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fingers writing on the wall; the writing of which only Daniel interpreted. It is as follows. Mene: which is, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel: and it was weighed in the balance and found wanting. Peres: your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. And on that very night Belshazzar was slain. When Jerusalem was taken captive, Jeremiah, although greatly compelled by the Chaldeans, chose rather to remain with the poor who were left behind. and when they cast him into the mire, he composed a book of many verses. In those times the most divine Ezekiel was also led away captive, and being by the river Chebar, when the heavens were opened to him he saw the glory of God, a spirit coming from the north and a cloud in it and 1.200 a brightness round about, imagining the trinity. There he also saw a representation of the cherubim, represented in the face of a man and a calf and a lion and an eagle. But above these, as the form of a man, seeing God as man, he was made a prophet of Israel through him, and from thence was initiated into the knowledge of things to come. After Jehoiakim, Jeconiah his son, also called Jehoiakim, reigned by the command of Nebuchadnezzar. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And when he acted ungratefully concerning the tributes, Nebuchadnezzar came again to the city of Jerusalem, and besieged it. To whom Jeconiah went out with his mother and children and his rulers. And did the great ones of Nebuchadnezzar enter the city? and they brought out the treasures of the Lord and of the king and the golden vessels which Solomon had made in the temple of the Lord. And having made Zedekiah king instead of Jeconiah, he carried Jeconiah away to Babylon and his mother and his rulers, after he had reigned for three months. concerning whom Jeremiah said again, "Jeconiah was dishonored like a vessel for which there is no use, for he was cast off and thrown out into a land which he did not know, says the Lord. O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord, write this man down as a proclaimed man, because no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, ruling any more in Judah." After Jeconiah, Zedekiah, his father's brother, reigned, and did that which was evil 1.201 in the sight of the Lord. And when he likewise broke the treaty concerning the tribute, Nebuchadnezzar came again to Jerusalem and besieged it for two years. And Jeremiah, having prophesied the capture of the city, was cast as a prisoner by Zedekiah into a pit. But after he was released from his bonds, having taken the ark and the altar and the table and the lampstand from the temple by the word of the Lord, as the city was about to be taken, he hid them in an unknown place; and they were not found again, as the book of the Maccabees says. And Nebuchadnezzar, having taken the city, burned it all. And having captured Zedekiah, he slew his wife and children before his eyes, and having blinded him and bound him in chains, he led him away captive to Babylon, after he had reigned for three years, and he led the multitude away captive for 70 years. To this Zedekiah a certain prophet said before the captivity that he would be led away to Babylon. And another said to him, "Fear not; for you shall not see Babylon." And both spoke the truth; for he went down, but he did not see it; for he was blind. Concerning whom Jeremiah again said, "Thus says the Lord concerning Zedekiah: Behold, I will give him into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall smite him, and they shall take up a curse against him, saying, 'May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, because of the iniquity they committed in Jerusalem, and they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow citizens, and they spoke a word in my name which I did not command them, says the Lord.'"

1.202 In the third year of the captivity, Nebuchadnezzar sent Nebuzaradan his chief cook to Jerusalem, and the house of the Lord and the

