godliness *4.”. For since he knew the persecutions that befel those who chose to live in godliness, he wished his disciples to meditate beforehand on the difficulties connected with godliness; that when trials should come, and affliction arise, they might be able to bear them easily, as having been exercised in these things. For in those things wherewith a man has been conversant in mind, he ordinarily experiences a hidden joy. In this way, the blessed martyrs, becoming at first conversant with difficulties, were quickly perfected in Christ, regarding as nought the injury of the body, while they contemplated the expected RES 4. But all those who ‘ call their lands by their own names*5,”and have wood, and hay, and stubble © in their thoughts; such as these, since they are strangers to difficulties, become aliens from the kingdom of heaven. Had they however known that ‘tribulation perfecteth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed,’ they would have exercised themselves, after the example of Paul, who said, ‘I keep under my 16 Cf. x Cor. iii. 12.
Mal. ili. 3: x Pet. i. 7. xlix. 11 (Larsow mistakes the reference).
body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway'.’ They would easily have borne tne afflictions which were brought upon them to prove them from time to time, if the prophetic admonition? had been listened to by them; ‘It is good for a man to take up Thy yoke in his youth; he shall sit alone and shall be silent, because he hath taken Thy yoke upon him. He will give his cheek to him who smiteth him; he will be filled with reproaches. Because the Lord does not cast away for ever; for when He abases, He is gracious, according to the multitude of His tender mercies 3.’ For though all these things should proceed from the enemies, stripes, insults, reproaches, yet shall they avail nothing against the multitude of God’s tender mercies; for we shall quickly recover from them since they are merely temporal, but God is always gracious, pouring out His tender mercies on those who please [Him]. Therefore, my beloved brethren, we should not look at these temporal things, but fix our attention on those which are eternal. Though affliction may come, it will have an end, though insult and persecution, yet are they nothing to the hope which is set [before us]. For all present matters are trifling compared with those which are future; the sufferings of this present time not being worthy to be compared with the hope that is to come+ For what can be compared with the kingdom? or what is there in comparison with life eternal? Or what is all we could give here, to that which we shall inherit yonder? For we are ‘heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ 5.’ Therefore it is not right, my beloved, to consider afflictions and persecutions, but the hopes which are laid up for us because of persecutions.
5. Now to this the example of Issachar, the patriarch, may persuade, as the Scripture © saith, ‘Issachar desires that which is good, resting between the heritages; and when he saw that the rest was good, and the land fertile 7, he bowed his shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman.’ Being consumed by divine love, like the spouse in the Canticles, he gathered abundance from the holy Scriptures, for his mind was captivated not by the old alone, but by both the heritages. And hence as it were, spreading his wings, he beheld afar off ‘the rest’ which is in heaven, and,— t Rom. vy. 3; 1 Cor. ix. 27. 2 Lam. iii. 27.
3 Cf. Serapion Efistola ad Monachos, in Mai Sficileg. Rom. tom. iv. p. li. (L.)
4 Cf. Rom. viii, 18; 2 Cor. iv. 17. 6 Gen. xlix. 14.
7 Jarchi interprets the passage figuratively of Issachar being strong to bear the yoke of the law. The Jerusalem Targum thus paraphrases the verse. ‘And he saw the rest of the world to come that it was good, and the portion of the land of Israel, that it was pleasant; therefore he inclined his shoulders to work in the law and his brethren brought gifts unto him.: 5 Rom. viii. 17.
LETTER XIV. eee ene ees ee ee since this ‘land’ consists of such beautiful works,—how much more truly the heavenly [country] must also [consist] of such®; for the other is ever new, and grows not old. For this ‘land’ passes away, as the Lord said; but that which is ready to receive the saints is immortal. Now when Issachar, the patriarch, saw these things, he joyfully made his boast of afflictions and toils, bowing his shoulders that he might labour. And he did not contend with those who smote him, neither was he disturbed by insults; but like a strong man triumphing the more by these things, and the more earnestly tilling his land, he received profit from it. The Word scattered the seed, but he watchfully cultivated it, so that it brought forth fruit, even a hundred-fold.
6. Now what does this mean, my beloved, but that we also, when the enemies are arrayed against us, should glory in afflictions®, and that when we are persecuted, we should not be discouraged, but should the rather press after the crown of the high calling? in Christ Jesus our Lord? and that being insulted, we should not be disturbed, but should give our cheek to the smiter, and bow the shoulder? For the lovers of pleasure and the lovers of enmity are tried, as saith the blessed Apostle James, “when they are drawn away by their own lusts and enticed*®.’ But let us, knowing that we suffer for the truth, and that those who deny the Lord smite and persecute us, ‘ count it all joy, my brethren,’ according to the words of James, ‘when we fall into trials of various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith worketh patience™.’ Let us rejoice as we keep the feast, my brethren, knowing that our salvation is ordered in the time of affliction. For our Saviour did not redeem us by inactivity, but by suffering for us He abolished death. And respecting this, He intimated to us before, saying, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation’?.’ But He did not say this to every man, but to those who diligently and faithfully perform good service to Him, knowing beforehand, that they should be persecuted who would live godly toward Him.
7. ‘But evildoers and sorcerers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived?3.’ If therefore, like those expounders of dreams and false prophets who professed to give signs, these ignorant men being drunk, not with wine, but with their own wickedness, make a profession of priesthood, and glory in their threats, believe them not; but since we are tried, let us humble ourselves, not being drawn away by them. For so God warned His 8 Larsow’s rendering of the above is followed. & Rom. v. 3. 9 Cf. Phil. 14. To BpaBeioy THs dvw KAjoews. — 1° James i. 14. uz Tb..1. 2. 12 John xvi. 33. 13 2 Tim. iii. 13.
people by Moses, saying, ‘If there shall rise up among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and shall give signs and tokens, and the sign or the token shall come to pass which he spake to thee, saying, Let us go and serve strange gods, which ye have not known; ye shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God trieth you, that He may know whether you will love the Lord your God with all you heart 4.’ So we, when we are tried by these things, will not separate ourselves from the love of God. But let us now keep the feast, my beloved, not as introducing a day of suffering, but of joy in Christ, by Whom we are fed every day. Let us be mindful of Him Who was sacrificed in the days of the Passover; for we celebrate this, because Christ the Passover was sacrificed 5. He Who once brought His people out of Egypt, and hath now abolished death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil *, will likewise now turn him to shame, and again grant aid to those who are troubled, and cry unto God day and night *7.
8. We begin the fast of forty days on the thirteenth of Phamenoth (g Mar.), and the holy week of Easter on the eighteenth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 13); and resting on the seventh day, being the twenty-third (Apr. 18), and the first of the great week having dawned on the twenty-fourth of the same month Pharmuthi (Apr. 19), let us reckon from it till Pentecost. And at all times let us sing praises, calling on Christ, being delivered from our enemies by Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All those who are here with me salute you. I pray, my beloved brethren, that ye may have health in the Lord.
He wrote this also from Rome. endeth the thirteenth Letter.
Here LETTER XIV.
Coss. Augustus Constantius III, Constans £1, Pref, the same Longinus; Indict. xv; Easterday tit Ld. Apr., xvt Pharmutht,;, tra Dioclet, 58.
THE gladness of our feast, my brethren, is always near at hand, and never fails those who wish to celebrate itt. For the Word is near, Who is all things on our behalf, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, having promised that His habitation with us should be perpetual, in 1 Cf. Letter v. 1.
14 Deut, xiii. 1—3. 17 Luke xviil. 7.
virtue thereof cried, saying, ‘Lo, { am with you all the days of the world’. For as He is the Shepherd, and the High Priest, and the Way and the Door, and _ everything at once to us, so again, He is shewn to us as the Feast, and the Holyday, according to the blessed Apostle; ‘Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed3.. He it was who was expected, He caused a light to shine at the prayer of the Psalmist, who said, “My Joy, deliver me from those who surround me‘+;’ this being indeed true rejoicing, this being a true feast, even deliverance from wickedness, whereto a man attains by thoroughly adopting an upright conversation, and being approved in his mind of godly submission towards Gods. For thus the saints all their lives long were like men rejoicing at a feast. One found rest in prayer to God, as blessed David ®, who rose in the night, not once but seven times. Another gave glory in songs of praise, as great Moses, who sang a song of praise for the victory over Pharaoh, and those task-masters7, Others performed _ worship with unceasing diligence, like great Samuel and blessed Elijah; who have ceased from their course, and now keep the feast in heaven, and rejoice in what they formerly learnt through shadows, and from the types recognise the truth.
2. But what sprinklings shall we now employ, while we celebrate the feast? Who will be our guide, as we haste to this festival? None can do this, my beloved, but Him Whom you will name with me, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, ‘I am the Way.’ For it is He Who, according to the blessed John, ‘taketh away the sin of the world®’ He purifies our souls, as Jeremiah the prophet says in a certain place, ‘Stand in the ways and see, and enquire, and look which is the good path, and ye shall find in it cleansing for your souls®.’ Of old time, the blood of he-goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled upon those who were unclean, were fit only to purify the flesh*; but now, through the grace of God the Word, every man is thoroughly cleansed. Following Him, we may, even here, as on the threshold of the Jerusalem which is above, meditate beforehand on the feast which is eternal, as also the blessed Apostles, together following the Saviour Who was their Leader, have now become teachers of a like grace, saying, ‘ Behold, we have left all, and followed Thee®.” For the following of the Lord, and the feast which is of the Lord, is not accomplished by —S sg 2 Matt. xxvili. 20, 3 x Cor. v. 7. APS a xxxi a7 eRe 5 Cf. Letter iil. 2. © Ps. cxix. 62, 164. 7 Exod. xv. 8 John xiv. 63 i. 29. 9 Jer. vi. 16. SUT Fleb. ica iprords only, but by deeds, every enactment of laws and every command involving a distinct performance. For as great Moses, when administering the holy laws, exacted a promise from the people, respecting the practice of them, so that having promised, they might not neglect them, and be accused as lars, thus also, the celebration of the feast of the Passover raises no question, and demands no reply; but when the word is given, the performance of it follows, for He saith, ‘ And the children of Israel shall keep the Passover *;’ intending that there should be a ready performance of the commandment, while the command should aid its execution. But respecting these matters, I have confidence in your wisdom, and your care for instruction. Such points as these have been touched upon by us often and in various Letters.
3. But now, which is above all things most necessary, I wish to remind you, and myself with you, how that the command would have us come to the Paschal feast not profanely and without preparation, but with sacramental and doctrinal rites, and prescribed observances, as indeed we learn from the historical account, ‘A man who is of another nation, or bought with money, or uncircumcised, shall not eat the Passover 73,2 Neither should it be eaten in ‘any’ house, but He commands it to be done in haste; inasmuch as before we groaned and were made sad by the bondage to Pharaoh, and the commands of the task-masters. For when in former time the children of Israel acted in this way, they were counted worthy to receive the type, which existed for the sake of this feast, nor is the feast now introduced on account of the type. As also the Word of God, when desirous of this, said to His disciples, ‘With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.” Now that is a wonderful account, for a man might have seen them at that time girded as for a procession or a dance, and going out with staves, and sandals, and unleavened bread. These things, which took place before in shadows, were typical. But now the Truth is nigh unto us, ‘the Image of the invisible God 's,’ our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light, Who instead of a staff, is our sceptre, instead of unleavened bread, is the bread which came down from heaven, Who, instead of sandals, hath furnished us with the preparation of the Gospel?$, and Who, to speak briefly, by all these hath guided us to His Father. And if enemies afflict us and persecute us, He again, instead of Moses, will encourage us with better words, saying, ‘ Be of m Exod. xix. 8.
™ Luke xxii. 15. i tS Col. i. rs. whhe LETTER XIV, good cheer; I have overcome the wicked one*7,’ And if after we have passed over the Red Sea heat should again vex us or some bitterness of the waters befall us, even thence again the Lord will appear to us, imparting to us of His sweetness, and His life-giving fountain, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink®.’
4. Why therefore do we tarry, and why do we delay, and not come with all eagerness and diligence to the feast, trusting that it is Jesus who calleth us? Who is all things for us, and was laden in ten thousand ways for our salvay tion; Who hungered and thirsted for us, though He gives us food and drink in His saving gifts "9. For this is His glory, this the miracle of His divinity, that He changed our sufferings for His happiness. For, being life, He died that He might make us alive, being the Word, He became flesh, that He might instruct the flesh in the Word, and being the fountain of life, He thirsted our thirst, that thereby He might urge us to the feast, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink 7.’ At that time, Moses proclaimed the beginning of the feast, saying, ‘This month is the beginning of months to you.’ But the Lord, Who came down in the end of the ages 3, proclaimed a different day, not as though He would abolish the law, far from it, but that He should establish the law, and be the end of the law. ‘For Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth in righteousness;’ as the blessed Paul saith, ‘Do we make void the law by faith? far from it: we rather establish the law +.’ Now these things astonished even the officers who were sent by the Jews, so that wondering they said to the Pharisees, ‘ No man ever thus spake5.’ What was it then that astonished those officers, or what was it which so affected the men as to make them marvel?
It was nothing but the boldness and authority of our Saviour. For when of old time prophets and scribes studied the Scriptures, they perceived that what they read did not refer to themselves, but to others. Moses, for instance, ‘A prophet will the Lord raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; to him hearken in all that he commands you.’ Isaiah again, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and ye shall call his name Emmanuel®.’ And others prophesied in different and various ways, concerning the Lord. But by the Lord, of Himself, and of no other, were these things prophesied; to Himself He limited them ail, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to 6 Deut. xviii. 15; Is. vii. 14. These two texts are also quoted together in Ovat, i. § 54.
Me7’—not to any other person, but to ‘ Me.’ Aman may indeed hear from those concerning My coming, but he must not henceforth drink from others, but from Me.
5. Therefore let us also, when we come to the feast, no longer come as to old shadows, for they are accomplished, neither as to common feasts, but let us hasten as to the Lord, Who is Himself the feast®, not looking upon it as an indulgence and delight of the belly, but as a manifestation of virtue. For the feasts of the heathen are full of greediness, and utter indolence, since they consider they celebrate a feast when they are idle9; and- they work the works of perdition when they feast. But our feasts consist in the exercise of virtue and the practice of temperance; as the prophetic word testifies in a certain place, saying, ‘ The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth [month], shall be to the house of Judah for gladness, and rejoicing, and for pleasant feasts*.’ Since therefore this occasion for exercise is set before us, and such a day as this is come, and the prophetic voice has gone forth that the feast shall be celebrated, let us give all diligence to this good proclamation, and like those who contend on the race course, let us vie with each other in observing the purity of the fast™, by watchfulness in prayers, by study of the Scriptures, by distributing to the poor, and let us be at peace with our enemies. Let us bind up those who are scattered abroad, banish pride, and return to lowliness of mind, being at peace with all men, and urging the brethren unto love. Thus also the blessed Paul was often ,engaged in fastings and watchings, and was willing to be accursed for his brethren. Blessed David again, having humbled himself by fastings, used boldness, saying, ‘O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is any iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid those who dealt evil with me, then may I fall from my enemies as a vain man*?.’ If we do these things, we shall conquer death; and receive an earnest 73 of the kingdom of heaven, 6. We begin the holy Easter feast on the tenth of Pharmuthi (April 5), desisting from the holy fasts on the fifteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 10), on the evening of the seventh day. And let us keep the holy feast on the sixteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 11); adding one by one [the days] till the holy Pentecost, passing on to which, as through a succession of feasts, let us keep the festival to the Spirit, Who is even 7 John vii. 37. 10 Zech, viii. 19. Ps, vii. 3, 4, LXX.
now near us, in Jesus Christ, and with Whom to the Father dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The fifteenth and sixteenth are wanting.
EETITER XVit. Coss. Amantius, Albinus; Gaza, Indict. iii; Easter-day, vii Id. Apr., ati Pharmuthi; Moon 19; Ara Dioclet. 61.
AtHANastIus to the Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, and to the beloved brethren, greeting in Christ.
According to custom, I give you notice respecting Easter, my beloved, that you also may notify the same to the districts of those who are at a distance, as is usual. Therefore, after this present festival', I mean this which is on the twentieth of the month Pharmuthi, the Easter-day following will be on the vii Id. April, or according to the Alexandrians, on the twelfth of Pharmuthi. Give notice therefore in all those districts, that Easter-day will be on the vii Id. April, or according to the Alexandrian reckoning on the twelfth of Pharmuthi. That you may be in health in Christ, I pray, my beloved brethren.
LETTER XVIII.
Coss. Augustus Constantius IV, Constans IIT; Pref. the same Nestorius; Indict. tv; Easterday iit Kal. Apr., iv Pharmuthi; Moon 21; Abra Dioctet. 62.
ATHANASIUS, to the Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, brethren beloved in the Lord, greeting.
You have done well, dearly beloved brethren, that you have given the customary notice of the holy Easter in those districts; for I have seen and acknowledged your exactness. By other letters I have also given you notice, that when this year is finished, ye may know concerning the next. Yet now I have thought it necessary to write the same things that, when you have it exactly, you also may write with care. Therefore, after the conclusion of this feast, which is now drawing to its close, on the twelfth of the month Pharmuthi, which is on the vii Id. Apr.?, Easterday will be on the iii Kal. April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrians. When therefore the feast is finished, give noi Observe that Athan. gives notice at Easter, A.D. 344, upon what day Easter is to be observed in a.p. 345, and not immediately after the succeeding Epiphany, as Cassian asserts to have been the custom of the Patriarch of Alexandria. (Cassian. Co//at.
2 The number vii is omitted in the MS.
through Whom | tice again in these districts, according to. early be glory and|custom, thus: Easter Sunday 1s on the ii Kal.
April, which is the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian reckoning. And let no man hesitate concerning the day, neither let any one contend, saying, It is requisite that Easter should be held on the twentyseventh of the month Phamenoth; for it was Pref, Nestorius of| discussed in the holy Synod3, and all there settled it to be on the iii Kal. April. I say then that it is on the fourth of the month Pharmuthi; for the week before this is much too early4. Therefore let there be no dispute, but let us act as becometh us. For I have thus written to the Romans also. Give notice then as it has been notified to you, that it is on the iii Kal. April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian reckoning.
That ye may have health in the Lord, I pray, my dearly beloved brethren.
LETTER XIX.
Coss. Rufinus, Eusebius; Pref. the same Nestorius, Indict. v; FEaster-day, Prid. Ia. Apr., Pharmuthi xvii; tra Dioclet. 63; Moon 15.
‘BLESSED is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ',’ for such an introduction is fitting for an Epistle, and more especially now, when it brings thanksgiving to the Lord, in the Apostle’s words, because He hath brought us from a distance, and granted us again to send openly to you, as usual, the Festal Letters. For this is the season of the feast, my brethren, and it is near; being not now proclaimed by trumpets, as the history records?, but being made known and brought near to us by the Saviour, Who suffered on our behalf and rose again, even as Paul preached, saying, ‘Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed 3.’ Henceforth the feast of the Passover is ours, not that of a stranger, nor is it any longer of the Jews+. For the time of shadows is abolished, and those former things have ceased, and now the month of new things** is at hand, in which every man should keep the feast, in obedience to Him who said, ‘Observe the 3 Sardica, in 343.
3 Sardica, in 343.
4 The 14th day of the Moon, reckoning from the time of szean New Moon, took place on Sunday the 23rd. According to the rule which obtained in later times, and continued in use until the Gregorian reformation of the Calendar, the 14th day of the Ecclesiastical Moon took place on Saturday the 22nd, which would make Easter-day happen on the 23rd. It would seem, therefore, that the decision of the Synod referred to, brought the Ecclesiastical Moon into closer accordance with that of the heavens, than the later Calendar would have done. In 357 Easter was apparently kept on Mar. 23.
x Eph. i. 3. 21Ci Lettieri. a. © Seu) Conspy7 yy as Letteri. 4 Cf. Letter 6,§2, and note. 4° Deut. xvi. 1, LXX Pe HR eX XxX.
month of new things, and keep the Passover to the Lord thy Gods,’ Even the heathen fancy they keep festival, and the Jews hypocritically feign to do so. But the feast of the heathen He reproves, as the bread ® of mourners, and He turns His face from that of the Jews, as being outcasts, saying, ‘Your new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth 7.’
2. For actions not done lawfully and piously, are not of advantage, though they may be reputed to be so, but they rather argue hypocrisy in those who venture upon them. Therefore, although such persons feign to offer sacrifices, yet they hear from the Father, ‘Your whole burnt-offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please Me; and although ye bring fine flour, it is vanity, incense also is an abomination unto Me®&’ For God does not need anything9; and, since nothing is unclean to Him, He is full in regard to them, as He testifies, by Isaiah, saying, ‘I am full7°.” Now there was a law given about these things, for the instruction of the people, and to prefigure things to come, for Paul saith to the Galatians; ‘ Before faith came, we were kept guarded under the law, being shut up in the faith which should afterwards be revealed unto us; wherefore the law was our instructor in Christ, that we might be justified by faith.’ But the Jews knew not, neither did they understand, therefore they walked in the daytime as in darkness, feeling for, but not touching, the truth we possess, which [was contained] in the law; conforming to the letter, but not submitting to the spirit. And when Moses was veiled, they looked on him, but turned away their faces from him when he was uncovered. For they knew not what they read, but erroneously substituted one thing for another. The prophet, therefore, cried against them, saying, ‘ Falsehood and faithlessness have prevailed among them.’ The Lord also therefore said concerning them, ‘The strange children have dealt falsely with Me; the strange children have waxen old*?.’ But how gently does He reprove them, saying, ‘ Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me?3.’ But being faithless, they went on to deal falsely with the law, affirming things after their own pleasure, but not understanding the Scripture; and, further, as they had hypocritically made a pretence of the plain text of Scripture, and had confidence in this, He is angry with them, saying by Isaiah, ‘Who hath re- 5 Deut. xvi. 1, LXX., cf. Letter 1, § 9, and note. © Hos. 1Xads 7 Is: ira. 8 Ib. i. 13; Jer. vi. 20. 9 Orat. ii.
11 Gal. iii. 23, 24. Athan. reads into S. Paul’s words the thought that the Law itself, however misunderstood by the Jews, _|that He might accept the offerer.
quired these of your hands?’ And by Jeremiah, since they were very bold, he threatens, ‘Gather together your whole burnt-offerings -with your sacrifices, and eat flesh; for I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices '5.”. For they did not act as was right, neither was their zeal according to law, but they rather sought their own pleasure in such days, as the prophet accuses them, beating down their bondsmen, and gathering themselves together for strifes and quarrels, and they smote the lowly with the fist, and did all things that tended to their own gratification. For this cause, they continue without a feast until the end, although they make a display now of eating flesh, out of place and out of season. For, instead of the legally-appointed lamb, they have learned to sacrifice to Baal; instead of the true unleavened bread, ‘they collect the wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their wives prepare the dough, that they may make cakes to the host of heaven, and pour out libations to strange gods, that they may provoke Me to anger, saith the Lord *6.” They have the just reward of such devices, since, although they pretend to keep the Passover, yet joy and gladness is taken from their mouth, as saith Jeremiah, ‘There hath been taken away from the cities of Judah, and the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of those who are glad, and the voice of those who