Jeremiah 15

Hence the Truth says: "When you stand to pray, forgive if you have anything in your hearts." We show the virtue of forgiveness more clearly if we bring forward one testimony from the Old Testament. Certainly when Judea had offended the justice of its Creator through its demanding sins, the Lord, forbidding His prophet from prayer, says: "Do not take up praise and prayer for them. If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people." What is it that, with so many fathers passed over and left aside, Moses and Samuel alone are brought forward, whose wondrous power of obtaining is shown, while even they are said to be unable to intercede? As if the Lord were saying openly: I do not even hear those whom I by no means despise on account of the great merit of their petition. What then is it that Moses and Samuel are preferred to the other fathers in petition, except that these two alone in the entire sequence of the Old Testament are read to have prayed even for their enemies? One is assailed with stones by the people, and yet he entreats the Lord for the one who stoned him; the other is cast down from leadership, and yet when asked to pray, he confesses saying: "Far be this sin from me against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you." "If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people." As if He were saying openly: I do not even now hear those on behalf of friends, whom I know by the merit of their great virtue to pray even for enemies. Therefore the power of true prayer is the loftiness of charity. And then each person obtains what he rightly asks, when his mind in petition is not darkened by hatred of an enemy.

(Chapter 15, Verse 1) And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel stood before me (or against me), my soul would not be for this people. For we read that these men resisted the anger of the Lord for the people and turned away the impending judgment. Although, he says, if they were to stand, either in my presence or against me, to whom God said: Let me alone, and I will destroy this people (Exodus 32:10): yet I will not listen, because the sins of the guilty people have been completed.

Drive them (or send them away) from my presence, and let them depart. Sinners do not depart from God by place, but by will: although we read that both Adam and Cain were driven away from the presence of God (Gen. III and VIII).

(Verses 2, 3.) But if they say to you: Where shall we go out? You shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: He who is for death, to death; and he who is for the sword, to the sword; and he who is for famine, to famine; and he who is for captivity, to captivity. And I will visit upon them four kinds, says the Lord: the sword for killing, and dogs for tearing, and birds of the sky and beasts of the earth for devouring and scattering. The four plagues by which the people of the Jews were handed over, as the prophecy of Ezekiel also shows, are the sword, pestilence, famine, beasts, and captivity (Ezek. 14). Among the beasts, dogs and birds are also understood, to whom bodies were given to be torn apart, devoured, and scattered. For it was not possible for the whole creation to rise up against sinners without the Creator being neglected.

(Verse 4.) And I will give them into the heat (or turmoil and distress) of all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem. We read in the Book of Days that Manasseh, after captivity and repentance, returned to Jerusalem and reigned (2 Chronicles 33). But how the merits of the saints descend to their descendants, like David and the others, so the scandals of sin, if their children and grandchildren do similar things, reach to their descendants. But when he says, I will give them heat, or commotion, and distress to the whole earth, it was fulfilled under the Babylonians in part, and now it is being fulfilled completely, when the wicked king, who filled Jerusalem with the blood of the righteous from one gate to another, was imitated by the impious people. From this we learn that peoples are often destroyed by the wickedness of kings, princes, and rulers.

He forecasts what would happen after the return, what would happen to them under the Macedonians and the destruction that would be inflicted on them by the Romans. He brings out that the first fate would happen to them owing to the impiety committed by Manasseh. Yet he is not an unjust judge, nor does he require an account of them for others' faults. He submits them to the evils prophesied as sharers in impiety and enthusiastic supporters of their wicked king.

(Verse 5.) Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Or who will grieve for you? Or who will go to ask for your peace? For no one can, having offended God, ask for forgiveness for the sins; for neither can a creature be as merciful as its creator, nor can it be as distant from foreigners as the Lord is inclined to spare his own people.

We wish to understand the words spoken to Jerusalem with much menace, which run thus: "Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? Or who will be sorrowful for you? Or who will turn aside to ask after your peace? You have turned away from me, says the Lord. You shall go backward, and I will stretch out my hand against you and destroy you, and I will no longer let you go. And I will scatter them in a dispersion." Then: "I have been made childless." Perplexity has seized me. I take as an illustration a man who has been declared an enemy of the one who reigns upon the earth, because for such a person it is not permitted even to impart mercy, lest anyone seem to give offense to the king who has condemned him. And it is not permitted even to show mercy to such a one; some go still further and do not even show sorrow over him, lest by showing sorrow they seem to be displeased with the sentence passed by the king. If you have grasped this, look with me at the one condemned by God on account of his own many sins, and consider such a person: though there are legions of angels appointed to help the nature of human beings, he is pitied by none. For each of the angels, seeing that the one who has condemned him is God, that the one from whom he has turned away is the Creator, that the nature of the sins is such that the good God was compelled — so to speak — to bring the verdict against the one who has sinned, each of those who see does not spare, does not show sorrow, does not pity, does not turn back to intercede for peace toward such a one.

Let this Jerusalem, then (for so it shall be spoken according to the letter), have sinned against my Jesus, and have done such things, that Jesus should say concerning her: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left to you." Let this Jerusalem be forsaken, as she has been forsaken. Let the angels who ever help Jerusalem — through whom also the law of Moses was ordained, "ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator" — let them forsake Jerusalem and say: her sins have become great, they have killed Jesus, they have laid their hands upon Christ. As long as the sins were still smaller, we could still make request and intercede concerning them, we could spare Jerusalem; who will spare her in this case? "If a man sinning sins against another man, then they shall pray for him; but if he sins against the Lord, who shall pray for him?" "Jerusalem has sinned a sin; therefore she has become an object of tossing." And it is said to this very one first: "Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? And who will be sorrowful for you?" We do not show sorrow over Jerusalem and over her calamities and over the things that befell all that people; "for by their trespass salvation has come to us, to provoke them to jealousy." Since their trespass became so great a sin that it was said by the voice of the Lord, "Who then will spare you" — I too say to her who killed my Jesus — "Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? And who will be sorrowful for you?"

I pass over from the letter — although I have had a road, which the word has given — to each soul that has already been counted worthy to see peace; for after the divine lessons you have become Jerusalem, having formerly been Jebus. The history says that the name of that place was Jebus, and afterward it changed its name and became Jerusalem. Jebus, the children of the Hebrews say, is interpreted "trodden down." Jebus, then, the soul trodden down by the opposing powers, has been changed and become Jerusalem, "Vision of peace." If, then, when you have been changed from Jebus into becoming Jerusalem, you have sinned and "trodden down the Son of God and counted the blood of the new covenant a common thing" (as she did, so also you), and are in grievous sins, it will be said also concerning you: "Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? And who will be sorrowful for you?" — if you become such as to betray Jesus. Each of us when he sins, and especially if he sins the greater sins, sins against Jesus. And if he is also an apostate, then all the more does he do to Jesus spiritually the things which Jerusalem did to him bodily. Therefore, "of how much worse punishment do you think he will be counted worthy who has trodden down the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant a common thing, by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" If you have trodden down the Son of God and insulted the Spirit of grace, who "will spare you? Who will be sorrowful for you? Who will turn aside to ask after the things that make for your peace?" The very Son of God, who asks after the things that make for your peace, the soul of the sinner has betrayed; who is able to intercede, turning back again concerning peace? Knowing, then, that "it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame" — let us do everything, so that it may not be said also concerning us: "Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? And who will be sorrowful for you? Or who will turn aside to ask after your peace?"

(Verse 6.) You have forsaken me, says the Lord: you have gone backward. The reason is given why no one has pity on Jerusalem, nor is she grieved for; nor is she beseeched for the sake of her peace: which, according to the Apostle (Philippians 3), should forget the things that are behind and extend oneself to the things that are before, is on the contrary turned backward, and desires the fleshpots of Egypt.

And I will stretch out my hand over you, and I will kill you: I have labored when asked (or asking): for which the Seventy translated: I will by no means let them go any further. The outstretched hand is a sign of striking: the killing of sinners signifies complete anger. But what it brings: I have labored when asked, or asking, has a double meaning, that God may now have failed, frequently forgiving them, and may always be weary, provoking them to salvation.

