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For Moses the great, at the time of the calf-making, when God said, "Let me alone, and in my wrath I will destroy them," offered a most earnest supplication, and reconciled the Master to those who had sinned; 81.596 and indeed Samuel did this same thing, and brought down much rain in the time of summer. Then he commands the prophet to dismiss the present people. 2. But if they say to you, he says, Where shall we go? you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: Those who are for death, to death; and those who are for the sword, to the sword; and those who are for famine, to famine; and those who are for captivity, to captivity. For I will subject them to these four calamities. And besides these things, the dead will become food for beasts and birds. 4. And I will give them over to distress in all the kingdoms of the earth. He foretells also the things that will happen after the return, and the things that will happen under the Macedonians, and the utter destruction to be inflicted on them by the Romans. He teaches, however, that the first things happened because of the impiety dared by Manasseh; but the judge is not unjust, nor does he exact penalties for others' faults, but because they shared in the impiety, and willingly collaborated with the wicked king, he subjects them to the foretold evils. 5. Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? and who will grieve for you? or who will turn aside to ask for your peace? That is, to all men you will seem to have suffered justly. For men are accustomed, when they see someone who lives in extreme wickedness being punished, not only not to sympathize, but even to rejoice with those who were wronged, as being delivered from his wickedness. 6. You have turned away from me, says the Lord; you shall go backward. What you have done, you will suffer; and "you shall go backward," he has put instead of "you shall be humbled." "And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will destroy you, and I will no longer spare them." For I will no longer use my former long-suffering. Then teaching how he is forced to punish against his will, as if sympathizing, he says: "In the gates of my people they have become childless; I have destroyed my people because of their wickednesses, and they have not turned back." They brought destruction upon themselves, not willing to cease from wickedness. He says that because of the destruction of the men the widows were multiplied, and again for the same reason mothers were deprived of their children. "For I have brought, he says, upon the mother of young men trouble at noonday; I have cast upon her suddenly terror and haste." 81.597 9. She who bore seven has fainted, her soul has languished. He dramatized the disaster in various ways, in order to teach the stubborn, and persuade them to leave their former impiety. "Her sun set while it was still midday." For to those who mourn, even the light is called darkness; having said these things and things similar to these, the prophet laments and weeps: 10. Woe is me, mother, that you bore me a man of strife and contention in all the earth; I have not helped, nor has anyone helped me; my strength has failed among those who curse me. The Syrian interpreted "I have helped" as "I have owed;" he says therefore, that I have neither owed, nor have I lent; and I have acquired many enemies, who constantly revile and curse. For counsels, for the most part, tend to produce disobedience. According to the Greek interpretation, however, it should be understood thus, that I am worthy of laments, having been brought into this life in vain; for I have neither profited anyone, nor have I received benefit from others; but I only receive curses from those who hear the prophecies. 11. So be it, Lord, as they prosper, if I have not stood before you in the time of their evils, and in the time of their affliction, for good toward the enemy. Hear them, he says, as they curse; many times I have brought supplications to you on their behalf. Then again from the person of God: 12, 13. Shall iron be known, and a bronze casing? I will give your strength, and your treasures for plunder, as a price for all your sins in all your borders. Do not be confident, he says, in bronze

