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Since he mentioned Lebanon, he continued with the trope; and he calls the rulers cedars, those who are proud of their strength. Then he foretells the desolation of the city, and that those who see it will marvel, and inquiring about the cause of the evils, they will learn the wickedness of the inhabitants, and that because of them the city received this verdict from God. And he urges not to mourn the dead, but the living, as he is being removed and handed over to bitter slavery. 11, 12. Thus says the Lord concerning Shallum, son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father. He went out from this place. He will not return again; in the 81.621 place where they removed him, there he will die, and he will not see this land again. Shallum, not as some have supposed, means Jehoiakim, but Jehoahaz. For this one reigned instead of Josiah his father; and Pharaoh Necho led this one as a captive to Egypt; for Jehoiakim was slain in Jerusalem; and this very prophet teaches us this, as does the fourth of Kings, and the second of Chronicles. 13. Like the one building his house not with righteousness, and his upper rooms not with justice. He does not find fault with the building, but with the unjust building; for what follows also teaches this. "His neighbor works for him for free, and he will not pay him his wage." 14. You have built for yourself a symmetrical house. He has set 'symmetrical' not to mean small, but to mean having proportion in length and width and height; for that he attests to the size of the house, what is brought forward shows: "Spacious upper rooms, distinguished with windows, and paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion." 15. Will you reign, because you compete with the cedar? He called Josiah a cedar, who had the enduring quality of the kingdom; but he finds fault with Shallum, who is also named Jehoahaz, because he imitated the height of the cedar, but did not emulate its incorruptibility, but despised it in his reign; and teaching that God does not find fault with the building, but with the impiety, he added: "Did not your father eat, and drink, and execute judgment and righteousness, and then it was well with him?" 16. He judged the cause of the humble and the poor, and then it was well with him; is not this to know me? says the Lord. This resembles the Gospel saying: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of God, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." For he said this also here: that to hate injustice, and to defend the wronged, is proof of knowing me for the one who does these things. 17. For behold, your eyes are not right, nor is your heart good. Then he accuses him of greed, and of murder; and in addition to these, also of false accusation, through which he also committed murders. 81.624 18. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah. Here the prophecy lies in order; for indeed after Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim reigned, he also being a son of Josiah the king; and he also foretells his destruction. "They shall not lament for him, 'Alas, lord!' and, 'Alas, brother!' nor shall they bewail him, 'O brother! Alas, brother!'" 19. He will not be buried, but rotting like dung he will be cast beyond the gate of Jerusalem. And from this it is clear that Shallum is not Jehoiakim; for concerning that one he said, "He will not see this land, but will die in his exile." But concerning this one, that "Like dead birds of prey he will be cast outside the gate." But the histories teach these things more clearly. Then he commands the city to run to Lebanon, and to Bashan (for these are mountains), and likewise also to the other side of the sea, and to cry out, and to bewail its own disasters, because it enjoyed no help from the idols; for he calls them lovers. 21. I spoke to you in your fall, and you said: I will not listen. For I was counseling you as you were sinning

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Ἐπεὶ τοῦ Λιβά νου ἐμνημόνευσεν, ἐπέμεινε τῇ τροπῇ· κέδρους δὲ καλεῖ τοὺς ἄρχοντας, τοὺς ἐπὶ ῥώμῃ μέγα φρονοῦντας. Εἶτα προλέγει τῆς πόλεως τὴν ἐρημίαν, καὶ ὅτι θαυμάσονται οἱ ὁρῶντες, καὶ πυνθανόμενοι τῶν κα κῶν τὴν αἰτίαν, μαθήσονται τῶν οἰκητόρων τὴν πονηρίαν, καὶ ὅτι δι' ἐκείνους ἡ πόλις ταύτην παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ψῆφον ἐδέξατο. Παρακελεύεται δὲ μὴ θρηνεῖν τὸν τεθνηκότα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ζῶντα, ὡς μετ οικιζόμενον, καὶ πικρᾷ δουλείᾳ παραδιδόμενον. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος ἐπὶ Σεελὴμ, υἱὸν Ἰωσίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα, τὸν βασιλεύσαντα ἀντὶ Ἰωσίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὑτοῦ. Ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ τόπου τούτου. Οὐκ ἀναστρέψει οὐκέτι· ἐν τῷ 81.621 τόπῳ οὗ μετῴκισαν αὐτὸν, ἐκεῖ ἀποθανεῖ ται, καὶ τὴν γῆν ταύτην οὐκ ὄψεται ἔτι. Σεε λὴμ, οὐχ ὥς τινες ὑπέλαβον, τὸν Ἰωακεὶμ λέγει, ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἰωάχαζ. Οὗτος γὰρ ἐβασίλευσεν ἀντὶ Ἰω-σίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὑτοῦ· τοῦτον καὶ εἰς Αἴγυπτον δο ρυάλωτον ἐπήγαγεν ὁ Φαραὼ Νεχαώ· ὁ γὰρ Ἰωα κεὶμ ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατεσφάγη· καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ προφήτης διδάσκει, καὶ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἡ τετάρτη, καὶ ἡ τῶν Παραλειπομένων δευτέρα. ιγʹ. Ὡς ὁ οἰκοδομῶν τὸν οἶκον αὑτοῦ οὐ μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ τὰ ὑπερῷα αὑτοῦ οὐκ ἐν κρί ματι. Οὐ τὸ οἰκοδομεῖν αἰτιᾶται, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀδίκως οἰκοδομεῖν· διδάσκει γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. "Παρ' αὐτῷ ὁ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐργάζεται δωρεὰν, καὶ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ." ιδʹ. Ὠκοδόμησας σεαυτῷ οἶκον σύμμετρον. Τὸ σύμμετρον οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ μικροῦ τέθεικεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ἔχοντος μήκους τε καὶ εὔρους καὶ ὕψους· ὅτι γὰρ μέγεθος τῇ οἰκίᾳ μαρ τυρεῖ, δηλοῖ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα· "Ὑπερῷα εὐρύχωρα, διεσταλμένα θυρίσι, καὶ ἐξυλωμένα ἐν κέδρῳ, καὶ κεχρισμένα ἐν μίλτῳ." ιεʹ. Μὴ βασιλεύσεις, ὅτι σὺ ἁμιλλᾶσαι πρὸς τὴν κέδρον; Κέδρον τὸν Ἰωσίαν ἐκάλεσεν, ἐσχηκότα τῆς βασιλείας τὸ διαρκές· ἐπιμέμφεται δὲ τῷ Σεελὴμ, ὃς καὶ Ἰωάχαζ ὀνομάζεται, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ὕψος ἐμιμεῖτο τῆς κέδρου, τὸ δὲ ἄσηπτον αὐτῆς οὐκ ἐζήλωσεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ κατεφρόνησε· καὶ διδάσκων, ὡς ὁ Θεὸς οὐ τῇ οἰκοδομίᾳ ἐπιμέμ φεται, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ, ἐπήγαγεν· "Ὁ πατήρ σου μὴ οὐχὶ ἔφαγε, καὶ ἔπιε, καὶ ἐποίησε κρῖμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην, τότε ἀγαθὸν ἦν αὐτῷ;" ιϛʹ. Ἔκρινε κρίσιν ταπεινοῦ καὶ πένητος, καὶ καλῶς ἦν αὐτῷ τότε· μὴ οὐ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ εἰ δέναι με; λέγει Κύριος. Τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ τοῦτο ἔοικε λόγῳ· "Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι, Κύριε, Κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς." Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔφη· ὅτι τὸ μισεῖν τὴν ἀδι κίαν, καὶ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις ἐπαμύνειν, τεκμήριόν ἐστι τοῦ εἰδέναι με τὸν ταῦτα ποιοῦντα. ιζʹ. Σοῦ γὰρ ἰδοὺ οὐκ εἰσὶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὀρθοὶ, οὐδὲ ἡ καρδία καλή. Εἶτα κατηγορεῖ τῆς πλεονεξίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς μιαιφονίας· πρὸς δέ γε τούτοις καὶ τῆς συκοφαντίας, δι' ἧς καὶ τοὺς φόνους εἰργάζετο. 81.624 ιηʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος ἐπὶ Ἰωακεὶμ, υἱὸν Ἰωσίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα. Ἐνταῦθα κατὰ τάξινἡ προφητεία κεῖται· μετὰ γὰρ δὴ τὸν Ἰωάχαζ, Ἰωακεὶμ ἐβασίλευσεν, υἱὸς ὢν καὶ αὐτὸς Ἰωσίου τοῦ βασιλέως· προλέγει δὲ καὶ τούτου τὸν ὄλεθρον. "Οὐ μὴ κόψωνται αὐτὸν, Οἴμοι κύριε, καὶ, Οἴμοι ἀδελφέ· οὐδὲ μὴ κλαύσωνται αὐτὸν, Ὦ ἀδελφέ· Οἴμοι ἀδελφέ." ιθʹ. Ταφὴν οὐ ταφήσεται, σηψησθεὶς ὡς κοπρία ῥιφήσεται ἐπέκεινα τῆς πύλης Ἱερουσα λήμ. Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δῆλον, ὡς Σεελὴμ οὐκ ἔστιν Ἰωακείμ· περὶ ἐκείνου γὰρ ἔφη, ὅτι "Ταύτην τὴν γῆν οὐκ ὄψεται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ μετοικίᾳ τεθνήξεται." Περὶ δὲ τούτου, ὅτι "Τοῖς τεθνεῶσιν οἰωνοῖς παρα πλησίως ἔξω τῆς πύλης ῥιφήσεται." Σαφέστερον δὲ ταῦτα αἱ ἱστορίαι διδάσκουσιν. Εἶτα τῇ πόλει παρ εγγυᾷ, καὶ εἰς τὸν Λίβανον, καὶ τὴν Βασὰν (ὄρη δὲ ταῦτα), ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης δραμεῖν, καὶ βοῆσαι, καὶ τὰς οἰκείας ἀποδύρεσθαι συμφορὰς, ὅτι οὐδεμιᾶς παρὰ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπικου ρίας ἀπήλαυσεν· ἐραστὰς γὰρ αὐτὰ καλεῖ. καʹ. Ἐλάλησα πρὸς σὲ ἐν τῇ παραπτώσει σου, καὶ εἶπας· Οὐκ ἀκούσομαι. Ἁμαρτανούσῃ γὰρ συνεβούλευον