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to the Ammonites and Idumaeans and many other things besides these; before all things, however, he laments the final utter destruction of the Jews, which they endured, paying the penalty for their madness against the master. Of the prophetic composition, some things are clear and have a plain meaning, while others are spoken figuratively and require interpretation. I, therefore, will try to speak of some things concisely and to go through others at greater length; yet even in these I will take care for conciseness as much as possible.

1 BOOK 1 11The vision which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, which he saw against Judea and against

Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah, who reigned over Judea. |96 b| He calls the foreknowledge of future events a vision. For just as the eyes of the body, being in a healthy state, see the things set before them, so the eye of the mind, being illuminated by the divine spirit, sees things not present as though they were present. He says, therefore, that he has seen certain grim things against Judea and against Jerusalem. And he calls Jerusalem the metropolis, and Judea the cities and villages subject to it. He also makes clear the time of the prophecy by the mention of the kings; for he began this in the time of Uzziah, and it continued until Hezekiah. 2Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. These witnesses Moses the great also called, having been commanded. For having heard, "Go down, call heaven and earth to witness for me," he thus began his testimony: "Give heed, O heaven, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth." And having added other things to these, he continued, "for I have called on the name of the Lord." And he testifies to the people and threatens all kinds of punishments for transgressing the given law. And indeed the prophet Jeremiah, or rather God through him, having again accused the people of impiety, added these things: "Heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered exceedingly, says the Lord." Of these words God of all reminds them after the end of the events through the tongue of the prophet: Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. For it is not a man, he says, who is speaking, but God through a man. And he calls heaven and earth to witness not as though they were animate, but as containing all the visible creation and enduring for the longest time. And we find that Jacob and Laban made a heap of stones and called it a witness; but they gathered the stones for the sake of remembrance, for the stones are not animate, and they entrusted the true witness to the overseer of all. So he himself also called these great elements to witness. And he confirmed his words by his deeds; for when the Jews nailed the savior to the cross, the earth was shaken, recalling the testimony, and the heaven, since it was not able, being on high, to provide this sensation to men, showed the sun moving in it deprived of its rays and brought on darkness as a testimony against the impiety. I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me. For not only did I bring them into being, but I also deemed them worthy of all care and made them conspicuous through all-various providence; but they became ungrateful to their benefactor. And rightly, accusing them of ingratitude, he calls heaven and earth into the midst; for through these they reaped all-various benefits. For heaven from above supplied them with the food of manna; "For," he says, "he commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and rained manna upon them to eat and gave them the bread of heaven." And the earth brought forth for them in the desert the need for waters, and it brought forth in Palestine the abundance of all-various fruits. And they were the first to partake of the dignity of adoption; for which reason also him a firstborn son

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Ἀμμανίταις καὶ Ἰδουμαίοις καὶ ἕτερα πρὸς τούτοις πολλά· πρὸ πάντων μέντοι τὴν ἐσχάτην Ἰουδαίων πανωλεθρίαν ὀδύρεται ἣν ὑπέμειναν τῆς κατὰ τοῦ δεσπότου μανίας εἰσπραττόμενοι δίκας. Τῆς δὲ προφητικῆς συνθήκης τὰ μέν ἐστι σαφῆ καὶ γυμνὴν ἔχοντα τὴν διάνοιαν, τὰ δὲ τροπικῶς εἰρημένα καὶ ἑρμηνείας δεόμενα. Ἐγὼ τοίνυν πειράσομαι τὰ μὲν συντόμως εἰπεῖν τὰ δὲ διὰ πλειόνων διεξελθεῖν· πλὴν κἀν τούτοις φροντιῶ τῆς συντομίας εἰς δύναμιν.

1 ΤΟΜΟΣ Αʹ 11Ὅρασις ἣν εἶδεν Ἡσαΐας υἱὸς Ἀμώς, ἣν εἶδε κατὰτῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ κατὰ

Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίουκαὶ Ἰωαθὰμ καὶ Ἄχαζ καὶ Ἐζεκίου οἳ ἐβασίλευσαντῆς Ἰουδαίας. |96 b| Ὅρασιν καλεῖ τῶν μελλόντων τὴν πρόγνωσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοὶ ὑγιῶς διακείμενοι τὰ προκείμενα ὁρῶσιν, οὕτω τὸ ὀπτικὸν τῆς διανοίας ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου φωτιζόμενον πνεύματος ὡς παρόντα βλέπει τὰ μὴ παρόντα. Λέγει τοίνυν ἑωρακέναι τινὰ σκυθρωπὰ κατὰ τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ κατὰ Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καλεῖ δὲ Ἱερουσαλὴμ μὲν τὴν μητρόπολιν, Ἰουδαίανδὲ τὰς ὑπ' αὐτὴν τελούσας πόλεις καὶ κώμας. ∆ηλοῖ καὶ τῆς προφητείας τὸν χρόνον τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν βασιλέων· ἤρξατο μὲν γὰρ ταύτης ἐπὶ Ὀζίου, μέχρι δὲ Ἐζεκίου διέμεινεν. 2Ἄκουε οὐρανὲ καὶ ἐνωτίζου γῆ, ὅτι κύριος ἐλάλησεν. Τούτους τοὺς μάρτυρας καὶ Μωυσῆς ὁ μέγας ἐκάλεσε προσταχθείς. Ἀκούσας γάρ· «Καταβὰς διαμάρτυραί μοι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν», οὕτω τῆς διαμαρτυρίας ἤρξατο· «Πρόσεχε οὐρανὲ καὶ λαλήσω, καὶ ἀκουέτω γῆ ῥήματα ἐκ στόματός μου.» Προστεθεικὼς δὲ καὶ ἕτερα τούτοις ἐπήγαγεν· «ὅτι ὄνομα κυρίου ἐκάλεσα». ∆ιαμαρτύρεται δὲ τῷ λαῷ καὶ τὰς παντοδαπὰς ἀπειλεῖ τιμωρίας τὸν δεδομένον παραβαίνοντι νόμον. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἱερεμίας, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ θεὸς διὰ τούτου, τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ πάλιν δυσσεβείας κατηγορήσας καὶ ταῦτα ἐπήγαγεν· «Ἐξέστη ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ ἔφριξεν ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἡ γῆ, λέγει κύριος.» Τούτων ἀναμιμνῄσκει τῶν λόγων μετὰ τὸ τέλος τῶν πραγμάτων διὰ τῆς τοῦ προφήτου γλώττης ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεός· Ἄκουε οὐρανὲ καὶ ἐνωτίζου γῆ, ὅτι κύριος ἐλάλησεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωπός φησιν ὁ φθεγγόμενος ἀλλὰ δι' ἀνθρώπου θεός. Οὐρανὸν δὲ καὶ γῆν εἰς μαρτυρίαν οὐχ ὡς ἐμψύχους καλεῖ ἀλλ' ὡς πᾶσαν τὴν ὁρωμένην περι έχοντας κτίσιν καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διαρκοῦντας. Εὑρίσκομεν δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὸν Λάβαν σωρὸν λίθων πεποιηκότας καὶ μάρτυρα τοῦτον καλέσαντας· ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν λίθους μνήμης χάριν συνήγαγον, οὐ γὰρ ἔμψυχοι οἱ λίθοι, τὴν δὲ ἀληθῆ μαρτυρίαν ἐνεπίστευσαν τῷ τῶν ὅλων ἐφόρῳ. Οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ μεγάλα ταῦτα στοιχεῖα εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἐκάλεσεν. Καὶ ἐβεβαίωσε τοῖς ἔργοις τοὺς λόγους· ἡνίκα γὰρ Ἰουδαῖοι προσήλωσαν τῷ σταυρῷ τὸν σωτῆρα, ἐκλονήθη μὲν ἡ γῆ τῆς μαρτυρίας ἀναμιμνῄσκουσα, ὁ δὲ οὐρανός, ἐπειδὴ ταύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρέχειν τὴν αἴσθησιν οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἄνωθεν ὤν, τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ βαδίζοντα ἥλιον ἔδειξε τῶν ἀκτίνων ἐστερη μένον καὶ τὸ σκότος εἰς τὴν κατὰ τῆς ἀσεβείας μαρτυρίαν ἐπήγαγεν. Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρήγαγον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης ἐπιμελείας ἠξίωσα καὶ περιβλέπτους διὰ τῆς παντοδαπῆς προμηθείας ἀπέφηνα· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀχάριστοι περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην ἐγένοντο. Εἰκότως δὲ τῆς ἀχαριστίας κατηγορῶν οὐρανὸν καὶ γῆν εἰς μέσον καλεῖ· διὰ τούτων γὰρ τὰς παντοδαπὰς εὐεργεσίας ἐτρύγησαν. Οὐρανὸς μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἄνωθεν ἐχορήγησε τὴν τοῦ μάννα τροφήν· «Ἐνετείλατο» γάρ φησι «νεφέλαις ὑπεράνωθεν καὶ θύρας οὐρανοῦ ἀνέῳξε καὶ ἔβρεξεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς μάννα φαγεῖν καὶ ἄρτον οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς.» Ἡ δὲ γῆ ἤνεγκε μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν χρείαν, προσήνεγκε δὲ ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ τῶν παντοδαπῶν καρπῶν τὴν ἀφθονίαν. Μετέλαβον δὲ καὶ τοῦ τῆς υἱοθεςίας ἀξιώματος πρῶτοι· οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ πρωτότοκον υἱὸν αὐτὸν