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nature, so that some of them slipped from their proper station, and the heaven is not pure because: it too is often covered by clouds. 15, 1718 I will declare, but you listen to me; what I have seen, I will declare to you, what wise men will say and did not hide their fathers. Therefore listen to a wise word, which the ancients received, son from father. And experience has delivered it to me as true. 15, 19 To them alone was the earth given, and no stranger came upon them. Those who delivered the wise word to us, he says, were also so pious, that they inhabited their own land undisturbed, with no enemy having come upon them. What then is the ancient word? He continues. 15, 21 The whole life of an impious man is in anxiety, and numbered years are given to a tyrant, and his fear is in his ears. When {indeed} he thinks he is already at peace, his destruction will come. Always, he says, the impious man is troubled, always in anxiety, his dominion is temporary, he is terrified, always having dread 141 as an inhabitant. And the unexpected destruction of his seeming prosperity will come upon him. 15, 2224 Let him not believe that he will be turned away from darkness; for he has already been consigned to the hands of iron, and has been assigned as food for vultures, and he knows in himself that he remains for a fall; and a dark day will whirl him about, and necessity and affliction will seize him. By darkness he means punishment. Therefore, let him not believe, he says, that he will remain unpunished, the impious man; for it is a divine command that he be killed by iron and, lying unburied, be consumed by vultures. And he said something, wishing to declare what is likely to happen, that the impious will by all means be under punishment. But he himself also, he says, is conscious of the fall that is about to be, and that he is about to be under darkness and turmoil and affliction and necessity. 15, 2426 like a general who is a front-line fighter falling, because he lifted his hands against the Lord; and against the Lord Almighty he was stiff-necked, and he ran against him with insolence on the thick back of his shield. The impious man, he says, as if raising his hands against God and stiffening his neck against him and as if running to engage him in battle, bearing his arrogance like some thick shield, is thrown down and falls like some commander of armies being wounded by God as an adversary. 15, 27 Because he covered his face with his fat and made folds upon his thighs. 142 Those who are well-fed from excessive luxury make their faces fat with lard and they make folds and fleshy growths upon their thighs, which indeed he calls a fold as constraining the thighs. Just as these men, he says, become such, so also the impious man, surrounded on all sides by prosperity and trusting in fleshly power, is lifted up to resistance against God and wars against his ordinances; wherefore also, as one fighting against God, he is cast down by him. 15, 2829 And may he lodge in desolate cities, and may he enter into uninhabited houses. And what he prepared, others will carry away; neither may he be enriched, nor may his possessions remain. He speaks of the complete desolation of the impious, that instead of prosperous cities and houses they inhabit desolation because of poverty. For the possessions of such a one, he says, shall not remain. 