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these things; ιʹ. But if you strike the whole force of the Chaldeans who are warring against you, and some men pierced through are left among them, each in his own tent, these will rise up and burn this city with fire. For do not suppose that the strength of the Chaldeans prevails. For even a few wounded men, left behind in the tents on account of weakness, are sufficient for your utter destruction; for sin has made you weak. Then he teaches that when a certain truce came to them on account of the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, he himself had gone out to his own kinsfolk, wishing to buy bread; but a certain Serouias, suspecting that he had fled to the enemy, reported it to the rulers; and they, having heard, imprisoned him, not in the public prison, "for that one," he says, "was full," but in the house of Jonathan the scribe; and when many days had passed, Zedekiah secretly sent for him, and asks if there is a word from the Lord; but the prophet foretells to him the capture; and after the prediction, he complains of the injustice done to him. ιηʹ, ιθʹ. For what wrong, he says, have I done to you and to your 81.688 servants, that you have put me in the prison house? And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying: The king of Babylon will not come against you, upon this land? The events, he says, having shown the truth of my prophecy, and the falsehood of your prophets, it was necessary to judge justly, and to demand justice from the liars, not from the one who foretold the truth. Then he asks to be released from the house of the scribe. And Zedekiah brought him out from there, and sent him away to the public prison, and commanded one loaf of bread to be supplied each day. CHAPTER 38. However, some of the rulers, being displeased with the prophecies made by the prophet against the city; (for he was saying that those who deserted to the Chaldeans would enjoy safety, but those who endured the siege would be delivered to destruction), they incited the king against the prophet, saying that with such oracles he was weakening the zeal of those able to fight. And the foolish king handed the prophet over to those who had reported him; and they, having received the authority, acted on their anger against him, and let him down into a cistern having foul-smelling mire. And none of the Jews helped the prophet, who was suffering such punishments on account of the divine oracles. But Abdemelech the eunuch, an Ethiopian man, reproaches the king, and cries out with boldness; (θʹ.) "You have done evil in what you did, to kill the man of God by means of the famine, because there are no more loaves in the city." And Zedekiah, accepting the reproof, makes Abdemelech the minister of the prophet's salvation. And he, taking other helpers, and throwing old rags to the prophet, and ordering him to place these in his armpits under the rope, drew him up from the cistern of Chereth. And he calls the cistern Chereth. And when he was brought up and was living in the prison, the king again sent for him, and brought him to him into the house of Asalisael, "which is in the house of the Lord." But the Syrian interpreted this as "within the three ways;" and he asks the prophet to declare to him a divine word, and not to hide the truth. But the prophet says: ιεʹ. If I declare it to you, will you not put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me. For both as a prophet he knew what would happen, and he had experience as his teacher. And when the king had sworn an oath that he would certainly not hand him over to the impious men, he spoke again. 81.689 ιζʹ, ιηʹ. If going out you go out to

