| 6 ὅλη γὰρ ἡ κτίσις ἐν ἰδίῳ γένει πάλιν ἄνωθεν διετυποῦτο ὑπηρετοῦσα ταῖς σαῖς ἐπιταγαῖς ἵνα οἱ σοὶ παῖδες φυλαχθῶσιν ἀβλαβεῖς 7 ἡ τὴν παρεμβολὴν σκιάζουσα νεφέλη ἐκ δὲ προϋφεστῶτος ὕδατος ξηρᾶς ἀνάδυσις γῆς ἐθεωρήθη ἐξ ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης ὁδὸς ἀνεμπόδιστος καὶ χλοηφόρον πεδίον ἐκ κλύδωνος βιαίου 8 δ{I'} οὗ πανεθνεὶ διῆλθον οἱ τῇ σῇ σκεπαζόμενοι χειρὶ θεωρήσαντες θαυμαστὰ τέρατα 9 ὡς γὰρ ἵπποι ἐνεμήθησαν καὶ ὡς ἀμνοὶ διεσκίρτησαν αἰνοῦντές σε κύριε τὸν ῥυσάμενον αὐτούς 10 ἐμέμνηντο γὰρ ἔτι τῶν ἐν τῇ παροικίᾳ αὐτῶν πῶς ἀντὶ μὲν γενέσεως ζῴων ἐξήγαγεν ἡ γῆ σκνῖπα ἀντὶ δὲ ἐνύδρων ἐξηρεύξατο ὁ ποταμὸς πλῆθος βατράχων 11 ἐ{F'} ὑστέρῳ δὲ εἶδον καὶ γένεσιν νέαν ὀρνέων ὅτε ἐπιθυμίᾳ προαχθέντες ᾐτήσαντο ἐδέσματα τρυφῆς 12 εἰς γὰρ παραμυθίαν ἐκ θαλάσσης ἀνέβη αὐτοῖς ὀρτυγομήτρα 13 καὶ αἱ τιμωρίαι τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἐπῆλθον οὐκ ἄνευ τῶν προγεγονότων τεκμηρίων τῇ βίᾳ τῶν κεραυνῶν δικαίως γὰρ ἔπασχον ταῖς ἰδίαις αὐτῶν πονηρίαις 14 καὶ γὰρ χαλεπωτέραν μισοξενίαν ἐπετήδευσαν οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας οὐκ ἐδέχοντο παρόντας οὗτοι δὲ εὐεργέτας ξένους ἐδουλοῦντο 15 καὶ οὐ μόνον ἀλ{L'} ἤ τις ἐπισκοπὴ ἔσται αὐτῶν ἐπεὶ ἀπεχθῶς προσεδέχοντο τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους 16 οἱ δὲ μετὰ ἑορτασμάτων εἰσδεξάμενοι τοὺς ἤδη τῶν αὐτῶν μετεσχηκότας δικαίων δεινοῖς ἐκάκωσαν πόνοις |
6 Each form of nature, in its own proper sphere, was formed anew as from the beginning, obedient to the new laws thou hadst given it, for the greater safety of thy children. 7 Such was the cloud that over-shadowed their camp; such the dry land that appeared where water stood before; the Red Sea unlaboriously crossed, a grassy floor spread out amid the surging billows! 8 So, sheltered by thy hand, they passed on their way, a whole nation of them, strange marvels seen in their passage; 9 lighthearted as horse at pasture or frisking lamb, they chanted praises to thee, Lord, their rescuer. 10 Such, too, were their memories of Egypt itself; memories of the land that bred lice and could breed no beasts else, the river that could spawn frogs, yet never a fish lived there. 11 Later on, they were to see how birds could be the subject of a new creation, when their appetites craved for richer fare, 12 and quails came up from the sea to content them.
Nor were the Egyptians punished without warning; the thunders that terrified them were but echoes of the past. Did not their own wickedness deserve the pains they suffered, 13 a race even more inhospitable than the men of Sodom before them? These did but refuse a welcome when strangers came to their doors; the Egyptians condemned their own guests, their own benefactors, to slavery. 14 It is one thing to be called to account for unfriendly treatment of alien folk; 15 but these Egyptians had received the Israelites into their midst with rejoicing, had admitted them to rights of citizenship, and then turned on them with savage ill-treatment. 16 No wonder blindness fell on them, as upon the men of Sodom at Lot’s door! But in Egypt the darkness was so bewildering that a man could not find his way through the doors of his own house. |
6
Omnis enim creatura ad suum genus ab initio refigurabatur,
deserviens tuis præceptis,
ut pueri tui custodirentur illæsi. 7
Nam nubes castra eorum obumbrabat,
et ex aqua quæ ante erat, terra arida apparuit,
et in mari Rubro via sine impedimento,
et campus germinans de profundo nimio: 8
per quem omnis natio transivit quæ tegebatur tua manu,
videntes tua mirabilia et monstra. 9
Tamquam enim equi depaverunt escam,
et tamquam agni exsultaverunt,
magnificantes te, Domine, qui liberasti illos. 10
Memores enim erant adhuc eorum
quæ in incolatu illorum facta fuerant:
quemadmodum pro natione animalium eduxit terra muscas,
et pro piscibus eructavit fluvius multitudinem ranarum. 11
Novissime autem viderunt novam creaturam avium,
cum, adducti concupiscentia, postulaverunt escas epulationis. 12
In allocutione enim desiderii ascendit illis de mari ortygometra: 13
et vexationes peccatoribus supervenerunt,
non sine illis quæ ante facta erant argumentis per vim fulminum:
juste enim patiebantur secundum suas nequitias. 14
Etenim detestabiliorem inhospitalitatem instituerunt:
alii quidem ignotos non recipiebant advenas;
alii autem bonos hospites in servitutem redigebant. 15
Et non solum hæc, sed et alius quidam respectus illorum erat,
quoniam inviti recipiebant extraneos. 16
Qui autem cum lætitia receperunt hos
qui eisdem usi erant justitiis,
sævissimis afflixerunt doloribus. |