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they are and spit upon their beloved when she adorns herself; and not only spit upon her, but also desire to kill her. Because I heard a voice as of one in travail. And she will let her hands hang down. She will be able to do nothing in that war from then on. Again the prophet saw the things to come. He cannot bear the multitude of the slain; he is beside himself, and faints. If the sight is unbearable, how much more the experience? First he saw them fleeing, second lamenting, 64.809 then also being slain. Going on, he says, that No one will permit you to mourn.

CHAP. V.

Woe is me, for my soul faints for the slain. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. Do you see that he does not cast them into despair? And see God defending Himself, and not entrusting the examination to others. You yourselves who have suffered evil, seek, he says. I do not entrust the matter to another, not to an enemy, and a foe, not to one who is negligent, and careless of your affairs; to you yourselves who are in pain and distress. And that he might not again become weary, Run ye to and fro, he says, as though the terrible things were near, and he commands an accurate search to be made. The discourse is concerning those who lie under the sentence, since there were righteous men among them, such as Jeremiah, and the sons of Rechab, who were priests, and Abimelech the Ethiopian. He speaks, therefore, concerning the priests, and kings, and false prophets, and the multitude. The Lord lives, they say; for this reason they do not swear by falsehoods. For it is not enough, he says, to swear, but not to swear falsely. Do you see that everywhere, God seeks not only what is His own, but also what is his neighbors'? Consider how great a thing it is to swear by falsehoods, how it has brought down a whole city; for indeed he who does not swear by God, but perhaps by demons, to this one the insolence is greater, and here, when we have used the oath for the injury of others. That is, they swear falsely, considering it nothing to swear by me, and they have used the credibility of my name for the practice of evil things. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth. That is, Your eye sees nothing contrary. Your judgment is pure. A great accusation, and proof of the utmost insensibility; that is, You know all things accurately, and the things said by you are true. You have scourged them, and they have not grieved; a sign of people who have become callous, such as were the deeds of Pharaoh; that it might be shown that he was not making an excuse. This was the meaning of, run ye to and fro, from the former things he shows his care. What is, you have consumed them? you killed them all, you took down the greater part of them, and not even so were they instructed. For nothing of the things that have come to you has been omitted. Everywhere it is of choice, and not of nature, the phrase, You have refused to return. See wickedness turned into nature. And I said, Perhaps they are poor, because they could not. And what hindrance could poverty be? he does not say this, but he refutes the excuse of the many, showing that not even these were hindered by poverty. To him who is about to object to us, not of his own accord Fort. as though he had not fled of his own accord, he spoke of poverty beforehand. Because of poverty the many do these things, and wishing to be fed 64.812 they have been deceived into impiety. For the phrase, because they could not, that is, they were not strong enough to be philosophical in the face of poverty, and being deceived, they did not know the way of God. I will go to the great men. But perhaps the rich also; for neither wealth nor poverty is an obstacle to this. See how from all sides he refutes the excuses. That is, I turned aside to the great men and the kings, thinking that perhaps these act in accordance with the law. But I found them all together turned aside to the worse, and of the

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ὦσι καὶ καλλωπιζομένην τὴν ἐρωμένην διαπτύωσι· καὶ μὴ διαπτύωσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνελεῖν ἐπιθυμῶσιν. Ὅτι φωνὴν ὡς ὠδινούσης ἤκουσα. Καὶ παρήσει τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς. Οὐδὲν εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν πόλεμον ἐργάζεσθαι δυνήσεται λοιπόν. Πάλιν ὁ προφήτης ἑώρα τὰ μέλλοντα. Οὐ φέρει τῶν ἀποσφαγέντων τὸ πλῆθος· ἐξίσταται, καὶ ἀποψύχει. Εἰ δὲ ἡ θέα ἀφόρητος, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡ πεῖρα; Τὸ μὲν πρῶτον φεύγοντας εἶδε, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον θρη 64.809 νοῦντας, ἔπειτα καὶ ἀναιρουμένους. Προϊὼν λέγει, ὅτι Οὐδὲ συγχωρήσει τις ὑμῖν θρηνῆσαι.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ.

