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Floating people are exposed to many misfortunes. If the wind blows too strong, they are afraid of a storm. If very quiet movement disturbs the surface of a calm element, then they fear an ambush by sea robbers. And it happens that souls who have entrusted themselves to a fragile tree are either afraid of danger or experiencing it: one of them is heavier than the other - either constantly afraid of death, or being exposed to the one they were afraid of. I see what also happened to me, sailing on the sea of ​​Isaiah: for while the sails were stretched on an unhindered path and the ship glided along the calm hands of the elements, plowing the surface of the sea; a sudden storm of illness, a great mass of water and the noise heard from the mutual collision of waves, so frightened the fearful hearts of friends that they were forced to say: Teacher, save us, we are perishing (Matthew 8:25). Therefore, Eustochia, the only example of nobility and virginity in the whole world, let the apple of your eye not be silent and cry out in your heart: Abba, Father (Rom. 8), and speak with the psalmist: Arise, write to this world, O Lord (Ps. 8:23) in order to complete the work dedicated to Isaiah through your prayers and with the help of Christ. For the thirteenth book of interpretations is already being prepared, which has not yet reached its end. And meanwhile, until the merciful and merciful Lord, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, returns to his former health, I hastily dictated this to the preface, so that what is there would be written down on sheets of paper, and so that the full correction could be left to the reader’s judgment. Chapter XLV. Art. 8. Sprinkle, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds shed righteousness; may the earth open up and may the Savior grow and may the truth appear together. I, the Lord, created it. LXX: Let the heavens above rejoice and let the clouds sprinkle righteousness; let the earth grow, and let mercy appear, and let it bring forth righteousness: I am the Lord who created you. This place is explained in two ways. For some think that this is in connection with what was said above and that when the captives are freed by King Cyrus, heaven and earth rejoice - metonymically (μετωνυμιϰῶς), that is, instead, those who live in heaven and earth. Others separate it from the previous one and believe that this is a special beginning of this section and that [here] the coming of the Lord is prophesied, that a command is given to the clouds, about which it was written above: I will command the clouds not to rain on it (Is. 5:6), that is, on the vineyard of Israel, and to which the truth of God has reached, so that righteousness or truth will be poured out on the world, and so that the earth will open up and bring forth the Savior. It is sung about it in the Psalms: truth came up from the earth, and righteousness came from heaven (Ps. 84:12), or according to the Seventy: the earth brought forth mercy and righteousness together, so that sinners would achieve mercy and the righteous would receive rewards. The next thing is: I, the Lord, created it or: I, the Lord, who created you by the name of creation will not tempt the one who read that he is a worm and a slave and came from the earth. Art. 9–13. Woe to him who quarrels with his teacher: a shard from the shards of the earth. Will the clay say to its potter, “What are you doing?” and your work: “he has no arms.” Woe to him who says to his father, “Why are you giving birth?” and to the mother: “Why are you suffering through childbirth?” Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his teacher; ask Me about the future of My sons and show Me the work of My hands. I created the earth, and I created man on it; My hands stretched out the heavens, and I gave commandment to all their army. I have built it up in righteousness, and I will make all its paths straight. He will build (or has built) My city, and He will release My captives, not for ransom or for gifts, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: What better thing have I made than the potter's clay? Will not the one who plows plow the ground? Will the clay say to the potter, “What are you doing? For you neither do nor have hands.” Woe to him who says to his father, “Why are you giving birth?” and to the mother: “Why are you suffering through childbirth?” For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who created the things to come: Ask Me concerning My sons, and show Me the works of My hands. I created the earth and man on it; I have established the heavens with My hand; I gave a commandment to all the stars. I have raised him up to be a king with righteousness: all his ways are straight. He will build My city and bring back My captive people, not for price or for gifts, said the Lord God of hosts. Those who want to attribute what was said to the person of Cyrus explain this passage in this way. Since I promise great things, namely, that as a result of the return of My people to Judea, I will overthrow all kingdoms before Cyrus: then woe to him who does not believe and thinks that what I say will not come true, just as if clay and a broken shard blamed its potter for what it was made or that it was made that way, and if the work began to speak against the hands of the artist and the son blamed father and mother for the fact that it was produced on earth according to the law of nature. Therefore, since I, the Lord the Holy One of Israel, formed Cyrus and he was born at My command; then it is completely unnecessary for you to doubt about the future, on the contrary, you should know that I govern My sons, the people of Israel, and the work of My hands, not according to your decision, but according to My will, that I, who formerly caused darkness and disaster for them, now give them light and peace. For I am God, who did not create the earth in vain, that it should be empty and uncultivated, but that people should dwell on it. I spread out or established the heavens to serve as the abode of the angels, and adorned them with various stars, and commanded each of them to move in order and determine the different lengths of days, months and years. So, if I created the heavens and the earth, what great is it if I created one king who will fulfill My commandments, and if I make all his paths straight? For he will command that My city Jerusalem be built, and that the captives return to Judah, not for ransom or for gifts, but according to My will, says the Lord God of hosts. And whoever refers the thought that has begun to Christ, sets out his interpretation this way: woe to those who argue with God and think that Christ will not come, just as if clay and a shard of shards began to argue with its potter. Woe to him who says to the almighty Father: Why are you begetting a Son? and to his wife, Saint Mary: why are you being delivered from your burden? The apostle writes about her that Christ was born of a woman and was subject to the law (Gal. 4). Therefore, thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel, who formed the Savior in the womb of the virgin, speaking through Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you: with the same thing that is holy and is to be born, he will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35): let the potsherd ask Me and explore the mysteries of the future, and let him show Me how I should revive adopted sons who will believe in My Son. And the Evangelist John says: the little ones received Him, and gave them the power to become children of God (John 1:12). If I created the earth so that it would be inhabited by people, and spread out the heavens from above, and decorated them with various stars so that the worshipers of God would live on earth, what is surprising if I sent into the world, or raised up from the underworld My Son, a righteous king, all whose ways are right? For He did not commit sin, lest flattery be found in His mouth (1 Peter 2:22). He will build My city on the rock, which the gates of hell will not overcome (Matthew ch. 16) and which, standing on the mountain, cannot hide (Matthew 5): and He will set everyone free who were previously bound by the bonds of demons, not for a ransom or for gifts, for you were saved freely, since the apostles listened and fulfilled [the commandment]: tune, take, tune give (Matthew 10:8). Some attribute this to Zerubbabel, who brought the captives out of Babylon and built the city and built the church, as Haggai and Zechariah prophesied and said: with the hand of Zerubbabel they founded this church, and with his hand they will finish it (Zech. 4:9). But we say more correctly and closer to the truth that Cyrus did not build the city that was later built under Nehemiah, and not all of his ways were straight, to whom it was said above: I accepted and girded you, but you did not know Me, and that everything that is said does not correspond to the position of Zerubbabel, who was dependent and under the authority of the Medes and Persians. For Zerubbabel neither built the city nor released the captives and cannot be called king, since he, living under the authority of other kings, did not have this name. But what did the Seventy mean, who at the beginning of this section translated: What better thing have I made than the potter's clay? Will not the one who plows plow the ground? I am not able to know this, unless I follow the publication of Theodotion, who instead stated: woe to him who argues with his Creator, plowing those who plow the earth, that is, wounding the hearts of people through repentance and, like furrows, digging and overturning them. But this explanation is also absurd. Further, the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans says that God is called the potter, that is, our Creator and Maker: the food says to the one who created it: Why did you create me like this? Or is it not the imam of power who is a miser in the mud, and from the same confusion will you create for us a vessel for honor, but not for honor (Rom. 9:20–21)? And it is written in more detail by Jeremiah, who among other things reports: And he went down into the house of a poor man, and there he did his work on stone. And he broke the vessel that he had made from clay with his hands: and then make another vessel out of it, as was pleasing in his sight. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Food, like this poor man, will I not be able to bring you to grief, O house of Israel? The Lord said: “Behold, as clay is in the hand of the wicked, so you are, O house of Israel, in My hand” (Jer. 18:3-6). And this written: I gave a commandment to all the stars gives some reason [to think] that the stars are intelligent and that they have a soul and feeling. For, they say, He could command only rational [creatures], not remembering what is written in Jonah: “The Lord commanded the hot wind” (Jon. 4:8), and again: “he commanded the worm of the morning” (ibid., v. 7), and that the Savior in the Gospel forbade the winds and the sea (Luke 7), which obviously do not have feelings and reason. Art. 14–17. Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and the trade of Ethiopia are not the Sheba, high people, they will come over to you and be yours: they will follow you; bound by hand bonds they will come and bow before you and beg you: in you there is only God, and there is no God besides you. In truth, You are the hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior. All are ashamed and disgraced: together [with them] the perpetrators of errors went away in shame. Israel is saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: you will never be judged or put to shame for ever and ever. LXX: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Egypt and the trade of the Ethiopians and the Shebaites have become weary: high people will come to you, and will be your slaves, and will follow you, bound by hand, and will come to you, and will bow down before you and entreat you: for God is in you, and there is no God besides you. For You are God, and we did not know: the God of Israel, the Savior. Let all His opponents be put to shame and put to shame, and let them walk in shame. ÷ Be renewed with Me, the islands ⁑ Israel will be saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation: they will never be comprehended or put to shame. And in this place, those following the historical understanding say that Egypt and the Ethiopians and the Sabean peoples located beyond Ethiopia were enslaved by Cyrus, and the most distant peoples were also subject to him, who from the extraordinary victory understood that the Lord was in him, and that there was no other God except the one who dwelt in him. But how can the following be consistent with the face of Cyrus: Truly You are the hidden God, the Holy One of Israel, the Savior, I do not understand this, unless they use the edition of Theodotion, who translated: in you is strong, and there is no other God besides Him: therefore You are the strong, hidden God of Israel, the Savior. But wherever they turn, they will not be