36

their [hearts] alienated from me in their thoughts." For since they set themselves far from my care, and rejoice in the deceit of the false prophets, I will allow them to reap the fruits of their own labors. This can also be found to have happened in the case of Ahab. For Zedekiah the false prophet, having made for himself iron horns, said to Ahab: "With these you will gore Syria." But when Jehoshaphat did not accept what was said by the false prophets, but sought a divine prophet, Micaiah was sent for; but having prophesied things contrary to Zedekiah, he did not persuade Ahab. For he did not ask the prophet because he wanted to do what God had foretold, but in every way he wished to confirm his own purpose. Therefore, with God allowing it, the false prophets foretold false things; and he, being persuaded, went out and paid the penalty for his impiety. 6. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord Adonai: Turn, and turn away from your practices and from all your impieties, and turn your faces. He offers an exhortation that is an agent of salvation, and shows the gain that will come from it. 7. Because a man, a man from the house of Israel, and from the proselytes who sojourn in the house of Israel, who is alienated from me, and sets his thoughts in his own mind, and sets the punishment for his own iniquity before his own face, and comes to the prophet to inquire of him in my name, I the Lord will answer him in the things in which he is entangled. These things he said again more clearly, that everyone who makes himself a stranger to my care, and uses an evil thought as his guide, and knowing the punishment threatened for the evil, but despising it, comes to one of the false prophets, as if wishing to learn from me what must be done, I, he says, will make the answer, and I will allow the so-called prophet to answer in accordance with his thoughts. Then he threatens the deserved punishment: 8. And I will set my face against that man, and I will make him a desert, and a destruction, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know that I am the Lord. And showing that he does not say these things about the divine prophets, but about those who have the name but are destitute of the reality, he added: 81.924 9, 10. And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they will bear their iniquity. But it is not characteristic of a just judge both to deceive the prophet and to punish him when he has been deceived. Therefore he does not say that he deceives the prophet by an act, but by permission; that is, being able to expose his falsehood at once, I forbear, and am long-suffering, and allow him to use deceit; for he practices this by choice, and not by necessity. Therefore he threatens an equal punishment, both to the one who asks evilly, and to the one who answers evilly. For according to the iniquity, he says, of the inquirer, so also will be the iniquity of the prophet, (11.) so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, and so that they may no longer be defiled in all their transgressions; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord Adonai. Not in vain, he says, will I bring this punishment upon them, but by their destruction I will benefit my people, and free them from their impiety. For I wish to have them as a people, and I want to be their God, taking all care of them. 12-14. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, if a land sins against me by committing a transgression, and I stretch out my hand against it, and I break its staff of bread, and I send a famine upon it, and I cut off from it man and beast; and if these three men are in its midst, Noah, and Job, and Daniel, they in their righteousness