And to each interpretation of Jerusalem what follows will also fit: "You have turned away from me, says the Lord. You shall go backward." That you have turned away from the Son of God, and because of having turned away from the Son of God you have turned away from God — what need is there even to say it? And since Jerusalem in Judea turned away from Christ — from which we must understand all the Jews — for this reason "you shall go backward." For there was a time when she did not go backward, but forward; but now she goes backward, and "they turned in their hearts to Egypt," clearly so that they might go backward. But concerning what "you shall go backward" means, or what it is to reach forward to the things that are ahead, we shall present it thus. The righteous man "reaches forward to the things that are ahead, forgetting the things that are behind." Clearly the one disposed contrary to the righteous man remembers the things behind and does not reach forward to the things that are ahead. But he who remembers the things behind disobeys Jesus who teaches and says: "Let him not turn back to take up his garment"; he disobeys Jesus who says: "Remember Lot's wife"; he disobeys Jesus who says: "No one who has put his hand to the plow and turned back to the things behind is fit for the kingdom of God." And in the law also it is written that the angels said to Lot who had gone out from Sodom: "Do not look around to the things behind, nor stand in all the surrounding country; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away with them." And this too has a meaning worthy of an angelic spirit: "Do not look around to the things behind" — ever reach forward to the things ahead. You have left Sodom, do not turn to Sodom. You have left vice and sin, do not turn back to it, "nor stand in all the surrounding country." And even if you keep the first commandment which says, "Do not look around to the things behind," it does not suffice you for salvation, unless you also hear the second commandment which says, "Nor stand in all the surrounding country." For one who has begun to make progress must not stand in the surrounding country of Sodom, even if he has passed beyond Sodom, but having passed beyond standing in the surrounding country he must be saved to the mountain, according to the "Do not look around to the things behind, nor stand in all the surrounding country; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away with them." If you wish not to be swept away with the Sodomites, never turn to the things behind, nor stand in the surrounding country of Sodom, nor be anywhere else than at the mountain; for there alone is it possible to be saved. And the mountain is the Lord Jesus, to whom is the glory and the might unto the ages. Amen.

(Verse 7.) And I will scatter them with a winnowing fan at the gates of the land (or my people). I have killed and destroyed (Vulgate: scattered and destroyed) my people; yet they have not returned from their wicked ways. What use is it for me to be asked repeatedly, when they do not return from their wicked ways and do not repent? For I have scattered them like chaff, to cleanse my threshing floor. And I scattered them at the gates of the land, to tread upon the thresholds like the depths of hell. And I killed and destroyed my people, so that, compelled by the necessity of evil, they would avoid impending evil.

(Verse 8.) Her widows are multiplied to me above the sand of the sea: I have brought upon them the destroyer at noonday: I have sent troubles suddenly upon the cities. With various medicines God desires to save sinners: so that those who despised His gentle entreaties may fear His threatening. Widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea, with men being killed; mothers, with their children being lost, have felt the destroyer, not in the night and by treachery, but in broad daylight: so that He may show the open force of a stronger adversary. He sent, he says, over the cities, no doubt with the intention of causing sudden terror to Judah, and the sinful people, so that the more sudden the disaster was, the more difficult it would be to escape.

The Scriptures prophesied that at noon in Christ's passion there should be darkness. In Amos it says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, the sun shall set at noon, and the day of light shall be darkened. I will turn your feast days into grief and all your songs into lamentation." Also in Jeremiah: "She is frightened that has borne children, and her soul has grown weary. Her sun has gone down while as yet it was noon. She has been confounded and accursed. I will give the rest of them to the sword in the sight of their enemies." Also in the Gospel: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth even to the ninth hour."

"In that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall go down at noon, and there shall be darkness over the earth in the clear day; and I will turn your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation," plainly announced that obscuration of the sun which at the time of His crucifixion took place from the sixth hour onwards, and that after this event, those days which were their festivals according to the law, and their songs, should be changed into grief and lamentation when they were handed over to the Gentiles. Jeremiah, too, makes this point still clearer, when he thus speaks concerning Jerusalem: "She that hath born [seven] languisheth; her soul hath become weary; her sun hath gone down while it was yet noon; she hath been confounded, and suffered reproach: the remainder of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies." Those of them, again, who spoke of His having slumbered and taken sleep, and of His having risen again because the Lord sustained Him, and who enjoined the principalities of heaven to set open the everlasting doors, that the King of glory might go in, proclaimed beforehand His resurrection from the dead through the Father's power, and His reception into heaven.

(Verse 9) She has been weakened (or cast aside, or made empty) who gave birth to seven (or many); her soul has failed: the sun has set upon her while it was still day (or midday). She is confused and ashamed: and I will give her remaining ones into the sword in the sight of their enemies, says the Lord. We have often said that the Hebrew word Saba () can mean either seven, or oath, or many. Therefore, there is also a different interpretation: Aquila, the Seventy, and Theodotion translate as seven; Symmachus, as many. Therefore, she who was once wealthy and had children became suddenly bereft and perished in clear light, and she was confused in the solitude of herself. But the remainder, he said, I will deliver to the sword, so that no one may escape the death and wrath of God. Others attribute it to the Synagogue, which was weakened, so that the multitude of the Church might grow; according to what is written: The barren woman has borne seven, or more: and she who had many children was weakened (1 Samuel 2:5). And the sun of justice sets upon him, in whose wings is health (Malachi 4); and therefore it is covered with eternal confusion, destroying its people with a spiritual sword.

What more can now be said respecting the crime of the Jews, than that they were then blinded and seized with incurable madness, who read these things daily and yet neither understood them nor were able to be on their guard so as not to do them? Therefore, being lifted up and nailed to the cross, Jesus cried to the Lord with a loud voice and of his own accord gave up his spirit. At the same hour there was an earthquake. The veil of the temple, which separated the two tabernacles, was torn into two parts. The sun suddenly withdrew its light, and there was darkness from the sixth even to the ninth hour. Of this event the prophet Amos testifies, "And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord that the sun shall go down at noon, and the daylight shall be darkened. I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into lamentation." Also Jeremiah: "She who brings forth is afraid and vexed in spirit. Her sun is gone down while it was yet noon. She has been ashamed and confounded. The residue of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies."

Jeremiah also bewails his birth in these words: "Woe is me, my mother! Why have you borne me, a man of contention in all the earth? I have not benefited others, nor has anyone benefited me. My strength has failed." If, then, holy people shrink from life whose life, though profitable to us, they themselves consider unprofitable, what ought we to do who are not able to profit others and who feel that our lives, like money borrowed at interest, grow more heavily weighted every day with an increasing mass of sins? "I die daily," says the apostle. Better certainly is this saying than those who say that meditation on death is true philosophy, for while they praise the study, he exercises the practice of death.

Such is our life, we whose existence is so transitory. Such is the game we play on earth. We do not exist, and we are born, and being born, we disintegrate and disappear. We are a fleeting dream, an apparition without substance, the flight of a bird that passes, a ship that leaves no trace on the sea. We are dust, a vapor, the morning dew, a flower growing but a moment and withering in a moment. "A person's days are as grass. As the flower of the field, so shall he flourish," beautifully, as described by holy David in meditating on our weakness. And again in these words: "Declare to me the fewness of my days." And he defines the days of people as the measure of a span. What would you say to Jeremiah, who, complaining about his birth, even blames his mother, and that, too, for the failings of others. I have seen all things, says the Preacher, I have reviewed in thought all human things, wealth, pleasure, power, unstable glory, wisdom that evades us rather than is won; then pleasure again, wisdom again, often revolving the same objects, the pleasures of appetite, orchards, numbers of slaves, store of wealth, serving men and serving maids, singing men and singing women, arms, spearmen, subject nations, collected tributes, the pride of kings, all the necessaries and superfluities of life, in which I surpassed all the kings that were before me. And what does he say after all these things? Vanity of vanities.

This synecdoche can be understood concerning Jeremiah, who shall be judged only in the land of Judea, out of the entire world. He corresponds to the true Lord our Savior, who says in the Gospel: "I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see and those who see may be blinded," about whom it was also written: "Behold, this child is set for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign of contradiction." For which of the philosophers and pagans and who among the heretics does not judge Christ by applying their laws to his birth and suffering and resurrection and substance? Nor is it strange for Christ to be saying, according to the truth of his assumed body, "Woe is me, my mother," when, in another location, it is obviously a speaker who corresponds to his person who says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one who gathers the stubble at harvest and as a cluster of the vine having no first fruit to eat." And lest we think that the weakness of these groans reflects on the Word of God, who is indeed the person that mourns, immediately he continues, "Woe is me, my soul that perishes from the earth in reverence." It is not that we wish to divide Christ into two persons, like the impious do, but rather that one and the same Son of God sometimes speaks according to the flesh and sometimes according to the Word of God.

