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a period of seventy years is completed. And he who wishes to count the seventy years of the temple's desolation, let him begin from the eleventh year of Zedekiah; for then the divine temple was burned; and let him end at the second year of Darius, son of Hystaspes, in whose reign they rebuilt the divine temple with all diligence, and the work reached its end; therefore the prophet says that. In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chebar, and the heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God. (2.) On the fifth of the month; this is the fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin the king. And he himself taught us clearly, that it was not simply the fifth year of the captivity, but of the captivity of Jehoiachin the king; he, as I said, was Jeconiah, who reigned for three months and a few days; for his father Jehoiakim was slain in Jerusalem in the eleventh year of his own reign. He said the heavens were opened, not in truth and reality, but in a spiritual vision; "And I saw," he says, "a vision of God." Not the substance of God, but "a vision;" a certain revelation, and as it were a representation, which is attainable by human nature. "And I was in the midst of the captivity." The pious one with the impious, the just one with the 81.821 lawless. For so great is the Master's love for humanity, that for the sake of sinners he gives over his own servants to sorrows and calamities. 3. And the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar. He is adorned with twin gifts, priesthood and prophecy; and both are gifts of the Spirit; and he names the country and the place where he was counted worthy of the divine revelation, showing many things through these; first, that the Divine is uncircumscribed, not having authority in Jerusalem alone nor ruling only over the Jews, but being the maker and governor of all; and this also shows his unspeakable goodness, that even having given them over to captivity he does not leave them uncared for, but deems them worthy of all providence and of fitting care. He deems him worthy of the vision by the waters, prefiguring the salvation of all men, and foreshowing the knowledge of God that would come to the pious through the regeneration of water. Thus also the divine Daniel saw those divine visions by the waters, and Moses the lawgiver, cast upon the bank, attained salvation through water; thus again the well itself and the water arranged the marriage; and this happened to the patriarchs before him, not only to Jacob, but also to Isaac. But let us return to the interpretation; for the discourse at present is not directed towards these things. "And the hand of the Lord was upon me." Thus he called the energy of the divine Spirit. For indeed the divine Paul, bringing punishment upon the opposing Elymas, said thus: "Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And it was the energy of the divine Spirit, as Paul himself says, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. "The hand of the Lord," he says, "was upon me." 4. And I looked, and behold, a storm wind came from the north, and a great cloud in it, and a brightness around it, and a fire flashing forth. It is necessary first to state the cause of the revelation, and then to apply the interpretation part by part. Many false prophets at this time contradicted the prophets; and the blessed Jeremiah especially teaches us this. For when God commanded him to wear a yoke, and to foretell the captivity of both the king and all the people, a certain false prophet named Hananiah, having broken these, contradicted the things said by the prophet, lying outright and shouting that not only would the city not be overthrown, but that those who had already been taken captive before would return before long. Therefore the Master God, being more angered, commands him to put iron bands 81.824 on himself instead of the wooden ones, and to those in Judea the siege and the man

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ἑβδομηκοντούτης συμπληροῦται χρόνος. Τῆς δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ ἐρημίας τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ὁ βουλόμενος ἀριθμῆσαι, ἀρξάσθω μὲν ἀπὸ ἑνδεκάτου ἔτους Σεδεκίου· τηνι καῦτα γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ἐνεπρήσθη νεώς· καταλήξῃ δὲ εἰς τὸ δεύτερον ἔτος ∆αρείου τοῦ Ὑστάσπου, ἐφ' οὗ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἁπάσης τὸν θεῖον ἀνεδείμαντο νεὼν, καὶ τέλους τὸ ἔργον τετύχηκεν· λέγει τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι. Τῷ τριακοστῷ ἔτει, ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ μηνὶ, πέμ πτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς, ἐγὼ ἤμην ἐν μέσῳ τῆς αἰχμαλω σίας ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Χοβὰρ, καὶ ἠνοίχθη σαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ ἴδον ὅρασιν Θεοῦ. (βʹ.) Πέμπτῃ τοῦ μηνός· τοῦτο πέμπτον ἔτος τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦ βασιλέως. Σαφῶς δὲ καὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτὸς ἐδίδαξεν, ὅτι οὐ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἁπλῶς πέμπτον ἔτος, ἀλλὰ τῆς Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦ βα σιλέως αἰχμαλωσίας· οὗτος δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, Ἰεχονίας ἦν τρεῖς μῆνας βασιλεύσας, καὶ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας· ὁ γὰρ τούτου πατὴρ Ἰωακεὶμ ἑνδεκάτῳ ἔτει τῆς αὑτοῦ βασιλείας ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐσφάγη. Ἀνεῳχθῆναι δὲ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἔφη, οὐκ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ πρά γματι, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῇ θεωρίᾳ· "Καὶ ἴδον, φησὶν, ὅρασιν Θεοῦ." Οὐκ οὐσίαν Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' "ὅρασιν·" ἀπο κάλυψίν τινα, καὶ οἱονεὶ ἀνατύπωσιν, τὴν ἐφικτὴν ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει. "Καὶ ἤμην ἐν μέσῳ τῆς αἰχμα λωσίας." Ὁ εὐσεβὴς μετὰ τῶν δυσσεβῶν, μετὰ τῶν 81.821 παρανόμων ὁ δίκαιος. Τοσαύτη γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ∆εσπότου φιλανθρωπία, ὡς τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἕνεκεν ἀνιαροῖς ἐκδιδόναι καὶ συμφοραῖς τοὺς οἰκείους θεράποντας. γʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς Ἰεζεκιὴλ υἱὸν Βουζεὶ τὸν ἱερέα, ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων, ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Χοβάρ. ∆ιπλοῖς κομᾷ χαρίσμασιν, ἱερωσύνῃ, καὶ προφητείᾳ· ἀμφότερα δὲ δῶρα τοῦ Πνεύματος· λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν χώραν, καὶ τὸν τόπον, ἔνθα τῆς θείας ἀποκαλύψεως ἠξιώθη, πολλὰ διὰ τού των παραδηλῶν· πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι τὸ Θεῖον ἀπερί γραφον, οὐκ ἐν μόνοις Ἱεροσολύμοις ἔχον τὴν ἐξου σίαν οὐδὲ μόνων Ἰουδαίων δεσπόζον, ἀλλὰ πάντων ὑπάρχον καὶ ποιητὴς, καὶ πρύτανις· δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἄῤῥητον ἀγαθότητα, ὅτι καὶ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ παραδοὺς ἀτημελήτους οὐκ ἐᾷ, ἀλλὰ προμηθείας ἁπάσης καὶ τῆς προσηκούσης ἀξιοῖ κηδεμονίας. Παρ' ὕδατα δὲ τῆς θεωρίας αὐτὸν ἀξιοῖ, προσημαίνων ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων τὴν σωτηρίαν, καὶ τὴν διὰ τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος παλιγγενεσίας ἐσομένην τοῖς εὐσεβέσι θεογνωσίαν προδηλῶν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος ∆ανιὴλ παρ' ὕδατα τὰς θείας ἐκείνας ἐθεώρησεν ὀπτασίας, καὶ ὁ νομοθέτης Μωσῆς παρὰ τὴν ὄχθην ῥιφεὶς δι' ὑδάτων τῆς σωτηρίας τετύχηκεν· οὕτω πάλιν αὐτὸ τὸ φρέαρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸν γάμον προὐ ξένησεν· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τοῖς πρὸ αὐτοῦ πατριάρχαις, οὐ τῷ Ἰακὼβ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ συνέβη Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν ἐπανέλθωμεν· οὔτε γὰρ ἐπὶ ταῦτα τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ὁ λόγος ἔχει. "Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπ' ἐμὲ χεὶρ Κυρίου." Τὴν τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος ἐνέργειαν οὕτως ἐκάλεσε. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος ἀντιτείνοντι τῷ Ἐλύμᾳ παιδείαν ἐπιφέρων, οὕτως ἔφη· "Ἰδοὺ χεὶρ Κυρίου ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ ἔσῃ τυφλὸς, μὴ βλέπων τὸν ἥλιον ἄχρι καιροῦ." Τοῦ δὲ θείου Πνεύματος ἦν ἐνέργεια, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, ἐν δυνάμει σημείων καὶ τεράτων, ἐν δυνάμει Πνεύματος Θεοῦ. "Ἐγένετο ἐπ' ἐμὲ, φησὶ, χεὶρ τοῦ Κυρίου." δʹ. Καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ πνεῦμα ἐξαῖρον ἤρχετο ἀπὸ βοῤῥᾶ, καὶ νεφέλη μεγάλη ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ φέγγος κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πῦρ ἐξαστράπτον. Ἀναγκαῖον πρότερον τὴν τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως αἰτίαν εἰπεῖν, εἶθ' οὕτω κατὰ μέρος τὴν ἑρμηνείαν ἐπαγα γεῖν. Πολλοὶ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ψευδοπροφῆται τοῖς προφήταις ἀντέλεγον· καὶ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἡμᾶς ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας διδάσκει. Τοῦ γὰρ Θεοῦ κλοιο φορεῖν αὐτὸν κελεύσαντος, καὶ προλέγειν τὴν αἰχμ αλωσίαν, τοῦ τε βασιλέως, καὶ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ, Ἀνα νίας τις ψευδοπροφήτης ταῦτα συντρίψας, ἀντέλεγεν τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου λεγομένοις, ἄντικρυς ψευδό μενος, καὶ βοῶν, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἡ πόλις ἀνάστατος οὐ γενήσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἤδη πρότερον αἰχμάλωτοι γεγονότες, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐπανήξουσι. ∆ιὸ πλέον ὁ ∆εσπότης ἀγανακτήσας Θεὸς σιδηρᾶ δεσμὰ ἐπιθῆναι 81.824 ἑαυτῷ ἀντὶ τῶν ξυλίνων παρακελεύεται, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ τὸν ἀνδρα