Ephraim: Hymns on the Nativity
Nativity Hymn 19: The Days of Creation Praise His Birth
The first year in which our Savior was born
is a source of blessing and a ground of life;
for by it are borne
many triumphs, the sum of all help.
As the first day of “the beginning,”
the great pillar of all creatures,
bears the building of creation,
so the year of the Firstborn bears help for mankind.
Refrain: Blessed be your birth, which gladdens all creatures!
In the second year of our Savior’s birth
the Magi exult and the Pharisees mourn;
treasures are opened,
kings are hurrying, and infants are slain.
For in that year there are offered in Bethlehem
offerings precious and terrible:
while love made an offering of gold,
hatred offered infants by the sword.
The day of the One who gives light to all exults in his birth:
a pillar of radiance, which by its beams drives away
the works of darkness.
After the pattern of that day on which light was created
and parted the darkness that spread
over the fair beauty of creation,
the radiance of our Savior’s birth
came in to part the darkness that lay on the heart.
The first day, the source and the beginning,
sets the roots in order to make all things grow.
Our Savior’s day
is praised far above it: a tree planted in the world.
For his death is like the root in the earth,
his resurrection like the crown of the tree in heaven;
his words reach out on every side like branches,
and his body, too, is like fruit for those who eat.
Let the second day sing praise to the birth
of the second Son, and to his voice, which first
commanded the firmament, and it was made,
which divided the waters that were above
and gathered the seas that were below.
He who divided waters from waters
divided himself from the Watchers and came down to man.
For the waters that were gathered at his command,
he split open the fountain of life and gave drink.
Let the third day weave with many kinds of hymns
the crown of psalms, and with one voice present it
for the birth of him who gave growth
to buds and flowers on the third day.
But now he, the Giver of all growth,
has come down and become the all-holy Flower;
he has sprung up from the thirsting earth and gone up,
so that he may adorn and crown the conquerors.
Let the fourth day, first among the four, give praise
to the birth of him who created on the fourth day
the two lights,
which fools worship, sightless and blind as they are.
The Lord of the lights has come down,
and from the womb has shone on us as the Sun.
His splendors have opened the eyes of the blind;
his rays have given light to those who wander.
Let the fifth day praise him who created
on the fifth day the creeping things and the dragons,
of whose kind is the serpent.
He deceived our mother with cunning, a maiden who lacked counsel.
The deceiver who had mocked the maiden
was exposed as false by the Dove,
who sprang from a virgin’s womb and came forth,
the Wise One who trod down the crafty.
Let the sixth day praise him who created
Adam on the eve of the Sabbath, Adam whom Satan envied;
like a pretended friend
he cheered him while he offered poison in his food.
The Medicine of Life came to them both;
he put on a body and came near to both.
The mortal tasted him and lived through him;
the devourer who ate him was left empty.
Let the seventh day hallow the Holy One,
who hallows the Sabbath and gave rest to all that live.
The Blessed One, who did not grow weary,
cares for mankind and cares for the beasts.
When Freedom fell under the yoke,
he came to birth and became a slave to set it free.
He was struck on the face by servants in the judgment hall;
as Lord, he broke the yoke that lay on the free.
Let the eighth day, which circumcised the Hebrews,
praise him who commanded his namesake Joshua
to circumcise with a flint
the people circumcised in body, while the heart within was unholy.
Look! As on the eighth day, as a baby,
he came to circumcision, he who circumcises all.
Though the sign of Abraham is on his flesh,
the blind daughter of Zion had defiled it.
Let the tenth day sing praises in its turn.
For Yod, the first letter of Jesus (a beautiful name!), stands for ten in numbering.
He who is like a lamb turns the numbers back.
For when the count goes up to ten,
it turns back to begin again from one.
O great mystery of what is in Jesus,
whose might turns all creation back again!
The All-Purifier, the Firstborn, on the day of his purifying
purified the purification of the firstborn and was offered in the temple.
The Lord of offering needed offerings,
so as to make an offering of birds.
In his birth the types were fulfilled,
in his purification and circumcision the allegories.
He came and paid off debts in his coming down;
in his resurrection he went up and sent down treasures.