Οἴμοι, ὅτι ἐκλείπει ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀνηρημένοις. Περιδράμετε ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐκ εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν ἐμβάλλει; Καὶ ὅρα τὸν Θεὸν ἀπολογούμενον, καὶ οὐχ ἑτέροις ἐπιτρέποντα τὴν ἐξέτασιν. Ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ οἱ κακῶς παθόντες, ζητήσατε, φησί. Οὐχ ἑτέρῳ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπιτρέπω, οὐκ ἐχθρῷ, καὶ πολεμίῳ, οὐκ ἀμελοῦντι, καὶ ῥᾳθυμοῦντι τῶν ὑμετέρων· ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς τοῖς πονουμένοις καὶ ταλαιπωρουμένοις. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ πάλιν ἐκλύσῃ, Περιδράμετε, φησὶν, ὡς ἐγγὺς ὄντων τῶν δεινῶν, καὶ ἀκριβῆ τὴν ἔρευναν κελεύει ποιήσασθαι. Περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν ἀπόφασιν κειμένων ὁ λόγος, ἐπεὶ ἦσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς δίκαιοι, ὡς ὁ Ἱερεμίας, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ῥιχὰβ, ἱερεῖς τυγχάνοντες, καὶ ὁ Ἀβιμελέχος Αἰθίοψ. Λέγει τοίνυν περὶ τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ βασιλέων, καὶ ψευδοπροφητῶν, καὶ τοῦ πλήθους. Ζῇ Κύριος, λέγουσι· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐν ψεύδεσιν ὀμνύουσι. Οὐ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ, φησὶ, τὸ ὀμνύναι, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ ἐπιορκεῖν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι πανταχοῦ, οὐ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητεῖ μόνον ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τῶν πλησίον. Ἐννόησον ὅσον τὸ ἐπὶ ψεύδεσιν ὀμνύναι, πῶς πόλιν ὁλόκληρον κατήνεγκεν· καὶ γὰρ ὁ μὴ ὀμνὺς τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ δαίμονας ἴσως, τούτῳ μεῖζον ἡ ὕβρις, κἀνταῦθα, ὅταν εἰς ἑτέρων ἐπήρειαν ὦμεν ἀποκεχρημένοι τῷ ὅρκῳ. Τουτέστιν, ἐπιορκοῦσιν οὐδὲν ἡγούμενοι τὸ κατ' ἐμοῦ ὀμνύειν, καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὀνόματος ἀξιοπιστίᾳ ἀποκέχρηνται εἰς τὴν τῶν κακῶν πρᾶξιν. Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. Τουτέστιν, Οὐδὲν ἐναντίον ὁρᾷ ὁ σὸς ὀφθαλμός. Καθαρὸν τὸ κρϊμά σού ἐστιν. Μεγάλη κατηγορία, καὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναισθησίας τεκμήριον· τουτέστι, Πάντα ἀκριβῶς γινώσκεις, καὶ ἀληθῆ τὰ παρὰ σοῦ λεγόμενα. Ἐμαστίγωσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπόνεσαν· ἀπηλγηκότων ἀνθρώπων σημεῖον, οἷα τὰ τοῦ Φαραὼ ἦν· ἵνα δειχθῇ, ὅτι οὐ προφασιζόμενος. Τοῦτο ἦν τὸ λέγειν, περιδράμετε, ἀπὸ τῶν προτέρων δείκνυσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν κηδεμονίαν. Τί ἐστι, συνετέλεσας; ἀπέκτεινας ἅπαντας, τὸ πλέον αὐτῶν καθεῖλες, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐπαιδεύθησαν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ, τῶν ἡκόντων εἰς σὲ, παραλέλειπται. Πανταχοῦ τῆς προαιρέσεως, καὶ οὐ τῆς φύσεως, τὸ, Οὐκ ἠθέλησας ἐπιστραφῆναι. Ὅρα κακίαν εἰς φύσιν ἐκτραπεῖσαν. Καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα, Ἴσως πτωχοί εἰσι, διότι οὐκ ἐδυνήθησαν. Καὶ τί γένοιτο ἂν ἐμπόδιον ἡ πενία; οὐ τοῦτό φησιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πρόφασιν τῶν πολλῶν ἀναιρεῖ, δεικνὺς, ὅτι οὔτε οὗτοι διὰ τὴν πενίαν ἐνεποδίσθησαν. Πρὸς τὸν μέλλοντα ἀνθυποφέρειν ἡμῖν, οὔτε ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ Fort. ὡς οὐκ ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ φυγὼν, προεῖπε τὴν πενίαν. ∆ιὰ πενίαν οἱ πολλοὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦσι, καὶ τρέφεσθαι 64.812 βουλόμενοι, ἠπάτηνται εἰς τὴν ἀσέβειαν. Τὸ γὰρ, διότι οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν, τουτέστιν, οὐκ ἀντήρκεσαν φιλοσοφῆσαι πρὸς τὴν πενίαν, καὶ ἀπατηθέντες, οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ὁδόν. Πορεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς ἁδρούς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πλούσιοι ἴσως· οὔτε γὰρ πλοῦτος, οὔτε πενία πρὸς τοῦτο ἐμπόδιον. Ὅρα πῶς πανταχόθεν ἀναιρεῖ τὰς προφάσεις. Τουτέστιν, Ἐξέκλινα πρὸς τοὺς μεγιστᾶνας καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς, ἐννοήσας, ὡς ἴσως οὗτοι ἀκόλουθα τῷ νόμῳ διαπράττονται. Εὗρον δὲ πάντας ἀθρόον ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐκκλίναντας, καὶ τοῦ