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Repentance of Nineveh

St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853

The Conclusion

Compared with the repentance of the Ninevites,
I have called ours but a shadow.
A penitent who has truly feared,
In the midst of safety is earnest in well-doing;
When he is a little filled with hope,
Every day he remembers his chastening.
A servant whom his master corrects,
Through all the day is mindful of his stripes.
Every man while fearing, is circumspect,
But the wrath passes over, and he forgets it;
At the beginning of wrath there is repentance,
But when it is finished there is rebellion;
As though it sufficed to him to hope
That the calamity will not return;
Or as though the Almighty had assured him
He will not again punish his folly.

Now the Ninevites at that season
Repented with all their hearts;
The whole city gave Him thanks
Which had so long been quaking;
The whole city pronounced Him blessed,
For like a ship it had been agitated.
Both rational and brute creatures praised Him,
The children of men and the beasts of the field;
Instead of sackcloth they had white garments;
They were reformed in newness of heart.

Blessed be He who loves the righteous,
Who multiplied penitents in Asshur!