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receiving benefit from my counsels, I then let them follow their own reasonings, not enduring to govern them; this he also declared here, saying: "I will defile them in their own gifts." But Aquila interpreted this more clearly, saying: "And I defiled them in their own decrees," in causing to pass over everything that opens the womb; for I permitted them to be defiled by their own practices in making their children pass through the fire, and in offering the firstborn of their children to demons, then bringing upon them their due punishments. 27, 28. Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord Adonai: Even to this point your fathers provoked me in their trespasses, in which they trespassed against me. And I brought them into a land for which I had lifted up my hand to give it to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they sacrificed there to their gods, and they set there the wrath of their gifts, and they placed there the smell of their sweet savour, and they poured out their libations there. They were not satisfied, he says, with the rebellion in Egypt, and with the lawlessness in the wilderness, but even when they entered the land promised to them they filled it with much impiety, building altars on all the hills and in the groves, and setting up idols, and offering to them libations and various sacrifices. And the phrase, "They set there the wrath of their gifts," instead of, "With those lawless gifts of theirs they stirred up my wrath." 29. And I said to them, What is Abama (or as Symmachus said, what is Bama), that you go in there? and they called its name Bama to this day. This place has become notorious from the impiety concerning idols. Therefore he said to them, What profit do you receive from there? What benefit will come to you from Bama, that you have made it so renowned, that even its name has remained fixed until the present? 30, 31. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Adonai: If you are defiled in the iniquities of your fathers, and you go after their abominations; and in the first-fruits of your labors, and in your offerings in making your children pass through fire you are defiled, and in all your devices until this day, 81.1000 and I will answer you, O house of Israel, if I will answer you, and if this will come upon your spirit. Do you hope, he says, with your ancestral lawlessness and impiety being practiced among you, and with all these things that I have recounted being dared by you, to receive any answer from me? Do not deceive yourselves; for it is impossible for me to answer your inquiries, while impiety is dared by you. But I persuade you by the facts also to reject such a hope; for this he signified by saying, "And if this will come upon your spirit." 32. And it shall not be, in the way you say, 'We shall be like the nations, and like the tribes of the earth, to worship wood and stones.' Nor indeed will that of yours reach a conclusion, that by deifying wood and stones like all the nations, you will offer them a tribute fitting for God. He again uses the customary oath; for according to the blessed Apostle, since he has no one greater to swear by, he says: 33. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Adonai, surely with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with poured out wrath, I will be king over you. For no longer, he says, will I use my customary long-suffering, but I will lay bare my kingdom and my authority through discipline; for by "the mighty hand and the high arm," he declared at once his power and his punitive capacity; then he also teaches the manner of the discipline. 34. And I will bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries, where you were scattered among them, with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with burning wrath. For first, he says, I will free you from the present captivity, and into the former

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ὠφέλειαν ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν παραινέσεων δεχομένους, εἴασα λοιπὸν αὐτοὺς τοῖς οἰκείοις ἀκο λουθεῖν λογισμοῖς, κυβερνᾷν αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος· τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα παρεδήλωσεν εἰρηκώς· "Μιανῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς δόμασιν αὐτῶν." Σαφέστερον δὲ τοῦτο ὁ Ἀκύλας ἡρμήνευσεν εἰρηκώς· "Καὶ ἐμίανα αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς δόγμασιν αὐτῶν," ἐν τῷ παραγαγεῖν πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν· συνεχώρησα γὰρ αὐτοῖς μιαίνε σθαι τοῖς σφῶν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἐν τῷ διὰ πυρὸς παρ άγειν τὰ παιδία, καὶ τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν παίδων προσφέρειν τοῖς δαίμοσι, τὰς ἀξίας αὐτοῖς λοιπὸν προσφέρων τιμωρίας. κζʹ, κηʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο λάλησον πρὸς τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἕως καὶ τούτουπαρώργισάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς πα ραπτώμασιν αὐτῶν, ἐν οἷς παρέπεσον εἰς ἐμέ. Καὶ εἰσήγαγον αὐτοὺς εἰς γῆν εἰς ἣν ἦρα τὴν χεῖρά μου τοῦ δοῦναί με αὐτὴν αὐτοῖς, καὶ εἶ δον πάντα βουνὸν ὑψηλὸν, καὶ πᾶν ξύλον κα τάσκιον, καὶ ἔθυσαν ἐκεῖ τοῖς θεοῖς αὑτῶν, καὶ ἔταξαν ἐκεῖ θυμὸν δώρων αὑτῶν, καὶ ἔθεντο ἐκεῖ ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας αὑτῶν, καὶ ἔσπεισαν ἐκεῖ σπονδὰς αὑτῶν. Οὐκ ἠρκέσθησαν, φησὶ, τῇ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀντιλογίᾳ, καὶ ταῖς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ παρανο μίαις, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐπαγγελθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς εἰσελ θόντες γῆν πολλῆς αὐτὴν ἀσεβείας ἐνέπλησαν, ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς βουνοῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλσεσι βωμοὺς δειμά μενοι, καὶ εἴδωλα ἱδρυσάμενοι, καὶ σπονδὰς αὐτοῖς καὶ θυσίας διαφόρους προσενεγκόντες. Τὸ δὲ, "Ἔ ταξαν ἐκεῖ θυμὸν δώρων αὑτῶν·" ἀντὶ τοῦ Τοῖς πα ρανόμοις αὑτῶν ἐκείνοις δώροις τὸν ἐμὸν διήγειραν θυμόν. κθʹ. Καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτοὺς, Τί ἐστιν Ἀβαμὰ (ἢ ὡς Σύμμαχος ἔφη, τί ἐστι Βαμά), ὅτι ὑμεῖς εἰσπορεύεσθε ἐκεῖ; καὶ ἐπεκάλεσαν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Βαμὰ ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας. Τόπος οὗτος ἐπίσημος ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα δυσσεβείας γεγενη μένος. Εἶπεν τοίνυν αὐτοῖς, Ποῖον ἐκεῖθεν λαμβάνετε κέρδος; τίς ὑμῖν ἀπὸ τῆς Βαμὰ ὠφέλεια γενήσεται, ὅτι καὶ οὕτως αὐτὴν ἐπίσημον ἐποιήσατε, ὡς καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βεβαίαν δια μεῖναι; λʹ, λαʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰπὲ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Ἰσ ραὴλ, Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Εἰ ἐν ταῖς ἀνομίαις τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν ὑμεῖς μιαίνεσθε, καὶ ὀπίσω τῶν βδελυγμάτων αὐτῶν ὑμεῖς ἐκπορεύε σθε· καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀπαρχαῖς τῶν πόνων ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀφορισμοῖς ὑμῶν ἐν τῷ διάγειν τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἐν πυρὶ ὑμεῖς μιαίνεσθε, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασιν ὑμῶν ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας, 81.1000 καὶ ἐγὼ ἀποκριθῶ ὑμῖν, οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, εἰ ἀποκριθήσομαι ὑμῖν, καὶ εἰ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὑμῶν τοῦτο. Ἐλπίζετε, φησὶ, τῆς πατρῴας παρανομίας καὶ τῆς δυσσεβείας ἐν ὑμῖν πολιτευομέ νης, καὶ τούτων ἁπάντων ὧν διεξῆλθον ὑφ' ὑμῶν τολμωμένων, ἀποκρίσεώς τινος παρ' ἐμοῦ τυχεῖν. Μὴ ἐξαπατᾶτε ὑμᾶς αὐτούς· τῶν γὰρ ἀδυνάτων ἐμὲ πρὸς τὰς ὑμετέρας ἀποκρίνασθαι πεύσεις, τῆς ἀσε βείας παρ' ὑμῶν τολμωμένης. Πείθω δὲ ὑμᾶς διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην ἀποῤῥίψαι ἐλπίδα· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐσήμανεν εἰρηκὼς, "Καὶ εἰ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὑμῶν τοῦτο." λβʹ. Καὶ οὐκ ἔσται, ὃν τρόπον ὑμεῖς λέγετε, Ἐσόμεθα ὡς τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ὡς αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, τοῦ λατρεύειν ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις. Οὐ μὴν δὲ οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο ὑμῶν πέρας λήψεται, ὅτι πᾶσι παραπλησίως τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ ξύλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους θεοποιοῦντες, τῷ Θεῷ πρέπον αὐτοῖς προσοίσετε γέρας. Κέχρηται πάλιν τῷ συνήθει ὅρκῳ· κατὰ γὰρ τὸν μακάριον Ἀπόστολον, ἐπειδὴ κατ' οὐδενὸς ἔχει μείζονος ὀμόσαι, φησί· λγʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, ζῶ ἐγὼ, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, εἰ μὴ ἐν χειρὶ κραταιᾷ, καὶ ἐν βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ, καὶ ἐν θυμῷ κεχυμένῳ βασιλεύσω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς. Οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ, φησὶ, τῇ συνήθει χρήσομαι μακροθυμίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τὴν βασιλείαν μου καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν διὰ παι δείας γυμνώσω· διὰ γὰρ τῆς "χειρὸς τῆς κραταιᾶς καὶ τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ βραχίονος," τὸ δυνατὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ τιμωρητικὸν παρεδήλωσεν· εἶτα καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς παιδείας διδάσκει. λδʹ. Καὶ ἐξάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν λαῶν, καὶ εἰσ δέξομαι ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν, ὧν διεσπάρητε ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἐν χειρὶ κραταιᾷ, καὶ ἐν βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ, καὶ ἐν θυμῷ καιομένῳ. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ, φησὶ, τῆς νῦν κατεχούσης αἰχμαλωσίας ἐλευθερώσω, καὶ εἰς τὴν προτέραν