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In the end, with some of all having been killed, and others having been led away as captives of the spear, Nebuzaradan appointed Gedaliah as ruler over the poor who were left behind there; 81.985 but the city was completely desolate, or rather, all of Judea, with its walls torn down, its houses burned, and most of its inhabitants given over to slaughter and captivity. Therefore he says: "And now they have planted her in the wilderness." But not even so, he says, will she remain, but even the remnants will suffer destruction. 14. For, he says, fire will come out from her chosen rods, and will consume her. For Ishmael, being of royal lineage, and having envied Gedaliah, used a feigned friendship toward him, he plots against him in secret, and he kills most of those with him; but fearing what had happened, he flees; and all the rest, fearing the wrath of the Chaldeans, took refuge in Egypt with Jeremiah the prophet; and this he indicated by saying, "And fire will come out from her chosen rods and will consume her. And there will not be in her a rod of strength of a tribe, a scepter for ruling; it is for a parable of lamentations, and it will be for a lamentation." And it is clear that he speaks of the things before the return; for at that time she was lamented by her own people, and to foreigners she became a proverb of lamentation; for people are accustomed to say concerning those who fall into the greatest misfortunes: May I not suffer what so-and-so has suffered. This, therefore, he called a "parable of lamentation;" and he added that there is not in her a rod of strength, or a tribe, or a scepter. For she had no ruler, or any system capable of making a tribe before the return; for after the return she again received her former splendor. Having thus prophesied these things, he places a short narrative in the middle of the prophecy, and immediately joins the prophecy to the narrative.

CHAPTER 20. 1-4. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the

month, men from the elders of the house of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before my face. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and you shall say to them, Thus says Adonai the Lord: If you come to inquire of me, as I live I will not answer you, says the Lord. If you will judge them with a judgment, son of man, if you will judge them. Very fitting to these words is that which was said by our God and Savior: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of God; but he who does the will of my Father, who 81.988 is in heaven, will enter into the kingdom of God." For these men also, living with wickedness, and not wishing to be healed by the medicines of repentance, attempted to ask the Master, not so that they would by all means do the things commanded, but so that they might learn if the divine oracles agreed with their own reasonings. Zedekiah also did this many times, and having made Jeremiah swear to declare clearly to him the things pleasing to God, having learned what was commanded, he did the opposite of these things; and those who entered Egypt after the captivity dared this same thing. For this reason the God of all does not wish to answer them; for he himself knows, according to the teaching of the holy Gospels, what is in man. Therefore he also urges the prophet to despise them, and to offer no supplication on their behalf. For this he signified by saying: "If you will judge them with a judgment, son of man, if you will judge them;" instead of, Do not be concerned for them, as though being their guardian, do not receive their question. 5., ʹ. But the iniquities, he says, of their fathers, testify to them. And you shall say to them: Thus says Adonai the Lord, From the day I chose the house of Israel, and was made known to the seed of the house of Jacob, and was made known to them in the land of

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τέλει πάντων τῶν μὲν ἀναιρεθέντων, τῶν δὲ δορυαλώτων ἀπαχθέντων, τοῖς ὑπολειφθεῖσιν ἐκεῖ πένησιν ἐπέστη 81.985 σεν ἄρχοντα τὸν Γοδολίαν ὁ Ναβουζαρδάν· ἔρημος δὲ ἦν παντελῶς ἡ πόλις, μᾶλλον δὲ ἅπασα ἡ Ἰουδαία, καὶ τῶν τειχῶν περιῃρημένων, καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἐμ πεπρησμένων, καὶ τῶν πλείστων οἰκητόρων σφαγῇ καὶ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ παραδοθέντων. ∆ιό φησι· "Καὶ νῦν πεφυτεύκασιν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ." Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ οὕτω, φησὶ, διαμενεῖ, φθορὰν δὲ καὶ τὰ λείψανα δέξεται. ιδʹ. Ἐξελεύσεται γὰρ, φησὶ, πῦρ ἐκ τῶν ῥά βδων τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτῆς, καὶ καταφάγεται αὐτήν. Ὁ γὰρ Ἰσμαὴλ βασιλικοῦ γένους ὑπάρχων, καὶ τῷ Γοδολίᾳ φθονήσας, κεχρωσμένῃ πρὸς αὐτὸν φιλίᾳ χρησάμενος, τούτῳ μὲν κρύβδην ἐπιβουλεύει, ἀναιρεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς πλείστους τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ· δείσας δὲ τὸ γεγονὸς δραπετεύει· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἅπαν τες, τὴν τῶν Χαλδαίων φοβηθέντες ὀργὴν, τὴν Αἴ γυπτον σὺν Ἱερεμίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ κατέλαβον· τοῦτο δὲ ἐδήλωσεν εἰπὼν, "Καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πῦρ ἐκ τῶν ῥάβδων τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτῆς καὶ καταφάγεται αὐ τήν. Καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ ῥάβδος ἰσχύος φυλῆς, σκῆπτρον εἰς τὸ ἐξουσιάζειν· εἰς παραβολὴν θρήνων ἐστὶ, καὶ ἔσται εἰς θρῆνον." ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὅτι τὰ πρὸ τῆς ἐπανόδου λέγει· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν οἰκείων ἐθρηνεῖτο, τοῖς δὲ ἀλλοτρίοις παροιμία ἐγένετο θρήνου· εἰώθασι γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐπὶ τῶν μεγίσταις συμφοραῖς περιπιπτόντων λέγειν· Μὴ πάθοιμι οἷα ὁ δεῖνα πέπονθε. Τοῦτο τοίνυν "παραβολὴν" ἐκάλεσε "θρήνου·" προστέθεικε δὲ, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῇ ῥάβδος ἰσχύος, ἢ φυλὴ, ἢ σκῆπτρον. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἔσχεν ἄρχοντα, ἢ σύστημά τι φυλὴν ποιῆσαι δυνά μενον πρὸ τῆς ἐπανόδου· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐπάνοδον πάλιν ἀπέλαβε τὴν προτέραν λαμπρότητα. Ταῦτα οὕτω προθεσπίσας, τίθησι μὲν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς προφητείας μικρόν τι διήγημα, συνάπτει δὲ τῷ διηγήματι παραυ τίκα τὴν προφητείαν.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κʹ. αʹ-δʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ ἑβδόμῳ, ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ μηνὶ, δεκάτῃ τοῦ

