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and the traffic of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thy servants: they shall follow thee bound in fetters, and in thee they shall pray, because God is in thee, and there is no God but thee," and so forth. And He Himself says through the blessed David: "A people whom I have not known have served me." And one can find countless other testimonies teaching this same thing. He says, therefore, that the common tormentor and enemy has been delivered to this one, and that by this one his destruction came to be according to his impiety. To these things He adds: And I cast him out. (12.) And strangers, plagues from the nations, destroyed him, and cast him down upon the mountains. For the Lord having conquered him, and having cast him out of his dominion and tyranny, those who were formerly plagues, and strangers to God from the nations, having believed the divine preach 81.1125 ing, utterly destroyed him, and pulled up his tyranny by the roots, and cast him down upon the mountains, where he formerly had his shrines and altars, having established the pillars of philosophy. "And his branches have fallen in all the valleys, and his boughs are broken in every plain of the earth." He called the various idols his branches and boughs, which received from him the occasions for their establishment, which were also shown to be utterly gone from the mountains and from the plains through the nations that were formerly plagues, but afterwards faithful. "And all the peoples of the earth have come down from his shadow, and have cast him to the ground." For knowing his deceit, they not only fled his dominion, but also brought him down to the very ground, fulfilling the Lord's command which says: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." 13. Upon his fall all the birds of the air rested, and all the beasts of the field were upon his boughs. For if anyone, he says, is winged, and has the eye of his mind toward heaven, he rejoices seeing his dissolution, and the stripping bare of his impiety. And those who were formerly bestial will rush against his branches, and will tear down the shrines of the idols with their own hands; for he called these boughs. 14. So that all the trees that are by the water may not be exalted for their size, and may not set their beginning in the midst of the clouds, and those that drink water may not stand in their height against it. His destruction, he says, and the dissolution of his dominion, will be a benefit to others, and an occasion for security; for seeing what happened to him, they will not endure to use a mindset beyond their worth; nor will they attempt to seize a rule that is in no way fitting; taking as provisions for tyranny, as if a kind of irrigation, the honor granted to them by me. "Because they were all delivered to death." For not only the devil himself, but also the demons who shared in his tyranny, endured utter destruction. But it is time to return again to the history; for what has been said is sufficient to teach that what was said was not said only about Nebuchadnezzar, but also about him who was at work in him, and who taught him his own arrogance. He says, therefore, that Nebuchadnezzar himself, and those with him, will be delivered to death, suffering the same things as other men. "To a land of depth," he says, "in the midst of the sons of men being brought to a pit." To these he adds: 81.1128 15. Thus says the Lord Adonai: In the day that he was brought down to Hades, the abyss mourned him, it covered and stopped its rivers, it hindered a multitude of water. -And he called the subject nations the abyss, who indeed campaigned with him, but mourned not his slaughter, but their own defeat and destruction. For that they did not mourn him, he sufficiently declared by saying: He hindered a multitude of water;" that is, it will no longer endure to send you the tributes. "Lebanon was darkened over him, all the trees of the field over him

