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he calls human nature, which God the Word assumed; for the conception did not receive the rain of marriage. Then he teaches the power of the Lord's coming |125 a|; And the handmade things of Egypt will be shaken before his face. The events bear witness to the prophecy; for their polytheistic error has been extinguished, and he who sits upon the light cloud is worshiped by them. And their heart will be conquered within them. There is a defeat that is also better than victory. The prophetic word also exhorted the nations to accept this in the things said before; for it said, "Know, O nations, and be conquered." And here, therefore, it teaches that those who formerly contradicted and openly said, 'I do not know the Lord,' were conquered and cry out, 'I know the Lord.' 2Egyptians will be raised up against Egyptians, and a man will fight his brother and a man his neighbor; city against city and nome against nome. 3And the spirit of the Egyptians will be troubled within them, and I will scatter their counsel. This the Lord also foretold in the holy gospels; "For I did not come to bring peace to the world but a sword, to divide a man from his neighbor, a son from his father, a daughter from her mother, a daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law." For having divided the concord of impiety through the very nurslings of impiety, he proclaimed the truth; and having scattered the harmful concord, he introduced beneficial harmony and set the pious against the impious, the law of faith against the law of unbelief. And they will consult their gods and their idols and those who speak from the earth and the ventriloquists. But the unbelieving, he says, will go about to the oracles and will use necromancy and will call upon chest-prophets, seeking some devices against piety. But I will also soften their disobedience in another way; 4For I will deliver Egypt, he says, into the hands of harsh masters, and harsh kings will rule over them. Through these things he alluded to the Roman empire. For the prophecy of Daniel also called this iron; for similarly to that, he says, it 'will crush and subdue all things'. And fittingly he joined this prophecy to the prediction concerning the Lord. For while Augustus was reigning, the virginal birth occurred. And Augustus, having completely destroyed the kingdom of the Egyptians, handed it over to the prefects of the empire. Thus says the Lord Sabaoth; 5and the Egyptians will drink the water by the sea, but the river will fail and be dried up. The prophet said before in the things previously mentioned: "For the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." This water, he says, will also change Egypt and this alone will be drinkable for them; but what they drank before, that is, the streams of polytheistic error, will be undrinkable. For he calls the error a river, and its many-branching paths canals. For he added this; 6And the rivers and the canals of the river will fail, and every gathering of water and every marsh of reed and papyrus will be dried up. 7And the green marsh-grass, all that is around the river and everything sown by the river will be dried up by the wind's blight. Very fittingly he compares impiety to reed and papyrus and green fodder. For error is fruitless, and he has called the things sown through it 'wind-blighted'. For the worship of idols brings to men no share of good things, but an abundance of evils. 8And the fishermen will groan, and all who cast a hook into the river will groan, and those who cast drag-nets and casting-nets will mourn. He calls the priests of the idols casting-netters and fishermen and hook-fishers. For when the error ceased, these men groaned and lamented, not having the resources for their wealth. For deceiving the multitudes and, as it were, catching them in a drag-net, they transferred their wealth to themselves. 9And shame will seize those who work combed flax and those who work the

