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his lips like a flooding torrent reaching to the neck to separate the nations with a separation of vanity. But according to the Seventy, burning anger or the opposing power will follow the glory of the Lord; however, it will do nothing without the command of the judge. Wherefore it is added: the perfection of the lips, full of the perfection of wrath; for in accordance with the decision of the oracle, the things of wrath will be brought upon those who are to be punished. And his spirit, sent against the impious, will come dragging like flooding water in a ravine, dragging down to the neck those undergoing punishment. And this punishing spirit will be divided into many divisions because there is a very great variety among those being punished. Therefore it will trouble the nations, for which things they wandered in vain and for which things delusion pursued them in their former life. Having said these things, the discourse then addresses what follows to those who pretend piety but have worn out their own life in luxury and pleasures, saying: Must you always be joyful and always enter into my holy places as if celebrating a festival and as if rejoicing to enter with the flute to the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel. Then having said these things to those pretending to be pious with hypocrisy, he next says: And the Lord will make his voice heard and will show the anger of his arm with wrath and anger and a flame of fire. And he adds: For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians will be defeated by the plague with which he might strike them. But "Assyrians" here does not in every case signify the nation, but those who have tyrannized in the same way as the Assyrians and, similarly to them, have acted arrogantly in their power over men. Thus at least the children of the Hebrews in their dialogues have handed down the understanding that it signifies, saying from the interpretation of "Assyrians," those who are prosperous and successful, whom the present discourse teaches will be punished at the time of judgment by the plague that will be brought upon them. Then, he says, those who strike and beat them, the avenging demons, having surrounded them on all sides, will bring on the punishments. And who these are, he clarifies by saying: from whence was their hope of help, in which he had trusted; they themselves with timbrels and lyres will make war on him. Now the hope of help for the impious was from their gods, that is, the opposing powers and the evil spirits. For they attended to these as gods and hoped that the hope of help would be for them from these, not knowing that these themselves will be their punishers; for 'wrath and anger' sent against the impious will come 'through evil angels,' who also with timbrels and lyres will make war on them, being ones who rejoice in evil. Thus also it was said before: 'giants come to fulfill my anger, at once rejoicing and behaving insolently'; Therefore the aforementioned will make war on the impious by a change; for instead of friends they will become enemies. And then also they will be required to give an account, being exacted for all that they have sinned. And these things, he says, await you, the one formerly luxurious and arrogant; unless perhaps deceiving yourself you expect that for you also to reign has been prepared in the same way as for those who have traveled 'the narrow and afflicted way' and have become 'poor' for God's sake and 'persecuted for righteousness' sake'; for for all those 'the kingdom has been prepared,' but not also for you who travel 'the wide and spacious road.' Therefore the aforementioned deep ravine of 'the dragging water' has been prepared for you, full of wood and burning fire, so that the whole ravine is filled with nothing else than wrath and anger, burning brimstone and fire for the punishment of those who will be condemned there. Having said so many things in the middle, he resumes the prophecy to those who have fled to Egypt. and adds what is said. 2.1 In the [prophecy] concerning those [going] to Egypt

