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43

CHAPTER 24. Again he makes the prophecy through parables and symbols; and in a certain revelation he sees two baskets of figs placed before the divine temple. He also states the time of the prophecy; for after the captivity of Jeconiah, and the reign of Zedekiah, he says he saw these things. And the one basket had the best and early figs; but the other very bad ones, and completely useless for eating. Then, having received a divine question about these, he stated the difference of what was shown; and he is then taught the things signified by them. For the God of all likened to the early figs those who had already been taken captive, and He promises them a return from there, and His own care, and prosperity with piety. But to the ugly figs He likens not only those left in Judea, but also those who had fled to Egypt, and with them King Zedekiah, and the rulers, and He threatens them with the army of the Babylonians, and the grim things that arise from war: famine, and pestilence, and slaughter, and captivity; having thus prophesied these things, he sets forth the prophecy before them; for these things were said after Jeconiah; 81.636 but what he is about to say was in the time of Jehoiakim the king, who happened to be the father of Jeconiah. And he states the time clearly. CHAPTER 25. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah; that same year was the first for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. In this year Nebuchadnezzar, having campaigned against Jerusalem, enslaved some, and having imposed a tribute on others, he returned. He says, therefore, also what things were said. 3. In the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah (and until this day it is twenty-three years), the word of the Lord came to me, and I spoke to you, rising early, and you did not listen. He mentioned the number of years, showing the long-suffering of God, that He bore with their disobedience for so long. For I sent, He says, to you my servants, the prophets; I exhort you, having left the destructive path, to come to the other one which is the cause of life; and I promised you good things if you did this, and you did not listen; but you chose the worship of idols. And refuting the purpose of their disobedience, he added: "That you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt." For provoking me you dared to do those things; but indeed you yourselves long reaped the harm. For this reason, He says, with Nebuchadnezzar I will gather the kings who are under him, and against you, and against your neighbors, from whom you learned the worship of idols, and I will deliver both your [land] and theirs to complete desolation, and I will strip them of all gladness; for its own are "the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the sound of the millstone, and the light of the lamp." And he limits the desolation to a period of seventy years. For after the seventy years, He said He would exact penalties for impiety and lawlessness from the king of Babylon himself, and his subjects, and would confirm all of Jeremiah's prophecy. Immediately, therefore, 81.637 he is now commanded to take the cup of unmixed wine from the hand of the Lord, and to make all the nations drink, "To whom I, He says, will send you to them." 16. And they shall drink, and vomit, and be maddened before the face of the sword, which I will send among them. And the cup of unmixed wine He calls the just punishment; so also the divine David said, that "A cup

