43

Yet you said above, that I will not listen to you; and again you say: Read these words. And again you give an occasion for salvation, saying: If you thoroughly correct your ways and your practices. What has my beloved done, an abomination in my house? What reason does this matter have? What occasion could there be for saying this here? Is not the way of man his own? What pains did he not bear? what sweats, what struggles did he not endure? What a slip? He wishes to pro 64.868 voke Me. Why has the beloved committed an outrage against me? for if I did not love her, for what reason did she commit an outrage? That is, Why did she who was so loved by me serve idols in the temple of my worship? Do prayers and holy meats remove your wickedness from you? That is, does sacrificing to me cleanse your idolatry, you who serves idols? or will you escape these things? that is, by the worship through words. Do prayers and holy meats take away? And yet they were given for this, that they might take away involuntary bodily sins, but not such as these. *The Lord called your name a beautiful olive tree, shady in appearance, for the sound of its cutting. For I made you ever-flourishing, like an olive tree. And the phrase, At the sound of its cutting, that is, not having uncircumcised fruit, so that he might say, unclean. But I adorned you on every side, both with the laws, and with worship, and with the supervision of the priests, and with my own providence. A fire was kindled upon it. But you have drawn upon yourself, he says, the punishment. *And its branches were made worthless. That is, it remained fruitless. Hearing these things, the prophet, falling into greater despondency, besought God on behalf of the people. Therefore, having said above, And you, do not pray for this people; and having brought on their reproof from the words, What has my beloved done, an abomination in my house? and what follows; since he still persisted on behalf of the people, God, wishing to show the wickedness of the multitude, and how they sin without repentance, both revealed to the prophet the plot against him, and clearly showed their wickedness to him who disbelieved. By experience, perhaps. At the season or at the harvest-time, he represented its wealth. The beauty from the tree, the perpetuity of life, the ever-flourishing. At the sound of its cutting a fire was kindled upon it, great is the affliction upon you. That is, you will not pay the penalty for a short time, but the greatest punishment for your sins. And the Lord who planted you has spoken evil against you, for the wickedness of the house of Israel. The greatest wickedness is when such a one punishes, the one who shows such great providence, he himself is the punisher; for he would not have cast off so suddenly her whom he loved, unless he knew that there was great wickedness; he who so loved her when she had accomplished nothing, and imparted such great care, would not have thus departed immediately. So that this is rightly a proof of the greatest wickedness. *Lord, make it known to me, and I shall know. Then I saw their practices. That is, they were hidden from me before you made them known to me. And what were these things? When they were sinning against me, you did not see; when they committed such outrages you did not see, but you said: The way of man is not 64.869 his own. Why do you not also say now: The way of man is not his own, but you call them their practices? But I, like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, did not know; against me they devised an evil device. Some take these things to refer to Christ, but we for the time being hold to the history, bringing no charge against them. For let the Church be built up from all sides. For a second time now he said to the prophet: Do not pray for them, and he did not say it simply, but also added the reasons. And yet even if he had spoken simply, he ought to have been heard; but now he also states the reasons. Do you not see what they themselves are doing? since, therefore, he did not persuade him by words, he persuaded him by deeds, and showed the outrage against him. You are philosophizing, he says, in matters where I am outraged. See the gentleness, and humility. For since it was likely that they, taking courage from his prayers, would become worse, but he did not endure it