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χείλη αὐτοῦ ὡς χειμάρρους ἐπικλύζων ἕως τραχήλου φθάνων ἀφορίσαι ἔθνη ἀφορισμῷ ματαιότητος. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα ἀκολουθήσει τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ κυρίου καιόμενος θυμὸς ἢ ἀντικειμένη δύναμις· πλὴν οὐδὲν ποιήσει δίχα τοῦ προστάγματος τοῦ κριτοῦ. διὸ ἐπιλέγεται· τὸ τέλειον τῶν χειλέων, τὸ τέλειον τῆς ὀργῆς πλῆρες· ἀκολούθως γὰρ τῇ τοῦ λογίου ἀποφάσει τὰ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῖς κολασθησομένοις ἐπενεχθήσεται. Καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀπεσταλμένον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς σῦρον ἥξει ὥσπερ ἐν φάραγγι πλημμυρὸν ὕδωρ μέχρι τραχήλου κατασῦρον τοὺς τὴν τιμωρίαν ὑπέχοντας. καὶ διαιρεθήσεται τὸ κολαστικὸν τοῦτο πνεῦμα εἰς πολλὰς διαιρέσεις διὰ τὸ πλείστην εἶναι τὴν τῶν κολαζομένων διαφοράν. διὸ ταράξει ἔθνη, ἐφ' οἷς ἐπλάνησαν ματαίως καὶ ἐφ' οἷς ἐδίωξεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ αὐτῶν βίῳ πλάνησις. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ λόγος τὰ ἑξῆς πρὸς τοὺς προσποιουμένους μὲν θεοσέβειαν ἐν τρυφαῖς δὲ καὶ ἡδυπαθείαις τὴν ἑαυτῶν κατατρίψαντας ζωὴν ἀποτείνεται λέγων· μὴ διὰ παντὸς δεῖ ὑμᾶς εὐφραίνεσθαι καὶ εἰσπορεύεσθαι εἰς τὰ ἅγιά μου διὰ παντὸς ὡσεὶ ἑορτάζοντας καὶ ὡσεὶ εὐφραινομένους εἰσελθεῖν μετὰ αὐλοῦ εἰς τὸ ὄρος κυρίου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Εἶτα εἰπὼν ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς μετὰ ὑποκρίσεως θεοσεβεῖν προσποιουμένους ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγει· καὶ ἀκουστὴν ποιήσει κύριος τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν θυμὸν τοῦ βραχίονος αὐτοῦ δείξει μετὰ θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ φλογὸς πυρός. καὶ ἐπιλέγει· διὰ γὰρ τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου ἡττηθήσονται Ἀσσύριοι τῇ πληγῇ, ᾗ ἂν πατάξῃ αὐτούς. Ἀσσυρίους δὲ ἐνταῦθα οὐ πάντως τὸ ἔθνος δηλοῖ, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὁμοίως τοῖς Ἀσσυρίοις κατατυραννήσαντας κἀκείνοις παραπλησίως τῇ κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων δυναστείᾳ ὑπερηφάνως κεχρημένους. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ παῖδες Ἑβραίων ἐν τοῖς πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαλόγοις νοεῖν παραδεδώκασι σημαίνεσθαι φήσαντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἑρμηνείας τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τοὺς εὐθηνουμένους καὶ κατευοδουμένους, οὓς ὁ παρὼν λόγος κολασθήσεσθαι κατὰ τὸν τῆς κρίσεως καιρὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπαχθησομένης αὐτοῖς πληγῆς διδάσκει. Τότε φησὶν οἱ παίοντες αὐτοὺς καὶ τύπτοντες τιμωροὶ δαίμονες κυκλόθεν αὐτοὺς περιστοιχισάμενοι τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπάξουσι. τίνες δέ εἰσιν οὗτοι, διασαφεῖ φάσκων· ὅθεν ἦν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς βοηθείας, ἐφ' ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπεποίθει· αὐτοὶ μετὰ τυμπάνων καὶ κιθάρας πολεμήσουσιν αὐτόν. ἐλπὶς δὲ τοῖς ἀσεβέσι βοηθείας ἦν ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν τῶν ἀντικειμένων δηλαδὴ δυνάμεων καὶ τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων. τούτοις γὰρ ὡς θεοῖς προσεῖχον καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς βοηθείας ἐκ τούτων αὐτοῖς ἔσεσθαι ἤλπιζον οὐκ εἰδότες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὗτοι κολασταὶ αὐτῶν ἔσονται· «ἡ γὰρ ὀργὴ καὶ ὁ θυμὸς» κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀποστελλόμενος «δι' ἀγγέλων» γενήσεται «πονηρῶν», οἳ καὶ μετὰ τυμπάνων καὶ κιθάρας πολεμήσουσιν αὐτοὺς ἅτε ἐπιχαιρεσίκακοί τινες ὄντες. οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐλέγετο· «γίγαντες ἔρχονται πληρῶσαι τὸν θυμόν μου χαίροντες ἅμα καὶ ὑβρίζοντες»· πολεμήσουσιν οὖν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς οἱ προλεχθέντες ἐκ μεταβολῆς· ἀντὶ γὰρ φίλων ἐχθροὶ καταστήσονται. Τότε δὲ καὶ ἀπαιτηθήσονται εἰσπραττόμενοι πάντα ὅσα ἥμαρτον. ταῦτα δέ φησι σὲ περιμένει τὸν πάλαι τρυφηλὸν καὶ ὑπερήφανον· εἰ μὴ ἄρα σαυτὸν ἀπατῶν προσδοκᾷς, ὅτι καὶ σοὶ βασιλεύειν ἡτοιμάσθη ὁμοίως τοῖς «τὴν στενὴν καὶ τεθλιμμένην» ὁδεύσασι καὶ «πτωχοῖς» διὰ θεὸν γενομένοις καὶ «δεδιωγμένοις ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης»· πᾶσι γὰρ ἐκείνοις «ἡτοίμασται ἡ βασιλεία», ἀλλ' οὐ καὶ σοὶ τῷ «τὴν πλατεῖαν καὶ εὐρύχωρον ὁδὸν» πεπορευομένῳ. διὸ παρεσκεύασταί σοι ἡ προδηλωθεῖσα φάραγξ βαθεῖα «τοῦ σύραντος ὕδατος» μεστὴ ξύλων καὶ πυρὸς ὑποκαομένου ὡς πᾶσαν τὴν φάραγγα μηδενὸς ἑτέρου πεπληρῶσθαι ἢ θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς θεῖον καὶ πῦρ ὑποκαούσης εἰς τὴν τῶν αὐτόθι κατακριθησομένων κόλασιν. τοσαῦτα διὰ μέσου εἰπὼν ἐπαναλαμβάνει τὴν πρὸς τοὺς καταπεφευγότας εἰς Αἴγυπτον προφητείαν. καὶ ἐπιφέρει τὰ λεγόμενα. 2.1 Ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν εἰς Αἴγυπτον