Book 3
With what shall I take hold of the Lord? Shall I lay hold of God most high? If I shall take hold of him with whole burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat he-goats? If I give my firstborn for my impiety, the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul? Has it not been told to you, O man, what is good? Or what does the Lord seek from you, but to do judgment and to love mercy and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God? After God showed that the apostasy of those from Israel was without excuse, and in a certain way judged and clearly convicted them, that while He had been a benefactor in countless ways, they, having driven to immeasurable insensibility, grieved not moderately the one who saved them, the person of the penitent is immediately introduced, as if weeping over the things already sinned, and seeking to learn in what way he might put aside the charges, and hold fast to the pursuits most dear to God. He says then, With what shall I take hold of the Lord? For what shall I offer, he says, and what shall I do now, having thus offended? Will I be clean by sacrificing young and tender calves? And will God praise me if I should choose to make a burnt offering? And I might find him; that is, I will be near, and I will be received into spiritual intimacy; even if I should dedicate a great multitude of cattle? But leaving those things, I will take hold of the fruits of my womb; and will I be well-pleasing, having sacrificed to him the choicest of my children, that is, the firstborn? While someone is, as it were, considering and saying these things, the Prophet answers again, and says in the spirit: The matter is not obscure, nor is it to be obtained with sweat. You surely know the good will of God; you have heard what seems good and is dear to Him. Therefore, do you doubt, O man? For what else does the God of all seek from you, than only to do judgment and to love mercy and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God? Now to do judgment is to work out and fulfill righteousness; for judgment is righteousness; and to love mercy has the boasts of love for one another, and enriches the glory of love for the brethren. And to be ready to walk with the Lord your God, signifies being obedient and tractable in everything whatsoever. And the blessed Paul said that we also must put on "the breastplate of righteousness, and have our feet shod with the readiness of the Gospel of peace," that is, of Christ; and he further commands, saying, "Put on tender mercies," and indeed the Savior Himself says, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." These things are a dear and acceptable sacrifice to God, an odor of spiritual whole burnt offerings beyond blood and smoke and frankincense. For those things were in in types; but the truth itself makes it fragrant to God, who also says through another prophet "I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God "rather than burnt offerings." But observe how the person of the repenting one considered fulfilling the sacrifices according to the law; but God, showing beforehand that it is indeed powerless, and the law is incapable of purifying from sin, and that much better and incomparably superior is the power of the way of life in Christ, as it were, He makes unacceptable the things according to the law, and said that what is pleasing to God is, to do justice and to love mercy and to be ready to walk with Him. And these are the boasts of the life in Christ. The voice of the Lord shall be called upon to the city, and He shall save those who fear His name. And in another way He makes it clear, that there is no fruit from the offering of blood, but the power of spiritual worship would benefit someone not moderately. And in these things He has placed the voice instead of the name, that is, of the invocation. It is as if he were to say, perhaps, "If the name of God were proclaimed to the city, it will be saved in every way and altogether." For do not think, O man, He says, that I delight in sacrifices of blood, nor consider a city impious and lawless if it does not offer calves for a burnt offering; but I would not save it at all when in danger, having chosen to sacrifice oxen, even if it should stain the altar with the slaughter of sheep, and should choose to offer flocks of rams, but it will be more sufficient for its salvation for the name of God to be called upon. For mine altogether is she who honors my dominions, and chooses to do diligently and to think the things pleasing to me. Then I will save those who fear me. Therefore, when we are called God's, then we also fear Him, and are saved by Him, and the power of spiritual worship might reasonably be understood as such. The God of all said something like this also through the voice of David, "Hear, my people, "and I will speak to you; Israel, and I will testify to you; God, "your God, I am. I will not reprove you "for your sacrifices, for your burnt offerings are before me "continually." Then, adding to these things, that He will not eat the flesh of bulls, nor will He drink the blood of goats, again He says, "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows "to the Most High; and call upon me in the day of your affliction, "and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." Hear, O tribe, and who shall adorn the city? Is it fire and the house of the law- less, treasuring up treasures of lawlessness and with insolent injustice? For according to tribes and families they have inhabited the land of the Jews, and indeed also Samaria, those of the blood of Israel, the land of promise being allotted to them as an inheritance by Jesus, who is called the son of Nun. Therefore God speaks not to one tribe, but as it were to all, that is to each, the word being fitting both specifically to each one, and to all. Hear then, O every tribe, a city is saved upon which the name of God might be proclaimed. For He will by no means overlook those who fear Him, but will be an unbreachable wall, and an adornment and glory to those who wish to do what is pleasing to God. But if you wish, He says, to see the opposite, what will adorn a city? The house of the lawless, or injustice with insolence? Is it then, He says, if a city, because of much sin, is consumed by fire, having been captured by the hands of enemies, will it be seemly and beautiful, and would a house of the lawless, the one treasuring up treasures of injustice, render it splendid and most glorious, and will injustice with insolence profit it? But no one of those accustomed to thinking rightly would doubt, that such things render it inglorious. For a city would not have been captured and consumed by fire unless it had altogether stumbled because of much sin. Why then, He says, having abandoned the things by which a city might be saved and beautified, have you rather made enviable the things that are by nature destructive, and have honored the things by which it might be seen as shameful and unlovely, having wicked inhabitants, lovers of money and unjust and treasuring up lawlessness? And shall the lawless be justified with a balance, and in a bag the weights of deceit, from which they filled their wealth with impiety, and its inhabitants spoke lies, and their tongue was exalted in their mouth? For do you think, he says, that the lawless man will be justified in the balance? That is, if I should test and, as it were, weigh the life of each one, have you believed that I, the lover of virtue, would ever endure to cast a vote of righteousness for the unrighteous? And have you considered that those with treacherous weights in a bag, that is, those wishing to be rich from greed and inequality and unseemly avarice, are able to escape my wrath? For from such gains they have filled their wealth with impiety. They have also become liars and boasters. For the love of lying always follows the lovers of inequality, and those overcome by shameful gains and avarice; and boasting and