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the word to them, and says: 45. And these are righteous men. He has set down the word 'righteous', not bearing witness to their righteousness; for they were most unjust and most lawless, and exceedingly impious; but from a comparison with her impieties he has set down 'righteous', instead of, 'when compared with you, they are righteous.' This he has also done above when speaking to Jerusalem; for he said, "And you have justified your sisters in your sins, and in all your lawlessness, which you have done." And here he says, "These are righteous men," that is, more than you. "And they will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of those who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands." They will pay the penalties, he says, for murder and adultery, taking their own lovers as judges, and they will suffer these things, just as adulterous and murderous women do; thus having completed the enigmatic narrative, he delivers the verdict against them. 40. Thus says the Lord Adonai: Bring up multitudes against them, and give them over to turmoil and plunder. 47. And let them be stoned with the stones of crowds, and let them pierce them with their 81.1049 swords; they will kill their sons and daughters, and burn their houses with fire. Then he shows the benefit that will result from this. 48. And I will turn away impiety from the land, and all the women will be disciplined, and they will not act according to their impieties. For when these, he says, endure these things, and are given over to stones, and swords, and fire, every city will reap a benefit, learning what the wages of impiety are. And here again he called the cities women. 49. And your impiety will be given upon you, and you will receive all the sins of your desires, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will bear the fruits, he says, of your impiety; for you did not receive it by necessity, but by will and desire; and from the punishment you will reap the greatest benefit: the knowledge of my dominion. May it be for us to enjoy this, not being taught by the experience of evils, but by being sensible of the divine benefactions, and detesting an ungrateful disposition, and being renewed each day in the divine memory, and being set on fire for the love of God by the energy of the most holy Spirit, and awaiting the epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be the glory, with the holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

VOLUME 10. CHAPTER 24. 1, 2. And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the

tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying: Son of man, write for yourself the name of this day, from which the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem from this very day. He taught us the time at which the Babylonian marched against Jerusalem. And while he was besieging the city, the prophet signifies to those who had already been taken captive by the spear the evils that would befall them. Wherefore, the Master, showing the truthfulness of the prophecy, commands him to mark the day on which the enemy began to attack the city, so that both from the time and from the outcome of the events 81.1052 they might learn, both those who had already become captives, and those who were being besieged, that God had foretold these things concerning them from above, and that they were not defeated because of the strength of their enemies, but were paying the penalties for their own sins. 3. And speak a parable to the rebellious house. After marking the time, the prophet is commanded to teach in a parabolic and enigmatic way the things that would happen to the city, so that because of the obscurity of what was said, the hearers might become more earnest in their questioning, more precisely

