Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

continued

Discourse 24

1 Thus says the Lord who made heaven, he who established the earth, and made it, he set its boundaries. He did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek in vain. I am the Lord who speaks righteousness, and announcing truth. Having proclaimed beforehand the arrival of our Savior of all, Christ, and having marked out the season of salvation, in which all, having abandoned the darkness of ancient ignorance, will cross over to the light of the true knowledge of God, he makes a necessary exhortation in these things to both Jews and Greeks adding the clear things through which they will know very plainly, that he himself is God and creator of all things, and that there is no other besides him. For this reason he says: Thus says the Lord, and not simply Lord, for there are very many both in heaven and on earth, who have received the name by misuse; but he himself who is by nature and in truth that which he is also called, and as one who has his glory from his accomplishments, not a counterfeit one. For this, he says, is the Lord who made the heaven; a mighty thing for a demonstration of the highest renown and of all-powerful preeminence, to make the heaven and establish the earth, and to found it.

2 For he himself defined it, that is, what was once hidden in the abysses, invisible and unformed, he rendered visible and wrought. For he defined it; for he said according to the faith of the books of Moses: "Let the water be gathered together into one collection, and let the dry land appear. So then, it appeared out of the waters, and being submerged and entirely inactive, he set it apart in its place, placing bolts and gates upon the abysses, and separating it very well from the waters. That he produced it usefully and necessarily for this purpose, not that it might only be seen, but that it might have inhabitants—clearly those formed from it, just as, indeed, he also previously clarified concerning heaven, that it has the holy angels, saying: He did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited. Therefore it was shown to be a vehicle and as a kind of house for those who tread upon it, that is, for us. But if we were brought into existence by him, how is it not true to say that we came to be entirely for this reason, that we might worship him and him alone, and recognizing him as the creator of all things, offer up hymns of thanksgiving? I therefore am, and there is no other. For if he is the one who made the heaven, and established the earth, and did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited, what other could be thought to be God besides him?

3 Or who could equal him in power and glory? Or who at all is near or close by a little? How is not the whole nature of created things overcome by such great and all-surpassing glory, strength, and wisdom? There is no one. Therefore, he alone, and no other besides him at all, could be thought to be God by nature and in truth. But yes, someone might sometimes say: Who has known his purpose? Or who is able to say whether he ever wishes others to be crowned with the glory and title of God, or, that is, himself and himself alone? Therefore, he makes his defense and says: I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, "Seek vain things. Laws, he says, I ordained for them concerning these things, not speaking in a corner, nor striving to be hidden, but clearly and openly. For the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai in the form of fire; there was darkness and storm and smoke, and the piercing sound of trumpets. For all the people stood by while Moses mediated, and laws were announced by God, not urging Israel to seek something vain, that is, an idol, or, a falsely-named worship, but commandments restraining them from the contrary. For it was said to him: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve, and you shall have no other gods besides me.

4 And you shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. Therefore it has been said to him; and the phrase, I am the Lord, is like as if he should say, and not once but many times, that I alone am God, and Lord of all, speaking righteousness and announcing truth; and by righteousness, as I think, he means the law; for the law is the arbiter of righteousness; but by truth, the teachings of Christ. There is in it but the formation of the truth is in the law, and the mystery of Christ is hidden in the shadows. For Moses wrote about him. Therefore, in speaking of righteousness, the power of truth is also announced with it, if indeed it is true that the law was a shadow, but now in it is the formation of the truth. Be gathered, and come, take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations. They did not know, those who carry the wood, their carved image, and who pray as to gods, who do not save. The apostate dragon indeed beguiled those on earth from their relative intimacy with God, and having stripped them of the true knowledge of God, he scattered them into deceit, and polytheistic error, and by establishing them in the ways of wickedness, he rendered the net of his own perversity hard to escape and indelible for them.

5 But Emmanuel appeared, who leads forth those who are bound in manliness, and he endured death in the flesh for our sake, so that, as the evangelist says, he might gather into one the scattered children of God. For what Satan scattered, leaping on them like a cruel and savage wolf, these things Christ, the good shepherd, who laid down his own soul for the sheep, gathered together. Therefore he indicates this very thing, saying: Be gathered, that is, be bound together by one faith, and unanimity. Be gathered to the God who rules over all through sanctification and righteousness; come near, you who are still far off and separated by sin, and by being brought into a most shameful and abominable disposition of mind. But we say that those who have been led astray have departed from God, who will also be near through faith in Christ. For the all-wise Paul addressed those who ran to this: "But now you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. And again concerning him, that "Coming, he preached peace to us who were far off, and to those who were near. For this reason it was said through the holy prophets to those still far off: "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Come then, he says, and take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations.

6 But, Take counsel, he says, instead of, Let the things pertaining to the return to God be done by you, not without counsel, or unadvisedly, but with admirable prudence. For through faith to advance to understanding, if indeed there is no doubt that having condemned the bad counsel in being led astray, and turning away from the harm of the ancient deceit, we run swiftly to God, receiving the light of the true knowledge of God, and incomparably casting our vote from a right mind for the better things. Take counsel then, that is, be prudent, you who are saved from the nations. For he commands those who are full of foolishness to depart to a prudent mind, an admirable and irreproachable understanding, through which one might perceive the power and glory of the God who rules over all. But they did not know this, he says, that is, they might be considered completely witless, and full of the utmost lack of understanding. Those who carry the wood, their carved image. And "carrying" in these things, you will understand as "exalting," so as to attach to it the glory befitting God, and to this wood that was carved by them. Then praying as to gods, who do not save. Ignorant therefore, and not far from those they worship in their lack of sensation, are those who worship their own crafts, and seek help from senseless matter, and assign the title of God to things made and crafted by their own hands.

7 Let them hear the lyre of the Psalmist mocking them and crying out: "May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them. If they will declare, let them draw near, that they may know together, who made these things heard from the beginning. Then it was announced to you: I am God, and there is no other besides me; a just God and a Savior there is none besides me. Turn to me, and you will be saved, you who are from the end of the earth. Setting terrible and various snares for those on the earth, and digging the pits of destruction, the sinners demons, both unholily plundering the glory of divinity, and binding it upon their own heads, the all-daring ones were zealous to establish the workshops of their own deceit. And pretending to know the future, and to be able to announce it to those willing to learn, they have indeed continued to plunder for a time. Indeed, oracles throughout countries and cities, and false prophecies were everywhere, and divinations by omens, and a multitude of impostors speaking from their own heart, according to what is written, oracle-mongers, and necromancers, and those who speak from the earth, and ventriloquists and diviners by barley meal, and in short the world was filled with liars and impostors. Therefore, there was among them no true knowledge of future things, but falsehoods, and buffoonery and deceit, and guile, and nothing else. For this reason, the God of all says:

8 If they will declare, let them draw near, that they may know together. For if they are able, he says, to announce, let them come that they may know together, so that in person all gathered into one (for there were, as I said, oracles in many places in part. And different people visited in different ways, and honored the lying unclean demons); but if they are truly able to announce, he says, all coming together at the same time, let them know something of the future, who made these things heard from the beginning. For who of the superstitious, or of their prophets, or of those who attend the oracles, ever knew and announced that in due time Christ would shine upon the world, and that the cloud of deceit will be gone, and the darkness of falsely named knowledge will be scattered, and there will shine upon those on the earth, as an intelligible morning star, as dawn and day, Christ as the sun of righteousness? But neither, he says, did the demons who feign to have knowledge of the future announce these things from the beginning, nor indeed the ministers of their falsehood. For no one of the poets or prose-writers among the Greeks mentioned such splendid matters. Who then has made these things heard from the beginning? Then it was also announced to you, that is, from the beginning. But it was announced not by any other, but rather by me who knows all things, and has announced them before they came to pass.

9 For I have spoken them to you both through Moses and the holy prophets, who conveyed the words from me to you. Therefore I am, he says, God, and there is no other besides me. And I am just, and a savior. For unjust indeed are the pestilent demons, as they are also destroyers, and bloodthirsty, and pushing those upon the earth into destruction. Just and a savior is the God of all, helping the wronged, and releasing from bonds those who have been seized, and bound tight with chains of sins, and enlightening those in darkness, strengthening the weak, and raising up the fallen, and turning back the wandering. For this reason, he says: Turn to me, and you will be saved, you who are at the end of the earth. In these things one might see very well the magnitude of the grace through Christ, extending to all who are on the earth. For confined indeed was the grace and salvation through Moses, going to one nation, Israel; but long, as it were, and running to the ends of the earth is that through Christ. For the whole earth has been caught in a net for salvation and life through faith in him. I am God, and there is no other. I swear by myself; unless righteousness shall go forth from my mouth, my words will not be turned back; that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue will swear by God, saying: Righteousness and glory will come to him.

