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

(.&#8212;Glory to Thee, my Lord, for Thee&#8212;with joy Heaven and earth worship!)

1.&#160; My thought bore me to Jordan,&#8212;and I saw a marvel when there was revealed&#8212;the glorious Bridegroom who to the Bride&#8212;shall bring freedom and holiness.

2.&#160; I saw John filled with wonder,&#8212;and the multitudes standing about him,&#8212;and the glorious Bridegroom bowed down&#8212;to the Son of the barren that he might baptize Him.

3.&#160; At the Word and the Voice my thought marvelled:&#8212;for lo! John was the Voice;&#8212;our Lord was manifested as the Word, that what was hidden should become revealed.

4.&#160; The Bride was espoused but knew not&#8212;who was the Bridegroom on whom she gazed:&#8212;the guests were assembled, the desert was filled,&#8212;and our Lord was hidden among them.

5.&#160; Then the Bridegroom revealed Himself;&#8212;and to John at the voice He drew near:&#8212;and the Forerunner was moved and said of Him&#8212;&#8220;This is the Bridegroom Whom I proclaimed.&#8221;

6.&#160; He came to baptism Who baptizes all,&#8212;and He showed Himself at Jordan.&#8212;John saw Him and drew back,&#8212;deprecating, and thus he spake:&#8212;

7.&#160; &#8220;How, my Lord, willest Thou to be baptized,&#8212;Thou Who in Thy baptism atonest all?&#8212;Baptism looks unto Thee;&#8212;shed Thou on it holiness and perfection?&#8221;

8.&#160; Our Lord said &#8220;I will it so;&#8212;draw near, baptize Me that My Will may be done.&#8212;Resist My Will thou canst not:&#8212;I shall be baptized of thee, for thus I will it.&#8221;

9.&#160; &#8220;I entreat, my Lord, that I be not compelled,&#8212;for this is hard that Thou hast said to me,&#8212;&#8216;I have need that thou shouldst baptize Me;&#8217;&#8212;for it is Thou that with Thy hyssop purifiest all.&#8221;

10.&#160; &#8220;I have asked it, and it pleases Me that thus it should be;&#8212;and thou, John, why gainsayest thou?&#8212;Suffer righteousness to be fulfilled,&#8212;and come, baptize Me; why standest Thou?&#8221;

11.&#160; &#8220;How can one openly grasp&#8212;in his hands the fire that burns?&#8212;O Thou that art fire have mercy on me,&#8212;and bid me not come near Thee, for it is hard for me!&#8221;

12.&#160; &#8220;I have revealed to Thee My Will; what questionest thou?&#8212;Draw near, baptize Me, and thou shalt not be burned.&#8212;The bridechamber is ready; keep Me not back&#8212;from the wedding-feast that has been made ready.&#8221;

13.&#160; &#8220;The Watchers fear and dare not&#8212;gaze on Thee lest they be blinded;&#8212;and I, how, O my Lord, shall I baptize Thee?&#8212;I am too weak to draw near; blame me not!&#8221;

14.&#160; &#8220;Thou fearest; therefore gainsay not&#8212;against My Will in what I desire:&#8212;and Baptism has respect unto Me.&#8212;Accomplish the work to which thou hast been called!&#8221;

15.&#160; &#8220;Lo! I proclaimed Thee at Jordan&#8212;in the ears of the people that believed not and if they shall see Thee baptized of me,&#8212;they will doubt that Thou art the Lord.&#8221;

16.&#160; &#8220;Lo! I am to be baptized in their sight,&#8212;and the Father Who sent Me bears witness of Me&#8212;that I am His Son and in Me He is well pleased,&#8212;to reconcile Adam who was under His wrath.&#8221;

17.&#160; &#8220;It becomes, me, O my Lord, to know my nature&#8212;that I am moulded out of the ground,&#8212;and Thou the moulder Who formest all things:&#8212;I, then, why should I baptize Thee in water?&#8221;

18.&#160; &#8220;It becomes thee to know wherefore I am come,&#8212;and for what cause I have desired that thou shouldst baptize Me.&#8212;It is the middle of the way wherein I have walked;&#8212;withhold thou not Baptism.&#8221;

19.&#160; &#8220;Small is the river whereto Thou art come,&#8212;that Thou shouldst lodge therein and it should cleanse Thee.&#8212;The heavens suffice not for Thy mightiness;&#8212;how much less shall Baptism contain Thee!&#8221;

20.&#160; &#8220;The womb is smaller than Jordan;&#8212;yet was I willing to lodge in the Virgin:&#8212;and as I was born from woman,&#8212;so too am I to be baptized in Jordan.&#8221;

21.&#160; &#8220;Lo! the hosts are standing!&#8212;the ranks of Watchers, lo! they worship!&#8212;And if I draw near, my Lord, to baptize Thee,&#8212;I tremble for myself with quaking.&#8221;

22.&#160; &#8220;The hosts and multitudes call thee happy,&#8212;all of them, for that thou baptizest Me.&#8212;For this I have chosen thee from the womb:&#8212;fear thou not, for I have willed it.

23.&#160; &#8220;I have prepared the way as I was sent:&#8212;I have betrothed the Bride as I was commanded.&#8212;May Thy Epiphany be spread over the world&#8212;now that Thou art come, and let me not baptize Thee!&#8221;

24.&#160; &#8220;This is My preparation, for so have I willed;&#8212;I will go down and be baptized in Jordan,&#8212;and make bright the armour for them that are baptized,&#8212;that they may be white in Me and I not be conquered.&#8221;

25.&#160; &#8220;Son of the Father, why should I baptize Thee?&#8212;for lo! Thou art in Thy Father and Thy Father in Thee.&#8212;Holiness unto the priests Thou givest;&#8212;water that is common wherefore askest Thou?&#8221;

26.&#160; &#8220;The children of Adam look unto Me,&#8212;that I should work for them the new birth.&#8212;A way in the waters I will search out for them,&#8212;and if I be not baptized this cannot be.&#8221;

27.&#160; &#8220;Pontiffs of Thee are consecrated,&#8212;priests by Thy hyssop are purified;&#8212;the anointed and the kings Thou makest.&#8212;Baptism, how shall it profit Thee?&#8221;

28.&#160; &#8220;The Bride thou betrothedst to Me awaits Me,&#8212;that I should go down, be baptized, and sanctify her.&#8212;Friend of the Bridegroom withhold Me not&#8212;from the washing that awaits Me.&#8221;

29.&#160; &#8220;I am not able, for I am weak,&#8212;Thy blaze in my hands to grasp.&#8212;Lo! Thy legions are as flame;&#8212;bid one of the Watchers baptize Thee!&#8221;

30.&#160; &#8220;Not from the Watchers was My Body assumed,&#8212;that I should summon a Watcher to baptize Me.&#8212;The body of Adam, lo! I have put on,&#8212;and thou, son of Adam, art to baptize Me.&#8221;

31.&#160; &#8220;The waters saw Thee, and greatly feared;&#8212;the waters saw Thee, and lo! they tremble!&#8212;The river foams in its terror;&#8212;and I that am weak, how shall I baptize Thee?&#8221;

32.&#160; &#8220;The waters in My Baptism are sanctified,&#8212;and fire and the Spirit from Me shall they receive;&#8212;and if I be not baptized they are not made perfect&#8212;to be fruitful of children that shall not die.&#8221;

33.&#160; &#8220;Fire, if to Thy fire it draw near,&#8212;shall be burnt up of it as stubble.&#8212;The mountains of Sinai endured Thee not,&#8212;and I that am weak, wherein shall I baptize Thee?&#8221;

34.&#160; &#8220;I am the flaming fire;&#8212;yet for man&#8217;s sake I became a babe&#8212;in the virgin womb of the maiden.&#8212;And now I am to be baptized in Jordan.&#8221;

