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until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came, and the saints possessed the kingdom.” He says, I beseeched to learn what that horn signifies, which acts with arrogance, utters boastful words, and humbles the company of the saints, until the Ancient of Days should use his just vote, and give the kingdom to the saints, and destroy his power. 23. “And he said to me,” he says, “thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall surpass all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall trample it, and break it in pieces.” The ancients learned these things through riddles; but we have learned by experience; for we see the outcome of the prophecy, the collection of taxes, the prevailing poverty of the majority, and we see the other things that happen every day. 24. “And its ten horns,” he says, “are ten kings that shall arise.” It is necessary to note that he did not say that they would arise one after another succeeding each other, but that they would arise at the same time; and that this is so, the following testifies. “For after them,” he says, “another king shall arise, who shall surpass all those before him in evil, and he shall humble three kings.” But if they were not reigning at the same time, but each one succeeding the one before him, how will this one humble three of those before him at the same time? It is clear, then, that he foretells that the ten will arise at the same time toward the end; and last, the Antichrist arising and taking possession of the kingdom, he says he will wage war on them, but will 81.1432 destroy three of them; not being content with victory over men; 25. “And he shall speak,” he says, “words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and,” as some of the copies have it, “shall humble them; and he shall think to change the times and the law.” For he will use, he says, such rage and madness as to hurl arrogant and blasphemous words against the most high God, and to inflict every kind of punishment on those who serve him favorably and partake of holiness; and he will suspect that he will completely destroy the prevailing piety, and will change its excellent constitution. For this he hinted at by saying: “He shall think to change the times and the law;” that is, the polity prevailing at that time. Then he adds: “And it shall be given into his hand.” That is, the providence of God will allow it; and showing the time of the unseasonableness of those evils; “For the poor shall not be forgotten to the end, and the patience of the poor shall not perish forever;” having said: “It shall be given into his hand,” he added: “Until a time, and times, and half a time.” This he taught us more clearly at the end of the prophecy. “For from the time,” he says, “of the changing of the continual sacrifice, and for the abomination of desolation to be given, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” A time, and times, and half a time, therefore, he says are three and a half years, during which that horn speaking great things will prevail. 26. “But the judgment,” he says, “shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” This the blessed Paul also taught us clearly. For having said those things which we have said before, he added also these: “Only he who now restrains, until he is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of his coming, according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in them that perish.” And what he says is this: The one who now restrains must be taken out of the way. For the prevailing error will be extinguished, and the deceit of idols will cease, and then the lawless one will be revealed. And this the Lord also said in the holy Gospels. “For the Gospel will be preached to all the ends of the earth as a testimony to them, and then the end will come.” Learning this from there, the blessed Paul teaches the Thessalonians, and through