10 With the falsely named worship having been destroyed, it was necessary for the truth to come into the midst, and with the darkness, as it were, having been driven away, for the light to shine around. For this reason, and very fittingly, after this beneficial and profitable exhortation, he makes his own glory manifest. For I am God, he says, and there is no other. Then he foretells the power of the things expected to be through Christ, confirming it by an oath, that in every way and altogether the righteousness spoken through him, this is, that which in Christ through faith was graciously given to those throughout all under heaven, and his words, that is, the evangelical and saving proclamation, will in every way and entirely shine forth in due time. For, I think, this very thing makes clear the phrase, They will not turn back. For when God promises, and says that something will in every way and entirely be, who is able to hinder? So then he swears by himself. For men indeed swear by the greater, and for them an oath is for confirmation, an end of all dispute. But God, who is beyond all things and raised above others by incomparable excellences, swears by himself. For it was not possible to swear by another, since he himself is, as I said, the highest of all, and that which stands at the limit, both in nature and glory. What then was promised? Salvation, and the conversion of every nation upon the earth.

11 For to me, he says, every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear to God. But the phrase, "a knee will bow to God," and that his name is to be sworn by all, what else could it be understood to be except the conversion of all, and full knowledge, and a declaration of their relationship to him? For those who through conversion come to God completely refrain from bowing the knee to unclean spirits, and from having them on their tongue as gods (for they will not swear by anything as by God), but knowing the one who is by nature, and truly is, they submit their neck to his yokes, and bow the knee making their prayers, and if they should somehow choose to swear truly, they will make mention of him and him alone, saying, that All righteousness and all glory shall come to him, that is, it is fitting for him and him alone. For it is necessary that the best of all works, and everything in words that results in the glory of God, that this be attributed by us to him alone. All who separate themselves from the Lord shall be ashamed; they shall be justified, and in God all the seed of the sons of Israel shall be glorified. The saying is true in both respects, and the divine word would not be proved false. For it will certainly follow those who wish to depart from their relationship with God, a spiritual one, of course, that they must be put to shame;

12 while for those who love him from a sincere heart, it is to receive glory in him and to be distinguished in righteousness. And these would not be in any way at all Israel according to the flesh, but rather the seed of the sons of Israel. But making the meaning of the preceding things clearer, we say this. For the only-begotten Word of God shone forth to those on the earth, in a form like ours, that is, having become flesh, according to the Scriptures; and he came proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, setting at liberty those who are oppressed, and healing the brokenhearted, and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. But although it was necessary for the Jews especially to bring faith to him, since they indeed had the law as a tutor and the holy prophets as mystagogues, this they have not done, but they leapt away from him, as it were, and have become full of confusion, having the sin that puts them to shame irremovably. Therefore it is true that, All who separate themselves from the Lord shall be ashamed. For they heard him say, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. But those who have recognized his appearing have been justified through faith, and have gained a long and unending glory, having been shown to be partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having been enriched with the splendid dignity of adoption as sons.

13 For he gave them authority to become children of God, and besides this, they have a worthy and unassailable hope; for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. And these might be understood as the seed of the sons of Israel. And by 'sons of Israel' in this context we say the holy apostles and evangelists are named; for they were from the Jews according to the flesh. And their sons are those called through them to the knowledge of Christ. At any rate, the divine Paul addressed those who had believed through him: "For even if you might have ten thousand tutors in the Lord, but not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus through the Gospel I begot you. And we find in many places also other of the holy apostles, calling 'little children' those who through them have been drawn into the net for the salvation that is in Christ. Bel has fallen, Dagon is shattered, their carved images have become as beasts and cattle. Somehow there always follow the prophecies, which were made through the holy prophets concerning the Savior of us all, Christ, necessary predictions of the things accomplished by Him, that is, of the good things set right for the world. And the most excellent achievement of all is the removal of Satan from the midst, and the profane and murderous multitude.

14 Therefore, when He shone upon the world, the long-standing, great and accursed mist of sin was dispelled, which Satan had instilled in the minds of all, so that they might not see the light of truth. And the tyranny of the demons has ceased, and the games of idolatry. Therefore, necessarily, as I said, the discourse concerning these things was introduced to us, and it says that Bel has fallen. This is an idol especially of the Babylonians, but honored also in other cities. And they say that Bel is the Kronos of whom the atheistic Greeks tell myths, whom they also say is cruel and bloodthirsty, and a lover of manslaughter. For it has been recorded in Greek histories that on one day some people sacrificed three hundred foreigners to him, celebrating a festival that was foul and hateful to God and men. And indeed the God of all, being indignant at such terrible impieties, says somewhere through one of the holy prophets to those accustomed to do such things: Sacrifice men; for the calves have run out. For he says that the unclean demons have arrived at such a point of misanthropy and savagery as to thirst insatiably for human blood, and to delight in the destruction of those who are captured. For perhaps a lowing calf upon the altar does not seem pleasing to them, nor incense and sheep; but they yearn more for the slaughter of men.

15 Therefore, he says, Bel has fallen, that is, he has been cast down, and the strength of the demon has fallen; so that henceforth, casting off the yoke from their wickedness, those who were once held fast by his depravities might run to God with a free and uncoerced mind. And Dagon was also shattered. This too is an object of worship for those who inhabit the coast, which is also bordering on Judea, I mean of the Ascalonites and the Gazans, whom the divine Scripture in many places names Philistines or foreigners. And very well does he say, 'He was shattered,' as if from what had happened to him at times, the prophet now also conducts his discourse about him. For we have read in the books of the Kingdoms that the foreigners, once having taken the divine ark, brought it into the house of Dagon; then the worshippers of the demon, entering, saw the idol fallen before the ark, and having undergone a shattering so as to have lost its hands and feet, and head. Therefore, very elegantly, as if from what had happened at times, he says, 'He was shattered.' And we say that the prophetic word signifies to us the abolition of idolatry, by naming in part both Bel and Dagon. For it was not possible to make mention of all the idols on the earth, but as from a part he again sets forth concerning the whole.

16 Lift them up, bound, as a burden for one weary, and hungry, and faint, not being strong at the same time; they will not be able to be saved from war; and they themselves, as captives, have been shamed. In these things the word again shows us the uselessness and vanity of things made by hand, and from the games performed in their honor, it reveals that the worship of those who are led astray is full of shame. For they used to celebrate for the demons festivals that were at times frigid and ridiculous; then carrying the statues out of the shrines, and some of the priests placing them upon themselves went about in the public squares, shaking and as if drunk as though bearing a burden- excessively, and wherever that which they wished to carry might become heavy, there they would somehow even push together, pretending not to be able to bear the burden. But the senseless and vulgar crowd, and women bereft of sense, would applaud with acclamations, seeing the lifeless matter formed into the shape of a man or perhaps a woman, and they thought in truth that what was being carried placed an unbearable weight on those who had set it on their shoulders. Therefore, in these things the divine Word laughs at the greatness of Hellenic insensibility, and says concerning the statues in the shrines, which they senselessly wished to worship:

17 Lift them up, bound, as a burden for one who is weary, and for one who is faint with hunger, being at once unable. For these things, as I said, some of the priests would pretend while carrying about the handmade things. How then will the inactivity of the worshiped things be known? One might perceive it from many other things. For wood or stone or some other matter is the origin of such things. But since it is necessary to show this from the most useful examples, it brings them to the memory of their future captivity, that under the Babylonians, I say, which indeed they also suffered, since, having abandoned the need to fulfill the law and to worship the one God who is by nature, they went off to every one of the most discordant things, and have worshiped the works of their own hands; and besides this, they have sacrificed also to the host of heaven, as it is written. From where, then, will the inactivity of the supposed gods be seen? They will not be able, he says, to be saved from war, but they themselves were led away captive. For when a city or country is captured, if there are indeed any gods covered with gold and silver among them, they are taken first of all by the conquerors, who it was fitting, if they were gods, to also help their own worshipers, and to show them to be stronger than the hand of the enemies.

