Book 2
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O house of Israel, and against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: Only you have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. The word might be understood as having come against all of Israel, no longer taking Judah and Ephraim in part, but with the whole race gathered as if into one; for every tribe of Israel was brought up from Egypt. Therefore, with none being left out, he commands them to hear the things from God. And what were these things? For there are countless, he says, cities and countries throughout the whole world under heaven, and those in them are beyond number, but you from Israel out of all I have made chosen, I made myself manifest through many wonders, I delivered you from bitter and unbearable slavery, I declared you enviable and thrice-blessed, I have instructed you by law for what is pleasing to me, I have fortified you with my assistance, and I have brought you into the land promised to the fathers. But since you alone, he says, out of all who have been deemed worthy of so conspicuous a grace have not ceased grieving and have offended in many ways, for this reason I will henceforth demand of you an account of your folly, I will no longer tolerate those who sin and have an unreproved inclination for this. Therefore, to despise God and to disregard the master's will is a cause of destruction for anyone henceforth who has known him, or has been known by him, in the manner of spiritual kinship. And indeed the most wise Paul writes to those from the nations called through faith, who then suffer from weakness, and are eager to go backward as it were, saying: "But now that you have come to know God, "or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the "weak and poor elements of the world, whose slaves you want to be once "more?" For the Creator knew them even before faith; for he is ignorant of absolutely nothing that exists; but in these things, as I said, knowledge would very well signify spiritual kinship. If Will two walk together at all, unless they know one another? Deep is the riddle and dim the saying; nevertheless, we will speak as we are able. He therefore accused Israel, because "they commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'" And for what reason they recklessly rebuked the voices of the saints, it is necessary to say. For since they were announcing the grim things that would come from wrath, and the things through which it was likely for sinners to become better, fearing perhaps the outcome of what was spoken, they practiced resistance and opposed them, those who were accustomed to leading astray the mind of the common folk to what was not fitting, and deceiving those yoked under them. For they rebuked the prophets, but they accepted the deceivers, as though they were going on the straight path. Therefore, through the voice of Isaiah, God says, "My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray and confuse the path of your feet." And Amaziah the priest of Bethel also rebuked Amos the Prophet, saying, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and live there and prophesy there, but in Bethel you shall no longer prophesy again." But those who opposed the prophets, out of very great awkwardness and terrible perversity, fabricated a convenient pretext for their resistance, saying this: "The Lord has not sent you." He therefore accuses them, because they claimed that the prophets from Him did not convey words from above and from God; but rather they thought that things were being uttered from their own opinion, and that they were speaking things different from what seemed good to the Lord of all. For this reason He says, O foolish and senseless ones, will any of you become friends and walk the same path of life, not having known yourselves, or rather one another; that is, unless they have seen one another to be of the same character and like-minded? "For every creature loves its like, and a man will cleave to his like." And if this is true, how could I have accepted the prophets, as it were, into friendship and love, being holy Myself, if they too had not become holy? How then do you persecute the saints, to whom I have entrusted My words, whom I have accepted as good, as it were walking the same road of My wills? For whatever I might wish, this is also their will. Therefore, to rebuke the prophets is nothing other than to direct the rebuke against Me. The Savior also said something like this to the holy disciples: "He who receives you receives Me; and he who receives Me, receives Him who sent Me." And he commanded those who were cast out to wipe off the very dust from their feet, saying, "That it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for that city." It is therefore necessary to accept those who are ambassadors for God, and who convey to us what seems good to Him, such as was the divine Paul, writing and saying, "We are therefore ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his appeal through us; we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." Will a lion roar from his forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion give his voice from his den at all, unless he has seized something? Those who study the habits of wild beasts say that the lion, when it is in need of food, roams about powerfully through mountains and glens and forests, turning its eye this way and that, and seeking to catch something of the animals grazing in the woods. But when it sees something suitable for food, then it comes near and makes its attack, roaring terribly and harshly. And if indeed it should carry back to the cubs things for food, then when it should get near the den, they too leap up, and taking it with a roar, they tear it apart. Why then, He says, do you accuse God, because He makes the threat before the attack of terrible things? And why do you gnash your teeth at the prophets themselves, because they too have cried out against your impiety? For I am like a lion, He says, which is accustomed to roar before the hunt, all but threatening the attack beforehand, and the prophets are like cubs, imitating my custom; For, as I said, they have cried out against those who are accustomed to impiety. But just as for the animals in the mountains the hunter's shout beforehand is not entirely unprofitable, scaring them to flight before they happen to be caught, so also for sinners the threat and prediction before the terrible things is exceedingly useful, leading them to repentance and avoidance of what is impending. God, therefore, compares himself to a lion that does not leap upon and bring things from his wrath upon some, unless he first makes known the threat, so that by repenting they might be saved, receiving the prediction of the things that will be as a medicine for salvation before the onset of the terrible things. Will a bird fall to the earth without a fowler? Will a snare be sprung from the earth without catching anything? The discourse is now made by way of comparison. For fowlers most skillfully bring down the sparrows that have settled in the plants, and with snares, on the other hand, some crush what is caught. But the discourse now seems to signify through the sparrows those who are accustomed to think lofty things, the boastful in mind and arrogant in spirit, and not enduring to be brought down with the lowly; and through those caught in snares, the lovers of earthly things, and those who seek only carnal and fattening things. And God again compares himself to a fowler and a snare, bringing the proud down to the earth, and as it were crushing and hunting for punishment those who mind only the things on earth. But those from Israel were boastful, despising God and rejecting prophets and dishonoring the law; and they were no less also exceedingly greedy for the things in the world, and seeking only the things on earth, overcome by whose strange desires they did not accept the word of God, but opposed those who call to virtue. For they said to the holy prophets "But "speak to us and announce to us another delusion." If, then, it is I, he says, who in the manner of a fowler brings down the proud, and as in the function of a snare am accustomed to crush him who like a fox or a mouse is greedy for the things in the world, why do you persecute the saints in vain, when they only convey words to you, while I fulfill the things from wrath cast upon the impious? If a trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not be terrified? Will there be calamity in a city which the Lord has not done? I indeed, he says, bring on the things from wrath, but the prophets are useful mediators for the words alone. For they convey to you whatever I command them through the Spirit. But you perhaps make light of them, and are greatly vexed even at the mere words from them at times. For in what way at all, tell me, are you profited by these things? what fear has entered you? or what change have you made for the better? For if a trumpet should sound in a city, announcing the war coming and stirred up by enemies, who is so insensible as not in every way and altogether to receive the fear of the evils that will be? But my trumpets have not ceased proclaiming beforehand the things to come. But you are profited not at all, and though learning that you will be laid waste by enemies, you utterly despise the terrors for this, so as perhaps even to laugh at the prediction as some vain thing, and moreover to shout that which is customary and familiar to the desperate, "The vision that this man sees is for "many days to come, and he prophesies of times far off." Why then do you consider burdensome those who are as it were trumpeting, if you consider their words as nothing? But perhaps you say that the outcome of these matters grieves you not moderately. Will there then be an affliction in a city, perchance, which the Lord has not done? It is like as if one should say: Will there then be anyone among men able to afflict a city either with diseases or sieges or destructions of crops or even in some other such way? But if no one of men could do such things, and it lies rather in the authority and power of God, why are you angry with those who announce it beforehand? And yet it is necessary to repent, and by inclinations to this to appease him the one who is grieved and has the power to harm those who have sinned. Therefore, in these matters, we shall understand the 'evil' that comes from God in the cities not as wickedness—far from it!