arrogance follow those who have already become rich. And the inventors of unholy doctrines also have treacherous weights in bags, those who “pervert all the right paths,” and who undermine the mind of the more simple with deceits and tricks, and who become rich by ensnaring many; yet they gather for themselves such wealth full of impiety, they speak confessedly nothing true, but counterfeit and false things, and as it were colored with elegances from deceit. And such men again lift up their own tongue, “speaking iniquity against God,” according to what is written, and “uttering pompous words of vanity,” to whom it is fitting to say, “Hear, O tribe, and what will adorn a city? Shall not fire, or a house of the lawless treasuring up treasures of lawlessness, and iniquity with insolence?” For the fire of punishment will be for them not for adornment, but for judgment. And since they have become houses treasuring up lawlessness, they will be for a curse and judgment and will fall into every evil. And I will begin to strike you and I will destroy you in your sins. You will eat and not be filled, and I will cast you out from within yourself, and you will be caught and not be saved, and whoever may be saved will be given over to the sword; you will sow and not reap, you will press the olive and not anoint yourself with oil, and wine and you will not drink, and the statutes of my people will be destroyed. And you have kept the ordinances of Zimri and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you have walked in their counsels, so that I may give you over to destruction and its inhabitants to hissing, and you will receive the reproaches of peoples. For since they have become houses of the impious, treasuring up lawlessness and gathering wealth from injustices, he then threatens judgment, and says that the attack of things expected to be has somehow already been placed in its beginnings, so that the destruction will be upon them in proportion to their offenses. And he usefully terrifies, and with the fears of things to come, as with a kind of bridle, he turns them to choose to do better things, and to appease God with secondary considerations. And he enumerates, as it were, and places the plagues before their eyes. For he says they will be punished with famine, and with lack of necessities, and they will be destroyed among themselves, and will be caught, but not able to escape completely. But even if any should be able to escape the immediate harm, these will be caught, and not long after, and will become the work of another's sword. And he seems to us to declare this through this. For very many wars have been stirred up against those of Israel, that is, against all of Judah, yet not always by enemies; but they also armed themselves against each other, so that at one time Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes, rose up against Judah, and at another time those in Jerusalem themselves made war against Ephraim; and not a few cities were destroyed, so that they were often cast out from among themselves; and in this way, being driven from cities, they seized others, yet were captured at times, either when the Syrians and the kings of Damascus invaded, or perhaps even by the Persians and Medes themselves. This, I think, is the meaning of, I will cast you out from within yourself, and you will be caught and not be saved, and whoever may be saved will be given over to the sword. That also being deprived of the fruitfulness of the fields, and in the want of necessary things wasted away, they will live wretchedly, but they will pay the penalty for the impious things done by them, he makes it clear through what follows. For you will sow, he says, and you will not reap, God, I think, destroying the fruits, and you yourself will press the olive; for the country of the Samaritans is olive-bearing; but you will be so in want of oil, he says, that not even if you wished, would you perhaps be able to find any for anointing. And though your country is exceedingly rich in vines and produces abundant wine, so as even to distribute it to other cities, you yourself would not find any to drink. And the statutes will cease, he says, which you have established for the idols, offering to them the first-fruits of your harvest. For what offering of first-fruits will there be then, if all your fruit has perished and the things in the fields have been destroyed? Or what thank-offerings will you bring, and for what, reasonably, you who are falling wretchedly and being consumed? Then, teaching that not another would be considered responsible for his misfortune, but he himself will be convicted of having wronged himself, having emulated the ways of those who were most impious, he adds and says: And you have kept the statutes of Zimri and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you have walked in their counsels, so that I may deliver you to destruction. Zimri was king over Israel, and he is the father of Ahab, but as the holy scripture says, he walked "in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat," who made Israel to sin; "and he did evil above all who were before him." Therefore he was also consumed by fire, having himself set fire to his own house over himself; for it is written thus. And the house of Ahab, as it seems, he calls Jezebel; and in her were murders and robberies and the practices of persecuting saints. These things, then, you have kept, he says, so that I may justly destroy you, and make you a laughingstock and a reproach to others. But we will apply such a word also to the enemies of the truth, who, emboldened by their own eloquence, and gathering heaps of wretched thoughts, grow rich as if by injustice, collecting for themselves things that are not theirs, and being accustomed to ravage the flocks of the more simple like enemies, and carrying them away into monstrous error. Let them hear God saying, then, "And I will begin to strike you and I will destroy you for your sins. You will eat and not be satisfied." For encountering the divine scriptures, then not being filled with the dogmas of the truth, although seeming to eat, they are destroyed by famine, and thinking they are grasping the way of salvation, they would not find it, and sowing, as they suppose, they will find no reward for their labors, and pressing out the spiritual olive, that is, the holy scripture, they are in no way fattened by the grace of the Spirit, and thinking they are gathering wine, they will be far from spiritual gladness; for they have kept the statutes of Zimri and all the works of the house of Ahab, that is, they have done evil, they have been greedy, and they have worked persecutions against the saints. They will be, then, for destruction, and they will truly come to a reproachful and accursed end. Woe is me, for I have become as one gathering stubble in the harvest and as a gleaning in the vintage, when there is no cluster to eat the first-ripe fruits. Out of love the Prophet bewails Israel, as it will presently go away to destruction, and will henceforth come to such a number, that very few and scarcely any will be left, and that they will be like the ears of corn that fall, which the hands of the reapers pass by, and these are few and rarely caught by those gathering the stubble. And to be no less like the so-called gleanings, which the sickles of the vintagers passed over. But I think that through these things he also indicates that the saints are hard to find, as being among the few remnants at that time, and being found in such a way, as if a single ear of corn in reaped fields, or even among the first-born clusters the offshoots of the second crop. For when the air is warm, the cluster which is at the beginning and first is brought forth from the vines. But as time goes on, there is sometimes also a spurious one and a second gathering of grape clusters follows after them. These are indeed hard for the vintagers to find, both because they are easily hidden in the