18 What then does a carved image profit, that they have carved it, according to the prophet's word, they have made it a molten image, a false fantasy, which are able to help neither themselves, nor indeed others? For how could any such thing come from wood and stone? Hear me, O house of Jacob, and the remnant of Israel, who are carried from the womb, and taught from childhood even to old age. I am, until you grow old. I am. I bear you. I have made, and I will bear; I will take up, and I will save you. Again the discourse is most artfully arranged, and proceeds in a fitting order, and according to a good plan. For since he made mention of the war, in which it happened that a countless multitude of men and women died, and the land of the Jews became very sparsely populated, for this reason he speaks as to one house, as to a remnant, and a leftover from barbaric cruelty: Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel. And the discourse would have benefited the hearers not a little, if they had been shrewd, and examiners of useful things. For surely one might easily have also passed by the grim and unbearable things if they were foretold, having fled the causes of their assault; but when they have arrived and, as it were, leaped upon him, how could he ward them off?

19 He therefore calls them the remnant, all but crying out that they will be consumed by the war, and will be prey to barbaric cruelty, unless they cease from such outlandish practices. But that stubbornness is in the souls of the Jews, and the study of the law has become for them an unprofitable thing, he shows by saying: Who are carried from the womb, and taught from childhood even to old age. For from infancy and up to old age, though studying the sacred and divine Scriptures, they have benefited nothing; but as if they had been deemed worthy of no admonition at all, they went away to apostasy from God. But even if a long time was spent by you, he says, in unprofitable studies, and seeing that you are most ignorant, I will not cease from my innate gentleness; and I make myself thus clear to you by saying: I am, that is, I live and I exist; not as having a beginning of generation or knowing how to come to an end, but is always the same and unchanging, and until you grow old, I will be the same. For old age does not come upon me as upon you, but I am living and all-powerful. And I, for my part, brought upon you the calamities of war with a holy decree, calling to justice those who had insulted my glory. But I will relent, that is, I will release, and through amnesty I will reclaim you who have toiled.

20 I will take you up and save you. For I who gave you into the hands of enemies will again make you my own, and I will release you from the bonds of captivity. Therefore, as with a multifaceted medicine, he heals the hearts of those who have acted insolently toward him, and from too much ignorance have slipped into what is unlawful, partly with threats, and partly also with good promises. For his purpose is to save that which was lost, and to snatch that which is wandering from the hands of the devil. To whom have you likened me? Devise, you who are wandering, who contribute gold from a purse, and silver in a balance; they will set it on the scales, and having hired a goldsmith they made handmade things, and bowing down they worshiped it. They lift it on their shoulders, and will go. And if they put it in its place, it will remain, it shall not be moved; and whoever shall cry to it, it shall not hear, from evils it shall not save him. He convicts the worshipers of idols of being insolent and foolish, and of sinning against the divine and highest nature itself. For they bring down, as far as it depends on them, the high excellence of its inherent glory to things unfitting, and bring it down to lifeless matter, bestowing it on their own handiworks, then piously declaring their own heads subject to the utmost penalties.

21 To whom then have you likened me, he says, who by nature am distinct from all things, and raised high with incomparable superiorities, and beyond every created thing, the creator of all things, at once both king and Lord? And it is likely, I suppose, that God also wishes to make something else clear, saying to those who have gone astray: To whom have you likened me? See, contrive something, you who have gone astray. For, he says, by contributing gold and silver, then hiring a goldsmith, they fashion the form of either a man, or a woman, or rather a beast, so to speak, or a domestic animal, and the name God is immediately given by them to the thing fashioned. Understand, therefore, he says, to what have you likened me? For it is either to a man or a woman, or even to beasts or irrational animals. Then how is this matter not beyond all impiety? Devise something for a defense; absolve your sins. But you would not find the helpful argument for this. For bringing down the nature that is above all things to beasts and cattle, what arguments then will you use that are sufficient for being able to escape the accusations? And that the making of idols attempts to teach nothing other than vulgarity of thoughts; for this reason he also speaks very sparsely.

22 For they collect from a purse, he says, silver and gold, and will place it on a balance, on an equally measured scale, with each one perhaps contributing, so that, as is likely, the thing being crafted might belong more to the one contributing more. And someone might say, I think, that if they were in need of money, they would not have had a god at all, and if the world under heaven did not abound in craftsmen, there would be no one at all who was worshiped by them. And they have come to such a point of ignorance and foolish thoughts, that though they themselves pre-existed their own gods, they honor those who were born late, and they themselves create those who should rather be seen as creators; and being lords of the matter, and having taken it for necessary use, they ask to be saved by it. They will be burden-bearers, carrying their gods on their shoulders; they see that they are immobile, and carried off wherever someone might choose, and to them they bring their prayers. Therefore, when you see them having received the prayer, then expect that help will come. But if you see that they are both senseless and immobile, then what benefit do you expect from them? Suffering from the same malady, you are not aware. For you have fallen into the utmost insensibility. Remember these things, and Groan; repent, you who have gone astray.

23 Return in your heart, and remember the former things from of old, that I am God, and there is none besides me; declaring beforehand the last things before they happen, and at once they were accomplished. And I said: All my counsel shall stand, and all that I have purposed, I will do, calling a bird from the east, and from a land far off. Concerning what I have purposed, I have spoken, and I have brought it, I have created, and I have made it. I brought him, and made his way prosperous. Seeing them held fast by deceit and darkness and terrible ignorance, God again pities them, and commands them to go backward, as it were, applying the accurate eye of the mind to the facts, so that having learned in what evil they are, they might change their mooring to better things, and having unending memories of the words spoken to them, they might choose to repent, and not doing this simply from the tongue only, but from the heart itself. For the manner of such a repentance would be most praiseworthy and true. Therefore, that the making of idols is a ridiculous thing, he commands them to know from what he has already said before. But that he himself is God of all, he persuades them to understand from the most God-befitting dignities inherent in him by nature.

24 For I am he says, the one who has the knowledge of all things, both announcing a thing before it happens, and bringing what has been promised to fulfillment. And I affirm this, that whatever I have purposed has been accomplished, and nothing of what seems good to me would ever fail. And this is a very great thing for the demonstration of invincible and God-befitting strength. For men, although they have obtained the highest honors and possess dynasties to the end, propose some goal, and plan to accomplish something, but what they have considered does not in every way and entirely go smoothly for them. For very many things fall in between, and their frustration is hard to meet; But God of all things, if he should wish to do something, what could stand against it, and oppose it? For what the holy God wills, who will scatter? And his high hand, who will turn back? Therefore, for a proof that he is God by nature and truly, it might be said reasonably by him, ‘All my counsel shall stand, and all that I have purposed, I will do. Then to this he says, ‘Calling a bird from the east, and from a land far off concerning what I have purposed’; and to this will also follow, ‘I am. Now, the bird called from the east, and from a land far off, we say is the Babylonian, who, having burned the whole land of the Jews, took Jerusalem and shook the temple in it;

25 then having roused very many of both the common people and the notable ones, he carried them away from the land that bore them, and deposited them in the country and land of the Persians, casting upon them the hard and unbearable yoke of captivity. And this will be clear to you from what God said to the blessed prophet Ezekiel. It is as follows: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, relate a tale, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord Adonai: The great eagle, long in its expanse, full of claws, whose tale is to enter into Lebanon, and took the choice parts of the cedar, nipped off the tips of its tenderness, and brought them into the land of Canaan, he set them in a walled city, and he took from the seed of the land, and gave it as a plant in the field, by much water, he set it to be watched over, and it became a weak vine, and small in size so that its branches would appear upon it, and its roots were underneath its earth. And it became a vine and made shoots, and stretched out its climbing branches. These things, then, God said to the blessed prophet Ezekiel. But since the word was hard to grasp, and the force of the thoughts not very clear to the hearers, he himself again makes it plain, saying: “Say then to the provoking house of Israel:

26 Do you not know what these things are that I said. When the king comes of Babylon against Jerusalem, and he will take its king, and its rulers, and will lead them to him in Babylon. And he will take from the seed of the kingdom, and will make a covenant with him, and will bring him into a curse, and he will take the leaders of the land that the kingdom might become weak, and that it might not be lifted up at all to keep his covenant, and to establish it. For as we read in the book of Kings, after the holy city was taken, the Babylonian carried off Zedekiah as a captive, and some of the notables bound with him, to the land of the Chaldeans; and these are the choice parts of the cedar. I am, therefore, he says, the one who calls a bird from the east. Concerning what I have planned, I have spoken and I have brought it to pass, I have not been mistaken, he says. For I announced beforehand that it would come in its time, but what was foretold has been brought to completion. I have created, that is, I have brought about evils, that is to say, afflictions, and the calamities of war for those who dishonored my glory, and have turned to lifeless idols. And I have done it, I have led him, and I have made his way prosperous.

