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having a foul-smelling mire, because he had foretold very grievous and painful things. But a certain servant, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, not taking into account the majesty of the kingdom, nor the prevailing impiety, nor the madness against the prophet, nor the misfortune of his servitude, convicts the king's unjust sentence, and accuses the lawless deed dared against the prophet, and points out the overseer of events, and frightens the king with just punishment. And the servant becomes counselor to the king, the eunuch to the man, the foreigner to the native, the Ethiopian to the Israelite, he from Ham to him who traced his lineage from Shem. And he persuades the king with pious words, and brings the prophet up from that bitter, gloomy, and foul-smelling prison, and supplies him with the necessary food for the entire time of the siege. And he receives from God the reward for his piety, the blessing; and when the city was captured, and the inhabitants of the palace were slaughtered, this man enjoys salvation according to the divine promise. It is clear therefore from what has been said, that wicked masters not only harm good servants, but also reap much benefit from them. And this, again, can also be learned from another source. For since that city was laid waste because of its great lawlessness, and famine consumed many, and war delivered many to death, and the rest as captives of war the king of the Chaldeans led away to Babylon; then having selected those who were of noble birth, and radiant with physical beauty, and flourishing in the prime of their age, he commanded them to live within the palace, fulfilling the royal service. But first he commanded them to cast off the hardship from the siege and the journey, with a splendid diet, and with foods and delicacies offered from the royal table. Here behold for me the nobility of those divine youths; for neither the capture of the city, nor the burning of the divine temple, nor the desolation of the holy and untouchable places, nor the divine vessels having become the spoils of the Barbarians, nor the destruction of the kings, nor the slaughter of the priests, nor dwelling far from the holy places, nor their stay in a foreign land, nor the lack of teachers, nor the impiety of the rulers, nor the necessity of servitude, nor the heavy yoke of the king, nor the immaturity of their age, not desire for life, not fear of death, nor anything else of such things persuaded them to deviate a little and transgress the letters of the law. But they beseech the one who had become their guardian, to supply them with food from seeds, abominating the royal feast, and detesting that varied 83.712 banquet; for they saw it was defiled by the invocation of idols. And they had such courage, and love and faith toward their ancestral God, that they promised their guardian, that the food from seeds would show them to be more radiant than those eating the royal foods. And they were not disappointed in their hope, but they reaped the fruits of their faith. For they were shown, as they had promised, to be both healthier and better-nourished than all those feasting splendidly together, and shining with greater beauty, and adorned with strength of body. And when, as time went on, it made them come to be men, and having given proof of their virtue, the captives of war were appointed to rule over the natives, then again another arena opens for them. For that boaster, and imitating his father in the arrogance of his madness, erects that very great image, made from material and gold, and he commands all to worship the image as a god; and for those not willing to worship, he set forth a punishment, that furnace, having increased it further by an insatiable supply of fuel. Then therefore, many, currying favor with the king, the

