GOD'S declarations of great wrath to come
2In the last age upon the faithless world
3I make known, prophesying to all men
4According to their cities. From the time
5When the great tower fell and the tongues of men
6Were parted into many languages
7Of mortals, first was Egypt's royal power
8Established, that of Persians and of Medes
9And also of the Ethiopians
10And of Assyria and Babylon,
11Then the great pride of boasting Macedon,
12Then, fifth, the famous lawless kingdom last
13Of the Italians shall show many evils
14Unto all mortals and shall spend the toils
15Of men of every land. And it shall lead
16The untamed kings of nations to the West,
17Make laws for peoples and subject all things.
18Late do the mills of God grind the fine flour.
19Fire then shall destroy all things and give back
20To fine dust the heads of the high-leafed hills
21And of all flesh. First cause of ills to all
22Are covetousness and a lack of sense.
23For there shall be love of deceitful gold
24And silver; for than these did mortals choose
25Naught greater, neither light of sun nor heaven,
26Nor sea, nor broad-backed earth whence all things grow,
27Nor God who giveth all things, of all things
28The Father, nor yet faith and piety
29Chose they before them. Of impiety
30A fount, and of disorder forward guide,
31An instrument of wars and foe of peace
32Is lack of sense, that sets at enmity
33Parents and children. And along with gold
34Shall marriage not be honorable at all.
35And the land shall have its borders and each sea
36Its watchers craftily distributed
37To all those that have gold; for ages thus
38Shall those who purpose to possess the land
39That feedeth many plunder laboring men,
40In order that, procuring larger space,
41They may enslave them by a false pretense.
42And if the huge earth from the starry heaven
43Held not her throne far off there had not been
44For men an equal light, but, bought with gold,
45It had belonged to rich men and God must
46For poor men have prepared another world.
47There shall come to thee sometime from above
48A heavenly stroke deserved, O haughty Rome.
49And thou shalt be the first to bend thy neck
50And be rased to the ground, and thee shall fire
51Destructive utterly consume, cast down
52Upon thy pavements, and thy wealth shall perish,
53And wolves and foxes dwell in thy foundations.
54And then shalt thou be wholly desolate,
55As if not born. Where thy Palladium then?
56What god shall save thee, whether wrought of gold
57Or stone or brass? Or then where thy decrees
58Of senate? Where shall be the race of Rhea,
59Of Cronus, or of Zeus, and of all those
60Whom thou didst worship, demons without life,
61Images of the worn-out dead, whose tombs
62Crete the ill-starred shall hold a cause of pride,
63And honor the unconscious dead with thrones?
64But when thou shalt have had voluptuous kings
65Thrice five, enslaving the world from the east
66Unto the west, there shall be then a lord
67Gray-headed, having name of the near sea,
68The world inspecting with a nimble foot,
69Bringing gifts, having large amount of gold
70And plundering hateful silver even more,
71And stripping it off he shall pick it up.
72And he shall have part in all mysteries
73Of Magian shrines, display his child as god,
74Abolish all things sacred, and disclose
75The ancient mysteries of deceit to all.
76Sad then the time when he himself, sad one,
77Shall perish. And yet shall the people say:
78"Thy mighty strength, O city, shall fall down,"
79At once perceiving that the evil day
80Is coming on. And, thy most piteous fate
81Foreseeing, fathers and young children then
82Shall mourn together; they alas, alas! Shall wail
83Beside the Tiber's lamentable banks.
84After him at the latest day of all
85Shall three rule, filling out a name of God
86The heavenly, of whom is the power both now
87And to all ages. One of them being old
88The scepter long shall wield, most piteous king,
89Who in his houses shall shut up and guard
90All the goods of the world, in order that,
91When from the utmost limits of the earth
92That man, the matricidal fugitive,
93Shall come again, he may bestow these things
94On all and furnish Asia with great wealth.
