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Repentance of Nineveh
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
3. Part the Third
The King came forth and shewed himself,
The city was moved when it saw his sackcloth;
What noble then hesitated
Whether he should put off his fine linen?
Even the king wept when he saw
That the whole city was mourning.
The city wept before the King,
When it saw the ashes on his head;
The King wept in the presence of the city,
Because it had become black with sackcloth.
The whole city shed tears,
And excited the stones of the wall to weep.
Whoever prayed in this manner?
Whoever thus made supplication?
Whoever became so lowly?
Whoever to this degree humbled himself?
Whoever thus cast off his abominations,
Both the secret and the known ones?
Whoever thus threw from him,
His pleasures as though they were his members?
Whoever at the sound of a voice alone,
Thus broke his heart for his sins?
Whoever, listening to a word of mouth,
Became thus agitated in his conscience?
Whoever at the voice of a feeble man,
Was thus seized with mortal agonies?
Whoever thus, by repentance,
Pictured God before his eyes?
Whoever thus saw the Just One,
Unsheathing his hidden sword?
One might then see that great city
Thus given up to sighs and weeping.
Who was there able to endure
The plaintive voice of children,
Who, loving a long life,
Had heard that their days were cut off?
Who, further, could contain himself
To hear the groaning of the aged men?
For those desiring the grave, and those who should bury them,
Had heard that the city should be overthrown.
Who was able to endure
The great weeping of the young men,
Who, while anticipating their nuptials,
Were invited, as guests, to their deaths?
Who was able to endure
The weeping voice of the brides,
Who, when sitting in their bridal chambers,
Were invited to the depths of the earth?
Who could refrain from tears,
Before the King who was weeping?
Who, instead of his royal palace,
Was invited to descend to Sheol;
And who, now King among the living,
Should be but dust among the dead;
Who, in place of his chariot of state,
Had heard that his city should be overwhelmed;
In place of his delicacies and pleasures,
It was reported that death should swallow him up;
And, instead of his couch of ease,
Both the city and its King, suddenly,
Were invited to the abyss of wrath!
The King convoked his armies,
He wept with them and they with him.
The King rehearsed in their presence
The battles in which they had been crowned;
He also brought to their remembrance
In what perils they had conquered.
But now his soul was feeble, and he was humbled,
For there was none to redeem nor help.
He began thus to address them:—
“This, my friends, is not a war
That we can go forth and conquer as we have been wont,
And triumph according to our pleasure;
For even heroes are now trembling
At the mighty rumour which is proclaimed abroad.
One Hebrew now conquers us
Who have conquered many:
He hath made kings, even us, to tremble;
And his word hath greatly disturbed us.
We have overthrown many cities,
But in our own city he vanquishes us.
Nineveh, the mother of heroes,
Is afraid of a solitary feeble one.
The lioness in her lair
Trembles at the Hebrew.
Asshur has roared against the world,
But the voice of Jonah roars against her.
Behold! the race of Nimrod—the mighty one—
Is altogether brought low!”
The King offered good advice
To his mighty hosts:
“I counsel you, my beloved friends,
That even now ye be not cast down;
Let us contend like the brave,
That we perish not as men of no spirit.
For whoever, when he is tried,
Taketh heart and acts with courage:
If he dies, it is as a hero,
If he lives, it is as a conqueror.
Thus, death being one of renown to him,
And on the other hand, life being illustrious,
The magnanimous, through his bravery,
Earns two advantages.
Even as the faint-hearted
Gains a double evil;
For his death is altogether ignominious,
And his life inglorious.
Let us then be armed and brave;
Let us act like men and become renowned.
For although we should not gain our purpose,
We shall have the fame of men of courage.
“It hath been reported to us by tradition,
Which came of old time from our fathers,
That there is righteousness with God,
But that His property also is goodness;
And that by His justice He threatens,
And by His goodness He has pity.
Let us therefore placate His justice,
And His goodness will favourably regard us.
For if His justice is reconciled,
His goodness will afford us aid.
Let His righteousness be placated,
And His loving-kindness will abound to all men.
But even if His justice is indignant,
Our prayer will not be blamed;
Although it is not appeased,
Our supplication will not be complained of.
Between justice and goodness,
Repentance will not be spurned.
Let us then fabricate a new weapon,
For a new city, my beloved;
Since a secret war calls upon us,
Let us take to ourselves hidden weapons.
“This hath been told us, by those of old time,
Who have proclaimed the truth in the world,
Whose words have descended by tradition,
And the rumours of their renowned deeds—
(For the human race is not deprived
Of a knowing discretion,)
The fame hath walked through the earth,
Of just men who have been delivered in this manner;
It hath also filled the world
That the foolish shall be condemned.
We have also heard of the unjust,
How they, acting daringly, have been destroyed.
And we may see as in a mirror,
That the presumptuous shall be rebuked.
A standard is set up in the earth
That the spectators may contemplate it.
Goodness, further, has been published to us,
That those who hear may look upon it;
And repentance is pictured in the earth
That sinners may view it.
“Who is there, my friends, who is not acquainted
With the overwhelming deluge?
The history is familiar to us
Of the inundation in the days of Noah;
When, by the breaking forth of justice,
The whole human race was drowned.
Then, no one was deprived of discretion,
And no one was blinded as to knowledge.
My sons, the wicked were condemned,
That generation in the days of Noah.
Even then a voice made proclamation
Concerning the flood which was coming.
The ungodly who heard it, provoked to wrath,
They treated that voice with derision.
The sound of the axe and the hammer,
Preached respecting that deluge;
The noise of the saw in its sawing,
Cried aloud of the inundation.
They derided the voice of the axe,
They mocked at the voice of the hammer,
Till the ark being completed,
Then justice was revealed;
And justice being revealed
Presumption was condemned.
The fountains were opened and roared
Against the wicked mockers.
Suddenly the flood cried out
Against the ungodly who had derided.
Those who scoffed at the sound of the axe
Were tormented with the voice of thunders;
Those who laughed at the sound of the saw
Were blinded by earthquakes and lightnings!
They began to hasten to the ark,
At which they had once mocked;
Its door was shut in their faces
For they had derided its building.”