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a second cause from the prophets to demonstrate that he was about to live as a citizen with men on earth, I think the present prophecy is also indicative of this, so that because of its manifest clarity it does not require further elaboration. But you will observe that it again reveals the cause of his arrival in what it says: "And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to him a people." 6.17.3 The word proclaims these things as good news to the daughter of Zion, thus addressing the church of God, because she seems to be the daughter of the heavenly Jerusalem, that one being the mother of the saints according to the holy apostle. 6.17.4 Or else the church of Christ might be called the daughter of Zion in another way, as having come into being from the former synagogue of the circumcision through the apostles and evangelists, who were indeed the offspring of a mother, who was cast off because of her own impiety and made a widow for driving away her husband, who rebuked her through the prophets and said: "Did you not call me as husband and father and the guide of your virginity?" Who also, denouncing the mother's character to those born of her, says: "What is this bill of your mother's divorce, with which I sent her away?" and again: "Plead with your mother, plead, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband." 6.17.5 It is fitting, then, that for those who have disowned the mother of the Lord, the present prophecy proclaims the good news of the coming of the Lord himself to the daughter. And this would be the church from the Gentiles, reckoned in the place of the daughter of the former on account of the apostles of our Savior. 6.18.1 From the same. "Behold, the days of the Lord come, and your spoil shall be divided in your midst. And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the remnant of my people shall not be utterly destroyed. And the Lord shall go forth and shall fight against those nations, as is the day of his battle in the day of war. And his feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem from the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split, half of it toward the east and half of it toward the sea, a very great chasm; and half of the mountain shall incline toward the north, and half of it toward the south; 6.18.2 and the valley of my mountains shall be blocked up, and the ravine of the mountains shall be joined together as far as Azal, and it shall be blocked up in the way it was blocked up in the face of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my God will be present, and all the saints with him. And it shall be in that day there will be no light, but cold and frost there will be for one day, 6.18.3 and that day will be known to the Lord, and it will be neither day nor night, toward evening there will be light. And it shall be in that day that living water will go out from Jerusalem, half of it to the first sea, and half of it to the last sea, in summer and in spring it shall be so. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day; there shall be one Lord, and his name one, encompassing all the earth and the desert." 6.18.4 After the first siege of Jerusalem and its complete destruction and desolation by the Babylonians and after the return from the enemy land to their own, which happened under Cyrus king of the Persians, with Jerusalem just having been rebuilt, and the sanctuary and the altar by it having been renewed under Darius the Persian, the present prophet prophesies, signifying the second siege of Jerusalem after these things, which it suffered at the hands of the Romans at no other time than after the outrages committed by its inhabitants against our Savior Jesus Christ. 6.18.5 Therefore, here also most clearly the coming of our Savior, the Word of God, and the events connected with it are revealed. And these things were together

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δεύτερον αἴτιον ἐκ τῶν προφητῶν ἀποδεῖξαι ἀνθρώποις μέλλον ἐπὶ γῆς συμπολιτεύεσθαι, οἶμαι τούτου παραστατικὸν εἶναι καὶ τὴν παροῦσαν προφητείαν, ὡς διὰ τὸ πρόδηλον μηδὲ πλείονος ἐξεργασίας δεῖσθαι. τηρήσεις δὲ ὅτι καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν αὖθις τῆς ἀφίξεως αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ ἐν οἷς φησιν· «καὶ καταφεύξονται ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἔσονται αὐτῷ εἰς λαόν». 6.17.3 ταῦτα δὲ ὁ λόγος τὴν θυγατέρα Σιὼν εὐαγγελίζεται, οὕτω τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ προσαγορεύων, διὰ τὸ τῆς ἐπουρανίου Ἱερουσαλὴμ θυγατέρα εἶναι δοκεῖν, μητρὸς οὔσης ἐκείνης τῶν ἁγίων κατὰ τὸν ἱερὸν ἀπόστολον. 