Jeremiah 12

"Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all those who do evil things thrive?" Here the prophet steps out from his usual discourse. On other occasions he brings before God prayers and sorrow about sinners. But it seems here that he is beginning a dispute with God: Why is God merciful to them when they certainly do not deserve his mercy because their hearts are hard and stubborn? Truly, Jeremiah is not the only one who asks this question. Many righteous people wanted to know, as if they debated with God about his multitude of mercies to sinners. Job and David and Habakkuk wondered in this way about the mystery of God's extended patience. But they all had one goal—to call sinners to repentance. This is why they explained this mystery of [divine] extended patience, and tried to reveal to sinners all the benefits that the Lord promised to those who repent. For he is good, and slow to anger to the sons of Adam, and as a hospitable Father, showers them with his gifts. But at the same time, righteous people let them know beforehand the punishment that they can expect if they remain hardened in their hearts and will not stop their wicked stubbornness. Jeremiah had the same goal: by fear and promises to wake up and to call Israel to serve their God.

Righteous indeed are you, O Lord, if I dispute with you — or for I will satisfy you — ; yet I will speak judgments to you: Why is it that the way of the wicked prospers, and it is well with all who transgress and act wickedly? You planted them and they have put forth root; they prosper — or they have begotten sons — and they bear fruit; you are near to their mouth and far from their reins. This disputation is indeed against all who act wickedly, and the meaning of Psalm 72 (73) is briefly summed up in it, in which the prophet says: How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright of heart! But my feet were almost moved, my steps had almost been poured out, because I was jealous of sinners, seeing the peace of sinners, and so on. But properly it is said against the heretics: though they are wicked, their way prospers, and they beget as sons those whom they have deceived in heresy, and they transgress and act wickedly, so that they despoil the Church, and, while they persist in the perversity of their opinion, they boast that they have been planted by God and have put forth root, have begotten sons and have borne fruit; and though they repeat the name of Christ again and again, they do not have God dwelling in them, according to that word of Isaiah: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

"You are righteous, Lord, that I shall make my defense before you. Yet I will speak judgments to you. Why is it that the way of the ungodly prospers? All those who deal treacherously in treacheries have flourished." We still inquire whether God, who has given the Law and the Prophets, is good, seeing that "the way of the ungodly prospers" and he does not punish the ungodly. "All those who deal treacherously in treacheries have flourished." Those very ones who speak against the Creator, who blaspheme him, "have flourished, they have been planted and rooted, they have begotten children and have produced fruit." How much fruit has Marcion produced by begetting children, how much Basilides, how much Valentinus? For this is what is prophesied concerning the ungodly and said in the words "they have begotten children and produced fruit." "You are near to their mouth, but far from their reins": they name the name of Jesus, but they do not have Jesus; for they do not confess him as they ought.

And you, O Lord, have known me, you have seen me and have tested my heart with you. Gather them like a flock to be victims, and sanctify them in the day of slaughter! 'It is no stumbling-block', he says, 'that the wicked, or all the heretics, flourish for a time; for you, O Lord, have known me and have seen me and have tested my heart with you'. Whom does God the Father know as he knows his Son? For no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him. 'Although', he says, 'the heretics prosper, although they beget sons and bear fruit, and you are near to their mouth and far from their reins, that is, from their conscience, yet it is no small consolation that like cattle they are being fattened to be victims. You gather them into the city of Jerusalem, or into their own conventicles, so that like victims they may be slaughtered unto death, and may then be sanctified when they have been slain by the sword of the Church; for the slaying of the heretics is the salvation of those who had been deceived'.

"And you, Lord, know me, you have seen me, you have tested my heart before you; purify them for the day of their slaughter." What shall I do, that I may make these things clear? He calls the punishments a purification of those being punished; for "purify them," he says, "for the day of their slaughter." Through their being slaughtered, purify them; for "whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives."