(Verse 10) Woe to me, my mother, why did you give birth to me as a man of strife (or judgment), a man of discord (or one who judges), in the whole world? This can be understood συνεκδοχικῶς from Jeremiah, that he was judged not in the entire world, but in the land of Judah. Truly, it belongs to the Lord, the Savior, who speaks in the Gospel: I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John 9:39), of whom it is written: Behold, he is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (Luke 2:34). For who of the philosophers, who of the pagans, who of the heretics does not judge Christ, affirming the laws of his nativity, passion, and resurrection? No wonder, in accordance with the truth of his assumed body, Christ says: Woe to me, my mother; when in another place it clearly pertains to his person what is said: Woe to me, for I have become like one who gathers stubble in the harvest, and like a cluster of grapes in the vineyard, having no ear of grain to eat as the firstfruits. And so that we may not attribute the worthlessness of our groans to the Word of God, who is this one who weeps, it immediately follows: Woe to me, for my soul has perished in returning from the earth: not because we divide the Persons, as the wicked do; but so that the one and the same Son of God may speak now according to the flesh, now according to the Word of God.

I have not lent, and no one has lent to me; everyone curses me. In the Septuagint: I have not profited, and no one has profited me. In Theodotion: I have not owed, and no one has owed me. The sense of all these is from the perspective of Christ: No one has offered themselves to receive my debt; and no one has lent to me in supporting the holy and the poor, making me their debtor. Whether I have not profited, and no one has profited me; for no one has desired to receive as much as I have desired to give. No one has been of use to me; for the salvation of the creature is the profit of the Creator. Or certainly no one should have, nor could have, benefitted me: No one has given me as much as I desired to receive, nor made me indebted to them in any way. And this bears repeating: No one should have benefitted me, which means: How could I owe interest to someone who did not deign to receive interest? Everyone, he says, curses me. For who among the heretics and the wanderers does not curse Christ, by believing perverse things and blaspheming even more perversely?

Physicians of bodies, being present with the sick and always devoting themselves to the care of the ailing according to the intent of the medical art, look upon dreadful things and touch loathsome ones; from the misfortunes of others they reap their own griefs, and their life is always in the midst of hardship. For they are never with the healthy, but always with the wounded, with those who have festering sores, with those full of pus, of fevers, of manifold diseases. And if anyone wishes to make ready the practice of medicine, he will not be indignant nor neglect the intent of the art which he has taken up, whenever he is among such people as we have described.

I have spoken this preface because the prophets too are, as it were, physicians of souls, and they always spend their time where those who need healing are; for "it is not the healthy who have need of a physician, but those who are ill." And what physicians suffer at the hands of the intemperate sick, this the prophets and the teachers also suffer at the hands of those who do not wish to be healed. For thence they are hated, as though they gave orders contrary to the preference of the desire of the sick, as though they hindered from luxury and pleasure those who, even in their sicknesses, wish not to receive what befits their sicknesses. So the intemperate among the sick flee from their physicians, often even reviling them and speaking evil of them and doing every possible thing that an enemy might do to an enemy. For these people forget that the physicians come as friends, since they look only at the toilsomeness of the regimen, at the toilsomeness of the physicians' stroke with the iron, and not at the end that comes after the toil; and they hate them as fathers of toils only, and not of toils that bring those who are treated to health.

That people, then, was sick; manifold diseases were in the people that had been called the people of God. God sent them physicians, the prophets. One of the physicians was Jeremiah too; he reproved the sinners, wishing to turn back those who were doing evil. But they, when they ought to have listened to what was said, accused the prophet, and accused him before judges who were much like themselves. And the prophet was always in lawsuits at the hands of those who, so far as his prophecy was concerned, were being healed, but who, because of their own disobedience, were not being healed. Concerning these things he says at one point: "And I said, I will not speak, nor will I name the name of the Lord. And it became like a burning fire, blazing in my bones, and I am unstrung on every side and cannot bear it." And at another point he says, seeing himself always brought to trial, reviled, accused, borne false witness against: "Woe is me, mother, as what have you borne me?" He said "a man" not judging but "being judged," and not passing judgment but "being disputed against by all the earth." And since the sick did not listen to him when he counseled them well and after the manner of a physician, he says, "I did not profit." And since, when he was lending the spiritual silver pieces, those to whom he spoke were unwilling to listen, that they might be profited by what they heard, he says, "Neither did anyone owe me, nor did I owe."

But I have said these things by way of anticipation, before I expound the words "I did not owe, nor did anyone owe me." For the text is twofold: in most copies it reads "I did not profit, nor did anyone profit me," but in the most accurate ones, which agree with the Hebrew, it reads "I did not owe, nor did anyone owe me." One must therefore both expound what is worn smooth by use and current in the churches, and not leave unexpounded what comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. He was proclaiming the word, then, and no one accepted what was said. Like a physician he was expending his remedies, though the sick were intemperate and fulfilling their own desires. As if he too were saying, "I did not profit, nor did anyone profit me." Perhaps there is a reciprocal feeling, on account of the love-toward-humanity of the one profited toward the one who profited him, so that the speaker too comes to be profited, since "blessed is the one who speaks into the ears of those who hear." This profit, then, a teacher might receive from hearers who advance and are made better; he might be profited by having fruits in them. ⟨Not having this from the Jews, Jeremiah says:⟩ "No one profited me." For if the speaker ought to have fruit in himself, but the hearer misconstrues and remains outside of what is said, then it is said, "No single one profited me"; since he does not have this profit which he would have received from the hearer, once profited, becoming a cause of advancement and blessedness for the one who profited him. And besides, everyone who teaches, by the very act of teaching, the more intelligent the learner is, is profited in the things he teaches, in the things he learns. And speakers become better regarding the lessons they hand on, when the hearers are intelligent and do not simply accept, but test in return and question and examine the intent of what is said. ⟨Neither, then, did I profit, nor did anyone profit me.⟩

But since another exposition is also necessary on account of the more accurate copies, which read thus: "I did not owe, nor did anyone owe me," we shall expound the saying as it stands thus also. The one who renders to all their debts—to whom fear, fear; to whom the tax, the tax; to whom the tribute, the tribute; to whom the honor, the honor—and who renders to all their dues, so as not to owe the dues toward anyone, honoring ⟨parents⟩ as parents, so to speak, brothers as brothers, sons as sons, bishops as bishops, presbyters as presbyters, deacons as deacons, believers as believers, catechumens as catechumens—if he renders all the dues, he did not owe. But if he owes indeed to do a due, and has not done it, he cannot say, "I did not owe"; for owing, he did not render it. How then shall I expound also "nor did anyone owe me"? I indeed was lending and wished to give the spiritual riches, but they turned away from what was said and did not present themselves receptive, so as to owe; therefore no single one owed me. For who accepted what was said, so that from accepting it he might become a debtor of what he heard, and be required, as a debtor of what was said, to pay the interest? It is better, then, in this respect for the hearer to receive rational silver from the speaker and to owe, than, not accepting nor receiving, not even to owe. For "nor did any single one owe me" is set among reproaches.

As for "Woe is me, mother, as what a man have you begotten me, being judged and disputed against in all the earth"—I do not think it so fitting for the other prophets to say this as for Jeremiah; for most of the prophets, after certain periods of time, after their wickedness, after their sins, changed and began to prophesy, but Jeremiah prophesies from childhood. And it is possible to give an example from the writings. Isaiah did not hear "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the mother's womb I sanctified you, I have set you as a prophet unto the nations"; nor did he say, "I do not know how to speak, because I am too young," but when he saw the vision recorded in his prophecy, he saw and said: "Woe is me, wretched that I am, because having unclean lips I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of Sabaoth," "and there was sent," he says, "to me one of the Seraphim, and he touched my lips and said: Behold, I have taken away your iniquities, and this will cleanse your sins." After the sins, then, which he had formerly committed, Isaiah later became worthy of the Holy Spirit and prophesied. And in another you would find something similar. But not so Jeremiah; for while still in swaddling-clothes, adorned with the prophetic Spirit, he prophesied from childhood; wherefore he said (for I expound first the common sense): "Woe is me, mother, as what a man have you begotten me, being judged and disputed against by all the earth?"

