραχιόνων χειρῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ δοξασθησόμεθα σὺν τῷ χορῷ τῶν τροπαιοφορούντων.