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ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΑΛΩΜΩΝΟΣ | WISDOM OF SOLOMON - Brenton|RSV | Reference |
| 1 | Μεγάλαι γάρ σου αἱ κρίσεις καὶ δυσδιήγητοι·
διὰ τοῦτο ἀπαίδευτοι ψυχαὶ ἐπλανήθησαν.
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Great are thy judgments and hard to describe;
therefore unintructed souls have gone astray.
| Terror strikes the Egyptians. Wis.17.1-21 |
| 2 | ὑπειληφότες γὰρ καταδυναστεύειν ἔθνος ἅγιον ἄνομο,
δέσμιοι σκότους καὶ μακρᾶς πεδῆται νυκτὸς
κατακλεισθέντες ὀρόφοις φυγάδες τῆς αἰωνίου προνοίας ἔκειντο.
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For when lawless men supposed that they held the holy nation in their power,
they themselves lay as captives of darkness and prisoners of long night,
shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence.
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| 3 | λανθάνειν γὰρ νομίζοντες ἐπὶ κρυφαίοις ἁμαρτήμασιν,
ἀφεγγεῖ λήθης παρακαλύμματι
ἐσκορπίσθησαν θαμβούμενοι δεινῶς
καὶ ἰνδάλμασιν ἐκταρασσόμενοι.
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For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved
behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness, they were scattered,
terribly alarmed, and appalled by specters.
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| 4 | οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ κατέχων αὐτοὺς μυχὸς ἀφόβους διεφύλαττεν,
ἦχοι δ' ἐκταράσσοντες αὐτοὺς περιεκόμπουν,
καὶ φάσματα ἀμειδήτοις κατηφῆ προσώποις ἐνεφανίζετο.
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For not even the inner chamber that held them protected them from fear,
but terrifying sounds rang out around them,
and dismal phantoms with gloomy faces appeared.
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| 5 | καὶ πυρὸς μὲν οὐδεμία βία κατίσχυεν φωτίζειν,
οὔτε ἄστρων ἔκλαμπροι φλόγες
καταυγάζειν ὑπέμενον τὴν στυγνὴν ἐκείνην νύκτα.
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And no power of fire was able to give light,
nor did the brilliant flames of the stars avail to illumine that hateful night.
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| 6 | διεφαίνετο δ' αὐτοῖς μόνον
αὐτομάτη πυρὰ φόβου πλήρης,
ἐκδειματούμενοι δὲ τῆς μὴ θεωρουμένης ἐκείνης ὄψεως
ἡγοῦντο χείρω τὰ βλεπόμενα.
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Nothing was shining through to them
except a dreadful, self-kindled fire,
and in terror they deemed the things which they saw to be worse than that unseen appearance.
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| 7 | μαγικῆς δὲ ἐμπαίγματα κατέκειτο τέχνης,
καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ φρονήσει ἀλαζονείας ἔλεγχος ἐφύβριστος·
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The delusions of their magic art lay humbled,
and their boasted wisdom was scornfully rebuked.
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| 8 | οἱ γὰρ ὑπισχνούμενοι δείματα καὶ ταραχὰς ἀπελαύνειν ψυχῆς νοσούσης,
οὗτοι καταγέλαστον εὐλάβειαν ἐνόσουν.
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For those who promised to drive off the fears and disorders of a sick soul were sick themselves with ridiculous fear.
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| 9 | καὶ γὰρ εἰ μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ταραχῶδες ἐφόβει,
κνωδάλων παρόδοις καὶ ἑρπετῶν συριγμοῖς ἐκσεσοβημένοι,
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For even if nothing disturbing frightened them,
yet, scared by the passing of beasts and the hissing of serpents,
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| 10 | διώλλυντο ἔντρομοι
καὶ τὸν μηδαμόθεν φευκτὸν ἀέρα προσιδεῖν ἀρνούμενοι.
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they perished in trembling fear,
refusing to look even at the air,
though it nowhere could be avoided.