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ἀνθρωπείαν καλεῖ φύσιν, ἣν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἀνέλαβεν· γα μικ ὸν γὰρ ὑετὸν ἡ σύλληψις οὐκ ἐδέξατο. Εἶτα διδάσκει τὴν τῆς δεσποτικῆς παρουσίας |125 a| ἐνέργειαν· Καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ χειροποίητα Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. Μαρτυρεῖ τῇ προρρήσει τὰ πράγματα· ἔσβεσται γὰρ αὐτῶν ἡ πολύθεος πλάνη, καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς νεφέλης τῆς κούφης καθήμενος ὑπ' αὐτῶν προσκυνεῖται. Καὶ ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ἡττηθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἔστιν ἧττα καὶ νίκης ἀμείνων. Ταύτην καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἰρημένοις καταδέξασθαι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὁ προφητικὸς παρηγγύησε λόγος· «Γνῶτε» γὰρ ἔφη «ἔθνη καὶ ἡττᾶσθε.» Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν διδάσκει ὅτι οἱ πάλαι ἀντιλέγοντες καὶ ἀντικρὺ λέγοντες· Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν κύριον, ἡττήθησαν καὶ βοῶσιν· Οἶδα τὸν κύριον. 2Ἐπεγερθήσονται Αἰγύπτιοι ἐπ' Αἰγυπτίους, καὶ πολε μήσει ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄνθρωπος τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ· πόλις ἐπὶ πόλιν καὶ νομὸς ἐπὶ νομόν. 3Καὶ ταραχθήσεται τὸ πνεῦμα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῶν διασκεδάσω. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς προηγόρευσεν εὐαγγελίοις· «Ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν, διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον ἀπὸ τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ, υἱὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, θυγατέρα ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῆς, νύμφην ἀπὸ τῆς πενθερᾶς αὐτῆς.» Τὴν γὰρ τῆς ἀσεβείας ὁμόνοιαν διελὼν δι' αὐτῶν τῶν τῆς ἀσεβείας τροφίμων ἐκήρυξε τὴν ἀλήθειαν· καὶ τὴν βλαβερὰν διασκεδάσας ὁμόνοιαν τὴν ὀνησιφόρον ὁμοφροσύνην εἰσήγαγε καὶ ἀντέταξε τοῖς δυσσεβέσι τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς, τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἀπιστίας τὸν νόμον τῆς πίστεως. Καὶ ἐπερωτήσουσι τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς φωνοῦντας καὶ τοὺς ἐγγαστριμύθους. Οἱ δὲ ἀπιστοῦντές φησι τὰ μαντεῖα περινοστήσουσι καὶ νεκυίαις χρήσονται καὶ στερνομάντεις καλοῦσι, μηχανάς τινας κατὰ τῆς εὐσε βείας ἐπιζητοῦντες. Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως αὐτῶν καταμαλάξω τὸ ἀπειθές· 4Παραδώσω γάρ φησιν Αἴγυπτον εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων κυρίων σκληρῶν, καὶ βασιλεῖς σκληροὶ κυριεύσουσιν αὐτῶν. Τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν βασιλείαν διὰ τούτων ᾐνίξατο. Ταύτην γὰρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ προφητεία σίδηρον ἀπεκάλεσεν· ἐκείνῳ γάρ φησι παραπλησίως «λεπτυνεῖ πάντα καὶ δαμάσει». Ἁρμοδίως δὲ καὶ ταύτην τὴν προφητείαν τῇ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου συνῆψε προρρήσει. Αὐγούστου γὰρ βασιλεύοντος ὁ παρ θενικὸς ἐγένετο τόκος. Αὔγουστος δὲ τὴν Αἰγυπτίων βασι λείαν παντελῶς καταλύσας ὑπάρχοις βασιλείας παρέδωκεν. Τάδε λέγει κύριος Σαβαώθ· 5καὶ πίονται Αἰγύπτιοι ὕδωρ τὸ παραθαλάσσιον, ὁ δὲ ποταμὸς ἐκλείψει καὶ ξηραν θήσεται. Προεῖπεν ὁ προφήτης ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένοις· «Ὅτι πληρωθήσεται ἡ σύμπασα γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν κύριον, ὡς ὕδωρ πολὺ κατακαλύψει θαλάσσας.» Τοῦτό φησι τὸ ὕδωρ μεταβαλεῖ καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς ἔσται πότιμον μόνον· ὃ δὲ πρότερον ἔπινον, τουτέστι τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης τὰ νάματα, ἄποτον ἔσται. Ποταμὸν γὰρ καλεῖ τὴν πλάνην, διώρυγας δὲ τὰς πολυσχεδεῖς αὐτῆς ἀτραπούς. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπήγαγεν· 6Καὶ ἐκλείψουσιν οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ αἱ διώρυγες τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ ξηρανθήσεται πᾶσα συναγωγὴ ὕδατος καὶ πᾶν ἕλος καλάμου καὶ παπύρου. 7Καὶ τὸ ἄχι τὸ χλωρὸν πᾶν τὸ κύκλῳ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ πᾶν τὸ σπειρό μενον διὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ξηρανθήσεται ἐν ἀνεμοφθορίᾳ. Μάλα εἰκότως τὴν ἀσέβειαν καλάμῳ καὶ παπύρῳ καὶ χιλῷ ἀπει κάζει χλωρῷ. Ἄκαρπος γὰρ ἡ πλάνη, ἀνεμόφθορα δὲ καὶ τὰ διὰ ταύτης σπειρόμενα κέκληκεν. Ἡ γὰρ τῶν εἰδώλων προσκύνησις οὐδεμίαν μὲν ἀγαθῶν μετουσίαν, κακῶν δὲ φορὰν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσφέρει. 8Καὶ στενάξουσιν οἱ ἁλιεῖς καὶ στενάξουσι πάντες οἱ βάλλοντες ἄγκιστρον εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν, καὶ οἱ βάλλοντες σαγήνας καὶ ἀμφιβολεῖς πενθήσουσιν. Ἀμφιβολεῖς καὶ ἁλιέας καὶ ἀγκιστροθηρευτὰς τοὺς τῶν εἰδώλων ἱερέας καλεῖ. Οὗτοι γὰρ παυσαμένης τῆς πλάνης ἔστενον καὶ ὠλοφύροντο τὰς τῆς εὐπορίας οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀφορμάς. Ἐξαπατῶντες γὰρ τὰ πλήθη καὶ οἱονεὶ σαγηνεύοντες, εἰς ἑαυτοὺς τὸν ἐκείνων μετέφερον πλο ῦτον . 9Καὶ αἰσχύνη λήψεται τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὸ λίνον τὸ σχιστὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν