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1 But for thy holy ones there was great light;
And the Egyptians, hearing their voice but seeing not their form,
Counted it a happy thing that they too had suffered,
2 Yet for that they do not hurt them now, though wronged by them before, they are thankful;
And because they had been at variance with them, they made supplication to them.
3 Whereas thou didst provide for thy people a burning pillar of fire,
To be a guide for their unknown journey,
And withal a kindly sun for their proud exile.
4 For well did the Egyptians deserve to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness,
They who had kept in close ward thy sons,
Through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be given to the race of men.
5 After they had taken counsel to slay the babes of the holy ones,
And when a single child had been cast forth and saved to convict them of their sin,
Thou tookest away from them their multitude of children,
And destroyedst all their host together in a mighty flood.
6 Of that night were our fathers made aware beforehand,
That, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted:
7 So by thy people was expected salvation of the righteous and destruction of the enemies;
8 For as thou didst take vengeance on the adversaries,
By the same means, calling us unto thyself, thou didst glorify us.
9 For holy children of good men offered sacrifice in secret,
And with one consent they took upon themselves the covenant of the divine law,
That they would partake alike in the same good things and the same perils;
The fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise.
10 But there sounded back in discord the cry of the enemies,
And a piteous voice of lamentation for children was borne abroad.
11 And servant along with master punished with a like just doom,
And commoner suffering the same as king,
12 Yea, all the people together, under one form of death,
Had with them corpses without number;
For the living were not sufficient even to bury them,
Since at a single stroke their nobler offspring was consumed.
13 For while they were disbelieving all things by reason of the enchantments,
Upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the people to be God’s son.
14 For while peaceful silence enwrapped all things,
And night in her own swiftness was in mid course,
15 Thine all-powerful word leaped from heaven out of the royal throne,
A stern warrior, into the midst of the doomed land,
16 Bearing as a sharp sword thine unfeigned commandment;
And standing it filled all things with death;
And while it touched the heaven it trode upon the earth.
17 Then forthwith apparitions in dreams terribly troubled them,
And fears came upon them unlooked for.
18 And each, one thrown here half dead, another there,
Made manifest wherefore he was dying:
19 For the dreams, perturbing them, did foreshew this,
That they might not perish without knowing why they were afflicted.
20 But it befell the righteous also to make trial of death,
And a multitude were stricken in the wilderness:
Howbeit the wrath endured not for long.
21 For a blameless man hasted to be their champion:
Bringing the weapon of his own ministry,
Even prayer and the propitiation of incense,
He withstood the indignation, and set an end to the calamity,
Shewing that he was thy servant.
22 And he overcame the anger,
Not by strength of body, not by efficacy of weapons;
But by word did he subdue the minister of punishment,
By bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made with the fathers.
23 For when the dead were already fallen in heaps one upon another,
Standing between he stopped the advancing wrath,
And cut off the way to the living.
24 For upon his long high-priestly robe was the whole world,
And the glories of the fathers were upon the graving of the four rows of precious stones,
And thy majesty was upon the diadem of his head.
25 To these the destroyer gave place, and these the people feared;
For it was enough only to make trial of the wrath.