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Sibylline OraclesBook seven Destruction of Various Places O Rhodes, you wretched one, for you first will I weep. You are first of cities, but you will perish first, Widowed of men, completely failing to gain a livelihood. Delos, you will swim and be unstable on the water. 5Cyprus, one day the wave of the gleaming sea will destroy you. Sicily, the fire that flares beneath you will burn you up. The Flood This I say, the terrible and strange water of God. A certain Noah came, a solitary fugitive from all men. Earth will swim, mountains will swim, even the sky will swim. 10All will be water and all things will perish in waters. Winds will stop, and there will be a second age. O Phrygia, you will shine forth first from the surface of the water, But you, the same, first to impiety, will reject God; Pleasing to speechless idols, which will destroy you, 15Wretched one, as many years pursue their cyclic course. Further Oracles of Destruction The unfortunate Ethiopians, also suffering piteous woes, Will be smitten with swords under the skin as they crouch in fear. Civil strife among themselves will destroy sleek Egypt, Always concerned with corn blades, which the Nile 20Saturates with seven swimming streams. Thence, unexpectedly, Men will drive out Apis, who is not a god to men, (Apis was the sacred bull worshipped at Memphis) Alas, Laodicea, daring one, you will speak falsehood, You who have never seen God. The wave of Lycus will dash over you. The great God himself, the begetter, will make many stars 25And will hang an axis through the middle of the sky And set up a great terror for men to behold on high, And immense pillar with great fire, from which Drops will destroy the evil races of men who have done harm. A Mesianic Oracle For one day that time will come to pass when once for all men 30Will beseech God, but will not stop fruitless Troubles. But all will be fulfilled through the house of David. For God entrusted and gave a throne to him. The angels will sleep under his feet- Those who cause fires to gleam and those who pour forth rivers 35Those who protect cities and those who send out storm winds. A difficult life will come upon many men, Entering souls and changing hearts of men. But when a young shoot puts forth eyes from the root, Which once distributed abundant nurture to all branches… Oracles Against Various Nations 40These things will further be in time. But when others Rule over the tribe of warlike Persians then there will be Terrible weddings of brides because of lawless tribes. For mother will have her own son also as husband. Son Will have intercourse with mother. Daughter, reclining on father, 45Will sleep according to this savage custom. Later A Roman Ares will shine out on them from many a lance. They will mix much earth with human blood. A prince of Italy will then flee from the might of the spear. (the famous defeat of Romans by Parthians was at Carrhae in 53B.C.) They will leave on the ground a flower engraved with gold, 50Which always bears an unholy sign when it goes forth. It will come to pass when Ilias, all eveil and ill-fated, Piteously drinks deep not marriage but the tomb, then brides Will weep deeply, because they did not take thought of God But always made noise with cymbals and ratling sounds. 55Prophesy, Colophon, a great terrible fire hangs wver you. Ill-wedded Thessaly, the earth will no longer see you, Even as ashes, but you will sail alone, a fugitive from the mainland. Thus, O wretched one, you will be the mournful refuse of war, O one who falls to dogs and rivers and swords. 60O wretched Corinth, you will receive grievous war about yourself, Miserable on, and you will perish at each other’s hands. Tyre, you alone will receive so great a fate, for you will excel In small-mindedness, bereft of pious men. Baptism of Christ Ah, Coele-Syria, last possession of the Phoenician men 65On whom the brine of Beirut lies belched up, Wretched one, you did not recognize your God, whom once Jordan washed In its streams, and the spirit flew like a dove. He, before either earth or starry heaven, Was sovereign Word, with the Father and Holy Spirit. 70He put on flesh but quickly flew to his Father’s home. Great heaven established three towers for him In which the noble mothers of God now live. Hope and piety and desirable holiness. They do not rejoice in gold or silver but in reverential acts 75Of men, sacrifices, and most righteous thoughts. Ritual Prescriptions You shall sacrifice to the immortal great noble God, Not by melting a lump of incense in fire or striking A shaggy ram with a sacrificial knife, but with all Who bear your blood, by taking a wild dove, 80Praying, and sending it off, while gazing to heaven. You shall pour a libation of water on pure fire, crying out as follows: “As the father begot you, the Word, so I have dispatched a bird, a word which is swift reporter of words, sprinkling with holy waters your baptism, through which you were revealed out of fire. 85You shall not shut the door when some other stranger Comes, begging you toward off poverty and hunger. But take the head of this man, sprinkle it with water, And pray three times. Cry out to your God as follows: ‘I do not desire wealth. I am poor and I have received a poor man.’ 90You, father, provider, deign to listen to both.’ He will give to you when you pray. Fragmentary Verses 91aThereafter a man led away… Do not afflict me, sacred and righteous holiness of God Holy, indomitable, proved concerning the offspring… Father, check my wretched heart. I have looked to you, 95To you, the undefiled, whom no hands made. Oracles Against Various Nations Sardinia, you who are powerful now, will be changed to ashes. You will no longer be an island, when the tenth time comes. Sailing on the waters they will seek you, who no longer exist. Kingfishers will wail a piteous lament over you. 100Rugged Mygdonia, beacon of the sea, difficult of exit, You will boast for an age; you will perish through ages, Entirely, with a hot wind. You will rage with many ills. Celtic land, upon your mound beyond the Alps, which are difficult to cross, Deep sand will make a mound over you entirely. You will no longer give tribute, 105Corn, or fodder. You will be desolate without people, Forever frozen with icy crystals. You will make amends for the outrage, impious one, which you had not noticed. Sturdy-spirited Rome, after the Macedonian spear You will flash like lightning to Olympus. But God will make you 110Utterly unknown when you will seem in appearances To remain much better established. Then I will cry out to you as follows: “You who once gleamed brightly will lift your voice as you perish.” Further, Rome, I will again utter further things to you. Now you, wretched Syria, will I bewail piteously. 115Thebes of ill counsel, an evil sound will come upon you, With the voice of flutes. A trumpet will sound a bad sound For you. You will see the whole land perishing. Cosmic Destruction Woe to you, wretched one, woe, evil-spirited sea. You will all be devoured by fire, and you will destroy people with brine. 120For there will be as much fire raging on the earth As water, and it will flow and destroy the whole earth. It will burn up mountains, burn rivers and empty springs. The world will be chaos when men perish. Then wretched men, burning badly, will look 125On heaven, void of stars but overcome by fire, They will not be destroyed quickly but, being burned in spirit By their perishing flesh for the years of ages Forever, they will know, by dire tortures, that it is nor possible To deceive the law of God. The earth, under constraint, 130Has perceived that whichever of the gods she dared to accept In falsehood on her altars was smoke, misty through the sky. False Prophets But they will endure extreme toil who, for gain Will prophesy base things, augmenting an evil time; Who putting on the shaggy hides of sheep 135Will falsely claim to be Hebrews, which is not their race. But speaking with words, making profit by woes, They will not change their life and will not persuade the righteous And those who propitiate God through the heart, most faithfully. Restoration of the World In the third lot of circling years, 140Of the first ogdoad, another world is seen again. All will be night, long and unyielding, And then a terrible smell of brimstone will extend Announcing murders, when those men perish By night and famine. Then he will beget a pure mind 145Of men and will set up your race as it was before for you, No longer will anyone cut a deep furrow with a crooked plow; No oxen will plunge down the guiding iron. There will be no vine branches or ear of corn, but all, at once, Will eat the dewy manna with white teeth. Confession of the Sibyl 150God will then be with them, who will teach you, Even as me, the sorrowful one. For what evils I formerly did, knowingly! And I performed many other things badly through neglect. I have knows innumerable beds, but no marriage concerned me. Utterly faithless, I imposed a savage oath on all. 155I shut out those in need, and going among those who go forth To a shady glen, I did not observe the oracle of God. Therefore fire has eaten and will devour me For I myself will not Live, but an evil time will destroy me, when men who pass by Will fashion a tomb for me by the sea; 160And they will destroy me with stones, for when I was speaking to the Father He communicated to me the dear son. May you stone me all of you! For thus will I live and fix my eyes on heaven. | |||
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