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to watch over and supervise the Jewish nation, to provide them with prophets; for even when they did evil, he appointed the prophets for them like physicians and saviors. Thus, at the time of the first siege, they had the great prophet of God, Jeremiah, and Baruch; but also a certain woman, Huldah by name, prophesied in those same times; and in the land of the Babylonians itself, Ezekiel and Daniel were with them, notable and distinguished prophets; and after the return from there, in the times of Cyrus and Darius, Zechariah and Haggai were known as prophets. How then was it possible to apply to those times the present prophecy, which says: We have not seen our signs, and there is no longer a prophet, and he will no longer know us? But these things came to pass after the saving 23.853 Advent and his aforementioned words, after which the Romans, appearing not long after, destroyed the place. Which the Savior himself also made clear, prophesying the future through the parable that goes like this: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding; but they were unwilling to come. Again he sent others; but they, besides being unwilling to come, even seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. To which he adds: The king, when he heard, was enraged, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burned their city. These things are recorded as having been said by the Savior in the temple itself, while it was still standing; which were also fulfilled not long after, when Vespasian and Titus besieged the place; during whose time no prophet is recorded to have arisen among them. Therefore, the present text describes a siege; which is why it says at the beginning: Why, O God, have you cast us off forever? And from these things it is possible to marvel at the virtue of the divinely inspired Scripture, how it foretold by divine foreknowledge things that happened long ages afterward. The phrase, Why, O God, have you cast us off forever, is said because the Jewish nation, having fallen many times into impieties and transgressions, was delivered over to the neighboring foreign nations; and at one time the Moabites subdued them, at another the Ammonites, and at another the Midianites. Then, when they turned back, God would take them up again; and after this, when they transgressed again, he would deliver them to other enemies, and again he would recover them; but he never cast them off forever, but turning them for a short time, he led them to salvation. But after the crime they dared commit against the Savior, wrath came upon them to the uttermost, according to the apostolic Scripture, so that from that time until now they have no longer raised their head. Which the prophecy signifies, saying: Why, O God, have you cast us off forever? And silently the text, through the question, hinted at the deed against our Savior, after which they were also cast off forever. This the Savior himself also indicated, saying: How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing? Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For the phrase, How often I wanted, declares the long-suffering granted to them for a long time; while the phrase, and you were not willing, would be indicative of their final rejection, when his wrath was kindled against the sheep of his pasture that once were. Next, the text offers a supplication, saying: Remember your congregation, which you acquired from the beginning. And very appropriately it made mention of the congregation, and says that it was God's first possession; since it also knew of the Church which did not exist from the beginning, but was established later from all the nations after the fall of that one. Of which it also makes mention in other places, saying: In the midst of the Church I will sing praise to you; and again: I have proclaimed 23.856 righteousness in a great Church; and again: From you is my praise in a great Church. But not such also is the