Israel and Judah in the letter of the reading
The wording of the passage just read has something unclear. Let that be understood first; and after that, if God grants it, we will know his mystical intention. He wants us to know that, as it is written in the Books of Kingdoms, the people were divided in the days of Rehoboam into the kingdom of the ten tribes under Jeroboam and the kingdom of the two tribes under Rehoboam. Those under Jeroboam were called Israel; those under Rehoboam, Judah. And this division of the people has remained, as far as the history goes, until now. For we know of no history that has gathered Israel and Judah into one.
Israel under Jeroboam and his successors sinned first, and more. He sinned so much beyond Judah that providence condemned them to become captives among the Assyrians, as Scripture says, 'to this day.' After that the sons of Judah also sinned and were condemned as captives to Babylon — not 'to this day' like Israel, but for 'seventy years,' which Jeremiah foretold and of which Daniel also made mention. If we understand these things of that people then, look at the prophet's words and see whether they do not mean something like this. He charges Israel's sins, and says that when so many sins had been done by Israel, the assembly of Judah heard their failures and how I had made them captives — and was not schooled by it, but added to the sins, so that by the added sins, set beside Israel's, righteousness was found in Israel rather than in Judah. Then the prophet is commanded to prophesy, as of Judah worse than Israel, so that after the sins he may turn. After the prophecy toward Israel commanding him to turn, the prophet prophesies that Israel and Judah will one day become one, and that there will sometime be one kingdom of both.
Whoever cares for the readings, take the words of the whole reading today and then you will see the thoughts made plain. 'And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king: Have you seen what the dwelling of Israel has done to me' — not Judah, but Israel first? 'She went upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree and played the harlot there. And I said after she had done all these things: Return to me. And she did not return. And faithless Judah saw her faithlessness' — the faithlessness of Israel's assembly. 'And I saw' — those from Judah saw — 'that for all the things in which the dwelling of Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce.' Judah ought to have been schooled — for I sent Israel away, the assembly of Israel; I cast them out to the Assyrians 'and gave her a bill of divorce into her hands' — 'and faithless Judah was not afraid.' After so much that I did to Israel, sending her away, giving a bill of divorce, Judah's assembly ought to have been schooled by what those others suffered. They were not only not schooled; they added to the sins, so that the sins of Israel's assembly seemed righteousness by comparison with the sins of Judah's assembly. 'And I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands; and her sister, faithless Judah, was not afraid, and she too went and played the harlot, and her harlotry came to nothing, and she committed adultery with the wood and the stone. And in all this faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but turned to me falsely.' She was not ashamed of what I had done to Israel, that she might turn completely; she ought to have turned in truth, and she turned falsely. 'And in all this faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart but falsely. And the Lord said to me: Israel has justified her soul more than faithless Judah.' Israel's sins, set beside Judah's failures, became the justification of the soul of Israel's assembly.
Greek
Αὐτὸ τὸ ῥητὸν τῆς ἀναγνωσθείσης λέξεως ἔχει τι ἀσαφές, ὅπερ πρότερον νοηθήτω· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο, ἐὰν ὁ θεὸς διδῷ, εἰσόμεθα τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ τὸ μυστικόν. οὐκοῦν θέλει ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι ἐν ὅτι, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις γέγραπται, διῃρέθη ὁ λαὸς ἐν λαὸς χρόνοις Ῥοβοὰμ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ἱεροβοὰμ βασιλείαν τῶν δέκα φυλῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥοβοὰμ δύο φυλῶν· καὶ ἐκλήθησαν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ Ἰσραήλ, Ἰούδα Ἰούδα οἱ ὑπὸ τῷ Ῥοβοάμ. καὶ ἔμεινεν αὕτη ἡ διαίρεσις τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅσον κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν, μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο· οὐκ οἴ- δαμεν γὰρ ἱστορίαν συναγαγοῦσαν τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν | τὸ αὐτό.
ἥμαρτεν οὐν πρῶτον Ἰσραὴλ πλείονα, ὁ ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ καὶ τοῖς διαδόχοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοσαῦτα ἥμαρτε παρὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν ὥστε αὐτοὺς καταδικασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας γενέσθαι αἰχμαλώτους > εἰς Ἀσσυρίους< ὡς λέγει ἡ γραφή, >μέχρι τῆς σήμερον<. μετὰ τοῦτο ἥμαρτον καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰούδα καὶ κατεδικάσθησαν αἰχμάλωτοι εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, οὐχὶ μάρι τῆς σήμερον ὡς ὁ Ἰσραήλ, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ «ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη«, περὶ ὧν ὁ Ἱερεμίας προεφήτευσεν, ὧν ἐμνήσθη καὶ ὁ Δανιήλ. εἰ νοοῦμεν ταῦτα ὡς πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν τότε, ἴδε τὰς λέξεις τοῦ προφήτου, εἰ μὴ τοιοῦτό τι δηλοῦσι. κατηγορεῖ γὰρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὡς λόγος, καί φησιν ὅτι τοσούτων ἁμαρτημάτων γεγενημένων τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἀκούσασα ἡ Ἰούδα συναγωγὴ τὰ ἐκείνων πταίσματα καὶ τίνα τρόπον πεποίηκα αὐτοὺς γενέσθαι ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ. οὐκ ἐπαιδεύθη ἀλλὰ προσέθηκε ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, ὥστε διὰ τὴν προσθήκην τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων συγκρινομένων τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ δικαιοσύνην εὑρῆσθαι ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ παρὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν. εἶτα ἐπὶ τούτοις κελεύεται ὁ προφήτης προφητεῦσαι, ὡς χείρονος χείρονος τοῦ Ἰούδα παρὰ τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἴνα μετὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἐπιστρέψῃ. μετὰ τὴν προφητείαν οὐν τὴν πρὸς Ἰσραὴλ κελεύουσαν ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτὸν προφητεύει ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι μέλλουσιν ἅμα γίνεσθαι Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδας καὶ γίνεσθαί ποτε μίαν ἀμφοτέρων βασιλείαν. ᾡ δὴ μέλει τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων, λαβέτω τὰ ῥήματα τῆς ὅλης σήμερον ἀναγνώσεως καὶ τότε ὄψεται τὰ νοήματα δεδηλῶσθαι. «Καὶ εἶπε κύριος πρός με ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἰωσίου τοῦ βασιλέως· εἶδες ἃ ἐποίησόν μοι ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ«, οὐκ Ἰούδα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ« πρῶτον; «ἐπορεύθη ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους καὶ ἐπόρνεθσεν ἐκεῖ καὶ εἶπα μετὰ τὸ αὐτὴν πάντα ταῦτα· ἀνάστρεψον πρός με· καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστρεψε. καὶ εἶδεν τὴν ἀσυνθεσίαν αὐτῆς« τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς «ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα. καὶ εἶδον« οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰούδα, «διότι περὶ πάντων ὡν| ἐν οἷς ἐμοιχᾶτο ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτὴν καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου. δέον παιδευθῆναι τὸν Ἰούδαν — ἐξαπέστειλα γὰρ τὸν Ἰσραήλ, τὴν συναγωγὴν Ἰσραήλ, ἐξέβαλον αὐτοὺς εἰς Ἀσσυρίους «καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς« — «καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα. μετὰ τοσαῦτα δὲ ἃ ἐποίησα τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἐξαποστείλας αὐτόν, δοὺς βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, δέον παιδευθῆναι τὴν Ἰούδα συναγωγὴν ἐξ ὧν πεπόνθασιν ἐκεῖνοι, οἳ δὲ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐπαιδεύθησαν, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκαν τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν, ὥστε τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς συγκρίσει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τῆς συναγωγῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα δικαιοσύνην εἶναι δοκεῖν. καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς· καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἡ ἀδελφὴ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπορεύθη καὶ ἐπόρνευσε καὶ αὐτή, καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτῆς εἰς οὐδὲν ἡ πορνεία, καὶ ἐμοίχευσε τὸ ξύλον καὶ τὸν λίθον. καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί ψεύδει« ἐπέστρεψε πρός με. οὐκ ᾐδέσθῃ με ὧν πεποίηκα πεποίηκα τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἕνα τελείως ἐπιστρέφῃ, ἀλλὰ δέον αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφειν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἣ δὲ ἐπὶ ψεύδει ἐπέστρεψε· «καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἐπέστρεψε πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ψεύδει. καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με· ἐδικαίωσε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῆς Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσυνθέτου Ιούδα. τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ συγκρινόμενα τοῖς πταίσμασιν Ἰούδα γέγονε δικαίωσις τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς.