COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET JOEL

Book 1

The divine Joel prophesies in the times, as it seems, in which those also appointed before him would be thought of, I mean Hosea, and certainly also Amos. For it seems to the Hebrews that he should be arranged not after Micah, but with those ones. And he denounces, as it seems to me, those of Israel, and makes a very great outcry against them, as having come at last to such a point of arrogance, stupefaction and insensibility, as to be checked in no way at all from evils, nor indeed to be overcome by calamities so frequent, and all but brought on them in a row to love, although no time had slipped in, during which any respite from the evil, however brief, might appear to have occurred. And we will find the blessed prophet Isaiah coming through similar words. For he said, "And the Lord Sabaoth was moved to anger against his people, and laid his hand upon them and struck them; and the mountains were provoked, and their carcasses became as dung in the middle of the road. In all these things his anger has not been turned away, but his hand is still high." You understand how they have suffered this and that, and the hand of the one striking them has remained high, as if on the point of inflicting other blows upon them. For in the same way that the most incurable of afflictions sometimes require not one incision, but still more; so too the human mind, having arrived at the limit of insensibility, needs a more frequent blow, which with difficulty recovers it at least to the point of being able to hasten to relearn what leads to benefit. It seems, therefore, that the blessed prophet Joel, since Israel has remained unadmonished after very many blows, wisely makes the rebuke, advising them at the same time to abandon their shameful ways and choose to turn toward what is pleasing to God. Moreover, he adds the promise of things most dear to them, if they should choose to repent; and he gives them courage that they will encounter a good and most gentle Master. This, then, is the purpose of his whole prophecy; but we will speak of each of the subsequent things in turn, following the contemplations of the things set before us. The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Bethuel. The Prophet says that the word of the Lord came to him, so that we might assign faith to the prophecy, being firmly disposed and confident that what has been foretold will in every way and entirely come to pass. The Savior himself confirms us in this, saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." For truth is not a false-speaking thing, and whatever God might say will surely be exact. For he is the one who "confirms the words of his servant, and makes the counsel of his messengers true." Therefore, most artfully and wisely he demands faith from his hearers, since he is not a false speaker like some, that is, reporting what seems good from his own heart, but speaking from the mouth of the Lord in the spirit, as he has most clearly stated. And Bethuel is necessarily added, so that no other Joel besides him might be thought of. For perhaps many, or rather without a doubt, were called by such a name; but not all of them were from Bethuel. For the sake of security, therefore, as I think, Bethuel has been added again. Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Have such things happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about them, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. He refers the aged to the antiquity of times and memory, and has ordered them to consider when indeed, and on what occasions, they have seen similar things, inflicted by divine wrath, upon their own fathers or those even further back, saying that they must now consider whether the tales are not strange and unusual, and perhaps not yet known to any of the ancients; moreover, he says, it is fitting for the others to understand very well if such things have happened among them; and it will be a subject of unending tales, not lasting for one, nor for two or three generations, but rather leaping through, and far beyond. For just as we say that brilliant narratives are worthy of being heard by the many, and those which might happen to be followed by the need to rejoice; so too, things that reach the limit of disaster and suffering seem to be in some way worthy of memory. For such things all but compel forgetfulness, and having a more burdensome impact, they demand to be remembered out of excessive shamelessness, and contend with the reputations of the most pleasant things; and just as good things have a memory that is not unprofitable, so I suppose do unfortunate and grim. For some things sharpen the hearers toward the pursuit of virtue; while others teach them to shun the experience of evils before their approach; and through the things for which others have been punished, it does not permit some to seek to be caught in the same things. What the caterpillar left, the locust has eaten; and what the locust left, the cankerworm has eaten; and what the cankerworm left, the blight has eaten. The word of the holy Prophets is always somehow hidden, and bringing forth reluctantly the very grim parts of the narratives on account of the untamed tempers of their hearers, they overshadow them with possible obscurities, and by fashioning riddles and parables they provide no small benefit. But their word also proceeds sometimes through useful examples; such as is found in the most wise Ezekiel: "The great "eagle with great wings, long in its expanse and "full of talons, which has the leading part, to enter into Lebanon, "and it took the choice parts of the cedar, the tips of "its tenderness it nipped off, and brought them to the land of Canaan." For it cleverly indicated the ruler of the land of the Babylonians, who shears off the choice ones from Israel, and transfers the plunder home. And that there have been failures of fields, and shortages of seasonal produce, and very often harsh and long famines throughout the land of the Jews, the sacred scripture has said. For already some, when a famine was pressing, have come to such a state of necessity as to buy a donkey's head for fifty shekels. And the women who fought over the children would show the savagery of the want at that time. For when the two had devoured the one, they demanded to be judged by the rulers concerning the living one. Therefore, if in these things the prophetic word signifies for us the failures of fields and the destruction of crops, the matter would be understood even so as unbearable; for to be afflicted in succession and immediately by so many and harsh plagues, how is it not utterly hard to bear, and not unworthy of being remembered? But if indeed the visions, overshadowed by the more apparent things, also lead us away to other thoughts, it seems to us that the Prophet by caterpillar and locust, cankerworm and blight, and the terrible and unbearable damages from them, signifies the devastations at each time, and hints at the manners of captivities; by which they have been consumed and have perished, just as if those who made the assaults had all but devoured and destroyed them like the plunder in a field. Therefore, there have been many successive uprootings of the land of the Jews, both when the neighboring nations made war at times, and those who had ruled Egypt. For while Rehoboam was administering the royal honor in Jerusalem, Shishak king of Egypt came up, and took the palace, and having emptied all the treasures in it, and having taken the golden spears and the shields which Solomon had made, brilliant and victorious he returned home again. And indeed Hazael the Syrian also brought no small plagues upon them; and Pul king of the Babylonians also took the tribes beyond the Jordan; and in addition to this, Necho Pharaoh king of Egypt, when Josiah was ruling, marched against Samaria, and subjected the land to tribute; for he demanded a hundred talents of gold. Therefore, the things that have happened at various times are very many; but there have been four terrible and noteworthy sackings. For when Hoshea son of Elah was reigning in Samaria, Shalmaneser the Assyrian came up, and deported Israel to the borders of the Persians and Medes. Then, after a short time had passed, and when Jeremiah was prophesying, Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem by force. And Israel was released with difficulty through Cyrus the son of Cambyses, when the seventy years were completed. Then in due time came Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes. This man, having arrived in Judea, both burned the divine temple, and took the vessels in it, and forced those throughout all Judea to be negligent of their ancestral customs; at which time also the events of the Maccabees happened to become splendid and admirable achievements. And a fourth war came upon those from Israel, that of the Romans, when they were also scattered to every wind. The Prophet, therefore, seems to wish to convey his own message to us obscurely and faintly, and as it were in the form of examples through such narratives; the caterpillar and the locust and the cankerworm and indeed the rust, either signifying obliquely the wars themselves that ran upon them one after another, or else the commanders of the armies, of whom we have just now made mention. But if someone should wish to record a more moral interpretation in these things, he would not fail in what is fitting; for if a soul were seen being devoured by frequent and successive passions, and, as it were, destroying each virtue little by little, adding this to that on account of indolence, how would it not be accurate to say of it: What the caterpillar left, the locust has eaten, and what the locust left, the cankerworm has eaten, and what the cankerworm left, the rust has eaten? For like rust and the other evils, the good things in us are somehow ravaged by wicked and unclean powers falling upon the mind, and which are accustomed to consume with insatiable teeth. Therefore, vigilance is good; and indeed the Proverb-writer benefits us not a little, saying, "If the spirit of the ruler "rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for healing will pacify "great sins." For passions, when rebuked at the beginning, are both calmed and checked; but if they find a wide and, as it were, unadmonished path to what is worse, they seize the whole soul through and through, and cannot endure the reasoning that would punish. Awake, you who are drunk from their wine, and weep; lament, all you who drink wine to drunkenness, because gladness and joy have been taken from your mouth. Without trouble, I think, one might again perceive clearly from this, how exceedingly wise was the divine Paul, exhorting and saying to those ensnared for salvation through faith in Christ, sometimes, "Awake, you who sleep, "and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you;" and at other times again persuading them to love endurance in suffering, in this way also saying "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with "sons; for what son is there whom a father does not "chasten?" For God, as it were, strikes down those who sin, although He is a lover of mankind, not willingly, but as if turning them by necessity, and making this a means of help for them. Just as, of course, those skilled in medicine also apply to the sick even the very harsh medicines, making the need to feel pain a cure for their affliction. For see how, having first shown the scourges and proclaimed the things that come from wrath, he all but "restrains their jaws with bit "and bridle," according to what is written, and commands them to proceed in a human way, changing their mind to choose to do what was better and more fitting. For he says, Awake, you who are drunk from their wine. Do you hear how he then rebukes them as children who are out of their minds and somehow already drunk, as if to say that if they had been sober in the beginning, what came from the caterpillar alone would have been sufficient punishment for them; but since they have remained insensible to the first wrath brought upon them, the second has been added, and after that the third, and it has even proceeded to the fourth. Nevertheless, he now commands even those awakened and sobered up late, who have, as it were, sent away from their mind a kind of drunkenness—the love of pleasure and the choice to sin excessively—to come to a perception of what has happened, weeping and wailing over their own sins. But it should be known that for each of us also there is, as it were, a private wine, which makes the heart drunk. For we divide up the passions, so to speak, and one of us has turned without restraint to the love of money, while being sick with other things as well; another, again, has thought on the things of the world, and has fallen sick with the love of the flesh, being wholly devoted to luxury and loves of pleasure; while another has fled to some other sin. But we hasten towards such abominable and God-hated passions, some not very eagerly, but others using their full impulses, and having an unadmonished inclination of the mind. For this reason the Prophet says, "Become sober, you who are drunk with their wine;" and he advises that it is fitting to lament those who drink wine to the point of drunkenness. For as I just said, some do not stop their love of pleasure at the point of satiety and sufficiency, but as it were, drink to the point of drunkenness, and stretch beyond all measure; from their mouth, he says, both gladness and joy have been taken away. For Christ speaks the truth, that in every way and altogether those who mourn now will be comforted; but for those accustomed to live luxuriously, the need to shed tears will follow, because the end of arrogance will be lamentation and wailing, and it brings down those who love it into the pit of Hades. And David also speaks the truth when he says to God, "In death there is no one who remembers you; and in Hades who will confess to you?" and again, "For the dead will not praise you, Lord, nor all those who go down into Hades; but we who are living will bless you, Lord." But if indeed the meaning of the preceding things were understood also in a more earthly way, if the causes of gladness have been consumed by both the caterpillar and the others, doubtless the gladness and joy of those who have suffered is destroyed along with the fruitful harvests. For it is necessary to be gloomy at the things that happen grievously and are accustomed to cause pain and are not unable—I mean, with regard to being able—to waste away the heart with bitter and unbearable grief. Because a nation has come up against my land, strong and without number, its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its molars those of a lion’s cub; it has laid my vine waste, and my fig trees into splinters; searching, it has stripped it bare and cast it down, it has made its branches white. Wishing the tear of repentance to contend, in a way, with the things that have happened, that is, those things expected to be and which are all but present, he subtly