The Inspiration of the Sibyl

1Blessed, heavenly one, who thunders on high, who have the cherubim
As your throne, I entreat you to give a little rest
To me who have prophesied unfailing truth, for my heart is tired within,
But why does my heart shake again? And why is my spirit
5Lashed by a whip, compelled from within to proclaim An oracle to all? But I will utter everything again,
As much as God bids me say to men.

Praise of God and Denunciation of Idolatry
Men, who have the form, which God molded in his image, Why do you wander in vain, and not walk the straight path
10Ever mindful of the immortal creator?
There is on God, sole ruler, ineffable, who lives in the sky,
Self-begotten, invisible, who himself ses all things.
No sculptor’s hand made him, nor does a cast
Of gold or ivory reveal him, by the crafts of man,
15But he himself, eternal, revealed himself
As existing now, and formerly and again in the future.
For who, being mortal, is able to see God with eyes? Or who will be able to hear only
The name of the great heavenly God who rules the world?
20Who created everything by a word, heaven and sea, Untiring sun, full moon,
Shining stars, strong mother Tethys, (Tethys was a sea goddess)
springs and rivers, imperishable fire, days, night.
Indeed it is God himself who fashioned Adam, of four letters,
25The first-formed man, fulfilling by his name
East and west and south and north.
He himself fixed the shape of the form of men
And made wild beasts and serpents and birds.
You neither revere nor fear God, but wander to no purpose,
30Worshipping snakes and sacrificing to cats,
Speechless idols, and stone statues of people;
And sitting in front of the doors at godless temples
You do not fear the existing God who guards all things. You rejoice in the evil of stones, forgetting the judgment
35Of the immortal savior who created heaven and earth. Alas for a race which rejoices in blood, a crafty and evil race Of impious and false double-tongued men and immoral Adulterous idol worshippers who plot deceit.
There is wickedness in their breasts, a frenzy raging within.
40They ravage booty for themselves and have a shameless spirit. For no one who is rich and has possessions will give a share to another But there will be terrible wickedness among all mortals.
They will have no fidelity at all. Many widowed women Will love other men secretly for gain;
45And those who have husbands will not keep hold of the rope of life.

Universal Rule of Rome, Followed by Eschatological Destruction
But when Rome will also rule over Egypt Guiding it toward a single goal, then indeed the most great kingdom Of the immortal king will become manifest over men.For a holy prince will come to gain sway over the scepters of the earth
50Forever, as time presses on. Then also implacable wrath will fall upon Latin men. Three will destroy Rome with piteous fate. All men will perish in their own dwellings When the fiery cataract flows from heaven.
55Alas, wretched one, when will that day come,
And the judgment of the great king immortal God?
Yet, just for the present, be founded, cities, and all
Be embellished with temples and stadia, markets and golden Silver and some statues so that you may come to the bitter day.
60For it will come, when the smell of brimstone spreads Among all men. But I will tell all in turn,
In how many cities mortals will endure evil.

The Advent of Beliar
Then Beliar will come from the sebastenoi
And he will raise up the height of mountains, he will raise up the sea,
65The great fiery sun and shining moon, And he will raise up the dead, and perform many signs For men. But they will not be effective in him. But he will, indeed, also lead men astray, and he will lead astray Many faithful, chosen Hebrews, and also other lawless men
70Who have not yet listened to the word of God.
But whenever the threats of the great God draws nigh And a burning power comes through the sea to land It will also burn Beliar and all overbearing men,
As many as put faith in him.

Cosmic Destruction in the Reign of Cleopatra
75Then indeed the world will be governed under the hands of a woman, And be obedient in everything Then when a widow reigns over the whole world, And throws gold and silver into the wondrous brine And casts the bronze and iron of ephemeral men
80Into the sea, then all the elements of the universe
Will be bereft, when God who dwells in the sky
Rolls up the heaven as a scroll is rolled, And the whole variegated vault of heaven falls On the wondrous earth and ocean. An undying cataract
85Of raging fire will flow, and burn earth, burn sea,
And melt the heavenly vault and days and creation itself Into one and separate them into clear air.
There will no longer be twinkling spheres of luminaries, No night, no dawn, No numerous days of care,
90No spring, no summer, no winter, no autumn.
And then indeed the judgment of the great God
Will come into the midst of the great world, when all these things happen.

Fragmentary Oracle
O, O for the floating waters and all dry land, And the rising sun which will never set again.
95All will obey him as he enters the world again
Because it was the first to recognize his power also.

The Tower of Babel
But when the threats of the great God are fulfilled
With which he once threatened men when they built the tower In the land of Assyria…They were all of one language
100And they wanted to go up to starry heaven.
But immediately the immortal one imposed a great compulsion On the winds. Then the winds cast down the great tower From on high. And stirred up strife for mortals among themselves. Therefore humans gave the city the name Babylon.
105But when the tower fell, and the tongues of men
Were diversified by various sounds, the whole
Earth of humans was filled with fragmenting kingdoms. There was the tenth generation of articulate men, From the time when the Flood came upon the men of old.