27 For it was not the work of his hand to overcome Israel, if indeed God was its helper. But I myself, saving and presiding, have prospered his way, that he might bring to judgment those who thought little of piety toward him, or rather who utterly rebelled, so as to assign to wood and stones the honor and glory most fitting for him and him alone. Hear me, you who have lost your heart, who are far from righteousness. I have brought near my righteousness, and the salvation from me I will not delay. I have given salvation in Zion to Israel for a glorification. Behold, then, again he promises salvation to them, and does not allow them to despair, lest somehow, being overcome by despondency beyond measure, they should become far from the hope that they will be saved, having chosen to repent. Heartless, then, are those who wander, and the word against them is true. For with what mind do they themselves create the ones they worship, assigning reverence to wood and stones, asking from them to be saved? Nevertheless, God endures even so, and rather pities those who have been deceived, and has mercy on those who have fallen, and with good promises he restores them to understanding, and commands them to become sober, and though they are far off and separated from righteousness, that is, from God, he commands them to come to him.

28 And it seems that with the promises of partial salvation, he also interweaves the declaration of that which is universal and most general. For he saved from the land of the Chaldeans those who were carried off to it as captives, and one might say, I think, that this is a partial assistance, but the most general is that through Christ, which he had long ago promised to reveal not long after. For I have brought near, he says, my righteousness, and the salvation from me I will not delay. And we say that this is like, "Yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not delay. And salvation has been given in Zion to Israel for a glorification. And in these things he names the spiritual Zion, that is, the Church of Christ, in which we all who belong to the spiritual Israel receive his salvation in glory. For just as a Jew is not one according to the flesh only, but if someone has also been deemed worthy of the circumcision in the spirit; so also Israel is not only those who have come from the blood of Israel, but also all who have had a mind that sees God, who also have been appointed as children, and according to the promise of Abraham, and we say that these are the truer Israel. Come down, sit on the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground [there is no throne;

29 enter into the darkness], daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. Take the millstone, grind meal, uncover your veil, expose your gray hairs, bare your legs, cross the rivers. Your shame will be uncovered; your reproaches will appear. I will take what is just from you. Having said that I have given salvation to Israel for a glorification, and that from the having promised them redemption from captivity, he then remembers and clearly narrates, in what way she was captured and has been plundered, and as if on a tablet he depicts the condition of the captives. For just as he had previously announced to the land of the Jews the devastation from the war of the Babylonians, going through each detail meticulously, and saying: "Because the daughters of Zion were exalted, and walked with a high neck, and with winks of their eyes, and in the gait of their feet, at once dragging their tunics, and at once playing with their feet, and God will humble the ruling daughters of Zion; and the Lord will reveal their form in that day, and the Lord will take away the glory of their clothing, and their ornaments, and their braided hair, and the fringes," and the things that follow these; then he adds to these: "And instead of a sweet smell there will be dust, and instead of a girdle you will be girded with a rope, and instead of the golden ornament of the head you will have baldness because of your works;

30 and instead of the purple-bordered tunic you will gird yourself with sackcloth; so also now what the daughters of the Babylonians, that is, their inhabitants, will suffer, with the Persians and Medes dragging them about, he shows, saying: Come down, sit upon the ground, which would imply, be humbled, although long grievously sick with arrogance. Come down, therefore, from the mountain and high mindset to humility, from glory to dishonor, from luxury to misery, from immeasurable wealth to utter poverty, from freedom to slavery, and in a word from all the sweetest things to the worse and most wretched. Sit in darkness, that is, the darkness from incurable calamity. For a sharp grief poured over the soul enslaves the mind, and the assault of unexpected toils, and fear falling like a burden. And that the time of her ancient prosperity has passed, he shows by saying: No longer shall you be called delicate and luxurious. For the women of the Chaldeans, it is not unlikely, had a luxurious lifestyle, and were lovers of adornment, and held the art of hairdressing in no small account; because they say that even their military experts prided themselves on gold and stones, and hastened to distinguish themselves with no unremarkable adornment, even in battles themselves. You will no longer be called luxurious, therefore, he says, but you will rather endure, and not willingly, the misery of servitude; you will grind meal, you will be seen bare of the coverings of your head;

31 that is, with your hair flowing unkempt everywhere, although formerly it was bound up in various ways. Uncover your grey hairs, and this would be a clear sign that the captors have come to such cruelty as not even to spare an old woman. Hike up your lower legs, cross rivers. Your shame will be uncovered, your reproaches will appear. For those who have once fallen into captivity, and are carried away from their native land to that of the victors, must cross the intervening rivers on foot, clearly by hiking up their garments, and no longer bearing in their eyes the modesty befitting females; but as if by necessity also exposing to many the secret parts of the body. And one might say that her shame was seen and her reproaches appeared in another way, as she was captured once and for all, and came to be in abominable circumstances, although formerly she was luxurious and prided herself on unending prosperity. Then he says, that I will take what is just from you, that is, what you ought to suffer, this I will take from you. And what this is, he has foretold through another of the holy prophets, saying: "As she has done, do, I will do to her. And again: "As you have done, so shall it be to you; your recompense shall be returned upon your own head. And it is said elsewhere concerning everyone who is accustomed to sinning: "Woe to the lawless one, evil things will happen to him according to his works.

32 No longer will I deliver you to men, said the Lord Sabaoth who redeems you; the Holy One of Israel is His name. Another word is inserted in between, and as if to Israel, and God promises the things at no time under to fall into the hand of enemies, for he would pity them as having paid punishments equal to their sins against him, or rather even punished beyond this. For he said somewhere concerning it: "Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, comfort her, because her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is forgiven, because she has received from the Lord's hand her sins. Therefore, He who delivered you, he says, the Lord Sabaoth, whose name is also the Holy One of Israel, said, You shall no longer be given over to wicked and unmerciful men, meaning, of course, to those who formerly conquered, since God was angered, and left Israel destitute of compassion and love, seeing them turn to apostasy and uncontrollably proceeding to do what is forbidden by his divine laws. Sit down, contrite, enter into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; you shall no longer be called the Strength of a kingdom. I was provoked against my people, you defiled my inheritance. I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy, you made the yoke of the elder very heavy, and you said: I will be a ruler forever. You did not consider these things in your heart, nor did you remember your latter end.

33 He shows himself everywhere using a just decree, and bringing upon certain ones who might sin, balanced punishments. For the crimes of the Babylonians were very many, and he describes them with very great cruelty and inhumanity, and also shows her to be arrogant, and unwisely trusting in her own powers, so as to even think that the change for the worse would in no way ever befall her. Therefore when, he says, you endure the capture, then sit down contrite. But "contrite," he says, means, having understood, even if at last, and especially in yourself; but accept dizziness from darkness. For he said that irreparable evils pour down a kind of darkness on the mind, and like dust fall upon souls. Therefore, he says, you will no longer be called the Strength of a kingdom. For Babylon was so named, since it had a multitude beyond number, and a most warlike hand, and sufficient for resistance, if indeed there were any who resisted, and went out against those who held power among them. Then what was the pretext for the Babylonians to have inflicted upon them the things brought on by divine wrath, he makes clear, saying: I was provoked against my people, you defiled my inheritance. I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy. He appears to say something similar also through the voice of Zechariah:

34 "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and with great anger I am angry with the nations that attack, because I was a little angry, but they joined in for evil. For at times God disciplines out of love, and some who have become unadmonished and have set a proud neck against him, he brings through toils to obedience, either by bringing the hands of enemies against them, or by inflicting them with other griefs somehow. For just as fire or iron often heals incurable wounds, since they do not endure the measure of medicines, in the very same way, I think, our God who loves virtue, when he sees a soul going with unrestrained impulses against rocks, and clinging tightly to the ways of wickedness, he heals it with bitter toils. But there are those who, having been appointed in the role of punishers, use terrible and unrestrained angers, and are carried beyond what is reasonable, unbearably burdening those who have come under them. Therefore, the matter is very difficult, and God is provoked by those accustomed to do this. We must therefore abstain from evil, and if any should suffer punishments, with God disciplining them, let us look to what is gentle, knowing well that the discipliner is greatly provoked, if the things of justice are brought upon them by us beyond measure. Therefore, he says, you did not pity the old man, and you captured them not by your own strength, but rather because I gave them.

