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they foretold what would happen after three months, as it was going to be, but they gave oracles that leaned this way and that 10.61. But hear also what follows: "Return, you sons of Israel who take deep and lawless counsel, because in that day men will cast away their handmade things of silver and of gold, which their hands have made." And again: "I am God, the first; and to the things to come, I am. The nations saw and were afraid; the ends of the earth were astonished; they drew near and came, each one judging at the same time to help his neighbor and his brother. And he will say: a carpenter grew strong, and a smith striking with a hammer, forging at the same time. At one time he will say: It is a good joining; they strengthened 10.62 it with nails; they will set it up, and it will not be moved." For they can neither stand unless nailed down nor walk unless carried by others. And again: "Jacob my servant; I will help him. Israel my chosen one; my soul has accepted him. I have given my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth judgment to the nations. He will not cry out nor lift up, nor will his voice be heard outside. A bruised reed he will not break and a smoking flax he will not quench, but he will bring forth judgment to truth. He will shine forth and not be broken, until he has established judgment on the earth; and in his name the nations will hope. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and established it, who established the earth and the things in it and gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it. I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will take hold of your hand and strengthen you; and I have given you for a covenant of a people, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the bound from their chains and from the prison house those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord God; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another nor my virtues to graven images." 10.63 These things the God of all said to the Lord Christ as to a man, naming him Jacob and Israel from his visible nature; for from that race he arose according to the flesh; and he clearly showed his gentleness and long-suffering, with which he acted when being treated insolently by the Jews. This one, he said, was given for a covenant of the people; for indeed to the patriarchs and 10.64 to the Jews themselves he promised the salvation through him. And he said that he also arose as a light to the nations, so as to open the eyes of the blind and to break the bonds of the fettered and to free from the darkness those sitting in the gloom of ignorance as in a prison. And he called blind and fettered and sitting in darkness those who were enveloped in the mist of ignorance 10.65 and those bound by the chains of sin. And that he so named those enslaved by the error of superstition, what follows testifies: For he said, "I am the Lord God; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another nor my virtues to graven images." For at the same time he appeared and stripped them of the title, which they, having seized it, had put upon themselves, and a little after this again he said: "The Lord God of hosts will go forth to crush war and to stir up zeal, and he will cry out against his enemies with strength." Then he teaches for what reason he has not done this long ago, and says: "I have been silent from of old; shall I also be silent and forbear forever? I have been patient like a woman in labor; 10.66 I will astound and make desolate and dry up at once." And those things were of long-suffering, and these of loving-kindness; for being long-suffering from the beginning, he did not punish. Then, showing forbearance, he called those who were wandering and scattered those who were leading astray: for he says, "I will make desolate and dry up at once; I will lay waste mountains and hills and I will turn rivers 10.67 into islands and dry up marshes." And through these things he indicated the precincts of the idols in these places, which, having appeared, he has destroyed and dried up like a marsh; "And I will lead the blind in a way which they have not known; and in paths which they have not understood, I will make them walk." For those who formerly wandered did not know the way of truth; but having had the apostles as guides and leaders and indeed also light-bearers, they left indeed