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καὶ ἐμπορία Αἰθιόπων καὶ οἱ Σα βαῒν ἄνδρες ὑψηλοὶ ἐπὶ σὲ ἀναβήσονται, καὶ σοὶ ἔσονται δοῦλοι· ὀπίσω σου ἀκολουθήσουσι δεδεμένοι χειροπέδαις, καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ Θεός ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ διὰ τοῦ μακαρίου λέγει ∆αβίδ· "Λαὸς ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων ἐδούλευσέ μοι." Καὶ μυρίας δὲ ἑτέρας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν μαρτυρίας ταὐτὸ τοῦτο διδασκούσας. Τούτῳ τοίνυν παραδεδόσθαι λέγει τὸν κοινὸν ἀλάστορα καὶ πολέμιον, καὶ ὑπὸ τούτου γενέσθαι τὴν ἀπώλειαν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν αὐτοῦ. Τούτοις ἐπάγει· Καὶ ἐξέβαλον αὐτὸν ἐγώ. (ιβʹ.) Καὶ ἐξωλό θρευσαν αὐτὸν ἀλλότριοι λοιμοὶ ἀπὸ ἐθνῶν, καὶ κατέβαλον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων. Τοῦ γὰρ Κυρίου νενικηκότος αὐτὸν, καὶ τῆς δυναστείας καὶ τῆς τυ ραννίδος ἔξω πεποιηκότος, οἱ πάλαι λοιμοὶ, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλλότριοι οἱ ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν, τῷ θείῳ κηρύγ 81.1125 ματι πεπιστευκότες, παντελῶς αὐτὸν ἐξωλόθρευσαν, καὶ πρόῤῥιζον αὐτοῦ τὴν τυραννίδα ἀνέσπασαν, καὶ κατέβαλον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων, ἔνθα πρότερον εἶχε τὰ τεμένη καὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς, τὰς τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἱδρυσάμενοι στήλας. "Καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς φάραγξιν ἔπεσον οἱ κλάδοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνετρίβη τὰ στελέχη αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ πεδίῳ τῆς γῆς." Κλάδους δὲ αὐ τοῦ καὶ στελέχη τὰ παντοδαπὰ εἰδωλεῖα προσηγόρευ σεν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεξάμενα τὰς τῆς ἱδρύσεως ἀφορμὰς, ἃ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρέων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πεδίων φροῦδα παντελῶς διὰ τῶν πάλαι μὲν λοιμῶν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πιστῶν ἐθνῶν, ἀπεφάνθη. "Καὶ κατέβησαν ἀπὸ τῆς σκέπης αὐτοῦ πάντες οἱ λαοὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἠδά φισαν αὐτόν." Γνόντες γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξαπάτην, οὐ μόνον ἔφυγον αὐτοῦ τὴν δεσποτείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρις αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐδάφους κατήνεγκαν, τὴν ∆εσποτικὴν ἐντολὴν πληροῦντες τὴν λέγουσαν· "Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ." ιγʹ. Ἐπὶ τῇ πτώσει αὐτοῦ ἀνεπαύσαντο πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ στελέχη αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Εἴ τις γὰρ, φησὶ, πτηνὸς, καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἔχων τῆς διανοίας τὸ ὄμμα, εὐφραίνεται θεωρῶν αὐ τοῦ τὴν κατάλυσιν, καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τὴν γύμνωσιν. Καὶ οἱ πρότερον δὲ θηριώδεις κατὰ τῶν τούτου κλά δων ὁρμήσουσι, καὶ τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων οἰκείαις χερσὶν ἀνασπάσουσι τεμένη· ταῦτα γὰρ στελέχη ὠνόμασεν. ιδʹ. Ὅπως ἂν μὴ ὑψωθῶσι τῷ μεγέθει αὑτῶν πάντα τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι, καὶ οὐ μὴ δῶσι τὴν ἀρχὴν αὑτῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ μὴ ἱστῶνται ἐν τῷ ὕψει αὑτῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ πίνοντες ὕδωρ. Ὁ τούτου, φησὶν, ὄλεθρος, καὶ ἡ τῆς δυναστείας αὐτοῦ κατάλυσις, ὄνησις ἔσται τοῖς ἄλλοις, καὶ ἀφορμὴ ἀσφαλείας· ὁρῶντες γὰρ τὰ τούτῳ συμβάντα, οὐκ ἀνέξονται ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν φρονήματι χρήσασθαι· οὐδὲ πειραθήσονται ἁρπάσαι ἀρχὴν τὴν μηδαμόθεν προσήκουσαν· ἐφόδιον εἰς τυ ραννίδα λαμβάνοντες, καθάπερ τινὰ ἀρδείαν, τὴν παρ' ἐμοῦ χορηγηθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς τιμήν. "Ὅτι πάντες ἐδόθησαν εἰς θάνατον." Οὐ γὰρ μόνον αὐτὸς ὁ διάβολος, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ τῆς τυραννίδος αὐτῷ κοινωνή σαντες δαίμονες, τὴν πανωλεθρίαν ὑπέμειναν. Ἀλλὰ καιρὸς πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐπανελθεῖν· ἱκανὰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα διδάξαι, ὡς οὐ μόνον περὶ τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἐῤῥέθη τὰ εἰρημένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἐνεργήσαντος, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτὸν ἀλαζονείαν διδάξαντος. Λέγει τοίνυν ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ θανάτῳ παραδοθήσονται, ταὐτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις πεισό μενοι. "Εἰς γῆν βάθους, φησὶν, ἐν μέσῳ υἱῶν ἀν θρώπων ἐπαγομένων εἰς βόθρον." Τούτοις ἐπάγει· 81.1128 ιεʹ. Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἐν ᾖ ἡμέρᾳ κατήχθη εἰς ᾅδου, ἐθρήνησεν αὐτὸν ἡ ἄβυσ σος, ἐκάλυψε καὶ ἐπέστησε τοὺς ποταμοὺς αὐτῆς, ἐκώλυσε πλῆθος ὕδατος. -Ἄβυσσον δὲ ἐκάλεσε τὰ ὑπήκοα ἔθνη, συστρατεύοντα μὲν αὐτῷ, θρηνοῦντα δὲ οὐ τὴν ἐκείνου σφαγὴν, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἧττάν τε καὶ ἀναίρεσιν. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐκ ἐκεῖ νον ἐθρήνουν, ἀποχρώντως ἐδήλωσεν εἰρηκώς· Ἐκώλυσε πλῆθος ὕδατος·" τουτέστιν, Οὐκέτι σοι πέμπειν τοὺς φόρους ἀνέξεται. "Ἐσκότασεν ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὁ Λίβανος, πάντα τὰ ξύλα τοῦ πεδίου ἐπ' αὐτὸν