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disobedient and unhearing, he moves every device for a change from wickedness. Wherefore also through Isaiah the prophet he cries: "What more shall I do for this vineyard of mine, that I have not done?" and again through Hosea: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah?" But nevertheless, knowing that they suffer from incurable diseases, he offers the medicines, so that on the day of judgment the disobedient may receive without objection the sentence brought against them, with the divine benefactions being brought into the middle. For which reason the blessed David also cries: "That you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged;" for our transgression, when compared with the divine benefactions, justly subjects us to punishments; but the just judge himself, even from those being punished, receives the victory, as having displayed every form of philanthropy, and having left no resource of benefaction unmoved. Therefore, "If perhaps they will hear or be terrified," does not signify God's ignorance, but gives them room for repentance; since God, knowing also the disobedience of Pharaoh—"For I know," he says, "that Pharaoh will not let you go, except by a mighty hand and a high arm"—continued to be long-suffering. For if the Lord brought on the punishments from his foreknowledge, how would the justice of God be known to those who do not see the end of his foreknowledge? for this reason he awaits the end, and then brings on the punishment. Therefore convey me also, he says, O prophet, and the things from me to your countrymen, that you may become a cause of benefit to them, and they may learn that you are a prophet, a minister of the divine words in their midst. 6. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their presence, because 81.841 they will sting, and will gather against you in a circle, and you dwell in the midst of scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their presence, because it is a provoking house. The wickedness of those who attempt to plot is a sufficient occasion for contempt; for they are lawless, and destitute of divine help; therefore, he says, it is not necessary to fear such men, even if they rush like scorpions, even if they offer bold words, even if they attack with much rage and madness; for this he indicated through 'they will sting,' by a metaphor from the cattle, which the gadfly drives while they are grazing, and often forces them to be carried down cliffs; it is a kind of fly, driving the cattle more vehemently than any sting. Thus, therefore, he figuratively addressed their madness. 7. And you, son of man, shall speak my words to them, if perhaps they will hear or be terrified, because it is a provoking house. Again he has added the doubt, contriving their repentance; for it is likely, he says, that they will be terrified by the threat of punishment, and fear the end of the threat, since they are not willing to yield to better words. 8. And you, son of man, hear him who speaks to you, and do not become provoking, as the provoking house is; open your mouth, and eat what I give you. Do not speak against, he says, what is commanded to you by me; nor emulate those who speak against, but fulfill what is commanded. 9, 10. And I saw, and behold, a hand stretched out to me, and in it a scroll of a book. And he unrolled it before me, and on it was written the things behind and the things before, and on it was written a lamentation, and a song, and a woe.

CHAPTER 3. 1. And he said to me: Son of man, eat this scroll, and

go, and speak to the sons of Israel. Rightly he said above, "If perhaps they will hear or be terrified;" for the things offered to the prophet were full of dread, "a lamentation, and a song, and a woe," inscribed on the whole scroll, both within and without. And he calls the rolled books a scroll. For thus the ancients preserved the memory of their writings. And the Jews even to the present have the divine things in such rolls

