Demonstrations

³ Furthermore I questioned him about another saying that is written in Ezekiel; namely, that he said to Jerusalem:— Sodom and her daughters shall be built up as of old, and you and your daughters shall become as of old. So he explained this saying to me, and began to make a defence, and said to me “As to this that God said to Jerusalem by the Prophet, Sodom and her daughters shall be built up as of old, and you and your daughters shall become as of old; this is the force of the passage, that Sodom and her daughters shall be in their place as of old, and shall be made subject to Israel; and Jerusalem and her daughters shall be in the splendour of royalty as of old.”

When I heard this defence from him, it was very contemptible in my eyes, and I said to him:— “Inasmuch as the words of the Prophet were said in wrath, is the whole passage wrathful, or is part of it wrathful and part of it gracious?” He answered:— “A wrathful passage is altogether wrath, and there is no peace in it.” And I said to him:— Since you have instructed me that there is no peace in that wrathful passage, hear without contention and blaspheme not, and I will instruct you about this saying.

For from the top to the bottom the whole passage is said in wrath. For he said to Jerusalem:— As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom and her daughters did not do at all as you and your daughters have done. And he said to her (Jerusalem):— Be abashed and accept your shame, that you have overcome your sisters in your sins, and they are justified rather than you. Since he says that Sodom and her daughters were justified rather than Jerusalem and her daughters, and that Jerusalem overcame Sodom in her sins, it is right that when Israel shall be gathered together, its seat should be in Sodom and Gomorrha.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the planting of Gomorrha. Their grapes are bitter and their clusters gall unto them. And Isaiah also calls them rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrha. For if Israel is gathered together, in Sodom and Gomorrha ought they to dwell with the rulers of Sodom and with the people of Gomorrha; and on the vine of Sodom and planting of Gomorrha to eat bitter grapes and gather clusters of gall; and to eat the eggs of the basilisk and to clothe themselves with spiders' webs, to be used with wild grapes of the vineyard, and to be turned into reprobate silver. And Sodom and her daughters, who were justified rather than Jerusalem, shall be built up as of old.

And Jerusalem, that surpassed Sodom in her sins, shall continue in her sins, and shall remain in desolation until the accomplishment of the things determined for ever.