Commentary on Joel

Latin Text from public domain Migne Editors, Patrologiae Cursus Completus.

Translated into English using ChatGPT.

Table of Contents Prologue 1:1 1:2-3 1:4 1:5 1:6-7 1:8 1:9-12 1:13-14 1:15 1:16 1:17-18 1:19-20 2:1-11 2:12-14 2:15-17 2:18-21 2:22-27 2:28-31 2:32 3:1-3 3:4-6 3:7-8 3:9-11 3:12-13 3:14-15 3:16-17 3:18 3:19 3:20-21

Prologue

The order of the twelve prophets among the seventy interpreters is not the same as the one retained in Hebrew truth. For they place Amos second, Micah third, Joel fourth, Obadiah fifth, Jonah sixth, Nahum seventh, Habakkuk eighth, Zephaniah ninth, Haggai tenth, Zechariah eleventh, and Malachi twelfth. But the Hebrews, after Hosea, who is first among both, read Joel second, Amos third, Obadiah fourth, Jonah fifth, Micah sixth, Nahum seventh, Habakkuk eighth, Zephaniah ninth, Haggai tenth, Zechariah eleventh, and Malachi twelfth, who is also the last. And since once we have listed all the prophets of one volume, it seems useful to us to briefly annotate the etymologies of each in both Greek and Latin. Hosea means 'savior', which we can call the Savior. Joel means 'beginning', that is, starting. Amos means 'bearing', which is called 'carrying' in Latin. Obadiah means 'servant of the Lord', that is, servant of the Lord. Jonah means 'dove'. Micah, from two parts of speech, a compound name, which means, 'who is like', or 'who is as if'. Naum, παράκλησις, that is, consolation. Abacuc, περιλαμβάνων, that is, embrace or struggle. Sophonia, κεκρυμμένος Κυρίου, which means, hidden of the Lord. Aggaeus, ἑορτάζόν, which we can say is festive or solemn. Zacharias, μνήμη Κυρίου, that is, remembrance of the Lord. Malachias, ἄγγελός μου, that is, my messenger. The meaning of all these should be discussed in their respective volumes. But the other four prophets, to complete sixteen, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, have these interpretations: Isaiah is called the salvation of the Lord; Ezekiel, the power of the Lord, which we can call strength or rule of the Lord; Jeremiah, the highness of the Lord, that is, the exaltedness of the Lord; Daniel, the Lord has judged me. Since things are in this state, I beseech you, my Pammachus, who fight against the devil with every art of combat, to help us overcome our adversaries by praying to the Lord, just as Moses's hands were lifted up to God while we fought against Amalek (Exod. XV), and as you overcame the enemies of Israel by your prayers, after we had recently escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea with Pharaoh being submerged in it (Exod. XIV). Now, after the extensive wilderness, we must toil much in order to reach the seventy palms and the apostolic springs. The scorpion may rise up and attempt to strike with its arched wound: you are the companion of the journey, and the enchanter of venomous bites, show us the spiritual flea as promised to your holy and venerable mother Paula, pious heir, accept it and support us with the favor of a friend whatever we may lack in talent or knowledge, do not consider our strength, but our willingness.

1:1

(Chapter 1, Verse 1) The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. The Seventy Interpreters translated Pethuel as Bathuel, which has no meaning in Hebrew. However, Pethuel is translated into our language as the breadth of God, or God opening, as we read in Mark with the Savior saying to the deaf-mute: Ephphatha, which means, be opened (Mark 7). For just as the Apostle could say: Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is widened (2 Corinthians 6:11), and he heard from the Lord: Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it (Psalm 81:11). The opening of the mouth itself is in the power of God, not of man, as Paul says: A great and evident door has been opened to me; but there are many adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:9); therefore, God is said to be the opener. When the saint always makes progress, knowing in part and prophesying in part, until what is perfect comes, generated from breadth and openness, he is called Joel, which in our language means beginning, or is God, as the Apostle says: Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it (Phil. III, 13); growing in humility, he deserves to hear with Moses: I Am Who I Am (Exod. III). For the distinction is made between those who are not, about whom we also read in Esther: Do not give your scepter to those who are not (Esther XIV, 11), to show that God and His saints exist. Let these things be briefly described about the name of Joel and his father, so that the word of God, which was in the beginning with God, may be correctly told to have been made, as John the Baptist reports: He who is coming after me has become before me, because he was before me (John 1:30). Moreover, the word is said to have been made according to his merit, to whom it is said, not according to the condition of the one who is said to be made, as we read elsewhere: The Lord has become my salvation (Psalm 118:21). But in the book of the Prophet Hosea, whom we explained at the beginning as one of the twelve prophets, the prophecy is attributed to the ten tribes under the name Ephraim, which are often mentioned as either Samaria or Israel: in the same way, in Joel, who is second according to the Hebrews, it is to be believed that everything that is said pertains to the tribe of Judah and to Jerusalem, and no mention at all is made of Israel, that is, the ten tribes. We must also consider the times in which he prophesied, which we also read about in Hosea: In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.

1:2-3

(Version 2, 3.) Listen to this, elders, and perceive with your ears, all inhabitants of the earth, whether this happened in your days or in the days of your fathers: tell this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and let their children tell the next generation. LXX: Listen to these things, elders, and perceive with your ears, all inhabitants of the earth, whether such things happened in your days or in the days of your fathers: tell this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and let their children tell the next generation. The elderly are ordered to listen, the inhabitants of the earth to perceive with their ears. It is not said to the elderly, 'Listen, everyone'; to the inhabitants of the earth it is added, 'Perceive with your ears, everyone.' For in the holy scriptures, hearing is not that which resonates in the ear, but that which is perceived in the heart, according to what the Lord speaks in the Gospel: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matt. 13:9). And what we have translated as 'perceive with your ears' is the same word in Greek and Hebrew, in Greek it is ἐνωτίσασθε, in Hebrew it is Eezinu, which is properly perceived not in the heart, but in the ear. And in order that we may know that hearing is more sacred than that which resonates in the ears, let us learn from the words of Isaiah: 'Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth' (Isa. I, 2). The elderly, who are heavenly, hear spiritually; those who dwell on the earth, and are called earthly, hear with their ears. And this should be noted in all the Scriptures where these two words are joined together. We also read this in the case of Lamech, a sinner, who spoke to his wives Ada and Sella: 'Hear my words, O wives of Lamech, give ear to my words, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt' (Gen. IV, 23); he knew that what he spoke was obscure, and therefore he called his wives not only to the simple sound of his words, but also to the understanding of his hidden sayings. So if someone is an old man, and an old man chosen in the Lord of mature age, as we read in the following passages according to the Septuagint Interpreters, and he has left behind the infancy of little ones, let him hear what is being said. But whoever still dwells on the earth, and cannot say, “I am a stranger and a pilgrim like all my fathers” (Ps. 39:12), let him perceive with his ears. If it has happened, he says, in your days, or in the days of your fathers. The art of rhetoric, focused on the magnitude of things, captivates the listener: no age, he says, remembers these things, which have not happened in your time, nor in the time of your fathers and ancestors. But recognize the fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and the sons of sons, and all the subsequent offspring, according to that Virgilian saying (Aeneid, Book III):

And the children of the children, and those who will be born from them:

And therefore, old men and inhabitants of the earth, tell your sons and posterity; let the old man teach his children the mysteries: let the inhabitant of the earth tell a simple story. Until this day, we who believe in Christ, from whom the veil has been taken away from our eyes together with Moses, and of whom it is said: The wisdom of an aged man is in his gray hairs (Wis. IV, 8), we narrate secret and wonderful things to our children. But the Jews who inhabit the land speak earthly things, and cling to the earth, of whom it is written: He who is of the earth speaks of the earth: He who comes from heaven is above all (John III, 31).

1:4

(Verse 4) The residue of a caterpillar is eaten by a locust, and the residue of a locust is eaten by a beetle, and the residue of the beetle is eaten by rust. In the same way seventy times. The beginning is followed by a narrative: there, to make the listener pay attention, he promised that he would say great and incredible things, which neither the ancient history nor the present age would know. Here he placed the caterpillar, and the locust, and the beetle, and the rust, so that what each one rarely experiences, all may be remembered as happening at the same time, and therefore be marvelous. The caterpillar, which is called 'gezem' in Hebrew and 'kampē' in Greek, is interpreted by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Chaldeans, who, coming from one climate of the world, devastated all the ten tribes and two, namely, the Israelite people. The locust, however, is interpreted by the Medes and Persians, who held the Jews captive after the overthrow of the Chaldean empire. The worm, on the other hand, refers to the Macedonians and all the successors of Alexander, especially the king Antiochus, who was known as Epiphanes, and who sat like a worm in Judaea and devoured all the remnants of the previous kings, under whom the wars of the Maccabees are narrated. They refer to the Roman Empire that completely oppressed the Jews during the fourth and final reign, to the extent of driving them out of their own territory. Josephus writes about this extensively in seven volumes, recounting the triumphs of Vespasian and Titus. We also read about the expedition of Elius Hadrian against the Jews, who so completely destroyed Jerusalem and its walls that he established a city named after himself, Eliam, from the remnants and ashes of the city. Zacharias writes that he saw in a vision four kingdoms that would overthrow Judah, represented by four horns, with an angel saying to him: 'These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.' (Zechariah 1:19). And again: I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot dappled strong horses (Zach. VI, 1). And when the prophet had said to the angel who spoke in me, What are these, my Lord? the angel answered: These are the four winds of heaven, who come out to stand before the Lord of all the earth. And the meaning is: These are the ones who come forth from the face of the Lord, to fulfill his will. When we hear with our ears what the caterpillar, locust, weevil, rust signify to the inhabitants of the earth: now let us hear with the old men what has been said. All schools of philosophers proclaim that there are four disturbances, by which the health of souls is subverted. Two are present and contrary to each other, two are future and mutually dissenting. The present ones are sorrow and joy. We speak of sorrow of the soul, otherwise it is not sorrow of the body, but it is called illness. Therefore, we are sad and consumed by grief, and our state of mind is overturned. Hence, the Apostle warns that the brother should not be swallowed up by excessive sadness (I Cor. II). On the contrary, we rejoice and are filled with joy, and we cannot bear our blessings in moderation. It is the mark of a just and strong man not to be broken by adversities or lifted up by prosperity, but to be moderate in both. We have spoken about the disturbance of present things; let us also speak about things to come, in which there is either fear or hope. We fear adversity, we await prosperity; and what causes sorrow and joy to operate in the present, fear and hope do regarding the future, while either we fear adversity more than it is appropriate for it to be coming, or prosperity which we hope for makes us rejoice to such an extent that we cannot keep a measure, especially in those things which are uncertain, because the future is expected rather than held. The illustrious poet captures these disturbances in one incomplete verse (Aeneid, Book VI):

They fear and desire (this about the future), they grieve and rejoice (this about the present), nor do they look at the breezes, he says, enclosed in darkness and a blind prison.