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οὗ ἦλθεν ὁ Παλαιὸς τῶν ἡμερῶν, καὶ τὸ κρῖμα ἔδωκεν ἁγίοις Ὑψίστου, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἔφθασε, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν κατέσχον οἱ ἅγιοι." Ἱκέτευσα φησὶ, μαθεῖν, τίνα τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο αἰνίττεται, τύφῳ μὲν χρώμενον, ἀλαζονικοὺς δὲ λόγους προσφέρον, ταπεινοῦν δὲ τὴν τῶν ἁγίων συμμορίαν, ἕως ἂν ὁ Πα λαιὸς τῶν ἡμερῶν τῇ μὲν δικαίᾳ χρήσηται ψήφῳ, ἀποδῷ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ τὸ ἐκείνου καταλύσῃ κράτος. κγʹ. "Καὶ εἶπέ μοι, φησὶν, οὕτως· Τὸ θηρίον τὸ τέταρτον βασιλεία τετάρτη ἔσται ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἥτις ὑπερέξει πάσας τὰς βασιλείας, καὶ καταφάγεται πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, καὶ συμπατήσει αὐτὴν, καὶ κατα κόψει αὐτήν." Ταῦτα δὲ οἱ μὲν πάλαι δι' αἰνιγμά των ἐμάνθανον· ἡμεῖς δὲ τῇ πείρᾳ μεμαθήκαμεν· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ τῆς προῤῥήσεως τὴν ἔκβασιν, τῶν εἰσφορῶν τὴν εἴσπραξιν, τὴν κρατοῦσαν τῶν πλειό νων πενίαν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν γινόμενα ὁρῶμεν. κδʹ. "Καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα αὐτοῦ, φησὶ, δέκα βα σιλεῖς ἀναστήσονται." Ἐπισημήνασθαι δὲ χρὴ, ὅτι οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτοὺς ἀναστήσεσθαι ἕνα καθ' ἕνα ἀλλή λους διαδεχομένους, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀναστήσεσθαι· καὶ ὅτι ταῦθ' οὕτως ἔχει, τὰ ἐπαγόμενα μαρτυρεῖ. "Καὶ ὀπίσω γὰρ αὐτῶν, φησὶν, ἀναστήσεται βασι λεὺς ἕτερος, ὃς ὑπεροίσει κακοῖς πάντας τοὺς ἔμπρο σθεν, καὶ τρεῖς βασιλεῖς ταπεινώσει." Εἰ δὲ μὴ κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐβασίλευον, ἀλλὰ καθ' ἕνα ἕκαστος τὸν πρὸ αὐτοῦ διαδεχόμενος, πῶς οὗτος τρεῖς κατὰ ταὐτὸν τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ ταπεινώσει; Οὐκοῦν εὔδηλον, ὡς τοὺς δέκα πρὸς τῷ τέλει κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀνα στήσεσθαι προλέγει· ἔσχατον δὲ τὸν Ἀντίχριστον ἀνιστάμενον, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἀντιλαμβανόμενον, πολεμήσειν μὲν αὐτοῖς φησι, τρεῖς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν κα 81.1432 ταλύσειν· μὴ ἀρκούμενος δὲ τῇ κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων νίκῃ· κεʹ. "Καὶ λόγους, φησὶ, πρὸς τὸν Ὕψιστον λαλήσει, καὶ τοὺς ἁγίους Ὑψίστου παλαιώσει, καὶ," ὡς ἔνια τῶν ἀντιγράφων ἔχει, "ταπεινώσει· καὶ ὑπο νοήσει τοῦ ἀλλοιῶσαι καιροὺς καὶ νόμον." Τοσαύτῃ γὰρ, φησὶ, λύσσῃ χρήσεται καὶ μανίᾳ, ὡς ἀλαζονι κοὺς μὲν καὶ βλασφήμους λόγους ἀκοντίσαι κατὰ τοῦ ὑψίστου Θεοῦ, πᾶν δὲ εἶδος τιμωρίας τοῖς εὐνοϊκῶς αὐτῷ δουλεύουσι καὶ ἁγιωσύνης μετέχουσιν ἐπαγα γεῖν· ὑποτοπήσει δὲ, ὡς καὶ παντάπασι καταλύσει τὴν κρατοῦσαν εὐσέβειαν, καὶ τὴν ἀρίστην αὐτῆς πολιτείαν ἀμείψει. Τοῦτο γὰρ ᾐνίξατο εἰρηκώς· "Ὑπονοήσει τοῦ ἀλλοιῶσαι καιροὺς καὶ νόμον·" τουτέστι, τὴν κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν κατέχουσαν πο λιτείαν. Εἶτα ἐπάγει· "Καὶ δοθήσεται ἐν χειρὶ αὐ τοῦ." Τουτέστι, συγχωρήσει ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ προμήθεια· καὶ δεικνὺς τῆς τῶν κακῶν ἐκείνων ἀωρίας τὸν χρό νον· "Οὐ γὰρ εἰς τέλος ἐπιλησθήσεται ὁ πτωχὸς, καὶ ἡ ὑπομονὴ τῶν πενήτων οὐκ ἀπολεῖται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα·" εἰρηκώς· "∆οθήσεται ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ," ἐπήγαγεν· "Ἕως καιροῦ, καὶ καιρῶν, καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ." Τοῦτο δὲ σαφέστερον ἐν τῷ τέλει τῆς προ φητείας ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν. "Ἀπὸ καιροῦ γὰρ, φησὶ, παραλλάξεως τοῦ ἐνδελεχισμοῦ, καὶ δοθῆναι βδέλυ γμα ἐρημώσεως, ἡμέραι χίλιαι διακόσιαι ἐννενή κοντα." Καιρὸν οὖν, καὶ καιροὺς, καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, τρία ἥμισυ ἔτη λέγει, ἃ τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο τὸ λαλοῦν μεγάλα κρατήσει. κʹ. "Ἀλλὰ τὸ κριτήριον, φησὶν, ἐκάθισε, καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ μεταστήσουσι, τοῦ ἀφανίσαι καὶ τοῦ ἀπολέσαι ἕως τέλους." Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ μακά ριος ἡμᾶς σαφῶς ἐδίδαξε Παῦλος. Εἰρηκὼς γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ἃ προειρήκαμεν, προσέθηκε καὶ ταῦτα· "Μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται, καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀναλώσει τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὑτοῦ, καὶ κατ αργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας κατ' ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει, καὶ σημείοις, καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους, καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ τῆς ἀδικίας ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις." Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· ∆εῖ τὸ κατέχον ἄρτι ἐκ μέσου γενέσθαι. Σβεσθήσεται γὰρ ἡ κατέχουσα πλάνη, καὶ λήξει ἡ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐξαπάτη, καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ἔφη. "Κηρυχθήσεται γὰρ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον εἰς πάντα τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς, καὶ τότε ἥξει τὸ τέλος." Ἐκεῖθεν τοῦτο μαθὼν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος διδάσκει Θεσσαλονικέας, καὶ δι'