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and to suppose that they have conceived such things about themselves in vain is the most incredible of all things. But if one were to go back in thought to those times, what then would he conceive, seeing rustic men and simple in appearance, certain goatherds and shepherds, coming into the midst of the whole nation, and saying certain things as from the person of God, and crying aloud, "Thus says the Lord," and speaking publicly before kings and all the people with undaunted bearing, and displaying a wisdom beyond human, which is even now conveyed in their prophecies, 168 and philosophizing on countless other secret matters through riddles and parables, and delivering to the people moral and dogmatic teaching in the Hebrew tongue, and in addition to these things showing a life suitable to their words, and conversing with everyone without flattery, and refuting the impious to their face, so as to be conspired against by them even to death, standing by the true word with a powerful and noble bearing. If anyone considers these things with an honest mind, how would he not confess that all these things happened to them by a truly divine inspiration? Therefore it was likely that they were admired then by the prudent, and that their words were kept recorded by the sacred scribes, and that even now they are believed by the whole nation to have been prophets of God; which our understanding concerning Christ most clearly establishes, according to which we demonstrate that the whole economy concerning him had come to pass, and that the things concerning his teaching and the calling through him from all nations were accurately foreknown and foretold countless years before by those divine men; whose sacred books the Jews would be more credible than we are, treating and bringing them forth with all reverent honor. These things having been usefully presupposed by us, we must proceed to the subject. 169 Ps. From Isaiah. 1. The word that came to Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judea, and concerning Jerusalem. For it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, and the house of God on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall come to it. And many nations shall go, and they shall say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke a great people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall not learn to war any more. Let those who boast in the circumcision show us what law this is and of what kind, and to whom the one prophesied to go forth from Zion will be given; for from Zion, it says, a law shall go forth, being clearly different from the law given through Moses in the desert; and what is the word of the Lord, no longer, according to the prophecy, remaining in Jerusalem, but from Zion itself, and transferring to all the nations, and about to judge between them, and to rebuke a great people, when also a most profound peace having come to the nations who will be judged by the word of the Lord, those who have been deemed worthy of peace, changing their former implements of war, will turn their mind to the cultivation of their own souls. For them, therefore, 170 I do not know if there is any argument for these things; but for us, who have rightly believed in Jesus the Christ of God, it is easy to smooth out the whole prophecy, and to show it to be truly divine and extraordinary, by believing that the things prophesied have received their fulfillment, and not to fall from the truth by postponing the results of the prophecies to endless times. For we say that at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, there has both bodily gone forth from Zion, and from there has been proclaimed to all nations, the law of the new covenant, the