narrates the things that will be, and placing the assault of gloomy things almost before their eyes, he gives something to those who are struck, and a lament, and as it were teaches a mournful song to those who have been commanded to wail, and he then persuades them to say that: "A nation has come upon my land, strong and without number, and as for the sharpness of its teeth, it yields little to lions and their cubs." Now, the matter is true, even if it might be understood of the locust, the wingless locust, and the caterpillar. For the thing is invincible, and the assault of such creatures is utterly irresistible, and it is able to destroy root and branch the things in the fields, I mean both fruits and grass; and to destroy fig trees and vines, and to render the appearance of the tilled land bad and uncomely. But if the discourse should turn again to the inhumanity of the ravagers, and the complete desolation of the country, it would signify nothing other than that their whole country has perished, and the prominent among them have also been consumed, those who surpassed the measure of the common herd in glory and wealth; so that they are understood to be in the rank of a fig tree and a vine; before they endured withering; just as it is surely understood of the perceptible vines themselves, if they happen to fall among the teeth of locusts; for by drinking up the moisture in the plants, and sucking up all their life-giving power, they do not wither after a long time, but for this reason cause them to appear white. Therefore, the teeth of the consuming enemies have utterly consumed and sent into complete uselessness those who are ranked as vines, or are in the form of fig trees, either striking them down with swords or bringing them under the yokes of slavery. But one might understand, if one should choose to think spiritually, such things again also of sinful men; into whose mind and heart, as in the manner of the locust and the wingless locust, and indeed also of the caterpillar, the wicked demons somehow always enter, and the manifold and multiform passions themselves, and indeed they make them appear useless and most uncomely, having cast off the flower of piety, and having no righteousness in themselves a shoot. And I would say that it would be fitting for them to weep without ceasing, and to lament to God; and to strive to obtain through frequent prayer forgiveness and help, so that they might be, even if late and with difficulty, wise and strong, and able to escape what has befallen them. And they would suffer this, and most especially, those whose mind has foolishly turned to the need to heed those accustomed to heterodoxy and to undermine the correct doctrines of the Church, concerning whom it might be said, and very appropriately, "Their teeth are the teeth of a lion, and their molars are those of a lion's cub;" for the nation is hateful to God, counterfeit and sinful, and devouring and consuming the mind of the simpler ones with its seemingly wise words, so that no remnant of orthodoxy is seen in them. These wither the master's vineyard, they render the garden devoid of figs, and show it bare and laid waste, "for whom judgment does not tarry," but "is just" in due season. Those, therefore, who are accustomed to live in ignorance, will be food for the locust and the beetle and the caterpillar, and will remain destitute of all seemliness, and there will be nothing at all flourishing in them; but the wise and God-loving soul, richly adorned with the doctrines of truth, and having its heart almost teeming and very well-adorned with fruits of righteousness, will surely say with boldness, according to the bride understood in the Song of Songs, "Let my kinsman come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of his choice trees." For sweet are the fruits of piety, and the choice fruits of true learning are sweet to the Savior of us all, Christ, who is also our kinsman, as born from a sister, the holy virgin. Lament to me as a bride girded with sackcloth for the husband of her virginity. He commands them not to make their repentance a secondary matter, nor as something done in passing, or simply indolently, nor the grief understood in it, but earnestly striving and contending not moderately with what is most burdensome of other things, so as to make the toils of equal weight with the sins. For a newly-wed maiden is wont to bewail excessively her dead bridegroom, and to receive sharp sorrows for this, so as to set her mind beyond consolation, and to think that no manner of mourning worthily is sufficient for her; for the female nature is confessedly prone to tears and fond of mourning, but most of all she who sees her virginal and youthful bridegroom lying pitifully in his bed, dead and breathless. To her, he says, the multitude of the Jews must indeed be compared, to ward off wrath, and to check with lamentations the divine movement coming, as it were, irresistibly upon them, taking courage that the Lord of all is "gracious and gentle," loving mankind, "and of great mercy and repenting of evils" according to what is written. Nevertheless, the Synagogue of the Jews has not mourned the bridegroom from heaven, that is, Christ; for she herself killed and treated him with insolence. Therefore, she is excluded from the divine bridal chambers, and is outside the sacred marriage, and completely without a share in the feast, henceforth disinherited, and cast out and furthest from the hope of the saints; but in her place has been called the new and unwrinkled, the all-holy and wise, and the bride from Lebanon, the beautiful dove, that is, the Church from the Gentiles, who also confesses the very passion of the Lord, and almost weeps over it by suffering with and mourning, and loves to take up her own cross and follow him, and to go through these things for the sake of love for him. And her virginal bridegroom would be understood to be Emmanuel; although she seemed to have been adulterated and to have fornicated with Satan, in the manner of having been led astray; through the regeneration from above, which we have received richly through the Spirit, denying the carnal. For it is written concerning Christ, "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become children of God, to them that believe on his name: who were born not of "blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of "man, but of God." Therefore, pushing aside the birth according to the flesh, we appropriate the spiritual one, according to which the church from the gentiles, that is, those who have believed in Christ, would be understood as a pure and all-holy virgin, to whom the divine Paul also clearly writes, "For I have espoused "you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to "Christ." Sacrifice and libation are taken away from the house of the Lord; mourn, you priests who minister at the altar. Because the fields are ruined, let the earth mourn; because the grain is ruined, the wine has dried up, the oil has failed, they have withered. It is as if he were to say clearly: Eucharists have ceased, and there is absolutely no one left to offer sacrifice, no one bringing an offering and the firstfruits of the crops, that is, the sacred sheaf as a firstfruit of the wheat harvest dedicated to God, according to the law of Moses; and no one, he says, placing the firstfruits of the seasons in a basket, and going to the house of the Lord, and offering up to God also the thanksgiving odes, which it was the custom to proclaim. For this reason, he commands the chosen race to mourn, I mean the priests, not laboring for the sake of gains, but as grieving over the peoples under their charge, and appointed for the sacred and renowned ministry, so that even before others they might propitiate the God of all, and imitate the hierophant Moses himself, who presided over Israel and said to God, "I pray, Lord, this people "has sinned a great sin, and if you will forgive their "sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me also out of this "your book which you have written." For the office of the priesthood mediates between God and the peoples, and for those appointed to so august a ministry, boldness in supplications would be fitting, I think, and very reasonably so. For they all but consecrate their own life to God on behalf of all, by eating the sacrifices for sin. This also the God of all says through the voice of Hosea, "They shall eat the sins of my people, "and in their iniquities they shall take their souls," that is, when the peoples do wrong, transgressing what seems right to the law, then, indeed then, he says, the ministers of the divine altars will take their own souls to God on behalf of them. And he says 'they will take' instead of 'they will offer' or 'they will dedicate'. For what was dedicated to God was said to be taken. And what is the reason for their mourning? The fields are ruined, he says, and indeed also the grain, stripped bare by the teeth of locusts, and as if by fire, burned up by the rust. For it burns up and withers what is in the fields. And he says that the land itself must, as it were, lament, since its fruits have perished. For the grain is ruined, the wine has dried up, the oil has failed, they have withered; that is, all things from it are gone, and the things for which it was right to be greatly admired, as the mother and nurse of good fruits. And let these things be said by us as concerning perceptible matters; but indeed every most approved priest will lament for those who, out of immeasurable delusion, do not accept the purification through faith, and have not loved to be sanctified by Christ. For they will remain entirely and in every way destitute of spiritual fruitfulness, and they will be in want of everything that knows how to nourish and leads them to spiritual manliness, having no grain or wine, and deprived of the need for oil; the saying is mystical. For to those who accept the faith, Christ will present himself as the bread of life; for he said, "I am the bread of life;" as wine that gladdens the heart of man; understand again what I say; and he will anoint also with oil, that is, the spiritual and sanctifying oil, and understood as in participation of the Holy Spirit; but those having a harsh disposition, bitter and ungodly, a disobedient and stubborn mind, he will surely show to be in want, and entirely without a share in the good things just now mentioned by us. And it must be known that the most wise Paul also, ministering as a priest to the gentiles the gospel of Christ, almost mourned for the disobedient from Israel. For he said, "Because I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites." But, as I said, the saying in this is mystical and hidden. Lament, you farmers, for the wheat and barley; because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine has dried up, and the fig trees have become few; the pomegranate, the palm tree, the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered, because the sons of men have shamed joy. Truly a mourning, a pain and a lamentation for those accustomed to tilling the land, the utter destruction of what is in the fields, and the inability to gather anything at all from them, and sometimes after long toils. to see the things in the gardens and the choice trees now withered and dead, and the vines together with the crops destroyed, and the very wild wood perishing along with the gardens. For it says, all the trees of the field are withered, because the sons of men have shamed joy; and "have shamed joy" is instead of: the inhabitants of the land have made the season one of shame and disgrace and reproofs leading to punishments and judgment, a season in which it was fitting to rejoice in prosperity, gathering the things from the fields, and to fill the storehouses with grain, to sing the vintage songs to the grape-treaders, and to delight in the flocks of sheep, with abundant and flourishing grass spread before them. And in this again the word seems enigmatically to call "farmers" those who at that time presided over the Jewish orders, whom it said must mourn, as all in the country, so to speak, that is, the inhabitants of the land, were about to go to destruction, who might be understood as being in the category of wheat and barley and beautiful trees. But we will apply the force of these thoughts in a more fitting way to the scribes and Pharisees; who, being in the position of husbandmen, acted insolently toward Christ, and killed the heir, that they themselves might have the garden, and become masters of the vineyard henceforth, almost exulting as in crops over the populous multitude of their subjects, and being accustomed to harvest the most distinguished among them, like a pomegranate, like an apple. But the Roman war took them, it consumed great and small, the brilliant and the distinguished, understood as being like fig trees, as I just said, or perhaps like a vine, a palm, and an apple, and in trees, as in barley and wheat; for their ways are different, and the measure of life is not one for all. For since it once compared the land of the Jews to a field, and called the leaders husbandmen, the word has preserved the metaphor throughout, comparing those under them in various ways to crops and trees. But if someone should think that these things must also be transferred to a moral exegesis, he will think well. For the vine, the fig tree, and the other trees, which are accustomed to be crowned with beautiful fruits, must be compared to virtues and the achievements of the mind. But if someone is wise and quick-witted, and a cultivator of good glories, he will bear a flourishing and well-wooded garden in his mind and heart, nourishing in himself virtue in its many forms, and every manner of goodness. But if he is lazy and a lover of pleasure, and has inclined far too much toward baser things, he will surely lament, as his goodness withers, and his mind suffers great barrenness. Therefore, the prudent must take care of the good things in their hearts, which will certainly be present, if at least they choose by their goodness to gladden God, the giver of heavenly gifts. Gird yourselves and mourn, you priests; lament, you who minister at the altar. Go in, lie in sackcloth, you who minister to God, because the sacrifice and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of our God. Through these words, it as it were exalts what has happened, and places it among unbearable terrors, showing that the matter requires the most fervent prayer, by the fact that even the priests themselves must wail. Nevertheless, the... has something skillful. word. For since, having most unwisely sat before the precincts of idols, although God was striking them in his anger, they sought help from there, the God of all usefully assigns to his own ministers the leading of the supplication, and to preside with fortitude over the efforts toward repentance, so that those who have transgressed might know that unless they chose rather to seek what is pleasing to God, and offered their prayers to him, they would not escape his anger. He said, therefore, that it was necessary for those who