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the promise to Abraham. *If the heaven be exalted to the heights, and if the ground of the earth be brought low beneath, I also will reject the whole race of Israel, says the Lord, for all that they have done. That is, if the height of the heaven could be measured, and the depths of the earth comprehended, it would be possible for me also to renounce the race of Israel. So that he might say: As I have tried to do these things from above, and having been made they remained following the established limits, so also will the promise to Abraham be unchangeable. For not even now have I transgressed the covenant with him because of their captivity. *Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and a city will be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel, to the gate of the corner, and the rest. That is, from the tower of Hananeel. And he wishes to speak of the size of the city, and that it will be greater than it happened to be long ago. And a certain Hananeel was one of the generals. *And the hope of the cords of its measurement shall yet go forth. He speaks of the measures of the city, that is, from the corner it will be stretched in a straight line, there being a good 64.985 hope that what is proposed will be accomplished, with God working together. To the hill of Gareb, the name of a place; and it will be encircled at Goath, again the name of a place. *And all the valley of the Phaagarim and the ash-heap of Phaagarim. That is, where the dead are thrown. And the ash-heap, instead of, and the burial-places, that is, places for laying out the dead. And what follows means the same thing, and all of Anasareimoth, instead of, a place of dung. To the brook of Kidron, to the corner gate, of the horses of the East, a holy thing to the Lord. That is, what was long ago outside the city for the throwing of dung, these things will be included in the city, and will be adorned, and the whole place will be a holy thing to the Lord, that is, set apart for God. And, of the horses of the East, that is, of the gate of the horses which is from the East.

CHAPTER 32.

The word that came to pass. Do you see the long-suffering of God? He endured them for so long a time after their apostasy, and their breaking of the treaty, and not even so did he become better; but even when terrible things were threatened, he was the same; and this was not enough, but he also shut up the prophet in a prison. And Jeremiah was guarded. For what reason? Tell me. Because you say: Thus said the Lord: Behold, I give this city. For are my words mine? If, then, they are mine, one must not fear them; but if they are not mine, one must believe that they are not mine, and that they will be true; But this is the custom of those who are being refuted to say: Let us bind the just man, for he is useless to us. And the word of the Lord. Then, lest he give up, he buys, having been commanded by God. Who would have done this? While the city was about to be captured, this man buys fields. And after a little; He wished to be believed also concerning the good things. For since the grievous things came to pass, and through events God gave proof of His power, He consoles them in their grievous circumstances with the hopes of good things; and no longer words, but deeds. *Having indicated the return of the people, for the full assurance of what was said, he commands the prophet who was shut up in the king's prison to purchase his uncle's field, that is, Hanamel's, and having done this, and having completed the writings, and having received possession of the field, he ordered Baruch to place the book in an earthen vessel, as a sign that the land would again be in the enjoyment of the people. But while Baruch was surrounding the city, for it was the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, in which the Babylonian came up and besieged Jerusalem, he supplicates God, wondering at what had happened, or how He commanded him to take the field, if indeed the city

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τὴν πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγελίαν. *Ἐὰν ὑψωθῇ ὁ οὐρανὸς εἰς τὰ μετέωρα, καὶ ἐὰν ταπεινωθῇ τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς γῆς κάτω, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀποδοκιμῶ πᾶν τὸ γένος Ἰσραὴλ, φησὶ Κύριος, περὶ πάντων ὧν ἐποίησαν. Τουτέστιν, ἐὰν δυνηθῇ τὸ ὕψος μετρηθῆναι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τὰ βάθη καταληφθῆναι τῆς γῆς, ἐνδέχεται κἀμὲ ἀποποιήσασθαι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὸ γένος. Ἵνα εἴπῃ· Ὡς ταῦτα, οὕτως ἄνωθεν ποιῆσαι ἐδοκίμασα, καὶ γενόμενα διέμεινε τοῖς τεθεῖσιν ὅροις ἑπόμενα, οὕτως ἔσται καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγελία ἀμετάπτωτος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ νῦν διὰ τὴν τούτων αἰχμαλωσίαν παρέβην τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον συνθήκην. *Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, φησὶ Κύριος, καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσεται πόλις τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀπὸ πύργου Ἀνανιὴλ, ἕως τῆς πύλης τῆς γωνίας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τουτέστιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου Ἀνανιήλ. Βούλεται δὲ εἰπεῖν τῆς πόλεως τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ ὅτι μείζων ἔσται, ἢ πάλαι ἐτύγχανεν οὖσα. Ἀνανιὴλ δέ τις ἦν τῶν στρατηγῶν. *Καὶ διεξελεύσεται ἔτι ἐλπὶς τῶν σχοινίων τῆς διαμετρήσεως αὐτῆς. Τὰ μέτρα λέγει τῆς πόλεως, τουτέστιν, ἀπὸ τῆς γωνίας ἐπ' εὐθεῖαν ταθήσεται, ἐλπίδος οὔσης χρη 64.985 στῆς, ὡς περαιωθήσεται τὸ προκείμενον, Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντος. Ἕως βουνοῦ Γαρὶβ ὄνομα τόπου· καὶ περικυκλωθήσεται τῷ Γοαθᾴ πάλιν ὄνομα τόπου. *Καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κοιλάδα τῶν Φααγαρὶμ καὶ τὴν σποδιὰν Φααγαρίμ. Τουτέστιν, ἔνθα τὰ νεκρὰ ῥίπτεται. Καὶ τὴν σποδιὰν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, καὶ τὰ κοθέσια ἴσ. νεκροθέσια. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ σημαίνει καὶ τὸ ἐπαγόμενον, καὶ πᾶσαν Ἀνασαριμὼθ, ἀντὶ, τόπον κοπρίας. Ἕως χειμάῤῥου Κέδρου, ἕως τῆς γωνίας πύλης, ἵππων Ἀνατολῆς ἁγίασμα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Τουτέστιν, ἃ πάλαι ἦν, ἔξω τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸ ῥίπτεσθαι τὴν κόπρον, ταῦτα περιληφθήσεται εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ κοσμηθήσεται, καὶ ἔσται ἅπας ὁ τόπος ἁγίασμα τῷ Κυρίῳ, τουτέστιν, ἀφωρισμένα τῷ Θεῷ. Τὸ δὲ, ἵππων Ἀνατολῆς, τουτέστι, τῆς πύλης τῶν ἵππων τῆς ἐξ Ἀνατολῆς.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΒʹ.

Ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος. Ὁρᾷς τοῦ Θεοῦ μακροθυμίαν; τοσοῦτον ἠνέσχετο χρόνον αὐτῶν μετὰ τὴν ἀπόστασιν, καὶ τὸ παρασπονδῆσαι, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτω γέγονε βελτίων· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν δεινῶν ἀπειλουμένων, ἴσος ἦν ὁ αὐτός· καὶ οὐκ ἤρκεσε τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν προφήτην κατέκλεισεν εἰς δεσμωτήριον. Καὶ Ἱερεμίας ἐφυλάσσετο. Τίνος ἕνεκεν; εἰπέ μοι. Ἐπειδὴ λέγεις· Οὕτως εἶπε Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ δίδωμι τὴν πόλιν ταύτην. Μὴ γὰρ ἐμὰ τὰ ῥήματά ἐστιν; Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐμὰ, φοβεῖσθαι αὐτὰ οὐ χρή· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἐμὰ, δεῖ πιστεύειν ὅτι οὐκ ἐμά ἐστι, καὶ ὅτι ἀληθῆ ἔσται· Ἀλλ' ἔθος τοῦτο τοῖς ἐλεγχομένοις λέγειν· ∆ήσωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστιν. Καὶ ὁ λόγος Κυρίου. Εἶτα ἵνα μὴ ἀπείπῃ, ἀγοράζει κελευσθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τίς τοῦτο ἂν ἐποίησε; τῆς πόλεως ἁλίσκεσθαι μελλούσης οὗτος ἀγροὺς ἀγοράζει. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐβούλετο πιστεύεσθαι καὶ περὶ τῶν χρηστῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐξέβη τὰ λυπηρὰ, καὶ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔδωκε πεῖραν τῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως ὁ Θεὸς, παραμυθεῖται αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς λυπηροῖς ταῖς ἐλπίσι τῶν χρηστῶν· καὶ οὐκέτι ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ πράγματα. *Μηνύσας τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν ἄνοδον, πρὸς πληροφορίαν τῶν λεχθέντων προστάττει τῷ προφήτῃ ἐγκεκλεισμένῳ ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως φυλακῆς τὸν τοῦ θείου ἀγρὸν, τουτέστι, τοῦ Ἀνανιὴλ, πρίασθαι, καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσας, καὶ τὰ γράμματα συντελέσας, καὶ τὴν νομὴν τοῦ ἀγροῦ δεξάμενος, προσέταξε τῷ Βαροὺχ ἐν ὀστρακίνῳ σκεύει καταθέσθαι τὸ βιβλίον, μήνυμα τοῦ αὖθις τὴν γῆν ἐν ἀπολαύσει τοῦ λαοῦ ἔσεσθαι. Τοῦ δὲ Βαροὺχ περιεστῶτος τὴν πόλιν, δέκατον γὰρ ἦν ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας Σεδεκίου, ἐν ᾧπερ ἀνελθὼν ὁ Βαβυλώνιος ἐπολιόρκει τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἱκετεύει τὸν Θεὸν θαυμάζων ἐπὶ τῷ γενομένῳ ἢ πῶς προσέταξε τὸν ἀγρὸν λαβεῖν, εἴπερ τὴν πόλιν