35 But you have become hard and fierce of temper, and what is still more burdensome than this, you have come to such arrogance, as to think and say, that you will have an unending rule, and that which is in to be unshakable dominions. Then these things happening to you, he says, you did not deign to take into your mind, nor did you receive into memory the last things. What were these things? Those of the captivity, clearly, and of the suffering brought upon her by God. But now hear these things, you delicate one, you who are seated, you who are confident, who says in her heart: I am, and there is no other; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know orphanhood. But now these two things shall come upon you suddenly in one day: widowhood and childlessness shall come suddenly upon you, in your sorcery, in the strength of your enchantments, greatly, in the hope of your wickedness. For you said: I am, and there is no other. Know that the understanding and fornication of these things will be a shame and disgrace to you. He speaks as to some profane and wanton little woman, both given to luxury and practiced in self-adornment. But we say this: There were very many magi among the Chaldeans, whom they indeed also called wise men, by whose suggestions and false prophecies the Babylonians did everything.

36 For pretending to have precise knowledge of future events, they prophesied to the rulers of the land nothing gloomy, but rather those things by which it was likely that the hearers would be delighted. It is necessary, therefore, to understand that, even when Cyrus was threatening them with his attack and already bringing on the assaults of the enemy, they were certainly present in their midst, speaking falsely and saying that they would very soon overcome him, and they would prevail very effortlessly, and they would destroy their enemies, and would dance over the fallen. But they said these things. But now hear, you delicate one. And through these things he disparages the lifestyle of the Babylonians, as being rather weak and dissolute. For they were delicate, anointing themselves with the most fragrant perfumes, using embroidered robes, and honoring the splendor that comes from adornment, so that among them the art of hairdressing was held in esteem, and there was also a rivalry of beauty. Therefore, for this reason she has been called delicate. And he also calls her seated, instead of, reigning over, the neighbors, clearly, or rather, even over the nations yet far away. And she was also confident, that is, taking courage in the immeasurable multitude of her warriors, so as to even say: I am, and there is no other. For she thought that besides her there would be absolutely no other. But she was mistaken in her hope, and has missed the truth. For Cyrus has risen up against them, leading the Persians and Medes;

37 and having suffered the capture, she barely came to know that there was another, and a better one than she, that is, the country and land of the Persians and Medes, by which she has become a widow and childless, although never expecting to suffer it. For she has been widowed of the one ruling in her, who was brought down to death, and she has been made childless by the multitude of her warriors being consumed by the swords of those who captured them. Therefore widowhood and childlessness came upon her. And these things will happen to you, he says, in your sorcery, and in the strength of your enchantments, greatly in the hope of your wickedness. For since, he says, you had a wicked hope in your sorceries and enchantments, for this reason you have become childless and a widow; for raising your brow on high, and having a mind full of arrogance, you thought yourself to be better and stronger than all other lands. For you said that there is no other. Know therefore that the understanding of these things, and your fornication, will be a shame to you. I have already said that they called the magi wise men, that is, intelligent ones.

38 Know therefore, O Babylon, he says, that the wisdom of the magi, that is, of the false prophets, and of the enchanters, and your fornication in addition to these will be a shame to you For you have fallen under the hand of your enemies, having taken courage in these things, from which it is possible to derive no benefit, except only to be put to shame for having had a vain hope in them. And he calls the fornication of the Babylonians in these things, not at all the physical kind, but rather the incontinent and unbridled apostasy from God. For it was a land of carved images, and it was carried away, as it were, with full sails by the deceits of demons. And you said in your heart: I am, and there is no other; and there shall come upon destruction upon you, and you will not know it; a pit, and you will fall into it. And misery will come upon you, and you will not be able to be cleansed; and destruction will come upon you suddenly, and you will not know it. He writes again of her arrogance, and how she has completely turned her heart away from knowing how to love, as if nothing among men is fixed, but the existence or not of those on earth depends on divine decrees.

39 But those who do not endure to know this, attribute to their own heads the ability to set all things right, and whatever can bring them to prosperity, such men admire, and as if they had set up a reed for themselves as a staff, they would be caught; for they fall unexpectedly, and lament their unforeseen destruction. Therefore, since you said in your heart: I am, and there is no other, the bitter end of such terrible arrogance will seize you. For destruction will come upon you, and you will not know it, that is, even your divination will be useless to you for this. For you will suffer what you did not know, and a bitter and unexpected calamity will befall you. A pit will come, and you will fall into it; it is as if he said, a terrible and inescapable evil. For to those who have once been cast into a pit, if it be a deep one, the ability to escape is sometimes among the impossible things. And misery will come, and you will not be able to be cleansed; destruction will also come, and you will not know it. For it was not for the magicians to know the future simply; but divining things to please, and speaking from their own heart, as it is written, they saw the outcome of what was hoped for happen in a way inconsistent with their predictions.

40 Stand now in your incantations, and in the multitude of your sorceries, which you have learned from your youth, if you will be able to be helped. You have grown weary in your counsels. Let the astrologers of heaven stand up and save you, those who gaze at the stars; let them declare to you what is about to come upon you. Behold, they will all be burned up like stubble in a fire, and they will not deliver their soul from the flame, for you have coals of fire, sit upon them; these will be your help, you have labored in change from your youth; a man has gone astray on his own, but for you there will be no salvation. He laughs and, as it were, scoffs at the superstition of the magicians, their empty toy, and he declares their practice to be utterly useless. For when the warriors are gathered, he says, and Cyrus is against you, and the phalanx of the enemies is overwhelming your arrows, the shields will be weak, and the power of archery will avail nothing, when the riders of the horses fall like hoplites and foot soldiers. Stand in your incantations, and in the multitude of your sorceries, which you have learned from your youth, if you will be able to be helped. Raise up, he says, against the besiegers the magicians, those who know well the frigid sayings of the tactics of incantations; but you will not be able, he says. You have grown weary in your counsels.

41 For the seemingly wise counsels of the magicians have profited you nothing at all. But if you think my word of truth has missed the mark, let the astrologers of heaven stand up and save you, let those who gaze at the stars declare to you, what is about to come upon you. This is another order of buffoons, after the magicians and the enchanters, I say. For some among them pretended, to know the risings and settings of the stars, and to measure the motion of each, where they are and whence they come, and they asserted that through this false precision they received knowledge of future events. Therefore, if they are not liars, and if the stars that have obtained the firmament fulfill for them the role of prophets, let them tell what will happen. But they will not be able to say, he says, for they will be with the others, like stubble, the work and food of fire, and not one of them will escape. Then, smiling in a way at the Babylonians, as having gone astray, he adds and says, You have coals of fire, that is, the hot and burning men of whom the word speaks, when you will sit upon them. The and the sitting might signify rest. These will be a help to you; for if you should choose, it says, to rest upon the false words of magicians, and upon the buffooneries of others, you will find much assistance from them. Then again to her:

42 You have labored in your changing from your youth. Again, 'you have labored' must be taken to mean 'you have become weak'. For having apostatized from God and gone over to worthlessness, by yielding to the deceptions of demons, and this from your youth, you have become weak and easily captured. For you were not rich in the assistance from the only one who knows how to save, who is indeed the Lord of hosts. And he adds to this, that A person wandered on their own, but for you there will be no salvation; which is as if he were to say: Many people have wandered in a human way, offending God with moderate apostasies, either by stooping to the things of the flesh, or perhaps by being sick with some other passion. But you have advanced to such a point of unholiness, that no way of salvation is left for you; for judgment follows unrestrained deviations. Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, making mention of it, but not with truth, nor with righteousness, and holding fast to the name of the holy city, and bracing themselves upon the God of Israel; the Lord of Sabaoth is his name. The former things I declared of old; and they went forth out of my mouth, and they were heard. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.

