blood of Christ. But you will not reign, even if you were provoked in the cedar of your father. The cedar is the father of the sinner, a certain tree, lofty, proud, opposing, the devil or the prince of wicked words. And those who build such things will perish by famine; for they will neither eat nor drink, but neither did they know righteousness, not having known Christ; but doing righteous things, he says, is a characteristic of those who know God. But of those who are not such, neither are their eyes good, not seeing the truth, nor their heart, being filled with false doctrines, through which, causing others to stumble, they murder their souls, shedding innocent blood with a false and deceitful tongue. This is worse than slaughter by the sword. 14 This Jehoiakim Jeremiah calls Jechoniah, and Pharaoh Necho called his father, named Eliakim, Jehoiakim, whom the Babylonian, having slain, cast out before the gate, as the present prophet says and Josephus in the tenth book of the Antiquities. But "what is unsealed" the Others rendered as "seal." And a seal, that is a signet-ring, in the right hand of God becomes everyone who through repentance takes up anew what is according to the image; for good works are understood as the right hand of God, who places the sheep "on the right." This seal the father gave to the prodigal son when he returned. If Jechoniah had become this, he would have become a model of piety for his subjects; but he did not. Nevertheless, he seemed to obey the prophet who said: "He who goes forth to surrender to the Chaldeans who have shut you in will live"; for he went out, taking with him his mother and his mighty men, defecting to the Babylonians. But if he had even shown, he says, a perfect repentance so as to become "a seal of the righteousness in circumcision" according to the divine apostle, so as for this to seem to be at the right hand of God, he would have certainly been handed over to suffer punishment for his former sins, even if a more moderate one. For in Babylon, having been disciplined in prison and bonds, again under Evil-Merodach he was moved to a state of relief, becoming a table companion to the king and thus ending his life in a foreign land. 15 He forbids not simply listening to a prophet, but to words of prophets uttered in imitation. For he who listens to a prophet, such as Moses, listens not to him but to the Lord speaking through him. But the false prophets make things vain; for by not turning him back, they make the hearer vain, speaking a vision of the heart. For a mind applying itself to things without God's help speaks a vision of the heart, not from the mouth of the one who grants speech and enlightens. But there are times when a vision of the heart and a word from the Lord's mouth concur; whence he does not simply censure the vision of the heart, but when the other is not present. It concurs in the one who says: "I pray with my mouth, and I pray also with my mind." 16 He prophesies about a shaking and the wrath of the Lord going forth against the ungodly. The anger was not turned away, not simply, but until it should accomplish it, as it turns away when it has accomplished it. And what the "word of the Lord" has not done, the anger of the Lord does. And what the anger of the Lord does, David says in "O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger." Therefore, rebuking does not cease until it accomplishes that for which it rebukes, just as wrath does not until it has completely disciplined. And not only will it accomplish, but it will also establish and confirm. And the riddle from the undertaking of his heart, being for the last days, he says, will be understood, that is, concerning what has been said about both anger and wrath. Thanks, therefore, to the one who has revealed to us the things that have been hidden until the present. 17 For this reason it has not escaped my notice that they have pushed my people into wickedness. For he who grants even a prophet to know all things, much more knows them himself. For "the spirit of the Lord has filled the world"; and "in him we live and move and have our being," as Paul said to the Athenians. Such also is this: Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord? For by his power he is near to all. And prayers, therefore, are not made to God as to one who is far off. And concerning the Son it is said: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him." For it is he who also says: I am a God at hand; for he said: "where two or three are gathered together in the

