Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume XIII/Ephraim the Syrian and Aphrahat/Hymns For the Feast of the Epiphany/Hymn II

(Nearly identical with Hymn XIII. On the Nativity.)

(.&#8212;To Thee be praise Who in this feast makest all to exult!)

1.&#160; In the time of the King whom they called by the name Semha &#8212;our Lord was manifested among the Hebrews.&#8212;Thus Semha and Denha reigned together,&#8212;the King on earth and the Son on high&#8212;blessed be His power!

2.&#160; In the days of the King who wrote down men in the taxing,&#8212;our Saviour came down and wrote down men in the Book of Life; He wrote and was written;&#8212;on high He wrote us, on earth He was written; glory to His Name!

3.&#160; His Birth was in the days of the King whose name was Semha.&#8212;Symbol and truth met one another;&#8212;King and King, Semha and Denha.&#8212;That kingdom bore His Cross; blessed be He Who took it up!

4.&#160; Thirty years abode He on earth in poverty.&#8212;Voices of praise in all measures,&#8212;let us weave my brethren for our Lord&#8217;s years;&#8212;thirty crowns for thirty years; Blessed be His number!

5.&#160; In the first year, mistress of treasure and filled with blessings,&#8212;let the Cherubin give thanks with us, they who bear&#8212;the Son in glory Who gave up His glorious state,&#8212;and toiled and found the sheep that was lost;&#8212;to Him be thanksgiving!

6.&#160; In the second year let the Seraphin multiply thanksgiving with us;&#8212;they who cried &#8220;Holy&#8221; to the Son, and turned and saw Him&#8212;among unbelievers put to shame.&#8212;He endured scorn and taught us glory; to Him be glory given!

7.&#160; In the third year let Michael and his hosts give thanks with us;&#8212;they who were wont to serve the Son on high,&#8212;and saw Him on earth doing service.&#8212;He washed men&#8217;s feet and cleansed men&#8217;s souls; blessed be His meekness!

8.&#160; In the fourth year let all the heavens give thanks with us!&#160; Too narrow for the Son it shall burst to see&#8212;how He lay on the couch of despised Zaccheus.&#8212;He filled the couch and had filled the heavens;&#8212;to Him be thanksgiving!

9.&#160; In the fifth year let the Sun that burns the earth with its heat&#8212;give thanks to our Sun that He straitened His largeness,&#8212;and tempered His force that the eye might endure to see Him;&#8212;the inward eye of a pure soul; blessed be His radiance!

10.&#160; In the sixth year again let all the air give thanks with us,&#8212;in the vastness whereof all things exult.&#8212;It saw its great Lord that He became&#8212;a little babe in a lowly bosom; blessed be His honour!

11.&#160; In the seventh year let the clouds and winds sound the trumpet with us,&#8212;they whose dew sprinkles the faces of the flowers,&#8212;yet saw they the Son that He subdued His brightness,&#8212;and endured scorn and shameful spitting;&#8212;blessed be His salvation!

12.&#160; Yet again in the eighth year let Creation give glory,&#8212;from whose fountain the fruits draw nurture.&#8212;She adored when she saw the Son at the breast,&#8212;pure babe nurtured by pure milk; blessed be His good pleasure!

13.&#160; In the ninth year let the earth give glory, which when her lap is watered then brings forth the root.&#8212;She saw Mary an unwatered soil&#8212;whose fruit that she yielded is a mighty sea; to Him be exultation!

R., To Thee be glory, Son of the Lord of all, Who givest life to all!

14.&#160; In the tenth year let Mount Sinai give glory, which melted&#8212;before its Lord!&#160; It saw against its Lord&#8212;stones taken up:&#160; but He took stones&#8212;to build the Church upon the Rock; blessed be His building!

15.&#160; In the eleventh year let the great sea give thanks&#8212;to the hand of the Son Who measured it!&#160; And it wondered to see how He came down and was washed&#8212;in humble waters, He that cleanses Creation; blessed be His triumph!

16.&#160; In the twelfth year let the holy Temple give thanks&#8212;which beheld the Child as He sat&#8212;among the elders:&#160; the doctors were silenced&#8212;as the Lamb of the feast bleated in the feast; blessed be His atonement!

17.&#160; In the thirteenth year let diadems with us give thanks&#8212;to the King Who triumphed and was crowned&#8212;with a crown of thorns:&#160; He wove for man&#8212;a mighty diadem at His right hand; blessed be He That sent Him!

18.&#160; In the fourteenth year let the Passover of Egypt give thanks&#8212;to the Passover that came and made passover for all,&#8212;and instead of Pharaoh overwhelmed Legion,&#8212;and instead of horsemen drowned demons; blessed be His retribution!

19.&#160; In the fifteenth year let the lamb of the flock give thanks,&#8212;that our Lord slew it not as did Moses,&#8212;but redeemed by His Blood mankind.&#8212;He the Shepherd of all died for all; blessed be He That begat Him!

20.&#160; In the sixteenth year let the seed-corn in mystery give thanks&#8212;to that Husbandman Who gave His Body for seed&#8212;in a barren soil that corrupts all things.&#8212;It proved fertile and yielded new bread; blessed be He that is pure!

21.&#160; In the seventeenth year let the Vine give thanks to our Lord,&#8212;the Vineyard of truth, wherein souls were&#8212;as the scions.&#160; He gave peace to this vineyard, but laid waste that vineyard which bare wild grapes; blessed be the Uprooter!

22.&#160; In the eighteenth year let our leaven give thanks&#8212;to the leaven of truth that penetrates and draws&#8212;all minds and makes them to become&#8212;one mind in one doctrine; blessed be His doctrine!

23.&#160; In the nineteenth year let the Salt give thanks for Thy Body.&#8212;O blessed Babe it is the soul&#8212;that is the salt of the Body, and Faith&#8212;the salt of the soul whereby it is preserved; blessed be Thy preservation!

R., Glory to Thy Epiphany, O God and Man!

24.&#160; In the twentieth year let temporal wealth with us give thanks,&#8212;which men that are perfect have cast off and abandoned&#8212;because of the &#8220;Woe&#8221;; and have gone and loved&#8212;poverty because of its beatitude; blessed be He Who desired it!

25.&#160; In the one-and-twentieth year let the waters give thanks that were sweetened&#8212;in a mystery of the Son.&#160; In the honey of Samson&#8212;the nations tasted bitterness therein that destroyed them:&#8212;they had life in the Cross that redeemed them; blessed be its pleasantness!

26.&#160; In the two-and-twentieth year let arms and the sword give thanks,&#8212;for they could not slay our Adversary.&#8212;Thou art He Who slew him as Thou art He Who restored&#8212;the ear that Simon&#8217;s sword cut off; blessed be Thy healing!

27.&#160; In the three-and-twentieth year let the ass likewise give thanks,&#8212;that gave the colt whereon He should ride;&#8212;He opens likewise the mouth of wild asses,&#8212;the offspring gave Him praise; blessed be the praise of Thee!

28.&#160; In the four-and-twentieth year let wealth give thanks to the Son!&#8212;Treasures were amazed at the Lord of treasures,&#8212;how He grew up among the poor.&#8212;He made Himself poor that He might make all rich; blessed be His participation!

29.&#160; In the five-and-twentieth year let Isaac give thanks to the Son&#8212;Who in the mount saved him from the knife,&#8212;and became in his stead the lamb to be slain.&#8212;The mortal escaped, and He died Who gives life to all; blessed be His offering!

30.&#160; In the six-and-twentieth year let Moses with us give thanks,&#8212;who feared and fled from the slayers;&#8212;let him give thanks to the Son, for He it was Who on His feet&#8212;entered Sheol and spoiled it and came forth; blessed be His Resurrection!

[31.&#160; In the seven-and-twentieth year let the eloquent Orators&#8212;give thanks to the Son, for they could not find&#8212;means whereby we should prevail in our judgment:&#8212;He was silent in judgment and made our judgment prevail; to Him be applause!]

32.&#160; In the seven and twentieth year let all Judges give thanks,&#8212;who as being just have put to death illdoers;&#8212;let them give thanks to the Son Who instead of the evil&#8212;died as being good, though He was Son of the Just One; blessed be His mercies!

33.&#160; In the eight-and-twentieth year let them give thanks to the Son,&#8212;all the mighty men who saved us not&#8212;from the captors.&#160; One is to be worshipped,&#8212;Who was slain and laid hold and saved us; blessed be His deliverance!

34.&#160; In the nine-and-twentieth year let Job with us give thanks,&#8212;who bare sufferings in his own behalf:&#8212;but our Lord bare on our behalf&#8212;the spitting and the stripes, the thorns and the nails; blessed is His compassion!

35.&#160; In the year that is the thirtieth let them give thanks with us;&#8212;the dead that have lived through His dying,&#8212;the living that were converted in His Crucifixion,&#8212;and the height and the depth that have been reconciled in Him!&#160; Blessed be He and His Father!