But one of those before me applied himself to the passage, saying that he spoke these things not to his bodily mother, but to the mother who gives birth to prophets. And who gives birth to prophets but the wisdom of God? He said, then, "Woe is me, mother," "as what have you borne me," O wisdom? And the children of wisdom are recorded in the Gospel too: "And wisdom sends out her children." It has been said, then: "Woe is me, mother," my wisdom, "as what a man have you borne me, being judged"—who am I, that I have been begotten to such a degree, that I should be judged, that I should be disputed against because of the reproofs, because of the rebukes, because of the teaching directed to all who are upon the earth? If Jeremiah says these things, "as what a man have you borne me, being judged and disputed against by all the earth," I cannot expound the "by all the earth"; for Jeremiah was not disputed against by all the earth. Or shall we, forcing the matter, take "by all the earth" instead of "by all Judea"? For his prophecy, as he prophesied then, did not reach unto all the earth. But perhaps, just as in countless other cases we have shown that Jeremiah is spoken in place of our Lord Jesus Christ, so here too we shall say. At the beginning I noted the "Behold, I have set you over nations and kingdoms, to root up and to pull down and to destroy and to build and to plant." This Jeremiah did not do. But Jesus Christ rooted up the sinful kingdoms of the [earth] and pulled down the buildings of wickedness, and made, in place of those kingdoms, righteousness and truth to reign in our souls. As, then, those things were more fittingly to be referred to Christ than to Jeremiah, so I think many other things also, including these.

First we must speak concerning the "Woe is me," whether, on account of its ill-omened form, the Savior—who also pronounces others wretched—can say the "Woe is me." We shall establish from acknowledged sayings, which fit no one else than the Savior, in what manner he also wept over Jerusalem; and the "Woe is me" is the voice of one weeping. And it stands in the Gospel that when he saw Jerusalem he wept over it and said: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often have I wished to gather together your children," and what follows. And clearly these words too were spoken by the Savior in the "Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers stubble at the harvest, and like a gleaning at the vintage, when there is no ear of grain to eat the first-fruits. Woe is my soul, for the reverent has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men. All are brought to trial for bloodshed." For he came [as one gathering stubble] into the harvest, that he might reap, and he finds many sinners and says: "Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers stubble at the harvest." He came to gather in the fruit of life among men; he finds many sins in us, and therefore he says: "and like a gleaning at the vintage, when there is no ear of grain to eat the first-fruits." He says something similar to these things elsewhere too, speaking to the Father: "What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to corruption?" What such great thing did I profit men? What worthy of the blood which I poured out on their behalf have they done? "What profit is there in my blood, in my going down" from the heavens? I went down, I came to the earth, I gave myself over to corruption, I bore a human body; what worthy of these things has been accomplished among men? "What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to corruption? Will dust confess to you, or declare your truth?" Such, then, is also the first thing spoken here by the Savior, the "Woe is me, mother, as what a man have you borne me?" Not insofar as he is God does the Savior say the "Woe is me, mother," but insofar as he is man, as in the prophet: "Woe is my soul, for the reverent has perished from the earth." And the soul was human; therefore it was also troubled, therefore it was also exceedingly sorrowful. But the Word who was in the beginning with God is not troubled; that one would not say the "Woe is me." For neither does the Word admit death, but it is the human element that admitted this, as we have often established.

"As what a man have you borne me, being judged and disputed against in all the earth?" If you look for me at the martyrs everywhere being judged and standing before the judges in each church, you will see in what manner Jesus Christ is judged in each of the martyrs; for he himself is the one being judged in those who bear witness to the truth. And you will be persuaded to accept this when you see that he says it is not you who are in prison when you are in prison, but himself; not you who are hungry when you are hungry, but himself; not you who are thirsty, but himself. "I was in prison and you came to me. I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink." Therefore even if a Christian is judged not for anything else, not for his own sins, but because he is a Christian, it is Christ who is judged. In all the earth, then, Christ Jesus is judged; and as often, then, as a Christian is judged, it is Christ who is judged; and not only in these law-courts, but suppose a Christian is slandered, accused concerning something [as is bound to happen], then too Christ is unjustly judged.

And still further you will understand in this way how "he is judged and disputed against in all the earth." Who, then, does not judge the Christian word? Who of the nations, even simply, does not examine it? Who of the Jews does not say the things about Christians? Who of the Greeks? Who of the philosophers? Who of the common folk? Everywhere Jesus is judged and tried; and by some he is condemned, but by others he is not condemned. If he is not condemned, he becomes accepted; you open the windows to him, he enters in to you; you believe in him, he dines with you. But if you do not accept him when you hear about Christianity, you have done nothing else than condemned Jesus as lying, as having deceived men, as not speaking the truth, through not having believed the word which he teaches. "As what a man have you borne me, being judged and disputed against in all the earth?" As many as utterly disbelieve, condemn him; but as many as do not disbelieve but are in doubt about him, dispute concerning him. Jesus suffers two things among men: by the unbelievers he is condemned, but by the double-minded he is disputed. If you bear "the image of the heavenly," having put off "the image of the earthy," you are not earth condemning him, nor are you earth in which he is condemned, no longer are you earth disputing him.

"My strength has failed among those who curse me." The apostle says concerning the Savior that "he was crucified out of weakness." And the prophet too says things similar to these in the "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced before him as a child, as a root in a thirsty ground; we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty, but his form was without honor, failing beyond the sons of men. A man in a stroke and in toil and knowing how to bear weakness, because his face has been turned away from dishonor; he was dishonored and not esteemed. This one bears our iniquities and grieves for us, and we accounted him to be in toil and in a stroke and in affliction. But he was wounded because of our iniquities, and has been weakened because of our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, by his bruise we were healed." Therefore he took up the weakness of our sins and bore us and came to those who curse him, and his strength failed among those who curse him as he came down from the heavens. For as soon as he took up the form of the servant, he also emptied himself, as the apostle said that "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." "My strength has failed," then, he says, "among those who curse me."

Let us see whether, the Word himself granting it, we can also say something clearer beyond what has been said with regard to "My strength has failed among those who curse me." "There was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world." "The true light" is the Son of God, "which enlightens every man coming into the world." And whoever is rational partakes of the true light, and every man is rational. Of all men, then, who partake of reason, in some the strength of the Word has grown, but in some it fails. If you look at a passionate and sinful soul, you will see there the strength of the Word failing; but if you look at a holy and righteous soul, you will see the strength of the Word bearing fruit day by day, and you will fit what was said about Jesus to the righteous. For not in himself alone did "Jesus advance in wisdom and stature and grace with God and men," but also in each of those who receive advancement in wisdom, stature, and grace, "Jesus advances in wisdom, stature, and grace with God and men." The Word, then, the Son of God, who is in the one who said "Woe is me, mother," and what follows, says: "My strength has failed among those who curse me." Whoever curses the Word, he straightway receives the punishment for cursing the Word, for finding fault with the teaching of Jesus; for the strength of Jesus fails in such a one, and there is no strength of the Word in him. As again, on the contrary, if you bless Jesus and accept him, his strength suffers the opposite of what it suffered among those who curse him; for as there it failed among those who curse, so here it grows among those who bless.

Those who call the prophets blessed, and who by calling them blessed pray to have their portion with the prophets, gather from the prophetic words the choicest features of their prophecy. Seeking, then, they might be persuaded—if they should live according to these things (even if it should turn out hard for them in this life to imitate the prophetic life)—that they will attain rest and blessedness together with the prophets. Now it is possible from many sources to gather the choice qualities of the prophets: their freedom, their vigor, their wakefulness, their alertness—that they were not anxious when they found themselves in dire circumstances, because of their freedom, their only concern being to reprove, to convert, as prophets do, by speaking the word of God with boldness, rebuking the sinners, even though those being reproved seemed to have great power. But even if it is possible to do this from every source, let us look also at the passages read today.

The prophet reproved many, and the prophet spoke to many; for he indeed lived among people who had become sinners, as is clear from the fact that the captivity occurred in his days. Having reproved many, and being judged by many, he utters words of this kind.

