Book 2
Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who bite with their teeth and proclaim peace upon him, and when nothing was given into their mouth, they stirred up war against him. He strongly accused those of Israel of enduring destruction willingly, and of giving themselves over to self-inflicted evils, and of greatly tending towards indifference. He added that they were also greatly wronged, with the evil and unclean spirit always deceiving and tricking them. And he spoke thus: "Draw near to the everlasting mountains; arise and go, "for this is not your rest; on account of uncleanness "you are corrupt with corruption. You were pursued with none pursuing. "The spirit set up a lie, it dripped for you into wine and drunken- "ness." For this reason he rebuked not moderately those chosen to be leaders; and he now usefully turns his discourse to their false prophets and diviners, who all but dripped for them as wine the things from the evil and unclean spirit, that is, false words and deceptions, and thus having enveloped them as with a kind of drunkenness, they drove them out of their sound mind. For they bit and wronged them not moderately, persuading them to adhere to their words, and not rather to those from God through the holy prophets; and they spoke falsely, saying that they would live their lives in peace and prosperity, and that nothing of what is naturally grievous would trouble them at all. But their one word for this was not from God. For it would not have been given to unclean tongues to speak the things so brilliant and worthy of reception. But when they persuaded them to pay attention to them, they stirred up war against them, not themselves rousing the Assyrians to this; how so? but rather sharpening the holy wrath against them. For because they had paid attention to them, the evils from the war were justly brought upon them. This is an accusation, indeed one of the most true and fitting, against the chief priests and Pharisees, whom the wretched multitude of the Jews followed and was utterly destroyed and ruined; for it became impious and a slayer of the Lord. Therefore it will be night for you from vision, and darkness for you from divination, and the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them. For since, he says, you have distilled falsehood as wine and strong drink for the people, and bit them like wild beasts, while you proclaimed the good news of peace, lying to them, and prepared them to be caught in the disasters of war, for this reason justly night and darkness will be upon you, even though you pretend to see, and, as you think to yourselves, have practiced divination excellently and truthfully. For the sun will set for you, and the very light of day will grow dark. And we do not say, of course, that the sun truly withdrew its rays from them, or that the light of dawn was darkened, but that the magnitude of the disaster was like darkness to them and a lightless night, and a setting of the sun's ray and a withdrawal of light, and what of such things did not happen to occur? For terrible and extraordinary evils intoxicate the mind, and trouble the heart, and fill it with darkness. And one might say truthfully that for the peoples of the Jews who acted insolently toward Christ, the intelligible sun finally set, with God no longer shining upon them, nor the intelligible day dawning for them, but rather their hardening spreading over them like night. For they have been hardened, as Paul says, and "Whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart." "For professing to be wise, they became fools, and their foolish heart was darkened." And that these things would happen to them, Christ himself foretold, saying "While you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overtake you." But since they did not accept the divine light, that is, Christ, they were overtaken by darkness, and it became night for them from vision, according to the Prophet's voice. This same thing will also happen to the inventors of heresies, who, pretending to see, and insisting that they are able to understand the mystery of Christ brilliantly, the wretches speak falsely, and they almost drip the harms from deceit into the hearts of the more simple, and then lead them away from the doctrines of truth. Therefore, for them there will be night from vision, and darkness, for they will go away into the outer darkness, "having sinned against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience for whom Christ died." And those who see the dreams will be ashamed, and the diviners will be laughed at, and they will all speak against them, because there will be no one to listen to them. For they were divining that there would be great peace, and seizing those who approached them with silly little dreams, they prepared them to be disposed to think that everything would go smoothly for them, and that their prayers would prevail. But when experience showed the outcome of events to be contrary to what they were saying, and their hopes turned out completely opposite for them, they were then necessarily condemned as false speakers, as buffoons and impostors; and indeed they slipped into such disgrace that no one wanted to pay attention to them; for how, or from where? they who spoke good things, but have cast the deceived into an unexpected disaster, and as far as possible from what was hoped for? Unless I fill myself with strength in the spirit of the Lord and of judgment and of power to declare to Jacob his impieties and to Israel his sins. He shows that in every way and altogether It is necessary for those who have a counterfeit glory of prophecy to speak falsely. For how could one who does not speak in God, who is truth, speak the truth? For concerning Cain, Christ said somewhere, "He was a mur- derer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because he is a liar, as is his father;" giving him as a father the one who also invented falsehood, that is, satan. How can it be doubted that it is necessary for those who speak from a diabolical spirit, saying his things, to lie? But those who are through God, in every way and altogether, speak excellently and truthfully; for they have the truth in themselves. Therefore, how, he says, could the word of prophecy not be falsified by some, unless I filled some with power and righteousness, that is, judgment, through my Spirit, so as to fearlessly and boldly rise up against sinners and convict them? For I think those who speak the things of God need very great and good bold- ness. For at times they rebuke whole peoples, and indeed also kings, and those who are in high places, who especially gnash their teeth at those who wish to correct them, and do not consider the word of those who help them tolerable. For the blessed prophets have labored, or rather, have been endangered, and have been slain in many ways, falling at times into the unholy rages of those being instructed. And the divine disciples were also scourged. For being full of power and judgment and righteousness, they brought to God through faith in Christ the flocks of the Jews. But they rejoiced being tortured, and left the councils exulting, having been dishonored for the name. For they knew that having suffered with Christ, they would also reign with him. Hear this now, you rulers of the house of Jacob and the remnant of the house of Israel, who abhor judgment and pervert all that is right, who build Zion with blood, and Jeru- salem with iniquities. The Creator, being exceedingly good, and then not being ignorant of the magnitude of the evils that would befall them, comes in every way, and introduces every kind of suggestion and threat, so that perhaps somehow the sinners might be persuaded and choose to repent, unlearning the more shameful things and having chosen to do right those things through which it was likely they could escape the effects of wrath without a struggle. It is necessary for the eager learner and most devoted to words to know that while the word of the prophets is continuous in books and writings, it came about at times and in parts, so that even if they sometimes seem to say the same thing, it is still logical to understand that they did not, as I said, address such things at one time, nor to the same people, but with long intervals often inter- vening, they spoke to different people at different times. For it was necessary for all to know the things that would happen, and for the prediction of the common calamity to be for those throughout all the land. To you, then, he says, is the word, who have finally come to such a point of madness as to abhor judgment, that is, righteousness, and to declare perverted the law that directs toward good knowledge; to you who think perhaps to restore Zion with murders and unjust bloodshed, and to make Jerusalem glorious and admired. But it were better to understand that they are rather destroy- ing it, although they were appointed for building and for correction, since they were leaders of the flocks, priests and guardians of the law appointed by God. And they have truly torn down Zion with blood. For they have killed the prophets, and they added to them also the Master of all, I mean Christ. For being builders of Zion, they rejected him; although God said clearly, "Behold, I lay in the foundations of Zion a stone, a chosen, precious corner- stone, and he who believes in him shall not be ashamed." But, as I said, the builders of Zion rejected the chosen and precious stone; yet he has been made the head of the corner; for Christ has reigned over us, and over those of the circum- cision, whom he also created "into one new man, making peace through the cross" and joining them like a corner into unanimity in the Spirit. For it is written that "the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul." But since they have been conformed through sanctification and faith to the most precious cornerstone, the divine Peter writes well and wisely to them, "and you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house," "into a holy temple, into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit;" for Christ has dwelt in the hearts of those who believe. And somewhere concerning them he says through the voice of a prophet, "For I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Its leaders judged for a bribe, and its priests gave answers for a price, and its prophets divined for silver, and they rested upon the Lord, saying, "Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come upon us." Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be like a watchtower for fruit, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest. An abominable thing, and among those especially hated by the all-holy God, are both unjust judgment and bribery. For it is written that "for one who receives bribes unjustly in his bosom, his ways will not prosper." For some are so defeated by accursed greed and shameful gains as to consider it nothing to pervert justice and to sell the truth. And just as those who get dust in their eyes have the activity of their power of sight weakened, so too those who receive maiming in their mind no longer see; "For gifts blind the eyes of the wise, as it is written, and pervert just words;" those who pervert justice wrong the pure beauty of the divine dignities. For it is proper for God alone to judge, and knowing this, the blessed Moses said, "You shall not show partiality in judgment, for the judgment is God's." He who has practiced judging unjustly all but touches the divine and highest thrones, and let him know that he has sinned against the ineffable glory itself, which knows how to judge rightly and justly. For the judgment is God's, as I said. And besides this, it is altogether terrible to make piety a pretext for gain, and to consider the things from God a source of revenue. For see how he does not leave blameless the prophet and priest who wish to work for hire, so as to promise to speak to those who approach, if indeed they should choose to bring wages and gifts. I think that the word here again makes mention of false prophets, and not entirely of priests of the law and true ones, but of those whose custom it was to run after such honors, and to acquire for themselves a purchasable glory. For a holy prophet, or a true priest, would not make his own soul liable to such offenses. Then, while sinning in such ways, he says, they rested upon the Lord, saying, "Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come upon us." For admittedly the God of all was in Israel, and he delivered them from the misery in Egypt, brought them into the land of promise, and showed them to be stronger and more valiant than their enemies. But they surely ought to have understood that when they sin terribly and are condemned for such outrageous things, God would not have endured to be with them. For the holy is incompatible with the profane, and the pure is unconnected with what defiles. That they have thought vain things, therefore, supposing that even if they should be workers of wickedness, even if they should choose to do things beyond all evil, God would nevertheless be with them again, they will recognize, he says, from the things that will happen. For Zion shall be plowed, and the famous Jerusalem shall be like a watchtower for fruit, that is, desolate and destroyed, and the mountain of the house itself, that is, the temple lying on a high hill, into a grove of the forest. This is like saying, a haunt of wild beasts and the holes of serpents. For just as beasts and the untamed kinds of reptiles dwell in the mountains and in the forests, So also in the deserted places, and wherever very many calamities might appear. But these things have happened to the peoples of the Jews, when they also acted insolently against Emmanuel himself. For then, then they were utterly destroyed, and not a stone has remained upon a stone, according to the voice of the Savior himself; and the once venerable and admirable Zion has finally been shown to be arable land and suitable for farmers. However, it must be known that God will also be in us, not in those having faith alone, nor in those as it were resting on him for this reason, but if there is added to faith also the being well-pleasing from works. "For faith without works is dead" according to what is written. And with works running together with the good things from faith, then indeed then God will also be with us, and he will readily strengthen, and will consider us friends, and will gladden us as genuine, and will deliver us from every evil. And it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall hasten to it, and many nations shall go to it; and they shall say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and they will show us his way, and we will walk in his paths. In these things is now clearly seen the prediction of the Church from the gentiles. With Israel according to the flesh having been, as it were, removed from the midst, and the sacrifices according to the law having ceased, and the priesthood from the blood of Levi also being at rest, and the renowned temple itself having finally been burnt, and Jerusalem having been destroyed, Christ revealed the Church from the gentiles, and as in the last time, that is, at the consummation of this age; for then he came to be among us. Therefore, he calls the Church a mountain, which is the house of the living God; and a high one, because in it there is nothing at all low; but the knowledge of the dogmas concerning God is raised on high, and the very life of those justified in Christ and sanctified in the Spirit has also been built up. For there is not in them what is cast on the ground and trodden underfoot with respect to life, just as, of course, one might see in the case of those of the circumcision. For they were overcome by love of the flesh and of shameful gains, and they were caught murdering unjustly, and liable to very many other offenses; "But those who are of Jesus Christ, as the divine Paul says, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." And they have so hated the need to be rich, that one might hear them crying out with boldness "Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." And they have so abstained from murder, that even to those who strike them on the right cheek, they turn the other also. The Church might also be understood as a mountain in another way, when compared to the doctrines of the Greeks. For they most foolishly teach that one must worship stones and wood and creation itself, but she makes manifest the God who is by nature and truly, who fashioned this universe, and holds it together for its well-being, and is Lord of all as God. Indeed, he says the mountain of the Lord has been raised up upon mountains and hills, and to be established, signifying by this that it lies and is, as it were, in great prominence. For what is set on a mountain is conspicuous, and very easy to see, and perhaps unknown by no one, not even by those lying farthest away. And that the nations were going to rush to it very eagerly, the word of the prophecy has clearly declared. And the very outcome of events has borne witness to this, and shown it to be true. For peoples, he says, will hasten to it, clearly meaning to the Master of the house, that is, Christ. And what will they say? Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of our God, and they will show us his way and we will walk in it. Do you hear that, urging one another on, they command each other, saying, "Let us go up," both correctly and intelligently; for I would say that of those among the Greeks the lowly and rejected state of dogmas not having been ignorant, they say "Let us go up," as leaping up high henceforth, as far as it pertains to the thoughts concerning the God who is by nature and truly is. And they long for righteousness, and they have thirsted to learn the way of the Lord, and indeed they profess to go, and very eagerly, in his paths. And who might be the teachers of such things? Or clearly the disciples of the Savior, those entrusted with the divine proclamation, to whom Christ said: "Go and make disciples "of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the "Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching "them to observe all that I have commanded you." