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if you will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you are not willing and will not hearken to me, a sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. For since to the more carnal, deliverance from sins is not so desirable and readily understood as the enjoyment of those things in the present life that seem to be good, along with those things he also promises these; for this also comes from that.

1.7 Then, showing that virtue is easy, he places it in willing alone. But lest they become lax because of the good things, concluding his discourse again with fearful things, he makes it trustworthy by the power of the one who declared these things. How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot? The perplexity is both from the pain of the one speaking and from the great insensibility of the Jews, and from the fact that what happened was beyond expectation. Paul expresses such perplexity concerning the Galatians, saying: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting; which is a form of both accusation and exhortation, calling those who are being called back to virtue. For even if what is said is astonishing, and praise is mixed with the accusation, it makes the accusation more severe. For we do not so much rebuke those who are nothing and pursue a wicked life, as we do those who seemed to be virtuous before, but later exhibit the deeds of the wicked. He calls her a harlot here, not alluding to bodily wantonness, but to ingratitude toward God, which is more grievous than that harlotry. For in the one case a man is the one insulted, but here God is the one set at nought. He does this, as do all the other prophets; since God deigned to be in the position of a husband to the city, showing his ineffable love for them; and they often speak as of a husband and wife, not to bring the discourse down to human grossness, but that through matters familiar to them they might lead them to the knowledge of God's tender affection; and at the same time they wish to rebuke them with the shamefulness of the name. Faithful; that is, pious and full of all virtue; so that from this it is also clear that by harlotry he does not mean that of bodies; since he would have said: The chaste city; for that would be the contrast to a harlot; but now, showing that he is alluding to impiety by harlotry, he has set down its opposite, faithfulness. Full of judgment; that is, full of justice. Again a very great accusation, not that they had deserted to wickedness entirely, but that they also betrayed virtue entirely, and having cast away from their hands all the wealth of good things at once, they were brought down to the ultimate poverty of evils. In which righteousness lodged in her. It lodged, it dwelt, that is, it was planted, it was rooted, it was accomplished with eagerness by all the citizens. He lingers on the former praises, at once increasing the accusation arising from the change, and at the same time suggesting good hopes and showing that it is easy for them to be restored again. But now murderers. Man-slayers, he says. Your silver is worthless. That is, counterfeit, illegitimate, adulterated. Your innkeepers mix the wine with water. Since in his introduction he did not state their wickedness specifically, but that they had set at nought and that they were an evil seed and lawless sons, which seemed to be more a matter of reviling than of accusation; here he sets down the charges themselves specifically, and first, that which is the first and middle and last of evils, the love of money and the corrupt dealing in regard to contracts. But some, not understanding the ineffable wisdom of God, have taken what was said anagogically. For, they say, the great and lofty Isaiah would not have spoken about the villainy of money-changers and the corruption of innkeepers; but by silver here he means the oracles of God, and by wine the teaching, which they were muddying by introducing their own doctrines. But I neither dishonor this interpretation, and I say that the other is truer. For not only is it not unworthy of the prophet to speak about these things, but it is also very worthy both of him and of the loving-kindness of God. And what need is there to say many things? When

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εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε. Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλητε μηδὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται. Τὸ γὰρ στόμα Κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῖς παχυτέροις οὐχ οὕτως ἁμαρτη μάτων ἀπαλλαγὴ ποθεινὸν καὶ εὐσύνοπτον, ὡς τῶν ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ δοκούντων εἶναι καλῶν ἡ ἀπόλαυσις, μετ' ἐκείνων καὶ ταῦτα ἐπαγγέλλεται· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ ἐκείνου.