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καὶ μάτην οἴεσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν τοιαῦτα διειληφέναι πάντων ἐστὶν ἀπιθανώτατον. Εἰ δ' ἀναδράμοι τίς ἐπὶ τοὺς τότε χρόνους τῇ διανοίᾳ, τί ἄρα ἐπινοήσειεν, ὁρῶν ἄνδρας ἀγροίκους καὶ τὸ σχῆμα λιτοὺς, αἰπολοὺς τινὰς καὶ ποιμένας, εἰς μέσον παντὸς τοῦ ἔθνους παριόντας, καὶ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ τινὰ λέγοντας, καὶ τάδε λέγει Κύριος ἀναβοωμένους, ἐπί τε βασιλέων καὶ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ μετὰ παραστήματος ἀκαταπλήκτου δημηγοροῦντας, καὶ σοφίαν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐνδεικνυμένους, τὴν καὶ εἰς ἔτι νῦν ἐν ταῖς προφητείαις 168 αὐτῶν φερομένην, μυρία τε ἄλλα δι' αἰνιγμάτων καὶ παραβολῶν ἀπόρρητα φιλοσοφοῦντας, ἠθικήν τε καὶ δογματικὴν τῇ Ἑβραίων φωνῇ διδασκαλίαν τῷ λαῷ παραδιδόντας, καὶ πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸν βίον τοῖς λόγοις αὐτῶν κατάλληλον ἐνδεικνυμένους, καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀκολακεύτως ὁμιλοῦντας, εἰς πρόσωπόν τε τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς διελέγχοντας, ὡς καὶ ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι πρὸς αὐτῶν μέχρι θάνατον, ῥωμαλέῳ καὶ γεννικῷ παραστήματι τῷ ἀληθεῖ λόγῳ παρισταμένους. Ταῦτά τις εἰς νοῦν εὐγνωμόνως θέμενος, πῶς οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν κατὰ θείαν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐπίπνοιαν ταῦτα πάντα περὶ αὐτοὺς γεγονέναι; ∆ιὸ καὶ τότε θαυμάζεσθαι αὐτοὺς εἰκὸς ἦν παρὰ τοῖς ἔμφροσιν, καὶ τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν ἀναγράπτους παρὰ τοῖς ἱερογραμματεῦσι φυλάττεσθαι, εἰς ἔτι τε νῦν παρ' ὅλῳ τῷ ἔθνει προφήτας γεγονέναι τοῦ Θεοῦ πιστεύεσθαι· ὃ καὶ ἐναργέστατα μάλιστα παρίστησιν ἡ ἡμετέρα περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διάληψις, καθ' ἣν ἀποδείκνυμεν πᾶσαν τὴν κατ' αὐτὸν οἰκονομίαν γεγενημένην, τά τε περὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἁπάντων ἐθνῶν γενομένης δι' αὐτοῦ κλήσεως ἀκριβῶς προεγνῶσθαί τε καὶ πρὸ μυρίων ὅσων ἐτῶν τοῖς θεσπεσίοις ἐκείνοις ἀνδράσι προειρῆσθαι· ὧν τὰς ἱερὰς βίβλους Ἰουδαῖοι μᾶλλον ἂν ἡμῶν εἶεν ἀξιοπιστότεροι μετὰ πάσης σεβασμίου τιμῆς περιέποντές τε καὶ προφέροντες. Τούτων ἡμῖν χρησίμως προδιαληφθέντων ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ὁδευτέον. 169 Ψ. Ἐκ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου. Αʹ. Ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος πρὸς Ἡσαΐαν υἱὸν Ἀμὼς περὶτῆς Ἰουδαίας, καὶ περὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ὅτι ἔσται ἐν ταῖςἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν, καὶ ἥξουσιν ἐπ' αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Καὶ πορεύσονται ἔθνη πολλὰ, καὶ ἐρούσιν, ∆εῦτε καὶ ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου, καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πορευσόμεθα ἐν αὐτῇ· ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος Κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ· καὶ κρινεῖ ἀναμέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ἐλέγξει λαὸν πολύν· καὶ συγκόψουσιν τὰς μαχαίρας αὐτῶν εἰς ἄροτρα, καὶ τὰς ζιβύνας αὐτῶν εἰς δρέπανα· καὶ οὐ λήψεται ἔθνος ἐπ' ἔθνος μάχαιραν, καὶ οὐ μὴ μάθωσιν ἔτι πολεμεῖν. ∆εικνύτωσαν ἡμῖν οἱ τὴν περιτομὴν αὐχοῦντες, τίς ὁ νόμος καὶ ποταπὸς, καὶ τίσι δοθησόμενος ὁ ἐκ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεσθαι προφητευόμενος· ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν, φησὶν, ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, ἕτερος ὢν δῆλον ὅτι τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διὰ Μωσέως νόμου δεδομένου· τίς δὲ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου λόγος, μηκέτι μὲν, κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν, μένων ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἀλλ' ἐκ Σιὼν αὐτῆς, καὶ μεθιστάμενος ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, μέλλων τε κρίνειν ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων, καὶ λαὸν ἐλέγχει ξει πολὺν, ὅτε καὶ εἰρήνης βαθυτάτης ἐγγενομένης τοῖς πρὸς τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Κυρίου κριθησομένοις ἔθνεσι, μεταβαλλόντες οἱ τῆς εἰρήνης ἠξιωμένοι τὰ πρότερον αὐτῶν πολεμικὰ σκεύη τῇ ἑαυτῶν κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν γεωργίᾳ προσέξουσι τὸν νοῦν. Ἐκείνοις μὲν οὖν 170 οὐκ οἶδ' εἴ τίς ἐστιν πρὸς ταῦτα λόγος· ἡμῖν γε μὴν ὑγιῶς εἰς Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ πεπιστευκόσι ῥᾳδίως ἔνεστιν πᾶσαν ἐξομαλίσαι τὴν προφητείαν, θείαν τε ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ παράδοξον αὐτὴν ἐπιδεικνύναι, τῷ καὶ τέλος ἐσχηκέναι τὰ προφητευθέντα πιστεύειν, καὶ μὴ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκπίπτειν, εἰς ἀτερματίστους ὑπερτιθεμένους χρόνους τῶν προφητειῶν τὰ ἀποτελέσματα. Φαμὲν γὰρ δὴ ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίᾳ καὶ σωματικῶς ἐκ Σιὼν ἐξεληλυθέναι, κἀκεῖθεν πᾶσιν ἀνακεκηρύχθαι τοῖς ἔθνεσι, τὸν νόμον τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης, τὸν