43 Having completed the discourse concerning the Babylonians, he again transfers the force of the admonition to those of the blood of Israel, seeing that they had completely declined, and had been carried off into apostasy as if with loose reins. For after the death of Hezekiah, Manasseh his son, who administered the thrones of the kingdom, became a most impious man, and was completely carried away by the deceptions of demons; and he advanced to such a point of evil, wickedness, and unholy enterprises, that he filled the holy city with altars and images, and even set up an abomination in the divine temple itself, that is, an image made in the place of God. At any rate, the God of all accused Jerusalem in these matters, saying thus: "Why has the beloved wrought abomination in my house? Shall vows and holy flesh take away your wickedness from you, or shall you escape by these things? And again at another time. that: "According to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you set up altars to burn incense to Baal. Why do you speak to me? You have all transgressed, and you have all been impious against me, says the Lord. Indeed, when Jeremiah fell down and offered up supplications on behalf of Israel, God said:

44 And you, do not pray for this people, and do not ask for them to be pitied, and do not approach me for them in supplication and prayer, because I will not listen. Do you not see what these are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers kindle a fire, and their women knead dough to make cakes for the host of heaven; and they have poured out drink offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger. For as I said before, Manasseh the son of Hezekiah served the host of heaven, and was willing to esteem sorcerers and false prophets, enchanters and diviners, of every account, and he sacrificed some of his own children to idols. Therefore, the God of all wished to bring back Israel, who had slipped into such wickedness and impiety, to the light of truth with frequent admonitions. For this reason, he graciously gave them a very frequent word of exhortation, so that, opening the eye of their mind and freeing it from a demonic mist, they might at least late and with difficulty be strong enough to see who is the Creator and Master of all. For this reason, he says: Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth out of Judah.

45 Very providentially of the fathers of nobility, that which is in character, I say, and in manners, he makes mention for the shame of those who have turned away. For they were, they were from them according to the flesh, but stran- gers, and far from their gentleness, both of different man- ners and of different minds, and having only the name from them, but being incompatible in mind with those whose nobility they boast. But that this was in vain for their benefit, our Lord Jesus Christ clearly showed. For the Jews, being very proud of the splendor of their fathers, and making a boast of their virtues, foolishly said: "We have Abraham as our father. But he to them: "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. Therefore the name is not sufficient for the power of good repute for those who are from illustrious fathers, unless they become imitators of the brightness inherent in them. Therefore he shames them, saying that they were call- ed by the name of Israel, and came forth from Judah, that is, and sprung from the seed of Judah, but not at all resembling them in any way. And in addition to these things, he accuses them as swearing by the name of the Lord the God of Israel, and indeed fulfilling a commandment of the law; "For by his name, he says, you shall swear when accepting the need for oaths," not rather on true and just matters, but on those things falsified by the law;

46 then also holding fast to the holy city, and relying on the God of Israel. For they wished to raise a high brow as inhabiting a holy city, and one called God's. For they heard in the divine temple the priests chanting about Jeru- salem: "Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God. The Lord himself also mentions this, saying, that one should not swear by one's own head, because they cannot make one hair white or black; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king. For they swore by Jerusalem, calling it, as I said, the city of God. And they also relied on him, saying their strength was the Lord of hosts. But it was necessary for those who then supposed this not to defile the city of God with altars and sacrifices, and being restrain- ed by the deceits of demons, nor to provoke against themselves the one in whom they trusted, but rather to please him with good endeavors, and offering to him, as a kind of sacrifice, that which is steadfast in piety. But hear these things, he says; and what things are these? The former things I have already declar- ed, they went forth from my mouth, and they were heard. Suddenly I acted, and it came to pass.

47 For since, as I said, in the beginning the God-hated Manasseh, having gathered from all sides those called know- ers and augurs, was always prying into the future, and being carried away by their buffoonery, he thought perhaps he even knew it clearly; for this reason the God of all says: I have declared to you even the first things, and these things were not spoken to you by any other of the falsely named gods, but went forth from my mou- th; and it has become audible to you, and sud- denly I acted, and it came to pass, that is, even if you did not expect them to come to fulfillment, yet you knew through the events themselves, and by experience itself, that I both acted, and it came to pass. And he seems to be speaking of the former hard- ship brought upon them by the war, when, carried away from the land that bore them, and having taken up the yoke of bitter slavery, they were carried away to the land of the Persians and Medes. For second, after those things, happened to the Babylonians the things brought upon them by divine wrath, which have already been said by us in very many words. I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is an ir- on sinew, and your forehead is of bron- ze. And I have announced to you the things of old before they came upon you, I have made them heard by you.

48 In these things he shows the incomparable gentleness of the highest nature, and how much mercy he has toward men, even if there are any among those accustomed to grieve him. For he has a tranquility equal to his own glory. And just as with immeasurable excellences the [nature] of created things surpasses measure, so also is He incomparably philanthropic. For observe how, although He knew Israel to be hard, having a proud and unbroken neck, so that it even seemed to be an iron sinew, that is, clearly hard and unbending, and a brazen forehead, that is, again, shameless, and unyielding, and devoid of all reverence, He foretold to him the things that would be, and made them heard before they came to pass. And He did this not in vain, but since they had an unadmonished heart, He made the predictions of grim things, so that perhaps, being somewhat broken by terrors, they might depart from their absurd and most abominable life, and might adapt themselves to seeking what is better, and leaving behind the accursed and most abominable false worship, which they offered to falsely named gods, they might choose to worship the one and by nature and truly existing God. For those whom reason does not turn from their absurd undertakings, fear sometimes turns them, even unwillingly. And indeed, the divine David seems to suggest such a thing to us, psalm-singing and saying to the Savior God of all:

49 "With bit and bridle you shall curb their jaws, of those who do not draw near to you. Do not say that 'My idols have done them for me,' and do not say that 'My graven and molten images have commanded them to me.' You have heard these things, and you did not know, but I have also made new things audible to you from now on, which are about to happen. And you did not say: 'Now it happens, and not long ago,' and you did not hear them in former days. Do not say, 'I know them.' You neither knew, nor did you understand, nor from the beginning did I open your ears. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and you would be called a transgressor even from the womb. For the sake of my name I will show you my wrath, and my glorious things I will bring upon you, that I may not destroy you. Behold, I have sold you, not for silver; but I have delivered you from the furnace of poverty. For my own sake I will do it for you, because my name is profaned, and my glory I will not give to another.

50 In the words of Jeremiah the prophet we find that when those from Babylon had once taken the holy city, and laid waste all of Judea, and carried Israel away captive, the remaining women wished to go down to Egypt with those who had been saved from Israel, but when the prophet resisted, persuading them to remain at home, and explaining the reason, they in turn cried out to them, saying: "Because we stopped sacrificing to the queen of heaven, all these evils have come upon us. For they thought, although they had suffered the capture, that having offended the falsely named gods, and being deprived of their help, they had fallen under the feet of their enemies. For this reason the prophet Jeremiah also said to God: "O Lord, your eyes are upon faithfulness; you have scourged them, and they did not feel pain; you have consumed them, and they were not willing to receive correction. Since I, therefore, He says, made the events audible to you before they came to pass, do not say again, 'My idols have done them for me.' What did they do? To be captured, clearly, by the calamities of war; you were not led away captive by their wrath, nor, when they withheld their help, did they bring upon you an inescapable judgment. For they are graven and molten things. Nor indeed, He says, should you say to yourself, 'The idols commanded me,' that is, they threatened, or rather, they foretold that I would suffer such evils.

51 You heard these things from me, and you did not know, that is, you did not understand, nor indeed did you become wise. For this we say is to understand according to truth. For it was a work of intelligence, and the fruit of admirable wisdom, to turn away from the things foretold, and not to await the end of the grim things, but to be outside of all wrath and judgment. Therefore, I made new things audible to you from now on which are about to happen. For the predictions were made by God before they had yet happened or come to pass. Therefore, do not say that you did not hear them long ago and in former days, for I foretold them from the beginning. Do not say, that I know them, that is, through the false prophets and false speakers. For you neither knew them nor understood them, nor indeed from the beginning did I open your ears. that is, not before my words came to be, have I made this known to you through another; but I brought about the end of the things foretold. For I knew that you would utterly deal treacherously, and you would be called a transgressor even from the womb. It was necessary for those dealing treacherously and choosing to be lawless, and this from the womb; for they were taught from infancy to worship foreign gods; that the punishments fitting for them be inflicted.

