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of the God of all: "His seed perished by the hand of his brother and his neighbor." He did not respect, it says, either nature or proximity. For Jacob and Esau were brothers, and indeed also neighbors; for no one else separated them from one another. 11. There is not one who has mercy to leave your orphans behind, so that they may be saved, and I will save them. All, he says, because of your great wickedness are hostilely disposed toward you; and should I, the just judge, become your helper? "And let your widows trust in me." And this he has set down ironically, as what follows shows. 12. For thus says the Lord: Behold, those for whom it was not the custom to drink the cup, drinking have drunk, and you, being acquitted, will by no means be acquitted. It is my custom to punish those who live in impiety and wickedness; but prophets and priests were led away to Babylon, Daniel, Ezekiel, and pious men, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and probably very many others, whom history remembers. Those then, he says, were not subject to punishment on account of their virtue, but they have become captives of the spear; and do you expect to escape? But you will not attain your hope, "For drinking you shall drink." 13. For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that you shall be for destruction, and for a reproach, and for an impassable place, and for a curse. Bosor in the midst of her portion, and all her cities shall be desolate forever. By Bosor he means not this Bostra, but another situated in Idumea. 81.732 14. I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations: be gathered, and come against her, and rise up to war against her. But "he sent messengers to the nations" he has set down instead of "he commanded"; and it is likely that angels, ministering to the divine command, also stirred up the enemies; for the divine David also says: "He sent upon them the anger of his wrath: wrath, and anger, and affliction, a sending forth by means of evil angels." But he calls them evil, not as being such by nature, but as being sent for the sake of punishment. For we are accustomed to call even the calamities that are brought upon us evils. Thus an angel destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians; thus others were sent against Israel, when David numbered the people. And it is possible to find many other such things in the divine Scripture. 15. Behold, I have made you small among the nations; very contemptible among men. For the Idumeans are obscure; and they would have been completely unknown, if the divine Scripture had not made them known; and it makes them known not to all, but to the diligent. 16. Your sport has brought these things upon you, and the dishonor of your heart. By these things he accuses them of idolatry, and luxury, and licentiousness. "He lodged in the holes of the rocks." And we have already said before, what kind of refuges they had. "He seized the strength of a high hill." He means the mountain-tops; and these are very great, and high. "For if you should exalt your nest like an eagle; from there I will bring you down, says the Lord." 17. And Idumea shall be for an impassable place. And he says that those who pass through it will be amazed, and by their hissing will show the excess of the desolation; and that like Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities which shared in this suffering, the aforesaid cities will become similarly desolate. And the word is true; for Dedan, and Teman, and Bosor are completely desolate. And he says that the Babylonian will likewise rush against her like a lion, and will make his way through the Jordan; and he commands the chosen ones to arm themselves against her, and adds: 19. For who is like me? and who will stand against me? who is this shepherd, who will stand before my face? For neither the kings, nor their idols, when I command, will be able to stand against me. 20. For this reason hear the counsel of the Lord, which he has counseled against Idumea, and his thought, which he has thought against the inhabitants of Te- 81.733 man. Then he says that their sheep will be few in number, and the land impassable; and that the sound of the lamentation will reach the Red Sea,