For those who are enveloped in the darkness of disturbances are unable to behold the bright light of wisdom. Therefore, we must beware lest sorrow, like a caterpillar, consumes us; lest joy, like a locust, flying here and there and exulting in gladness, ravages us; lest fear and anxiety about the future, like a worm, devour the roots of wisdom; lest rust and longing for things to come desire useless things and lead us to ruin. Rather, in all things, let us govern the four-horse chariot with the four reins and the four red, various, white, and black horses, that is, navigate through both adverse and prosperous circumstances, guided by the reins of wisdom. I believe that anger is a passion that is slow and cannot be controlled, and delay itself and persistence weaken and exhaust all strength: if we do not kill it, it grows in us and flies away, and now it devours whatever it touches, now departing, it moves on to other things: and returning to its former seat, it becomes a pest, so that not only does it devour the crops, leaves, and bark, but even the very marrow with its slowness. But if it should happen, which, however, is rare, that even after the spirit of life has departed from us, rust destroys everything, so that it turns straw and worthless hay into blackness, so that they are not only useless for eating, but also for manure. Concerning these four disturbances, we will also discuss in the beginning Amos, if life is a companion, where it is written: On account of three transgressions of Damascus, and of four, I will not convert them, says the Lord (Amos 1:3). The disturbances that we have interpreted, the Greeks call them πάθη, which if we translate κακοζήλως into passions, we will have expressed the word rather than the meaning of the word.

1:5

(Verse 5.) Wake up, you drunkards, and weep and howl, all you who drink wine in sweetness, because it has perished from your mouth. LXX: Wake up, you who are drunk with your wine, and mourn and lament, all you who drink wine in intoxication, because it has been taken away from your mouth. Like old men and elders, we should listen: nothing intoxicates like disturbance of the mind. There is a sadness that leads to death: this detestable drunkenness is it. Anger is that which does not accomplish the justice of God, and is very close to madness, rendering the mind powerless: to the extent that the lips tremble, the teeth grind, and the face changes color with paleness. And rightly is that praised which Archytas of Tarentum said when he was angry with his steward: 'I would kill you now,' he said, 'if I were not angry.' Why should I mention about joy and pleasure, and especially love, which blinds the eyes of the heart: and it allows the lover to think of nothing else except that which he loves. Is drunkenness to be called freedom of the soul when, because of a cheap prostitute and a shameful part of the body, freedom of the soul inclines towards servile flattery? when it makes its own work the pleasure of another? when it prepares for future wealth through theft, crime, and perjury? and when it seems to everyone that it does not exist: as long as it possesses what it desires. But greed also blinds the mind of one who is never satisfied: and the fear of women, and the desire for sweet vices. Where it is said to them: Be watchful and wake up, you who are drunk, not with wine, as it is contained in the seventy alone, but with every disturbance of vices. Weep, and mourn, and repent, and take on the sorrow that leads to life, and howl, all you who drink wine in sweetness (Prov. III), or in drunkenness. For vices are sweet: because honey distills from the lips of a harlot woman: and therefore it is not offered in sacrifices to God: because the wine, drunkenness, and sweetness which deceived you, has perished or has been taken away from your mouth. For often, indeed, by the providence of God, those who have not known God in prosperous times come to know Him in adversity; and those who have abused wealth are corrected by a shortage of virtues. Let the elders listen to this meaning: let the inhabitants of the earth perceive with their ears the following instructions about that wine, in which there is luxury, and by which those who become intoxicated cannot possess the kingdom of God (Ephesians 5). Let the one who is asleep due to the intoxication of wine awaken and lament that they were drunk, and let them howl; so that afterwards their howling and weeping may turn into laughter, and let them rejoice in not having the material of intoxication, which had made them drunk and insane through its abundance.

1:6-7

(Verse 6,7.) For a strong and innumerable nation will ascend over my land: its teeth, like lion's teeth, and its molars, like lion cubs. It has turned my vineyard into a desert, and has stripped my fig tree bare: it has made it naked and thrown it away; its branches have turned white. LXX: For a strong and innumerable nation will ascend over the land: its teeth, like a lion's teeth, and its molars, like lion cubs. He has made my vineyard into a desolation, and my fig tree into a splinter: he has thoroughly searched and thrown it away: he has whitened its branches. The Jews believe in the days of Joel that such an innumerable multitude of locusts came upon Judea to the extent that they filled everything: and I will not say just the crops, but indeed the bark of trees and the branches of vines they would leave behind, so that with all moisture consumed, the withered branches of the trees and the dry scourges of the vines would remain. We cannot affirm with certainty whether this happened or not, for it is not a historical account of the Kings and Chronicles (3 Kings 17). If it had been, then we would never read of the three and a half years of famine under Elijah in the Scriptures. We only say that under the metaphor of locusts, the coming of enemies is described, either the Assyrians and Babylonians who were approaching at that time, or the Medes and Persians who would come later, or the Macedonians whom we only learned about much later, or finally, the Romans about whom we have already spoken. Now it seems appropriate to speak more about the Babylonians and the Chaldeans, whose cruelty and savagery towards the people of God are described. And, if I am not mistaken, I think I have found something in this Prophet. The wickedness of the enemies is narrated under the figure of locusts, and then it is said about these locusts, as if they were compared to enemies, so that when you read about locusts, you think of enemies; when you think of enemies, you return to locusts. Therefore, a swarm of locusts rises from the wilderness, or an army of Chaldeans over the land of God, powerful and innumerable. For what is more numerous and stronger than locusts, against which human industry cannot resist? Its teeth, namely the teeth of locusts (but understand everything τυπικῶς), are like the teeth of a lion; and its molars, like the cubs of a lion, are compared to locusts in strength and number, and to lions in fierceness and cruelty. This is the nation, it is said, that has turned my vineyard into a desert, which I brought from Egypt and planted, and it has stripped my fig tree, the people of Judah (or my Jewish people), to whom the Savior came to eat of its fruits, and did not find any; and he cursed it, and it withered forever (Matthew 11). But let us know all the things said under the metaphor of locusts: which devour everything so much that they strip tree barks, cast them aside, and leave behind white and dry branches after consuming all the sap. We have mentioned the history; let us now move on to spiritual understanding, so that we may hear with the elders: The nation of God ascends upon the earth, namely the human soul. For all souls are of God: just as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son. And there arose a nation of the princes of this world, and of darkness, and of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, against whom we have a struggle and a contest, of whom it is said: If the spirit of the ruler ascend upon thee, do not leave thy place (Ecclesiastes X, 4): whose teeth are like the teeth of a lion, of whom the apostle Peter speaks: Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter V, 8). And its molars are like lion cubs. Understand the lion cub as someone who rises up against everything called God and religion, or certainly every perverse dogma. Concerning its broken molars, which are hidden inside and not visible, so that they are not easily avoided, even the Psalmist rejoices, saying: The Lord will break the molars of the lions (Ps. 57:7). Therefore, if we allow this race to take hold in us, it will immediately turn our vineyard into a desert, from which we used to make wine that gladdens the heart of man (Ps. 103); and it will strip or break our figs, so that we do not have the sweetest gifts of the Holy Spirit within us, and our vineyard and fig tree will not provide rest for the holy man. While under them, he will not fear the attacks of adversaries. And it is not enough for this people to destroy the vineyard and break the fig tree, unless they search them thoroughly and destroy whatever vitality is in them, so that, with all moisture consumed, only white and lifeless branches remain, and it is fulfilled in us: If they do these things in the green wood, what will they do in the dry? (Luke 23).

1:8

(Verse 8.) Lament like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, over the man of your youth. (Vulgate: Lament like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, over her young husband). LXX: Lament to me over the bride dressed in sackcloth, over her young husband. The man of youth, or as the Septuagint translated, παρθενικὸς, which is commonly called virginal, because he is understood to be none other than God, who in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob betrothed himself to a pure bride untainted by any idolatrous filth. To whom and through Jeremiah it is said: You have not called me Master, and Father, and Prince of your virginity (Jer. III, 4). Hence, the Apostle speaks to believers: I have betrothed you to one man, to present a chaste virgin to Christ (I Cor. XI, 2). As long as the bridegroom is with this bride, he cannot fast (Matth. IX), nor mourn, nor indicate the longing for the absent bridegroom with tears. But when the bridegroom is taken away from her, she mourns and weeps, and girds herself with sackcloth and cilice, and is bound with a cord as a sign of mourning. We have understood who the bridegroom of the virgin is: but because this bridegroom, or husband, not only accepted the virgin as his bride, but also took a harlot as a wife in Hosea, therefore it is written in Deuteronomy: If you go out against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take captive women among them, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her, and would take her as a wife, you shall bring her into your house; and she shall shave her head and trim her nails and put off the clothes in which she was captured, sit in your house, and bewail her father and mother a month's time, and afterwards you shall go in to her, and be her husband (Deut. 21:10-13). Such a woman does not have a husband, that is, a master of virginity, but she has taken a prostitute from the filth of the nations as a wife. And we can say this about every believing soul. If she believed in the Lord from a young age, she has the Lord as her virgin bridegroom. But if she comes to the truth of faith, from the most unclean depths of the Jews, the Gentiles, or the heretics, and transitions from darkness to light, she will indeed have a bridegroom, but not a virgin one. And it is said about people like this: Your breasts were broken in Egypt, and there you lost your virginity (Ezek. XXIII, 3).

1:9-12

(V. 9 seqq.) The sacrifice and libation from the house of the Lord have perished; the priests, ministers of the Lord, mourn. The land is laid waste, the earth mourns; for the wheat is destroyed. The wine is spoiled, the oil languishes, the farmers are confused. The vintners wail over the wheat and barley, for the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up; because joy has been confounded among the sons of men. LXX: The sacrifice and offering have been taken away from the house of the Lord. Mourn, O priests, ministers of the Lord, for the fields are devastated. Let the land mourn, for the wheat is afflicted, the wine has dried up, the oil has diminished. The farmers have withered away. Mourn, O possessions, for the grain and barley have perished. The grape harvest is lost, the vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered. The pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are dried up. The joy of mankind has been destroyed. As far as history is concerned, due to the multitude of locusts or enemies that are described under their appearance, the sacrifice and libation from the house of the Lord perished, with everything devastated and consumed. The former used to offer from flour, and the latter from wine. Therefore, the priests, who are the ministers of the Lord, mourned, since neither the sacrifices nor the libations were properly performed, especially because the tithes, which they used to receive, were not offered at all. For the entire region was populated. The earth mourned, metaphorically, because of what happened to those who work the land: wheat, wine, and oil languished. Even the tenant farmers and vine dressers were confused and wailed because not only did the wheat dry up, but also the barley, which is cheaper and more abundant. And the vegetables, which I believe are signified by what he says, the harvest of the field perished, that is, all that the earth usually produces. What can I say about the grain, wine, oil, and barley, when even the dried fruits of the trees have withered, the fig tree has languished, and the pomegranate, palm, apple, and all the trees, whether fruitless or fruitful, have been devoured by the locust? All these things have happened so that the joy of the children of men may be taken away or be confounded. We can say that the same things happened to the people of Judea after the coming of the Savior when, with equal fury, they cried out, 'Crucify, crucify him! We have no king but Caesar' (John 19:9 and 15). When Jerusalem was surrounded by an army and such great necessity came upon them of famine and pestilence that they ate the bodies of their own children who were not yet mature. And all sacrifices were abolished, and the joy of the children of men was confounded because they did not want to receive the joy that the angel announced to the shepherds: 'I bring you tidings of great joy' (Luke 2:10). According to this interpretation, after the bride, who has received the teaching of God, has been separated from her bridegroom by sins, and has clothed herself in mourning attire, that is, the garments of one in mourning, then the sacrifice will perish, of which it is written: 'A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit' (Ps. 50:19), and the libation of wine, which gladdens the heart of man, from the house of God, which is the Church, as the Apostle says to Timothy: 'So that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God' (1 Tim. 3:15). But the sacrifice and libation will be taken away from the house of the Lord, when charity has grown cold due to the multiplication of iniquity (Matt. 24): and the leaders of the people and the ministers of the altar will see that the fields and plains of the believers do not produce the fruits of virtue, but that everything is filled with vices: when the wheat and barley, vineyards and olive groves, rocket, grasshoppers, weevils, and rust have consumed everything, and we will not have the chalice that is written about: Your inebriating chalice, how preeminent it is (Ps. 23, 5)! And the oil shall perish, of which we read in Ecclesiastes: Let your garments be always white, and let not oil be lacking on your head (Eccl. IX, 8): whereby your face may shine, and your head may be anointed when you fast. Then the farmers shall be confounded, when they see that wheat does not grow in their fields, which sustains men, and barley which sustains irrational animals, and that the vineyard is in disorder, of which it is written: O vineyard of Israel, abundant in fruit (Isai. V, 2): the Lord was waiting for it to produce grapes, and it produced thorns. The fig also withered under which Nathanael was before he believed (John 1), and the pomegranate, whose cheeks are compared to the bride's cheeks in the Song of Songs (Song of Songs 6), and the palm tree that, losing its sap, withered, of which it was once said: But the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), and the apple tree of which we read in the same Song: As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons (Song of Songs 2:3). Why is it necessary to traverse all the trees, when everything is burned, and for joy and happiness, the sorrow and confusion of mankind will oppress and confound?

