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He laments, however, the present desolation. For I was left, he says, desolate. (20.) And I took off the robe of peace. And it shows also the change of those who were left behind. "And I put on the sackcloth of my supplication, and I will cry out." But it was not the walls that did or said these things, but the inhabitants. Then he exhorts them to take courage in the loving-kindness of God, and to ask for mercy; For I too, he says, await your return. 23. For I sent you away with mourning and weeping; but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness. These things are like what was said by the blessed David: "They went on their way weeping, carrying the seed for sowing; but they shall come back with shouts of joy, bringing their sheaves with them." He also speaks of the gladness of the neighboring nations over the captivity, and their gloom after the return. And he exhorts them to endure the discipline brought upon them, and he promises a change of circumstances. "Your enemy, he says, has pursued you, and you will quickly see his destruction, and you will tread on his neck." He calls the enemies Idumeans, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines. 26. My delicate ones have traveled rough roads; they were carried off like a flock seized by the enemy. He calls delicate those in prosperity and wealth, as having no experience of sorrowful things; then he exhorts them to reap salvation through repentance. Having said these things as from the person of Jerusalem 81.777, he then offers it words of comfort. 30. Take courage, Jerusalem, for he who named you will comfort you. He has accepted, he says, your change for the better. He who gave you your name will change your misfortune; that is, your creator, who preferred you above every city. 31, 32. Wretched are those who mistreated you, and who rejoiced at your fall. Wretched are the cities which your children served. For the Babylonians paid a just penalty for their lawlessness. Then he teaches that Babylon will then mourn her own evils. 34, 35. For I will take away from her, he says, the exultation of her great multitude, and her pride shall be turned into mourning. For fire will come upon her from the Eternal One for many days, and she will be inhabited by demons for a long time. She received this punishment through the Persians; but the word showed that he did not foretell that it would be completely uninhabited, but for a long time; and now it is inhabited by a few Jews. 36. Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God. He prophesies the return of the captives. 37. Behold, your sons are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming, gathered from the east to the west, by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. For they did not overcome their enemies by their own power, but God who had delivered them up gave them back their freedom. CHAPTER 5. And he commands her to put off the garment of mourning, and he puts on her the vestment of the priesthood. 2. For put on, he says, the double robe of the righteousness that comes from God, and put the miter of the glory of the eternal one on your head. For on the miter lay the golden plate, on which the name of God was inscribed. 3, 4. For God will show your splendor to every creature under heaven. For your name will be called by God forever peace of righteousness, and glory of godliness. And these names it now has; for this reason all people run to it. For the saving passion has made it splendid and glorious. Again he exhorts her to see the captives returning from the east and the west, and teaches that they were led away on foot wearing fetters, but they will return deemed worthy of all honor. However, it is necessary to know that, of those who returned from Babylon, also those who had fled at the time of the war, and the western, and the southern parts

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Θρηνεῖ μέντοι τὴν παροῦσαν ἐρημίαν. Κατελείφθην γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔρημος. (κʹ.) Καὶ ἐξ εδυσάμην τὴν στολὴν τῆς εἰρήνης. ∆είκνυσι δὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑπολειφθέντων μεταβολήν. "Καὶ ἐνεδυσά μην τὸν σάκκον τῆς δεήσεώς μου, καὶ κράξω." Ἀλλ' οὐχ οἱ τοῖχοι ταῦτα ἔδρων ἢ ἔλεγον, ἀλλ' οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες. Εἶτα παρακελεύεται αὐτοῖς τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ θαῤῥῆσαι φιλανθρωπίᾳ, καὶ αἰτῆσαι τὸν ἔλεον· Καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ἀναμένω τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπάνοδον. κγʹ. Ἐξέπεμψα γὰρ ὑμᾶς μετὰ πένθους καὶ κλαυθμοῦ· ἀποδώσει δέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς ὑμᾶς μετὰ χαρ μονῆς καὶ εὐφροσύνης. Ἔοικε ταῦτα τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αβὶδ εἰρημένοις· "Πορευόμενοι ἐπορεύοντο, καὶ ἔκλαιον, βάλλοντες τὰ σπέρματα αὑτῶν· ἐρχόμε νοι δὲ ἥξουσιν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει, αἴροντες τὰ δράγματα αὑτῶν." Λέγει δὲ καὶ τῶν γειτονευόντων ἐθνῶν τήν τε ἐπὶ τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ θυμηδίαν, καὶ τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἐπ άνοδον σκυθρωπότητα. Παρακελεύεται δὲ αὐτοῖς, ὑπο μεῖναι τὴν ἐπενεχθεῖσαν παιδείαν, καὶ ὑπισχνεῖται τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολήν. "Κατεδίωξέ σε, φησὶν, ὁ ἐχθρός σου, καὶ ὄψῃ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπώλειαν ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου αὐτοῦ ἐπιβήσῃ." Ἐχθροὺς καλεῖ Ἰδουμαίους Μωαβίτας, Ἀμμανίτας,Ἀλλοφύλους. κϛʹ. Οἱ τρυφεροί μου ἐπορεύθησαν ὁδοὺς τρα χείας· ἤρθησαν ὡς ποίμνιον ἡρπασμένον ἐχθρῷ. Τρυφεροὺς καλεῖ τοὺς ἐν εὐπορίᾳ καὶ πλούτῳ, ὡς πεῖραν οὐκ ἔχοντας τῶν λυπηρῶν· εἶτα παρακελεύ εται αὐτοῖς τῇ μεταμελείᾳ τὴν σωτηρίαν καρπώ σασθαι. Ταῦτα ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ 81.777 εἰρηκὼς, αὐτῇ λοιπὸν παρακλητικοὺς προσφέρει λόγους. λʹ. Θάρσει, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, παρακαλέσει σε ὁ ὀνομάσας σε. ∆έδεκταί σου, φησὶ, τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ κρείτ τω μεταβολήν. Μεταβαλεῖ σοι τὴν συμφορὰν ὁ τὴν προσηγορίαν σοι τεθεικώς· τουτέστιν, ὁ δημιουργός σου, ὁ πάσης σε πόλεως προτιμήσας. λαʹ, λβʹ. ∆είλαιοι οἵ σε κακώσαντες, καὶ ἐπι χαρέντες τῇ σῇ πτώσει. ∆είλαιοι αἱ πόλεις, αἷς ἐδούλευσαν τέκνα σου. Ἔδωκαν γὰρ δίκας Βα βυλώνιοι τῆς παρανομίας ἀξίας. Εἶτα διδάσκει, ὡς τὰ οἰκεῖα λοιπὸν ἡ Βαβυλὼν θρηνήσει κακά. λδʹ, λεʹ. Περιελῶ γὰρ αὐτῆς, φησὶ, τὸ ἀγαλλία μα τῆς πολυοχλίας αὐτῆς, καὶ τὸ γαυρίαμα αὐτῆς εἰς πένθος ἔσται. Πῦρ γὰρ ἐπελεύσεται αὐτῇ παρὰ τοῦ Αἰωνίου εἰς ἡμέρας μακρὰς, καὶ κατοικηθήσεται ὑπὸ δαιμονίων τὸν πλείονα χρόνον. Ταύτην διὰ Περσῶν τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐδέξατο· ἔδειξε δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς οὐ παντελῶς αὐτὴν ἀοίκητον ἔσεσθαι προηγόρευσεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον· οἰ κεῖται δὲ νῦν ὑπὸ ὀλίγων Ἰουδαίων. λϛʹ. Περίβλεψαι πρὸς ἀνατολὰς, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἴδε τὴν εὐφροσύνην σου, τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοι ἐρχομένην. Τὴν τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἐπάνο δον προθεσπίζει. λζʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἔρχονται οἱ υἱοί σου, οὓς ἐξαπ έστειλας· ἔρχονται συνηγμένοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἕως δυσμῶν, τῷ ῥήματι τοῦ Ἁγίου, χαίροντες τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξῃ. Οὐ γὰρ τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει περιεγένοντο τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἀλλ' ὁ παραδοὺς Θεὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀπέδωκε. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ. Κελεύει δὲ καὶ τὴν πενθήρη στολὴν ἀποθέσθαι, καὶ περιτίθησιν αὐτῇ τῆς ἱερωσύνης τὸ σχῆμα. βʹ. Περιβαλοῦ γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν διπλοΐδα τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἐπίθου τὴν μίτραν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς σου, τῆς δόξης τοῦ αἰωνίου. Ἐν γὰρ τῇ μίτρᾳ τὸ πέταλον ἔκειτο τὸ χρυσοῦν· ἐν ᾧ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ προσεγέγραπτο. γʹ, δʹ. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς δείξει τῇ ὑπ' οὐρανὸν πάσῃ τὴν σὴν λαμπρότητα. Κληθήσεται γάρ σου τὸ ὄνομα παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα εἰρήνη δι καιοσύνης, καὶ δόξα θεοσεβείας. Ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ὀνόματα νῦν ἔχει· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν συντρέ χουσιν ἅπαντες. Λαμπρὰν γὰρ αὐτὴν καὶ περιφανῆ πεποίηκε τὸ σωτήριον πάθος. Πάλιν δὲ αὐτῇ παρα κελεύεται ἰδεῖν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν τοὺς αἰχ μαλώτους ἐπανιόντας, καὶ διδάσκει, ὡς ἀπήχθησαν μὲν πεζοὶ δεσμὰ περικείμενοι, ἐπανήξουσι δὲ πάσης τιμῆς ἀξιούμενοι. Εἰδέναι μέντοι χρὴ, ὡς τῶν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπανελθόντων, καὶ οἱ πεφευγότες κατὰ τὸν τοῦ πολέμου καιρὸν, καὶ τὰ ἑσπέρια, καὶ τὰ νό τια μέρη