— but rather as an affliction, that is, the wrath and movement for whatever reason, which He might bring upon sinners, persuading them to turn back to what is more fitting. For it is written that, "With bit and "bridle you shall restrain the jaws of those who do not draw near "to you." For since He is good, and "wishes all people "to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth," He somehow compels them by means of wrath toward what is better, and sometimes powerfully moves, with terrors and threats, those whom reason and the guidance of what is beneficial do not persuade. Because the Lord God will not do anything, unless He reveals His instruction to His servants the prophets. A lion will roar, and who will not be afraid? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? It is not the prophets, he says, who bring on the things that come from wrath; how could they? For they are also human in nature, just like you, but they have been honored by God by learning all the things that He might wish to fulfill, and to bring upon cities and lands either good things, perhaps, or things that are accustomed to cause pain. But perhaps you say to this: Let them learn, if you wish; let them be enriched by you with the knowledge of future events; let all the mysteries be made clear to them; but let them speak to no one, nor let them sound anything in the ears of those who reject them. What then is the reply to this from God? A lion will roar and who will not be afraid? For if, he says, when the lion roars, the most powerful of beasts, there would not be anyone so hard-hearted and arrogant as not to receive fear, how, when God, who is above all, speaks and commands them to announce what they learn, would they not fear the one who has commanded them? For they are not, like you, scornful and unyielding, holding in no account the things that seem good to the Lord of all. Therefore, in every way He secures the saints, and wards off from the prophets the harms from those who willingly do evil. And this was nothing other than to deem them worthy of the fitting care. For to remove the physicians from their midst would be nothing other than to render the sick helpless. Indeed, He proclaims this beforehand through the voice of the blessed David, saying, "Do not touch my "anointed ones, and do no evil to my prophets," and to them, He somewhere says, "And he who touches you will be "as one who touches the pupil of His eye." For he will do no small injury to his own soul who gnashes his teeth at the heads of the saints and unholily attacks them, and does not refrain from bringing on some outrages. Announce to the regions in Assyria and to the regions of Egypt and say: Be gathered together on the mountain of Samaria, and see many wonders in its midst and the oppression that is in it. And she did not know what things shall be against her, says the Lord, they who treasure up injustice and misery in their regions. For this reason, thus says the Lord God: Tyre, and your land round about shall be made desolate, and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your regions shall be plundered. He threatens, then, again to bring upon them what it was likely for those to endure and suffer who had finally arrived at such a point of wickedness, as even to leap away from God, and to rebuke the prophets, and to utterly disregard the things established through Moses. But it must be known that the edition of the Hebrews and the writing of the seventy again differ in these points. For the Hebrews have published: Announce to the regions in Ashdod and to the regions of Egypt; while the seventy have: Announce to the regions in Assyria and to the regions of Egypt. And Ashdod is perhaps a neighbor and bordering on the land of the Jews, but the land of the Assyrians is very distant, that is, of the Persians and Medes, lying as it were at the very borders of the east. We say, therefore, that there is nothing troublesome, even if they should be called Ashdodites, perhaps, or Assyrians; for according to both the word of the divinely inspired scripture will be true, just as indeed the things in the text before us we will show by making it clear. Indeed, the thing being signified has a recollection of history, lying in the fourth of Kings, and in the second of Chronicles; but I will make the narrative very concisely, so that I might not seem to speak at length among those who know. Manasseh reigned at a certain time in Jerusalem, who was the son of Hezekiah, but very different in character and as far as possible from his father's piety. For he became a wicked man and easily turned to anything whatever that was amiss, abominable and an idolater, and not moderately given to the deceptions of demons. This man built altars and precincts for Baal, he worshipped the whole host of heaven, he passed his own children through fire, he assembled augurs, and those whose practice it is to speak falsely, those who think they know something of what is necessary, but in fact do not yet know it, but rather speak the things from their own heart. And there was perhaps utterly no manner of the uttermost depravity unpracticed by his desires. While he was reigning, God said somewhere through the voice of prophets concerning both Jerusalem and all the land of the Jews, "Behold, I am bringing evils upon this people, so that for everyone who hears them, both his ears will tingle." When Manasseh died, his son Amon succeeded to the scepter, lacking in none of his father's depravity; for he honored all that he did. He lived for only two years. Then after him his son Josiah was anointed again as king, a wise and shrewd man, and among the most God-loving. The man of God proclaimed him when he arrived in Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar and inaugurating the feast for the heifers; for he spoke thus: "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son is born to the house of David, Josiah is his name, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and he will burn the bones of men upon you." For when Josiah became king, he pulled down the precincts of the idols, demolished the altars, destroyed the groves, burned the chariot of the sun, slaughtered the priests of the high places in Bethel, set fire to the bones of men upon the altar of the heifers, drove out the soothsayers, I mean false prophets and false seers and ventriloquists, he commanded that the things ordained by the all-wise Moses should be held and be in force in Israel; in his time they sacrificed the lamb, and they celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem. And since he was good and genuine with God, he sent to Huldah the prophetess, seeking to inquire if the Master of all would cease from his anger, if Israel would be in a good state of prosperity, and if the things foretold against it by the voice of prophets would henceforth be inactive. And she said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am bringing evils upon this place and upon those who dwell in it, all the words of the book which the king of Judah read, because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with the works of their hands, and my wrath will be kindled in this place and will not be quenched. And to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, you shall say this to him: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: My words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you were humbled before the face of the Lord, when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, to be for a desolation and for a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I have indeed heard, says the Lord. Not so; behold, I am adding you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and it shall not be seen by your eyes amid all the evils which I am bringing