Hosea 14:1

"Let Samaria be destroyed, for she has provoked her God to bitterness. Let them perish by the sword. May their infants be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women be ripped open." LXX: "Samaria will be destroyed because she has resisted her God; they will fall by the sword, and their suckling infants will be dashed to the rock, and their women with child will be ripped open." We have often said that the ten tribes are called Samaria, whose capital is now called Augusta, that is, Sebaste, from the name of Augustus. But why Samaria was called a city, we read in the Book of Kings. Therefore the prophet commands, and, to speak more truly, speaks wishfully, that Samaria may perish. And when God had prepared so many good things for her, she is against God, and follows more the idols of demons. But Symmachus did not say "perish," but μεταμελήσει that is "will repent," and she will repent of her mistake, which has turned the sweetest God into bitterness, so that her warriors perish by the sword, little ones and infants are dashed to the ground, and her pregnant and expectant mothers are torn in death. It is to be believed that all of this happened to them during their captivity and distress, when they lost their homeland and were subdued into perpetual slavery. The understanding of heretics is easy, that they are called Samaritans, since they boast of obeying God's commands, not because they are keepers of His law; but that they say they are, in the likeness of the schism of Novatians, who also call themselves καθαροὺς, that is, "pure," although they are the filthiest of all, denying repentance, by which sins are cleansed, according to what is written: "Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow" (Ps. X). And in Isaiah: "Wash yourselves, be clean" (Isaiah 1:16). However, it is not called a baptism, but rather all penance that washes away the filth of sins. Let Samaria therefore perish, because whatever she speaks, opposes her God, and turns his mercy into cruelty, so much so that even the men who have attained the perfect age of malice ("Al." warfare)) are cut down by the spiritual sword. But the little ones and infants are dashed against the rock. About which we also read in the Psalm: "Blessed is he who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock." (Ps. 136:9). Also, its pregnant animals that have conceived from evil seed, will be…

"Turn back, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, 'Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.'" LXX: "Convert, O Israel, to the Lord your God, because you have been weakened by your iniquities: Take with you words, and return to the Lord, say to him, 'Take away all iniquity, and receive what is good, and we will render the calves of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more: you are our gods; for the fatherless finds mercy in you.'" As Samaria was perishing. "And men, women, and children having been killed, slaughtered, and torn apart, Israel as a whole is provoked to repentance so that he who is sick or has fallen in his iniquities may return to the doctor and receive health, or he who has fallen may begin to stand up again; and it is taught how one should do penance. 'Take with you words,' that is to say, prayers and confession of sins, and turn to the Lord both in words and in works; and say to Him: 'Take away all iniquity,' leave nothing of our weakness and former ruin, lest again the evil seed bring forth live plants. And He says, 'Accept the good': For if You do not take away our evils, we cannot have anything good to offer You, according to what is written elsewhere: 'Turn away from evil and do good, and we will offer You the calves of our lips.'" (Psalm 36:27) For the calves which in Hebrew are called Pharim, the Septuagint translated "fruit" as Pheri, by a similarity of false speech. But the calves of our lips are praises to God and thanksgiving: "For a contrite spirit is a sacrifice to God" (Ps. L, 19). Therefore, with carnal victims now rejected, a pure confession is a placable sacrifice to God. Those who say they will offer calves of their lips and sing God's praises with their voice, also promise that they will not have hope in Assyria or trust in Egyptian horses, because the deceitful horse does not bring salvation (Psal. XXXII), and that they will not worship the golden calves that they made in Dan and Bethel with their own hands and, therefore, they say: "We will not say the work of our hands are our…