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zeal. But of the Babylonians he says their hands are paralyzed from cowardice, and he likens their pain to the pangs of a woman. And he also teaches that he himself leads the Medes. "For who is like me; and who will stand against me? and who is this shepherd, who will stand before my face?" Since he was named the shepherd of Israel, but the kings of Babylon thought they would overcome the God of all, he teaches that he himself brings punishment upon them, having an incomparable power. Then he commands to destroy also the very lambs of the sheep, and to wipe out the pasture; and he calls the infants lambs, and the city and the land below it the pasture. Indeed, concerning the children the blessed David also prophesies: "For blessed," he says, "is he who will seize your infants, and dash them against the rock. 46. Because at the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth will be shaken, and its cry will be heard among the nations. For since the city was famous, the report of its suffering also spread everywhere. CHAPTER 51 Then he calls the enemies by different names; and first, a scorching wind; for this is wont to destroy plants. Then, insolent men; and by this he shows the justice of the punishment. For you will suffer, he says, what you have done. Having commanded these to use their wrath unsparingly against all, he added: 5; Because Israel and Judah have not been widowed by their God, by the Lord Almighty, because their land was filled with lawlessness, from the holy ones of Israel. Because of their superstition and their transgression, I overlooked them; for I did not strip them entirely of my care. 7, 8. Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth with her wine; the nations drank this, the nations were shaken. And suddenly Babylon fell, and was shattered. And the blessed Daniel, interpreting the dream, said that the golden head was the Babylonian himself; and here he called the punishment brought through him upon the other nations a golden cup. He says, therefore, that he brought punishment upon the other nations also, and she herself was suddenly captured against all hope, and was made desolate. Then to the nations that had come to her aid he says, "Wail for her; take resin for her corruption, if somehow she may be healed." Instead of, bring to her the remedies of help; and the prophet also uses personification, and sets down the response from them. 9, 10. We treated her, and she was not healed; let us abandon her, and let each one depart to his own land; for her judgment has reached to heaven, and has been lifted up to the stars. The Lord has brought forth his judgment. The blessed Isaiah also prophesied this arrogance of the Babylonian: "For he said," he says, "Above the stars I will set my throne." And he teaches more clearly the one who serves, and the one who commands. 11, 12. The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes; because his wrath is upon Babylon, to utterly destroy her; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple, upon the walls of Babylon. What she has dared against the temple, I will bring upon the walls of Babylon. Then he ironically exhorts the Babylonians to post guards on the walls, and to rouse them, and to prepare their weapons; and teaching that no benefit will come to them from this, he added: "And the Lord will do whatever 81.749 he has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon." For he foretold its destruction through the prophets. "By his arm" he says God has sworn, instead of, by his own power; for he added this: 15, 16. Who makes the earth by his strength; who prepares the inhabited world by his wisdom; in his understanding he stretched out the heaven. At the sound of his voice he placed a multitude of water in

