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being separated; and the glory of God rode upon it, not God Himself; for He is uncircumscribed, and present everywhere, and filling all things; but His glory, which is made manifest for the sake of the economies. 20. This, he says, is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that it was the Cherubim. For I had already enjoyed the vision before; but I have learned the name at present. And from this it is clear to learn that he did not see the very substance of the invisible natures, but certain likenesses and images; for in the first vision he said the one Cherub had four wings, but here eight; but nature would not have undergone a change, but the vision was shaped according to the need; for since the prophet received more knowledge from the divine discourse, and the wings signify the keenness of knowledge, signifying the addition of knowledge that came to him, He shows him the wings of the Cherubim as double; for this name itself in the Greek language signifies the fullness of knowledge. CHAPTER 11. 1, 3. And a Spirit, he says, took me up, and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord which is opposite, which looks toward the east; and behold, at the threshold of the gate, about twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the leaders of the people. And he said. The Lord to me: Son of man, these are the men who devise vanity, and who plan an evil counsel in this city, who say: Have not houses 81.897 been recently built? This is the caldron, and you are the flesh. He accuses both the leaders and their subjects, as planning things contrary to God, and contradicting the prophets, and not wanting to be persuaded that they will be handed over to their enemies, but that they will inhabit the city, and there they will meet the end of their life. For the houses, he says, are newly built, and in these we will dwell, and we will receive the end of our life; for this reason, God, being indignant, foretells through the prophet the coming assault of the enemies. 5. For, he says, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Thus says the Lord. That is, being filled with the energy of the Spirit of God, I was commanded to say these things from the person of God. Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, and I know the thoughts of your spirit. (6, 8.) You have multiplied the dead in this city, and you have filled its streets with the wounded. Therefore thus says the Lord: Your dead, whom you have struck down in her midst, they are the flesh, and she is the caldron, and I will bring you out of her midst. You fear the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you, says the Lord Adonai. You, he says, have made the city a caldron, filling it with myriads of dead; for this reason you will not obtain what you hope for, nor will you receive a painless end to your life, but you will be immediately handed over to the enemies whom you fear, and you will become food for their sword. 9. And I will bring you out of her midst, and I will deliver you into the hands of strangers, and I will execute judgment among you. Justly, he says, will I punish you; for since you killed your own kinsmen, you will be justly handed over to strangers and enemies. 10. I will judge you on the borders of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord. Outside the city, he says, you will pay the penalty for your impieties, and through experience you will learn that I am Master. 11, 12. This shall not be a caldron for you, and you shall not become flesh in its midst; I will judge you on the borders of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord. You will not die, he says, in the city, nor will you be deemed worthy of burial in it, according to your hopes, but you will be killed far from it; and teaching the reasons, he says, "Because you have not walked in my ordinances, and you have not done my judgments; but you have not even acted according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you." An excess of lawlessness, and the greatest proof of impiety, is not only to transgress the divine law, but also to do things more impious than the nations living in impiety. 81.900 13. And it happened as I was prophesying,

