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Such, then, were the things threatened to them; but let their sufferings be a medicine for us; 81.612 so that being chastened by the punishments of others, and living according to the divine laws, we may have the lawgiver be merciful to us forever. Amen. TOME V. 18. And they said: Come, and let us devise a device against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. They testify to him three very great things: priesthood, and prophecy, and understanding; and they know the power and truth of each gift. And though it was necessary to yield to what was said, not only did they speak against it, but they also devised death. "For come," he says, "let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not listen to all his words." So much did even the very words of God weary them; and the phrase, "Let us smite him with the tongue," means "Let us weave a slander against him." Perceiving these things, the prophet beseeches God to be judge, and reminds him of the intercessions he had often offered on their behalf. Then he frames his speech in the form of a prayer, but he foretells the death that would come from famine, and the slaughters that would be wrought by the enemy, and the other things that happen in wars. CHAPTER 19. Having said these things, and things similar to them, he is commanded to take an earthen flask, and to go out to the public cemetery, with the priests and the elders of the people, and to threaten the city with destruction again, and to remind them of their worship of idols. And he foretold the evils that would arise from the siege, and the scarcity of necessities; and after all these things to break the flask, and to say: 11. Thus will I break this people, and this city, as one breaks an earthen vessel, that cannot be mended again. And he threatens the royal house with destruction, and the whole city with desolation; since not only in public, but also in their very houses, they offered libations and sacrifices to idols. And the very place of the idols will become a burial ground for the slain. "For they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place 81.613 to bury." And by this he indicated the multitude of the slain. And when the prophet returned again, the Lord commanded him to deliver the prophecy to all in the sacred court, and to prophesy desolation to that city, and to all its subject cities and villages. CHAPTER 20. 1. And when Pashur heard this word—and he happened to be the chief priest—he not only tortured the prophet, but also imprisoned him. 2. For, it says, Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him into the stocks. It means a certain underground place; and the temple built by Solomon had many such chambers. And bringing him out the next day, he heard him saying again: "The Lord has not called your name Pashur, but Sojourner from round about." And he says that not only he, but also his friends will be taken captive by the spear, and after the captivity will be slain. And indeed he threatens to deliver all the people to Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet, then, having said these things at greater length, is distressed by the continuous rebellions against him, and trusting in the purity of his conscience, he uses boldness toward the Lord, and says: 7. You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived: you are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I fled, he says, from the prophecy, I said I was too young, and

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Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐκείνοις ἀπειληθέντα τοιαῦτα· ἡμῖν δὲ γενέσθω φάρμακα τὰ ἐκείνων παθήματα· 81.612 ἵνα ταῖς τῶν ἄλλων τιμωρίαις σωφρονισθέντες, καὶ κατὰ τοὺς θείους πολιτευόμενοι νόμους, ἵλεων τὸν νομοθέτην ἔχοιμεν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. ΤΟΜΟΣ Εʹ. ιηʹ. Καὶ εἶπον· ∆εῦτε, καὶ λογισώμεθα ἐπὶ Ἱε ρεμίαν λογισμὸν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπολεῖται νόμος ἀπὸ ἱερέως, καὶ βουλὴ ἀπὸ συνετοῦ, καὶ λόγος ἀπὸ προφήτου. Τρία μαρτυροῦσιν αὐτῷ τὰ μέγιστα, ἱερωσύνην, καὶ προφητείαν, καὶ σύνεσιν· καὶ ἑκά στου χαρίσματος ἴσασι τὸ δυνατόν τε καὶ ἀψευδές. Καὶ δέον εἴκειν τοῖς λεγομένοις, οὐ μόνον ἐκεῖνοι ἀντιλέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θάνατον τυρεύουσι. "∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶ, πατάξωμεν αὐτὸν ἐν γλώσσῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἀκουσώμεθα πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ." Τοσοῦτον αὐτοὺς ἀπέκνει καὶ αὐτὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ῥήματα· τὸ δὲ "Πατάξωμεν αὐτὸν ἐν γλώσσῃ," ἀντὶ τοῦ "Συ κοφαντίαν ὑφάνωμεν κατ' αὐτοῦ." Τούτων αἰσθό μενος ὁ προφήτης, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύει γενέσθαι κρι τὴν, καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκει αὐτὸν ὧν πολλάκις ὑπὲρ αὐ τῶν προσενήνοχε πρεσβειῶν. Εἶτα εὐκτικῶς μὲν σχηματίζει τὸν λόγον, προλέγει δὲ τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ λι μοῦ γενησόμενον θάνατον, καὶ τὰς ὑπὸ τῶν πολε μίων γενησομένας σφαγὰς, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις γιγνόμενα. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΘʹ. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν, καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια, κε λεύεται λαβεῖν βῖκον ὀστράκινον, καὶ ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὸ πολυάνδριον, μετὰ τῶν ἱερέων καὶ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ ἀπειλῆσαι πάλιν τῇ πό λει τὸν ὄλεθρον, καὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων ἀναμνῆσαι θεραπείας. Προεῖπε δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς πολιορκίας τεχθησόμενα κακὰ, καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὴν σπά νιν· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα συντρίψαι τὸν βῖκον, καὶ εἰπεῖν· ιαʹ. Οὕτως συντρίψω τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ταύτην· καθὼς συντρίβεται ἄγγος ὀστρά κινον, ὃ οὐ δυνήσεται ἰαθῆναι ἔτι. Ἀπειλεῖ δὲ καὶ τῇ βασιλικῇ οἰκίᾳ τὴν κατάλυσιν, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ πόλει τὴν ἐρημίαν· ἐπειδήπερ οὐ μόνον δημοσίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς οἰκίαις, σπονδὰς τοῖς εἰδώλοις καὶ θυσίας προσέφερον. Καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ τῶν εἰδώλων χωρίον ταφὴ τῶν ἀνῃρημένων γενήσεται. "Θά ψουσι γὰρ ἐν τῷ Τωφὲθ, διὰ τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχειν ποῦ 81.613 θάψαι." ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτου τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνῃρημένων ἐδήλωσεν. Ἐπανιόντι δὲ τῷ προφήτῃ πάλιν ἐκέ λευσεν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἐν τῇ καθιερωμένῃ αὐλῇ πᾶσι τὴν προφητείαν προσενεγκεῖν, καὶ προφητεῦσαι τῇ τε πόλει ἐκείνῃ, καὶ πάσαις ταῖς ὑπηκόοις πόλεσί τε καὶ κώμαις, τὴν ἐρημίαν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κʹ. αʹ. Τοῦτον δὲ τὸν λόγον ὁ Πασχὼρ ἀκούσας, ἀρχιερεὺς δὲ οὗτος ἐτύγχανεν ὢν, οὐ μόνον ᾐκίσατο τὸν προφήτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθεῖρξεν. βʹ. Ἐπάταξε γὰρ, φησὶ, Πασχὼρ τὸν προφήτην Ἱερεμίαν, καὶ ἐνέβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν καταρά κτην. Ὑπόγειον δέ τινα τόπον λέγει· πολλὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα εἶχεν οἰκήματα ὁ ὑπὸ Σολομῶντος οἰκοδο μηθεὶς νεώς. Ἐξαγαγὼν δὲ αὐτὸν τῇ ὑστέρᾳ, ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ πάλιν λέγοντος· "Οὐχὶ Πασχὼρ Κύριος ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομά σου, ἀλλ' ἢ μέτοικον κυκλόθεν." Οὐ μόνον δὲ αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς φίλους αὐτοῦ δορυαλώτους γενήσεσθαι λέγει, καὶ μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἀναιρεθήσεσθαι. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἀπειλεῖ παραδώσειν. Ταῦτα τοίνυν διὰ πλειόνων εἰρηκὼς ὁ προφήτης, δυσχεραίνει τὰς κατ' αὐτοῦ συνεχῶς γι γνομένας ἐπαναστάσεις, καὶ τῇ τοῦ συνειδότος θαῤ ῥῶν καθαρότητι, παῤῥησίᾳ χρᾶται πρὸς τὸν ∆ε σπότην, καί φησιν· ζʹ. Ἠπάτησάς με, Κύριε, καὶ ἠπατήθην ἐκράτησάς με, καὶ ἠδυνήθης. Ἔφυγον, φησὶ, τὴν προφητείαν, εἶπα εἶναι νεώτερος, καὶ