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they do not know you, they will call upon you, and peoples, who do not understand you, will flee to you for the sake of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. Through these things he sends back those who encounter him to the one who was revealed through the preceding words, in which it is said: “that they to whom it was not announced concerning him, will see, and they who have not heard, will understand,” and this: “we saw him, and he had neither form nor beauty”; therefore, he says “him,” that one about whom all these things have been said: I have given a testimony to the nations. Wherefore I also preached the good news, exhorting “the barren woman who had long not been giving birth and she who had not had a husband to extend and widen her tent,” for since the one who was promised suffered these things because of the sins of my people. Rightly I gave him as a testimony not to the Jewish people, but to all the nations, and as a ruler and commander to the nations; for it is clear to me, God, that all the nations will obey him more than the people of the circumcision. And his testimony was the proclamation concerning him, just as he himself taught, saying: “This gospel must be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.” Then the spirit cries out in the person of the one being prophesied, saying: Nations, which do not know you, will call upon you, and peoples, who do not understand you, will flee to you. And all these things, he says, will happen for the sake of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. Next, he exhorts to seek the Lord, connecting to the command a promise of finding. Therefore he says: Seek the Lord, and in finding him, call upon him. Then he advises, saying: when you find him standing near you and not settled somewhere far away, as if standing in his presence, set your own life aright. And since he addresses these things to the nations which were formerly godless and impious, he consistently advises, saying: when the Lord draws near to you, let the impious man forsake his ways and the lawless man his counsels. For repentance and withdrawal from evils is good. For even if you think the things concerning yourselves are incurable, and though they may be despaired of among men, yet they are not incurable and untreatable with me; for I am great in forgiving. For my counsels are not as your counsels, nor as your ways, O men, so also are my judgments and my ways, says the Lord. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so will my ways be exalted beyond your ways and my thoughts beyond your thoughts. For in the way that the rain and the snow came down from heaven and will not return there, but will drench the earth and make the earth give birth and cause it to sprout and will give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall be my word, which shall go forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but if it does as many things as I wished, and if it accomplishes as many things as I sent it for. All these things, said for the confirmation of the promise which he has made to the impious and lawless man from the nations who is converting, clearly presented the God “Logos” “in the beginning,” descending from above from the Father like rain and snow in order to come down to men, so that he might both water their souls and make them bear fruit. And he has revealed his return to the Father, saying: it shall not return to me empty, but if it does as many things as I wished, and if it accomplishes as many things as I commanded it; for when it first does these things, then it will return to me. But if it is said to go forth from the mouth of Christ, one must not think that it is a signifying word in the manner of our uttered word, since no one who has not fallen from sound reasoning would attach a bodily mouth to God. For how could the unsubstantial word of another be sent forth and descend and, having done something and accomplished it, return again to the one who sent it, but indeed these things clearly agree with the evangelical teachings, through which the God Logos

