Song Of Two Peoples (Carmen De Duobus Populis)

Alternative titles: Apologetic Song, Apologetic Poem, Against Jews and Gentiles

Translated from this Latin text into English using ChatGPT.

Beware of these translation issues: - Sometimes the AI will add additional details (especially if the additional details are frequently used in other texts the AI was trained on). For example, if the original text quoted a fragment of Ephesians 2:7 in Latin, in the translation the AI will sometimes then include the English version of the entirety of Ephesians 2:7-8 (even though there was only a fragment of 2:7 in the original text). - When a verse from the Bible is quoted, the AI often won't translate the underlying text at all, but will just insert the corresponding verse from a modern English translation of the Bible.

Content

Who will be able to know the one true God of heaven? Who except for the one who has been lifted from heinous error? I wandered unknowing, walking with empty hope, while the fury of youth carried me into the heights. I was lighter than a straw; As though a hundred heads Were present on my shoulders, So headlong wheresoever I was carried. Not enough of these things, finally drowned by crime, I was almost made by enchanting evil herbs. But thanks be to the Lord - nor is it enough to only offer my voice - who finally shed light on the miserable waverer! And having approached, I was given over to the code of the law, to know what I should understand there. Suddenly a lamp shone for me; then I truly knew the one and only supreme God in the heights, and therefore I encourage such ones to depart from error. What better doctor than a victorious one who has suffered wounds? Many indeed are brutes and unknown, asleep in their hearts, Who propose to themselves nothing to know; in a savage manner They seek what they may seize, or whose blood they may drink, Provided they may rejoice to live fat as swine. They groan at the tomb of the sepulcher, then the rich will applaud and the poor will change their clothes and feel disgust. It would certainly suffice for them, who eat more readily; If anyone has seemed worthy of Caesar's wealth, why does he prefer his own fragile things and not look back at anyone? Rather, let one such as have received from the highest riches and high honors, communicate goodness to everyone. For I do not blame the riches given by the Highest, but he will be deserving of blame, who is overly elevated by them. I now advise all, high and low, to read diligently either these things or the other things of the law. Behold, since life given us is short, Learn, therefore, how we may die. Wise by birth, we die as fools; what good did it do to see the light? If you don't investigate, this is to be among beasts. Indeed, the highest God placed man over the world, not wild animals or livestock. Why do we make ourselves like them? The Almighty wanted man to offer praise to Him; Therefore He Himself taught us the future divine. He not only thundered words so we may believe, but also showed strength when Pharaoh was deceived. He did not only do this: and Noah also showed, during that time, what he could because no one was seeking God. Then gradually a milder one began to come after the flood was made, so that the earth could be replenished. Almost half of six thousand years had already passed, and nobody knew the Lord, and they lived everywhere. But God, as He saw the hearts of men too closed, Speaks to Abraham. He whom Moses declares, he himself gave the law to the people, Pharaoh being slain; And he predicted who the Lord would be, by him. Not satisfied with one prophetic voice, He has used many witnesses who declare it. Therefore, when you read the praises of many prophets, You will find that he came in flesh for us. Where is the mistake now? Why do they mock that the Supreme has ordained such things? They deserve to be laughed at because of it! Sometimes I present, how I have read the prophets, and teach the ignorant where the hope of life is to be placed. What God did first and how He did each thing, Moses has already taught; but we teach about Christ. I am not a prophet nor am I ordered to be a teacher, But I sing the things foretold by wandering bards. Therefore, my like, whom the swift breeze carries away, now seek a harbor where there are no dangers. A skilled farmer knows far in advance about impending weather And, before it arrives, he gathers himself in a cave. Be prudent, see what is coming, and provide for safety before disasters arrive. Cowardice is needed for boys, not certainly for the robust: If this is allowed for the inexperienced, it is not suitable for mature age. And any part of humanity that is not moderate will become like an excessively salted ham: hardened. No one places a stone unless the fire is burning alone: Thus people soften like rocks in the late hellfire. We shout into the empty space, to be carried by storm to the deaf, and we offer light to the blind without reason. The soldier stands at the mass: one listens, and the other shakes himself off, nor does he accept the same warnings, but wanders lost. Who will commit an offense now (be judges about these!), He who is warned or he who does not wish to obey the command? I hope that he who obeys Caesar's orders is not guilty, but he who destroys his proud enemies with his own life. Sometimes I show the right way to you who still wander aimlessly, what is mine having been known first. But you choose, pleasing at your own discretion, whoever wants poison or the sweet cups of life! Good and evil have been created in this nature, so that after the fact, one may be approved as worthy of God. Begin now, whoever you are, to have knowledge of the eternal: Learn who God is and by what name He is called. God is omnipotent, one, created by himself, whom you will find below great and humble himself. He was placed in the word, noted only for himself, who is called Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But since he has decided to compose the world, he has placed fire to be feared among the very angels by signs. However, he distributed them with less power himself, so that they might rule the heavens and the earth and the subjugated land. Therefore, even the messengers themselves cannot distinguish what kind of person he is or how great he is, except that they follow the instructions. The honor is hidden from us and even from the angels themselves, What the majesty of God really is, only He alone knows. Immense shining above the heavens and without end, and all of it is like a fiery power. There life of the Gods is, only without known form, Those secrets are known to God alone of the heavens: This glory of God is unique above all angels, Here is the God of eternal light, here the spirit of age. What it is in its original state, no one can see, but transfigured, it is as it wants to show itself. He presents himself visible to the angels according to their form. And he became man for man, but God is proved by his word. Therefore, the form of such a great God cannot be known; Whatever it is, it is one in immense light; Thence it is accustomed to enclose the circle of the world in its fist. However, when he wanted to be known about himself what he was, he made himself appear capable of such a great divinity: His face or eyes or