95And then shalt thou mourn and shalt put aside
96The luster of the broad-striped purple robe
97Of thy commanders and wear mourning dress,
98O haughty queen, offspring of Latin Rome;
99The glory of that arrogance of thine
100Shall be for thee no longer, nor shalt thou,
101Ill-fated, ever be raised up again,
102But shalt lie prostrate. For the glory also
103Of eagle-bearing legions shall fall low.
104Where then thy power? What allied land shall be
105Subjected by thy follies lawlessly?
106For then in all earth shall confusion be
107Of mortals, when the Almighty shall himself
108To the tribunal come to judge the souls
109Of the living and the dead and all the world.
110And parents shall not be to children dear
111Nor children to their parents, on account
112Of their impiety and their distress
113Unlooked-for. Thine thenceforth shall gnashing be
114And scattering and conquest, and when the fall
115Of cities comes and yawnings of the earth.
116When a dragon charged with fire in both his eyes
117And with full belly shall come on the waves
118And shall afflict thy children, and there be
119Famine and war of kinsmen, near at hand
120Is the end of the world and the last day
121And judgment of the immortal God for them
122That are approved and chosen. And there shall
123Against the Romans first of all be wrath
124Implacable, and there, come a time
125Of drinking blood and wretched course of life.
126Alas, alas for thee, thou reckless land,
127Great barbarous nation; thou didst not perceive
128Whence naked and unworthy thou didst come
129To the sun's light, that to that place again
130Naked thou mightest withdraw and afterwards
131Come unto judgment, as unjustly judging. . . .
132With hands gigantic coming from on high
133Alone through all the world thou, shalt abide
134Under the earth. By naphtha and asphalt
135And brimstone and much fire thou utterly
136Shalt disappear and shalt be burning dust
137For ages; and each one who sees shall hear
138From Hades a great mournful bellowing
139And gnashing of teeth, and thee noisily
140Beating with thine own hands thy godless breast.
141For all together there is equal night;
142For rich and poor; and naked from the earth
143Naked again to earth they haste away
144And cease from life when they complete their time.
145No slave is there, nor any lord, nor tyrant,
146Nor king, nor leader having much conceit,
147Nor speaker learned in law, nor magistrate
148Judging for money; nor do they pour out
149The blood of sacrifices in libations
150Upon the altars; there sounds not a drum
151Nor cymbal. . . .
152Nor perforated flute that has a power
153To madden mind itself, nor sound of pipe
154That bears the likeness of a crooked snake,
155Nor trumpet, harsh-toned messenger of wars;
156Nor those made drunken in the lawless feasts
157Of revelry, nor in the choral dance;
158Nor sound of harp, nor harmful instrument;
159Nor strife, nor anger manifold, nor sword
160Is with the dead; but an eternity
161Common to all is keeper of the key
162Of the great prison before God's judgment-seat
163With images of gold and silver and stone
164Ye are ready, that unto the bitter day
165Ye may come to see your first punishment,
166O Rome, and gnashing of teeth. And no more
167Shall Syrian or Greek lay down his neck
168Beneath thy servile yoke, nor foreigner,
169Nor other nation. Plundered thou shalt be
170And made to suffer what thou didst exact,
171And in fear wailing thou shalt give, until
172Thou pay back all things; and thou for the world
173Shalt be a triumph and reproach of all.
174Then shall the sixth race of the Latin kings
175End life at last and scepters leave behind
176From the same race another king shall reign,
177Who shall rule every land and scepters wield;
178And having full power, and by the decrees
179Of God most mighty, shall his children rule,
180And of unshaken children is his race;
181For thus it is decreed while time moves round,
182When there shall be of Egypt thrice five kings.
183Thereafter when the limit of the time
184Of the Phenix shall come round, there shall a race
185Of peoples come to plunder, tribes confused,
186Enemy of the Hebrews. Then shall Ares
187Go plundering Ares; and he shall himself
188Destroy the haughty threatening of the Romans.
