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in heaven, and he brought up clouds from the end of the earth; he made lightnings for rain; he brought forth light from his treasures. And he has set forth the things of creation, and the things of providence; for not only has he made all things, but he also continues to govern them. The phrase "at the voice of his sound he set a multitude of water in the heaven," teaches of the rumble of thunder accomplished through the clouds. He contrasts the weakness of the demons with theology; and he shows that they require the art of goldsmiths, and that being made by others, they do not even have the strength to breathe like irrational animals. And he foretells their cessation. For, he says, in the time of visitation they will perish. (19.) Not such is the portion of Jacob, for he who formed all things is his portion, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name. Those are the gods of Babylon, but Israel's is the maker of all things. Reasonably, therefore, the ones are destroyed, while the others return. 20. You scatter for me the instruments of war, and I will scatter nations in you. The Syrian interpreted this as, "Prepare for me instruments of war." According to the Greek interpretation, however, it must be understood thus: Since you used your weapons against my people, and you hurled arrows and spears against them, I too will scatter nations in you. For this is what it says: Having scattered, I too will disperse the nations that have come to your aid, and the horses, and their riders, and every age, and each gender, and rulers, and the ruled, and shepherds, and farmers. And you will suffer these things, for what you dared against Zion. 25. Behold, I am against you, O corrupting mountain, says the Lord, which corrupts all the earth. He calls it a mountain because of the prominence of its dynasty, and corrupting because of its impiety and lawlessness. "And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the rocks." That is, 81.752 I will show you to be humbled. "And I will make you a burnt-out mountain," instead of, utterly useless; and what follows makes this clear. 26. And they will not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, for you will be a desolation forever, says the Lord. They appointed neither a king nor a ruler from the new inhabitants; for the foundations support the building, and the corners join it. 27. Raise a standard on the earth, sound the trumpet among the nations; consecrate nations against it. Instead of, set apart. Command against it from me the kingdoms of Ararat, and the Ashkenaz. He calls Ararat Armenia; and the Ashkenaz, another nation neighboring them. And the king of the Persians and Medes gathered all these; for this he adds: 28. Consecrate nations against it; the king of the Medes, and his leaders, and all his generals. And he says that the land will be shaken. 29. For the counsel of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, so that it will not be inhabited. He foretells also the siege, and the weakness of those fighting within, and the burning of the city, and those who report its capture to the king. He also compares the destruction of the houses to a threshing floor that has been threshed, and to a ripe harvest. He also sets forth the words of Jerusalem, which she spoke concerning the king of the Babylonians. 34. He has divided me, he has devoured me, he seized me like a thin darkness, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The thinnest air penetrates our bodies more. He says, therefore, that the darkness of the calamity filled even the very members of my soul. "He has set me as an empty vessel, and swallowed me up like a dragon; he has filled his belly from my delicacies." He has stripped me, he says, of all my goods, and has imitated a dragon swallowing the young of sparrows, taking all my wealth, and stripping me of my prosperity. And he teaches that her transgressions made her weak, and showed him to be strong. 35. My labors have cast me out, and my

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οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἀνήγαγε νεφέλας ἐξ ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς· ἀστραπὰς εἰς ὑετὸν ἐποίησεν· ἐξήγαγε φῶς ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὑτοῦ. Καὶ τὰ τῆς δημιουργίας τέ θεικεν, καὶ τὰ τῆς προμηθείας· οὐ γὰρ μόνον πε ποίηκε τὰ σύμπαντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ διατελεῖ κυβερνῶν. Τὸ "εἰς φωνὴν ἤχους αὐτοῦ ἔθετο πλῆθος ὕδατος ἐν οὐρα νῷ," διδάσκει τὸν διὰ τῶν νεφελῶν τῆς βροντῆς ἐπιτελούμενον κτύπον. Παρατίθησι δὲ τῇ θεολογίᾳ τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων ἀσθένειαν· καὶ δείκνυσιν αὐτὰ τῆς τῶν χρυσοχόων δεόμενα τέχνης, καὶ ὅτι ὑπ' ἄλλων γινό μενα, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζώοις ἀναπνεῖν ὁμοίως ἰσχύει. Προλέγει δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν παῦλαν. Ἐν καιρῷ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπισκοπῆς ἀπολοῦν ται. (ιθʹ.) Οὐ τοιαύτη ἡ μερὶς τῷ Ἰακὼβ, ὅτι ὁ πλάσας τὰ πάντα αὐτός ἐστι μερὶς αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ῥάβδος κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ· Κύ ριος τῶν δυνάμεων ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Τῆς Βαβυλῶ νος ἐκεῖνοι θεοὶ, τοῦ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ποιη τής. Εἰκότως τοίνυν οἱ μὲν καταλύονται, οἱ δὲ ἐπανέρχονται. κʹ. ∆ιασκορπίζεις σύ μοι σκεύη πολέμου, καὶ διασκορπιῶ ἔθνη ἐν σοί. Τοῦτο ὁ Σύρος ἡρμή νευσεν, "Ἑτοίμασόν μοι σκεύη πολέμου." Κατὰ μέντοι τὴν ἑλληνικὴν ἑρμηνείαν, οὕτω νοητέον· Ἐπειδὴ τοῖς ὅπλοις σου κατὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἐχρήσω λαοῦ, καὶ βέλη καὶ δόρατα κατὰ τούτων ἠκόντισας, κἀγὼ διασκορπιῶ ἔθνη ἐν σοί. Τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει· Σκορπί σας σκεδάσω κἀγὼ τὰ εἰς ἐπικουρίαν σου ἐληλυ θότα ἔθνη, καὶ τοὺς ἵππους, καὶ τοὺς τούτων ἀναβά τας, καὶ πᾶσαν ἡλικίαν, καὶ γένος ἑκάτερον, καὶ ἄρχοντας, καὶ ἀρχομένους, καὶ ποιμαίνοντας, καὶ γεωργοῦντας. Καὶ ταῦτα πείσεσθε, ὑπὲρ ὧν κατὰ τῆς Σιὼν ἐτολμήσατε. κεʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ, τὸ ὄρος τὸ διεφθαρμέ νον, λέγει Κύριος, τὸ διαφθεῖρον πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Ὄρος αὐτὴν καλεῖ διὰ τὸ περιφανὲς τῆς δυνα στείας, διεφθαρμένον δὲ διὰ τὸ δυσσεβὲς καὶ παρά νομον. "Καὶ ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ κατακυλιῶ σε ἀπὸ τῶν πετρῶν." Τουτέστι, 81.752 ταπεινήν σε δείξω. "Καὶ δώσω σε εἰς ὄρος ἐμπεπυρισμένον," ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἄχρηστον παντελῶς· καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τὰ ἑξῆς. κϛʹ. Καὶ οὐ μὴ λάβωσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ λίθον εἰς γωνίαν, καὶ λίθον εἰς θεμέλιον, ὅτι εἰς ἀφανισμὸν ἔσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, λέγει Κύριος. Οὔτε βασιλέα, οὔτε ἄρχοντα ἐκ τῶν νέων οἰκητόρων ἐχειροτόνη σαν· οἱ μὲν γὰρ θεμέλιοι τὴν οἰκοδομὴν φέ ρουσιν, αἱ δὲ γωνίαι συνάπτουσιν. κζʹ. Ἄρατε σημεῖον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, σαλπίσατε σάλπιγγι ἐν ἔθνεσιν· ἁγιάσατε ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἔθνη. Ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀφορίσατε. Παραγγείλατε ἐπ' αὐτὴν βα σιλείαις Ἀραρὰτ παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ τοῖς Ἀσχαναζαίοις. Ἀραρὰτ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν καλεῖ· Ἀσχαναζαῖοι δὲ, ἔθνος ἕτερον ἐκείνοις πελάζον. Τούτους δὲ πάντας ὁ Περσῶν καὶ Μήδων συνήγαγε βασιλεύς· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπάγει· κηʹ. Ἁγιάσατε ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἔθνη· τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Μήδων, καὶ ἡγουμένους αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς στρατηγοὺς αὐτοῦ. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν γῆν σει σθῆναι. κθʹ. ∆ιότι ἐξανέστη ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα λογισμὸς Κυρίου, τοῦ θεῖναι τὴν γῆν Βαβυλῶνος εἰς ἀφα νισμὸν, τοῦ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι αὐτήν. Προλέγει καὶ τὴν πολιορκίαν, καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῶν ἔνδοθεν πολεμούντων, καὶ τὸν τῆς πόλεως ἐμπρησμὸν, καὶ τοὺς τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν ταύτης μηνύοντας ἅλωσιν. Ἀπεικάζει καὶ ἅλῳ λεπτυνθείσῃ, καὶ ἀμητῷ ὡρίμῳ, τῶν οἰκιῶν τὴν κατάλυσιν. Τίθησι καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσα λὴμ τὰ ῥήματα, ἃ περὶ τοῦ Βαβυλωνίων ἔλεγε βα σιλέως. λδʹ. Ἐμερίσατό με, κατέφαγέ με, κατ έλαβέ με ὡς σκότος λεπτὸν, Ναβουχοδονόσορ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος. Ὁ λεπτότατος ἀὴρ μᾶλ λον τῶν ἡμετέρων καθικνεῖται σωμάτων. Λέγει τοί νυν, ὅτι Τὸ σκότος τῆς συμφορᾶς καὶ αὐτά μου τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπλήρωσε τὰ μέλη. "Κατέστησέ με ὡς σκεῦος κενὸν, καὶ κατέπιέ με ὡς δράκων· ἐν έπλησε τὴν κοιλίαν αὑτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς τρυφῆς μου." Πάντων, φησὶν, ἐγύμνωσέ με τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ δρά κοντα ἐμιμήσατο στρουθῶν νεοττοὺς καταπιόντα, πάντα μου τὸν πλοῦτον λαβὼν, καὶ τῆς εὐπραξίας γυμνώσας. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ, ὡς αἱ παρανομίαι αὐτῆς καὶ αὐτὴν ἀσθενῆ, κἀκεῖνον ἀπέφηναν ἰσχυρόν. λεʹ. Ἔξωσάν με οἱ μόχθοι μου, καὶ αἱ