Fifteen Hymns For the Feast of the Epiphany 14Hymn XIV.

Hymn concerning our Lord and John.

(Resp.--Glory to Thee, my Lord, for Thee--with joy Heaven and earth worship!)

1. My thought bore me to Jordan,--and I saw a marvel when there was revealed--the glorious Bridegroom who to the Bride--shall bring freedom and holiness.

2. I saw John filled with wonder,--and the multitudes standing about him,--and the glorious Bridegroom bowed down--to the Son of the barren that he might baptize Him.

3. At the Word and the Voice my thought marvelled:--for lo! John was the Voice;--our Lord was manifested as the Word, that what was hidden should become revealed.

4. The Bride was espoused but knew not--who was the Bridegroom on whom she gazed:--the guests were assembled, the desert was filled,--and our Lord was hidden among them.

5. Then the Bridegroom revealed Himself;--and to John at the voice He drew near:--and the Forerunner was moved and said of Him--"This is the Bridegroom Whom I proclaimed."

6. He came to baptism Who baptizes all,--and He showed Himself at Jordan.--John saw Him and drew back,--deprecating, and thus he spake:--

7. "How, my Lord, willest Thou to be baptized,--Thou Who in Thy baptism atonest all?--Baptism looks unto Thee;--shed Thou on it holiness and perfection?"

8. Our Lord said "I will it so;--draw near, baptize Me that My Will may be done.--Resist My Will thou canst not:--I shall be baptized of thee, for thus I will it."

9. "I entreat, my Lord, that I be not compelled,--for this is hard that Thou hast said to me,--'I have need that thou shouldst baptize Me;'--for it is Thou that with Thy hyssop purifiest all."

10. "I have asked it, and it pleases Me that thus it should be;--and thou, John, why gainsayest thou?--Suffer righteousness to be fulfilled,--and come, baptize Me; why standest Thou?"

11. "How can one openly grasp--in his hands the fire that burns?--O Thou that art fire have mercy on me,--and bid me not come near Thee, for it is hard for me!"

12. "I have revealed to Thee My Will; what questionest thou?--Draw near, baptize Me, and thou shalt not be burned.--The bridechamber is ready; keep Me not back--from the wedding-feast that has been made ready."

13. "The Watchers fear and dare not--gaze on Thee lest they be blinded;--and I, how, O my Lord, shall I baptize Thee?--I am too weak to draw near; blame me not!"

14. "Thou fearest; therefore gainsay not--against My Will in what I desire:--and Baptism has respect unto Me.--Accomplish the work to which thou hast been called!"

15. "Lo! I proclaimed Thee at Jordan--in the ears of the people that believed not and if they shall see Thee baptized of me,--they will doubt that Thou art the Lord."

16. "Lo! I am to be baptized in their sight,--and the Father Who sent Me bears witness of Me--that I am His Son and in Me He is well pleased,--to reconcile Adam who was under His wrath."

17. "It becomes, me, O my Lord, to know my nature--that I am moulded out of the ground,--and Thou the moulder Who formest all things:--I, then, why should I baptize Thee in water?"

18. "It becomes thee to know wherefore I am come,--and for what cause I have desired that thou shouldst baptize Me.--It is the middle of the way wherein I have walked;--withhold thou not Baptism."

19. "Small is the river whereto Thou art come,--that Thou shouldst lodge therein and it should cleanse Thee.--The heavens suffice not for Thy mightiness;--how much less shall Baptism contain Thee!"

20. "The womb is smaller than Jordan;--yet was I willing to lodge in the Virgin:--and as I was born from woman,--so too am I to be baptized in Jordan."

21. "Lo! the hosts are standing!--the ranks of Watchers, lo! they worship!--And if I draw near, my Lord, to baptize Thee,--I tremble for myself with quaking."

22. "The hosts and multitudes call thee happy,--all of them, for that thou baptizest Me.--For this I have chosen thee from the womb:--fear thou not, for I have willed it.

23. "I have prepared the way as I was sent:--I have betrothed the Bride as I was commanded.--May Thy Epiphany be spread over the world--now that Thou art come, and let me not baptize Thee!"

24. "This is My preparation, for so have I willed;--I will go down and be baptized in Jordan,--and make bright the armour for them that are baptized,--that they may be white in Me and I not be conquered."

