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them, and it is said He will break their conceit like an earthen vessel. And he says that the iron rod is the Roman dominion, which became more powerful after the appearance of our Savior. For from that time, when the multiple sovereignties among the nations and the ethnarchies in each country were destroyed, the Roman kingdom became a monarchy, which the prophecy of Daniel also called iron, saying, regarding the image: the legs and the feet of iron, and setting forth the interpretation by saying: A fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron; for in the way that iron breaks in pieces and subdues; and regarding the vision of the prophet: And behold, he says, a fourth beast, dreadful, and its teeth were of iron, devouring and breaking in pieces, and it stamped the residue with its feet. Therefore, the saying declares that this is also indicated in the present passage: You will shepherd them with a rod of iron, you will shatter them like a potter's vessels. For by a hidden and invisible power, Christ, having received from the Father the nations throughout the whole world as an inheritance, will shepherd those who have known him and have come under his fold, leading them in and out to good pastures, so that his flock (for it was rational) says: The Lord shepherds me, and I shall want nothing. He has made me dwell there in a place of green pasture; he has nourished me by the water of rest, he has restored my soul; but the disobedient among the nations and those who rise up against his sheep, he subjects with the iron rod, taming and crushing them through the Roman dominion. Thus indeed it happens that the rages and impulses of the insatiable nations against the Church of God are checked by the Roman threat, since the rulers and peoples in the cities would not have permitted the teaching of Christ to be established in their midst, being as it was subversive of their polytheistic error, if the fear of Rome had not been hanging over them, and the edicts that crush them and do not allow them to raise their heads had not bridled and shattered their rages. And by another divine and ineffable power, Christ gently shepherds his own sheep, never departing from them, according to the promise he made, saying: Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them; and again: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age; but those who rise up against his flock in the persecutions from time to time, he himself again pursues, punishing them with a hidden and invisible power with an iron rod, but also their pride and the swelling of their arrogance he shatters like pottery vessels; so that already myriads of them, being driven by his divinely sent scourges, have given glory to God, and have confessed their impieties. You will shatter them like a potter's vessels; he shatters them not to destroy and consume them, but so as to refashion them; for this is the potter's purpose in shattering his own vessels, when 23.92 the potter's molding still preserves its sound and intact form, not yet having been exposed to fire. And to these things the blessed Jeremiah the prophet also bears witness, speaking as from God: Or as the potter, so shall I not be able to do to you, O house of Israel, says the Lord? that is, to refashion even those who have fallen apart, and to restore them again to their original state. And now, O kings, understand; be instructed, all you who judge the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling. Lay hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry. that is, of the evangelical lawgiving. From this point, the discourse transitionally sets forth a teaching for the rulers and kings, who are to be shepherded by the iron rod, and says: that knowing, O you, and understanding how great is the power of him who has received the nations as an inheritance from the Father, and what sort of iron rod it is that is being raised against you, cease warring against him; but rather, having received understanding, give

