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The vision is again spiritual; for he did not see the things shown with the eyes of the body, but he received the revelation from the all-holy Spirit. And this was full of human bones; (2.) And he led me upon them round about, and behold, there were very many on the face of the plain. He receives revelations corresponding to the circumstances; for since, because of the unbelief with which they were sick, the captives from Judea had despaired of better hopes, the God of all shows them his own power, and shows the prophet the resurrection of dead bodies, which is much more difficult than that recall, and through him he teaches all the people that all things are easy for him if he wishes. He taught the Jews therefore and the other Israelites through this, that it is very easy for God, if he wishes, to lead back those who have become captives to their former freedom; but to us and to all in general who have received the evangelical preaching with faith, he shows the ease of the resurrection of our bodies, and that the nature of things follows the divine word and will. And he said to me; (3.) Son of man, shall these bones live? And I said: Lord God, you know these things. The prophet did not doubt, but yielded the more precise knowledge to God; knowing precisely God's power, but not knowing his will. 4-. And he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, prophesy, son of man, and you will say to them: These dry bones, hear the word of the Lord; Thus says Adonai the Lord to these bones: Behold, I will bring into you a spirit of life. And I will put sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and I will stretch skin over you, and I will put my spirit upon you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord. He uses the prophet as a minister, and as a kind of instrument of the resurrection in the 81.1192 vision, and through his tongue he commands those lifeless and completely dead bones, to grow flesh, and sinews, and skin, and to receive a life-giving spirit. And these things became a type not only of the recall of the Jews, but also of the resurrection of all. "For the trumpet will sound," says the divine Apostle, "and the dead will be raised incorruptible." 7. And I prophesied, as the Lord commanded me, and there was a voice as I prophesied, and behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to bone, each to its own joint. The prophet, serving the divine command, uttered the words he was commanded, and the deed followed the words; and the shaking indicated the divine manifestation, but the voice, the working of the angels ministering to the divine will. But the bones, he says, I saw running, and receiving their own joint, and accepting the composition which it had from the beginning. 8. And I saw, and behold, sinews came upon them, and flesh grew, and came up upon them, and skin was spread over them from above, and there was no spirit in them. The second re-creation follows the first creation; for just as the body of the forefather Adam was formed first, and then the soul was breathed into it; so also here both came together to their own joint. It grew flesh and sinews, and was covered with skin; but it lay breathless and motionless; but it obtains again both life and sensation through the divine will. 9. And he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and breathe into these dead, and let them live. The word teaches us the ease of the divine power, and that all things are in his hand. "For in his hand," he says, "is the soul of all living things." Therefore he commands the prophet to enjoin the souls, wherever they may be, to return, and to take up their dwelling in their own bodies. 10. And I prophesied as he commanded me, and there entered into them the
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Πνευματικὴ πάλιν ἡ θεωρία· οὐ γὰρ τοῖς τοῦ σώμα τος ὀφθαλμοῖς ἑώρα τὰ ὑποδεικνύμενα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παναγίου πνεύματος ἐδέχετο τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἦν μεστὸν ὀστέων ἀνθρώπων· (βʹ.) Καὶ περιήγαγέ με ἐπ' αὐτὰ κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλὰ σφόδρα ἐπὶ προσώπου τοῦ πε δίου. Τοῖς πράγμασι συμβαινούσας τὰς ἀποκαλύψεις λαμβάνει· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι' ἣν ἐνόσουν ἀπιστίαν τὰς χρηστοτέρας ἀπηγόρευσαν ἐλπίδας οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἰου δαίας αἰχμάλωτοι γενόμενοι, τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτοῖς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐπιδείκνυσι δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν πολλῷ τῆς ἀνακλήσεως ἐκείνης δυσκολωτέραν τῶν νεκρῶν