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ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Δ | 4 MACCABEES - Brenton|RSV | Reference |
| 1 | Εἰ δὲ τοίνυν τῶν μέχρι θανάτου πόνων ὑπερεφρόνησαν οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοί, συνομολογεῖται πανταχόθεν ὅτι αὐτοδέσποτός ἐστιν τῶν παθῶν ὁ εὐσεβὴς λογισμός. |
Since, then, the seven brothers despised sufferings even unto death, everyone must concede that devout reason is sovereign over the emotions. | |
| 2 | εἰ γὰρ τοῖς πάθεσι δουλωθέντες ἐμιαροφάγησαν, ἐλέγομεν ἂν τούτοις αὐτοὺς νενικῆσθαι· |
For if they had been slaves to their emotions and had eaten defiling food, we would say that they had been conquered by these emotions. | |
| 3 | νυνὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐπαινουμένῳ παρὰ θεῷ λογισμῷ περιεγένοντο τῶν παθῶν, |
But in fact it was not so. Instead, by reason, which is praised before God, they prevailed over their emotions. | |
| 4 | ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν παριδεῖν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῆς διανοίας, ἐπεκράτησαν γὰρ καὶ πάθους καὶ πόνων. |
The supremacy of the mind over these cannot be overlooked, for the brothers mastered both emotions and pains. | |
| 5 | πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν τούτοις τὴν τῆς εὐλογιστίας παθοκράτειαν ὁμολογεῖν, οἳ τῶν μὲν διὰ πυρὸς ἀλγηδόνων οὐκ ἐπεστράφησαν; |
How then can one fail to confess the sovereignty of right reason over emotion in those who were not turned back by fiery agonies? | |
| 6 | καθάπερ γὰρ προβλῆτες λιμένων πύργοι τὰς τῶν κυμάτων ἀπειλὰς ἀνακόπτοντες γαληνὸν παρέχουσι τοῖς εἰσπλέουσι τὸν ὅρμον, |
For just as towers jutting out over harbours hold back the threatening waves and make it calm for those who sail into the inner basin, | |
| 7 | οὕτως ἡ ἑπτάπυργος τῶν νεανίσκων εὐλογιστία τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας ὀχυρώσασα λιμένα τὴν τῶν παθῶν ἐνίκησεν ἀκολασίαν. |
so the seven-towered right reason of the youths, by fortifying the harbour of religion, conquered the tempest of the emotions. | |
| 8 | ἱερὸν γὰρ εὐσεβείας στήσαντες χορὸν παρεθάρσυνον ἀλλήλους λέγοντες |
For they constituted a holy chorus of religion and encouraged one another, saying, | |
| 9 | Ἀδελφικῶς ἀποθάνωμεν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τοῦ νόμου· μιμησώμεθα τοὺς τρεῖς τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀσσυρίας νεανίσκους, οἳ τῆς ἰσοπολίτιδος καμίνου κατεφρόνησαν. |
"Brothers, let us die like brothers for the sake of the law; let us imitate the three youths in Assyria who despised the same ordeal of the furnace. | |
| 10 | μὴ δειλανδρήσωμεν πρὸς τὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐπίδειξιν. |
Let us not be cowardly in the demonstration of our piety." | |
| 11 | καὶ ὁ μέν Θάρρει, ἀδελφέ ἔλεγεν, ὁ δέ Εὐγενῶς καρτέρησον, |
While one said, "Courage, brother," another said, "Bear up nobly," | |
| 12 | ὁ δὲ καταμνησθεὶς ἔλεγεν Μνήσθητε πόθεν ἐστέ, ἢ τίνος πατρὸς χειρὶ σφαγιασθῆναι διὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ὑπέμεινεν Ισαακ. |
and another reminded them, "Remember whence you came, and the father by whose hand Isaac would have submitted to being slain for the sake of religion." | |
| 13 | εἷς δὲ ἕκαστος ἀλλήλους ὁμοῦ πάντες ἐφορῶντες φαιδροὶ καὶ μάλα θαρραλέοι Ἑαυτούς, ἔλεγον, τῷ θεῷ ἀφιερώσωμεν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας τῷ δόντι τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ χρήσωμεν τῇ περὶ τὸν νόμον φυλακῇ τὰ σώματα. |
Each of them and all of them together looking at one another, cheerful and undaunted, said, "Let us with all our hearts consecrate ourselves to God, who gave us our lives, and let us use our bodies as a bulwark for the law. | |
| 14 | μὴ φοβηθῶμεν τὸν δοκοῦντα ἀποκτέννειν· |
Let us not fear him who thinks he is killing us, | |
| 15 | μέγας γὰρ ψυχῆς ἀγὼν καὶ κίνδυνος ἐν αἰωνίῳ βασάνῳ κείμενος τοῖς παραβᾶσι τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ. |