189For Rome's power perished then while in its bloom;
190An ancient queen with cities dwelling round,
191No longer shall the land of fertile Rome
192Prevail, when out of Asia one shall come
193To rule with Ares. And when he has wrought
194All these things, to the city afterwards
195Shall he come. And three times three hundred
196And eight and forty shalt thou make complete,
197When, taking thee by force, an ill-starred fate
198Shall come upon thee and complete thy name.
199Ah me, I the thrice wretched, shall I see
200Sometime that day to thee destructive, Rome,
201But to all Latins most? It honors him
202With counsels who goes, upon Trojan car
203With hidden children from the Asian land,
204Having a fiery soul. But when he shall
205Cut through the isthmus looking wistfully,
206Moving against all, passing o'er the sea,
207Then shall dark blood pursue the mighty beast.
208And a dog chased the lion which destroys
209The shepherds. And then shall they take away
210His scepter and to Hades he shall pass.
211And unto Rhodes shall come an evil last,
212But greatest, There shall also be for Thebes
213An evil conquest afterwards, And Egypt
214Shall perish by the wickedness of rulers,
215And he who, being mortal, even so
216Escaped headlong destruction afterwards,
217Thrice blessed was, even four times happy man.
218And Rome shall be a room, and Delos dull,
219And Samos sand. . . .
220Later again thereafter there shall come
221An evil to the Persians for their pride,
222And all their insolence shall come to naught.
223And then a holy Lord of all the earth
224Having raised up the dead shall wield the scepter
225Unto all ages. Thrice then unto Rome
226Will the Most High bring pitiable fate
227And unto all men, and by their own works
228They'll perish; but they would not be persuaded,
229Which would have been much more, to be desired.
230But when forthwith there shall increase for ill
231An evil day of famine and of plague
232And of intolerable battle-din,
233Even then again the former daring lord
234Shall, having called the senate, counsel take
235How he shall utterly destroy. . . .
236Dry land shall bloom together with the leaves
237Appearing; and the, heavenly firmament
238Shall bring to light upon the solid rock
239Rainstorm and flame, and much wind on the land,
240And over all the earth a multitude
241Of poisonous sowings. But with shameless soul
242Shall they again act, fearing not the wrath
243Of God or men, forsaking modesty,
244Longing for and greedy tyrants
245And violent sinners, false, insatiate,
246Workers of evil and in nothing true,
247Destroyers of faith, on foul speech
248In false words; they shall have no fill of wealth;
249But shamelessly will they strip off still more;
250Under the rule of tyrants they shall perish.
251The stars shall all fall forwards in the sea,
252All one by one, yet shall men see in heaven
253A brilliant comet, sign of much distress
254About to come, of war and battle-strife.
255Let me not live when the gay woman reigns,
256But then when heavenly grace shall reign within,
257And when the holy child shall crush with bonds
258The mischievous destroyer of all men,
259Opening the depth to view, and suddenly
260The wooden house shall cover mortals round.
261But when the generation tenth shall be
262Within the house of Hades, afterwards
263The mighty sway of one of female sex;
264And God himself shall increase many evils
265When she with royal honor has been crowned;
266And altogether then an impious age.
267The sun obscurely looking shines by night;
268The stars shall leave the sky; and with much storm
269A hurricane shall desolate the earth;
270And there shall be a rising of the dead;
271The running of the lame shall be most swift,
272The deaf shall hear, the blind shall see, and those
273That talk not shall talk, and to all
274Shall life and wealth be common. And the land
275Alike for all, divided not by walls
276Or fences, shall bear more abundant fruits.
277And fountains of sweet wine and of white milk
278And honey it shall give. . . .
279And judgment of the immortal God (great king).
280But when God shall change times . . .
281Winter producing summer, then shall be
282Oracles (all fulfilled) . . .
283But when the world has perished . . .