How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every region wither, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it? Beast and bird are consumed, because they said: He will not see our last end or God will not see our ways. Whatever happens in the world, whether of good or of evil, does not happen without providence and by fortuitous chance, but by the judgment of God. The land is now barren, the grass withers: do you wish to know the reason? The wickednesses of its inhabitants bring this about, so that both the animals upon the earth and the birds of the sky are consumed, since all these things were created for the uses of men. They rose up to such blasphemy as to say that God is ignorant of their ways and does not know what each one is going to suffer. And when he says 'how long', he signifies that the wrath of God remains, because the mind of those who sin is not changed.

"How long shall the land mourn and the grass of the field be dried up from the wickedness of those who dwell in it?" As though of a land that has a soul, here too the prophet discourses, saying that the land mourns because of the wickedness of those who tread upon it. In the case of each one of us, then, the land either mourns or rejoices; for it either mourns "from the wickedness of those who dwell in it," or it rejoices from the virtue of those who dwell in it. In the case of each one of us, then, the very element either rejoices or mourns. And if the land, then perhaps the remaining elements too. I will say likewise both the water and the angel appointed over the water, that I may explain also the land that mourns or does not mourn; for it is not this body, "the land," that mourns "from those who dwell in it," but understand for me that, in addition to the ordering of the whole, a certain angel is appointed over the land, and another appointed over the waters, and another over the air, and a fourth over the fire. Thus ascend for me by reasoning to the whole ordering that is in animals, that is in plants, that is in the heavenly stars. A certain angel is appointed both over the sun, and another over the moon, and another also over the stars; these angels, then, with whom we are — insofar as we are of earth — either rejoice if we act righteously, or mourn over us when we sin. The land mourns, he says, from those who dwell in it. By homonymy he called the angel "land" with the very land itself. For just as "the handmade thing is accursed, both it and the one who made it" — not that the lifeless thing itself is accursed, but that which sits beside the lifeless image and passes under that name is called "handmade" — so also I will say that the angel appointed over land is called "land," and the angel appointed over water is called "water," according to what has been said: "The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and were afraid, the depths were troubled by the multitude of the sound of the waters, the clouds gave a voice, for indeed your arrows pass through."

If, running with footmen, you have grown weary, how will you be able to contend with horses? If in a land of peace you have been confident, what will you do in the pride — or roaring — of the Jordan? 'If', he says, 'the frequent captivity inflicted by the neighboring nations has worn you out, by the Moabites and Ammonites, the Philistines and Edomites, what will you do in the face of the long captivity which is to lead you all the way to Chaldea?' And he compares footmen with horsemen, because in truth and according to the history all Persia and all Chaldea and the army of those regions delight in cavalry. But these nations which I have mentioned above, because of the difficulty of their terrain, are suited not so much to battle as to brigandage. And he keeps the metaphoran [metaphor] and says: 'If, running with footmen, you have failed from weariness, what will you do if you wish to match your running to horses? And if in your own land you had some confidence, what will you do when you have crossed the Jordan and endured its whirlpools?'

For even your brothers and the house of your father, they too have fought against you and have cried out after you with full voice; do not believe them when they speak good things to you! 'So far', he says, 'will you be covered by the most grievous floods of the Jordan, and so far will the multitude of horsemen coming against you from afar lay you waste, that your brothers too, the Edomites, and the house of your father, who were begotten of the stock of Lot, Moab and Ammon, will themselves, in the time of necessity and distress, fight against you and insult you. Therefore beware of being willing to believe them and of placing hope in kinship, on account of which they rage against you with greater hatred than enemies do'. This can also be taken of the Savior, that his brothers and the house of his father fought against him and cried out with full voice, saying: Crucify, crucify him; we have no king but Caesar.

And although the Apostle himself told the Hebrews that a testament is of no force, until the death of the testator happen, that is to say, a testament is of no strength while the testator liveth, but is established by his death, yet as in Jeremiah the Lord, speaking of the Jews, has said, Mine heritage is unto Me as a lion, he would not deny that they were heirs. But there are heirs without possessions, there are heirs also with them; and while the testator lives those whose names are written in the will are called heirs, though without possessions... As then young children, so the Jews also, are under a schoolmaster. The Law is our schoolmaster, the schoolmaster brings us to our Master; and our One Master is Christ: Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ.