6.17.4 ἢ καὶ ἄλλως θυγάτηρ Σιὼν ἡ ἐκκλησία Χριστοῦ λεχθείη ἄν, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς προτέρας συναγωγῆς τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς διά τε ἀποστόλων καὶ εὐαγγελιστῶν ὑποστᾶσα, οἳ καὶ γεννήματα ἐτύγχανον μητρός, τῆς ἀπορριφείσης διὰ τὰς οἰκείας δυσσεβείας καὶ χήρας γεγενημένης διὰ τὸ ἀπελάσαι τὸν ἄνδρα, διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἐπιμεμψάμενον αὐτῇ καὶ φήσαντα· «οὐχ ὡς ἄνδρα με ἐκάλεσας καὶ πατέρα καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς παρθενίας σου;» ὃς καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὐτῆς γενομένοις τὸν τρόπον τῆς μητρὸς διαβάλλων φησίν· «ποῖον τοῦτο τὸ βιβλίον τοῦ ἀποστασίου τῆς μητρὸς ὑμῶν, ᾧ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτήν», καὶ πάλιν· «κριθῆτε πρὸς τὴν μητέρα ὑμῶν, κριθῆτε, ὅτι αὕτη οὐ γυνή μου, κἀγὼ οὐκ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς». 6.17.5 εἰκότως δῆτα, ὡς ἂν τὴν μητέρα ἀπαρνησαμένους τοῦ κυρίου, τὴν θυγατέρα ἡ παροῦσα προφητεία εὐαγγελίζεται τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίαν. εἴη δ' ἂν αὕτη ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησία, ἐν χώρᾳ θυγατρὸς τῆς προτέρας διὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν λελογισμένη. 6.18.1 Ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ. «Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ διαμερισθήσονται τὰ σκῦλά σου ἐν σοί· καὶ ἐπισυνάξω πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ ἁλώσεται ἡ πόλις καὶ διαρπαγήσονται αἱ οἰκίαι, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες μολυνθήσονται, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς πόλεως ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, οἱ δὲ κατάλοιποι τοῦ λαοῦ μου οὐ μὴ ἐξολοθρευθῶσιν. καὶ ἐξελεύσεται κύριος καὶ παρατάξεται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐκείνοις, καθὼς ἡμέρα παρατάξεως αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πολέμου. καὶ στήσονται οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν τὸ κατέναντι Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐξ ἀνατολῶν· καὶ σχισθήσεται τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀνατολὰς καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ πρὸς θάλασσαν, χάος μέγα σφόδρα· καὶ κλινεῖ τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ ὄρους πρὸς τὸν βορρᾶν, καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ πρὸς νότον· 6.18.2 καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ἡ κοιλὰς τῶν ὀρέων μου, καὶ ἐγκολληθήσεται ἡ φάραγξ ὀρέων ἕως Ἀσαήλ, καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ὃν τρόπον ἐνεφράγη ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ σεισμοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα· καὶ παρέσται κύριος ὁ θεός μου, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι μετ' αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἔσται ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ οὐκ ἔσται φῶς, ἀλλὰ ψῦχος καὶ πάγος ἔσται μίαν ἡμέραν, 6.18.3 καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη γνωστὴ τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ οὐχ ἡμέρα καὶ οὐχὶ νύξ, τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἔσται φῶς. καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐξελεύσεται ὕδωρ ζῶν ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ, τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν πρώτην, καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν ἐσχάτην, ἐν θέρει καὶ ἐν ἔαρι ἔσται οὕτως. καὶ ἔσται κύριος εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ· ἔσται κύριος εἷς, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἕν, κυκλοῦν πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν ἔρημον.» 6.18.4 Μετὰ τὴν πρώτην πολιορκίαν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν παντελῆ καθαίρεσιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐρήμωσιν τὴν ὑπὸ Βαβυλωνίων καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πολεμίας γῆς ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπάνοδον, τὴν ἐπὶ Κύρου τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως γενομένην, ἄρτι τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀνεγηγερμένης, ἀνανεωθέντος δὲ τοῦ ἁγιάσματος καὶ τοῦ πρὸς αὐτῷ θυσιαστηρίου ἐπὶ ∆αρείου τοῦ Πέρσου, ὁ παρὼν προφήτης θεσπίζει, τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα δευτέραν πολιορκίαν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ σημαίνων, ἣν πέπονθεν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἢ μετὰ τὰ κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῖς οἰκήτορσιν αὐτῆς τετολμημένα. 6.18.5 ἐναργέστατα τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου, ἡ παρουσία καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ συμβεβηκότα δηλοῦται. ταῦτα δὲ ἦν ὁμοῦ