mouth or limbs are noted. Some have seen him in the fire speaking with a voice; he was taken on in the flesh, which no region could hold. Thus the almighty God, lord of his own nature, though he be invisible, made himself visible to some. He who with his own form now diffuses himself into the air, of whom it is not permitted to seek a beginning or an end, here God is always without beginning and without end. He who, before creating the sky, was carried on into eternity, and who holds the sky, sees everything everywhere from the sky and penetrates all with his eyes and ears. Therefore, it pleased him to be held in the carnal world, so that his eternal majesty alone might be exalted. Now, what was before, it is difficult to say, although it has been written down: we should not care about that. When we cannot fully grasp what we see, who can know what lies beyond the ocean's limit? And we see the sky, but what happens inside it, no one can know until the end of the age. Let it suffice to know only the promised things of the future; let us eagerly strive for them, wholly devoted in mind. As the Phoenix bird contemplates being reborn from death, It gives us an example that we can rise after funerals; God almighty urges us to believe that a time will come when the dead will live again, although now they are dust, although their naked bones lie. The person is restored, who once had been dead, and a greater grace will come to him of this age. There will be no pain or tears in our body, the flesh will not receive iron, and no sore will arise. God wills that this be done, so that greater glory may be given to Him. Here he had made the first man, so that he might be eternal, but he fell into death by neglecting those precepts. God prepared to be so many inquiries, so that he might uncover all the devil's inventions. God had given this angel the position on Earth: Who, while envying man, perishes himself, and first. Meanwhile, He sees the just subdued by Him, and He reserves for Hell the criminal Cain. In crime began to move about all human race, Nor looking back, who their creator was. What the exalted God endured indignantly; Icere proposed to destroy almost the whole creation. It is said and read that Noah was saved from the water, the others perished by the heavenly anger of the flood. From here, just as at the beginning, the earth is gradually filled. The prior crime ceased, but another disaster approached. They foolishly began to build a tower that touched the stars and thought they might be able to climb the skies with it. But God, seeing that their work proceeded because they spoke the same language, intervened and caused them to speak different languages. Then he scattered them by isolating them in the islands of the earth, so that nations speaking different tongues arose. Then, an unteachable race was leading a life of savagery; No one knew God, no one argued about life. Since that rash one had eaten through the springs of life, he corrupted bitter minds, and persuaded them to love infamous deceits, to live by pillage with the joy of bloodshed. The foolish pursue this glory in a short time, whom no pardon frees, by saying they were misled. If an adulterer persuades you, the fault is yours for pursuing such a person; he does not condemn you, but you condemn yourself of your own accord. They wandered, induced by the deceit of an old enemy, forgetting the Lord, following evil works. Because for a long time there was so much raiding by bandits, when the time was divided he finally took pity and, having removed [them], he pleased to confer with one of many, in order to win the people over to himself by passing over [to his side]. From that moment they began to be profane to the One God And to become a people according to the decrees of God. For Rebecca had separated two peoples from herself: He became the first, and the other was to succeed him. In Egypt, the foster child initially grew up into Israel. Then God cast them out, led by Moses, through whom He gave them the law on Mount Sinai, so that our posterity might know the Lord as one. Then he ordered the prophets to say themselves, what God said about man. The Lord had led them into the promised land so that they might live there under the law until he himself came. The ungrateful people did not want to bear the yoke of good precepts, but rather flourished in ancient wickedness; nor ever ceased: even today they are held as such. Having left God behind, he prefers the pleasures of the world. What the Lord most intends to avoid for his beloved; he warns that they should be altogether cut off from the world. If he spoke of children, let us linger in their holy ways; Why do we go out, adulterers following a show? The ancient seducer deceives everyone with such things: He sends in indulgences through which sons are lost, He incites agony through excessively obscene or violent spectacles, He causes the chaste to know the unchaste. If he had been pure, incest would have profited him, and pleasingly smiling, then the tempting evil pleasures. In those luxuries the primitive people used to live and always went unarmed from God's law. God often sent pupils to cleanse those who had gone astray, so that they might correct them. They never refused to accept the divine words again, But always served their own will to the inept. They would slay the just reproaching them iniquitously, while unwilling to accept the reins of heavenly discipline. They will imprison Isaiah, stone Jeremiah standing upright, decapitate John, and slaughter Zachariah at the altar. And he himself came, who had been foretold by them, and he suffers, how he wanted, in our likeness. Into whose destruction all prophecy is fulfilled. Daniel had said that he was the newest prophet. He was the one whom the prophets sang of through the trumpet, and yet his own people denied him as their own. You have always been unproductive and stubborn, while rejecting form and losing the sacraments of the law. Not righteousness, nor a humble birth, broke them, Nor such great goodness or care for the sick word. Oh pious religion, oh so venerable majesty, whose medicine so greatly profited the earth! He did not cut with iron, nor heal with a plaster, but immediately healed with his word alone Seeing these things, the Jews were troubled in mind, who were led more by envy in the zeal of rivalry, not looking to the sayings of the buried prophets, that such a man should come who would scatter them. The prophets sang until the Lord should come; after his arrival, the prophecy was silent to the Jews. After this they were exiled with a hardened heart. Nor do they recognize now, for which reason they have suffered such things. It had been predicted to them by the prophet Isaiah and similarly by Daniel, that the land would be devastated; but not before, unless the leader of the city himself were to hang on a tree, then it would be deserted. Suddenly such glory shone upon the nation, That the people became a people who had not been before! Esau, the beloved of his father, was not astonished that his younger brother would take the first-born. Thus the synagogue could not recognize the time when and where its leader would fall from power; just as it had been written, "birds know their times"; for this people did not understand that I was