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The word that came. See the philanthropy of God; He threatened many things through words, He did not persuade; He afflicted the prophet; He showed him the things to come through a type, through a rod, through a cauldron, through a loincloth, through a flask. He promised countless good things; He brought also the plague of drought; they were still worse. He brings, therefore, the wars themselves upon them. For since they were unwilling to yield to the gentle and sweet medicine, He brings a certain incision. But see also here the philanthropy; for lest anyone say that it was necessary to strike, He does this too, and everywhere one might see this happening. Ask. For they were humbled in calamities, and fled to God only then. And not even then as they ought. For why do you ask, as if you know, you who know that what is said is certainly true? How then are you not persuaded? But if you hear according to your own opinion, do you praise what was said? But if you learn the truth, do you become displeased and indignant? Where then are the false prophets who say, There is no war, there is no battle, nor famine, nor sword? And after a little; Inquire of the Lord for us; under much folly, having shown no change, they expected a change of dreadful things. From where? Yes, he says; According to all his wonders. They expected the Divine to desire glory; now you remember the wonders? now you know that God can do all things, pressed by affliction you philosophize? Now was not the time for these words, but when you were despising them; when you were insolent concerning the oaths against him. See how great the horror of oaths; he swore to obey; he did not obey, and is captured. Therefore, not that the Barbarian might be avenged, but that God might not be insulted; that no other might transgress the law. And after a little; I do not think that Nebuchadnezzar trusts so much in his weapons, as in the good will from God. At least his eunuch reproaches this. Nebuchadnezzar becomes a teacher to the Jews never to break an oath. Thus says the Lord; Behold I will turn back. Even if they, He says, wish to withdraw, I will make war on you. 64.936 And you shall say to this people. Jehoiakim, having deserted to the Babylonian, and henceforth accepting the terms of slavery, having fulfilled his oaths, becomes tributary to him. But Zedekiah transgressed the oaths, and broke the treaty; therefore the Babylonian comes, having a just pretext of the oath; but not even so does God betray them. But if you wish, He says, to go out, you will be for salvation. What more should have been done? They chose to share in his perjury; indeed, they should not even have asked the prophet what the end of the oath would be, when the oaths and treaties had been trampled underfoot. But nevertheless, that he might not have the excuse of ignorance, that the ruled might not have the compulsion of the ruler, and these He will except; perhaps, He excepts. The punishment is at the gates, He says; you are masters to flee this. Of what then would they be worthy, who, being able to escape the present destruction and be saved without perjury, chose along with death to also sustain the charge of perjury? And after a little; But we ought to know that even if the one wronged is a Greek, God comes forth; for that one is also His, and apart from this, He spares His own the more; and the one doing wrong is himself the one who is harmed. And he who goes out to surrender to the Chaldeans who have shut you in, will live, and his life will be to him for a benefit, and he will live. The Hebrew has put the ‘for a benefit’ more clearly, but it has ‘for spoils’. But the meaning is this: He who does not flee, He says, will die; but he who flees will live, having become spoils of the enemies. Therefore, ‘for a benefit’ means this, he will gain this very thing, to live. O house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the Lord. O house of David, thus says the Lord: Judge judgment in the morning, and so forth. Having threatened, He exhorts them to change their mind, showing that because they sinned without repentance, them