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| 11 | δειλὸν γὰρ ἰδίῳ πονηρία μάρτυρι καταδικαζομένη,
ἀεὶ δὲ προσείληφεν τὰ χαλεπὰ συνεχομένη τῇ συνειδήσει·
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For wickedness is a cowardly thing, condemned by its own testimony;
distressed by conscience, it has always exaggerated the difficulties.
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| 12 | οὐθὲν γάρ ἐστιν φόβος εἰ μὴ προδοσία τῶν ἀπὸ λογισμοῦ βοηθημάτων,
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For fear is nothing but surrender of the helps that come from reason;
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| 13 | ἔνδοθεν δὲ οὖσα ἥττων ἡ προσδοκία πλείονα λογίζεται τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῆς παρεχούσης τὴν βάσανον αἰτίας.
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and the inner expectation of help, being weak,
prefers ignorance of what causes the torment.
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| 14 | οἱ δὲ τὴν ἀδύνατον ὄντως νύκτα
καὶ ἐξ ἀδυνάτου ᾅδου μυχῶν ἐπελθοῦσαν
τὸν αὐτὸν ὕπνον κοιμώμενοι
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But throughout the night, which was really powerless,
and which beset them from the recesses of powerless Hades,
they all slept the same sleep,
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| 15 | τὰ μὲν τέρασιν ἠλαύνοντο φαντασμάτων,
τὰ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς παρελύοντο προδοσίᾳ·
αἰφνίδιος γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀπροσδόκητος φόβος ἐπεχύθη.
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and now were driven by monstrous specters,
and now were paralyzed by their souls' surrender,
for sudden and unexpected fear overwhelmed them.
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| 16 | εἶθ οὕτως, ὃς δή ποτ οὖν ἦν ἐκεῖ καταπίπτων,
ἐφρουρεῖτο εἰς τὴν ἀσίδηρον εἱρκτὴν κατακλεισθείς·
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And whoever was there fell down,
and thus was kept shut up in a prison not made of iron;
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| 17 | εἴ τε γὰρ γεωργὸς ἦν τις ἢ ποιμὴν
ἢ τῶν κατ' ἐρημίαν ἐργάτης μόχθων,
προλημφθεὶς τὴν δυσάλυκτον ἔμενεν ἀνάγκην,
μιᾷ γὰρ ἁλύσει σκότους πάντες ἐδέθησαν·
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for whether he was a farmer or a shepherd or a workman who toiled in the wilderness,
he was seized, and endured the inescapable fate;
for with one chain of darkness they all were bound.
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| 18 | εἴ τε πνεῦμα συρίζον,
ἢ περὶ ἀμφιλαφεῖς κλάδους ὀρνέων ἦχος εὐμελὴς,
ἢ ῥυθμὸς ὕδατος πορευομένου βίᾳ,
ἢ κτύπος ἀπηνὴς καταρριπτομένων πετρῶν
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Whether there came a whistling wind,
or a melodious sound of birds in wide-spreading branches,
or the rhythm of violently rushing water,
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| 19 | ἢ σκιρτώντων ζῴων δρόμος ἀθεώρητος,
ἢ ὠρυομένων ἀπηνεστάτων θηρίων φωνὴ,
ἢ ἀντανακλωμένη ἐκ κοιλότητος ὀρέων ἠχώ,
παρέλυεν αὐτοὺς ἐκφοβοῦντα.
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or the harsh crash of rocks hurled down,
or the unseen running of leaping animals,
or the sound of the most savage roaring beasts,
or an echo thrown back from a hollow of the mountains,
it paralyzed them with terror.
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| 20 | ὅλος γὰρ ὁ κόσμος λαμπρῷ κατελάμπετο φωτὶ,
καὶ ἀνεμποδίστοις συνείχετο ἔργοις·
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For the whole world was illumined with brilliant light,
and was engaged in unhindered work,
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| 21 | μόνοις δὲ ἐκείνοις ἐπετέτατο βαρεῖα νὺξ,
εἰκὼν τοῦ μέλλοντος αὐτοὺς διαδέχεσθαι σκότους,
ἑαυτοῖς δὲ ἦσαν βαρύτεροι σκότους.
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while over those men alone heavy night was spread, an image of the darkness that was destined to receive them; but still heavier than darkness were they to themselves. | |
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