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especially corrupt, and having no hope of salvation. Make the whole world a witness of what is said; so we are confident concerning them, according to Forte. Say, "the one who winnowed." See how great the world is, when they suffer nothing terrible from men; if anyone disbelieves that the war has come from God, seeing the more difficult thing, that the return has come from Him, let him also believe this about this. Like the herdsman. Do you see that it is God's work, when the battle is not evenly matched? He delivered him. 64.976 See good things succeeding one another, and good things in abundance, and prophecies upon prophecies equal and an abundance of prophecies, so that they might rejoice not only in the experience of present things, but also in the hopes of things to come. *And their soul shall be as a fruitful tree. That is, they will be filled with every good thing. But the Hebrew has it thus, as a garden drunken with waters. Then they will rejoice. That is, there will be no widowhood then; for now they had no marriages, no childbearing, but the young were for them a cause of punishments and calamities. And I will make. Every age will feel the pleasure. Not unseasonable drunkenness, but "I will gladden," he says; for this is the name applied to them. For since he promised them the things of the earth, but these had no earth, so too to these, he says, good things will flow. Thus said the Lord. This happened in the time of Herod; and it has already happened. *I heard Ephraim mourning: You have chastised me, and I was chastised. Since it announces the return of the two tribes, it shows that the ten tribes will also return, having received no small benefit from the captivity. Like a calf that was not taught. That is, I became iron, like a calf not yielding to the yoke. The hope of salvation is not small; and this adds to the credibility of what is said; for if they should repent, it is clear that they are saved. I was like a calf that was not taught. His leaps showed the irrational age, and the injustice of those who possess it for evil, the foolishness in youth. For a youth deprived of the yoke and the rule of reason was no different from calves leaping simply and at random, carried everywhere, not even seeing what is before their eyes, but even jumping over cliffs. Turn me. Great is the virtue, when God having turned, we turn. *And before I knew, I struck myself for a little while. That is, after the captivity I repented. For he said "I struck myself," as concerning those who repent. And indeed I was ashamed, and I submitted to you, because I received the reproach of my youth. That is, that I remembered the sins of my youth. And by youth he means the things that happened in the time of Jeroboam; as he innovated in the worship of the calves. When you do not punish the one who sins in everything, it was necessary to suffer. For punishment provides a sense of shame, and a greater sense for many other sins. But now the opposite happens: when we sin, we are shameless, but when we are 64.977 punished, we collapse, changing with the times. But the just are not so, but when punished they thought great things, like the apostles; but for sin they were so ashamed, as to lament and mourn not only at the time of their transgressions, but also after this had passed, and the punishment had been remitted. And after a little: I groaned in the days of my shame. This is a medicine for sins, the groan preventing one from falling into the same things, and wiping away what has been done. And I have shown you. Do you see how good a thing it is to recognize one's sins? It makes us submit more to God. I do not mean sinning, but recognizing it after the sin. *Are you a beloved son, Ephraim, to me? That is, you are a precious son. A delightful child, that is, also a child in whom I was comforted; and he took it as a metaphor from fathers playing with the small infants of their children. I will surely remember him. The Hebrew, For this reason were the things convicted

