Τιμνίτις ἦν μὲν, ἧς τὸ πρῶτον ἠράμην.
ἡ δ ̓ οὐκ ἔμελλε τοῖς ἐμοῖσιν ἁνδάνειν
τοκεῦσιν, ὡς ἄσεπτος, ἀγνοοῦσι δὴ
ἐν τοῖσδε μοιρόκραντον ἐκ Θεοῦ νόμον.
τὸ δ ̓ αὐτὸς εἰδὼς, τῶν γάμων ἀντειχόμην.
ὁρμαῖς φρενῶν γὰρ ἐμφύτοις πέποιθ ̓ ἀεὶ,
καὶ τοῖς πολίταις ταῦτα τῆς σωτηρίας
προοίμι ̓ εἶναι, θεόθεν ἔργον ἀμφέπων·
ἐψευσμένος δὲ τῆσδε, δευτέροις γάμοις
τὴν ἐκ Σόρηκος, Δηλίλην, προσηγόμην,
τὴν εὐπρόσωπον, θρέμμα μοι δολοπλόκον·
ὡς ὤφελον δὲ καίριος γνῶναι τόδε
ἔδοξα δ ̓ ὀρθῶς ἀνανεώσασθαι τὰ πρὶν
πραχθέντ ̓· ἀεὶ γὰρ τοῦδ ̓ ἐπειρώμην, ὅπως
τοὺς ἡμὶν ἐχθροὺς ἀντιδρᾶν ἔχοιμί τι.
οὐχ ἡ γυνή μοι τῶν κακῶν παναιτία,
αὐτὸς δ' ἐμαυτῷ, βοῦν ἀπὸ γλώσσης βαλών.
θήλεια κραυγὴ κατεπάλαισέ μ' ἐκνόμως.
ὡς αἰὲν ἐχθρὸς τῆς πάτρας ἐχθροῖς γεγώς,
Thou never wast remiss, I bear thee witness;
Yet Israël still serves with all his sons.
That fault I take not on me, but trans fer
On Israel's governors, and heads of tribes;
Who, seeing those great acts which God had done
Singly by me against their conquerors,
Acknowledged not, or not at all considered,
Deliverance offered. I, on the other side,
Used no ambition to commend my deeds;
The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the doer.
But they persisted deaf, and would not seem
To count them things worth notice; till at length
Their lords the Philistines, with gathered powers,
Entered Judea seeking me, who then
Safe to the rock of Etham was retired;
Not flying, but forecasting in what place
To set upon them, what advantaged best.
Meanwhile the men of Judah, to prevent
The harass of their land, beset me round,
I willingly, on some conditions, came
Into their hands, and they as gladly yielded me
To the uncircumcised a welcome prey,
Bound with two cords; but cords to me were threads
λαχών γε καιροῦ, καμ ̓ ἔχεις ξυμμάρτυρα πάντες δὲ διατελοῦμεν ἐν δεσμοῖς ἔτι.
τήνδ ̓ οὐ ξύνοιδα τὴν βλάβην εἰργασμένος,
αὐτοὶ δὲ φύλαρχοί τε καὶ δήμου πρόμοι,
οἳ καὶ μαθόντες τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥώμῃ σθένων
αὐτουργὸς οἱ ἔδρασα τοὺς ἐχθροὺς πάλαι,
δώρων ἀπηρνήσαντο μὴ δοῦναι χάριν·
ἐμοὶ δὲ τἀμά γ ̓ οὐχὶ κηρύσσειν ἔδει
ἔργ ̓, αὐτὰ δ ̓ ἦν μοι μαρτύρων ἀντάξια·
οἱ δ ̓, ὡς ἐμοῦ σιγῶντος, ἠμέλουν ἀεί·
τέλος δ ̓ ἀθροισθεῖσ ̓ ἡ Φιλιστίνων βία
δεινῷ διωγμῷ τὴν πάτραν εἰσέρχεται
ἐγὼ πέτρα πάρ ̓ Ἠθάμης ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ,
οὐ δραπέτης ἦ, πολλὰ δ ̓ ἐνθυμούμενος
πῶς ἂν δυναίμην πρὸς τὸ δεξιώτατον
ἐχθροῖς ἐπελθεῖν· ἐν δὲ τῷδε περιβαλεῖν
τοῖς ξυννόμοις με, γῆς ἀπειργαθεῖν φθορὰν,
ἔδοξ ̓· ἐπὶ ῥητοῖσι δ ̓ οὐκ ἄκων παρῆ·
αὐτοὶ δὲ βαρβάροισιν, ἀσπαστὸν γέρας,
ἔδοσάν με δισσῶν δεδεμένον σπαρτῶν πλοκαῖς·
Touched with the flame. On their whole host I flew,
Unarmed, and with a trivial weapon
Their choicest youth; they only lived who fled.
Had Judah that day joined, or one whole tribe,
They had by this possessed the towers of Gath,
And lorded over them whom now they serve.
But what more oft, in nations grown corrupt,
And by their vices brought to servitude,
Than to love bondage more than liberty?
Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty;
And to despise, or envy, or suspect
Whom God hath of his special favour raised
As their deliverer? if he aught begin
How frequent to desert him, and at last
To heap ingratitude on worthiest deeds!
Thy words to my remembrance bring
How Succoth and the fort of Penuël
Their great deliverer contemned
The matchless Gideon, in pursuit
Of Madian and her vanquished kings;
And how ingrateful Ephraim
Had dealt with Jephtha-who by argument,
τὰ δ ̓ ἡμικαύτοις ἦν ἔμοιγ ̓ ἀντίῤῥοπα
λίνοις, ἐπεσσύθην τε καὶ γυμνὸς στρατῷ,
κἄκτεινα, φλαύρου ξιφιδίου δεδραγμένος,
ἡβῶσαν ἀκμὴν τῆς πόλεως, μόνον δέ τις
φυγὼν ἐσώθη· τῶν δ ̓ Ἰουδαίων τότε
ξυνεσβαλόντων, εἴτε καὶ φυλῆς μιᾶς,
ἐκτησάμεσθ ̓ ἂν οὓς ἔχει πύργους Γάθη,
τούτων κρατοῦντες οἶσι νῦν δουλεύομεν.
ἀλλ ̓ οἷς πρόσω βέβηκε τοῦ δήμου φθορὰ,
αὐτοί γ ̓ ἑαυτοῖς δουλίαν ἐπεισφέρειν,
θῆσσαν δοκοῦσι πολλάκις ῥᾳθυμίαν
στεῤῥοῦ προτιμῶν τῶν ἐλευθέρων πόνου·
Θεοῦ δ ̓ ἄριστα δῶρα, τοὺς ἀμύντορας,
φθονεῖν ὑποπτεύοντες, ἢ καταφρονεῖν.
ἀνθ' ὧν γὰρ εὖ δέδρακε τοιοῦτος, θαμὰ
μόνωσιν ἀντείληχε κἀχαριστίαν.
ταῦτα σοῦ κλύων Πενύελον Σούκοτον τ ̓ ἐμνησάμην, ὡς ἔθεντ ̓ ἀτημέλητον Γήδεον τὸν παμμέγαν, Μαδίων αὐτοῖς ἄναξι πρὸς φυγὴν τετραμμένων· Ἠφραημῖται δ ̓ Ἰέπτην, ὧν ἔρεξ ̓ ἀμνήμονες
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