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προθυ μίαν. Τῶν δὲ Βαβυλωνίων ὑπὸ δειλίας λέγει παρα λυθῆναι τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ τὴν ὀδύνην αὐτῶν ὠδῖσι γυναικὸς ἀπεικάζει. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ καὶ ὡς αὐτὸς στρατ ηγεῖ τῶν Μήδων. "Ὅτι τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ· καὶ τίς ἀντιστήσεταί μοι; καὶ τίς οὗτος ποιμὴν, ὃς στήσε ται κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου;" Ἐπειδὴ ποιμὴν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὠνομάζετο, ἐνόμισαν δὲ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος οἱ βασιλεῖς αὐτοῦ περιγενήσεσθαι τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ, διδάσκει, ὡς αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς ἐπάγει τὴν τιμω ρίαν, ἀσύγκριτον ἔχων τὴν δύναμιν. Εἶτα παρακε λεύεται καὶ αὐτὰ διαφθεῖραι τὰ ἀρνία τῶν προβά των, καὶ τὴν νομὴν ἀφανίσαι· καλεῖ δὲ ἀρνία τὰ βρέφη, νομὴν δὲ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὴν ὑποκειμένην γῆν. Περὶ μέντοι τῶν παιδίων καὶ ὁ μακάριος προ θεσπίζει ∆αβίδ· "Μακάριος γὰρ, φησὶν, ὃς κρατή σει τὰ νήπιά σου, καὶ ἐδαφιεῖ αὐτὰ πρὸς τὴν πέτραν. μϛʹ. ∆ιότι ἀπὸ φωνῆς ἁλώσεως Βαβυλῶνος σει σθήσεται ἡ γῆ, καὶ κραυγὴ αὐτῆς ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἀκουσθήσεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐπίσημος ἦν ἡ πόλις, πάντοσε διέδραμε καὶ τοῦ πάθους ἡ φήμη. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΝΑʹ Εἶτα διαφόροις ὀνόμασι τοὺς πολεμίους καλεῖ· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἄνεμον καύσωνα· διαφθείρειν γὰρ οὗτος πέφυκε τὰ φυτά. Εἶτα ὑβριστάς· διὰ τούτου δὲ δηλοῖ τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον. Πείσῃ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὃ πεποίηκας. Τούτοις ἐντειλάμενος ἀφειδῶς κατὰ πάντων χρήσασθαι τῷ θυμῷ, ἐπήγαγε· εʹ· ∆ιότι οὐκ ἐχήρευσεν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδας ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὑτῶν, ἀπὸ Κυρίου παντοκράτορος, ὅτι ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν ἐπλήσθη ἀνομίᾳ, ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων Ἰσραήλ. ∆ιὰ τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν παρανομίαν περιεῖδον αὐτούς· οὐ γὰρ δὴ παντε λῶς αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐμῆς κηδεμονίας ἐγύμνωσα. ζʹ, ηʹ. Ποτήριον χρυσοῦν Βαβυλὼν ἐν χειρὶ Κυρίου, μεθύσκον πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴνου αὑτῆς· ἔπιεν ἔθνη τοῦτο, ἐσαλεύθη ἔθνη. Καὶ ἄφνω ἔπεσε Βαβυλὼν, καὶ συνετρί βη. Καὶ τὸ ἐνύπνιον ἑρμηνεύων ὁ μακάριος ∆ανιὴλ, τὴν κεφαλὴν τὴν χρυσῆν αὐτὸν εἶπε τὸν Βαβυλώ νιον· καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν δι' αὐτοῦ τιμωρίαν, τοῖς ἄλ λοις ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ἔθνεσι, ποτήριον χρυσοῦν προσ ηγόρευσε. Λέγει τοίνυν, ὅτι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπήνεγκε, καὶ ἐξαίφνης αὐτὴ παρὰ πᾶσαν ἐλπίδα ἑάλω, καὶ ἀνάστατος γέγονεν. Εἶτα τοῖς εἰς ἐπικουρίαν ἐληλυθόσιν ἔθνεσι λέγει, "Θρηνεῖτε αὐτήν· λάβετε ῥητίνην τῇ διαφθορᾷ αὐτῆς, εἰ πως ἰαθήσεται." Ἀντὶ τοῦ, προσενέγκατε αὐτῇ τῆς βοηθείας τὰ φάρμακα· κέχρηται δὲ καὶ ἠθοποιίᾳ ὁ προφήτης, καὶ τὴν παρ' ἐκείνων ἀπόκρισιν τίθη σιν. θʹ, ιʹ. Ἰατρεύσαμεν αὐτὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἰάθη· ἐγκαταλίπωμεν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀπέλθωμεν ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν γῆν αὑτοῦ· ὅτι ἤγγικεν εἰς οὐρανὸν τὸ κρῖμα αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπήρθη ἕως τῶν ἄστρων. Εἰσήνεγκε Κύριος τὸ κρίμα αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτον τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου τὸν τῦφον καὶ ὁ μακάριος προεθέ σπισεν Ἡσαΐας· "Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσω τὸν θρόνον μου." ∆ιδάσκει δὲ σαφέ στερον τὸν ὑπουργοῦντα, καὶ τὸν κελεύοντα. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. Ἤγειρε Κύριος τὸ πνεῦμα βασιλέως Μήδων· ὅτι ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι αὐτήν· ὅτι ἐκδίκησις Κυρίου ἐστὶν, ἐκδίκησις ναοῦ αὑτοῦ, ἐπὶ τειχῶν Βαβυ λῶνος. Ἃ τετόλμηκε κατὰ τοῦ ναοῦ, τοῖς τῆς Βαβυ λῶνος περιβόλοις ἐπάξω. Εἶτα εἰρωνικῶς τοῖς Βαβυ λωνίοις παρακελεύεται, καὶ φύλακας ἐπιστῆσαι τοῖς τείχεσι, καὶ τούτους διεγεῖραι, καὶ εὐτρεπίσαι τὰ ὅπλα· καὶ διδάσκων, ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ὄφελος ἐντεῦ θεν γενήσεται, ἐπήγαγε· "Καὶ ποιήσει Κύριος ὅσα 81.749 ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Βαβυλῶνα." Προ ηγόρευσε γὰρ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὴν ταύτης κατάλυ σιν. "Κατὰ δὲ τοῦ βραχίονος" τὸν Θεὸν ὀμωμο κέναι λέγει, ἀντὶ τοῦ, κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπήγαγεν· ιεʹ, ιϛʹ. Ποιῶν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὑτοῦ· ἑτοιμά ζων τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὑτοῦ· ἐν τῇ συνέσει αὑτοῦ ἐξέτεινε τὸν οὐρανόν. Εἰς φωνὴν ἤχους αὐτοῦ ἔθετο πλῆθος ὕδατος ἐν