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you will be clothed with evils. And make a shelter for them of mourning for all time; in noonday darkness they flee, they were amazed; Be not vexed. "In noonday darkness they flee" properly refers to those who are unwilling to see the true light but prefer the darkness of ignorance to the light; but one might also say that those who are in calamities see darkness at noon. But Theodotion interpreted "they were amazed, be not vexed" more clearly; "Do not uncover one who is migrating," he says, and Symmachus: "Do not drive away one who is displaced." For since the Moabites, fleeing, took refuge at the Arnon, he commands her to receive and not to drive them away, for you will be benefited by them. For what follows teaches this; |122 b| 4The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with you, they will be a shelter for you from the face of the pursuer, because your alliance has been taken away. You are desolate, he says, of helpers; but if you receive them, they will be your allies. Then he foretells also the destruction of the Assyrian; And the ruler who tramples the land will perish. And teaching both where he perished and for what reason he perished, he adds: 5And a throne will be established with mercy, and one will sit upon it with truth in the tent of David, judging and seeking judgment and hastening to righteousness. He says these things concerning Hezekiah; for concerning him both the fourth book of Kings and the second book of Chronicles say that "he walked in the way of the Lord as David his father; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left." Then he bemoans the arrogance of Moab; 6We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud; they have exalted his arrogance, and his pride and his wrath. By arrogance he means that against God, and by pride and wrath that against the people; for they insulted them and bore a grudge against them. Then he adds: Not so is your divination, 7not so. Other things, he says, the oracles of the demons foretold to you, but you have seen the opposite of them. But I think that the prophet also reminds them of the prophecy of Balaam, that the one rising from Israel "will crush the leaders of Moab." Then again he goes through his lamentations, and mocks his weakness and precariousness; for he calls his vulnerability a wall of earthenware. And he foretells the devastation of the land and the barrenness of what is sown and the desolation of what is planted, and he commands the Assyrians who swallow up the nations to trample the vines, and setting certain limits for them, he commands them to join battle as far as Jazer. Then he narrates the wandering of the fugitives; for some, he says, wander in the desert, and others have even crossed the Red Sea. And he mentions the same things two and three times, the vine of Sibmah and the trees of Heshbon and Elealeh, showing the truth of the prophecy. 9Because upon your harvest and your vintage a remnant of those who trample has fallen. For you will no longer sing the vintage songs, but others, trampling you, will sing the song of war; and you will not enjoy the gladness of the vineyards. 11Therefore my belly shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts like a wall which you have dedicated. But Symmachus has it thus: "My belly will sound like a psaltery for Moab and my inward parts for the earthenware wall." This prophecy, he says, having become an instrument of the all-holy Spirit, I brought to Moab like a certain sound of a harp, and to the wall which you built for the sake of security. 12And it shall be when you are turned that Moab will weary himself on the hills and will enter her man-made temples to pray, and they will not be able to deliver her. Through the events themselves you will learn the weakness of idols; for after the many hecatombs and chiliombs you will not obtain their alliance. 13This is the word which the Lord spoke concerning Moab, when he also spoke. These things, says the prophet, I did not foretell, but the God of all himself. 14And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years of a hireling the glory of Moab will be dishonored with all its great wealth, and it will be left small and not honored. The decree is humane; for he limited the punishment to three years and