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ταῦτα· ιʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐὰν πατάξητε πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τῶν Χαλδαίων τῶν πολεμούντων ὑμᾶς, καὶ κατα λειφθῶσί τινες ἐκκεκεντημένοι ἄνδρες ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἕκαστος ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ αὑτοῦ, οὗτοι ἀναστή σονται, καὶ κατακαύσουσι τὴν πόλιν ταύτην ἐν πυρί. Μὴ γὰρ δὴ νομίσητε τὴν τῶν Χαλδαίων ῥώ μην περιγίγνεσθαι. Ἀρκοῦσι γὰρ εἰς ὑμετέραν πανολεθρίαν καὶ ὀλίγοι τραυματίαι, δι' ἀσθένειαν καταλειφθέντες ἐν ταῖς σκηναῖς· ἀσθενεῖς γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἡ ἁμαρτία πεποίηκεν. Εἶτα διδάσκει, ὡς ἀνακωχῆς τινος αὐτοῖς γενομένης διὰ τὴν τῶν Χαλδαίων ὑπο χώρησιν, αὐτὸς μὲν πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους αὑτοῦ ἐξελή λυθε, πρίασθαι ἄρτους βουλόμενος· Σερουΐα δέ τις ὑποπτεύσας αὐτὸν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους πεφευγέναι, εἰσήγγειλε παρὰ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν· οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες καθεῖρξαν αὐτὸν, οὐκ εἰς τὴν δημοσίαν εἱρκτὴν, "ἐπεπλήρωτο γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκείνη," ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ἰωνάθαν τοῦ γραμματέως· συχνῶν δὲ διελθου σῶν ἡμερῶν, μεταπέμπεται μὲν αὐτὸν κρύβδην ὁ Σεδεκίας, καὶ ἔρεται, εἰ ἔστι λόγος παρὰ Κυρίου· ὁ δὲ προφήτης αὐτῷ προλέγει τὴν ἅλωσιν· μετὰ δὲ τὴν πρόῤῥησιν, αἰτιᾶται τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν γεγενημένην ἀδικίαν. ιηʹ, ιθʹ. Τί γὰρ, φησὶν, ἠδίκησά σε, καὶ τοὺς 81.688 παῖδάς σου, ὅτι ἐδώκατέ με εἰς τὸν οἶκον τῆς φυλακῆς· Καὶ ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ προφῆται ὑμῶν οἱ προφητεύσαντες ὑμῖν, λέγοντες· Οὐ μὴ ἔλθῃ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ταύ την; Τῶν πραγμάτων, φησὶ, δειξαμένων τὴν τῆς ἐμῆς προφητείας ἀλήθειαν, τῶν δὲ ὑμετέρων προφητῶν τὴν ψευδολογίαν, ἔδει κρίναι δικαίως, καὶ τοὺς ψευδομένους ἀπαιτῆσαι δίκας, οὐ τὸν τὰ ἀληθῆ προμηνύσαντα. Εἶτα παρακαλεῖ τῆς οἰκίας ἀπαλλαγῆναι τοῦ γραμματέως. Ὁ δὲ Σεδεκίας ἐκεῖ θεν μὲν αὐτὸν ἐξήγαγεν, εἰς δὲ τὸ δημόσιον αὐτὸν ἐξέπεμψε δεσμωτήριον, καὶ ἄρτον ἕνα καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν χορηγηθῆναι προσέταξεν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΗʹ. Τινὲς μέντοι τῶν ἀρχόντων δυσχεράναντες τὰς κατὰ τῆς πόλεως γεγενημένας ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου προῤῥήσεις· (ἔλεγε γὰρ τοὺς μὲν αὐτομολοῦντας πρὸς τοὺς Χαλδαίους σωτηρίας ἀπολαύσεσθαι, τοὺς δέ γε τῆς πολιορκίας ἀνεχομένους ὀλέθρῳ παραδο θήσεσθαι), παροξύνουσι κατὰ τοῦ προφήτου τὸν βασι λέα, φήσαντες αὐτὸν χαυνοῦν τῶν πολεμεῖν δυνα μένων τὴν προθυμίαν ταῖς τοιαύταις χρησμολογίαις. Ὁ δὲ ἀνόητος βασιλεὺς τοῖς εἰσαγγείλασι τὸν προ φήτην ἐξέδωκεν· οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐξουσίαν λαβόντες, ἐχρή σαντο κατ' αὐτοῦ τῷ θυμῷ, καὶ καθῆκαν αὐτὸν εἰς λάκκον δυσώδη βόρβορον ἔχοντα. Καὶ Ἰουδαίων μὲν οὐδεὶς ἐπεκούρησε τῷ προφήτῃ, τοιαύτας ὑπὲρ τῶν θείων λογίων ἀπαιτουμένῳ δίκας. Ἀβδεμέλεχ δὲ ὁ εὐνοῦχος, ἀνὴρ Αἰθίοψ, ἐπιμέμφεται τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ μετὰ παῤῥησίας βοᾷ· (θʹ.) "Ἐπονηρεύσω ὡς ἐποίησας ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ λιμοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν ἔτι ἄρτοι ἐν τῇ πόλει." ∆εξάμενος δὲ τὸν ἔλεγχον ὁ Σεδεκίας τὸν Ἀβδεμέλεχ ὑπουργὸν ποιεῖται τῆς τοῦ προφήτου σωτηρίας. Ὁ δὲ συνεργοὺς ἑτέρους λαβὼν, καὶ πα λαιὰ ῥάκη τῷ προφήτῃ ῥίψας, καὶ ταῦτα ταῖς μα σχάλαις ὑπὸ τὸ σχοινίον θεῖναι κελεύσας ἀνείλκυσεν αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου Χερέθ. Χερὲθ δὲ τὸν λάκκον καλεῖ. Ἀναχθέντα δὲ αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸ δεσμωτήριον οἰκοῦντα, πάλιν ὁ βασιλεὺς μετεπέμψατο, καὶ εἰσ ήγαγε πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν Ἀσαλισαὴλ, "τὴν ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου." Ὁ δὲ Σύρος τοῦτο "ἔσω τριόδων" ἡρμήνευσεν· ἀξιοῖ δὲ τὸν προφήτην θεῖον αὐτῷ μηνύσαι λόγον, καὶ τ' ἀληθὲς μὴ κρύψαι. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης φησίν· ιεʹ. Ἐὰν ἀναγγελῶ σοι, οὐχὶ θανατώσεις με; καὶ ἐὰν συμβουλεύσω σοι, οὐ μὴ ἀκούσῃς μου. Καὶ γὰρ ὡς προφήτης ᾔδει τὰ γενησόμενα, καὶ τὴν πεῖραν εἶχε διδάσκαλον. Τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ὀμω μοκότος ἦν μὴν αὐτὸν μὴ παραδώσειν τοῖς δυσσε βέσιν, εἶπε πάλιν. 81.689 ιζʹ, ιηʹ. Ἐὰν ἐξελθὼν ἐξέλθῃς πρὸς