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he will burn down the houses of their gods with fire. The city was of two names; for it was called both On, and Heliopolis. This Exodus also taught us; for it said that the sons of Israel built cities for Pharaoh, both Pithom, and Raamses, and On, which is Heliopolis. Yet God calls Nebuchadnezzar "his servant," not as being a servant by relation and disposition, but as a servant by nature; for the creation is the servant of the creator; and it teaches at the same time, that he did these things with His permission. CHAPTER 44. Yet to the Jews who were sick with disobedience, the philanthropic Lord again brings an exhortation, using the prophet as a minister. And first he reminds them of the evils that had happened in Judaea because of the lawlessness of the inhabitants, then he rebukes them for daring to do similar things, and drawing upon themselves the divine wrath. 7, 8. For behold, he says, you are doing great evils against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, from the midst of Judah, so that none of you be left. To provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have entered to sojourn there, that you may be cut off, and that you may become a curse, and a reproach among all the nations of the earth. And he reminds them, as having a fresh memory, of the evils dared both by their fathers, and their kings, and indeed their mighty men; and of the manifold misfortunes brought upon them on account of these things. And to these he adds the threat, calling himself Lord of hosts, and God of Israel; so that hearing the greatness of his authority, and learning of his care for their forefathers, they might be both ashamed and afraid. "Behold, I set my face against you for evil." It is characteristic of those who are indignant to have a grim look, to have a fixed gaze, and to stare for a long time at those who provoke them. From human characteristics, therefore, he forms the threat, and says: "I set my 81.704 face against you for evil to destroy all Judah." Then he says that they will be given over to famine and the sword, and they will be utterly destroyed, and they will become an oath, and a destruction, and a curse, and a reproach, and they will suffer the same things as those besieged in Jerusalem. "Yet none of these shall escape, nor shall return to the land of Judaea." But none of these things terrified the wretched and thrice-wretched men. But they all cried out openly, both men and women, and especially the Babylonians, "We will not tolerate your words." But what is more difficult than this is that, even while considering these words divine, they contradicted them openly. 16, 17. For the word, he says, which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. For we will surely do every word that proceeds out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers and our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. They call Aphrodite "Queen of Heaven," and the Greeks call her Urania. And doing these things, he says, we enjoyed good things to satiety; but having abandoned her worship, we were given over to war and famine. Then the women cried out more shamelessly: 19. For if we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made cakes for her, and poured out drink offerings to her? What happened was impious, but what was said was true; for in the preceding interpretations the God of all said, "Or do you not see what these are doing? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers

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τοὺς οἴκους τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν κατακαύσει ἐν πυρί. ∆ιώνυμος ἦν ἡ πόλις· καὶ γὰρ Ὢν ἐκαλεῖτο, καὶ Ἡλιούπολις. Τοῦτο ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡ Ἔξοδος ἐδίδαξεν· ἔφη γὰρ κεκτικέναι πόλεις τῷ Φαραὼ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ, τήν τε Πειθὼ, καὶ Ῥαμεσσῆ, καὶ Ὢν, ἥἐστιν Ἡλιούπολις. Τὸν μέντοι Ναβουχοδονόσορ "δοῦ λον ἑαυτοῦ" καλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, οὐχὶ ὡς σχέσει ὄντα δοῦλον καὶ διαθέσει, ἀλλ' ὡς φύσει δοῦλον· τοῦ γὰρ ποιητοῦ δοῦλον τὸ ποίημα· διδάσκει δὲ κατὰ ταὐτὸν, ὡς αὐτοῦ συγχωροῦντος ταῦτα ἐποίει. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Μ∆ʹ. Τοῖς μέντοι Ἰουδαίοις καὶ ἀπείθειαν νοσοῦσι πα ραίνεσιν πάλιν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος φέρει ∆εσπότης, διακόνῳ χρώμενος τῷ προφήτῃ. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἀναμιμνήσκει τῶν γεγενημένων ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ κα κῶν, διὰ τὴν τῶν οἰκητόρων παρανομίαν, εἶτα τού τοις αὐτοῖς ἐπιμέμφεται, ὡς τὰ ὅμοια τολμῶσι, καὶ τὴν θείαν ἐπισπωμένοις ὀργήν. ζʹ, ηʹ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε κακὰ μεγάλα ἐπὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν, ἐκκόψαι ὑμῶν ἄνδρα καὶ γυναῖκα, νήπιον καὶ θηλάζοντα, ἐκ μέσου Ἰούδα, πρὸς τὸ μὴ καταλειφθῆναι ὑμῶν μηδένα. Παραπικράναι με ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν, θυμιᾷν θεοῖς ἑτέροις ἐν γῇ Αἰγύ πτῳ οὗ εἰσήλθετε παροικεῖν ἐκεῖ, ἵνα ἐκκοπῆτε, καὶ ἵνα γένησθε εἰς κατάραν, καὶ εἰς ὀνειδι σμὸν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τῆς γῆς. Ἀναμιμνήσκει δὲ αὐτοὺς, ὡς ἔναυλον ἔχοντας μνήμην, καὶ τῶν τολ μηθέντων κακῶν ὑπό τε τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν βασιλέων, καὶ μέντοι καὶ τῶν δυνατῶν· καὶ τῶν διὰ ταῦτα ἐπενεχθεισῶν αὐτοῖς παντοδαπῶν συμ φορῶν. Καὶ τούτοις ἐπιφέρει τὴν ἀπειλὴν, Κύριον ἑαυ τὸν τῶν δυνάμεων ὀνομάζων, καὶ Θεὸν Ἰσραήλ· ἵνα καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐξουσίας ἀκούοντες, καὶ τὴν περὶ τοὺς προγόνους κηδεμονίαν μανθάνοντες, καὶ ἐντραπῶσι καὶ δείσωσιν. "Ἰδοὺ ἐφίστημι τὸ πρόσ ωπον ἐφ' ὑμᾶς εἰς κακά." Ἴδιον τῶν ἀγανα κτούντων βλοσυρὸν μὲν βλέπειν, ἀτενὲς δὲ ἔχειν τὸ ὄμμα, καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐπὶ τοὺς παροξύνοντας ἀποβλέπειν. Ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τοίνυν σχηματί ζει τὴν ἀπειλὴν, καί φησιν· "Ἐφίστημι τὸ πρόσ 81.704 ωπόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς εἰς κακὰ τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι πάντα τὸν Ἰούδαν." Εἶτα λέγει, ὡς λιμῷ καὶ ῥομ φαίᾳ παραδοθήσονται, καὶ παγγενῆ διαφθαρήσονται, καὶ γενήσονται εἰς ὅρκον, καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν, καὶ εἰς κατάραν, καὶ εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν, καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ πείσον ται τοῖς ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκηθεῖσι. "Τού των μέντοι οὐδεὶς διαφεύξεται, οὐδὲ εἰς τὴν Ἰου δαίαν ἐπανήξει γῆν." Ἀλλὰ τούτων οὐδὲν τοὺς ἀθλίους, καὶ τρισαθλίους ἐξεδειμάτωσεν ἄνδρας. Ἀλλ' ἄντικρυς ἐβόων πάντες, καὶ ἄνδρες, καὶ γυ ναῖκες, διαφερόντως δὲ οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι, "ὅτι. Τῶν σῶν οὐκ ἀνεχόμεθα λόγων." Τὸ δὲ τούτου χαλε πώτερον, ὅτι καὶ θείους τούτους νομίζοντες, ἀντέλε γον προφανῶς. ιϛʹ, ιζʹ. Τὸν λόγον γὰρ, φησὶν, ὃν ἐλάλησας πρὸς ἡμᾶς τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου, οὐκ ἀκουσόμεθά σου. Ὅτι ποιοῦντες ποιήσομεν πάντα λόγον, ὃς ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἡμῶν, θυμιᾷν τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ σπένδειν αὐτῇ σπον δὰς, καθὰ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, καὶ πατέρες ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἡμῶν, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν, ἐν πόλεσιν Ἰούδα, καὶ ἐν διόδοις Ἱερουσαλήμ. "Βασίλισσαν οὐρανοῦ" τὴν Ἀφροδίτην καλοῦσι, καὶ οἱ Ἕλληνες αὐτὴν Οὐρανίαν προσαγορεύουσι. Ταῦτα δὲ, φησὶ, ποιοῦντες, εἰς κόρον ἀπελαύσαμεν τῶν ἀγαθῶν· τὴν δὲ ταύτης θεραπείαν καταλιπόντες, καὶ πολέμῳ, καὶ λιμῷ παρεδόθημεν. Εἶτα αἱ γυναῖκες ἀναιδέστερον ἐβόων· ιθʹ. Ὅτι εἰ ἡμεῖς ἐθύομεν τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἐσπένδομεν αὐτῇ σπονδὰς, μὴ ἄνευ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἡμῶν ἐποιήσαμεν αὐτῇ χαυῶνας, καὶ ἐσπείσαμεν αὐτῇ σπονδάς; Ἀσεβὲς μὲν τὸ γεγενημένον, ἀληθὲς δὲ τὸ εἰρημένον· καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἑρμηνευομένοις ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἔφη, "Ἢ οὐχ ὁρᾷς, τί οὗτοι ποιοῦσιν; Οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν συλλέγουσι ξύλα, καὶ οἱ πατέρες αὐ τῶν