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high places." But I think that by these things he is alluding to the things unlawfully dedicated to God on the hills. "And he broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the groves." And in what follows he recounts his praises. And with this piety, having drawn up for battle, he routed the Ethiopians, and pursuing them, consumed them all. He says that these had become their neighbors. "For they took, he says, much spoil, and smote the villages around Gerar, because a terror from the Lord came upon them; and they plundered their cities, 80.828 because much spoil was in them. And they also smote the tents of cattle, and the Amazoneim, and took many sheep, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem." That Gerar is in Palestine, I think no one will dispute. For around the city called Eleutheropolis, a Gerarene salt-marsh is named to this day. It is likely, therefore, that Ethiopian colonists inhabited that country; and certain others named Amazoneim, who, having warred against them, they utterly slew them all. After the victory, however, Azarias the son of Oded, the prophet, filled with the divine Spirit, met the army, and reminded them of the divine assistance, and urged them to remain in piety; "For if, he says, you seek him, he will be found by you; and if you forsake him, he will forsake you." He also shows them the impiety of the ten tribes; "For many days, he says, Israel will be without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. And they dwelt in straits; and in their distress they will return to the Lord, the God of Israel; and they will seek him, and he will be found by them." Do not imitate, he says, the impiety of your brothers. For they do not worship the true God, but those falsely named; and they are deprived of priests and teachers instructing in the law of God; but they will learn by experience how great an evil impiety is. For having fallen into all kinds of misfortunes, they will seek divine assistance; and they will obtain it because of his ineffable goodness. He also foretells the attack of the Assyrians; "For in those times, he says, there is no peace for him who goes out, because a great terror from the Lord is upon all the inhabitants of the lands. And nation will fight against nation, and city against city, because God has troubled them with every kind of distress." Then he advises them to hold their hope in God unshaken; "And you, he says, be strong; and let not your loins be slack, for there is a reward for your work." When the king heard these things, he destroyed whatever remained of the sanctuaries of the idols, and he cleansed as many cities of the ten tribes as he had taken. And the history also taught this, that a great multitude from the other tribes, having learned by experience of the piety of the two tribes, and the divine care which they enjoyed, 80.829 left their own cities, and fled to theirs, and preferred to sojourn in foreign lands than to dwell in their own. Asa, having gathered these together with the two tribes, celebrated a festival of victory; and having offered very many sacrifices to God, he made them all swear that they would not depart from the lawful way of life, but would worship only the God who had saved them. And so fervently did he embrace the divine laws, that he even deprived his own mother, who had chosen to worship Astarte, of her royal power; and having cut the idol to pieces, he burned it in the brook Kidron. But he was not perfect in all things. For first, he did not remove all the high places, that is, the altars dedicated to the God of all in high places. For it was forbidden to sacrifice elsewhere; for worship according to the law was confined to one place. Then, when Baasha warred against him, and fortified Ramah against Jerusalem, when it was necessary to call to his aid the one who had been the giver of so many good things to him, he called the king of Syria to his aid, sending him a very great amount of gold from the royal treasures, and indeed from the divine ones as well. But the benevolent Lord did not leave him without healing; but Anani

