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I have become like a sparrow dwelling alone upon the housetop. He uses many parables, wishing to represent the calamities fittingly; through each of the mentioned birds he indicates timidity and the desolation of the one who cares. For the sparrow drives away sleep out of anguish, and the night-raven, fleeing the inhabited parts of houses, runs to deserted and ruined places. For Symmachus has said, *Ruins*, for building sites. So also the other bird dwells in deserted places. All the day long my enemies reproached me, and those who praised me swore against me. I became a laughingstock to my enemies, and I who was once envied and admired, have now become an oath to those who formerly admired me; for they swear by my calamities: may I not suffer what so-and-so have suffered. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of your anger and your wrath.

2. These things he also said in the seventy-ninth psalm: You will feed us with the bread of tears, and give us tears to drink in measure; and through these things he indicates the excess of his grief. For if the time for food was full of grief, hardly would another time be free from it. But with these evils, he says, I am overwhelmed, because, O Master, you have moved your wrath against me; For having lifted me up, you have cast me down. For both the people and the temple were glorified by God’s decree; and as much as it was lifted up, it fell, the people being led away, and the temple being desolated along with Jerusalem, in which the law and the worship according to it were performed, having a shadow of the good things to come; and these things too were taken from their midst. He also speaks of his own case. 55.638 For having shown me to be high and admired, you have suddenly cast me away. For he used "You have cast me down" metaphorically of those who lift something up to a height and dash it against the ground. My days have declined like a shadow; and I am withered like grass. I am, he says, at the very setting of life, and I am like a shadow that declines and at last ceases; and I imitate the dryness of grass, summoning the hands of the reapers. But you, O Lord, remain forever, and your remembrance to generation and generation. Such are human affairs, humbled on account of evil after being lifted up, and never remaining as they are; but you, having nothing perishable, are unchangeable and immutable, and the promises from you are sure; and not to the present generation, he says, but to another, concerning which it is said, The coming generation will be told of the Lord; and this, Let it be written for another generation. For the remembrance of your promises will be fulfilled, and you could easily grant some change from the present evils. Therefore I say with confidence that you will raise up Sion; for he adds this: You shall arise and have mercy on Sion, for it is time to have mercy on her, for the time has come. Grant, he says, a better change to this calamity; for the time demands mercy. And through these things he alludes to the end of the punishment which was limited to seventy years. So also the wonderful Daniel, having numbered the time of the captivity, offers supplication according to what Zechariah said: O Lord Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem? With these also agree the words of the spiritual melody: For it is time to have mercy on her, for the time has come. And I think that in these things he prophesies the appearance among men of the Word of God Himself, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which would be the cause of the rebuilding of Sion.

Having come to this point, do not suppose I mean the city on earth, nor think that the earthly Jerusalem is indicated, but the renewal of the commonwealth of piety. For this is the time, of which he himself says through Isaiah: In an acceptable time I have heard you. And Paul writes that this time was fulfilled when the Savior came among us

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ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματος. Πολλαῖς κέχρηται παραβολαῖς, ἀξίως βου λόμενος παραστῆσαι τὰς συμφοράς· δι' ἑκάστου δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων ὀρνίθων τὴν δειλίαν δηλοῖ καὶ τοῦ κηδεμόνος τὴν ἐρημίαν. Τό τε γὰρ στρουθίον ὑπ' ἀγωνίας ἐξελαύ νει τὸν ὕπνον, καὶ ὁ νυκτικόραξ τὰς οἰκουμένας φεύγων τῶν οἰκιῶν, ταῖς ἐρήμοις καὶ καταλελυμέναις προσ τρέχει. Τὰ γὰρ οἰκόπεδα, Ἐρείπια ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκεν. Οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἄλλο ὄρνεον ταῖς ἐρήμοις ἐνδιαιτᾶται. Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ὠνείδιζόν με οἱ ἐχθροί μου, καὶ οἱ ἐπαι νοῦντές με κατ' ἐμοῦ ὤμνυον. Καταγέλαστος ἐγενό μην τοῖς δυσμενέσι, καὶ ὁ ποτὲ ζηλωτὸς καὶ περίβλεπτος, νῦν ὅρκος γέγονα τοῖς πάλαι θαυμάζουσι· κατὰ γὰρ τῶν ἐμῶν ὀμνύουσι συμφορῶν· μὴ πάθοιμι, ἃ οἱ δεῖνες πεπόνθασιν. Ὅτι σποδὸν ὡσεὶ ἄρτον ἔφαγον, καὶ τὸ πόμα μου μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ ἐκίρνων, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ὀργῆς σου καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ σου.

βʹ. Ταῦτα καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ καὶ ἐννάτῳ ψαλμῷ ἔφη· Ψωμιεῖς ἡμᾶς ἄρτον δακρύων, καὶ ποτιεῖς ἡμᾶς ἐν δάκρυσιν ἐν μέτρῳ· τὴν δὲ τῆς ὀδύνης ὑπερ βολὴν διὰ τούτων δηλοῖ. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τῆς τροφῆς καιρὸς ὀδύνης ὑπῆρχε μεστὸς, σχολῇ γε ἄλλος καιρὸς ταύτης ἐλεύθερος ἂν ἦν. Τούτοις δὲ, φησὶ, περικλύζομαι τοῖς κακοῖς, ἐπειδὴ, ∆έσποτα, κεκίνηκας κατ' ἐμοῦ τὴν ὀργήν· Ὅτι ἐπάρας κατέῤῥαξάς με. Ἐδοξάσθη γὰρ ὅ τε λαὸς καὶ ὁ ναὸς χρηματίζοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ὅσον ἐπήρθη, κατέπεσεν, ὁ μὲν λαὸς ἀπαχθεὶς, ἐρημωθεὶς δὲ μετὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ ναὸς, ἐν οἷς ὁ νόμος καὶ ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν ἐτε λεῖτο λατρεία, σκιὰν ἔχοντα τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν· καὶ ἦρτο καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ μέσου. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸ καθ' ἑαυτόν. 55.638 Ὑψηλόν με γὰρ δείξας καὶ περίβλεπτον ἀποφήνας, ἐξαίφνης ἀπέῤῥιψας. Τὸ γὰρ, Κατέῤῥαξας, ἐκ μετα φορᾶς τέθεικε τῶν ἐπαιρόντων εἰς ὕψος τι, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους καταῤῥηγνύντων. Αἱ ἡμέραι μου ὡσεὶ σκιὰ ἐκλίθησαν· κἀγὼ ὡσεὶ χόρτος ἐξηράνθην. Παρ' αὐ τάς εἰμι, φησὶ, τὰς τοῦ βίου δυσμὰς, καὶ ἔοικα σκιᾷ κλινάσῃ καὶ ληγούσῃ λοιπόν· καὶ χόρτου δὲ μιμοῦμαι τὴν ξηρότητα, τῶν θεριζόντων προσκαλούμενος τὰς χεῖρας. Σὺ δὲ, Κύριε, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένεις, καὶ τὸ μνημόσυνόν σου εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν. Τὰ μὲν ἀν θρώπινα τοιαῦτα, διὰ κακίαν μετὰ τὴν ἔπαρσιν ταπει νούμενα, καὶ μηδέποτε μένοντα ὅπερ εἰσί· σὺ δὲ μηδὲν ἔχων ἐπίκηρον, ἄτρεπτός τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος, καὶ αἱ παρὰ σοῦ δὲ ἐπαγγελίαι βέβαιοι· καὶ μὴ τῇ παρούσῃ γενεᾷ, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἑτέρᾳ, περὶ ἧς τὸ, Ἀναγγελήσεται τῷ Κυρίῳ γενεὰ ἡ ἐρχομένη· καὶ τὸ, Γραφήτω αὕτη εἰς γενεὰν ἑτέραν. Τὸ γὰρ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν σου μνημόσυνον πληρωθήσεται, καὶ μεταβολήν τινα τῶν παρόντων κακῶν ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἐπιχαρίσαιο. ∆ιό φημι θαῤ ῥῶν, ὅτι τὴν Σιὼν ἀναστήσεις· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπιφέρει· Σὺ ἀναστὰς οἰκτειρήσεις τὴν Σιὼν, ὅτι καιρὸς τοῦ οἰκτειρῆσαι αὐτὴν, ὅτι ἥκει καιρός. ∆ὸς, φησὶ, μετα βολὴν ἀμείνω τῇ συμφορᾷ· ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς τὸν ἔλεον ἀπαι τεῖ. Αἰνίττεται δὲ διὰ τούτων τῆς τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεσι περιωρισμένης τιμωρίας τὸ τέλος. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θαυμά σιος ∆ανιὴλ ἀριθμήσας τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τὸν χρόνον, προσφέρει τὴν ἱκετηρίαν κατὰ τὸν Ζαχαρίαν εἰπόντα· Κύριε παντοκράτωρ, μέχρι τίνος οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσῃς τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ; Τούτοις συνᾴδει καὶ τῆς πνευματικῆς μελῳδίας τὰ ῥήματα· Ὅτι καιρὸς τοῦ οἰκτειρῆσαι αὐτὴν, ὅτι ἥκει καιρός. Οἶμαι δὲ προφητεύειν ἐν τού τοις τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου αὐτοῦ δὴ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιφάνειαν, αἰτίαν ἐσομένην τῆς ἀνοικοδομῆς τῆς Σιών.

Ἔνθα δὴ γε νόμενος, μή μοι τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς πόλιν ὑπολάμβανε, μηδὲ τὴν ἐπίγειον Ἱερουσαλὴμ νόμιζε δηλοῦσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας πολιτεύματος τὴν ἀνανέωσιν. Οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ καιρὸς, περὶ οὗ αὐτὸς διὰ Ἡσαΐου φησί· Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου. Τοῦτον δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος πεπλη ρῶσθαι τὸν καιρὸν, ἐπιδημήσαντος τοῦ Σωτῆρος, γράφει