For first let us look at it from the prophetic word, and then also according to the anagogical sense, if we first take up the vigor and freedom and power and boldness of a prophet. "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a man—one contending in judgment and disputed with in all the earth!" O mother, why have you borne me a man contending in judgment against all who are upon the earth, and being disputed with against all who are upon the earth? For it was set before this prophet, and before Isaiah, and before the rest, to fulfill the prophetic office: to teach, to reprove, and to convert. It was therefore set before this prophet also to distinguish, to reprove, being able to contend in judgment and to be contended with among the sinners, to reprove the sins of the people. And as for all that the members of the people did to them, what need is there even to speak of it? One they stoned, one they sawed asunder, one they killed "between the temple and the altar," and this one, when he reproved them, they threw into a pit of mire. And above all our Savior did this, and better indeed than they, inasmuch as he is Lord of the prophets. For indeed, though he himself was scourged and crucified and handed over by the Jews or by the teachers of the Jews and the ruler of the people, he said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites"; and he adds in each case "woe" and "because of this" such-and-such and such-and-such. Let us therefore also, if we are eager for the beatitudes of the prophets, do these same things, so that, because of speaking and because of being brought to judgment against many people, we too may say, "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a man—one contending in judgment and disputed with in all the earth!"

This prophetic saying can more properly be referred to the Savior. For grant that the prophet says this—but he will not say it truly, but perhaps hyperbolically; for he was not disputed with against all the earth. But if I come to my Savior and Lord, and especially because of "he shall come to judgment" and "so that you may be justified in your words, and may prevail when you are judged," I shall see that my Savior and Lord is going to stand before the Father, being judged together with all of us human beings. And he is judged together with all human beings. I say: he is judged, he too is examined, and he stood as one vindicating the truth, yet not as an accuser. "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a man—one contending in judgment and disputed with in all the earth!" A prophet cannot say "in all the earth."

But some who love our Lord grow indignant and say that it is not the Savior who speaks, that the voice is not fitting for the Son of God. But it must be shown that "Woe is me, mother" is not foreign to the Son of God. "My soul is sorrowful even unto death," and "My soul is troubled," and, like the things said in the prophets, so also here: "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a man—one contending in judgment and disputed with in all the earth"; or when the gleaning has perished so as to find no cluster: "Woe is me, soul, for the devout man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men." Who is it there that says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one gathering stubble at harvest"? For did the prophet gather, and does he wish to gather? Does the prophet indeed possess a field? But it belongs to no one to gather all things from the harvest and from what is sown, except to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since, then, there are many falls among the nations, but also among us, speaking of the sins he says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one gathering stubble." Let each of us examine himself: is he an ear of grain? Will the Son of God find in him anything to gather or to reap? We shall find that some of us are blasted by the wind; and even if we still have a little, two or three grains within ourselves, our sins upon us are many. Seeing, then, also the churches that bear the name, filled with sinners, he says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one gathering stubble at harvest and as a gleaning at vintage." He came seeking fruit on the vine; for each of us is planted . . . and as a vine "in a fertile place," and "he brought over a vine out of Egypt," "but I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly a true one." He comes, he seeks somehow to gather the vintage; he finds a certain gleaning and a few clusters, neither flourishing nor many. Which of us has clusters of virtue? Which of us has offspring of God? "O Lord our God, how wonderful is your name in all the earth."

Let these things be said by me as it were in a digression upon "Woe is me, mother." That it is not foreign to the divinity of our Savior, who beholds the sins of men, now to say "woe"—the Savior speaking not insofar as he is God but insofar as he is man, not insofar as he is Wisdom but insofar as he is soul—I adduced that prophetic saying: "Woe is me, soul, for the devout man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men." The blessed soul came into human life, took up a body on behalf of men. If it sees the sins, it says to the Father, "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption? Shall the dust confess to you?" But let him not say "woe" over us; let the angels of heaven not say "woe" over us. When our Savior says "woe," they too will say "woe"; for they are not better than our Savior, and they too see our faults. But blessed are those over whom the angels will not say "woe," but are called blessed; for "there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who have no need of repentance." Let these things be said by way of consolation. "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a one!" What mother does he mean? Among women, can he not mean both the soul and Mary? But if anyone accepts the saying, "Just now my mother the Holy Spirit took me, and carried me up to the great mountain, Tabor," and what follows, he can see his mother. "Woe is me, mother, that you have borne me such a man—one contending in judgment and disputed with in all the earth!" He is contended with in all the earth and disputed with, and he is going to say to each one: I did such-and-such, and my dispensation performed such-and-such, and for your salvation I endured. When the Savior says these things, what shall we do? For he is going to be disputed with in all the earth.

I wish to look at what follows. It can be referred, according to one interpretation, both to the prophet and to the Savior. Let us look also at what follows: "I have not been in debt, nor has anyone been in debt to me." "The ruler of this world comes, but he has nothing in me." And truly he was not in debt. But each of us is a debtor by his sins, and is a debtor holding a bond of indebtedness. After his bond was wiped out, † how many bonds have they made? "He who committed no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," made no bond. But what of "no one has been in debt to me"? How shall we interpret, in the case of the Savior, "no one has been in debt to me"? Even if we read it thus, yet one must also know that the majority of the copies of the edition of the Seventy do not have it thus, and later, examining also the remaining editions, we recognized that it is a scribal error. And yet to me "not even one"; so that "not even one" was in debt to him—he forgave all men their debts. "There were two debtors to a certain creditor: one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. When they had nothing to repay, he freely forgave them both." Do you wish to see the two debtors, the one owing the five hundred and the one owing the fifty? From two peoples they have believed in God: the people from the Jews, disbelieving in Christ, owes the fifty; and perhaps we from the nations, who had become the most impious of all, owe the five hundred—concerning whom is also said what is said about that harlot who repented. And yet someone might say, how are the five hundred referred to her? From the words "and what sort of woman it is who is touching him," to which he said to Simon, "There were two debtors to a certain creditor. One owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty," and what follows. These things because of "I have not been in debt, nor has anyone been in debt to me," which it was necessary to set before you. "I have not been in debt, nor has anyone been in debt to me; my strength has failed among those who curse me." For even if "he died from weakness, yet he lives from the power of God."

(Verse 11) The Lord says: If your remnants are not for good, if I do not come to you in the time of affliction and in the time of tribulation and anguish against the enemy. These things can also be understood from the perspective of Jeremiah, who was compelled to prophesy in the worst of times, with captivity imminent, and enduring hardship from an unbelieving people. In response to what he had said before: Woe to me, mother! Why have you birthed me as a man who judges? And I will be distinguished among all the lands and the rest, the Lord answered: Do not consider the present, but the future; for your remnants and last shall be for good. Moreover, in the present when your enemies sought to oppress you, I was with you, and you were protected by my help. This can also be referred to Jeremiah, as well as to the dispensation of the assumed flesh, to the Savior. Because according to the Hebrew interpretation, we have translated it as: All curse me, to the point where it is written, in the time of tribulation against the enemy, in the Vulgate edition it is written as follows: My strength has failed in those who curse me; may it be, O Lord, for those who direct them, if you did not stand by you in their time of affliction, and in their time of tribulation, in good against the enemy. And the meaning is: My strength is weakened in those who curse me. For they do not understand my virtue, which is perfected in weakness, and the more they curse me, the more my strength diminishes in them. And either the Prophet or the Lord joins in, and says: Let it be, Lord ((or Lord)), for those who direct them, that is, let the curses that the enemies speak against me happen to me; and may they be directed to good, if not in the time of their tribulations and distress, when the enemy was ravaging them and hastening to capture them, I stood before you and interceded for them, and I said: Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). But we often find that Jeremiah also prayed for the people in this volume.

