10

a man and a husband has been humbled, and I will not forgive them. For the one made in the divine image and who obtained authority over all things on the earth fell from his kingdom through folly; and when it was proper for him to hold this prize, he himself assigns reverence to handmade things, bowing and worshipping and running to the dominion of demons. But I, he says, will not overlook these things, but I will exact from them the penalties for their impiety. And what these are, |100 b| he teaches through what follows: 10And now enter into the rocks and hide yourselves in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to shatter the earth. And through these words he prophesies the Roman war; for when that army came, most people hid themselves in the mountains and in the recesses within them. 11For the eyes of the Lord are lofty, but man is lowly; and the loftiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For those who mock the Savior, he says, when he has come, and who converse with him boastfully, will learn by experience the difference in nature, and that he is most high as God, while they are "earth and ashes" according to the divine scripture. 12For a day of the Lord Sabaoth, he says, comes upon every insolent and proud person, and upon everyone who is lofty and exalted, and they shall be humbled, 13and upon every cedar of Lebanon that is high and exalted, and upon every oak tree of Bashan 14and upon every high mountain and upon every high hill 15and upon every high wall and upon every high tower 16and upon every ship of the sea, and upon every beautiful sight of ships; 17and every man shall be humbled, and the loftiness of men shall fall. And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. When the enemy, having attacked, prevails, they not only kill the men but also ravage the land and cut down the trees and bring siege engines against the walls and, becoming masters of the sea, they hinder commerce. And all these things at the same time happened to the Jews when the Roman army attacked them. But if someone also wishes to understand this tropologically, oaks as those who are proud of the strength of their body, cedars as those who prosper in power, ships as those who are sharp in intellect, and the rest similarly to these, he will also find in this way the truth of the prophecy. For nothing helped the Jews in the time of war, neither the best general nor a wise counselor, not those priding themselves in wealth, not those boasting in their power; but all things at the same time were refuted, and the might of the God of all was shown alone. For when he cared for them, they easily prevailed over all; but when he deprived them of his own providence, they became an easy prey for all. 18And all the handmade things they will hide 19bringing them into the caves and into the clefts of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to shatter the earth. And we have beheld the truth of this prophecy; for very many who were enslaved to error, seeing the power of piety, hid the gods worshipped by them in certain caves and grottos, but they were discovered and reaped shame, and the pupils of piety gave their idols to the fire. <20For in that day a man will cast away his abominations of silver and gold, which they made for themselves to worship vain things and bats, 21to enter into the holes of the solid rock and into the clefts of the rocks from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to shatter the earth.> He has said the same things in different ways. These things indeed have come to pass after the epiphany of our God and Savior, and we have become eyewitnesses of these things. But it is worthy to lament the excess of the error, that even having fashioned images of the lowly |101 a| bats, men named the images gods.

