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Many nations, indeed, among which are those who live rightly; but of those under each nation, few. 1873 And Zephaniah says, "All the kings of the earth shall come to serve him under one yoke." Therefore, the nations, having abandoned the polytheistic error and the corporeal mountains formerly considered to belong to demons or gods, now hasten to the true God, exhorting one another: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. But it does not now say Lord and God of heaven and earth, but of Jacob; since he appeared to Jacob in human form, and changed the patriarch's name, calling him Israel. Wherefore also he called the place 'Form of God,' saying: For I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved. Now, therefore, he says that that one will be known to the nations, as he promised to Jacob the calling of the nations; to whom he now prophesies the mountain and the house of God, that the things in heaven would become manifest and known, as Paul says: "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother." And, "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." But those who are advancing in knowledge, and have, as it were, apprehended the things above, call to a similar zeal those who are attached to the things below. For he who has been raised with Christ, and seeks the things above, guides those who mind earthly things. And one must pray when ascending not to descend. For the relation is twofold. And it might be rightly understood in terms of the carnal economy, with God condescending in the communion of the flesh, and this flesh being exalted together in union with him. Let us therefore exhort one another to run up to the height of theology, beginning from the passion, and first to the mountain of the Lord, according to the common preconceptions about God; then, as knowledge advances, we shall add the property of God as the God of Jacob. "For I am," he says, "the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. This is my eternal name." For he joined the saints to himself, making them ever-memorable among those who are ever mindful of God. But Jacob will know God, he who is still wrestling and tripping up the demons, learning what is attainable and suitable for himself; but Israel will know God, he who has received the perfect vision; therefore, the God of Jacob will not announce his way to us, unless we go up to the mountain. For if we do not receive the Gospel, how shall we live according to it? But those who call one another, if they are equals, from where do they know the way? But clearly they show their eagerness, and thus the attainment of good things; as if some were now to say to each other: Come, let us turn away from earthly things and set our minds on heavenly things; let us enter the house of God, and from there 1876 we shall know the way of the ascent to perfection. But from where did the nations set out, or who taught them to say: Come, let us go up, he added, saying: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. For this is a new law, and a strange word compared to that on Mount Sinai, said to go forth from Zion, and to teach the nations. For the evangelical law of Christ, having set out from above, from the heavenly Zion, and rather also from the earthly one, in which the Savior suffered for us, and having suffered, rose again, and the mystical commands of the New Testament, having taken their beginning, went forth into all the world. For those who think these things are said about the law of Moses must be asked, how is this from Zion? And how does he prophesy its future exodus. And what is the word? For if it is the prophetic word, how is it from Jerusalem? For it has been in all of Judea. And rather also in captivity and in Nineveh. Therefore let them receive the Lord's legislation, which came from the watchtower, from his flesh, from which he watched over our affairs, from which also the word beg... indeed, as from Jerusalem, was spread to all the world. Therefore those who call one another say, either that we will receive a word from the house of God, and having been there we will know it; or that the law has left Zion, and as it were gone out from it, and from Jerusalem the divine [Word] has departed, since they acted insolently toward him. From which