1:13-14

(Verse 13, 14.) Clothe yourselves and lament, priests; howl, ministers of the altar; enter, lie down in sackcloth, ministers of my God, because the sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of your God; sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry out to the Lord. LXX: Clothe yourselves and lament, priests; bewail, you who minister at the altar; enter, sleep in sacks, ministers of God, because the sacrifice and libation have failed from the house of your God; sanctify a fast, proclaim healing; gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry out to the Lord forcefully. Whoever is a holy priest and eats the Pascha of the Lord, let him gird himself with the belt of chastity and listen with the apostles: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning in your hands (Luke XII, 35). But whoever is a sinner and is tormented by his own conscience, let him gird himself with sackcloth and weep, either for his own sins or for the sins of the people, and let him enter the Church from which he had departed because of his sins, and let him lie down or sleep in sackcloth, so that he may make up for the past pleasures, through which he had offended God, with the austerity of life. For those who dress in soft clothing are in the houses of kings (Matt. XV). But let the priests gird themselves and wail and howl, and sleep in sackcloth, as the prophet exhorts them to repentance, saying: O ministers of my God, how the sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of your God (Joel II), of which it has been said above. It is not enough to weep or lament and put on the attire of mourners, unless they sanctify the fast and call for a gathering. If every fasting pleased God, He would never say: 'Sanctify the fast.' And: 'I have not chosen such a fast,' says the Lord (Isaiah 58). And in the Gospel, those who make their faces appear pale, so that they may be seen by men to fast, are condemned (Matthew 6); and on the days of your fasts, you strike with fists, and oppress the poor. Therefore, now He says: 'Sanctify the fast.' Manichaeus fasts, and many heretics, especially the Encratites, of whom Tatianus is the leader, but this fast is worse because of excess and drunkenness. And let us call upon heaven, or healing, that through our repentance we may cure our sins. For it is written in Hebrew, Asara (), which Symmachus interprets as a council, Aquila as a day of gathering. Let the elders be gathered, whose age is near death, and whose mature judgment seeks more fear and reverence for God. Also, let all the inhabitants of the earth, of whom it was said above: Hear this, elders, and perceive with your ears, let both the elders and the inhabitants of the earth be gathered into the house of God, which is the Church. And when they are in the Church, with priests and people from different groups, the elderly and the inhabitants of the land, let there be one group formed, and cry out, he says, to the Lord in your hearts and say:

1:15

(Verse 15.) Ah, ah, ah, woe to the day, for the day of the Lord is near, and it will come like a devastation (or storm) from the Almighty. LXX: Woe is me, woe is me, woe is me on that day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come like misery upon misery. Because we have translated it as 'from the Almighty,' in Hebrew it is said Saddai (), which is one of the ten names of God, as we have mentioned several times, the LXX translated as misery, reading Sod () instead of Saddai. Therefore, the voice of the priests and the people crying out to the Lord is heard, so that they may say for the third time, 'Woe is me!' I believe that, because of the sins they have committed, they have offended the Holy Trinity. But that day is the day of retribution for all sins, of which all the prophets write, and especially Isaiah cries out: 'Behold, the day of the Lord, inexorable, of fury and wrath, is coming, to make the whole world a desert, and to destroy sinners from it.' (Isaiah XIII, 9). This day is rightly called incurable; because when the day of judgment comes, there will be no place for repentance, which is compared to eternity, it is near, and not far. And what follows: And as misery will come from misery, or, devastation will come from the powerful, this means that evils will succeed evils, and all affliction will be dispensed by God the judge, who is able to destroy both body and soul into hell (Matthew X). Let us now specifically refer to the time of the Jewish captivity when Jerusalem was captured and the temple was destroyed; for not long after, the captivity of the ten and a half tribes by the Assyrians and Chaldeans followed. And it is predicted that this future event will not seem to have happened by chance or by the strength of the enemies, but by the anger and threat of God, or certainly, if the people continue in their sins, it will come as a result of their repentance.

1:16

(Verse 16) Have not the provisions perished before our eyes from the house of our God, joy and exultation? LXX: The provisions have perished before your eyes: from the house of our God, joy and delight. The provisions of sinners perish before our eyes when the expected crops are taken from their hands, and the locust precedes the harvester, so that what is stored in the barns with hope is consumed by weevils and rust. Likewise, those who dwell in the Church, according to the quality of their merits, if they have sinned, the grain of the spirit, and the barley of literacy, is taken away from them, so that they may experience the hunger of the word of God. And when the nourishment is removed, joy and gladness are also taken away from the house of God, so that those who heard before the Apostle saying: Rejoice in the Lord always, I say again, rejoice (Philippians 4:4); afterwards they hear the Lord calling them to repentance: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:5).

1:17-18

(Verse 17, 18.) The animals have trampled in their own dung; the barns have been destroyed, the storehouses have been scattered, because the grain has been mixed up; why does the animal groan, why do the herds of cattle moo? Because there is no pasture for them; and the flocks of sheep have also perished. LXX: The calves have jumped in their stalls; the treasuries have been scattered, the wine presses have been buried, because the grain has dried up; what shall we put aside for ourselves? The herds of oxen have mourned, because there is no pasture for them, and the flocks of sheep have perished. After the provisions have perished, and the joy and delight of the house of God have been taken away, even the beasts have decayed in their own filth, or, according to spiritual understanding, have become lascivious in their mangers, and have kicked against their Creator, so that what is written may be fulfilled: If they are not satisfied, they will murmur (Ps. 58:16). The one whose god is his belly decays in his own filth, and he who says: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (Isaiah 22:16): to him the storehouses of future happiness are destroyed, and the storehouses of eternal abundance are scattered or destroyed. Even the winepresses are overturned, for if there are no wheat and wine, in vain are storehouses and winepresses prepared. And when everything burns, they will then lament with a mournful voice and say: What shall we restore for ourselves? And what follows according to the Septuagint: The herds of oxen mourned because there are no pastures for them, it compels us not to receive from oxen and herds what has been said; but from those, who are called oxen and sheep for their simplicity. Concerning their pastures, the Savior speaks: He will enter and go out, and will find pasture (John 10:3). But understand all these things metaphorically, as caterpillars, locusts, worms, and rust, which, with the crops removed and ravaged, have possessed everything with hunger and pestilence.

1:19-20

(Verse 19, 20.) I will cry out to you, Lord, for the fire has consumed the beautiful things of the desert, and the flame has set all the wood of the region ablaze; even the beasts of the field, like a parched land thirsting for rain, have looked up to you; for the springs of water have dried up, and the fire has devoured the beautiful things of the desert. LXX: I will cry out to you, Lord, for the fire has consumed the beautiful things of the desert, and the flame has set all the wood of the field ablaze, and the animals of the field have looked up to you, for the streams of water have dried up, and the fire has devoured the beautiful things of the desert. The prophet cries out to the Lord, or to the people through the prophet: for the fire has consumed the beautiful things of the desert, and the flame has set ablaze all the wood of the region, the beasts and the farm animals, or the fields, look to the Lord, like a little field thirsty for rain. This, in one word, is signified by the Eagle saying, 'it has been desolated'; and they look to him, because the fountains, or the outlets of water, have dried up, and the fire has devoured the beautiful things of the desert, because indeed the caterpillar, and the locust, and the devourer have done so, and the rust, because the fire is in the straw, and the flame in the bushes. However, the beautiful places of the desert, which are called Naoth in Hebrew (), let us understand either the flat plains, or the flourishing meadows, or the green places with herbs, which provided pastures for animals. But when the prophet cried out to the Lord, fire caused the animals to look towards him, which devoured the beautiful places of the desert, and the flame that ignited all the wood of the region, so that the crops and fruits were destroyed together, and because the water sources dried up, and whatever could be found in the desert, the voracious flame consumed. At the same time, let us consider that unless because of narrowness and the taking away of pleasures, neither the prophet nor the beasts would cry out to the Lord, or look up to the Lord, which indeed can be referred to a righteous man once, who when he turns away and does evil, his former virtues will by no means benefit him; but the Lord will judge him in whatever he finds. We can call them the beautiful things of the desert, about which it is written: 'More are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.' (Isaiah 54:1). However, the flame that sets fire to all the wood in the region is to be believed to be the one that is sent by the burning arrows of the devil, so that nothing of good fruit remains in us; but everything is consumed by fire. For all adulterers, like a furnace, their hearts; and not only the prophet, or the people through the prophet, who is a rational being (Hosea VII), but also the animals, of which it is said: You will save both humans and animals, Lord (Psalm XXXV, VII). And elsewhere: I have become like a beast before you (Psalms VII, 23). And again: I will sow them with the seed of humans and beasts (Jeremiah XXXI, 27). They looked up to the Lord and begged for the dew of His mercy; for the springs of water had dried up, which the deer desires. And of whom the Lord speaks through Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jeremiah II, 13). But when the springs of water, which irrigate and refresh all that is dry, are dried up, whatever was beautiful in us is consumed by the heat of fire, of which the Lord speaks in the Gospel: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke X, 18).