minister, almost to lend to others the labors in prayers, beating of the breast and lamentation and the wearing of sackcloth, by which is signified the putting away of luxury and rest, hardship and toil, and the right and blameless practice of a holy life. Then, making the cause of the toil clear, he says that sacrifice and libation have been withheld from the house of God; the saying is harsh; for he does not say that sacrifice and libation have been reduced, or rather, diminished, but rather have been withheld, which is significant of a complete overthrow. A terrible and truly burdensome thing for those who preside over the peoples, if in no way God is to be served by those under their yoke. Sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of our God, and cry out earnestly to the Lord, alas, alas, for the day. In what way it is fitting for them to make their lament, he again makes clear, and he appears as a wise guide to them of the way to repentance, and he shows clearly the things through which the God of all might become gentle and well-disposed. This was, I think, also of one wanting to check the anger, and to remove what causes pain, and to restrain what is harmful, and to grant them again to prosper, and to be abundant in good things. Therefore he said that, sanctify a fast, that is, you should hold it in the order of a votive offering, and in the manner of a sacrifice the truly all-holy and blameless fast. For it is not fitting for the flesh to be worn down by abstinence from food, but for them, having fasted, to do the things at which God would reasonably be provoked. For if during a time of fasting we are not going to cease from our own wills, but to oppress those under our hand "for strife and contention, and to strike the humble with the fist" according to what is written, we have not yet fasted holily and purely; but we will reasonably suffer the loss of our labors, God having cried out "Is not this the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord." It is necessary therefore to abstain from wickedness, and to follow, and very vigorously, the decrees of the lawgiver, directing the heart toward anything whatsoever of the things pleasing to him, and submitting the neck of the mind, singing and saying "Behold my humiliation and my toil, and forgive all my sins;" and indeed, in addition to this, also that prophetic word "Behold, we will be yours, for you are the Lord our God." For this is a spiritual offering and a pure sacrifice pleasing to God "more than a young calf," more than a lamb from the flocks, more than a kid from the goats, more than fine flour and frankincense. For "God is well pleased with spiritual sacrifices." And sanctifying the fast, let us proclaim a solemn service, that is, the fulfillment of the divine wills, with which would fittingly follow the uprightness, the good conduct of manner, the readiness for anything whatsoever of the words that pertain to piety; and we will accomplish the ways of the solemn service, the elders having been gathered in the churches, and all the inhabitants of the land having run together, and weeping very intensely for the whole day, and being steadfastly disposed, that in every way and altogether God will have mercy; for he is "Long-suffering and of great mercy and true," "Taking away iniquities and passing over injustices and not holding his anger for a testimony, according to what is written, because he is a willer of mercy." Because the day of the Lord is near, and as misery from misery it will come. Before your eyes foods were destroyed, dried up, and from the house of our God gladness and joy. He says, the day of the Lord, on which the things from wrath would come to pass, either by the locust brought upon them and consuming the things in the fields and sending the terrors of famine and want, and instilling the very fear of death itself, that is, of the Babylonians destroying everything, attacking both cities and villages, working one evil upon another, and always heaping misery upon misery for the inhabitants of the land, so that they could not even, so to speak, take a short breath, nor could any good thing come in between, by which it was likely that they could have even a partial and moderate comfort, they who were now unbearably consumed by the frequency of evils. But since, when the fruits were already ripening, and the crops were now all but calling the reaper to themselves, and the grape cluster was darkening and yearning to be pressed, the attack of the locusts happened to occur, he says foods were utterly destroyed from before their eyes, as if those things that were in sight were snatched away, though they were set before them, as it were, and they had the readiest enjoyment of them; and he again affirms that there has been removed from the house of the Lord both gladness and joy. For they were sacrificing, exulting in the bountiful harvests from the fields, and they practiced the ways of gladness, offering thank-offerings because they were richly showered with the good things of the earth. But we will find that something of this sort has also been suffered by those especially who have acted insolently toward Christ. For the bread of life has in a way already come before their eyes, "He who came down from "heaven and gives life to the world," "the grain "of wheat that fell into the earth," and sprang up manifold, the spiritual wine, that knows how to make glad the heart of man. But since they have not ceased to act insolently with their disobedience, spiritual foods have been removed from their eyes and, as it were, from their midst. For the participation in every good thing has departed from them, and from the house among them gladness and joy have been removed. For they have been given over to desolation, and the wretched ones continue "without a king or ruler, without a sacrifice or an altar, or a priesthood or manifestations." And in another way too we say have been removed from their eyes both the foods and the gladness and joy. For our Lord Jesus Christ said that, "Man shall not live on "bread alone, but on every word "that proceeds from the mouth of God." And that the word is food for the mind, no one would doubt. This has been removed from the multitude of the Jews; for they have come to be in want of spiritual food; they have not understood the things of Moses. For the divine Paul also writes, "To this day, when the "old covenant is read, a veil lies over their heart;" and they have hated the divine decrees given through Christ. Therefore all spiritual food has been destroyed for them, not that it itself suffered destruction, but by no longer being available to those who have suffered, and, as far as they were concerned, not existing at all. But our Lord Jesus Christ distributes to those who believe in him the need to live luxuriously, and to revel in the good things from above. For it is written that "The Lord "will not let the soul of the righteous hunger, but he will overthrow "the life of the wicked." Heifers leaped at their mangers, treasures vanished, wine-presses were demolished, because the grain dried up. What shall we store up for ourselves? Herds of cattle wept, because there was no pasture for them, and the flocks of sheep vanished. And at times the God-inspired scripture attributes speech to irrational animals, artfully diversifying the natures of things into what is charming and elegant, and writing, as it were, in character the dispositions of which it would be fitting to think. Then what is the wonder, even if it should say that heifers happened to leap about, and herds of cattle to weep? For as famine was unbearably oppressing them, perhaps they would have both leaped up and died, if they had perception of what was brought upon them. And he says that treasures have vanished and wine-presses have been demolished, perhaps of no deemed worthy of concern, because nothing was being gathered from the fields, but the sickle in the vineyard and on the grape-cluster was idle, and perhaps the ear of corn had withered in the fields, dry and fruitless. For this reason they say, "What shall we store up for ourselves?" But that, as I said, along with the cultivated fruits, the grasses of the wilderness also perished together, he makes it clear, saying that the very flocks of sheep have vanished, utterly destroyed by famine, and deprived of their accustomed and most beloved pasture. And these things will also apply wisely to the misfortunes of the Jews, who have acted insolently, as I said, toward Christ the Savior of all. To you, O Lord, will I cry, for fire has devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and a flame has burned up all the trees of the field, and all the beasts of the plain have looked up to you, because the springs of waters have dried up, and fire has eaten up the beautiful places of the wilderness. By "beautiful places of the wilderness" he means perhaps those things growing of their own accord in the unplowed plains; and by "trees of the field," the noble plants in gardens and parks, that are accustomed to bloom with the fruitful seasons; these things both the locust and the blight have almost devoured, as it were in the form of fire. He makes the prayer to God usefully and most skillfully, teaching that one must least of all seek the cessation of the misfortune from another, but to offer supplications only to the one who is able to save, and as the one who brings on out of wrath the things that are accustomed to cause grief. For he says that one must by no means think that such evils happen automatically, but rather that they have been brought upon them as from divine wrath; and this the God of all himself says to us through the voice of another prophet, "Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?" For none of the things accustomed to afflict either cities or countries would happen, if it were not done with God permitting it. For He saves whom He would choose, and delivers from evils. He persuades them, therefore, to seek release from the things that have caused grief from God, casting as far away as possible the notion that they ought to have needed the hand and help of the falsely named gods in their affairs. And he says that the springs of water have been dried up. For with rain not watering the earth, and with blight added to this, and the locust armed, and the locust-larva jumping, and the caterpillar crawling, how was it doubtful that their means of life would completely and utterly come to nothing? And with the grass also being destroyed, it was somehow entirely necessary for the cattle also to suffer destruction. And I would say that perhaps also for the Jews who turn to God in the last times of the age, it would be fitting to say such words, being afflicted and lamenting in their lack of good things. For the good things for the mind have been consumed for them as if by fire, and a spiritual locust has devoured them, and the springs of water have been dried up. "For he commanded the "clouds not to rain rain upon them," according to what is written, and they have become an impassable and waterless land, which will not be inhabited. But concerning us who have been justified by faith, God proclaimed beforehand, and of the gifts through Christ he indicated that the supply would be most abundant, saying, "In that day the mountains shall drip with "sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the "springs of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord "and shall water the torrent of the reeds;" and indeed also in another way, "I am the Lord God, I will hearken to "the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them, but I will open "rivers on the mountains, and in the midst of the plains into marshes, "and the thirsty land into aqueducts;" therefore we are in these things. But if they should walk to repentance and look up to God, and they themselves also say, "To you, Lord, I will cry," they will receive the springs of water, and they will draw with us the spiritual water "from the springs of salvation," and they will be given to drink "the torrent of delight" from God the Father, and they will have the fountain of life in their hearts. And there will be set before them for delight also the beautiful places of the wilderness, that is, a good and abundant pasture, to a knowledge of them turning away the divine and evangelical [teaching] understood in Christ. Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim on my holy mountain, and all the inhabitants of the land will be confounded, because the day of the Lord is present, because near is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and mist. The form of the war is again described for us elegantly. And it would be true for both, whether it be understood perchance of the locust and the locust-grub, or whether one might take it of the Babylonians themselves. For he says that since the war has already stepped inside the gates, and has been all but proclaimed throughout all the land of Zion, that is, in all of Judea, all things will be filled with confusion and fears. For the day of the Lord is present, that is, the matter is no longer only a prediction, but the sufferings are in sight, and they have come into the actual experience of what was long ago announced, from which it was far better to have chosen to turn to better things, and to shake off the experience of evils before the attack and its arrival. Therefore he does not permit them to shrink from repentance, but commands them to put away, as it were, their fallen state of mind and their sloth, and to turn quickly to diligence, and in general to the will to defend themselves, clearly by adding God to their side, and wiping away the charges of their ancient accusations by the practice of better things. For this reason he says the day of the Lord is near, on which they will be as in mist and darkness, fearing the famine from the locust, that is, the misery and disaster threatened upon them by the Assyrians. Like the dawn a numerous and strong people will be poured out upon the mountains; its like has not been from of old, and after it none will be added for years to come, for generations of generations. Before it a consuming fire, and behind it a burning flame; like a paradise of delight is the land before its face, and behind it a plain of desolation, and there is no one who escapes it. He seems to call 'dawn' either the dew at dawn, which, whenever it is poured all over the mountains, leaves nothing on them unwatered; or the first rays of the sun, and the immediate and initial shining of the day's light, which almost spreads out upon the peaks of the mountains before all else, and reddens the hills. Thus he says the strong people will be upon the mountains, perhaps the locusts, that is, by similarity to them, the Assyrian, understood henceforth as an incomparable multitude; for he says that its like has not been from of old, nor will it ever be. And since in the invasions of the locusts whatever falls in their way is immediately consumed, and if anything by chance should happen to be left over, this too is the work of those that follow the first; he said a consuming fire is what is before it, and a burning flame what is behind and follows. And I think an army of enemies would do this very thing. For those coming a little later will surely follow the arrogance and ruthlessness of those who have arrived first; and they will make the land like a paradise of delight, utterly shearing it bare, and squandering what is found. But the saying holds true also if it were applied to the locust itself. Like the appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen so will they pursue. As the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they will leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire consuming stubble, and as a numerous and strong people drawn up for battle. He says that the locust and the locust-grub, if they should be carried over lands and cities, will be in no way inferior to the most warlike horse; for it will leap upon the land in such a way as perhaps even to imitate the rattling of chariots. For they leap upon all the peaks of mountains, and they fly down upon every hill, and they produce a sound like that of a flame burning up stubble. For they say that the devouring in the fields is not done by them without a noise, but a certain bleating and discordant echo is produced by their teeth, as what falls into them is shattered, as if a wind were fanning a flame. But again to compare it to a crowd of enemies, the unseemly nothing; for it rushes in a multitude, and yields little to those who fight bravely in battle. For the thing is voracious and because of its immeasurable multitude not easily conquered, but rather even difficult to encounter. The same account could also be given concerning the Assyrians; and if someone wished, perhaps, also concerning the expedition of the Romans themselves, who like locusts devoured Israel for having impiously transgressed against our Lord Jesus Christ, it would not be so bad. From his face peoples will be crushed. For, as I said, the thing is completely invincible and hard for men to conquer, an assault of the cankerworm and the locust. Every face like the burning of a pot. For it is true that by unbearable terrors and griefs at times even the bloom of faces withers and somehow blackens into ugliness, being all but changed in color by the disturbances of the mind. They will run like warriors, and like men of war they will scale the walls. For running down equally with the most warlike, being superior to hesitation and fears, they will even be raised above the walls, as if practicing a bold assault. And each will march in his own way, and they will not swerve from their paths, and each will not keep away from his brother. The locust is kingless, yet it marches out in order from a single command. And they say that they go in rows, and fly as if in formation, and are least of all separated, but so attend one another, as if they were brothers, nature itself awarding the mutual love. Weighed down in their weapons they will march. And by weapons I suppose he means the teeth, by which they wage war, and the achievements as in battle, with the grass being consumed, and the crop falling, and plants withering. And they will fall upon their darts, and they will not be finished. Locusts do not strike those being warred against with the points of darts, nor is a bow drawn by them; from where would it be? but they strike as it were with the destruction of edibles, and with the terrors of famine and want. But that for those who have fallen under such a calamity the loss of things in the fields would not suffice, but that having invaded their very homes and cities and troubling them terribly, they will have the army of locusts, that is, the Assyrian himself, he showed by saying And they will not be finished. It is as if he were to say, And this will not be the end of the wrath, but it would go even beyond; for he says: They will seize the city, and run upon the walls, and climb up on the houses, and enter through the windows like thieves. Before their face the earth will be thrown into confusion, and the heaven will be shaken, the sun and the moon will be darkened and the stars will not give their light. You hear that they will fly down even upon the walls, and as if ravaging the grass itself, equally with those accustomed to clothes-stealing, they will burst in through windows, confusing peoples, and all but stirring up everything, so that heaven itself already seems to have been shaken, and the sun and moon, and indeed the stars, to have held back their own light as it were. And again in these things the account has become hyperbolic for us, showing the calamity to be both unbearable and very painful for those who inhabit the earth. But the account is accurate, even if it be understood again as about an army of men, if they should choose to overrun countries and a city. For, pouring over everything equally with the locusts, they ravage the fields, and they also afflict cities, being raised above walls and running into the houses themselves, and rivaling the terrors of an earthquake in their savagery. And the Lord will give his voice before the face of his power; for his camp is very great, for the works of his words are strong; because the day of the Lord is great, great and very manifest; and who will be sufficient for it? I have already said before, that the Prophet's aim is to show the calamity to be terrible and hard to bear, so that they might turn to willing to do better things, and indeed also to deliberate more prudently, those who have grieved the lawgiver by their deviations into wickedness. For the excess of pain knows, it knows how to easily transfer some, as if by necessity, to choosing henceforth to do what is pleasing to the one who is able to save and has the strength to deliver. Therefore, the Lord, he says, will give his voice before the face of his power, practically acting as a general and inciting them as against enemies. For it would be fitting for no other, except for those who act as shield-bearers and are placed before the others, to stir up the fighting spirit and to consider the army camp their own. And through these things he subtly indicates that the terrors do not have a spontaneous attack, nor indeed have they simply happened by chance, but rather that they have been brought on by God, who is clearly grieved and is now justly punishing. And he terrifies them, saying both that the camp is very great, and that the works of his words are mighty. And it is impossible that what God should command to happen would not in every way and entirely come to pass. And indeed he said to one of the holy prophets—this was Jeremiah: "Are not my words like a burning fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock?" For the word of God penetrates as if through everything, and whatever he might speak, nothing withstands it, but rather even hard and resistant things yield; for it is easily shattered, and it gives way to the master's will, even unwillingly. Therefore, great and manifest is the day, he says, on account of the report, which runs through all men, of the terrible things that will be brought upon them. And who will be able for it? That is, no one on earth would be so stubborn and strong as to be able to stand against the divine wrath. And the divine David was very wise when he cried out to God, "You are terrible, and who will stand against you because of your anger?" And now says the Lord our God, Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and with weeping and with lamentation, and rend your hearts and not your garments; and return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and full of mercy, and repents of evils. Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave behind him a blessing, a sacrifice and a libation for the Lord our God? From this you might learn, and very clearly, that it was for no other reason that he set forth the narratives on high; and that he proclaims beforehand to them a disaster that is harsh and entirely difficult to endure, than so that he might henceforth persuade them to come to repentance. For he does not allow them to despair; but he affirms, and very clearly, that if they should choose to think better things, and to correct their own ways at least in the second instance to what is pleasing to God, the things from his wrath will cease completely, and their affairs will pass over into the breadth of good order. And what the manner of both their return and of their prayer should be, he makes plain, saying thus, And now says the Lord our God, Return to me with all your heart. Let the things that are past be cast aside, he says, and let the things that have gone before depart into oblivion; appear better than yourselves in the second instance, propitiate God with fasting and toil, with lamentation and wailing. For it will surely follow for those who have chosen to do these things that they must henceforth be in comfort and luxury. For just as the end of ease, and of falling into pleasures, always concludes in wailing and punishment; so the outcome of gentleness and of the toils of repentance comes into the breadth of prosperity. Therefore, it is useful to weep over sins, and to be grieved according to God. For as the blessed Paul writes, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." And Christ himself also blesses those "who mourn now, for they will be comforted." And indeed our wise Solomon also says something of this sort enigmatically: "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting." However, it is necessary to consider this: how great the power of fasting is. It tames the Master, it calms his anger, it overturns punishment. For by tormenting ourselves, we very effectively, as it were, turn away the divine wrath that is raging and savage against us, and we easily restrain the hand of the one who strikes. For if it is true that by merely confessing our sins we are justified by God's pity, how could anyone doubt that by wasting ourselves away with the toils of ascetic practice, and as it were asking for justice, we will gain from God the forgiveness of our sins? Therefore, he commands them to mourn and to rend themselves, not their garments at all, but rather to unfold spiritually the harsh and hardened heart into which the divine fear does not penetrate. So Paul writes to the Corinthians, "You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return for the same—I speak as to children—you also be open." Therefore, it is necessary to widen the heart, as it were, for God, and almost to rend the mind, that it might receive what is His. For to feign grief by tearing one's garments rashly and in vain would in no way benefit those who have chosen to do this; but opening the heart and storing up in it what is pleasing to God would bring no small gain; for this thing will lead to salvation. And that they will not fail to achieve their purpose by making supplications, he confirms by saying that the Lord of all is both loving-kind and very merciful, compassionate and good, and repenting of evils. For even if He should choose to inflict evil on those who have sinned, yet He will be gentle, and not for long; for He easily changes to willing what is good. This, I say, is what it is to repent of evils. And the Prophet, usefully cutting short the rash counsel of those who despaired of salvation, says, Who knows if he will repent and leave a blessing behind him, that is, he will grant to those who turn back a share in a blessing, so that they may again offer a libation and a sacrifice to him, and rejoicing and being glad may light the thank-offerings. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, choose the elders, gather the infants that suck the breasts, let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal-canopy. Between the porch and the altar the priests, the ministers of the Lord, shall weep, and they shall say, Spare your people, O Lord, and give not your inheritance to reproach, that the nations should rule over them, lest they should say among the nations, Where is their God? Through these words he very effectively rouses them to repentance, and usefully commands them to leave no means of diligence for this purpose untried. For he said it was necessary, using a clear and loud proclamation, to sanctify a fast, to proclaim a service, and to gather in the congregation those who ought to serve, it is clear that is, the grieved God of all. And these would be "Young men and maidens, old men with children," and in addition to these, newborn and suckling infants, and indeed bridegrooms, and newly-wedded brides, perhaps running out of bridal chambers still garlanded and refusing their marriage beds, disdaining luxury and drink, and embracing austerity; with applause curtailed, and songs and words of good omen, which it is the custom for some to utter sometimes for those who have married, being silent; and lamenting along with the bridegrooms. For what one of the wise men among us said is true: "Music in a time of mourning is an inopportune tale." Therefore, when divine wrath is hanging over us, it is necessary to mourn, not indeed to love exulting in drinking and luxuries. For that reveling at the wrong time would not escape blame and justice, one of the holy prophets will make clear, saying of those from Israel: "And the Lord of hosts called in that day for weeping and for mourning and for baldness and for girding with sackcloths, but they made for themselves gladness, slaughtering calves and sacrificing sheep, and saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Therefore, one must turn to lamentations and tears when wrath is hanging overhead, and hav- Let drinking be cast aside. But the Prophet says that even the sacred and chosen race must join the mourners, and at the very foundations of the temple, and between the altar to wail earnestly, crying out and saying, Spare, O Lord, your people, and do not give your inheritance to reproach, for the nations to rule over them, so that they may not say among the nations, Where is their God? But if his discourse was only about the locust, why do they not rather ask for deliverance from famine and want? But they are terrified of falling into the hands of enemies, and they beg to be spared mockery and reproach. It is likely, therefore, and I would say even true, that in the riddles concerning the locust the invasion of the Assyrians was written of secretly. But if someone should wish to understand such things even of the locust itself, he would reasonably marvel at the economy of the prophetic decrees. For the very manner of the punishment all but cried out against the folly of Israel, and in addition against the weakness inherent in them. For they exchanged for "gods that are not gods," and forsaking the Creator of all things they have worshiped Baal. But behold, they consider the array of the locust unbearable, the locust larva is armed and they have fallen, they have no help from the falsely-named gods; but those who are defeated by the locust larva and the locust, what cure could they still give to their worshipers if they were to fight against enemies, and were besieged by the phalanxes of the enemy?

Book 2

And the Lord was zealous for his land, and spared his people. And the Lord answered and said to his people, Behold, I am sending you the grain and the wine and the oil, and you shall be filled with them, and I will no longer give you over to reproach among the nations, and I will drive the one from the north away from you. Behold then the mercy running on their heels. For I think the tranquility anticipates the grief, and the grace of the one who pities anticipates the tear of repentance. For he not only pitied those who had acted wretchedly, but was rather zealous and raged against those who had caused grief, who also became ministers of the misery brought upon them. For the God of all somewhere commands the Babylonians, as being harsher than was necessary to those brought under the divine wrath. For he said that "I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy;" and indeed also to the blessed prophet Zechariah, "Thus says the Lord: I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal, and with great wrath I am angry against the nations that are attacking, because while I was a little angry, they joined in for evil." Being zealous then for his people, he promises to supply them abundantly with the necessities of life, and a cheerfulness somehow equal to the preceding misfortune, and food to satiety; and in addition to these, security and not being given into the hands of their enemies, nor indeed, having fallen into slavery to them, to live a pitiable life in misery. And in addition to these he promises to destroy the one from the north, that is, the Assyrian; for their country is more northerly and more towards the light. But if anyone should think that the invasion of the locust also came from the more northerly parts of Judea, there is nothing to prevent thinking that the account is correct in this way too. But if for some the good things in the heart and the wealth of intelligible fruitfulness should be destroyed, as if by a swarm of demons leaping upon them like locusts, and the onslaught of principalities, powers and authorities—clearly of the evil ones—let him practice grief, let him meditate on repentance, let him weep before God. For he will hear at once from his loving-kindness one saying, Behold, I give you the grain and the wine and the oil. For he will show his heart as a land rich in corn, as a garden luxuriant with seasonable seeds, as a vineyard rich in grapes, and indeed He will make it fat with oil, according to what is sung in the Psalms, "You have anointed my head with oil." And He will drive away from it the one from the north, that is, the chilling satan, who does not allow those who have come under him to be fervent in spirit. And Paul also said that "the love of the many will grow cold because lawlessness will be increased." But the acquaintances of Christ are fervent in spirit; and they in no way endure being chilled towards unseemly pleasures; "For they have crucified their own flesh with its passions and desires." And I will drive him into a waterless land, and I will destroy his face toward the first sea, and his hind parts toward the last sea; and his rottenness shall come up, and his stench shall come up, because he has magnified his works. He still forms the structure of the discourse, as also in the beginning, as if about the locust and the cankerworm, which He says will be destroyed, having been carried away by the will of God to the very extremities, perhaps, of the land of the Jews, and to come to such a stench that its spread would become burdensome to those throughout the whole country; but the discourse in no way changes from the need to understand such things again as being about the Babylonians. For in the southern parts of Jerusalem a deep desert extends, and it is bounded on the east and south by the Indian seas; and on the west and more northerly, by the neighboring sea of the Palestinians, which also washes the coast of the Egyptians. There He says the cankerworm and the locust will be destroyed, and their stench will become offensive, perhaps that of the locust, as I just said. And the Babylonians were also destroyed, inhabiting the more northern country, and lying towards the east. And they were destroyed as we have often said in the times of the reign of Hezekiah, and the stench of the corpses was unbearable, so that the land was cleansed with difficulty in seven months, and was rid of the rottenness of the corpses. For so says the prophet Ezekiel somewhere. That the land of the Babylonians is inclined to the more northern parts would be clear, as God says through the voice of the saints to those of the blood of Israel who were carried away into captivity: "Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; be saved to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon." And Christ, having driven out the locust from us ourselves, I mean the spiritual locust, that is, the utterly wicked swarms of demons, has destroyed them, casting them as it were into the depths of the sea; for He has shut them up in Hades and in the recesses of the abyss, and henceforth their rottenness and stench have come up, and have become to us burdensome and hated, although formerly they did not seem to be such; for though satan is foul-smelling, we have now at last recognized that he is such. For we wretches thought him to be fragrant and lovely, when, entangled in the bonds of wickedness, we had fallen under his hand. But when Emmanuel appeared to us, crying out and saying, "I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys," then at last, having been called to share in the fragrance that is in Him, we condemned the stench of that one. Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad, because the Lord has done great things. Be of good courage, you beasts of the field, because the plains of the wilderness have sprung up, because the tree has brought forth its fruit, the vine and the fig tree have given their strength. And you, children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, because He has given you food for righteousness, and He will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before, and the threshing floors shall be filled with wheat, and the wine presses shall overflow with wine and oil. It is a custom for the holy prophets, from particular goods, and as to a few, to carry the discourse to what is universal and more general; and these are the things through Christ. Therefore the discourse now proceeds again to this for us. For when was it given that the earth should be of good courage; and when again did the Lord do great things with us? If not when the Word, being God, became man, so that by flooding the world under heaven with good things from above, he might be found by those who believe in him "As a river of peace, as a torrent" of delight, as early and late rain, and a giver of all spiritual fruitfulness. Then indeed then, even for the most foolish, who are also called beasts of the field, a certain spiritual grass sprang up, the word of the teachers; then the fields of the desert sprouted. and he calls the Church a desert according to what was said about it in the prophets: "Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice, "and blossom as a lily." And its fields would be the leaders of the peoples and those who know how to teach, who bear the mind as if gushing forth and very well-adorned with flowers with the divine gifts from heaven, and breathing sweetly with the flowers of doctrines, and as if crowned with newly-appeared grass. These nourish the mind of those who have been made like beasts, so that they may ascend to a human-like understanding. And he said that the tree also bore its fruit, the vine and the fig tree to give forth their strength, the solid word, I think, of the teachers, in which there is sweetness, and in addition to this also that which knows how to gladden, comparing it to the fruits of the fig and the vine. And it would fit very reasonably, for those still thicker in mind and having a beast-like dullness, to be fed the lowlier learning, that which grows as in the form and power of grass among those who teach the small things, but for those already perfect, that which is already understood on high, and the fruit as if blossomed on beautiful trees, that concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity, or of ethical instruction, that which is in the height of contemplations. Therefore, he calls those ones beasts, but the more perfect ones children of Zion, whom he also commands to rejoice in the Lord their God. For all our gladness is Christ, from whom and through whom is all fulfillment of good things, and an abundant supply of heavenly gifts for those who love him, understood as in early and late fruits and as in wheat filling the threshing floor, and as in wine overflowing the winepress, and as in gushing oil. And it must be known that indeed according to the manner of mystical fulfillment the promise is true. For it has been given to us as in rain, the living water of holy baptism, and as in wheat, the bread of life, and as in wine, the blood; and the need for oil has also been brought forward, contributing to the perfection of those justified in Christ through holy baptism. And I will restore to you for the years that the locust has eaten, and the cankerworm, and the blight, and the caterpillar, my great army which I sent among you, and you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and you shall praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. Therefore, as far as the account suited to historical narratives is concerned, for the preceding attacks of the locust he promises a completely equal-in-strength and equal-in-share bounty, and he says the provision of food will be more abundant than the affliction that happened to them at that time. But if the word of the prophecy should be understood spiritually, we say, that as satan had devoured us, and as in the order of the caterpillar and the locust and indeed also of the blight the sinful spirits had unbearably destroyed us into manifold forms of passions, we have remained dry and fruitless, naked and stripped of all good, not having ethical virtue in our mind, not illumined by dogmatic contemplation, but as if destroyed by famine, and simply deprived of all fruitfulness. but since we have been enriched by Christ to be courageous; for we have conquered the world with him, and "He has given us to tread upon serpents and scorpions;" then indeed then we also had the spiritual rains, early and late, I mean both the instruction of the Law and the exhortation of the Gospel, then we also blossomed into righteousness and had the fruits of life, then also having eaten we are filled and we glorify as Master our own Savior Christ, proclaiming him as a worker of wonders, and as one who bestows on those who love him things beyond word and hope. And we have known absolutely no other besides him. And we have been taught to say from a good mind, "Lord, besides you we know no other; we name your name." But see how the God of all things all but laughs at and mocks human affairs, calling the caterpillar his great power, which he says he has also sent against them. And of course we do not say that the caterpillar is truly a power of God, and a great one at that, but he says something like this to those who could not bear the punishment from it: O terrible and arrogant ones, who take no account of offending me; I am not seen sending down fire from heaven upon you, I have not sent thunder or hail, nor brought on anything else of the things raised on high and especially those most fitting to the glory of God. a wretched multitude of most insignificant worms has risen up against the country, and you have been thrown into confusion by it, you have lamented and been destroyed; perhaps then the caterpillar is very great, and I will reckon it as my great power also. So then the statement is a characterization, and as it were in laughter, with God all but mocking those accustomed to being contemptuous, as if, should he choose to punish them, even a caterpillar would be sufficient for this instead of great and invincible strength. Let not heretics laugh broadly then, nor let them trifle with the glory of the Only-begotten, as though, since the caterpillar was also named a great power, even if he himself is also called the power of God, he should be reckoned equal to the worm. For the wretched ones have dared to slip into this wretchedness of thought. And my people shall not be ashamed forever; and you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other besides me; and all my people shall no more be ashamed forever. He clearly promises the manner of the economy in the flesh, and that he will live together with those on earth, having sent himself into emptiness, and having become as we are, that is, man. For then he was in the midst of Israel, and we escaped shame and were delivered from dishonor, death having fallen, sin having been taken away, true knowledge having been introduced. for we no longer worship "the creature rather than the Creator," and we have accepted absolutely no other God besides him. Therefore we have also been enriched, as in sure hope, with both life and glory and a life for long ages, a way of life in sanctification and holiness. And it shall be after these things, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions; and also upon my male servants and upon my female servants in those days I will pour out of my spirit. Behold, he clearly promises to bestow the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, that is, an abundant supply, not selectly upon one or perhaps two prophets, but simply upon all those worthy to receive. which indeed we say was accomplished when Christ was raised, and had destroyed the power of death. For as a first-fruit, as it were, of this venerable and admirable grace he placed in the holy disciples, both breathing on them and saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." For it was necessary, it was necessary for the mystagogues of the Church, and those who would be teachers under the sun, and indeed before others, to be beautified by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and having become, as it were, a first-fruit of those called through faith into sanctification, to be gilded with divine and heavenly grace. And indeed on the days of Pentecost, when the disciples were gathered together in one house, and were offering their customary prayers to God, it happened "Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and behold, there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed, and it sat upon each one of them, and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." and they spoke forth prophesying, that is, both understanding and speaking the testimonies concerning Christ through the holy prophets, and those things by which it was likely that the hearers, being very well persuaded, would readily come to obedience, that the time of good pleasure is now at hand, and that the things formerly announced concerning Christ through the law and the prophets have now come to their fulfillment. Therefore they prophesied, speaking in every tongue, God proclaiming this also beforehand through the voice of the saints. For it is written, "For with other tongues and with "the lips of others I will speak to this people, and not even so "will they believe." Understanding this, the divine Paul said that speaking in many tongues was given as a sign to the Jews. And that when the Holy Spirit had descended from heaven, there were very many who were filled with the spirit of prophecy, Paul will make clear, writing: "Let two or three prophets "speak, and let the others discern. But if a revelation is made," he says, "to another who is seated, let the first be silent. "For you can all prophesy one by one." For in the past, because of the great perversity of Israel who was led astray, God said: "Behold, I am sending a famine on the land, not a famine "of bread, nor a thirst for water; but a famine of hearing the word "of the Lord. And they shall wander from east to west, "seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it." And to the blessed Ezekiel: "And I will make your tongue "cleave to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be mute, and you shall not be to them a man who reproves, because they are a rebellious house." But since, according to the voice of the Psalmist, "God is the Lord, and has appeared "to us;" for our Lord Jesus Christ has shone upon us, forgiving accusations and delivering from charges, and stopping the mouth of sin; the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has now been given, God gladdening human nature, and crowning it with the glory from above and from the beginning, and benevolently bringing it back again to that state in which it was in the beginning, when sin had not yet entered. For we will not find Adam, before he had transgressed the divine commandment, to be devoid of the prophetic spirit; but as one who had walked firmly and was still established, and adorned with the good things of nature. And indeed when God, having formed the woman, brought her to him, although he had heard from no one who she was or from where she was, or in what way she had been formed, he immediately declared: "This is "now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; "she shall be called woman," or according to the Hebrew version, 'man-ess', "because she was taken out of her man." But the grace given to man was inactive, yet it was renewed in Christ, who is the second Adam. But in what way was it renewed? For inasmuch as the Son is God and from God by nature—for He was truly begotten of God the Father—the Spirit is His own and in Him and from Him, just as it is also understood to be of God the Father; but inasmuch as He became man and appeared as one of us, He is said to have the Spirit as something brought upon Him. Indeed, it descended upon Him in the form of a dove when, having become as one of us, as I said, He was baptized for our sake as one of us. Then His own Spirit is said to have been given to Him from above, because of His humanity, and this is the emptying. And it should be understood in this way, and not otherwise: "Though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor, so that we by His poverty might become rich." For, as I said, the Spirit was given to Adam in the beginning, but it did not remain in human nature; for it turned aside to transgression, and slipped into sin, and grew sick with every kind of impurity. But since the Only-begotten, though He was rich, became poor, as I said, and with us as a man He received His own Spirit as something brought upon Him, "it remained upon Him;" for so said the blessed John the Evangelist; so that it might henceforth dwell in us permanently, as it had already remained in the second first-fruit of our race, that is, Christ; for on account of this He was also named the second Adam, through whom we are re-created to something incomparably better, and we gain very well the regeneration through the Spirit, no longer having the first, the according to the flesh, I say, which leads to corruption and sin; "For the mind "of the flesh is death," according to what is written; but the one from above and second, the one from God through the Spirit, if it is true that "Not of blood, nor of the will of man, but we have been born of God." It was necessary, then, it was necessary for those counted among the children of God to be enriched with the grace of the Holy Spirit. And Christ has worked this also in us, and the divine Peter will confirm it, saying, "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the "Holy Spirit, he has poured out "this which you see and hear." For as a man He receives from the Father what is in Him by nature; and He pours it out richly upon us, because He is also God by nature, even though He became flesh. And He pours it out upon all flesh. And this is clear, that it is not upon those of the circumcision alone, but upon all without exception who are called through faith, whether they be from Greek error, whether small and great, slaves and free, barbarians and Scythians. For the grace of salvation in Christ is set before those throughout the whole world under heaven, because He Himself is "the Expectation of the nations." But if some, speaking foolishly, should say that cattle are also called flesh, being delirious, let them now somehow hear, that the scope of the prophecy extends only to the human race, and not "Is it for oxen that God is concerned?" as the wise Paul also said. And he says that sons and daughters will prophesy, indicating through these things the abundance of grace and its equality for all. For the female sex would not be rejected by God, if it eagerly does the things that seem good to Him, and indeed also chooses to think, nor indeed unhonored, or without a share of holiness, if it is to be approved through faith and goodness in works; Why? For it too has been deemed worthy of grace and mercy, and it receives "the pledge of the "Spirit" from God, and has been counted among the children. He says, then, that the old men shall dream dreams, and the young men shall see visions, speaking, as I think, of the older age as that which is preeminent and superior in the quantity of virtue, and as it were grown gray with splendid achievements, and distinguished and admired for its most perfect wisdom, such as was the divine Paul, who saw in a dream a certain man from Macedonia, begging him and saying, "Come over into "Macedonia and help us;" for so it is written in the Acts of the wise apostles. And a certain Ananias, one of those approved in the faith, saw a vision concerning the blessed Paul himself. For when he had come to Damascus, Christ having appeared to him on the road, then by the flash of light his sight was taken away, he was healed through Christ. And again it is written thus: "Now there was a disciple at Damascus named "Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' "And he said, 'Here I am.' And the Lord said to him, 'Rise "and go to the street called Straight, and inquire "in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul.'" Do you hear how He spoke to Ananias in a vision? For he was perhaps strong in faith, and a young man in disposition, having a vigorous will for what is good, unbreakable in strength, meaning spiritual strength, of course. But in a dream the Macedonian seemed to offer his prayers to the blessed Paul; for he was an old man in mind, aged in intellect, and full of wisdom from above. And the wise John also addressed those sanctified in Christ through faith: "I am writing to you, fathers, "because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because "you are strong, and you have overcome the evil one." He promises, therefore, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on those who serve Him. And who might such people be, again? Or surely those who submit the neck of their mind to the evangelical decrees, having departed from the worship in type, and having ceased from Hellenic deceit, according to him who says? And I will give wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. At the impieties of the Jews, those committed against Christ, that is, even the nature of the elements was distressed, and creation, as it were, lamented, seeing its own Master insulted, and the divine temple, almost grieving along with those who mourned, was torn apart; for it is written, that "The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom;" and the sun, checking its own light and withdrawing its ray, did not deign to shine any longer upon those on the earth. For it made darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, and the rocks were also split, and perhaps something unusual also happened concerning the circle of the moon, so that it seemed to have been turned into blood as well. Now, such a thing is passed over in silence by the holy Evangelists, but belief from the prophecy is certainly trustworthy. But that the signs occurred not in the sun alone by the commands of the Creator, but that, as it were, the whole creation had shifted to what was for it unseemly and unusual, would be clear from God saying through the voice of Isaiah, "And I will clothe heaven with darkness, and I will make its covering as sackcloth." And when he says heaven, he means by all means everything in heaven, and that it is clothed as with a sackcloth of darkness, mourning and grieving, and as it were crying out by its appearance. So then, I would say these are the signs in heaven; but as for those on earth, the blood and fire, and vapor of smoke would, I think, probably signify the calamities of the Jews, which the most grievous war, that at the hand of the Romans, heaped upon them. For their entire country was besprinkled with blood. And together with the cities, the famous temple itself was about to be burned down, and the shaken houses to be filled with smoke. And that such things will happen to the Jews even before the great and glorious day, on which the divine judgment seat of Christ will be set before all, who gives to each according to his works, he has indicated by saying, "before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes." And it should be noted in addition to these things, that our Lord Himself, when asked by the wise apostles about the end of the age, and about the destruction of Jerusalem, mixed the signs, so that perhaps it would henceforth be unknown which ones, in fact, will happen. And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be one who is saved, as the Lord has said, and those preaching the good news whom the Lord has called. He says, then, that there will surely and in every way be signs and wonders in heaven and on earth because of the unholy deeds of the Jews. Nevertheless, even so, the things of God's gentleness will be set before them, namely salvation through faith, justification in Christ, the pledge of the Spirit, sanctification, the hope of the kingdom of heaven, with God forgiving them, without remembrance of evils, even their crimes against Christ. And indeed the divine Peter strongly accused the people of the Jews, crying out explicitly, that they had killed the Savior and Redeemer of all by hanging him on a tree, and "denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to them." And he added to these things, "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Repent therefore, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the promises are for you and for your children." Therefore, even if signs and wonders should occur, he says, everyone who would profess the Lord of heaven and earth as master will be saved. And that the word of salvation was destined to be spoken first in the very Lord-slaying Jerusalem, and would thus also be carried to all the nations through the holy Apostles, would be clear, from the Prophet saying, In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be one who is saved, and one who preaches the good news, whom the Lord he has been called; for as the divine Paul writes "No one takes the honor upon himself, "but he who is called by God." Therefore the blessed disciples were called, chosen from all, and they did not come to the apostolate as deserters, like that frenzied Pharisee, that is, the lawyer, who, thrusting himself into the boasts of discipleship, added, saying, "Lord, I will "follow you wherever you go." For this reason the Savior himself pushed him aside, as he was troubling him in vain and was not even close, so to speak, to the evangelical practices, saying, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have "nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to "lay his head;" but to those who were fit for the apostolate he called out, saying, "Come after me, and I will make you "fishers of men." Indeed, he raised up Matthew from the very workshops of greed, commanding him to follow; and he has called, according to his own will, those who were likely to be most able to accomplish, and very vigorously, what seemed good to him, even if the inventor and father of lawlessness snatched away the betrayer. For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, who were scattered among the nations, and they divided up my land, and they cast lots for my people, and gave the young boys to prostitutes, and sold the young girls for wine and drank. After the ten tribes broke away from the kingdom of Rehoboam, and they and all of Israel were divided into both Ephraim and Judah, the blessed prophets came to be. And they spoke on behalf of both, as the whole kingdom extended for them until the times of the captivity. But after the return from there to Jerusalem, and the return that happened in due time, Haggai and Zechariah and indeed Malachi prophesied to Israel; and Ezra also appears to have foretold a few things of that time, and of what happened in his own times. Therefore, the account mentions the aforesaid matter, which happened not in the time of the ancient prophets, but when they had just returned to Judea, after Cyrus had released the people. And what the noteworthy matter is, and what indeed happened, we will say as we are able, bringing forward the writing of Ezra as proof. Therefore, since those from Israel had just returned to Judea and had a respite from the tributes and the labors of slavery, they turned to indolence, and were not secure observers and guardians of the things decreed through Moses. For though the law forbade anyone to lie with the daughters of foreigners, they took little thought of the oracles given to them from God and mingled with foreign women. And Ezra, being very distressed at this, tore his garment, and lamented over those of Israel, and urged them to separate from the foreign women. And they were persuaded to do this, fearing perhaps the things that come from wrath, and they made the experience of past events their teacher concerning what would happen to them if they did not choose to honor the law. But when the multitude of foreign women had been cast out and had departed from Jerusalem, then necessarily the neighboring nations were embittered to anger, since they had been not moderately insulted through these things, and in addition to this they perhaps reasoned that other thing among themselves. For since they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and were also eager to raise up the divine temple itself, they were inflamed to anger by the arrows of envy, and they attempted to hinder them, considering this, as was likely, that if Israel should again be in its former powers, and have its cities walled, and the God of all defending them, since indeed for those worshipped in a temple according to