able to escape the bonds of truth. For let us suppose that God dwells in Cyrus and there is no other God except the one who is in Cyrus: but how false would it be to say about the person of Cyrus: truly you are the hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior? So, by God, in whom God dwells, it is more correct and closer to the truth to understand our Lord Jesus Christ, who in the Gospel says: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). He is called the hidden God because of the mystery of the incarnation, and the God of Israel, the Savior, which means Jesus, because He, according to the angel Gabriel, will save His people (Luke 1). All together were put to shame and put to shame: that is, the scribes and Pharisees. And the authors of the error, who spread lies throughout the world, went away in shame, saying that He was stolen by the apostles (Matthew 28). Israel is saved in the Lord with eternal salvation: of course, the face of the apostles and those who believed through the apostles. Therefore it is said to them: you will not be put to shame and put to shame, not only in the present age, but also in the future. And that Egypt and the Ethiopians and the Sabeans, high and famous people, served Him, no one doubts this, who sees that the whole world is subordinate to Him, and from the name of the few nations living on the extreme reaches of the earth, sees that all the edges of heaven and all the shores of earth will believe in Him. Therefore, it is beautifully said about the cessation of the work of the Egyptians, as if they were laboring over the error of idolatry. For no nation was so devoted to idolatry and did not honor such a countless number of monsters as Egypt, about which we read above: behold, the Lord will ascend on a light cloud and enter Egypt, and the Egyptian idols will shake at His presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in the midst of it (Is. 19:1). Then, added by the Seventy: Be renewed with Me, we can explain the islands by saying that the churches, composed of the Gentiles, are renewed in Christ; They are called islands because they are subject to the fury of pursuers and storms and, being founded on rock, are not shaken by any force of whirlwinds. The Jews recklessly strive to assert that to the point where it is read: God is in you alone, and there is no God besides You, it is said either to Jerusalem or to Cyrus. In the following further: truly You are the hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior, as if suddenly an appeal is made to the omnipotent God, while even for people of little intelligence it is clear that there is one coherent speech and that it is impossible to separate the thought, which is connected both in the very order and in the manner of presentation. Art. 18–25. For thus says the Lord who creates the heavens, He who forms the earth and creates it, He who makes it, He did not create it in vain; He formed it for residence: I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, not in a dark place on earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek Me in vain. I am the Lord, who speaks truth, who proclaims what is right. Gather together and come and draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations: they have not known that they carry their wooden idol, and pray to a God who does not save. Announce and say and consult together: who announced this from the beginning, who foretold this from ancient times? Is it not I, Lord? And there is no more God besides Me. There is no righteous and saving God besides Me. Turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other. I swear by myself—out of my mouth the word of righteousness will come and will not return—that to me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear by me. So in the Lord, he will say, Mine is righteousness and authority; all who rebelled against Him will come to Him and be ashamed. In the Lord all the seed of Israel will be justified and glorified. LXX: Thus says the Lord who made the heavens; He, God, showed the earth and created it; He divided her. It was not in vain that He created her; but he educated her for residence. I am the Lord and not yet. I did not speak in secret, nor in a dark place on earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek vain things; I am the Lord who speaks truth, who proclaims truth. Gather yourselves together, and come and take counsel together, you who have escaped from among the nations: those who bear their wooden idol have not known: they pray to gods who do not save. If they announce it, let them draw near to find out together who announced it from the beginning—then it was announced to you. Is it not I, the Lord God, and there is no other besides Me: there is none righteous and saving beside Me. Turn to Me and you will be saved from the ends of the earth. I am God and there is no other. By Myself I swear, unless righteousness comes out of My mouth, My words will not return: that before Me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear and confess to God, saying: Truth and glory will come to Him, and all who are separated from the Lord will be ashamed: all the seed of the children of Israel will be justified in God and glorified. By the calling of Egypt, Ethiopia and the high men of Savea, through which the salvation of all barbarian peoples and the turning of the whole world to God is indicated, God shows His truth - that He is the Lord not only of the Jews, but also of the pagans. For He, the creator of heaven and earth, is equally the God of all, and for no other reason did He create the earth than so that it would serve as a place of residence for people and so that they would worship their Creator and know Him, and despise all idols. For even on Mount Sinai, from the very top of it, he said this in the hearing of the people: Let not the gods honor you except Me, and: Do not make for yourself an idol (Ex. 20:3-4). But it is better to recognize this as what was said about the apostolic preaching, because Moses spoke this only to one people in the hidden desert, and the sound of the apostles passed throughout the entire universe and their words reached the ends of the earth (Ps. 18). I did not say, he says, to the seed of Jacob: seek Me in vain: for I promised them the kingdom of heaven and at first said to them: I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). And for this reason I spoke the truth and proclaimed what is right or true, so that, leaving behind the images and rites of the law, they would follow the truth of the Gospel. But since they did not want to believe and recognized themselves as unworthy of salvation; then I say to the Gentiles: gather together from all the world and come and draw near to Me together, you who have escaped from the nations. By this He shows that all nations will not believe immediately, but gradually and in parts. Finally, he denounces those who remain in the same error, saying: those who carry their wooden idol and pray to God, who does not save, have not known. The meaning is this: you have not understood My words, being burdened with the burden of your idols and relying on those in whom there is no salvation. Therefore, the apostles are commanded to proclaim the truth in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4) and make decisions regarding the salvation of the pagans. This, that is, so that very many who had been saved from the nations would gather and come, God spoke from the beginning and the mouth of all the prophets proclaimed, who spoke the word of that Lord, besides whom there is no other. For the Son is God not outside Him, but in Him. And he beautifully adds: the righteous God, not just one people, but the whole world, to whom he says: turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth, according to the fulfillment of what the Father promised the Son: ask of Me, and I will give Your tongues Your inheritance and Your possession, the ends of the earth (Ps. 2:8). And He swears by Himself that the decision of His mouth and the word that He once spoke regarding the salvation of the nations will not be invalid, but in fact His promise will be fulfilled, which says above: turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth. He swears according to the apostle (Heb. 6) so that through two unchangeable objects, regarding which it is impossible to lie to God, we have firm consolation; He also swears that, after the abandonment of idols, every knee will bow to Him, in heaven, on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2), and that every tongue of mortals will swear by Him. This clearly refers to the Christian people. For it is the custom of the church to bow the knee before Christ: the Jews do not do this at all, revealing arrogance of spirit. But every tongue of all barbarian peoples, not in synagogues, but in the churches of Christ, will confess God. Every tongue that confesses Christ will speak about the Lord and say: my righteousness and my power, and not the people of the Jews. All nations will come to Him, and those who previously rebelled against His Gospel will be ashamed, and all the seed of Israel will be justified and glorified - those whose preaching and very abundant harvest throughout the world have brought very rich fruits. Or according to the Seventy, every tongue that swears by God and confesses Him will say that the righteousness and glory of the whole world comes to Him, and the Jews who separate themselves from Him will be ashamed. Those who came from the tribe of the sons of Israel and were born from the seed of the apostles and believed in Christ will have righteousness and eternal glory. Chapter XLVI. Art. 1–2. Bel was crushed, Nabo was cast down: their images were made for beasts and beasts; your burdens have become a heavy burden to the point of weariness. They decayed and were crushed together: they could not save the bearer and their soul would go into captivity. LXX: Vil has fallen, Dagon has been crushed. They were idolized by beasts and animals; you carry them bound, as a burden for him who labors, and is weary, and hungers, and cannot overcome, along with those who cannot be saved from the war, but were themselves taken into captivity. After the calling of the Gentiles and the election of the believers from Israel, it testifies to the fall of idols. Vilus fell, fell, or was crushed, whom the Greeks call Vilos, and the Latins call Saturn. He was so revered by the ancients that they brought him not only human sacrifices from captives and common people, but also their children. Navo is also an idol, which means both prophecy and divination, and indicates that after the truth of the Gospel it fell silent throughout the world, or, according to the Seventy, Dagon, which, however, is not in the Hebrew. This is the idol of Ascalon, Gaza and other Philistine cities. And from the particular he moves to the general: they were idolized for beasts and animals: not in the sense that pagan idols were given as prey to beasts and animals, but in the fact that the objects of worship among the pagans are images of beasts and dumb animals, which, especially in Egypt, enjoy the divine cult. Virgil [says] about them: And monsters of all kinds of gods and barking Anubis. 