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to partake of the spiritual by encountering the sacred words of God, but see if the power and the strength deposited in the divine letters has not been taken away from them; and clearly for these reasons Jerusalem is also given up, and all the other things have been fulfilled against them on account of that one sin against Christ; for woe, says the word, to their soul; and it adds the cause of the misery, saying, because they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the righteous one, for he is unprofitable to us. 176 PS. 3. My people, they who call you blessed lead you astray, and they disturb the path of your feet. But now the Lord will stand for judgment, and he will set up his people. The Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people, and with their rulers. "The Lord will now stand for judgment" does not seem to refer to the God of all; and especially "the Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people, and with their rulers"; but these things might be fittingly prophesied concerning the Word of God, who is also called Lord; for indeed the Word of God himself, proclaimed to all under heaven, will stand for judgment with all, giving no place of defense to any of the impious, since his teaching has run into the ears of all; and Jesus Christ will come to judgment especially with the elders of the people and with their rulers, since they indeed gathered together against him and contrived the plot against him; who also, calling the people ruled by them blessed, led them astray, saying that evil is good, and declaring that the good words of our Savior are evil. PS. 4. And the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God in the depth, or in the height. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, 177 nor will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, and how do you weary the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; behold, the virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Emmanuel; he shall eat butter and honey, before he knows or prefers evil, he shall choose the good; because before the child knows good or evil, he disobeys evil, to choose the good. Let those of the circumcision who do not accept the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ say who is the virgin, who according to the prophecy will conceive in her womb and bear the son called Emmanuel; but if they should say that it is written not 'virgin' but 'young woman' according to the Hebrew, it must be said that they were not ordinary men who first interpreted the scripture according to a divine plan, being seventy in number, chosen for excellence from all the people, and having given no small proof of their wisdom in their own times; for what paradoxical sign would the word promise, having testified beforehand that something wonderful would be given to the house of David by the Lord himself, if the word were about a mere young woman; but nothing prevents us, even if according to them the Hebrew has 'young woman,' from thinking that what was said is declared concerning a virgin; for indeed in Leviticus you would find the one who is admittedly a virgin, betrothed to a man, but violated by another, being called a 'young woman' by the scripture; and in this way it would be fitting for the house of David on account of 178 their unbelief to be given a sign from the Lord, that a virgin should wondrously give birth, for which reason indeed he who was to be born has been proclaimed as someone wonderful; since indeed from a child, and so to speak from his very birth, it is prophesied that he would disobey evil and choose the good. And his name has also been wonderfully foretold as Emmanuel; which is God with us; which we who confess him might also say, being conscious of his divine and secret sojourning among all men through his power; And again Emmanuel might be called the

