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and here two ways are again shown of those falling away from the church, the one sinning in character and the one slipping from sound and orthodox knowledge, so that these are the divisions of the indicated Mount of Olives hinted at by the prophecy. 6.18.32 Next to these it is added: "And the valley of my mountains shall be blocked up, and the valley of the mountains shall be joined together as far as Azal, and it shall be blocked up as it was blocked up by the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." And what could the "valley" of the mountains of God in these things be other than the physical and Judaic worship formerly practiced long ago in Jerusalem according to the law of Moses? The present saying declares that this will be shut up as if blocked, stating: "And the valley of my mountains shall be blocked up, and the valley of the mountains shall be joined together as far as Azal, and it shall be blocked up;" 6.18.33 Instead of which Symmachus has rendered: "And the valley of my mountains will be blocked, and the valley of the mountains will draw near to what is adjacent, and it will be blocked," through which he shows the cause of the valley being blocked. And what was this other than its drawing near and approaching what was adjacent to it? And this was the mountain of the Lord previously named of Olives, which is named Azal by the Seventy. 6.18.34 And this in the Hebrew language means "work of God." Thus, he says, the old "valley," having approached the mountain and the church of Christ, which is the work of God, "will be blocked up" and will be shut, "as it was blocked up by the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." 6.18.35 But searching by myself and going through the divine scriptures, whether ever "in the days of Uzziah" the valley indicated here "was blocked up by the earthquake," I found nothing in the histories of the books of Kings; for neither is it recorded that an earthquake physically happened in his time, nor is anything of this kind said about a valley in them. 6.18.36 Yet Uzziah is recorded as having been righteous at the beginning, then he is accused of having been lifted up in mind and of having dared to sacrifice to God by himself, for which reason leprosy also broke out on his face. The book of Kings, then, shows this; but Josephus, having accurately known the external Judaic traditions, being as he was "a Hebrew of Hebrews," hear what he reports happened in his times, saying that as the priests were urging Uzziah "to leave the temple and not transgress against God," he became angry and threatened them with death if they would not keep quiet. 6.18.37 Meanwhile an earthquake shook the ground, and with the temple being split, a bright light shone out and fell on the face of the king, so that leprosy immediately spread over him, and before the city, at the place called Eroge, half of the mountain on the west broke off and having rolled for four stades, came to a stop at the eastern mountain, so that the paths were blocked up and the royal gardens." 6.18.38 Let these things from the writing of Josephus' Jewish Antiquities be set down by me. And in the prophet Amos I found at the beginning of his prophecy that he began to prophesy "in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the earthquake." But it does not go on to say clearly what earthquake. 6.18.39 But I think the same prophet, proceeding, describes the earthquake in what he says: "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said, Strike the altar, and the gateways will be shaken, and cut them off to the heads of all; and I will kill the rest of them with the sword," 6.18.40 through which I believe is prophesied the earthquake and the destruction of the ancient venerable things of the Jewish nation and of the worship performed by them in Jerusalem, and the destruction that came upon them after the coming of our Savior, when they rejected the Christ of God, the true high priest, leprosy broke out upon their souls, just as it did upon