15, 2933 He shall not cast a shadow on the earth, nor shall he escape the darkness; the wind withers his shoot, and his blossom shall fall away. Let him not believe that he will endure. For his harvest will turn out empty for him; it shall be destroyed before its time, and his branch shall not be thick. And may he be gathered like an unripe grape before its time, and may he fall away like an olive blossom. Metaphorically, as in the case of a flourishing tree that is cut down before it grows old and withers while still in blossom, so he portrayed the impious man as not prospering until the end. And "he shall not cast 143 a shadow on the earth" instead of: may he be cut down. For trees, as long as they stand, also make a shadow, but when cut down, no longer. But the impious man, he says, will be withered like the shoot of a plant by the wind, and his prosperity will fall away like a blossom. And "his harvest will be destroyed before its time" means, he says, he will die at an untimely age. And "his branch shall not be thick" instead of: it will not remain flourishing

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φύσιν, ὡς καί τινας αὐτῶν ἀπολισθῆναι τῆς οἰκείας στάσεως, τὸ δὲ οὐρανὸς δὲ οὐ καθαρὸς ὅτι· καὶ αὐτὸς πολλάκις ὑπὸ νεφῶν συγκαλύπτεται. 15, 1718 ἀναγγελῶ, σὺ δὲ ἄκουέ μου· ἃ δὴ ἑώρακα ἀναγγελῶ σοι, ἃ σοφοὶ ἐροῦσι καὶ οὐκ ἔκρυψαν πατέρας αὐτῶν. σοφὸν τοιγαροῦν ἄκουε λόγον, ὃν οἱ παλαιότεροι παῖς παρὰ πατρὸς διεδέξαντο. ἀληθῆ δὲ εἶναι τοῦτον καὶ ἡ πεῖρά μοι παρέδωκεν. 15, 19 αὐτοῖς δὲ μόνοις ἐδόθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ οὐκ ἐπῆλθεν ἀλλογενὴς ἐπ' αὐτούς. οἱ δὲ τὸν σοφόν, φησίν, παραδεδωκότες ἡμῖν λόγον οὕτω καὶ θεοσεβεῖς ἐτύγχανον, ὡς ἀταράχως τὴν ἑαυτῶν οἰκῆσαι γῆν οὐδενὸς αὐτοῖς πολεμίου ἐπεληλυθότος. τίς οὖν ὁ λόγος ὁ παλαιός, ἐπάγει. 15, 21 πᾶς ὁ βίος ἀσεβοῦς ἐν φροντίδι, ἔτη δὲ ἀριθμητὰ δεδόμενα δυνάστῃ, ὁ δὲ φόβος αὐτοῦ ἐν ὠσὶν αὐτοῦ. ὅταν {δὲ} δοκῇ ἤδη εἰρηνεύειν, ἥξει αὐτοῦ ἡ καταστροφή. ἀεί, φησίν, τεταραγμένος ἐστὶν ὁ ἀσεβής, ἀεὶ ἐν φροντίδι, πρόσκαιρος αὐτοῦ ἡ δυναστεία, περίφοβός ἐστιν ἔνοικον ἀεὶ τὸ 141 δέος ἔχων. ἥξει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἀδόκητος ἡ καταστροφὴ τῆς δοκούσης εὐημερίας. 15, 2224 μὴ πιστευέτω ἀποστραφῆναι ἀπὸ σκότους· ἐντέταλται γὰρ ἤδη εἰς χεῖρας σιδήρου, κατατέτακται δὲ εἰς σῖτα γυψίν, οἶδεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὅτι μένει εἰς πτῶμα· ἡμέρα δὲ σκοτεινὴ αὐτὸν στροβήσει, ἀνάγκη δὲ καὶ θλῖψις αὐτὸν καθέξει. σκότος λέγει τὴν τιμωρίαν. μὴ πιστευέτω οὖν, φησίν, ὅτι ἀτιμώρητος μένει, ὁ ἀσεβής· θεῖον γάρ ἐστιν ἔνταλμα ὑπὸ σιδήρου αὐτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι καὶ ὑπὸ γυπῶν δαπανηθῆναι ἄταφον κείμενον. εἶπε δέ τι ὡς εἰκὸς συμβησόμενον δηλῶσαι βουλόμενος, ὅτι πάντως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ὑπὸ τιμωρίαν ἔσονται. ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτός, φησίν, συνεπίσταται ἑαυτῷ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἔσεσθαι πτῶσιν καὶ ὅτι μέλλει ὑπὸ σκότος εἶναι καὶ κλόνησιν καὶ θλῖψιν καὶ ἀνάγκην. 15, 2426 ὥσπερ στρατηγὸς πρωτοστάτης πίπτων, ὅτι ἦρκε χεῖρας ἐναντίον τοῦ κυρίου· ἔναντι δὲ κυρίου παντοκράτορος ἐτραχηλίασεν, ἔδραμε δὲ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὕβρει ἐν πάχει νώτου ἀσπίδος αὐτοῦ. ὁ ἀσεβής, φησίν, ὡς χεῖρας ἀνταίρων τῷ θεῷ καὶ τὸν αὐχένα διαίρων κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ ὥσπερ τρέχων εἰς τὸ συμβαλεῖν αὐτῷ πρὸς παράταξιν οἷά τινα παχεῖαν ἀσπίδα τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν ἐπιφερόμενος καταβάλλεται καὶ πίπτει οἷά τις στρατοπέδων ἄρχων ὡς ὑπὸ ἀντιπάλου τοῦ θεοῦ τιτρωσκόμενος. 15, 27 ὅτι ἐκάλυψε πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν στέατι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐποίησε περιστόμιον ἐπὶ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ. 142 οἱ εὐτραφεῖς ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν τρυφῆς πιμελῇ παχύνονται τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ διπλώματα καὶ περισαρκώσεις ποιοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν μηρῶν, ἃ δὴ περιστόμιον καλεῖ ὡς συνέχοντα τοὺς μηρούς. ὥσπερ οὖν, φησίν, οὗτοι τοιοῦτοι γίνονται, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἀσεβὴς ὑπὸ τῆς εὐημερίας πανταχόθεν περιρρεόμενος καὶ σαρκικῇ δυνάμει πεποιθὼς εἰς ἀντίστασιν ἐπαίρεται τὴν κατὰ θεοῦ καὶ πολεμεῖ τοῖς αὐτοῦ διατάγμασιν· διὸ καὶ ὡς ἀντιμαχόμενος τῷ θεῷ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καταβάλλεται. 15, 2829 αὐλισθείη δὲ πόλεις ἐρήμους, εἰσέλθοι δὲ εἰς οἴκους ἀοικήτους. ἃ δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἡτοίμασεν, ἄλλοι ἀποίσονται· οὔτε μὴ πλουτισθῇ οὔτε μὴ μείνῃ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα. τὴν παντελῆ ἐρημίαν τῶν ἀσεβῶν λέγει ὡς ἀντὶ πόλεων εὐθηνουμένων καὶ οἴκων ἐρημίαν αὐτοὺς οἰκεῖν ὑπὸ πενίας. οὐ γὰρ μὴ μείνῃ τοῦ τοιούτου, φησίν, τὰ ὑπάρχοντα. 15, 2933 οὐ μὴ βάλῃ ἐπὶ γῆς σκιὰν οὐδὲ μὴ ἐκφύγῃ τὸ σκότος· τὸν βλαστὸν αὐτοῦ μαραίνει ἄνεμος, ἐκπέσοι δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἄνθος. μὴ πιστευέτω, ὅτι ὑπομενεῖ. κενὰ γὰρ ἀποβήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ τομὴ αὐτοῦ· πρὸ ὥρας φθαρήσεται, καὶ ὁ ῥάδαμνος αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ πυκάσῃ. τρυγηθείη δὲ ὡς ὄμφαξ πρὸ ὥρας, ἐκπέσοι δὲ ὡς ἄνθος ἐλαίας. μεταφορικῶς, ὡς ἐπὶ δένδρου εὐθαλοῦς καὶ πρὶν ἢ γηράσῃ ἐκτεμνομένου καὶ ἔτι ὄντος ἐν τῇ ἀνθήσει μαραινομένου, οὕτω διέγραψε τὸν ἀσεβῆ οὐ μέχρι τέλους εὐημεροῦντα. τὸ δὲ οὐ μὴ βάλῃ 143 ἐπὶ γῆς σκιὰν ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἐκκοπείη. τὰ γὰρ δένδρα, ἐν ὅσῳ μὲν ἵστανται, καὶ σκιὰν ποιοῦσιν, ἀποτμηθέντα δὲ οὐκέτι. ἀλλὰ μαρανθήσεται, φησίν, ὁ ἀσεβὴς ὡς φυτοῦ βλαστὸς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου, ἡ δὲ εὐημερία αὐτοῦ ὡς ἄνθος ἐκπεσεῖται. τὸ δὲ ἡ τομὴ αὐτοῦ πρὸ ὥρας φθαρήσεται ἐν ἀώρῳ ἡλικίᾳ τελευτήσει φησίν. τὸ δὲ ὁ ῥάδαμνος αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ πυκάσῃ ἀντὶ τοῦ· οὐ μενεῖ κομῶν