αἷμα Χριστοῦ. ἀλλ' οὐ βασιλεύσεις, εἰ καὶ παρωξύνθης ἐν κέδρῳ τοῦ πατρός σου. κέδρος ὁ πα τὴρ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, δένδρον τι ὑψηλόν, ὑπερήφανον, ἀντικείμενον, ὁ διάβολος ἢ ὁ λόγων μοχθηρῶν ἄρχων. οἱ δὲ τοιαῦτα οἰκοδο μήσαντες λιμῷ ἀπολοῦνται· οὐ γὰρ φάγονται οὐδὲ πίονται, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ δικαιοσύνην ἔγνωσαν μὴ ἐγνωκότες Χριστόν· τὸ τὰ δίκαια δὲ πράττειν ἴδιον, φησί, τῶν γινωσκόντων τὸν θεόν. τῶν δὲ μὴ τοιούτων οὔτε οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καλοὶ μὴ βλέποντες τὴν ἀλή θειαν, οὔτε ἡ καρδία ψευδῶν πεπληρωμένη δογμάτων, δι' ὧν σφάλ λοντες ἑτέρους φονεύουσιν αὐτῶν τὰς ψυχάς, αἷμα ἀθῶον ἐκχέ οντες γλώττῃ ψευδεῖ καὶ δολίᾳ. τοῦτο δὲ τῆς διὰ ξίφους χεῖρον σφαγῆς. 14 Τὸν Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦτον Ἰεχονίαν Ἱερεμίας καλεῖ, τὸν δὲ τούτου πατέρα Ἐλιακεὶμ προσαγορευόμενον Ἰωακεὶμ ἐκάλεσε Νεχαὼ Φαραώ, ὃν ἀνελὼν ὁ Βαβυλώνιος πρὸ τῆς πύλης ἀπέρριψεν, ὡς ὁ παρὼν προφήτης λέγει καὶ Ἰώσηππος ἐν τῇ δεκάτῃ τῆς ἀρχαιο λογίας. τὸ δὲ ἀποσφράγισμα σφραγὶς ἐξέδωκαν οἱ Λοιποί. σφραγὶς δὲ ἤτοι σφενδόνη ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεται πᾶς ὁ τὸ κατ' εἰ κόνα διὰ μετανοίας ἀναλαμβάνων· ἔργα γὰρ ἀγαθὰ νοεῖται τὰ δεξιὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦ τὰ πρόβατα ἱστῶντος «ἐκ δεξιῶν». ἣν δὴ σφραγῖδα τῷ ἀσώτῳ υἱῷ δέδωκεν ὁ πατὴρ ἐπιστρέψαντι. ὅπερ εἰ γέγονεν Ἰε χονίας, τύπος τοῖς ὑπηκόοις εὐσεβείας ἐγένετο· ἀλλ' οὐ γέγονε. πλὴν ἔδοξε τῷ προφήτῃ πείθεσθαι φήσαντι· «ὁ ἐκπορευόμενος προσχωρῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς Χαλδαίους τοὺς συγκεκλεικότας ὑμᾶς ζήσε ται»· ἐξῆλθε γὰρ ἐπαγόμενος καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ τοὺς δυνατούς, αὐ τομολήσας πρὸς τοὺς Βαβυλωνίους. εἰ δὲ καὶ τελείαν, φησίν, ἐπε δείξατο τὴν μετάνοιαν ὥστε καὶ «σφραγῖδα γενέσθαι τῆς ἐν περιτομῇ δικαιοσύνης» κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, ὡς κατὰ τοῦτο δοκεῖν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ, πάντως ἂν παρεδόθη δίκην ὑφέξων τῶν πρώην ἡμαρτημένων, εἰ καὶ μετριωτέραν. ἐν Βαβυλῶνι γὰρ σωφρονισθεὶς ἐν εἱρκτῇ καὶ δεσμοῖς, πάλιν ἐπὶ Εὐιλὰδ Μαρωδὰχ μετέστη πρὸς ἄνεσιν, ὁμοδίαιτος γενόμενος τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ οὕτως ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ καταλύσας τὸν βίον. 15 Ἀπαγορεύει οὐ προφήτην ἁπλῶς ἀκούειν, ἀλλὰ λόγους προφητῶν ἐν μιμήσει προφερομένους. ὁ γὰρ ἀκούων προφήτου οἷον Μωσέως, οὐκ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ κυρίου ἀκούει διὰ τούτου λαλοῦντος. οἱ δὲ ψευδοπροφῆται ματαιοῦσιν· τῷ γὰρ μὴ ἐπιστρέφειν ποιοῦσι τὸν ἀκούοντα μάταιον, ὅρασιν καρδίας λαλοῦντες. νοῦς γὰρ ἐπιβάλλων πράγμασι χωρὶς θεοῦ βοηθείας ὅρασιν καρδίας οὐκ ἀπὸ στόματος λαλεῖ τοῦ χορηγοῦντος εἰπεῖν καὶ φωτίζοντος. ἔστι δὲ ὅτε συντρέχει καρδίας ὅρασις καὶ στόματος κυρίου λό γος· ὅθεν οὐχ ἁπλῶς ψέγει τὴν ὅρασιν τῆς καρδίας, ἀλλ' ὅταν μὴ προσῇ τὸ ἕτερον. συντρέχει δὲ παρὰ τῷ λέγοντι· «προσεύχομαι τῷ στόματι, προσεύχομαι δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ». 16 Προφητεύει περὶ συσσεισμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς κυρίου ἐκπο ρευομένης ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς. ὁ θυμὸς οὐκ ἀπεστράφη, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀλλ' ἕως ἂν ποιήσῃ αὐτό, ὡς ἀποστρέφοντος ἐπὰν ποιήσῃ. ὃ δὲ μὴ πεποίηκε «λόγος κυρίου», θυμὸς κυρίου ποιεῖ. τί δὲ θυ μὸς κυρίου ποιεῖ, λέγει ∆αβὶδ ἐν τῷ «κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με». οὐκοῦν ἐλέγχων οὐ παύεται, ἕως οὗ ποιήσῃ δι' ὃ ἐλέγχει, ὡς οὐδὲ ἡ ὀργὴ μέχρι τελείως παιδεύσῃ. οὐ μόνον δὲ ποιήσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ στήσει καὶ βεβαιώσει. τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ ἐγχειρή ματος καρδίας αὐτοῦ αἴνιγμα ὂν ἐπ' ἐσχάτου, φησί, νοη θήσεται, δηλαδὴ περὶ τῶν εἰρημένων περί τε θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς. χάρις οὖν τῷ ἡμῖν ἀποκαλύψαντι τὰ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος κε κρυμμένα. 17 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔλαθόν με εἰς πονηρίαν τὸν λαόν μου ὠθή σαντες. ὁ γὰρ καὶ προφήτῃ διδοὺς εἰδέναι τὰ πανταχοῦ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οἶδεν αὐτός. «πνεῦμα» γὰρ «κυρίου πεπλήρωκε τὴν οἰκου μένην»· καὶ «ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν», ὡς ὁ Παῦ λος πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ἔφη. τοιοῦτον καὶ τὸ οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ, λέγει κύριος; τῇ δυνάμει γὰρ αὐτοῦ πᾶ σιν ἐγγίζει. καὶ εὐχαὶ ἄρα οὐχ ὡς πρὸς πόρρω ὄντα γίγνονται τὸν θεόν. καὶ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ δὲ λέγεται· «ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο». αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ καὶ λέγων· θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι· καὶ γὰρ ἔφησεν· «ὅπου δύο καὶ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰσὶν εἰς τὸ