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οὐκ οἴδασί σε, ἐπικαλέσονταί σε, καὶ λαοί, οἳ οὐκ ἐπίστανταί σε, ἐπὶ σὲ καταφεύξονται ἕνεκεν κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι ἐδόξασέ σε. ἀναπέμπει δὴ διὰ τούτων τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν δεδηλωμένον, ἐν οἷς εἴρηται· «ὅτι οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι, συνήσουσι», καὶ τό· «εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος»· «αὐτὸν» οὖν ἐκεῖνόν φησι, περὶ οὗ ταῦτα πάντα λέλεκται· μαρτύριον τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἔδωκα. διὸ καὶ εὐηγγελιζόμην «τὴν στεῖραν τὴν πάλαι μὴ τίκτουσαν καὶ τὴν μὴ ἐσχηκυῖαν τὸν ἄνδρα τὴν σκηνὴν ἑαυτῆς ἐκτεῖναι καὶ πλατῦναι» παρεκελευόμην, ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ ἐπηγγελμένον ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ταῦτα συνέβη παθεῖν. εἰκότως μαρτύριον αὐτὸν οὐ τῷ Ἰουδαίων λαῷ, ἀλλὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἔδωκα καὶ ἄρχοντα καὶ προστάσσοντα ἔθνεσι· δῆλον γὰρ ἐμοὶ τῷ θεῷ, ὅτι πάντα μᾶλλον ὑπακούσεται αὐτῷ τὰ ἔθνη ἢ ὁ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαός. τὸ δὲ μαρτύριον αὐτοῦ τὸ κήρυγμα ἦν τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὥσπερ οὖν αὐτὸς ἐδίδαξεν εἰπών· «δεῖ κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ εἰς μαρτύριον πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν». εἶτα εἰς αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον τοῦ προφητευομένου ἀναφωνεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα λέγον· ἔθνη, ἃ οὐκ οἴδασί σε, ἐπικαλέσονταί σε, καὶ λαοί, οἳ οὐκ ἐπίστανταί σε, ἐπὶ σὲ καταφεύξονται. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα γενήσεταί φησιν ἕνεκεν κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι ἐδόξασέ σε. Ἑξῆς παρακελεύεται ἐπιζητεῖν τὸν κύριον συνάπτων τῷ προστάγματι ἐπαγγελίαν εὑρέσεως. διό φησι· Ζητήσατε τὸν κύριον καὶ ἐν τῷ εὑρίσκειν αὐτὸν ἐπικαλέσασθε αὐτόν. εἶτα παραινεῖ λέγων· ἐπειδὰν εὑρήσητε αὐτὸν πλησίον ὑμῶν ἑστῶτα καὶ μὴ μακράν που ἀπῳκισμένον, ὡς ἂν ἐνώπιον ἑστῶτες αὐτοῦ τὸν βίον τὸν ἑαυτῶν κατορθώσατε. καὶ ἐπειδήπερ τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς ἀθέοις καὶ ἀσεβέσι πάλαι πρότερον οὖσι ταῦτα προσφωνεῖ, ἀκολούθως παραινεῖ λέγων· ἐπειδὰν ἐγγίσῃ ὑμῖν ὁ κύριος, ἀπολιπέτω ὁ ἀσεβὴς τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνὴρ ἄνομος τὰς βουλὰς αὐτοῦ. καλὴ γὰρ ἡ μετάνοια καὶ ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν ἀναχώρησις. εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἀθεράπευτα εἶναι νομίζετε τὰ καθ' ἑαυτούς, κἂν ᾖ ἀπεγνωσμένα ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλ' οὐ καὶ παρ' ἐμοὶ ἀνίατα καὶ ἀθεράπευτα· πολὺς γάρ εἰμι τοῦ ἀφιέναι. Οὐ γάρ εἰσιν αἱ βουλαί μου ὡς αἱ βουλαὶ ὑμῶν οὐδ' ὥσπερ αἱ ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὕτως καὶ αἱ ἐμαὶ κρίσεις καὶ αἱ ὁδοί, λέγει κύριος. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὑψηλὸς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, οὕτως ὑψωθήσονται αἱ ὁδοί μου παρὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ λογισμοί μου παρὰ τοὺς λογισμοὺς ὑμῶν. ὃν τρόπον γὰρ κατέβη ὁ ὑετὸς καὶ ἡ χιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐκεῖ οὐχ ὑποστρέψει, ἀλλ' ἐκμεθύσει τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐκτοκήσει τὴν γῆν καὶ βλαστῆσαι αὐτὴν ποιήσει καὶ δώσει σπέρμα τῷ σπείροντι καὶ ἄρτον τῷ ἐσθίοντι, οὕτως ἔσται ὁ λόγος μου, ὃς ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου, οὐχ ὑποστρέψει πρός με κενός, ἀλλ' ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ὅσα ἠθέλησα, καὶ ἐὰν κατορθώσῃ ὅσα ἀπέστειλα αὐτόν. ταῦτα πάντα εἰς πίστωσιν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἧς πεποίηται πρὸς τὸν ἀσεβῆ καὶ τὸν ἄνομον τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐπιστρέφοντα εἰπὼν σαφῶς παρέστησε τὸν «ἐν ἀρχῇ» θεὸν «λόγον» ἄνωθεν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς κατιόντα δίκην ὑετοῦ καὶ χιόνος ἐπὶ τῷ καταβήσεσθαι εἰς ἀνθρώπους, ἐφ' ᾧ τε τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν ἀρδεῦσαι καὶ καρποφορῆσαι ποιῆσαι. καὶ τὴν ἐπάνοδον δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα δεδήλωκε φήσας· οὐχ ὑποστρέψει πρός με κενός, ἀλλ' ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ὅσα ἠθέλησα, καὶ ἐὰν κατορθώσῃ ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην αὐτῷ· ἐπὰν γὰρ ταῦτα πρότερον ποιήσῃ, τότε πρός με ὑποστρέψει. εἰ δὲ λέγοιτο ἐκ στόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξιέναι, οὐ χρὴ λόγον σημαντικὸν κατὰ τὸν παρ' ἡμῖν προφορικὸν νομίζειν εἶναι αὐτόν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ στόμα τῷ θεῷ σωματικὸν ἀντίος προσάψειε μὴ τοῦ καθεστῶτος ἐκπεσὼν λογισμοῦ. πῶς δ' ἂν ἄλλου λόγος ἀνυπόστατος ἐκπέμπεται καὶ κατέρχεται καὶ ποιήσας τινὰ καὶ κατορθώσας πάλιν ὑποστρέψει πρὸς τὸν ἀποστείλαντα, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ταῦτα σαφῶς συνᾴδει ταῖς εὐαγγελικαῖς διδασκαλίαις, δι' ὧν ὁ θεὸς λόγος