43

μὴν ἄνω εἶπες, ὅτι Οὐκ εἰσακούσομαί σου· καὶ πάλιν λέγεις· Ἀνάγνωθι τοὺς λόγους τούτους. Καὶ πάλιν δίδως πρόφασιν σωτηρίας, λέγων· Ἐὰν διορθοῦντες διορθώσητε τὰς ὁδοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ὑμῶν. Τί ἡ ἠγαπημένη ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου ἐποίησε βδέλυγμα; Ποῖον ἔχει τὸ πρᾶγμα λόγον; Τίνα ἂν ἔχοι καιρὸν ἐνταῦθα τὸ λέγειν; Οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ; Ποίους πόνους οὐκ ἤνεγκε; τίνας ἱδρῶτας, ποίους ἀγῶνας οὐχ ὑπέμεινε; Ποῖος ὄλισθος; Ἐμὲ πα 64.868 ροξύναι βούλεται. ∆ιατί εἰς ἐμὲ ἐνύβρισεν ἡ πεφιλημένη; εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐφίλουν αὐτὴν τίνος ἕνεκεν ὕβρισεν; Τουτέστι, ∆ιατί ἡ ὑπ' ἐμοῦ τοσοῦτον ἀγαπηθεῖσα εἰς τὸν ναὸν τῆς ἐμῆς προσκυνήσεως τοῖς εἰδώλοις ἐλάτρευεν; Μὴ εὐχαὶ καὶ κρέα ἅγια ἀφαιροῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ τὴν κακίαν σου; Τουτέστι, Μὴ τὸ θύειν ἐμοὶ καθαίρει σου τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν, λατρεύουσαν τοῖς εἰδώλοις; ἢ τούτους διαφεύξῃ; τουτέστι τῇ διὰ τῶν λόγων λατρείᾳ. Μὴ εὐχαὶ καὶ κρέα ἅγια ἀφελοῦσιν; Καὶ μὴν εἰς τοῦτο ἐδόθησαν, ἵνα ἀφέλωσι τὰς σωματικὰς τὰς ἀκουσίους, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τὰς τοιαύτας. *Ἐλαίαν ὡραίαν, εὔσκιον τῷ εἴδει ἐκάλεσε Κύριος τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς φωνὴν περιτομῆς αὐτῆς. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἀεὶ θάλλουσάν σε ἐποίησα, καθάπερ ἐλαίαν. Τὸ δὲ, Εἰς φωνὴν διατομῆς αὐτῆς, τουτέστι μὴ ἔχουσαν καρπὸν ἀπερίτμητον, ἵνα εἴπῃ ἀκάθαρτον. Ἀλλὰ πανταχόθεν σε ἐκόσμησα, καὶ τοῖς νομίμοις, καὶ τῇ λατρείᾳ, καὶ τῇ τῶν ἱερέων ἐπιστασίᾳ, καὶ τῇ παρ' ἐμαυτοῦ προνοίᾳ. Ἀνήφθη πῦρ ἐπ' αὐτήν. Ἀλλ' ἐπεσπάσω, φησὶ, τὴν τιμωρίαν. *Καὶ ἠχρειώθησαν οἱ κλάδοι αὐτῆς. Τουτέστιν ἄκαρπος ἔμεινε. Ταῦτα ἀκούων ὁ προφήτης εἰς πλείονα ἀθυμίαν καταπίπτων ἱκέτευε τὸν Θεὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ. Εἰρηκὼς οὖν ὑπεράνω, Καὶ σὺ μὴ προσεύχου ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου· καὶ ἐπαγαγὼν τούτων τὸν ἔλεγχον ἀπὸ τοῦ, Τί ἡ ἠγαπημένη ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου ἐποίησε βδέλυγμα; καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ἐπειδὴ ἔτι ἐπέμενεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ, βουλόμενος ὁ Θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῦ πλήθους τὴν κακίαν, καὶ ὡς ἀμεταμέλητα πταίουσι, καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτοῦ βουλὴν ἐμήνυσε τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ ἀπιστοῦντι σαφῶς ἔδειξεν αὐτῶν τὴν κακίαν. Πείρᾳ ἴσ. τῇ ὥρᾳ ἢ τῇ ὀπώρᾳ, τὸν πλοῦτον παρέστησεν. Τὸ κάλλος ἀπὸ τοῦ δένδρου, τὸ διηνεκὲς τῆς ζωῆς, τὸ ἀειθαλές. Εἰς φωνὴν περιτομῆς αὐτῆς ἀνήφθη πῦρ ἐπ' αὐτὴν, μεγάλη ἡ θλῖψις ἐπὶ σέ. Τουτέστιν, Οὐδὲ πρὸς βραχὺ δώσεις δίκην, ἀλλὰ τιμωρίαν μεγίστην διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου. Καὶ Κύριος ὁ καταφυτεύσας σε, ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ σὲ κακὰ, ἀντὶ τῆς κακίας οἴκου Ἰσραήλ. Ἡ μεγίστη κακία, ὅταν ὁ τοιοῦτος κολάζῃ, ὁ τοσαύτην ἐπιδεικνύμενος πρόνοιαν, αὐτὸς ὁ τιμωρούμενος ᾖ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἣν ἐφίλει ἀθρόον οὕτως ἔῤῥιπτεν, εἰ μὴ πολλὴν ᾔδει κακίαν οὖσαν· ὁ μηδὲν κατορθωκυῖαν οὕτω φιλήσας, καὶ ἐπιμελείας μεταδοὺς τοσαύτης, οὕτως οὐκ ἂν ἀπέστη εὐθέως. Ὥστε εἰκότως μεγίστης τοῦτο κακίας τεκμήριον. *Κύριε, γνώρισόν μοι, καὶ γνώσομαι. Τότε εἶδον τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν. Τουτέστιν ἐλάνθανόν με πρὸ τοῦ σε γνωρίσαι μοι. Τίνα δὲ ἦν ταῦτα; Ὅτε εἰς ἐμὲ ἡμάρτανον, οὐχ ἑώρας· ὅτε τοιαῦτα ὕβριζον οὐκ εἶδες, ἀλλ' ἔλεγες· Οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου 64.869 ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ. ∆ιατί μὴ λέγεις καὶ νῦν· Οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν καλεῖς; Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον ἀγόμενον τοῦ θύεσθαι, οὐκ ἔγνων· ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐλογίσαντο λογισμὸν πονηρόν. Τινὲς ταῦτα εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκλαμβάνουσιν, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς τέως τῆς ἱστορίας ἐχώμεθα μηδὲν ἐγκαλοῦντες ἐκείνοις. Πανταχόθεν γὰρ ἡ Ἐκκλησία οἰκοδομείσθω. ∆εύτερον ἤδη τῷ προφήτῃ εἶπε· Μὴ εὔχου ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς αἰτίας προσέθηκε. Καί τοι εἰ καὶ ἁπλῶς ἦν εἰρηκὼς, ἔδει ἀκουσθῆναι· νῦν δὲ καὶ τὰς αἰτίας λέγει. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς τί αὐτοὶ ποιοῦσιν; ἐπεὶ οὖν διὰ τῶν λόγων οὐκ ἔπειθεν αὐτὸν, δι' ἔργων ἔπεισε, καὶ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ὕβριν ἔδειξεν. Φιλοσοφεῖς σὺ, φησὶν, ἐν οἷς ὑβρίζομαι ἐγώ. Ὅρα ἐπιείκειαν, καὶ ταπεινότητα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐκείνους ταῖς εὐχαῖς ταῖς τούτου θαῤῥοῦντας γενέσθαι χείρους, οὗτος δὲ οὐκ ἠνείχετο