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let us do all things so that those who were exulting (as our rulers and those who have mounted us) may be crushed, so that we may completely shake off their dominion. For if we become mountains of God, his foundations will be in us, the word of truth having been laid down in our hearts and good works being built upon faith. And we must purely renounce sin, so that we may have our neck free from the yoke of the Assyrians and be able to become a beast of burden for Christ. For it is not possible for two yokes to be placed on our neck, that of the Lord and that of the Assyrian; For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 14.286 This is the counsel that the Lord has purposed upon the whole world, and this is the high hand upon all the nations of the world. For what the holy God has purposed, who will scatter? And his high hand, who will turn back? It clearly shows that these things are said concerning those in the whole world and in all the nations, with no one being able to scatter what the holy God has purposed, and no one being able to turn back the defending hand of God for his land and for the mountains. At the same time, observe the phrase not only (as we have shown in many places) signifying what is rare, such as ‘Who is wise and will understand these things?’ and ‘Who is a faithful and wise steward?’ For now, ‘Who will scatter?’ is equivalent to ‘no one.’ For it is not even lawful to conceive of there being anyone able to scatter the counsel of the Lord. 14.287 In the year that king Ahaz died, this word came: Do not rejoice, all you foreigners, for the yoke of him who smote you is broken; for from the seed of serpents will come forth the offspring of asps, and their offspring will come forth as flying serpents. And the poor will be fed by him; and poor men will rest in peace; but he will destroy your seed with famine, and he will destroy your remnant. If indeed all things written by the Prophets were spoken by the Holy Spirit, clearly the recording of the time of the prophecy has not been inserted in vain. For what is the benefit of learning that this word came to the foreigners in the year that Ahaz, the king of Judea, died? We reckon, therefore, that just as it is written in Exodus, that ‘The king of Egypt died, and the sons of Israel groaned from their labors, and their cry went up, and God heard their groaning.’ For while the wicked king was alive, they were not able to groan to God; for he compelled them with harsh labors, not allowing them to look up to God. But when the wicked one was out of the way, then it was necessary to applaud and rejoice at the fall of the enemy. But they are recorded as groaning unexpectedly, the word indicating that (as long as the body-loving mind prevailed) through insensibility they did not even know how to lament the evil from sin; but when they received a rest from their sufferings, they begin the therapy by groaning, being weighed down by material and bodily labors. Therefore the philanthropic God also hearkened to them. Something similar to this narrative, therefore, is also shown in the later parts of Isaiah. For it happened (it says) ‘in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, sitting on a high and exalted throne.’ King Uzziah is handed down by history as a wicked king, because ‘His heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he acted wickedly against the Lord his God, and he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar, and he was struck with leprosy.’ And then, therefore, with the wicked ruler overthrown and the worship according to the law freed from defilements, the mysteries of theology are revealed to the Prophet. And here, therefore, the word records Ahaz, not a virtuous ruler, as dying, so that it might be shown that in the withdrawal of the worse one, the word comes to the foreigners from the beneficent God. For we have found in the fourth book of Kings that this Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes

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ἐπεγαυρίων (ὡς κατάρχοντες ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπιβεβηκότες ἡμῖν) συντριβήσεσθαι πάντα πράττωμεν, ἵνα τέλεον αὐτῶν τὴν δυναστείαν ἀποσεισώμεθα. Ἐὰν γὰρ γενώμεθα ὄρη Θεοῦ, οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἔσονται ἐν ἡμῖν, τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας καταβληθέντος ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐποικοδομουμένων τῇ πίστει. ∆εῖ δὲ καθαρῶς ἀποτάξασθαι ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἵνα ἐλεύ θερον τὸν αὐχένα τοῦ ζυγοῦ ἔχωμεν τῶν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ δυνηθῶμεν γενέσθαι Χριστοῦ ὑποζύγιον. ∆ύο γὰρ ζυγοὺς οὐ δυνατὸν ἐπικεῖσθαι ἡμῶν τῷ τραχήλῳ, τὸν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ τὸν τοῦ Ἀσσυρίου· Τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ, ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος; 14.286 Αὕτη ἡ βουλὴ, ἣν βεβούλευται Κύριος ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην, καὶ αὕτη ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλὴ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς οἰκουμένης. Ἃ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἅγιος βεβούλευται, τίς διασκεδάσει; τὴν δὲ χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑψηλὴν τίς ἀποστρέψει; Σαφῶς δείκνυσιν, ὅτι ταῦτα λέγεται περὶ τῶν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, οὐδενὸς δυναμένου διασκεδάσαι ὅπερ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἅγιος βεβούλευται, καὶ οὐδενὸς οἵου τε ὄντος τὴν ὑπέρμαχον χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῶν ὀρέων ἀποστρέψαι. Ἅμα δὲ παρατήρει τὴν φωνὴν οὐ μόνον (ὡς πολλαχοῦ παρεστήσαμεν) ἐπὶ τοῦ σπανίου ση μαινομένην, οἷον τὸ Τίς σοφὸς καὶ συνήσει ταῦτα; καὶ τὸ Τίς πιστὸς καὶ φρόνιμος οἰκονόμος; Νῦν γὰρ τὸ Τίς διασκεδάσει; ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ οὐδείς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ θεμιτὸν, ἐννοῆσαι τὸ εἶναί τινα δυνάμενον διασκεδάσαι τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Κυρίου. 14.287 Τοῦ ἔτους, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ἀχὰζ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐγενήθη τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο· Μὴ εὐφρανθείητε πάντες οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι, συν ετρίβη γὰρ ὁ ζυγὸς τοῦ παίοντος ὑμᾶς· ἐκ γὰρ σπέρματος ὄφεων ἐξελεύσονται ἔγγονα ἀσπίδων, καὶ τὰ ἔγγονα αὐτῶν ἐξελεύσονται ὄφεις πετόμενοι. Καὶ βοσκηθήσονται πτωχοὶ δι' αὐτοῦ· πτωχοὶ δὲ ἄνθρωποι ἐπὶ εἰρήνης ἀναπαύσονται· ἀνελεῖ δὲ λιμῷ τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ τὸ κατάλειμμά σου ἀνελεῖ. Εἴπερ πάντα Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ εἴρηται τὰ γεγραμμένα παρὰ τῶν Προφητῶν, δηλονότι καὶ ἡ ἀναγραφὴ τοῦ χρόνου τῆς προφητείας οὐ μάτην παρεμβέβληται. Τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἐκ τοῦ μαθεῖν, ὅτι τοῦτο ἐγένετο τὸ ῥῆμα πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους τῷ ἔτει, ᾧ ἀπέθανεν Ἀχὰζ, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἰουδαίας; Λογιζόμεθα οὖν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ γέγραπται, ὅτι Ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ κατεστέναξαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀνέβη ἡ βοὴ καὶ εἰσήκουσεν ὁ Θεὸς τῶν στεναγμῶν αὐτῶν. Ζῶντος μὲν γὰρ τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ πονηροῦ, στενάζειν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν οὐκ ἠδύναντο· κατη νάγκαζε γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐν ἔργοις σκληροῖς, μὴ ἐπιτρέπων ἀνα νεύειν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐκποδὼν ἐγένετο ὁ πονηρὸς, τότε δέον κροτεῖν καὶ ἐπιχαίρειν τῇ πτώσει τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. Οἱ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ παραδόξου ἀναγράφονται στένειν, ἐνδεικνυ μένου τοῦ λόγου, ὅτι (ἕως ὁ φιλοσώματος νοῦς ἐκεκράτει) ὑπὸ τῆς ἀναισθησίας οὐδὲ ᾔδεσαν ὀδύρεσθαι τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κακόν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔλαβον σχολὴν ἀπὸ τῶν παθῶν, ἄρχονται τῆς θεραπείας ἀπὸ τοῦ στένειν, ἐν τοῖς ὑλικοῖς καὶ σωματικοῖς ἔργοις βαρυνόμενοι. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐπήκουσεν αὐτῶν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεός. Ὅμοιον οὖν τῇ διηγήσει ταύτῃ δηλοῦται καὶ ἐν τοῖς κα τόπιν τοῦ Ἡσαΐου. Ἐγένετο γὰρ (φησὶ) τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεὺς, εἶδον τὸν Κύριον, καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου. Πονηρὸς βασιλεὺς Ὀζίας ὑπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας παραδέδοται, διότι Ὑψώθη ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ τοῦ καταφθεῖραι καὶ ἠδίκησεν ἐν Κυρίῳ, Θεῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν ναὸν Κυρίου θυμιάσαι ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ ἐλεπρώθη. Καὶ τότε τοίνυν, ἀνατραπέντος τοῦ πονηροῦ ἄρχοντος καὶ τῶν μιασμάτων ἐλευθερωθείσης τῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον λατρείας, τὰ τῆς θεολογίας μυστήρια φανεροῦται τῷ Προφήτῃ. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν τὸν Ἀχὰζ, οὐ σπουδαῖον ἄρχοντα, ὁ λόγος ἀναγράφει ἀποθνήσκοντα, ἵνα δειχθῇ, ὅτι ἐν τῇ τοῦ χείρονος ὑποχωρήσει, τὸ ῥῆμα γίνεται πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους παρὰ τοῦ εὐεργέτου Θεοῦ. Εὕραμεν γὰρ ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ Ἀχὰζ οὐκ ἐποίησε τὸ εὐθὲς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς