1But for thy holy ones there was great light;
And the Egyptians, hearing their voice but seeing not their form,
Counted it a happy thing that they too had suffered,

2Yet for that they do not hurt them now, though wronged by them before, they are thankful;
And because they had been at variance with them, they made supplication to them.

3Whereas thou didst provide for thy people a burning pillar of fire,
To be a guide for their unknown journey,
And withal a ²²⁶kindly sun for their ²²⁷proud exile.

4For well did ²²⁸the Egyptians deserve to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness,
They who had kept in close ward thy sons,
Through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be given to ²²⁹the race of men.

5After they had taken counsel to slay the babes of the holy ones,
And when a single child had been cast forth and saved ²³⁰to convict them of their sin,
Thou tookest away from them their multitude of children,
And destroyedst all their host together in a mighty flood.

6Of that night were our fathers made aware beforehand,
That, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted:

7So by thy people was expected salvation of the righteous and destruction of the enemies;

8For as thou didst take vengeance on the adversaries,
²³¹By the same means, calling us unto thyself, thou didst glorify us.

9For holy children ²³²of good men offered sacrifice in secret,
And with one consent they took upon themselves the covenant of the ²³³divine law,
That ²³⁴they would partake alike in the same good things and the same perils;
The fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise.

10But there sounded back in discord the cry of the enemies,
²³⁵And a piteous voice of lamentation for children was borne abroad.

11And servant along with master punished with a like just doom,
And commoner suffering the same as king,

12Yea, all the people together, under one form of death,
Had with them corpses without number;
For the living were not sufficient even to bury them,
Since at a single ²³⁶stroke their ²³⁷nobler offspring was consumed.

13For while they were disbelieving all things by reason of the enchantments,
Upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the people to be God’s son.

14For while peaceful silence enwrapped all things,
And night in her own swiftness was in mid course,

15Thine all-powerful word leaped from heaven out of ²³⁸the royal ²³⁹throne,
A stern warrior, into the midst of the ²⁴⁰doomed land,

16Bearing as a sharp sword thine unfeigned commandment;
And standing it filled all things with death;
And while it touched the heaven it trode upon the earth.

17Then forthwith apparitions in dreams terribly troubled them,
And fears came upon them unlooked for.

18And each, one thrown here half dead, another there,
Made manifest wherefore he was dying:

19For the dreams, perturbing them, did foreshew this,
That they might not perish without knowing why they were afflicted.

20But it ²⁴¹befell the righteous also to make trial of death,
And a multitude were stricken in the wilderness:
Howbeit the wrath endured not for long.

21For a blameless man hasted to be their champion:
Bringing the weapon of his own ministry,
Even prayer and the propitiation of incense,
He withstood the indignation, and set an end to the calamity,
Shewing that he was thy servant.

22And he overcame the ²⁴²anger,
Not by strength of body, not by efficacy of weapons;
But ²⁴³by word did he subdue ²⁴⁴the minister of punishment,
By bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made with the fathers.

23For when the dead were already fallen in heaps one upon another,
Standing between he stopped the advancing wrath,
And ²⁴⁵cut off the way to the living.

24For upon his long high-priestly robe was the whole world,
And the glories of the fathers were upon the graving of the four rows of ²⁴⁶precious stones,
And thy majesty was upon the diadem of his head.

25To these the destroyer gave place, and these ²⁴⁷the people feared;
For it was enough only to make trial of the wrath.