10

ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἐταπεινώθη ἀνήρ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀνήσω αὐτούς. Ὁ γὰρ κατ' εἰκόνα θείαν γεγενημένος καὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ πάντων τὴν ἐξουσίαν λαχὼν ἐξ ἀβουλίας τῆς βασιλείας ἐξέπεσεν· καὶ δέον αὐτὸν ἔχειν τὸ γέρας, αὐτὸς τοῖς χειροποιήτοις ἀπονέμει τὸ σέβας κύπτων καὶ προσκυνῶν καὶ τῇ τῶν δαιμόνων δεσποτείᾳ προστρέχων. Ἐγὼ δέ φησι ταῦτα οὐ παρόψομαι, ἀλλὰ δίκας αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας εἰσπράξομαι. Τίνες δὲ αὗται, |100 b| διὰ τῶν ἐπαγομένων διδάσκει· 10Καὶ νῦν εἰσέλθετε εἰς τὰς πέτρας καὶ κρύπτεσθε εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν. ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων τὸν Ῥωμαϊκὸν πόλεμον προθεσπίζει· ἐκείνης γὰρ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐπελθούσης, εἰς τὰ ὄρη καὶ τὰς ἐν τούτοις οἱ πλεῖστοι κατεκρύπτοντο καταδύσεις. 11Οἱ γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ὑψηλοί, ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ταπεινός· καὶ ταπεινωθήσεται τὸ ὗψος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. Οἱ γὰρ ἐπιτωθάζοντές φησι τῷ σωτῆρι παραγενομένῳ καὶ ἀλαζονικῶς αὐτῷ προσδιαλεγόμενοι τῇ πείρᾳ μαθήσονται τῆς φύσεως τὸ διάφορον καὶ ὅτι ὁ μέν ἐστιν ὕψιστος ὡς θεός, αὐτοὶ δὲ «γῆ καὶ σποδὸς» κατὰ τὴν θείαν γραφήν. 12Ἡμέρα γάρ φησι κυρίου Σαβαὼθ παραγίνεται ἐπὶ πάντα ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα ὑψηλὸν καὶ μετέωρον, καὶ ταπεινωθήσονται, 13καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν κέδρον τοῦ Λιβάνου τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ μετεώρων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν δένδρον βαλάνου Βασὰν 14καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα βουνὸν ὑψηλὸν 15καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν τεῖχος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα πύργον ὑψηλὸν 16καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν πλοῖον θαλάσσης καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν θέαν κάλλους πλοίων· 17καὶ ταπεινωθήσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ πεσεῖται τὸ ὕψος τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ ὑψω θήσεται κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. Ὅταν ἐπελθόντες πολέμιοι περιγένωνται, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀναιροῦσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γῆν δῃοῦσι καὶ τὰ δένδρα ἐκτέμνουσι καὶ τοῖς περιβόλοις προσφέρουσι μηχανήματα καὶ θαλαττοκρά τορες γινόμενοι τὰς ἐμπορίας κωλύουσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα κατὰ ταὐτὸν Ἰουδαίοις συνέβη τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς αὐτοῖς στρατιᾶς ἐπελθούσης. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τροπικῶς τις νοεῖν βούλεται δρῦς μὲν τοὺς ἐπὶ ῥώμῃ σώματος μέγα φρονοῦντας, κέδρους δὲ τοὺς ἐπὶ δυναστείᾳ εὐθηνουμένους, πλοῖα δὲ τοὺς ὀξεῖς τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τἆλλα τούτοις παραπλησίως, εὐρήσει καὶ οὕτως τὴν τῆς προφητείας ἀλήθειαν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ὤνησεν Ἰουδαίους ἐν τῷ τοῦ πολέμου καιρῷ οὔτε στρατηγὸς ἄριστος οὔτε σοφὸς σύμβουλος, οὐχ οἱ τῷ πλούτῳ κομῶντες, οὐχ οἱ γαυριῶντες ἐπὶ τῇ δυνάμει· ἀλλὰ πάντα κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐξηλέγχθη, καὶ μόνου τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐδείχθη τὸ κράτος. Ἡνίκα μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐκήδετο, πάντων ῥᾳδίως περιεγί νοντο· ὅτε δὲ αὐτοὺς τῆς οἰκείας προμηθείας ἐγύμνωσεν, εὐχείρωτοι πᾶσιν ἐγένοντο. 18Καὶ τὰ χειροποίητα πάντα κατακρύψουσιν 19εἰσενέγ καντες εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς τὰς σχισμὰς τῶν πετρῶν καὶ εἰς τὰς τρώγλας τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν. Καὶ τῆσδε τῆς προφητείας ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν ἀλήθειαν· πλεῖστοι γὰρ τῇ πλάνῃ δουλεύοντες τῆς εὐσεβείας τὸ κράτος θεώμενοι κατέκρυψαν μὲν ἐν σπηλαίοις τισὶ καὶ ἄντροις τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν προσκυνουμένους θεούς, ἐφωράθησαν δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἐδρέψαντο, καὶ τὰ τούτων εἴδωλα τῆς εὐσεβείας οἱ τρόφιμοι παρέδοσαν τῷ πυρί. <20Τῇ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκβαλεῖ ἄνθρωπος τὰ βδελύγματα αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ, ἃ ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖν τοῖς ματαίοις καὶ ταῖς νυκτερίσι, 21τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὰς τρώγλας τῆς στερεᾶς πέτρας καὶ εἰς τὰ σχίσματα τῶν πετρῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν.> Ταὐτὰ διαφόρως εἴρηκεν. Πέρατος μὲν ταῦτα τετύχηκε μετὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφάνειαν, μάρτυρες δὲ τούτων ἡμεῖς αὐτόπται γενόμενοι. Θρηνῆσαι δὲ ἄξιον τὴν τῆς πλάνης ὑπερβολήν, ὅτι καὶ τῶν εὐτελῶν |101 a| νυκτερίδων εἰκόνας ἄνθρωποι τεκτηνάμενοι θεοὺς τὰς εἰκόνας ὠνόμαζον.