and Lord of the height and supreme Judge, Syr.): he came of the greatest, the only-begotten son
of the deep; and he was called the son of (became visible through, Syr.) Mary the virgin, and was
termed the son of Joseph the carpenter: he whose littleness (we beheld) with the eyes of our
body, but his greatness we received by faith, and saw it in his works whose human body we felt
also with our hands, and his aspect we saw transfigured (changed) with our eyes, but his
heavenly semblance on the mount we were not able to see: he that made the rulers stumble and
did violence unto death: he, the truth that lieth not, that at the last paid the tribute for himself and
his disciples: whom the prince beholding feared and the powers that were with him were
troubled; and the prince bare witness (asked him, Syr.) who he was and from whence, and knew
not the truth, because he is alien from truth: he that having authority over the world, and the
pleasures therein, and the possessions and the comfort, [REJECTED] all these things and turneth
away his subjects, that they should not use them.
144 And having fulfilled these sayings, he arose and prayed thus: our Father, which art in
heaven: hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon
earth: [GIVE the of Syr. day, bread constant us] and forgive us our debts as we also have
forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
My Lord and God, hope and confidence and teacher, thou hast taught me to pray thus, behold, I
pray this prayer and fulfil thy commandment: be thou with me unto the end; thou art he that from
childhood hast sown life in me and kept me from corruption; thou art he that hast brought me
unto the poverty of this world, and exhorted me unto the true riches; thou art he that hast made
me known unto myself and showed me that I am thine; and I have kept myself pure from
woman, that that which thou requirest be not found in defilement.
[At the words 'My Lord and God' begins the double text, represented on the one hand by the MS.
U and on the other by the Paris MS. P, and three (partly four) others. These insert the prayer
after ch. 167. Their text, I believe, may be the original Greek. I follow it here, repeating the first
paragraph.]
( 144 ) My Lord and God, my hope and my confidence and my teacher, that hast implanted
courage in me, thou didst teach me to pray thus; behold, I pray thy prayer and bring thy will to
fulfilment: be thou with me unto the end. Thou art he that from my youth up didst give me
patience in temptation and [SOW in] me life and preserve me from corruption; thou art he that
didst bring me into the poverty of this world and fill me with the true riches; thou art he that didst
show me that I was thine: wherefore I was never joined unto a wife, that the temple worthy of
thee might not be found in pollution.
145 My mouth sufficeth not to praise thee, neither am I able to conceive the care and providence
(carefulness) which hath been about me from thee which thou hast had for me). For I desired to
gain riches, but thou by a vision didst show me that they are full of loss and injury to them that
gain them and I believed thy showing, and continued in the poverty of the world until thou, the
true riches wert revealed unto me, who didst fill both me and the rest that were worthy of thee
with thine own riches and set free thine own from care and anxiety. I have therefore fulfilled thy
commandments, O Lord, and accomplished thy will, and become poor and needy and a stranger
and a bondman and set at nought and a prisoner and hungry and thirsty and naked and unshod,
and I have toiled for thy sake, that my confidence might not perish and my hope that is in thee
might not be confounded and my much labour might not be in vain and my weariness not be
counted for nought: let not my prayers and my continual fastings perish, and my great zeal
ron
(Ron)
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