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the Lord has turned back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." Therefore you are greatly mistaken, not knowing the scriptures nor the mystical and divinely inspired prophecy in them. But concerning this last captivity, God has neither appointed a time nor has the prophet declared a restoration, but all the prophets foretold the captivity and the cessation of your kingdom and the desolation of the city, but by no means the return and the rebuilding of the city, except only its complete disappearance and your destruction and the 1.389 perpetual punishment and dispersion into all the nations. For the archangel says to Daniel, "anointing shall be destroyed, and there shall be no judgment, and he will destroy the city and the holy place with the coming ruler, and they shall be cut off as in a flood, and sacrifice and libation shall be taken away, and upon the temple the abomination of desolation shall be given for a consummation." For through the anointing he indicated the priesthood, but through the judgment he signified the abolition of the royal and political state and of all other things, and through the flood and the cutting off and the consummation he signified the utter downfall and complete destruction. When, therefore, you hear, O blind Jew, 'consummation,' what else do you still expect? But if in reading you do not understand—just as, indeed, you really do not understand—about your unexpected recall, and for this reason, fighting against the truth, you do not comprehend, hear in a digression the voices of the prophets, and cease from now on being contentious and foolish. The prophet Hosea speaks thus: "And I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease, and I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but setting myself in array I will set myself against him, says the Lord. And I hated them because of the wickedness of their doings, and I will cast them out of my house, and I will no more love them, says the Lord. Ephraim is sore vexed, his roots are dried up, and he shall by no means bear fruit any more. And God will cast them away, because they did not hearken to him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations." So then Malachi also said, "I have no 1.390 pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands, because from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering. Because my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty, but you profane it, for this reason I will make you despised and cast aside among all the nations, in return for which you did not keep my commandments." Wherefore Jeremiah says, "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, that my name shall no more be named in any mouth of Judah." But if he said he would take away his name from the Jews, it is clear that also the law and the sacrifices. Therefore the legislation concerning sacrifices was not given chiefly according to the divine will; and hence he said these things through the prophets: "For who has required these things at your hands?" and, "Shall vows and meats take away your sins? and, 'Did you offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices in the wilderness for forty years?" and, "To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a far country?" Wherefore, he says, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire." and, "Does God want whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, or to be obeyed?" and, "Good hearing is better than sacrifice." and, "If you had desired sacrifice, I would have given it." and, "You will not be pleased with whole burnt offerings." And indeed, having cast out the feasts, 1.391 he adds, saying, "I have hated and rejected your feasts. And take away from me the sound of your songs, and I will not hear the psalm of your instruments, and the great day I do not endure, and fasting and idleness my soul hates, and I have not chosen such a fast." and, "I will give you precepts that are not good, in which you will not live." So then, according to your hardness of heart and not according to goodness has he given you those

