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a reward for the murder, for whom it was fitting to put a sword to his throat, and fitting to put a wretched noose on his neck, or to make his body disappear in the gray waves, having cast him to the sea as food for fish. For if you had simply sold a man, wretch (for I turn the face of my speech to you), if you had given another over to murder, you would have suffered misfortune by the law of the citizens; but now, he who deemed you worthy of many graces, and who came from the Father as a redeemer of the whole race, you have sold, you have given over to murder out of envy; and what punishments is it not right for you to undergo? {JOSEPH} The all-wicked initiate who betrayed the Master has already been justly judged with all justice; he was seen hanging in a dangling noose; but quicker than the noose, flung from on high to the ground, he falls to the earth with countless groans; for being near to evil, the wretch did not recognize it. {CHORUS} Well, well has he been judged and justice has been set right. {THEOTOKOS} O Child, how great then is your Father, having rightly heard my prayers. The club struck him, as one who betrayed you, faithless, godless, lawless, unjust; for being a thief and a contriver of God's murder and not willing to turn from wickedness, thus it was necessary for him to die by this fate. May he perish, may the evildoer justly perish, having fled the greatest gain of repentance. There is a God, there is one who is mighty, great; and there is Providence and a judgment of God. I spit; no impious man is a friend to God. Seize and lead him to the new tomb at last, go, bury the dead in the blessed tomb. For he has such shrouds of the underworld as are fitting, a small consolation for the dead. But I think it makes little difference to the dead, if one obtains rich funeral rites; this is an empty boast of the living. At any rate, cover his face as quickly as possible with cloths; touch him with your hands, bury the corpse in haste, the King who was killed by the Jews; it is necessary to carry the newly-slain on a bier. O Child of the all-causing God, all-worker, for what is accomplished for mortals without you? And what of these things is not divinely ordained? Alas; alas, alas; O King, O King, how shall I weep for you? My God, my God, how shall I call you? From a loving heart what then shall I sing? For you lie wrapped in these fabrics, you who before were wrapped in swaddling clothes. {NICODEMUS} Come, old man, let us properly arrange the head of the thrice-blessed one, and let us carefully straighten out his whole body as much as possible. {JOSEPH} O dearest face, O young jaw, behold, with this veil I cover your head; and your bloodstained and furrowed limbs and parts I cover with new cloths, your side pierced and all bloodied. {THEOTOKOS} Yes, by God, help; for it is timely, as night and darkness are already near. Straighten out, stretching his blessed neck; this is a small dwelling for our dear Master. Carry him, so that seeing with my eyes where my Child will lie, there I will remain lamenting, until the third sweet day dawns for me. O what a grief has been brought to pass, Child; I believe this sorrow is common to all mortals; this common sorrow unexpectedly reaches all; and may a common joy also reach me. {JOSEPH} Follow me, let us carry the blessed weight, which, having endured much, I received with