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foreknowing the impiety until the end, by death he puts an end to the growth of the impiety. And immediately upon hearing of the things interpreted by Daniel, Belshazzar ordered him to receive the proposed prize, the purple, and the golden necklace; then having decorated him in this manner, using the voice of a herald he taught the subjects that he had declared him the third ruler of the kingdom. But none of these things annulled the divine decision. 30. "For in that very night," it says, "Belshazzar was slain, the king of the Chaldeans." And here he called him a Chaldean, in order to show finally the end of the Chaldean kingdom. Truly "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," according to the divine Apostle; a fearful thing, "to despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering," but not to worship and serve to the best of one's ability. For who, having become hard, as the prophet says, has endured before the Lord? For this reason the blessed David also exhorts: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation." And interpreting this the blessed Paul advises: "Take care, 81.1393 brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, so long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." For often sin knows how to beguile us with pleasures, just as it did that foolish king through drunkenness, so as to harden our heart and render it obstinate, so that it readily admits the disease of impiety. Let us flee, therefore, I beseech you, the deceit of the devil, and let us prefer steadfast virtue to sin which employs a brief pleasure, so that we may be shown to be strangers to the fellowship of Belshazzar, and may enjoy the company of Daniel, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father be glory, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. VOLUME 2. Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach his son, Belshazzar his brother; Darius the Mede, according to Josephus, son of Astyages, and Cyrus' maternal uncle; and Cyrus a Persian; the Greeks call him Cyaxares. 31. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being sixty-two years old." The kingdom of the Chaldeans received its end according to the divine prophecy; and the rule of the world has passed to the Medes. And so Daniel also prophesied, and interpreted Phares; "For your kingdom has been divided," he says, "and given to the Medes and Persians." But after Darius the Mede had reigned for a short time, Cyrus, having received the rule, transfers it to the Persians. But Josephus the historian says that Darius was the son of Astyages, and Cyrus' maternal uncle, and that the Greek writers have given his name differently; for they have called him Cyaxares. And he says that having campaigned against Babylon at the same time, both Darius and Cyrus, his nephew, took the city by using a siege, and they killed Belshazzar on that night in which he saw those syllables being written on the wall. But the things written by the blessed Daniel do not permit one to believe so; 81.1396 but it teaches us at the end of the narrative concerning Darius, that Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian, and it shows the reign of Darius as one, and that of Cyrus as another. But if there had been one campaign for them against Babylon, then the reign would also have been one; but as it is, he says this one is one, and that one is another. And at the end of the prophecy Daniel says thus: "And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus the Persian received the kingdom." Therefore it was not Darius and Cyrus reigning at the same time who killed Belshazzar; but Darius son of Ahasuerus reigned first, and Cyrus reigned later. Nor with the

