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work? Will they take a peg from it, to hang any vessel on it? Except that which is given to fire for consumption, the fire consumes its annual pruning, and it fails completely. Since through the prophets He always called Israel a vine; for through David, He says, "You transplanted a vine from Egypt;" and Isaiah, "A vineyard came to be for the beloved;" and Jeremiah, "How have you turned to bitterness for me, O true vine?" tropologically from the branches of the vine He shows the uselessness of Israel. For just as, he says, above all woods, the wood of the vine is unfit for work; for one cannot even make the cheapest peg from it, but it is only food for the fire, and its annual pruning is given over to the fire; so this people is fit for nothing else but destruction and punishment. Its annual pruning, he says, the fire consumes, and it fails completely. Will it be made into a work? (5) Not even when it is still whole will it be for any work. Let alone if fire also consumes it completely, will it still be for any work? For if, before it is given over to the fire, it is suitable for no work, it would scarcely be useful after it has become the expense of fire; having thus spoken the parable, he adds the interpretation. (6, 7) For this reason say, Thus says the Lord Adonai: As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for consumption, so have I given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them. This he said metaphorically of those who show an angry and grim face. "They will go out from the fire," he says, "and fire will devour them." For having been delivered from famine, they will be given over to slaughter and captivity. And they will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. (8) And I will make the land a desolation, because they have grievously trespassed, says the Lord Adonai. For them I will give over to captivity and slaughter, and the land cultivated by them I will make desolate, there being no cultivators. And they will suffer these things, paying the penalty for what they have done wrong. Since, therefore, whatever was written before was written for our benefit, that through the endurance and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope, let us not become wood, and grass, 81.929 and stubble, which are food for the fire, but gold and precious stones, material for the royal diadem, that we may reign with Christ, with whom glory is fitting for the Father, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

VOLUME 5. CHAPTER 10. 1, 2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, testify

to Jerusalem her sins. The reproof of sins is good, and done for benefit. For to those who suffer from insensibility it gives perception, and brings to memory their own offenses. For it is distressing, and very difficult, to be sick; but it is much more difficult to be ignorant of the disease itself; for this reason, often even the sons of physicians teach those who are so disposed, who are unwilling to accept a perception of their sufferings, the gravity of the disease, so that, becoming aware, they may cease feeding the materials of the disease through disorder, and follow the laws of the medical art. This also the God of all continues to do for those who transgress and are disposed insensibly; for to the sinner He says through David: "I will reprove you, and set your sins before your face;" and to Jerusalem through Jeremiah: "Know that you have sinned against the Lord your God;" and again: "Behold the ways

