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their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that has done righteousness, and has not forsaken9 the judgment of its God, etc. The word, having healed the humble and contrite of heart among the multitude of the people, then moves on to the order of the wicked among them, concerning whom he said, *There is no rejoicing for the wicked*, teaching who these are, and for what reason he pronounced against them. Therefore, he exhorts the prophet to cry these things fearlessly and with boldness. For this is what it means to lift up the voice, delivering rebukes as from a trumpet. And the trumpet is fittingly introduced as against the enemies of God. To the evangelists, then, it was said previously: "Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion," and what follows. But here the prophet is not commanded to go up on a mountain (for he was not about to speak to those on high) but only to cry out loudly, as into the ears of the deaf, whom he even calls, *My people*, he says, to their condemnation. For I indeed acquired them for myself; but they fled away. For your sins, he says, separate between me and you, and you have been tempted more by your sins; and the rebuke is that they seem to seek me every day, attending their Synagogues. And they pretend to seek the Scriptures, trying to learn my ways, as if indeed they had accomplished all the rest. And they did these things for appearance's sake, because of the impending war, wishing to know the administrations for each matter, and what the end of the war would be. And thus indeed the ways are to be understood, which was the characteristic of men living lawfully. For no one will know the ways of God unless he is righteous. But from their very actions they are rebuked for having forsaken the judgment of God in impiety and transgressions. And yet, out of insensibility, they claim my good things, as if asking for victory in war as a reward for virtue; and they charge me with injustice, as one who pushes away those who are pious. For we have fasted, he says, and you did not see. For with the enemies pressing upon them, they thought to appease God through bodily fasting, abstaining from foods, not from the wickedness of the soul. And calling such a fast a humbling of the soul. This, then, O prophet, he says, you should rebuke, which they also put forward, proving from this one thing their whole way of life. But the phrase, *you did not see*, indicates not God's ignorance, but their own failure. They would be doing a great thing, if they truly practiced these things. For David also says: "I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer 2589 will return to my own bosom." And again: "My knees were weakened from fasting." And God also says: "Return to me with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." Which is, in abstinence and repentance for sins; but since they did not do this, but only abstained from foods, they thought they possessed the whole thing, as if they were gratifying God, if he took no greater care of their nourishment. For not only did they not abstain from evils while fasting, but they also then committed the greatest ones, striking those under their power not necessarily with their hands, but with insults, and greed, being worn out by disputes with one another, so that those struck by them let out voices of weeping and unseemly cries. Wherefore he also said in the beginning: "Your fasting and idleness, and your new moons my soul hates." And now he says: I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day of humiliation. And he said he would heal the one who goes about sad in his ways, and has contrition of Spirit in his life and actions; but he does not accept the one who feigns a temporary humiliation in fasting. But some say that by doing their own wills they also pricked their subordinates into judgments and fights, when they ought to have been arbiters of peace. And as for, *so that your voice is heard today in a cry*, it means that true fasting has a cry before God; for the things done by us are said to have a certain voice to God. According to that: "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me." Unless perhaps the cry with the useless fast

