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with a long rope and as with the strap of a heifer’s yoke their iniquities. It is hard to sin, but to persist and increase the sin is much harder. He now accuses such people as persisting in evils and not wanting to use repentance but also contradicting the prophetic predictions. For he showed this through what follows: 19 Those who say: Let what God will do quickly draw near, so that we may see, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know. But these things are of those who disbelieve and who accuse the prophecy of falsehood; and to accuse the prophecy of falsehood surpasses every excess of impiety. From here he turned to another accusation: 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Such is the life of flatterers; they praise the wicked, they mock the good, they do everything for the sake of their stomach. Such also are the unjust judges, the bribe-takers, those who sell justice. He also accuses those who are puffed up with wisdom and do not obey the most wise Anna saying: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.” 21 For woe, he says, to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. He also takes up the accusation of the drunkards: 22 Woe to those of you who are |105 a| mighty at drinking wine and the men of strength at mixing strong drink. And he accuses the same people as rulers, but ruling unjustly: 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe and take away the right of the righteous from him. For while justice offers the winning vote to this one, you, unlawfully seizing it, give it to the unjust. After the accusation he brings on the threat of punishment: 24 Therefore, as the stubble is burned by a coal of fire and is consumed by a burning flame, their root will be as rottenness and their blossom will go up as dust. He compares them to flammable matter, and justice to fire; for just as that matter is consumed along with the blossom and the root; and he calls them the root, and the temporary nature of their prosperity the blossom. For they did not wish to keep the law of the Lord Sabaoth, but provoked the oracle of the Holy One of Israel. For he himself had given the oracles of the law. 25 And the Lord Sabaoth was angered against his people and he laid his hand upon them and struck them; and he was provoked against the mountains, and their dead bodies became as dung in the middle of the road. Through the mountains he alluded to the demons honored by them in the mountains. And on account of all the things said, he filled both the mountains themselves and the roads with the dead, cast upon the earth like dung, according to what was said by the psalmist: “They became as dung for the earth.” And for all this his anger was not turned away, but still his hand is high. For neither did they desist from their lawlessness. For this he also says in what comes after: “And the people did not turn back until they were struck.” And the phrase: his hand is high, he has used metaphorically of those who flog a servant with a strap or a rod and raise their hand. 26 Therefore he will raise a standard among the nations that are far off and will whistle for them from the end of the earth; and behold, they come swiftly. Through these things he alluded to the Romans; for he often addresses the Babylonians and the Assyrians by name, and often from their region, as when he says: “From the north the evils will be kindled,” and: “I will drive the one from the north far from you,” and: “I will say to the north: Bring forth.” And through 'will whistle' he showed the master's power; for just as a master calls a servant by whistling, and he runs with fear to the sound, so, he says, the God of all nods, and the Romans run together. Then he teaches of their military experience and courage and hardship in campaigns: 27 They will not be hungry nor grow weary, they will not slumber nor will they sleep, nor will they loosen the belts from their loins, nor will the straps of their sandals be broken. They overcome, he says, with military eagerness the passions of nature, they push away the