ancient customs, will again prevail and will be unbearable to all everywhere, and will impose tributes on some of its neighbors, and they will certainly be captured, their lands being ravaged, if any should choose even late just to look against it. For this reason some prepared to restrain them from the constructions both on the temple itself, and on the walls. But since their effort was fruitless, God making straight the way of their undertakings for those from Israel, they armed themselves then and wished to wage war; but they were captured and have fallen with God defending them. The gathering of those assembled for this purpose took place in the valley of Jehoshaphat; this is a place not many stades distant from Jerusalem, in the eastern parts. They say it is bare, and suitable for cavalry. That some of the more powerful envied those from Israel who were raising the divine temple, but profited nothing, the blessed Esdras will teach, saying "But in the times of Artaxerxes the "king of the Persians they wrote against the inhabitants "in Judea and in Jerusalem: Belemus and "Mithridates and Tabellius and Rathumus and Beeltethmus "and Geeltethmus the scribe, and the rest of those "allied with them, living in Samaria and the other "places." The meaning of the writing was something like this, that Jerusalem was a city having an unbreakable power, yielding in no way to the kings of other lands; but rather rising up against them and very vigorously, which if it should happen to return again to its ancient state, it would heap up cares even for the successive rulers of Babylon. But, as I said, those who had written such things profited absolutely nothing. And some of those in Samaria urged those who had been resettled from Babylon to work with and build with them. But they were not willing, and for this reason they grew exceedingly weary, resisting their plots. For it is written thus in Esdras again "And the enemies of "Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building "a house to the Lord God of Israel; and they drew near to Zoro-"babel and to the heads of the clans, and said "to them 'We will build with you, because we seek your God "as you do, and to him we sacrifice from "the days of Sarsathus king of Asour who brought us "hither.' And Zerubbabel and Jesus and "the rest of the heads of the clans of Israel said to them "'It is not for you and us to build a house to our God, "for we ourselves together will build to the Lord our God, "as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.' And "the people of the land were weakening the hands of the people of Judah, "and hindered them from building, and hiring counselors against "them, to frustrate their purpose." But they plotted, but their attempt was also unsuccessful. And that when the secret plot was then failing, all the neighboring nations went to the law of war, campaigning, and were captured and have fallen, you may learn from this. For he writes thus again also in the second book. "And "it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs "and the Ammonites heard that the restoration went forward on the walls of Jeru-"salem, and that the breaches began to be stopped, "it seemed very evil to them. And they all gathered together "to go out and to fight against Jerusalem. "And to the Lord our God, he says, we prayed, "and we set a watch against them day and night "because of them. And Judah said, The "strength of the enemies has been broken, and the great multitude." And in these passages the memory of the valley is passed over in silence; but the account of tradition brings this back to us. And the prophecy is worthy of belief, naming for us the very place of the war. We say that he is mindful of this history, when he says that he will gather all the nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And it is clear that he will not lead them unwillingly, but that he will not prevent them from coming willingly. but to be judged against These things are concerning Israel and his own inheritance, which they divided among themselves, plundering perhaps the remnants of the Babylonians, and attacking them in the time of their affliction, and giving the little boys to harlots, and putting the girls forth to unusual fornication, and as it were prostituting them to the licentiousness of others, then collecting the wages from this for luxuries and drunkenness. But we say that something of this kind has also happened to us, having understood the redemption through Christ. For he delivered us who were captives, and serving under a tyrant, I mean the bitter Satan, and he brought us back as it were into a holy land, into an evangelical commonwealth, into a most docile state, into a walled city, the spiritual Jerusalem, "which is the Church of the living God," having prepared it to be built, like precious stones "into a holy temple, into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." But by the toils of envy the unholy multitude of demons was inflamed, and in addition to these, those who fight against the doctrines of the truth, and they have made many assaults against the saints, but they have done no harm, as God was their champion, and Christ encouraged them saying, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." There is, then, among the Jews a baseless and old wives’ tale, that at some time in the valley of Jehoshaphat there will be a judgment from God against all, after the dead have been raised. They suppose that those throughout the whole world under heaven will render an account for what was done to them. But their notion would by no means fail to deserve ridicule, since the divinely inspired scripture says that the things of the prophecy have been fulfilled, and that the neighboring nations have paid the penalty to God, when the war occurred in the valley of Jehoshaphat. For, as I said, they leaped upon the remnants of Israel, although they had endured a very great deal of affliction; for they had been given over to the Babylonians. And what have I to do with you, O Tyre and Sidon, and all Galilee of the foreigners? Are you rendering a recompense to me? Or are you bearing a grudge against me? Swiftly and quickly I will return your recompense upon your heads, because you took my silver and my gold, and you brought my choice and beautiful things into your temples; and the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel you sold to the sons of the Greeks, that you might drive them out from their own borders. Therefore every nation was gathered together against Israel, Moabites, Idumeans, Jebusites, Ammonites, and the rest. But I think the Damascenes and Tyrians and those called Philistines took the lead in counsel and undertakings, even as far as Gath itself, which is also called a city of foreigners. Therefore also to them the God of all says, And what have I to do with you, O Tyre and Sidon and all Galilee of the foreigners? For what pretexts for savagery, he says, having, do you unholily add to the burden of afflicted Israel, already immoderately weighed down by the calamities from the Babylonians, attacking them bitterly and as it were mocking me, who am perhaps saving them, and defending yourselves, and daring to speak the words of enemies against me, or rather even to do so now? Therefore not long hence you will receive your recompense. It will come upon your own head; for you will pay the penalty to me who will judge you in the valley of Jehoshaphat. And he accuses them of having plundered the choice things of the temple, and having despoiled the golden vessels, and having dedicated them to the honor of their own gods. An intolerable and bitter thing, and not without power to grieve God. For he said, "My glory I will not give to another, nor my praises to graven images." For what else could it be to adorn the temples of idols with divine offerings, than all but to cry out and say that the God of all is in second place, while they are in the position of preeminence and know how to save their own worshippers? And it is not enough, he says, for your impiety to strip my temple of its divine offerings, but you also the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel you have sold to the sons of the Greeks. And it is likely that something like this happened, that some from Israel were carried away into the lands of the nations, sold by Tyrians, perhaps, or even by others, for whom trade is their pursuit, and love of gain their practice. The saying would also be fitting, as it seems to me, for the leaders of impious heresies, who, all but snatching away the sons of the Church, sell them to the wisdom of the Greeks, so that being filled with complex ideas, they might become bitter seekers, or rather, disobedient and wicked, and perverters of what is right, although they ought to live with a simple nature and study the unadulterated word of truth. Therefore, they cause the deceived to be outside their own boundaries. But the boundaries, as it were, and the country of the children of the Church, are the knowledge of the truth and that which tends toward the correctness of anything precisely examined. And they might rightly be called golden and silver vessels, and the chosen of God, who are truly resplendent with faith, and gilded with the boasts of good works, and shining with the beauty of piety. But if any of these brilliant ones should be caught in the snares of deceit, the inventors of the deceit will certainly hear: You have taken My silver and My gold, and you have brought My chosen things into your temples. And this is a terrible and inescapable charge. "For by sinning against the brethren, for whom Christ died," they wrong Christ Himself, to whom they will by all means and in every way pay the penalties for the offenses committed against Him. Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will return your recompense upon your own heads. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them into captivity to a nation far off, for the Lord has spoken. He says most clearly that the schemes of the Tyrians and the inventions of their wickedness against those from Israel will be ineffective, and that the calamity will, as it were, turn back upon the wrongdoers, and they will be caught in equal evils, with an equivalent punishment all but falling upon the heads of those who have committed impious offenses. For just as they captured the race from Judah and then gave them to the slave-traders, telling them to carry them off to a distant nation, so, he says, their own children will be sold by the hand of the Jews; and that such things will by all means and in every way come to pass, he confirms by saying, For the Lord has spoken. And in no way is anything that God utters unfulfilled. And indeed Christ said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." And these things historically; but if someone should choose to examine the spiritual things and be filled with the hidden meanings, he will understand again that both the children of the Greeks who are puffed up with their pseudo-wisdom, and indeed heretics who, with complex inventions of deceit, attribute some seeming importance to themselves, lead away some of the more simple from the right and blameless faith which they would have from God, and all but binding them with the snares of deceit, and taking them as their spear-won portion, they carry them as far as possible from the boundaries of truth. But the God of all renders their evil deed ineffective, and releases the deceived, but brings the sons by learning of the deceivers to those from Judah; and these again might be understood as the divine disciples, and all who speak the mystery of Christ; and delivering them from their error, they lead them into a good and lovely servitude, that under Christ, obviously, and they seize them like captives, transferring them into their own state and mind, which is most distant from that of the others. For a great distance is seen between the mind of the saints and that of such men. And Christ is also said to have taken as captives those who were transferred from Hellenic deceit to the knowledge of the God who is by nature. For the blessed David said, "Having ascended on high, You led captivity captive, You received gifts among men." Proclaim these things among the nations, sanctify war, rouse the warriors, bring forth and come up, all you men of war, beat your plowshares into swords and your sickles into spears; let the weak say, I have strength. Assemble and enter, all you nations from round about, and gather there; let the gentle be a warrior. Let them be roused, and let all the nations go up to the valley of Josaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from round about. Having threatened the nations with calamities in return, and a punishment equal to their unholy deeds, he now turns his discourse to his own worshipers, whom he commands to be by no means cowardly and unmanly, but rather vigorous, and, so to speak, to use a piercing proclamation, to gather the nations for battle, and to urge them on eagerly to this, even if they should happen to choose a quiet and peace-loving life. This was to show them as most courageous, and to persuade them to trust in him, because they would be superior to their enemies with him as their shield-bearer. Therefore, he says, Proclaim these things among the nations, and sanctify war. And what, again, is sanctify? Consecrate it to me in a way, for I will be the warrior, and what is done will be for my glory; for they will die who have ascribed my glory to wood and stones. For everything that is said to be sanctified is always brought to the glory of God. For this reason he says, sanctify war, rouse the warriors, and indeed you cry out, he says, Bring forth all you men of war. Let the farmer cease from his most beloved cares and labors; let him reforge the plow into a sword, and the sickle into a spear. For it is not the time for farming, but for giving satisfaction to a dishonored God. And if anyone should be weak, he says, let him not make cowardice an excuse, but let him even lie, if he wishes, and say that he is able. For let him not be far from his weapons. Therefore, gather, all of you, he says, who are around Judea, and let the gentle be a warrior, that is, even if one is among the meek, let him also be a warrior. It is as if he were saying, with absolutely no one left behind, whether he is a farmer, or cowardly and unmanly—for this is the weak man—or if he is gentle and unwarlike, let him be sharpened for battle. For I will excuse no one; but I judge everyone in the valley of Josaphat. And I judge means that I will be a powerful Judge, inflicting punishments and sentences on those who plundered my land, who cast lots for Israel, and gave the little boys to prostitutes, sold the little girls, and drank them down like wine. Our Lord Jesus Christ might proclaim such things again to the enemies of the Church, who, though they should come in great multitudes and campaign against the saints with all their force, will surely fall with him as their shield-bearer, as he overthrows them, and fortifies his own worshipers with faith and hope and love, and with the good things from his own gentleness. Send forth sickles, for the harvest is at hand; enter, tread, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their evils have multiplied. Sounds have resounded in