Demonstrations 19.3–19.10

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Rather, I will write and show you that God was never well disposed toward them, nor was Moses or any of the prophets. For Moses said to them: "You have been rebellious before the Lord from the day I knew you." And again: "A nation without counsel and without understanding." And again: "They provoked me with their images and angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them with what is no people, and with a foolish nation I will anger them." Moreover Moses said to them: "I know that after my death you will act wickedly and turn aside from the way I commanded you; and many evils will befall you at the end of days; even now, while I am alive with you, you have been contentious against the Lord." Hosea too said: "I have hewn the prophets; I have killed them by the word of my mouth. And you, children of Israel, have not turned from your iniquity since the days of your fathers." He said to them again: "Your goodness is like a morning cloud and like the dew that passes away early." And further: "Woe to them, for they have gone away from me; I will bring evil upon them." Again he says: "They went to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shame." And moreover he said: "Their glory has flown away from them like a bird. Even if they bring up children, I will destroy them from among men, and I will kill the desire of their womb." Jeremiah too says: "Call them rejected silver, for the Lord has cast them off." And Hosea again: "I will drive them out of my house, and I will no longer have mercy on them." Since then he says, "I will no longer have mercy on them," what is left for them to say? And again he said: "The Lord has rejected them, because they did not listen to him." And again: "They will be wanderers among the nations." And further he said against them: "According to the richness of their land they multiplied altars and built pillars." Moreover: "Ephraim will be put to shame, and Israel will blush at its counsel." And further: "Ephraim has surrounded me with falsehood, and Judah and the house of Israel with deceit." And again: "I have destroyed you, Israel. Who will help you?" Finally he adds: "I gave you a king in my anger and took him away in my wrath." Now Micah says: "You will not lift up your necks nor walk upright." And further: "Arise and go, for this is not my rest." And again: "Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will blush, and all of them will cover their lips, because God does not answer them."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Why did he say of the soothsayers and of those who see dreams, "They will blush and cover their lips"? This is certainly an incurable plague. For it is written in the law: "The leper who is in Israel shall cover his lips; he shall have torn clothes and a bare body; his dwelling shall be outside the camp, and he shall cry that he is unclean all the time he has the leprosy." Therefore the prophet who utters falsehood with his lips will receive the plague of leprosy and will keep his lips covered continually; he will live in shame, like Uzziah king of Judah, who, when he wished to usurp the priesthood, leprosy came out from the presence of God's Majesty and struck him on his forehead. So he lived in a house, hidden and ashamed, all his days. And there was an earthquake among all the people, as Zechariah said: "You will flee as you fled in the earthquake that happened in the days of Uzziah king of Judah."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

See that they never accepted discipline. For it is said: "I struck you with scorching wind and with hail; the caterpillar ate the multitude of your gardens, and you did not return to me, says the Lord." And again: "I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." He also teaches that no hope remains for them: "The virgin Israel has fallen and will not rise again." Then he says: "She is left on the ground, and there is none to raise her." And he adds: "In all the villages there will be wailing, and in all the streets they will say: Woe, woe!" And he rejects and drives them from his face, saying: "I have hated and cast off your feasts, and I will not smell your solemn assemblies." Again he says: "I will take no pleasure in your gifts, and I will not look at the beauty of your fatlings." And again he said to them: "Did you offer me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, children of Israel?" Of their rejection Jeremiah said: "I have left my house, I have abandoned my inheritance." And further: "I gave the daughter of my people a bill of divorce." And because they exalted themselves [saying], "We are the people of God," the prophet cried out and said to them: "See, you are like the sons of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel. See, I brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and Aram from Kir. And the eyes of the Lord of lords are on the sinful kingdom, to destroy it from the face of the earth." Learn how he reckons them as Philistines and calls the synagogue of Israel heathen. "I planted you with shoots of every true seed; but you turned away and rebelled against me like a foreign vine." Moses too said: "Your vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the stock of Gomorrah; your grapes are bitter grapes, and your clusters wormwood." And David also says: "You brought a vine out of Egypt; you looked on it and planted its root." And likewise: "You destroyed the nations and planted it." But when they had sinned he said: "The boar from the forest has devoured it, and the beasts of the field have grazed on it." Ezekiel too speaks of the vine: "The fire has consumed both its branches, and its middle is laid waste." And he adds: "Even when the vine was whole, it was of no use for work; now that the fire has devoured it and it is laid waste, how will it be of use for work?" Isaiah also prophesied of the whole vineyard, saying: "My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill; he dug it, put a hedge around it, and planted shoots in it; but when the vineyard produced wild grapes, he broke down its hedge, overthrew the tower, left it unploughed, and forbade his clouds to rain upon it." Now he speaks of the false prophets: "Woe to you who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity." Again of them he says: "From the prophets of Jerusalem defilement has gone out into all the land." And of the calling of the nations Isaiah said: "In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established on the top of the mountains, higher than the hills, and the nations will gather to it, and many peoples will go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for from Zion has gone out the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But when the law went out from Zion, where did it go? He answers: "He will judge between the nations and rebuke many peoples far off." But of them Isaiah said: "Depart from them, call them polluted, for the Lord has cast them off." The prophet says again: "They have abhorred their good deeds like a rag the moth has eaten." And moreover: "They will be angry from their paths, and they will tremble and fear before the Lord our God." It is also said: "I will burn your troops in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions." And again: "Woe to the city of blood, all full of lies! Destruction will not cease in it." Micah also said: "Judah has lied, and abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord." And again he says: "You have turned aside from the way; you have made many stumble in the law, and you have made void the covenant of Levi. And I have made you contemptible and low among all the peoples, because you have not kept my ways." But of the nations he said: "I will give them a chosen lip." Against them also Malachi says: "You have wearied the Lord with your words." And again: "You, sons of Jacob, have not turned from your iniquity, and from the days of your fathers you have not kept my statutes."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Now learn, my beloved, that God set Israel free only twice: first from Egypt, second from Babylon; from Egypt through Moses, from Babylon through Ezra, while Haggai and Zechariah prophesied. For Haggai said: "Build that house, and it will be acceptable to me, and I will be glorified in it, says the Lord." And again: "Work, for I am with you, and my Spirit stands in your midst. Do not fear, for thus says the Lord Almighty: Once more I will shake heaven and earth and sea and dry land, and I will shake all the nations, and they will bring the most precious things of all the nations, and I will fill this house with glory, and the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former." All these things were spoken in the days of Zerubbabel and in the time of Haggai and Zechariah, who urged the building of the house. Zechariah too says: "I have returned to Jerusalem in mercies, and I will set my house in its midst." Then: "The cities will overflow with good things, and the Lord will build Zion and will again choose Jerusalem." And again: "I am jealous for Zion and Jerusalem with great jealousy, and I am very angry with the nations that are in tumult." He said further: "Jerusalem will be inhabited as open country because of the multitude of men and cattle in it. And I will be to her a wall of bronze, and I will be the glory in her midst, says the Lord." And moreover: "Ho! ho! flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven. O Zion, escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon." Then he says: "The Lord will possess Judah as his portion in the land of his holiness, and will again choose Jerusalem." And again: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands will finish it." Zechariah prophesied all these things, and they were fulfilled and completed when Israel was gathered [returning] from Babylon; and it is not to happen, as they say, that Israel will be gathered again.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Pay attention, my beloved: I will explain to you that Israel was saved twice, the first time from Egypt, the second from Babylon. For Isaiah says: "The Lord will extend his hand a second time to possess the remnant of his people that is left, from the land of Assyria, and from Egypt, and from the distant islands." If they are to be gathered and set free again, why does Isaiah say: "The Lord will extend his hand a second time to possess the remnant of his people that is left"? If salvation still awaited them, Isaiah should have said: "The Lord will extend his hand a third time to possess the remnant of his people"; he would not have said "a second time".