abundant foliage, and because they are in small clusters. Those who follow the vintagers gather these, not without sweat, casting their eye more carefully into the vines. It seems, therefore, that the prophetic word laments to us in these things the scarcity of the decent. But that this matter became a loss for those of Israel, I mean, being in want of the saints, how can one doubt? For sometimes He cares for both lands and cities, and He forgives very many charges, the Master being philanthropic, when scarcely five saints are found in them, and even the cities of the Sodomites would have been saved at one time, with God taking pity out of respect for the saints, though very few, and checking his wrath. Woe is me, O soul, for the pious one has perished from the earth, and there is no one who acts uprightly among men; they all lie in wait for blood, each one oppresses his neighbor with oppression, they prepare their hands for evil; the ruler asks, and the judge has spoken words of peace, the desire of his soul. The word, as it seems to us, is precise. For the Prophet laments that there is no pious person in all the earth, that is, clearly, the land of the Jews, although it once boasted of very many heads of saints, who had a manifest glory. For this reason God also says through the voice of Isaiah, "How has the faithful city "Zion become a harlot! She was full of judgment, in her righteousness "lodged, but now murderers." For what was most burdensome and caused them to rush to the extreme of depravity was that they were judged for blood and murdered savagely, and that doing good was completely cast aside as stale, so that they also made it a necessary endeavor to have their hands ready only for doing evil to others. For nothing is unattempted by those accustomed to live this way, even if it is punished by law, even if it is decried by the ways of freedom. Has then the subject part in these matters grown weak, while the ruling part is strong, and the judging part is healthy? Not at all, he says; for the ruler asks and the judge has spoken words of peace. Many times, many of those appointed to rule have become unholy and most avaricious, and they easily sell their own judgments to those willing to corrupt them. But even if they have already inclined to seem thus conquered by gains and bribery, they somehow turn away and hasten to adorn their own ways with a good reputation; but to have finally come to this point of wretchedness of mind and shameful ways, so as to all but hold out one's hand, and even if one does not receive, to corrupt the word of justice when judging, and to threaten shamelessly, how would this not be beyond all abomination? With emphasis, therefore, is the word, and as if crying out against greed: The ruler asks and the judge has spoken words of peace. Would one then blame him who brings together into peace those who are divided into disagreement? Then how would it be true that "Blessed are the peacemakers," and what is their reward? But the boasts from this are preserved for the arbiters of peace. However, he who judges rightly interprets what seems right to the divine law, and he will convict the wrongdoers, and will certainly speak in favor of those who have been wronged. But when we speak peaceful words to wrongdoers, not convicting them as having sinned, then indeed we shall clearly undermine what seems right to the Lawgiver. For He said that "The priest's mouth shall keep judgment, and they shall seek the law "from his mouth." But it always somehow follows for those accustomed to taking bribes that they are neither able to judge rightly, nor indeed to convict sinners with boldness, but rather to advise things that lead to peace, even if they inflict the greatest possible greed on some. And making the cause of the disease clear, the Prophet says, It is the desire of his soul; for what has happened outrageously is perhaps pleasing to him, he says. Then how will he rebuke those who have done wrong? For what he has praised has, how could he still find fault? Truly, therefore, greed and the oppression of others are an unholy and harmful thing. And in addition to this, it is accursed to be overcome by shameful gains, and to come to such ill-counsel as to then disregard even ways leading to uprightness, and to judge without taking bribes, and not to hold it of great account, but rather to incline towards those accustomed to doing wrong, and to share their impiety with them, and thus to partake in the sins of others. But that he who gives himself over to such terrible offenses will in every way and manner be subject to wrath and justice, how could anyone doubt, if he should choose to think rightly? And I will take away their good things as one who eats up moths, and walking by a rule as in a day of watching. He threatened to bring upon them a twofold manner of justice. For he said that, "And I will begin to strike you, and I will destroy "you for your sins. You shall eat, and shall not be "filled, and I will cast you out from among you, and you shall be caught and shall not "be saved." And he added that "You shall sow and shall not "reap, you shall press the olive and shall not anoint with oil, and "wine and you shall not drink." Therefore, that the abundance of the good harvest from their fields will be gone for them, and that the means of life will fail, and they will be oppressed by a lack of the most necessary things, he teaches by saying, as if in the form of a moth he would consume all their good things, that is, those things in which it was likely they luxuriated not moderately, and possessed the breadth of prosperity. And that they were about to be struck and destroyed, and cast out, as if even among themselves, that is, to be destroyed along with one another, and to be piteously sent out from their own homes and cities, he makes clear by saying "And walking by a rule as in a day of watching"; for "I will take away their good things," he says. And not only "as one who eats up moths," but also "walking by a rule as in a day of watching." And the saying is quite difficult to grasp, but I myself think it could not be understood by us in any other way, unless a clear preliminary narration of the histories that look to this matter were given, which indeed I will try to do. Geba, then, is a certain village, or rather a small town in Judea, situated on a hill, and it was allotted as an inheritance to those of the tribe of Benjamin, and it is named both hill and watchtower. And we remember that a Levite man, as is written in the book of Judges, when his concubine was violated by those of the tribe of Benjamin in the very land of Gibeah, cut up the body into twelve pieces and sent them to all the tribes, making the offense of the tribe of Benjamin manifest to all. Then it happened from this that the other tribes rose up against the tribe of Benjamin according to the law of war, and a number not easy to count fell, with the tribe of Benjamin being victorious at first, but later the other tribes completely destroyed them. The prophet Hosea also mentions this history. For he says, "They have set up madness in the house of the Lord, they were corrupted "according to the days of the hill." For since, he says, idolatry and false prophecy—for madness indicates these things to us here—they established in the house of the Lord, for this reason also they were corrupted as in the days of the hill, that is, of Gibeah. And that the hill, or Gibeah, is also called a watchtower, you will learn clearly from what is written in the third book of Kings. For Asa was king of Jerusalem, and Baasha of Samaria at the same time. But since they were divided into discord, and being angry with one another armed themselves with the law of war, "Baasha," it says, "king of Israel went up against Judah, and built "Ramah, so that there would be no one going out or coming in "to Asa king of Judah." And as Adad was overrunning the Samaritans, Baasha was moving out of Ramah, rising up against the