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προγινώσκων τὴν μέχρι τέλους ἀσέβειαν, τῷ θανάτῳ καταλύει τῆς ἀσεβείας τὴν αὔξησιν. Εὐθὺς δὲ ἀκούσας Βαλτάσαρ τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ ἑρ μηνευθέντων, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν τὸ προκείμενον ἆθλον λαβεῖν, τὴν πορφύραν, καὶ τὸν μανιάκην τὸν χρυ σοῦν· εἶτα τοῦτον αὐτὸν διακοσμήσας τὸν τρόπον, τῇ τοῦ κήρυκος χρώμενος φωνῇ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐδίδα σκεν, ὡς τρίτον αὐτὸν τῆς βασιλείας ἀπέφηνεν ἄρχοντα. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων τὴν θείαν ἀπόφασιν ἔλυσεν. λʹ. "Ἐν αὐτῇ γὰρ, φησὶ, τῇ νυκτὶ ἀνῃρέθη Βαλ τάσαρ, ὁ βασιλεὺς Χαλδαίων." Χαλδαῖον δὲ αὐτὸν ἐνταῦθα προσηγόρευσεν, ἵνα δείξῃ λοιπὸν τῆς Χαλ δαϊκῆς βασιλείας τὸ τέλος. Ἀληθῶς "φοβερὸν τὸ ἐμ πεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας Θεοῦ ζῶντος," κατὰ τὸν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον· φοβερὸν, "τοῦ πλούτου τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἀνοχῆς, καὶ μακροθυμίας κατα φρονεῖν," ἀλλὰ μὴ προσκυνεῖν καὶ θεραπεύειν εἰς δύναμιν. Τίς γὰρ σκληρὸς γενόμενος, ᾗ φησιν ὁ προφήτης, ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὑπέμεινε; Τούτου χάριν καὶ ὁ μακάριος παρεγγυᾷ ∆αβίδ· "Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παροργισμῷ." Καὶ τοῦτο ἑρμη νεύων ὁ μακάριος παραινεῖ Παῦλος· "Βλέπετε, 81.1393 ἀδελφοὶ, μήποτε ἔσται ἔν τινι ὑμῶν καρδία πονηρὰ ἀπιστίας, ἐν τῷ ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ζῶντος· ἀλλὰ παρακαλεῖτε ἑαυτοὺς καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, μέχρις ἂν οὗ τὸ σήμερον καλεῖται, ἵνα μὴ σκληρυνθῇ ἐξ ὑμῶν τις ἀπάτῃ τῆς ἁμαρτίας." Οἶδε γὰρ πολλάκις ἡ ἁμαρτία ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ἡμᾶς καταθέλγουσα, καθάπερ ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἀνόητον βασιλέα διὰ τῆς μέθης, οὕτω σκληρύνειν ἡμῶν τὴν καρδίαν καὶ ἀντίτυπον ἀπο φαίνειν, ὡς καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τὴν νόσον ῥᾳδίως εἰσ δέχεσθαι. Φύγωμεν τοίνυν, παρακαλῶ, τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν ἐξαπάτην, καὶ τὴν ἐπίμονον ἀρετὴν τῆς ἡδονῇ βραχείᾳ κεχρημένης προτιμήσωμεν ἁμαρτίας, ἵνα τῆς μὲν τοῦ Βαλτάσαρ κοινωνίας ἀποφανθῶμεν ἀλ λότριοι, τῆς δὲ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ συμμορίας ἀπολαύσωμεν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πα τρὶ δόξα, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. ΤΟΜΟΣ ʹ. Ναβουχοδονόσορ, Εὐιλὰδ Μαροδὰχ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, Βαλτάσαρ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ· ∆αρεῖος Μῆδος, κατὰ Ἰώσηππον, υἱὸς τοῦ Ἀστυάγους, τοῦ δὲ Κύρου θεῖος πρὸς μητρός· ὁ δὲ Κῦρος Πέρσης· Ἕλληνες Κυαξάρην αὐτὸν προσκαλοῦσιν. λαʹ. Καὶ ∆αρεῖος ὁ Μῆδος παρέλαβε τὴν βασιλείαν ὢν ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα δύο." Ἡ μὲν τῶν Χαλδαίων βασιλεία τὸ τέλος ἔλαβε κατὰ τὴν θείαν πρόῤῥησιν· εἰς δὲ Μή δους μεταβέβηκεν ἡ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἡγεμονία. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ προηγόρευσε, καὶ τὸ Φαρές ἡρμή νευσε· "∆ιῃρέθη γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡ βασιλεία σου, καὶ ἐδόθη Μήδοις καὶ Πέρσαις." Ἀλλὰ χρόνον ὀλίγον ∆αρείου τοῦ Μήδου βασιλεύσαντος, Κῦρος, παραλα βὼν τὴν ἀρχὴν, εἰς Πέρσας αὐτὴν μετατίθησιν. Ἰώ σηππος δὲ ὁ ἱστοριογράφος τὸν ∆αρεῖον μὲν υἱὸν τοῦ Ἀστυάγους εἶναί φησι, τοῦ δὲ Κύρου θεῖον πρὸς μητρὸς, τοὺς δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συγγραφέας ἑτέρως αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα τεθεικέναι· Κυαξάρην γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνοι προσηγορεύκασι. Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐπιστρατεύσαντες τῇ Βαβυλῶνι ∆αρεῖός τε καὶ Κῦρος, ὁ τούτου ἀδελφιδοῦς, ἐκράτησαν τῆς πόλεως πολιορ κίᾳ χρησάμενοι, καὶ τὸν Βαλτάσαρ ἀνεῖλον κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν νύκτα, καθ' ἣν ἐν τῷ τοίχῳ τὰς συλλαβὰς ἐκείνας γραφομένας ἐθεάσατο. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐᾷ οὕτω πι 81.1396 στεύειν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆ανιὴλ συγγεγραμ μένα· διδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ τέλει τοῦ κατὰ τὸν ∆αρεῖον διηγήματος, ὅτι κατηύθυνε ∆ανιὴλ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ ∆αρείου καὶ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ Κύρου τοῦ Πέρσου, καὶ δείκνυσιν ἑτέραν μὲν τοῦ ∆α ρείου βασιλείαν, ἑτέραν δὲ τοῦ Κύρου. Εἰ δὲ μία αὐτοῖς κατὰ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος ἐγεγόνει στρατεία, μία ἄρα ἦν καὶ ἡ βασιλεία· νῦν δὲ, ἄλλην μὲν ταύτην, ἄλλην δ' ἐκείνην εἶναί φησι. Καὶ ἐν τῷ τέλει δὲ τῆς προφητείας οὕτω φησὶν ὁ ∆ανιήλ· "Καὶ ὁ βασι λεὺς Ἀστυάγης προσετέθη πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὑτοῦ, καὶ παρέλαβε τὴν βασιλείαν Κῦρος ὁ Πέρσης." Οὐ τοί νυν ∆αρεῖος καὶ Κῦρος κατὰ ταὐτὸν βασιλεύσαντες, τὸν Βαλτάσαρ ἀνεῖλον· ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ∆αρεῖος ὁ Ἀσσουήρου πρότερον, ὕστερον δὲ Κῦρος ἐβασίλευσεν. Οὐδὲ ταῖς