upon this place and upon those who dwell in it." And the promise was fulfilled. For the Master of all postponed his anger for the time of his reign time; and they were thirty-one years. But in the last period, Pharaoh Necho, the leader of the Egyptians, campaigned against the Babylonians, and went forth from his own land with all his army. And since Josiah was suspicious that he had perhaps come to ravage Judea, he armed himself according to the law of war, and wished to go out against him. But he ordered him to withdraw, saying he was hurrying to the Euphrates river, and was being carried off to the land of the Assyrians. But since even after this he needlessly set himself in array against him, he was struck in the war; and having died, he was then carried home and to Jerusalem by his own people, and his son Jehoahaz was anointed as king. But having completed scarcely the third month, Pharaoh Necho removed him from the scepters, and having bound him, held him guarded in Egypt. And for a large sum of money he barely consented for Eliakim, that is, Jehoiakim, who was also a son of Josiah, to reign in Jerusalem. And he so oppressed Israel, I mean those in Samaria, and those in Jerusalem, as to impose tribute on those throughout the whole land, and to seek taxes from all. While matters stood thus, and Jehoiakim was administering the kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar came up. And he so overpowered Jerusalem, as to take Jehoiakim as a slave, and to levy tribute on him, and to ravage the entire city completely. And God did not measure out the calamity for those who had committed impious deeds only up to this point, but added something else both grievous and most burdensome. For from all the surrounding land and country, from the Syrians, I mean, and the Tyrians and Ashdodites, Idumeans and Moabites, bands of robbers, running out from place to place, plundered the land of the Jews. For it is written thus in the Chronicles: "Then "the land began to be taxed to give the silver at the command of "Pharaoh, and the silver and the gold was required of each one "according to his ability by the king of the land, to give it "to Pharaoh Necho. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when "he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusa- "lem, and the name of his mother was Zebudah, daughter of Neriah "of Ramah, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord according to "all that his fathers had done. In his days "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to the "land, and he was his servant for three years and he rebelled against "him. And the Lord sent against them the Chaldeans, "and bands of Syrians and bands of Moabites and of the sons of "Ammon and of Samaria." Indeed, all these things Israel happened to suffer, having been exceedingly insolent towards the glory of God, and having been unholily corrupted to the point of wishing to worship "the works of his hands," as it is written. Since, then, the history has been sufficiently related by us, come let us, going over the saying cursorily, say what is fitting. Proclaim to the lands in Assyria and to the lands of Egypt and say, Assemble upon the mountain of Samaria and see many wonders in her midst and the oppression that is in her. For he as good as says, Let someone announce with all speed to the Egyptians and Assyrians, and let them run down mightily upon the mountains of Samaria, that is, the country itself; for they say it is mountainous. And when they arrive they will see in it many wonders and an unexpected oppression. For those who once were victorious, he says, will be pitiable and among slaves, those who raised their overweening brow against all, so to speak, of the nations, will lie wretched and cast down and under the feet of enemies, and they will endure such great oppression, as to consider it a desirable thing to be saved, and to live in slavery, and to pay tribute to the conquerors. But Samaria, he says, did not know what will be before it, that is, what will happen against it. Then where, at last, are those who treasure up injustice and misery in their lands? For what did their greed profit, he says, and their heaping up of sins, because they did not wish to know the things of God? Therefore, will the calamity for the impious be confined to the invasion of the Assyrians and Egyptians? Not at all, he says. For this reason, thus says the Lord the God. Tyre and your land round about will be laid waste, and he will break your strength from you, and your lands will be plundered. But the phrase ‘Tyre and round about,’ you will understand in this way. From Tyre, he says, and from the surrounding and neighboring land your country will be laid waste, with bands of robbers overrunning it, as I said. For then they will break your strength, that is, all your power will be shattered, and not only broken but also weakened. Therefore, if the Hebrew version should happen to say 'Proclaim to the regions in Ashdod,' and if the Septuagint in turn has 'in Assyria,' what has been said will be true according to both. For not only the Assyrians plundered, but also Syrians and Ashdodites, running out in multitudes and wronging Israel in the manner of robbery. Thus says the Lord: As when a shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel who dwell in Samaria be snatched away, opposite a tribe and in Damascus. Observe everywhere, and you will greatly admire the sobriety of the prophecy. For since Israel has not utterly perished, but "the remnant" has been saved, according to the voice of Isaiah, so that the Truth-itself might not seem to speak falsely, it always adds to the predictions of evils the mercy that comes from gentleness. Just as, then, he says, when a lion has been sated, and has completely devoured the animal it has seized, a few remains are barely left, perhaps two legs or even part of an ear, and these the shepherds gather, weeping; so will it be for the sons of Israel, those in Samaria and those who dwell in Damascus, those 'opposite a tribe,' that is, those who have hostile thoughts and always oppose the tribe of Judah. For those dwelling in Samaria were captured by force and were sacked by enemies, and when the war had consumed almost all of them, a very few were barely saved, and have remained in the land as remnants of the dead. Or also they were snatched away in another way, as from the mouth of a lion. Having been carried away to the land of the Assyrians, and being released at times from captivity, for not all returned, but very few, remnants of those who had been carried away. But that the Assyrian Tiglath-pileser also took Damascus at times and resettled it in his own land, is clear to everyone, I think; for as is written in the fourth book of Kingdoms, he was once called for help by Uzziah the king of Judah, when Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, and also Rezin, king of Syria, were warring against him at that time. And having arrived, he killed Rezin and took Damascus itself. But if someone should choose to apply the meaning of the foregoing to all men, he will not go wide of the mark. For he will understand very correctly, calling that to mind, that Satan has seized and devoured those on the earth like some savage beast, but "The good shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep," has appeared and helped, and has snatched us away, both those left among the living and those already dead. For as the blessed psalmist says, "The Lord has broken the molars of the lions," and as Paul says, "He died and lived, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living." Hear, you priests, and testify to the house of Jacob, says the Lord, the God Almighty, because in the day when I punish the impieties of Israel upon him, I will also punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be dug up and shall fall to the earth. I will confound and smite the turreted house upon the summer house, and the ivory houses shall perish, and many other houses shall be added, says the Lord. He returns again to a clear narration of the things that will happen to the impious, often expanding upon the same account for the benefit of the listeners. Whence, I think, understanding that this practice is not unprofitable, the divine Paul also writes to some, "To say the same things to you, is not for me troublesome, but for you it is "safe." He therefore commands those serving as priests to almost raise their own voice and bear witness to Israel, and to clearly foretell to them each of the things that are about to happen. And whom then shall we understand, or rather say, are those commanded to cry out piercingly? Is it the priests of the heifers, or those of the idols in another shrine? But I think this is improbable; for they would not have proclaimed their own evils and those of the others whom they themselves have led astray. Who then, therefore, are the priests commanded to do this? Those of the blood of Levi; for not all had slipped away with those led astray in Samaria, nor did they endure to worship idols, but having leapt away from that of the Samaritans, they returned to Jerusalem. And it is written