The Titans
110Cronos and Titan and Iapetus reigned, The best children of Gaia and Ouranos, whom men called
Earth and heaven, giving them a name Because they were the first of articulate men. The portions of the earth were threefold, according to the lot of each
115And each one reigned, having his share, and they did not fight For there were oaths imposed by their father, and the divisions were just. When the full time, the old age of the father, came, He also died, and the sons made a dire Transgression of oaths and stirred up strife against each other
120As to who should have royal honor and reign over all men. Cronos and Titan fought against each other But Rhea, Gaia, Aphrodite who loves crowns, Demeter, Hestia, and fair-tressed Dione
Brought them to friendship, having assembled
125All the kings, kindred and brothers, and other men Who were of the same blood and parents.
And they choose Cronos king to rule over all
Because he was eldest and best in appearance.
But Titan, for his part, imposed great oaths on Cronos
130That he should not rear a family of male children, so that He himself might reign when old age and fate came upon Cronos. Whenever Rhea gave birth, the Titans sat by her, And they tore apart all male children, But they allowed the females to live and be reared with their mother.
135But when Lady Rhea gave birth in the third child-bearing She brought forth Hera first. When they saw With their eyes the female species, the Titans, savage men, Went home. Then Rhea bore a male child, Whom she quickly sent away to be reared secretly and in private,
140To Phrygia, having taken three Cretan men under oath. Therefore they named him Zeus, because he was sent away, Similarly she sent away Poseidon secretly. Further, the third time, Rhea, marvel of women, bore Pluto As she went past Dodona, whence the watery paths
145Of the river Europus flowed and the water ran to the sea Mingled with the Peneius, and they call it Stygian. When the Titans heard that children existed
In secret, whom Cronos had begotten with Rhea, his consort, Titan assembled sixty sons
150And held Cronos and Rhea, his consort, in fetters. He hid them in the earth and guarded them in bonds. Then indeed the sons of mighty Cronos heard it And they stirred up great war and din of battle against him. This is the beginning of war for all mortals
155For this is the first beginning of war for mortals.

A List of Kingdoms
Then God inflicted evil upon the Titans And all the descendants of Titans and of Cronos Died. But then as time pursued its cyclic course The kingdom of Egypt arose, then that of the Persians,
160Medes, and Ethiopians, and Assyrian Babylon,
Then that of the Macedonians, of Egypt again, then of Rome.

A Further Prophecy of World Kingdoms
Then the utterance of the great God rose in my breast And bade me prophecy concerning every land And remind kings of the things that are to be.
165And God first put this in my mind: How many kingdoms of men will be raised up? The house of Solomon will rule first of all, And the Phoenicians, who disembark on Asia and other Islands, and the race of Pamphylians, and Persians and Phrygians,
170Carians and Mysians, and the race of the Lydians, rich in gold. Then the overbearing and impious Gredks” Another, great diverse race, of Macedonia, will rule, Who will come as a terrible cloud of war on mortals. But heavenly God will destroy them from the depth.
175But then will be the beginning of another kingdom. White and many-headed from the western sea. It will rule over much land, and will shake many, And will thereafter cause fear to all kings. It will destroy much gold and silver
180From many cities. But there will again be gold
On the wondrous earth, and then silver also and ornament. They will also oppress mortals. But those men Will have a great fall when they launch on a course of unjust haughtiness. Immediately compulsion of impiety will come upon these men.
185Male will have intercourse with male and they will set up boys In houses of ill-fame and in those days There will be a great affliction among men and it will throw everything into confusion. It will cut up everything and fill everything with evils With disgraceful love of gain, ill-gotten wealth,
190In many places, but especially in Macedonia.
It will stir up hatred. Every kind of deceit will be found among them Until the seventh reign, when
A king of Egypt, who will be of the Greeks by race, will rule. And then the people of the great God will again be strong
195Who will be guides in life for all mortals.

A Prophecy of Various Woes
But why did God also prompt me to say this: What first, what next, what will be the final evil On all men, what will be the beginning of these things?
First God will inflict evil upon the Titans
200For they will make retribution to the sons of mighty Cronos, Because they bound Cronos and the noble mother. Second, the Greeks will have tyrannies and proud Kings overbearing and impious, Adulterous and wicked in all respects. There will no longer
205Be respite from war for mortals. All the terrible Phrygians Will perish, and evil will come upon Troy on that day. Immediately evil will also come upon the Persians and Assyrians, All Egypt, Libya, and the Ethiopians, So that great evil will be shared among the Carians and Pamphylians
210And all men. But why should I narrate them individually? But when the first things reach and end, immediately The second things will come upon men. I will proclaim to you first of all; Evil will come upon the pious men who live around The great Temple of Solomon, and who are the offspring
215Of righteous men. Nevertheless I will also proclaim the race Of these; and the genealogy of their fathers, and the people of them all, All very thoughtfully, O devious crafty mortal.