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αὐτῶν, καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακὼβ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν. Ἐμὲ ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας ζητοῦσι, καὶ γνῶναί μου τὰς ὁδοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ὡς λαὸς δικαιοσύνην πεποιηκὼς, καὶ κρίσιν Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐγκαταλελοιπὼσ9, κ. τ.λ. Θεραπεύσας ὁ λόγος τοὺς ἐν τῷ πλήθει τοῦ λαοῦ ταπεινοὺς καὶ συντετριμμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ, μεταβαίνει λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸ τάγμα τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀσεβῶν, περὶ ὧν ἔλεγεν, Οὐκ ἔστι χαίρειν τοῖς ἀσεβέσι, διδάσκων τίνες τε οὗτοι, καὶ ἀνθ' ὅτου κατ' αὐτῶν ἀπεφήνατο. Ἀφόβως οὖν, καὶ σὺν παῤῥησίᾳ ταῦτα βοᾷν τῷ προφήτῃ παρακελεύεται. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ὑψῶσαι τὴν φωνὴν, ὡς ἀπὸ σάλπιγγος τοὺς ἐλέγχους προφέροντα. Κατὰ καιρὸν δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ Θεοῦ πολεμίων ἡ σάλπιγξ παρείληπται. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν εὐαγγελισταῖς διὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ἐλέγετο· "Ἐπ' ὄρος ὑψηλὸν ἀνάβηθι, ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Σιὼν," καὶ τὰ ἑπόμενα. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐκ ἐπ' ὄρος ἀναβαίνειν ὁ προφήτης κελεύεται (οὐ γὰρ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν ὕψει λέγειν ἤμελλεν) ἄγαν δὲ μόνον βοᾷν, ὡς εἰς ὦτα κωφῶν, οὓς καὶ, Λαόν μου, φησὶν, εἰς κατάκρισιν αὐτῶν. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοὺς περιεποιησάμην· οἱ δὲ ἀπέφυγον. Αἱ γὰρ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν, φησὶ, διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν, καὶ πλέον ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν ἐπειράθητε· ὁ δὲ ἔλεγχος, ὅτι δοκοῦσίν με καθ' ἡμέραν ἐπιζητεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀπαντῶντες Συναγωγάς. Καὶ τὰς Γραφὰς προσποιοῦνται ζητεῖν, τὰς ὁδούς μου μανθάνειν πειρώμενοι, ὡς δὴ τὰ λοιπὰ κατορθώσαντες. Καὶ ταῦτα δὴ τῷ δοκεῖν ἐποίουν, διὰ τὸν ἐπικείμενον πόλεμον ἐθέλοντες γνῶναι τὰς ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ πράγματι διοικήσεις, καὶ τί τοῦ πολέμου τὸ πέρας. Καὶ οὕτω γὰρ τὰς ὁδοὺς νοητέον, ὅπερ ἦν ἀνδρῶν ἐννόμως πολιτευσαμένων. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὁδοὺς Θεοῦ γνώσεται μὴ δίκαιος ὤν. Ἐξ αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν πράξεων ἐλέγχονται τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλείψαντες κρίσιν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ πλημμελήμασιν. Καὶ ὅμως ἐξ ἀναισθησίας ἐπιδικάζονται τῶν ἐμῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὥσπερ ἀμοιβὴν ἀρετῆς πολέμου νίκην αἰτούμενοι· καὶ ἀδικίας με γράφονται, ὡς εὐσεβοῦντας αὐτοὺς ἀπωθούμενον. Ἐνηστεύσαμεν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ εἶδες. Τῶν γὰρ πολεμίων ἐπικειμένων διὰ σωματικῆς ᾤοντο νηστείας ἐξευμενίζεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, βρωμάτων, οὐ κακίας ψυχικῆς ἀπεχόμενοι. Καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην νηστείαν ψυχῆς καλοῦντες ταπείνωσιν. Τοῦτο τοίνυν, ὦ προφῆτα, φησὶν ἔλεγχον, ὃ καὶ προβάλλονται, ἐξ ἑνὸς τούτου τὸν λοιπὸν αὐτῶν ἀποδείξας τρόπον. Τὸ δὲ, οὐκ εἶδες, οὐκ ἄγνοιαν Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἀπότευξιν αὐτομάτων δηλοῖ. Μέγα δ' ἂν ἔπραττον, εἰ ἀληθῶς ταῦτα μετήρχοντο. Καὶ ∆αβὶδ γάρ φησιν· "Ἐταπείνουν ἐν νηστείᾳ τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ ἡ προσ 2589 ευχή μου εἰς κόλπον μου, ἐπιστραφήσεται." Καὶ πάλιν· "Τὰ γόνατά μου ἠσθένησαν ἀπὸ νηστείας." Φησὶ δὲ καὶ Θεός· "Ἐπιστράφητε πρός με ἐν νηστείᾳ, καὶ ἐν κλαυθμῷ, καὶ κοπετῷ." Ὅπερ ἐστὶν, ἐν ἀποχῇ καὶ μετανοίᾳ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων· ὃ μὴ δρῶντες οὗτοι, βρωμάτων δὲ ἀπεχόμενοι, τὸ πᾶν ἔχειν ἐνόμιζον, ὡς Θεῷ χαριούμενοι, εἰ μὴ πλείονος αὐτῶν τροφῆς ποιοῖτο φροντίδα. Οὐ μόνον γὰρ κακῶν οὐκ ἀπείχοντο νηστεύοντες, ἀλλὰ τότε καὶ τὰ μέγιστα διεπράττοντο, τύπτοντες τοὺς ὑποχειρίους οὔτι που πάντως χερσὶν, ἀλλ' ὕβρεσι, καὶ πλεονεξίαις, ἀντιλογίαις πρὸς ἀλλήλους κατατριβόμενοι, ὡς φωνὰς ἀφιέναι κλαυθμοῦ καὶ κραυγὰς ἀπρεπεῖς τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν τυπτομένους. ∆ιὸ καὶ κατ' ἀρχὰς ἔλεγεν· "Τὴν νηστείαν καὶ ἀργίαν, καὶ τὰς νουμηνίας ὑμῶν μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου." Καὶ νῦν δέ φησιν· Οὐχὶ ταύτην τὴν νηστείαν ἐξελεξάμην, οὐδὲ τοιαύτην ταπεινώσεως ἡμέραν. Καὶ τὸν μὲν πορευθέντα στυγμὸν ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος συντριβὴν ἐν τῷ βίῳ καὶ ταῖς πράξεσιν ἔχοντα εἶπεν ἰάσεσθαι· τὸν δὲ τὴν ἐφήμερον ἐν νηστείᾳ ταπείνωσιν σχηματιζόμενον οὐ προσίεται. Τινὲς δέ φασιν ὡς ποιοῦντες αὐτῶν τὰ θελήματα ὑπένυττον καὶ τοὺς ὑποχειρίου αὐτῶν εἰς κρίσεις καὶ μάχας, δέον βραβεύειν εἰρήνην. Τὸ δὲ, ὡς σήμερον ἀκουσθῆναι ἐν κραυγῇ τὴν φωνὴν ὑμῶν, ὡς τῆς ἀληθοῦς νηστείας κραυγὴν ἐχούσης παρὰ Θεῷ· ἔχειν γάρ τινα λέγεται φωνὴν πρὸς Θεὸν τὰ δρώμενα παρ' ἡμῶν. Κατὰ τό· "Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με." Εἰ μὴ ἄρα κραυγὴν τὴν μετὰ τῆς ἀνωφελοῦς νηστείας