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a bridegroom over a bride, so will the Lord rejoice over you. Since he mentioned the bride, he necessarily also presented the image of the virgin, in order to show the difference of the marriage. 6And upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen all the day and all the night, who will never be silent, remembering the Lord. He again calls Jerusalem itself the bride, but calls watchmen those who lead the pious peoples in city and village, who, praising God night and day, guard the divine city. But if anyone should suppose these to be angels, he would not err from the truth. “For,” he says, “the angel of the Lord will encamp round about those who fear him, and will deliver them.” 7For there is none like you. For he says you will find no other such one, just, holy, truly God, carefully providing for you. So also the blessed Moses said: “Who is like you among the gods, Lord? Who is like you, glorified among the saints?” So also the divine David: “There is none like you among the gods, Lord, and there is nothing according to your works.” So also the divine Jeremiah: “Whence is one like you, Lord? Whence is one like you, king of the nations?” If he should set right and make Jerusalem a glorious boasting upon the earth, a boast in the land. And you will learn this, having been freed from your former ignorance and having bravely contended against the demons that took you captive. 8The Lord swore by his glory and by the strength of his arm, if he will any longer give your grain and your food to your enemies, and if strangers' sons will any longer drink your wine for which you have toiled, 9but those who have gathered it will eat it and will praise the Lord, and those who have gathered it will drink it in my holy courts. For while you contend nobly I will be your general and, since I have no other greater by whom it is necessary to swear, I swear by my own glory and by my own power, that I will guard your fruits for you and will not allow them to be seized as usual, but you will enjoy the fruits of your own labors. But grain and wine and food must be understood tropologically as the fruits of righteousness. 10Go, pass through my gates, prepare the way and make a road for my people, and cast the stones out of the way. And the Jews think these things foretell their own return, but what follows does not permit one to think so. For he says: Raise up a standard for the nations; 11For behold, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth. And God has made heard to the end of the earth not the building of Jerusalem but the cross and the passion and the resurrection and the ascension of the Master into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit and the hope of future good things. He commands the heralds to prepare the way for these things and for it to become level and smooth, with the difficulty being removed. For he calls the hindrances stones. Thus also in what went before, the prophetic word said: “All the crooked things will become straight, and the rough into plains.” Then, when the way has been prepared, he commands the heralds to say to the daughter of Zion, that is, to the church throughout the world: Behold, your savior has come, having his reward with him, and his work before his face, 12and he will call him a holy people redeemed by the Lord. The prophets said: “Behold, the Lord comes with |179 b| strength,” but here from the person of the apostles: Behold, your savior has come having his own reward. And he mentioned this reward above, and the work likewise, and one must not use tautology. And you will be called a city sought after and not forsaken. For long ago it was forsaken; for it received neither Moses the great nor any other of the prophets as a founder. [From here the prophecy teaches us the manner of the war, which the Master, having undertaken on our behalf, both has conquered and has destroyed the enemy and has crushed the yoke of slavery. 631Who is this that comes from Edom, the redness of his garments from Bosor, this one beautiful in his robe, force with much strength? He fashions the

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νυμφίος ἐπὶ νύμφῃ, οὕτως εὐφρανθήςεται κύριος ἐπὶ σοί. Ἐπειδὴ τῆς νύμφης ἐμνημόνευσεν, ἀναγκαίως καὶ τῆς παρθένου τέθεικε τὴν εἰκόνα, ἵνα δείξῃ τοῦ γάμου τὸ διάφορον. 6Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν τειχῶν σου, Ἱερουσαλήμ, κατέστησα φύλακας ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ ὅλην τὴν νύκτα, οἳ διὰ τέλους οὐ σιωπήσουσι μιμνῃσκόμενοι κυρίου. Ἱερουσαλὴμ πάλιν αὐτὴν ὀνομάζει τὴν νύμφην, φύλακας δὲ καλεῖ τοὺς κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κώμην τῶν εὐσεβῶν λαῶν ἡγουμένους, οἵτινες νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν τὸν θεὸν ἀνυμνοῦντες τὴν θείαν φυλάττουσι πόλιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀγγέλους τούτους ὑπολάβοι τις εἶναι, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τῆς ἀληθείας. «Παρεμβαλεῖ» γάρ φησιν «ἄγγελος κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτούς.» 7Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ὅμοιος ὑμῖν. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἄλλον φησὶ τοιο ῦτον εὑρήσετε δίκαιον, ἅγιον, ἀληθῶς θεόν, ἐπιμελῶς ὑμῶν προμηθούμενον. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ μακάριος ἔφη Μωυσῆς· «Τίς ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς κύριε; Τίς ὅμοιός σοι, δεδοξασμένος ἐν ἁγίοις;» Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θ εῖος ∆αυίδ· «Οὐκ ἔστιν ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς κύριε καὶ οὐκ ἔστι κατὰ τὰ ἔργα σου.» Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἱερε μίας · «Πόθεν ὅμοιός σοι κύριε; Πόθεν ὅμοιός σοι βασιλεῦ τῶν ἐθνῶν;» Ἐὰν διορθώσῃ καὶ ποιήσῃ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀγαυρίαμα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καύχημα ἐν τῇ γῇ. Τοῦτο δὲ μαθήσῃ τῆς προτέρας ἀγνοίας ἀπαλλα γ εῖσα καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλωτεύσαντάς σε δαίμονας ἀνδρείως καταγωνισαμένη. 8Ὤμοσε κύριος κατὰ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τῆς ἰσχύος τοῦ βραχίονος αὐτοῦ, εἰ ἔτι δώσει τὸν σῖτόν σου καὶ τὰ βρώματά σου τοῖς ἐχθροῖς σου καὶ εἰ ἔτι πίονται υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι τὸν οἶνόν σου ἐφ' ᾧ ἐμόχθησας, 9ἀλλ' οἱ ςυναγα γόντες φάγονται αὐτὸν καὶ αἰνέσουσι τὸν κύριον καὶ οἱ συναγαγόντες πίονται αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς ἐπαύλεσί μου ταῖς ἁγίαις. Σοῦ γὰρ γενναίως ἀγωνιζομένης ἐγὼ στρατηγήσω καί, ἐπειδὴ οὐδένα ἄλλον ἔχω μείζονα καθ' ὃν ὀμνύναι δεῖ, κατὰ τῆς οἰκείας δόξης καὶ κατὰ τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως ὄμνυμι, ὡς σοὶ τοὺς σοὺς φυλάξω καρποὺς καὶ οὐ συγχωρήσω τούτους ἁρπαγῆναι συνήθως, ἀλλὰ σὺ τῶν πόνων ἀπολαύσῃ τῶν σῶν. Σῖτον δὲ καὶ οἶνον καὶ βρώματα τροπικῶς τοὺς τῆς δικαιοσύνης νοητέον καρπούς. 10Πορεύεσθε, περιέλθετε διὰ τῶν πυλῶν μου, σκευάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ ὁδοποιήσατε τῷ λαῷ μου καὶ τοὺς λίθους ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ ῥίψατε. Καὶ ταῦτα νομίζουσιν Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν αὐτῶν προλέγειν ἐπάνοδον, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐᾷ νοεῖν οὕτω τὰ ἑξῆς. Φησὶ γάρ· Ἐξάρατε σύσσημον εἰς τὰ ἔθνη· 11Ἰδοὺ γὰρ κύριος ἐποίησεν ἀκουστὸν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. Ἀκουστὸν δὲ ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς πεποίηκεν ὁ θεὸς οὐ τὸ οἰκοδόμημα τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀλλὰ τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς τοῦ δεσπότου ἀνάληψιν καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου τὴν ἐπιφοίτησιν καὶ τῶν μελ λόντων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα. Τούτοις εὐτρεπισθῆναι κελεύει τοῖς κήρυξι τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ ὁμαλὴν ταύτην καὶ λείαν γενέσθαι τῆς δυσκολίας ἀναιρουμένης. Λίθους γὰρ καλεῖ τὰ κωλύματα. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ὁ προφητικὸς ἔφη λόγος· «Ἔσται πάντα τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθεῖαν καὶ ἡ τραχεῖα εἰς πεδία.» Εἶτα τῆς ὁδοῦ σκευασθείσης κελεύει τοῖς κήρυξιν εἰπεῖν τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών, τουτέστι τῇ κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκκλησίᾳ· Ἰδοὺ ὁ σωτήρ σου παραγέγονεν ἔχων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μισθὸν μετ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ 12καὶ καλέσει αὐτὸν λαὸν ἅγιον λελυτρωμένον ὑπὸ κυρίου. Οἱ προ φῆται ἔλεγον· «Ἰδοὺ κύριος μετὰ |179 b| ἰσχύος ἔρχεται», ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἀποστόλων· Ἰδοὺ ὁ σωτήρ σου παραγέγονεν ἔχων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μισθόν. Τούτου δὲ τοῦ μισθοῦ καὶ ἄνω ἐμνήσθη καὶ τοῦ ἔργου ὁμοίως, καὶ οὐ χρὴ ταυ το λογίᾳ κεχρῆσθαι. Σὺ δὲ κληθήσῃ ἐπιζη τουμένη πόλις καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλελειμμένη. Πάλαι γὰρ ἐγκα τε λέλειπτο· οὔτε γὰρ Μωυσέα τὸν μέγαν οὔτε ἄλλον τινὰ ἐδέξατο τῶν προφητῶν οἰκιστήν. [̓Ε ντεῦθεν ἡμᾶς ἡ προφητεία διδάσκει τοῦ πολέμου τὸν τρόπον, ὃν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ δεσπότης ἀ ναδεξ άμενος καὶ νενίκηκε καὶ κατέλυσε τὸν πολέμιον καὶ συνέτριψε τὸν τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν. 631Τίς οὗτος ὁ παραγενόμενος ἐξ Ἐδώμ, ἐρύθημα ἱματίων αὐτοῦ ἐκ Βοσόρ, οὗτος ὡραῖος ἐν στολῇ, βία μετὰ ἰσχύος πολλῆς; Σχηματίζει τὸν