present among them. It was time for the ruler of heaven himself to come: According to the scriptures, he was not counted among them. The Lord was aware of this, as one who knows all things; For this reason, he foretold these things through the mouths of prophets. The neck-bearing people, always rebellious, when they claimed first place for themselves, their cause was cut off. Among whom he established the Gentiles to be; He had said this earlier: The Gentiles will hope in him. For the stone that was set in place is the very foundation of Zion, whoever believes in it will have eternal life. This holy of holies designates Daniel and after him, the royal anointing shall be exterminated. David said this: "They nailed the silent one with nails - 'They dug my hands and feet,' he said." Solomon also prophesied so openly about him, 'Let us kill the righteous man,' the Jews will say. Jeremiah depicts the cross as many: Come, let us put wood in bread! saying. But their leader Moses proclaims to them: Life killed will hang before your eyes. This father came in the son, one God everywhere: And he is not called father, unless he had become son. For He did not leave heaven, that He might be born on earth, but as He had planned, His greatness appeared on earth: Now the Word had descended, wherein the power of God acted, - What of the fact that the prophets sing, that the invisible is to be seen? - So that such great love was to be made even for us. And our people would not have leaped to a new law, if the Almighty had not ordained it before us. Here was the Almighty, in whose name all nations believe, what the prophet Isaiah said: A man shall arise in Israel from the root of Jesse, In Him shall the Gentiles hope, in whose sign they shall be protected. And another said that he was to be revealed as a witness throughout the world, as the prince of the nations himself. It is sung in the psalms: The Lord has reigned from the wood; Let the earth be joyful, let many islands be glad. Thus also Jacob the patriarch: a true blessing came upon the nations; he will be the hope of the nations, he says. Under heaven there is no other name given except that of Christ, in whose name the nations have believed everywhere. We do not urge to believe in the time that has passed, but in living for the eternal future. This hope is to be hoped for by us: to enjoy everlasting things. Not such, which quickly changes our joys. Although riches are before your eyes to be enjoyed, you are excluded from them by the frailty of substituted death; if you persevere, you yourself shrink in living, or if your health is bad, why should your life be spared? Torture is everything in which we live in this age; hence our hope must be sought in the future: God urges us to this, the law urges us to this, the passion of Christ urges us to this, that we may believe that we will rise again in the new world. Thus the law of God proclaims: when the Highest became lowly, Hell gave way, so that Adam might be lifted from Death; the Lord, having mercy on his own creation, descended into the tomb, and thus through hidden power, he nullified the power of Death. The Lord crept up, concealed from the old robber, and He allowed Himself to suffer, in order to cast him down more completely. That one, indeed, bold and always cruel like an enemy, while he hoped to rage against a man, was conquered by the Highest. By that thing through which the evil one had previously brought man down to death, he himself was overcome; from there comes forth life for us. After sampling the apple, Adam was ordered to depart and die; And from his sin, we all die likewise and the same. But again the Lord said: If he shall take of the tree of life, he shall live for ever, being honest. Death was on the tree and life was hidden in the tree, on which God hung the Lord, the discoverer of our life. The Lord had foretold that this wood of life was to be, so that whoever believes in Him may be as if he had taken from there. And he takes and tastes sweetly the highest commandments of God, and departs, because what is better rises from death. Whoever believes in Christ tastes of the tree of life, upon which the Lord was hung, as Moses predicted. Isaiah declared that this very one was humble and too rejected, almost like the figure of a servant; and we saw him, and he was not of distinguished appearance, placed in a wound as a man, knowing all how to suffer. He suffers for us and carries our sins, and God delivered him up for our wrongdoings. He, when he was being vexed, was silent like a lamb before the altar. This man was no longer, but was God in flesh for us; What was clear now was the name of God to arise, Which is now cherished among the nations. This is what the prophet Malachiel sings, who is also an angel, When he condemns Jewish sacrifices, saying: Your sacrifice will not be accepted by me, But in every place the nations offer to my name, Among whom my name is magnified greatly, Who offer to my name without bloodshed. For he himself was humble, hiding behind a great name, he who spoke through prophetic mouths saying: "I am not stubborn nor do I argue with wrongdoers, I have even offered my back for scourging and my cheeks for striking with fists, I have not turned my face away from their spitting." Folly has seized many, for God to suffer such things, So that the creator of the world may be declared crucified. Thus they pleased: No one's counsel was used,- Nor could anyone else have come in such a way - he invented death for us, when he was an envious enemy, which the Lord, suffering, drank, rising from hell. Therefore, he did not want to reveal what he was, but he said that he had been sent as a son by his father. Thus He Himself had given the testimony, that He was called the Son of God by the prophets, that God was to come in the form of a Son on earth. And he himself groans, although he was humble in flesh, And he testifies to the Father, so that he might affirm the prophetic prayers. From Israel we read that such a man rises again, and he is a man, said [the disciples], and who knows him among us? Jeremiah said, "This is our God, equal to him. After these things, he was seen on earth, conversing with humans." But Isaiah said: You are God, and we did not know it; and God is in you, and no one else is held beside you. And who would come according to the law of the prophets into the west? Sing to the Lord, his name is God, who has come! And the fourth Psalm of forty says of Him: I will be exalted among the nations, with a great name. And elsewhere we read: Today I have begotten you, my son; Ask, and I will give you, and you will have nations as your inheritance. Certainly now it appears who God is and who is in him, And in whose name we should believe everywhere: My Christ said, I hold whose right hand, that: Let the nations hear, and let him rule the nations themselves. What need is there of more, when the matter is so clearly proved, When the populace rejoices in him who is accused? But those wretched ones, who embellish empty tales And defame the magician; they would have closed the beaks of singing thralls. What shall I say of them? Before they were scattered, whom neither banishment broke nor old age itself. If a wizard was present, then why were the prophets singing? If they falsely declare