for great is the struggle of the soul and the danger of eternal torment lying before those who transgress the commandment of God. | |
| 16 | καθοπλισώμεθα τοιγαροῦν τὴν τοῦ θείου λογισμοῦ παθοκρατείαν. |
Therefore let us put on the full armor of self-control, which is divine reason. | |
| 17 | οὕτω γὰρ θανόντας ἡμᾶς Αβρααμ καὶ Ισαακ καὶ Ιακωβ ὑποδέξονται καὶ πάντες οἱ πατέρες ἐπαινέσουσιν. |
For if we so die, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will welcome us, and all the fathers will praise us." | |
| 18 | καὶ ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀποσπωμένων αὐτῶν ἀδελφῶν ἔλεγον οἱ περιλειπόμενοι Μὴ καταισχύνῃς ἡμᾶς, ἀδελφέ, μηδὲ ψεύσῃ τοὺς προαποθανόντας ἡμῶν ἀδελφούς. |
Those who were left behind said to each of the brothers who were being dragged away, "Do not put us to shame, brother, or betray the brothers who have died before us." | |
| 19 | οὐκ ἀγνοεῖτε δὲ τὰ τῆς ἀδελφότητος φίλτρα, ἅπερ ἡ θεία καὶ πάνσοφος πρόνοια διὰ πατέρων τοῖς γεννωμένοις ἐμέρισεν καὶ διὰ τῆς μητρῴας φυτεύσασα γαστρός, |
You are not ignorant of the affection of brotherhood, which the divine and all-wise Providence has bequeathed through the fathers to their descendants and which was implanted in the mother's womb. | |
| 20 | ἐν ᾗ τὸν ἴσον ἀδελφοὶ κατοικήσαντες χρόνον καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ πλασθέντες καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ αἵματος αὐξηθέντες καὶ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ψυχῆς τελεσφορηθέντες |
There each of the brothers dwelt the same length of time and was shaped during the same period of time; and growing from the same blood and through the same life, they were brought to the light of day. | |
| 21 | καὶ διὰ τῶν ἴσων ἀποτεχθέντες χρόνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν γαλακτοποτοῦντες πηγῶν, ἀφ' ὧν συντρέφονται ἐναγκαλισμάτων φιλάδελφοι ψυχαί· |
When they were born after an equal time of gestation, they drank milk from the same fountains. For such embraces brotherly-loving souls are nourished; | |
| 22 | καὶ αὔξονται σφοδρότερον διὰ συντροφίας καὶ τῆς καθ' ἡμέραν συνηθείας καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παιδείας καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐν νόμῳ θεοῦ ἀσκήσεως. |
and they grow stronger from this common nurture and daily companionship, and from both general education and our discipline in the law of God. | |
| 23 | οὕτως δὴ τοίνυν καθεστηκυίης συμπαθοῦς τῆς φιλαδελφίας οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὶ συμπαθέστερον ἔσχον πρὸς ἀλλήλους. |
Therefore, when sympathy and brotherly affection had been so established, the brothers were the more sympathetic to one another. | |
| 24 | νόμῳ γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ παιδευθέντες καὶ τὰς αὐτὰς ἐξασκήσαντες ἀρετὰς καὶ τῷ δικαίῳ συντραφέντες βίῳ μᾶλλον ἑαυτοὺς ἠγάπων. |
Since they had been educated by the same law and trained in the same virtues and brought up in right living, they loved one another all the more. | |
| 25 | ἡ γὰρ ὁμοζηλία τῆς καλοκἀγαθίας ἐπέτεινεν αὐτῶν τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους εὔνοιαν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν· |
A common zeal for nobility expanded their goodwill and harmony toward one another, | |
| 26 | σὺν γὰρ τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ ποθεινοτέραν αὑτοῖς κατεσκεύαζον τὴν φιλαδελφίαν. |
because, with the aid of their religion, they rendered their brotherly love more fervent. | |
| 27 | ἀλλ' ὅμως καίπερ τῆς φύσεως καὶ τῆς συνηθείας καὶ τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἠθῶν τὰ τῆς ἀδελφότητος αὐτοῖς φίλτρα συναυξόντων ἀνέσχοντο διὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς οἱ ὑπολειπόμενοι, τοὺς καταικιζομένους ὁρῶντες μέχρι θανάτου βασανιζομένους, |
But although nature and companionship and virtuous habits had augmented the affection of brotherhood, those who were left endured for the sake of religion, while watching their brothers being maltreated and tortured to death. | |
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