"So be it, Lord, when they set straight their way; did I not stand by you in the time of their evils?" What is "So be it, Lord"? Let the one who is able gather such a meaning for himself. [The "So be it"—] "Master, Lord, when they set straight their way"—may the strength that fails among those who curse come to be, when, having repented after speaking evil of me, they turn to the straight path and travel it. "So be it, Master, when they set straight their way; did I not stand by you?" Then he pleads his cause concerning those who speak evil of him, saying: "Did I not stand by you in the time of their evils?" He stood by the Father, ⟨being a propitiation for our sins,⟩ and interceded concerning them in that very time of our evils. For he did not stand by after the time of our evils, but "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us"—"Did I not stand by you in the time of their evils, in the time of their afflictions, for good against the enemy?" And in the time of their affliction, he says, of the affliction against the enemy, I stood by you on their behalf. And who is the enemy but "our adversary the devil," who afflicted us? And clearly in the time of that one's enmity against men, our Savior stood by the Father and made petition concerning our captivity, that we might be ransomed and rescued from the enemy. Let the Savior, or the prophet, have said these things; for the prophet too can have said such things and have prayed on behalf of the people in the "time of their evils."

(Vers. 12.) Will iron be bound to iron by the North Wind, and bronze? Symmachus, Will iron be harmed by iron by the North Wind, and bronze? LXX and Theodotion, If it recognizes iron and a copper covering? It is clear for the sake of variation: for the word 'Jare' () which is written in this place, depending on the ambiguity of the utterance, it can mean both friendship and malice, but if the letter 'Res' is read as 'Daleth' (which is similar to the letter 'Daleth'), it signifies knowledge and understanding. But what is said must be understood like this: Do not grieve that the people are your enemy; for if you bring them harsh news, those who are harsh cannot love you. Whether it be the Babylonians who come from the North, and are very hard, and resemble unyielding bronze, they will not be able to form a friendship with this more unyielding people. Whether it be that they are as hard as iron, that is, the people of Israel who are unworthy of the knowledge of God, who have reached such great wickedness that they are surrounded by the more unyielding metal of bronze.

Upon these things [what] does God answer to the people that was accused by the prophet or by Christ, and he says these things to it: "Iron and a covering of bronze is your strength"—hard, unyielding, not to be hammered out. "Iron and a covering of bronze is your strength," that is, your strength is something cutting and dividing, a strength not existing for good.

(Verse 13, 14) I will give your riches and treasures as plunder, freely (or without payment), for all your sins and in all your territories. And I will bring your enemies (or make your enemies serve you) from a land you do not know: for a fire is kindled in my anger, it shall burn upon you. I will deliver all your substance to your enemies without any payment, because of the sins you have committed in all your territories. Therefore I will bring your enemies, or make them serve you in the land of Chaldea, because my fire, once ignited in my fury, will burn in you and cannot be extinguished. For you have provided the material for your own ardor, so that my fire may consume the wood, hay, and straw that are within you. And so, the cause of the ardor is not in the Lord, but in those who have supplied fuel to the fire.

"And I will give your treasures for plunder, as an exchange for all your sins." What "treasures" of the sinners does God give "for plunder," and give them "as an exchange for all their sins"? Is it perchance those treasured up for themselves on earth? For each of men treasures up: if he is base, upon earth; but if he is refined, in heaven, as we were taught from the Gospel. Or does he say to that people, that I am about to give your treasures for plunder because of your sins? What treasures of that people were given for plunder? Behold, one of the treasures is Jeremiah, another treasure is Isaiah, a treasure was Moses too. These treasures God took from that people, and through Christ—who said, "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruits"—he gave to us.

"I will give," then, "because of your sins your treasures for plunder." And he gave the treasures of that people to us; ⟨for first those were entrusted with the oracles of God,⟩ then after them we were entrusted, the oracles of God having been taken from them and given to us. And we say that the "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruits" was spoken by the Savior and has been fulfilled. Not that the Scripture was taken from them, but that now they no longer have the law and the prophets, in that they do not perceive the mind that is in them. For they have the books, but how has the kingdom of God been taken from them? The mind of the Scriptures has been taken from them. No longer is a legal or prophetic exposition preserved among them. But they are people reading and not understanding; for through the coming of Christ there has been fulfilled the "I said to that people: With hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown thick." There has been fulfilled also what was said by Isaiah, that "the Lord will remove from Judea and from Jerusalem the mighty man and the mighty woman, the giant and the man of war, the judge and the prophet and the diviner and the wise master-builder and the intelligent hearer." All these things God removed from them and gave, if indeed we receive them, to us who are from the nations. These things follow from the "And your treasures I will give for plunder."

"As an exchange for all your sins and in all your borders." As if he said: because of your sins that have reached upon all your borders; for there is no border of that people which has not been filled with sins. And how was not every border of theirs going to be filled with sins [upon them], since, so far as lay in them, they killed righteousness, if Christ is righteousness; killed wisdom, if Christ is wisdom; killed truth, if Christ is truth? For through having condemned the Son of God to death, they cast away and destroyed all these things. And my Lord Jesus, having risen from the dead, no longer appeared to those who killed him; for we do not have in the history that he appeared to those who killed him, but he appeared, risen from the dead, only to those who believe.

"And I will make you a slave among all your enemies in the land which you did not know." That people has been enslaved among its enemies, and has come to be in the land which it did not know. "Because a fire has been kindled out of my wrath; it shall be burned upon you."

The saint does not look for rest but for tribulation. He knows "tribulation works out endurance, and endurance, tried virtue, and tried virtue, hope. And hope does not disappoint." This is parallel to what Jeremiah says: "I have called on tribulation and misery, for your bitter word was to me joy and gladness." In this world I desire nothing but tribulation that I may have happiness and repose in the next. That is why, he says, "I now bear with bitterness, that afterwards I may have all sweetness." The people of the Lord coming out of Egypt came to Mara, which means "bitter," and from Mara into Sinai, which means "temptation." Again, Jeremiah says, "I sat alone because I was filled with bitterness."

(Verse 15, 16.) You know, O Lord, remember me and visit me, and protect me from those who persecute me. Do not take me in your patience, know that I have endured reproach for you. Your words have been found and I have eaten them (or consume them from those who reject your words). And your word has become joy and gladness to my heart, for the name of the Lord God of hosts has been invoked upon me. What we have said, you know, is not found in the Septuagint. But blessed is that conscience which endures reproach for God. Hence he says: Your words were found by me, which you spoke with my mouth. And I ate them, that is, they were turned into food for me; or according to Symmachus: I received them, that they might be turned into joy for me, who had long been in reproach. Hence even the Babylonians confess that what Jeremiah had predicted was fulfilled: Or this is the meaning: I experienced distress: I endured the hardships of a persecuted people; but nevertheless, I rejoiced that I obeyed your commandments: and for the sake of your name, I endured hardships.

After these things and the words of the threats spoken to the people, the one who prayed above completes his prayer and joins to the aforesaid these words: "You know, Lord; remember me and visit me, and acquit me from those who persecute me, not unto long-suffering." And let the prophet say these things, persecuted by those he reproved, hated by those who cannot contain the truth; for he became an enemy to his hearers by speaking the truth to them. And let our Savior too say these same things, who was also persecuted by the people and says: "not unto long-suffering." What is the "not unto long-suffering"? You have always been long-suffering toward the people over their sins, but over the things dared against me do not be long-suffering. And truly God was not long-suffering. If you examine the times of the passion and of the fall of Jerusalem and of the razing of the city, and in what manner God abandoned that people, since they killed Christ, you will see that he no longer used long-suffering toward the people. And if you wish, listen: from the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar to the razing of the temple, forty-two years are completed. For it was necessary that some little time be granted for repentance, especially for the sake of those from the people who were going to believe from the signs and wonders that would be worked by the apostles.

"Know that for your sake I have received reproach from those who set at nought your words." Let it be the prophet who speaks, both the one who was despised for the things he said, set at nought by the sinners; for he himself says: "I have continued being mocked." He was therefore reproached by those who set at nought the words spoken through him by God, and he prays, on account of having been reproached, to be helped by God, saying: "Know that for your sake I have received reproach from those who set at nought your words; make an end of them." Let the prophet say it — but the "make an end of them" is more fittingly said by the Savior; for a consummation came upon Jerusalem and the people, on account of the things that happened out of the people's plot against our Savior.