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Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἔθνη, ἐν οἷς οἱ βιοῦντες ὀρθῶς· ἐκ δὲ τῶν ὑφ' ἕκαστον ἔθνος, ὀλίγοι. 1873 Καὶ Σοφονίας φησὶ, "Πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς ἥξουσι τοῦ δουλεύειν αὐτῷ ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἕνα." Ἀπολιπόντα τοίνυν τὰ ἔθνη τὴν πολύθεον πλάνην καὶ τὰ πάλαι νομιζόμενα δαίμοσιν ἢ θεοῖς ὄρη σωματικὰ σπεύδει νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ὄντως Θεὸν ἀλλήλοις παρακελευόμενα· ∆εῦτε, καὶ ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. Οὐκ εἴρηται δὲ νῦν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς Κύριος καὶ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' Ἰακώβ· ἐπειδήπερ ὤφθη τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ σχήματι, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πατριάρχου προσηγορίαν μετέβαλεν καλέσας αὐτὸν Ἰσραήλ. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκάλεσεν εἶδος Θεοῦ, εἰπών· Ἴδον γὰρ Θεὸν πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, καὶ ἐσώθη μου ἡ ψυχή. Νῦν οὖν φησιν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τοῖς ἔθνεσι γνώριμον ἔσεσθαι, ὡς τῷ Ἰακὼβ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπηγγείλατο κλῆσιν· οἷς νῦν προφητεύει τὸ ὄρος καὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐμφανῆ γενέσθαι καὶ γνώριμα Παύλου λέγοντος· "Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν." Καὶ, "Προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ." Οἱ δὲ προκόπτοντες τῇ γνώσει, καὶ οἷον προκαταλαβόντες τὰ ἄνω, προκαλοῦνται πρὸς ὅμοιον ζῆλον τοὺς ἐμφιλοχωροῦντας τοῖς κάτω. Ὁ γὰρ συνεγερθεὶς τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ τὰ ἄνω ζητῶν, χειραγωγεῖ τοὺς φρονοῦντας ἐπίγεια. Καὶ εὐκτέον ἀνιόντας μὴ κατελθεῖν. ∆ιττὴ γὰρ ἡ σχέσις. Νοοῖτο δ' ἂν ἐπὶ τῆς σαρκικῆς οἰκονομίας ὀρθῶς, Θεοῦ μὲν συγκαταβαίνοντος τῇ τῆς σαρκὸς κοινωνίᾳ, ταύτης δὲ συνυψουμένης ἑνώσει τῇ πρὸς αὐτόν. Προτρέπωμεν τοίνυν ἀλλήλους ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψος τῆς θεολογίας ἀναδραμεῖν, ἀπὸ τοῦ πάθους ἀρχόμενοι, καὶ πρῶτον εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ Κυρίου, κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς περὶ Θεοῦ προλήψεις· εἶτα προκοπτούσῃ τῇ γνώσει τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσθήσομεν ἰδιότητα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. "Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ,καὶ Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ Ἰακώβ. Τοῦτό μού ἐστιν ὄνομα αἰώνιον." Συνῆψε γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀειμνήστους εἶναι ποιῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἀεὶ μεμνημένοις Θεοῦ. Γνώσεται δὲ Θεὸν μὲν Ἰακὼβ, ὁ ἔτι παλαίων καὶ πτερνίζων τοὺς δαίμονας, τὰ ἑαυτῷ μανθάνων ἐφικτὰ καὶ ἁρμόδια· Θεὸν δὲ Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ τὴν τελείαν θεωρίαν δεξάμενος· ὁ δ' οὖν Θεὸς Ἰακὼβ οὐκ ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐὰν μὴ ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος. Μὴ δεχόμενοι γὰρ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, πῶς κατ' αὐτὸ βιωσόμεθα; οἱ δὲ καλοῦντες ἀλλήλους, ἐὰν ὦσιν ἴσοι, πόθεν ἐπίστανται τὴν ὁδόν; Ἀλλὰ δηλονότι τὴν προθυμίαν ἐμφαίνουσιν, οὕτω δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἐπίτευξιν· ὡς εἰ νῦν τινες ἀλλήλοις λέγοιεν· ∆εῦτε τῶν γηΐνων ἀποστάντες φρονήσωμεν τὰ οὐράνια· εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκεῖθεν 1876 γνωσόμεθα τῆς πρὸς τὸ τέλειον ἀναβάσεως. Πόθεν δὲ ὁρμηθέντα τὰ ἔθνη, ἢ τίνος διδάξαντός φασι· ∆εῦτε ἀναβῶμεν, ἐπήνεγκε λέγων· Ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται ὁ νόμος, καὶ λόγος Κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καινὸς γὰρ οὗτος ὁ νόμος, καὶ ξενίζων λόγος παρὰ τὸν ἐν ὄρει Σινᾶ, λεγόμενος ἐκ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεσθαι, καὶ διδάξειν τὰ ἔθνη. Ὁ γὰρ εὐαγγελικὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ νόμος ἄνωθεν ὁρμηθεὶς, ἐκ τῆς ἐπ' οὐρανίου Σιὼν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐπιγείου, ἐν ᾗ πέπονθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ Σωτὴρ, καὶ παθὼν ἀνέστη, καὶ τὰ τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης μυστικὰ παραγγέλματα τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβόντα προῆλθεν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην. Τοὺς γὰρ περὶ τοῦ Μωσέως νόμου λέγεσθαι ταῦτα νομίζοντας, καὶ πῶς ἐκ Σιὼν οὗτος ἐρωτητέον· πῶς δὲ μέλλουσαν αὐτοῦ προφητεύει τὴν ἔξοδον. Τίς δὲ καὶ ὁ λόγος; Εἰ γὰρ ὁ προφητικὸς, πῶς ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ; Πανταχοῦ γὰρ τῆς Ἰουδαίας γεγένηται. Μᾶλλον δὲ κἀν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ καὶ Νινευῇ. Οὐκοῦν δεχέσθωσαν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου νομοθεσίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ σκοπευτηρίου γενομένην, ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ σαρκὸς, ἀφ' ἧς ἐπεσκόπει τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς, οὐ καὶ ὁ λόγος ἀρξ... μὲν ὡς ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς πάντα διεδόθη τὸν κόσμον. Φασὶ τοίνυν οἱ καλοῦντες ἀλλήλους, ἢ ὅτι ληψόμεθα λόγον ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦτον ἐκεῖ γεγονότες εἰσόμεθα· ἢ ὅτι καταλέλοιπε τὴν Σιὼν, καὶ οἷον ἐκβέβηκεν ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὁ νόμος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ θεῖος [Λόγος] ἀποπεφοίτηκε, παροινησάντων αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτόν. Ἀφ' οὗ