True turning, or a false return
'And 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.' When we sin we do nothing else than, becoming stone-hearted, commit adultery with 'the stone.'
When we sin and play the harlot 'under every leafy tree,' we too commit adultery with the wood. 'And faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart but falsely.' If we have turned to God but incompletely, we are charged with not having turned 'with the whole heart.' Therefore: 'faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart.' He did not say, And faithless Judah turned, and stood — but: 'and faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but turned falsely.'
True turning, then, is to read the old things, to know those who were justified, to imitate them; to read those things, to see those who were blamed, to guard against falling into those blames; to read the books of the new covenant, the words of the apostles; after reading, to write all this on the heart and live by it — so that a bill of divorce may not be given to us also, but we may be able to come to the holy inheritance, and when the fullness of the nations has been saved Israel may then be able to enter. For if the fullness of the nations enters, then all Israel will be saved, 'and there will be one flock, one shepherd,' teaching us to glorify the almighty God in Christ Jesus himself, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever.
Amen.
Greek
«Καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα, καὶ ἐπορεύθη καὶ ἐπόρνευσεν καὶ αὐτή. πρότερον πορνεύσαντος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πεπόρνευκεν ὕστερον καὶ Ἰούδας. «καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς οὐδὲν ἡ πορνεία αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐμοίχευσε τὸ ξύλον καὶ τὸν λίθον. ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ποιοῦμεν ἢ λιθοκάρδιοι γινόμενοι μοιχεύομεν «τὸν λίθον.
ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν καὶ πορνεύωμεν «ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους«, καὶ ἡμεῖς μοιχεύομεν τὸ ξύλο. «καὶ οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἡ ἀσύ7 νθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ψεύδει. εἰ ἐπεστρέψαμεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐλλιπῶς δέ, ἐγκαλούμεθα ὡς οὐκ «ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας« ἐπιστρέψαντες. διὸ «οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς. οὐκ εἶπεν· καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα, καὶ ἔστη, ἀλλά· «καὶ οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ψεύδει« ἐπέστρεψεν.
ἡ οὖν ἀληθῶς ἐπιστροφή ἐστιν ἀναγνῶναι τὰ παλαιά, εἰδέναι τοὺς δικαιωθέντας, μιμήσασθαι αὐτούς, ἀναγνῶναι ἐκεῖνα, ἰδεῖν τοὺς μεμφθέντας, φυλάξασθαι περιπεσεῖν ταῖς μέμψεσιν ἐκείναις, ἀναγνῶναι τὰ βιβλία τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης, τῶν ἀποστόλων τοὺς λόγους, μετὰ τὸ ἀναγνῶναι γράψαι ταῦτα πάντα εἰς τὴν καρδίαν, βιῶσαι κατ᾿ αὐτά, ἴνα μὴ καὶ ἡμῖν δοθῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, ἀλλὰ δυνηθῶμεν ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὴν κληρονομίαν τὴν ἁγίαν, καὶ τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν ἐθνῶν σωθέντος δυνηθῇ τότε ὁ Ἰσραὴλ εἰσελθεῖν· ἐὰν γὰρ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν Μνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, τότε πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται<, «καὶ γενήσονται μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμὴν« διδάσκων δοξάζειν τὸν παντοκράτορα θεὸν έν αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
Ἀμήν.