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they will praise the benefactor. The Others interpreted "daughters of sparrows" as "ostriches." This animal is a land-dweller, but nevertheless it also partakes of the nature of a bird. Such are those who make their life in words and are gaping towards the earth. But nevertheless the word promises a change even to these; Because I gave water in the desert and rivers in the waterless land to give drink to my chosen race, 21my people whom I have acquired to declare my virtues. His race, according to the human nature which he took, is all of human nature, but the nation of the Jews is closer; for he says it is evident that our Lord Jesus has sprung from Judah. 23Not now have I called you, Jacob. From the beginning, he says: "I have chosen you." For not now, with the other nations, have I deemed you worthy of the saving call. Nor have I made you toil, Israel, 23you did not bring me the sheep of your whole burnt offering. For you offered these to idols. Nor in your sacrifices did you glorify me. For I do not need externally introduced glory. You have not served me with gifts, nor have I made you weary with frankincense, 24nor did you buy me incense with silver, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices. These things the Master rejected in the introductions to this prophecy. But in your sins and in your injustices I stood before you. For through your lawlessness you brought on the punishment, but I took all care of you. 25I am, I am he who blots out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. I do what is fitting for myself and, being a lover of mankind, I use mercy, and I do not simply forgive sins but I also blot out their very stains and consign their memory to oblivion. 26But you, remember, and let us be judged together. You, he says, do not forget your failings, but keep a sure memory of them, so that you may always know the magnitude of the benefaction and flee from doing similar things. But since he mentioned judgment and reasonably instilled fear, he teaches the guilty the way to victory: You tell your iniquities first, that you may be justified. I do not wish, he says, to conquer you, but I welcome your defeat. Learn how it is possible for you to conquer: first confess your failings, and I will extend to you the verdict of pardon; if you hide them, I will expose them; if you confess them, I will wipe them away. Then the judge offers a defense for the punishment that occurred: 27Your first fathers sinned and your rulers transgressed against me, 28and your rulers defiled my holy things, and I gave Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach. He has said these things to those in Babylon. I am not the cause of these misfortunes, he says, but your fathers and your priests who have transgressed my laws; for because of their transgression the much-famed Israel has become a reproach. 441But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen; 2thus says the Lord your God who made you and formed you from the womb: I will help you. He continually reminds them both of creation and of the providence after creation. Fear not, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel whom I have chosen, 3for I will give water in thirst to those who walk <in a waterless land>. Not only you, he says, will enjoy my good things, but also the waterless nations will drink the saving streams through your descendants. And what follows shows this more clearly: I will put my spirit upon your seed and my blessings upon your children. Speaking to those in Babylon, he promises to give the |154 b| grace of the spirit not to them but to their descendants. This he also prophesied through Joel the prophet: "It shall be in the last days, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy." And this also reached its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost, when, the holy apostles having gathered, the grace of the spirit came upon them and they spoke "in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." And here, therefore, the prophetic word, promising to give