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δακτύλους γράφοντας ἐν τῷ τοίχῳ· ὧν τὴν γραφὴν μόνος ∆ανιὴλ ἡρμήνευ σεν. ἔχει δὲ οὕτως. μανί· ὅ ἐστιν, ἐμέτρησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν βα σιλείαν σου καὶ ἐπλήρωσεν αὐτήν. θεκέλ· καὶ ἐστάθμησεν ἐν ζυγῷ καὶ εὑρέθη ὑστεροῦσα. φαρές· διῄρηται ἡ βασιλεία σου καὶ ἐδόθη Μήδοις καὶ Πέρσαις. καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ νυκτὶ ἀναιρεῖται Βαλτάσαρ. Αἰχμαλωτισθείσης τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἱερεμίας, καίτοι πολλὰ παρὰ τῶν Χαλδαίων ἀναγκασθείς, ᾑρετίσατο μᾶλλον μετὰ τῶν καταλειφθέντων πενήτων ἐναπομεῖναι. καὶ ὡς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν βόρ βορον ἔβαλλον, πολύστιχον βιβλίον συνέταξε. κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς ἐκείνους καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὁ θειότατος αἰχμάλωτος ἀπαχθείς, ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ λαχὼν τοῦ Χοβάρ, διανοιγέντων αὐτῷ τῶν οὐρανῶν εἶδε δόξαν θεοῦ, πνεῦμα ἐρχόμενον ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ νεφέλην ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ 1.200 φέγγος κύκλοθεν, τὴν τριάδα φανταζόμενος. ἐκεῖ καὶ τῶν χε ρουβὶμ εἶδεν ὑποτύπωσιν, ἐν προσώπῳ ἀνθρώπου καὶ μόσχου καὶ λέοντος καὶ ἀετοῦ ὑποτυπουμένην. ὑπεράνω δὲ τούτων, ὡς εἶδος ἀνθρώπου, τὸν θεὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁρῶν δι' αὐτοῦ προφήτης τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ κατέστη, καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων τὴν γνῶσιν ἐντεῦθεν μεμυστα γώγηται. Μετὰ δὲ Ἰωακεὶμ ἐβασίλευσεν Ἰεχονίας υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, ὁ καὶ Ἰωακείμ, διὰ προστάγματος Ναβουχοδονόσορ. καὶ ἐποίησε τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου. καὶ περὶ τοὺς φόρους ἀγνωμονήσαντος αὐτοῦ ἦλθεν αὖθις Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰς τὴν πόλιν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐπολιόρκει αὐτήν. πρὸς ὃν Ἰεχονίας ἐξῆλθε σὺν μητρὶ καὶ τέκνοις καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἰσῆλθον οἱ μεγιστᾶνες Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰς τὴν πόλιν; καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν τοὺς θησαυροὺς κυρίου καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ σκεύη ἃ ἐποίησε Σολομῶν ἐν ναῷ κυρίου. τὸν δὲ Σεδεκίαν ἀντὶ Ἰεχονίου καταστήσας, ἀπῴ κισεν Ἰεχονίαν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτοῦ, βασιλεύσαντα μῆνας τρεῖς. περὶ οὗ πάλιν Ἱερεμίας ἔλεγεν "ἠτιμώθη Ἰεχονίας ὡς σκεῦος οὗ οὐκ ἔστιν χρεία, ὅτι ἀπερρίφη καὶ ἐξεβλήθη εἰς γῆν, ἣν οὐκ ᾔδει, λέγει κύριος. γῆ, γῆ, ἄκου σον λόγον κυρίου, γράψον τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἐκκήρυκτον ἄνθρω πον, ὅτι οὐ μὴ αὐξηθῇ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ καθήμενος ἐπὶ θρόνου ∆αβίδ, ἄρχων ἔτι ἐν τῷ Ἰούδᾳ." μετὰ δὲ Ἰεχονίαν ἐβασίλευσεν Σεδεκίας, πατράδελφος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐποίησε τὸ πονη 1.201 ρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου. καὶ περὶ τὴν φορολογίαν ὡσαύτως παρα σπονδήσαντος αὐτοῦ ἦλθε πάλιν Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐπολιόρκει αὐτὴν ἔτη δύο. καὶ προφητεύσας Ἱερεμίας τὴν ἅλωσιν τῆς πόλεως δέσμιος ἐβλήθη ὑπὸ Σεδεκίου ἐν λάκκῳ. μετὰ δὲ τὸ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν τοῦ δεσμοῦ, λαβὼν τὴν κιβωτὸν καὶ τὸ θυ σιαστήριον καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν καὶ τὴν λυχνίαν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, μέλλουσαν τὴν πόλιν ἤδη παραλαμβάνεσθαι, κατέκρυψεν ἐν ἀδήλῳ τόπῳ· καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθησαν ἔτι, ὡς ἡ τῶν Μακαβαίων βίβλος λέγει. ὁ δέ γε Ναβουχοδονόσορ παραλαβὼν τὴν πόλιν ἐνέ πρησε πᾶσαν. τὸν δὲ Σεδεκίαν χειρωσάμενος τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνεῖλεν, αὐτὸν δὲ ἐκτυφλώ σας καὶ δεσμοῖς κρατήσας εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμάλωτον ἀνήγαγε, βασιλεύσαντα ἔτη τρία, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἀπήγαγεν αἰχμάλωτον ἐπὶ ἔτη οʹ. τούτῳ τῷ Σεδεκίᾳ εἶπέ τις προφήτης πρὸ τῆς αἰχμαλω σίας ἀπαχθῆναι εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. καὶ ἄλλος εἶπεν αὐτῷ "μὴ φο βοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἴδῃς Βαβυλῶνα." καὶ ἀμφότεροι ἠλήθευσαν· κατῆλθε γάρ, οὐ μὴν ἐθεάσατο αὐτήν· τυφλὸς γὰρ ἦν. περὶ οὗ Ἱερεμίας αὖθις ἔφη "οὕτως εἶπε κύριος ἐπὶ Σεδεκίαν· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐ τὸν εἰς χεῖρας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ πατάξει αὐτόν, καὶ λή ψονται ἐπ' αὐτὸν κατάραν λέγοντες ποιήσαι σε κύριος ὡς Σεδεκίαν καὶ ὡς Ἀχιάβ, οὓς ἀπετηγάνισε βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐν πυρί, δι' ἣν ἐποίησαν ἀνομίαν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐμοιχῶντο τὰς γυναῖκας τῶν πολιτῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ λόγον ἐχρημάτισαν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου ὃν οὐ προσέταξα αὐτοῖς, λέγει κύριος."

1.202 Ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ ἔτει τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἀπέστειλε Ναβουχο δονόσορ τὸν Ναβουζαρδὰν ἀρχιμάγειρον αὐτοῦ εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ τὸν μὲν οἶκον κυρίου καὶ τὸν