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μετὰ τρεῖς ἐσόμενα μῆνας προειπάτην, ὡς ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τῇδε κἀκεῖσε κλινομένους ἐδιδότην 10.61 χρησμούς. Ἀκούσατε δὲ καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς· "Ἐπιστράφητε οἱ τὴν βαθεῖαν βουλὴν βουλευόμενοι καὶ ἄνομον υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀφελοῦνται οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ χειροποίητα αὐτῶν τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ, ἃ ἐποίησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἐγὼ Θεὸς πρῶτος· καὶ εἰς τὰ ἐπερχόμενα ἐγώ εἰμι. Εἴδοσαν ἔθνη καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν· τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς ἐξέστησαν· ἤγγισαν καὶ ἦλθον, ἅμα κρίνων ἕκαστος τῷ πλησίον βοηθῆσαι καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ. Καὶ ἐρεῖ· ἴσχυσεν ἀνὴρ τέκτων καὶ χαλκεὺς τύπτων σφύρᾳ, ἅμα ἐλαύνων. Ποτὲ μὲν ἐρεῖ· σύμβλημα καλόν ἐστιν· ἰσχύρωσαν 10.62 αὐτὸ ἐν ἥλοις· θήσουσιν αὐτό, καὶ οὐ κινηθήσεται." Οὔτε γὰρ στῆναι μὴ καθηλωμένα δύναται οὔτε βαδίζειν μὴ παρ' ἄλλων φερόμενα. Καὶ αὖθις· "Ἰακὼβ ὁ παῖς μου· ἀντιλήψομαι αὐτοῦ. Ἰσραὴλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου· προσεδέξατο αὐτὸν ἡ ψυχή μου. Ἔδωκα τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπ' αὐτόν· κρίσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐξοίσει· οὐ κε κράξεται οὐδὲ ἀνήσει, οὐδὲ ἀκουσθήσεται ἔξω ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ· κάλαμον τεθλασμένον οὐ κατεάξει καὶ λίνον καπνιζόμενον οὐ σβέσει, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀλήθειαν ἐξοίσει κρίσιν· ἀναλάμψει καὶ οὐ θραυσθήσεται, ἕως ἂν θῇ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κρίσιν· καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν. Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραήλ, ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πήξας αὐτόν, ὁ στερεώσας τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ διδοὺς πνοὴν τῷ λαῷ τῷ ἐπ' αὐτῆς καὶ πνεῦμα τοῖς πατοῦσιν αὐτήν. Ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐκάλεσά σε ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ κρατήσω τῆς χειρός σου καὶ ἐνισχύσω σε· καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλῶν, ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν δεδεμένους καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς καθημένους ἐν σκότει. Ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός· τοῦτό μοί ἐστιν ὄνομα. Τὴν δόξαν μου ἑτέρῳ οὐ δώσω οὐδὲ τὰς ἀρετάς μου τοῖς γλυπτοῖς." 10.63 Ταῦτα ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην Χριστὸν ὡς πρὸς ἄνθρωπον ἔφη, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁρωμένης φύσεως Ἰακὼβ αὐτὸν καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ὀνομάσας· ἐξ ἐκείνου γὰρ δὴ κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ γένους ἀνέτειλε· καὶ ἔδειξεν αὐτοῦ σαφῶς τὴν πραότητα καὶ τὴν μακρο θυμίαν, ᾗ παροινούμενος παρ' Ἰουδαίων ἐχρήσατο. Τοῦτον εἰς διαθήκην ἔφη δοθῆναι τοῦ γένους· καὶ γὰρ τοῖς πατριάρχαις καὶ 10.64 αὐτοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τὴν δι' αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν ὑπέσχετο. Ἔφη δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν ἀνατεῖλαι, ὥστε τῶν τυφλῶν ἀνοῖξαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τῶν πεπεδημένων τὰ δεσμὰ διαρρῆξαι καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ ζόφῳ τῆς ἀγνοίας ὡς ἐν εἱρκτῇ καθημένους ἐλευθε ρῶσαι τοῦ σκότους. Τυφλοὺς δὲ καὶ πεπεδημένους καὶ ἐν σκότει καθημένους τοὺς τῆς ἀγνοίας τὴν ἀχλὺν περικειμένους ἐκάλεσε 10.65 καὶ τοὺς ταῖς σειραῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας πεπεδημένους. Ὅτι δὲ τοὺς τῷ πλάνῳ τῆς δεισιδαιμονίας δεδουλωμένους οὕτως ὠνόμασε, μαρτυρεῖ τὰ ἑξῆς· "Ἐγὼ" γὰρ ἔφη "Κύριος ὁ Θεός· τοῦτό μοί ἐστιν ὄνομα. Τὴν δόξαν μου ἑτέρῳ οὐ δώσω οὐδὲ τὰς ἀρετάς μου τοῖς γλυπτοῖς." Ἅμα τε γὰρ ἐπεφάνη καὶ τῆς προσηγο ρίας αὐτοὺς ἐγύμνωσεν, ἣν ἁρπάσαντες ἑαυτοῖς περιέθεσαν, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἔφη· "Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων ἐξελεύσεται συντρίψαι πόλεμον καὶ ἐπεγεῖραι ζῆλον καὶ βοήσεται ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ μετ' ἰσχύος." Ἔπειτα διδάσκει, τί δήποτε μὴ πάλαι τοῦτο πεποίηκε, καί φησιν· "Ἐσιώπησα ἀπ' αἰῶνος· μὴ καὶ ἀεὶ σιωπήσομαι καὶ ἀνέξομαι; ἐκαρτέρησα ὡς ἡ 10.66 τίκτουσα· ἐκφανῶ καὶ ἐκστήσω καὶ ξηρανῶ ἅμα." Κἀκεῖνα δὲ μακροθυμίας, καὶ ταῦτα φιλανθρωπίας· μακροθυμῶν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὐκ ἐκόλασεν. Εἶτα φειδοῖ χρησάμενος τοὺς πλανωμένους ἐκάλεσε καὶ τοὺς πλανῶντας ἐσκέδασεν· "Ἐκστήσω" γάρ φησι "καὶ ξηρανῶ ἅμα· ἐρημώσω ὄρη καὶ βουνοὺς καὶ θήσω ποτα 10.67 μοὺς εἰς νήσους καὶ ἕλη ξηρανῶ." ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων τὰ ἐν τούτοις τεμένη τῶν εἰδώλων ἐμήνυσεν, ἅπερ ἐπιφανεὶς καταλέλυκε καὶ δίκην ἕλους ἐξήρανεν· "Καὶ ἄξω τυφλοὺς ἐν ὁδῷ, ᾗ οὐκ ἔγνω σαν· καὶ τρίβους, ἃς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν, ποιήσω πατῆσαι αὐτούς." Ἠγνόουν γὰρ οἱ πάλαι πλανώμενοι τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ὁδόν· ξενα γοὺς δὲ καὶ ποδηγοὺς καὶ μέντοι καὶ φωταγωγοὺς ἐσχηκότες τοὺς ἀποστόλους, κατέλιπον μὲν