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Pay attention again, and I will instruct you about the prayer that Daniel offered before his God, when he prayed and made supplication for the children of his people, that they might return and come back from Babylon. For Daniel, the man of desires, to whom mysteries were revealed, who made known the last things, since he was a prophet, built on the words of the prophets. For when the people were carried off to Babylon, false prophets had arisen among them, who prophesied in falsehood and fraud, saying: "Thus says the Lord: After two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all the nations." But when Jeremiah heard the prophecy of the lying prophets, he wrote a letter and sent it to Babylon: "Do not listen to the lying prophets who are among you, who give you hope and say, After two years you will return from Babylon; for thus says the Lord: Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit; take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands; for until seventy years are completed in Babylon, you will not return from this place." So Daniel, clothed with the Spirit, knew that Jeremiah's prophecy was true; therefore, when the seventy years were completed, he prayed, made entreaty, and supplicated before his God in the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who ruled over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. "In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood in the book the number of the years, and I saw that the word of the Lord had come which he spoke to Jeremiah the prophet: that the desolation of Jerusalem would be completed in seventy years. I lifted my face before the Lord God to make supplication in prayer and entreaty, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes; and I prayed before the Lord my God and confessed and said in supplication: O Lord, great and terrible God, who keep covenant and kindness with those who love you and keep your commandments; we have sinned, we have done iniquity, we have acted wickedly, we have rebelled and turned aside from your commandments and your judgments; and we have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and princes, to our fathers and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far off, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the iniquity with which they sinned against you, O Lord. To us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you; but to the Lord God belong mercy and forgiveness of sins, for we rebelled against him and did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his law which he set before us by his servants the prophets. And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside and did not listen to your voice; and you brought upon them the curses and plagues written in the law of Moses the servant of God. Because we sinned before him, he confirmed his words which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, to bring upon us a great evil, such as has never been done under heaven as was done in Jerusalem, as it is written in the law of Moses. All this evil you have brought upon us, and we did not entreat the Lord our God, to turn from our iniquities and confess your faithfulness. And God raised up the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works that he has done; and we did not listen to his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and an uplifted arm, and made yourself a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have done iniquity. O Lord, according to all your righteousness which you have exercised toward us, let your anger and your fury turn away from your city Jerusalem and your holy mountain. For because of our sins and the iniquity of our fathers your people has been scattered into all regions; Jerusalem has become a reproach to all the nations. Now therefore hear the prayer of your servant and our supplications, and make your face shine on your sanctuary that is desolate. For your name's sake, O Lord, incline, my God, your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolation and our ruins and the city over which your name is called. For we do not trust in our righteousness to pray before you, but in your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, be strong; O Lord, attend and act, and do not delay, for your name's sake, my God, because your name is called over your city and over your people."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Then, when he had finished the prayer, Daniel says: "While I was still praying and confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel, and pouring out my supplications before my God for the holy mountain of my God; while I was still speaking in prayer, see, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before, came flying swiftly from heaven and came near me at the time of the evening sacrifice. And when he had come, he spoke with me and said: Daniel, I have now come out to teach you, that you may understand. At the beginning of your prayer a word went out; and I have come to tell you, because you are a man greatly desired. Understand then the word and consider the vision: Seventy weeks will remain upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish transgressions and bring sins to an end, to forgive iniquity and bring in everlasting righteousness, and to fulfil vision and prophets, and up to Christ, the Holy of Holies. Know then and understand. From the going out of the word until the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ the King, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and Jerusalem will be built again, its streets and squares, until the end of the time. And after sixty-two weeks Christ will be killed, and there will be nothing for him; and the city of holiness will be destroyed with the king who is to come, and its end in desolation, and until the end of the war the decree of desolations. And one week and half a week will make the covenant heavy for many, and he will abolish the offering and sacrifices, and upon the extremity the abomination of desolation."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Consider, my beloved, and understand the prayer Daniel offered and the vision that was opened to him. When the seventy years of the desolation of Jerusalem were completed, he prayed and confessed in the first year of Darius; and when he had confessed his sins and the sins of his people Israel, Gabriel, the receiver of prayers, came to him and said to him: "At the beginning of your prayer a word went out." The word that went out at the beginning of his prayer signified that the captivity would return from Babylon. But Daniel was also thinking about what would happen to the people after its return. Therefore Gabriel said to him: "Because you are greatly desired, I will tell you what will happen to the people at the end of days. Understand then the word and consider the vision. Seventy weeks will remain upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish transgressions and bring sins to an end, to forgive iniquity and bring in everlasting righteousness, and to fulfil vision and prophets, and up to Christ, the Holy of Holies. Know then and understand: from the going out of the word until the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ the King, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and Jerusalem will be built again, its streets and squares, until the end of the time. And after sixty-two weeks Christ will be killed, and there will be nothing for him; and the city of holiness will be destroyed with the king who is to come, and its end in desolation, and until the end of the war the decree of desolations. And one week and half a week will make the covenant heavy for many, and he will abolish the offering and sacrifices, and upon the extremity the abomination …"