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μάλιστα διεφθαρμένος, καὶ οὐκ ἔχων ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας. Πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ποιήσατε μάρτυρα τῶν λεγομένων· οὕτω θαῤῥοῦμεν παρὰ Forte περὶ αὐτῶν. Εἴπατε ὁ λικμήσας. Ὅρα πόσος κόσμος, ὅταν μηδὲν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων πάσχωσι δεινὸν, εἴ τις ἀπιστεῖ τὸν πόλεμον παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενῆσθαι, τὸ δυσκολώτερον ὁρῶν, τὴν ἄνοδον παρ' αὐτοῦ γεγενημένην, καὶ περὶ ταύτης τούτου πιστευέτω. Ὡς ὁ βόσκων. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι Θεοῦ τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶν, ὅταν μὴ ἰσόῤῥοπος ἡ μάχη. Ἐξείλατο αὐτόν. 64.976 Ὅρα ἀγαθὰ διαδεχόμενα, καὶ ἀθρόα τὰ καλὰ, καὶ προῤῥήσεις προῤῥήσεων ἴσ. καὶ προῤῥήσεων περιουσίαν, ἵνα μὴ μόνον τῇ πείρᾳ τῶν παρόντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς ἔλπισι τῶν μελλόντων εὐφραίνωνται. *Καὶ ἔσται ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτῶν ὥσπερ ξύλον ἔγκαρπον. Τουτέστιν, παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ πλησθήσονται. Ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος οὕτως ἔχει, ὡς κῆπος μεμεθυσμένος ὕδασιν. Τότε χαρήσονται. Τουτέστιν, οὐκ ἔσται χηρεία τότε· νῦν γὰρ οὐκ εἶχον, οὐ γάμους, οὐ παιδοποιίας, ἀλλὰ τιμωρίας, καὶ συμφορᾶς ἦσαν αὐτοῖς ὑπόθεσις οἱ νέοι. Καὶ ποιήσω. Πᾶσα ἡλικία τῆς ἡδονῆς αἰσθήσεται. Οὐχὶ τὴν ἄκαιρον μέθην, ἀλλ' εὐφρανῶ, φησί· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα ἐπ' αὐτῶν κεῖται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκείνοις τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐπηγγείλατο, οὗτοι δὲ γῆν οὐκ εἶχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτοις ἐπιῤῥεύσει τὰ ἀγαθὰ, φησί. Οὕτως εἶπε Κύριος. Τοῦτο γέγονεν ἐπὶ Ἡρώδου· γέγονε δὲ καὶ ἤδη. *Ἀκοὴν ἤκουσα Ἐφραὶμ ὀδυρομένου· Ἐπαίδευσάς με, καὶ ἐπαιδεύθην. Ἐπειδὴ τῶν δύο φυλῶν τὴν ἄνοδον μηνύει, δείκνυσιν, ὅτι καὶ αἱ δέκα ἐπανελεύσονται φυλαί· οὐ μικρὰν τὴν ὠφέλειαν ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἐσχηκυῖαι. Ὥσπερ μόσχος οὐκ ἐδιδάχθην. Τουτέστι, σιδηρὸς ἐγενόμην, καθάπερ μόσχος οὐκ εἴκων ζυγῷ. Ἐλπὶς σωτηρίας οὐ μικρά· καὶ τοῦτο τῆς τῶν λεγομένων ἀξιοπιστίας· εἰ γὰρ μέλλοιεν μετανοεῖν, εὔδηλον ὅτι σώζονται. Ἐγὼ ὥσπερ μόσχος οὐκ ἐδιδάχθην. Τὰ σκιρτήματα αὐτοῦ ἐνέφηνε τὴν ἄλογον ἡλικίαν, καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν τῶν ἐπὶ κακῷ κεκτημένων, τὴν ἄνοιαν τὴν ἐν τῇ νεότητι. Νέος γὰρ ἀποστερούμενος ζυγοῦ καὶ τῆς τῶν λογισμῶν ἀρχῆς, οὐδὲν διέφερεν σκιρτώντων βοϊδίων ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἁπανταχῆ φερομένων, οὐδὲ τῶν πρώτων ὀφθαλμῶν οὐδὲ τὰ πρόσθεν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὁρώντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ κρημνῶν πηδώντων. Ἐπίστρεψόν με. Μεγάλη ἡ ἀρετὴ, ὅταν ἐπιστρέψαντος Θεοῦ ἐπιστρέφωμεν. *Καὶ πρότερον τοῦ γνῶναί με ἐκρότησα ἐπὶ μικρόν. Τουτέστι, μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν μετέγνων. Τὸ γὰρ ἐκρότησα, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων ἔφη. Καί γε ἐνετράπην, καὶ ὑπεῖξά σοι, ὅτι ἔλαβον ὀνειδισμὸν ἐκ νεότητός μου. Τουτέστιν, ὅτι ἀνεμνήσθην ἁμαρτίας νεότητός μου. Νεότητα δὲ λέγει τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἱεροβοὰμ γεγονότα· ὡς νεωτερήσας ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν μόσχων θρησκείᾳ. Ὅταν πάντα τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα οὐ κολάζῃς, πάσχειν ἐχρῆν. Καὶ γὰρ πρὸς αἰσχύνην, καὶ πρὸς ἕτερα πολλὰ ἁμαρτήματα μᾶλλον αἴσθησιν παρέχει τιμωρίας τιμωρία. Νῦν δὲ τοὐναντίον γίνεται· ὅταν μὲν ἁμαρτάνωμεν, ἀναισχυντῶμεν, ὅταν δὲ 64.977 κολαζώμεθα, καταπίπτομεν, ἀμείβοντες τοὺς καιρούς. Ἀλλ' οὐχὶ δίκαιοι οὕτως, ἀλλὰ κολαζόμενοι μὲν ἐφρόνουν μέγα, καθάπερ οἱ ἀπόστολοι· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας οὕτως ᾐσχύνοντο, ὡς μὴ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῶν πλημμελημάτων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου παρελθόντος, καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀφεθείσης, ὀδύρεσθαι καὶ θρηνεῖν. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐστέναξα ἐν ἡμέραις αἰσχύνης μου. Τοῦτο φάρμακον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, τὸ μὲν κωλύων τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπεσεῖν, τὸ δὲ γενόμενον ἀποσμήχων ὁ στεναγμός. Καὶ ὑπέδειξά σου. Ὁρᾷς πόσον ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἐπιγινώσκειν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα; μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς ὑποτάττεσθαι ποιεῖ τῷ Θεῷ. Οὐ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν λέγω, ἀλλὰ τὸ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπιγνῶναι. *Υἱὸς εἶ ἀγαπητὸς Ἐφραὶμ ἐμοί. Τουτέστι, τίμιος υἱὸς εἶ. Παιδίον ἐντρυφῶν, τουτέστι, καὶ παιδίον ἐν ᾧ παρεκαλούμην· ἐκ μεταφορᾶς δὲ αὐτὸ ἔλαβε τῶν πατέρων, τῶν πρὸς τὰ μικρὰ βρέφη τῶν τέκνων παιζόντων. Μνείαν μνησθήσομαι αὐτοῦ. Ὁ Ἑβραῖος, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἠλέγχθη τὰ