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the Roman emperors brought the saving cross. And we see until this very day foreign nations inhabiting their cities and possessing the land. Having said these things about Judea, he also foretells the desolation of the city: 8The daughter of Zion shall be left like a booth in a vineyard, and like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a city besieged. He calls Jerusalem the daughter of Zion. For just as he calls men "sons of men" and prophets "sons of prophets," so also he calls Jerusalem "daughter of Jerusalem" and "daughter of Zion." This one once flourished, when the vineyard had its ripe fruit; but when that was harvested, it has remained desolate like a booth of a vineyard. For the vine-dressers fence the vines with stone walls and hedges when they are heavy with fruit, and setting up high booths, they sit in them guarding the fruit; but when they gather it, they take down the booth and leave the vine unguarded. So also the vineyard of Israel, as long as it had the blessing promised to the nations, received every care; but when that was harvested and those who had believed in it were chosen by it, it was deprived of the hedge, it was deprived of the temple, and the renowned house has remained such as those who arrive there see it. 9And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah. When God gave Sodom and Gomorrah over to fire, none of the inhabitants was saved; but only Lot did not share in the destruction, having no kinship with them. But from Israel many myriads were saved, when the Roman generals and emperors campaigned against them and burned the cities and speared most of the inhabitants, and enslaved those who were left. For the Lord foretold to the holy apostles and to those who believed through them the things that would happen and instructed them to obtain salvation by flight: "For when," he says, "you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation has drawn near," and again: "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let the one on the housetop not go down |97 b| to take the things out of his house." Those, therefore, who had believed in the Lord enjoyed salvation through faith; and that seed, through which God promised the blessing to the nations, He did not allow the memory of the Jews to be wiped out in a way similar to Sodom and Gomorrah. 10Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. They did not receive a punishment equivalent to the Sodomites, for that seed did not allow it, but they fittingly receive the names of Sodomites and Gomorrhans. For since they were greatly proud of the root of Abraham, but did not emulate the faith of Abraham, they are justly cast out from the kinship of Abraham. So also the divine John the Baptist cries out: "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves that we have Abraham as our father; for truly I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham." And to the prophet Ezekiel God instructs to say "to Jerusalem: Your seed and your birth are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite"; and again he calls Sodom her sister. For whose lawlessness they emulated, of these they are right to receive the name. 11What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. From this we learn clearly that it was not because he was pleased with sacrifices that God legislated for them to offer these, but because he knew their weakness. For having been brought up in Egypt and having learned to sacrifice to idols, they wanted to enjoy that training. Therefore, wishing to deliver them from that error, God tolerated both sacrifices and musical instruments, overlooking their weakness and guiding their childish mindset. Here, however,

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σωτήριον σταυρὸν οἱ Ῥωμαίων ἐπήνεγκαν βασιλεῖς. Καὶ ὁρῶμεν μέχρι καὶ τήμερον ἀλλόφυλα ἔθνη καὶ τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν οἰκοῦντα καὶ τὴν γῆν νεμόμενα. Ταῦτα περὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας εἰπὼν προλέγει καὶ τὴν τῆς πόλεως ἐρημίαν· 8Ἐγκαταλειφθήσεται ἡ θυγάτηρ Σιὼν ὡς ςκηνὴ ἐν ἀμπελῶνι καὶ ὡς ὀπωροφυλάκιον ἐν σικυ ηλάτῳ, ὡς πόλις πολιορκουμένη. Θυγατέρα Σιὼν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὀνομάζει. Ὥσπερ γὰρ υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καλεῖ καὶ υἱοὺς προφητῶν τοὺς προφήτας, οὕτω καὶ θυγατέρα Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ θυγατέρα Σιὼν τὴν αὐτὴν προσαγορεύει. Αὕτη ἤνθει μὲν πάλαι, ἡνίκα ὁ ἀμπελὼν τὸν ὥριμον εἶχε καρπόν· ἐκείνου δὲ τρυγηθέντος μεμένηκεν ἔρημος ὡς ἀμπελῶνος σκηνή. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ φυτουργοὶ περιφράττουσι μὲν αἱμασιαῖς καὶ φραγμοῖς τὰς ἀμπέλους, ὅταν βρίθωσι τῷ καρπῷ, καὶ σκηνὰς ὑψηλὰς πηγνύντες ἐν ἐκείναις κάθηνται φυλάττοντες τὸν καρπόν· ὅταν δὲ τοῦτον συλλέξωσι, καταλύουσι μὲν τὴν σκηνήν, ἀφύλακτον δὲ τὴν ἄμπελον καταλείπουσιν. Οὕτω καὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ ἀμπελών, ἕως μὲν εἶχε τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐλογίαν, πάσης ἐπιμελείας ἐτύγχανεν· ἐκείνης δὲ τρυγηθείσης καὶ τῶν εἰς ἐκείνην πεπιστευκότων ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἐκλεγέντων ἀπεστερήθη μὲν τοῦ φραγμοῦ, ἀπεστερήθη δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ, μεμένηκε δὲ ὁ περίβλεπτος οἶκος οἷον ὁρῶσιν οἱ αὐτόσε παραγινόμενοι. 9Καὶ εἰ μὴ κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν. Ὅτε τὰ Σόδομα καὶ τὰ Γόμορρα πυρὶ παρέδωκεν ὁ θεός, οὐδεὶς διεσώθη τῶν οἰκητόρων· μόνος δὲ Λὼτ οὐκ ἐκοινώνησε τῆς φθορᾶς, οὐδεμίαν ἔχων πρὸς ἐκείνους συγγέ νειαν. Ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πολλαὶ διεσώθησαν μυριάδες, ἡνίκα οἱ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγοί τε καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐπιστρα τεύσαντες καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐνέπρησαν καὶ τῶν ἐνοικούντων τοὺς μὲν πλείστους κατηκόντισαν, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολειφθέντας ἐξηνδραπόδισαν. Προείρηκε γὰρ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις ὁ κύριος καὶ τοῖς δι' ἐκείνων πεπιστευκόσι τὰ συμβησόμενα καὶ παρηγγύησε φειδοῖ τὴν σωτηρίαν καρπώσασθαι· «Ὅταν» γάρ φησιν «ἴδητε κυκλουμένην ὑπὸ στρατο πέδων τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, γινώσκετε ὅτι ἤγγικεν ἡ ἐρήμωσις αὐτῆς», καὶ πάλιν· «Τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη, καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος μὴ καταβήτω |97 b| ἆραι τὰ ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ.» Οἱ τοίνυν εἰς τὸν κύριον πεπιστευκότες διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς σωτηρίας ἀπέλαυσαν· καὶ τὸ σπέρμα ἐκεῖνο, δι' οὗ τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν εὐλογίαν ὁ θεὸς ἐπηγγείλατο, οὐκ εἴασε Σοδόμοις καὶ Γομόρροις παραπλησίως τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐξαλειφθῆναι τὴν μνήμην. 10Ἀκούσατε λόγον κυρίου ἄρχοντες Σοδόμων, προσέχετε νόμον θεοῦ λαὸς Γομόρρας. Τὴν μὲν τιμωρίαν Σοδομίταις ἀντίρροπον οὐκ ἐδέξαντο, οὐ γὰρ εἴασε τὸ σπέρμα ἐκεῖνο, τὰς δὲ Σοδομιτῶν καὶ Γομορρηνῶν εἰκότως προσηγορίας λαμβάνουσιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μέγα ἐφρόνουν ἐπὶ τῇ ῥίζῃ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἐζήλωσαν πίστιν, τῆς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ συγγενείας ἐνδίκως ἐκβάλλονται. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς βοᾷ· «Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς; Ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας καὶ μὴ δόξητε λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν Ἀβραάμ· ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι δύναται ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τῷ Ἀβραάμ.» Καὶ τῷ προφήτῃ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὁ θεὸς παρεγγυᾷ εἰπεῖν «τῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ· Τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ ἡ γένεσίς σου ἐκ γῆς Χαναάν· ὁ πατήρ σου Ἀμορραῖος καὶ ἡ μήτηρ σου Χετταία»· καὶ τὰ Σόδομα δὲ πάλιν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς ὀνομάζει. Ὧν γὰρ τὴν παρανομίαν ἐζήλωσαν, τούτων τὴν προσηγορίαν εἰσὶ δίκαιοι δέξασθαι. 11Τί μοι πλῆθος τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν; λέγει κύριος. Ἐντεῦθεν μανθάνομεν ἐναργῶς ὡς οὐ θυσίαις ἀρεσκόμενος ὁ θεὸς ταύτας αὐτοῖς προσφέρειν ἐνομοθέτησεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτῶν ἐπιστάμενος. Ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γὰρ τραφέντες καὶ θύειν εἰδώλοις μεμαθηκότες τῆς παιδείας ἐκείνης ἀπολαύειν ἐβούλοντο. Ἐκείνης τοίνυν αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάξαι τῆς πλάνης βουληθεὶς ὁ θεὸς καὶ θυσιῶν καὶ μουσικῶν ὀργάνων ἠνείχετο, τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπερείδων ἀσθένειαν καὶ τὴν μειρακιώδη γνώμην ψυχαγωγῶν. Ἐνταῦθα μέντοι