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ψαι κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀγαλλιάσεται Ἰακὼβ καὶ εὐφρανθήσεται Ἰσραήλ." οὐκοῦν ὑμεῖς πολὺ πλανᾶσθε, μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μήτε τὴν ἐν αὐταῖς μυστικὴν καὶ θεόπνευστον πρόρρησιν. περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐσχάτης αἰχμαλωσίας ταύτης οὔτε χρόνον ὥρισεν ὁ θεὸς οὔτε ἀποκατάστασιν ἐδήλωσεν ὁ προφήτης, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ τὴν τῆς βασιλείας ὑμῶν κατάπαυσιν καὶ τὴν τῆς πόλεως ἐρήμωσιν πάντες οἱ προφῆται προανήγγειλαν, τὴν δὲ ἐπάνοδον καὶ τὴν τῆς πόλεως ἀνόρθωσιν οὐδαμῶς, πλὴν μόνον τὸν παντελῆ ταύτης ἀφανισμὸν καὶ τὸν ὄλεθρον ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν 1.389 διηνεκῆ τιμωρίαν καὶ διασπορὰν εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. φησὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος πρὸς τὸν ∆ανιήλ "ἐξολοθρευθήσεται χρίσμα, καὶ κρῖμα οὐκ ἔσται, καὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον διαφθερεῖ σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῷ ἐπερχομένῳ, καὶ ἐκκοπήσονται ὡς ἐν κατακλυσμῷ, καὶ ἀρθήσεται θυσία καὶ σπονδή, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα ἐρη μώσεως συντέλεια δοθήσεται." διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ χρίσματος τὴν ἱερωσύνην ἐδήλωσε, διὰ δὲ τοῦ κρίματος τὴν βασιλικὴν καὶ πολι τικὴν κατάστασιν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τὴν ἀναίρεσιν ὑπέφηνε, διὰ δὲ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐκκοπῆς καὶ τῆς συντελείας τὴν ἄρδην ἔκπτωσιν καὶ πανωλεθρίαν ἐσήμανεν. ὅταν οὖν ἀκούεις, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε τυφλέ, συντέλειαν, τί λοιπὸν ἕτερον προσδοκᾷς; εἰ δὲ ἀναγινώσκων οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκεις, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ ἐπιγινώσκεις ὄντως, περὶ τῆς ἀπροσδοκήτου σου ἀνακλήσεως, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπομαχόμενος οὐ νοεῖς, ἄκουσον ἐν παρεκβάσει τὰς φωνὰς τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ παῦσαι τοῦ λοιποῦ φιλονεικῶν καὶ ἀνοηταίνων. ὁ προφήτης Ὠσηὲ οὕτως λέγει "καὶ καταπαύσω βασιλείαν οἴκου Ἰσραήλ, καὶ οὐ μὴ προσθῶ ἔτι τοῦ ἐλεῆσαι τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραήλ, ἀλλ' ἢ ἀντιτασσόμενος ἀντιτάξομαι αὐτῷ, λέγει κύριος. καὶ ἐμίσησα αὐτοὺς διὰ τὰς κακίας τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου μου ἐκβαλῶ αὐτούς, καὶ οὐ προσθήσω τοῦ ἀγαπῆσαι αὐτούς, λέγει κύριος. ἐπόνεσεν Ἐφραῒμ τὰς ῥίζας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξηράνθη, καὶ καρπὸν οὐκ ἔτι οὐ μὴ ἐνέγκῃ. καὶ ἀπώ σεται αὐτοὺς ὁ θεός, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσήκουσαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσονται πλανῆται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν." ἔφη γοῦν καὶ Μαλαχίας "οὐκ ἔστι 1.390 μοι θέλημα ἐν ὑμῖν, λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ θυσίαν οὐ προσδέξομαι ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν, διότι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου ἕως δυσμῶν τὸ ὄνομά μου δεδόξασται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ θυμίαμα προσάγεται τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ θυσία καθαρά. διότι μέγα τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, λέγει κύριος παντοκρά τωρ, ἡμεῖς δὲ βεβηλοῦτε αὐτό, διὰ τοῦτο δώσω ὑμᾶς ἐξουθενη μένους καὶ παρειμένους εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, ἄνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐφυλά ξατε τὰς ἐντολάς μου." διό φησιν Ἱερεμίας "τάδε λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ. ἰδοὺ ὤμοσα τῷ ὀνόματί μου τῷ μεγάλῳ, εἰ ἔσται τοίνυν τοῦ λοιποῦ ὀνομαζόμενον τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν παντὶ στόματι Ἰούδα." εἰ δὲ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἔφη περιαιρήσειν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων, εὔδηλον ὅτι καὶ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὰς θυσίας. οὐ τοίνυν προηγου μένως κατὰ θείαν γνώμην ἡ περὶ τῶν θυσιῶν ἐδόθη νομοθεσία· κἀντεῦθεν μὲν ταῦτα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἔφη "τίς γὰρ ἐξεζήτησε ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν σου;" καὶ "μὴ εὐχαὶ καὶ κρέατα ἀφαιροῦσι τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου; καὶ μὴ σφάγιον καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἔτη μʹ;" καὶ "ἵνα τί μοι λίβανον ἐκ Σαβὰ φέρεις καὶ κιννάμωμον ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν;" διό, φησί, "θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας." καὶ "μὴ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας θέλει ὁ θεός, ἢ τὸ ὑπακούειν αὐτοῦ;" καὶ "ἀκοὴ ἀγαθὴ ὑπὲρ θυσίαν." καὶ "εἰ ἠθέλησας θυσίαν, ἔδωκα ἄν." καὶ "ὁλο καυτώματα οὐκ εὐδοκήσεις." καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἐκβαλὼν 1.391 ἐπάγει λέγων "μεμίσηκα καὶ ἀπῶσμαι τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν. καὶ ἀπόστησον ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἦχον ᾠδῶν σου, καὶ ψαλμὸν ὀργάνων οὐκ ἀκούσομαι, καὶ ἡμέραν μεγάλην οὐκ ἀνέχομαι, καὶ νηστείαν καὶ ἀργίαν μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ οὐ τοιαύτην νηστείαν ἐξελεξάμην." καὶ "δώσω ὑμῖν προστάγματα οὐ καλά, ἐν οἷς οὐ ζήσεσθε ἐν αὐ τοῖς." ὥστε οὖν κατὰ τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἀγαθότητα δέδωκεν ὑμῖν ἐκεῖνα τὰ