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having found a straight path, they will walk in it. But also there will not be a lion there, he says, I mean on the given path, nor will any of the evil beasts go up on it nor will they walk there; for how was it even possible for any of the evil things to be found in Him who said: 'I am the way'? For it was not possible to find 'the ways of a serpent on a rock,' according to Solomon. but the redeemed will walk in it, he says, those whom He himself obviously redeemed 'with his own precious blood,' and those gathered by the Lord, but not by a prophet nor by any human effort; but redeemed and gathered by the Lord himself, these will walk the declared path, by which they will come to the thrice-blessed end of the 'heavenly Zion,' about which the Apostle says: 'we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.' Wherefore it has been said: and they will come to Zion with gladness; for it is not possible here to accept that Zion about which it was said: 'and the year of the retribution of the judgment of Zion, and its valleys will be turned into pitch' and the things that follow this. Therefore it is necessary to understand the different Zions addressed by the same name, the one earthly, which is subject to threats, and the 'heavenly' one, to which the redeemed and gathered by the Lord are said to come, about whom it was said: and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; for the victors of the great contest, having been revealed, will be crowned with a crown of gladness, which the divine Apostle, knowing this, also said: 'Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.' Wherefore it has been said: and everlasting joy shall be upon their head, and again: for upon their head praise and exultation, and gladness will overtake them, clearly those who have walked the saving path unwaveringly and through it have arrived at the thrice-blessed end, in which crown those who are honored will enjoy eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, where pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away. 2.10 The text before us is a history and a wonderful narrative of events that happened in the times of Hezekiah; and it is taken up with other histories in the fourth book of Kings and the second book of Chronicles. Nevertheless, it has also been set down in the prophecy or book at hand because a prophecy is included toward the end of the history and some great and extraordinary deed accomplished in the time of Hezekiah. And this should be noted, that 'in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah the king of the Assyrians,' this Sennacherib himself, having attacked Samaria, overthrew the kingdom of Israel in it, leading all the so-called people of Israel captive into the land of the Assyrians, and seven years having passed in between, 'in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah,' attacking the cities of Judah, he captured the most fortified cities in it, and was already attempting to attack Jerusalem itself. But the writing of Chronicles, having gone through the many accomplishments of Hezekiah worthy of good memory, how 'he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done,' and how 'he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them,' which had been destroyed in the time of Ahaz his father, and how he restored the temple and the priests ministering in it, and how he celebrated the feast of the Passover so that it was testified that 'from the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been such a feast in Jerusalem,' and how 'he cut down the groves and demolished the high places and the hills' and all the idolatry that had prevailed throughout all of Judah in former times, and how 'he did what was good and true before the Lord his God, and in every work that he began in service, in the house of the Lord and in the law and in the commandments, he sought his God with all his soul, he did it and prospered.' having testified to these and myriad things like them

