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for this is also a form of prophecy, to interrupt in the middle, and to insert a certain history, and after going through it, to return again to the former things. For the prophecy has been obscured on account of the ignorance of the Jews. It hints, then, at someone, as I have already said, who plotted against the priesthood after the times of the return from Babylon. And the more diligent know this, having gone through the history. And it prophesies great evils for such a one, a desolation of protectors; and it deems every harbor should be blocked up for him, and that he should receive no long-suffering, nor loving-kindness, nor pardon. But these things, as I have already said, and will not cease saying continually, seem to be a curse; but it is a prophecy, showing how God is provoked, when the priesthood is plotted against. Then it recounts the misfortunes word for word, and says: Because he did not remember to show mercy. But persecuted the poor and needy man, and the broken in heart, to put him to death. This is of extreme cruelty, this of great inhumanity, when one not only plots, but does so against a man whose state is sufficient to move another to mercy and compassion. For such a one has resorted to the ferocity of wild beasts, or rather, he has become even more savage than they. For in wild beasts, their bestial nature is according to nature; but this one, having been honored with reason, has betrayed his nobility through wickedness. And those beasts have a certain friendship and gentleness toward their own kind and kin; but these men have not even respected their common nature, but the one whom they ought to have pitied and supported and raised up, this one they pushed down and overthrew. And he loved a curse, and it shall come to him; and he did not desire a blessing, and it shall be far from him. Since he prayed for many misfortunes for him, he shows that not from himself, but from that one came the beginning and the cause of these things, 55.263 from the one who through his works rejected the aid from 55.263 God, and drew upon himself the divinely-sent plague. And he put on a curse like a garment, and it entered like water into his bowels, and like oil into his bones. Here he shows both the severity of the plague, and the permanence of the punishment, declaring that for all men evils come from home and from their own will, who through their works and actions reject good things, but cast themselves into punishments. Let it be to him like a garment, which he puts on, and like a belt, with which he is always girded. And he says this, showing the ineffable wrath of God, which will come upon such people. And what he says is this: Thus will evils hold them, so that they have no change; but it will be fixed in them, and will remain firm. Then showing that He punishes wickedness, and corrects evil, and that not against that one alone, but against all who are liable to what is said, such a sentence will be laid? he added: This is the work of those who slander me before the Lord. That is, this is the punishment, this is the judgment of those who resist me, of those who plot against me, of those who war against me, And of those who speak evil things against my soul. So then, there are reckonings for words, and most bitter reckonings. 4. Having then completed the discourse about that one, he flees again to God for help for himself. For he does not stop at the punishment of those who plot against him, but showing that those who suffer wrongly both have an avenger for the injustices they suffer, and they themselves obtain much help, he adds, saying: And you, O Lord, deal with me for your name's sake. See the gratitude, see the humility. And yet he had a sufficient cause for his defense in the fact of his suffering wrongly—for this too can be seen in many places in the Scriptures, that those who suffer unjustly from men, have a greater occasion for boldness toward obtaining aid from God, but this one, leaving aside