thus about them in the second book of Chronicles. So the account is about Jeroboam; then explaining the power inherent in him, "And he had," it says, "Judah "and Benjamin. And the Levites and the priests who were in "all Israel gathered to him from all their territories. For the Levites left the dwellings of their "possession and went to Judah, to Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons "had cast them out from ministering to the Lord. And he appointed "for himself priests of the high places and for the idols and for the "vain things and for the calves, which Jeroboam had made; and "he cast them out from the tribes of Israel who had set their heart "to seek the Lord God of Israel, and they came "to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their "fathers. And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah." For since these, about whom the account is, were not moderately grieved, being driven out from their kinship and inheritances and from the ministry itself—for Jeroboam had cast them out—of necessity he commanded them especially to proclaim the destruction of both their idols and of Samaria, as if consoling and teaching them that, having chosen to think the things of God and having loved the Master of all, they will not perish with the others, but will lie outside of the wrath. "For when," he says, "I bring upon those of Israel their sins, then I will also take vengeance upon the altars of Bethel; for their horns will be dug up and will fall to the ground." Is then the destruction of Samaria up to this point, and will it be enough for those commanded to ravage it merely to tear down the shrines and to dig up the altars? By no means; "for I will throw into confusion," he says, "and I will strike the winter house upon the summer house." And what he wishes to signify is something like this. Those in Samaria, living too luxuriously and having the breadth that comes from wealth, constructed for themselves both winter and summer houses. And the winter one he calls 'peripteron,' as if girded on all sides with wings or walls, so that it might be almost unapproachable to the blasts of winter; but the summer one is the one that is open and exposed to the pleasant breezes of the winds. Therefore with the altars, he says, that have been dug up, I will at the same time throw into confusion and strike both winter and summer houses; and ivory houses will also perish. And we remember that Ahab, having reigned in Samaria, constructed such a house for himself. And many others will be added, he says, that is, those of the lower and more insignificant people, or rather, of the poor and the common herd. Therefore, all Samaria has now perished, every house having been shaken down. What then shall we learn from this again, we who have chosen to think rightly? That worldly splendor will not profit those who have it at all, not wealth, not glory, not anything else for luxury, when love for God is absent, and when righteousness is in no way honored by us. "For the treasures of the lawless will not profit," according to what is written, "but righteousness delivers from "death." Therefore it would be far better to love righteousness and to store up treasure in heaven, and to yearn for the mansions above, and to love to be suspended from the hope in God. For the things in this world are both small and temporary, and the profane has no basis for security; but it both always remains and is saved, and accompanies the boundless ages. Hear this word, you heifers of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor and trample on the needy, who say to their lords, Give to us, that we may drink. The Lord swears by his saints, because, behold, days are coming upon you, and they will take you with weapons, and those with you into cauldrons with fiery plagues, and you will be brought forth naked, wife and her husband opposite each other, and you will be cast away to the mountain Remman, says the Lord God. Out of excessive arrogance and luxury, the most prominent men of Samaria, surpassing all others in the abundance of their wealth, as I just said, were building for themselves houses that were brilliant and most costly, and suited to the seasons, I mean for winter and for summer, and the oracle proclaimed that they would be utterly and completely destroyed. Therefore, these very masters of the houses, who had practiced being fattened by fleeting luxuries, he calls heifers of Bashan. The country of Bashan is good for grazing and verdant, and exceedingly well-suited for abundantly fattening the animals that graze in it. Therefore, as they were living in extreme comfort and were very well-fed, and making luxury their study, God compares them to the heifers from Bashan; and He accuses them, because they oppressed the poor, and almost crushed the needy with their own feet; "For the poor are the pastures of the rich," according to what is written. And by adding that they say to their lords, Give to us, that we may drink, He showed that they were insubordinate, not even tolerating to yield to those who ruled them, as far as royal honor was concerned, but as it were, out of boundless arrogance, they assigned the measure of a servant even to their own lords. For to dare to say to their superiors and those set over them, Give to us, that we may drink, belongs to those who desire to be served rather than to serve. What then will happen to those who have come to such a point of desperation? The Lord, he says, swears by His saints, that is, by His holy things, or mysteries, which again is Himself; for He has no one greater by whom to swear; that there will come seasons and days, when the fear of suffering will cause even you, who are so luxurious and well-fed and accustomed to extravagance, to be in the toils of war and in arms. But even while you are in this state and equipped, they will take you, he says, together with your dearest friends and wives and flatterers, who, being always with you, applauded with very many praises, and called you thrice-blessed; for these things the tribes of flatterers always shout to those who feed them. But they will be burned up; for they were plagues and approved of nothing else, and admired the shameful and the lovers of sin. But you, stripped of glory, and furthest from all luxury, and as if unclothed of that former prosperity, will henceforth be carried away as slaves and captives, and will be cast, he says, upon the mountain Remman. This is in Armenia, lying at the furthest outlets of the land of the Persians; for the countries are adjacent and bordering on one another. It is therefore possible to see from this how the pursuit of luxury turns to a bitter end for those who live luxuriously, as the Savior says, "Blessed are those who mourn now, for they shall be comforted." For, as I said, luxury ends in a tear, but the end of toils is rest. And someone will testify, saying that "the fruit of good labors is glorious." It is not implausible to suppose that the heifers of Bashan are the women in Samaria, who, indulging in luxury and delicacies and in ornaments for beautification, and being fattened in the prime of their bodies, were oppressing the poor and trampling on the needy, almost setting on fire for unnatural pleasures those who were weak in this and had a spiritual poverty, who, not having the wealth of strength from above, by the passions by assaults they have a heart easily broken. These heifers, therefore, say to their lords, "Give to us that we may drink." For the affairs of harlotrous women are always puffed up, and with excessive laziness they almost weary those who have been captivated; even if they have them as masters, yet seeing them laid low by sensual pleasures, they persuade them to fulfill what seems best to them. But you, he says, O heifers, they will take in arms; that is, not being in the rank of lovers, who persuade by flattering and serve by speaking sweet words, because they are utterly overcome by pleasure in you, but cruelly and fiercely and by the law of war, and they will burn with fire the wanton lovers with you. And you, stripped of those unseemly adornments, will be carried off to the mountain of Remman. You have entered into Bethel and have committed iniquity, and in Gilgal you have multiplied impiety. He immediately sets the transgressions alongside the judgments, and usefully makes the clear demonstration of the unholy deeds a neighbor to the narrations of the terrible things, so that no one might mock, nor indeed blame God, as having imposed a harsher punishment than is necessary on those of Israel. For these things, he says, will come upon you, and these things. And in response to the question of why they will come, he proclaims: you entered into Bethel and committed iniquity, where the god-hated Jeroboam set up the golden calf; there you will be captured, transgressing terribly and outrageously. For I have legislated through the all-wise Moses, "You shall not make for "yourself gods of gold and gods of silver," and "You shall worship the Lord "your God, and him only shall you serve." But you, he says, mocking my law, have worshipped the works of your own hands, and seeing a