52 For many of their cities [the Egyptians] have names from beasts and animals: Κυνῶν from a dog, λέων from a lion, Θμοῦις from a goat in Egyptian, Λύϰων from a wolf - in order to keep silent about the terrible and terrible onion and the noise from the inflated belly, which characteristic of the Pelusian religion. These, he says, are idols that cannot save those who carry them; they are something other than the burden of the priests, burdening them to the point of fatigue. When captivity comes, then, due to the value of the metals from which they are made, they are first of all taken captive and cannot free either their souls or those who wear them - not in the sense that dumb idols, devoid of feelings, have a soul and any feeling of pain, but ϰαταϰρηστιϰῶς (in a figurative sense) it is said about the soul and members of those objects that do not have feelings and members. Also in Proverbs it is read: death and life are in the hand of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Or so it should be said that the error of idolatry was a very heavy burden among the pagans, which pressed its admirers to the ground and could not save and made their souls captives of the devil and demons. Art. 3–7. Listen to Me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel, received by Me from the womb, carried by Me from the womb. Until [your] old age I am the same, and until you are gray I will carry [you]: I created and I will carry: I will support and save. To whom did you liken Me and with whom did you compare and contrast Me and make Me similar, pouring gold out of a purse and weighing silver on scales, hiring an artist to make a god: and they fall down before him and bow down. They lift it onto their shoulders, carrying it and placing it in its place, and it will stand and not move from its place. But when they shout to him, he will not hear, and will not save them from trouble. LXX: Listen to Me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of Israel, whom I have carried from the womb and taught from childhood to old age. I am, and while you grow old, I am. I bear with you: I created and I will bear, I will raise and save you. Who do you liken Me to? Look, consider, those who are mistaken and pour gold out of a purse and weigh silver on scales and hire an artist: they have done the work of their hands and bowed down to worship: they lift it on their shoulders and walk. If they put him in his place, he will remain and will not move, and will not hear the one shouting to him and will not save him from troubles. He does not call him either Jacob or Israel, which alone, without adding slave and youth and chosen, is said, as we said above, as a reproach to the people, but much worse - the house of Jacob and the remnants of Israel, due to kinship in flesh and blood, and as if they were scum from the remnants of Israel. And he teaches them that they, like youths and infants, were carried by God from Egypt, as if through the womb of a pregnant mother. And this is not because the ineffable and incomprehensible greatness of God has either a belly or a womb and legs, and arms and other members of the body, but so that we, through words characteristic of us, know the love of God. Also in the one hundred and ninth psalm it is also sung on behalf of God. For in the place where the Seventy translated: from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to you (Ps. 109:3), in Hebrew it is written: merehem, which means from the womb (de vulva). In the present place it is written not only from the womb and womb, that is, mebeten and merehem, but menni, which prefix means from my womb or from my womb. The meaning is this: I, who gave birth to you from childhood and carried you in My womb and womb, will protect you until old age - not Mine, but yours, in order to teach them that they will be saved by divine mercy. For the Creator of all things spares his creation, and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. But a hireling, whose sheep are not his own, when he sees a wolf, runs away (John 10). So, since I created and gave birth to children, I myself will carry and support them. According to the Seventy, who said: whom I bear from the womb and teach from childhood to old age, this means that those who do not have the knowledge of God study in vain day and night in the law of God, but reverence the images of people and animals, so that they need prophetic reproof, through which God says to them: to whom have you likened Me and compared Me with him, etc.: because they poured out gold and silver and, having hired sculptors, made idols and worshiped their hand-made ones, which rise to the shoulders and, being strengthened and installed, cannot move and help those by whom they are revered. We run through the clear in order, by the mercy of Christ, to reveal the hidden. Art. 8–11. Remember this, and strengthen yourself, and return, O apostates, to your heart. Remember the previous age, for I am God and there is no God yet and there is none like Me, proclaiming from the beginning what will happen in the end, and from a long time what has not yet happened, saying: My decision will take place and all my will will be fulfilled; calling the bird from the east and the doer of My will from a far country; and I have spoken this and will bring it [to fulfillment]; I created and will fulfill it. LXX: Remember this and groan, repent, you who err. Turn your hearts and remember the things that have happened before from the [beginning of] the age: for I am God, and there is no one else besides Me, who declares in advance the things that are to come, before they come to pass and are fulfilled, and said: all my will will come to pass, and all that I have determined, I will fulfill; Since I myself gave birth to you, carried you myself, and from childhood to old age you are saved not by your merits, but by My love; then leave the idols that you have made, and turn to the worship of one God. Repent, groan about the error that has taken possession of you, or better strengthen yourself so that the sudden whirlwind of idolatry does not overthrow you again, and return to your heart, that is, to your mind, since you, worshiping idols, stumbled over trees and stones like madmen. Consider [everything that has happened] from the beginning of the world, for besides Me there is no God, and no one else can know the future except Me, who foretells through the prophets what I have to do, so that, after the fulfillment of what was predicted, through foreknowledge (divinatione) I can prove divinity (divinitatem). For I now say that a mystery will take place, which was previously unknown to all generations, or rather, My decision, so that when you see its fulfillment, you will know that there is no God except the one who knew that it would be, or rather, commanded that it should happen. I call from the east a bird, as the Jews think, Cyrus, the king of Persia, or Darius, the ruler of the Media, and from a distant land the executor of My will, who will carry out all My will against Babylon and the Chaldeans, or, as we affirm the truth of this, the Lord Savior, about whom Balaam also prophesies: a star will shine from Jacob and a man from Israel ( Numbers 24:17), whose name is East (Zechariah ch. 6), which was worshiped by the wise men who came from the east. For He says in the Psalms: Do Thy will, O God (Ps. 39:9), about which the Father spoke and confirmed His promise in practice. Seventy, instead of what we translated from the Hebrew: doer of My will, they put: about whom I have determined. Thus, in relation to them, by the birds called from the east, we can understand the angelic servants who, at the command of the Lord, are sent throughout the world - these are ministering spirits that are sent to save believers. It is also sung about them in the psalm: “Thou shalt make angels His spirits, and His servants a fiery flame” (Ps. 103:4). Art. 12–13. Listen to Me, you hard-hearted, far from the truth. I have brought My righteousness near: it will not be far off, and My salvation will not tarry: I will give salvation in Zion and My glory in Israel. LXX: Listen to Me, you who have lost your heart, who are far from the truth. I have brought My righteousness and My salvation will not delay. I gave salvation and glory to Israel in Zion. Those to whom he said above: listen to Me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel, and again: return, O apostates, to the heart, he also now calls for unbelief, according to the Hebrew text, hard-hearted, and according to the Seventy, those who have destroyed the heart and mind. Following this, the most learned man and martyr Stephen, worthy of his name, spoke in the assembly of the Jews: with stiff necks and uncircumcision of heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, like your fathers (Acts 7:51). Thus, they are far from the truth of God, because they did not believe in it, which God, in His mercy, brought close and sent to earth, and does not want to slow down and remove it. For He has given Zion His salvation and His glory to Israel. This is said about the prediction of the future and the coming of the Lord Savior. But, in relation to historical understanding, salvation is given to Zion and glory to Israel because God brought His righteousness closer, calling from the east a bird and from a distant land the executor of His will, who will avenge the injustices inflicted on Israel and the destroyed Jerusalem and, having defeated the Medes and Persians, will destroy Babylon and the Chaldeans, as the subsequent words of the prophet testify. Chapter XLVII. Art. 1–3. Come down, sit on the dust, maiden, daughter of Babylon: sit on the earth, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called luxurious and tender. Take the millstones and grind the flour; expose your shame, open your shoulder, open your shins, cross the rivers. Your dishonor will be revealed and your shame will be seen: I will take vengeance, and man will not stand against Me. LXX: Come down, sit on the ground, maiden, daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called luxurious and tender. Take the millstones and grind the flour. Open your veil, expose your gray hair, uncover your shins, cross the rivers: your dishonor will be revealed, your shame will be revealed. I will take what is righteous from you and will no longer give it to people. As in Ezekiel, under the image of a ship and all its accessories, the decoration of Tire, devoted to trade, is described (Ezek. 37), and because of the abundance of waters, the king of Egypt is called a dragon, and reeds and reeds and small fish are described, and the fornication of Jerusalem with idols is evidenced through a comparison with dissolute women and a brothel: so in the present place, under the face of a captive woman who was once a queen, the enslavement of Babylon is indicated, and he is told to come down from his royal arrogance and sit on the dust. It is called a maiden and a daughter, either because all of us people are the creation of God and that Babylon does not deserve condemnation, as the heretics claim, by nature, or because of the luxury and decorations of the city, once very strong, which, having grown old and approaching its fall, boasted that it was a maiden and a young woman, although some, on the basis of what was written according to the Seventy Daughters of Babylon, attribute this not to Babylon itself, but to the city of Rome, which in the revelation of John (Apoc. 14) and in the letter of Peter (1 Pet. 5) is especially called Babylon, and concerning all that is now said to Babylon, it is asserted that this corresponds to its destruction, and that the bird and the truth of God must be called against it, so that, after the salvation of Zion, that is, the Church, it perishes forever. So it is said to Babylon, the queen and daughter of the Chaldeans (for it was founded by the Chaldeans), that she, who was carried in the arms of all peoples, so that her feet barely touched the ground, will no longer be called luxurious and tender and drowning in pleasures, and she is commanded to take millstones and grind flour, which serves as a sign of severe captivity and extreme enslavement, so that the former queen would later be used for grinding flour. But since it follows: expose your shame, then the Jews understand the millstone in a figurative sense, and precisely in the fact that it, like a dissolute woman, will be open to the lust of the victors. And regarding what is written in the book of Judges (Judges ch. 16) about Sampson, that he was condemned by the Philistines to grind, they believe that this means that the strongest of people was forced to do this in relation to foreign women. Where we translated: expose your shame, instead of which the LXX translated: uncover your veil, Theodotion put the very Hebrew word samtech, Akila semmatech. Symmachus τὸ σιωπλόν σου, what can we translate through your silence, because she should be silent out of shame. We also read in the Song of Songs, where the beauty of the bride is described and finally added: except for your silence (Song. P. 4:1), since those who translated did not want to translate the word that in the Holy Scripture meant shame. And rightly he uses shameful names in relation to Babylon (although there is no dishonor to call a member of the human body by its own name), who is commanded to bare his chest, and open his legs and thighs, and go into captivity, and so that his dishonor will be visible and he will be subjected to eternal shame. And this, says the Lord, He did in order to take revenge on him, who oppressed His people, and not to listen to any petitioner on his behalf who would try to soften the wrath of the Lord with his intercession. This means the angel, the guardian of the people of Babylon, who speaks along with the other angels: the physician of Babylon, and he was not healed (Jer. 51:9). In what is translated by the Seventy: I will take from you what is righteous and will no longer deliver it to people, which means either Babylon, or what is righteous and taken from Babylon. The Stoics say that many things that are shameful in reality are decent in name due to their misuse among people, such as parricide, adultery, homicide, incest, and the like. And then, what is decent in reality seems shameful by name, such as: giving birth to children, dispersing the winds in the stomach through rumbling, easing the stomach through bowel movements, emptying the bladder through the outpouring of urine, and finally we cannot do ὑποϰροιστιϰόν [diminutive name] from mint (a menta), like that as we say rutica from [the word] rue (and ruta rutulam). 53 So, semmatec, which Aquila placed, as we said, are called the female private parts. According to its word origin, it means thirsty for them, in order to designate the insatiable voluptuousness of Babylon. Art. 4–7. Our Redeemer is the Lord of hosts, His name is the Holy One of Israel. Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans, for they will no longer call you mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with My people, I destroyed My inheritance and delivered them into your hand: but you showed them no mercy. You burdened the elder extremely with your yoke and said: I will forever be your mistress; I didn’t imagine this in my heart and didn’t think about what would happen to you afterwards. LXX: The Lord of hosts, who delivered you, said, His name is the Holy One of Israel. Sit tenderly, enter into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; You will no longer be called the fortress of the kingdom. I was angry with My people, I destroyed My heritage. I have given them into your hand; but you showed them no mercy; You greatly burdened the old man with your yoke and said: I will be your mistress forever: you did not understand this in your heart and did not think about what would happen after. The first verse of the Seventy is in connection with the previous one, so that it has the following meaning: and the Lord of hosts, who delivered you, will do this, whose name is the Holy One of Israel. Further, according to the Hebrew text, the prophet on behalf of the people says that this was done against Babylon by the Lord of armies, whose name is the Holy One of Israel. And then the speech turns to Babylon itself. Sit silently or tenderly and think about your crimes. Enter into the darkness: for out of shame and disgrace you cannot endure the light, and you will not be called the mistress of any kingdom or of all kingdoms. But since the question imperceptibly arose why God was angry with the Chaldeans, whom He himself sent to captivate Israel; then at the same time he answers that He, being angry with His people, wanted to expose them, and not destroy them, to punish, and not to kill them. But they abused their cruelty and inflicted more blows than divine vengeance required. An important proof of the cruelty of the Babylonians is that they did not spare even the elders, whose age is respected even among their enemies. But it also serves as a sign of arrogance that they, seduced by present prosperity, did not think about the unknown future. Thus, in times of happiness, we must always fear the future and not oppress those given over to us, who are taught in order to become better. Art. 8–11. But now listen to this, pampered and self-reliant, saying in your heart: “I am, and there is no one else but me; I will not sit as a widow and experience barrenness.” But suddenly, in one day, both will come to you, barrenness and widowhood: everything will come to you because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great power of your sorceries. And you hoped in your villainy and said: no one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge - they deceived you and you said in your heart: “I am,” and besides me there is no other.” A disaster will come to you and you will not know its origin, and destruction will fall on you, which you will not be able to avert, a misfortune will suddenly come to you, which you will not know. Together, the bottom [disasters] will come to Babylon - infertility and widowhood, so that she will have neither children, that is, peoples subject to him, nor a husband, by which we can mean a king, and this he suffered suddenly, when he did not expect it. For he could not think that the Persians, who previously had no power, would defeat him during the reign of Cyrus and subjugate him to their power. You were subjected to this, he says, not only because of arrogance and the abundance of all riches and pleasures, but also because of the multitude of your sorceries and your sorceries in which you hoped. And a disaster will come upon you, which you did not know before, and the origin of which was unknown to you; or, as LXX translated: destruction will come upon you, and you will not know - a ditch, and you will fall into it, so that he who prepared the disaster of captivity for all nations will himself fall into the ditch that he prepared. We run through the clear sky quickly. Art. 12–15. Become with your magicians and with your many sorceries, which you have practiced from your youth; maybe this will help you, maybe you will become stronger. You are tired from your many deliberations: let the observers (augures) of the sky, who contemplated the stars and calculated the months, come forward and save you, in order to tell you the future by them. Behold, they became like stubble; the fire burned them up; They will not deliver their souls from the hand of the flame; there are no coals to warm yourself with, no fire to sit in front of. Such have become for you those with whom you have worked, your merchants from your youth, each wandering his own way; there is no one to save you. LXX: Stand now with your sorceries and with your many sorceries, which you learned from your youth, may they not help you; and you are tired of your deliberations: let the astrologers of the sky, the watchers of the stars, stand and save you: let them announce what will come upon you. They are all burned like brushwood in the fire, and they will not deliver their souls from the flames; For you have coals of fire, you will sit on them. They will help you. You have been working on changing yourself since your youth; man is lost in himself; there will be no salvation for you. That Babylon and all of Chaldea were distinguished by their adherence to spellcasters, and bird fortunetellers, and soothsayers and gazarins, whom we call aruspices, this is proven by reading the prophet Daniel, who says that the kings of Babylon did everything on their advice. Also, instead of what we translated according to Symmachus and Theodotion: let the observers (augures) of the sky stand and save you, Seventy more clearly translated: let the astrologers of the sky stand and save you, who are usually called mathematicians and believe that human life depends on the movement of the stars and the course of the planets. Therefore, the wise men came from the east, saying that they saw the star of the Lord either as a result of scientific knowledge or as a result of the prediction of their prophet, Balaam, who in (the book) of Numbers said: a star will shine from Jacob and a man from Israel (Num. 24:17). So those who calculate months and calculate years, and, determining minutes, promise knowledge of the future, let them tell you what the Lord has determined regarding you. And since they are silent regarding what will happen, the prophet answers: behold, they have become like straw, the fire has consumed them, so that those who promised salvation to others would know about their own executions: and it is certain that while the city was burning, its inhabitants were destroyed by a devouring fire. The following is further: there are no coals to warm up, no fire to sit in front of, the Jews explain this way: they do not have any warming knowledge and enlightening reason that could disperse their darkness and drive out the cold of error. Instead, Seventy, I don’t know for what purpose, was translated: you have coals of fire, you will sit on them; unless we can say that fire and burning were much more useful for Babylon than the magicians and gazarins, astrologers and spellcasters. For the former, through punishment and punishment, calls to repentance, and the latter, through error, leads to pride. All his work and his merchants, by whom we understand the Magi, contributed to the fact that each one wandered in his own way and, having perished himself, could not bring salvation to another. Let us ask those who recognize different natures: whether Babylon had a good nature or an evil one. If they say: evil - and they will undoubtedly answer so - then how is he called to repentance and why is it said to him: sit, tenderly, enter into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans, and further, after listing the sins and crimes: you, having coals of fire, will sit on them: will they be your help? Why is it also added, according to the same Seventy: have you worked on change since your youth? What is this change? Of course, from good to bad. From this it is obvious that those who are good by nature become evil by [their] will. Finally he adds: man is lost in himself - not by nature, but by decision of the will. Chapter XLVIII. Art. 1–2. Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who have sworn (vulgate: swearing) by the name of the Lord, and who have remembered the God of Israel, [though] not in truth and not in righteousness. For from the holy city they were called and relied on the Lord of Israel: the Lord of hosts is His name. I foretold that this would happen to the Chaldeans and Babylonians, and it is necessary that what I spoke through My prophets should actually be fulfilled. And you, the house of Jacob, and who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the water of Judah, etc., next, listen more carefully to what I say. And it should be noted that he does not call them Jacob, but the house of Jacob, and does not [call] Israel those who were falsely called by this name, since they did not have deeds corresponding to this name. And those who came from the waters of Judah, σεμνοτερῶς [with greater solemnity] calling water instead of seed, to show that they are not the sons of the virtues of the patriarchs, but of the flesh. And he rightly called it the waters of Judah, for only one tribe remained in the land of Judah at that time, in which the royal seed of David was preserved at that time. Those who swore, he says, in the name of the Lord, not to glorify the Lord, but to commit injustice through the adoption of this name, since you want Him to be a witness of your deception, and you rest in the holy city and rely on the Lord of Israel to boast that you are inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, and enjoy benefits from the Lord of hosts, although you only adopt the names of Jacob, Israel, and the holy city and Almighty God. Art. 3–11. I declared the former things long ago, and they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them: suddenly I did them, and they came. For I knew that you were stubborn and that your neck was made of iron and your forehead was of copper. Therefore, I predicted to you long before it came, I declared to you, so that you would not say: “My idols did this, and my graven images commanded this [to be].” Look at all the things you have heard; but you did not proclaim. I announced to you something new long ago, and something hidden that you do not know: it happened recently, and not a long time ago, and in a day, and you have not heard of anything that did not say: “I knew this.” You neither heard nor knew about this, and your ear was not open for a long time, for I know that you will be extremely treacherous, and from the womb I called you an apostate. For my name's sake I have put off my wrath, and for my glory's sake I will bridle you, so that you do not perish. Behold, I have melted you, but not like silver; chose you in the crucible of poverty. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do this, so as not to be blasphemed, and I will not give My glory to another. LXX: I declared the former things again, and they came out of My mouth, and they were declared: suddenly I did, and they came. I know that you are stubborn, and your vein is iron - your neck and your forehead are copper; and I told you long before it happened to you. I have told you that you should not say that my idols have done this to me; graven images and graven images have commanded me. You have heard everything and did not understand; but I have now made known to you a new thing that will happen. And you did not say: now this is happening, and not before and not in former days; Let not you say: I also know this, for you did not know, and do not know, and I did not open your ears from the beginning. For I know that you will be extremely treacherous and from your womb you will be called a transgressor. For My name's sake I will show you My wrath, and I will do My glory to you, so that I will not destroy you. Behold, I did not sell you for silver; I delivered you from the crucible of poverty. I will do this for My own sake, for My name is profaned, and I will not give My glory to another. I predict to you that the Babylonians will be defeated by the Medes and Persians, and I will suddenly accomplish what I threatened, so that, when the foretold occurs, you do not think that it happened by the will of the gods whom you worship, or by chance. And I do not boast about the knowledge of the future, but I speak because of your unbelief, since I know that from the beginning your heart was an unbeliever, your neck of iron and your forehead of brass. So you have heard about everything that will happen, and yet you silently hide the truth. And I am not talking about the past, through which My power was often proven - about how I brought the people out of Egypt, drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, handed over the Promised Land, and conquered various nations to you. But I declare a new thing - what I will do against the Babylonians to refute the shameless lies of your