1.7 Εἶτα δεικνὺς ὅτι εὔκολον ἡ ἀρετή, ἐν τῷ θέλειν αὐτὸ τίθησι μόνον. Ὥστε δὲ μὴ τοῖς χρηστοῖς ἐκλῦσαι, πάλιν εἰς τὰ φοβερὰ κατακλείσας τὸν λόγον ἀξιόπιστον ποιεῖ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ ταῦτα ἀποφηναμένου. Πῶς ἐγένετο πόρνη πόλις πιστὴ Σιών; Καὶ τῆς ὀδύνης τοῦ λέγοντος καὶ τῆς πολλῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀναισθησίας ἡ διαπόρησις, καὶ τοῦ παρ' ἐλπίδα γενέσθαι τὸ γεγενημένον. Τοιαῦτα καὶ Παῦλος ἐπὶ Γαλατῶν διαπορεῖ λέγων· Θαυμάζω ὅτι οὕτω ταχέως μετατίθεσθε· ὅπερ ἐν ἐγκλημάτων τάξει καὶ προτροπῆς εἶδός ἐστι, πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἀνακαλούμενον τοὺς ἐκκαλουμένους. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ θαυμαστὸν τὸ λεγόμενον καὶ ἐγκώμιον ἀναμέμικται τῇ κατηγορίᾳ τὴν κατηγορίαν χαλεπωτέραν ποιοῦν. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω κακίζομεν τοὺς οὐδὲν ὄντας καὶ φαῦλον μετιόντας βίον, ὡς τοὺς σπουδαίους μὲν εἶναι δόξαντας ἔμπροσθεν, τὰ δὲ τῶν πονηρῶν ὕστερον ἐπιδεικνυμένους. Πόρνην δὲ ἐνταῦθα καλεῖ, οὐ σωματικὴν ἀσέλγειαν αἰνιττόμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν περὶ Θεὸν ἀγνωμοσύνην, ὃ τῆς πορνείας ἐκείνης ἐστὶ χαλεπώτερον. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ὑβριζόμενος, ἐνταῦθα δὲ Θεὸς ὁ ἀθετούμενος. Ποιεῖ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ καὶ οὗτος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες προφῆται· ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς κατηξίωσεν ἐν ἀνδρὸς τάξει τῇ πόλει γενέσθαι, τὴν ἄφατον ἀγάπην τὴν περὶ αὐτοὺς ἐνδεικνύμενος· καὶ ὡς περὶ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς πολλαχοῦ διαλέγονται, οὐχ ἵνα εἰς ἀνθρωπίνην παχύτητα κατενέγκωσι τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ τῶν συντρόφων αὐτοῖς πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χειραγωγήσωσιν αὐτοὺς φιλοστοργίας· ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τῷ αἰσχρῷ τῆς προσηγορίας καθάψασθαι βούλονται. Πιστή· τουτέστιν, εὐσεβὴς καὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς γέμουσα· ὥστε κἀντεῦθεν δῆλον, ὅτι πορνείαν οὐ τὴν τῶν σωμάτων λέγει· ἐπεὶ εἶπεν ἄν· Πόλις ἡ σώφρων· οὕτω γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἀντιδιαστελλόμενον τῇ πόρνῃ· νῦν δὲ δεικνὺς ὅτι τὴν ἀσέβειαν αἰνίττεται διὰ τῆς πορνείας, τὸ ἀντικείμενον αὐτῇ τέθεικε, τὴν πίστιν. Πλήρης κρίσεως· τουτέστι, πλήρης δικαιοσύνης. Πάλιν μέγιστον ἔγκλημα, οὐχ ὅτι πρὸς ὁλόκληρον τὴν κακίαν ηὐτομόλησαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ὁλόκληρον προέδωκαν τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον ἅπαντα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀθρόον ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν ῥίψαντες καὶ πρὸς ἐσχάτην τῶν κακῶν κατενεχθέντες πενίαν. Ἐν ᾖ δικαιοσύνη ἐκοιμήθη ἐν αὐτῇ. Ηὐλίσθη, κατεσκήνωσε, τουτέστι, πεφύτευτο, ἐρρίζωτο, μετὰ προθυμίας ὑπὸ πάντων κατωρθοῦτο τῶν πολιτῶν. Ἐνδιατρίβει τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις τοῖς προτέροις, ὁμοῦ μὲν αὔξων τὴν κατηγορίαν τὴν ἐκ τῆς μεταβολῆς, ὁμοῦ δὲ χρηστὰς ὑποτείνων τὰς ἐλπίδας καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι ῥᾴδιον αὐτοὺς ἀνακτήσασθαι πάλιν. Νῦν δὲ φονευταί. Ἀνδροφόνοι, φησί. Τὸ ἀργύριον ὑμῶν ἀδόκιμον. Τουτέστι, παράσημον, νόθον, κίβδηλον. Οἱ κάπηλοί σου μίσγουσι τὸν οἶνον ὕδατι. Ἐπειδὴ προοιμιαζόμενος οὐ κατ' εἶδος αὐτῶν εἶπεν τὴν κακίαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἠθέτησαν καὶ ὅτι σπέρμα πονηρὸν ἦσαν καὶ υἱοὶ ἄνομοι, ὃ λοιδορίας ἐδόκει μᾶλλον, ἢ κατηγορίας εἶναι· ἐνταῦθα καὶ αὐτὰ τίθησι κατ' εἶδος τὰ ἐγκλήματα καὶ πρῶτον, ὃ πρῶτόν ἐστι καὶ μέσον καὶ τελευταῖον τῶν κακῶν, τὴν φιλαργυρίαν καὶ τὴν περὶ τὰ συμβόλαια καπηλείαν. Ἀλλά τινες οὐ συνιέντες τὴν ἄφατον τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν, κατ' ἀναγωγὴν τὸ εἰρημένον ἐξέλαβον. Οὐ γὰρ ἄν, φησίν, ὁ μέγας καὶ ὑψηλὸς Ἡσαΐας ὑπὲρ τραπεζιτῶν κακουργίας καὶ καπήλων διαφθορᾶς διελέχθη· ἀλλὰ ἀργύριον ἐνταῦθα τὰ λόγιά φησι τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ οἶνον τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ἣν ἐθόλουν ἐπεισάγοντες αὐτῶν τὰ διδάγματα. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτε ταύτην ἀτιμάζω τὴν ἐξήγησιν, καὶ τὴν ἑτέραν ἀληθεστέραν εἶναί φημι. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον οὐκ ἀνάξιον τοῦ προφήτου τὸ περὶ τούτων διαλέγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα ἄξιον καὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας. Καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πολλὰ λέγειν; Ὅτε