golden calf and lifeless matter, you persisted, while the one who devised the error said, "These are your gods, O Israel, "who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." And you have wrought the greatest impiety in Gilgal; this is a city beyond the streams of the Jordan, terribly inclined toward apostasy. And indeed the God of all said concerning it, "All their evils are in Gilgal, for there I "hated them because of the evil of their practices." Therefore, as the writer of Proverbs says, "The ways of a man are before the "eyes of God, and he looks upon all his paths." And He accepts those who have practiced walking uprightly, but he rejects the one who steps outside the straight path, and who is eager to go where he ought not. And you brought your sacrifices in the morning, your tithes on the third day; and they read the law outside, and they called for confessions; declare then that the sons of Israel loved these things, says the Lord God. Truly dreadful and having reached the utmost limit of impiety is it to dare to counterfeit the glory of God, and what is fitting for him and him alone, to attach these things to the honors of idols. For those accustomed to do this, as far as it is in their power, shake the divine and supreme nature from the thrones most fitting for it and it alone, and they send it forth from the sacred seats, and establish in them, as it were, the unclean demons. We shall find, therefore, the frenzied Israel entangled in such frightful accusations. For the God of all ordained through Moses in one place that it was fitting for them to sacrifice two lambs every day in the holy tabernacle, one in the morning, and the other in the evening, as a quasi-continual and uninterrupted sweet odor, signifying clearly the spiritual one of the Church as in riddles and types; and again He further ordained, "Three times a year every male of "yours shall appear before me." And at these three appointed times according to the law, they brought tithes, firstfruits of the fields, sacrifices, thanksgiving offerings. For it is written that "You shall not appear before me empty." But they, transferring what was so rightly ordained through the all-wise Moses to the glory of idols, offered in their precincts to the in the morning the sacrifices, and they brought their tithes also for the three-day festival. By the three-day festival he means the three days of the year, on which, as I said, every male had to come before God. And the impiety of those of Israel did not stop at these things, but indeed they also read an outside law, that is, they honored the law of foreigners, holding the law from God to be of very little account. For they offered their sacrifices in the precincts of idols at appointed times and kept a very great observance of their customary feasts. That is, he says this, that the things established for my glory, they have offered to outsiders, and they dedicated my law to idols, offering to them the morning sacrifices, and dedicating the tithes to them in the three-day festivals. and they have proclaimed voluntary offerings. And the 'they have proclaimed' means that they prayed, that is, they made vows; and 'voluntary offerings' are the voluntary things according to the law, and whatever one might bring to God willingly. Then to the priests he cries out the 'report and testify,' because these things the sons of Israel have loved, that is, not only have they dared to do them once, but they also loved them, having obviously hated the things of God. For they ought to be single-minded. For to be lame, and to hasten to go on both sides, would receive much outcry from God, and the Savior Himself will testify, saying, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." But it is a very difficult thing to divert elsewhere the things that are for the glory of God, and to deem others worthy of the honor that befits Him. For the things of God are His own and special, and would not befit any other, but Him and Him alone. And I will give you numbness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, and you did not return to me, says the Lord. And I withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest; and I will rain on one city, and on another city I will not rain; one portion will be rained upon, and the portion on which I will not rain, will be withered. And two and three cities will be gathered into one city to drink water and they will not be filled, and not even so did you return to me, says the Lord. The discourse again providentially meets those who are accustomed to find fault, and to babble most imprudently against the serenity that is in God out of an excessive madness. For on what account indeed, some might perhaps say, does He inflict upon those of Israel a punishment so untamable and completely unbearable, although God is by nature good? He makes a defense, therefore, in a way, through these things and shows that they are in need of a harsh wrath; and at the same time he shows that at first He strikes sinners more gently, not demanding punishments, but out of innate love for humanity turning them to Himself, and as it were "with whip and toil" changing them to choose to do what is better. For since they had become as I said, and had committed impieties no longer tolerable, he disciplined them with numbness of teeth, and indeed with lack of bread, that is, famine. And you did not return to me, says the Lord. I withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, that is, as the Hebrews have more suitably rendered it: three months before the reaping, when the need for watering the crops is most great and necessary for bringing them to fruition. And he says there was such a scarcity of water that by the judgment and decree of God who knows all things, one city was rained on, while another was parched; and again, two and three would be gathered into one, and still be thirsty. And you did not return to me, says the Lord. And it has happened that those of Israel suffered such things both historically and spiritually. For as the disciple of the Savior said, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain on the land, and it did not rain for three years and six months." And there was so harsh a famine in Samaria, that a donkey's head was sold for many denarii. But also in the times of the prophecy of Jeremiah, the God of all withheld the rain. And so he has made the pronouncements concerning the drought: "Judah has mourned, and her "gates have been emptied, and they were darkened upon the earth, "and the cry of Jerusalem went up, and their great men "sent their younger ones for water; they came "to the wells, and found no water, they returned "their vessels empty. and the works of the earth failed, because "there was no rain. The farmers were ashamed, they covered their "heads. And does in the field gave birth and abandoned "[their young], because there was no pasture. Wild asses stood in the valleys, "they drew in the wind, their eyes failed, because there was "no grass, because of the iniquity of the people." Since, then, those of Israel had acted impiously in no small measure, God held back the rain and gave numbness of teeth and lack of bread in all his cities. But, as I just said, we will find that they suffered this also in a spiritual sense; for food and drink for bodies from the earth are the things from the earth, and perceptible water; but the soul of man is nourished by divine and heavenly words. And its stream is the spiritual one, and the divinely-inspired scripture is a spring that waters it spiritually, speaking the mystery of Christ. But just as if teeth should suffer numbness, they would be somewhat weaker for being able to chew anything, and to grind down food; so also the human mind, having slipped into weakness, and having suffered the sickness of sluggishness, would not be able to attain spiritual knowledge, nor to take in for digestion anything of even the exceedingly subtle contemplations. Therefore the heart of Israel was hardened; for it in no way understood the mystery of Christ; for this reason they also have had a lack of spiritual bread and a scarcity of water, since they do not have the nourishing Word who came down from heaven and gives life to the world, the one who waters souls with the grace of the Spirit, the living spring, the Son from God the Father, the exhortation through the law and the prophets. For as the prophet Isaiah says, "He commanded the clouds not to rain rain upon it." I struck you with blight and with mildew; your many gardens, your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-groves the caterpillar devoured, and even so you did not return to me, says the Lord. I sent death among you in the way of Egypt, and I killed your young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your horses, and I brought up your camps in fire in my wrath, and even so you did not return to me, says the Lord. For those who are callous about the things that happen from wrath, and are very much supine, and thus fall back further into indifference, so that they do not deign even to consider the need to repent, no manner of being struck would be sufficient, but