σω μάτων ἀνάστασιν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ δι' ἐκείνου πάντα διδάσκει τὸν λαὸν, ὡς πάντα αὐτῷ ῥᾴδια βουλομένῳ. Ἰουδαίους μὲν οὖν καὶ τοὺς ἄλ λους Ἰσραηλίτας ἐδίδαξε διὰ τούτου, ὡς εὐπετὲς λίαν τῷ Θεῷ βουλομένῳ εἰς τὴν προτέραν ἐπαναγαγεῖν ἐλευθερίαν τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους γεγενημένους· ἡμῖν δὲ καὶ πᾶσιν ἁπαξαπλῶς τοῖς εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα μετὰ πίστεως δεξαμένοις, τῆς τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως ἐπιδείκνυσι τὴν εὐκολίαν, καὶ ὅτι τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ καὶ νεύματι τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ φύσις ἀκολουθεῖ. Καὶ εἶπε πρός με· (γʹ.) Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ζή σεται τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα; Καὶ εἶπον· Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς, σὺ ἐπίστασαι ταῦτα. Οὐκ ἀμφέβαλεν ὁ προφήτης, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀκριβεστέρας γνώσεως τῷ Θεῷ παρεχώ ρησεν· εἰδὼς μὲν ἀκριβῶς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ δυνατὸν, ἀγνοῶν δὲ τὸ βούλημα. δʹ-ʹ. Καὶ εἶπε πρός με· Προφήτευσον ἐπὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα, προφήτευσον, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτά· Τὰ ὀστᾶ τὰ ξηρὰ ταῦτα, ἀκούσατε λόγον Κυρίου· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύ ριος τοῖς ὀστέοις τούτοις· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ εἰσάξω εἰς ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ζωῆς. Καὶ δώσω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς νεῦρα, καὶ ἀνάξω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς σάρκας, καὶ ἐκτενῶ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς δέρμα, καὶ δώσω πνεῦμά μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσε σθε, καὶ γνώσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος. Ὑπουργῷ τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ οἷόν τινι ὀργάνῳ τῆς κατὰ τὴν 81.1192 ὀπτασίαν ἀναστάσεως κέχρηται, καὶ διὰ τῆς τούτου γλώττης τοῖς ἀψύχοις ἐκείνοις καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς νε κροῖς ὀστέοις παρακελεύεται, καὶ σάρκας φῦσαι, καὶ νεῦρα, καὶ δέρμα, καὶ ζωτικὸν δέξασθαι πνεῦμα. Καὶ ἐγένετο ταῦτα οὐ μόνον τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀνακλήσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἁπάντων ἀναστάσεως τύπος. "Σαλπίσει γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἀναστήσονται ἄφθαρτοι." ζʹ. Καὶ προεφήτευσα, καθὼς ἐνετείλατό μοι Κύριος, καὶ ἐγένετο φωνὴ ἐν τῷ με προφητεῦσαι, καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς, καὶ προσήγαγον τὰ ὀστᾶ, ὀστέον πρὸς ὀστέον, ἕκαστον πρὸς τὴν ἁρμο νίαν αὑτοῦ. Ὁ μὲν προφήτης τῷ θείῳ διακονῶν προστάγματι, τοὺς λόγους οὓς προσετάχθη προσ ήνεγκεν, ἠκολούθει δὲ τοῖς λόγοις τὸ ἔργον· καὶ ὁ μὲν σεισμὸς τὴν θείαν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐδήλου, ἡ δὲ φωνὴ, τῶν ὑπουργούντων ἀγγέλων τῷ θείῳ βουλή ματι τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ, φησὶν, ἑώρων θέοντα, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἁρμονίαν ἀπολαμβάνοντα, καὶ ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαβε συνθήκην δεχόμενα. ηʹ. Καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπεγένετο αὐτοῖς νεῦρα, καὶ σάρκες ἀνεφύοντο, καὶ ἀνέβαινεν ἐπ' αὐτὰ, καὶ περιεστάθη αὐτοῖς δέρμα ἐπάνωθεν, καὶ πνεῦμα οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἀκολουθεῖ τῇ προτέρᾳ δημιουργίᾳ ἡ δευτέρα ἀνάκτισις· ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦ προπάτορος Ἀδὰμ τὸ σῶμα πρότερον δι επλάσθη, εἶθ' οὕτως ἐνεπνεύσθη αὐτῷ ἡ ψυχή· οὕτω κἀνταῦθα συνῆλθεν ἀμφότερα πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἁρ μονίαν. Ἔφυσε δὲ σάρκας καὶ νεῦρα, καὶ ἐκαλύφθη τῷ δέρματι· ἔκειτο δὲ ἄπνοά τινα καὶ ἀκίνητα· ἀλλὰ τυγχάνει πάλιν καὶ ζωῆς καὶ αἰσθήσεως διὰ τοῦ θείου βουλήματος. θʹ. Καὶ εἶπε πρός με· Προφήτευσον ἐπὶ τὸ πνεῦμα, προφήτευσον, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ εἰπὲ τῷ πνεύματι· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων πνευμάτων ἐλθὲ τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐμφύσησον εἰς τοὺς νεκροὺς τούτους, καὶ ζησάτωσαν. ∆ιδάσκει ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος τῆς θείας δυνά μεως τὴν εὐκολίαν, καὶ ὅτι πάντα ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. "Ἐν χειρὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ, φησὶ, ψυχὴ πάντων τῶν ζώντων." ∆ιὸ τῷ προφήτῃ παρακελεύεται παρεγ γυῆσαι ταῖς ὁπουδήποτε οὔσαις ἐπανελθεῖν ψυ χαῖς, καὶ τῶν οἰκείων σωμάτων ἀπολαβεῖν τὴν ἐνοί κησιν. ιʹ. Καὶ προεφήτευσα καθότι ἐνετείλατό μοι, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς αὐτοὺς τὸ