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. and he shall judge between many peoples, and shall rebuke strong nations even to a distant land. The myriads and innumerable multitudes of the nations, those who are walking to the mountain of the Lord, that is, the Church, and longing to learn the way of the Lord, and eagerly promising to go by it, here state the reason for no longer wishing, so to speak, to be initiated into the law and to run to Judaism. For before the coming of our Savior, while the customs according to the law were still in force, some of the erring came forward, and bidding farewell to the evils of idolatry, then being circumcised in the flesh, they were eager to live by the customs and laws of the Jews. And such a multitude among them is beyond number. And so Solomon, when he was planning to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, appointed one hundred and fifty thousand stone-cutters and work- men from the proselytes; for so it is written in Chronicles. But what was done was a type of a mystery. For they were about to build a temple to God, the true and conspicuous one, that is, the Church, not the Jews so much, but those from the nations, bearing the Jew in secret, and having a circumcision not so much in the flesh, but in the spirit. Therefore, before the advent, some of the idolaters came and lived by the laws of the Jews. But when the truly conspicuous mountain of the Lord was at last revealed, they approach it instead, rejoicing and saying: For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And they seem to want to show, and to have proclaimed that clearly as well, perhaps, that Zion will be desolate even of the law, and Jerusalem bare of the divine words. For in a way the law and the word of God spoken through angels has departed from them. For the shadow has been abolished, and the things in types have ceased, and the sacrifices have also been taken away, and all the things through Moses have now in a way been brought to a close, as far as the letter is concerned, I mean. But that Christ was about to judge and convict many nations, they, so to speak, prophesy and foretell; but it is necessary to say how and in what manner he would judge and convict. For by persuading them to abstain from the ways of error, and showing them clearly that they are hastening to destruction, if they should not choose to live rightly, and to wipe away the charges of their ancient transgressions, he will in a way judge and convict and not only one nation, but even to a distant land, that is, to the ends of the earth under heaven; for everywhere the saving word is sung. "For this gospel," he says, "will be preached in the whole world." And the prophetic word seems to hint to us at another subtle and hidden mystery. For it relates, as it were, in what way those from the nations would be received, and leaving that ancient error they will henceforth walk to the mountain of the Lord, that is, the Church. For he says, from the Zion above, and from the spiritual Jerusalem, a law and a word of the Lord will go forth. For the Word of God has come down to us from heaven, who also has become for us a law and a lawgiver, and he himself will judge between many peoples, and will rebuke strong nations even to a distant land. But what the 'will judge' and 'will rebuke' might mean, I will say according to what has come to mind. Satan has tyrannized over all, and together with the evil powers with him he waged war against the world under the sun, and placing the yoke of his greed upon all, he led astray from God the race upon the earth. But "The Lord God has appeared to us," according to what is written, the good shepherd then appeared on earth, and rescued those who had gone astray from that one's greed, and condemned those who led them astray, and convicted those who did wrong, that is, "The principalities, the authorities, the cosmic rulers "of this age, the spiritual forces of evil "in the heavenly places." And Christ himself makes this clear to us, saying, "Now is the judgment of this age, "now the ruler of this world will be cast "out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to "myself." For he has judged for many and innumerable peoples, that is clearly, for those who were wronged, and he has justified them in mercy and faith. He has cast out the ruler of this age, and has driven him away from his rule over us, convicting him as unjust, as unholy, as a murderer, as one who has taken advantage of the world under heaven. And with him were surely also convicted the other nations of demons, those once terrible and strong, not wandering about one city, but scattered as far as a distant land, that is, to the ends of the world under heaven. For they had divided the earth as it were, and no one at all was without experience of their wickedness. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; and each one shall rest under his vine, and each one under his fig tree, and there shall be no one to make them afraid, because the mouth of the Lord Almighty has spoken these things. All things have become new in Christ, and Paul speaks the truth when he says that "in Christ, a new creation, and the old things "have passed away." For the state of affairs itself has also changed for the better, no longer giving birth to wars and battles, which had an unbearable and truly wretched assault against all. For the reshaping of the instruments of war for the work of farmers, and for each to rest, says the Prophet, under his own fig tree and indeed his vine, and for there to be no one to frighten them, what else could this suggest to us, other than that there will be a deep and unbreakable peace, and a time without war? And these things were accomplished during the times of the visitation. And indeed Christ himself said, "My peace I give to you, my peace "I leave with you." But when or how did peace in the world come to be? For since the rule and most glorious kingdom of the Romans then held sway over the world under heaven, all the nations were brought together and came under one yoke, and they ceased from war against one another, and turned to the works of peace, clearly to agriculture, and each inhabited their own cities in safety. For before the hand of the Romans held sway over them, wars and uprisings of countries and cities occurred everywhere, and it was possible for those who wished to ravage whomever they chose, to plunder the property of others as if they had conquered them, and it was necessary for those in each country and city to be well fitted with the implements of war, and to practice military tactics, to defend themselves and their children. But since the strength of the Roman kingdom was then established, such things have ceased, and the implements of war have become mattocks and sickles and indeed also plows, and they were then reshaped into certain other such things. But if someone should choose to approach the preceding things also spiritually, he will understand again that with Christ awarding us peace from his own gentleness, and abolishing the principalities and those who formerly fought against those who wish to be pious, we have ceased from fears, and we have been put beyond assault and battle, having turned to the cultivation of spiritual things, and we gather the fruits of righteousness, and we have rested at last under a fig tree and of the vine. And the fig tree will be a symbol of sweetness, but the vine of spiritual gladness. For the word of the Savior is exceedingly sweet, and knows how to gladden the heart of man, according to what is written. And in addition to this, sweet and full of gladness is the hope for the future, which we have richly received in Christ. For all the peoples will walk, each in his own way, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and beyond. Those who have made it their business to go up to the mountain of the Lord, and who wish to learn his paths, profess docility, and accept the glories of the life in Christ, and that they will pursue with all their strength the studies of piety, they signify this very well to us through these things. For each one, he says, of those in every country and city, may travel whatever path he should choose, and may live again according to what seems good to him or is even supposed to be right; but for us, Christ is our care, and we will make his ordinances our straight path, and we will walk with him, as it were, and not only for the present and passing age, but for much longer and beyond. And the saying is true; for those who now suffer with him, will be with him forever and will be glorified with him and will reign with him. Indeed, they make Christ their care who prefer nothing to the love for him, who cease from the vain distractions of the world, but seek rather righteousness, and what is pleasing to him, and to excel in virtues, such a one as was also the divine Paul. For he writes that, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." And again, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the one that is crushed and I will receive the one that was cast off, and those whom I cast off; and I will make the one that was crushed into a remnant, and the one that was cast off into a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion from now and forever. That Israel would in no way completely slip from hope, he then indicates; for it was crushed and became an outcast, that is, it has been rejected on account of its very great impiety; for it was a fighter against God and an idolater, abominable and profane, and was held not moderately by the charges of blood-guilt. For they killed the prophets, then finally they also crucified the Savior and Redeemer of all, yet the remnant has been shown mercy on account of the fathers and has been saved, and it has also become a great nation. For it is true that the holy multitude of those justified in Christ would be considered a very great nation, and very reasonably so. And its excellent qualities, and the things for which it ought to be admired, are the good things for the mind, the glories for the heart, that is, sanctification, hope in Christ, genuineness in faith, what is marveled