mouth, since you claim to know what you do not know. For from the beginning you were a transgressor of My commandments, and from the womb God called you a transgressor, when you were delivered from Egypt, as if conceived in My womb, and raised and trained. For you desired the head of the Egyptian calf, saying: these are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 32:4). So, not because of your merits, but because of My mercy, I put aside My wrath so that you would not perish completely, and for the sake of the glory of My name I will bridle you so that you involuntarily follow Me, like cattle and a bridled horse. So I melted you, that is, I tested you like silver melts. Or I wanted to test you not through wealth, but in the crucible of poverty. From this it is clear that many are tempted through both wealth and poverty, when they either abuse the former or do not bravely endure poverty. Thus, for My own sake, I will do this, so that My name is not blasphemed among the nations and so that they do not think that you are defeated not because of My wrath, but with the help of their idols. The addition: My glory I will not give to others indicates that they should not think that the people of God were oppressed by idols. Or, saying: I will not give to another, perhaps indicates that He has already given to another, since something else is spoken of in contrast to the first. Very many of us - to touch a little on the translation of the Seventy - think that here lies a prophecy about the coming of Christ, since He will come suddenly, unexpectedly and appear to an extremely stubborn people, to whom God has never opened his ears, for his heart has grown cold and with his ears he could hardly hear. And immediately after the birth of the Lord from a girl’s womb, he was called an apostate and lawless, since he sought to destroy Him. And adding: for the sake of My name I will show My wrath, and My glorious (or glory) will be done upon you, is used in the apostolic sense, or the Apostle Paul gives evidence from this place (Rom. 1) that the wrath of God is revealed to frighten those who sin and so that glory will then be given to those who are converted. Behold, he says, I did not sell you for money, but I sold you because of your sins, and delivered you from the crucible of poverty. Therefore Solomon (Prov. 30) does not want to have wealth and poverty, but demands only what is necessary, so that through the former his heart is not exalted to the point of pride, or that through the latter he is not driven to do what he does not want, and is not forced by poverty to blasphemy. Therefore, the apostle says: having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these (1 Tim. 6:8). Art. 12–16. Listen to Me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the same, I am the first and I am the last. My hand also founded the earth and My right hand measured the heavens: I have called (vulgate: I will call) them and they will appear together. Gather together, all of you, and listen: which of them announced this? The Lord loved him: he will do His will over Babylon and [show] His arm over the Chaldeans. I, I spoke and called him; I have brought him, and his path is straight. Come to Me and listen to this: I did not speak in secret from the beginning: from that time, before these things began to happen, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit. LXX: Listen to Me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the first and I am forever, and My hand founded the earth and My right hand established the heavens. I will call them, and they will appear together, and they will all gather and listen: who told them this? Loving you, I fulfilled your will over Babylon to destroy the seed of the Chaldeans, I spoke and I called. I brought him and made his path prosperous. Bring to Me and listen to this: from the beginning I did not speak in secret: when these things happened, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit. To whom he previously said: Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and who came from the waters of Judah, with the same he now says: Hear Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I call. For many are the callings, but few are the chosen (Matthew 22:14). This is why he calls them called and not chosen, because they have not yet accepted the Savior. I am, he says, alpha and omega, the first and the last, both living and being dead (Apoc. 22:14; 1:18), so that you attribute life to the beginning, and the last to the one who was dead, who humbled himself, receiving the form of a servant, having obeyed the Father, he humbled himself even to death, the death of the cross (Phil. 2:7). My hand founded the earth. Therefore, in Proverbs he says: “God in His wisdom founded the earth, and His right hand measured it” (Prov. ch. 8) or established the heavens or heavens, as the LXX translated. He calls the heavens to obey His command and tell His glory. If the heavens obey the will of the Lord and move in their own order; then why is the earth and ashes proud (Sir. 10:9) and does not want to know about their frailty? Gather together, all of you, and listen: either the heavens, or all creation, or the whole people of Israel. What is it commanded to listen to? That the Lord loved him undoubtedly points to Cyrus and Darius, who fulfilled the will of the Lord against Babylon and showed His arm over the Chaldeans. And He Himself spoke and called him by his name and brought him, and his way was straight, so that no one would dare to resist his powers. Therefore, He calls them to come and listen and learn from the foreshadowing of the Lord that the king of Persia and Media will come, who will destroy Babylon and destroy the Chaldeans. And to proclaim this, says the prophet, he was sent to the Lord and His Spirit. This applies to Jews and their opinions. But according to Symmachus, who translated: who told him this? The one whom the Lord loved, who does His will in Babylon, and according to the Seventy: to destroy the seed of the Chaldeans, this refers to the person of the Lord, who is truly loved by the Father, and fulfilled all the will of the Father and destroyed in Babylon, that is, in the confusion of this world, all the seed of the Chaldeans, which mean demons. He himself spoke and listened to the Son and brought him who says to the believers: come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28), and listen to what from the beginning I spoke in secret, that is, through fortune telling and the sacraments of the prophets, and what was unknown to all former generations. When all this was done by the Father, He was with Him, who rejoiced, who even now says: I, who have always been with the Father and in the Father, and never been without the Father, also now speak (John 14) and, in accordance with the frailty of the received flesh, I say that the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit: in [this] small verse the mystery of the Trinity is shown to us. Art. 17–19. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you good things, who guides you in the way you go. Oh, if you would listen to My commandments, your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness like the depths of the sea. And your seed would have been like sand, and the offspring of your belly like his stones; they would not have perished, and his name would not have been cut off from before Me. Since he promised Israel a future, he indicates the reasons why He previously struck them and which, if he avoids, he will not be subjected to [anything] like that. If you, he says, would heed My commandments, as the LXX translated, or perhaps with an expression of desire: Oh, if you would heed My commandments, which if you fulfilled, then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness like the depths of the sea: pointing to abundance and riches in everything. The following is further: and your seed would be like sand and the offspring of your womb like its pebbles, apparently continues among the Jews, who to this day, like worms, give birth to children and grandchildren; but how can this promise be understood in this sense when they do not have peace and righteousness? For He was either angry with them or appeased. If he is angry, how does their seed multiply daily? If he was appeased, then why are they in enslavement and do not have peace and righteousness? From this it is clear that now we are talking about the apostolic seed, about which we read above: if the Lord had not left us a seed, then we would have been like Sodom (Is. 1:9). What apparently was not fulfilled at that time is fulfilled at the coming of Christ, and the seed of Israel remains before Him. Art. 20–22. Come out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, proclaim it with a cry of joy, proclaim it, spread it to the ends of the earth and say: “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.” They were not thirsty in the desert when He brought them out; He brought out water for them from a rock, and he cut the rock and the waters flowed out. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Those who understand the above: I, I spoke and called him, I brought him and his path is straight (v. 10) in relation to Cyrus and Darius, attribute this to the same time when the people came out of Babylon and fled from the Chaldeans and were delivered by the Lord their God. Although they cannot historically prove the fulfillment of the following words: they did not thirst in the desert when he brought them out; He brought water out of the rock for them, and he cut the rock and the waters flowed out; for under Zerubbabel and Ezra they did not pass through the desert and the cut stone did not bring them water, which is related as what happened when leaving Egypt; but they claim that this was hyperbolically fulfilled, similar to the previously former prosperity, when they came to Judea through the desert of nations and were freed from captivity. And so that we know, they say, that the prophecy here is not about Christ, but about Cyrus, it is added: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord, and this has [in their opinion] the following meaning: only with Christ will there be perfect happiness, which is observed for the last time. Further, those who more justly and closer to the truth attribute this to the coming of the Savior, about whom it is said: to preach My ambassador to the poor, to preach release to the captives (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18), see here the admonition of those who will preach the Gospel of the Lord Savior himself, so that we come out of Babylon, that is, from the confusion of this world, and flee from the Chaldeans, oh which it was often said: for the Lord redeemed His servant Jacob with His most precious blood and brought him through the desert of the century and cut out water from the stone, about which the Apostle says: the stone is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Divine speech is interrupted and divided into many parts so that we, not being able to perceive it all, receive it in parts. But lest anyone think that this sermon is addressed to the entire seed of Jacob, and not only to those who believe through the apostles, it is said and added: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord, that is, for those who remained in their former error, not worthy to drink, from the stone, from the side of which, wounded by a spear - to use a new expression, water and blood flowed out (John ch. 19), pointing us to baptism and martyrdom. Chapter XLIX. Art. 1–4. Hear, O islands, and listen, O far-off nations. The Lord called Me from the womb, from My mother’s womb He took care (recordatus est) for My name. And I made My mouth like a sharp sword; He covered Me with the shadow of His hand. And He made Me a chosen arrow; He hid Me in His quiver. And he said to Me, You are My servant, O Israel, for in You I will be glorified. But I said: I have labored in vain; I have exhausted My strength in vain and for nothing: but My judgment is with the Lord, and My work is with My God. LXX: Hear Me, islands, and give ear, O peoples. After a long time it will take place, says the Lord. From the womb you called Me and from My mother’s womb you called My name. And He made My mouth like a sharp sword, and hid Me under the cover of His hand. He made Me like a chosen arrow, and hid Me in His quiver. And he said to Me, You are My servant Israel, and in You I will be glorified. But I said: I have labored in vain, in vain, and have used My strength for nothing. Therefore My judgment is with the Lord, and My work is before My God. I know that this and what we will say below relates to the knowledge or understanding of one department and everything must be understood in relation to the face of Christ. But I did not want, by presenting everything together, to burden the reader’s thoughts, and with too much of my own to confuse what could be more easily said in parts. Therefore, I have presented both editions so that what seems obscure in one edition can be clarified by reading the other. So, after calling the