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prophecy, but you have cast us off to the end, and you have condemned us to utter destruction. "Your anger was kindled against the sheep of your pasture." You have had a persistent indignation against your sheep. 80.1456 2. "Remember your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning." From above and from the beginning you were called our God, and we were named your people, O Master. "You redeemed the rod of your inheritance." For having enjoyed your help, we were delivered from the slavery of the Egyptians; and blessed Moses also called them an inheritance. "For, he says, the Lord's portion became his people Jacob, the measuring-line of his inheritance, Israel." He called the royal scepter a rod, meaning, From the beginning we became your portion, we were named your lot, we served under your kingdom. Thus also in the 44th psalm he called the royal scepter a rod. For he said, "A rod of uprightness is the rod of your kingdom." -"This Mount Zion, in which you have dwelt." Having freed us from the slavery of the Egyptians, you led us into the land promised to the fathers, and consecrated Mount Zion to yourself, so that dwelling as in a palace, you might govern your people. These things were foretold, before the temple in Jerusalem was built. For after David, and Asaph, Solomon built it. 3. "Lift up your hands against their arrogance to the end." Demand from them an accounting for their arrogance; and "Lift up your hands," he has put as a metaphor for those who scourge sinners with their hands. The prophetic grace has said this, knowing that the enemies live in impiety; for they did not undertake that war out of zeal for the one who was crucified, but to enslave the inhabited world. Nevertheless, God used them as executioners, punishing the impious through them. "All the evil the enemy has done in your holy place." Neither the Hebrew, nor the other interpreters, nor indeed the Seventy in the Hexapla have put it in the plural, in the holy places, but in the singular, in your holy place; so that it is clear that those who say these things are speaking about the temple, lamenting and mourning the things that were done to it by them. And what follows agrees with this meaning. 4. "And those who hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast." For at the feast of Passover, when all the people had gathered according to the law, Titus set his army in position and besieged 80.1457 their metropolis. For since they nailed the Savior to the cross at the feast of Passover, at the same time they pay the penalty for their impiety. "They have set up their signs as signs. [5.] And they did not know it as at the exit above." The trophies, he says, which are signs and symbols of victory, they raised above our gates, making the victory known to all who came after; and Pilate also brought the royal standards into the city against the law, and the Roman emperors carved a bust of a pig on the stones of the gate. And through all these things they learned that they had become destitute of divine care. These things the Lord also foretold in the holy Gospels: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." "As in a forest of trees with axes they have cut down. [6.] Its doors likewise; with axe and chisel they have broken it down." Using woodcutting and building tools, they also tore down the enclosures, and cut down the doors of the houses, destroying the things that were well and beautifully made as if they were an oak tree. 7. "They have set your sanctuary on fire to the ground; they have profaned the tabernacle of your name." The sacking of the other houses did not suffice for them, but they also extended their madness against the temple dedicated to you; and some things they delivered to the fire, and others they demolished with their hands, treating holy things as common. 8, 9. "They said in their heart, their kinsmen together, Come and let us put a stop to all the feasts of God from the earth. We have not seen our signs, there is no longer a prophet, and he will know us no more." With much