After this it is necessary, on account of the many things the prophets suffered while reproving and serving as ambassadors of the word and speaking the things commanded by God, to remind the hearers concerning their life and their promises and our own resolve, so that, as far as is possible for us, if we wish to have rest together with the prophets, we may emulate the works of the prophets. And what I say is this: often in our prayers we say, "God Almighty, grant our portion with the prophets, grant our portion with the apostles of your Christ, that we may also be found with Christ himself." But saying these things we do not perceive what we are praying; for in effect we are saying: grant us to suffer what the prophets suffered, grant that we too be hated as the prophets were hated, grant us such words for which we shall be hated, grant that we fall into as many hardships as the apostles did. For to say, "Grant me a portion with the prophets," when one has not suffered the things of the prophets and is not willing to suffer them, is unjust. To say, "Grant me a portion with the apostles," when one is not willing, out of the disposition of Paul, to say truthfully, "in labors more abundant, in stripes more abundant, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often," and what follows — this is the most unjust of all. If, then, we wish to come to be with the prophets, consider the lives of the prophets, that out of reproving, out of rebuking, out of chastising, they were brought to trial, put on judgment, condemned. "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they died by the slaughter of the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, wandering in deserts," while there were many synagogues of the Jews; and these men were "wandering in deserts and in mountains and in caves and in the holes of the earth." What, then, is strange, if one wishing to emulate the prophetic life, reproving, chastising the sinner, is spoken evil of, is hated, is plotted against? Just as also in the present case it was necessary that such a thing should occur in the Church of God. The one who was condemned was condemned; a certain man who was seated was doing such things; there needed to be an ecclesiastical vindication, and it has come about; the one entrusted with the task has done the work he ought to have done. That man goes about speaking evil of the one who vindicated the truth. But let us not do this; let us not lend our ears to those who, because of having been cast out, speak evil of the one who cast them out or of the one who cast a concurring vote. Those who indeed, even when the injustice has been reproved and has taken place. The wondrous apostles, being insulted in ten thousand ways for the sake of the truth, say: "I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults and necessities, in persecutions and distresses, for Christ's sake." Only let it be mine, when insulted, to know that I am insulted for no other reason than for Christ; when brought into necessities, to know that the ground of the necessities is Christ. Let it be mine, when reviled, to know that the pretext of the reviling is none other than that I vindicate the truth and serve as ambassador on behalf of the things written, so that all things may be done according to the word of God — for this reason I am blasphemed. Let all of us, then, with all our power, hasten toward the prophetic life, toward the apostolic life, not fleeing the troublesome; for if an athlete flees the troublesome part of the contest, he will not receive the sweetness of the crown.

"And your word shall be to me for gladness." It is not now, but "shall be"; for since at present your word is to me for imprisonments, for trials, for troubles, for defamations, for pains — yet the end of these shall be gladness. "And your word shall be to me for gladness and joy of my heart, because your name has been called upon me, Lord Almighty." And if Christ says it, the name of the Father has been called upon him.

(Verse 17, 18.) I did not sit in the council of the jesters, and I boasted (or feared) from the face of your hand: I sat alone, for you filled me with bitterness ((Vulgate: threat)). Why has my pain become perpetual (or why do those who distress me, find comfort) and my incurable wound refuse to be healed (or my strong wound, from where shall I be cured)? It has become to me like the falsehood of unfaithful waters (or like water that deceives and lacks faith). The Hebrews believe that these things are said from the perspective of Jerusalem: that she alone sat, and is filled with bitterness, and her pain has become everlasting; and just as waters pass by, so the words of the Prophets, with which they promised themselves prosperity, have passed falsely. But it is better, if we understand these things to be said from the perspective of the Prophet, by the words of a holy man, who did not sit in the assembly or secret gathering of those who mock, because he feared the impending hand of God; or rather, boasted that he did not have fellowship with evil. Alone, he said, I was sitting, according to what is written: I did not sit with the council of vanity, and I will not enter with those who do evil. I hated the congregation of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked (Psalm 26: 4, 5). And in another place, I am solitary until I pass through. On your face, he said, your hands, I was sitting alone (Psalm 140: 10), while I fear you, while I always expect your impending hand. I did not want to sit in the council of jesters, but I swallowed my bitterness, so that I might prepare joy for myself in the future. I had no intervals of pain, but I was constantly weighed down by unceasing misery, expecting no remedies. Those who afflicted me prevailed, and my wound became severe. But in this I had consolation, that it was like deceitful water, passing away. Just as passing waters flow and seem to vanish, so too does every attack of my enemies pass by with your help. May the Lord grant that we do not sit in the council of the mockers, or with those who do not consider the future, nor yield to adversity, but always fear God's judgment and say with the Prophet: I sat alone because I am filled with bitterness. Therefore, let him rejoice in the present time, not in the advice of the wise, but in the secret and hidden amusement of the playful; let it be good for me to adhere to God, to place my hope in God, to be satisfied with reproaches, and to await the judgment of my judge: which when the end shall come, will show by its work that all sadness and bitterness has passed like flowing waters.

"I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport." If ever the prophet saw the assembly not of those in earnest but of those making sport, he fled from being gathered together rather than hastened toward the gathering of those making sport. You must, then, understand the difference between an assembly of those making sport and of those in earnest. This assembly is earnest and does all things with earnestness and things worthy of earnestness, and according to the saying: the word is earnestness, the life is earnestness, and altogether the assembly is not of those making sport, but of those in earnest. But whenever the assembly, forsaking the earnestness about necessary things, gives its leisure to the playthings of this age and to the playthings that come from wickedness, it becomes an assembly of those making sport. This one, then, says: "I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport, but I was in awe before the presence of your hand." Two things being set before me — to sit in the assembly of those making sport and to give offense to you the God and not to please you, or to rise up from the assembly of those making sport and to do the things that were dear to you — I chose rather to rise up from the assembly of those making sport and to be a friend to you, than, doing the contrary, to become an enemy to your blessedness. "I did not sit in the assembly of them when they made sport, but I was in awe before the presence of your hand." And our Savior did not sit "in the assembly of them when they made sport," but rose up away from them. And a sign that the Savior had risen up from the assembly of those making sport is his having said: "Your house is left to you desolate." For the word of God has forsaken the assembly of the Jews and has made for himself another assembly and church, the one from the nations.

"I sat alone." And here too the words are ordered by design. When there is a multitude of sinners and they do not bear the righteous man living righteously, it is nothing strange that one fleeing the assembly of wickedness should imitate him who said, "I sat alone," and should imitate also Elijah who says, "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have dug down your altars, and I am left utterly alone, and they seek my life, to take it." And perhaps too, if you examine "I sat alone" more deeply, you will find a certain sense worthy of prophetic depth. Whenever we imitate the life of the many, so that it is not withdrawn and better and select beyond the many, I cannot say, "I sat alone," but: I sat with many. But when my life becomes hard to imitate, so that I become so great that no one is near to me in character, in word, in deeds, in wisdom, then I can say, from being alone in being such and from no one imitating me, "I sat alone." It is possible, then, even for you who are not a presbyter and are not a bishop nor honored with any ecclesiastical honor, to say this — to emulate "I sat alone" and to take up a life such that you may say, "I sat alone." "Because I was filled with bitterness." If "narrow and afflicted is the way" that leads to life, you must be filled with bitterness in this life; you can enjoy nothing sweet. Or do you not know that your feast is made with bitter herbs? For when you feast, it says, "you shall eat unleavened bread upon bitter herbs." What the word means when it says that the one feasting to God must eat "unleavened bread upon bitter herbs" must be considered. The unleavened bread the apostle has expounded — the interpretation is not mine; but that which follows in the interpretation must necessarily be close to the apostolic exposition. The apostle expounded the things concerning the unleavened bread, saying: "Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." It is fitting, then, to render the account concerning the bitter herbs in a manner following upon the unleavened bread's being of sincerity and truth. Have sincerity and truth, and bitter herbs will be yours, and you will eat with bitter herbs the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth — like Paul. Since he ate the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, he also ate bitter herbs. How did he eat bitter herbs? By saying, "Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" How did he eat bitter herbs? "In labor and toil, and in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, besides the things that are external." The law, then, said: "You shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs"; and it did not say: you shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs until you are filled, as has been said concerning certain other things: "You shall eat and be filled." But the prophet intensifies it further, saying that I did not eat bitterness, but "I was filled with bitterness"; as far as was possible I partook of bitter matters, so that I partook of bitter herbs in fullest measure.