Praise of the Jews
There is a city…in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans,
Whence comes a race of most righteous men.
220They are always concerned with good counsel and noble works For they do not worry about the cyclic Course of the sun Or the moon or monstrous things under the earth Nor the depth of the grim sea, Oceanus, Nor portents of sneezes, nor birds of augurers,
225Nor seers, nor sercerers, nor soothsayers,
Nor the deceits of foolish words of ventriloquists.
Neither do they practice the astrological predictions of the Chaldeans No astronomy. For all these things are erroneous, Such as foolish men inquire into day by day,
230Exercising themselves at a profitless task.
And indeed they have taught errors to shameful men
From which many evils come upon mortals on earth
So that they are misled as to good ways and righteous deeds. But they care for righteousness and virtue
235And not love of money, which begets innumerable evils For mortal men, war, and limitless famine. They have just measurements in fields and cities And they do not carry out robberies at night against each other Nor drive off herds of oxen, sheep, or goats,
240Nor does neighbor move the boundaries of neighbor, nor does a very rich man grieve a lesser man, Nor does oppress widows in any respect, but rather helps them, Always going to their aid with corn, wine, and oil. Always a prosperous man among the people gives a share
245Of the harvest to those who have nothing, but are poor, Fulfilling the word of the great God, the hymn of the law, For the Heavenly One gave the earth in common to all. But when the people of twelve tribes leaves Egypt And travels the path with leaders sent by God
250Traveling along at night with a pillar of fire
And travels by day, every dawn, with a pillar of cloud, He will appoint a great man, as leader for this people, Moses, whom the queen found by the marsh, took home, Reared, and called her son. But when he came
255Leading this people, which God led from Egypt To the mountain, Sinai, God also gave forth The Law from heaven, having written all just ordinances on two tablets And enjoined them to perform it. And if anyone should disobey He would pay the penalty by law, whether at human hands
260Or escaping men; he would be utterly destroyed in all justice. For the Heavenly One gave the earth in common to all And fidelity, and excellent reason in their breasts. For these alone the fertile soil yields fruit From one-to a hundredfold, and the measures of God are produced.

Exile and Restoration
265But on these also evil will come, and they will not escape Pestilence. And you will surely flee, leaving the very beautiful Temple, since it is your fate to leave the holy plain. You will be led to the Assyrians and you will see Innocent children and wives in slavery
270To hostile men. All means of livelihood and wealth will perish. The whole earth will be filled with you and every sea. Everyone will be offended at your customs. Your whole land will be desolate; your fortified altar And temple of the great God and long walls
275Will all fall to the ground, because you did not obey in your heart The holy law of the immortal God, but in error You worshipped unseemly idols and you did not fear The immortal Begetter of gods and of all men But were not willing to honor him. But you honored the idols of mortals.
280Therefore for seven decades of times all your fruitful earth And the wonders of the Temple will be desolate. But a good end and very great glory await you As immortal God decreed for you. But, you, remain, Trusting in the holy laws of the great God,
285Whenever he may lift your wearied knee upright to the light. And then the heavenly God will send a king And will judge each man in blood and the gleam of fire. There is a certain royal tribe whose race will never stumble. This too, as time pursues its cyclic course,
290Will reign, and it will begin to raise up a new temple of God. All the kings of the Persians will bring to their aid Gold and bronze and much-wrought iron. For God himself will give a holy dream by night And then indeed the temple will again be as it was before.