284And the earth shall perspire, when there shall be
285The sign of judgment. And from heaven shall come
286The King who for the ages is to be,
287Present to judge all flesh and the whole world.
288Faithful and faithless mortals shall see God
289The Most High with the saints at the end of time.
290And of men bearing flesh he judges souls
291Upon his throne, when sometime the whole world
292Shall be a desert and a place of thorns.
293And mortals shall their idols cast away
294And all wealth. And the searching fire shall burn
295Earth, heaven, and sea; and it shall burn the gates,
296Of Hades' prison. Then shall come all flesh
297Of the dead to the free light of the saints;
298But the lawless shall that fire whirl round and round.
299For ages. Howsoever much one did
300In secret, then shall he all things declare;
301For God shall open dark breasts to the light.
302And lamentation shall there be from all
303And gnashing of teeth. Brightness of the, sun
304Shall be eclipsed and dances of the stars.
305He shall roll up the heaven; and of the moon
306The light shall perish. And he shall exalt
307The valleys and destroy the heights of hills,
308And height no longer shall appear remaining
309Among men. And the hills shall with the plains
310Be level and no more on any sea
311Shall there be sailing. For the earth shall then
312With heat be shriveled and the dashing streams
313Shall with the fountains fall. The trump shall send
314From heaven a very lamentable sound,
315Howling the loathsomeness of wretched men
316And the world's woes. And then the yawning earth
317Shall show Tartarean chaos. And all kings
318Shall come unto the judgement seat of God.
319And there shall out of heaven a stream of fire
320And brimstone flow. But for all mortals then
321Shall there a sign be, a distinguished seal,
322The Wood among believers, and the horn
323Fondly desired, the life of pious men,
324But it shall be stumbling block of the world,
325Giving illumination to the elect
326By water in twelve springs; and there shall rule
327A shepherding iron rod. This one who now
328Is in acrostics which give signs of God
329Thus written openly, the Saviour is,
330Immortal King, who suffered for our sake;
331Him Moses typified when he stretched out
332Holy arms, conquering Amalek by faith,
333That the people might know him to be elect
334And honorable before his Father God,
335The rod of David and the very stone
336Which he indeed did promise, and in which
337He that believes shall have eternal life.
338For not in glory, but as mortal man
339Shall he come to creation, pitiable,
340Unhonored, without seemly form, to give
341Hope to the pitiable; and he will give
342Fair form to mortal flesh, and heavenly faith
343To those without faith, and he'll give fair form
344To the man who was fashioned from the first
345By the holy hands of God, and whom by guile
346The serpent led astray unto the fate
347Of death to go and knowledge to receive
348Of good and evil, so that leaving God
349He serves the ways of mortals. For at first
350Receiving him as fellow-counsellor
351From the beginning the Almighty said:
352"Let both of us, O Son, make mortal tribes--
353Stamping them with the impress of our image;
354I now by my hands, and thou by the Word
355In after time shalt for our form provide
356That we may jointly cause it to arise."
357Keeping in mind this purpose he shall come
358To the creation, to a holy virgin
359Bringing the likeness antitypical,
360Baptizing with water by the elders' hands,
361And by the Word accomplishing all things,
362And healing every sickness. By his word
363The winds shall he make cease, and with his foot
364Shall calm the raging sea, walking thereon
365In peaceful faith. And from five loaves of bread
366And a fish of the sea five thousand men
367Shall he fill in the desert, and then taking
368All the remaining fragments for the hope
369Of peoples shall he fill twelve baskets full.
370And the souls of the blessed he shall call,
371And love the pitiable, who, being mocked,
372Beaten, and whipped, shall evil do for good
373Desiring poverty. He who perceives
374All things and sees all things and hears all things
375Shall search the heart and bare it to conviction;
376For of all things is he himself the ear
377And mind and sight, and Word that maketh forms
378To whom all things submit, and he preserves
379Them that are dead and every sickness heals.
