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of the things said, I for my part made known the unbelief of the people to the Lord, saying that they supposed what was spoken to be a parable, but not the truth; but then the Lord himself commanded me to speak more clearly the things spoken in parables. And he says thus:

CHAPTER 21. 1, 2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: For this reason prophesy, son

of man, and set your face toward Jerusalem, and look upon their holy places, and prophesy concerning the land of Israel. Since, he says, they simply suppose what has been said to be a parable, and not the truth, show them clearly that the forest of Negev, that is, the midday and the south, this is Jerusalem. 3. And you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says Adonai the Lord, Behold, I am against you, and I will draw my dagger from its sheath, and I will destroy from you the unjust and the lawless. And it is clear that he calls the punishment a dagger; and the sheath, that is, the case of the dagger, he names long-suffering, and when this ceases, the punishment is then brought naked upon the deserving. And showing the justice of the punishment, he has well added, "I will destroy from you the unjust and the lawless." Then he also teaches the things that will happen at that time to the other nations situated in between. 4. For which things, he says, I will destroy from you the unjust and the lawless, thus my dagger will go forth from its sheath, and it will not return again. For because of the transgressions in you, he says, bringing forth the army of the Chaldeans like a dagger from a sheath, I will deliver to the same punishment also those situated between you and the Chaldeans, and I will make all to know through experience that I have authority over all things, and that I have justly encompassed them in this disaster. 2. And you, son of man, groan with a breaking of your loins, and with pains you shall groan in their sight. Let your compassion, he says, also follow what is said, and teach them through your groaning that what is said is true. 7. And it shall be, if they say to you: For what reason do you groan? and you shall say, At the news, because it is coming, and every heart shall be broken, and all hands shall be paralyzed, and all flesh and every spirit shall fail, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, and 81.1009 it shall be, says Adonai the Lord. When you are groaning, he says, they will necessarily ask, wishing to learn the cause of your suffering; to those asking, therefore, answer that, foreseeing the evils to come, and the grievous tidings, and the fear consequently coming upon all, I groan and lament the misfortunes of my countrymen. 8-10. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says Adonai the Lord, Say to the sword: Sword, be sharpened, and be angered; that you may slaughter victims, be sharpened, that you may become a glittering, ready for paralysis, slaughter, despise, cast away every tree. Again he figuratively calls the punishment a sword, brought by the Babylonians, both upon the Judeans and upon the other nations in between. And it seems to me that he himself commands it to be sharpened, and to be polished, and to slaughter, and to tear up every tree by the roots, teaching that these things will happen with his permission, and that not by the power of the Babylonian, but by his own energy, each of these things is accomplished. Such also is what was said in Deuteronomy by God himself, "For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand will take hold of judgment, and I will execute vengeance, and I will render justice to my enemies, and I will repay those who hate me; I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh." For in these things he called the punitive energy a sword, and arrows, exacting worthy penalties from those who are liable. Then he adds: 11. And he gave it ready for the hand to hold it, it has been sharpened, it is a sword ready for

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εἰρημένων, ἐγὼ μὲν τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν ἀπιστίαν ἐγνώρισα τῷ ∆εσπότῃ, εἰρηκὼς, ὅτι παραβολὴν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀλήθειαν ὑπολαμ βάνουσιν εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα· αὐτὸς δὲ λοιπὸν ὁ ∆εσπό της τὰ παραβολικῶς εἰρημένα σαφέστερον εἰπεῖν με προσέταξε. Φησὶ δὲ οὑτωσί·

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΑʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ, λέ γων· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον, υἱὲ