I have left my house, I have abandoned my inheritance, I have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies. My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest; it has given forth its voice against me, therefore I have hated it. He who said in the Gospel: Rise, let us go hence, and again: your house shall be left to you deserted, here too, in the prophet, threatens the same things, and says that he has done what he is going to do. For the inheritance of the Lord is Israel, and the cord of his inheritance. And what he says: I have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies, is this: I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again.

Behold, your house will be left to you deserted. He had said this very thing long before, in the person of Jeremiah: I have left my house, I have abandoned my inheritance; my inheritance has become to me like the cave of a hyena. We prove that the house of the Jews, that is, that temple which before shone more majestically to the eyes, is deserted, because it lost Christ its inhabitant and, eager to snatch the inheritance, killed the heir.

As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things … "I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me, therefore have I hated it." Since the inheritance is his heavenly kingdom, it is evident that he does not say that he hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful toward him and impious. "My heritage," he says, "has become to me as a lion," that is, I have become prey and something to devour to my heirs, who have slaughtered me as a sheep. "It cried out against me," that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which he said … that he would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament that was given by Moses was not perfect, but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom he casts off, but us, who have been called by him out of the Gentiles and have by adoption, succeeded to their place, and are called children.

Now that the Jews were disinherited, because they rejected Christ, and that we, who are of the Gentiles, were adopted into their place is proved by the Scriptures. Jeremiah thus speaks, "I have forsaken my house. I have given my heritage into the hands of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has given forth its voice against me; therefore have I hated it."

"I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance, I have given my beloved soul into the hands of its enemies." Behold for me the one who exists "in the form of God," being in the heavens; behold his house, above the heavens. And if you wish to see something yet higher (that he is "in the Father"), behold that his house is God. He leaves "the father and the mother," the "Jerusalem above," and comes to the earthly place and says, "I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance." For that was his inheritance, the regions with the angels, the rank with the holy powers. "I have given my beloved soul into the hands of its enemies." He delivered his soul into the hands of the enemies of the soul, into the hands of the Jews who killed him, into the hands of the rulers gathered together against him, into the hands of kings, when "the kings of the earth stood by and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ."

It is further related that when Pilate wanted to release him, the whole multitude shouted in uproar: "Crucify him, crucify him." This was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, speaking in the person of the Lord: "My inheritance," he says, "has become to me as lion in the wood. It has cried out against me. Therefore have I hated it." And therefore, he adds, "I have forsaken my house." In yet another passage Isaiah says: "Upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and against whom have you let loose your tongues?"

And the inheritance that was once the Lord's, the people of the Jews, became like a lion in the forest against him, when in the passion it cried out against him with one voice. And because it gave forth its voice against him, therefore he held it in hatred and cast it off, and she who was once beloved and most dear is now called hateful.

"My inheritance became to me as a lion in a thicket." This inheritance of his upon the earth, which he had received as inheritance, turned savage against him, and the inheritance — the Jews — became wild against him "as a lion in a thicket." It is no wonder if then his inheritance became "as a lion in a thicket"; even now there are still lions in the thicket wishing to curse Jesus and blaspheming him and plotting against those who believe in him. "My inheritance," then, "became to me as a lion in a thicket. It uttered its voice against me; therefore I hated it."

The house of God has been made a den of thieves! This is the house of which Jeremiah says, "Has not my house become for me the den of a hyena?" Here we have "you have made it a den of thieves," in Jeremiah, "the den of a hyena." We have to know the nature of this animal. Then from that, we shall be able to learn why the prophet called God's house a hyena's den. The hyena is never seen in the daytime but always at night. Never is it seen in the light but always in the darkness.

