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to partake, "to sacrifice and pour out the blood upon the earth, and to partake" not as of sacrificial victims, but as of common meats. For he forbade performing sacred rites outside the customary place. For which reason he says: "You shall eat them as a gazelle and a deer," that is, as those things that are not offered at the altar. Then he recounts also the disobedience of their fathers, that when I was advising these things; 24. They walked in the counsels of their own wicked heart. And he also teaches the fruits that sprang from this. And they went backward, and not forward. (25.) From the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt, even to this day. For they were delivered up on account of their own transgression, sometimes to the Moabites, sometimes to the Ammonites, at other times to the Midianites, and often to foreigners. And he also shows his own care; for I did not cease, he says, continually speaking to them through the prophets, and urging better things; and they remained contradicting, and became worse than their fathers, they who from those things speak words of contradiction; nevertheless, convict them plainly, and say: 28. This is the nation that did not hear the voice of the Lord their God, nor did they receive instruction. And the cause of their disobedience is, "Faith has failed, and is taken away from their mouth." Then he exhorts to lament, and to take on a mournful appearance, and to shave the head, as the chosen people has been rejected. And showing that the wrath is just, he lays bare the greatest name of impiety. 30. For many, he says, have set their abominations in the house upon which my name has been called, to defile it. Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, dared this; and those after him also emulated the impiety that had been dared. And the divine Ezekiel is a witness, having been carried away spiritually from Babylon to Jerusalem, and having said that he had seen such transgressions in the temple; and he accuses them of also offering up as whole burnt offerings their sons and daughters to demons. "But this," he says, "I did not command them, nor did I think of it in my heart." For I who allowed the sacrifices of irrational animals to take place on account of their weakness, how could I have endured to legislate concerning such a foul murder? And he mentions the altar of Topheth, of a certain idol so called. And it is interpreted as enclosure, or devouring. And in this place he says a multitude of them will be slain, and will be set forth as food and a feast for birds and beasts; and indeed also that the 81.556 name will be changed, and it will no longer be called the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the slain; and he foretells that the city will become desolate of all joy. CHAPTER 8. And that when the Babylonians come, they will not only deliver the living to slaughter, but will also outrage the priests and kings long dead, and having dug up their tombs, they will leave their bones unburied, so that they lie exposed to the sun, and the moon, and the stars. Whose worship, he says, they loved, and from whom they will not obtain help. 3. That they chose, he says, death rather than life. Having said these things and things like them at greater length, again he extends a hand, exhorting them to repent. 4. Does not he who falls rise again, and he who turns away, does he not turn back? Then he rebukes the disobedient 5. Why has this people and Jerusalem turned away with a shameless apostasy, and they have held fast in their own choice, and did not want to turn back? He has clearly taught us that wickedness is the work not of nature, but of choice. After this he accuses their unrepentant mind. 6. For they say, he says, There is no man who repents of his own wickedness, saying: What have I done? This thought of continual wickedness has come to be

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μεταλαβεῖν, "θῦσαι καὶ ἐκχέαι τὸ αἷμα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ μεταλαβεῖν" οὐχ ὡς ἱερείων, ἀλλ' ὡς κρεῶν κοινῶν. Ἱερουργεῖν γὰρ ἔξω τοῦ νενομισμένου διεκώλυσε τόπου. Οὗ δὴ χάριν λέγει· "Φάγεσθε αὐτὰ ὡς δορκάδα καὶ ἔλαφον," τουτ έστιν, ὡς ἐκεῖνα τὰ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ μὴ προσφερό μενα. Ἔπειτα διηγεῖται καὶ τὴν τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν ἀπείθειαν, ὅτι ταῦτά μου συμβουλεύοντος· κδʹ. Ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασι τῆς καρδίας αὑτῶν τῆς πονηρᾶς. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ καὶ τοὺς βλαστήσαντας ἐντεῦθεν καρπούς. Καὶ ἐγενήθησαν εἰς τὰ ὄπισθεν, καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἔμπροσθεν. (κεʹ.) Ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἐξήλθοσαν οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης. Παρεδόθησαν γὰρ διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν παρανομίαν, ποτὲ μὲν Μωαβίταις, ποτὲ δὲ Ἀμμανί ταις, ἄλλοτε Μαδιηναίοις, πολλάκις δὲ ἀλλοφύλοις. Ἐπιδείκνυσι δὲ καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν κηδεμονίαν· οὐ γὰρ διέλιπον, φησὶ, διηνεκῶς αὐτοῖς διὰ τῶν προφητῶν διαλεγόμενος, καὶ τὰ κρείττω προτρέπων· καὶ δι έμειναν ἀντιλέγοντες, καὶ χείρους ἐγένοντο τῶν πατέ ρων, οἳ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἀντιλέγουσι λόγοις· ἔλεγξον δὲ ὅμως αὐτοὺς διαῤῥήδην, καὶ εἰπέ· κηʹ. Τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος, οἳ οὐκ ἤκουσαν τῆς φω νῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Κυρίου αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ἐδέξαντο παι δείαν. Ἔστι δὲ ἡ αἰτία τῆς ἀπειθείας, "Ἐξέλιπεν ἡ πίστις, καὶ ἐξῆρται ἐκ στόματος αὐτῶν." Εἶτα θρηνῆσαι παρακελεύεται, καὶ πενθῆρες σχῆμα λαβεῖν, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκεῖραι, ὡς ἀποδοκιμασθέντος τοῦ ἐκλεγέντος λαοῦ. Καὶ δεικνὺς, ὡς δίκαιος ὁ θυμὸς, τὸ μέγιστον ὄνομα τῆς ἀσεβείας παραγυμνοῖ. λʹ. Ἔταξαν πολλοὶ γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰ βδελύγματα αὑτῶν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ' αὐτὸν, τοῦ μιάναι αὐτόν. Τοῦτο τετόλ μηκε Μανασσῆς, ὁ τοῦ Ἐζεκίου υἱός· ἐζήλωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν τολμηθεῖσαν ἀσέβειαν. Καὶ μάρτυς ὁ θεῖος Ἐζεκιὴλ, πνευματικῶς μὲν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀπαχθεὶς, ἐν δὲ τῷ ναῷ τὰς τοιαύτας παρανομίας εἰρηκὼς τεθεᾶσθαι· αἰτιᾶται δὲ αὐτοὺς, ὡς καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς καὶ τὰς θυγα τέρας ὁλοκαυτοῦντας τοῖς δαίμοσιν. "Τοῦτο δὲ, φησὶν, οὐκ ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ διενοούμην ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου." Ὁ γὰρ τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων θυσίας διὰ τὴν τούτων ἀσθένειαν γίγνεσθαι συγχωρήσας, πῶς ἂν ἠνεσχόμην περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης νομοθετῆσαι μιαι φονίας; Τὸν δὲ βωμὸν τοῦ Ταφὲθ, εἰδώλου τινὸς οὕτω καλουμένου λέγει. Ἑρμηνεύεται δὲ σύγκλεισμα, ἢ κατάβρωσις. Ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ χωρίῳ πλῆθος αὐτῶν ἀναιρεθήσεσθαι λέγει, καὶ προτεθήσεσθαι βορὰν καὶ θοίνην οἰωνοῖς καὶ θηρίοις· καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὴν 81.556 προσηγορίαν μετατεθήσεσθαι, καὶ μηκέτι φάραγγα τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἐννὼμ, ἀλλὰ φάραγγα τῶν ἀνῃρημένων κληθήσεσθαι· προλέγει δὲ, ὅτι πάσης εὐφροσύνης ἡ πόλις ἔρημος γενήσεται. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ. Καὶ ὅτι ἐπελθόντες Βαβυλώνιοι οὐ μόνον τοὺς ζῶντας σφαγῇ παραδώσουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πάλαι τεθνεῶσιν ἱερεῦσι καὶ βασιλεῦσιν ἐμπαροινήσουσι, καὶ τοὺς τάφους ἀνορύξαντες, ἄταφα ὀστᾶ κατα λείψουσιν, ὥστε προκεῖσθαι ἡλίῳ, καὶ σελήνῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἄστρασιν. Ὧν, φησὶ, τὴν λατρείαν ἠγάπησαν, καὶ τῆς παρὰ τούτων ἐπικουρίας οὐ τεύξονται. γʹ. Ὅτι εἵλοντο, φησὶ, τὸν θάνατον, ἢ τὴν ζωήν. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια διὰ πλειόνων εἰ πὼν, πάλιν ὀρέγει χεῖρα, μετανοεῖν παραινῶν. δʹ. Μὴ ὁ πίπτων οὐκ ἀνίσταται, καὶ ὁ ἀπο στρέφων οὐκ ἐπιστρέφει; Εἶτα ἀπειθοῦσιν ἐπι τιμᾷ εʹ. ∆ιατί ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ Ἱερου σαλὴμ ἀποστροφὴν ἀναιδῆ, καὶ κατεκρατή θησαν ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει αὑτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι; Σαφῶς ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν, ὡς οὐ φύσεως, ἀλλὰ προαιρέσεως ἔργον ἡ πονηρία. Μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς ἀμετανοήτου γνώμης κατηγορεῖ. ϛʹ. Λέγουσι γὰρ, φησὶν, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος μετανοῶν ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας αὑτοῦ, λέγων· Τί ἐποί ησα; Οὗτος ὁ λογισμὸς τῆς διηνεκοῦς πονηρίας γε γένηται