rather more, and worse than one another, and having an increase towards grieving them yet more greatly. Therefore, since for those of Israel being disciplined by a lack of bread and drink was perhaps in some way a small thing for correction, there was brought upon them to suffer also things yet more burdensome than this, the weakness of their bodies, which happens as in fever and mildew. We will find this said again through the voice of Jeremiah. For he said that "Thus says the Lord: "Behold I am bringing weakness upon this people, and "fathers and sons together will be weak in it, neighbor and "his kinsman will perish." And since they were overcome by shameful gains, and were looking very much indeed towards avarice, for this reason multiplying their gardens and vineyards, fig-groves and olive-groves, God touched these things also, through which it was likely that, being not moderately grieved, they would return to a sound mind, and choose what is profitable instead of what is worse, heaping up for them so that, being struck from all sides, they might be saved. And when this too was a small thing, the greater was also brought upon them. For when, he says, dishonoring my hand, and all but defining as weakness the power of God who is all-mighty, you have made your way toward the Egyptians, having chosen "the flesh of horses" over the providence from me, and "an Egyptian, a man" having preferred it, then indeed, then, he says, your most warlike race was consumed by the sword of the Babylonians. and all your cavalry was taken captive, as God weakened even those who knew how to succeed, and who were not unpracticed in conquering in battles. You will also understand in another way, I have sent death among you in the way of Egypt. When Josiah was reigning over Judah, Pharaoh Necho, the ruler of the Egyptians, campaigned against Babylon. And as it was necessary for him to pass through the land of the Jews, Josiah, thinking that the way to Babylon was a pretext, and that the Egyptian was armed against him, irrationally led his forces out against him. There Israel fell. Therefore, he says, I sent death among you in the way of Egypt, that is, as in the passing by of the Egyptians, then I also brought up your camps in fire, instead of, I tore up from the foundations your walled and well-towered cities. And he said this also in the beginning, "And Ephraim went to the Assyrians, and Judah multiplied walled cities; and I will send fire upon his cities, and it will devour their foundations." Therefore, he says, I shook down your most fortified camps from their very foundations, and not even so did you return to me, says the Lord. I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a firebrand plucked from the fire, and not even so did you return to me, says the Lord. Seeing no correction in you, he says, I have added to the tortures things still more harsh than these, and have made my indignation against you more fervent. For I overthrew you as Sodom and Gomorrah, and you did not return. And he seems to indicate to us in these things the final destruction, the one that happened in the times of Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Judea, and burned Jerusalem itself, and its neighboring cities and villages, and tearing down the divine temple itself, having as spear-won captives those who were left from the war, he returned home again, glorious and victorious, together with those who had been captured, who with difficulty returned to Judea, after the number of seventy years had been fulfilled for them. For Cyrus, as I said, having taken Babylon, released from captivity those who remained and were saved from Israel. For this reason, he says, you became like a firebrand plucked from the fire, like a half-burnt piece of wood, and still saved in a few remains. Therefore, when God disciplines, to be supine is bitter, and it will be the cause of even more grievous evils for those who shake off their perception, from the necessity of ceaselessly going on to choose to do and to think what is not lawful. For in the same way that those who cut short the diseases of bodies, and who have practiced the experience of being able to heal, purify the more insensitive parts of wounds with hot and pungent medicines, and by thinning the thickness of the impurity within them, persuade them to yield to the remedies of their art, so also God, who knows all things, burdens with even harsher plagues those who are unfeeling about small things, the assault of which, if anyone is wise and quick-witted, he would reasonably beg off before experiencing it. Therefore, thus will I do to you, Israel. For since, he says, having done this, and having added that, and having brought upon you, so to speak, every kind of torture and suffering, I have both seen and learned from experience itself that you are unfeeling, for this very reason I will also do thus to you. But how thus? For I was not content with the first things; but I also brought upon you the overthrow like that of Sodom. For, as I said, this sort of plague was brought upon them last through the divine wrath. But because I will do thus to you, prepare to call upon your God, Israel. But if you should wish, he says, to learn the reason why I will do thus to you, you will surely find out, as he, so to speak, cries out and says to you who are being struck, "Prepare to call upon your God, Israel." He says "prepare" instead of "Be zealous, be unwearying and eager to call upon the not al- alien and falsely named, but your God, O Israel, that is, whom you have known through experience itself, that he is God by nature and in truth, and not invented by the skill of some, just as, for instance, things made from wood or stone. For behold, I am he who makes the thunder firm and creates the spirit and declares to men his Christ, who makes the morning and the mist, and walks upon the high places of the earth, the Lord God Almighty is his name. By contrast with the preeminent one, what is held in lower esteem is easily exposed. So that, then, the inactivity of idols might be revealed at least to those who thought out of excessive foolishness that they were gods and fitting to be worshipped, the God of all usefully makes himself manifest to us, introducing a maker and creator of all things, and having authority over our affairs, and, as it were, a pilot of human affairs, being beyond all height and every preeminence, and a kind of steward of the whole creation. For the nature of God is to be beyond all things, and not by local heights but by the eminences of glory, and by incomparable power, surpassing the measure of every created thing. Call upon your God, therefore, he says, O Israel, recognizing his authority, the all-powerful nature of his preeminence. For it is I, and no other, who makes the thunder firm, that is, also covering the sky with cloudiness, and sending down rain, and creating the spirit, that is again, the maker of winds. and declaring to men his Christ. similar to as if he were to say "By me kings reign, and rulers by me rule the earth." for by 'christ' in this context, he does not mean Emmanuel, but rather he means the one anointed as king; and 'spirit' similarly, not the divine and holy one; even if some of those who have practiced perverting what is right should rage; but this one, which is in the air and in the world, about which the Savior himself also says "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound; but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit." I therefore, he says, who gathers the clouds and makes the thunder firm, and "who brings forth the winds from their storehouses," who makes manifest whomever I wish to be exalted on the thrones of the kingdom. Therefore, King of kings and Lord of lords, the God by nature, he himself is the one who makes the morning, that is, day or light, he himself is the one who makes the mist, that is, darkness or night; he himself is the one who walks upon the high places of the earth, being better than and superior to everything exalted and high, bearing a name that is fitting and very much like his own glory, "Lord Almighty." See, then, how much gentleness and love for humanity the God of all shows towards us. For having suspended the threat, and having foretold some things as though they had already happened, and others as though they would be, he calls to full knowledge, and initiates the one who has turned aside, and brings back to understanding the one who has slipped from ignorance; and to those who do not know the Master by nature and in truth, from the fact that he is able to accomplish all things and to rule over all things, he makes himself manifest. and this was of one chastening "with hardship and scourge," and almost even unwillingly instructing them towards conversion, and usefully bringing on the means by which it was likely they could learn to think better things. Hear this word of the Lord, which I take up over you as a lament. The house of Israel has fallen, it shall no longer rise again. The virgin of Israel has stumbled upon her land, there is no one to raise her up. The blessed prophets, learning beforehand the evils that would befall