2:1-11

(Chapter 2 — Verses 1 onwards) Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, a large and strong people appears, such as has never been before and will never be again in generations to come. Before them, a devouring fire; behind them, a blazing flame. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them, it is a desolate wilderness. There is no escape from them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a sound like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. Before them, peoples are in anguish; all faces turn pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another; each marches in his own column. They burst through the weapons and are not halted. They run to and fro in the city; they run along the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like a thief. But they will also fall through the windows and not be destroyed, they will enter the city, run on the wall, climb the houses, they will enter through the windows like a thief. The earth shook before his face, the heavens were moved, the sun and moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their brightness, and the Lord gave his voice before his army, for his camps are very numerous, because they are strong and do his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can endure it? LXX: Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord comes, for it is near at hand; a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. Before him a devouring fire, and behind him a flame kindled. As a paradise of pleasure is the land before his face; but his latter end shall be as a barren wilderness, and he shall not be saved. As the appearance of horses, so are they; and as horsemen, so shall they run. As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before his face the people shall be in anguish; all faces shall be as flames. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path. And when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Again, by the metaphor of locusts, the onslaught of the Chaldeans is described, and the prophet is commanded, or rather through the prophet all who can hear the word of God, to exalt their voice like a trumpet, and to proclaim in Zion, and to sound the alarm on his holy mountain, so that the people of Jerusalem may tremble at the noise of the cry and trumpet. And when, he says, you have sung, say this: Surely the day of the Lord will no longer be delayed, that is, the day of vengeance and retribution; the captivity is near, the army has already come forth from its place in Babylon, the day of darkness and distress is close, a day of gloom and cloud and whirlwind, in which all the light of joy (or rather of righteousness) will be taken away, and all things will be overwhelmed by darkness. Just as, he says, the morning and dawn suddenly dispel darkness, and the sunrise illuminates all the mountains, so the Babylonian army will be poured out over your entire land. And do not think that this is a weak crowd, it is a numerous and strong people, unlike any other nation that has existed in the past or will exist in the future: whatever it touches, it will consume like a voracious flame, and it will leave nothing behind; it is like a garden and paradise, all the land that it does not touch: it is like a desert and wasteland, whatever it has plundered, and there will be no one who can escape its grasp. Their appearance is like that of fierce horses, and they run here and there like horsemen. Not that they are to be compared to Babylonian horsemen; but they are called horsemen because they appear to run here and there like locusts in the movement of the enemy: Just as the sound of chariots and horses, so will be the sound of locusts. They will leap over the tops of the mountains, as if to climb every lofty place; and just as quickly as fire consumes straw, so the sound and terror of their voices will lay waste to everything. And what he brings in: just as a strong people prepared for battle, they bring back to the locusts, so that it seems that they are bringing back not as from enemies, but as from locusts; and yet while we read about the locusts, let us think of the Babylonians. Such will be the terror, that all nations around will tremble, both in spirit and in body, indeed they will be tormented: and by the magnitude of fear, the faces of all will be turned into the likeness of pots, which, when burned by fire, show the blackness and soot of a hideous appearance. He says, 'They move about, as it were, like strong men, no doubt locusts; and, as it were, like warriors, they ascend the wall, so that the height of the walls is unable to withstand the attack of the strong, and they do not enter through the gates but rather through the walls. They will go in their own paths and will not deviate from their tracks. We recently saw this in this province. For when the swarms of locusts came and occupied the space between the sky and the earth, they flew in such great order by the arrangement of God's command, as if they were small tiles laid by the hand of a craftsman on the floor, each in its own place, not deviating even by a point, and, so to speak, not even by a single crosswise slit.' And to make the metaphor clear, he said they will fall through the windows and not be destroyed. For locusts have no obstacle, since they can penetrate fields, crops, trees, cities, houses, and the secrets of bedrooms. However, this is said about locusts in order to be understood about enemies. And what we have interpreted as 'they will fall through the windows and not be destroyed,' the LXX translated as 'they will go heavily burdened in their weapons and they will fall through their spears and not be consumed.' But it seems to me that this does not fit with the order of the explanation, but rather that there has been an error in it, because we understood the Hebrew word Sala as 'spears' and not as 'windows.' And he continues the narrative, saying that they enter the city, run through the walls, climb on the houses, and enter through the windows like thieves, not because they have the fear of thieves who are victors; but just as thieves usually enter through windows and secretly steal, so they, with the doors closed, will burst in fully with audacity through the windows without any delay. The earth trembled at the sight of these locusts, and the heavens were moved, let us understand this hyperbolically stated, not because the force of locusts or enemies is so great that it can move the heavens and shake the earth; but because to those enduring adversity, it seems as if the sky is falling and the earth is trembling due to the magnitude of terror. Finally, due to the multitude of locusts covering the sky, the sun and moon will turn into darkness, and the stars will withdraw their splendor. While the light is placed in the midst of the cloud of locusts, it does not allow it to reach the earth. The Lord will also give his voice before the face of such a powerful army, for his camps are many, and the greatness of his power is demonstrated even in small creatures. But these many camps, and countless strong ones, are too numerous and perform his word. By saying this, it is shown that the Babylonians will come by the will of God, and they will obtain their rule. 'It is a great day of the Lord,' he says, 'when Jerusalem must be taken, and it is exceedingly terrible, and no one will be able to endure it, and will necessarily escape captivity or death.' I did not want to divide the connected and coherent passage, lest what was one in meaning be picked apart in different chapters. Let us move on to spiritual understanding, repeating each and every thing. We read of the sound of trumpets and horns not only in the book of Leviticus and Numbers (Num. X), in which it is commanded that Moses make two silver trumpets, to be played on the first day of each month, on the seventh month, on the day of jubilee, and on other festivals, as well as when going to battle, by those who are assigned to this duty; but it is also written that the walls of Jericho fell at the sound of the trumpets (Joshua VI). And the Lord says that he will send an angel with the blast of a trumpet (Matt. XXIV), and the Apostle preaches that the resurrection of the dead will occur at the sound of the trumpet (I Cor. XV). And in the Apocalypse of John, we read that seven angels received seven trumpets, and as they sounded them in order, the events described in Scripture occurred (Apoc. VIII). Therefore, priests and teachers are now commanded to exalt their voices like a trumpet, and fulfill what is written: 'Go up to a high mountain, O herald of good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem' (Isaiah XLVIII, 9), so that the trumpet may sound in Zion, that is, in the Church, which is interpreted as a watchtower and exalted place. And on the holy mountain of God, which is Christ, let all the inhabitants of the earth be troubled or confounded, and may confusion lead them to salvation. Understand the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, or the day of the departure of each body. For what will happen to everyone on the day of judgment, is fulfilled in each person on the day of death. It is a day of darkness and distress, a day of clouds and whirlwinds; for it is full of punishments and torments. A multitude of strong angelic people will come to render to each according to their deeds; and just as the morning and rising dawn first occupy the mountains, so judgment will begin from on high and the powerful, so that the powerful may endure powerful torments. There was no one like him before, and there will be none after him, for generations and generations (Wisdom 6). For all the evils that are contained in the ancient histories, whether it be the flood of the sea, the overflow of rivers, the plague, diseases, famine, wild beasts, or the devastation of enemies, cannot be compared to the punishments that will be rendered on the day of judgment. Before the face of this people, who is strong and numerous, there will be a devouring and consuming fire, so that it may consume everything in us like hay, wood, and straw. Therefore, it is said about God: God is a consuming fire, and after Him, a burning flame (Deut. IV, 24); so that He may leave nothing without punishment. Whoever this people does not touch, nor comes into contact with the material of combustion, will be likened to the garden of God and the paradise of pleasure, which in Hebrew is called Eden. But whoever shall have burned him, will reduce him to ashes and embers, and there is no one who can escape his fury, whose cruel appearance will resemble the snorting of raging horses, and thus they will rush to torment those whom they have taken into their power, like horsemen flying here and there: their sound will be terrible, like chariots rushing down steep slopes; and they will leap over the tops of mountains, desiring to torment even those placed in high positions on the pinnacle of the Church. And because before their face there is a voracious fire, and consuming, dry things shall be laid waste, even as tow burnt by the flame: so shall they be in the sight of the punishments, that are to come. They shall be swift in running to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They shall devour diverse things as stubble fully dry. They shall devour the earth and her increase as the standing corn, with the stalks thereof, as the grasshoppers. They shall gather together in the cold time, as the creeping things that live in the desert. The spirit of the Lord is their mouth: and his anger shall burn in their wrath, and his words devour: for his spirit is as fire overflowing, that kindleth the wrath of his enemies, and inflameth his advarsaries in a flame. By this shall they be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. But they will also enter through the windows, whether they fall or climb; or they will walk burdened with their weapons, and those whom they receive will fall, to be consumed. These are the windows of which Jeremiah also says: Death will enter through our windows (Jer. VI, 21): for the enemy desires to enter all our senses and take possession of the city of good conscience, to run through our defenses, and to destroy the homes that we have built with good works. But they do all things through the windows, like a thief: for they do not enter freely, so as to shoot straight in the darkness with a straight heart (Psalms 10). From the face of this people, who is many and strong, the earth trembled, and the heavens were moved. For the heavens and the earth will pass away, but the word of the Lord remains forever (Matthew 24). But even the sun and the moon will not be able to see such great punishments of the wicked, and they will mourn, not having the righteousness of their duty, and for the bright light, they will be covered with terrible darkness; even the stars will withhold their brightness, while those who are holy will not see the presence of the Lord without fear. In all these things, the Lord will give his voice, before the face of his army. For just as the Babylonians punishing Jerusalem are called the army of God, so too the wicked angels (of whom it is written: They provoked him with their high places, and moved him to zeal with their graven images - Psalms 78:58), are called the army of God, and are referred to as his camps, while they carry out the will of the Lord. Great is the day of the Lord and terrible, of which it is written elsewhere: Why do you desire the day of the Lord? - Amos 5. And here is darkness, and not light; and very terrible; and rare or none will be able to endure him, without offering himself the material of raging.