at in virtues, what is worthy of admiration in endurance, and to be ruled by Christ himself and to be shepherded by him, and to make him our guide; "For one is our guide, Christ." And if indeed the dead should be raised, also "we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." And by Mount Zion he means the Jerusalem above, the mother of the firstborn, in which we will also be with Christ himself. And you, tower of the flock, parched, daughter of Zion, upon you will come and enter the first dominion, the kingdom of Babylon to the daughter of Jerusalem. Things from gentleness are announced to those who have suffered, and he said that in due time he will receive the crushed one, and will make her into a great nation. Yet in the meantime he lays blame, and that she has suffered utterly, has been crushed and cast out, he helpfully reproaches. For as the blessed Paul said, "Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." He strikes, therefore, out of love, and because, while it was possible to experience none of the grievous things, she came to this through voluntary inclinations. But he calls Sion a squalid tower of the flock, that is, he also names Jerusalem itself, speaking as it were in character, almost even frowning at her. O Sion, that is, Jerusalem, wretched daughter, O wretched and lightless dwelling of my sheep, you will certainly be given over, even unwillingly, to your enemies. For she will come, she will come, and not long from now upon you, the preeminent and stronger of the kingdoms on earth, that is, that of the Babylonians. And he calls Sion, that is, Jerusalem, a squalid tower and a dark dwelling, because all who were in her walked as it were in darkness, from not wishing to make the law of God a lamp, as it were, and a light, and to receive into their mind the illumination from him. For thus, and not otherwise, was it possible to traverse a straight path, and to depart from pits, and to leap over sin, and not to stumble over the evils that fall in between. Let us therefore also sing ourselves, saying to God, "Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, I have prevailed against him." For being illumined by divine light, and having received into our mind the brightness of the wisdom from above and from God, we shall be unconquerable by our enemies, and escaping the things from divine wrath, we shall be in the goodness of cheerfulness from above, and in Christ we shall certainly prosper. And now, why have you known evils? Was there not a king for you? Or has your counsel perished, because pains have seized you as a woman in labor? Be in labor and be strong and draw near, daughter of Sion, as a woman in labor, because now you shall go forth from the city, and you shall dwell in the plain, and you shall come to Babylon; from there he will rescue you, and from there the Lord your God will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. The first rule, he says, will therefore come upon you. But what then is the reason for which you are crushed by such terrible evils? For to know evils is to fall into evils, that is, into the things that are accustomed to do evil, I mean the calamities of war. Was there then not a king for you? Or have you not practiced deliberating wisely, and making the best decisions for yourself? But again he cleverly rebukes, and indirectly reproaches her as being utterly senseless and not refraining from offending God. And what is the manner, I will speak briefly. God of all ruled over the children of Israel in the beginning, through the mediation of the all-wise Moses, then after him, Jesus the son of Nun was taken into the generalship; then through the judges appointed from time to time, and after them through the blessed Samuel. But when their affairs were in this state, and were arranged in the best possible order, the wretched ones contrived bitter things against themselves. And shaking off, as it were, the yoke of the kingdom under God, they went to the blessed Samuel saying, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your way, and now set a king over us to judge us, as do the other nations; and the word was, he says, evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us; and Samuel prayed to the Lord; and the Lord said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in whatever they may say to you, because they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from reigning over them." Then when the blessed Samuel announced to them the rights of the kingdom, and terrified them with very many fears, and strongly turned them away from such unsound and unholy thoughts, they no less insisted, saying, "No, but a king shall be over us, and we also shall be as the other nations, and our king will judge us, and he will go out before our face, and he will fight our war." Therefore he brings them to the remembrance of those ancient and perilous counsels, and as it were, he speaks ironically of what has happened and says, How have you known evils? Was there not a king for you? Or has your counsel perished? "Did you not ask for a king," he says, "saying, he will go before our face, and will fight our war." Did you then ever deliberate well? Behold of the matters the at last showed your counsel, that it was both best and necessary. You made the yoke of the kingdom under God a thing to be cast off. Behold, birth pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. Therefore be in travail and be courageous, O daughter of Zion. Again the discourse is in a moral tone: for, O good daughter, he says, be patient in your pains, endure your sorrows, draw near to giving birth, that is, you will not be far from what is expected; but like a woman already in labor you will cry out from your toils, and having left your well-towered cities you will encamp in the plain, you will lodge, he says, in deserted places; and you will even arrive in Babylon itself; yet He does not leave her completely without comfort; for He immediately added that she will both escape and be brought back again by the mercy of God. It is therefore most excellent to remain under God and be ruled by Him and to make Him one's power, defender and helper, to bow the neck of the soul to Him alone, to live by His will, and to consider what pleases Him worthy of all account. Or if we do not do this, we shall in every way and altogether be under the spiritual Babylonians, I mean the opposing and unclean powers, and under the first principle, that is, Satan, and cast out as it were from the holy city "whose architect and builder is God," we shall inhabit the city of the Babylonians. For we shall be in confusion and turmoil, with sufficient distractions of the present life. For Babylon is interpreted as confusion. And now many nations have gathered against you, who say, 'Let us rejoice,' and 'Our eyes will look upon Zion.' But they did not know the reasoning of the Lord, and did not understand his counsel, that he has gathered them like sheaves of the threshing floor. Arise and thresh them, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horns iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; and you will crush many peoples, and you will dedicate their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. We have already said many times that while Hezekiah was governing the kingdom in Jerusalem, Sennacherib ravaged Samaria, and took many cities of Judah along with it. Then he sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish, who babbled not moderately against the divine glory, at which time one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians perished in one night by the hand of an angel. He mentions this history again. For many nations were gathered against you, he says, almost playing wantonly and dancing over her who was not yet laid low. But they did not know what God had planned. For they were gathered as to a threshing floor, and like a sheaf they will be subject to your feet. Arise, therefore, and thresh them, for you will have horns of iron and hooves of bronze, that is, you will be difficult to conquer and invincible to your enemies, and you will all but trample down those who stand against you. For since he has made mention of a threshing floor and a sheaf, he has preserved the fitting manner in the metaphor, and as if speaking of a calf he mentions horns and hooves. But since they were not consumed and did not fall by human hand, but lay as a work of divine wrath, do not, he says, take the boasts for these things to yourself, but rather ascribe to the Lord of all the earth both their multitude and the strength of the perished. But this is the sense of the history, and perhaps the very sudden turn of the prophetic proclamations will disturb some of those who encounter them. For just now we heard him saying, 'The first dominion, the kingdom of the Babylonians, will come and enter upon you,' and the manner of the captivity was described to us; then immediately we see her saved, and trampling on her enemies. Therefore, there is need of a clear distinction of the times; for thus the consideration of what is said will be unconfused and clear. For while Hezekiah was reigning, Sennacherib went up against Jerusalem, then after the death of Hezekiah there were four other kings, and the fifth was Jeconiah. Then Nebuchadnezzar took all of Judea and Jerusalem itself, and carried away all Israel into captivity. And the blessed one clearly writes for us the history concerning these things The prophet Jeremiah. Now the daughter