Is my inheritance to me a bird of many colors? Is it a bird dyed all over? Come, gather together, all you beasts of the earth, hasten to devour! LXX: Is my inheritance to me a hyena's cave? Or a cave round about it, upon it? Go, gather all the beasts of the field, and let them come to eat it! By the bird of many colors and dyed all over he means, according to the letter, the peacock. 'Such beauty', he says, 'did Israel have, and with such virtues was Jerusalem adorned, that there was nothing good that was not seen in her. Because, therefore, what was once my inheritance, that is, the people of Israel, has become to me like a lion in the forest and has given forth its voice against me, and I have detested it with all hatred, therefore come and gather together against it, all you beasts of the earth, the multitude of diverse nations, and devour her who has not known her Lord!' But if, as the Seventy and the other interpreters translated, it is read: Is my inheritance to me a hyena's cave?, let us refer it to the uncleanness of that nocturnal beast, which lives on the corpses of the dead and is wont to dig bodies out of tombs, and there is no uncleanness on which it does not feed. Such is Israel, offending its Lord and handed over to the bites of all the beasts.

"Is my inheritance to me a hyena's den?" He prophesies concerning this inheritance: has my inheritance perhaps become a hyena's den, a hyena's den — of the most savage beast, the corpse-eater, the one about the tombs, the one that eats the dead bodies? "Is my inheritance to me a hyena's den? Or a cave round about it on every side? Go." Since they have become such, I command you, the angels, to go and gather the beasts and deliver them to the beasts. "Go and gather all the beasts of the field, and let them come to devour it." The beasts of the field have come; they devour that people. See their hearts being devoured by the opposing powers. If Jesus did not spare those, but said, "Go, gather the beasts," how much more will he not spare us? If we do not do the Law of God, the word of the Gospel, he will say again: Go, gather the beasts and deliver it up. But we have boldness to say in our prayers: "Do not deliver to the beasts a soul that confesses to you." Let us confess concerning our transgressions, repenting, and we shall not be delivered to the beasts, but to holy angels who will be nurses, bearing us upon their bosoms, transferring us from this age to the age to come in Christ Jesus, to whom is the power and the glory unto the ages. Amen.

The Edomites and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the foreigners were always of a hateful and malicious disposition toward the Jews. When they saw the misfortunes brought against the Jews, they exulted over the Jews. For this reason he teaches them in advance of the future calling again of the Jews. And he calls their rulers "shepherds."

Many shepherds have demolished — or have corrupted — my vineyard, they have trampled — or have polluted — my part, they have made my desirable portion a desert of solitude — or pathless —. They have made it — or it has been made — a ruin, and it has mourned over me or has perished. Let those hear these things who desire to be princes of the peoples, and who are to render account in the day of judgment not only for themselves but also for the flocks entrusted to them; for because of them the part of the Lord is trampled and polluted, so that where once was the lodging of God, there is the dwelling-place of beasts. Others, however, understand not the leaders of the people and the priests, but the princes of the enemies, who laid Jerusalem, that is, the vineyard of the Lord, in ruins.

And it has mourned over me; with desolation the whole land has been made desolate, because there is no one who considers in his heart. Upon all the ways of the desert the destroyers have come, because the sword of the Lord has devoured from the end of the earth to its end; there is no peace for all flesh. LXX: because of me with ruin the land has been ruined, and the rest. This, which we have set down: and it has mourned over me, is joined according to the Hebrew to the preceding verse, so that it reads: they have made it a ruin, that is, my inheritance, and it has mourned over me, bereft of my help. According to the Seventy, however, God says that because of him the land has been ruined and reduced to a solitude, because there is no one who considers in his heart, nor is there any peace for all flesh. For flesh cannot receive the peace of God; for the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Further, according to the Hebrew, all Judea has been made desolate for this reason, that there is no one who considers God in his heart, nor anyone left who can escape. For through all the ways of the wilderness the destroyers have come, that is, the hostile army, and the sword of the Lord has devoured from border to border, and there was no rest for those fleeing from the city. Hence it is said: there is no peace for all flesh.