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περιβληθήσῃ κακοῖς. Καὶ ποιεῖτε σκέπην αὐτοῖς πέν θους διὰ παντός· ἐν μεσημβρινῇ σκοτίᾳ φεύγουσιν, ἐξέστησαν· Μὴ ἀχθῇς. Ἐν μεσημβρινῇ σκοτίᾳ φεύγουσι κυρίως μὲν οἱ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἐθέλοντες ἀλλὰ τὸ σκότος τῆς ἀγνοίας τοῦ φωτὸς προτιμῶντες· εἴποι δ' ἄν τις καὶ τοὺς ἐν συμφοραῖς ὄντας σκότος ὁρᾶν ἐν μεση μβρίᾳ. Ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων τό· ἐξέστησαν μὴ ἀχθῇς, σαφέστερον ἡρμήνευσεν· «Μεταναστεύοντά» φησι «μὴ ἀποκαλύψῃς», ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· «Ἀνάστατον μὴ ἀπο διώξῃς.» Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ Μωαβῖται φεύγοντες πρὸς τὴν Ἀρνὼν κατέφευγον, παρακελεύεται αὐτῇ ὑποδέξασθαι καὶ μὴ ἀποδιῶξαι τούτους, ὠφεληθήσῃ γὰρ ἐκ τούτων. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὰ ἑξῆς διδάσκει· |122 b| 4Παροικήσουσί σοι οἱ φυγάδες Μωάβ, ἔσονται σκέπη ὑμῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου διώκοντος, ὅτι ἤρθη ἡ συμμαχία σου. Ἔρημος εἶ φησι τῶν βοηθούντων· ἐὰν δὲ τούτους ὑποδέξῃ, ἔσονταί σοι ἐπίκουροι. Εἶτα προλέγει καὶ τοῦ Ἀσσυρίου τὸν ὄλεθρον· Καὶ ὁ ἄρχων ἀπολεῖται ὁ καταπατῶν τὴν γῆν. Καὶ διδάσκων καὶ ποῦ ἀπώλετο καὶ τίνος χάριν ἀπώλετο, ἐπιφέρει· 5Καὶ διορθωθήσεται μετ' ἐλέους θρόνος, καὶ καθιεῖται ἐπ' αὐτοῦ μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐν σκηνῇ ∆αυὶδ κρίνων καὶ ἐκζητῶν κρίσιν καὶ σπεύδων ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην. Περὶ τοῦ Ἐζεκίου ταῦτά φησιν· περὶ τούτου γὰρ καὶ ἡ τετάρτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν καὶ ἡ δευτέρα τῶν Παραλειπομένων φησὶν ὅτι «ἐπορεύθη ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ κυρίου ὡς ∆αυὶδ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ· οὐκ ἐξέκλινε δεξιὰ ἢ ἀριστερά.» Εἶτα τοῦ Μωὰβ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν ἐκτραγῳδεῖ· 6Ἠκούσαμεν τὴν ὕβριν Μωάβ, ὑβριστής ἐστι σφόδρα· τὴν ὑπερηφα νείαν αὐτοῦ ἐξῆραν καὶ ἡ ὕβρις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μῆνις αὐτοῦ. Ὑπερηφανείαν μὲν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λέγει, ὕβριν δὲ καὶ μῆνιν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ λαοῦ· τούτους γὰρ ἐξύβριζον καὶ τούτοις ἐμνησικάκουν. Εἶτα ἐπιφέρει· Οὐχ οὕτως ἡ μαντεία σου, 7οὐχ οὕτως. Ἕτερά φησι προὔλεγόν σοι οἱ τῶν δαιμόνων χρησμοί, τἀναντία δὲ ἐκείνων ἑώρακας. Ἡγοῦμαι δὲ τὸν προφήτην καὶ τῆς τοῦ Βαλαὰμ αὐτοὺς ὑπομιμνῄσκειν προρρήσεως, ὡς ὁ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ ἀνίσχων «θραύσει ἀρχηγοὺς Μωάβ». Εἶτα πάλιν τούς τε θρήνους αὐτοῦ διέξεισι, καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ σφαλερὸν κωμῳδεῖ· τοῖχον γὰρ ὀστράκινον τὸ εὐάλωτον αὐτοῦ καλεῖ. Προλέγει δὲ καὶ τῆς γῆς τὴν δῄωσιν καὶ τῆς σπειρομένης τὴν ἀκαρπίαν καὶ τῆς πεφυτευ μένης τὴν ἐρημίαν, καὶ παρακελεύεται τοῖς τὰ ἔθνη κατα πίνουσιν Ἀσσυρίοις καταπατῆσαι τὰς ἀμπέλους, καὶ οἷόν τινας ὅρους αὐτοῖς τιθεὶς παρεγγυᾷ ἕως Ἰαζὴρ συνάψαι τὸν πόλεμον. Εἶτα τῶν φυγάδων διηγεῖται τὸν πλάνον· οἱ μὲν γάρ φησιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἀλῶνται, οἱ δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν διέβησαν Θάλασσαν. Ἀναμιμνήσκει δὲ καὶ δὶς καὶ τρὶς τῶν αὐτῶν, τῆς ἀμπέλου Σαβαμὰ καὶ τῶν δένδρων Ἐσεβὼν καὶ Ἐλεηλά, δεικνὺς τὴν τῆς προφητείας ἀλήθειαν. 9Ὅτι ἐπὶ τῷ θερισμῷ καὶ τῷ τρυγητῷ σου κατάλεγμα καταπατούν των ἔπεσεν. Οὐκέτι γὰρ σὺ τὰ ἐπιλήνια ᾄσματα ἐρεῖς, ἀλλ' ἄλλοι σε καταπατοῦντες τὸ πολεμικὸν ᾄσονται μέλος· τῆς δὲ τῶν ἀμπελώνων εὐφροσύνης οὐκ ἀπολαύσεις. 11∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ κοιλία μου ἐπὶ Μωὰβ ὡς κιθάρα ἠχήσει καὶ τὰ ἐντός μου ὡς τεῖχος ὃ ἐνεκαίνισας. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως· «Ἡ κοιλία μου τῷ Μωὰβ ὡς ψαλτήριον ἠχήσει καὶ τὰ ἐντός μου τῷ τείχει τῷ ὀστρακίνῳ.» Ταύτην φησὶ τὴν προφητείαν ὄργανον τοῦ παναγίου γενόμενος πνεύματος τῷ Μωὰβ οἷόν τινα ἠχὴν κιθάρας προσήνεγκα καὶ τῷ τείχει ὃ ἀσφαλείας εἵνεκα κατεσκεύασας. 12Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ τραπῆναί σε ὅτι κοπιάσει Μωὰβ ἐν τοῖς βουνοῖς καὶ εἰσε λεύσεται εἰς τὰ χειροποίητα αὐτῆς ὥστε προσεύξασθαι, καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνωνται ἐξελέσθαι αὐτήν. ∆ι' αὐτῶν μαθήσῃ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων ἀσθένειαν· μετὰ γὰρ τὰς πολλὰς ἑκατόμβας καὶ χιλιόμβας τῆς παρ' αὐτῶν συμμαχίας οὐ τεύξῃ. 13Τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐλάλησεν ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ Μωὰβ ὁπότε καὶ ἐλάλησεν. Ταῦτά φησιν ὁ προφήτης οὐκ ἐγὼ προεῖπον ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεός. 14Καὶ νῦν ἐλάλησε κύριος λέγων· Ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσι μισθωτοῦ ἀτιμασθήσεται ἡ δόξα Μωὰβ ἐν παντὶ τῷ πλούτῳ τῷ πολλῷ καὶ καταλειφθήσεται ὀλιγοστὴ καὶ οὐκ ἔντιμος. Φιλάνθρωπος ἡ ψῆφος· τρισὶ γὰρ ἔτεσι περιώρισε τὴν τιμωρίαν καὶ