25. "Son of the Father, why should I baptize Thee?--for lo! Thou art in Thy Father and Thy Father in Thee.--Holiness unto the priests Thou givest;--water that is common wherefore askest Thou?"

26. "The children of Adam look unto Me,--that I should work for them the new birth.--A way in the waters I will search out for them,--and if I be not baptized this cannot be."

27. "Pontiffs of Thee are consecrated,--priests by Thy hyssop are purified;--the anointed and the kings Thou makest.--Baptism, how shall it profit Thee?"

28. "The Bride thou betrothedst to Me awaits Me,--that I should go down, be baptized, and sanctify her.--Friend of the Bridegroom withhold Me not--from the washing that awaits Me."

29. "I am not able, for I am weak,--Thy blaze in my hands to grasp.--Lo! Thy legions are as flame;--bid one of the Watchers baptize Thee!"

30. "Not from the Watchers was My Body assumed,--that I should summon a Watcher to baptize Me.--The body of Adam, lo! I have put on,--and thou, son of Adam, art to baptize Me."

31. "The waters saw Thee, and greatly feared;--the waters saw Thee, and lo! they tremble!--The river foams in its terror;--and I that am weak, how shall I baptize Thee?"

32. "The waters in My Baptism are sanctified,--and fire and the Spirit from Me shall they receive;--and if I be not baptized they are not made perfect--to be fruitful of children that shall not die."

33. "Fire, if to Thy fire it draw near,--shall be burnt up of it as stubble.--The mountains of Sinai endured Thee not,--and I that am weak, wherein shall I baptize Thee?"

34. "I am the flaming fire;--yet for man's sake I became a babe--in the virgin womb of the maiden.--And now I am to be baptized in Jordan."

35. "It is very meet that Thou shouldst baptize me,--for Thou hast holiness to purify all.--In Thee it is that the defiled are made holy; but Thou that art holy, why art Thou to be baptized?"

36. "It is very right that thou shouldst baptize Me,--as I bid, and shouldst not gainsay.--Lo! I baptized thee within the womb;--baptize thou me in Jordan!"

37. "I am a bondman and I am weak.--Thou that freest all have mercy on me! Thy latchets to unloose I am not able;--Thy exalted head who will make me worthy to touch?"

38. "Bondmen in My Baptism are set free;--handwritings in My washing are blotted out;--manumissions in the water are sealed;--and if I be not baptized all these come to nought."

39. "A mantle of fire the air wears,--and waits for Thee, above Jordan;--and if Thou consentest to it and willest to be baptized,--Thou shalt baptize Thyself and fulfil all."

40. "This is meet, that thou shouldst baptize Me,--that none may err and say concerning Me,--'Had He not been alien from the Father's house,--why feared the Levite to baptize Him?'"

41. "The prayer, then, when Thou art baptized,--how shall I complete over Jordan?--When the Father and the Spirit are seen over Thee,--Whom shall I call on, as priest?"

42. "The prayer in silence is to be completed:--come, thy hand alone lay thou on Me.--and the Father shall utter in the priest's stead--that which is meet concerning His Son."

43. "They that are bidden, lo! all of them stand;--the Bridegroom's guests, lo! they bear witness--that day by day I said among them,--'I am the Voice and not the Word.'"

44. "Voice of him that cries in the wilderness,--fulfil thou the work for which thou camest,--that the desert whereunto thou wentest out may resound--with the mighty peace thou preachedst therein."

45. "The shout of the Watchers has come to my ears;--lo! I hear from the Father's house--the hosts that sound forth the cry,--'In Thy Epiphany, O Bridegroom, the worlds have life.'"

46. "The time hastes on, and the marriage guests--look to Me to see what is doing.--Come, baptize Me, that they may give praise--to the Voice of the Father when it is heard!"

47. "I hearken, my Lord, according to Thy Word:--come to Baptism as Thy love constrains Thee!--The dust worships that whereunto he has attained,--that on Him Who fashioned him he should lay his hand."

48. The heavenly ranks were silent as they stood,--and the Bridegroom went down into Jordan;--the Holy One was baptized and straightway went up,--and His Light shone forth on the world.

49. The doors of the highest were opened above,--and the voice of the Father was heard,--"This is my Beloved in Whom I am well pleased."--All ye peoples, come and worship Him.

50. They that saw were amazed as they stood, at the Spirit Who came down and bare witness to Him.--Praise to Thy Epiphany that gladdens all,--Thou in Whose revelation the worlds are lightened!