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to become, and the night day, so it is not possible for the Davidic kingdom to be dissolved. And the outcome of this prophecy is clear; for Christ, from David according to the flesh, does not have the throne below; but, sitting with the Father, he governs all things. And indeed he says this same thing also about the priests and the Levites, that their race will be compared to the host of heaven, and to the sand of the sea. And the facts bear witness to what is said. For all the earth and sea are full of high priests, and of deacons who fulfill the Levitical ministry. And having spoken also what was said by the impious, that he had utterly cast off the two tribes which he had chosen, both the royal and the priestly, he promised again what he had already foretold. CHAPTER 34. Having thus concluded this prophecy, he moves on to another; and while the enemies were encamped against it, he is commanded to say to Zedekiah the king, both that the city will be captured and will be burned; and that they, taking you, will bring you to the king of the Babylonians; but you will escape death, and being led away captive, you will inhabit a foreign land, and in peace you will receive the end of your life, and you will be deemed worthy of the customary rites from your kinsmen. And these things, he says, I said to the king, while the enemies were besieging not only Jerusalem, but also the remaining cities of Judea. And to this prophecy he joins another, which has this meaning: Zedekiah commanded according to the divine law that the Hebrew slaves be set free; for the law clearly decreed that they should serve for six years, and in the seventh year obtain their freedom. But all of them, after obeying and granting freedom, dragged them back into their former slavery, having made a wicked repentance. Therefore, the God of all, being indignant, reminds them of the slavery in Egypt, and of the freedom that came to be, and of the legislation given after these things; and he finds fault, as with those who loved the keeping of the law, but then repented and transgressed it. 15. For having returned, he says, to do what is right in my eyes, to proclaim a release, each to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before me in the house upon which my name was called. For within 81.680 the house dedicated to me, having made the covenants 81.680 of release in my presence, they immediately transgressed them. Since, therefore, you were not willing to make the release; "Behold, I call a release for you, says the Lord, to the sword, and to death, and to famine. And I will give you for a dispersion to all the kingdoms of the earth." And he also reproves the transgression of the oath. 18, 19. And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not established the words of my covenant which they made before me, the calf which they made into two, and passed through the midst of its divided parts, the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the mighty men, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the divided parts of the calf. Thus they were accustomed to swear in the old way. Indeed, the God of all, making a covenant with Abraham, having commanded a three-year-old ram, and a calf, and a goat of the same age to be cut in two, and the pieces to be set opposite each other, caused a smoking furnace and lamps of fire to pass between the divided parts, making the covenants with him according to the prevailing custom; this they also have done, making the promises concerning the freedom of the Hebrew slaves, and wishing to confirm the freedom by an oath; but this they immediately transgressed.