of Ephraim shall be completely hedged in: he has set a siege against you: with a rod they shall strike the tribes of Israel on the cheek. For many peoples and many nations will be gathered together against Zion, then, expecting to dance over her and mock her, they have been threshed and crushed, God casting them down at the feet of the victors as in the form of a sheaf. And the city of the Samaritans was captured and destroyed, and has been consumed by the war, and concerning her he says, that she will be fenced in and restrained, God clearly ordaining that she be in distress and must suffer it. He calls Samaria the daughter of Ephraim, that is, the populace in Samaria. For it seems that in some way the one entrusted with kingship is in the position of a father to those under his yoke. And those from Ephraim have reigned over Samaria. Therefore, he says, the city of the Samaritans will be, as it were, surrounded and girdled by the forces of the enemies, who will all but strike her on the cheek, not slapping with merciful hands, but even crushing with rods and abusing her violently. And through these things he indicates, in addition to the dishonors, also the unbearable pain of captivity. For slaps on the cheek are an unambiguous sign of dishonor. But if it should be understood as being done also with a rod, it will certainly convey what is wicked, and what is fitting, as it were, for a slave. Therefore, he says, Samaria, which is ruled by those from the tribe of Ephraim, will be dishonored and in abuses and pains. But the hand of the one who strikes will be idle, and we will remain untouched by abuse, if with all our strength we refuse to provoke to wrath against ourselves the Lord of all by doing what is not lawful and by making a special effort for what is hateful to Him. But rather by honoring Him with kindnesses we will be in a good state of prosperity, and we will live through a life truly brilliant and worthy. And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, you are too little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be a ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. In these things the prophetic word proclaims to us the return of our affairs to their original state. And it also remembers very clearly the recapitulation which is said to have happened in Christ. For the things in him are a new creation, as it is written, and "The old things "have passed away, but through him new things have come to be," transforming human things and renewing them again for well-being. For he has reigned, and has again made the rule over all things desirable. And the universal is signified also through the things that are particularly dispensed. For Israel was ruled, as I said, in the beginning by God, with the saints mediating. Then, not long after, having fallen ill with foolishness, and dishonoring acting under God, they have honored human powers more. And so they asked for Saul as king over themselves. Then they offended not moderately; for the God of all, being grieved, said to the blessed Samuel, "They have not despised "you, but they have despised me, that I should not reign over "them." But that the matter was in no way beneficial for them, but rather bitter and harmful and a cause of destruction, experience itself has shown; how could anyone doubt it? For because of this they have fallen into terrible and inescapable evils. Therefore, bringing Israel back, as it were, to its original state, I mean to being ruled by God himself, he proclaimed beforehand Christ, who would be for them the Savior and Redeemer from Bethlehem. And it would not be off the mark even if it should seem to someone to make the statement a kind of general one. For since we on earth have fallen away from the kingdom under God, fashioning a foreign yoke for ourselves, and inscribing as master one who is not by nature a master, but rather a boaster and an apostate, I mean Satan, we have been in every evil; but, as I just said, God the Father was pleased "to sum up all "things in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things on "the earth," and "He has rescued us from the dominion of "darkness, and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of "his love in the light." Therefore, he makes the discourse to Bethlehem, that is, the house of Ephrathah. And the region is called Ephrathah, but the town Bethlehem, that is, the village in the region, from where were Jesse and David, and she again, the holy virgin, who bore to us the divine infant, her own son Jesus, "Whose government was upon his shoulder, and his name is called Angel of Great Counsel." for he has reigned through the cross, and since he became "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," for this reason, as the divine Paul says, "God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, amen." O then Bethlehem, he says, house of Ephrathah, though you are little to be among the thousands of Judah, that is, countless are the splendid and great cities of Judea, and teeming with a populous multitude of inhabitants, but even if very few are those who dwell in and possess you, you will become a nurse, and will be called the city of the one who rules over Israel, who is a good shepherd so as even to lay down his life for the sheep, and he will rule over all of Israel. And not at all only of Israel according to the flesh, but also of those from the promise promised beforehand to Abraham; for God said somewhere to him, "For in Isaac shall your seed be called." And the 'In Isaac,' he says, is by promise. Therefore the promise is sure not only to those of the lineage of Israel, "but also to those who walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while still uncircumcised;" for these are Israel, because "the children of the promise are counted for the seed." It is therefore as if he were to say: He will rule over everyone who believes in him and who appropriates himself to me through him. For we have been brought to the Father through the Son, and he himself will testify, saying, "No one comes to the Father except through me." Therefore, Christ was revealed from Bethlehem, the good shepherd, "who feeds us in the gardens and among the lilies," and setting forth the fragrance of the evangelical decrees, and bringing as it were ripe flowers concerning himself, to those willing to pluck them and to be filled with their fragrance spiritually; for he said, "I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys." But he says his goings forth are from the beginning and from the days of eternity, either signifying the pre-eternal existence of the Word; for he is, he is co-eternal with his own Begetter, and he himself is the maker of the ages; that is, that he became man as in the last time of the age, but the mystery concerning him was predestined in the foreknowledge of the Father even before the foundation of the ages. Therefore, by 'going forth' he means either the timeless birth from God the Father into the Son's own existence, or his manifestation, which would be in due time, when he became flesh, even if from the beginning and from the days of eternity he was predestined and appointed by the Father as Savior and Redeemer, who was not ignorant of the intervening things that would happen to the human race on account of the transgression in Adam. Therefore you will give them up until the time of her who is in labor. She will give birth, and the rest of their brethren will return to the sons of Israel. The Prophet seems to have considered this in himself and perhaps to reason and say: God will not speak falsely, but will by all means bring to pass the things that have been promised. And if Israel is in such splendid hopes, and the ruler will be born for them, and he will rule, and will deliver from every evil, why will he be captured by the spear at all? Then, having understood the time of the promise, and perceiving it was not yet present, he in a way apologizes to himself, saying: For since the time of the promise is still at a long postponement, and they themselves are in no small stumblings, and do not cease from sinning at all, for this reason you will give them up, that is, you will deliver them to enemies, O Master, until the time of her who is in labor, until, he says, that divine an infant from a virgin’s loins. For then there will be the most complete redemption, and they will be established in sure prosperity, with nothing at all that leads to gladness lacking for them. As the Prophet was pondering these things, as I said, and as it were whispering to himself, God overhears "She will bear a son," and calls him to a firm faith. Similar to this is what was said to the prophet Habakkuk, "Yet a little while, and he who is to come will come, and will not delay." For he says that he will be born in every way and in all circumstances, and the remnant of their brothers will return to the sons of Israel. For not a few of the Jews accepted the faith in Christ, and before all others, the blessed disciples; but those who were insolent in their disobedience have slipped from hope. However, in the last times they will be brought to the others, and as if from a late start they will with difficulty run back to what it was better to have come to in the beginning. And he will stand and see, and the Lord will shepherd his flock in strength, and they will exist in the glory of the name of the Lord their God; because now he will be magnified to the ends of the earth. And this will be peace. The phrase "he will stand," he says, is instead of "and he will take charge." And the shepherd will be the one who works for his own sheep, not entrusting the instruction to another, as he did long ago to the blessed Moses, but he himself through himself; for it is true that "Not an ambassador, not an angel, but the Lord himself saved us;" and he will shepherd us in strength, placing us above all sweat and toil. For he will act as a shield, as it were, and will save them universally, not allowing false shepherds to wrong them through deceit, nor wild beasts to leap upon the flocks, nor permitting the wicked and opposing powers, just as they did carelessly of old, to lord it over those who have believed and to take advantage of the sanctified, but rather giving them "to tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and to trample the lion and the dragon." For we have become glorious through him, and we have been lifted up on high, brilliant and transparent, and we have reached the ends of the world under heaven. For he himself is our strength and power, he is the mediator and reconciler, he is our peace. For he broke down "the dividing wall of the partition," and abolished in his decrees "the law of commandments," and created the two peoples into one "new man, making peace," according to what is written, and binding them into unity with the bonds of love. Therefore, a fitting and true name for him is peace, even if he is called Christ. When the Assyrian comes upon your land, and when he treads upon your country, then there will be raised up against him seven shepherds and eight bites of men, and they will shepherd Asshur with the sword and the land of Nebrod in its trench, and he will deliver from the Assyrian, when he comes upon your land and when he treads upon your borders. The Hebrew version of the present chapter begins with, "And this will be peace, when the Assyrian comes upon your land and when he treads upon your country." For this, he says, will be the manner of peace, if indeed the Assyrian should wish to attack your land and country. But in interpreting the verses, we will say that the discourse again departs from perceptible and more manifest matters, and is lifted up on high, as it were, and from a visible image subtly leads to things that happen intellectually. For in these verses "Assyrian" no longer signifies the man from Babylon, but rather signifies the inventor of sin, I mean Satan, or rather, to speak simply, the untamable and warlike multitude of demons, which rises up intellectually against every saint, and fights against the holy city, the spiritual Zion, "which is the church of the living God," and is a kind of type and a similar image of the Jerusalem which is understood to be above and heavenly. Thus also the divine psalmist remembered her, saying, "Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God;" for Christ inhabits the Church, and has made it a kind of city of his own, although by the nature of his divinity filling all things. This city of God, then, is a kind of land and country of the sanctified, who have been enriched with unity toward God in the Spirit. When, therefore, it says, the Assyrian comes upon your land, that is, if the barbarian and opposing powers should fight against the saints, they will not find them destitute of leaders. For there shall rise up against them seven shepherds and eight bites of men. But the meaning of the prophecy seems, from the times, that is, from the numbers seven and eight, I say, to wish to signify the saints: those before the advent, and at the same time those during it, and those who have come after it. For before the advent, according to the Law of Moses, the sabbath rest on the seventh day was honored, and it was still the time of the shadow. Then also the company of the holy prophets was revealed, instructing toward piety and the knowledge of Christ. But when at last the Only-Begotten appeared, and endured the cross for the life of all, and rose again, having plundered Hades on the eighth day, then he commanded the holy Apostles to "make disciples of all nations, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son "and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that he had "commanded them." These, then, he calls the eight bites of men, signifying those who came at the time of the resurrection and after it. When, therefore, he says, the Assyrian or the foreigner and barbarian comes, then indeed he will come against seven shepherds, and against eight bites. For we will find both the saints who were in the time of the Law, whom he calls seven shepherds, and in addition to these, the Apostles and Evangelists, and the teachers of the churches in their times, always warring against and generally resisting the deceits of the demons, and setting forth their own sobriety, as it were, against the perversities of the evil one. For they save those who inhabit the holy country and land, fortifying them with admonitions and securing them with instructions unto everything that is best. And that the choir of the saints was about to plot in a certain way against Satan, and to consume him intellectually with bites, God again made clear through the voice of a holy one, saying concerning him: "Woe to him who multiplies for himself what is not his! For how long? "and who makes his yoke heavy and strong. For suddenly "those who bite him shall arise, and those who plot against you shall awaken, "and you shall be plunder for them. Because you "have plundered many nations, all the peoples that are left "shall plunder you." Do you hear that he says that the one who multiplies for himself what is not his, that is, Satan, will be bitten and plundered? Then he names those who plundered him 'the remnant,' that is, those from the remnant, or rather, those from Jacob. But if, he says, some Assyrian should come, that is, a man of a different mind and gone astray, not having the faith that runs straight, but limping, as it were, and broken in mind, they set against this one also the power of the truth, and showing the unpleasantness of his rottenness, they drive him away as a wolf, almost biting him down and making him, though unwilling, to be for a time very far away from the flock of spiritual sheep and to be carried outside. These, then, the seven shepherds, also understood as eight bites, will shepherd the Assyrian with a sword. He says 'they will shepherd' instead of 'they will pursue.' For since he mentioned shepherds, he has kept what is fitting to the metaphor of the word, by saying 'they will shepherd.' And what the sword might fittingly be understood to be, which it is the custom of the saints to use, the psalmist will make clear, saying of them: "And "two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance "on the nations, and rebukes on the peoples;" "For "the word of God is living and active, and sharper than "any two-edged sword." And Paul also, equipping the soldier understood to be in Christ, gives him "The "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." But that the divine and all-powerful sword pursues the Assyrian, that is, the Word of God, no less will the prophet Isaiah persuade us, saying "And it shall be in that day, God will bring "his holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, the crooked serpent, and will slay "the dragon;" and again "And it shall be, when the "Lord has finished doing all things in mount Zion and in Jerusa- "lem, he will bring punishment upon the great mind of the ruler of the "Assyrians, and upon the height of the glory of his eyes. "For he said, By my strength I will do it, and by the wisdom of my under- "standing I will remove the boundaries of nations, and their strength I will plun- "der, and I will shake inhabited cities." With this sword, then, they will shepherd Assyria, and all the land of Nebrod in its trench. But through these things he wishes to say this. He names the land of Nebrod the country of the Assyrians, that is, Babylon, around which, as they say, a deep trench was cast. And he names it the land of Nebrod, because he was the beginning and origin and father of the race of the Babylonians. For it is written thus in Genesis concerning him, "And the sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat "Nebrod; he began to be a giant on the earth. He was "a giant hunter before the Lord God; for this reason "they will say, As Nebrod a giant hunter before the Lord. And "the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon and Orech "and Archad and Calneh in the land of Shinar." That the tower was raised in Calneh; and this is a Persian place; so says the divine scripture. Therefore, then, he says the land of Nebrod is Babylon, which is girded by a trench, just as I said recently. Thus then, he says, they will shepherd Assyria, and all the land of Nebrod, so that it remains within the trench, and no longer expands into cities and countries, but remains as it were at home, full of fear and trembling; this very thing we shall find the hordes of demons have suffered through Christ. For they no longer boast over the world under the sun, as they did long ago and before the visitation; but they remain as it were where they are, being checked by the vigilance and good counsels of the saints, and being barred from the land of the saints, so that they might be able to live through a quiet and warless life, accomplishing what is pleasing to God, and being brightened through the good order most dear to Him. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations in the midst of many peoples, as dew falling from the Lord and as lambs on the grass, so that no one might be gathered nor stand among the sons of men. I have already said many times, that the remnant of Israel has been saved, and the race from Jacob has not utterly perished. For not a few in number have believed in Christ, and have been enriched with salvation through faith even before the others, I mean, those from the nations. But from this part that was left and preserved through faith have come the divine disciples themselves and those who struggled and suffered with them in the gospel of Christ. These then, he says, have been saved among the nations, as some dew poured out upon the fields, and putting an end to the burning heat of diabolical mischief. For just as in gardens or in fields, if the glare of the sun's ray falls upon the grasses and lilies, it causes them to slacken into ugliness, and seem to have already withered into it; so too the inventor of sin, when with worldly pleasures he inflames the human mind, withers it in a way and makes it appear very ugly indeed. But the Word of God sets it upright again, just as the dew does a flower or grasses. And so shall be, he says, those from Jacob among the nations, watering the souls of those who are persuaded with some dew by their words of piety, and richly fattening them with evangelical teachings. And they shall dance upon it like lambs on the herbage, that is, they will find the most abundant and plentiful pasture; for the nations are always somehow more ready for obedience and much inclined to believe in Christ, and, I say, to choose the incomparably better life than their former one. But just as when for lambs much and flowering grass lies beside them, then indeed then they both luxuriate and rejoice; in the same way, I think, the mind of teachers also makes the tractability of their pupils and the obedience of their initiates a delight and a pleasure. And indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ made the obedience of the Samaritan woman his own food, as was fitting for him. For he said to the holy Apostles, "I have food to eat that you do not know." Then, explaining this, he added, saying, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." Therefore, the work of God is food and delight for the saints. Therefore, he says, they will leap about as though mowing common grass, that is, a flowering herb, and those of Jacob in a way feeding on the believers from the nations, and they will find the way of preaching so widened, that no one will be able to be gathered together and withstand them, that is, neither to assemble nor to resist; for this is to withstand, if some of the sons of men should choose to do evil. For many plots and attempts have been devised against them by many, but they have been harmed in no way, as God calms the anger of the powerful, and surrounds his own as with the weapon of goodwill, and paradoxically delivers and saves them from every temptation. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a cub in the flocks of sheep, in the manner that when it passes through and tearing seizes, there is no one to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up against those who afflict you, and all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed. The good and worthy narratives, even if they should come through the same words, would not be burdensome, but rather much charm will follow them. The remnant of Jacob, he says, that is, those of Jacob saved through faith in Christ and appointed preachers and priests of the evangelical decrees, will be as dew among the nations, and will also graze like lambs rejoicing in good and abundant grass. But they will become no less also like a lion among the beasts of the forest, roaring fiercely and dreadfully, and instilling unbearable terror even in those far away. And they will be as lion's cubs in the flocks, clearly rising up nobly and pouncing on whomever they choose, with no one resisting, that is, able to deliver what has been seized. For our Lord Jesus Christ said to the holy disciples, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves," that is, gentle and submissive; even if some in the world should be ready to kill, and yield in no way to the cruelty of wolves, yet by my own strength I will crush the hearts of those who make war; I will make them cowardly and unmanly; and I will work a great reverence concerning you. Thus they have prevailed over their enemies, they have conquered those who resisted, they have become fearsome to the wolves, although being in the rank of sheep. They escaped the plots, "dangers from robbers, as the blessed Paul writes, dangers from my own people, dangers from false brothers," and the flocks of the nations were seized as if by lions; but Satan, who had fed them for destruction by his own will, was not able to defend them, nor to snatch from the hands of the apostles what had been taken for salvation. And this was what was said to him through the voice of Habakkuk: "Woe to him who multiplies for himself what is not his! For how long? And who makes his yoke heavy and strong. Because suddenly those who bite you will rise up, and your plotters will awake, and you will become plunder for them. Because you plundered many nations, all the remaining peoples will plunder you." For the eight bit down, and like cubs they seized what had been gathered by him; for he gathered to himself what was not his, for man belongs to God, or rather all things do, and nothing at all is his; but he was plundered by the of the remaining peoples, that is, of those from the remnant, so that you may again understand the ministers of the evangelical ordinances. Then to them the Lord who strengthens and holds them together: Your hand, he says, shall be lifted up against those who afflict you, and all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed. For they have conquered, as I said, in Christ, and were superior to every plot, and shone forth in the world, and prevailed over enemies, acquiring for God those who were lost. And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, I will destroy your horses from your midst and I will destroy your chariots, and I will destroy the cities of your land and I will remove all your strongholds; and I will remove your sorceries from your hands, and there shall be no soothsayers in you; and I will destroy your carved images and your pillars from your midst, and you shall no more worship the works of your hands; and I will cut down the groves from your midst, and I will destroy your cities, and I will execute vengeance in wrath and in anger among the nations, because they did not listen. The discourse returns again to the sorrowful things, and for a time ceases from the brilliant and admirable narratives concerning Christ, and connects these things, as it were, to what came before, and declares the things that will come from wrath. He said therefore that "And you, O tower of the flock, a parched place, O daughter of Zion, to you it shall come, and shall enter the first dominion, the kingdom of Babylon." At that time, therefore, at that time, he says, your cavalry will be gone, and with them the arrogance of chariots will be destroyed, and the cities will be ravaged, and you shall be desolate of your strongholds, that is, of your walls; for the Babylonians burned their cities along with the men; And the practices of your folly, both sorceries and false divinations, and the very workshops of deceit, and the sacred precincts together with the idols will certainly be utterly destroyed, and the groves will fall from their foundations. And what follows from this? The judgment is renowned, and the manner of the punishment would not escape the neighboring nations. And they will know that it befell them to suffer all things because they did not listen, that is, the charges of disobedience. Wisdom also said something of this kind to those who have an unbridled inclination to disobedience: "Because I stretched out my words and you paid no attention, but you made my counsels void, and you did not heed my words; therefore I also will laugh at your destruction, and I will rejoice when ruin comes upon you, and when tumult suddenly comes upon you, and your overthrow is present like a tempest;" And the fruits of turning away are "wrath and anger, tribulation and anguish" upon everyone beyond the one who is accustomed to listen. It is necessary, therefore, and very much without delay, to follow God swiftly when he calls to what is profitable, and to fulfill what is pleasing to him; since to choose to be slow and indolent in doing the good will be a cause of great loss to us, and involves us in bitter pains. But see how God also benefits by demanding penalties for sins. For he frees Israel from profane and abominable idolatry, and from unholy enterprises, sorcery and false divination, altars, precincts, sacrifices, and from worshipping the works of their own hands. Therefore, to be disciplined is not without profit, "provided it be in judgment, and not in wrath," according to the prophet's voice. But if anyone should say that these things happened to the Jewish peoples who had behaved insolently toward Christ, he will not err in a thought that has probability in itself. For it is true that the cities among them have been desolated, and the whole fighting class has perished, consumed by the hands of the Romans. And perhaps they have been held accountable