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they shall be saved, says the Lord Adonai. If, he says, I wish to punish a nation that has sinned, and to deliver it to famine, and those being punished do not wish to repent, they will obtain no pardon, not even if Noah, and Job, and Daniel were found among them. But these will gather the fruits of their own righteousness, and will enjoy salvation, but they will not deliver those others from the punishment brought upon them. And he made mention of these men, as the things that happened in their times greatly correspond with what has been said. For Noah, having been found in a generation of the ungodly, was not able to deliver from the universal destruction of the flood those who did not want to repent. And Daniel likewise, being in the time of the captivity, did not free the others from the evils brought upon them on account of their great impiety; but he himself, though having become a captive of the spear, prevailed over his enemies, and took as subjects those who had enslaved him. Nor did the children of Job benefit from the righteousness of their father, but he alone was shown to be stron 81.925 ger than the plot of the one who warred against him. And again, through many other things he says these things: For if I bring death upon that land, or an uprising of beasts, or an attack of enemies, and the three men are found in their midst, they will not be able to save even their own sons or daughters, but they alone will obtain salvation. It is clear that those who are devoid of repentance reap no benefit from the righteous; for that salvation follows repentance, the divine Scripture is a witness, teaching this everywhere. For the Ninevites, having neither Noah, nor Job, nor Daniel, but Jonah, not praying for them, but wishing to speak the truth, found salvation through repentance. The prophetic word teaches, therefore, that those who live in transgression, not wishing to repent, and who pride themselves on living with the righteous, will have no pardon. And in addition to these things, the God of all wishes to show that what he has not done to another nation, this he has done to Israel. 21, 22. For thus says, he says, the Lord Adonai: And if I send my four evil punishments (by evil he means severe)—sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and death—upon Jerusalem, to destroy from it man and beast. And behold, left in it are those who are saved from it, who will bring out from it sons and daughters, behold, they themselves will go forth to you, and you will see their ways. Death he calls sudden demise, sword the slaughter, famine clearly want, evil beasts those who cruelly enslave, evil punishments the severe and bitter ones. Having brought these punishments, he says, upon Israel, I leave behind from them sons and daughters who are saved, so that all may learn their great impiety, and their evil practices, and know the justice of the punishment. And you, who are of the same race as them, will not accuse the punishment of cruelty, when you have seen their wickedness. And indicating this he added: And you will repent concerning the evils that I brought upon Jerusalem, concerning all the evils that I brought upon it. (23.) And they will comfort you, because you will see their ways, and their thoughts, and you will know that I have not done in vain all that I have done in it, says the Lord Adonai. For for this reason, he says, I will not deliver all to utter destruction, but I will leave from them some who are saved, so that through them all may learn the justice of the punishment brought upon them.

CHAPTER 15. 1-4. And the word of the Lord came to me, say ing: And you, son of man, what would

the wood of the vine become out of all the woods of the 81.928 branches, which are among the woods of the for est? Will they take wood from it, to make into

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σωθήσονται, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Ἐὰν, φησὶν, ἁμαρτῆσαν ἔθνος κολάσαι βουληθῶ, καὶ λιμῷ παραδοῦναι, μετανοίᾳ δὲ χρήσασθαι μὴ βουληθῶσιν οἱ κολαζόμενοι, οὐδεμιᾶς τεύξονται συγγνώμης, οὐδὲ εἰ Νῶε, καὶ Ἰὼβ, καὶ ∆ανιὴλ εὑρεθεῖεν ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἀλλ' οὗτοι μὲν τῆς οἰκείας δικαιοσύνης τρυγήσουσι τοὺς καρποὺς, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀπολαύσονται, ἐκείνους δὲ τῆς ἐπαγομένης οὐκ ἀπαλλάξουσι τιμω ρίας. Τούτων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐμνημόνευσεν, ὡς τοῖς εἰρημένοις τῶν κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους αὐτῶν γεγονότων λίαν συμβαινόντων. Ὅ τε γὰρ Νῶε ἐν ἀσεβῶν εὑ ρεθεὶς γενεᾷ, οὐκ ἴσχυσε τῆς τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ παν ωλεθρίας ἀπαλλάξαι τοὺς μετανοίᾳ χρήσασθαι μὴ θελήσαντας. Καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ὡσαύτως, κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας γενόμενος καιρὸν, τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀσέβειαν οὐκ ἠλευθέρωσε τῶν ἐπενεχθέν των κακῶν· αὐτὸς δὲ, καὶ δορυάλωτος γενόμενος, τῶν πολεμίων ἐκράτησε, καὶ τοὺς ἀνδραποδίσαντας ἔλαβεν ὑπηκόους. Οὐδὲ οἱ τοῦ Ἰὼβ δὲ παῖδες τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς δικαιοσύνης ἀπώναντο, μόνος δὲ κρείτ 81.925 των τῆς τοῦ πολεμήσαντος ἐπιβουλῆς ἀπεφάνθη. ∆ιὰ πλειόνων δὲ πάλιν ἑτέρων ταῦτά φησι· Κἂν γὰρ θάνατον ἐπαγάγω τῇ γῇ ἐκείνῃ, κἂν θηρίων ἐπανά στασιν, κἂν πολεμίων ἔφοδον, εὑρεθήσονται δὲ οἱ τρεῖς ἄνδρες μέσοι αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν υἱοὺς ἢ θυγατέρας διασῶσαι δυνήσονται, ἀλλὰ μόνοι, τεύ ξονται τῆς σωτηρίας. ∆ῆλον δὲ ὅτι οἱ μετανοίας ὑπάρχοντες ἔρημοι, οὐδεμίαν ὠφέλειαν ἐκ τῶν δικαίων καρποῦνται· ὅτι γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖ τῇ μετανοίᾳ ἡ σω τηρία, μάρτυς ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, πανταχοῦ τοῦτο διδά σκουσα. Νινευῗται γὰρ, οὔτε τὸν Νῶε, οὔτε τὸν Ἰὼβ, οὔτε τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἔχοντες, ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν, οὐχ ὑπερευχόμενον, ἀλλ' ἀληθεῦσαι βουλόμενον, διὰ μετανοίας εὕραντο τὴν σωτηρίαν. ∆ιδάσκει τοίνυν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος, ὡς οὐδεμίαν ἕξουσι συγγνώμην οἱ παρανομίᾳ συζῶντες, μεταμελείᾳ χρῆσθαι μὴ βου λόμενοι, καὶ δικαίοις συνοικεῖν σεμνυνόμενοι. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, βούλεται δεῖξαι ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ὅτι ὅπερ ἐπ' ἄλλου ἔθνους οὐ πεποίηκε, τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πεποίηκε. καʹ, κβʹ. Τάδε λέγει γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἀδωναῒ Κύ ριος· Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τὰς τέσσαρας ἐκδικήσεις μου τὰς πονηρὰς (πονηρὰς δὲ τὰς χαλεπὰς λέγει), ῥομφαίαν, καὶ λιμὸν, καὶ θηρία πονηρὰ, καὶ θάνατον ἐξαποστελῶ ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τοῦ ἐξ ολοθρεῦσαι ἐξ αὐτῆς ἄνθρωπον καὶ κτῆνος. Καὶ ἰδοὺ ὑπολελειμμένοι ἐν αὐτῇ οἱ ἀνασωζόμε νοι ἐξ αὐτῆς, οἵτινες ἐξάξουσιν ἐξ αὐτῆς υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας, ἰδοὺ αὐτοὶ ἐκπορεύσονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ὄψεσθε τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν. Θάνατον μὲν καλεῖ τὴν αἰφνίδιον τελευτὴν, ῥομφαίαν δὲ τὴν σφαγὴν, λιμὸν δὲ δῆλον ὅτι τὴν ἔνδειαν, θηρία πονηρὰ τοὺς ὠμῶς ἐξανδραποδίζοντας, πονη ρὰς ἐκδικήσεις τὰς χαλεπὰς καὶ πικράς. Ταύτας, φησὶ, τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπαγαγὼν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, κατα λιμπάνω ἀνασωζομένους ἐξ αὐτῶν υἱοὺς καὶ θυγα τέρας, ἵνα μάθωσιν ἅπαντες τὴν πολλὴν αὐτῶν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα, καὶ γνῶσι τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον. Καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ, οἱ ἐκείνων ὁμόφυλοι, οὐ κατηγορήσετε τῆς τιμωρίας ὠμότητα, τὴν τούτων θεασάμενοι πονηρίαν. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ἐπήγαγεν· Καὶ μεταμεληθήσεσθε ἐπὶ τὰ κακὰ, ἃ ἐπήγαγον ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς κακοῖς, οἷς ἐπήγαγον ἐπ' αὐτήν. (κγʹ.) Καὶ παρακαλέσουσιν ὑμᾶς, διότι ὄψεσθε τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰ ἐνθυμήματα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε ὅτι οὐ μάτην πεποίηκα πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτῇ, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Τούτου γὰρ χάριν, φησὶν, οὐ πάντας παραδώσω πανωλεθρίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καταλείψω ἐξ αὐτῶν σωζομένους, ἵνα μάθωσι δι' ἐκείνων ἅπαντες τῆς ἐπενεχθείσης αὐτοῖς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΕʹ. αʹ-δʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέ γων· Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, τί ἂν

γένοιτο τὸ ξύλον τῆς ἀμπέλου ἐκ πάντων τῶν ξύλων τῶν 81.928 κλημάτων, τῶν ὄντων ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῦ δρυ μοῦ; Εἰ λήψονται ἐξ αὐτῆς ξύλον, τοῦ ποιῆσαι εἰς