Nisibene Hymn 21: The Priest and the King

John, who was a torch, exposed and rebuked the wanton. They hurried to put out the torch, so that they could let loose the desire of their lust. Be a lamp in brightness, and make the works of darkness cease, so that whenever your teaching shines, no one at its rising may dare to listen to the lusts of darkness. Refrain: Blessed be he who made you our lamp! [a]

A great blessing was hidden in it, in the reproof of Elijah. Elisha served him and asked for a double reward for his service. It gave him double glory, for he was clothed with his virtues in double measure. You who have loved the reproof of Valgesh, your master, rich in gifts, may you inherit the treasure of his wisdom! Refrain: Blessed be he who makes your teaching rich! [b]

May greed be overcome by your fasting, as it was by the fasting of Daniel! May lust be put to shame before your body, as it was put to shame before Joseph! May the love of money be overcome by you, as it was overcome before Simeon! May you bind on earth as he did, and loose on high in his likeness, for your faith is like his! Refrain: Blessed is he who entrusted his ministry to you! [c]

May your chastity be like Elisha’s, and your celibacy like Elijah’s; your covenant with your eyes like Job’s, your tender mercies like David’s! May you be without envy like Jonathan, and your firmness be like Jeremiah’s, your gentleness like the apostles’! Yours be the ancient things of the prophets, yours the new things of the apostles. Refrain: Blessed be he who filled you with their treasures! [d]

Be a crown to the priesthood, and may the ministry be made to shine in you! Be a brother to the elders, and an overseer to the deacons; be a teacher to the young, a staff and a hand to the old; be a wall to the consecrated virgins. In your way of life may the covenant prevail, and may the church be adorned in your beauty. Refrain: Blessed be he who chose you to be priest! [e]

In your poverty may the hateful custom of the house of Gehazi be brought to nothing! In your holiness may the abominable custom of the house of Eli be abolished! In your unity may the treacherous greeting from the lips of Iscariot the deceiver be done away! Pour out all our thinking, and form it anew from the beginning! Refrain: Blessed be he who refines us in your crucible! [f]

In your way of life let Mammon be put to shame, who has been lord over our freedom! Let the disease that is habitual to us and pleasant to us be taken away from us. Abolish the causes that have kept up customs full of harm! Evil things have taken hold of us through custom; let good things take hold of us through custom! O Lord, be the cause of help to us. Refrain: Blessed be he who chose you for the sake of our life! [g]

Let evil customs be cut off! Let the church not possess wealth. Let her possess souls to be satisfied, and if she is satisfied in this way, let it be in wonderful measure! And let her dead not be buried like the pagans, with hope cut off, with robes and wailing and lamentation. For the living man is clothed in garments, but for the dead man a coffin is his all. Refrain: Blessed be he who turns us back again to our dust! [h]

A cause of evil is lust, and also the greed of the house of Eli, the thievishness of the house of Gehazi, and the abuse of Nabal. Close up these hateful springs, so that there may not be a great outpouring and defilement come from it, and even you be reached by its overflow. May the Lord hold back their outpourings! Refrain: Blessed be he who dried up their overflowings! [i]

Give the old man leave to speak; tell the young to keep silent. For the stranger who comes in to you learns about you from your discipline, that is, who speaks first, and who second and third. And if every man keeps his mouth, and every man knows his rank, they will call you happy. Refrain: May our Lord fulfill your desire!

Let the voice of your truth be single, and your assumed voices without number: the image of truthfulness on your heart, and on your face every aspect, sadness, gladness and weakness. To the one who goes astray show that you are angry; to the one who is chaste show that you are glad. Be single toward the Godhead, and manifold toward mankind. Refrain: Blessed be he who is all things with all men! [j]

If you hear an evil report from truthful men who do not deceive, pour out tears to quench the fire that burns in others. Let the wise pray with you, and appoint a fast for those who have knowledge, and let your house be in mourning for the one who is lost in sin, so that he may turn back in repentance. Refrain: Blessed be he who found the sheep that was lost!

Do not give your ear to everyone, or liars will overwhelm you. Do not lend your foot to everyone, or vile people will lead you astray. Do not give your soul to everyone, or the insolent will trample you. Keep your hand from the false man, or he will gather thorns into your hand. Be far off and near at hand. Refrain: Blessed be he who is near though far!

See, the fame of the new king resounds and goes out into the world! To the plundered he is a comfort, and to the plunderers a terror. Vomiting has come on the greedy, so that they may give back all they have swallowed. Let them be made afraid of you as well, so that between a priest and a righteous king the former customs may be done away. Refrain: Blessed be he who was angry, and turns and has mercy! [k]

There is one who finds an opportunity and ventures, and there is one who forces and compels his own will. One thinks that judgment is held in reserve, and another that it will not come at all. There is one who steals and quenches his thirst, and there is one who steals and thirsts to steal. The rich steal and the poor steal; but the hungry steal by measure, and the full steal without measure. Refrain: Blessed be he who has searched out all wills!

But now he has given opportunity, and every man has shown his will: what kind it is, what it is like, and what he has chosen for himself in preference to what. He has taken temptation away from every man, so that not even the man who is not hateful should deny him. He has given us opportunity so that we may understand, and better think this power a chastisement that profits much. Refrain: Blessed is he who rebukes us for our profit! [l]

For he does not wish to lay his yoke on our neck by compulsion. He gave us opportunity, and we grew proud, so that when we rebelled and were punished, we might love his light yoke and choose his pleasant staff. Our rest is very wearisome to us, for in his compulsion there is restfulness, and in his yoke there is relief. Refrain: Blessed be he whose labor is pleasantness!

The whole world, like a body, had fallen into a heavy sickness; in the fever of paganism it burned and wasted away and fell. The right hand of tender mercy touched it and dealt with its soul in pity. It quickly cut away its paganism, for that was the cause of its sickness; and the world was purged, and sweated, and was restored. Refrain: Glory to the hand that has healed!

The land will have peace in your days, for it has seen that you are full of peace. In you the churches will be built and clothed with their ornaments. Their books will be opened in them, their tables will be spread, and their ministers will be adorned. From them thanksgiving will go up as first fruits to the Lord of peace. Refrain: Blessed is he who revives our churches! [m]

Let your prayer go up to heaven, and with it let reconciliation go up! May the Lord of heaven rain down his blessings on our …, his consolations on our afflictions, and his gathering on our scattering. May he awaken his jealousy with his love; may his righteousness avenge our disgrace; may his grace blot out our iniquity! Refrain: Blessed is he who blesses his flock! [n]

The first priest and the first king were balanced as if in scales, as though each were painted in the other. So too were Valgesh and the son of that king, for they were gentle and calm. May these present ones be like each other! May the priests be shining lights, the king glowing lights, and likewise illustrious judges! Refrain: Blessed be he who has enlightened our souls! [o]

From the king’s office come laws, and from the priest’s office propitiation. For both to be mild is hateful; for both to be strong is grievous. Let one be strong and one be tender; with prudence and discernment let fear be mingled with mercy. Let our priesthood be tender, and our king strong. Refrain: Blessed be he who has mingled our helps!

Let the priests pray for the kings, that they may be a wall to mankind! From the side of the kings let there be victory, and from the side of the priests, faith! May victory save our bodies, and faith our souls! May kings put an end to war, and priests put an end to strife! May disputing and quarreling cease! Refrain: Blessed be the Son of him who gives peace to all! Praise to you for your gift! [p]