for that ancient idolatry, even if there were those among them who still wished to worship creation and engage in sorceries. For somehow these things always tend to follow those who have chosen to practice idolatry, and there is nothing among them of the things that are excessively out of place, which has a base reputation. Hear then what the Lord has said: Arise and plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O hills, the judgment of the Lord, and the ravines, the foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a judgment against his people, and he will argue his case with Israel. The word is indeed reproachful, and it cries out, as it were, against the insensibility of the Jews, if they should treat the divine words as nothing, which would be spoken gently and with restraint, as from a father to children, revealing the genuineness of his love, and making their obedience without excuse. But it is a custom for the benevolent God at times to frighten sinners beforehand with a foretelling of terrible things; not, however, to leave them unsoftened and harsh as though having despaired, but along with the things that are about to happen to bring in the word of comfort, and to keep a place for them, as it were, to escape, if they should choose to return to repentance. This indeed He now does again out of His innate gentleness. Hear therefore, he says, what the Lord has said. And what has he commanded me? Arise and plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. This, then, seems similar to that through the voice of Isaiah, "Hear, "O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken." For he probably calls the mountains and hills the intelligible powers, which manage this whole universe according to the will of God, warding off the aggressions of demons from those on the earth. And since these especially, even before others, recognize the excess of God's gentleness, and have learned how much care He takes for our affairs from what they effect for us, obeying the laws from Him, He commands that the judgment should take place before them. But it is likely that the prophetic word also indicates something else to us. For since the people of Israel, occupying mountains and hills, there offered rites and sacrifices to demons "under "every oak and white poplar," for this reason, then, the judgment is against the hills, on which the crimes of the accused were manifest. It is likely that he calls hills and foundations of the earth those who are superior in glory and preeminent in honor over the common crowd, who especially have become for those under them both a path and a snare to destruction. For he said somewhere to them, "Because the judgment is for you, because you have become a snare "at the watchtower, and like a net spread upon Tabor." O therefore, he says, you who are raised up above the others, O foundations of the earth, that is, on whom the affairs of others are established, hear the judgment of the Lord of all against you. But he who thinks rightly psalms and says to the Master of all, "Do not enter into judgment with your servant." For He who knows all things will surely prevail, and no one will boast that he has a pure heart, nor would he be clean from sins. Therefore it is a very terrible thing to be judged by God. But it must be known that the edition of the Seventy has "ravines"; but that of the Hebrews names "hills" and "foundations of the earth," so that we might know through "hills" how the leaders of the peoples were lifted up high, and how they surpassed and rose above the measure of others, and "foundations" refers to the same people. For the leaders of countries or cities, just as they are conspicuous in glory and lifted up on high, so also would they be foundations of the earth, that is, lying as a support, in a way, and a pedestal for affairs. For the affairs of others depend on them, and are in a way established on them, as I just said. My people, what have I done to you, or how have I grieved you, or how have I wearied you? Answer me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of bondage I redeemed you, and I sent before your face Moses and Aaron and Miriam. God pleads his case through the voice of the Prophet, showing the manner of apostasy of those who acted impiously against him to be without excuse, and their acts of audacity to be beyond proper reason, or rather, beyond all madness, and the magnitude of their insensibility to be unusual and strange even perhaps to the very ungrateful. For what, tell me, he says, is the pretext for the impieties committed against me? And what at all is unbearable or at all burdensome in my ordinances? or what is grieving? he brought into the middle, showing; I have sinned, it seems, against fitting reason, because I delivered you from bitter slavery, I powerfully brought you out from clay and brick-making and the sweats that come from them; I have offended those who have received mercy when I also armed creation itself against the wrongdoing Egyptians, and saved my own. Perhaps you will even blame my instructor, I mean Moses, who leads to glorious understanding, and clearly shows what is pleasing to God, so that you might have an unshakable basis for living splendidly, and attain the height of prosperity and glory; and perhaps you will also make no small outcry against the priestly service itself; For I have anointed Aaron, and have appointed him to mediate between God and you, and to appease God with sacrifices in type. Are you yourselves distressed at this also? And what might I say of Miriam, who mocked the perished Egyptians, and led the dancing women? For she, striking the tambourine, saw both horse and rider drowned in the waters; but for you, perhaps, even victory is to be shunned, and the things of God are of no account, He who grants you to pass through the midst of the waves, but makes the sea savage for your enemies. Therefore, he makes his complaints in character, stirring up to remembrance the good things they have had, and as it were gracefully reproaching them as having received forgetfulness of things which it were better to remember always, and to delight the Benefactor in return with obedience in all things whatsoever. But the Savior also led us ourselves out of a spiritual Egypt, that is, from darkness and the rapacity of demons, and delivered us from clay and brick-making, namely, from fleshly passions and unclean love of pleasure; and He brought across the sea the distractions in this world, and all but delivered them from the bitter waves of the dangers upon them, and He engraved the divine laws upon the mind; and He also appointed a priest, the "author and finisher of our salvation, Jesus." And He sent forth, as it were, a Miriam, that is, clearly, the Church, who will shout triumphantly over the plot of the enemies, ascribing the glory to God who has saved. For always there are hymns and thanksgivings, and praises and proclamations of the glory of God in the churches. We ourselves must therefore be on our guard, lest indifference somehow subject us to the charges of the Jews, and lest we consider what is pleasing to God to be burdensome. For as the blessed John says, "His commandments "are not burdensome;" and Christ himself, "For my "yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Let us therefore offer what is pleasing to God, for nothing from him is burdensome; but all things are good and entirely well-ordered for those who have chosen to live best. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised against you, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that the righteousness of the Lord might be known. He corrects them again, as having impiously acted insolently against His dominions, although having nothing to say for which it was likely that, being justly grieved, they would incline toward apostasy. For, he says, I deemed you worthy of so much forbearance and love from me, as not even to endure the thought of your being slandered. For the accursed Balak, the tyrant of the Moabites, hired Balaam the sorcerer and augur, and then called upon him to curse Israel; but the God of all accomplished something paradoxical and extraordinary, turning the tongue of the false prophet into a blessing. And when Balak made this an accusation, and blamed the augur, he immediately took him away to other hills. Then, ordering him to erect altars and to sacrifice bulls, he thought perhaps that God was not able in every place, but He blessed them everywhere, although running about from what is called Shittim; a place of Moab; to mount Gilgal. Remember, therefore, what Balak devised, and what Balaam answered. For I was checking the very slanders against you, not even allowing the augur to grieve you with words. But you also having been unmindful of these things, you have assigned the glory fitting for me to lifeless matter, crying out and saying to the golden calves, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Therefore, while God distributes to us good things out of love, and enriches us with the greatest generosity, and shakes our enemies, and paralyzes their attempts against us, what should we ourselves do, we who have chosen to think rightly, except that very thing by which we ourselves might also be seen as beloved of God. And this is, to follow His will, and to accomplish very well what is pleasing to Him, having, so to speak, drawn near by the disposition of our mind, to say that which is in the Psalms, "My soul has clung close to you."