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χωριζόμενοι· ἐπωχεῖτο δὲ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξα, οὐκ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεός· ἀπερίγραπτος γὰρ, καὶ πανταχοῦ παρὼν, καὶ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν· ἀλλ' ἡ τούτου δόξα ἡ πρὸς τὰς οἰκονομίας ἐπιφαινομένη. κʹ. Τοῦτο, φησὶ, τὸ ζῶόν ἐστιν ὃ εἶδον ὑπο κάτω Θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Χοβάρ· καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι Χερουβίμ ἐστι. Τῆς μὲν γὰρ θεωρίας καὶ ἤδη πρότερον ἀπήλαυσα· τὴν δὲ προσηγορίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος μεμάθηκα. Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δὲ σα φῶς ἔστι μαθεῖν, ὡς οὐκ αὐτὴν εἶδε τῶν ἀοράτων φύσεων τὴν οὐσίαν, ἀλλ' εἰκάσματά τινα καὶ ἰνδάλ ματα· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ προτέρᾳ ὀπτασίᾳ τέσσαρας πτέρυγας ἔφη ἔχειν τὸ ἓν Χερουβὶμ, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὀκτώ· οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἡ φύσις μεταβολὴν ἐδέξατο, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἡ θεωρία ἐξετυπώθη· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πλείονα γνῶσιν ὁ προφήτης ἐκ τῆς θείας διαλέξεως ἔλαβεν, αἱ δὲ πτέρυγες γνώσεως παραδηλοῦσιν ὀξύ τητα, τὴν γενομένην αὐτῷ τῆς γνώσεως προσθήκην σημαίνων, διπλᾶς αὐτῷ δείκνυσι τῶν Χερουβὶμ τὰς πτέρυγας· καὶ αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ τούτων προσηγορία τῇ Ἑλλάδι φωνῇ τὸ πλῆθος σημαίνει τῆς γνώσεως. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΑʹ. αʹ, γʹ. Καὶ ἀνέλαβέ με, φησὶ, Πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐξ ήγαγέ με ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τοῦ οἴκου Κυρίου τὴν κατέναντι, τὴν βλέπουσαν κατὰ ἀνατολάς· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν προθύρων τῆς πύλης, ὡς εἰκοσι πέντε ἄνδρες, καὶ ἴδον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν Ἰεζονίαν τὸν τοῦ Ἰεζὲκ, καὶ Φαλτίαν τὸν Βαναίου, τοὺς ἀφηγουμένους τοῦ λαοῦ. Καὶ εἶπε. Κύριος πρός με· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ λογιζόμε νοι μάταια, καὶ βουλευόμενοι βουλὴν πονηρὰν ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, οἱ λέγοντες· Οὐχὶ προσφά 81.897 τως ᾠκοδόμηνται οἰκίαι; Αὕτη ἐστὶν ὁ λέβης, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὰ κρέα. Κατηγορεῖ καὶ τῶν ἡγουμέ νων, καὶ τῶν ὑπηκόων, ὡς ἐναντία τῷ Θεῷ βου λευομένων, καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἀντιλεγόντων, καὶ πείθεσθαι μὴ θελόντων ὅτι τοῖς πολεμίοις παραδο θήσονται, ἀλλὰ τὴν πόλιν οἰκήσουσι, κἀκεῖ δέξονται τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. Νεόδμητοι γὰρ, φησὶν, αἱ οἰκίαι, καὶ ἐν ταύταις κατοικήσομεν, καὶ τοῦ βίου τὸ πέρας δεξόμεθα· τούτου χάριν ἀγανακτῶν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ἐσομένην τῶν πολεμίων ἔφοδον διὰ τοῦ προφήτου προ λέγει. εʹ. Ἐπέπεσε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπ' ἐμὲ Πνεῦμα Κυρίου, καὶ εἶπε πρός με· Τάδε λέγει Κύριος. Τουτέστι, τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Πνεύματος ἐνεργείας ἀναπλη σθεὶς τάδε εἰπεῖν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ προσετάχθην. Οὕτως εἴπατε, οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τὰ διαβού λια τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν ἐγὼ ἐπίσταμαι. ( ϛʹ, ηʹ.) Ἐπληθύνατε νεκροὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, καὶ ἐπλήσατε τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῆς τραυματιῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Τοὺς νεκροὺς ὑμῶν, οὓς ἐπατάξατε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, οὗτοί εἰσι τὰ κρέα, αὐτὴ δέ ἐστιν ὁ λέβης, καὶ ὑμᾶς ἐξάξω ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς. Ῥομφαίαν φοβεῖσθε, καὶ ῥομ φαίαν ἐπάξω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Ὑμεῖς μὲν, φησὶ, λέβητα τὴν πόλιν ἀπεφήνατε, νεκρῶν αὐτὴν μυρίων ἐμπλήσαντες· τούτου χάριν οὐ τεύξεσθε ὧν ἐλπίζετε, οὐδὲ ἄλυπον δέξεσθε τοῦ βίου τὸ πέρας, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πολεμίοις, οὓς δεδοίκατε, παραυτίκα παραδοθήσεσθε, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ῥομ φαίας γενήσεσθε παρανάλωμα. θʹ. Καὶ ἐξάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς, καὶ πα ραδώσω ὑμᾶς εἰς χεῖρας ἀλλοτρίων, καὶ ποιήσω ἐν ὑμῖν κρῖμα. ∆ικαίως, φησὶν, ὑμᾶς τιμωρήσο μαι· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὑμεῖς τοὺς ὁμοφύλους ἀνείλετε, ἀλλοτρίοις καὶ πολεμίοις ἐνδίκως παραδοθήσεσθε. ιʹ. Ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ κρινῶ ὑμᾶς· καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος. Ἔξω, φησὶ, τῆς πόλεως τίσετε δίκας ὧν ἠσεβήσατε, καὶ διὰ τῆς πείρας μαθήσεσθέ με ∆εσπότην. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. Αὕτη ὑμῖν οὐκ ἔσται εἰς λέβητα, καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐ μὴ γένησθε ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς εἰς κρέα· ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ κρινῶ ὑμᾶς. Καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος. Οὐκ ἀποθανεῖσθε, φησὶν, ἐν τῇ πόλει, οὐδὲ ταφῆς ἀξιωθήσεσθε ἐν αὐτῇ, κατὰ τὰς ὑμετέρας ἐλπίδας, ἀλλὰ πόῤῥω ταύτης ἀναιρεθήσεσθε· καὶ τὰς αἰτίας διδάσκων, "Ὅτι ἐν τοῖς δικαιώμασί μου, φησὶν, οὐκ ἐπορεύθητε, καὶ τὰ κρίματά μου οὐκ ἐποιήσατε· ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰ κρίματα τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν περικύκλῳ ὑμῶν οὐκ ἐποιήσατε." Παρανομίας ὑπερβολὴ, καὶ δυσσεβείας μέγιστος ἔλεγχος, τὸ μὴ μόνον τὸν θεῖον παραβῆ ναι νόμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀσεβείᾳ συζώντων ἐθνῶν δυσσεβέστερα δρᾷν. 81.900 ιγʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ προφητεύειν με,