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αὐτοὺς, καὶ τὸ οἴημα αὐτῶν κατεάξειν δίκην ἀγγείου ὀστρακίνου λέγεται. Ῥάβδον δὲ σιδηρᾶν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν εἶναί φησιν, ἐπικρατεστέραν γενομένην μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφάνειαν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου γὰρ τῶν κατ' ἔθνη πολυαρχιῶν καὶ τῶν κατὰ χώρας ἐθναρχιῶν καταλυθεισῶν, ἡ Ῥωμαίων ἐμονάρχησε βασιλεία, ἣν καὶ ἡ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ προφητεία σιδηρᾶν προσεῖπεν, ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς εἰκόνος φήσασα· αἱ κνῆμαι καὶ οἱ πόδες σιδηροῖ, καὶ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν ἐκθεμένη διὰ τοῦ φάναι· Βασιλεία τετάρτη ἔσται ἰσχυρὰ ὡς ὁ σίδηρος· ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ὁ σίδηρος, λεπτυνεῖ καὶ δαμάσει· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ὁράσεως τοῦ προφήτου· Καὶ ἰδοὺ, φησὶν, ζῶον τέταρτον φοβερὸν, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ σιδηροῖ, ἐσθίον καὶ λεπτύνον, καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ συνεπάτει. Ταύτην τοίνυν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος δηλοῦσθαι φάσκοντος λόγου· Ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. ∆υνάμει γὰρ ἀφανεῖ καὶ ἀοράτῳ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς κλῆρον παραλαβὼν τὰ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔθνη ὁ Χριστὸς, τοὺς μὲν ἐπεγνωκότας αὐτὸν, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτοῦ μάνδραν γενομένους ποιμανεῖ εἰσάγων καὶ ἐξάγων εἰς ἀγαθὰς νομὰς, ὥστε λέγειν τὴν αὐτοῦ ποίμνην (λογικὴ γὰρ ἦν)· Κύριος ποιμαίνει με, καὶ οὐδέν με ὑστερήσει. Εἰς τόπον χλόης ἐκεῖ με κατεσκήνωσεν· ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως ἐξέθρεψέ με, τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐπέστρεψε· τοὺς δὲ ἀφηνιῶντας τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ κατεπαιρομένους τῶν αὐτοῦ προβάτων τῇ ῥάβδῳ τῇ σιδηρᾷ καθυποτάττει δαμάζων καὶ συντρίβων διὰ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς δυναστείας. Οὕτω γοῦν συμβαίνει τῶν ἀπλήστων ἐθνῶν τοὺς θυμοὺς καὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς τὰς κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἀπειλῆς ἀνακρούεσθαι, οὐκ ἂν ἐπιτρεψάντων τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἀρχόντων τε καὶ δήμων, ἐν μέσοις αὐτῶν συστῆναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίαν, ἀνατρεπτικὴν τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης αὐτῶν τυγχάνουσαν, εἰ μὴ ὁ Ῥωμαϊκὸς αὐτοῖς ἦν ἐπηρτημένος φόβος, καὶ τὰ συντρίβοντα αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ ἐῶντα κεφαλὴν ἐπᾶραι διατάγματα τοὺς θυμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐχαλίνου καὶ συνέτριβε. Καὶ ἄλλῃ δὲ θεϊκῇ καὶ ἀποῤῥήτῳ δυνάμει ὁ Χριστὸς τὰ μὲν αὑτοῦ πρόβατα ἡμέρως ποιμαίνει, μηδέποτε ἀναχωρῶν ἀπ' αὐτῶν, καθ' ἣν πεποίηται ἐπαγγελίαν φήσας· Ὅπου ἂν εἶεν δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν· καὶ πάλιν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος· τοὺς δ' ἐπανισταμένους αὐτοῦ τῇ ποίμνῃ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ χρόνους διωγμοῖς πάλιν αὐτὸς μετέρχεται ἀφανεῖ καὶ ἀοράτῳ δυνάμει κολάζων ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ ἔπαρμα τῆς ἀλαζονείας ὡς σκεύη κεράμια συντρίβει· ὡς ἤδη μυρίους αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τῶν θεηλάτων αὐτοῦ μαστίγων ἐλαυνομένους δοῦναι δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐξομολογήσασθαι τὰς δυσσεβείας αὐτῶν. Ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς· οὐχ ὥστε ἀπολέσαι καὶ ἀναλῶσαι συντρίβει, ἀλλ' ὥστε ἀναπλάσαι· πρὸς τοῦτο γὰρ σκοπὸς τῷ κεραμεῖ συντρίβειν τὰ οἰκεῖα σκεύη, ὅταν ἔτι 23.92 ὑγιῆ καὶ ἀκέραιον σώζῃ τοῦ κεραμέως τὴν διάπλασιν οὐδέπω πυρὶ προσωμιληκότα. Τούτοις δὲ μαρτυρεῖ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης, λέγων ὡς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ· Ἢ καθὼς ὁ κεραμεὺς, οὕτως οὐ δυνήσομαι τοῦ ποιῆσαι ὑμῖν, οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, λέγει Κύριος; τουτέστιν, οὕτω καὶ διαπεσόντας ἀναπλάσαι, καὶ πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀποκαταστῆσαι. Καὶ νῦν, βασιλεῖς, σύνετε, παιδεύθητε πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γῆν. ∆ουλεύσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ. ∆ράξασθε παιδείας, μήποτε ὀργισθῇ Κύριος. Τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς δηλονότι νομοθεσίας. Ἐντεῦθεν μεταβατικῶς ὁ λόγος διδασκαλίαν ἐκτίθεται τοῖς ἄρχουσι καὶ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι, τοῖς ὑπὸ τῇ σιδηρᾷ ῥάβδῳ ποιμανθησομένοις, καί φησιν· ὅτι Γνῶντες, ὦ οὗτοι, καὶ συνόντες ὁπόση τις ἡ δύναμις τοῦ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰληφότος τὰ ἔθνη κληρονομίαν, καὶ ὁποία τις τυγχάνει ἡ σιδηρᾶ ῥάβδος ἡ καθ' ὑμῶν ἐπεγειρομένη, παύσασθε πολεμοῦντες αὐτῷ· ἀπολαβόντες δὲ μᾶλλον σύνεσιν ἐπίδοτε