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γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο προφητείας εἶδος, μεταξὺ διακόπτειν, καὶ ἱστορίαν τινὰ ἐμβάλλειν, καὶ μετὰ τὸ ταύτην διεξελθεῖν πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ πρότερα ἐπανιέναι. Συνεσκίασται γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡ προφητεία. Αἰνίττεται γοῦν τινα, ὅπερ ἔφθην εἰπὼν, ἱερωσύνῃ ἐπιβουλεύσαντα μετὰ τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ἐπανόδου τῆς ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος. Καὶ οἱ φιλοπονώτεροι ἴσασι τοῦτο, τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐπελθόντες. Καὶ προφητεύει μεγάλα τῷ τοιούτῳ κακὰ, ἐρημίαν προστατῶν· καὶ πάντα ἀξιοῖ προσχώννυσθαι αὐτῷ λιμένα, καὶ μηδεμιᾶς τυχεῖν μακροθυμίας, μηδὲ φιλανθρωπίας, μηδὲ συγγνώμης. Ταῦτα δὲ, ὅπερ ἔφθην εἰπὼν, καὶ συνεχῶς λέγων οὐ παύσομαι, δοκεῖ μὲν εἶναι ἀρᾶς· προφητεία δέ ἐστι, δεικνύουσα πῶς παροξύνεται ὁ Θεὸς, ὅταν ἱερωσύνη ἐπιβουλεύηται. Εἶτα κατὰ λέξιν τὰς συμφορὰς ἐπεξέρχεται, καί φησιν· Ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐμνήσθη ποιῆσαι ἔλεον. Καὶ κατεδίωξεν ἄνθρωπον πένητα καὶ πτωχὸν, καὶ κατανενυγμένον τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ θανατῶσαι. Τοῦτο ἐσχάτης ὠμότητος, τοῦτο πολλῆς ἀπανθρωπίας, ὅταν μὴ μόνον τις ἐπιβουλεύῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἱκανὸν ἐπικλάσαι πρὸς ἔλεον καὶ πρὸς συμπάθειαν ἐπικάμψαι. Ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος πρὸς τὴν τῶν θηρίων ἀγριότητα ἐξώκειλε, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐκείνων χαλεπώτερος γέγονε. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ θηρίοις κατὰ φύσιν τὸ θηριῶδες· οὗτος δὲ λόγῳ τιμηθεὶς, τῇ πονηρίᾳ τὴν εὐγένειαν προέδωκε. Κἀκεῖνα μὲν πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον καὶ συγγενὲς ἔχει τινὰ φιλίαν καὶ ἡμερότητα· οὗτοι δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς φύσεως ᾐδέσθησαν, ἀλλ' ὃν ἔδει ἐλεεῖν καὶ ἀνέχειν καὶ ἀνορθοῦν, τοῦτον ὤθουν καὶ ἀνέτρεπον. Καὶ ἠγάπησε κατάραν, καὶ ἥξει αὐτῷ· καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν εὐλογίαν, καὶ μακρυνθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ πολλὰς κατηύξατο αὐτοῦ συμφορὰς, δείκνυσιν οὐ παρ' αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ παρ' ἐκείνου τὴν ἀρχὴν τούτων γενομένην καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν, 55.263 τοῦ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἀποκρουσαμένου μὲν τὴν παρὰ 55.263 τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥοπὴν, ἐπισπασαμένου δὲ τὴν θεήλατον πληγήν. Καὶ ἐνεδύσατο κατάραν ὡς ἱμάτιον, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὡσεὶ ὕδωρ εἰς τὰ ἔγκατα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὡσεὶ ἔλαιον ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις αὐτοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα καὶ τὸ σφοδρὸν τῆς πληγῆς, καὶ τὸ μόνιμον τῆς τιμωρίας ἐνδείκνυται, δηλῶν ὅτι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τὰ κακὰ οἴκοθεν καὶ παρὰ τῆς οἰκείας γνώμης, οἳ διὰ τῶν ἔργων καὶ τῶν πράξεων τὰ μὲν ἀγαθὰ διακρούονται, ταῖς δὲ τιμωρίαις ἑαυτοὺς ἐπεμβάλλουσι. Γενηθήτω αὐτῷ ὡς ἱμάτιον, ὃ περιβάλλεται, καὶ ὡσεὶ ζώνη, ἣν διαπαντὸς περιζώννυται. Τοῦτο δέ φησι, δεικνὺς τὴν ἄφατον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀργὴν, τὴν μετελευσομένην τοὺς τοιούτους. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὕτως αὐτοὺς τὰ κακὰ καθέξει, ὡς μηδὲ μεταβολήν τινα σχεῖν· ἀλλ' ἐναποστηριχθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ μενεῖ βέβαια. Εἶτα δεικνὺς, ὅτι πονηρίαν κολάζει, καὶ κακίαν διορθοῦται, καὶ ὅτι οὐ κατ' ἐκείνου μόνου, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πάντων τῶν ὑπευθύνων τοῖς λεγομένοις ὄντων ἡ τοιαύτη κείσεται ψῆφος; ἐπήγαγε· Τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον τῶν ἐνδιαβαλλόντων με παρὰ Κυρίῳ. Τουτέστιν, αὕτη ἡ τιμωρία, αὕτη ἡ δίκη τῶν ἀνθισταμένων μοι, τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων, τῶν πολεμούντων, Καὶ τῶν λαλούντων πονηρὰ κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου. Ἄρα καὶ ῥημάτων εἰσὶν εὐθῦναι, καὶ εὐθῦναι πικρόταται. δʹ. Ἀπαρτίσας τοίνυν τὸν περὶ ἐκείνου λόγον, ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν καταφεύγει πάλιν ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀντιλήψεως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μέχρι τῆς τιμωρίας τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ἵσταται, ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς ὅτι οἱ κακῶς πάσχοντες καὶ τιμωρὸν ἔχουσιν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀδικοῦνται, καὶ αὐτοὶ πολλῆς τυγχάνουσι τῆς ἀντιλήψεως, ἐπάγει λέγων· Καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, ποίησον μετ' ἐμοῦ, ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου. Ὅρα εὐγνωμοσύνην, ὅρα ταπεινοφροσύνην. Καίτοι γε ἱκανὴν εἶχεν εἰς συνηγορίαν ἀφορμὴν τὸ κακῶς παθεῖν καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο πολλαχοῦ τῶν Γραφῶν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ὅτι οἱ κακῶς πάσχοντες ἀδίκως παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, πλείονα ἔχουσι παῤῥησίας ἀφορμὴν πρὸς τὸ τυχεῖν τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥοπῆς, ἀλλ' οὗτος ἀφεὶς