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τοῦ πνευματικοῦ μετέχειν ἐν τῷ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐντυγχάνειν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγοις, ἀλλ' ὅρα εἰ μὴ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς ἡ ἐν τοῖς θείοις γράμμασιν ἐναποκειμένη ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀφῄρηται· σαφῶς δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀνεῖται, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δὲ πάντα εἰς αὐτοὺς πεπλήρωται διὰ μίαν ἐκείνην τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἁμαρτίαν· οὐαὶ γὰρ, φησὶν ὁ λόγος, τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῶν· καὶ τοῦ ταλανισμοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν προστίθησιν λέγων, διότι βεβούλευνται βουλὴν πονηρὰν καθ' ἑαυτῶν, εἰπόντες· δήσωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστιν. 176 Ψ. Γʹ. Λαός μου, οἱ μακαρίζοντες ὑμᾶς πλανῶσιν ὑμᾶς, καὶ τὴν τρίβον τῶν ποδῶν ὑμῶν ταράσσουσιν. Ἀλλὰ νῦν καταστήσεται εἰς κρίσιν Κύριος, καὶ στήσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς Κύριος εἰς κρίσιν ἥξει μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ. Οὐκ ἔοικεν ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ἀναφέρεσθαι τὸ νῦν καταστήσεται εἰς κρίσιν Κύριος· καὶ μάλιστα τὸ, αὐτὸς Κύριος εἰς κρίσιν ἥξει μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ· ἁρμόζοι δ' ἂν περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, Κυρίου καὶ αὐτοῦ χρηματίζοντος, ταῦτα προφητεύεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ οὖν αὐτὸς ὁ κηρυχθεὶς πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν Θεοῦ Λόγος εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ πάντων καταστήσεται, μὴδ' ἑνὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν χώραν διδοὺς ἀπολογίας, ἅτε εἰς τὰς ἁπάντων ἀκοὰς διαδραμούσης αὐτοῦ τῆς διδασκαλίας· ἥξει δ' εἰς κρίσιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων μάλιστα τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ, οἷα δὴ αὐτῶν ἐπισυναχθέντων κατ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν αὐτῷ συσκευασαμένων· οἳ καὶ μακαρίζοντες τὸν ἀρχόμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν λαὸν ἐπλάνων αὐτὸν, λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν, καὶ τοὺς καλοὺς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν λόγους πονηροὺς ὑπάρχειν ἀποφαινόμενοι. Ψ. ∆ʹ. Καὶ προσέθετο Κύριος λαλῆσαι τῷ Ἄχαζ, λέγων, Αἴτησαι σεαυτῷ σημεῖον παρὰ Κυρίου Θεοῦ σου εἰς βάθος, ἢ εἰς ὕψος. Καὶ εἶπεν Ἄχαζ, Οὐ μὴ αἰτήσω 177 οὐδὲ μὴ πειράσω Κύριον. Καὶ εἶπεν, Ἀκούσατε δὴ οἶκος ∆αυίδ· μὴ μικρὸν ὑμῖν ἀγῶνα παρέχειν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ πῶς Κυρίῳ παρέχετε ἀγῶνα; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον· ἰδοὺ, ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται, καὶ τέξεται υἱόν· καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ· βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται, πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι αὐτὸν ἢ προελέσθαι πονηρὰ, ἐκλέξεται τὸ ἀγαθόν· δι' ὅτι πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι τὸ παιδίον ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν, ἀπειθεῖ πονηρίᾳ, ἐκλέξασθαι τὸ ἀγαθόν. Οἱ μὴ παραδεχόμενοι τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν λεγέτωσαν τίς ἡ παρθένος, ἡ κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν ἐν γαστρὶ ληψομένη καὶ τέξουσα τὸν ἐπονομαζόμενον Ἐμμανουὴλ υἱόν· ἀλλ' εἰ φάσκοιεν μὴ γέγραφθαι παρθένον ἀλλὰ νεᾶνιν κατὰ τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν, λεκτέον, ὡς οὐχ οἱ τυχόντες ἐτύγχανον οἱ πρῶτοι τὴν γραφὴν κατὰ θείαν ἑρμηνεύσαντες οἰκονομίαν, οʹ μὲν ὄντες τὸ πλῆθος, ἀναλελεγμένοι ἀριστινδὴν ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ, δοκιμήν τε οὐ σμικρὰν κατὰ τοὺς αὐτῶν χρόνους ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ δεδωκότες· τί δ' ἂν παράδοξον ὁ λόγος ὑπισχνεῖτο σημεῖον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ὥσπερ τι θαυμαστὸν τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αυὶδ δοθήσεσθαι προμαρτυράμενος, εἰ περὶ ψιλῆς νεάνιδος ὁ λόγος ἦν· οὐδὲν δὲ ἡμᾶς κωλύει, εἰ καὶ νεάνιδαν κατ' αὐτοὺς περιέχει τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν, ὡς περὶ παρθένου δηλοῦσθαι νομίζειν τὰ εἰρημένα· καὶ γὰρ οὖν ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ εὕροις ἂν τὴν ὁμολογουμένως παρθένον μεμνηστευμένην ἀνδρὶ, ὑφ' ἑτέρον δὲ βεβιασμένην, νεᾶνιν ὑπὸ τῆς γραφῆς ὀνομαζομένην· καὶ ταύτῃ γε ἀξιοπρεπὲς ἂν εἴη τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αυὶδ διὰ 178 τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν παρὰ Κυρίου δίδοσθαι σημεῖον, τὸ παραδόξως παρθένον ἀποτεκεῖν, δι' ὃ δὴ καὶ ὁ τεχθησόμενος θαυμαστός τις ὢν ἀνηγόρευται· εἴ γε ἐκ παιδὸς, καὶ ὡς εἰπεῖν ἐξ αὐτῆς γενέσεως, ἀπειθήσειν μὲν πονηρίᾳ, ἐκλέξασθαι δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν προφητεύεται. Καὶ τὸ ὄνομα δὲ αὐτοῦ θαυμαστῶς προαναπεφώνηται Ἐμμανουὴλ τυγχάνον· ὃ ἔστι μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· ὃ καὶ φήσαιμεν ἂν ἡμεῖς οἱ ὁμολογοῦντες αὐτὸν, καὶ συναισθόμενοι τῆς ἐνθέου καὶ ἀπορρήτου εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως ἐπιδημίας· λέγοιτο δ' ἂν πάλιν Ἐμμανουὴλ ὁ