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God; Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Let us imitate the philosophy of the barbarians; they repented upon uncertainties; for the decree did not have this, that If you turn back, and repent, I will spare the city, but simply: Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. What then did they do? Who knows if God will repent of the evil which he said he would do to us? Who knows? They do not know the end of the matter, and they do not neglect repentance; they do not understand the manner of God's love for humankind, and they change upon uncertainties; for they neither had other Ninevites to see who had repented and were saved, nor had they read prophets, nor heard patriarchs, nor enjoyed counsel, nor partaken of exhortation, nor had they persuaded themselves that they would in any case propitiate God by repentance; for the threat did not have this, but they were in doubt and disputed about this, and yet they repented with all exactness. What then will be our excuse, when they, not being confident about the outcome, are seen to have displayed so great a change, but you, who are confident about the love of God for humankind and have often received many pledges of his care, and have heard prophets and apostles, and been instructed by the events themselves, do not even strive to reach the same measure of virtue as they? Great therefore is the virtue of these men, but much greater is the love of God for humankind, and this can be seen from the very greatness of the threat. For because of this he did not add to the decree, that If you repent, I will spare you, so that by casting an indefinite vote, he might increase their fear, and by increasing their fear, he might drive them more quickly to repentance. And the prophet is ashamed, foreseeing the future, and guessing that what he has said will remain unfulfilled; but God is not ashamed, but seeks one thing only, the salvation of men, and he corrects his own servant. For when he entered the ship, he immediately stirred up the sea, so that you may learn that where sin is, there is a storm, where disobedience is, there is a surge; and the city was shaken on account of the sins of the Ninevites, and the ship was shaken on account of the disobedience of the prophet. They therefore cast Jonah into the sea, and the ship stood still; let us then cast sin into the deep, and 49.78 the city will surely be spared. So flight is of no benefit to us; for flight did not benefit him; on the contrary, it even harmed him. For he fled the land, but he did not flee the wrath of God; he fled the land, and brought the storm into the sea; and not only did he himself get no good from his flight, but he also cast those who received him into extreme danger; and when he was sitting on the ship and sailing, and sailors and pilots were present, the entire construction of the ship was in peril for its life; but when, cast into the deep, and having put away his sin through punishment, he was borne down into a ship without end, I mean the belly of the whale, he enjoyed great security; so that you may learn that just as a ship does not benefit one living in sin, so the sea does not destroy, nor do beasts corrupt, one who has put away sin. The waves therefore took him, and did not drown him; the whale took him, and did not kill him; but both the animal and the element returned the deposit safe to God, and through all these things the prophet learned to be philanthropic and gentle, and not to be more foolish than the sailors, nor wilder than the waves, nor more savage than the beasts. For the sailors did not give him up immediately at first, but after much compulsion, and the sea and the beast guarded him with great benevolence, God ordering all these things. He returned therefore, he preached, he threatened, he persuaded, he saved, he frightened, he corrected, he established from one and the first proclamation. For he did not need many days nor continuous counsel, but by saying those bare words he led all to repentance. For this reason not immediately him

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Θεόν· Ποῦ πορευθῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου ποῦ φύγω; Μιμησώμεθα τὴν τῶν βαρβάρων φιλοσοφίαν· ἐκεῖνοι ἐπ' ἀδήλοις μετενόησαν· οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν ἡ ἀπόφασις τοῦτο, ὅτι Ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψητε, καὶ μετανοήσητε, στήσω τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς· Ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι, καὶ Νινευῒ καταστραφήσεται. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι; Τίς οἶδεν εἰ μετανοήσει ὁ Θεὸς ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας ἧς ἐλάλησε ποιῆσαι ἡμῖν; Τίς οἶδεν; Οὐκ ἴσασι τὸ τέλος τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ οὐκ ἀμελοῦσι τῆς μετανοίας· οὐκ ἐπίστανται τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας τὸν τρόπον, καὶ ἐπ' ἀδήλοις μεταβάλλονται· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶχον πρὸς ἑτέρους Νινευΐτας ἰδεῖν μετανοήσαντας καὶ σωθέντας, οὐδὲ ἀνέγνωσαν προφήτας, οὐδὲ ἤκουσαν πατριαρχῶν, οὐκ ἀπήλαυσαν συμβουλῆς, οὐ μετέσχον παραινέσεως, οὐδὲ ἦσαν πεπεικότες ἑαυτοὺς, ὅτι πάντως ἐξιλεώσονται τὸν Θεὸν τῇ μετανοίᾳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶχε τοῦτο ἡ ἀπειλή, ἀλλ' ἀμφέβαλλον καὶ ἠμφισβήτουν περὶ τούτου, καὶ ὅμως μετενόησαν μετ' ἀκριβείας ἁπάσης. Τίς οὖν ἔσται λόγος ἡμῖν, ὅταν οἱ μὲν περὶ τοῦ τέλους θαῤῥεῖν οὐκ ἔχοντες, τοσαύτην ἐπιδεδειγμένοι φαίνωνται τὴν μεταβολὴν, σὺ δὲ ὁ θαῤῥεῖν ἔχων περὶ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πολλὰ πολλάκις ἐνέχυρα λαβὼν αὐτοῦ τῆς κηδεμονίας. καὶ προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων ἀκούσας, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν παιδευθεὶς τῶν πραγμάτων, μηδὲ πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐκείνοις μέτρον φθάσαι φιλονεικήσῃς; Μεγάλη μὲν οὖν καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων ἀρετὴ, πολλῷ δὲ μείζων ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπία, καὶ ταύτην ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς ἀπειλῆς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο οὐ προσέθηκε τῇ ἀποφάσει, ὅτι Ἐὰν δὲ μετανοήσητε. φείσομαι, ἵνα ἀδιόριστον ἐμβαλὼν τὴν ψῆφον, αὐξήσῃ τὸν φόβον, καὶ τὸν φόβον αὐξήσας, ταχύτερον πρὸς τὴν μετάνοιαν συνωθήσῃ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν προφήτης αἰσχύνεται, τὸ μέλλον προειδὼς, καὶ στοχαζόμενος ὡς ἀτέλεστα μενεῖ τὰ εἰρημένα· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐκ αἰσχύνεται, ἀλλ' ἓν μόνον ζητεῖ, τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν, καὶ τὸν οἰκέτην τὸν ἑαυτοῦ διορθοῦται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον εἰσῆλθεν ἐκεῖνος, διήγειρεν εὐθέως τὴν θάλατταν, ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι ὅπου ἁμαρτία, ἐκεῖ χειμὼν, ὅπου παρακοὴ, ἐκεῖ κλυδώνιον· καὶ ἐσαλεύετο μὲν ἡ πόλις διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῶν Νινευϊτῶν, ἐσαλεύετο δὲ τὸ πλοῖον διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν τοῦ προφήτου. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν τὸν Ἰωνᾶν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος ἔῤῥιψαν, καὶ ἔστη τὸ πλοῖον· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καταποντίσωμεν, καὶ 49.78 στήσεται πάντως ἡ πόλις. Ὥστε τῆς φυγῆς οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἡμῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον ὠφέλησεν ἡ φυγή· τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν καὶ κατέβλαψεν. Ἔφυγε γοῦν τὴν γῆν, καὶ οὐκ ἔφυγε τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἔφυγε τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα εἰσήγαγεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν· καὶ οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς οὐδὲν ἀπώνατο τῆς φυγῆς ἀγαθὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὑποδεξαμένους αὐτὸν εἰς ἔσχατον ἐνέβαλε κίνδυνον· καὶ ὅτε μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ πλοίου καθήμενος ἔπλει, καὶ ναῦται καὶ κυβερνῆται παρῆσαν, καὶ ἅπασα τῆς νηὸς ἡ κατασκευὴ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐκινδύνευσεν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς τὸ πέλαγος καταποντισθεὶς, καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀποθέμενος, εἰς τὸ ἀτερμάτιστον κατηνέχθη πλοῖον, τὴν γαστέρα φημὶ τοῦ κήτους, πολλῆς ἀπήλαυσε τῆς ἀδείας· ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι ὥσπερ τὸν ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶντα οὐδὲ πλοῖον ὠφελεῖ, οὕτω τὸν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀποθέμενον οὐδὲ θάλαττα ἀπόλλυσιν, οὐδὲ θηρία διαφθείρει. Ἔλαβε γοῦν αὐτὸν τὰ κύματα, καὶ οὐκ ἀπέπνιξεν· ἔλαβε τὸ κῆτος, καὶ οὐκ ἀνεῖλεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ζῶον, καὶ τὸ στοιχεῖον σώαν τῷ Θεῷ τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἀπέδωκε, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἐμάνθανε φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἥμερος εἶναι ὁ προφήτης, καὶ μήτε ναυτῶν ἀνοήτων, μήτε κυμάτων ἀγρίων, μήτε θηρίων ὠμότερος εἶναι. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ναῦται οὐκ ἐκ πρώτης εὐθέως, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλὴν αὐτὸν ἀνάγκην προὔδωκαν, καὶ ἡ θάλαττα δὲ καὶ τὸ θηρίον μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐνοίας ἐφύλαξαν, τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντα ταῦτα οἰκονομοῦντος. Ἐπανῆλθε τοίνυν, ἐκήρυξεν, ἠπείλησεν, ἔπεισεν, ἔσωσεν, ἐφόβησε, διώρθωσεν, ἔστησεν ἐξ ἑνὸς καὶ πρώτου κηρύγματος. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδεήθη πολλῶν ἡμερῶν οὐδὲ συνεχοῦς συμβουλῆς, ἀλλὰ τὰ ψιλὰ ἐκεῖνα εἰπὼν ῥήματα πάντας εἰς μετάνοιαν ἤγαγε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν οὐκ εὐθέως