The Sibylline Oracles 2

1Now while I much entreated God restrained

2My wise song, also in my breast again

3He put the charming voice of words divine.

4In my whole body terror-stricken these

5I follow; for I know not that I speak,

6But God impels me to proclaim each thing.

7But when on earth come shocks, fierce thunderbolts,

8Thunders and lightnings, storms, and evil blight,

9And rage of jackals and of wolves, manslaughter,

10Destruction of men and of lowing kine,

11Four-footed cattle and laborious mules,

12And goats and sheep, then shall the ample field

13Be barren from neglect, and fruits shall fail,

14And there shall be a selling of their freedom

15Among most men, and robbery of temples.

16And then shall, after these, appear of men

17The tenth race, when the earth-shaking Lightener

18Shall break the zeal for idols and shall shake

19The people of seven-hilled Rome, and riches great

20Shall perish, burned by Vulcan's fiery flame.

21And then shall bloody signs from heaven descend--

22But yet the whole world of unnumbered men

23Enraged shall kill each other, and in tumult

24Shall God send famines, plagues, and thunderbolts

25On men who, without justice, judge of rights.

26And lack of men shall be in all the world,

27So that if anyone beheld a trace

28Of man on earth, he would be wonderstruck.

29And then shall the great God who dwells in heaven

30Saviour of pious men in all things prove.

31And then shall there be peace and wisdom deep,

32And the fruit-bearing land shall yield again

33Abundant fruits, divided not in parts

34Nor yet enslaved. And every harbor then,

35And every haven, shall be free to men

36As formerly, and shamelessness shall perish.

37And then will God show mortals a great sign:

38For like a lustrous crown shall shine a star,

39Bright, all-resplendent, from the radiant heaven

40Days not a few; and then will he display

41From heaven a crown for contest unto men

42Who wrestle. And then there shall be again

43A mighty contest of triumphal march

44Into the heavenly sky, and it shall be

45For all men in the world, and have the fame

46Of immortality. And every people

47Shall then in the immortal contests strive

48For splendid victory. For no one there

49Can shamelessly with silver buy a crown.

50For unto them will the pure Christ adjudge

51That which is due, and crown the ones approved,

52And give his martyrs an immortal prize

53Who carry on the contest unto death.

54And unto chaste men who run their race well

55Will he the incorruptible reward

56Of the prize give, and to all men allot

57That which is due, and also to strange nations

58That live a holy life and know one God.

59And those who have regard for marriages

60And keep themselves far from adulteries,

61To them rich gifts, eternal hope, he'll give.

62For every human soul is God's free gift,

63And 'tis not right men stain it with vile deeds.

64[Do not be rich unrighteously, but lead

65A life of probity. Be satisfied

66With what thou hast and keep thyself from that

67Which is another's. Speak not what is false,

68But have a care for all things that are true.

69Revere not idols vainly; but the God

70Imperishable honor always first,

71And next thy parents. Render all things due,

72And into unjust judgment come thou not.

73Do not cast out the poor unrighteously,

74Nor judge by outward show; if wickedly

75Thou judgest, God hereafter will judge thee.

76Avoid false testimony; tell the truth.

77Maintain thy virgin purity, and guard

78Love among all. Deal measures that are just;

79For beautiful is measure full to all.

80Strike not the scales oneside, but draw them equal.

81Forswear not ignorantly nor willingly;

82God hates the perjured man in that he swore.

83A gift proceeding out of unjust deeds

84Never receive in hand. Do not steal seed;

85Accursed through many generations he

86Who took it unto scattering of life.

87Indulge not vile lusts, slander not, nor kill.

88Give the toilworn his hire; do not afflict

89The poor man. Unto orphans help afford

90And to widows and the needy. Talk with sense;

91Hold fast in heart a secret. Be unwilling

92To act unjustly nor yet tolerate

93Unrighteous men. Give to the poor at once

94And say not, "Come to-morrow." Of thy grain

95Give to the needy with perspiring hand.

96He who gives alms knows how to lend to God.

97Mercy redeems from death when judgment comes.

98Not sacrifice, but mercy God desires

99Rather than sacrifice. The naked clothe,

100Share thy bread with the hungry, in thy house

101Receive the shelterless and lead the blind.

102Pity the shipwrecked; for the voyage is

103Uncertain. To the fallen give a hand;

104And save the man that stands without defense.

105Common to all is suffering, life's a wheel,

106Riches unstable. Having wealth, reach out

107To the poor thy hand. Of what God gave to thee

108Bestow thou also on the needy one.

109Common is the whole life of mortal men;

110But it comes out unequal. When thou seest

111A poor man never banter him with words,

112Nor harshly accost a man who may be blamed.

113One's life in death is proven; if one did

114The unlawful or just, it shall be decided

115When he to judgment comes. Disable not

116Thy mind with wine nor drink excessively.

117Eat not blood, and abstain from things

118Offered to idols. Gird not on the sword

119For slaughter, but defense; and would thou might

120It neither lawlessly nor justly use:

121For if thou kill an enemy thy hand

122Thou dost defile. Keep from thy neighbor's field,

123Nor trespass on it; just is every landmark,

124And trespass painful. Useful is possession

125Of lawful wealth, but of unrighteous gains

126'Tis worthless. Harm not any growing fruit

127Of the field. And let strangers be esteemed

128In equal honor with the citizens;

129For much-enduring hospitality

130Shall all experience as each other's guests;

131But let there not be anyone a stranger

132Among you, since, ye mortals, all of you

133Are of one 'blood, and no land has for men

134Any sure place. Wish not nor pray for wealth;

135But pray to live from few things and possess

136Nothing at all unjust. The love of gain

137Is mother of all evil. Do not long

138For gold or silver; in them there will be

139A double-edged and soul-destroying iron.

140A snare to men continually are gold

141And silver. Gold, of evils source, of life

142Destructive, troubling all things, would that thou

143Wert, not to mortals such a longed-for bane!

144For wars, because of thee, and pillaging

145And murders come, and children hate their sires,

146And brothers and sisters those of their own blood.

147Plot no deceit, and do not arm thy heart

148Against a friend. Keep not concealed within

149A different thought from what thou speakest forth;

150Nor, like rock-clinging polyp, change with place.

151But with all be frank, and things from the soul

152Speak thou forth. Whosoever willfully

153Commits a wrong, an evil man is he;

154But he that does it under force, the end

155I tell not; but let each man's will be right.

156Pride not thyself in wisdom, power, or wealth;

157God only is the wise and mighty one

158And full of riches. Do not vex thy heart

159With evils that are past; for what is done

160Can never be undone. Let not thy hand

161Be hasty, but ferocious passion curb;

162For many times has one in striking done

163Murder without design. Let suffering

164Be common, neither great nor overmuch.

165Excessive good has not brought forth to men

166That which is helpful. And much luxury

167Leads to immoderate lusts. Much wealth is prowl,

168And makes one grow to wanton violence.

169Passionate feeling, creeping in, effects

170Destructive madness. Anger is a lust,

171And when it is excessive it is wrath.

172The zeal of good men is a noble thing,

173But of the base is base. Of wicked men

174The boldness is destructive, but renown

175Follows that of the good. To be revered

176Is virtuous love, but that of Cypris works

177Increase of shame. A silly man is called

178Very agreeable among his fellows.

179With moderation eat, drink, and converse;

180Of all things moderation is the best;

181But trespass of its limit brings to grief.

182Be not thou envious, faithless, or abusive,

183Or evil-minded, or a false deceiver.

184Be prudent and abstain from shameless deeds.

185Imitate not what's evil, but leave thou

186Vengeance to justice; for persuasion is

187A useful thing, but strife engenders strife.

188Trust not too quickly ere thou see the end.]

189This is the contest, these are the rewards;

190These are the prizes; this the gate of life

191And entrance into immortality,

192Which God in heaven unto most righteous men

193Appointed a reward for victory;

194And through this gate shall gloriously pass

195Those who shall then receive the victor's crown.

196But when this sign shall everywhere appear--

197Children with gray hair on their temples born--

198And human sufferings, famines, plagues, and wars,

199And change of times, and many a tearful wail,

200Ah! of how many parents in the lands

201Will children mourn and piteously weep,

202And with shrouds bury flesh and limbs in earth,

203Mother of peoples, with the blood and dust

204Themselves defiling. O ye wretched men

205Of the last generation, evil doers,

206Terrible, childish, not perceiving this,

207That when the tribes of women do not bear

208The harvest time of mortal men is come.

209Near is the ruin when impostors come

210Instead of prophets speaking on the earth.

211And Beliar shall come and many signs

212Perform for men. And then of holy men,

213Elect and faithful, there shall be confusion,

214And pillaging of them and of the Hebrews.

215And there shall be upon them fearful wrath

216When from the east a people of twelve tribes

217Shall come in search of kindred Hebrew people

218Whom Assyrian shoot destroyed; and over these

219Shall nations perish. But they afterwards

220Shall over men exceeding mighty rule,

221Elect and faithful Hebrews, and enslave

222Them as before, since their power ne'er shall fail.

223He that is highest of all, the all-surveying,

224Dwelling in heaven, will scatter sleep on men,

225Covering the eyelids o'er. O blessed servants

226Whom when the Master comes he finds awake!

227And they all watch at all times and expect

228With sleepless eyes. For it will be at dawn

229Or eve or midday; but he sure shall come,

230And it shall be as I say, it shall be,

231To them that sleep, that from the starry heaven

232The stars at midday will to all appear

233With the two lights as the time hastens on.

234And then the Tishbite, urging from the heaven

235His chariot celestial, and on earth

236Arriving, shall to all the world display

237Three evil signs of life to be destroyed.

238Alas for all the women in that day

239Who shall be found with burden in the womb!

240Alas for all who suckle tender babes!

241Alas for all who shall dwell on the waves!

242Alas for women who shall see that day!

243For a dark mist shall hide the boundless world,

244East, west, and south, and north. And then shall flow

245A mighty stream of burning fire from heaven

246And every place consume, earth, ocean vast,

247And gleaming sea, and lakes and rivers, springs,

248And cruel Hades and the heavenly sky.

249And heavenly lights shall break up into one

250And into outward form all-desolate.

251For stars from heaven shall fall into all seas.

252And all the souls of men shall gnash their teeth

253Burned both by sulphur stream and force of fire

254In ravenous soil, and ashes hide all things.

255And then of the world all the elements

256Shall be bereft, air, earth, sea, light, sky, days,

257Nights; and no longer in the air shall fly

258Birds without number, nor shall living things

259That swim the sea swim any more at all,

260Nor freighted vessel o'er the billows pass,

261Nor kine straight-guiding plow the field, nor sound

262Of furious winds; but he shall fuse all things

263Together, and shall pick out what is pure.

264But when the immortal God's eternal angels

265Arakiel, Ramiel, Uriel, Samiel,

266And Azael, they that know how many evils

267Anyone did before, shall from dark gloom

268Then lead to judgment all the souls of men

269Before the judgment-seat of the great God

270Immortal; for imperishable is

271One only, himself the almighty, One,

272Who shall be judge of mortals; and to them

273That dwell beneath will then the heavenly One

274Give souls and spirit and voice, and also bones

275Fitted with joints unto all kinds of flesh,

276And both the flesh and sinews, veins and skin

277About the body, and hair as before;

278Divinely fashioned and with breathing moved

279Shall bodies of those on earth one day be raised.

280And then shall Uriel, mighty angel, break

281The bolts of stern and lasting adamant

282Which, monstrous, bold the brazen gates of Hades,

283Straight cast them down, and unto judgment lead

284All forms that have endured much suffering,

285Chiefly the shapes of Titans born of old,

286And giants, and all whom the deluge whelmed,

287And all that perished in the billowy seas,

288And all that furnished banquet for the beasts

289And creeping things and fowls, these in a mass

290Shall (Uriel) summon to the judgment-seat;

291And also those whom flesh-devouring fire

292Destroyed in flame, even these shall he collect

293And place before the judgment-seat of God.

294And when the high-thundering Lord of Sabaoth

295Making an end of fate shall raise the dead,

296Sit on his heavenly throne, and firmly fix

297The mighty pillar, then amid the clouds

298Christ, who himself is incorruptible,

299Shall come unto the Incorruptible

300In glory with pure angels, and shall sit

301At the right hand on the great judgment-seat

302To judge the life of pious and the way

303Of impious men. And Moses, the great friend

304Of the Most High, shall come enrobed in flesh

305Also great Abraham himself shall come,

306Isaac and Jacob, Joshua, Daniel,

307Elijah, Habakkuk and Jonah, and

308Those whom the Hebrews slew. But he'll destroy

309The Hebrews after Jeremiah, all

310Who are to be judged at the judgment-seat,

311That worthy recompense they may receive

312And pay for all each did in mortal life.

313And then shall all pass through the burning stream

314Of flame unquenchable; but all the just

315Shall be saved; and the godless furthermore

316Shall to all ages perish, all who did

317Evils aforetime, and committed murders,

318And all who are accomplices therein,

319Liars and thieves, and ruiners of home,

320Crafty and terrible, and parasites,

321And marriage-breakers pouring forth vile words,

322Dread, wanton, lawless, and idolaters;

323And all who left the great immortal God,

324Became blasphemers did the pious harm,

325Destroying faith and killing righteous men

326And all that with a shamelessness deceitful

327And double-faced rush in as presbyters

328And reverend ministers, who knowingly

329Give unjust judgments, yielding to false words

330More hurtful than the leopards and the wolves

331And more vile; and ill that are grossly proud

332And usurers, who gains on gains amass

333And damage orphans and widows in each thing;

334And all that give to widows and to orphans

335The fruit of unjust deeds, and all that cast

336Reproach in giving from their own hard toils;

337And all that left their parents in old age,

338Not paying them at all, nor offering

339To parents filial duty, and all who

340Were disobedient and against their sires

341Spoke a harsh word; and all that pledges took

342And then denied them; and the servants all

343Who were against their masters, and again

344Those who licentiously defiled the flesh;

345And all who loosed the girdle of the maid

346For secret intercourse, and all who caused

347Abortions, and all who their offspring cast

348Unlawfully away; and sorcerers

349And sorceresses with them, and these wrath

350Of the heavenly and immortal God shall drive

351Against a pillar where shall all around

352In a circle flow a restless stream of fire;

353And deathless angels of the immortal God,

354Who ever is, shall bind with lasting bonds

355In chains of flaming fire and from above

356Punish them all by scourge most terribly;

357And in Gehenna, in the gloom of night,

358Shall they be cast 'neath many horrid beasts

359Of Tartarus, where darkness is immense.

360But when there shall be many punishments

361Enforced on all who had an evil heart,

362Yet afterward shall there a fiery wheel

363From a great river circle them around,

364Because they had a care for wicked deeds.

365And then one here, another there, shall sires,

366Young children, mothers, nursing babes, in tears

367Wail their most piteous fate. No fill of tears

368Shall be for them, nor piteous voice be heard

369Of them that moan, one here, another there,

370But long worn under dark, dank Tartarus

371Aloud shall they cry; and they shall repay

372In cursed places thrice as much as all

373The evil work they did, burned with much fire;

374And all of them, consumed by raging thirst

375And hunger, shall in anguish gnash their teeth

376And call death beautiful, and death shall flee

377Away from them. For neither death nor night

378Shall ever give them rest. And many things in vain

379Will they ask of the God that rules on high,

380And then will he his face turn openly

381Away from them. For he to erring men

382Gave, in seven ages for repentance, signs

383By the hands of a virgin undefiled.

384But the others, all to whom right and fair works

385And piety and thoughts most just were dear,

386Shall angels, bearing through the burning stream,

387Lead unto light and life exempt from care,

388Where comes the immortal way of the great God

389And fountains three--of honey, wine, and milk.

390And equal land for all, divided not

391By walls or fences, more abundant fruits

392Spontaneous shall then bear, and the course

393Of life be common and wealth unapportioned.

394For there no longer will be poor nor rich,

395Tyrant nor slave, nor any great nor small,

396Nor kings nor leaders; all alike in common.

397No more at all will one say, "night has come,"

398Nor "morrow comes," nor "yesterday has been;

399Nor shall there many days of anxious care,

400Nor spring, nor winter, nor the summer-heat,

401Nor autumn be [nor marriage, nor yet death,

402Nor sales, nor purchases], nor set of sun

403Nor rising; for a long day will God make.

404And to the pious will the almighty God

405Imperishable grant another thing,

406When they shall ask the imperishable God:

407That he will suffer men from raging fire

408And endless gnawing anguish to be saved;

409And this will he do. For hereafter he

410Will pluck them from the restless flame, elsewhere

411Remove them, and for his own people's sake

412Send them to other and eternal life

413With the immortals, in Elysian field,

414Where move far-stretching billows of the lake

415Of ever-flowing Acheron profound.

416Ah, miserable woman that I am!

417What shall I be in that day? for I sinned--

418Being busy foolishly about all things,

419Caring for neither marriage-bond nor reason;

420But even in my wealthy husband's house

421I shut the needy out; and formerly

422I knowingly performed unlawful things.

423But, Saviour, though I shameless things performed,

424Do thou from my tormentors rescue me,

425A shameless woman. And I pray thee now

426Make me to rest a little from my song,

427Holy Giver of manna, King of the great realm.