Now the so-called gods of the Greeks, unworthy of the name, are faithful neither in their essence nor in their promises, because they are not everywhere. The local deities amount to nothing over the course of time and undergo a natural extinction. For these reasons, the Word cries out against them, that "faith is not strong in them," that they are "waters that fail" and "there is no faith in them." But the God of all, who is indeed truly faithful, who is ever the same, says, "See now that I, even I am he," and "I change not." Therefore, his Son is "faithful," being ever the same and unchanging, deceiving neither in his essence nor in his promise, as is written by the apostle to the Thessalonians: "Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it." For in doing what he promises, he is faithful to his words.

How then can one who is baptized among them seem to have obtained remission of sins and the grace of the divine mercy by his faith, when he has not the truth of the faith itself? For if, as some suppose, one could receive anything abroad out of the church according to his faith, certainly he has received what he believed. If he believes what is false, he could not receive what is true. Rather, he has received things adulterous and profane, according to what he believed. Jeremiah, the prophet, censures in detail this subject of profane and adulterous baptism, saying, "Why do those who grieve me prevail? My wound is incurable. When shall I be healed? When this is done, it is become for me as treacherous water not having faith." The Holy Spirit makes mention through the prophet of treacherous water also not having faith. What is this treacherous and faithless water? Assuredly it is that which asserts falsely the image of baptism and frustrates the grace of faith by its shadowy simulation.

This the Hebrews believe to be said in the person of Jerusalem, which sat alone and was filled with bitterness and whose pain was unending and the word of whose prophets passed through it deceitfully, like flowing water. But it is better that we receive these words of a holy person as spoken from the person of a prophet, one who did not sit in the council or cabal of fools because he feared the impending hand of God but instead would glory in not having complicity with the evil ones. "I sat alone," he said, in accordance with what was written: "I did not sit with the council of the boastful, and I did not enter into fellowship with evildoers; I hate the company of liars, and I will not sit with the impious," and, in another location: "I am alone until I pass away." He also says, effectively, "I sat alone in the presence of your hand, while fearing you and constantly expecting your impending hand to come on me. I refused to sit in the company of fools, but I swallowed my bitterness to prepare myself for future joy. Nor did I have any relief from my suffering, but I was being oppressed by the misery of this yoke, such that I would not have expected any remedy. For those who afflicted me prevailed, and my wound was made worse. Yet, in this I took consolation, that it was like deceitful and passing waters. For, just as flowing waters are seen once and then slip away, so also every attack of the enemy passes away with help from you." Would that the Lord also grant to us not to sit in the council of fools and of those who fail to think of the future! Would that he grant us the ability not to yield to adversities but instead always to dread the sentence of God and to say with the prophet, "I sat alone, for I was filled with bitterness." Those who sit in the council of the wise, therefore, shall not rejoice at all during the present time, but only those in the secret and hidden council of fools, for "it is good for me to cling to God, to put my hope in the Lord," to be filled with opprobrium and to await the sentence of the Judge, one that, when the end arrives, will reveal that every sorrow and bitterness was like the passing of flowing water.

"Why do those who hate me prevail?" He had many troubles; he suffered from those who did not wish to hear the truth, and those men were more powerful than he here in this age, since the kingdom of God is not from this age, but from the better regions, as the Savior says: "If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have striven, that I should not be delivered to the Jews." Those, then, who grieved the prophet prevailed over him in this world. For that they do prevail, look at the martyrs. The judge sits giving judgment and living luxuriously in the tribunal; the Christian, in whom Christ is being judged, was filled with bitterness and is overpowered by the unjust man and is condemned.

"My wound is firm, whence shall I be healed?" Those who prevail over me strike me, and my wound is firm. Whether he prophesies the cross of the Lord (for the cross is a firm wound, so far as concerns those who crucify him), or whether it is said concerning all the righteous in whom a firm wound is received, or whether you hear this also of the prophet (for he too suffered the things recorded in the prophecy) — it admits the same sense according to the expression that says: "My wound is firm." "Whence shall I be healed?" And if the Savior says, "Whence shall I be healed," he prophesies the resurrection from the dead after the firm wound; and if it is taken of the righteous man too, after the wounds there comes healing again. "Becoming, it became to me as deceitful water that has no faithfulness"; for the wound does not remain, but passes away.

It is obvious that the text above was said not by Jerusalem but by a prophet. To him the Lord responds, "If you turn from the sins of the people, I likewise will turn you from tribulation toward joyfulness, and you will stand before my face like the angels stand in the presence of God daily, beholding his face." Also, if you separate the precious from the vile, you will become like my mouth. "Now should you think," he adds, "that there is no reward for good works, if you distinguish my saints from the crowd of sinners in your speech, you will be as my mouth, and you will be united to my precepts. For sinners need to be imitators of you, not you of them. Nor should you fear and ask: 'Why has my pain become perpetual and my wound worse (or incurable),' such that I lose all hope of being healed? For I have made you like a bronze and impregnable wall, so that you can withstand all the strength of your adversaries. Moreover, you have me as a helper, and I will liberate you from the hand of the most evil (or pestilent), and I will redeem you with my blood (or with the presence of my help)." May we consider just how great a reward the speech of the teacher will have if it is able to liberate from error and to rescue from among the number of sinners!

(Verse 19 onwards) Because of this, the Lord says: If you turn back, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. And if you separate the precious from the vile, you shall be like my mouth. They will turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; and they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. And I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the hand of the strong (or the pestilent). It is clear that the things mentioned do not pertain to Jerusalem, but rather the Prophet said them. To whom the Lord responded, if you turn the people away from sins, I will turn you from tribulation to joy, and you will stand before my face, just as the Angels stand in the presence of God, seeing His face daily. And if you separate the precious from the vile, you will be like my mouth. Do not think, he says, that there is no reward for good works: if you separate even my saints from the number of sinners with your words, you will be like my mouth, and you will be connected to my commandments. For indeed they should be your imitators, and not you theirs. Do not be dismayed, and say: Why has my pain become perpetual, and my wound strong or hopeless, so that I despair of being able to be healed. For I will give you like a wall of bronze, strongest, so that you may resist the adversary with all strength; and you will have me as a helper and I will free you from the hand of the wicked or the pestilence, and I will redeem you, either with my own blood or for now with my help. Let us consider what reward the teaching of a doctor has, if he is able to free someone from error and lead them out of the number of sinners.

Consider to what a dignity one exalts himself who esteems others' salvation to be of great importance. Such a person is imitating God as far as lies within the power of humankind. Hear what God says speaking through his prophet: "He who separates the worthy from the vile shall be as my mouth." What God says is that one who is eager to save a brother who has fallen into careless ways, one who hastens to snatch his brother from the jaws of the devil, that person imitates me as far as lies within human power. What could equal that? This is greater than all good deeds. This is the peak of all virtue.

Let us catch them then by our mode of life; and by these souls let us build up the Church, and of these let us amass our wealth. There is nothing to weigh against a soul, not even the whole world. So that although thou give countless treasure unto the poor, thou wilt do no such work as he who converteth one soul. "For he that taketh forth the precious from the vile shall be as my mouth:" so He speaks. A great good it is, I grant, to have pity on the poor; but it is nothing equal to the withdrawing them from error.

Words full of gentleness and meekness, even as also He Himself used to speak, saying to them that were insulting Him, "I have not a devil;" and again, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil." If thou also speak in this way; if thou speak for thy neighbor's amendment, thou wilt obtain a tongue like that tongue. And these things God Himself saith; "For he that bringeth out the precious from the vile, shall be as my mouth;" such are His words. When therefore thy tongue is as Christ's tongue, and thy mouth is become the mouth of the Father, and thou art a temple of the Holy Ghost, then what kind of honor could be equal to this?

"Therefore thus says the Lord: If you return, then I will restore you." These things again are said to each one whom God shall exhort to return to him. And a mystery seems to me to be indicated here in the "I will restore you." No one is restored to a place in which he has in no way ever been, but the restoration is to what is one's own. For instance, if a limb of mine becomes dislocated, the physician tries to make a restoration of what is dislocated. When someone comes to be outside his homeland, whether justly or unjustly, and then recovers the ability to be again in the homeland according to the laws, he has been restored to his own homeland. Understand the same for me also in the case of a soldier who has been cast out from his own ranks and is restored. He says, then, here to us who have turned away, that if we return, he will restore us. For the end of the promise is such, as is written in the Acts of the Apostles in the words, "until the times of the restoration of all things which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old," in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.