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γενέσθαι, καὶ τὴν νύκτα ἡμέραν, οὕτως οὐχ οἷόν τε τὴν ∆αβιτικὴν κατα λυθῆναι βασιλείαν. Καὶ ταύτης δὲ τῆς προφητείας δῆλόν ἐστι τὸ τέλος· ὁ γὰρ ἐκ ∆αβὶδ κατὰ σάρκα Χριστὸς, οὐ τὸν κάτω θρόνον ἔχει· ἀλλὰ, τῷ Πατρὶ συνεδρεύων, ἰθύνει τὰ σύμπαντα. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ περὶ τῶν ἱερέων καὶ τῶν Λευϊτῶν ταὐτὸ τοῦτο λέγει, ὡς τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τῇ ψάμμῳ τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ τούτων παραβληθήσεται γένος. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς λεγομένοις τὰ πράγματα. Ἅπασα γὰρ γῆ καὶ θάλαττα πλήρεις ἀρχιερέων, καὶ τῶν τὴν Λευϊτικὴν λειτουργίαν πληρούντων διακόνων. Εἰρηκὼς δὲ καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν δυσσεβῶν λεγόμενα, ὅτι τὰς δύο φυλὰς, ἃς ἐξελέξατο, τήν τε βασιλικὴν καὶ τὴν ἱερατικὴν, ἀπώσατο παντελῶς, ὑπέσχετο πάλιν ἅπερ ἤδη προείρηκεν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Λ∆ʹ. Οὕτω ταύτην συμπεράνας τὴν προφητείαν, ἐφ' ἑτέραν μεταβαίνει· καὶ τῶν πολεμίων προσκαθη μένων, εἰπεῖν κελεύεται Σεδεκίᾳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ὅτι Ἁλώσεται ἡ πόλις, καὶ ἐμπρησθήσεται· καί σε λα βόντες τῷ Βαβυλωνίων προσάξουσι βασιλεῖ· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν θάνατον διαφεύξῃ, αἰχμάλωτος δὲ ἀπαχθεὶς, τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν οἰκήσεις, καὶ ἐν εἰρήνῃ δέξῃ τοῦ βίου τὸ πέρας, καὶ τῶν νομιζομένων παρὰ τῶν προσηκόν των ἀξιωθήσῃ. Καὶ ταῦτα, φησὶν, εἶπον τῷ βασιλεῖ, τῶν πολεμίων οὐ μόνον τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ὑπολοίπους τῆς Ἰουδαίας πόλεις πολιορκούντων. Ταύτῃ δὲ συνάπτει τῇ προφητείᾳ καὶ ἑτέραν, ταύ την ἔχουσαν τὴν διάνοιαν· Ὁ Σεδεκίας προσέταξε κατὰ τὸν θεῖον νόμον ἐλευθέρους ἀφεθῆναι τοὺς Ἑβραίους οἰκέτας· ὁ γὰρ νόμος σαφῶς διηγόρευ σεν, ἓξ μὲν ἔτη τούτους δουλεῦσαι, τῷ δὲ ἑβδόμῳ ἔτει τῆς ἐλευθερίας τυχεῖν. Ὑπακούσαντες δὲ ἅπαν τες, καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν μεταδόντες, πάλιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν προτέραν εἵλκυσαν δουλείαν, κακῇ μεταμε λείᾳ χρησάμενοι. Ἀγανακτήσας τοίνυν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, ἀναμιμνήσκει μὲν τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δουλείας, καὶ τῆς γεγενημένης ἐλευθερίας, καὶ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα δεδομένης νομοθεσίας· ἐπιμέμφεται δὲ, ὡς ἀγαπή σασι μὲν τοῦ νόμου τὴν φυλακὴν, μεταμεληθεῖσι δὲ, καὶ τοῦτον πατήσασιν. ιεʹ. Ἐπιστρέψαντες γὰρ, φησὶ, ποιῆσαι τὸ εὐθὲς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, τοῦ καλέσαι ἄφεσιν ἕκαστον τοῦ πλησίον αὑτοῦ· καὶ συνετελέσατε διαθήκην κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ οὗ ἐπεκλήθη τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Ἔνδον γὰρ ἐν 81.680 τῷ ἀφιερωμένῳ μοι οἴκῳ, ἐμοῦ παρόντος τὰς συν 81.680 θήκας ποιησάμενοι τῆς ἀφέσεως, παραυτίκα ταύτας παρέβησαν. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὐκ ἐβουλήθητε ποιή σασθαι τὴν ἄφεσιν· "Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καλῶ ὑμῖν ἄφεσιν, φησὶ Κύριος, εἰς τὴν μάχαιραν, καὶ εἰς τὸν θάνατον, καὶ εἰς τὸν λιμόν. Καὶ δώσω ὑμᾶς εἰς διασπορὰν πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῆς γῆς." Ἐλέγχει δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ ὅρκου παράβασιν. ιηʹ, ιθʹ. Καὶ δώσω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς παρ εληλυθότας τὴν διαθήκην μου, τοὺς μὴ στή σαντας τοὺς λόγους τῆς διαθήκης μου ἣν ἐποίησαν κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου, τὸν μόσχον ὃν ἐποίησαν εἰς δύο, καὶ διῆλθον διὰ μέσου τῶν διχοτομημάτων αὐτοῦ, τοὺς ἄρχοντας Ἰούδα, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τοὺς δυνατοὺς, καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς, τοὺς διελθόντας ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν διχοτο μημάτων τοῦ μόσχου. Οὕτως εἰώθεισαν ὀμνύναι κατὰ τὸ παλαιόυ. Ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ τὰς συνθήκας ποιούμενος, κριὸν τριετῆ, καὶ μόσχον, καὶ τράγον, ὁμοχρόνους διχοτομηθῆναι κελεύσας, καὶ τὰ τμήματα ἀντιπρόσωπα τεθεῖναι ἀλλήλοις, κλίβανον καπνιζόμενον, καὶ λαμπάδας πυρὸς, ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν διχοτομημάτων πεποίηκε διελθεῖν, κατὰ τὸ κρατοῦν ἔθος τὰς πρὸς αὐτὸν συν θήκας ποιούμενος· τοῦτο καὶ οὗτοι δεδράκασι, τὰς περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας τῶν Ἑβραίων οἰκετῶν ἐπαγγε λίας ποιούμενοι, καὶ ὅρκῳ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν βεβαιῶσαι βουλόμενοι· ἀλλὰ τοῦτον παραυτίκα παρέβησαν.