Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. XIII:
Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage.: Hymn LVI.

Hymn LVI.

1. With Freedom is thy struggle, O Evil One:  it can cast on thee a muzzle, if it so please.—2. R., To Thee be glory in whose p. 210 victory we have gained strength:  and in whose resurrection we defy even Death itself!—3. Lo! again these two exposed each other, how weak both are:  Death reminded the Evil One of thy mightiness (O Freedom).—4. Thy fire is in thy nest, O Death, and thou perceivest not:  the fate of the departed, to thee is overthrow.—5. Lo! Death and the Evil One proclaim thy mightiness (O Freedom):  yea, the Evil One calls to mind thy faith.—6. If then these that were against thee are on thy side:  this is a great thing that thy persecutors have become thy heralds,—7. D., I confess, O Evil One, that as usury:  I lay up the King’s treasures, till His Coming.—8. S., I, O Death, rather deny that this belongs to God:  this treasure of subtlety, which I have stored.—9. D., Thy coinage is fraudulent, then, O Satan:  that into the treasuries of God, is not received.—10. S., A new coinage do I coin, in kingly wise:  lo! my merchantmen bring loss, into the world.—11. God created everything out of nothing:  and I created great sin out of nothing—12. D., Closed and bound be thy mouth, Evil One, who art thus bold:  to set thyself, lo! in comparison with the Creator.—13. S., To me, O Death, it is lawful to dare and speak:  thy tongue, even thine, is a slave, and under fear.—14. D., A gulf is henceforth between us, O Satan:  for madly against thy Lord, lo! thou assailest.—15. S., Wherefore doubtest thou, O Death, of our concord?  Be to us comrade and member:  and lo! we reign.—16. Come, draw we our pair of swords, against mankind:  I secretly, thou openly, and lo! we end them.—17. Sin and Sheol they too gave counsel to those two:  saying “If ye be divided, ye are undone.”—18. See the waters how if dispersed, they run low:  but if gathered they gain strength, and thus ye likewise.—19. If divided ye perish, as the feeble:  but yoked together ye reign, as the mighty.—20. Love melts down many, as in a furnace:  and makes one powerful mass, that overcomes all.—21. In it are wisdom and cunning, and force and power:  it is greater far than an image of sixty cubits.—22. Be reconciled, let us assemble and go, against that party:  which if it be at one can never be defeated.—23. These things the troublers discoursed, and gathered and came:  Thy day, Lord, will gather them, into Gehenna.—24. Through Thy mercy, Lord, will I worship Thee, when I have risen:  at Thy trumpet I will praise Thy Son, when I am purged.