2:12-14

(Verse 12 and following) Now therefore says the Lord: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and tear your hearts, not your clothing, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and relents from punishing. Who knows if he will turn and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, a sacrifice and offering to the Lord your God? LXX: And now says the Lord our God: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with sackcloth, with weeping, and with mourning; and tear your hearts, not your clothing, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is merciful and compassionate, patient and full of mercy, and repents of evil. Who knows if he will turn and have mercy on him, and leave behind him a blessing, sacrifice, and offering to the Lord our God? The beginning chapter from the place where it is written: Blow the trumpet in Zion, shout in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the earth be troubled, until that place where we read: Great is the day of the Lord and very terrible, who shall be able to endure it? By the translation of locusts, it announces the coming of the Chaldeans, and what evil things are to come to the people. Now it provokes them to repentance, and exhorts them to turn to the Lord, so that, being corrected in their whole mind, they do not suffer what the Lord threatens, and the sense is: All the things that are contained in the previous discourse, therefore I have spoken, so that I might terrify you with my threat. But convert to me with your whole heart, and show repentance of the mind with fasting and weeping and lamentation; so that now, fasting, you may afterwards be satisfied; now, weeping, you may afterwards laugh; now, lamenting, you may afterwards be comforted. And because it is customary, in times of sadness and adversity, to tear one's garments, as the high priest is mentioned to have done to increase the guilt of the Savior in the Gospel (Matthew 26), and as we read that Paul and Barnabas, upon hearing words of blasphemy, did (Acts 14); therefore, I command you, never tear your garments, but rather the hearts that are full of sins, which, like wineskins, will burst open if they are not torn willingly. And when you have done this, return to your Lord God, whom your previous sins have made a stranger to you: and do not despair of the forgiveness of sins because of their magnitude; for great mercy will wipe away great sins. For He is kind and merciful, preferring the repentance of sinners to their death, patient and abundant in mercy, not imitating human impatience; but waiting for our repentance for a long time: and He is steadfast, whether the sinner repents of his wickedness, so that if we repent of our sins and He repents of His threats, He will not inflict the evils He has threatened, and by the change of our decision, He Himself will change. However, in this place, we should not consider malice contrary to virtue, but rather affliction, according to what we read elsewhere: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matt. VI, 34). And: If there is malice in the city, which the Lord does not bring (Amos III, 6). Similarly, because he had said above, kind and merciful, patient and abundant in mercy, and excellent, or repentant over malice, lest the greatness of mercy make us negligent, he joins in the person of the Prophet and says: Who knows whether he will turn and forgive, and leave behind a blessing? I exhort, he says, that which is mine, to repentance, and I know that God is ineffably merciful, saying with David: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my iniquity (Psalm 50, 1, 2). But because we cannot comprehend the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, I hesitate and wish rather than presume, saying: who knows if he will turn and forgive? What someone says, either it is impossible or difficult must be felt: Sacrifice and offering to the Lord our God, so that after he has given the blessing and forgiven our sins, we may be able to offer sacrifices to God.

2:15-17

(Verse 15 and following) Blow the trumpet in Zion: sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people: sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those who still nurse at the breast. Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet: between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say: Spare, O Lord (Vulgate adds, spare), your people, and do not let your heritage become a reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why do they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' LXX: Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say: 'Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" } Still he exhorts them to repentance, before the enemy army comes. Above, he said: Blow the trumpet in Zion, wail on my holy mountain, and so on, because the day of the Lord is coming, the day of darkness and gloom, the day of clouds and whirlwinds, announcing to you a numerous and powerful people that will come, which will overthrow your possessions and cities. Now because I am kind and merciful, patient, and abundant in mercy, I again command and say: Blow the trumpet in Zion, and preach repentance to the peoples; sanctify the fasting, preach healing, or gathering, of which we have already spoken: gather the people, so that the one who had sinned by being dispersed, having been gathered, may cease to sin. Sanctify the Church so that no one in the Church is not holy, lest your prayers be hindered and a small amount of yeast corrupts the whole batch (I Cor. V). Unite or choose elders, so that it is not age but holiness that is chosen in them. Also gather little children and those nursing at the breast, so that there is no age that does not turn to the Lord. Little children and infants, of whom we read in the Psalms and in the Gospel: 'From the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise' (Psalm VIII, 3; Matthew XXI, 16). Petrus says about those who are nourished with milk without guile or deceit (1 Peter 2), to whom Paul also speaks: I gave you milk to drink, not solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2), whom the Savior also mentions: Do not despise one of these little ones (Matthew 18:10). Let the bridegroom also come out of his chamber, and the bride out of her bridal chamber, so that in the time of fasting, calling, assembly, sanctification of the Church, election of the elders, gathering of the little children and those who suck the breast, the bridegroom and bride do not serve the wedding work, as it is allowed by the Law, not to go to war. Therefore, the Apostle commanded that we should temporarily abstain from sexual relations in order to devote ourselves to prayer (1 Corinthians 7). So, someone who claims to be doing penance through self-discipline, fasting, and almsgiving, promises in vain unless they leave their bed and fulfill chaste repentance with a holy and pure fast. And what follows: 'Between the vestibule and the altar, the priests will weep.' For the vestibule, some have interpreted it as 'seventy steps,' others as 'the porch,' and Theodotion as 'the entrance hall.' It is what we can call the area in front of the temple doors and portico. And note what the (others, that) priests who are ministers of the Lord should do, that they should weep between the temple and the altar, and say with the Apostle: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned? (II Cor. XI, 29) And: Weep with those who weep. And the suitable place for repentance and confession is the temple and the altar: and it teaches what the priests should say, or rather how to pray to the Lord: Spare, O Lord, your people; when they sinned, they were called not your people: now that they have turned away from vices, they are called your people. And do not give your inheritance into disgrace, so that nations may rule over them. The hidden riddle has been revealed. For that people, numerous and strong, who are described by the names of locusts, and caterpillars, and worms, and rust, are now shown more clearly who they are: So that nations may rule over them, He says. But the inheritance of the Lord is given into disgrace when they have served their enemies and the nations have said: Where is their God, whom they boasted to be their ruler and defender? We can interpret nations and opposing powers, which as long as we do not repent, dominate us, and reproach and say: Where is their God? The Jews refer this place to Gog and Magog, the most savage nations, which they say will come against Israel in the last days, as is more fully written in Ezekiel.

2:18-21

(Verse 18 and following) The Lord was zealous for His land, and spared His people. And the Lord answered and said to His people: Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will be filled with them, and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. And I will remove him who is from the north far away from you, and I will drive him into a dry and desolate land: his face will be towards the eastern sea, and his end towards the western sea. And his stench will rise up, and his rottenness, for he has acted arrogantly. LXX: And the Lord was jealous for his land and spared his people and the Lord answered and said to his people: Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will be filled with them, and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations, and I will drive away the one from the north and bring him into a land that is without water, and I will destroy his face in the first sea and his hind parts in the last sea: and his stench will rise, and his decay will rise, because his works are magnified. After the priests prayed for the people and said: Spare, Lord, your people, and do not give your inheritance into reproach, and the people did what was commanded, to sanctify the fast, to preach healing, to gather (or compel) the multitude, to sanctify the Church, to choose the old men, to gather the little ones and those suckling at the breast, and for the bridegroom to go forth from his bed, and the bride from her chamber, and to serve not the flesh and pleasure, but the soul and tears. The Lord was zealous for his land, which he had previously treated as if it were foreign, and he had allowed the locusts to devastate it. He had spared the repentant ones so much that he made them worthy of his response and said, 'Because the locusts, the cankerworm, and the mildew have destroyed all your crops, I will give you grain and everything else that the prophet has described, and I will not deliver you to captivity again. I will also keep the Assyrians and the Chaldeans from the north, especially those from Babylon, far away from you.' As it is written, 'A numerous and mighty people, with fire devouring before them and flames burning behind them, like the appearance of horses.' And I will cast him into a land of solitude, says he, and his former parts shall fall into the Eastern Sea, and his latter parts into the Western Sea, and his stench shall ascend, that is, the one from the North, and his decay, because he has acted arrogantly. Often I have heard it said under the figure of the flight of locusts to describe the assault of the Chaldeans, by which Judaea was laid waste. Therefore, he keeps the metaphor in the remaining parts, and he speaks in this way, according to the location of the province, as if he seems to refer not to enemies, but to locusts. Even in our times, we have seen swarms of locusts cover the land of Judea, which later, with the mercy of the Lord, were driven by the wind into the sea, between the vestibule and the altar, that is, between the place of the cross and the resurrection, while the priests and the people were praying to the Lord and saying: Spare your people. The first and the last were cast into the sea. Understand the first sea that is near the desert and faces the East, which is the place where there were once Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which is now called the Dead Sea because no living creatures exist there." } But the western sea, which leads to Egypt, has on its shore Gaza, Ascalon, Azotus, Joppa, Caesarea, and other coastal cities. And when the shores of both seas were filled with heaps of dead locusts disgorged by the waters, the stench and decay of them was so harmful that it corrupted the air, and a pestilence arose affecting both animals and humans. The learned reader may inquire where this was done literally regarding the Chaldeans. Not long after these prophecies were made, as we read in Isaiah, one hundred eighty-five thousand Chaldeans were struck down by a raging angel in one night under the reign of King Hezekiah (Isa. XXXVII). This we will say according to history. However, according to allegory, every soul is the Lord's earth, in which the father of a family sows his seed, which when it grows among the wheat produces weeds, that is, oats and darnel, and offends its Lord. But afterwards it repents, and with weeping says: Spare, O Lord, your people. The Lord is zealous for his earth, and he will spare it, which he had previously despised, and he addresses it with his own words, saying: I will send you grain, of which it is written: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces many fruits (John XII): and wine that gladdens the heart of man, and oil that makes the face shine, so that the old sorrow of sins may be tempered by the joy of wheat and wine and oil, that is, the joy of virtues, and they will have such an abundance of all good things that they will be filled and satisfied. And when they have achieved this, they will never be handed over as a reproach to the nations about whom the Apostle speaks: Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual wickedness in the celestial places (Ephesians 6:12). Also, the one who is from the north (about whom Jeremiah speaks: From the north evil will be kindled on all the inhabitants of the earth (Jeremiah 1:14): about whom Solomon also writes: The north wind is extremely harsh). I will remove him far away from you, and I will expel him into an uninhabited and deserted land, which has no knowledge of God, in which the Holy Spirit does not dwell. And his appearance will be in the first and last sea, among those who have opened the door of sin for him, and with whom he will remain until the end of his life, and its stench and decay even rises against those who promise great things to themselves, and they fall because of their pride: for human frailty is never secure, and the more we grow in virtues, the more we ought to fear falling from the heights. According to the letter, the swarms of locusts are more often brought by the south wind than the north wind, that is, they do not come from cold, but from heat: but since he was speaking about the Assyrians, putting the similitude of locusts, he included the north wind, so that we understand not a true locust, which usually comes from the south, but under the locust we understand the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

2:22-27

(Verse 22 onwards) Do not be afraid, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. My strength is great, which I have sent upon you: and you will eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of your God, who has worked wonders with us, and my people will not be put to shame 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, and my people will not be put to shame forever. Rejoice, O earth, and be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has magnified and done great things: believe, O animals of the field, for the meadows of the wilderness have put forth their greenery, because the tree has produced its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have given their strength. And the children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, for He has given you the food of righteousness, and has showered upon you a timely and late rain, as in the beginning, and the barns will be filled with wheat, and the vats will overflow with wine and oil. And I will compensate you for the years in which the locust, the beetle, the mildew, and the caterpillar have consumed your crops. My great strength, which I have sent upon you, will sustain you and you will eat and be satisfied. You will praise the name of your God, who has done wonders with you, and my people will never be put to shame. 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 my people will never be put to shame. He now promises the opposite of what he had threatened above. He had said before: the fire consumes the beautiful things of the desert, and the flame sets ablaze all the wood of the region, and the beasts of the field, like a dry patch of land, look up to you as they thirst for rain: because the springs of water have dried up, and the fire has devoured the beautiful things of the desert. Now he mitigates sadness with joy, and turns tears into laughter. Do not be afraid, he says, animals of the region: because the beautiful things of the desert have budded forth: because the tree has brought forth its fruit, the fig and the vine have given their power: and there will be such abundance of all things, that there will by no means be a lack of wheat, wine and oil for you to be satisfied with; but the threshing floors will be filled with wheat, and the wine presses will overflow with wine and oil, so that you may not only eat for yourselves, but also be able to provide for others. To the sons of Zion also He speaks specially, that they may exult and rejoice, not in any trivial thing; but in the Lord their God, who has given them the nourishment of righteousness. And as the Seventy have translated it, He gives them both the early and the late rain, that they may eat and be glad, and praise the name of their Lord God, who has done wonders with them, and that they may by no means be put to shame; and that they may know that the Lord God of Israel dwells among them, and besides Him there is no other, for the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father; and His people will not be put to shame forever. We believe that these things happened literal, because they were promised by the Lord, and that the past sterility was compensated by new crops: so that whatever the locust, the cankerworm, the mildew, and the caterpillar had consumed, would be replenished in the following years. We wonder why the caterpillar is called the strength, or virtue of the Lord, and not only virtue, but great virtue? How was the power of God shown in the plagues of the Egyptians by small animals, especially the gnats, which are such small mosquitoes that they can hardly be seen with the eyes. Thus, now, in a small and slow-moving little worm, which can barely move and is crushed by a light touch, the power of God and the frailty of humans are demonstrated. Not that God cannot overturn the earth and cover everything with a flood, or consume everything with lightning at His command and the majesty of His power; but He shows human frailty through small, and, so to speak, tiny bodies. Therefore, we often respond to Marcion and other heretics who tear apart the old Testament, that God made even fleas and mosquitoes and bugs, and creatures like them, in order to show the frailty and weakness of our flesh, which is so insignificant that it is wounded by such small things. But if a slow and tiny caterpillar is stronger than a human, why does the earth and ashes, being from which man is called, boast? Some interpret this place as follows: On the right and on the left, we read the virtues and powers of God, which the Greeks call δυνάμεις. On the right, Seraphim and Cherubim, and all the angelic powers; on the left, opposing strengths, of which it is written: He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, anger, and tribulation, by sending evil angels (Ps. LXXVII, 49); of which Micheas also speaks in the book of Kings: I saw the Lord God of Israel sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left (3 Kings XXIII). I think the left spirit was the one who went out and stood before the Lord and said, 'I will deceive Ahab and go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' To the power that was suitable for deceiving and skilled in causing destruction, and had deceived many before, God speaks: 'You will deceive and prevail, go out and do so.' That spirit who tormented Saul, about whom his servants said, 'Behold, an evil spirit from God is afflicting you' (1 Samuel 16:15), was from the left side, they minister to the Lord to punish those who have deserved to suffer for their sins. For not only are men ministers and avengers of His wrath upon those who do evil, and not without cause do they bear the sword; but there are also contrary powers, which are called the fury and wrath of God, which the prophet, declining, says: Lord, do not rebuke me in Your fury, nor chastise me in Your anger (Ps. 6:1). The Apostle delivered such (so to speak) interrogators and torturers to destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved (1 Cor. 5), of whom Satan is, to whom he delivered others to learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1)." } These things about the caterpillar, why it is called the power of God. Let us move on to the order of spiritual intelligence: Do not be afraid, O earth, indeed trust and rejoice, you who had previously lost the Lord's seed with your dryness: for the Lord has magnified, so as to show mercy to you, to such an extent that even the animals of the region and the deserted solitude are filled with joyful new growth, and the wood of the cross bears its fruit, and the sweetest gifts of the Holy Spirit bestow their abundance to all. You also, whom I rightly call sons of Zion and of the Church after repentance, rejoice and be glad; for God the Father has given you a teacher of righteousness or has granted you the nourishment of righteousness, and has caused the rains of temporal and late (Isa. XXX) to come down upon you. Rain is said to be late when we first receive the rain of doctrine; it is said to be late when we receive the fruits of our labor and attain to a perfect knowledge of the holy Scriptures. There may be temporary and late rain, the old and new Testament received. And not only that, he said, he did not only give this; but he made you abound with new fruits of virtues, and be satisfied and intoxicated with wheat, wine and oil, of which we have often spoken. And the years that you had lost in disturbances under the previous rulers, when your works had been consumed by locusts, weevils, rust and caterpillars, God did not allow you to perish. Then you shall eat the fruits of righteousness, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done wonders with you. But if after such great repentance God promises such abundance of all things, what will Novatus, denying repentance and the possibility of sinners being restored to their former state if they perform worthy works of repentance, answer? For God receives penitents to such an extent that He calls them His people and does not in any way claim that they are to be confounded; and promises to dwell among them and that they shall not have any other God but Him; rather, they will trust in Him with their whole hearts, who will abide in them forever.

2:28-31

(Verse 28 and following) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:17-19: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke.' The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes. And it will be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The blessed apostle Peter explained this passage fulfilled at the time of the Lord's passion, when the Holy Spirit descended on the believers on the day of Pentecost, and they spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, so that those present marveled and said, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own native language?' Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and others; some were saying, 'What does this mean?' But others were mocking and saying, 'They are filled with new wine.' Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and declared to them: 'Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words. These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ' And it shall come to pass afterward, says the Lord: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. From the beginning, therefore, until the place where it is written: 'Great is the day of the Lord and very terrible, and who can endure it?' it is a threat and description of what the Lord will inflict upon the sinful people. But from the place where we read: 'Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning,' until the place where it says: 'Why do they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"' it is the exhortation of the Lord, calling for repentance after punishment and affliction. Again, from that place which follows: The Lord was zealous for his land and spared his people, and the Lord answered and said, even to the place where it is written: And my people shall not be put to shame forever, the promise of things to come is that they should await the good after they have repented. And after many things which it is now tedious to recount, these things also are said in the promise, which we now endeavor to explain: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and the rest. I seem to myself to have saved the text of the conversation from the beginning up to this point. It is a great labor how what follows should be connected to what we are now discussing. Another [person] says what was generally promised in the last times is now partly completed. And because the apostles felt the reward of future [events] at the first coming of the Lord, they mentioned certain offerings and first fruits of miracles that had been fulfilled, so that until what is perfect comes, we would feel what had previously come in part. But another asserts that it is an apostolic tradition, according to what is written about a holy man: 'He will dispense his words in judgment' (Ps. CXI, 5): so that whatever useful things they saw to be for the listeners and not contradicting what is present, they would strengthen them with testimonies from another time, not that they would exploit the simplicity and ignorance of the listeners, as the impious Porphyrius calumniates, but according to the apostle Paul, they would preach at the right time, and at the wrong time (II Tim. IV). And the following is the rule of the prophets: whatever the Jews in the last times promise themselves carnally, they would say was fulfilled spiritually in the first coming of the Lord and Savior: especially since both they and we say that the promises were to be fulfilled in Christ, only differing in this, that they contend for future things, while we maintain that they have already happened: about which more should be discussed in what follows. But every flesh on which the Lord promises to pour out His Spirit, that is the flesh about which Isaiah speaks: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Isaiah 40:5). Therefore, the salvation of God cannot be seen unless the Holy Spirit is poured out. And whoever claims to believe in Christ, without believing in the Holy Spirit, will not have the eyes of perfect faith. Hence, in the Acts of the Apostles, those who had been baptized with the baptism of John, in the one who was to come, that is, in the name of the Lord Jesus, are re-baptized when they respond to Paul's question: 'But did you receive the Holy Spirit?' (Acts 19). Indeed, they receive true baptism, because without the Holy Spirit and the mystery of the Trinity, whatever is received into one or the other person is imperfect. But indeed, not everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will immediately have spiritual grace; but through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they will obtain different graces (I Cor. XII). Some will receive prophecy, like sons and daughters who are of greater merit; others will have dreams, like the elderly of advanced age; others will have visions, like the young who have conquered evil. However, servants and handmaids who still have the spirit of fear, and not of love, because perfect love casts out fear, will not have prophecy, dreams, or visions; but, content with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they will possess only the grace of faith and salvation. Then the Lord will give signs in the sky and on earth: in the sky, because the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood; on earth, because the earth will shake so violently and unusually that tombs will be opened and rocks will be split. And what he says, blood and vapors, or the vapor of smoke, that blood is the one of which we read in the Psalms: That your foot may be dipped in blood (Psalm 47:24). And in Isaiah: How red are your garments (Isaiah 63:2)! And when, after striking the side of the Savior, the Roman soldier poured out mixed water (John 19). And the fire of the Holy Spirit, which descended from heaven, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: Tongues as of fire appeared to them, and it sat on each one of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:3-4). This is the fire that the Lord came to send upon the earth, and before he suffered, he desired it to burn in his disciples (Luke 12). Fire is of a double nature: it has light for those who believe; it has darkness and punishment for unbelievers, who are called the fumes of smoke. This smoke is very bitter, which blinded the eyes of the Jews, as we read in the proverbs: 'As smoke is harmful to the eyes, and an unripe grape to the teeth, so is wickedness to those who use it' (Prov. X, 26). Isaiah also speaks about this smoke in a great vision, in which the blindness of the Jews was foretold: 'And the threshold has moved, and the house is filled with smoke.' Then it follows: Go, and tell this people: You shall indeed hear, but not understand; and you shall indeed see, but not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing (Isaiah VI, 9, 10). The sun also turns into darkness when it does not dare to see its hanging Lord, and the moon into blood, which we may believe happened according to history and was passed over in silence by the evangelists. For not everything that Jesus did is recorded, and if every single thing were written, I do not think that even the world itself could contain the books that would be written (John XXI). Certainly, when the sun was obscured in darkness, it was not because it had turned to darkness itself, but because it had brought darkness upon the world: thus, the moon was not turned to blood, but it condemned the Jews covered in horror of blasphemies and denial of Christ with the eternal testimony of its blood, saying: 'His blood be upon us, and upon our children' (Matthew 27:25). These are all things that are described as future before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. But this day of the Lord is to be believed as either great and terrible of the resurrection, or certainly, after a long time, a day of judgment, which is truly great and terrible. But since it follows: And it shall be, everyone who shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and the apostle Paul refers this to the time of the Lord's passion, it is more to be understood of the day of resurrection. For he says in writing to the Romans: There is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? (Rom. 10:12-15) And when it is said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, let us not lightly esteem it, for although the same apostle writes: No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 12:3) Yet we must understand that to say this is not a matter of mere words, but of heartfelt faith. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So Paul and Sosthenes write to the Church of God which is in Corinth: Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1): according to what we read in the Psalms: Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he answered them; he spoke to them in the pillar of cloud (Ps. 99:9). So if it is written about the believing Corinthians, and about Moses and Aaron and Samuel, that they invoked the name of the Lord, let us believe that this grace is not for beginners but for those who have reached perfection. The word 'effusion', which is said in Hebrew Esphoch (), and which all have translated similarly, shows the abundance of the gift, that it has not descended upon a few Prophets (as it once did in the Old Testament), but upon all who believe in the name of the Savior, the gifts of the Holy Spirit: not just on this one or that one, but on all flesh. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female; for we are all one in Christ. (Romans 10). Therefore, Agabus prophesied in Caesarea (Acts 21), and there were many prophets in Antioch. The Apostle commands that if one person is prophesying and another has a revelation, the first should keep silent. (1 Corinthians 14). We also read that the four daughters of Philip the evangelist prophesied. (Acts 21). Even the old men saw visions, as when Paul, an old man, heard a man from Macedonia saying to him: 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' (Acts 16:9). And all the young men who stood forth strong in Christ, and fought the Lord's battles, saw visions, with the Lord fulfilling his promises: I multiply visions, and I am likened to the hands of the prophets (Hosea 10:12).

2:32

(Verse 32) Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation: as the Lord has said: and in the remnant whom the Lord has called. LXX: Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be the one who has been saved: as the Lord has said: and the announcer whom the Lord has called. In that place, where we have set ourselves, salvation, or the one who has been saved, and in Hebrew it is written Phaleta (), Symmachus translated, the one who has fled. And again where we have said, in the remnant, and the Septuagint translated, announcer, in Hebrew it is read Saridim (( Al. Saradim)) (), which the Jews believe is the name of the place. Therefore, when the great and dreadful day of the Lord came, and whoever called upon his name after the resurrection of the Lord, everyone who was on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem was saved. For the law came forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2), of which it is written: A prophet does not perish outside Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). So the beginning of their salvation was in Zion and Jerusalem, in the watchtower and in the vision of peace, and in those who remained, whom the Lord called. We must understand those remnants who believed from the Jewish people, of whom Isaiah speaks: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9). The Lord called and evangelized these remnants, whom He called, for so the LXX interpreted. This passage is very difficult, and receiving multiple explanations: so that under tropology we may refer everything that has been said to those times, to which Peter and Paul the apostles related, that is, when the Lord suffered and rose again." } For it is not possible that we understand the previous events during the time of suffering, and the events that follow on the day of judgment, especially when it is said: 'For behold, in those days, and in that time.' And this verse, connecting the subsequent events with the preceding ones, declares that everything was accomplished at once.

3:1-3

(Chapter 3, verses 1 onwards) For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and have divided up my land. They have cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they have sold girls for wine that they may drink. LXX: For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink. Let us say that we promised, first connecting the later things to the earlier ones according to anagoge, if we are able, we will try to refer them to the day of judgment. With the believers saved on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and with the rest of the people of Judaea called, who believed with the apostles and through the apostles, at that time after the Lord had turned the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, who had come to preach seen, and to the captives, remission, and delivered those who confess the Lord, and who are in the Church, in which there is a vision of peace, will gather all the nations that did not want to believe: and will lead them into the valley of Jehoshaphat, which more significantly, according to the Hebrew truth, is said in Greek κατάξω, that is, I will lead them down, and I will draw them from the highest to the lowest. At the same time, consider when the Lord summons unbelievers, even hostile powers, to judgment and disputes with them on behalf of his people: 'I will bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.' But when he encourages believers to battle, he says: 'Stir up the strong ones: let all the warriors come forth and ascend.' The nations are urged not to descend, but to ascend into the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For everyone who is judged because of their sins is placed in the valley, which is called Jehoshaphat, that is, the judgment of the Lord. For whoever believes in the Lord will not be judged. And there he will argue with them, not by the power of majesty, but by convincing them with the truth of reason, those who have divided the people of God and dispersed his inheritance among the nations, in order to compel the servants of God to serve themselves. And they divided his land, separating it with many errors among themselves, so that some worshiped Jupiter, others Juno, and Minerva, and fever, and rust, and Anubis, and the crocodile, and the ibis, and the owls, and hawks, and storks. Under these names, the people of God were once divided: those hostile nations, that is, the princes of this world and the rulers of darkness, not only divided the people of God among themselves, but they also put boys in brothels, forcing them to change their natural disposition, about whom the Apostle speaks: Therefore, God handed them over to shameful passions: indeed, their women exchanged the natural use (or, their own nature) for that which is against nature. Similarly, men, forsaking natural use with women, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing indecent acts with other men, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was due for their error. And not content with this, they sold the girl for wine, so that they could drink and satisfy their lustful desire. All of these things, according to the Jews, were fulfilled in the times of Vespasian, Titus, and especially Hadrian, exactly as described. But if we want to refer to what is written on the day of judgment, we say that everyone who is saved is saved in the Church, whether in heavenly Jerusalem. And after the captivity of the Jews and Jerusalem is turned, then all are to be gathered and led into the valley of Josaphat: and there the Lord will judge with those who persecuted his people, and divided for themselves the inheritance of the Lord, and scattered them among the nations, and cast lots for their land: which we must not only accept concerning heretics, who divided God's people for themselves and made them into gentiles, but also against every rigid and proud teacher, who rule over the clergy under the name of doctrine and priesthood, and oppress those who are subject to them. And when they are negligent and cause scandal to one of the least, they even place boys in brothels or hand them over to prostitutes. They sell girls for the sake of their pleasure, whose god is their belly, and they glory in their shame (Philippians 3). Furthermore, they entrust young men to prostitutes and sell girls for the sake of luxury, not hesitating to corrupt wrongdoers for the sake of shameful profit.

3:4-6

(Verse 4-6.) But what do you want with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you retaliate against me? If you retaliate against me, I will quickly repay you for your actions upon your own heads. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried off my precious treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their own land. LXX: What have I to do with you, Tyre and Sidon, and all the Galilee of the Gentiles? Are you rendering retribution to me, or do you hold anger against me in your heart (for this is what μνησικακείτε means in Greek)? Quickly and swiftly I will repay your retribution upon your heads, because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried off my precious treasures into your temples. And you have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their borders. And the Jews consider these places, Tyre, Sidon, and the borders of Palestine, or Galilee, to be inhabited by foreigners: because during the Jewish captivity, when they were conquered by the Romans, they persecuted the people of God; in fact, they persecuted the very God who presided over the people, according to what is written: 'He who receives you, receives me' (Matt. 10:40). Therefore, on the contrary, whoever persecutes the people of God, persecutes the very God to whom the people belong. I will restore, he says, to you what you have done to my people: for you have taken my silver and gold, that is, the vessels of the temple, and whatever was most precious and beautiful in it, the golden candlestick and the golden table of proposition, and the two golden Cherubim, and the mercy-seat, and the golden bowls and censers, and you have consecrated them to your idols (2 Kings 25). However, the Chaldeans are said to have done these things more, who placed the vessels of the Lord's temple in the temple of Bel: from which afterwards Belshazzar drinks in the vessels, and immediately his kingdom is transferred to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5). But because after the Great and Horrible Day of the Lord, these things are said to happen, which the apostles interpret in the resurrection of the Lord, and the Hebrews differ in the future time of judgment, it is more to be understood about the Romans: that Vespasian and Titus, after the Temple of Peace was built in Rome, consecrated the vessels of the Temple and all its offerings in its sanctuary: which Greek and Roman history narrates. At that time, the sons of Judah and Jerusalem (not Israel, and the ten tribes, which until today live in the cities and mountains of the Medes) were sold to the sons of the Greeks, so that they would exterminate them from their borders, and the whole Jewish world was filled with captivity. They interpret this as referring to the vengeance of the blood of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened by the judgment of God, confirming that it happened against Tyre and Sidon. But according to the intended allegory, we interpret Tyre and Sidon and the Palestinians as those who oppress, afflict, and persecute God's people (for Tyre resonates with our language) and hunt him down (or rather, for them to be hunted down) unto death, which the name Sidon indicates, and they drink blood and fall in the mud, which signifies the Philistines and Galilee. The Lord will quickly and swiftly restore to them what they deserve, because they have persecuted him. And their silver and gold, namely the words of the Scriptures, and their meanings, that is, their ideas and theses, and everything that was beautiful in the Church, they have delivered into the bondage of their errors. Whoever deceives heretics and causes them to worship idols, sells the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the Greeks, or to the pagans, and makes them become heathens among the Christians, in order to exterminate them from their borders, in which they were born in Christ, and not in Judea, and in the confession of the truth, but they wander in the error of the nations. All of these things, we can refer to the Day of Judgment, without a differing punishment: although they may seem to differ in time from what the superiors say. For in Hebrew it is written 'Galilaea', which Aquila translated as 'Θῖνας', and Symmachus as 'Terminos'. And 'Θῖνας', which means 'Tumulos Arenarum', let us refer to the shores of Palestine, not to Galilee of the Philistines, which is nothing at all.

3:7-8

(Verse 7, 8) Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will turn your retribution upon your own heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. For the Lord has spoken. LXX: Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will return your retribution upon your heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them into captivity to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken. The Hebrew word Sabaim (), which Aquila and Symmachus translated as 'captives' according to the written text, was interpreted as 'captivity' in the Septuagint, which better signifies captives. However, the Sabaim people are said to come from India, from which the queen of Sheba also came to hear the wisdom of Solomon (3 Kings 10), about whom Isaiah also speaks: 'And the Sabaim, men of high rank, will come to you' (Isaiah 43:14). Hence, it is also said that incense (thus) comes from there, as Virgil says: 'From Sabaim, a wealthy kingdom, come the gift of frankincense' (Aeneid, Book I).

. . . And a hundred altars burn with Sabean incense: though some suspect that they are Arabian. Therefore, the Jews promise to themselves, or rather dream, that in the last days they will be gathered by the Lord and brought back to Jerusalem. Not content with this happiness, they assert that God himself will deliver into their hands the sons and daughters of the Romans, so that the Jews may sell them, not to the Persians, Ethiopians, and other neighboring nations, but to the Sabaeans, a very distant people: because the Lord has spoken and will avenge the injury to his people. And to them and to our Jewish followers who promise for themselves a thousand-year kingdom in the borders of Judea, and a golden Jerusalem, and the blood of sacrifices, and sons and grandsons, and incredible delights, and gates adorned with a variety of gems. But we say that the Lord raised them up after his coming, and continues to raise them up daily, and will raise up those whom various errors led astray from their borders. 'I will raise them up beautifully,' he says, 'as if they were lying and falling, so that those who were lying in heresy may stand in the Church, giving to heretics what they did: That he may deliver their sons and daughters, whom they had instructed in the mysteries and in the fleshly things, into the hands of the sons of Judah, into the hands of those who became rulers of the Churches; and they are instructed in the armor of the Apostle, and they have the shield and spear of the Old and New Testament.' So when they capture them, they sell their sons and daughters to the Sabaeans, and make them slaves, so that they are far away from their borders; and when they are converted to better things, they begin to be subject to Ecclesiastical teachings.