43

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κ∆ʹ. Πάλιν διὰ παραβολῶν καὶ συμβόλων ποιεῖται τὴν προφητείαν· καὶ ὁρᾷ κατά τινα ἀποκάλυψιν δύο καλάθους σύκων κειμένους πρὸ τοῦ θείου νεώ. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς προφητείας χρόνον· μετὰ γὰρ δὴ τὴν Ἰεχονίου μετανάστασιν, καὶ τὴν Σεδεκίου βασιλείαν, ταῦτα λέγει ἑωρακέναι. Καὶ τὸν μὲν ἕνα κάλαθον σύκων ἀρίστων τε καὶ πρωΐμων· τὸν δὲ ἕτερον λίαν αἰσχρῶν, καὶ παντελῶς ἀχρήστων εἰς ἐδωδήν. Εἶτα θείαν δεξάμενος περὶ τούτων ἐρώτησιν, εἶπε τὴν τῶν ὑποδειχθέντων διαφοράν· καὶ διδάσκεται λοιπὸν τὰ διὰ τούτων σημαινόμενα. Ἀπείκασε γὰρ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τοῖς μὲν πρωΐμοις σύκοις τοὺς ἤδη γεγενημέ νους δορυαλώτους, καὶ ὑπισχνεῖται αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐκεῖ θεν ἐπάνοδον, καὶ τὴν αὑτοῦ κηδεμονίαν, καὶ σὺν εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν εὐπραξίαν. Τοῖς δὲ δυσειδέσι σύκοις ἀφομοιοῖ οὐ μόνον τοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας ἐν τῇ Ἰου δαίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς εἰς Αἴγυπτον πεφευγότας, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς τὸν βασιλέα Σεδεκίαν, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας, καὶ ἀπειλεῖ αὐτοῖς τῶν Βαβυλωνίων τὴν στρατιὰν, καὶ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου φυόμενα σκυθρωπὰ, λιμὸν, καὶ λοιμὸν, καὶ σφαγὴν, καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν· οὕτω ταῦτα προθεσπίσας, τὴν πρὸ τούτων τίθησι προφη τείαν· ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ μετὰ τὸν Ἰεχονίαν ἐῤῥέθη· 81.636 ἃ δὲ μέλλει λέγειν, ἐπὶ Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃς τοῦ Ἰεχονίου πατὴρ ἐτύγχανεν ὤν. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸν χρόνον σαφῶς. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΕʹ. αʹ. Ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν, ἐπὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν τοῦ Ἰούδα, ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ τε τάρτῳ τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ, υἱοῦ Ἰωσίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα· αὐτὸς ἐνιαυτὸς πρῶτος τῷ Ναβουχοδονό σορ βασιλεῖ Βαβυλῶνος. Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει ἐπι στρατεύσας ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ κατὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τοὺς μὲν ἐξηνδραπόδισε, τοῖς δὲ φόρον ἐπιθεὶς ἀν έστρεψε. Λέγει τοίνυν καὶ τίνα τὰ εἰρημένα. γʹ. Ἐν τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει Ἰωσία, υἱοῦ Ἀμὼς βασιλέως Ἰούδα (καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης εἴκοσι καὶ τρία ἔτη), ἐγενήθη λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, καὶ ἐλάλησα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὀρθρί ζων, καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσατε. Τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐτῶν ἐμνημόνευσε, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ μακροθυμίαν δεικνὺς, ὅτι ἀπειθούντων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἠνέσχετο. Ἀπέστειλα γὰρ, φησὶ, πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς δούλους μου, τοὺς προ φήτας· παρεγγυῶ ὑμῖν, τὴν ὀλεθρίαν καταλιπόν τας ὁδὸν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἑτέραν ἐλθεῖν τὴν πρόξενον τῆς ζωῆς· καὶ ὑπισχνούμην ὑμῖν ἀγαθὰ τοῦτο δρῶσι, καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσατε· ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων θερα πείαν προείλεσθε. Καὶ διελέγχων τὸν τῆς ἀπειθείας σκοπὸν ἐπήγαγεν· "Ὅπως παροργίσητέ με ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν εἰς κακὸν ὑμῖν." Παροξύναντες γάρ με ἐτολμᾶτε ἐκεῖνα· ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν βλάβην ὑμεῖς πάλαι ἐκαρποῦσθε. Οὗ χάριν, φησὶ, σὺν τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τελοῦντας βασιλέας ἀθροίσω, καὶ καθ' ὑμῶν, καὶ κατὰ τῶν πλησιοχώρων ὑμῶν, παρ' ὧν τὴν τῶν εἰδώ λων ἐδιδάχθητε λατρείαν, καὶ ἐρημίᾳ παντελεῖ καὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν [γῆν] παραδώσω καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων, καὶ τῆς πάσης αὐτοὺς εὐφροσύνης γυμνώσω· ταύ της γὰρ ἴδια "φωνὴ νυμφίου, καὶ φωνὴ νύμφης· φωνὴ μύλου, καὶ φῶς λύχνου." Ἑβδομηκοντούτῃ δὲ χρόνῳ περιορίζει τὴν ἐρημίαν. Μετὰ γὰρ δὴ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη, αὐτόν τε τῆς Βαβυλῶνος τὸν βασι λέα, καὶ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐκείνου, δίκας τῆς ἀσεβείας καὶ παρανομίας ἀπαιτήσειν ἔφη, καὶ ἐμπεδώσειν ἅπασαν τοῦ Ἱερεμίου τὴν πρόῤῥησιν. Αὐτίκα τοί 81.637 νυν κελεύεται λαβεῖν τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ ἀκράτου ἐκ χειρὸς Κυρίου, καὶ ποτίσαι σύμπαντα τὰ ἔθνη, "Πὸς ἃ ἐγώ σε, φησὶ, ἐξαποστελῶ πρὸς αὐτά." ιϛ. Καὶ πίονται, καὶ ἐξεμοῦνται, καὶ ἐκμα νήσονται ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς μαχαίρας, ἧς ἐγὼ ἀποστελῶ ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν. Ποτήριον δὲ οἴ νου ἀκράτου τὴν δικαίαν τιμωρίαν καλεῖ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἔφη ∆αβὶδ, ὅτι "Ποτήριον