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δυσπειθὲς καὶ ἀνήκοον, πᾶ σαν κινεῖ μηχανὴν εἰς τὴν ἐκ πονηρίας μεταβο λήν. ∆ιὸ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου βοᾷ· "Τί ἔτι ποιήσω τῷ ἀμπελῶνί μου τούτῳ, καὶ οὐκ ἐποίη σα;" καὶ διὰ Ὠσηὲ πάλιν· "Τί σοι ποιήσω, Ἐφραΐμ; τί σοι ποιήσω, Ἰούδα;" Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶἀνήκεστα νοσοῦντας εἰδὼς προσφέρει τὰ φάρμακα, ἵνα ἐν τῇ τῆς κρίσεως ἡμέρᾳ ἀναντιῤῥήτως τὴν ἐκ φερομένην κατ' αὐτῶν οἱ ἀπειθοῦντες δέξωνται ψῆ φον, τῶν θείων εὐεργεσιῶν εἰς μέσον προσφερομέ νων. Οὗ χάριν καὶ ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ βοᾷ· "Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε·" παρεξεταζομένη γὰρ ἡ ἡμετέρα παρανομία ταῖς θείαις εὐεργεσίαις ἐνδίκως ἡμᾶς ὑποβάλλει ταῖς τιμωρίαις· αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ δίκαιος κρι τὴς, καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν κολαζομένων δέχεται τὴν νικῶσαν, ὡς πᾶν εἶδος φιλανθρωπίας παραστή σας, καὶ μηδένα πόρον ἀκίνητον εὐεργεσίας κατα λιπών. Τὸ τοίνυν, "Ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν ἢ πτοηθῶ σιν," οὐ Θεοῦ σημαίνει τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ἀλλ' ἐκείνοις χώραν δίδωσι μεταμελείας· ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦ Φαραὼ τὴν ἀπείθειαν εἰδὼς ὁ Θεὸς, "Οἶδα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐγὼ, ὅτι οὐ προήσεται ὑμᾶς Φαραὼ, εἰ μὴ ἐν χειρὶ κραταιᾷ, καὶ ἐν βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ," μακροθυ μῶν διετέλεσεν. Εἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς προγνώσεως τὰς τι μωρίας ἐπῆγεν ὁ ∆εσπότης, πόθεν ἂν ἐγνώσθη τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ δίκαιον τοῖς οὐχ ὁρῶσι τὸ τῆς προγνώσεως τέλος; διὰ τοῦτο ἀναμένει τὸ τέλος, καὶ τηνικαῦτα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπάγει. Κἀμὲ τοίνυν, φησὶν, ὦ προ φῆτα, καὶ τὰ παρ' ἐμοῦ τοῖς ὁμοφυέσι διαπόρθμευ σον, ἵνα αὐτοῖς γένῃ πρόξενος ὠφελείας, καὶ μάθω σιν ὅτι προφήτης εἶ σὺ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων λόγων διάκονος. ϛʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, μὴ φοβηθῇς αὐτοὺς, μηδὲ ἐκστῇς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν, διότι 81.841 παροιστρήσουσι, καὶ ἐπισυστήσονται ἐπὶ σὲ κύ κλῳ, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ σκορπίων σὺ κατοικεῖς· τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν μὴ φοβηθῇς, καὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν σὺ μὴ ἐκστῇς, διότι οἶκος παραπικραί νων ἐστίν. Ἀρκοῦσα εἰς καταφρόνησιν ἀφορμὴ ἡ τῶν ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐπιχειρούντων πονηρία· παράνο μοι γάρ εἰσι, καὶ τῆς θείας ἔρημοι βοηθείας· οὐ δεῖ τοίνυν, φησὶ, τοὺς τοιούτους δεδιέναι, κἂν δίκην σκορπίων ᾄττωσι, κἂν θρασεῖς προσφέρωσι λόγους, κἂν μετὰ πολλῆς λύττης ἐπιφέρωνται καὶ μανίας· τοῦτο γὰρ διὰ τοῦ παροιστρήσουσι ᾐνίξατο, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν βοῶν, οὓς ὁ οἶστρος νεμομένους ἐλαύνει, καὶ φέρεσθαι κατὰ κρημνῶν ἀναγκάζει πολ λάκις· μυίας δέ ἐστιν εἶδος, κέντρου παντὸς σφοδρό τερον τοὺς βόας ἐλαῦνον. Οὕτω τοίνυν τὴν μανίαν τροπικῶς προσηγόρευσεν. ζʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, λαλήσεις τοὺς λόγους μου πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν ἢ πτοηθῶσιν, ὅτι οἶκος παραπικραίνων ἐστίν. Πάλιν τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν προστέθεικε, τὴν μεταμέ λειαν μηχανώμενος· εἰκὸς γὰρ, αὐτοὺς, φησὶ, τῇ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀπειλῇ πτοηθῆναι, καὶ δεῖ σαι τῆς ἀπειλῆς τὸ τέλος, ἐπειδὴ τοῖς χρη στοτέροις εἴκειν οὐκ ἐθέλουσι λόγοις. ηʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἄκουε τοῦ λαλοῦν τος πρὸς σὲ, καὶ μὴ γίνου παραπικραίνων, καθὼς ὁ οἶκος ὁ παραπικραίνων· χάνε τὸ στόμα σου, καὶ κατάφαγε ἃ ἐγὼ δίδωμί σοι. Μὴ ἀντεί πῃς, φησὶ, τοῖς ὑπ' ἐμοῦ σοι κελευομένοις· μηδὲ ζηλώσῃς τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας, ἀλλὰ τὰ προσταττόμενα πλήρου. θʹ, ιʹ. Καὶ ἴδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ χεὶρ ἐκτεταμένη πρός με, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ κεφαλὶς βιβλίου. Καὶ ἀνείλησεν αὐτὴν ἐνώπιόν μου, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ ἦν γεγραμμένα τὰ ὄπισθεν καὶ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ ἐγέγραπτο εἰς αὐτὴν θρῆνος, καὶ μέλος, καὶ οὐαί.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Γʹ. αʹ. Καὶ εἶπε πρός με· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, κατά φαγε τὴν κεφαλίδα ταύτην, καὶ

πορεύθητι, καὶ λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ. Εἰκότως ἔφη ἄνω, "Ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν ἢ πτοηθῶσι·" φρίκης γὰρ μεστὰ τὰ τῷ προφήτῃ προσφερόμενα, "θρῆνος, καὶ μέλος, καὶ οὐαὶ," ὅλῃ τῇ κεφαλίδι ἐγγεγραμ μένα, ἔνδοθέν τε καὶ ἔξωθεν. Κεφαλίδα δὲ καλεῖ τὰ εἰλητὰ βιβλία. Οὕτω γὰρ οἱ πάλαι τὴν τῶν συγ γραμμάτων ἐφύλαττον μνήμην. Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ἐν τοιούτοις εἰλήμασι τὰς θείας ἔχουσι