52 I showed you my wrath, for my name’s sake, and I will bring my glories upon you, so that I might not utterly destroy you. For it was necessary for my wrath to be shown to Israel who had been contemptuous, and had driven all wickedness to its end, and deemed the honor due to God as altogether of no account, but so that they might see again the greatness of his inherent love for mankind, the wonders were added to the grim things, so that they might not be utterly destroyed. For he saved them from the hand of enemies, and when they had fallen into the net of justice, he rescued them again, and he loosed them from the snares of captivity, so that he might not utterly destroy Israel. Behold then, I have sold you, he says, not for silver, that is, not for the sake of money. For I did not ask for any such things from you, nor have I been in need of anything earthly, or of the slaughter of calves, or sheep, or goats; but because you sinned, and were neglectful concerning the honor and glory owed to me from you. Nevertheless, even so I rescued you, he says, from the furnace of poverty; for he had been enslaved to the Babylonians. And it certainly follows the evils of slavery to lie in want of every good thing. For my own sake I will do it for you, because my name is profaned.

53 For those who had taken them supposed that, although God was willing to save them and was their protector, they still had conquered, and had taken advantage of the one being helped against His will. Therefore, my name is profaned, he says, since they have such opinions about me. But I will not give my glory to any other. And the glory of God is to save, and to have mercy, and to be able to rule over all, and to be able to fulfill without effort whatever he should choose to accomplish. Hear me, Jacob, and Israel whom I call. I am the first, and I am forever; and my hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand established the heaven. He brings them again to the remembrance of the honor and glory given to them, and in addition of the forbearance and love. For they have been deemed worthy of the highest rewards, they who also from all the nations have been called alone to intimacy with him, and have become his portion and inheritance. And so the divine Moses once addressed those of Israel, saying thus: "Behold, the heaven of heaven is the Lord's your God, and the Lord has chosen you out of all the nations to be his people;

54 and again, "When the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the people of Jacob became the Lord's portion, Israel the measure of his inheritance. It was necessary, therefore, it was necessary for those so honored, who had obtained a glorious and chosen name, who were appointed as God's inheritance, and who were enriched by being among the chosen, not to turn aside to anything that is not lawful, nor to choose to grieve their benefactor with relentless rebellions, who is the giver of all honor to them, and the provider of such choice and most desired good things. But taking none of these things to mind, the wretched ones were ensnared in the mire of idolatry, and leaving the true God, they have worshipped the elements of the world. Nevertheless, even so he has compassion on them again; for he calls them to right feeling, crying out, Hear me, and what was better to choose in the beginning to fulfill, so that they might have unshaken prosperity, this he commanded them to accomplish at least late, so that they might set their foot outside of judgment, and be loosed from the bonds of the servitude brought upon them. But since they worshipped the host of heaven, and leaving the Creator, for those things brought into being by him they kindled reverence, he initiates them again. For as the blessed Paul said:

55 "For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that one teach you, what are the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. That therefore he is "the one who is," and is before all things, and has an unending existence, being God by nature, he shows by saying: I am the first, and I am for ever. For who could be conceived as before the first? For just as no beginning could be conceived before that which is truly the first beginning; so no one else could be conceived as first before the first. Therefore, the God of all things is forever and before all things and for endless ages. For he who has no beginning, to what end will he ever come? And these things concern the divine glory. But the swarm of falsely named gods, that is, the elements of the world, could neither be conceived as first, nor can they remain the same and in a like manner forever. For the stars, the sun and moon, and in addition to these, heaven itself, were brought into being, having received a beginning and a genesis, and they will one day run to the end of their being; and one could observe nothing in them which is not completely and in every way subordinate to the glory of the divine and incorruptible nature.

56 That the word on this matter would not err from the truth, he showed immediately by saying: My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has established the heaven. Then how shall that which was made compete as an equal with its craftsman, and contend with the glory of its creator? Therefore, he shows that it is most absurd, or rather, even containing an indictment of all impiety, to choose to worship creation rather than the Creator, and, abandoning the one who is forever and first, to assign the name and reality of true Godhead to things made in time, and to grant this to their own skillful works. For they worshiped what their fingers have made, according to what is written. But God the Father calls the Son his own hand and right hand. For thus we will find him called in many places in the divinely-inspired Scripture. And indeed the divine Moses said: "Your right hand, O Lord, is glorified in strength, your right hand, O Lord, has shattered enemies. And the blessed David: "Let your hand be strengthened, let your right hand be exalted. I will call them, and they will stand together, and all shall be gathered together, and they will hear. Who has declared these things to them?

57 For I wished, he says, to add an inquiry to them when they were gathered, and indeed to ask them clearly, who they think was in truth the foreknower, that is, the foreteller, of the things unexpectedly brought upon them, that is, clearly, of the disaster from the war. For of the false prophets, no one is seen to have foretold it. For they claimed to be divinely inspired, and some to be possessed by spirits and demons. However, there is no foreknowledge of future things in unclean spirits, nor indeed in lifeless matter shaped into gods. Therefore, of the gods held in glory, there is absolutely no one who announced it. But I have revealed each thing in detail through holy prophets; then, when it was possible to escape the evil, and to be borne out of the snare, you slumbered, awaiting the experience of evils to testify to the truth of my words. What need, then, do you have of sorcerers? What benefit from false prophets? And what would the workshops of those accustomed to observe omens know? who, taking possession of the precincts of idols, and settling down at the unclean altars, sell for the cheapest obols the falsehood from their own heart as if from God, and belching out to those who approach them whatever they please for the sake of a handful of barley and a piece of bread, according to what was said by the voice of Ezekiel.

58 Loving you I have done your will against Babylon, to take away the seed of the Chaldeans. I have spoken, I have called, I brought him, and I made his way prosperous. Draw near to me, and hear these things; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; when it came to be, I was there, and now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit his. He does not permit them again to be carried away to untrue suspicions. For it was indeed very likely, since they had an untutored mind, and one all too easily led into apostasy and susceptible to the snares of deceit, that they should think and say that they suffered what befell them in the war perhaps from the wrath of the falsely-named gods—with the worship proper and due to them having been neglected, and their sacrifices no longer being offered—and that these gods, taking pity again, had measured out to those who suffered such things what came from their wrath; and there is nothing improbable in this reasoning. For we have shown before that, when Jerusalem had been sacked, and all of Judea burned along with the temple, the women who were left said that these things happened to them because they had ceased sacrificing to the queen of the.

59 Therefore, so that they might know the Redeemer, not ascribing the grace for being saved to other gods, but rather to him, he says most clearly that, being moved by compassion and love for him, he prepared to bring to fulfillment that which was for them greatly longed for and much-prayed for, namely, the extermination of the seed of the Chaldeans, since they had indeed captured them, and shown every manner of inhumanity, and had encompassed them with evils unto their end. Therefore, by love for you I was spurred on to the need to accomplish what seemed good to you concerning the Babylonians, so as to also root out the seed of the Chaldeans. Then he speaks concerning Cyrus, how by his beckoning he was led and called for the purpose of ravaging the land and taking it by force. I led, and I made his way prosperous. And I have spoken these things from the beginning, he says, and not in secret; I have proclaimed them clearly beforehand through the holy prophets: Thus says the Lord to my anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to make nations hearken before him, and I will break the strength of kings. Therefore I have not made the word concerning him secret nor in a hidden place, but I led him, and I called him, and I made his way prosperous;

60 and I have not only spoken, but indeed as he was doing the things dear to you and according to your prayer, I was present with him, overthrowing the strength of the Chaldeans, and making him who ravaged them all-powerful and irresistible; so that the things being done were not so much from the hand of Cyrus, but from my most powerful right hand, bringing judgment upon them on account of their insolence toward you, or rather on account of their immeasurable misanthropy and unrestrained cruelty. For he said, "I have given them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy. Then, in the midst of such words, he places the utterances of Cyrus himself, confessing that it was God who was sharpening him, and showing him to be most difficult to fight against, and superior to the strength of the Babylonians. For "And now," he says, "the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit. And he puts "And now" instead of this: even if none of the things that have happened were foretold by God, yet behold now Cyrus has confessed that it was God who raised him up and crowned him with glories unto the end, through his overpowering of the Babylonians. For Cyrus, having learned from the Jews dwelling in Babylon that God had spoken concerning him in the holy prophets, that he would come in due time, and would take the land of the Chaldeans by force, and that he himself would release Israel;