the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment. The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will withdraw their light. But the Lord will cry out from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice, and the heaven and the earth will be shaken. As for the neighboring nations of the land of the Jews, I mean the Arabs and Tyrians, the Gittites and Philistines, the Moabites and Idumeans, the Ammonites and Gergesenes, he commanded them, as if using a trumpet, to gather in the valley of Josaphat, as those who would very soon die and suffer bitter penalties from the one judging; but now he incites those of Israel to an invincible zeal and an irresistible courage, and indeed he commands them, as it were, to leap upon those who have been gathered, that it is necessary he says that they are seen as most bold, courageous and youthful, not terrified by the fears of war, nor indeed as going into battle at all, but rather considering the matter a luxury, and recording it among their delights and rejoicing equally with those who gather the good fruit from the vines. For this reason, he says, Send forth sickles, for the harvest is at hand; using "send forth" instead of "send out" and "stretch out," just as, of course, those who are accustomed to harvest grapes do; for they will lie ready for destruction, prepared for being cut down. Let the enemy be shorn, he says, like a cluster of grapes from a vine; let him be trodden as in winepresses, lying in a heap underfoot. For go in, he says, and tread. Because the winepress is full, that is, the multitude of the nations has been gathered for destruction, there is nothing to prevent them from being under your feet. the vats overflow; and by this he signifies the great abundance of those gathered to be trodden down. For in the abundance of grape clusters, the wine often overflows even the presses themselves. Therefore, by saying The vats overflow, he indicates the multitude of those lying underfoot. Sounds have resounded in the valley of judgment. And what is this? It is the custom for the holy prophets to announce future events, and at times to be in the very visions of the events, so as to seem to already see what is being done and to hear voices. And so the divine prophet Jeremiah, proclaiming beforehand what would happen to the Jews, and that Nebuchadnezzar, stirred to battle, would utterly destroy them, was caught up into the grim spectacle of the war itself, and as if having seen an countless multitude of the dead, said, "Woe is me, for my soul faints over the "slain." Having experienced something of this sort, as I think, the blessed Joel perhaps received into his ears the din of war; for this reason he says, Sounds have resounded in the valley of judgment. And he calls the place of the war the valley of judgment, as if the nations were gathered in it for no other reason than to pay bitter penalties; and by "resounding sounds" he means here either the wailings of the falling, or the shouts of the victors. For it happens in wars that the falling groan, while the conquerors exult over the fallen, and boast very much. And he says that the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars themselves will be without light. And not at all as if the elements themselves will suffer this at that time, but as if the war creates darkness, and puts a kind of mist before the eyes of the vanquished. For the terror of death always darkens, and the magnitude of unexpected calamity dulls the mind, and like gloom it blackens the heart with excessive sufferings. And he says that the Lord will cry out, as one who is present and fighting alongside, and like a general urging the men of Israel against the enemy. It would be especially fitting for the time of the resurrection to say that the Lord will cry out from Zion. Because, as the divine Paul says, "The Lord "Himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with "the trumpet of God, and the dead "in Christ will be raised incorruptible." The law of Moses also prefigured this, for it commanded the men of Israel to blow the trumpet at the new moon. And the new moon might be understood as a type, and a very clear one, of the future and new age after the first; but the trumpet, of the piercing sound of the archangel's voice, of the trumpet from God, which will raise all who lie in the earth, sounding something extraordinary and vocal. It should be known that the Lord Himself also, performing the miracle concerning Lazarus, came to the tomb, and as the Evangelist says, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come "forth." But how might this be understood, when God says through the prophet, "He will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will his voice "be heard outside?" Therefore, a sign of the piercing trumpet, and of the sound from it at the last times, I say, and from heaven, was the Savior's use of a loud voice when raising Lazarus. But he The Lord will spare his people, and the Lord will strengthen the sons of Israel. and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion in my holy mountain; and Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners shall no longer pass through her. When the crimes of apostasy were charged against those of Israel, and they were worshipping the golden calves, and saying impiously "These are your gods, O Israel, who "brought you up from the land of Egypt," then they were both weak and vulnerable, and were set forth as the readiest prey for their enemies; for this reason they were also sent into captivity. But since they have been shown mercy, and have inhabited their own land, with God relaxing His wrath, they have henceforth become invincible and irresistible to their enemies, and they have prevailed effortlessly, although all the nations were gathered for battle. Therefore, he says that they will know from having prevailed over their adversaries, that he is both among them and henceforth rests upon Zion as a holy city. For this reason, he says that he will spare his own peoples, and will show them to be most valiant, and that they will learn that, as I just said, he is with them. And he says that Jerusalem will be holy, having been delivered from its ancient godlessness in every way; not bestowing its modes of worship on falsely-named gods, nor with false prophecy and sorcery still being honored in her, but rather with a lawful life prevailing, and the best practices having become their pursuit. And since she is thus disposed and has chosen to live this way, he says that none of the nations shall pass through her, meaning she will not be easily conquered by anyone nor seized in passing by those who wish to, as before, but rather she will be secure, and very well fortified by my powers and assistance. And the matter is true even if it is understood of the Church of Christ itself. for he cares for his own worshipers, and makes them superior to their enemies, strong and most valiant, and full of spiritual robustness, knowing and believing that God is in them through the Spirit; for he dwells in our hearts through faith, and as the Evangelist John says, "By this we know "that he is in us, from the Spirit which he has given us." And holy in truth is the intelligible Jerusalem, that is, the Church, where the orders of the saints are. For they are not a passage for foreigners; "For those who are of Christ have crucified the "flesh with its passions and desires;" and they remember one of the wise men saying, "If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place, "for healing will pacify great sins." For they have a secure heart, not one that can be trodden upon, not one that can be ridden by unclean spirits, not one that yields easily to the assaults of passions, not one defiled by the false opinions of those who teach other doctrines, not one shaken by the deceptions of reasonings; but rather one that is steadfast and very well fortified by the dogmas of truth. And it shall be in that day, the mountains will drip with sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the springs of Judah will flow with water, and a fountain will come forth from the house of the Lord and will water the torrent of the reeds. Jerusalem having been shown to be holy, and no longer trodden by foreigners, because the Lord of all has dwelt in her, and has spared His own people, and made them strong, and shown them to be superior to their opponents, then indeed, then he says the mountains will drip with sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk, and the springs of Judah will give forth their own stream. And I think 'springs' (apheseis) means the outlets of fountains, or in another way what might be called water channels. And 'mountains' could be understood as those who are lifted up to the height of virtue, and who in the boasts of a virtuous life surpass the measure of others, the conspicuous and renowned, such as the disciples were, and before all others the Baptist, concerning whom the Savior says, "Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the "Baptist." These, then, the great and most famous, will drip sweetness, and as if anointing with honey they will make their discourse about the Savior, so that each of those who have partaken cries out from exceeding joy, "How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey and the honeycomb to my mouth." For the word of the saints is always sweet, at least to those who love to please God. Therefore, such men might be understood as mountains, and very fittingly. But we say that the hills are those who are slightly inferior to their pre-eminence and are lower in the measure of their way of life; but they too are raised up, and far surpass others. These men pour into the souls of those who have just believed the rational and pure milk, providing nourishment fit for infants; for solid food is for the mature; but milk is most fitting for infants. And we do not at all say that the measure of their understanding is in being able only to pour milk for infants. For having, and very skillfully, the ability to distribute, if they should choose, to those of a more solid constitution the richer kinds of nourishment, they remember the sacred writing saying, "You shall diligently know the souls of your flock." And so the divine disciples, although Christ had given us countless commands to those who believed from the Gentiles, write with wise management, that they must abstain "From fornication and what is strangled and from blood. For it seemed good," he says, "to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay no greater burden upon you." Do you hear how the command is fit for infants, and like milk is administered to those of a weaker constitution? But that the spiritual water will also be abundant for those "planted in the house of the Lord," so that "they might flourish in the courts of our God" being watered, of course, by divine streams, and enriched by words from above and from heaven, he hints at, saying that all the springs of Judah shall flow with water. For the blessed disciples confessed that they were comforted by God. But the first springs of the spiritual waters, these springs would surely be the provisions of good things given by God to the saints through the Spirit; and second, as it were, springs of water are found to be the words from them to us, filling us with spiritual gifts. But the spring proceeding from the house of the Lord, who could it be again but Christ? For so the blessed psalmist named him, saying to the Father and God in heaven, "How you have multiplied your mercy, O God; and the sons of men will hope in the shelter of your wings. They will be inebriated with the fatness of your house, and you will give them to drink of the torrent of your delight, for with you is the spring of life." Therefore Christ is both the spring of life and a torrent. But a torrent of rushes. The Prophet therefore mentions a certain torrent beside which many rushes have grown. They say that it is the same as the torrent of the Cedars, near which the Evangelist says our Lord Jesus Christ was found, when the traitor disciple was seeking him with the cohort. The saying is not uncomely, if we were to compare the Church to the torrent of rushes, upon which our Lord Jesus Christ has "turned aside like a river of peace," which he, as it were, ever flows beside, watering the ever-green rushes, that is, the souls of the saints. For the rush is somehow always water-loving and ever-green. But if indeed it were seen to be prickly, it would be well even so. For the virtue of the saints is not entirely without a sting. For they are lovers of gentleness, but along with this, they are also fighters. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Idumea shall become a plain of desolation for the injustices against the sons of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land. But Judea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to generations of generations. And I will avenge their blood, and I will not acquit, and the Lord will dwell in Zion. Insofar, therefore, as it pertains to what is shown from history, the land of the Egyptians has paid the penalty, for it was deprived of its kingdom, when Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, overthrew it, and Idumea also endured desolation, as also The facts themselves bear witness. But in these things the prophetic word seems to show us a hidden dispensation, which the Only-Begotten fulfilled when He became man. For somehow the divine scripture has always practiced likening to extreme idolaters and those greatly inclined to this, both the herds of demons and those who have always opposed the saints. Therefore it says that every enemy will be destroyed, being compared to Egyptians and Idumeans. For sure is the promise of Christ who says concerning the Church that "the gates of hades shall not pre- "vail against it." And that the evil powers, and as many as dare to do things similar to them, either carrying some away to Hellenic deceit, or else perverting them to a reprobate mind, by hastening to teach perverse things, would in every way and altogether be required to pay the penalty for the things they have committed against men, he makes clear, saying that for this reason those who have warred against Zion will be destroyed, because they shed innocent blood, and have wronged unbearably the sons of Judah, that is, the saints who are children of confession. For Judah is interpreted as con- fession. And the blessed David said somewhere concerning those who were unholily slain, "For he who seeks their blood has rem- "embered; he has not forgotten the cry of the poor." And to Satan, as if pictured in the Assyrian, "As "a garment stained in blood will not be clean, "so you also shall not be clean, because you have defiled my land "and destroyed my people; you shall not remain for all "time." Therefore he says that those who have warred against Zion will go down to destruction. but that Judea will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for generations of generations, not the one that was sacked and burned, if indeed the Lord and God is infallible as truth, but rather the spiritual one, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Zion above which is divine, the glorious and beautiful city "whose artisan and maker and builder is "God," to which may we also arrive through Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.