enemy. And Asa ran out of Jerusalem, and then having come to Ramah, "He commanded," it says, "all Judah in Enacim, and they take the stones of "Ramah and its timbers which Baasha had built, and "with them king Asa built every hill Ben- "jamin and the watchtower." Therefore Gabaa was called both a hill and a watchtower; for Gabaa is thus interpreted, because it was raised high, and situated on a mound and a watchtower. "I will begin, therefore, to strike you, and I will destroy you for "your sins," and in no other way, than that very one in the day of the watchtower. For I will walk as if by a rule, and I will not turn to the right nor indeed to the left, coming on the path of judgment against you. And again the prophetic word seems to suggest some such thing to us. For Micah prophesies in the days of Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah. But Jotham was a pious man, while Ahaz was abominable and hateful and one of those most notoriously accused of impiety. And during his rei- gning Pekah the son of Remaliah, then reigning over Samaria, made war on Judah, having as an ally Rezin the king of Damascus, and he killed a great many in one day. For it is so written in the sec- ond book of Chronicles concerning Ahaz "And the Lord his God deliv- "ered him into the hand of the king of "Syria, and he struck him, and took many "of them captive, and brought them to Damascus, and "into the hands of the king of Israel he delivered him, and "he struck him with a great blow, and Pekah "the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, killed in Judah, in one "day one hundred and twenty thousand mighty men of valor, because "they had forsaken the Lord their God." It must be known, therefore, that by offending God we shall immediately be in want of every good thing, and a terrible famine of divine and spiritual goods will consume us, and we shall consume one another as if by biting. For Christ does not award his own peace to those who do not love him, which is seen to happen especially to the enemies of the truth, among whom it is not possible to find a spiritual gift, but as it were cannibalism and str- ife, contention and contentiousness and schisms; and concerning them God would say "For I have removed my peace from this people, "and they will die by a morbid death" and strength and concord not to them; whence? but distributing to those who revere his things, and to whom he would reasonably grant the good of peace, to those who honor the power of truth, and who do not tolerat- ing being cut off by strange and foolish counsels, but are eager only to admire the beauty of the truth. Woe, woe, your vengeances have come, now will be their wailings. Do you hear how he also imitates the voices of those who mourn, not expecting the calamities any longer, but as if they had already happened, and they were weeping like women? For he says, your vengeances have come, that is, the time of judgment is at hand, the war is in our hands, the trouble is at the gates. For by add- ing that Now will be their wailings, he has shown clearly that the things of the prophecy are not for a long postponement, but lie as it were before our eyes. For indeed immediately after Jotham came Ahaz, wicked and an apostate, and a slayer of his own children, whom he offered on the altars of demons. In his time "in one day one hundred and twenty thousand" from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin fell. But it must be known that at that time Israel itself also paid the penalty. For while Pekah was reigning, Tiglath-pileser, king of the Assyrians, came up against Samaria, and very many of its cities he dest- royed, and he took Damascus, and kill- ed Rezin himself, so that at one time it happened that Judah and Benjamin were des- troyed by the ten tribes in Samaria, and that those in Samaria themselves suffered what they had done at the hand of the Babylonian. Do you see, therefore, how almost running through the rule of wrath, that in the time of the hill, or of the watchtower, he has punished the sinners. But those things "happened to the ancients as a type, and were written "for our instruction," so that by always avoiding being caught in the same offen- ses, we may continue in a state of well-being, having the God of all as gracious and friendly and our protector. har- and he might be angry, and very rightly so, with those who pervert what is right, and paralyze the faith of the more simple, and we ourselves so to speak, Woe, woe, your vengeances have come, now shall be their lamentations. "For by sinning against the breth- "ren and wounding their weak conscience, "you sin against Christ." and that in every way and altogether they will give an account to the Judge, and "will eat the fruits of their own impiety," how is it possible to doubt? "For because "they wronged infants, they will be slain, and examination "will destroy the impious," as it is written. Do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders, from your wife beware of entrusting anything to her; because a son dishonors a father, a daughter will rise up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, all the men in his house are enemies. Those of Israel, sinning in many ways, and bringing down upon themselves to wrath the Master of all, then learning beforehand through the holy prophets that they would be in inescapable evils unless they chose to appease the Master with kindnesses, though it was necessary to choose to think rightly, and to tame the aggrieved one by returning to what is better; this the wretched ones did not do; from where could they? but rather they slipped into such ill counsel, as to suppose and believe that they would be safe from the divine wrath, and would prevail, and very easily, over every war, if they had the aid of the neighboring nations, and the conspiracies and promises of the rulers. But that they have put their trust in cold and vain deceits, and will have a completely unprofitable hope, the Prophet tries to teach them, saying, Do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders; for the thing is precarious and completely unprofit- able. For when the Babylonian came to ravage Samaria, then indeed the leaders of the neighboring nations, although they had promised them the greatest possible aid, having no small struggles on their own behalf, consid- ered it welcome just to be saved, but the need to also help others, they perhaps did not even take into mind at all. Therefore do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders; but know, he says, that when God moves things out of wrath against you, not even the law of nature itself nor the power of innate affection will grant you goodwill, even from those close by blood and kin according to the flesh, but they too will imitate enemies. And a wife will then disregard her husband, and sons will rise up against fathers, and indeed daughters against mothers. For he himself, he says, who engraves the laws of affection on nature, could easily persuade and change it towards indifference. Except that the manner of our indifference in these things would not be understood as one and the same, but twofold and different. For some stumble against the laws of affection, impiously attacking their own parents, while others do this both pleasing God and saving their own souls. And so the Savior said, "Do you think that I came to give peace "on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from "now on five in one house will be divided, three "against two and two against three. Father will be divided against "son and son against father, mother against daughter and daugh- "ter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law "and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." Therefore with a right judg- ment we will crown such a splendid lack of affection. for it makes one familiar to God, even if it cuts some off from kinship according to the flesh, so as to sing very well that which is by the voice of "David, For