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by this signifying that he himself also endures against his will the calamities brought upon the people, having much goodness, and on account of this being inclined to philanthropy, but being compelled to punish on account of the excess of lawlessness. 19-24. And, he says, my people said to me: Will you not tell us what these things are that you are doing? And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Say to the house of Israel: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that for which your souls spare; and your sons and your daughters, whom you have left behind, shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done: you will not be comforted by their mouths, and you will not eat the bread of men. And your hair shall be upon your heads, and your sandals on your feet; you shall not mourn, nor shall you weep; and you shall waste away in your hearts, and you will not comfort each one his brother. And Ezekiel shall be to you a sign; according to all that he has done, you shall do, when these things come, and you shall know that I am Adonai the Lord. Through actions, he says, I have shown you the prophecy, and in myself I have foreshadowed the things that will happen to you. For just as I, when my wife met the end of her life, did none of the things that are accustomed to be performed for the dead, no lamentation, no tears, no mourning attire; so also you, when your sons and daughters are being slaughtered, and the holy temple is being profaned by the entrance of the unholy barbarians, in which 81.1060 until the present you have boasted and continued to be vainglorious, and besides these things being tried by countless other evils, you will not even have leave to lament, nor will you be permitted to do the customary things, not to shave your head, not to take the sandals from your feet, not to unburden the weight of grief with streams of tears, not to enjoy a table of consolation, nor to perform any other of the customary things. And you will remember the things done by the prophet, and you will learn through the outcome of events that just as the prophet became a sign and a portent to you, he brought you a prediction of future events through his actions. 25-27. And you, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the exaltation of their boast, the desires of their eyes, and the pride of their soul, their sons, and their daughters? In that day he that escapes shall come to you, to announce it in your ears. In that day your mouth shall be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and you shall no longer be mute, and you shall be to them a sign, and they shall know that I am Adonai the Lord. Not only at the present will you teach them these things; but also when the prediction comes to its fulfillment, and the holy things are given over to the unholy barbarians, and their sons and their daughters are given over to slaughter, and someone arrives from there teaching what has happened, you will remind them of the prediction, and you shall not endure to be silent, so that they may learn that these things have happened because I willed and permitted them, and they will pay the penalty for their impieties; and they have suffered not on account of the strength of their enemies, but on account of my just wrath. From this point, therefore, he turns the prophecy against the neighbors of Israel, who rejoice over them, and he first brings forward the sons of Ammon.

CHAPTER 25. 1-5. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your

face against the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them. And you shall say to the sons of Ammon: Hear the word of Adonai the Lord: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because you rejoiced over my sanctuary, that it was profaned, and over the land of Israel, that it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah, that it went into captivity; therefore behold

