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Hymns and Homilies

St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853

26. Hymn 26: Hymn for Easter

Blessed be the Messiah
Who hath given us a hope,
That the dead shall live again;
And hath assured our race,
That when it has suffered dissolution,
It shall be renewed.

Listen, O mortal men,
To the mystery of the resurrection;
Which was once concealed;
Behold, it is now proclaimed abroad,
In this latter age,
In the holy Church.

For Jesus then became
A sojourner with death
For the space of three days,
And set at liberty his captives;
And laid waste his encampment,
And returned the spoils to our race.

For before that time
Death by this was made arrogant,
And boasted himself of it—
“Behold, priests and kings
Lie bound by me,
In the midst of my prisons!”

A mighty war
Came without warning
Against the tyrant Death;
And, as a robber,
The shouts of the foe overtook him,
And humbled his glory.

The dead perceived
A sweet savour of life,
In the midst of Hades;
And they began to spread the glad tidings
Among one another,
That their hope was accomplished.

From the beginning of the world,
Death had dominion
Over mortal men;
Until there arose
The Mighty One
And abolished his pride.

His voice then came
Like heavy thunder
On mortal men;
And he proclaimed the glad tidings,
That they were set at liberty
From their bondage.