3:9-11

(V. 9 et seq.) Cry out these things ((or: Cry out this)) among the nations: sanctify war, awaken the strong. Let all men of war come near and ascend. Convert your plows into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.' Burst forth and come, all you nations around, and gather together, there the Lord will cause your strong ones ((or: his strong ones)) to fall. LXX: Proclaim these things ((or: Proclaim this)) among the nations: sanctify war, arouse fighters, bring and ascend all men of war. Plough your ploughs into swords, and your sickles into spears. Let the strong say, 'I prevail.' Gather together and come in, all nations round about, and gather yourselves together there, let the warrior be meek. This place is understood in two ways: for some think that these things are said to the holy nations, that they may prepare for war and fight for the people of God, that they may convert all the tools of agriculture into swords and spears, that the weak may say that they are strong, and let them all come from round about and be gathered together in the battle of the Lord, especially since according to the Septuagint it follows: 'Let the warrior be meek and gentle,' and according to what is written in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 5:8): 'And across the Jordan from Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, with all their warlike gear, one hundred and twenty thousand men: all these warriors, prepared for battle with peaceful intent.' They wish to be the imitators of the true David, of whom we read: 'Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness' (Psalm 131:1). And he himself speaks in the Gospel: 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart' (Matth. XI, 29), that is, gentle. They also want men to be understood, who, having destroyed the beginnings of infants, have grown in strength to the maturity of age, and have transferred all the zeal with which they previously cultivated the fields of their souls to the necessity of battle. However, it seems to us, who follow the opinion of the Hebrews, that the contrary is true. For this reason, the opposing nations are preparing for battle against Israel, and they exchange their plows and hoes, or sickles, for swords and spears (Isa. II), and the weak says that he is strong, and they burst forth and come from all sides, and they gather against the army of the Lord, so that the Lord may cause their strong ones to perish, and that they may understand that they are overcome by God opposing them. Israel promises miserable things for itself according to the letter. According to the applied allegory, we can understand it as the nations of demons, those who fight against the Church daily, and finally, those who will fight against the saints of the Lord under the Antichrist, who are gathered together for the purpose of perishing.

3:12-13

(Verse 12 and following) Let the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe. Come and go down, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is multiplied. LXX: Let all the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the grape harvest is ripe. Come in and tread, for the winepress is full, and the wine vats overflow, for their evil deeds are abundant. And these things are interpreted in two ways according to a higher meaning. Some people understand that the nations will ascend into the valley of Josaphat, which means the judgment of the Lord, and sit there before God, so that He may judge all the nations that come from every direction in a favorable manner. In this way, the saints will gather against the adversaries of God and send forth their sickles to reap the ripe harvest of the enemies, and they will come and go, treading on the wine vats, because there is a vintage present, and the must is so abundant that the wine vats cannot contain it. And so, in order to understand what the vintage is and what the full winepress signifies, he has introduced the multiplication of their malice, and without a doubt it signifies those who have congregated against the Lord. But others say that the nations will rise up and come together in the Valley of Josaphat and sit before the Lord, so that he may judge all nations. They assert that they will prepare themselves and gather all the weapons of the fighters, and in the valley of Josaphat they will be cut down by the sickles of the Lord. For the time of judgment had come against them, and their evils had grown so much that they overcame God's patience. For the Amorites were expelled then, when their sins were fulfilled. The Jews interpret this place as referring to the fierce nations of Gog and Magog, about which we have spoken above, believing that in the last time, when Jerusalem is restored, they will come against God's people during a thousand-year reign, and in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is situated to the east of the temple, they will fall ((another reading: rage)). For the time of their destruction has come, and the time of pouring out blood is imminent.

3:14-15

(Verse 14, 15) O people, people in the valley of slaughter, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of slaughter. The sun and moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. LXX: The sound is heard in the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will make their shining go away. In that place where we have set ourselves, people, people, and the Seventy have translated, the sound is heard. In Hebrew it is written 'Amonim, Amonim,' which certainly means multitude and the multitude of those who are to be judged, and noise and sound. Again, when we mentioned in the valley of cutting, following the translation of Aquila and Symmachus and the fifth edition, the Septuagint and Theodotion translated τῆς δίκης καὶ τῆς κρίσεως as 'causae et judicii': for which it is written in Hebrew Harus (), which the Hebrews interpret not only as cutting, but also as gold, which, namely, in the valley of judgment, which they suspect to be Gehenna, after the impurities of sins have been burned away, pure gold remains. Therefore, the people of the nations, of which we have spoken above in the valley of judgment or destruction, are gathered together to be killed and to perish, and to be judged by the Lord. The grief of the day and the torments of those who perish will be such that not even the sun, moon, and other stars will be able to look upon them; but they will withdraw their brightness and the severity of the judge and grant each one according to their works, they will not dare to look upon. Not because they are more merciful than the judgments of God; but because every creature fears for their own judgment in the torments of others.

3:16-17

(Ver. 16, 17.) And the Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord is the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will not pass through it anymore. LXX: But the Lord will cry out from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord will spare His people, and will strengthen the children of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will not pass through it anymore. When the brightness of the sun, moon, and all the stars will be changed into darkness, the Lord will roar from Zion like a lion, or he will cry out, and his voice will be so loud and terrifying that the pillars of the heavens and the foundations of the earth will shake. And when he is so severe towards those who deserve punishment, he will be merciful towards his people, and he will give strength to those who are called the children of Israel, namely the ones who see God with their minds; or the most upright of God, whom we can rightly call the most righteous God: those who have not walked on crooked paths, but have walked in the path of Christ, have done all things righteously. Then those who are punished and those who are taken up into glory will know that the Lord dwells in His watchtower in Zion, and on His holy mountain in Christmont, or in the one who has prepared himself as a worthy dwelling for God. Then there will be the holy vision of Jerusalem, the vision of peace, from which Solomon received his name, and no foreigners will pass through it any longer. By foreigners, understand demons who are external to God, or all wicked thoughts and sins, of which the prophet speaks: 'From foreigners spare your servant' (Psalm 18:24), which would no longer find a way in us if we have the peace of God and our heart is not open to our adversaries. The Jews and our people, as we have said, who follow Jewish practices, recount a story of a thousand years, when they believe that Christ will dwell in Zion, and in Jerusalem adorned with gold and jewels, gathering the people of the saints, so that those who have been oppressed in this age by all nations may reign over all nations in this same age.

3:18

(Verse 18) And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drip sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with water. LXX: And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drip sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with water. The Lord will dwell in Zion and on His holy mountain, when no one attempts to pass through the holy Jerusalem, whoever is on the mountain and has reached the heights of virtue, shall sweat with sweetness and honey shall drip from him, and from him shall flow spiritual graces, of which the prophet speaks: How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Ps. CXVIII, 103)! But those who are lower in the mountains, and have not yet ascended to the summit of perfection, will be called hills, and from them will flow streams of milk, by which the roughness of infancy in Christ is nourished, and rivers of water, which the Lord has testified will flow from their womb (John 7). For all the streams, or outpourings, of Judah will be filled with water, and there will be nothing dry in them, with all spiritual grace overflowing.

And a spring will come forth from the house of the Lord and will water the torrent of thorns. The Septuagint translated 'torrent of thorns' as 'torrent of ropes,' that is, σχοίνων, which either means ropes or, according to the Egyptians, a certain measure of distance. The Psalmist says: 'You have searched out my path and my rope' (Psalm 138:2). For in the river Nile, or in its streams, ships are accustomed to be pulled by ropes, having certain spaces called ropes, so that fresh necks of those tired from labor may succeed to those pulling. It is not surprising that each nation designates specific distances with their own names, considering that the Latins call a thousand paces, the Gauls leucas, the Persians parasangas, and the Germans, the entire region, rastas, and each one has a different measurement. This is because the Hebrew word sattim () was translated as "funiculos" by the Seventy. However, there is no doubt that all the things we read in the tabernacle of God were made of acacia wood, which the Seventy interpreted as indestructible wood. But there is a species of tree in the desert, resembling white thorns in color and leaves, not in size. Otherwise, these trees are so large that the widest planks are cut from them, and the wood is very strong and incredibly light and beautiful, so much so that the wealthiest and most skilled craftsmen make presses, which they call 'ἂρσενας' and 'θηλύας', from these woods, which cannot be found in cultivated places or on Roman soil, but only in the wilderness of Arabia. For the stream of ropes or thorns, Symmachus translated it as the valley of thorns. This place is near Livias, across the Dead Sea, six miles away from it, where Israel once fornicated with the Midianites. The prophet Micah mentions this place on behalf of God, saying: My people, remember, I beg you, what Balak, the king of Moab, planned, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Settim to Gilgal (Micah 6:5). For this reason, the Seventy translated it as 'from the ropes,' that is, from the ropes all the way to Galgal. Therefore, a spring will come out of the house of the Lord, which is interpreted as the Church. About this, both Ezekiel and Zechariah write at the end of their volumes (Ezek. 47, Zech. 13), that our thorns and vices and sins, which have produced no fruit of righteousness, will be transformed into the Lord's new vineyards, and our aridity will be moistened by abundant waters, and instead of thorns and thistles, we will bear multiple flowers of virtues. And in that place, where Israel once fornicated and Beelphegor was initiated, lilies of chastity and roses of modesty and virginity abound.

3:19

(Verse 19.) Egypt will be in desolation, and Edom will be a desert of destruction, because they have acted unjustly towards the sons of Judah and have shed innocent blood in their land. According to the Septuagint: Egypt will be in ruin, and Edom will be a field of desolation, because of the iniquities of the sons of Judah, because they have shed righteous blood in their land. And in this place, the Jews sleep a very heavy sleep: in the last time, when they will not receive Christ but will receive the Antichrist, they vainly imagine revenge upon the Egyptians who are nearby and upon the Romans whom they interpret as Edomites." } Just as Pharaoh and his entire army, who held the people of God captive for four hundred and thirty years, were submerged in the Red Sea, so too may the Romans, who will possess the Jews for the same period of time, be destroyed by the vengeance of the Lord. Let them not hope in vain for this. For they cannot explain why, when there are so many nations in the world, only two, the Egyptians and the Edomites, are expected to be punished. Or why the Romans are seen as equivalent to the Edomites, when we can assert with equal license of lying from the opposite perspective, that the term 'Edomites' refers to the Persians, or the Elamites, or the Franks, or the Alemanni, and other nations." } But let us say that in the time of the Lord's resurrection, or on the day of judgment (we receive both), Egypt and Edom, in that Egypt and Edom signify, must be destroyed. Egypt is called Egypt, which means 'oppression', that is, persecuting and troubling the holy people of God. Edom means 'earthly' or 'bloody'. Therefore, whoever persecutes the people of God and is occupied with earthly works and sheds innocent blood daily, that is, of those whom he deceives, will be brought to destruction, just as we know the souls of the martyrs also cry out under the altar: 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' (Rev. 6:10)

3:20-21

(Vers. 20 seqq.) And Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation; and I will cleanse their blood, which I have not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Zion. LXX: But Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation, and I will require their blood, which I have not yet avenged, and the Lord will dwell in Zion. It is not this Judaea, which we see desolate, that shall be inhabited forever; nor is it this Jerusalem, whose ruins we behold; but it is that Judaea, whose daughters have rejoiced and been glad in all the judgments of the Lord. And at the end of the fiftieth psalm we read: Do good, O Lord, in your good pleasure to Zion, that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. In this province of confession and glory, and in this city where the peace of the Lord is seen, there will be an eternal dwelling, not in one, or in three, or in many generations, but from generation to generation, that is, in two generations of those who have believed, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. And the Lord will cleanse the blood of all sins, which He had not cleansed before, so that He may cleanse them in the Gospel, whom He had left impure as sinners in the Law. For He has concluded all under sin, so that He may have mercy on all (Rom. 11); whether He avenges the blood of His servants, which they shed in martyrdom for the confession of His name. And the Lord will dwell in Zion, of which it is written: Its foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Ps. 68:1).