61 then, as he says, when they had also shown him the books themselves, they prepared him to come to this opinion, so as also in his own proclamations to name the God of Israel Lord and Most High. And it is written thus in the first book of Ezra: "In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of the Persians, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also by writing, saying: Thus says Cyrus the king of the Persians: The Lord Most High of Israel has appointed me king of the inhabited world, and has instructed me to build him a house in Jerusalem in Judea. If any one of you, therefore, is from his nation, let his Lord be with him, and having gone up to Jerusalem in Judea, let him build the house of the Lord the God of Israel. This is the Lord who having pitched his tent in Jerusalem. Therefore, when you understand, he says, that it was not through falsely named gods, but rather through me that the things that have happened were made known among you before they occurred, hear Cyrus saying that "The Lord has sent me, and his Spirit. Thus says the Lord, who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God, I have shown you so that you might find the way, in which you shall walk in it.

62 And if you had listened to my commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like a wave of the sea; and your seed would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the earth; nor now shall you be utterly destroyed, nor shall your name perish before me. Go forth from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans. Indeed, he again works in them a firm disposition and a well-established mind, so that they might know the one who is God by nature and in truth; and he reveals his own glory to them, so that they might not be carried away by the voices of deceivers somewhere toward what is worthless, that is, toward thinking and believing that the falsely named gods, who do not exist at all, can help them. For this reason, as I suppose, he says, "I am your God," with "I am" signifying "I exist. This he also proclaimed to the all-wise Moses, saying: "I am the one who is. For the God of all is properly and truly "the one who is. But those things brought into being by him might also be said to be beings, except that they have come into being and have obtained a beginning of being. Thus then says the Lord who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God.

63 But, O Master, one of the blood of Israel might say, I suppose, you have redeemed and saved, you have delivered from fire and justice, from yoke and bondage, from a barbarian's hand, as one who is all-powerful, clearly, and accomplishing whatever you choose with mere nods. Then how have we, who are under your care and love, always boasting in you as our helper, been brought down to this misery, so as to fall under the feet of enemies, and for those who are free from free parents to serve contrary to what is fitting? What then does God say to these things? I have shown you so that you might find the way, in which you shall walk in it. I have laid down a law for you, he says, the definer of what must be done, one that knows how to direct toward anything whatsoever of the things most pleasing to me, a guide to righteousness, a teacher of piety, leading to a straight path, through which if you had wished to act, you would have arrived at being a genuine and true servant, and very well crowned with boasts from virtues. But you have gone outside the straight path, and leaving the highway, as it were, you have turned aside to what is not lawful; you have served the host of heaven, you have sacrificed to idols, you have worshiped gods that are not, you have forgotten the Creator, you have considered the given law as nothing.

64 For if you had been obedient to my commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like a wave of the sea. And what he wishes to make clear, is something like this: They say that torrents, when a violent rainstorm strikes the mountains, rush down terribly and irresistibly, so that absolutely nothing can withstand their force. And that other thing is also quite clear, I suppose. For the onrush of the sea's waves is terrible and hard to meet, not only for sailors, that is, for the ships, but sometimes even for the rocks themselves. For these are broken off, as the waters burst upon them like a torrent. Therefore if you had been obedient to my words, he says, if you had brought your mind to be compliant, your peace would have been like a river and waters, unconquerable by enemies, that is, by those wishing to oppose it. Or perhaps also, in another way, so that he might show the matter of their peace to be abundant and continuous, he compares it to a river and waves, to a river that is always and lavishly flowing and moving, and to waves that are always swelling and, as it were, continually running toward the shore. And your seed would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the earth. This is similar to if he were to say.

65 With no one raising a sword, nor the hand of the enemy destroying anyone, you would have been populous and innumerable, so as to be compared to sand and dust- your children. But since you have acted insolently toward God, and have offended not moderately, having lapsed into every sort of transgression, you were contracted to a small number, and you do not have the widely spreading increase of your race into a multitude, nevertheless, even now you shall not be utterly destroyed. For the remnant of Israel has been preserved everywhere. And God said that he would nowhere fall root and branch, because of the promise given to the fathers. Then he says, that, Go out from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans. This is a royal command, releasing Israel from captivity. For just as those who hold power over earthly affairs, and manage the thrones of the kingdom, sometimes grant release from their exile to those under their power, signifying the matter with a philanthropic nod and voice; so also the God of all granted a philanthropic nod to those who had suffered, and clearly says, "Go out," so that they might know the Redeemer and the provider of all good cheer to them. Proclaim a voice of gladness, and let this be heard. Proclaim it to the end of the earth. Say: The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob, and if they thirst, He will lead them through the desert, rocks will be split and waters will flow, and my people will drink.

66 There is no rejoicing for the wicked, says the Lord. Confessedly, all things that God does are wonderful. But those things that surpass the others, and have obtained the highest glory of His works, if they remain hidden, they wrong those who happen to be deprived of knowing them, but when they are known, they are of no small benefit. For from these it is possible to see both His ineffable glory, and His pre-eminence over all, and His exceedingly strong hand, and His all-powerful glory. For He redeemed Israel from Egypt. But in order that He might be seen as a worker of great things, so that His glory might become manifest to those throughout all the earth, Pharaoh was brought into the middle like some vessel, so that by resisting the words spoken through Moses, he might call God to the necessity of finally making His own glory manifest to all, and to show the greatness of His immeasurable power. For it was said to him: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be declared in all the earth. And those things happened to them of old, but they were for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. It was necessary, then, it was necessary that the redemption from Babylon of those of Israel should not be kept silent, but rather be proclaimed, as it were, to those everywhere. For this reason he also says:

67 Proclaim a voice of gladness. And we say that the voice of gladness is the doxology, which one would make while hymning Him for such great and splendid achievements. This is properly and truly gladness, a voice befitting the righteous, for whom it is fitting and necessary to give glory. At any rate, the divine David also psalms, and says: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. And he wishes the voice to be a nar- rative of the redemption of those from Israel, such as the one in the book of Psalms. And it is as follows: "You have been gracious, Lord, to Your land; You have turned back the captivity of Jacob, You have forgiven the iniquities of Your people, You have covered all their sins. For even if these things contain the declaration of spiritual matters, they are nevertheless also useful for history. And He promises that if they thirst while journeying through the desert, He will bring them water from a rock. A rock will be split, and water will flow, and My people will drink. And we say that He shows in these things that it was not some other God who freed Israel from the harshness of the Egyptians, and led them through the midst of the sea, and gave food in the desert, and brought forth water from a rock; but He Himself is always the same, acting in the same way, and able to work the same wonders as of old.

68 For if they should go through a desert, he says, and then be in need of drink and in want of water, that ancient sign will be shown to them; for water will be brought forth from a rock; and yet one would not find that this happened as those of Israel were going up to Judea from Babylon. But it was said, as I have stated, providentially, so that they might know that God He who was of old, is also now, able to use equal power and rivaling wonders, and having unchangeable strength, he cries out and issues, as it were, a general law. For there is no joy for the impious, says the Lord. And this is true. For somehow the face of the ungodly is always downcast, as their heart is likely smitten, and their mind is burdened by the rebukes of conscience. For he expects not crowns, nor the honor of praise, but rather fire and justice, which have been prepared for transgressors. Or perhaps this saying might also be fitting for the Babylonians. For they were rejoicing as if they had conquered the people of God, and they thought that having prevailed over His right hand, they had taken possession of Judea. But they were mistaken about the truth. For the former, because they were caught transgressing, were outside of His clemency;

69 but the latter, because they were hard and unyielding and did not know how to show mercy, paid the penalties fitting for them, and were deprived of joy, still having their brow chastened, their pride already chastened. For it was not that they could still rejoice because they had once conquered those of Israel, but because, being evil, they perished evilly, as their country was destroyed, they received the bitterness of grief.