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προφη τείαν, ἀλλ' εἰς τέλος ἀπώσω, καὶ πανωλεθρίαν κατ εψηφίσω. "Ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου." Ἐπίμονον ἔσχες τὴν κατὰ τῶν προβάτων τῶν σῶν ἀγανάκτησιν. 80.1456 βʹ. "Μνήσθητι τῆς συναγωγῆς σου, ἧς ἐκτήσω ἀπ' ἀρχῆς." Ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμέτερος ἐπ εκλήθης Θεὸς, καὶ σὸς ἐχρηματίσαμεν, ∆έσποτα, λαός. "Ἐλυτρώσω ῥάβδον κληρονομίας σου." Τῆς σῆς γὰρ ἀπολαύσαντες βοηθείας, τῆς Αἰγυπτίων ἀπηλ λάγημεν δουλείας· κληρονομίαν δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ ὁ μακάριος ἐκάλεσε Μωσῆς. "Ἐγενήθη γὰρ, φησὶ, μερὶς Κυρίου, λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρο νομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ." Ῥάβδον δὲ τὸ βασιλικὸν ὠνόμασε σκῆπτρον, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Σὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐγενόμεθα μερὶς, σὸς ὠνομάσθημεν κλῆρος, ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν ἐτε λέσαμεν βασιλείαν. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ μδʹ ψαλμῷ τὸ βασιλικὸν σκῆπτρον προσηγόρευσε ῥάβδον. Ἔφη γάρ· "Ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου." -"Ὄρος Σιὼν τοῦτο, ὃ κατεσκήνωσας ἐν αὐτῷ." Τῆς δὲ Αἰγυπτίων ἡμᾶς δουλείας ἐλευθερώ σας, εἰς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην τοῖς πατράσιν εἰσήγαγες γῆν, καὶ σαυτῷ τὸ Σιὼν ἀφιέρωσας ὄρος, ἵνα ὡς ἐν βασιλείοις τισὶν οἰκῶν, τὸν σὸν ἰθύνῃς λαόν. Ταῦτα δὲ προελέγετο, μήπω τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις οἰκο δομηθέντος νεώ. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸν ∆αβὶδ, καὶ τὸν Ἀσὰφ, ὁ Σολομὼν τοῦτον ἐδείματο. γʹ. "Ἔπαρον τὰς χεῖράς σου ἐπὶ τὰς ὑπερ ηφανίας αὐτῶν εἰς τέλος." Ἀπαίτησον αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀλαζονείας εὐθύνας· τὸ δὲ "Ἔπαρον τὰς χεῖράς σου," ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τέθεικε τῶν ταῖς χερσὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας μαστιγούντων. Τοῦτο δὲ ἡ προφητικὴ εἴρηκε χάρις, εἰδυῖα τοὺς πολεμίους δυσσεβείᾳ συζῶντας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ζη λώσαντες, ἐκεῖνον τὸν πόλεμον ἀνεδέξαντο, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην δουλούμενοι. Ἐχρῆτο δὲ αὐτοῖς ὅμως ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς δημίοις, δι' αὐτῶν τοὺς ἠσεβηκότας κο λάζων. "Ὅσα ἐπονηρεύσατο ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ σου." Οὔτε ὁ Ἑβραῖος, οὔτε οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταὶ, οὔτε μὲν οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα ἐν τῷ Ἑξαπλῷ πληθυντικῶς ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις τεθείκασιν, ἀλλ' ἑνικῶς, ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ σου· ὡς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ ταῦ τα οἱ λέγοντες λέγουσιν, ὀλοφυρόμενοι καὶ θρηνοῦν τες τὰ ὑπ' ἐκείνων εἰς τοῦτον γεγενημένα. Ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα συμφωνεῖ. δʹ. "Καὶ ἐνεκαυχήσαντο οἱ μισοῦντές σε ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἑορτῆς σου." Ἐν τῇ τοῦ Πάσχα γὰρ ἑορτῇ, παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ κατὰ τὸν νόμον συναθροισθέντος, τὴν στρατιὰν ὁ Τῖτος παρακαθίσας, ἐπολιόρκησε 80.1457 τὴν ἐκείνων μητρόπολιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ τοῦ Πάσχα ἑορτῇ τῷ σταυρῷ τὸν Σωτῆρα προσήλωσαν, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν τίνουσι τῆς ἀσεβείας ποινήν. "Ἔθεντο τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν σημεῖα. [εʹ.] Καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὡς εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον ὑπεράνω." Τὰ τρό παια, φησὶν, ἅπερ ἔστι σημεῖα καὶ σύμβολα νίκης, ἤγειραν ἐπάνω τῶν ἡμετέρων πυλῶν, γνώριμον ἅπασι τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα καθιστῶντες τὴν νίκην· καὶ Πιλάτος δὲ τὰ βασιλικὰ σημεῖα παρὰ τὸν νόμον εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσήγαγε, καὶ χοίρου δὲ προτομὴν οἱ Ῥω μαίων βασιλεῖς τοῖς τῆς πύλης ἐνεκόλαψαν λίθοις. ∆ιὰ τούτων δὲ πάντων ἐμάνθανον, ὡς ἔρημοι τῆς θείας κηδεμονίας ἐγένοντο. Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐν τοῖς θείοις Εὐαγγελίοις προεῖπεν· "Ὅτ' ἂν ἴδητε τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως ἑστὼς ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ (ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω), τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευ γέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη." "Ὡς ἐν δρυμῷ ξύλων ἀξίναις ἐξέκοψαν. [ʹ.] Τὰς θύρας αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· ἐν πελέκει καὶ λα ξευτηρίῳ κατέῤῥαξαν αὐτήν." Ὑλοτομικοῖς καὶ τε κτονικοῖς ὀργάνοις χρώμενοι, καὶ τοὺς περιβόλους κατέλυον, καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν τὰς θύρας συνέκοπτον, τὰ εὖ καὶ καλῶς ἠσκημένα ὡς δρῦν διαφθείροντες. ζʹ. "Ἐνεπύρισαν ἐν πυρὶ τὸ ἁγιαστήριόν σου εἰς τὴν γῆν· ἐβεβήλωσαν τὸ σκήνωμα τοῦ ὀνόματός σου." Οὐκ ἀπέχρησεν αὐτοῖς τῶν ἄλλων οἰκιῶν ἡ πόρθησις, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἀφιερωμένου σοι νεὼ τὴν μανίαν ἐξέτειναν· καὶ τὰ μὲν πυρὶ παρέδοσαν, τὰ δὲ κατέλυσαν ταῖς χερσὶν, ὡς κοινοῖς τοῖς ἁγίοις χρησάμενοι. ηʹ, θʹ. "Εἶπαν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, αἱ συγ γένειαι αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, ∆εῦτε καὶ καταπαύ σωμεν πάσας τὰς ἑορτὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. Τὰ σημεῖα ἡμῶν οὐκ εἴδομεν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι προ φήτης, καὶ ἡμᾶς οὐ γνώσεται ἔτι." Μετὰ πολλῆς