Epiphany Hymn 2: Semha and Denha

In the time of the king whom they called by the name Semha,

our Lord was made manifest among the Hebrews.

So Semha and Denha reigned together,

the king on earth and the Son on high.

Blessed be his power!

Refrain: Praise to you, who make all rejoice in this feast!

In the days of the king who wrote people down in the census,

our Savior came down and wrote people down in the Book of Life.

He wrote and was written:

on high he wrote us, on earth he was written. Glory to his name!

His birth was in the days of the king whose name was Semha.

Symbol and truth met one another:

king and King, Semha and Denha.

That kingdom bore his cross; blessed be he who took it up!

Thirty years he lived on earth in poverty.

Let us weave, my brothers and sisters, voices of praise

in every kind of verse for our Lord’s years:

thirty crowns for thirty years. Blessed be his number!

In the first year, mistress of treasure and filled with blessings,

let the cherubim give thanks with us, they who carry

the Son in glory, who gave up his glorious state,

and toiled, and found the sheep that was lost.

To him be thanksgiving!

In the second year let the seraphim multiply thanksgiving with us,

they who cried “Holy” to the Son, and then turned and saw him

put to shame among unbelievers.

He endured scorn and taught us glory; to him be glory given!

In the third year let Michael and his hosts give thanks with us,

they who used to serve the Son on high,

and saw him on earth doing service.

He washed people’s feet and cleansed people’s souls. Blessed be his meekness!

In the fourth year let all the heavens give thanks with us!

Too narrow for the Son, they will burst to see

how he reclined on the couch of despised Zacchaeus.

He filled the couch, and he had filled the heavens.

To him be thanksgiving!

In the fifth year let the sun, which burns the earth with its heat,

give thanks to our Sun, because he narrowed his greatness

and tempered his force so that the eye might bear to see him,

the inner eye of a pure soul. Blessed be his radiance!

In the sixth year let all the air, in its turn, give thanks with us,

in whose vastness all things exult.

It saw its great Lord become

a little baby in a humble lap. Blessed be his honor!

In the seventh year let the clouds and winds sound the trumpet with us,

they whose dew sprinkles the faces of the flowers;

yet they saw the Son subdue his brightness

and endure scorn and shameful spitting.

Blessed be his salvation!

In the eighth year, once again, let creation give glory,

from whose fountain the fruits draw their nourishment.

She worshiped when she saw the Son at the breast,

a pure baby nourished by pure milk. Blessed be his good pleasure!

In the ninth year let the earth give glory, which brings forth the root when her lap is watered.

She saw Mary, an unwatered soil,

whose fruit that she yielded is a mighty sea. To him be exultation!

Refrain: Glory to you, Son of the Lord of all, who give life to all!

In the tenth year let Mount Sinai give glory, which melted

before its Lord! It saw stones

taken up against its Lord; but he took stones

to build the church upon the Rock. Blessed be his building!

In the eleventh year let the great sea give thanks

to the hand of the Son, who measured it! And it wondered to see how he came down and was washed

in humble waters, he who cleanses creation. Blessed be his triumph!

In the twelfth year let the holy temple give thanks,

which saw the Child as he sat

among the elders. The teachers were silenced

as the Lamb of the feast bleated at the feast. Blessed be his atonement!

In the thirteenth year let diadems give thanks with us

to the King who triumphed and was crowned

with a crown of thorns. He wove for man

a mighty diadem at his right hand. Blessed be he who sent him!

In the fourteenth year let the Passover of Egypt give thanks

to the Passover who came and made a passover for all,

and instead of Pharaoh overwhelmed Legion,

and instead of horsemen drowned demons. Blessed be his retribution!

In the fifteenth year let the lamb of the flock give thanks

that our Lord did not slay it as Moses did,

but redeemed mankind by his blood.

He, the Shepherd of all, died for all. Blessed be he who begot him!

In the sixteenth year let the seed corn give thanks, in a mystery,

to that Farmer who gave his body for seed

in a barren soil that corrupts all things.

It proved fertile and yielded new bread. Blessed be he who is pure!

In the seventeenth year let the Vine give thanks to our Lord,

the vineyard of truth, in which souls were

like the young shoots. He gave peace to this vineyard, but laid waste that vineyard which bore wild grapes.

Blessed be the Uprooter!

In the eighteenth year let our leaven give thanks

to the leaven of truth, which works its way through and draws

all minds, and makes them become

one mind in one teaching. Blessed be his teaching!

In the nineteenth year let the salt give thanks for your body.

O blessed Baby, it is the soul

that is the salt of the body, and faith

the salt of the soul, by which it is preserved. Blessed be your preserving!

Refrain: Glory to your Epiphany, O God and Man!

In the twentieth year let the wealth of this world give thanks with us,

which those who are perfect have cast off and abandoned

because of the “Woe,” and have gone and loved

poverty because of its blessing. Blessed be he who desired it!

In the twenty-first year let the waters give thanks that were sweetened

in a mystery of the Son. In the honey of Samson

the nations tasted a bitterness that destroyed them;

they had life in the cross that redeemed them. Blessed be its sweetness!

In the twenty-second year let weapons and the sword give thanks,

because they could not slay our Adversary.

You are the one who slew him, as you are the one who restored

the ear that Simon’s sword cut off. Blessed be your healing!

In the twenty-third year let the donkey also give thanks,

which gave the colt on which he was to ride.

He likewise opens the mouth of wild donkeys;

the offspring gave him praise. Blessed be the praise of you!

In the twenty-fourth year let wealth give thanks to the Son!

Treasures were amazed at the Lord of treasures,

how he grew up among the poor.

He made himself poor so that he might make all rich. Blessed be his sharing!

In the twenty-fifth year let Isaac give thanks to the Son,

who saved him from the knife on the mountain,

and became the lamb to be slain in his place.

The mortal escaped, and he died who gives life to all. Blessed be his offering!

In the twenty-sixth year let Moses give thanks with us,

who was afraid and fled from those who would kill him.

Let him give thanks to the Son, for it was he who on his own feet

entered Sheol, plundered it, and came out. Blessed be his resurrection!

In the twenty-seventh year let the eloquent orators

give thanks to the Son, for they could not find

a way for us to prevail in our judgment.

He was silent in his judgment and made our judgment prevail. To him be applause!

In the twenty-seventh year let all judges give thanks,

who, being just, have put evildoers to death.

Let them give thanks to the Son, who in place of the evil

died as one who was good, though he was Son of the Just One. Blessed be his mercies!

In the twenty-eighth year let them give thanks to the Son,

all the mighty men who did not save us

from our captors. There is One to be worshiped,

who was slain, and took hold, and saved us. Blessed be his deliverance!

In the twenty-ninth year let Job give thanks with us,

who bore sufferings on his own account;

but our Lord bore on our account

the spitting and the beatings, the thorns and the nails. Blessed is his compassion!

In the year that is the thirtieth, let them give thanks with us:

the dead who have come to life through his dying,

the living who were converted at his crucifixion,

and the height and the depth that have been reconciled in him! Blessed be he and his Father!