35.&#160; &#8220;It is very meet that Thou shouldst baptize me,&#8212;for Thou hast holiness to purify all.&#8212;In Thee it is that the defiled are made holy; but Thou that art holy, why art Thou to be baptized?&#8221;

36.&#160; &#8220;It is very right that thou shouldst baptize Me,&#8212;as I bid, and shouldst not gainsay.&#8212;Lo! I baptized thee within the womb;&#8212;baptize thou me in Jordan!&#8221;

37.&#160; &#8220;I am a bondman and I am weak.&#8212;Thou that freest all have mercy on me!&#160; Thy latchets to unloose I am not able;&#8212;Thy exalted head who will make me worthy to touch?&#8221;

38.&#160; &#8220;Bondmen in My Baptism are set free;&#8212;handwritings in My washing are blotted out;&#8212;manumissions in the water are sealed ;&#8212;and if I be not baptized all these come to nought.&#8221;

39.&#160; &#8220;A mantle of fire the air wears,&#8212;and waits for Thee, above Jordan;&#8212;and if Thou consentest to it and willest to be baptized,&#8212;Thou shalt baptize Thyself and fulfil all.&#8221;

40.&#160; &#8220;This is meet, that thou shouldst baptize Me,&#8212;that none may err and say concerning Me,&#8212;&#8216;Had He not been alien from the Father&#8217;s house,&#8212;why feared the Levite to baptize Him?&#8217;&#8221;

41.&#160; &#8220;The prayer, then, when Thou art baptized,&#8212;how shall I complete over Jordan?&#8212;When the Father and the Spirit are seen over Thee,&#8212;Whom shall I call on, as priest?&#8221;

42.&#160; &#8220;The prayer in silence is to be completed:&#8212;come, thy hand alone lay thou on Me.&#8212;and the Father shall utter in the priest&#8217;s stead&#8212;that which is meet concerning His Son.&#8221;

43.&#160; &#8220;They that are bidden, lo! all of them stand;&#8212;the Bridegroom&#8217;s guests, lo! they bear witness&#8212;that day by day I said among them,&#8212;&#8216;I am the Voice and not the Word.&#8217;&#8221;

44.&#160; &#8220;Voice of him that cries in the wilderness,&#8212;fulfil thou the work for which thou camest,&#8212;that the desert whereunto thou wentest out may resound&#8212;with the mighty peace thou preachedst therein.&#8221;

45.&#160; &#8220;The shout of the Watchers has come to my ears;&#8212;lo! I hear from the Father&#8217;s house&#8212;the hosts that sound forth the cry,&#8212;&#8216;In Thy Epiphany, O Bridegroom, the worlds have life.&#8217;&#8221;

46.&#160; &#8220;The time hastes on, and the marriage guests&#8212;look to Me to see what is doing.&#8212;Come, baptize Me, that they may give praise&#8212;to the Voice of the Father when it is heard!&#8221;

47.&#160; &#8220;I hearken, my Lord, according to Thy Word:&#8212;come to Baptism as Thy love constrains Thee!&#8212;The dust worships that whereunto he has attained,&#8212;that on Him Who fashioned him he should lay his hand.&#8221;

48.&#160; The heavenly ranks were silent as they stood,&#8212;and the Bridegroom went down into Jordan;&#8212;the Holy One was baptized and straightway went up,&#8212;and His Light shone forth on the world.

49.&#160; The doors of the highest were opened above,&#8212;and the voice of the Father was heard,&#8212;&#8220;This is my Beloved in Whom I am well pleased.&#8221;&#8212;All ye peoples, come and worship Him.

50.&#160; They that saw were amazed as they stood, at the Spirit Who came down and bare witness to Him.&#8212;Praise to Thy Epiphany that gladdens all,&#8212;Thou in Whose revelation the worlds are lightened!