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εὐεργέτην ὑμνήσουσιν. Θυγατέρας δὲ στρουθῶν οἱ Λοιποὶ «στρουθοκαμήλους» ἡρμήνευσαν. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ζῷον πεζὸν μέν ἐστι, μετέχει δὲ ὅμως καὶ τῆς πτηνῆς φύσεως. Τοιοῦτοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ ἐν λόγοις τὸν βίον ποιούμενοι καὶ πρὸς γῆν κεχηνότες. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ τούτοις ὁ λόγος ὑπισχνεῖται μεταβολήν· Ὅτι ἔδωκα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὕδωρ καὶ ποταμοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀνύδρῳ ποτίσαι τὸ γένος μου τὸ ἐκλεκτόν, 21τὸν λαόν μου ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου ἐξηγεῖσθαι. Γένος αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν ἣν ἔλαβε φύσιν πᾶσα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις, πλησιέστερον δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸ ἔθνος· πρόδηλον γάρ φησιν ὅτι ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀνατέταλκεν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς. 23Οὐ νῦν ἐκάλεσά σε Ἰακώβ. Ἄνωθέν φησιν· «Ἐξελεξάμην σε.» Οὐ γὰρ νῦν σε μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν τῆς σωτηρίου ἠξίωσα κλήσεως . Οὐδὲ κοπιᾶσαι ἐποίησά σε Ἰσραήλ, 23οὐκ ἤνεγκάς μοι πρόβατα τῆς ὁλοκαρπώσεώς σου. Τοῖς γὰρ εἰδώλοις ταῦτα προσέφερες. Οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις σου ἐδόξασάς με. Ἐπεισάκτου γὰρ οὐ δέομαι δόξης. Οὐκ ἐδούλευσάς μοι ἐν δώροις, οὐδὲ ἔγκοπόν σε ἐποίησα ἐν λιβάνῳ, 24οὐδὲ ἐκτήσω μοι ἀργυρίου θυμίαμα, οὐδὲ στέαρ τῶν θυσιῶν σου ἐπεθύμησα. Ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις τῆσδε τῆς προφητείας ἐξέβαλεν ὁ δεσπότης. Ἀλλ' ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις σου καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀδικίαις σου προέστην σου. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τῆς παρανομίας ἐπεσπάσω τὴν τιμωρίαν, ἐγὼ δὲ σοῦ πᾶσαν ἐποιούμην κηδεμονί αν . 25Ἐγώ εἰμι, ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτὸς ὁ ἐξαλείφων τὰς ἀνομίας σου ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου οὐ μνησθήσομαι. Τὸ ἐμαυτῷ ἁρμόττον ποιῶ καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ὢν ἐλέῳ χρῶμαι καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀφίημι τ ὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς τούτων ἐξαλείφω κηλῖδας καὶ λήθῃ τὴν τούτων παραδίδωμι μνή μην. 26Σὺ δὲ μνήσθητι, καὶ κριθῶμεν ἅμα. Σύ φησι τῶν ἐπται σμένων μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ ἀλλ' ἀσ φαλῶς ἔχε τὴν τούτων μνήμην, ἵνα γινώσκῃς ἀεὶ τῆς εὐεργεσίας τὸ μέγεθος καὶ φύγῃς τῶν ὁ μοίων τὴν πρᾶξιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ κρίσεως ἀνέμνησε καὶ φόβον εἰκότως ἀνέθηκε, διδάσκει τοὺς ὑπ ευθύ νους τῆς νίκης τὸν τρόπον· Λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σου πρῶτος, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς. Οὐ βούλομαί φησι νικῆσαί σε ἀλλὰ τὴν ἧτταν ἀσπάζομαι. Μάθε πῶς οἷόν τέ σε νικῆσαι, ὁμολόγησ ον π ρό τερον τὰ ἐπταισμένα, κἀγώ σοι τῆς συγγνώμης ὀρέγω τὴν ψῆφον· ἐὰν κρύψῃς ἐλέγξω, ἐ ὰν ὁμολογήσῃς ἀπαλείψω. Εἶτα ὁ κριτὴς ὑπὲρ τῆς γεγενημένης τιμωρίας ἀπολογίαν πρ οσ φέρει· 27Οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν πρῶτοι ἥμαρτον καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν ἠνόμησαν εἰς ἐμέ, 28καὶ ἐμίαναν οἱ ἄρχοντές σου τὰ ἅγιά μου, καὶ ἔδωκα ἀπολέσαι Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς ὀνειδισμόν. Πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ταῦτα εἴρηκεν. Οὐκ ἐγώ φησι τούτων αἴτιος τῶν συμφορῶν ἀλλ' οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς ὑμῶν τοὺς ἐμοὺς παραβεβηκότες νόμους· διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐκείνων παρανομίαν ἐπονείδιστος γέγονεν ὁ πολυθρύλητος Ἰσραήλ. 441Νῦν δὲ ἄκουσον Ἰακὼβ ὁ παῖς μου καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ὃν ἐξελεξάμην· 2οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός σου ὁ ποιήσας σε καὶ ὁ πλάσας σε ἐκ κοιλίας· Ἐγὼ βοηθήσω σοι. Συνεχῶς καὶ τῆς δημιουργίας καὶ τῆς μετὰ τὴν δημιουργίαν ἀναμιμ νῄσκει προμηθείας. Μὴ φοβοῦ παῖς μου Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὁ ἠγα πημένος Ἰσραὴλ ὃν ἐξελεξάμην, 3ὅτι ἐγὼ δώσω ὕδωρ ἐν δίψῃ τοῖς πορευομένοις <ἐν ἀνύδρῳ>. Οὐ μόνον σύ φησι τῶν ἐμῶν ἀπολαύσεις ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἄνυδρα ἔθνη διὰ τῶν σῶν ἀπογόνων πίεται τὰ σωτήρια νάματα. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο σαφέστερον τὰ ἐπαγόμενα· Ἐπιθήσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ τὰς εὐλογίας μου ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα σου. Πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι διαλεγόμενος ὑπισχνεῖ ται οὐκ αὐτοῖς δώσειν τὴν |154 b| χάριν τοῦ πνεύματος ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐκείνων ἀπογόνοις. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ δι' Ἰωὴλ τοῦ προφήτου ἐθέσπισεν· «Ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν.» Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς τετύχηκε πέρατος, ἡνίκα τῶν ἱερῶν συνειλεγμένων ἀποστόλων ἐπεφοί τησεν ἡ χάρις τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ ἐλάλουν «ἑτέραις γλώσσαις, καθὼς τὸ πνεῦμα ἐδίδου αὐτοῖς ἀποφθέγγεσθαι». Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος, ὑποσχόμενος δώσειν