remnants of Israel and rejecting the people who remained in unbelief, about which He said: there is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord (Ps. 48:24), he moves on to the churches made up of the pagans, and speaks to them under the name of the islands. They are subject to the intrigues of their pursuers, like the waves of the sea, and from the storm raging on all sides they are struck rather than shaken. But lest anyone recognize our interpretation as forceful, and these words referring not to the pagans, but to the synagogues of the Jewish people, it follows: and pay attention to the distant nations or tribes, that is, from the distant ends of the earth, or as LXX translated: after a long time it will take place, that is, it will happen not at this time in which it is said, but after many times. The Lord, he says, called Me from the womb, and from My mother’s womb took care of My name. This now seems obscure to those listening, but later it will be known to all nations when Gabriel tells Joseph about the one born of the Virgin: and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people (Matthew 1:21). He also made His mouth like a sharp sword, that with the spirit of His mouth He might destroy the wicked. He himself speaks about this sword in the Gospel: He did not come to bring peace to earth, but a sword, separating the evil from the good. For he came to separate a man from his father, and a daughter from his mother, and a bride from her mother-in-law (Matthew 10:34–35). And with the shadow of His hand, He says, He covered Me, so that the insignificance of the flesh would be covered with the power of the deity, as the angel proclaimed to the Virgin: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). He made me, he says, like a chosen arrow; he hid me in his quiver. When he says: a chosen arrow, he shows that God has very many arrows, but not chosen ones, which are the arrows of the prophets and apostles who disperse throughout the world. It is sung about them in another place: Your arrows are sharper, stronger: people will fall under You (Ps. 44:6). And one more thing: the arrows of the Mighty One are subtle, with desert coals (Ps. 119:4). But Christ, out of many arrows and very many sons, is the one chosen arrow and the only begotten Son: He hid it in His quiver, that is, in the human body, so that the fullness of divinity might dwell in Him bodily. But He is rarely accepted with faith, as it is said above: You are the hidden God, but we did not know (chapter 45, v. 15). Having received a wound from this arrow, the bride says in the Song of Songs: “I am wounded by love” (Song. P. ch. 4). And he said to Me, You are My servant Israel, for in You I will be glorified. Servant: for, being in the form of God, He was pleased to take the form of a servant (Phil. 2), and Israel: for He was born of the seed of the Jews. And so that this cannot be attributed to any other servant, it is added: for in You I will be glorified. For He Himself says in the Gospel: Father, glorify Your name (John 12:28). In the psalm he says to the Son: Arise My glory, arise the Psalter and the harp (Ps. 57:9), that is, the totality of all virtues. But when the Father told Me what I said, I answered Him: How are You glorified in Me, Father? After all, I labored in vain and could not call most of the Jewish people to You. All this is said in order to show that the will of man is free. For it is God’s nature to call, and for us to believe, and if we do not immediately believe, then God is not powerless, but He leaves His power to our will, so that we receive a reward for disposition towards the just. For since they did not want to believe in You through Me, My judgment is with You, because I did everything that I had to do to them, as I said in the Gospel: I glorified You on earth, I have done the work that You gave Me, that I might do it (John 17:4), and also: I have manifested Your name as a man (ibid. v. 6). And My work or My labor and sorrow (for this means πόνος) is before You, for in the Gospel He wept for Jerusalem (Luke ch. 19) and in the Psalm, because of the multitude of unbelievers, He says that He suffered as if in vain: what profit is My blood, if Me should never descend into corruption (Ps. 29:10), and hanging on the cross He speaks according to the Hebrew text: My words are far from saving My words (Ps. 22:1). Art. 5–6. And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, that I might turn Jacob to Him, and Israel should not be gathered together: And I am glorified in the sight of the Lord, and My God has become My strength. And He said, It is not enough that you will be My servant for the restoration of the tribes of Jacob and for the conversion of the remnant of Israel. I have made You the light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. LXX: And now thus says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, that I might gather Jacob and Israel to Him: I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and My God will be My strength. And He said to Me: It is a great thing for You that You will be called My servant and restore the tribes of Jacob and reverse the dispersion of Israel. Behold, I made [Him] a covenant of the race, a light of the nations, so that salvation would reach to the ends of the earth. When I said: I labored in vain, in vain, and exhausted My strength for nothing, for the Jews did not want to believe, and My judgment is with the Lord and with the Lord My work, which I fulfilled with His help: then the Lord answers Me, having formed Me from the womb to be His servant. By this He shows that he is called a slave, who was formed from the womb. He also says in the psalm: from the womb of my mother art thou my God (Ps. 21:11). So, what does the Lord say to Him? That He would bring to Him Jacob, who apostatized, who, leaving the Creator, served idols. Therefore, He also speaks to the disciples: do not go into the way of the tongue, and do not enter into the city of Samaritan; Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5–6); and in another place: I came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). So, such was the will of the Father that the worst vinedressers would accept the sent Son and give the fruits of the grapes to those who killed Him, saying: Come, let us kill Him, let us retain his wealth (Matthew 21:38): this is what He now says: and Israel will not be gathered, that is, will not turn to the Lord. But I am greatly surprised by how the generally accepted edition destroyed, through a different translation, a very strong testimony against the unbelief of the Jews, saying: I will gather myself and glorify myself before the Lord, while Theodotion and Symmachus agree with our translation. Regarding Aquila, I am not surprised that this man, very knowledgeable in the Hebrew language and translating word for word, in this place either feigned ignorance, or was seduced by the false interpretation of the Pharisees, preferring to translate and Israel will gather to Him, that is, to God, although the Hebrew word lo in the present place is written not through lamed and vav, which if it were, it would mean: to Him or to Him, but through lamed and aleph, which actually means: not. So, since Jacob was not brought to God and Israel was not gathered, the Son says to them, the unbelievers: I am glorified in the sight of the Lord. For the whole world has believed in Me. And My God became My strength, who consoled Me, grieving over the rejection of My people, and said to Me: It is not enough that You will be My servant for the restoration of the tribes of Jacob, who fell through their own fault, and for the conversion of the scum or remnants of Israel. For this is the meaning of the Hebrew word nesure. For in their place I have made You the light of all nations, so that You may enlighten the whole world and spread My salvation to the ends of the earth, through which all are saved. And what is read in the Seventy: I will gather myself and glorify myself before the Lord can be understood in the sense that the Lord united with the believers. In the following: it is a lot for You that You will be called My child, we can attribute a lot to man and the child, who is small in comparison with God. Art. 7. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the despised soul, to the reviled people, to the servant of rulers: Kings will see and princes will rise up and worship for the sake of the Lord, for He is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You. LXX: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel who delivered you. Sanctify the one who despises his soul, who is despised by the nations, who is the slave of princes. Kings will see him, and princes will rise up, and the servants of the Lord will worship him: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and he has chosen you. Instead of what we said: a despised soul, a reviled people, a slave of rulers, Theodotion translated: who despises the soul, whom the people abhor, who is a slave of princes, which obviously befits Christ. For He, the good shepherd, laid down His life for His sheep (John chapter 10) and despised it; He served as a subject of reproach for the Jewish race, and they revile Him three times daily under the name of Nazarenes in their synagogues. He was a slave of princes and so humble that he stood before Annas and Caiaphas and was sent to Pilate and Herod for crucifixion. Aquila and the Seventy partly agree with this translation, although they changed and weakened the text in the sense that instead of people they translated nations and instead of slaves - slaves. Others believe that this is being said to the Jewish people, who despised their own souls and serve as an object of reproach for the whole world and are subject to the princes, about whom it is written: My people are devoured for food (Ps. 13:4). But it is better to explain this in relation to Christ. So, what does the Father, who was once the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, say to the Son? Kings will see and princes will stand and worship when He comes in the glory of the Father with His angels and sits on the throne of His glory, judging the living and the dead: then all will worship Him for the sake of the Lord His Father, who chose Him. Or this is how it should be understood: kings whose hearts are in the hand of God, and the princes of the church of God will bow to you; For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, is faithful, who chose you. Yet this refers to the one who despised His soul, who is reviled by the people, who serves as a slave to princes. Art. 8–13. Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you. And I kept you and gave you as a covenant to the people, so that you would restore the land and possess the desolate inheritances, and I said to the prisoners, “Come out,” and to those in darkness, “Show yourself.” They will feed on the highways, and their pastures will be in all the plains. They will not suffer hunger and thirst, and the heat and sun will not strike them, for He who has mercy on them will lead them and will give them water at springs of water. 54 And I will make all My mountains a way, and My roads will be raised up. Some will come from afar, some from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the south. Praise, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth: make shouts of praise, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy on His poor. LXX: Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you. And I formed you and gave you as a covenant to the nations, that you might establish the earth and possess the inheritances left behind, and I said to the prisoners, “Come out,” and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves; in all the ways there will be pasture, and on all the roads there will be pasture.” They will not suffer hunger and thirst, and the heat and sun will not strike them, but He who has mercy on them will comfort them and lead them through springs of water. And I will make every mountain a path and every road their pastures. Some will come from afar, some from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians. Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth rejoice, and let the mountains express their joy: for God has had mercy on His people, and has comforted the humble of His people. The Apostle Paul took advantage of this testimony in his second letter to the Corinthians, saying: I have listened to you in a pleasant time, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Now is the time favorable (2 Cor. 6:2). So, if the vessel of election relates what is said [here] to the first coming, then we too will follow the footsteps of his interpretation and, like children, we will imprint the letters along the drawn lines of the teacher. The time is favorable and convenient and the day of salvation is the suffering and resurrection of the Savior, when He prayed on the cross: God, My God, Thou hast forsaken Me (Matthew 27:46). And he kept it or formed it when death was defeated, and gave it as a covenant to the Jewish people, that is, to those of them who wanted to believe; to restore the earth, which lay in the errors of idolatry, and to possess the inheritances that were desolate or abandoned, since it did not have God as an inhabitant, and to say to those who were in bonds: come out, - to those bound by the bonds of sins, because everyone is burdened with the captivity of their sins (Prov. 5:22), and to those in darkness: show yourself. They sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and could not see the light. But when they turn and see the clear light of Christ, they will graze on the paths and roads of the Holy Scriptures and will say: The Lord feeds me, and will deprive me of nothing, in a green place, there he lodged me, on calm waters he raised me (Ps. 22:1). He who has been grazed and brought up on such paths and roads will experience neither hunger, nor thirst, nor the heat of the sun, and what is written about him will be fulfilled: in the days the sun will not burn you, nor the moon in the night (Ps. 121:6), so that he will not know either the misfortune or the happiness of this age. For the merciful and merciful Lord Himself will comfort and guide them and will lead them to springs of water or give them drink at the springs about which it is written: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). And in another place: draw water from the fountains of the Savior (Isa. 12:3). There are such sources in the Old and New Testaments. And all the obstacles that may hinder the procession of believers, the Lord will level out for them, and will lower the high and lift up the low, so that the path will be smooth and open. And who are those for whom the way is being prepared, he expresses this very clearly: some will come from afar, and some from the north and the sea, and others from the southern land. Indicating the four cardinal points, east and north, west and south, instead of east he put from afar; instead of the southern country in Hebrew it reads sinim, which the Seventy translated: Persians. Others expressed it as it reads in Hebrew: Sinim, which we translated: from the south (or from the south), on the assumption that this is Mount Sinai, located in the southern part, according to the prophet Habakkuk: God will come from the south and the Holy One from Mount Paran will be a darkened thicket (Habakk 3:3). If by Blue we understand, as LXX translated, the Persians, who are in the east; then what was said above: some will come from afar, we can attribute it to the south. And it is commanded to heaven and earth, or to the powers that are in heaven and on earth, or to angels and people, that they sing songs of praise to God. And those who are at the height of virtues, let them express the joy [filling their] soul with rejoicing and exclamations. For the Lord comforted His people, that is, those of the Jews who wanted to believe. And He had mercy on His poor and humble, or all His people; who was called to Him from east and west, north and south, having neither law, nor prophets, nor spiritual riches; but the abandoned, poor and humiliated one was subject to all demons. Art. 14–21. And Zion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? But even if she forgot, I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you in My hands, your walls are always before My eyes. Your builders have come; and your destroyers and destroyers will leave you. Lift your eyes around and see - they have all gathered and come to you. I live, says the Lord, that you will be clothed with all of them as decoration, and surround yourself with them as a bride. For your steppes and your deserts and the land of your desolation will now be crowded with inhabitants, and those who devoured you will be driven far away. Now the children of your barrenness will say aloud to you: “The place is cramped for me; give me a place so that I can live.” And you will say in your heart: “Who begat them to me? I was barren and non-bearing, displaced and taken into captivity: who raised them? I remained abandoned and alone: ​​where were they? LXX: And Zion said; The Lord has forsaken me, and God has forgotten me. Will a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion on the fruit of her womb? But even if the woman forgot about them, I will not forget you, says the Lord. Behold, on My hands I have written your walls, and you are always before Me. And soon you will be built by those who destroyed you, and those who devastated you will come out of you. Lift your eyes around and see: they have all gathered and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will be clothed with all of them as an ornament, and you will surround yourself with them as the necklace of a bride: for what is yours is desolate, and desolate, and fallen. You will be crowded from the inhabitants, and those who humiliate you will be removed from you. For your sons, whom you have lost, will say in your hearing: The place is too small for me, give me a place so that I can live. And you will say in your heart: who begat them to me? I am childless and a widow: who raised them for me? I was left alone: ​​where were they? We have often mentioned that Jerusalem and Zion in the scriptures are to be understood in four senses. Firstly, the one that the Lord mourns in the Gospel: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, beating the prophets, and stoned those who were sent to you (Matthew 23:37). And in another place: when you see Jerusalem in such a state, then understand that desolation is drawing near (Luke 21:20). Secondly, a collection of saints who, dwelling in the peace of the Lord and placed at the height of virtues, are rightly called Zion, about which it is said: its foundations are on the holy mountains: the Lord loves the gates of Zion, more than all the villages of Jacob (Ps. 87:1). For the foundations of the Jewish Zion, which we see destroyed, were not loved by the Lord, and what was loved by the Lord could not be destroyed. Thirdly, Jerusalem is the name given to the host of angels, dominions and powers, and everything appointed for the service of the Lord. About this Jerusalem the apostle says: but the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26). And in another place: but approach Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). Fourthly, Jerusalem is the name which, as the Jews and our Judaizers believe on the basis of the Revelation of John, which they do not understand, will be founded from gold and precious stones (Apoc. 21) the inhabitants of heaven, the limits and immeasurable extent of which are also described in the last part of Ezekiel. If this is so, then now we should consider with special attention which of the four Zions said: The Lord has forsaken the woman, and the Lord has forgotten me. And there is no doubt that this is said by the assembly of saints, who were formerly among the Jews and abandoned by the Lord, and complain in a mournful voice that they are abandoned and abandoned by the help of the Lord. The Lord answers him, using natural analogy: if it is possible for a mother to forget about her child and have no compassion for the one born from her womb, then I will forget you. I will say something more: even if she forgot, overcoming the laws of nature with hardness of heart, I will not forget My creation, and I will always keep the souls of the saints in My heart. Know, then, who considered yourself completely abandoned, that you are written and depicted in My hands and your walls remain forever before My eyes. From this we learn that Jerusalem should not be sought in the Palestinian country, the worst in the entire region, which is uneven due to rocky mountains, and suffers from drought, so that it takes advantage of the rains falling from the sky and replaces the scarcity of sources with the construction of cisterns; but he is in the hands of God and it is said to him: your builders hastened [to come], or according to the Seventy: soon you will be built by those by whom you were ruined. For it was destroyed by the Jews, but built by the Jews. Abandoned due to the fault of the scribes and Pharisees, it gathered from both Jews and pagans through the preaching of the apostles of Christ. It follows: but your destroyers and desolators will leave you: the worst teachers, so that you follow not the commandments and traditions of men (Matthew 15), but the law of God. And he is told to lift up his eyes around and look at his sons who have gathered to him. The Savior also says about them: lift up your eyes and see that the waters are already ready for harvest (John 4:35). And to assure us, the Lord says: I live (this is used as an oath in the Old Testament), that you will be clothed with all of them as decoration and surround yourself with them, as a bride surrounds herself with a necklace. Happy is the one who has such merits and virtues, which is called the decoration of the church. This means, I think, various spiritual gifts with which the splendor of the bride is adorned. The forty-fourth psalm also speaks about her: the queen appeared at your right hand in robes of gold and adorned with robes (Ps. 44:10). For those who were previously abandoned and turned into deserts and ruins, at the coming of the Gospel of Christ, will be restored and will have such a multitude of inhabitants that they will not be able to contain them. But in such a way that the pursuers or those about whom we said above will be driven far away: your destroyers and desolators will leave you, and the sons of your barrenness, regarding whom you thought that they were completely lost by you and that you are deprived of them, will say in your hearing: the place for me is cramped in the synagogues, give me a place in the churches, so that I can live more spaciously, so that the blasphemies of the Jews do not hold me back, but so that yours and mine the latitude could accommodate the whole world. And you, not being able to express great joy with your lips, will silently think in your heart and say: who gave birth to them to me? I was barren and widowed, abandoned and captured among the Jewish people, I stopped having children, and did not give birth for a long time. After Haggai, and Zechariah and Malachi, I did not see any other prophets until John the Baptist: how is it that she was lonely and abandoned by the help of her husband, and now began to have so many children? And so that we know that Zion was built on the rock and foundation of Christ from both nations, the Apostle Paul says to the believers: who was built on the foundation of an apostle and a prophet, who is the chief cornerstone of Jesus Christ himself (Eph. 2:20). From this it is clear that one thing is the foundation of the apostles and prophets: our Lord Jesus Christ. Art. 22–23. Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lift up (vulgate: I will lift up) My hand to the nations, and I will raise up My standard before the nations: and they will bring up your sons in their arms, and they will bring up your daughters on their shoulders. And kings will be your nourishers and queens your nurses. With their face lowered to the ground they will bow down to you and lick the dust of your feet: and you will know that I am the Lord, and those who trust in Him will not be put to shame. LXX: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lift up my hand against the nations, and set up my banner on the islands, and they will bring your sons in their bosoms and your daughters on their shoulders. And kings will be your nourishers and princesses your nurses: they will bow down to you to the face of the earth and lick the dust of your feet: and you will know that I am the Lord, and those who trust in me will not be ashamed. In response to what was said to the church: I am barren and captive: who gave birth to them to me? I am abandoned and alone: ​​where were they? The Lord answers: why are you surprised that this happened? You will not be surprised when you hear that I have raised my hand to the nations, about which the saint says: You created me, and you laid your hand on me (Ps. 138:5), and the Savior Himself: no one can snatch away from the hand of My Father (John 10:29), and the Apostle Peter: humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you during the visitation (1 Peter 3:6). This hand raised to the nations is the one about which this same prophet says: the root of Jesse will rise up to rule the tongues, in him the nations will trust (Is. 11:10). And not only will He raise His hand to the nations, but He will also raise up His banner among the nations—no doubt, the banner of the cross, so that what is written may be fulfilled: The earth is full of His praise (Habakk 3:3), and also: Your name is wonderful throughout all the earth (Ps. 8:1). Then the sons of Zion will be brought in their arms or in their bosom, and his daughters will be brought on their shoulders. Such was Lazarus, and all the saints who rest in Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16), and the souls of the believers, to whom the Apostle Paul said: You gave milk to drink (1 Cor. 3:2). And in another place: my children, I am still sick with them, until Christ is imagined in you (Gal. 4:19). And in another place: just as a milkmaid warms her children, so those who desire you, give you good will, not just the gospel of Christ, but also your souls (1 Thess. 