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ἐργασίαν; εἰ λήψονται ἐξ αὐτῆς πάσσαλον, τοῦ κρεμάσαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν πᾶν σκεῦος; Πάρεξ ὃ πυρὶ δέδοται εἰς ἀνάλωσιν, τὴν κατ' ἐνιαυτὸν αὐτῆς κάθαρσιν ἀναλίσκει τὸ πῦρ, καὶ ἐκλείπει εἰς τέλος. Ἐπειδὴ ἄμπελον ἀεὶ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὠνόμασε· διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ, φησὶν, "Ἄμπελον ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετῆρας·" ὁ δὲ Ἡσαΐας· "Ἀμπελὼν ἐγενήθη τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ·" ὁ δὲ Ἱερεμίας· "Πῶς ἐστράφης μοι εἰς πικρίαν, ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή;" τροπικῶς ἀπὸ τῶν κλημάτων τῆς ἀμπέλου δείκνυσι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὸ ἄχρηστον Καθάπερ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα τὰ ξύλα εἰς ἐρ γασίαν ἀνεπιτήδειον τῆς ἀμπέλου τὸ ξύλον· οὔτε γὰρ πάσσαλόν τις τὸν εὐτελέστατον ἐξ ἐκείνης κατα σκευάσαι δύναται, ἀλλὰ μόνον τοῦ πυρὸς ὑπάρχει τροφὴ, καὶ ἡ κατ' ἐνιαυτὸν δὲ αὐτῆς κάθαρσις τῷ πυρὶ παραδίδοται· οὕτως οὗτος ὁ λαὸς εἰς ἕτερον οὐδὲν ἐπιτήδειος, ἢ εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ τιμωρίαν. Τὴν κατ' ἐνιαυτὸν αὐτῆς κάθαρσιν, φησὶν, ἀναλίσκει τὸ πῦρ, καὶ ἐκλείπει εἰς τέλος. Εἰ ποιηθήσεται εἰς ἐργασίαν; (εʹ.) Οὐδὲ ἔτι αὐτοῦ ὄντος ὁλοκλήρου οὐκ ἔσται εἰς ἐργασίαν. Μὴ ὅτι ἐὰν καὶ πῦρ αὐτὸ ἀναλώσῃ εἰς τέλος, εἰ ἔτι ἔσται εἰς ἐργασίαν; Εἰ γὰρ, πρὶν ἢ τῷ πυρὶ παραδοθῆναι, εἰς οὐδεμίαν ἐστὶν ἐπιτήδειον ἐργα σίαν, σχολῇ γε ἂν χρήσιμον ἔσται μετὰ τὸ πυρὸς γενέσθαι δαπάνην· οὕτω τὴν παραβολὴν εἰρηκὼς, ἐπάγει τὴν ἑρμηνείαν. ʹ, ζʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰπὲ, Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ὃν τρόπον τὸ ξύλον τῆς ἀμπέλου ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῦ δρυμοῦ, ὃ δέδωκα αὐτὸ τῷ πυρὶ εἰς ἀνάλωσιν, οὕτω δέδωκα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καὶ δώσω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐπ' αὐτούς. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς εἴρηκε τῶν, ὀργί λον ὑποδεικνύντων καὶ βλοσυρὸν τὸ πρόσωπον. "Ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐξελεύσονται, φησὶ, καὶ πῦρ καταφάγεται αὐτούς." Ἀπαλλαγέντες γὰρ τοῦ λιμοῦ, παραδο θήσονται τῇ σφαγῇ καὶ τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ. Καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος, ἐν τῷ στη ρίσαι τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐπ' αὐτούς. (ηʹ.) Καὶ δώσω τὴν γῆν εἰς ἀφανισμὸν, ἀνθ' ὧν παρέπεσον παραπτώματι, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Αὐτοὺς μὲν γὰρ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ καὶ σφαγῇ παραδώσω, τὴν δὲ ὑπ' αὐτῶν γεωργουμένην γῆν ἔρημον καταστήσω τῶν γεωργούντων οὐκ ὄντων. Ταῦτα δὲ πείσονται, δίκας ὧν ἐπλημμέλησαν τίνοντες. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ὅσα προεγράφη, εἰς ἡμετέραν ὠφέλειαν προεγράφη, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ τῆς παρακλήσεως τῶν Γραφῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχωμεν, μὴ γενώμεθα ξύλα, καὶ χόρτος, 81.929 καὶ καλάμη, ἅπερ ἐστὶ τροφὴ τοῦ πυρὸς, ἀλλὰ χρυσὸς καὶ λίθοι τίμιοι, ὕλη τοῦ βασιλικοῦ διαδή ματος, ἵνα Χριστῷ συμβασιλεύσωμεν, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα πρέπει, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΤΟΜΟΣ Εʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ιʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέ γων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, διαμάρτυραι

τῇ Ἱερουσα λὴμ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῆς. Ἀγαθὸς τῶν ἁμαρτημά των ὁ ἔλεγχος, καὶ ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ γινόμενος. Τοῖς γὰρ ἀναλγησίᾳ νοσοῦσιν ἐντίθησιν αἴσθησιν, καὶ εἰς μνή μην φέρει τῶν οἰκείων πλημμελημάτων. Ἀνιαρὸν μὲν γὰρ, καὶ λίαν χαλεπὸν, τὸ νοσεῖν χαλεπώτερον δὲ πολλῷ τὸ καὶ αὐτὴν ἀγνοεῖν τὴν νόσον· οὗ χάριν, πολλάκις καὶ ἰατρῶν παῖδες τοὺς οὕτω διακειμένους, οἳ αἴσθησιν τῶν παθημάτων οὐκ ἐθέλουσι δέξα σθαι, τὸ βαρὺ τῆς νόσου διδάσκουσιν, ἵνα αἰσθόμενοι παύσωνται μὲν ἀταξίᾳ τρέφοντες τῆς νόσου τὰς ὕλας, τοῖς δὲ τῆς ἰατρικῆς τέχνης ἀκολουθήσωσι νόμοις. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐπὶ τῶν παρα νομούντων καὶ ἀναισθήτως διακειμένων διατελεῖ ποιῶν· τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτωλῷ διὰ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ λέγει· "Ἐλέγξω σε, καὶ παραστήσω κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου·" τῇ δὲ Ἱερουσαλὴμ διὰ Ἱερεμίου· "Γνῶθι, ὅτι εἰς Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἠσέβησας·" καὶ πάλιν· "Ἴδε τὰς ὁδούς