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Μωσῆς γὰρ ὁ μέγας ἐπὶ τῆς μοσχο ποιΐας τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰρηκότος, "Ἔασόν με, καὶ θυμω θεὶς ἐκτρίψω αὐτοὺς," σπουδαιοτάτην ἱκετείαν προσ ήνεγκεν, καὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσι τὸν ∆εσπότην κατ 81.596 ήλλαξε· καὶ μέντοι καὶ Σαμουὴλ ταυτὸ τοῦτο δέδρακεν, καὶ πλεῖστον ὑετὸν ἐν ὥρᾳ θέρους κατ ήγαγεν. Εἶτα κελεύει τῷ προφήτῃ τὸν παρεστῶτα ἀπολῦσαι λαόν. βʹ. Ἐὰν δὲ εἴπωσι πρὸς σὲ, φησὶ, Ποῦ ἐξελευ σόμεθα; ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτοὺς, Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ὅσοι εἰς θάνατον, εἰς θάνατον· καὶ ὅσοι εἰς μά χαιραν, εἰς μάχαιραν· καὶ ὅσοι εἰς λιμὸν, εἰς λιμόν· καὶ ὅσοι εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν, εἰς αἰχμαλω σίαν. Ταῖς γὰρ τέσσαρσι ταύταις αὐτοὺς ὑποβαλῶ συμφοραῖς. Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις, οἱ τεθνεῶτες βορὰ γενήσονται θηρίων καὶ οἰωνῶν. δʹ. Καὶ παραδώσω αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀνάγκας πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῆς γῆς. Προλέγει καὶ τὰ μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον γενησόμενα, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν Μακεδόνων συμβησόμενα, καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων αὐτοῖς ἐπενε χθησομένην πανωλεθρίαν. Τὰ μέντοι πρῶτα διὰ τὴν τοῦ Μανασσῆ τολμηθεῖσαν ἀσέβειαν συμβῆναι διδά σκει· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἄδικος ὁ κριτὴς, οὐδὲ ἀλλοτρίας εὐθύνας εἰσπράττεται, ἀλλ' ὡς κοινωνήσαντας τῆς ἀσεβείας, καὶ προθύμως τῷ πονηρῷ συνεργήσαντας βασιλεῖ, τοῖς προῤῥηθεῖσιν ὑποβάλλει κακοῖς. εʹ. Τίς φείσεται ἐπὶ σοὶ, Ἱερουσαλήμ; καὶ τίς δειλιάσει ἐπὶ σοί; ἢ τίς ἀνακάμψει ἐρωτῆσαι τὰ εἰς εἰρήνην σοι; Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις δόξεις δίκαια πεπονθέναι. Εἰώθασι γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ὅταν τινὰ τῶν ἄκρᾳ πονηρίᾳ συζώντων ἴδωσι τιμω ρούμενον, οὐ μόνον οὐ συναλγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ συν ήδεσθαι τοῖς ἠδικημένοις, ὡς τῆς ἐκείνου πονηρίας ἀπηλλαγμένοις. ϛʹ. Σὺ ἀπεστράφης μου, λέγει Κύριος· ὀπίσω πορεύσῃ. Ὃ δέδρακας, πείσῃ· τὸ δὲ "ὀπίσω πο ρεύσῃ," ἀντὶ τοῦ "ταπεινωθήσῃ" τέθεικεν. "Καὶ ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ διαφθερῶ σε, καὶ οὐκέτι ἀνήσω αὐτούς." Οὐκέτι γὰρ χρήσομαι τῇ προτέρᾳ μακροθυμίᾳ. Εἶτα διδάσκων ὡς παρὰ γνώ μην κολάζειν ἀναγκάζεται, οἱονεὶ συναλγῶν λέγει· "Ἐν πύλαις λαοῦ μου ἠτεκνώθησαν· ἀπώλε σα τὸν λαόν μου διὰ κακίας αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπεστρά φησαν." Αὐτοὶ τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐπεσπάσαντο, παύ σασθαι τῆς πονηρίας μὴ βουληθέντες. Λέγει δὲ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀναίρεσιν καὶ τὰς χήρας πληθυνθῆ ναι, καὶ πάλιν διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν τὰς μητέρας στερηθῆναι τῶν παίδων. "Ἐπήγαγον γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τὴν μητέρα νεανίσκων ταλαιπωρίαν ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ· ἐπέῤῥιψα ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἐξαίφνης τρόμον καὶ σπουδήν." 81.597 θʹ. Ἐκενώθη ἡ τίκτουσα ἑπτὰ, ἀπεκάκησεν ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτῆς. ∆ιαφόρως τὴν συμφορὰν ἐτραγῴδη σεν, ἵνα διδάξῃ τοὺς ἀτεράμονας, καὶ πείσῃ τὴν προτέραν καταλιπεῖν ἀσέβειαν. "Ἐπέδυ ὁ ἥλιος αὐτῇ ἔτι μεσούσης ἡμέρας." Τοῖς γὰρ πενθοῦσι σκότος ὀνομάζεται καὶ τὸ φῶς· ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τού τοις παραπλήσια εἰρηκὼς ὁ προφήτης ὀλοφύρεται καὶ θρηνεῖ· ιʹ. Οἴμοι, μήτηρ, ὥς τινά με ἔτεκες ἄνδρα δικαζόμενον καὶ διακρινόμενον ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ· οὐκ ὠφέλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφέλησέ με οὐδείς· ἡ ἰσχύς μου ἐξέλιπεν ἐν τοῖς καταρωμένοις με. Τὸ "ὠφέλησα" "ὤφλησα" ὁ Σύρος ἡρμήνευσε· λέγει τοίνυν, ὅτι Οὔτε ὤφληκα, οὔτε δεδάνεικα· καὶ πολ λοὺς ἐκτησάμην ἐχθροὺς, οἳ διηνεκῶς λοιδοροῦνται καὶ ἐπαρῶνται. Τὰ συμβούλια γὰρ, ὡς τὰ πολλὰ, τίκτειν τὰς ἀπειθείας φιλεῖ. Κατὰ μέντοι τὴν ἑλληνικὴν ἑρμηνείαν οὕτω νοητέον, ὅτι Θρήνων εἰμὶ ἄξιος μάτην παραχθεὶς εἰς τόνδε τὸν βίον· οὔτε γὰρ ὤνησά τινα, οὔτε ὠφέλειαν παρ' ἑτέρων ἐκομι σάμην· ἀρὰς δὲ μόνον δέχομαι παρὰ τῶν ἀκουόν των τὰς προφητείας. ιαʹ. Γένοιτο, Κύριε, κατευθυνόντων αὐτῶν, εἰ μὴ παρέστην σοι ἐν καιρῷ τῶν κακῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως αὐτῶν, εἰς ἀγαθὰ πρὸς τὸν ἐχθρόν. Ἄκουσον αὐτῶν, φησὶν, ἐπαρωμένων· πολλάκις σοι τὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἱκετείας προσήνεγ κον. Εἶτα πάλιν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ· ιβʹ, ιγʹ. Εἰ γνωσθήσεται σίδηρος, καὶ περιβό λαιον χαλκοῦν. Ἰσχύν σου, καὶ τοὺς θησαυ ρούς σου εἰς προνομὴν δώσω, ἀντάλλαγμα διὰ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις σου. Μὴ θαῤῥήσητε, φησὶ, μὴ χαλκέοις