μηνὸς, ἦλθον ἄν δρες ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ ἐπερωτῆσαι τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἐκάθισαν πρὸ προσ ώπου μου. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, λάλησον πρὸς τοὺς πρε σβυτέρους τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτοὺς, Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Εἰ ἐπερωτῆσαί με ὑμεῖς ἔρχεσθε, ζῶ ἐγὼ εἰ ἀποκριθήσομαι ὑμῖν, λέγει Κύριος. Εἰ ἐκδικήσεις αὐτοὺς ἐκδικήσει, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ἐκδικήσεις αὐτούς. Λίαν ἁρ μόττει τουτοισὶ τοῖς λόγοις τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰρημένον· "Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι, Κύριε, Κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου, τοῦ 81.988 ἐν οὐρανοῖς, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ." Καὶ οὗτοι γὰρ πονηρίᾳ συζῶντες, καὶ τοῖς τῆς μεταμελείας φαρμάκοις ἰαθῆναι μὴ βουληθέντες, ἐρωτᾷν ἐπειράθησαν τὸν ∆εσπότην, οὐχ ἵνα πάντως τὰ κεκελευσμένα πράξωσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα μάθωσιν εἰ συμβαίνουσι τοῖς οἰκείοις λογισμοῖς οἱ θεῖοι χρησμοί. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Σεδεκίας πολλάκις πεποίηκε, καὶ ὁρκώσας τὸν Ἱερεμίαν τὰ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦντα σαφῶς αὐτῷ προ μηνύσαι, μαθὼν τὰ κελευσθέντα, τἀναντία τούτων εἰργάσατο· καὶ οἱ εἰς Αἴγυπτον δὲ μετὰ τὴν αἰχμα λωσίαν εἰσελθόντες ταυτὸ τοῦτο τετολμήκασι. Τούτου χάριν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἀποκρίνασθαι τούτοις οὐ βού λεται· αὐτὸς γὰρ οἶδε, κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν Εὐαγγε λίων διδασκαλίαν, τί ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. ∆ιὸ καὶ τῷ προφήτῃ παρακελεύεται καταφρονῆσαι αὐτῶν, καὶ μηδεμίαν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν προσενεγκεῖν ἱκετείαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐσήμανεν εἰρηκώς· "Εἰ ἐκδικήσεις αὐτοὺς ἐκδικήσει, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ἐκδικήσεις αὐτούς·" ἀντὶ τοῦ, Μὴ φροντίσῃς αὐτῶν, οἷα δὴ κηδεμὼν αὐ τῶν ὑπάρχων, μὴ δέξῃ αὐτῶν τὴν ἐρώτησιν. εʹ, ʹ. Τὰς δὲ ἀνομίας, φησὶ, τῶν πατέρων αὐ τῶν διαμάρτυραι αὐτοῖς. Καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, Ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέραςᾑρέτισα τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐγνώσθην τῷ σπέρματι οἴκου Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἐγνώσθην αὐτοῖς ἐν γῇ