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διὰ τούτου σημαίνων, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς παρὰ γνώμην ἀνέχεται τῶν ἐπιφερομένων τῷ λαῷ συμφορῶν, πολ λὴν μὲν ἔχων τὴν ἀγαθότητα, καὶ διὰ ταύτην ἐπὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ῥέπων, κολάζειν δὲ διὰ τὴν τῆς παρα νομίας ὑπερβολὴν βιαζόμενος. ιθʹ-κδʹ. Καὶ εἶπε, φησὶ, πρός με ὁ λαός μου· Οὐκ ἀπαγγέλλεις ἡμῖν, τί ἐστι ταῦτα, ἃ σὺ ποιεῖς; Καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτούς· Λόγος Κυρίου ἐγένετο πρὸς μὲ, λέγων· Εἰπὲ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραήλ· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼβεβηλῶ τὰ ἅγιά μου, φρύαγμα ἰσχύος ὑμῶν, ἐπι θυμήματα ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν φείδον ται αἱ ψυχαὶ ὑμῶν· καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν, καὶ αἱ θυ γατέρες ὑμῶν, οὓς ἐγκατελίπετε, ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ πεσοῦνται. Καὶ ποιήσετε ὃν τρόπον πεποίηκα, ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν οὐ παρακληθήσεσθε, καὶ ἄρτον ἀνδρῶν οὐ φάγεσθε. Καὶ αἱ κόμαι ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὑμῶν, καὶ τὰ ὑποδήματα ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν· οὔτε μὴ κόψησθε, οὔτε μὴ κλαύσητε· καὶ ἐντακήσεσθε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρακαλέσετε ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελ φὸν αὑτοῦ. Καὶ ἔσται ὑμῖν Ἰεζεκιὴλ εἰς τέρας· κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησε, ποίησετε, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ταῦτα, καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. ∆ιὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ὑμῖν, φησὶ, τὴν προφητείαν ὑπέδειξα, καὶ ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τὰ ἐσόμενα ὑμῖν ἐσκιαγρά φησα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐγὼ, τῆς ὁμόζυγος δεξαμένης τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος, οὐδὲν ἐποίησα τῶν εἰωθότων ἐπὶ νε κροῖς ἐπιτελεῖσθαι, οὐ θρῆνον, οὐ δάκρυον, οὐ πένθι μον σχῆμα· οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς, τῶν υἱῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων σφαττομένων, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου νεὼ βεβη λουμένου τῇ τῶν ἀνοσίων βαρβάρων εἰσόδῳ, ἐφ' ᾧ 81.1060 μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ἐκομπάζετε καὶ μεγαλαυχούμε νοι διετελεῖτε, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις μυρίοις ἑτέροις περι πειρόμενοι κακοῖς, οὐδὲ θρήνων ἄδειαν ἕξετε, οὐδὲ ποιῆσαι τὰ συνήθη συγχωρηθήσεσθε, οὐ κεφαλὴν ἀποκεῖραι, οὐχ ὑποδημάτων γυμνῶσαι τοὺς πόδας, οὐ ταῖς λιβάσι τῶν δακρύων τὸ βαρὺ τῆς λύπης ἀποφορτίσασθαι, οὐ παραμυθητικῆς ἀπολαῦσαι τρα πέζης, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν συνήθων ἐπιτελέσαι. Καὶ ἀναμνησθήσεσθε τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου γεγενημένων, καὶ μαθήσεσθε διὰ τοῦ τέλους τῶν πραγμάτων, ὅτι καθάπερ τι τέρας ὑμῖν καὶ σημεῖον ὁ προφήτης ἐγέ νετο, διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ὑμῖν προσενεγκὼν τῶν ἐσομένων πρόῤῥησιν. κεʹ-κζʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, οὐχὶ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ὅταν λαμβάνω παρ' αὐτῶν τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῶν, τὴν ἔπαρσιν τῆς καυχήσεως αὐτῶν, τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν ἔπαρσιν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν, υἱοὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ θυγατέρας αὐτῶν; Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἥξει ὁ ἀνασωζόμενος πρὸς σὲ, τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι εἰς τὰ ὦτα. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ διανοιχθήσεται τὸ στόμα σου πρὸς τὸν ἀνασωζό μενον, καὶ λαλήσεις, καὶ οὐ μὴ κωφωθῇς οὐκ ἔτι, καὶ ἔσῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς τέρας, καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγὼ Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Μὴ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ταῦτα αὐτοὺς διδάξεις· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅταν τέλος ἡ πρόῤῥησις λάβῃ, καὶ τά γε ἅγια τοῖς ἀνοσίοις βαρβάροις παρα δοθῇ, οἵ τε υἱοὶ αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες παραδοθῶσι σφαγῇ, καὶ ἀφίκηταί τις ἐκεῖθεν τὰ γεγενημένα δι δάσκων, ἀναμνήσων αὐτοὺς τῆς προῤῥήσεως, καὶ μὴ ἀνάσχῃ σιγῆσαι, ἵνα μάθωσιν ὡς ἐμοῦ βουληθέντος καὶ συγχωρήσαντος ταῦτα γεγένηται, καὶ δίκας τίσουσι τῶν ἀσεβημάτων· καὶ οὐ διὰ τὴν τῶν πολε μίων ἰσχὺν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν δικαίαν ὀργὴν πεπόν θασιν. Ἐντεῦθεν λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων οἰκοῦν τας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐφηδομένους αὐτοῖς, τρέπει τὴν προφητείαν, καὶ πρώτους εἰς μέσον ἄγει τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἀμμών.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΕʹ. αʹ-εʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ, λέ γων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, στήρισον τὸ

πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ υἱοὺς Ἀμμὼν, καὶ προφήτευσον ἐπ' αὐτούς. Καὶ ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἀμμών· Ἀκούσατε λόγονἈδωναῒ Κυρίου· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐπεχάρητε ἐπὶ τὰ ἅγιά μου, ὅτι ἐβεβη λώθη, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἠφανίσθη, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Ἰούδα, ὅτι ἐπορεύθη ἐν αἰχ μαλωσίᾳ· διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