certain people, and then being filled with dread from this and grieving exceedingly as for brothers, at times make their rebukes more intense, almost biting out of love, and rousing to sobriety by foretelling the things that are just about to happen. The Prophet accomplishes something of this sort now as well, speaking as from his own person, yet not things from his own mind, but as from divine oracles. For this reason he says, Hear this word of the Lord which I I take up a lamentation for you. For the God of all has spoken in me, he says, and a lamentation has been composed by me for you who depart from him. And what then is the mournful song? What is the lament? And for what reason would my tear fall? Terrible and unadmonished is the calamity. The house of Israel has fallen. For it stood firm while God was honored and loved, but now it has fallen down, provoked by the follies of those who have gone astray. Then who will raise up the one who falls by the divine decrees? The virgin has stumbled, instead of has committed fornication. And who is this? Surely again Israel, that is, the Synagogue of the Jews, to which it was said by God, "Did you not call me as a house and father and the guide of your virginity?" Therefore she who had God as the guide of her virginity has stumbled upon her own land, that is, she has committed fornication and has her sin without excuse. For she once committed fornication in Egypt; but she was in a land not her own, and was subject to the laws of the rulers, and perhaps was even unwillingly forced into their customs, being driven out of necessity, as it were, from her ancestral piety; but now she is wanton with no one pushing her down; for she is on her own land, where the law is the tutor, bringing her to the knowledge of the God who is by nature and truly is, and the path to all that is best is unrestrained and free and entirely without rebuke. What way of defense, then, could be provided for her? For she has committed fornication, not having been forced; from where? But willingly, then. For this reason she is broken; there is no one to raise her up. Let it therefore be said very well, and by us ourselves, to the all-powerful God, "You are terrible, and who will stand against you from your wrath?" And in another way the multitude of the Jews has fallen, being forced toward destruction through their drunken violence against Christ, and it lies now with no one to defend it, but waiting again for the grace of the one who has pity, I mean Christ. For she too will be called to knowledge through faith in the last times of the age. For thus says the Lord: The city from which a thousand went forth, a hundred shall be left; and from which a hundred went forth, ten shall be left to the house of Israel. In these words he makes very clear in what manner it will fall. For the cities, he says, will be left destitute of men, as war consumes those in them, and misery transports them to this state, so that scarcely a tenth part will remain to them. For since they, being provoked, offered their tithes on the third day to the unclean demons, they themselves will scarcely be left as a tenth part, with God, as it were, weighing the transgression, and bringing upon their impieties a balanced justice. It is a fearful thing, then, to be disciplined in wrath; for this reason the prophet also besought God, saying, "Discipline us, O Lord, but in judgment, and not in wrath, lest you make us few." For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you shall live; and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal, and do not go up to the well of the oath, because Gilgal shall surely be taken captive, and Bethel shall be as if it did not exist. seek the Lord and live, lest the house of Joseph blaze up like fire and devour it, and there be no one to quench it for the house of Israel. He does not again allow those who have sinned to slide into despair, although they are entangled in terrible and unbearable transgressions; but he puts forward the things from God, drawing them like a net to repentance; and he has now of necessity brought him in, promising to forgive them their charges, and to release them from punishment and the fears related to it. For the Creator is good by nature, "Long-suffering and of great mercy, and repenting of evils," as it is written, and as he himself says through the voice of Ezekiel, "He does not desire the death of the one who dies, as that he should turn from his wicked way and live." If, therefore, you consider it of great importance to live, and the matter seems to you worthy of acceptance, cease from the deceit, and from such Leaping away from long ignorance, seek me, He says, that is, serve me who am God by nature, the life-giver, the one mighty to save, and the one who places those who revere him outside of all evil. But it is necessary, he says, to wash yourselves beforehand, thrusting out from your own soul the filth of apostasy, and to melt away very well the stain from having been deceived, and thus finally to cleave to the all-good God. And what indeed they who had chosen to repent ought to do, he clarified, saying: Do not seek Bethel and do not enter into Gilgal, and do not go up to the well of the oath. And by the well of the oath he means Gerar; this is a city of the Philistines, that is, of the Palestinians. For since both the divine Abraham and Abimelech swore to each other, and made treaties of peace at the well, the city was afterward renamed to the well of the oath. Therefore, Gilgal and Bethel and indeed Gerar were cities very much turned toward impiety, and setting before the deceived a multifaceted error. He commanded them to depart from these places of necessity, interweaving a threat with his word, so that from all sides he might drive them toward what is profitable. For Bethel and the rest, he says, will be gone. And one will go as a captive to its enemies, and another will be so burned down, as to seem in a way to have never existed. Therefore, let God be sought, that you may live, he says, before the house of Joseph blazes up and it consumes him, and there will be no one to quench it. So by "blazes up" he means "to be set on fire," and by "house of Joseph" he names Ephraim, that is, those in Samaria; for from Joseph came both Ephraim and Manasseh. Therefore, just as when he calls them Israel, we understand that those from him are called by their father's name, so also if he happens to say Joseph, you will understand it in the same way. Repentance, therefore, is a good thing, scaring away punishments, and checking things that come from wrath, placing those who practice it outside of the master's movements, and freeing us from every misfortune. The Lord who makes judgment in the height, and has set righteousness on the earth; who makes and remakes all things, and turns shadow into morning, and darkens day into night, who calls for the water of the sea and pours it out upon the face of the earth, the Lord God the Almighty is his name. Who brings destruction upon strength and leads misery against a fortress. The discourse is initiatory, and especially fitting for those who are called to the knowledge of God, and are eager to go to the light of truth. For it is the Prophet's purpose to teach the erring, first, that power over all things is attached to God, and the universe is steered by his commands, and by a law of righteousness the all-blessed multitude of angels has been subjected; and that in every way and altogether it is consequent and necessary for those who are on the earth to be yoked to the laws of his righteousness. For if the better part among these both serves God, and the holy multitude of spirits on high is subject with fear, how or from where could that which is so inferior by nature and glory have impunity, having inclined to willfulness, that is, man, who is from the earth and to the earth? Therefore, he says, the Lord of all is he who makes judgment in the height. Which is similar to saying: He who implants the way of righteousness that is fitting for them in the spirits on high and above; for by judgment he means righteousness. He himself has also set righteousness on the earth, that is, he has also established laws for those on earth, according to which it would be fitting for them to live, if being and living well, and partaking of his gentleness and love for mankind, are held in account by them. And that He is almighty and all-powerful as God, and that absolutely nothing is impossible for Him, and that the very nature of the elements yields, and existing things are changed according to His will, he demonstrates, taking as an example the turning of shadow into morning, and again the darkening of day into night; and in addition to these, that also from salt water, by an ineffable power calling it to the height and above, he sends it down sweet to those on the earth, by the commands of the one who rules moving into that which is contrary to nature. He says that the shadow turns aside into the morning, that is, the night, or rather the darkness, changes into day. For as the blessed Moses writes, "There was darkness" in the beginning "over the abyss," that is, the