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μακρῷ καὶ ὡς ζυγοῦ ἱμάντι δαμάλεως τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν. Χαλεπὸν μὲν τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν, τὸ δὲ ἐπιμένειν καὶ αὔξειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν πολλῷ χαλεπώτερον. Τῶν τοιούτων ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος κατηγορεῖ ὡς τοῖς κακοῖς ἐπιμενόντων καὶ μεταμελείᾳ χρῆσθαι μὴ βουλομένων ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς προφη τικαῖς ἀντιλεγόντων προρρήσεσιν. Τοῦτο γὰρ διὰ τῶν ἐπιφερομένων ἐδήλωσεν· 19Οἱ λέγοντες· Τὸ τάχος ἐγγι σάτω ἃ ποιήσει ὁ θεός, ἵνα ἴδωμεν, καὶ ἐλθέτω ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ἵνα γνῶμεν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἀπιστούντων ἐστὶ καὶ ψεῦδος τῆς προφητείας κατηγορούντων· τὸ δὲ καὶ ψεῦδος τῆς προφητείας κατηγορεῖν νικᾷ πᾶσαν ἀσεβείας ὑπερβολήν. Ἐντεῦθεν ἐπ' ἄλλην κατηγορίαν ἐτρέπετο· 20Οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ φῶς σκότος καὶ τὸ σκότος φῶς, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν. Τοιοῦτος δὲ τῶν κολάκων ὁ βίος· ἐπαινοῦσι τοὺς πονηρούς, κωμῳδοῦσι τοὺς ἀγαθούς, πάντα τῆς γαστρὸς ἕνεκα δρῶσιν. Τοιοῦτοι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄδικοι δικασταί, οἱ δωροδόκοι, οἱ πωλοῦντες τὸ δίκαιον. Κατη γορεῖ καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ βρενθυομένων καὶ μὴ πειθομένων τῇ σοφωτάτῃ Ἄννῃ λεγούσῃ· «Μὴ καυχάςθω ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ.» 21Οὐαὶ γάρ φησιν οἱ συνετοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐνώπιον ἑαυτῶν ἐπιστήμονες. Ἀναλαμβάνει καὶ τὴν τῶν μεθυόντων κατηγορίαν· 22Οὐαὶ οἱ |105 a| ἰσχύοντες ὑμῶν οἱ τὸν οἶνον πίνοντες καὶ οἱ δυνάσται οἱ κιρνῶντες τὸ σίκερα. Κατηγορεῖ δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν ὡς ἀρχόντων μέν, ἀδίκως δὲ ἡγουμένων· 23Οἱ δικαιοῦντες τὸν ἀσεβῆ ἕνεκεν δώρων καὶ τὸ δίκαιον τοῦ δικαίου αἴροντες ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Τῆς γὰρ δίκης τούτῳ τὴν νικῶσαν ὀρεγούσης ψῆφον ὑμεῖς παρανόμως ταύτην ἁρπάζοντες τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι δίδοτε. Μετὰ τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐπιφέρει τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ἀπειλήν· 24∆ιὰ τοῦτο, ὃν τρόπον καυθήσεται καλάμη ὑπὸ ἄνθρακος πυρὸς καὶ συγκαυθήσεται ὑπὸ φλογὸς ἀνημμένης, ἡ ῥίζα αὐτῶν ὡς χοῦς ἔσται καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτῶν ὡς κονιορτὸς ἀναβήσεται. Τῇ μὲν εὐπρήστῳ ὕλῃ αὐτοὺς ἀπεικάζει, τῷ δὲ πυρὶ τὴν δίκην· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκείνην μετὰ τοῦ ἄνθους καὶ τὴν ῥίζαν δαπανηθῆναι· καλεῖ δὲ ῥίζαν μὲν αὐτούς, ἄνθος δὲ τῆς εὐημερίας τὸ πρόσκαιρον. Οὐ γὰρ ἠθέλησαν τὸν νόμον κυρίου Σαβαὼθ ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ λόγιον τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραὴλ παρώξυναν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐδεδώκει τοῦ νόμου τὰ λόγια. 25Καὶ ἐθυμώθη κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπέβαλε τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτούς· καὶ παρωξύνθη ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη, καὶ ἐγένετο τὰ θνησιμαῖα αὐτῶν ὡς κοπρία ἐν μέσῳ ὁδοῦ. ∆ιὰ τῶν ὀρῶν τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι παρ' αὐτῶν τιμωμένους ᾐνίξατο δαίμονας. Τῶν δὲ εἰρημένων ἁπάντων ἕνεκα καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ ὄρη καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς ἐπλήρωσε νεκρῶν κόπρου δίκην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐρριμμένων κατὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ εἰρημένον· «Ἐγενήθησαν ὡσεὶ κόπρος τῇ γῇ.» Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑψηλή. Οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτοὶ τῆς παρανομίας ἀπέστησαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν· «Καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὐκ ἀπέστη ἕως ἐπλήγη.» Τὸ δέ· ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑψηλή, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τέθεικε τῶν ἱμάντι ἢ ῥάβδῳ μαστιγούντων οἰκέτην καὶ τὴν χεῖρα ὑψούντων. 26Τοιγαροῦν ἀρεῖ σύσσημον ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ συριεῖ αὐτοὺς ἀπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς· καὶ ἰδοὺ αὐτοὶ κούφως ἔρχονται. Τοὺς Ῥωμαίους διὰ τούτων ᾐνίξατο· τοὺς γὰρ Βαβυλωνίους καὶ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους πολλάκις μὲν ἐξ ὀνόματος, πολλάκις δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλίματος προσαγορεύει, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· «Ἀπὸ βορρᾶ ἐκκαυθήσεται τὰ κακά», καί· «Τὸν ἀπὸ βορρᾶ ἐκδιώξω ἀφ' ὑμῶν», καί· «Ἐρῶ τῷ βορρᾷ· ἄγε.» ∆ιὰ δὲ τοῦ συριεῖ τὸ δεσποτικὸν ἔδειξε κράτος· καθάπερ γὰρ δεσπότης οἰκέτην συρίζων καλεῖ, ὁ δὲ μετὰ δέους τρέχει πρὸς τὴν ἠχήν, οὕτως ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς νεύει φησὶ καὶ ςυντρέχουσι Ῥωμαῖοι. Εἶτα αὐτῶν τὴν πολεμικὴν ἐμπειρίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν καὶ τὴν ἐν στρατείαις διδάςκει κακοπάθειαν· 27Οὐ πεινάσουσιν οὐδὲ κοπιάσουσιν οὐδὲ νυστάξουσιν οὐδὲ κοι μηθήσονται οὐδὲ λύσουσι τὰς ζώνας αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀσφύων αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ μὴ ῥαγῶσιν οἱ ἱμάντες τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτῶν. Νικῶσί φησι τῇ πολεμικῇ προθυμίᾳ τὰ πάθη τῆς φύσεως, ἀπωθοῦνται τοῦ ὕπνου τὴν