Ephraim: The Nisibene Hymns
Nisibene Hymn 55: Taunts on Both Sides
See, the Evil One reproached Death, and was reproached in turn;
from each, to each, and against each went their taunts.
Refrain: Glory to you, Son of the Lord of all, who died for all!
For he was raised to give life to all, in the day of his coming.
Jonah, who conquered you and came back from Sheol,
became my advocate when he asked why sinners were spared.
Do not slander the son of Amittai, Evil One.
He showed a face of anger so that they might praise you all the more.
All your persuasion is quite powerless, tyrant Death,
for nothing of all you have said pleases me.
When was the word of truth ever pleasing to you?
There is a gulf between you and truthfulness, you liar.
I am righteous all my days, with nothing to repent of.
I am the one who rescues the children of men from you.
Proclaim your repentance, Death; you are welcome!
Look, Saul too is among the prophets, a great cause of scorn.
If you, Death, are counted righteous, then for my own part
I do not give up hope of repentance either.
I have made no idol to stand beside my Lord, you hater of your Lord!
Look, you kill the living by means of dead idols.
That you, Death, are half of me, I know, and I am half of you.
If half of me repents, it repents; but I marvel at it.
I am your partner in the share, but not in the sin.
Mine are the slain, and yours are the slayers, whom you made sin.
My craftiness weeps for itself when I dispute with you;
my tricks mourn over me when I meet you.
Sorcerers and fortune-tellers, with all their offenses:
the fire that you lit in the world, I have put out in Sheol.
You penitent, who strain out gnats and swallow the just!
The chaste will tear you apart, crying out from inside your belly.
It is the treasure house where I keep all the righteous.
Their resurrection threatens you with harm, for you persecuted them.
The greedy one, who carries all creatures in his bowels,
look, he throws it in my face that I am robbed of my possessions!
Do not lament before the blow, for it has not yet reached you.
The day will come when you will cry out, and I will hear and rejoice.
The fire will come that will strip the very skin off you,
as you stripped Job’s skin with the potsherd.
The scent of sloth is beginning, as it were, to hover over me;
so it is a dream that I stopped for a little while.
It was not that words failed me, and so I was silent;
I grieve for the time that has passed idly.
The harm your talk does is very great; I wish I had not heard it!
For my whole mind is set on my work.
This human race that is lost was undone by wandering thought;
sloth together with negligence brought it under the yoke.
The madness of desire bid for wealth and bought it,
and quarreling with boastfulness stood surety for it.
With persistence for my strength I wage my war,
and if I neglect it even a little, my rule is nothing.
By continual dripping I wear the rocks clean,
for continual dripping can dissolve even a mountain.
Habit becomes master even over nature;
it trains and leads even lions like beasts of burden.
Habit, ease, and increase, with persistence:
by these freedom is conquered, though it is stubborn above all things.
If its will is firmly set, it breaks the chains;
but if it is slack, a flimsy net can catch it.
If Freedom shouts, we are scattered;
but if she is silent, we gather together to mock her.
Let us stop talking so much, or it will lead to much sloth.
With one mind let us attack the wall, and see, it is broken down.
You go and see to diseases, and I will see to snares,
for sins are a great comfort to me, and plagues to you.
And even though I have paused, I have not paused from my cares,
for my will never rests, but is ready.