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τούτους τὸν λόγον, καί φησι· μεʹ. Καὶ ἄνδρες δίκαιοι οὗτοι. Τὸ δίκαιοι τέ θεικεν, οὐ δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῖς μαρτυρῶν· ἀδικώτατοι γὰρ καὶ παρανομώτατοι, καὶ λίαν ὑπῆρχον δυσ σεβέστατοι· ἀλλ' ἐκ παραθέσεως τῶν ταύτης ἀσεβη μάτων τὸ δίκαιοι τέθεικεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, σοὶ παρ εξεταζόμενοι δίκαιοι ὑπάρχουσι. Τοῦτο καὶ ἀνωτέρω πεποίηκε πρὸς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ διαλεγόμενος· ἔφη γὰρ, "Καὶ ἐδικαίωσας τὰς ἀδελφάς σου ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις σου, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἀνομίαις σου, αἷς ἐποίησας." Καὶ ἐνταῦθά φησιν, "Ἄνδρες δίκαιοι οὗτοι," τουτέστιν, ὑπὲρ σέ. "Καὶ ἐκ δικήσουσιν αὐτὰς ἐκδικήσει μοιχαλίδων, καὶ κρί σει ἐκχεουσῶν αἷμα, ὅτι μοιχαλίδες εἰσὶ, καὶ αἷμα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν." Μιαιφονίας, φησὶ, καὶ μοιχείας τίσουσι δίκας, τοὺς ἐραστὰς αὑτῶν λαμβάνουσαι δι καστὰς, καὶ ταῦτα πείσονται, ἅπερ αἱ μοιχεύτριαι γυναῖκες καὶ ἀνδροφόνοι· οὕτω πληρώσας τὸ αἰνιγ ματῶδες διήγημα, τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ψῆφον ἐκφέρει. μʹ. Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἀνάγαγε ἐπ' αὐτὰς πλήθη, καὶ δὸς ἐν αὐταῖς ταραχὴν καὶ διαρπαγήν. μζʹ. Καὶ λιθοβοληθήτωσαν λίθοις ὄχλων, καὶ κατακεντείτωσαν αὐτὰς ἐν τοῖς 81.1049 ξίφεσιν αὐτῶν· υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ θυγατέρας ἀποκτενοῦσι, καὶ τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν ἐμπρήσου σιν ἐν πυρί. Εἶτα τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐσομένην ἐπιδείκνυ σιν ὠφέλειαν. μηʹ. Καὶ ἀποστρέψω ἀσέβειαν ἐκ τῆς γῆς, καὶ παιδευθήσονται πᾶσαι αἱ γυναῖκες, καὶ οὐ μὴ ποιήσουσι κατὰ τὰς ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν. Τούτων γὰρ, φησὶ, ταῦτα ὑπομενουσῶν, καὶ λίθοις, καὶ ξίφεσι, καὶ πυρὶ παραδιδομένων, πᾶσα πόλις ὠφέλειαν καρ πώσεται, μανθάνουσα, οἷα τῆς ἀσεβείας τὰ ἐπίχειρα. Γυναῖκας δὲ πάλιν ἐνταῦθα τὰς πόλεις ὠνόμασε. μθʹ. Καὶ δοθήσεται ἡ ἀσέβεια ὑμῶν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν ἐπιθυμημάτων λήψεσθε, καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος. Τοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας ὑμῶν, φησὶ, κομιεῖσθε καρπούς· οὐ γὰρ ἀνάγκῃ ταύτην ἐδέξασθε, ἀλλὰ γνώμῃ καὶ πόθῳ· ἐκ δὲ τῆς τιμωρίας ὠφέλειαν μεγίστην τρυγήσετε τὴν τῆς ἐμῆς δεσποτείας ἐπίγνωσιν. Ἧς ἀπολαύειν ἡμᾶς γένοιτο, μὴ τῇ πείρᾳ τῶν κακῶν διδασκομένους, ἀλλὰ τῶν θείων εὐεργεσιῶν αἰσθανομένους, καὶ τὴν ἀγνώμονα γνώμην μυσαττομένους, καὶ τῇ θείᾳ μνήμῃ καθ' ἑκάστην ἀνανεουμένους ἡμέραν, καὶ τῇ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος ἐνεργείᾳ εἰς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπην πυρπολουμένους, καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χρι στοῦ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἀναμένοντας, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πα τρὶ ἡ δόξα, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΤΟΜΟΣ Ιʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κ∆ʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ ἐννάτῳ, ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ

δεκάτῳ, δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, γράψον σεαυ τῷ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, ἀφ' ἧς ἀπ ηρείσατο ὁ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐπὶ Ἱερουσα λὴμ ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς σήμερον. Ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς τὸν χρόνον, καθ' ὃν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ Βα βυλώνιος ἐπεστράτευσεν. Ἐκείνου δὲ τὴν πόλιν πο λιορκοῦντος, ὁ προφήτης τοῖς ἤδη δορυαλώτοις γε γενημένοις προσημαίνει τὰ καταληψόμενα κακά. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὸ ἀψευδὲς τῆς προφητείας ὑποδεικνὺς ὁ ∆εσπότης, ἐπισημήνασθαι κελεύει τὴν ἡμέραν, καθ' ἣν ὁ πολέμιος τῇ πόλει προσβάλλειν ἤρξατο, ἵνα καὶ ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τέλους τῶν πραγ 81.1052 μάτων μάθωσι, καὶ οἱ ἤδη αἰχμάλωτοι γενόμενοι, καὶ οἱ πολιορκούμενοι, ὡς ἄνωθεν ταῦτα περὶ αὐτῶν προεῖπεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ὅτι οὐ διὰ τὴν τῶν πολεμίων ἡττήθησαν ἰσχὺν, ἀλλὰ τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων τίνοντες δίκας. γʹ. Καὶ εἰπὲ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν παραπικραίνον τα, παραβολήν. Μετὰ τὸ ἐπισημήνασθαι τὸν χρό νον, προστάττεται ὁ προφήτης παραβολικῶς καὶ αἰνιγματωδῶς τὰ συμβησόμενα τῇ πόλει διδάξαι, ἵνα διὰ τὴν ἀσάφειαν τῶν λεγομένων σπουδαιότεροι περὶ τὴν ἐρώτησιν οἱ ἀκροαταὶ γενόμενοι, ἀκριβέ στερον