Who is it that says, "Because of me the whole earth has been laid utterly waste"? Christ says these things, before whose coming many sins had indeed been committed by the people, but not such sins as to cause them to be utterly forsaken and handed over into a captivity of long duration. But when they had filled up "the measure of their fathers" and had added, to the killing of the prophets and the persecuting of the righteous, the slaying of "the Christ of God," then came to pass the word, "Your house is left to you." And it is because of him that they have suffered these things, and "the whole earth has been laid utterly waste."

But if you wish also to hear in a loftier sense the words, "Because of me the whole earth has been laid utterly waste," look at the earth within you, in what manner it was laid waste when Jesus came; for it was laid waste "when the members that are upon the earth were put to death," and the earth no longer works its own works, no longer are there produced in the righteous person the works of the flesh in which the flesh once flourished — no longer fornication, no longer uncleanness, not licentiousness, not idolatry, not sorcery, and the rest. And the Savior too says, "Do you think that I came to cast peace upon the earth? I did not come to cast peace, but a sword." For truly, before he came, there was no sword upon the earth, nor did "the flesh lust against the spirit, nor the spirit against the flesh"; but when he came and we were taught which things are of the flesh and which are of the spirit, the teaching, having become as it were a sword upon the earth, divided the flesh and the earth from the spirit; and "the earth was laid waste" when we carry about the dying of Jesus in the body, and we no longer live according to the flesh but the spirit lives, and we sow nothing unto the flesh but all things unto the spirit, so that we may not reap corruption from the flesh but from the spirit eternal life.

Dearly beloved, it is fitting that we should not abuse our rank as clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but diligently keep and observe God's commandments, to be in reality what in name we profess to be. For if the Holy Scriptures say, "Their lots shall not profit them," what pride in our clerical position will be able to help us who sin not only in thought and feeling but also in speech?

I beg you, therefore, and admonish you again and again: do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical obligation. Under Christ's banner, do not seek worldly gain, lest having more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear people say, to your shame, "Their portion shall not profit them." Welcome poor people and strangers to your homely table, that with them Christ may be your guest.

They have sown wheat and reaped thorns; they have received an inheritance, and it will not profit them. LXX: You have sown wheat and reaped thorns; their clergy will not profit them. 'They expected better things', he says, 'and the worst came; they hoped for prosperity and suffered adversity; they received from the Lord an abundance of all things, which will not profit them'. According to the Seventy, however, all the heretics sow as it were wheat and reap thorns, while the Lord waited for them to bear fruit; and they did not do judgment, but a cry. This is said also to churchmen, who ruin the words of the Lord and his teaching by their evil manner of life, concerning whom it is added: their clergy will not profit them; for what can the name of bishop and of presbyter, or the rest of the ecclesiastical order, help them, when they are rather weighed down by their dignities, and the mighty suffer torments mightily, and the more has been entrusted to them, the more is required of them?

Be confounded at the fruits — or at your boasting — because of the wrath of the fury of the Lord — or at the reproach in the sight of the Lord —. Thus says the Lord against all my most wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I distributed to my people Israel: Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up — or cast out — the house of Judah from the midst of them. And when I have plucked them up, I will turn — or return — and have mercy on them and bring them back — or make them dwell —, each man in his inheritance and each man in his land. It is said to those whom their clergy and the ecclesiastical order will not profit, that they should be confounded at their boasting and at the reproach before the Lord.

And it is said to those who have sinned, "You sow wheat and you reap thorns"; for even if they discourse in the oracles of God, those who do not discourse rightly in them, nor live in the way they ought, nor believe, are sowing wheat and reaping thorns. And these things are most of all to be understood with reference to the heterodox, who engage with the Scriptures and reap thorns not from the Scriptures but from their own inventions. "Their lots will not profit them." These things others also have expounded. And since we do not reject their exposition, we in good conscience bring it forward into the midst, not as though we had found it ourselves, but as having learned a good lesson. This word will profit both you and us, if we attend to what is written — we who seem to be certain persons appointed from the clergy and set over you, so that some desire to come to this clerical order. But know that the clerical order does not by any means save; for many even among the presbyters will perish, and many even among the laity will be shown to be blessed. Since, then, there are some in the clergy who do not live in such a way as to be profited and to adorn the clerical order, for this reason, say those who have expounded, it is written, "Their lots will not profit them." For that which profits is not the mere sitting in the presbytery, but the living worthily of the place, as the word demands. The word demands that both you live well and we. But, if it must be so put, "the mighty shall be mightily tested"; more is demanded of me than of the deacon, more of the deacon than of the layman, and he to whom has been entrusted the rule over all of us, the very rule of the Church, is required to give account still more. For this reason the apostle, to whom the great things have been entrusted, listen, says: "Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." And so it is a rare thing to be found a faithful and good steward. Jesus, "who knows all things before their coming to be," says, "Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their measure of grain in due season?" Then he blames certain stewards and says, "But if the wicked servant begin to say, My lord delays his coming, and begin to beat his fellow-servants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, and shall cut him in two, and shall appoint his portion with the unbelievers." So much, then, for the words "Their lots will not profit them."

But let us look also at what follows, a necessary rebuke, which it is good to take up under the moral head, saying, "Be ashamed of your boasting, of the reproach before the Lord." There are certain things in which, through folly, we boast, though they are not worthy of boasting. For instance, if someone boast that he is rich and has acquired much, it may be said to him, "Be ashamed of your boasting." If someone boast in this outward nobility, it will be said to him, "Be ashamed of your boasting." If someone boast in the costliness of garments, in the building of a richly furnished house, such boasting is foreign to the boasting of the saints; therefore it will be said to such a one, "Be ashamed of your boasting." Hear the word of the prophet Jeremiah bidding us not to boast, not even in wisdom; for "let not," he says, "the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches, but let him that boasts boast in this, to understand and to know that I am the Lord." Do you wish to boast, and while boasting not to hear, "Be ashamed of your boasting"? Boast as the apostle does, and say, "But far be it from me to boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Do you wish to boast, so that it may not be said, "Be ashamed of your boasting"? Listen to Paul boasting, and learn when he says, "Most gladly, therefore, will I boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Hear what boastings he boasts: "in labors more abundantly" (which of us can say this?), "in prisons more exceedingly, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck." We learn, then, that there are also differences among boastings, in that some boastings are worthy of shame, of which that apostolic saying might be spoken, "and their glory is in their shame"; for in the things whereof they ought to be ashamed, in these they think to be glorified.

And as to what he adds: against all my most wicked neighbors: according to the letter, the neighbors of the holy land are the Edomites, the Philistines, Moab and Ammon; but according to tropology, they are all the heretics, who are reckoned under the name of Christ and are neighbors rather than inhabitants of the holy land, who touch the inheritance of God and lay it waste; and it is said of them that they are removed from the midst of the land and that the house of Judah is taken out of their midst. These, when they have been plucked up and freed from the jaws of the heretics, will obtain the mercy of God and will be brought back into their inheritance and into their land.

Having foretold through these words [v. 15] of the return that would take place under Cyrus and Darius, he also teaches them in advance of the things that would take place after these things.

And it shall be, if, being instructed, they learn the ways of my people, so as to swear in my name: The Lord lives, as they taught my people to swear by Baal, they shall be built up in the midst of my people; but if they do not hear, I will pluck up that nation with plucking up and destruction, says the Lord. If those brought over from heresy into the Church learn the ways of the people of God and swear in the name of the Lord, and not in the name of the idols which they fashioned out of their own heart, they will be built up by the Lord and will be part of his people. But if, having been brought over into the Church, they keep remnants of perverse dogmas and do not hear the words of the Lord, that nation will be plucked up from the midst of the people of God with a perpetual plucking up and destruction, so that no place of repentance whatever is left to them. These things we see daily and prove by the facts themselves: that the heretics feign the truth of the faith for this reason, that they may deceive all the simple, not that they themselves may be converted to the faith, but that they may draw the faithful into unbelief.

He spoke also [vv. 16-17] of the utter rejection of the nation of the Jews, for "I will remove that nation by destruction, says the Lord."