shadow; but "God said," he says, "and there was light," thus into the morning, that is, into day, we say the shadow, that is, the darkness, was changed. But when day had come, night took over again; this is to darken the day into night. The Prophet therefore helps those who have gone astray, pointing out not lifeless matter, but the God who is by nature and truly is, nor indeed equal to the golden heifers, that is, according to some, gods devised by human art, but also king and lawgiver of the spirits above, and of those on earth likewise, and master of the elements, and bending the nature of existing things to His will. For in this way, he says, and very rightly, the name fitting for Him is the Lord God the Almighty. And since these things are so by nature and in truth, He brings destruction upon strength, and brings hardship upon a fortress; He seizes, he says, the arrogant, and upon those who shake off His yoke He apportions destruction. But even if someone should happen to think himself strong and great out of insolence, upon him too He brings hardship. This was to suggest skillfully that if they should choose to be idle, and to persist still in the charges of arrogance, and to think great things of themselves, they will fall into extreme hardship, being righteously shattered at last by the hand of the one who rules all things. "For the Lord," he says, "opposes the proud," according to what is written, and He considers the boastful and disobedient and intractable man an enemy; yet He looks "upon the humble and the quiet and the one who trembles at His words." And the thing is good, and truly worthy of emulation by those who have chosen to live best. They hated him who reproves in the gates, and they abhorred a holy word. The discourse again holds to its proper sequence. For since the divine Prophet named God almighty and all-powerful, and added that "He brings destruction upon strength, and brings hardship upon a fortress," for this reason now also, necessarily, lest anyone think He brings His wrath excessively upon those who err in small things, he enumerates the charges, and brings forward the reasons for which He apportions destruction and hardship to some. For they have hated, he says, those who would correct them, they have made nothing of those who reprove and are accustomed to set them right toward what is pleasing to God, they have considered every holy word abominable, that is, the word that calls and urges toward holiness and sanctification. But you will understand "in the gates" as clearly and openly and with boldness. And he seems now to be mindful of their madness and aversion toward the prophets and the law. For the prophets would reprove, approaching without concealment. And the law was a holy word, because it is a guide of God and of righteousness, and a tutor unto piety, and indicative of the God who is by nature and in truth. For this reason also the blessed Paul said the commandment through Moses is "holy and just and good." Therefore, it is the most shameful of sicknesses, and a kind of root and genesis of the passions in the soul, to shake off counsels, and to hate reproofs, and to seem not even to know the divine law. For he who has arrived at this point of wickedness will surely be like a ship destitute of rudders and not having a pilot, which is carried about by every wind, and rushes simply without consideration toward what pushes it, almost as if drunk, and appearing at last as a plaything of the waves. But our wise David blesses that just man, saying, "The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be tripped up;" for the law sets one right toward what is pleasing to God. Therefore, because you struck the heads of the poor, and you received choice gifts from them, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them, and vineyards you have planted desirable ones and you will not drink their wine. It is true, that in every way and altogether, to abstain from good things has its origin in worthlessness, and turning away from what is useful and by nature beneficial makes us stumble, as by necessity, into things that are not so. For just as when light has been driven away, darkness immediately follows in its tracks and on its heels, so the departure of virtue has the incursion of worthlessness following it. Therefore, since they have hated "the one who reproves in the gates, and ab- "horred also a holy word," they have slid down into multifaceted sin, and they have turned to greed, and practicing the oppression that is most hated by God, they struck "the humble with their fists," and punched the heads of the poor, those who were surely powerful and surpassed others in glory and in wealth; and they plundered in the name of a gift, receiving from the unwilling the more valuable of their possessions. However, he usefully shows that for those accustomed to do such things, greed is unprofitable, and being overcome by shameful gains ends in sorrow, and its end brings punishment. For if they will neither enjoy the houses built with such zeal and ambition, and they labor in vain on the things in their fields, and the enjoyment of the beloved things for which their greed arose and the passion for money entered in is gone to an unexpected outcome, how will the way of having to be greedy not appear to some to be vain and profitless? It is wise, therefore, to consider that, as the writer of Proverbs says, "Better is a little getting "with righteousness than many fruits with unrighteousness." And Paul also calls greed idolatry, and very fittingly; for the matter is then godlessness, and those who trample on the law of love for the brethren, which is also the fulfillment of the law, are placed on an equal footing with those who have not known God by nature. And he who does not know the law denies the Law- giver. And Christ himself also made us more prudent and stronger than the unjust love of money, saying, "For what "will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, "but loses his own soul? Or what will a man give "in exchange for his soul?" "For treasures will not "profit the lawless, according to what is written; but righteousness "will deliver from death." For I have known your many impieties, and your sins are strong, trampling down the just, taking bribes, and turning aside the poor in the gates. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in that time, for it is an evil time. That God does not punish those who have offended for small things, nor indeed for common transgressions, but rather, having been patient with moderate faults, he then brings his wrath upon their unbridled inclinations toward worthlessness, he tries to teach. For he says that those in Samaria will fall away from their houses, and indeed also from their vineyards, and, I think, from everything that knows how to glad- den and contributes to prosperity. Therefore, since the sins committed by them have become terrible and great and no longer bearable; for they oppressed the just, or any man perhaps, that is, looking to unholiness, they deigned to care little for right and just judgment. And this is, in a way, to oppress and unguardedly to be greedy for what seems right to the law. For they also received bribes, that is, repayments and re- wards for unjust judgments; and in addition to this, they turned aside the poor in the gates. And what is this? For either he says that, that they made to be shunned those who persuade others to think moderately, and who advise about this with bold- ness; or that they dared to pervert the judgments of the poor, not secretly; from where? not even as if concealing the impiety, but as it were in the gates, that is, openly and in the sight of many, no longer blushing at all, nor indeed having any reverence for the divine law. And to this point they have now brought down the time to worthlessness and wickedness, so that even to the wise, and to those able to understand, it seemed better of the economy of things, to neither rebuke any longer, nor indeed to correct those who have chosen to be impious, on account of the fact that those being rebuked are henceforth like those who have no ears, and leap like dogs upon those willing to help them, and consider as enemies those who propose the best things. For they would censure the holy prophets, and sometimes prepared to make them suffer things when they came into their midst, and the words conveyed to them from above. And indeed, Zedekiah at one time bound the prophet Jeremiah when he announced the things from God, and at another time cast him into a pit, and wished to suffocate him in the mire within it. Therefore it is necessary to repent while the stumbles are still small, and not to provoke God, as it were, even unwillingly, by the introduction of greater ones. For if sins become strong and very many, then indeed He will surely repay, and will bring on the flames of indignation. And we say that sins are strong which are terrible and unbearable; because "not every sin is unto death," according to the most wise voice of John; although none has the strength to overcome the loving-kindness of God, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.