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κἀνταῦθα τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀποπιπτόντων δύο πάλιν δηλοῦσθαι τρόπους, τόν τε κατὰ τὸ ἦθος ἁμαρτάνοντα καὶ τὸν τῆς ὑγιοῦς καὶ ὀρθοδόξου γνώσεως ἐξολισθαίνοντα, ὡς εἶναι ταύτας τοῦ δηλουμένου τοῦ ἐλαιῶνος ὄρους τὰς ὑπὸ τῆς προφητείας αἰνιττομένας διαστάσεις. 6.18.32 Τούτοις ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγεται· «καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ἡ κοιλὰς τῶν ὀρέων μου, καὶ ἐγκολληθήσεται φάραγξ ὀρέων ἕως Ἀσαήλ, καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ὃν τρόπον ἐνεφράγη ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ σεισμοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα». «κοιλὰς» δὲ ἐν τούτοις τῶν ὀρέων τοῦ θεοῦ τίς ἂν εἴη ἢ ἡ κατὰ τὸν Μωσέως νόμον ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πάλαι πρότερον συντελουμένη σωματικὴ καὶ ἰουδαϊκὴ θρησκεία; ἣν ἀποκλεισθήσεσθαι ὥσπερ ἀποφραχθεῖσαν ὁ παρὼν λόγος θεσπίζει φάσκων· «καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ἡ κοιλὰς τῶν ὀρέων μου, καὶ ἐγκολληθήσεται φάραγξ ὀρέων ἕως Ἀσαήλ, καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται»· 6.18.33 ἀνθ' ὧν ὁ Σύμμαχος πεποίηκεν· «καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται ἡ φάραγξ τῶν ὀρέων μου, καὶ ἔτι ἐγγιεῖ ἡ φάραγξ τῶν ὀρέων πρὸς τὸ παρακείμενον, καὶ ἐμφραχθήσεται», δι' ὧν παρίστησιν τὸ αἴτιον τῆς ἐμφραχθείσης φάραγγος. τί δὲ ἦν τοῦτο ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ ἐγγίσαι αὐτὴν καὶ πλησιάσαι τῷ παρακειμένῳ αὐτῇ; τοῦτο δὲ ἦν τὸ τοῦ κυρίου ὄρος τὸ τῶν ἐλαιῶν προωνομασμένον, ὅπερ Ἀσαὴλ ὠνόμασται παρὰ τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα. 6.18.34 δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραίων φωνὴν «ποίησιν θεοῦ». οὕτω δέ, φησίν, ἡ παλαιὰ «φάραγξ» πλησιάσασα τῷ ὄρει καὶ τῇ Χριστοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῷ τε ποιήματι θεοῦ «ἐμφραχθήσεται» καὶ ἀποκλεισθήσεται, «ὃν τρόπον ἐνεφράγη ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ σεισμοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα». 6.18.35 ζητῶν δὲ παρ' ἐμαυτῷ καὶ τὰς θείας περιιὼν γραφάς, εἴ ποτε «ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ὀζίου» ἡ ἐνταῦθα δηλουμένη φάραγξ «ἐνεφράγη ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ σεισμοῦ», ἐν μὲν ταῖς τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἱστορίαις οὐδὲν ηὕρισκον· οὔτε γὰρ σωματικῶς κατ' αὐτὸν σεισμὸς γεγονὼς οὔτε τι τοιοῦτο περὶ φάραγγος ἐν αὐταῖς εἰρημένον ἀναγέγραπται. 6.18.36 ἱστορεῖταί γε μὴν Ὀζίας ἐν ἀρχαῖς δίκαιος γεγονέναι, εἶτα διαβέβληται ὡς ἐπαρθεὶς τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ θῦσαι τῷ θεῷ τολμήσας, δι' ὃ καὶ λέπραν αὐτῷ κατὰ τοῦ προσώπου ἀνθῆσαι. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἡ βίβλος τῶν Βασιλειῶν παρίστησιν· ὁ δέ γε Ἰώσηπος καὶ τὰς ἔξωθεν ἰουδαϊκὰς δευτερώσεις ἀπηκριβωκώς, ἅτε «Ἑβραῖος ἐξ Ἑβραίων» τυγχάνων, ἐπάκουσον οἷα γενέσθαι κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ χρόνους, λέγων ὡς ἄρα κατεπειγόντων τὸν Ὀζίαν τῶν ἱερέων «ἐξιέναι τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ μὴ παρανομεῖν εἰς τὸν θεόν, ὀργισθεὶς ἠπείλησεν αὐτοῖς θάνατον, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἄξουσιν. 6.18.37 μεταξὺ δὲ σεισμὸς ἐκλόνησεν τὴν γῆν, καὶ διαστάντος τοῦ ναοῦ φέγγος λαμπρὸν ἐξέλαμψεν καὶ τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ὄψει προσέπεσεν, ὡς τῷ μὲν εὐθέως λέπραν ἐπιδραμεῖν, πρὸ δὲ τῆς πόλεως πρὸς τῇ καλουμένῃ Ἐρωγῇ τοῦ ὄρους ἀπορραγῆναι τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν δύσιν καὶ κυλισθὲν τέσσαρας σταδίους ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὄρος στῆναι, ὡς τάς τε παρόδους ἐμφραχθῆναι καὶ τοὺς παραδείσους τοὺς βασιλικούς.» 6.18.38 ταῦτά μοι ἀπὸ τοῦ συγγράμματος τῆς Ἰωσήπου Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἀρχαιολογίας κείσθω. καὶ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ δὲ Ἀμὼς εὗρον κατ' ἀρχὰς τῆς προφητείας αὐτοῦ ὡς ὅτι ἤρξατο προφητεύειν «ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα πρὸ δύο ἐτῶν τοῦ σεισμοῦ». ποίου δὲ σεισμοῦ οὐκέτι σαφῶς ἐπιλέγει. 6.18.39 οἶμαι δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν προφήτην προϊόντα τὸν σεισμὸν ὑπογράφειν ἐν οἷς φησιν· «εἶδον τὸν κύριον ἐφεστῶτα ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ εἶπεν, πάταξον ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ πρόπυλα, καὶ διάκοψον εἰς κεφαλὰς πάντων· καὶ τοὺς καταλοίπους αὐτῆς ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἀποκτενῶ», 6.18.40 δι' ὧν ἡγοῦμαι θεσπίζεσθαι τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῶν πάλαι σεμνῶν τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους καὶ τῆς ἐπιτελουμένης ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ θρησκείας, τήν τε ἀπώλειαν τὴν μετελθοῦσαν αὐτοὺς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίαν, ὅτε παραιτησαμένων αὐτῶν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν ἀληθῆ ἀρχιερέα, λέπρα κατὰ τῶν ψυχῶν ἐξήνθησεν, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