[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and all guilt of perfidy,
to be one with them that possess Thy truth
and to share the lot of Thy Holy Beings,
to the end that this worm which is man (2)
may be lifted out of the dust
to the height of eternal things,
and rise from a spirit perverse
to an holy understanding,
and stand in one company before Thee
with the host everlasting and the spirits of knowledge
and the choir invisible, (3)
to be for ever renewed
with all things that are. (4)
=======
18 - XI, 15-27
----
{15} I give thanks unto Thee, O my God,
I extol Thee, O my Rock, (1)
and because Thou hast wrought wonders with me
[I bless Thy name.]
For Thou hast made me to know Thy deep, deep truth;
Thy wonders hast Thou revealed unto me,
and I have beholden [Thy truth]
[and witnessed Thy] deeds of loving kindness.
So am I come to know
that though Thou art ever just,
yet in Thy loving kindness
lies salivation for men],
and that without Thy mercy
[theirs is but doo]m and perdition.
{20} Lo, for mine own part,
when I mark the nature of man,
how he ever reverts [to perversity and wrongdoing],
to sin and anguish of guilt,
a fountain of bitter mourning
wells up within me;
[my tears flow like rivers], (2)
and sorrow is not hidden from mine eyes. (3)
These things go to my heart
and touch me to the bone,
that I raise a bitter lament
and make doleful moan and groan,
and keep plying my harp in mournful dirge
and bitter lamentation,
till wrongdoing be brought to an end,
and men have no more to suffer
punishing plague and stroke.
But when that time shall come,
then shall I play my harp
with music of salvation,
and my lyre to tune of joy;
I shall ply the pipe and flute
in praise without cease.
Though none there be among all Thy works
can rehearse the full tale of Thy [wonders],
yet then, in the mouths of them all
shall Thy name be praised;
{25} then with mouth of [ ]
they shall go blessing Thee for ever,
and along with the [Holy Being]s
chorus their song of joy. (4)
For sorrow and sighing shall be no more; (5)
wrongdoing shall be [at an end],
and Thy truth shall burst forth as the dayspring
in never-ending glory
and peace perpetual.
=======
19 - XI, 27-XII, 35
----
Blessed art Thou, [O Lord,]
Who hast given unto man the insight of knowledge,
to understand Thy wonders,
[discern Thy truth,]
tell forth Thine abundant mercies.
Blessed art Thou, O God of compassion and grace,
for the greatness of [Thy] power,
the abundance of Thy truth,
the profusion of Thy mercies
{30} over all Thy works.
Rejoice the soul of Thy servant in Thy truth,
and in Thy righteousness make me clean,
even as when [aforetime] I waited on Thy bounty
and hoped on Thy mercies,
and Thou didst bring release to my travail, (1)
and even as when I leaned on Thy compassion,
and Thou didst comfort me in my sorrow.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord,
for Thou it is hast wrought these things,
and placed in the mouth of Thy servant
[power to pray] and to win Thy grace,
and all readiness of tongue;
and hast prepared for me the guerdon of [righteousness]
[and the reward of devotion],
{35} that I may attain to [stand in Thy presence].
. . . . .
[ ] my soul will exult (2)
[because it hath come to abide in Thy presence]
[and to dwell] secure in [Thy] ho[ly] abode,
in calm and quietude.
[In] my tent [I will chant]
[songs of joy] and salvation, (3)
and in the midst of them that fear Thee
tell forth the praise of Thy name
to all ages to come,
pouring forth prayer and supplication (4)
always, at all times and seasons; (5)
when daylight comes forth from [its abode];
(xii,5) when, in its ordered course,
day reaches its turning-point,
in accordance with the rules of the sun;
and again at the turn of the evening,
when daylight departs,
as the rule of darkness begins;
and again in the season of night,
when it reaches its turning-point,
and when the morning breaks;
and when, in the presence of the daylight,
night withdraws to its abode;
when night departs and day comes in,
alway, at all the birthdays of time,
at the moments when seasons begin; (6)
when they reach their turning-points;
when they come in order due
according to their several signs, (7)
as these have dominion in due order assured,
[decreed] by the mouth of God
and by the law of existence
—that law which shall ever be
{10} and beside which is none else,
for the God of Knowledge it is
that hath determined it,
and along with Him there never hath been
nor ever shall be another.
Behold, for mine own part,
I have reached the inner vision,
and through the spirit Thou hast placed within me,
come to know Thee, my God.
I have heard Thy wondrous secret,
nor heard it amiss. (8)
Through Thy holy spirit,
through Thy mystic insight,
Thou hast caused a spring of knowledge to well up within me,
a fountain of strength,
pouring forth waters unstinted,
a floodtide of lovingkindness and of all-consuming zeal.
Thou hast put an end to [my darkness],
{15} and the splendor of Thy glory has become unto me as a light ev[erlasting].
Wickedness hath been [consumed] altogether,
and deceit [existeth] no more.
[Perverseness is gone down] to perdition,
for [ ] existeth no more [ ]
Bluster (9) is at an end,
for it [cannot withstand] Thine anger.
[The sins which I committed aforetime]
[I committed in] overhaste;
for [now am I come to know that] no man is righteous with Thee.
{20} For there is none can understand all Thy hidden things,
nor answer Thy charge against him;
but all must needs wait upon Thy goodness,
for Thou, in [Thy] lovingkindness [wilt reveal to them Thy truth,]
that they may come to know Thee;
and when Thy glory bursts upon them, they shall rejoice.
Only to the measure of each man's knowledge
and to the meed of his understanding
hast Thou given men access [to Thee],
to serve Thee in their several domains,
even as Thou hast assigned their roles,
[but] never to overstep Thy word.
And I—I was taken from dust,
nipped out of clay;
I was but a source of filth
{25} and of shameful nakedness,
a heap of dust,
a thing kneaded with water,
a dwellingplace of darkness,
a shape moulded of clay,
which must needs revert to dust in due season
[and lie once more] in the dust
whence it was taken.
And how can (such) dust and [clay]
give answer to [Him who shapes] it;
or how understand what He doeth,
or how stand before its Accuser?
Even the holy [angels,]
the everlasting [spirits,]
the reservoirs of glory,
the wellsprings of knowledge and power,
{30} —even they [cannot] tell forth all Thy glory,
nor stand against Thine anger,
nor answer Thy charge.
For Thou art ever righteous,
and none can gainsay Thee.
How much less, then, he who returns to his dust?
Lo, I am stricken dumb.
What can I say against this?
I have spoken but according to my knowledge
and only with such sense of right
as a creature of clay may possess.
But how can I speak except Thou open my mouth,
and how understand, if Thou give me not insight;
or how contend, save Thou open my heart;
or how walk straight save Thou gu[ide my feet?]
{35} How can [my] fo[ot] stand,
how can I be strong in power,
how can I endure [save by Thy grace?]
. . . . .
(From this point it becomes impossible to distinguish the separate hymns.)
=======
XIII, 1-21
----
When first the world began
[Thou didst shed an] holy [sp]irit
[on all Thou didst bring into being,]
and make them all to attest
Thy wondrous mysteries. (1)
. . . . .
[Thou didst show Thy] handiwork
in all that [Thou] didst make.
[Thou didst reveal Thy glory
in all their varied shapes,]
[Thy] truth [in all] their works.
. . . . .
On all that [keep Thy charge]
[Thou bestowest grace abounding]
{5} and mercies never failing;
but upon all things that defy Thee
Thou bringest perdition eternal.
[So, if mortal men
keep faith with Thee,
behold, Thou crownest their he]ads
with glory everlasting (2)
and [compassest their] works
with perennial joy;
but [the face of] the wicked
[Thou coverest with shame.]
On those whom Thou hast set [in] glory (3)
[to show forth] the full measure of Thy works,
yea, on the hosts of Thy spirits,
the congregation of [Thy Holy Beings,]
[the heavens] with all their array,
the earth with all its produce,
all things in lakes and seas
—on those, ere Thou didst create them,
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]