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ἀπλανῆ ὁδὸν εὑρόντες πορεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἔσται φησὶν ἐκεῖ λέων, λέγω δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀποδοθείσῃ ὁδῷ, οὐδὲ τῶν πονηρῶν θηρίων οὐκ ἀναβῇ εἰς αὐτὴν οὐδὲ μὴ πορευθῇ ἐκεῖ· πῶς γὰρ καὶ οἷόν τε ἦν ἐν τῷ εἰρηκότι· «ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός», εὑρεθῆναί τι τῶν πονηρῶν; οὐδὲ γὰρ «ὁδοὺς ὄφεως ἐπὶ πέτρας» δυνατὸν ἦν εὑρεῖν κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶνα. ἀλλὰ πορεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ φησι λελυτρωμένοι, οὓς αὐτὸς ἐλυτρώσατο δηλονότι «τῷ τιμίῳ ἑαυτοῦ αἵματι», καὶ οἱ συνηγμένοι διὰ κυρίου, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ διὰ προφήτου οὐδὲ διά τινος σπουδῆς ἀνθρωπίνης· δι' αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ κυρίου λελυτρωμένοι καὶ συνηγμένοι, οὗτοι πορεύσονται τὴν δηλωθεῖσαν ὁδόν, δι' ἧς ἐπὶ τέλος τὸ τρισμακάριον «τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιὼν» ἐλεύσονται, περὶ ἧς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «προσεληλύθαμεν Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ». διὸ λέλεκται· καὶ ἥξουσιν εἰς Σιὼν μετ' εὐφροσύνης· οὐ γὰρ δὴ δυνατὸν ἐνταῦθα Σιὼν ἐκείνην παραδέχεσθαι, περὶ ἧς εἴρητο· «καὶ ἐνιαυτὸς ἀνταποδόσεως κρίσεως Σιών, καὶ στραφήσονται αἱ φάραγγες αὐτῆς εἰς πίσσαν» καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς. διόπερ ἀνάγκη διαφόρους νοεῖν τὰς ὁμωνύμως προσαγορευομένας Σιών, τὴν μὲν ἐπίγειον τὴν ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς ὑποβαλλομένην, τὴν δ' «ἐπουράνιον», ἐφ' ἣν ἥξειν οἱ λελυτρωμένοι καὶ συνηγμένοι ὑπὸ κυρίου λέγονται, περὶ ὧν εἴρητο· καὶ εὐφροσύνη αἰώνιος ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν· οἱ γὰρ νικηταὶ τοῦ μεγάλου ἀγῶνος ἀποφανθέντες στεφάνῳ εὐφροσύνης ἀναδήσονται, ὃν καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος εἰδὼς ἔλεγεν· «λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος». διὸ λέλεκται· καὶ εὐφροσύνη αἰώνιος ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν, καὶ πάλιν· ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν αἴνεσις καὶ ἀγαλλίαμα, καὶ εὐφροσύνη καταλήψεται αὐτούς, δηλονότι τοὺς τὴν σωτήριον ὁδὸν ἀκλινῶς βαδίσαντας καὶ δι' αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ τρισμακάριον τέλος καταντήσαντας, ἐν ᾧ στεφάνῳ οἱ τιμηθέντες τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἀπολαύσουσιν ἐν τῇ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείᾳ, ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός. 2.10 Ἱστορία μέν ἐστιν ἡ προκειμένη καὶ διήγησις θαυμαστὴ πραγμάτων κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἑζεκίου γενομένων· ἀνείληπταί τε μετὰ λοιπῶν ἱστοριῶν ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν καὶ τῇ δευτέρᾳ τῶν Παραλειπομένων. ὅμως δ' οὖν καὶ ἐν τῇ μετὰ χεῖρας προφητείᾳ ἢ βίβλῳ καταβέβληται διὰ τὸ ἐμφέρεσθαι πρὸς τῷ τέλει τῆς ἱστορίας προφητείαν καί τινα μεγάλην καὶ παράδοξον πρᾶξιν ἐπιτελεσθεῖσαν κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἑζεκίου. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ σημειωτέον ὡς «ἐν τῷ ἕκτῳ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας Ἑζεκίου ὁ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλεὺς» οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ Σεναχηρεὶμ ἐπιστὰς τῇ Σαμαρείᾳ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ καθεῖλε βασιλείαν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πάντα τὸν καλούμενον λαὸν Ἰσραὴλ αἰχμάλωτον ἀπαγαγὼν εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἀσσυρίων χώραν, ἑπτὰ δὲ μεταξὺ διαγενομένων ἐτῶν «κατὰ τὸ τεσσαρεσκαιδέκατον ἔτος Ἑζεκίου» ταῖς τῆς Ἰουδαίας πόλεσιν ἐπιθέμενος τὰς μάλιστα ἐν αὐτῇ ὀχυρωτάτας εἷλε πόλεις, ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτῇ ἐπεχείρει τῇ Ἰερουσαλήμ. πλεῖστα δὲ μνήμης ἄξια ἀγαθῆς κατορθώματα τοῦ Ἑζεκίου ἡ τῶν Παραλειπομένων γραφὴ διελθοῦσα ὡς «ἐποίησε τὸ εὐθὲς ἐνώπιον κυρίου κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησε ∆αυὶδ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ» καὶ ὡς «ἀνέῳξε τὰς θύρας οἴκου κυρίου καὶ ἐπεσκεύασεν αὐτὰς» ἀφανισθείσας κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἄχαζ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὡς καθεῖλε τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ λειτουργοῦντας ἱερεῖς, ὅπως τε τὴν τοῦ πάσχα ἐπετέλεσεν ἑορτὴν ὡς μαρτυρεῖσθαι, ὅτι «ἀπὸ ἡμερῶν Σολομῶντος υἱοῦ ∆αυὶδ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐγένετο τοιαύτη ἑορτὴ ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ» καὶ ὡς «ἐξέκοψε τὰ ἄλση καὶ κατέσπασε τὰ ὑψηλὰ καὶ τοὺς βουνοὺς» καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις ἐπιπολάσασαν καθ' ὅλης τῆς Ἰουδαίας εἰδωλολατρίαν καὶ ὡς «ἐποίησε τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀληθὲς ἐνώπιον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ, ᾧ ἤρξατο ἐν ἐργασίᾳ, ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασιν ἐζήτησε τὸν θεὸν αὐτοῦ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ ἐποίησε καὶ εὐωδώθη». ταῦτα καὶ τούτοις ἀδελφὰ μυρία μαρτυρήσασα