And that the land of the Jews was also to be laid waste, hear the words spoken by the prophetic Spirit; the words were spoken as from the person of peoples marveling at what had happened. They are these: "Zion has become a wilderness, as a wilderness Jerusalem has become; the house, our holy place and the glory which our fathers blessed, has become a curse, has become burned with fire, and all its glorious things have fallen. And at these things you held back and kept silent, and humbled us greatly." And that Jerusalem was laid waste, as it had been foretold would happen, you are convinced. And concerning its desolation, and that none of them should be permitted to dwell in it, it was said through Isaiah the prophet thus: "Their land is a wilderness; before their face their enemies shall devour it, and there shall be none of them dwelling in it." And that it is guarded by you so that no one may be in it, and that death has been decreed against any Jew caught entering it, you know accurately.