ἀνθρώπου, καὶ στήρισον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τὰ ἅγια αὐτῶν, καὶ προφή τευσον περὶ τῆς γῆς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἐπειδὴ, φησὶ, παραβολὴν ἁπλῶς, καὶ οὐκ ἀλήθειαν ὑπολαμβάνουσιν εἶναι τὰ εἰρημένα, ὑπόδειξον αὐτοῖς σαφῶς, ὅτι δρυ μὸς ὁ Ναγὲβ, τουτέστιν, ὁ μεσημβρινὸς καὶ ὁ νότιος, αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ. γʹ. Καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ ἐκσπάσω τὸ ἐγχειρίδιόν μου ἐκ τοῦ κολεοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξολοθρεύσω ἐκ σοῦ ἄδικον καὶ ἄνομον. ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὅτι ἐγχειρίδιον τὴν τιμωρίαν καλεῖ· κο λεὸν δὲ, τουτέστι, τὴν θήκην τοῦ ἐγχειριδίου, τὴν μακροθυμίαν ὀνομάζει, ἧς παυομένης γυμνὴ λοιπὸν τοῖς ἀξίοις ἐπιφέρεται ἡ τιμωρία. Καὶ τὸ δίκαιον δὲ τῆς τιμωρίας δεικνὺς, καλῶς προστέθεικε τὸ, "Ἐξ ολοθρεύσω ἐκ σοῦ ἄδικον καὶ ἄνομον." Εἶτα διδάσκει καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι τοῖς ἐν μέσῳ διακειμένοις κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ συμβησόμενα. δʹ. Ἀνθ' ὧν, φησὶν, ἐξολοθρεύσω ἐκ σοῦ ἄδικον καὶ ἄνομον, οὕτως ἐξελεύσεται τὸ ἐγχειρίδιόν μου ἐκ τοῦ κολεοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἀποστρέψει οὐκέτι. Τῶν γὰρ ἐν σοὶ, φησὶ, παρανομιῶν ἕνεκεν, οἷόν τι ἐγχειρίδιον ἀπὸ θήκης ἐκφέρων τῶν Χαλ δαίων τὴν στρατείαν, τῇ αὐτῇ παραδώσω τιμωρίᾳ καὶ τοὺς ἐν μέσῳ σοῦ τε καὶ τῶν Χαλδαίων διακειμέ νους, καὶ παρασκευάσω γνῶναι πάντας διὰ τῆς πείρας, ὡς ἐγὼ πάντων ἔχω τὴν ἐξουσίαν, καὶ τῇδε αὐτοὺς ἐνδίκως περιέβαλον τῇ συμφορᾷ. ʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καταστέναξον ἐν συντριβῇ ὀσφύος σου, καὶ ἐν ὀδύναις στενάξεις κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν. Ἀκολουθείτω, φησὶ, τοῖς λεγομένοις καὶ ἡ παρὰ σοῦ συμπάθεια, καὶ δίδαξον αὐτοὺς δι' ὧν στένεις, ὡς ἀληθῆ τὰ λεγόμενα. ζʹ. Καὶ ἔσται, ἐὰν εἴπωσι πρὸς σέ· Ἕνεκεν τίνος σὺ στενάζεις; καὶ ἐρεῖς, Ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγγε λίαν, διότι ἔρχεται, καὶ θραυσθήσεται πᾶσα καρδία, καὶ παραλυθήσονται πᾶσαι χεῖρες, καὶ ἐκψύξει πᾶσα σὰρξ καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα, καὶ πάντες μηροὶ μολυνθήσονται ὑγρασίᾳ· ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται, καὶ 81.1009 ἔσται, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Σοῦ, φησὶ, στενά ζοντος ἀναγκαίως ἐρήσονται, μαθεῖν ἐθέλοντες τὴν τοῦ πάθους αἰτίαν· ἐρομένοις τοίνυν ἀπόκριναι, ὅτι Τὰ ἐσόμενα προθεωρῶν κακὰ, καὶ τὰς χαλεπὰς ἀγγε λίας, καὶ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν πᾶσιν ἐπιγενόμενον δέος, στένω, καὶ ὀλοφύρομαι τῶν ὁμοφύλων τὰς συμφο ράς. ηʹ-ιʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ, λέ γων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, προφήτευσον, καὶ ἐρεῖς· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, Εἰπὸν ῥομφαίᾳ· Ῥομφαία ὀξύνου, καὶ θυμώθητι· Ὅπως σφάξῃς σφάγια ὀξύνου, ὅπως γένῃ εἰς στίλβωσιν, ἑτοίμη εἰς παράλυσιν, σφάζε, ἐξουθένει, ἀπόθου πᾶν ξύλον. Ῥομφαίαν πάλιν τροπικῶς τὴν τιμωρίαν καλεῖ διὰ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων, καὶ Ἰουδαίοις, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ἐν μέσῳ ἔθνεσιν ἐπενεχθεῖσαν. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι αὐτὸς παρεγγυᾷν θήγεσθαι, καὶ στιλβοῦσθαι, καὶ σφάττειν, καὶ πᾶν ξύλον πρόῤῥιζον ἀνασπᾷν, διδάσκων ὡς αὐτοῦ συγχωροῦντος ταῦτα γενήσεται, καὶ οὐ τῇ τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου δυνάμει, ἀλλὰ τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐνεργείᾳ τούτων ἕκαστον ἐπιτελεῖται. Τοιοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰρη μένον, "Ὅτι παροξυνῶ ὡς ἀστραπὴν τὴν μάχαιράν μου, καὶ ἀνθέξεται κρίματος ἡ χείρ μου, καὶ ἐκδι κήσω, καὶ ἀνταποδώσω δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσί με ἀνταποδώσω· μεθύσω τὰ βέλη μου ἀφ' αἵματος, καὶ ἡ μάχαιρά μου φάγεται κρέα." Καὶ ἐν τούτοις γὰρ μάχαιραν, καὶ βέλη, τὴν τιμωρητικὴν ἐνέργειαν προσηγόρευσε, τὰς ἀξίας δίκας παρὰ τῶν ὑπευθύνων εἰσπραττόμενος. Εἶτα ἐπάγει· ιαʹ. Καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν ἑτοίμην τοῦ κρατεῖν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῆς, ἐξηκονήθη, ῥομφαία ἐστὶν ἑτοίμη τοῦ