my father and my mother have forsaken "me, but the Lord has taken me up." But I will look to the Lord, I will wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me. This would be fitting, and very rightly so, for Zion as she repents and foresees that the end of the toils of captivity will come in due time. For Cyrus took the city of the Babylonians, but with difficulty he sent up in that Israel, being a remnant, along with the sacred vessels, he commanded to go home and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. For then, as if escaping from darkness and unbreakable bonds, they came into the light, as God had mercy, and were somehow brought up to the freedom from above most fitting for them, being released and rejoicing. I therefore, he says, will look upon the Lord, very late indeed and after the experience of those things whose attack one ought to avoid. Nevertheless, he says that he will have his hope in God, and will wait for salvation from him, and be firmly disposed, because being a lover of mankind, he will be an attentive hearer of her laments and will accept her prayers. But the beginning of salvation, I think, would be understood as putting away for a time the mind from the ancient deceit, and choosing hereafter to think rightly, and to consider the Lord of all to be the provider and governor of salvation, and not to assign so excellent a good to assistances from men, or rather, most foolishly and ignorantly to expect it to be a gift from the most powerless multitude of idols. For of old they would go down to the Egyptians, and they departed also to the Assyrians, purchasing alliances and aid from both for no small amount of money. And they would approach lifeless idols, offering sacrifices, and in addition to this, offering up prayers for themselves. But now they say that they will look upon the Lord, and they will wait for him, that is, they will await the salvation and grace from him, and indeed that they will be heard by him, offering their supplications clearly to him and no longer to others. And this was Zion, as I said, becoming sober again, and seeing already what was necessary, to cast off that ancient error, and to change her mind for the better and choose to do what is useful. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; for if I sit in darkness, the Lord shall give me light. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. The speech of Zion seems to me now to have been most gracefully fashioned against the harsh and insolent and arrogant city, clearly that of the Babylonians, which was in a way mocking the land of the Jews as having been sacked. For do not exult, she says, over me as one who has fallen. For you have conquered, not by being stronger yourself, but by casting down me who was sick from stumbling against God, and for this reason lying prostrate. But a time will come, when I shall also rise again, even if I have been, she says, in darkness, 'Saying to a stock, Thou art my God; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth' and uttering the saying about the heifers; for I said, I said in my frenzy, 'These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt;' but I shall even come into the light, I shall know the Lord, the savior, the helper, the provider of strength; and I will endure the things that have happened, and I will bear the terrible things, and I will in no way cry out as though God were unjust, but I will rather be disposed as one upon whom he has passed a right sentence, even if he has sent me into captivity. For I have transgressed, and I bear the consequences of his wrath, until he vindicate my cause, that is, until having measured out a punishment equal to my transgressions, he at last has mercy, and makes bright her who was formerly darkened by the mist of error, by causing her, through the knowledge of the true God by nature, to be in the light as it were; and he might be justly marveled at, she says, showing upon me the purity of his own righteousness. For just as he did not punish her for transgressing without justice, so in the same way will he account her worthy of care, having now suffered and repented, and will have mercy on her as she lies prostrate. Therefore the Lord of all is good, and to those who turn to him he distributes mercy without delay, and he gladdens them very richly with the good things that come from his gentleness, forgiving without remembrance the sins committed long ago. And mine enemy shall see it, and will be clothed with shame, saying to me, Where is the Lord your God? my eyes will look upon her; now she will be for trampling like mud in the streets; a day of plastering brick, that day is your erasure. The land of the Jews was indeed captured, and Israel was carried away captive by the spear to Babylon and the Medes at different times, not because their conqueror prevailed by his own powers, but rather because God who saves was turning away from him as one who had sinned, and, as it were, bringing him under the hand of his enemies, because he chose to worship lifeless idols, and to shake off the law long ago established through Moses, and simply to incline towards everything that is amiss, and to leave no manner of wickedness unpracticed. Then the Babylonians, having taken them, and attributing the victory to their own powers, behaved insolently even against the divine glory, and they thought they would conquer Judea, even if the God of all chose to save them; and having taken the sinners under their hand, they tormented them with terrible and unbearable labors, imposing a harsh servitude upon them. And so God said somewhere through the voice of Jeremiah to the unholy multitude of the Assyrians, that is, to Babylon, "Behold, I am "against you, O insolent one," and yet also concerning those of Israel, "I gave them into your hands, but you "showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your "yoke very heavy, and you said, 'I shall be a queen forever.'" For there was no mercy with them, no sparing of age, no reverence for old age, no bowels of compassion. For this very reason, therefore, they themselves were justly given into the hands of both Persians and Medes, under the generalship of Cyrus, who captured Babylon. And perhaps concerning them the prophet Jeremiah says somewhere, "They shall set upon "you, and you will be captured, O Babylon, and you will not know it; you were found "and taken, because you opposed the Lord. The Lord has opened his "treasury and has brought out the instruments of his wrath." And by instruments of wrath he means those who sacked her. It happened, then, that the city of the Babylonians was taken by Cyrus, and Israel was released from captivity. For this reason the redeemed say, that my enemy will see it and will be clothed with shame. For when she sees her own children lying on the ground, having perished miserably and unexpectedly, and those once under her hand rejoicing and set free, and finally running back home, how will she not in every way and altogether be clothed with shame, although she once said, "Where is the Lord your God?" For I will look upon her like mud in the streets, cast down and trampled under the feet of enemies. Then the word says to Babylon herself, "That day is your erasure," meaning, "The time in which you will be," it says, "under the feet of your enemies," that is, Cyrus trampling and crushing the boastful and insolent one like mud. Therefore, as far as it is necessary to understand such things again historically, our account has been made sufficiently well and properly. But one could no less apply these things also to the spiritual Zion, that is, to the Church, which prevails over its enemies and tramples on its persecutors and mocks the powerlessness of those accustomed to warring against her, even if at times they seem to overcome and prevail. For many indeed are those who impiously gnash their teeth at her and whet their angers and contrive every kind of plot; on the one hand, the children of the Greeks, striving not moderately with their own foolish inventions, and generally contending for the deceit of idols; on the other hand, the heretics who especially rage against the saints, and perhaps rage more harshly against those who have chosen to think rightly, than even those who have not accepted the faith. For when at times the all-powerful God trains the saints, and allows them to fall into temptations, and tests his genuine worshipers as if in a fire, the wretched ones raise their arrogant brow against them, and when they see them suffering, so to speak, they foolishly cry out the "Where is the Lord your God?" But she... a wise and all-pure and holy virgin, the one having no spot or wrinkle, would reasonably say, "But I will look upon the "Lord, I will wait for God my Savior, my God will hear "me;" and that he will trample down those who oppose him as the mire of the streets, and how can one doubt that those accustomed to tempt her would not rejoice at all over her, even if she were somehow shaken? "for she is founded upon the rock," and her support is Christ, an unshakable foundation, and continuous security, Savior and Redeemer. And I suppose the human soul might say, "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, "because I have fallen," and all that is harmonious with this, having transgressed and been condemned, but turning somehow to the need to repent and awaiting the grace of salvation through Christ. for she will say as to an enemy, the sin that tyrannized her, Do not rejoice over me; for I have admittedly fallen, having transgressed what seemed good to God, and having cast down my own mind to worldly pleasures. but I am not far from the hope that I will also rise again, even if I have somehow been in mist and darkness; for I myself will find Christ as a light, and the sun of righteousness rising in my mind will show me whitened. "I will bear the Lord's wrath, because I have also sinned against "him." For if indeed I have been, he says, for a short time out of his presence, and have been given over to a reprobate mind, yet I shall be wise, and having justly suffered rejection I will know the judgment, and indeed I say it has happened rightly; for I have not been punished in vain. But since I have paid the most fitting penalty, "I will see his "righteousness." And what else could the righteousness of God the Father be, but Christ? For thus God the Father calls him to us, saying, "My righteousness is near to come, "and my mercy to be revealed." Then such a soul, having likely understood the grace of righteousness in Christ and the destruction of sin, will wisely and keenly cry out, And my enemy will see and shame will cover her who says to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes will look upon her; now she will be for trampling like the mire in the streets; a day of smearing a brick, that day is your erasure. For since Christ has come, justifying sinners by faith, the mouth of lawlessness has been stopped, and its inventor has been put to shame as well. And he has been driven out, and has fallen from his rule over us, and it has finally been trampled like mire in the streets, having been, as it were, subjected to the feet of the saints. And the day of Christ has also become its erasure, on which he declares each of those who come to him clean from their old accusations through holy baptism, and seals them with the Spirit for sanctification, and enrolls them among the children of God. And that day will cast away ordinances; and your cities will come to be leveled and to a division of the Assyrians, and your fortified cities to a division from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to the mountain. and the earth will be for destruction with those who dwell in it, from the fruits of their deeds. The person of Zion is placed in the midst, that is, of Jerusalem already somehow turned to repentance, and having placed her hope in God, and disposed that she will also be redeemed, and will see that of the Babylonians trampled, although it says to her out of arrogance, "Where is the Lord your God?" But one would apply the meaning of what has been said not so much to the intermediate things, but to what comes shortly after; and what these things were, we will recall in a few words. For he has commanded them not to trust in friends, nor indeed to hope in leaders. And it showed that even a wife will disregard her husband, and a child will neglect its father, and daughters will be unsparing of respect for their mothers, the terrors of war calling them to this. For wherever the fear of suffering might appear to run equally against all, there indeed surely for each one the more urgent concern will be for his own life, that of another being in every way neglected. According to Therefore, he says that of the time, that is, on that day, on which sons might become neglectful of their affection for fathers, and daughters in turn of that for mothers, the customs will be cast aside, that is, the principle of what is fitting will then also grow weak; for a father will not have the leisure to accuse his son as having neglected the laws of nature, nor indeed will a grieved mother subject her daughter to the punishments of duty, another care being imminent, or rather of destruction and the ultimate evils. For the cities will go into desolation, and into division and destruction. For some will campaign against that city, others against its neighbor, and others against the one bordering it, and they will overrun the whole land from mountain to mountain, from east to west, as from north to south, so that the entire land is simply ravaged to its ends, from Tyre to the river and from mountain to mountain. And it is likely again to speak of "customs" in these things as the festivals established by custom in the precincts of idols, that is, the sacrifices. For with their cities having been destroyed, and their houses and all things in them plundered, who will still fulfill the customary rites, and bring worship to the statues and temples of the idols? And the argument might go, and very likely, also against those, if one should choose, who are heterodox and would-be-wise and who distort the correct doctrines of the Church. For they were captured like cities, and became a portion for the enemies; clearly, that is, for the world-rulers of this age; and they have become portions for foxes, as it is written, having divided among themselves impiety and the ways of blasphemy and the rejection of the truth. And these things also happened to the peoples of the Jews, when, having wickedly insulted Emmanuel, they cast him out of the vineyard, as it is written, and handed him over to the cross, although saying and having recognized that he is the heir. Therefore they have been sacked and have perished ingloriously, not for any other reason, than from the fruits of their own practices. For though it was necessary to admire the Creator for his love for the world, because "He gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life," this they did not do; how could they? But being puffed up to arrogance they killed the Master, returning to him evil for good, as it is written, and wickedly practicing every form of impiety. Therefore let them hear, "Walk by the light of your fire and by the flame which you have kindled," and indeed also this, "You shall eat the fruits of your own practices." Shepherd your people with your rod, your tribe, the sheep of your inheritance, who dwell by themselves in a forest in the midst of Carmel, they will graze Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. And according to the days of your exodus from Egypt you will see wondrous things. The discourse is again applied to what lies in between, and turns toward the good, urging toward the better with the hope of the good things understood in Christ and changing very well toward choosing to live rightly. For it has disturbed not moderately with the prediction of grim things