36

αὐτῶν τὰς ἀπηλλοτριωμένας ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασιν αὐτῶν." Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πόῤῥω τῆς ἐμῆς κηδεμονίας σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καθιστᾶσι, καὶ τῇ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν χαίρουσιν ἐξαπάτῃ, συγχωρήσω αὐτοῖς τῶν οἰκείων πόνων δρέψασθαι τοὺς καρπούς. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ γεγενημέ νον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν. Σεδεκίας γὰρ ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης, κέ ρατα σιδηρᾶ ἑαυτῷ ποιήσας, ἔλεγε τῷ Ἀχαάβ· "Ἐν τούτοις κερατιεῖς τὴν Συρίαν." Τοῦ δὲ Ἰωσαφὰτ οὐ δεχομένου τὰ παρὰ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν λεγόμενα, ἀλλὰ θεῖον ἐπιζητοῦντος προφήτην, μετεπέμφθη μὲν ὁ Μιχαίας· ἐναντία δὲ τῷ Σεδεκίᾳ προφητεύσας, οὐκ ἔπεισε τὸν Ἀχαάβ. Οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ποιῆσαι βουλόμενος, ἃ ὁ Θεὸς προηγόρευσε, τὸν προφήτην ἠρώτα, ἀλλ' ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου τὸν ἴδιον ἤθελε κυρῶσαι σκοπόν. ∆ιὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ συγχωρήσαντος, προὔ λεγον μὲν οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται τὰ ψευδῆ· πειθόμενος δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἐξῄει, καὶ τὰς δίκας ἐδίδου τῆς ἀσεβείας. ʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰπὲ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Ἰσ ραήλ· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἐπιστράφητε, καὶ ἀποστρέψατε ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὑμῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἀσεβειῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπιστρέψατε τὰ πρόσωπα ὑμῶν. Παραίνεσιν προσ φέρει πρόξενον σωτηρίας, καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐσό μενον ἀποδείκνυσι κέρδος. ζʹ. ∆ιότι ἄνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν προσηλύτων τῶν προσηλυ τευόντων ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ, ὃς ἀπαλλο τριωθῇ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ θῇ τὰ ἐνθυμήματα αὑτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν διάνοιαν αὑτοῦ, καὶ τὴν κόλασιν τῆς ἀδικίας αὑτοῦ τάξῃ πρὸ προσώπου ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ἔλθῃ πρὸς τὸν προφήτην τοῦ ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν ἐμοὶ, ἐγὼ Κύριος ἀποκριθήσομαι αὐτῷ ἐν οἷς ἐνέχεται ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ταῦτα πάλιν σαφέστερα εἶπεν, ὅτι Πᾶς ὁ ἀλλότριον ἑαυτὸν καθιστὰς τῆς ἐμῆς κηδεμονίας, καὶ ἡγεμόνι τῷ κακῷ χρώμενος λογι σμῷ, καὶ εἰδὼς μὲν τὴν ἠπειλημένην τοῖς κακοῖς κόλασιν, καταφρονῶν δὲ ταύτης ἀφίκηται πρός τινα τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, ὡς δῆθεν παρ' ἐμοῦ μαθεῖν τὸ πρακτέον βουλόμενος, ἐγὼ, φησὶ, ποιήσομαι τὴν ἀπόκρισιν, καὶ συγχωρήσω τῷ καλουμένῳ προφήτῃ ἀκόλουθα τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀποκρίνασθαι. Εἶτα τὴν ἀξίαν ἀπειλεῖ τιμωρίαν· ηʹ. Καὶ στηριῶ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐπὶ τὸν ἄν θρωπον ἐκεῖνον, καὶ θήσομαι αὐτὸν εἰς ἔρη μον, καὶ εἰς ἀφανισμὸν, καὶ ἐξαρῶ αὐτὸν ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ μου, καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος. Καὶ δεικνὺς ὡς οὐ περὶ τῶν θείων ταῦτα λέγει προφητῶν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἐχόντων, τοῦ δὲ πράγματος ὄντων ἐρήμων, ἐπ ήγαγε· 81.924 θʹ, ιʹ. Καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐὰν πλανηθῇ, καὶ λαλήσῃ λόγον, ἐγὼ Κύριος πεπλάνηκα αὐτὸν τὸν προφήτην ἐκεῖνον, καὶ ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπ' αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀφανιῶ αὐτὸν ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ μου Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ λήψονται τὴν ἀδικίαν αὐτῶν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν ἴδιον τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ, καὶ πλανᾷν τὸν προφήτην, καὶ πλανηθέντα κολάζειν. Οὐ τοίνυν κατ' ἐνέργειαν λέγει τὸν προφήτην πλανᾷν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ συγχώρησιν· τουτέστι, ∆υνάμενος αὐτοῦ παραυ τίκα ἐλέγχειν τὸ ψεῦδος, ἀνέχομαι, καὶ μακροθυμῶ, καὶ συγχωρῶ κεχρῆσθαι τῇ ἐξαπάτῃ· γνώμῃ γὰρ, καὶ οὐκ ἀνάγκῃ ταύτην ἐπιτηδεύει. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὴν ἴσην τιμωρίαν ἀπειλεῖ, καὶ τῷ κακῶς ἐρωτῶντι, καὶ τῷ κακῶς ἀποκρινομένῳ. Κατὰ τὸ ἀδίκημα γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῦ ἐπερωτῶντος, ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ἀδίκημα τοῦ προφήτου ἔσται, (ιαʹ.) ὅπως μὴ πλανῶνται ἔτι οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσ ραὴλ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἵνα μὴ μιαίνωνται ἔτι ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς παραπτώμασιν αὑτῶν· καὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαὸν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεὸν, λέγε, Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Οὐ μάτην, φησὶ, ταύτην ἐκείνοις ἐπάξω τὴν τιμωρίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ ἐκείνων ὀλέθρου τὸν λαόν μου εὐεργετῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀσεβείας ἐλευθερῶν. Βούλομαι γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχειν λαὸν, καὶ εἶναι αὐτῶν θέλω Θεὸς, πᾶσαν αὑτῶν κηδεμονίαν ποιού μενος. ιβʹ-ιδʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, γῆ ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ μοι, τοῦ παραπεσεῖν παραπτώματι, καὶ ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπ' αὐτὴν, καὶ συντρίψω αὐτῆς στήριγμα ἄρτου, καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐπ' αὐτὴν λιμὸν, καὶ ἐξαρῶ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἄνθρωπον καὶ κτῆνος· καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν οἱ τρεῖς ἄνδρες οὗτοι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, Νῶε, καὶ Ἰὼβ, καὶ ∆ανιὴλ, αὐτοὶ ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ αὑτῶν