380Into the hands of lawless men, at last,
381And faithless he shall come, and they will give
382To God rude buffetings with impure hands
383And poisonous spittle with polluted mouths.
384And he to whips will openly give then
385His holy back; [for he unto the world
386A holy virgin shall himself commit.]
387And silent he will be when buffeted
388Lest anyone should know whose son he is
389Or whence he came, that he may talk to the dead.
390And he shall also wear a crown of thorns;
391For of thorns is the crown an ornament
392Elect, eternal. They shall pierce his side
393With a reed that they may fulfill their law;
394For of reeds shaken by another spirit
395Were nourished inclinations of the soul,
396Of anger and revenge. But when these things
397Shall be accomplished, of the which I spoke,
398Then unto him shall every law be loosed
399Which from the first by the decrees of men
400Was given because of disobedient people.
401He'll spread his hands and measure all the world.
402But gall for food and vinegar to drink
403They gave him; this inhospitable board
404They'll show him. But the curtain of the temple
405Shall be asunder rent and in midday
406There shall be for three hours dark, monstrous night.
407For it was no more pointed out again
408How to serve secret temple and the law,
409Which had been covered with the world's displays,
410When the Eternal came himself on earth.
411And into Hades shall he come announcing
412Hope unto all the saints, the end of ages
413And the last day, and having fallen asleep
414The third day he shall end the lot of death;
415Then from the dead departing he shall come
416To light, the first to show forth to the elect
417Beginning of resurrection, and wash off
418By means of waters of immortal spring
419Their former wickedness, that, being born
420From above, they might be no more enslaved
421To the unlawful customs of the world.
422And first then openly unto his own
423Shall he as Lord in flesh be visible,
424As he before was, and in hands and feet
425Exhibit four marks fixed in his own limbs,
426Denoting east and west and south and north;
427For of the world so many royal powers
428Shall against our Exemplar consummate
429The deed so lawless and condemnable.
430Daughter of Zion, holy one, rejoice,
431Who hast suffered many things; thy king himself
432Mounted upon a foal is hastening on;
433Behold, meek he shall come, that he may lift
434Our slavish yoke, so grievous to be borne
435Lying upon our neck, and may annul
436Our godless laws and bonds compulsory.
437Know thou thy God himself, who is God's Son;
438Him glorify and hold within thy heart,
439From thy soul love him and extol his name.
440Put off thy former friends and wash thyself
441From their blood; for he is not by thy songs
442Nor by thy prayers appeased, nor does he give
443To perishable sacrifices heed,
444Being imperishable; but present
445The holy hymn of understanding mouths
446And know who this one is, and thou shalt then
447Behold the Father. . . .
448And then shall all the elements of the world
449Abide in solitude, air, earth, sea, light
450Of gleaming fire, and heavenly sky and night
451And all days into one shall run together
452And into outward form all-desolate.
453For from heaven shall the stars of light all fall.
454And there shall fly no longer in the air
455The well-winged birds, nor stepping be on earth;
456For wild beasts shall all perish. Nor shall be
457Voices of men, nor of beasts, nor of birds.
458The world shall hear no serviceable sound,
459Being disordered; but a mighty sound
460Of threatening shall the deep sea sound aloud,
461And swimming trembling creatures of the sea
462Shall all die; and no longer on the waves
463Shall sail the freighted ship. And earth shall groan
464Blood-stained by wars; and all the souls of men
465Shall gnash with their teeth, [of the lawless souls
466Both by loud crying and by fear,] dissolved
467By thirst, by famine, and by plague and murders,
468And they shall call death beautiful and death
469Shall flee away from them; for death no more
470Nor night shall give them rest. And many things
471Will they in vain ask God who rules on high,
472And then will he his face turn openly
473Away from them. For he to erring men
474Gave in seven ages for repentance signs
475By the hands of a virgin undefiled.
476All these things in my mind God himself showed
477And all that have been spoken by my mouth
478Will he accomplish; and I know the number
479Of the sands and the measures of the sea,
480I know the inmost places of the earth
481And gloomy Tartarus, I know the numbers
482Of the stars, and the trees, and all the tribes
483Of quadrupeds, and of the swimming things
484And flying birds, and of men who are now
485And of those yet to be, and of the dead;
486For I myself the forms and mind of men
487Did fashion, and right reason did I give
488And knowledge taught; I who formed eyes and ears,
489Who see and hear and every thought discern,
490And who within am conscious of all things,
491I am still; and hereafter will convict
492[And punishing what any mortal did
493In secret, and upon God's judgment seat
494Coming and speaking unto mortal men].
495I understand the dumb man and I hear
496Him that speaks not, and how great the whole height
497From earth to heaven is, and the beginning
498And end I know, who made the heaven and earth.
499[For all things have proceeded from him, things
500From the beginning to the end he knows.]
501For I alone am God and other God
502There is not. They my image formed of wood
503Treat as divine, and shaping it by hand
504They sing their praises over idols dumb
505With supplications and unholy rites.
506Forsaking the Creator they were slaves
507To lewdness. Men possessing everything
508Bestow their gifts on things which cannot aid,
509As if they for my honors deemed these things
510All useful, with the smell of sacrifice
511Filling the feast, as if for their own dead.
512For they flesh and bones full of marrow burn
513Offering on altars, and they pour out blood
514To demons, and they kindle lights to me
515The giver of light, and as to a god
516That thirsts do mortals drunken pour out wine
517For nought to idols that can give no aid.
518I have no need of your burnt offerings,
519Nor your libations, nor polluted smoke,
520Nor blood most hateful. For in memory
521Of kings and tyrants they will do these things
522Unto dead demons, as to heavenly beings,
523Performing service godless and destructive.
524And godless they their images call gods,
525Forsaking the Creator, having faith
526That from them they derive all hope and life,
527Deaf and dumb, in the evil putting trust,
528But they are wholly ignorant of good.
529Two ways did I myself before them set,
530Of life and of death, and before them set
531Judgment to choose good life; but they themselves
532Hastened to death and to eternal fire.
533Man is my image, having upright reason.
534For him a table pure and without blood
535Make ready and with good things fill it up,
536And give the hungry bread, the thirsty drink,
537And to the body that is naked clothes
538From thine own labors with unsullied hands
539Providing. Recreate the afflicted man,
540And help the weary, and provide for me
541The living One a living sacrifice
542Sowing piety, that also I to thee
543Sometime may give immortal fruits, and light
544Eternal thou shalt have and fadeless life
545When I shall prove all by fire. For all things
546I shall fuse and shall pick out what is pure,
547Heaven will I roll up and the depths of earth
548Lay open, and then will I raise the dead
549Making an end of fate and sting of death,
550And afterward for judgment will I come
551Judging the manner both of pious men
552And impious; I will set ram close to ram,
553Shepherd to shepherd, calf to calf, for test,
554Close to each other; whosoever were
555Exalted, proven by trial, and who stopped
556The mouth of every one, that they themselves
557Vieing with them that lead a holy life
558May likewise bring them into slavery,
559Enjoining silence, urged by love of gain,
560Not proved before me, then shall all withdraw.
561No longer henceforth shalt thou grieving say
562"Morrow shall be," nor "yesterday has been;"
563Not many days of care, nor spring, nor winter,
564Nor summer then, nor autumn, nor sunset
565Nor sunrise; for a long day I will make.
566And unto ages there shall be the light
567Longed for of the great . . .
568(Christ Jesus, of ages) . . . .
569Thou who art self-begotten, undefiled,
570True and eternal, measuring by thy power
571From heaven the fiery blast, and with rough torch
572From clashing doth the scepter keep, and calm
573The crashings of the heavy-sounding thunders,
574And driving earth into confusion dost
575Hold back the rushing noises. . . .
576And the fire-blazing scourges thou dost blunt
577Of lightnings, and the vast outpour of storms
578And of autumnal hail, and chilling stroke
579Of clouds and shock of winter. For of these
580Each one indeed is marked out in thy mind,
581Whatever seems good to thyself to do
582Thy Son nods his assent to, having been
583Begotten in thy bosom before all
584Creation, fellow-counselor with thee,
585Former of mortals and creator of life.
586Him with the first sweet utterance of mouth
587Thou didst address: "Behold, let us make man
588In a form altogether like our own,
589And let us give him life-sustaining breath;
590Him being yet mortal all things of the world
591Shall serve, and unto him formed out of clay
592We will subject all things." And thou didst speak
593These things by word, and all things came to pass
594According to thy heart; and thy command
595Together all the elements obeyed,
596And an eternal creature was arranged
597In mortal figure, also heaven, air, fire,
598And earth and water of the sea, sun, moon,
599Chorus of stars, hills . . .
600Both night and day, sleeping and waking up,
601Spirit and passion, soul and understanding,
602Art, might and strength, and the wild tribes
603Of living things both swimming things and fowls,
604And of those walking, and amphibia,
605And those that creep and those of double nature;
606For acting in accord with his own will
607Under thy leading he arranged all things.
608But in the latest times the earth he passed,
609And coming late from the virgin Mary's womb
610A new light rose, and going forth from heaven
611Put on a mortal form. First then did Gabriel show
612His strong pure form; and bearing his own news
613He next addressed the maiden with his voice:
614"O virgin, in thy bosom undefiled
615Receive thou God." Thus speaking he inbreathed
616God's grace on the sweet maiden; and straightway
617Alarm and wonder seized her as she heard,
618And she stood trembling; and her mind was wild
619With flutter of excitement while at heart
620She quivered at the unlooked-for things she heard.
621But she again was gladdened and her heart
622Was cheered by the voice, and the maiden laughed
623And her cheek reddened with a sense of joy,
624And spell-bound was her heart with sense of shame.
625And confidence came to her. And the Word
626Flew into the womb, and in course of time
627Having become flesh and endued with life
628Was made a human form and came to be
629A boy distinguished by his virgin birth;
630For this was a great wonder to mankind,
631But it was no great wonder unto God
632The Father, nor was it to God the Son.
633And the glad earth received the new born babe,
634The heavenly throne laughed and the world rejoiced.
635And the prophetic new-appearing star
636Was honored by the wise men, and the babe
637Born was shown in a manger unto them
638That obeyed God, and keepers of the herds,
639And goatherds and to shepherds of the lambs;
640And Bethlehem called by God the fatherland
641Of the Word was chosen. . . .
642And in heart practice lowliness of mind
643And cruel deeds hate, and thy neighbor love
644Wholly, even as thyself; and from thy soul
645Love God and do him service. Therefore we
646Sprung from the holy race of the heavenly Christ
647Are called of common blood, and we restrain
648In worship recollection of good cheer,
649And walk the paths of piety and truth.
650Not ever are we suffered to approach
651The inmost sanctuary of the temples,
652Nor pour libations to carved images,
653Nor honor them with prayers, nor with the smells
654Much-pleasing of flowers, nor with light of lamps,
655Nor yet with shining votive offerings
656Adorn them, nor with smoke of frankincense
657That sends forth flame of altars; nor do thou,
658Adding unto the sacrifice of bulls
659And taking pleasure in defilement send
660Blood of sheep-slaughtering outrage, thus to give
661Ransom for penalty beneath the earth;
662Nor by the smoke of flesh-consuming pyre
663And odors foul pollute the light of heaven;
664But joyful with pure minds and cheerful soul,
665With love abounding and with generous hands,
666With soothing psalms and songs that honor God,
667We are commanded to sing praise to thee,
668The imperishable and without deceit,
669All-father God, of understanding mind,