Woes Against Various Nations
295When indeed my spirit ceased the inspires hymn, And I entreated the great Begetter that I might have respite from compulsion, The word of the great God rose again in my breast And bade me prophesy concerning every land And remind kings of the things that are to be.
300God prompted me to say this first, How many grievous woes the Immortal devised For Babylon, because it destroyed his great Temple. Woe to you, Babylon, and race of Assyrian men. At some time a rushing destruction will come upon the whole land of sinners
305And a tumult will destroy the entire land of mortals And an affliction of the great God, leader of hymns. For a heavenly eternal destruction will cone upon you, Babylon, One day, from above, and on the children of wrath, But it will come down upon you from heaven from the holy ones.
310Then you will be as you were before, as if you had not been, Then you will be filled with blood, as you yourself formerly Poured out the blood of good men and righteous men, whose blood even now cries out to high heaven. A great affliction will come upon you, Egypt, against your homes,
315A terrible one, which you never expected to come upon you, For a sword will pass through your midst And scattering and death and famine will lay hold of you In the seventh generation of kings, and then you will rest. Woe to you, land of Gog and Magog, situated in the midst
320Of Ethiopian rivers. How great an effusion of blood you will receive And you will be called a habitation of judgment among men And your dewy earth will drink black blood. Woe to you, Libya, woe to sea and land, Daughters of the west, how you have come to a bitter day.
325You will also come pursued by a hard struggle,
Terrible and hard. There will again be a terrible judgment, And you will all of necessity go to destruction Because you have utterly destroyed the great house of the Immortal And have chewed it terribly with iron teeth.
330Therefore you will see your land full of corpses,
Some (slain) by war and every assault of the demon
Of famine and pestilence, others by barbarous-spirited enemies. All your land will be desolate and your cities desolate ruins. But is the west a star will shine which they call “Cometes,”
335A sign to mortals of sword, famine, and death,
Destruction of leaders and of great illustrious men.
There will again be very great signs among men.
The deep-flowing Tanais will leave Lake Maeotis
And there will be the track of a fertile furrow down
340The deep stream, while the immense current occupies a narrow channel. There will be chasms and yawning pits. Many cities Will fall with their inhabitants: in Asia: Issus, Cebren, Pandonia, Colophon, Ephesus, Nicaea, Antioch, Tanagra, Sinope, Smyrna, Maros,
345Prosperous Gaza, Hierapolis, Astypalaea;of Europe: famous Cyagra, royal Meropeia,
Antigone, Magnesia, divine Mysenae.
Know then that the destructive race of Egypt is near destruction And then for the Alexandrians the year which has passed will be the better one.

An Oracle Against Rome
350However much wealth Rome received from tribute-bearing Asia, Asia will receive three times that much again From Rome and will repay her deadly arrogance to her. Whatever number from Asia served the house of Italians, Twenty times that number if Italians will be serfs
355In Asia, in poverty, and they will be liable to pay ten-thousandfold. O luxurious golden offspring of Latium, Rome, Virgin, often drunken with your weddings with many suitors, As a slave will you be wed, without decorum. Often the mistress will cut your delicate hair
360And, dispensing justice, will cast you from heaven to earth, But from earth will again raise you up to heaven, Because mortals are involved in a wretched and unjust life. Samos will be sand, and Delos will become inconspicuous, Rome will be a street. All oracles will be fulfilled.
365Smyrna will perish and there will be no mention of it. There will be an avenger, But for the bad counsels and the wickedness of its leaders… Serene peace will return to the Asian land, And Europe will then be blessed. The air will be good for pasture For many years. Bracing, free from storms and hail,
370Producing everything-including birds and creeping beasts of the earth. O most blessed, whatever man or woman will live to what time!
There will be report of the blessed ones, as among countryfolk. For all good order and righteous dealing will come Upon men from starry heaven and with it
375Temperate concord, best of all things for men
And love, faithfulness and friendship even from strangers. Bad government, blame, envy, anger, folly, Poverty will flee from men, and constraint will flee, And murder, accursed strife, and grievous quarrels,
380Night robberies, and every evil in those days.

An Oracle on Alexander the Great
But Macedonia will bring forth a great affliction for Asia And a very great grief for Europe will spring up From the race of Cronos, the progeny of bastards and slaves. She will conquer even the fortified city of Babylon.
385Having been called mistress of every land which the sun beholds, She will perish by evil fate,
Leaving a name among her much-wandering posterity.

An Oracle on Alexander and His Descendants
Also at a certain time there will come to the prosperous land of Asia A faithless man clad with a purple cloak on his shoulders,
390Savage, stranger to justice fiery. For a thunderbolt beforehand Raised him up, a man. But all Asia Will bear an evil yoke, and the earth, deluged, will imbibe much gore. But even so Hades will attend him in everything though he knows it not.
Those whose race he wished to destroy,
395By them will his own race be destroyed.
Yet leaving one root, which the destroyer will also cut off From ten horns, he will sprout another shoot on the side. He will smite a warrior and begetter of a royal race And he himself will perish at the hands of his descendants in a conspiracy of war,
400And then the horn growing on the side will reign.