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τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ· "Ὤλετο σπέρμα αὐτοῦ διὰ χειρὸς ἀδελφοῦ καὶ γείτονος αὐτοῦ." Οὐκ ᾐδέσθη, φησὶ, οὔτε τὴν φύσιν οὔτε τὴν γειτνίασιν. Ἀδελφοὶ γὰρ ἦσαν Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἠσαῦ, καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὅμοροι· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἕτερος αὐτοὺς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διέστησεν. ιαʹ. Οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐλεῶν ὑπολείπεσθαι ὀρφανούς σου, ἵνα σωθῶσι, καὶ ἐγὼ αὐτοὺς διασώσω. Πάντες, φησὶ, διὰ τὴν πολλήν σου πονη ρίαν ἀπεχθῶς πρὸς σὲ διάκεινται· κἀγὼ ὁ δίκαιος κριτὴς ἐπίκουρός σου γένωμαι; "Καὶ αἱ χῆραί σου ἐπ' ἐμοὶ πεποιθέτωσαν." Καὶ τοῦτο κατ' εἰρωνείαν τέθεικεν, ὡς δηλοῖ τὰ ἑξῆς. ιβʹ. Ὅτι τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ οἷς οὐκ ἦν νόμος πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον, πίοντες ἔπιον, καὶ σὺ ἀθωωμένη οὐ μὴ ἀθωωθῇς. Τοὺς ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ πονηρίᾳ συζῶντας κολάζειν μοι νόμος· ἀπ ήχθησαν δὲ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα καὶ προφῆται καὶ ἱερεῖς, ∆ανιὴλ, Ἐζεκιὴλ, καὶ ἄνδρες εὐσεβεῖς, Ἀνανίας,Ἀζαρίας, Μισαὴλ, καὶ ἄλλοι ὡς εἰκὸς πλεῖστοι, ὧν ἡ ἱστορία μέμνηται. Ἐκεῖνοι τοίνυν, φησὶν, οὐχ ὑπέκειντο διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῇ τιμωρίᾳ, γεγένηνται δὲ δορυάλωτοι· καὶ σὺ διαφυγεῖν προσδοκᾷς; Ἀλλ' οὐ τεύξῃ τῆς ἐλπίδος, "Ὅτι πίνουσα πίῃ." ιγʹ. Ὅτι κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα, λέγει Κύριος, ὅτι εἰς ἀφανισμὸν, καὶ ὀνειδισμὸν, καὶ εἰς ἄβατον, καὶ εἰς ἐπικατάρασιν ἔσῃ. Βοσὼρ ἐν μέσῳ μέρους αὐτῆς, καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ πόλεις αὐτῆς ἔσονται ἔρημοι ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος. Βοσὼρ οὐ ταύτην λέγει τὴν Βόστραν, ἀλλ' ἑτέραν ἐπὶ τῇ Ἰδουμαίᾳ διακειμένην. 81.732 ιδʹ. Ἀκοὴν ἤκουσα παρὰ Κυρίου, καὶ ἀγγέλους εἰς ἔθνη ἀπέστειλε· συνάχθητε, καὶ παραγένεσθε ἐπ' αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀνάστητε εἰς πόλεμον ἐπ' αὐ τήν. Τὸ δὲ, "ἀγγέλους εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἀπέστειλεν," ἀντὶ τοῦ "ἐκέλευσε" τέθεικεν· εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ τῷ θείῳ προστάγματι διακονοῦντας ἀγγέλους διεγείρειν τοὺς πολεμίους· καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεῖος λέγει ∆αβίδ· "Ἐξαπέστειλεν εἰς αὐτοὺς ὀργὴν θυμοῦ αὑτοῦ· θυμὸν, καὶ ὀργὴν, καὶ θλίψιν, ἀποστολὴν δι' ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν." Πονηροὺς δὲ καλεῖ, οὐχ ὡς φύσει τοιού τους, ἀλλ' ὡς τιμωρίας χάριν ἐκπεμπομένους. Κακὰ γὰρ καλεῖν εἰώθαμεν καὶ τὰς ἐπαγομένας συμ φοράς. Οὕτως ἄγγελος τὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἀνεῖλε πρωτότοκα· οὕτως ἕτεροι κατὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπεστά λησαν, ἡνίκα τὸν λαὸν ἀπηρίθμησεν ὁ ∆αβίδ. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ ιεʹ. Ἰδοὺ μικρὸν δέδωκά σε ἐν ἔθνεσιν· εὐκα ταφρόνητον ἐν ἀνθρώποις. Ἄσημοι γάρ εἰσιν Ἰδουμαῖοι· καὶ παντελῶς ἠγνοήθησαν, εἰ μὴ δήλους αὐ τοὺς πεποίηκεν ἡ θεία Γραφή· καὶ δήλους αὐτοὺς οὐ πᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς σπουδαίοις ποιεῖ. ιϛʹ. Ἡ παιγνία σου ἐνεχείρησέ σοι ταῦτα, καὶ ἡ ἀτιμία τῆς καρδίας σου. Εἰδωλολατρείαν, καὶ τρυφὴν, καὶ ἀκολασίαν διὰ τούτων κατηγορεῖ. "Κατέλυσεν ἐν τρυμαλιαῖς πετρῶν." Καὶ ἤδη προ ειρήκαμεν, ὁποίας εἶχον καταφυγάς. "Συνέλαβεν ἰσχὺν βουνοῦ ὑψηλοῦ." Τὰς ἀκρωρείας λέγει· μέγι σται δὲ αὗται, καὶ ὑψηλαί. "Ὅτι ἐὰν ὑψώσῃς, ὡς ἀετὸς, νοσσιάν σου· ἐκεῖθεν καθελῶ σε, λέγει Κύ ριος." ιζʹ. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ Ἰδουμαία εἰς ἄβατον. Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι καὶ οἱ διιόντες δι' αὐτῆς θαυμάσουσι, καὶ τῷ συρίγματι δηλώσουσι τὴν τῆς ἐρημίας ὑπερβολήν· καὶ ὅτι Σοδόμοις καὶ Γομόροις, καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις πό λεσιν αἳ τοῦ πάθους ἐκοινώνησαν ταύταις, ἔρημοι παραπλησίως αἱ προῤῥηθεῖσαι γενήσονται πόλεις. Καὶ ἀψευδὴς ὁ λόγος· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ∆αιδὰν, καὶ ἡ Θαι μὰν, καὶ ἡ Βοσὼρ ἔρημοί εἰσι παντελῶς. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸν Βαβυλώνιον λέοντι παραπλησίως κατ' αὐτῆς ὁρμήσειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου τὴν πορείαν ποιή σεσθαι· καὶ κελεύει τοὺς λογάδας κατ' αὐτῆς ὁπλί σασθαι, καὶ ἐπάγει· ιθʹ. Ὅτι τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ; καὶ τίς ἀντιστήσεταί μοι; τίς οὗτος ὁ ποιμὴν, ὃς στήσεται κατὰ πρόσ ωπόν μου; Οὔτε γὰρ οἱ βασιλεῖς, οὔτε τὰ τούτων εἴδωλα, ἐμοῦ κελεύοντος, ἀντιστῆναι δυνήσονται. κʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀκούσατε τὴν βουλὴν Κυρίου, ἢν ἐβουλεύσατο ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν, καὶ λογισμὸν αὐτοῦ, ὃν ἐλογίσατο ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Θαι 81.733 μάν. Εἶτα λέγει εὐαρίθμητα μὲν αὐτῶν ἔσεσθαι τὰ πρόβατα, ἄβατον δὲ τὴν χώραν· καὶ τοῦ θρήνου τὸν ἦχον τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν καταλήψεσθαι θάλασσαν,