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ὑψηλά." Ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι διὰ τούτων αἰνίττεσθαι τὰ παρανόμως τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τοῖς βουνοῖς ἀνακείμενα. "Καὶ συνέτριψε τὰς στήλας, καὶ ἐξέκοψε τὰ ἄλση." Καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δὲ τοὺς ἐπαίνους διέξεισι. Μετὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας δὲ ταύτης παραταξάμενος ἐτρέψατο τοὺς Αἰθίοπας, καὶ διώκων ἅπαντας κατηνάλωσεν. Ὁμόρους δὲ λέγει τούτους αὐτῶν γεγενῆσθαι. "Ἐσκύλευσαν γὰρ, φησὶ, σκῦλα πολλὰ, καὶ ἐξέκοψαν τὰς κώμας αὐτῶν κύκλῳ Γεράρων, ὅτι ἐγένετο ἔκστασις Κυ ρίου ἐπ' αὐτούς· καὶ διήρπασαν τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν, 80.828 ὅτι σκῦλα πολλὰ ἐγενήθη αὐτοῖς. Καί γε τὰς σκηνὰς κτηνῶν, καὶ τοὺς Ἀμαζονεὶμ ἐξέκοψαν, καὶ ἔλαβον πρόβατα πολλὰ, καὶ καμήλους, καὶ ὑπ έστρεψαν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ." Ὅτι δὲ τὰ Γέραρα τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐστὶν, οὐδένα ἀντερεῖν οἶμαι. Περὶ γὰρ τὴν καλουμένην Ἐλευθερόπολιν Γεραρηνῶν σαλ τὸν μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ὠνόμασται. Εἰκὸς τοίνυν ἀποίκους Αἰθιόπων ἐκείνην οἰκῆσαι τὴν χώραν· καὶ ἄλλους δέ τινας Ἀμαζονεὶμ ὠνομασμένους, οὓς κατ' αὐτῶν στρατεύσαντας ἄρδην κατέκτειναν ἅπαντας. Μετὰ μέντοι τὴν νίκην, Ἀζαρίας υἱὸς Ὀδὴδὁ προφήτης Πνεύματος θείου πλησθεὶς ἀπαντήσας τῇ στρατιᾷ, καὶ τῆς θείας ἐπικουρίας ἐμνημόνευσε, καὶ προσμένειν τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ παρέτρεψεν· "Ἐὰν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκζητήσητε αὐτὸν, καὶ εὑρεθήσεται ὑμῖν· καὶ ἐὰν ἐγκατελίπητε αὐτὸν, ἐγκαταλείψει ὑμᾶς." Ἐπιδείκνυσι δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν δέκα φυλῶν τὴν ἀσέβειαν· "Ἡμέραι γὰρ, φησὶ, πολλαὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν οὐ Θεῷ ἀληθινῷ, καὶ οὐχ ἱερέως ὑποδεικνύντος, καὶ ἐν οὐ νόμῳ. Καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐν στενότητι· καὶ ἐπιστρέψουσιν ἐν θλίψει ἐπὶ Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ζητήσουσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ εὑρεθήσεται αὐτοῖς." Μὴ ζηλώσητε, φησὶ, τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν τὴν ἀσέβειαν. Ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ οὐ τῷ ἀληθινῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ψευδωνύμοις λατρεύουσι· καὶ ἐστέρηνται ἱερέων καὶ διδασκάλων ἐκπαιδευόντων τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον· ἀλλὰ μαθήσονται τῇ πείρᾳ ὅσον κακὸν ἡ ἀσέβεια. Παντοδαπαῖς γὰρ συμφοραῖς περιπεσόντες τὴν θείαν ἐπικουρίαν ζητήσουσι· καὶ τεύξονται ταύτης διὰ τὴν ἄφατον ἀγαθότητα. Προλέγει δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τὴν ἔφοδον· "Ἐν γὰρ τοῖς καιροῖς, φησὶν, ἐκείνοις οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη τῷ ἐκπορευομένῳ, ὅτι ἔκστασις Κυρίου πολλὴ ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς κατοι κοῦντας γαίας. Καὶ πολεμήσει ἔθνος πρὸς ἔθνος, καὶ πόλις πρὸς πόλιν, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐξέστησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει." Εἶτα αὐτοῖς εἰσηγεῖται τὴν εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπίδα κατέχειν ἀσάλευτον· "Καὶ ὑμεῖς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἰσχύσατε· καὶ μὴ ἐκλυέσθωσαν αἱ ὀσφύες ὑμῶν, ὅτι ἔστι μισθὸς τῆς ἐργασίας ὑμῶν." Τού των ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀκούσας, ὅσα ἦν ὑπόλοιπα τῶν εἰδώλων τεμένη κατέλυσε, καὶ ὅσας παρέλαβε τῶν δέκα φυλῶν ἐξεκάθηρε πόλεις. Ἐδίδαξε δὲ ἡ ἱστορία καὶ τοῦτο, ὡς ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων φυλῶν πλῆθος πολὺ τῇ πείρᾳ μεμαθηκὸς τῶν δύο φυλῶν τὴν εὐσέβειαν, καὶ τὴν θείαν κηδεμονίαν, ἧς ἀπολαύουσι, τὰς μὲν 80.829 οἰκείας κατέλιπον πόλεις, εἰς δὲ τὰς τούτων κατέφυ γον, καὶ τὸ παροικεῖν ἐν ἀλλοτρίαις τοῦ τὰς οἰκείας οἰκεῖν προετίμησαν. Τούτους μετὰ τῶν δύο φυλῶν συναγαγὼν ὁ Ἀσὰ, ἑορτὴν ἐπινίκιον ἐπετέλεσε· καὶ πάμπολλα θύματα προσενεγκὼν τῷ Θεῷ, ὀμόσαι παρεσκεύασεν ἅπαντας, ὡς τῆς ἐννόμου πολιτείας οὐκ ἀποστήσονται, ἀλλὰ μόνῳ λατρεύσουσι τῷ σεσω κότι Θεῷ. Οὕτω δὲ θερμῶς τοὺς θείους ἠσπάσατο νόμους, ὅτι καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὑτοῦ, τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ λατρεῦσαι προειλομένην, τῆς βασιλείας ἐγύμνωσε· καὶ τὸ εἴδωλον συγκόψας κατέκαυσεν ἐν τῷ χειμάῤ ῥῳ Κέδρων. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν ἅπασι τέλειος ἦν. Πρῶ τον μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ἅπαντα ἐξῆρε τὰ ὑψηλὰ, τουτέστι τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς χωρίοις ἀνακειμένους τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων βωμούς. Ἀπηγόρευτο γὰρ ἑτέρωσε θύειν· ἑνὶ γὰρ ἡ κατὰ νόμον λατρεία περιώριστο τόπῳ. Ἔπειτα δὲ τοῦ Βαασᾶ στρατεύσαντος κατ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν Ῥαμὰ τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπιτειχίσαντος, δέον εἰς συμμαχίαν καλέσαι τὸν τοσούτων ἀγαθῶν αὐτῷ γενόμενον χορηγὸν, τὸν βασιλέα τῆς Συρίας εἰς συμμαχίαν ἐκάλεσεν· ἐκ τῶν βασιλικῶν θησαυ ρῶν, καὶ μέντοι καὶ τῶν θείων, χρυσὸν αὐτῷ πέμψας ὅτι μάλιστα πλεῖστον. Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτὸν ἀνία τον ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Κύριος· Ἀνανὶ δὲ