2:7–8) Otherwise it would be ridiculous, like the Jews, to carry elderly sons and daughters on their arms and shoulders. The kings who feed, and the queens and princesses who nurse, clearly point to the apostles and apostolic men; such was Abraham, to whom it is said: You are a king from God in us (Gen. 23:6), and whose heart is in the hand of God (Prov. 21:1), who say to believers: As newborn babes love words and unflattering milk (1 Peter 2:2). Also, the princess, that is, ἄρϰουσα (in charge), which means the name of Sarah, and the queen or queen, about whom in the forty-fourth psalm it is sung: the queen worthy of you appears in golden vestments (Ps. 44:10), daily brings up the children of Christ and brings them to perfect age: and every age, sex and rank will bow to Zion for the sake of him who dwells in German For if the head of the Church is Christ, then the head is worshiped in the body. And if it is said to some: (Ps. 99:5) lift up the Lord our God, and worship His footstool (not because you should worship His footstool, but to point out the greatness of His feet): then why not worship the Church, which embraces the whole body of Christ, so that what is written in Zephaniah will be fulfilled: all the islands of paganism will worship Him every day from their place (Zephon. 2:11), and so as not to go, like the Jews, three times a year Jerusalem, but that those who worship the Lord may have Jerusalem in their place. The next thing: and lick the dust of your feet means that kings and princes must plant and cleanse everything from earthly affairs that sticks to the feet of the Church with their words. Therefore, the apostles are commanded to shake off the dust from their feet (Matthew 10). And Peter is told that once he has been washed, he only needs to wash his feet (John 13). Through all this the Church learns that there is no other Lord besides him, those who hope in whom will have eternal glory. Art. 24–26. Will the spoils of the strong be taken away? or can what is taken captive by a strong man be delivered? For thus says the Lord: Those who are captive by the strong will be taken away, and what is taken by the strong will be delivered. And I will judge those who judged you, and I will save your sons. And I will feed your enemies with their own flesh, and they will be drunk with their blood as with new wine; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord that saveth thee, and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. LXX: Will anyone take prey from the giant? And if someone is taken captive unjustly, will he be saved? Thus says the Lord: if anyone takes a giant captive, he will take the spoil, and the one who takes it will be saved from the strong man. But I will settle My dispute and I will deliver My sons, and those who oppressed you will eat their flesh and drink their blood like new wine, and will be drunk: and all flesh will know that I am the Lord who delivered you, and the help of the power of Jacob. Our Lord and Savior, who spoke before through Isaiah, Himself repeats this same thought in the Gospel: how can anyone enter the house of a strong man and plunder his things, unless he first binds the strong man and then plunders his house (Mark 3). The strong and giant is the devil, who subjugated all nations to his power, and who dared to say to the Savior: all this has been handed over to me, and I will give it to you if you bow down (Matthew 4:9). For the world lies in evil; none of the righteous could defeat him and, according to Amos, take away the prey from the lion’s mouth (Amos. 3). So, to the proposed question that no one can defeat the strong and giant and save what was stolen by him, the Lord answers that all this will be accomplished at His coming, and precisely that - the nations previously captured by the giant will be taken away and all his utensils and all the servants will be given to the apostles, after the fulfillment of what is written: the king of the forces of the beloved, with the beauty of the house, divide the gain (Ps. 67:13). For it is he who, having ascended on high, took captivity captive, giving to man (Ps. 67:13. 19; Eph. 4:8): that is, He brought back to life those who had previously been captured to death. Therefore, Symmachus translated more clearly: but the captives will also be taken away from the strong, and the spoils of the terrible will be saved, meaning by the strong and terrible the devil, who is defeated by the power of the Lord. So, the Lord, who judges those who oppressed Zion, or sorts out her litigation, will deliver her children captive by the giant, and will save and feed the opposing forces with their own flesh and make them drunk as with new wine, so that they are satisfied not by killing others, but by their own death. And those who are flesh, those who have lost the Spirit of God, feed on their own flesh. The saint also says this in the psalms: never come close to me with malice, so as to destroy my flesh (Ps. 26:2). For it is not the spirit, which is incorporeal, that is eaten, but the flesh, which can be bitten by wild beasts. And then the Son or all flesh that sees the salvation of God will say that his Redeemer and Savior is the one who fought with Jacob or was an assistant to the power of Jacob, so that, defeated during suffering, he would bless the crucifiers: Father, let them go: for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). Chapter L. Art. 1. Thus says the Lord: Where is the letter of divorce to your mother, with which I sent her away? Or who is My lender to whom I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions I released your mother. For I came, and there was no man; I called and no one listened. LXX: Thus says the Lord: what is the letter of divorce to your mother with which I sent her away? Or to what lender and tormentor of mine have I sold you? Behold, for your sins you were sold and for your iniquities I released the mother cotton wool, for I came, and there was no man, I called, and no one listened. After the calling of the pagans and kings and princes, feeders and nurses, and the captivity of the one who was formerly strong and strong and whose spoils were distributed to the apostles, and after the madness of the demons, who were satisfied with their own flesh and drunk with their own blood; when all flesh knew that the God of Israel himself was the Redeemer and the mighty one: he speaks to the people of Judah about Zion, who had said before: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. You think that as a result of My cruelty, your mother, earthly Jerusalem, was abandoned, and that out of hardness of heart I gave her a letter of divorce, and you do not know what really happened - that she herself abandoned Me. For when I told her: stop doing lawlessness, learn to do good, she did not want to listen, but turned away from Me. Therefore I said to her sons: Woe to them, for they have departed from Me, they have been convicted of having acted wickedly towards Me, and I [said] to her: Your apostasy will teach you, and your malice will enlighten you, and you will know what evil it is for you that you have forsaken Me. But perhaps you cannot show a letter of divorce, and one of My creditors, demanding money, took you in payment of a debt when I had nothing to pay? This is not so, but I will show you why I left the mother with the children. Your crimes and sins sold you to demons, so that, entangled in the pleasures of this age, you would leave your father and your mother your wife. Therefore, I could no longer hold your adulterous mother, but I released her when she wanted to leave. And that everyone is sold by his sins - since we, left to our own decision, of our own free will strive either for good or for evil - the Apostle Paul also teaches this: I am carnal, sold under sin (Rom. 7:14). For everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). And how covetous people and predators serve as slaves of mammon; so every sin reigns over sinners, to whom it is said: Let not sin reign in your dead body (Rom. 6:12). And so that you know that it was not Me who rejected your mother, but that she retreated of her own free will, I, after many good deeds, took on a human body and did not speak through the prophets, but personally. I arrived and there was no husband or man. For all, having left the form of man and man, took the form of beasts and serpents. Therefore, it is said to Herod because of his malice: as you go, cry out to that fox (Luke 13:32), and to the Pharisees: brood of vipers (Matthew 23:33), and to the lustful: horses of misogyny have been created (Jer. 5:8), and about the depraved: do not cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6), and shameless: do not give the holy dog (Matt. 7:6), and in general about everyone: a vision of four-legged animals like those in the desert (Isaiah 30:50). Thus the Lord comes and does not find the person. For a man who is ignorant of honor has become like mindless cattle and has become like them (Ps. 48:13). I called them, speaking like an intelligent being, and said: incline your ear to the words of My mouth (Ps. 77:1), but My people did not listen to My voice. I called and said: if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink (John 7:37), and in another place: come to Me, all you who tremble and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28): and no one listened. Therefore, I told them in the Gospel: You have neither seen the vision of God nor heard His voice, for His word abides in you (John 5:37–38). Art. 2–3. Has My hand become short and small, so that it cannot (vulgate: I cannot) redeem, or is there no power in Me for deliverance? Behold, with My rebuke I will empty the sea, I will dry up the rivers: the fish will rot without water, die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth for their covering. LXX: Is My hand not able to deliver or is it not able to deliver? Behold, by My rebuke I will make the sea empty and the rivers desolate, and their fish will dry up because there is no water, and they will die of thirst. And I will clothe the sky with darkness, and make it like sackcloth for a covering. Against those who thought that the Lord could not free His people from captivity, he presents evidence and numerous examples: that who made the Red Sea passable for His people (Ex. 14), dried up the waters of the Jordan and, after drying up the rivers in Egypt, made the fish rotten (Exod. ch. 7) and whoever did that for three days there was thick darkness and the sky seemed covered as if with sackcloth and darkness: he, of course, could have delivered His people from danger, or, since he said above: I came, and there was no man, I called, and no one listened, then we can say that whoever was the performer of such signs and who makes the heavens and the earth and the sea serving His will, he could also avoid the cross, as he says in the Gospel: or it seems to you that I cannot pray to My Father, and an angel will present Me with twelve more legions (Matthew 26:53). In an allegorical sense, the sea becomes empty by the rebuke of the Lord when the howling bitterness of this world is dried up and the rivers are abandoned, about which the spiritual dragon spoke in Egypt: the rivers are mine, and I made them (Ezek. 29:2) and about which we read in another place: what is the way of the Assyrian, let you drink the water of the river (Jer. 2:18). Also, after throwing the net into the sea, those fish that are separated from the good fish also rot. In the following further: I will clothe the sky with darkness and make it, as it were, sackcloth as a covering, by sky we can understand either everything that is above us, just as birds flying through the air are called heavenly, and the opposing forces located between heaven and earth are said to be heavenly. Or the sky is clothed with darkness when it is covered with clouds, according to what is written: he who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth (Ps. 147:8). And threatening drought, God says: the sky will be copper and the earth iron (Deut. 28:33), - not in the sense that the nature of the elements will change, but because through copper and iron the severity of punishments is indicated. Philosophers say that the clouds rise above the earth no more than ten stages, and hide the brilliance of the sun. Consequently, it is not the sky that is covered with sackcloth, but, by blocking the heavenly body, the air that is below it is obscured by the darkness of the cloud. We can explain the heavens, covered with darkness and covered with sackcloth, if we say that everyone is under sin and that the saints also need the mercy of God. The diminutive word mentula has an indecent meaning. Sn. Cicer. ad fam. IX, 22. Victoria, in accordance with the Hebrew and Greek text, changes potabit into portabit, resulting in the meaning: he will lead them to sources of water. You might be interested in: