Good and evil not both from God’s mouth; seek turning
Through these we learn that the Lord has not said, nor is cause of the prisoners of the earth being humbled by the sin, nor of human judgments bending opposite God—he loves what is just and straight—nor of a human being becoming worthy to condemn; for the opposites cannot, he says, have come out from the Lord’s mouth, the good things and the evil; for neither does a tree make evil fruits, nor an evil tree good fruits. Being treated unjustly by evil ones, then, is beside the divine judgment, yet it still comes about among those overlooked by God, as happened to the Israelites under the enemies, and in God’s turning it is loosed. For which reason those handed over unto punishment must seek this out.
Greek
Klagel. Jerem. 3, 38. Διὰ τούτων μανθάνομεν μὴ εἰρηκέναι τὸν κύριον μηδὲ αἴτιον εἶναι τοῦ ταπεινωθῆ.ναι τοὺς δεσμίους τῆς γῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, οὐδὲ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα κρίματα έγκλίνειν κατέναντι τοῦ θεοῦ. θεοῦ, δίκαιον ἀγαπᾷ καὶ εὐθύ, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῦ ἄξιον γενέσθαι καταδικάσαι ἄνθρωπον· οὐ γὰρ δύναται, φησί, τὰ ἐναντία ἐκ στόματος κυρίου ἐξεληλυθέναι, τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὸ κακόν· οὔτε γὰρ >δίνδρον καρποὺς πονηροὺς ποιεῖ, οὔτε δένδρον πονηρὸν καρποὺς ἀγαθούς<. τὸ οὖν ἀδικεῖσθαι ἄνδρας ὑπὸ πονηρῶν παρὰ τὴν θείαν κρίσιν ἐστί, γίνεται δὲ ὅμως έν τοῖς περιορωμένοις ὑπὸ θεοῦ, καθὰ τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων συνέβη, καὶ ἐν ἐπιστροφῇ θεοῦ λύεται. διὸ χρὴ ταύτην ἀναζητεῖν τοὺς ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ παραδοθέντας.
About this text
Origen, Fragments on Lamentations. Original English Translation from the Greek (Klostermann).
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.