those who easily go toward negligence, but it recovers them again, inserting very well that which knows how to cheer, so that those to whom the discourse of admonition is made, not despairing, might rush down a cliff, irrevocably and unbridled. For it is written, "When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he scorns." Therefore there is introduced either the very person of God the Father, saying to the Son "Shepherd your people with your rod, your tribe, the sheep of your inheritance," or else again for us the prophetic person in a certain way crying out to Emmanuel himself, that he must shepherd with a rod his own people or inheritance. And the people of Christ, and indeed also the sheep of his pasture, might be understood as both those who believed from the circumcision, and those called to holiness from the multitude of the Gentiles. For he created the two peoples into one new man, making peace and he reconciled both through His body to spiritual union. And so Christ Himself said, "And other sheep I have;" namely those of the circumcision; "them also I must bring, and there will be one flock, one shepherd." Therefore, the people of Christ, both tribe and sheep and inheritance are those "not by works of the law," but rather justified through faith. For the one group was under a curse, according to the voice of the blessed Paul; but the other might say, speaking truly of themselves, "Blessed are we by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The Lord is God, and has appeared to us." But Christ shepherds His own with a rod, not striking them with one of iron, and shattering them like a potter's vessel, according to the voice of the psalmist, but turning them back in gentleness, and like a good shepherd, checking with moderate fears the impulses towards indolence of those who have believed; for thus says the Master of all, as in the person of David, fashioning the discourse concerning the Son: "If his sons forsake my law, and do not walk in my judgments; if they profane my statutes, and do not keep my commandments, I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquities with scourges; but my mercy I will not scatter from them." Therefore, He shatters, as if striking with an iron rod, the unbridled, the disobedient and arrogant, and the one who does not accept the faith; but He kindly instructs those who have believed, and pastures them among lilies, and brings them to a good pasture and a rich place, clearly the divinely-inspired scripture, making plain through the Spirit to the more intelligent the things hidden in it, so that they may "ascend to a perfect man, and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," having a rich and well-nourished mind, and revelling in intelligible delights. But we, the chosen and the elect, dwell apart, having withdrawn from the others, who mind only the things upon the earth and have prized the possession of temporary things, and being clothed in the pleasures of the flesh, have immoderately inclined towards everything that is amiss. Therefore, having a quiet mind, and freeing it from vain and detestable turmoil, we are placed somewhere outside, and we live a revered and admirable life, and we are alone, just as indeed was the prophet Jeremiah. For he said that, "O Lord Almighty, I did not sit in the council of those who were mocking, but I was cautious because of your hand; I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness." And we dwell alone as in a thicket and on a mountain. And you will understand the thicket as the two-fold discipline, well-wooded and flourishing, I mean both moral and dogmatic, and the mountain as that which is, as it were, lofty and exalted. For nothing of what is philosophized among us, and deemed worthy of zeal in the Church, is lowly. But that such pasture is rich and good for grazing, he indicates again as from more concrete examples, saying that those who are instructed by Christ will graze in both Bashan and Gilead; and these are regions which cause to gush forth for the flocks a very great and abundant pasture, and are richly crowned with varied grass. Therefore, leaping up wisely from things corporeal and lying, as it were, in the senses, to things spiritual, we also understand the inner and hidden contemplation, that by delighting in the theorems of the divinely-inspired scripture the mind of the saints is preened, and is filled as if with a certain richness, having partaken abundantly, as I said, of practical and theoretical virtue, not for a certain short and contracted time, but as the Prophet says, as the days of the age, that is, for a long and endless time. For the things that delight the flesh fall with it and wither and, passing by like shadows, after a short time are contracted; but the participation in the good things from above and spiritual things is extended through long ages; for the possession of such things cannot be lost. And he said that you shall see wonderful things according to the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt. just as For when the God of all was freeing Israel from the slavery in Egypt, he punished with various plagues those who wished to oppress and wear him out with clay and brickmaking, so also the Savior, placing us who have believed outside the hand of the devil and spiritual slavery, bound the strong man, as he himself says, and cast out the ruler of this age. And just as Pharaoh was drowned and perished together with his own shield-bearers; so again Satan, together with the unclean spirits, has all but been submerged, cast down to Tartarus with chains of darkness. And just as Israel were baptized into Moses, yet in the cloud and in the sea; so we also have been baptized into Christ. For he is the spiritual cloud, which waters the world under the sun, as with rains, with the evangelical proclamations. And just as for them he sent down the manna in the desert, so also to us he gives himself for food, "the living bread which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world." And they were brought into the perceptible land; but we inherit the city above, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of the firstborn; and the Savior says this is the land which he also promised to the meek. Therefore, as from the likeness of things that happened of old to Israel you will learn clearly the power of the things accomplished in us through Christ. But since it is necessary for us to provide from every source what tends to the benefit of the hearers, come, let us go another way, and speak, taking from the interpretation of the names. For Carmel is interpreted as knowledge of Circumcision, Bashan as shame, and Gilead as transference of the Covenant. And the argument has very much plausibility especially in these things. We shall be, therefore, with Christ as shepherd, in knowledge of circumcision, that is, the one understood in the Spirit. for we have been circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, and we bear the Jew who is one inwardly, while Israel according to the flesh has only the perceptible one and the one in letter, and not at all the one in the heart through the Spirit. For this is the true circumcision, making those who receive it known to God. Therefore the prophetic word also said to us: "Be circumcised to God, and circumcise the hardness of your heart, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem." We shall be, then, in Carmel, with Christ shepherding, that is, in knowledge of circumcision, and we shall be no less also in Bashan, that is, in shame and disgrace, not being convicted for sin, but because we have transgressed, for this very reason repenting, and finally coming to an awareness of the things sinned in ignorance; and this thing is a way of salvation. For a clear proof of the utmost insensibility is for some to choose to live with a hard and shameless heart, and least of all to blush at their own faults; and to lie perhaps even in ignorance of the things sinned. Therefore, those in the knowledge of the spiritual and divine circumcision will blush at their own faults, and having come into an awareness of that which is naturally unjust, they will by all means turn to that which is most fitting for them. And such people will be also in Gilead, that is, in a change of legislation, or rather, of a covenant. for we, having come under Christ, shall live as citizens, no longer according to the law, but we shall live rather evangelically, and running past the crudeness of the letter, we shall perform spiritual worship to God, and being transferred to what is incomparably better, we shall exchange the types for the truth. Nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might, they shall lay their hands on their mouth, their ears shall be deafened. They shall lick the dust like serpents dragging themselves on the ground, they shall be confounded in their confinement. By nations in these words he means the abominable and unclean hordes of demons, who in every way and altogether, whenever they see those called in Christ to justification, to sanctification, to redemption, to adoption, into incorruption, into glory, into a relaxed and free life, then indeed then they will be put to shame, being thrust out from their dominion over them and seeing their own strength failing and growing weak. For our Lord Jesus Christ has given us "to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." Therefore they will lie under the feet of those who have believed, those who formerly conquered, having grown weak in their cowardice and being enervated through Christ. And they will put their hands on their mouths, no longer being permitted to accuse the sinners; "For it is God who justifies, who is he who condemns?" according to what is written. And the blessed David said somewhere that "All iniquity shall stop its mouth." Therefore they will be silent, and not willingly, he says, those who are clever at accusations, and as if struck by thunder by the wonder concerning us, that is, they will be deafened. For the report concerning us is extraordinary, and like a great and truly supernatural crash, if it is true "That while we were still sinners, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly," so that we who were formerly entangled in terrible and unbearable offenses, might now be sanctified, and "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but" by mercy and grace, we who were formerly grieved and as far as possible from all hope, now beloved, bright and conspicuous, "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Therefore, he says, they will be deafened, having become, so to speak, even thunderstruck because of God's serenity toward us and the excess of his wondrous goodness, they will lick the dust, creeping on the ground like serpents, that is, they will not find food. For it is the custom of serpents, if they should be in want of things to eat, at times to knead the dust with their tongue, and to consider whatever they happen upon as food. And he says that the unclean demons will also be in equal want. For those accustomed to revel of old and to utterly devour all upon the earth, will no longer find one who endures to suffer this, because all have been saved by Christ, and have henceforth come to such spiritual strength, as not to endure those ancient bites, but rather to tread upon the asp and the basilisk, according to what is written. Not only will they lick the earth, but they will also be confounded in their confinement, that is, being constrained by weaknesses and griefs, and as if besieged by the power of the one afflicting them, I mean, of Christ, they will not be in moderate terrors. And it is likely that the confinement hints at something else for us in these things. For when the Only-begotten became as we are, he worked countless wonders, but I suppose the things unseen were more numerous than the things seen. For he commanded the unclean spirits to go down to Hades, and to be shut up henceforth in the abyss, so that he might rid the earth of the bitterest beasts. And we have seen an image of this matter in the more ancient writings; for when Joshua son of Nun took the lands of the nations, he shut up five kings in a cave, and rolled a stone over its mouth, prefiguring, as I said, in himself the power of the Savior's dispensation. And indeed the demons "begged him not to command them to go into the abyss." Therefore, he says they will be confounded in their confinement, as if being shut up henceforth into Hades, and cast into Tartarus with chains of darkness, so that, as I said, he might henceforth deliver the human race from the bitter and savage beasts. They shall be amazed at the Lord our God, and shall be afraid of you. Who is a God like you? taking away iniquities and passing over injustices for the remnant of his inheritance, and he did not keep his anger for a testimony, because he is a willer of mercy. he will turn again and have compassion on us, he will sink our injustices and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He will give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as he swore to our fathers in the days of old. For the mystery of Christ is truly an ecstasy, and all- the superiority of the gentleness towards us is beyond the power of words for one who knows how to marvel. And indeed the divine Habakkuk, being astonished at the manner of the incarnation, cried out clearly, "O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid; O Lord, I have considered thy works, and was amazed." For being in the form and in the equality of God the Father, the Only-begotten, and being rich as God, became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might become rich; that he might save that which was lost, heal that which was sick, bind up that which was broken, give life to that which was corrupted, cleanse that which was defiled, release from judgment that which was condemned, declare blessed that which was cursed, and adorn with the honor of adoption that which was by nature a slave. Therefore let him hear from all, "Who is a God like unto thee?" that is, good and forgiving, pardoning iniquities for the remnant of his inheritance; and the remnant of his inheritance would be understood as those from Israel who believed, since the other multitude was destroyed because they did not believe. And Christ said somewhere, "He that believeth on the Son is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Son of God." He therefore leaps over sins and passes over iniquities and has not kept his anger for a testimony. The phrase "for a testimony" means "to the end," or "forever." For we were cast out in Adam, but we were received in Christ. And he cursed in the one, but blessed again in the other; "For as," he says, "by one man's offense many died," so also by the one man's righteous act shall the many live. He has therefore ceased from his anger, because he is a desirer of mercy; and in the time of the conversion of all, that is, of the incarnation, he will, as it were, baptize the sins of all in the sea. And since to the holy fathers, I mean Abraham and Jacob, he promised to multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, he says he will give them the things promised. For they will be called fathers of many nations, their children being counted not only among those of the blood of Israel, but also among those of the promise. And these are they of faith, also called the uncircumcision, being mixed, as it were, into spiritual unity with those of the law and circumcision. For it is written that "They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: But, the children of the promise are counted for the seed." For as many as are "of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." And the manner of the blessing would be understood as the grace which is in Christ, through whom and with whom, to God the Father be the glory with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.