about them to lose the land, what proceeds from them, so will it also be false about him. But always being despised because they were bloody, they rebel against their own Lord saying that they are magicians, and they do not want to hear what the prophets said about them, who did not understand the ultimate end. God himself described them: With closed heart, they neither see with their eyes nor understand with their hardened hearts; For the heart of this wicked people has become dull, so that they cannot discern, until they are healed by my words. God was foretold to be born in the flesh for us, so that a greater suffering would be deservedly achieved; behold God himself will give you a sign from on high: a virgin will conceive and bear a heavenly offspring; it shall be called "Immanuel," a name which in Latin means "God is with us." Listen, he himself was nourished with honey and butter, and took Samaria before he spoke his word. But this is a closed history, about which the learned revolve, that a tiny infant when nursing could seize prey without fighting; of whose passion it was thus predicted beforehand, that God would become suffering with blood shed. Isaiah says: "Like a sheep led to the slaughterhouse, he did not cry out, He endured everything patiently." The nail is pierced, as David once foretold; Whom they also gave vinegar to drink according to the scriptures. And in my clothes," he said, "they cast the lot, which thing was done, and we read in him all things accomplished. And there were made darknesses for three hours from the sixth And he hastened to bring on the night stars of the day. This had been predicted to happen by the prophet Amos, that he would conceal himself suddenly during the holy solemnities. O evil offspring! Oh treacherous brood, said God, who would deny me. "And he said: Hearken to the voice of the trumpet. We do not wish," they say. Thus speaks Ezekiel: So the nations from afar shall hear. I want to touch upon the title of the book of Deuteronomy: You will be at the top, nations, for the unbelievers look back. Certainly all the things said above are rebellious. Do you know what they are objecting, when the matter is so clearly stated? See now, you who have swum uncertainly until now, how the nations were in the Lord's scripture before. Now it is right to believe those whom books designate, not vain idols, which are uselessly worshipped for life, nor to be attached to those who are pleasure-loving and unrestrained, who love excesses more than the commands of the highest. Not one fault is enough for those who refuse to believe, but they rather make accusations: We have thrown him into a well. Therefore, the Lord, being angry, rebukes them: "Because of you my name is blasphemed among the gentiles," he says. If thrown down into the well, why is one shouted at to rise back up? You have brought up my soul from the underworld, Lord, I have slept and taken my rest; I have risen up, for the Lord has protected me, and I have not been harmed. And again he saith: Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither shalt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. This person says: Son of the prophets, I am ascending. That the Lord's suffering for the wretched may be told, And in the book of Psalms the Lord's death is proclaimed. They do not think that David refers to himself in that, or if they do think that, does everything he said agree? David was not whipped nor lifted up on the cross. What? Do the Jews prophesy like Saturn? Do they turn to stories, when it already declines against them? Do they not applaud the cross lifted up as if it were wickedness? They imagine such things for the unwise, uneducated, and ignorant: Who is that God whom we have nailed to the cross? They say "Blind in heart are those who are unwilling to look back at the scriptures." Behold, another prophet singing again, by whose voice nevertheless such an edict is titled: Now I will rise, says the Lord, now I will be glorified, Now I will be exalted, the humble one whom you saw before; Now you will understand, now there will be your confusion: You are thinking in vain, therefore you will have fire. Isaiah said this. Then even the same majesty, when it was in the flesh, declared who he was: No one could take away my life, but I lay it down of my own accord. And I have the power to take her again. However, loudly is it proclaimed concerning the death of the just, so that it may be clear that the Jews are more hardened: behold, the just man perishes and not one even understands; but there will be peace for the beloved in his tomb. Why do they claim that he was thrown into a well, when we read that he was handed over to burial? Shameful, cruel, blind, and proud! Those who ought to lament more about the deed, are applauding! For indeed inspired by him, Solomon prophesies and seeks to show more fully: Let us surround the just one, for he is displeasing to us, and opposes our works very much. He completely denies being bound by our law, yet he still asserts that he is the son of the Most High. He thoroughly disapproves and considers us frivolous; He abstains and goes to the other side; He says we are unclean and judges the other side as just; and He rejoices in being the Lord, the father of heaven. Therefore, if his words are true, let us test; Let us try seeing this God, what is in him Let us question him calmly with all the torment, Let us condemn him to the most shameful death and after doing this, they moved their suspended heads: Let the father save him, or else come down! So that Solomon may plainly show them to be blind, he reports as though they had done wrong: while they are thinking on such things, they are led into wicked error, and their cruelty blinds them. Behold, for they themselves are blind and they say that others are, Solomon said to them: They did not know the secrets of God. Whatever the previous witnesses said were done in Christ. Or should they say it was done in another? If they desire to do it, frustrate them in their mouth, they themselves mock, let them see the crowd in that. Who was that just one whom the prophets sang about, when no one is just on earth, except he who came from heaven? For even David, the prince, sinned, loving a girl. And also Solomon sinned, and yet they repented. Although those kings of theirs were so famous and distinguished, they were not righteous, but they themselves sang of the righteous; nor did even the prophet Isaiah say such things about himself, who was sawn asunder by King Manasseh. One was stoned, the other was sacrificed at the altars, Herod ordered the other to be beheaded in prison. All just watchmen have been killed by another death, because the Lord hung on the wood, Moses said with a voice: 'God is not hanged like a man', he declares beforehand; 'Nor does he suffer threats like the son of man', he says. Thus, when the Lord himself had come, he said this: "It is necessary for me to be criticized by the voice of Moses." But I do not pluck the whole, but only the highest peaks, so that the ignorant may more easily learn the truth. But you, wicked ones, who seek to live deceptively, persist once stained in devising vain things; they more foolishly infatuate themselves with their words. For when he was crucified, thus it behooved him, - For thus he planned it, because of primal ruin - He came not only for them, but also for us from heaven; He established a new people, firm in his name, Christ who fulfilled all things according to the prophecies. Behold, I am making new, Isaiah cries out in Him, And let no one consider former things nor follow old ones. These things are new today that have come about under our law, because we believe in Christ from the words of Moses. He had predicted that there would be two future peoples, and he said that the smaller people would excel. But these are full of depravity now in desperate fury: This is the law that has been given to us," they say, "where do you come from? If they oppose us, then it is clear to resist them with the Highest, who wanted us to be good. Nor do the proud servants with bristling hair look back; Who have always tortured the innocent, forbidden by law, They did to God what they were accustomed to, cruel, And still dare to call themselves the sons of the Highest. Now, just as He rose up again, I noted above, I spoke not from my own voice, but I said what the prophetic words said. But he had foretold all things to his disciples, How he would suffer from the people, and how Peter would deny him; And that he would rise again on the third day from the tombs, He had himself said it, and he had fulfilled all his words. But when He had risen, He came to the apostles Himself and stood among them saying: "Peace be with you." Among whom the disciples were present, but one was missing; When they reported this, he began to discredit (doubt) and added: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into the place where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Then on Sunday, He returned to them and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." And immediately he approaches that incredulous Thomas: come closer and touch the body as before. I am not a shadow, as is believed of the dead. I do not make a trace as a shadow; consider the wound. He extended his hands and began to touch and, having a hand at his side, which had been fixed with a spear, he sent forth and then threw himself down by praying. Because you have seen these things, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Forty days he made with them in order, he taught them much that would come to pass in the world. After his ascent, they performed many miracles, healing the sick with the word in the name of Christ. If he was such as these treacherous ones declare, the bravest witnesses would not be sufficient for his defense. He ascended into heaven, as it was sung according to scripture: Receive the king, princes, in the highest of heavens! What more need be said about the law? Those are sufficient for the inexperienced, to be guarded with a good heart. But if they themselves do not want to know God by reading these things, let them consider to what place they have come, where they do not want to be. They make nothing but heart, otherwise silence of life. What benefits does it bring to pursue secular things in vain on earth, and to know about the riches of kings and their wars? And a skilled lawyer to discern the crazy forum, Lest weak laws be guided by a bribe? Though one may be a defender, though one may be a divine orator, he will gain nothing by death, if while alive he has denied Christ. On the contrary, let him first inquire where his life has been led, if he has been wise; if otherwise, he is blamed. They read laws and learn amazing speeches, But they exceed the wretched ones for whom they speak, by doing. Unfortunate is he who comes into their mouth. They bring praise and he victory at the cost of losses: The wretched one stands mute in the midst, who grieves more within. They thunder with their mouth and he is silent with coins. In the meantime, the adorned voice roars during the day And often a little evil becomes a better cause by giving more. Hence the wise man seeks the prize, hence he rejoices to win, although he may behave wrongly, as long as he is victorious; he is sick, He does not consider anything for his own sake, while he seeks gain; he quickly takes up someone else's hope and sets aside his own. Many are dragged away by the forest of worldly success; while they rejoice in fleeting things, they remain from the grace of Christ; while they desire many things with their eyes, while they seek to increase, God is nothing to them but the life of the world. It strives for the belly, there is a daily struggle for it, and it despises the true struggle for eternal salvation. Everyone is like one who keeps watch with a bag, praised for being sharp; for he who follows God, is judged by the very things he possesses. Oh excessively fortunate, if someone avoids the centuries! Let him be foolish to others, as long as he is wise with the highest God. The whole of hope is to believe in God, who hung on the wood; Though it is an unpleasant thing, it is useful for the life to come. For that primeval people, deceived by that fact, who called him son, although he himself is God, (he was) the ancient one himself. Here he went before them in a column of cloud and fire, when he delivered them from Egypt. Here is the cruel command regarding his only son, so Abraham would be tested, to whom the Angel said from the sky, "Spare him!" And he is God, who made man and made himself just as powerful as He wanted, so that even the mute would speak. Balaam made his donkey speak while he was killing her; and [he made] the dog speak, so that it might say to Simon: 'You are shouted at by Peter!' While Paul was preaching, many learned that he made the Lion speak to the people with the divine voice. Then, what nature itself does not allow, she made the infant speak commonly in the fifth month. Here He was about to come with our mixed blood, So that He might appear as man, but God was hidden in the flesh. Not an elder shall come, nor an angel," said Isaiah, "but the Lord himself shall come to show himself to us. This sea feared him, this wind, this very underworld; all creatures recognized the Lord hidden. The wicked people alone raised a tumult against him: 'God forbid that the Lord should come in such a form!' Here, as on earth, he entered upon the waves of the sea, and commanded the winds, so as to restore the tranquil deep; here he tore up the law of Tartarus by his word present, and raised from the grave Lazarus, stinking on the fourth day. For he who was being carried, when he had met him, said: "Rise, young man!" And he arose from the coffin. Having begged the daughter of the chief of the synagogue from her father, [Jesus] raises her up lifeless while mourners lamented. He made the mute speak and the deaf hear, especially the one born blind, so that he could see into the sky. After thirty-eight years, he ordered the paralyzed man to rise, who was admired carrying his mat on his neck. Whose clothing was touched, and she was healed of her flow of blood; He broke five loaves among five thousand men, and fed them, and four thousand men again from seven. More fully to show that the Lord was present, he had been invited to a wedding with his mother herself; He was asked to help when the wine was lacking, Then he ordered water to be quickly filled into the jars, What he had tasted before and he commanded to be served thus. And so they were not able to recognize the Lord by their deeds but went mad, as if to destroy worthless death. What he himself allows, since he has decided to suffer thus; however, if they believe, then they will finally have forgiveness. This is the firstborn son foretold by the prophets, so that he might be called the offspring of the Most High on earth. Happy are those who place their hope in that (God), for fools avoid it like a curse. Eternity is prepared for him, who believes in Christ, so that a man may be a companion of God after death while still alive. The law and the prophets teach, they who are worthy of God and to whom the hidden golden ages are revealed. Throughout the prophets, the son of God is called by many names, and the first-called sons of God closed their eyes; having committed a crime, they did not recall the law by reading it, but they persisted, saying, "Behold, we are the chosen ones!" Even now they are foolish to go to the baths, because they think that by cleaning their bodies they can please the highest God themselves. Water washes away dirt, not unjust things in the depths of the heart, Nor can sacred things cleanse those that have been made impure by sacrilege. The Lord did not command to carry holy things to the wicked; And the place to be held again, clean from idols: No one should make an image of a demon for himself, he says; For he said to them: Do not serve idols. If God has instructed us to avoid idols, why do the people deceive themselves by being cleansed? Indeed, when they receive such [men], they ought to teach [them] to serve no others but only to please the highest [being]. While they seek to overshadow the death of Christ with a crime, they open gates everywhere, so that one may enter among them. Therefore from this, those who think they can become pure from water die, being conscience struck like the thief. Now he cultivates anything in vain, now he seeks holy things, ignorant of where he may first encounter them, and he serves idols, again he looks for the thirtieth (day); now he follows (the use of) unleavened bread, he who formerly sat chaste. God was not pleased that they were participants of devils, who established the law, by which the passage there would be made. There are two paths set before you: choose whichever you want. For you will not be able to travel both at once. However, you ought to seek out the one that is more opportune for you. And be careful not to fall into the jaws of robbers. Seek one God, who seeks no sacrifice, so that you may rise anew in a renewed world. Why do you look at the wicked and judge the holy as unjust, when they show you no proof from the law? It is about the power of God, which he exerted in them, for they do not want to speak of their own wicked deeds; always murderers with hands forever bloody, whom the Lord could never subdue by advising. It would suffice for them to have done so through cowardice and to say: "It was written thus, now it is right to believe". But the Lord himself has obscured their senses, He hardened them like Pharaoh in their midst; Nor did he say he wanted to hear their prayers, And with anger he rejected them from his land. Since he had certainly already spoken of his sons before, he had wanted to live with his children with a good heart; When a father rejoices, when his son is good; And if he is evil, he curses his son with hatred. No one can bear having a son as their opposite, All love for the offspring is excluded as cruel, Nor does he make him the heir of his possessions, which if he could consume first, he rejoices in consuming. The father, disturbed by his impious and savage offspring, does not allow himself to be opposed by the tyrant of his own affairs. What do these people presume, since they have been exhorted, saying: We are the dearest to the Highest of all people? Can a father-killer who is always proud of it be dear to him or be called an heir by right? How much more the Lord, exceeds those who must be chosen as his sons! The gentle, humble, and obedient students share the goods, not with the impious nor the tyrants. They had clearly been adopted as sons by the Jews, but in the will they obtained the name of the ungodly. Let them consider for themselves: After committing a bloody crime, could they still be considered good people? What is hissing at us, what are the heirs emulating us? And they had done good, and were in part ambassadors. They do not remain silent today nor do they want to believe in Christ, who had been predicted to them as a saving law; of whom you have already heard how the prophets sang: "The Lord will come to the earth, whom the nations will worship." Surely they remind us to know the highest God himself, who renews man and forgives past sins. For he himself also threatens the worshippers of the gods, sacrificing to idols he will perish in the second death. Therefore, everyone who worships gods made of gold, silver, stone, wood or bronze is thrown into the fire with them, and although this ends up being a bitter torture, death does not come. There are men like cattle in this nature, who wander unwilling to receive the reins of the highest God; while they themselves cannot endure such things from slaves, in whose harsh blood they often descend. They say furthermore: 'There is nothing after our funerals; while we live, this is it.' And they indulge in the manner of pigs: 'Let there be no luxury, which may carry us away in time; while there is time of life, let us enjoy all the things of the age.' Undisciplined people reject the mercy of God, while those who are diligent follow it as if it were their only life. Thus return those to God, who promise to live forever: Against the good, they fight, since fighting against the unfair. We have all strayed knowingly, in our own age, but by the grace of the Lord we are encouraged to believe in the law. Therefore, he came and made trophies secretly, and he was a man God, so that he might have us in the future. But the majority perish, who think to please both idols and God, when pleasing neither two. One God is in heaven of heaven, earth and the sea, Whom Moses taught hanging on a tree for us. Lazy people who suffer such things wander from where they are not sufficiently focused on the mystery of God's secret. Envy of the devil entered into the world, which God secretly destroyed by being born of a maiden. Blinded Jews start at birth, Infatuated fools commit bloodshed. No one can say any excuse after, as long as the opportunity to believe has been given to us. God did not come in vain upon the earth and from heaven, but He came to make a people known by His name. Whoever will not have confessed in this nature, perishes, and what he has lived, he condemns himself late in punishment, or at least, while he hopes by waiting to grow old, he is excluded for longer from eternal life, having died. Therefore, we must now remember him more quickly, who promises us life after death. Moreover, it adds this, that they will be immortal and will enjoy what the eye had not seen before by seeing. These will spring forth after six thousand years filled, by which time I hope we ourselves will already be in port on the shore. Then the man, brought back to the contest, will rise with the sun and rejoice in God, recalling what came before. Hearing, now incorruptible