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in the evening they will lie down to sleep. But lest they be destroyed by hunger, I command you to offer bread and drink to them, weary and thirsty from their labor. And I say these things to you who inhabit the country called Thema, you who ought to welcome kindly and treat with benevolence the fugitives, who, no longer able to dwell in a city, will lodge in the roads and forests. Therefore, do not overlook those who have been saved from the sword of the enemies, being so wretchedly destroyed by hunger, who have with difficulty been able to escape from so great a multitude, while the rest have perished or have been scattered and settled in other places. Having declared these things, God commanded that they would not be for long in coming to pass; for not even a whole year will pass, after which the city of the sons of Kedar, long exalted and renowned and illustrious to all, will disappear, and their assembled youth, being a military force and full of strong archers, will fail, so that they are reduced to a small number of men. For these things have been determined and judged by the God of Israel, so that those who have been mentioned might learn not to tread contemptuously upon his people; and the end of the prophecy is that the aforementioned be reduced to a few. 1.81 "Because" "there is no partiality with God," for this reason the word concerning Zion is also inserted in the middle of the rebukes against the foreigners; through which God, classing the inhabitants of Jerusalem as if among foreigners, also brings forth the sentence against them. And it is said also in Amos, from the person of God to the people of the Jews: "Are you not as the sons of the Ethiopians to me? says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the foreigners out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of a pit? Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon all the kingdoms of the earth." Indeed, the present saying of the valley of Zion is spoken not concerning Zion itself, but concerning the valley adjacent to it. Therefore the word, proceeding next, says: and your choice valleys shall be filled with chariots, and the horsemen shall block your gates. And I think that through these things God, wishing to signify the rejection of Israel and their final fall, ranked them among the order of foreigners, being included in the midst of the scripture of the foreigners, but I also consider the fall of Jerusalem to be indicated by naming it the valley of Zion. And in another way, God rebukes those of the Jewish nation who have fallen from the height of the God-fearing way of life, as if having fallen into the hollows and valleys of the abyss of wickedness. For Zion is a "high mountain," on which the temple of God was built; wherefore it is said: "Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion," and: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." And the evangelical word was shown previously to be signified by Mount Zion. But those who have fallen away from this hope have fallen into the valley adjoining Zion; for wickedness lies near every virtue, into which he who slips from virtue falls. Thus indeed also those who sin against the faith are turned to unbelief. The people of the circumcision, therefore, having fallen from the evangelical height and being alienated from "the heavenly Zion," were turned to the precipice of unbelief; wherefore they were also counted among foreigners by God. Hence the prophecy, hinting at their final rejection, recorded the saying of the valley of Zion. Then, because they "are puffed up in vain" while being in the abyss of wickedness, he says to them: What has happened to you, that you have all gone up to the rooftops in vain? But the prophet, seeing in the spirit their cries against the savior and their godless blasphemies against him, for which they were rejected, adds: The city was filled with those who cry out, and since "there is a sin that leads to death," according to which "the soul that sins, it shall die," signifying the death of their soul he adds: your wounded are not wounded

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ἑσπέρας κοιμηθήσονται. ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ λιμῷ διαφθαρεῖεν, κεκμηκόσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ διψῶσιν ἀπὸ καμάτου προσφέρειν ἄρτον καὶ ποτὸν παρακελεύομαι. ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς ὑμᾶς φημι τοὺς τὴν Θεμὰν οὕτω καλουμένην χώραν οἰκοῦντας, οὓς πρέπει δεξιῶς ἀποδέχεσθαι καὶ φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι τοὺς φυγάδας, οἳ μηδὲ πόλιν ἔτι κατοικεῖν δυνάμενοι ἐν ὁδοῖς καὶ δρυμοῖς αὐλισθήσονται. διὸ μὴ παρίδητε οἰκτρῶς οὕτως λιμῷ διαφθειρομένους τοὺς διασωθέντας ἐκ τῆς τῶν πολεμίων μαχαίρας, οἳ μόγις ἐκ τοσούτου πλήθους δεδύνηνται διαφυγεῖν τῶν λοιπῶν ἀπολωλότων ἢ καὶ ἀποπλανηθέντων ἐν ἑτέροις ἀπῳκισμένοις τόποις. Ταῦτα δὲ ἐκφήνας προσέταξεν ὁ θεὸς οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν ἀποβησόμενα· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅλος ἐνιαυτὸς παρελεύσεται, μεθ' ὃν ἡ πάλαι ἐπηρμένη καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπίσημος καὶ διαφανὴς τῶν υἱῶν Κηδὰρ πόλις ἀφανισθήσεται, ἥ τε συνεστῶσα αὐτῶν νεολαία στρατιωτική τις οὖσα καὶ τοξοτῶν ἰσχυρῶν ἔμπλεως ἐκλείψει, ὡς εἰς ὀλίγον ἀριθμὸν ἀνδρῶν περιστῆναι αὐτούς. ταῦτα γὰρ ὥρισται καὶ κέκριται παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ, ὡς ἂν μάθοιεν οἱ δηλωθέντες μὴ καταφρονητικῶς ἐπεμβαίνειν τῷ αὐτοῦ λαῷ καὶ τέλος τῆς προφητείας τὸ εἰς ὀλίγους περιστῆναι τοὺς εἰρημένους. 1.81 «Ἐπειδὴ μή» «ἐστι προσωποληψία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ», τούτου χάριν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐλέγχοις μέσος ἐμβέβληται καὶ ὁ περὶ τῆς Σιὼν λόγος· δι' οὗ καὶ τοὺς τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ οἰκήτορας ὥσπερ ἐν ἀλλοφύλοις κατατάττων ὁ θεός, καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν προφέρει ψῆφον. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀμὼς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαόν· «οὐχ ὡς υἱοὶ Αἰθιόπων ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐμοί; λέγει κύριος. οὐ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους ἐκ Καππαδοκίας καὶ τοὺς Σύρους ἐκ βόθρου; ἰδοὺ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς». τό γε μὴν προκείμενον ῥῆμα τῆς φάραγγος Σιὼν οὐ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς Σιών, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς παρακειμένης αὐτῇ φάραγγος εἴρηται. διόπερ ἑξῆς προϊὼν ὁ λόγος φησί· καὶ ἔσονται αἱ ἐκλεκταὶ φάραγγές σου πλησθήσονται ἁρμάτων, οἱ δὲ ἱππεῖς ἐμφράξουσι τὰς πύλας σου. οἶμαι δὲ διὰ τούτων τὸν θεὸν τὴν ἀποβολὴν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην αὐτῶν ἀπόπτωσιν σημῆναι βουλόμενον ἐν τῷ τάγματι τῶν ἀλλοφύλων αὐτοὺς κατατάξαι μέσους παραληφθέντας τῆς τῶν ἀλλοφύλων γραφῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πτῶσιν τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἡγοῦμαι δηλοῦσθαι διὰ τοῦ φάραγγα Σιὼν ὀνομάζειν. καὶ ἄλλως δὲ μέμφεται ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους τοὺς ἀποπεσόντας τοῦ ὕψους τοῦ θεοσεβοῦς πολιτεύματος, ὥσπερ δὲ ἐν κοιλάσι καὶ ἐν φάραγξι τοῦ τῆς κακίας βυθοῦ καταπεπτωκότας. Σιὼν μὲν γὰρ «ὄρος» ἐστὶν «ὑψηλόν», ἐφ' ᾧ ὁ νεὼς τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμητο· διὸ λέλεκται· «ἐπ' ὄρος ὑψηλὸν ἀνάβηθι, ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Σιών», καί· «προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ». καὶ ὁ λόγος δὲ ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς διὰ τοῦ Σιὼν ὄρους σημαίνεσθαι διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἀπεδείκνυτο. οἱ δὲ ταύτης ἐκπεσόντες τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐν φάραγγι προσπαρακειμένῃ τῇ Σιὼν πεπτώκασι· πάσῃ γὰρ ἀρετῇ κακία παράκειται, εἰς ἣν ἐκπίπτει ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐξολισθαίνων. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ οἱ τῆς πίστεως ἐξαμαρτάνοντες εἰς ἀπιστίαν περιτρέπονται. ὁ τοίνυν ἐκ περιτομῆς λαὸς τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ ὕψους ἐκπεσὼν καὶ «τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιὼν» ἀπαλλοτριωθεὶς εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀπιστίας περιετράπη κρημνόν· διὸ καὶ ἐν ἀλλοφύλοις ἐλογίσθη παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. ὅθεν ἡ προφητεία τὴν ἐσχάτην αὐτῶν ἀποβολὴν αἰνιττομένη τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς φάραγγος Σιὼν ἀνέγραψεν. εἶτ' ἐπειδὴ «εἰκῆ φυσιοῦνται» ἐν βυθῷ κακίας ὑπάρχοντες, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτούς· Τί ἐγένετό σοι, ὅτι ἀνέβητε πάντες εἰς δώματα μάταια; Θεωρῶν δὲ τῷ πνεύματι ὁ προφήτης τὰς κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος βοὰς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἀθέους κατ' αὐτοῦ δυσφημίας, δι' ἃς ἀπεβλήθησαν, ἐπιφέρει· ἐνεπλήσθη ἡ πόλις βοώντων, καὶ ἐπεὶ «ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον», καθ' ἣν «ψυχὴ ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὕτη ἀποθανεῖται», τὸν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν θάνατον σημαίνων ἐπιλέγει· οἱ τραυματίαι σου οὐ τραυματίαι