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Ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος. Ὅρα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν· ἠπείλησε πολλὰ διὰ ῥημάτων, οὐκ ἔπεισεν· ἐκάκωσε τὸν προφήτην· ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ τὰ μέλλοντα διὰ τύπου, διὰ ῥάβδου, διὰ λέβητος, διὰ περιζώματος, διὰ τοῦ βίκου. Ὑπέσχετο μυρία ἀγαθά· ἐπήγαγε καὶ τὴν πληγὴν τῆς ἀβροχίας· ἔτι χείρους ἦσαν. Ἐπάγει λοιπὸν αὐτοὺς τοὺς πολέμους αὐτοῖς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῷ προσηνεῖ καὶ γλυκεῖ φαρμάκῳ εἶξαι οὐκ ἠθέλησαν, ἐπάγει τινὰ τομήν. Ἀλλ' ὅρα καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν· ἵνα γὰρ μή τις λέγῃ, ὅτι καὶ πλῆξαι ἐχρῆν· καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, καὶ πανταχοῦ ἴδοι τις ἂν τοῦτο γινόμενον. Ἐπερώτησον. Τεταπεινωμένοι γὰρ ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς συμφοραῖς, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν κατέφευγον τότε μόνον. Καὶ οὐδὲ τότε ὡς ἐχρῆν. Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν ἐρωτᾷς, ὡς εἰδὼς, ὁ εἰδὼς ὅτι πάντως ἀληθῆ τὰ λεγόμενα; πῶς οὖν οὐ πείθῃ; ἀλλ' ἂν μὲν κατὰ γνώμην ἀκούσῃς, ἐπαινεῖς τὸ λεχθέν; ἂν δὲ τὸ ἀληθὲς μάθῃς, δυσχεραίνεις καὶ ἀγανακτεῖς; Ποῦ τοίνυν οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται οἱ λέγοντες, Οὐκ ἔστι πόλεμος, οὐκ ἔστι μάχη, οὐδὲ λιμὸς, οὐδὲ μάχαιρα; Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐπερώτησον περὶ ἡμῶν τὸν Κύριον· ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀνοίας μηδεμίαν ἐπιδειξάμενοι μεταβολὴν, μεταβολὴν δεινῶν προσεδόκησαν. Πόθεν; Ναὶ, φησί· Κατὰ πάντα τὰ θαυμάσια αὐτοῦ. Προσεδόκησαν τὸ Θεῖον δόξης ἐφίεσθαι· νῦν μιμνήσκῃ τῶν θαυμασίων; νῦν οἶδας, ὅτι πάντα δύναται ὁ Θεὸς ὑπὸ τῆς θλίψεως πιεσθεὶς φιλοσοφεῖς; Τούτων οὐχὶ νῦν τῶν ῥημάτων καιρὸς ἦν, ἀλλ' ὅτε αὐτῶν κατεφρόνεις· ὅτε παρῴνεις εἰς τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς κατ' αὐτοῦ. Ὅρα πόση φρίκη τῶν ὅρκων· ὤμοσεν ὑπακούειν· οὐχ ὑπήκουσε, καὶ ἁλίσκεται. Τοίνυν οὐχ ἵνα ὁ Βάρβαρος ἐκδικηθῇ, ἀλλ' ἵνα ὁ Θεὸς μὴ ὑβρίζηται· ἵνα μηδεὶς ἕτερος παρανομῇ. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐγὼ τὸν Ναβουχοδονόσορ οὐχ οὕτως ἡγοῦμαι τοῖς ὅπλοις θαῤῥεῖν, ὡς τῇ εὐνοίᾳ τῇ παρὰ Θεοῦ. Τοῦτο γοῦν ὁ εὐνοῦχος αὐτοῦ ὀνειδίζει. ∆ιδάσκαλος ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις παραγίνεται τοῦ μηδέποτε ἐπιορκεῖν. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεταστρέψω. Κἂν αὐτοὶ, φησὶ, βούλωνται ἀναχωρῆσαι, ἐγὼ πολεμήσω ὑμᾶς. 64.936 Καὶ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον ἐρεῖς. Ἰωακεὶμ αὐτομολήσας πρὸς τὸν Βαβυλώνιον, καὶ λοιπὸν τὰ τῆς δουλείας καταδεξάμενος, ὅρκους ἐπιτελέσας, ὑπόφορος τούτῳ γίνεται. Ὁ Σεδεκίας δὲ παρέβη τοὺς ὅρκους, καὶ παρεσπόνδησεν· ἐπέρχεται λοιπὸν ὁ Βαβυλώνιος, ἀφορμὴν δικαίαν ἔχων τοῦ ὅρκου· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ οὕτως αὐτοὺς προδίδωσιν ὁ Θεός. Ἀλλ' εἰ βούλεσθε, φησὶν, ἐξελθεῖν, εἰς σωτηρίαν ἔσεσθε. Τί ποιῆσαι πλέον ἐχρῆν; εἵλοντο κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἐπιορκίας αὐτῷ· μάλιστα δὲ οὐδὲ τὸν προφήτην ἔρεσθαι ἔδει, οἷον τὸ τοῦ ὅρκου τέλος ἔσται, καταπατηθέντων τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἵνα μηδὲ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀγνοίας ἀπολογίαν ἔχῃ, ἵνα μὴ τὴν ἀνάγκην ἔχωσι τοῦ ἄρχοντος οἱ ἀρχόμενοι, καὶ τούτους ἐξαιρήσονται ἴσ. ἐξαιρεῖται. Ἐπὶ θύραις ἡ τιμωρία, φησίν· ὑμεῖς κύριοι ταύτην φυγεῖν. Τίνος οὖν ἂν εἶεν ἄξιοι οἱ παρόντα δυνάμενοι τὸν ὄλεθρον διαφυγεῖν, καὶ μήτε ἐπιορκῆσαι καὶ σωθῆναι, ἑλόμενοι μετὰ τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐπιορκίας ὑποστῆναι ἔγκλημα; Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Εἰδέναι δὲ ὀφείλομεν, ὅτι κἂν Ἕλλην ὁ ἠδικημένος ᾖ, ἐπεξέρχεται ὁ Θεός· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος αὐτοῦ ἐστι, καὶ χωρὶς τούτου, τῶν ἰδίων μᾶλλον φείδεται· καὶ ὁ ἀδικῶν αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ βλαπτόμενος. Καὶ ὁ ἐκπορευόμενος προσχωρῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς Χαλδαίους τοὺς συγκεκλεικότας ὑμᾶς, ζήσεται, καὶ ἔσται αὐτῷ ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ εἰς ὠφέλειαν, καὶ ζήσεται. Ὁ Ἑβραῖος τὸ, εἰς ὠφέλειαν, σαφέστερον τέθεικεν, ἔχει δὲ εἰς σκῦλα. Ἡ δὲ ἔννοια αὕτη· Ὁ μὴ προσφεύγων μὲν, φησὶν, ἀποθανεῖται· ὁ προσφεύγων δὲ ζήσεται, σκῦλα τῶν πολεμίων γενόμενος. Τὸ οὖν, εἰς ὠφέλειαν, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τοῦτο αὐτὸ κερδανεῖ, τὸ ζῇν. Ὁ οἶκος βασιλέως Ἰούδα, ἀκούσατε τὸν λόγον Κυρίου. Ὁ οἶκος ∆αβὶδ, τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Κρίνατε τὸ πρωῒ κρῖμα, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀπειλήσας παραινεῖ μεταβάλλεσθαι τὴν γνώμην, δεικνὺς, ὡς διὰ τὸ ἀμεταμέλητα πταίειν, αὐτοὺς