Prophecies of Various Catastrophes (from the Erythrean Sibyl)
There will also be immediately a sign for fertile Phrygia, When the abominable race of Rhea, a perennial shoot In the earth, flourishing with unthirsting roots, Will disappear stump and all in a single night
405In the city of the earthquaking land-shaker, complete with its inhabitants, Which they will at one time call by the name Dorylaeon Of ancient, much-lamented dark Phrygia. That time is by name “earth-shaker”. It will scatter the hiding places of the earth and undo walls.
410The signs will be a beginning, not of good, but of evil. It will have princes who are knowledgeable in the war of all tribes, Producing native descendants of Aenas, kindred blood. But thereafter you will be a prey to men who are lovers.
Illium, I pity you. For a fury will sprout in Sparta,
415A very beautiful, famous, most excellent shoot,
Leaving the widespread wave of Asia and Europe.
It will bring lamentations and labors and groans
And inflict them especially on you, but your fame will be ageless for future generations. There will also be again a certain false writer, an old man,
420Of falsified fatherland. The light will go out in his eyes. He will have much intelligence and will have speech well proportioned to his thoughts, Blended under two names. He will call himself a Chian And write the story of Illium, not truthfully But cleverly. For he will master my words and meters.
425He will be the first to unfold my books with his hands, But he will especially embellish the helmeted men of war, Hector, son of Priam, and Achilles, son of Peleus, And the others, as many as cared for warlike deeds. He will also make gods to stand by these
430Writing falsely, in every way, about empty-headed men. It will also be great glory for these to die at Illium, But he himself will also receive appropriate recompense. For Lycia also the race of Locrus will engender many evils. Chalcedon, to whose lot has fallen the way of the sea strait,
435You also will an Aetolian youth at some time come and destroy. Cyzicus, the sea will also break off your great wealth. You, Byznatium, will love war in Asia And receive groans and blood beyond reckoning. Cragos, also, lofty mountain of Lycia, water will rush
440From your peaks when the rock has been opened in as chasm, Until it stops even the prophetic signs of Patara. Cyzicus, inhabitant of wine-selling Propontis, The crested wave of Rhynadacus will crash around you. You also, Rhodes, will indeed be free from slavery for a long time,
445Daughter of a day, and you will have great wealth thereafter, And you will have power at sea surpassing others. But afterward you will be a prey to lovers In beauty and wealth. You will place a terrible yoke on your neck. A Lydian earthquake will destroy the affairs of Persia,
450Causing most dire disasters for Europe and Asia, The destructive king of the Sidonians and the battle cry of others Will bring destruction by sea on the Samians. The plain will sweep to the sea with the blood of Perishing men. Wives with splendidly robed maidens
455Will cry aloud their private unseemly outrage,
Some for the dead, some for sons who are perishing. A sign for Cyprus; and earthquake will destroy the ravines And Hades will receive many souls at once. Trallis, the neighbor of Ephesus, will undo by an earthquake
460Her well-made walls, and a people of grave-minded men. The earth will flood with boiling water, then the earth Weighed down, will drink of it. There will be a smell of brimstone. Samos also will build royal palaces in due time. (Samos was conquered by the ptolemies in the 3rd century B.C.) Italy, no foreign war will come to you
465But native blood, much bemoaned, inexhaustible, Notorious, will ravage you, shameless one; And you yourself, stretched out by the warm ashes, Will kill yourself with no foresight in your breast. You will not be mother of good people, but nurse of wild beasts.
470But when a destructive man comes from Italy then, Laodicea, dashed down headlong By the wonderful water of Lycus, beautiful town of the Carians, You will bemoan your famous parent and be silent. The Thracian Crobyzi will rise up throughout Haemus.
475Chattering of teeth comes upon the Campanians
Because of the famine which destroys cities.
Cyrnus, bemoaning its aged parent, and Sardinia, will sink in the wave With sea-children, amid great storms of winter And afflictions of the holy God throughout the depths of the sea.
480Alas for all the virgins whom Hades will wed
And unburied youths whom the deep will attend.
Alas for infant children floating in the sea, and great wealth. The blessed land of Mysians will suddenly produce a royal race. Truly Carthage will not survive long. (fall of Carthage was in 146 B.C.)
485There will be lamentations with many groans among the Galatians. A final but greatest disaster will come upon Tenedus. Brazen Sicyon, and you, Corinth, will boast Over all, with howls, and the flute will sound equally.

A Further Prophecy of Various Disasters
When indeed my spirit stopped its inspired hymn
490The utterance of the great God again rose in my breast And bade me prophesy concerning the earth.
Woe to the race of Phoenician men and women
And all the maritime cities, none of you Will come to the sunlight in common light.
495No longer will there be a number and tribe alive
Because of the unjust tongue and lawless, unholy life Which all have carried out, opening an unholy mouth; And they composed terrible words, false and unjust, And stood before God the great king,
500And they opened their loathsome mouth falsely.
Therefore God will terribly subdue them with afflictions beyond all The earth, and send a bitter fate upon them, Burning their cities from the ground, and many foundations. Woe to you, Crete, of many sorrows. To you will come
505Affliction and fearful, eternal destruction. The whole earth will again see you smoking And fire will not leave you forever, but you will burn. Woe to you, Thrace, how you will come to a yoke of slavery! When Galatians mingled with Dardanidae
510Ravage Greece with a swoop, then will evil come upon you. You will give to another land and will receive nothing. Woe to you, God and Magog, and to all in turn Of the Marsians and Angians. How many evils fate brings upon you!
515Many too upon the sons of Lycians and Mysians and Phrygians. Many peoples of Pamphylians and Lydians will fall, Maurians and Ethiopians and strange-speaking peoples,
Cappadocians and Arabs. Why indeed should I proclaim each one According to its fate? For on all peoples, as many as inhabit the earth Will the Most High send a terrible affliction.
520But when a vast barbarian people comes against the Greeks (probably the Roman invasion that led to the capture in Corinth in 146B.C.) it will destroy many herds of chosen men. They will ravage many fat flocks, which belong to mortal men, And herds of horses and mules, and loud-bellowing oxen. They will burn well-constructed houses lawlessly with fire
525And will take many slaves to another land by compulsion, Children and broad-girdles women,
Delicate ones from the chambers, falling forward on tender feet. They will see themselves suffering every terrible outrage In fetters at the hand of strange-speaking enemies,
530And they will have no one to ward off a war a little or be a helper in life. They will see the enemy enjoying their private possessions And all their wealth. They will tremble beneath the knees.
A hundred will flee, but one will destroy them all.
Five will stir up grievous wrath but shamefully
535Coming to grips with each other in terrible war and din of battle They will cause joy to their enemies, but grief to the Greeks. A yoke of slavery will come upon all Greece. At once war and pestilence will come upon all. God will make a great bronze heaven on high
540And cause drought over the whole earth, and make the earth iron. But then all mortals will weep terribly For the lack of sowing and plowing, and the one who created heaven and earth Will set down much lamented fire on the earth. One third of all mankind will survive.

Exhortation to the Greeks
545Greece, why do you rely on mortal leaders
Who are not able to flee the end of death?
To what purpose do you give vain gifts to the dead
And sacrifice to idols? Who put error in your heart
That you should abandon the face of the great God and do these things?
550Revere the name of the one who has begotten all, and do not forget it. It is a thousand years and five hundred more Since the overbearing kings of the Greeks Reigned, who began the first evils for mortals, Setting up many idols of dead gods.
555On account of them you have been taught vain thinking. But when the wrath of the great God comes upon you, Then indeed you will recognize the face of the great God. All the souls of men will groan mightily and Stretch out their hands straight to broad heaven
560And begin to call on the great king as protector And seek who will be a deliverer from great wrath.
But come and learn this and place it in your heart,
How many woes there will be as the years circle on. Greece, also, by offering the holocausts of oxen
565And loud-bellowing bulls, which she has sacrificed, at the Temple of the great God,
Will escape the din of war and panic and pestilence
And will again escape the yoke of slavery. But the race of impious men will survive up to this point:
Whenever this fated day comes to pass.
570You will certainly not sacrifice to God until everything happens. What God alone has planned will not go unfulfilled. A strong necessity will insist that everything be fulfilled.

Eulogy of the Jews
There will again be a sacred race of pious men
Who attend to the counsel and intention of the Most High,
575Who fully honor the temple of the great God
With drink offering and burnt offering and sacred hecatombs, Sacrifices of well-fed bulls, unblemished rams, And firstborn sheep, offering as holocausts fat flocks of lambs On a great altar, in holy manner.
580Sharing in the righteousness of the law of the Most High, They will inhabit cities and rich fields in prosperity, Themselves exalted as prophets by the Immortal And bringing great joy to all mortals.
For to them alone did the great God give wise counsel
585And faith and excellent understanding in their breasts. They do not honor with empty deceits works of men, Either gold or bronze, or silver or ivory, Or wooden, stone, or clay idols of dead gods, Red-painted likeness of beasts,
590Such as mortals honor with empty-minded counsel. For on the contrary, at dawn they lift up holy arms Toward heaven, from their beds, always sanctifying their flesh With water, and they honor only the Immortal who always rules, And then their parents. Greatly, surpassing all men,
595They are mindful of holy wedlock, And they do not engage in impious intercourse with male children, As do Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Romans, Spacious Greece and many nations of others, Persians and Galatians, and all Asia, transgressing
600The holy law of immortal God, which they transgressed.

Prophecy of Judgment
Therefore the Immortal will inflict on all mortals
Disaster and famine and woes and groans
And war and pestilence and lamentable ills,
Because they were not willing to piously honor the immortal begetter
605Of all men, but honored idols Made by hand, revering them, which mortals themselves will cast away, Hiding them in clefts of rocks, through shame, Whenever the young seventh king of Egypt rules His own land, numbered from the dynasty of the Greeks,
610Which the Macedonians, wonderful men, will found. A great king will come from Asia, a blazing eagle, Who will cover the whole land with infantry and cavalry. He will cut up everything and fill everything with evils. He will overthrow the kingdom of Egypt. He will take out
615All its possessions and ride on the broad back of the sea. Then they will bend a white knee on the fertile ground To God the great immortal king
But all handmade works will fall in a flame of fire.

Transformation of the Earth
And then God will give great joy to men,
620For earth and trees and countless flocks of sheep Will give to men the true fruit Of wine, sweet honey and white milk And corn, which is best of all for mortals.

Appeal for Conversion
But you, devious moral, do not tarry in hesitation
625But turn back, converted, and propitiate God.
Sacrifice to God hundreds of bulls and firstborn lambs And goats at the recurring times.
But propitiate him, the immortal God, so that he may have pity For he alone is God and there is no other.
630Honor righteousness and oppress no one, For so the Immortal bids wretched mortals. But you, guard against the wrath of the great God
Whenever the culmination of pestilence comes upon all mortals And they are subdued and meet with terrible justice.

Eschatological Woes
635King will lay hold of king and take away territory. Peoples will ravage peoples, and potentates, tribes. All leaders will flee to another land. The land will have a change of men and foreign rule Will ravage all Greece and drain all
640The rich land of its wealth, and men will come
Face to face in strife among themselves because of gold and silver. Love of gain will be shepherd of evils for cities. All will be unburied in a foreign country. Vultures and wild beasts of the earth
645Will ravage the flesh of some. Indeed when this is completed The huge earth will consume unsown and unplowed, Wretched, proclaiming the curse of innumerable men, For many lengths of yearly recurring times-
650Light shields, long shields, javelins and diverse weapons And not even wood will be cut from a thicket for the flame of the fire.

The Savior King
And then God will send a King from the sun Who will stop the entire earth from evil war, Killing some, imposing oaths of loyalty on others;
655And he will not do all these things by his private plans But in obedience to the noble teachings of the great God.

The Final Assault on the Temple
The Temple of the great God (will be) laden with very beautiful wealth, Gold, silver, and purple ornament, And earth (will be) productive and sea full
660Of good things. And kings will begin
To be angry with each other, requiting evils with spirit. Envy is not good for wretched mortals.
But again the kings of the peoples will launch an attack Together against this land, bringing doom upon themselves,
665For they will want to destroy the Temple of the great God And most excellent men when they enter the land. The abominable kings, each one with his throne And faithless people, will set them up around the city.

Cosmic Judgment
And God will speak, with a great voice,
670To the entire ignorant empty-minded people, and Judgment will come upon them from the great God, and all will perish At the hand of the Immortal. Fiery swords will fall From heaven on the earth. Torches, great gleams, Will come shining into the midst of men.

675The all-bearing earth will be shaken in those days By the hand of the Immortal, and the fish in the sea And all the wild beasts of the earth and innumerable tribe of birds, All the souls of men and all the sea Will shudder before the face of the Immortal and there will be a terror.
680He will break the lofty summits of the mountains and the mounds of giants and the dark abyss will appear to all. High ravines in lofty mountains will be full of corpses. Rocks will flow With blood and every torrent will fill the plain.
685All well-constructed walls of hostile men Will fall to the ground, because they knew neither the law Nor the judgment of the great God, but with mindless spirit You all launched an attack and raised spears against the sanctuary. God will judge all men by was and sword
690And fire and torrential rain. There will also
Be brimstone from heaven and stone and much
Grievous hail. Death will come upon four-footed creatures. Then they will recognize the immortal God who judges these things. Wailing and tumult will spread throughout the boundless earth
695At the death of men. All the impious will bathe in blood. The earth itself will also drink Of the blood of the dying; wild beasts will be sated with flesh. God himself, the great eternal one, told me
To prophesy all these things. These things will not go unfulfilled.
700Nor is anything of God which knows no falsehood is throughout the world.

The Salvation of the Elect
But the sons of the great God will all live
Peacefully around the Temple, rejoicing in these things Which the Creator, just judge and sole ruler, will give.
705For he alone will shield them, standing by them magnificently As if he had a wall of blazing fire round about. They will be free from war in towns and country. No hand of evil war, but rather the Immortal himself And the hand of the Holy One will be fighting for them.
710And then all islands and cities will say, “How much the Immortal loves those men! For everything fights on their side and helps them, Heaven, divinely driven sun and moon” But the all-bearing earth will be shaken in those days.
715They will bring forth from their mouths a delightful utterance in hymns, “Come, let us all fall on the ground and entreat the immortal king, the great eternal God. Let us send to the Temple, since he alone is sovereign And let us all ponder the Law of the Most High God,
720Who is most righteous of all throughout the earth. But we had wandered from the path of the Immortal. With mindless spirit we revered things made by hand, Idols and statues of dead men.”
The souls of faithful men will cry out as follows:
725“Come, let us fall on our faces throughout the people of God, and let us delight with hymns God the begetter, throughout our homes, gathering the weapons of enemies throughout all the land for seven lengths of annually recurring times, light shields and long shields, helmets, many diverse arms,
730a large number of bows also, and an abundance of unjust weapons. For not even wood will be cut from a thicket for the flame of the fire.”

Exhortation to the Greeks
But wretched Greece, desist from proud thoughts.
Entreat the great-hearted Immortal and take precautions. Do not send against this city your thoughtless people
735which is not from the holy land of the Great One. Do not disturb Camarina, for it is better undisturbed. (Do not disturb) a leopard from its lair lest evil befall you, but keep away from it. Do not have a proud overbearing spirit in your breast, making ready for a hard contest.
740Serve the great God so that you may have a share in these things.

The Day of Judgment
When indeed this fated day also reaches its consummation And the judgment of immortal God comes upon mortals, A great judgment and dominion will come upon men. For the all-bearing earth will give the most excellent unlimited fruit
745To mortals, of grain, wine, and oil And a delightful drink of sweet honey from heaven, Trees, fruit of the top branches, and rich flocks And herds and lambs of sheep and kids of goats. And it will break forth sweet fountains of white milk.
750The cities will be full of good things and the fields will Be rich. There will be no sword on earth or din of battle, And the earth will no longer be shaken, groaning deeply. There will no longer be war or drought on earth, No famine or hail, damaging to fruits,
755But there will be great peace throughout the whole earth. King will be friend to king to the end of the age. The Immortal in the starry heaven will put in effect A common law for men throughout the whole earth For all that is done among wretched mortals.
760For he himself alone is God and there is no other, And he himself will burn with fire a race of grievous men.

More Exhortation
But urge on your minds in your breasts And shun unlawful worship. Worship the Living One. Avoid adultery and indiscriminate intercourse with males.
765Rear your own offspring and do not kill it,
For the Immortal is angry at whoever commits these sins.

The Eschatological Kingdom
And then, indeed, he will raise up a kingdom for all
Ages among men, he who once gave the holy Law
To the pious, to all of whom he promised to open the earth
770And the world and the gates of the blessed and all joys And immortal intellect and eternal cheer.
From every land they will bring incense and gifts
To the house of the great God. There will be no other House among men, even for future generations to know,
775Except the one which God gave to faithful men to honor (For mortals will invoke the son of the great God). All the paths of the plain and rugged cliffs, lofty mountains, and wild waves of the sea Will be easy to climb or sail in those days,
780For all peace will come upon the land of the good. Prophets of the great God will take away the sword For they themselves are judges of men and righteous kings. There will also be just wealth among men For this is the judgment and dominion of the great God.
785Rejoice, maiden, and be glad, for to you the one Who created heaven and earth has given the joy of the age. He will dwell in you. You will have immortal light. Wolves and lambs will eat grass together in the mountains. Leopards will feed together with kids.
790Roving bears will spend the night with calves.
The flesh-eating lion will eat husks at the manger
Like and ox, and mere infant children will lead them
With ropes. For he will make the beasts on earth harmless. Serpents and asps will sleep with babies
795And will not harm them, for the hand of God will be upon them.

The Signs of the End
I will tell you a very clear sign, so that you may know When the end of all things comes to pass on earth: When swords are seen at night in starry heaven Toward evening and toward dawn,
800And again dust is brought forth from heaven
Upon the earth and all the light of the sun
Is eclipsed in the middle from heaven, and the rays
Of the moon appear and return to the earth.
There will be a sign from the rocks, with blood and drops of gore.
805You will see a battle of infantry and cavalry in the clouds, Like a hunt of wild beasts, like a mist.
This is the end of war which God, who inhabits, is accomplishing. But all must sacrifice to the great king.

The Sibyl’s Conclusion
(I say) these things to you, having left
810the long Babylonian walls of Assyria, frenzied, a fir sent to Greece, prophesying the disclosures of God to all moratls, so that I prophesy divine riddles to men. Throughout Greece mortals will say that I am of another country, A shameless one, born of Erythrae. Some will say that
815I am Sibylla born of Circe as mother and Gnostos as father, A crazy liar. But when everything comes to pass, Then you will remember me and no longer will anyone Say that I am crazy, I who am a prophetess of the great God. For he did not reveal to me what he had revealed before to my parents
820But what happened first, these things my father told me, And God put all of the future in my mind
So that I prophesy both future and former things
And tell them to mortals. For when the world was deluged With waters, and a certain single approved man was left
825Floating on the waters in a house of hewn wood With beasts, and birds, so that the world might be filled again, I was his daughter-in-law and I was of his blood. The first things happened to him and all the latter things have been revealed, So let all these things from my mouth be accounted true.