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δυσώδη βόρβορον ἔχοντα, ὅτι λυπηρὰ λίαν καὶ ἀλγεινὰ προηγόρευσεν. Ἀβδε μέλεχ δέ τις οἰκέτης Αἰθίοψ ἐκτομίας, οὐ τῆς βασι λείας τὸν ὄγκον εἰς νοῦν λαβὼν, οὐ τὴν κρατοῦσαν ἀσέβειαν, οὐ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ προφήτου μανίαν, οὐ τῆς δουλείας τὴν συμφορὰν, ἐλέγχει μὲν τοῦ βασιλέως τὴν ἄδικον ψῆφον, κατηγορεῖ δὲ τῆς κατὰ τοῦ προ φήτου τολμηθείσης παρανομίας, καὶ τὸν τῶν γινο μένων ἔφορον ὑποδείκνυσι, καὶ τῇ δικαίᾳ τιμω ρίᾳ τὸν βασιλέα δεδίττεται. Καὶ γίνεται σύμβου λος τοῦ βασιλέως ὁ οἰκέτης, τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὁ εὐνοῦ χος, τοῦ ἡμεδαποῦ ὁ ὀθνεῖος, τοῦ Ἰσραηλίτου ὁ Αἰ θίοψ, ὁ ἐκ τοῦ Χὰμ τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ Σὴμ τὸ γένος κατ άγοντος. Καὶ πείθει τοῖς εὐσεβέσι λόγοις τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ ἀνάγει τὸν προφήτην ἐκ τῆς πικρᾶς ἐκείνης καὶ ζοφώδους καὶ δυσώδους εἱρκτῆς, καὶ τὴν ἀναγκαίαν αὐτῷ χορηγεῖ τροφὴν πάντα τῆς πολιορκίας τὸν χρόνον. Καὶ λαμβάνει παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μισθὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας, τὴν εὐλογίαν· καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἁλούσης, καὶ τῶν οἰκούντων τὰ βασίλεια κατασφαγέντων, οὗτος ἀπολαύει τῆς σωτηρίας κατὰ τὴν θείαν ὑπό σχεσιν. Εὔδηλον τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων, ὡς οὐ λυμαί νονται μόνον τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς οἰκέταις οἱ πονηροὶ δεσπό ται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὴν ἐξ ἐκείνων ὠφέλειαν καρποῦν ται. Καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν καὶ ἑτέρωθεν ἔστι καταμαθεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀνάστατος ἡ πόλις ἐκείνη διὰ τὴν πολ λὴν παρανομίαν ἐγένετο, καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ὁ λιμὸς ἐδαπάνησε, πολλοὺς δὲ ὁ πόλεμος θανάτῳ παρ έπεμψε, τοὺς δ' ὑπολοίπους εἰς Βαβυλῶνα δορυαλώ τους ὁ τῶν Χαλδαίων ἀπήγαγε βασιλεύς· εἶτα τοὺς ἐξ εὐγενῶν πεφυκότας, καὶ ὥρᾳ σώματος λάμπον τας, καὶ ἡλικίας ἀκμῇ νεανιευομένους ἀποκρίνας, ἔνδον ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις διάγειν ἐκέλευσε, τὴν βασιλικὴν διακονίαν πληροῦντας. Πρότερον δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευσε τὴν ἐκ τῆς πολιορκίας καὶ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἀποδύσασθαι κακουχίαν, διαίτῃ λαμπρᾷ, καὶ σι τίοις καὶ ὄψοις ἐκ τῆς βασιλικῆς προσφερομέ νοις τραπέζης. Ἐνταῦθά μοι βλέπε τὴν τῶν θείων μειρακίων ἐκείνων εὐγένειαν· οὔτε γὰρ ἡ τῆς πό λεως ἅλωσις, οὐχ ὁ τοῦ θείου νεὼ ἐμπρησμὸς, οὐχ ἡ τῶν ἀδύτων καὶ ἀψαύστων ἐρημία, οὐ τὰ θεῖα σκεύη λάφυρα τῶν Βαρβάρων γεγενημένα, οὐχ ἡ τῶν βασιλέων ἀναίρεσις, οὐχ ἡ τῶν ἱερέων σφαγὴ, οὐχ ἡ πόῤῥωθεν τῶν ἁγίων οἴκησις, οὐχ ἡ ἐν τῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ διατριβὴ, οὐχ ἡ ἐρημία τῶν διδασκόν των, οὐχ ἡ τῶν κρατούντων ἀσέβεια, οὐχ ἡ τῆς δου λείας ἀνάγκη, οὐχ ὁ βαρὺς τοῦ βασιλέως ζυγὸς, οὐ τὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἄωρον, οὐ πόθος ζωῆς, οὐ φόβος τε λευτῆς, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν ἀνέπεισε μικρόν τι παραφεῖναι καὶ παραβῆναι τῶν τοῦ νόμου γραμμάτων. Ἀλλὰ παρακαλοῦσι μὲν τὸν κηδε μόνα σφῶν γεγενημένον, τὴν ἀπὸ σπερμάτων αὐτοῖς χορηγῆσαι τροφὴν, τὴν βασιλικὴν βδελυττό μενοι θοίνην, καὶ τὴν ποικίλην ἐκείνην μυσαττόμενοι 83.712 πανδαισίαν· ἑώρων γὰρ αὐτὴν τῇ τῶν εἰδώλων μιαι νομένην προσηγορίᾳ. Τοσοῦτον δὲ εἶχον θάρσος, καὶ περὶ τὸν πατρῷον Θεὸν ἀγάπην καὶ πίστιν, ὡς ὑπο σχέσθαι τῷ κηδεμόνι, τὴν ἀπὸ σπερμάτων τροφὴν λαμπροτέρους αὐτοὺς ἀποδείξειν τῶν βασιλικὰ σι τουμένων σιτία. Καὶ οὐκ ἐψεύσθησαν τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐδρέψαντο τοὺς καρπούς. Ἀπ εφάνθησαν γὰρ, ὡς ἐπηγγείλαντο, πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν λαμπρῶς ἑστιωμένων εὐπαθέστεροί τε καὶ εὐτραφέ στεροι, καὶ ὥρᾳ πλείονι λάμποντες, καὶ ῥώμῃ κο σμούμενοι σώματος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ, ὁ χρόνος ὁδεύων, καὶ εἰς ἄνδρας τελεῖν αὐτοὺς παρεσκεύασε, καὶ πεῖ ραν τῆς σφετέρας ἀρετῆς δεδωκότες, ἄρχειν ἔλαχον τῶν ἐγχωρίων οἱ δορυάλωτοι, τηνικαῦτα πάλιν ἕτε ρον αὐτοῖς ἀνοίγεται στάδιον. Ὁ γὰρ ἀλαζὼν ἐκεῖ νος, καὶ τῷ τύφῳ τῆς μανίας τὸν πατέρα μιμούμε νος, ἀνίστησι μὲν τὴν μεγίστην εἰκόνα ἐκείνην, τὴν ἐξ ὕλης καὶ χρυσοῦ κατεσκευασμένην, παρακελεύεται δὲ πάντας ὡς Θεὸν προσκυνεῖν τὴν εἰκόνα· τοῖς δὲ προσκυνεῖν οὐκ ἐθέλουσι προὔθηκε τιμωρίαν, τὴν κάμινον ἐκείνην, ἀπληστίᾳ τροφῆς ταύτην ἐπὶ πλεῖον αὐξήσας. Τότε τοίνυν πολλοὶ μὲν τῷ βασιλεῖ χαρι ζόμενοι, τὸ