though once in frail flesh, he recognizes the promises of old. Admiring the glory which came to man, he said: As I have heard before, so I see each particular. All of them lifted up from the underworld shout together like this: "Just as we heard before, here we see!" All pain will pass from the body, and the wound will pass too, and there will be no anxiety but only joy forever. Everyone believes and feels there is one present in three, he will be reborn forever in eternal ages. But some people say this: When do we think these things will come? Take (these words) in few, to be followed by those (things) (already) done. Indeed, many signs of such a great plague will occur, And there will be the beginning of our seventh persecution: Behold, now the door is knocking and forced to be, Which will soon cross the river for the Goths to break in. King Apollyon will be with them, a dire name, who will scatter the persecution of the saints with weapons. He proceeds to Rome with many thousands of people, and by the decree of God he captures those subdued on one side. Many of the captive senators will then weep and, conquered by the barbarians, blaspheme the God of heaven. Yet the pagans everywhere feed the Christians, who seek them more as joyful brothers. For they pursue the extravagant and those who worship vain idols, for they subjugate even the senate. They perceive these evils, who have persecuted the beloved: For five months they are slaughtered under that enemy. In the meantime, Syrus arises at that very moment, Who may terrify the enemies and deliver the senate from there. From below he returns, who was entrusted with the kingdom and, having been long preserved, is recognized with his former body. We say, however, that Nero is ancient, who first punished Peter and Paul in the city: He himself returns again at the very end of the age from apocryphal places, who was reserved in these things. They themselves wonder that this man is hated by the senate; But when he appears, they will think he is a god. But before he comes, Elijah will prophesy, at a time divided, in the middle of the week. The infamous one succeeds upon the completion of the appointed time, whom both the Jews and Romans worshiped together at that time. Although there will be another whom they await from the east, nonetheless they will rage against us with King Nero in our slaughter. Therefore when Elijah prophesies in the land of Judah, and marks his own people in the name of Christ; Of these, how many because they do not want to believe, He supplicates God in anger not to rain down; from then on, the sky will be closed, nor will it be moistened by dew: And even the rivers, in anger, will turn into blood. The land becomes sterile and water does not flow from springs, so that famine will come upon the world: and then there will be a plague in the world. Because of this, indeed, the tormented Jews contrive many false accusations against him and they first kindle the senate to rise up in anger and they say that Elijah is an enemy to the Romans. Then the senate was quickly moved by them, and they beseeched Nero with unjust prayers and gifts, "Remove the enemies of the people from human affairs, through whom even our gods are trampled upon and not worshipped." But, fueled by anger and the prayers of the senate, he seizes the prophets on a public carriage from the east. He who is satisfied to do this for them or at least for the Jews, first sacrifices these and then leaves for the churches. Under the martyrdom of whom, a tenth part of the city fell, and there seven thousand full men perished. But the Lord takes them on the fourth day into the air, who had been forbidden to be buried lying down, and having been made immortal from death, He raises them up from the ground, which their enemies watch them enter into the heavens. They are not afraid, but rather rage within the people of Christ, hating with total hatred. For the Almighty hardened wicked hearts, just as he had previously hardened the ears of Pharaoh. Therefore, the harsh and unjust king Nero, having been driven away, orders the Christian people themselves to be driven out of the city, however, he adds two Caesars as his partners, with whom he may persecute this people with dire fury. They send edicts also to all judges everywhere, that they might make this kind of men without the name of Christ. They also command that incense be placed before the images and that all crowned persons proceed, so that none are concealed. If one refuses to go faithfully in this story, he exits luckily; But if on the other hand, he becomes one of the crowd. There will be no day of peace nor an offering for Christ, but blood flows everywhere, which I am overcome trying to describe; tears prevail, hands fail, hearts tremble, though it be fitting for martyrs to bear so many deaths; through the sea, through lands, through islands and retreats they search for a long time, and lead the cursed victims. Nero will do these things then, in the entire span of three years, and in a year and a half he will complete the appointed time. Because of this outrage, deadly punishment will come so that the city and that people will be handed over with him, so that the unjustly filled empire that for a long time had tortured everyone through bad tributes will be removed. Again this will rise up in the defeat of Nero, a king from the east with four nations from there. And he will invite as many nations as he can to the city, who may bring aid, although he himself is strongest. And he will fill the sea with ships and many thousands, and if anyone opposes him, he will be killed with the sword. And first he will capture conquered Tyre and Sidon, for neighboring nations are weakened by fear from there. From here comes disease, from here comes war, from here comes famine, from here comes harsh tidings, and together they cause disturbance of the mind. Meanwhile, the trumpet gives a sudden sound from the sky, the sound of which disturbs the hearts of everyone in the place. And then, the chariot will be seen glowing with fire among the stars, and the torch, running ahead, will send word of the coming of the flame to far-off peoples. The river Euphrates dries up completely, so that a way may be made for the king with those nations. The Persians, Medes, and Chaldeans, Babylonians will come, fierce and swift, who know not any pain. So when he (the sun) begins to rise from there, Nero and the Senate are disturbed by the close sight. And those three Caesars will go to resist; Whom he, having slaughtered, invites as food for birds. An army whose necessity is to adore the conqueror. And when returning to the city with their minds changed, they plunder the temples and whatever is inside the city. They tear apart and slaughter men with great bloodshed. Finally, they burn the city made naked, so that no trace of it appears anymore. Of whose downfall the hearts of the powerful waste away, and they cannot find themselves, at what time they fell. She did indeed rejoice, but the whole earth was groaning; And yet she barely found a worthy reward. She mourns forever, who boasted she was eternal, whose tyrants are already judged by the Almighty. The time is ripe for Rome to be smoking towards its end, And the reward will come divided according to the merits of the places. Nevertheless, he proceeds victorious in the land of Judaea, whom the Jews themselves had hoped would conquer Rome. He performs many signs so that they may believe in him, to deceive them because he was sent wicked; Whom however from heaven the voice of the Highest rebukes. Persida says that he is an immortal being. Nero became the Antichrist for us, the Jews; Those two are always prophets in the final end. The ruin of the city is Nero's, as it is of the whole earth; Of whom, however, I suggest a few things which I have read secretly. Meanwhile, it displeases both the Jews themselves, and they whisper at the same time that they have been deceived by fraud. They cry out together with weeping voices to heaven, then Almighty God, may He bring to an end all that which I have said, will bring forth a people hidden for a long time. But the Jews across the River Persia were closed off, whom God desired to stay there until the end. Captivity forced them to stay there; Of the twelve tribes, half of them live there. There is no lie there, nor is there any hatred; Therefore neither does his son die before his parents; Nor do they mourn or lament for their dead, as is our custom, For they await the coming resurrection, And do not feed their soul with added food, But only with vegetables that are without the shedding of blood. Justice lives with a body unspoiled, In these neither does wicked power exercise its strength. No fevers approach them, nor fierce colds, since they obediently follow all the righteous laws; which we ourselves will also follow, living purely; only death and toil are inevitable, for the rest is mute. Here was a people, who now are passed away. With the dried river he will return to the land of Judaea; with them God will come to fulfill his promises; he who exults throughout the entire journey with God present. All things grow before them, everything rejoices, the created thing itself is delighted to receive the saints: In every place fountains are ready to spring up, wherever the people of the Most High go with heavenly awe. They make a shade with clouds, so that they are not vexed with the sun, and the mountains themselves are laid down that they may not be wearied; for before them shall go an Angel of the Most High, who by his winged spirit, for their protection, will direct them on their way. They walk lightly without work, and like lions, they destroy everything in their path. Indeed, no legion will be able to resist, if it wages war, since God himself is with them. Nations are conquered, cities also surrender, by God's permission they empty all colonies, and become rich by looting gold or silver, and thus they sing hymns of honor to God along the way. But soon they hasten to the holy city of their fathers, for that terrible tyrant trembles and flees to the Northern kings with great noise. From where he seizes the people, as if standing against a fighting, But when the rebel armies of God hasten, They are thrown to the ground everywhere, having fought with the angels. But the unfair king and false prophet are sent, both captured, living in the punishment of hell, whose major leaders, governors or envoys, are immediately reduced to the place of servants, the wicked ones. Meanwhile, the saints enter the holy colony, taking God's promises with endless happiness. They pray to God for the dead to arise, which he promised long ago concerning the first resurrection. Then God will begin to be angry with the enemies, and the day appointed arriving for the unrighteous. But when he begins to judge the world by fire, and devours the pious and the impious fall under fire. Few remain who will report such deeds, and those who are reserved to serve the just, survive. After the persecution of the saints and such great funerals, a detestable, burning day is imminent. Behold she sings hoarsely in the sky, but echoing everywhere, which makes the whole world tremble at its falling ruin. The sun escapes unknowingly, suddenly becomes the image of night, and God exclaims: How long did you think I could carry on this way? With its sign having been given, a plague rushes down from the entire ether, with the roar of thunder the attack of fire descends. Then one thunderbolt after another is hurled from the stars, the fiery tempest kept back for so many years rushes forth, the deadly calamity roars, the aroused earth trembles, and every human race is unable to foresee in what direction it should turn. Stars fall from the sky, the stars are judged with us: The inhabitants of heaven are disturbed, while the ruin of the world is taking its course. There will be no relief then and empty crying out; No ship will take a person, no hiding place; Nor will those help, whom they worshiped as great ones before: Each strives for himself, but nothing profits him; Only those who have been marked for Christ will benefit; There will be dew for them, for the rest a deadly punishment. A part of the unbelievers is kept gently burned, so that their race may again bewail itself at the end. Wherever men turn, fiery force rages; The very air of the world, which was pleasing before, is burned. What noise shall I say comes with the thunderstorm, as all the anger accumulated through so many years is poured out? From here (comes) fire, from here thunder, from here so many evils of whirlwinds boil and (the) sky will be snatched beneath the shadow of sudden death. Partly the trembling earth loosens funeral barriers, partly the thunder breaks through the lowest walls and the foundations of the world, just as dust rising into the air. Rocks fly from shattered cliffs and the roofs of houses are laid waste, the entire city of our fathers is laid low, so that scarcely, where once it flourished, does a tiny trace endure. Who could bear so many crackling sounds, such great crashes and such ruins or see such great shipwrecks? What will a wretched mother do then with her sweet little one? But if a father pities his son, what does it profit him? Alas, you flee from the Lord! Prophets disunited without Christ, whose happy fate is judged, now weeping for themselves they lament with groans and prostrate themselves on the ground, while a joyful heavenly hall shines for their brothers. Then the light of eternal life will purify the man from heaven, who was once humble and now appears coming: with him descend the angels of eternal brightness, the tombs will be broken and bodies will rise from the mud, which the decay stains, and they will be carried to the savage guardians of hell. Here will be living Jews: He will raise them up, that they may see His glory, whom they crucified. But He arises again from the depths, to be for those miserable ones a witness, killed by them. How many coins do you hang, who, with foolish and deceitful forethought, promised profits to silent guards? We sing about you, Envy; we will conquer you, Judea, when the righteous rejoice and the damned burn in hell; to them God will say: Depart from there! And if they do not believe, they will go into the shadow of death; as those who were able to desire more, and only chose mortal things, they will go down headlong. The rest, who were in the adversity of Christ. About the saints, there will always be one people. Here is the final goal; for it shall not be changed, he himself swore.