countless requests, finding this by the gift of the ruler, naked, taking him as he lay on the thrice-hewn wood. {THEOTOKOS} Alas, alas, men, gently touch the skin of the God-man with your hands; and lift him fittingly, pull again swiftly. For behold, as it seems, the tomb is also near. Woe is me, women, children of the land of Galilee, he is already laid and is covered by a stone. Come, maidens, and having looked upon the corpse, address him and send him forth from the earth, as you will never see another redeemer of the race, alas; though this does not seem so to the Jews. Go, go; I can no longer bear to see him placed in a tomb and covered in a rock, he who from a rock made water gush forth for our fathers and now, hanging, has rent rocks, and by his power has opened the tombs of the dead. But let us stand for a little, so that I may address the dead. You are gone, longed-for Child, to the halls of Hades, and you are hidden with a hiding which you yourself wish to be hidden, coming to the dwelling of all-gloomy Hades, that you might cast a most bitter sting into Hades. You are gone to the hiding-place of the dead and the gates of darkness, wishing to give light and to illumine the race, and to raise up Adam, the father of mortals, for whose sake you took on and bear a mortal form. And you have come

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μισθὸν τοῦ φόνου, ᾧπερ δέον μὲν ἐν δέρῃ θεῖναι ξίφος, δέον δὲ λυγρὸν αὐχέν' ἐνθεῖναι βρόχοις, ἢ κύμασι γλαυκοῖς ἀφανίσαι δέμας, ῥίψαντι πρὸς θάλασσαν ἰχθύσιν βοράν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἄνδρ' ἐπώλησας, τάλαν (στρέφω γὰρ εἰς σὲ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ λόγου), εἰ μέν τιν' ἐξέδωκας ἄλλον εἰς φόνον, νόμῳ πολιτῶν συμφορὰν ὑπέσχες ἄν· νῦν δ', ὅς σε πολλῶν ἠξίωσε χαρίτων, ῥύστης τε παντὸς ἧκε Πατρόθεν γένους, πέπρακας, ἐκδέδωκας εἰς φόνον φθόνῳ· καὶ τίσιν οἵαν σ' οὐχ ὑποστῆναι θέμις; {ΙΩΣΗΦ} Ἤδη κέκριται παντάδικος ἐνδίκως μύστης ὁ παγκάκιστος ἐκδοὺς ∆εσπότην· ὦπτο κρεμαστοῖς ἐν βρόχοις ἠρτημένος· βρόχων δὲ θᾶσσον ὑψόθεν χαμαιριφὴς πίπτει πρὸς οὖδας μυρίοις οἰμώγμασι· κακοῦ γὰρ ἐγγὺς ὢν ὁ τάλας οὐκ ἔγνω. {ΧΟΡΟΣ} Εὖ γ' εὖ κέκριται καὶ κατώρθωται δίκη. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Ὦ Τέκνον, ὡς ἄρ' ἐστὶ σὸς Πατὴρ μέγας, ὀρθῶς ἀκούσας τῶν ἐμῶν κατευγμάτων. Ἔπαισεν αὐτὸν ῥόπτρον, ὡς προδόντα σε, ἄπιστον, ἄθεον, παράνομον, ἄδικον· κλέπτην γὰρ ὄντα καὶ Θεοῦ ῥάπτην φόνου καὶ μὴ θέλοντ' ἐπιστρέφειν πονηρίας, οὕτως ἔδει νιν τῷδε κατθανεῖν μόρῳ. Ὄλοιτ' ὄλοιτο πανδίκως κακεργάτης, κέρδος μέγιστον τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς φυγών. Ἔστιν Θεός τις, ἔστιν ἄλκιμος, μέγας· ἔστιν δὲ καὶ Πρόνοια καὶ κρίσις Θεοῦ. Ἀπέπτυσ'· οὐδεὶς ἀσεβὴς Θεῷ φίλος. Λάζυσθ' ἄγοντες εἰς καινὸν λοιπὸν τάφον, χωρεῖτε, θάπτετ' ὀλβίῳ τύμβῳ νεκρόν. Ἔχει γὰρ οἷα δεῖ γε νερτέρων πέπλα, βαιὸν παρηγόρημα τοῖς τεθνηκόσι. ∆οκῶ δὲ τοῖς θανοῦσι διαφέρειν βραχύ, εἰ πλουσίων τις τεύξεται κτερισμάτων· κενὸς δὲ κόμπος ἐστὶ τῶν ζώντων τάδε. Κρύψατε γοῦν πρόσωπον ὡς τάχος πέπλοις· ψαύσατε χερσί, θάψατ' ἐν τάχει νέκυν, τὸν κατθανόντ' Ἄνακτ' Ἰουδαίων ὕπο· αἴρειν φοράδην τὸν νεόδμητον χρεών. Ὦ Παῖ παναιτίου Θεοῦ παντεργάτα, τί γὰρ τελεῖται τοῖς βροτοῖς ἄνευ σέθεν; τί δ' οὐ θεόκραντόν γε τῶνδ' ἐστίν; Ἰώ· ἰὼ ἰώ· Βασιλεῦ, Βασιλεῦ, πῶς σε δακρύσω; Θεέ μου, Θεέ μου, πῶς σε καλέσω; φρενὸς ἐκ φιλίας τί ποτ' ἄρ' ᾄσω; κεῖσαι γὰρ ὑφάσμασι τοῖσδ' εἰλιγμένος ὁ σπαργάνοις πρὶν ἐντεταργανωμένος. {ΝΙΚΟ∆ΗΜΟΣ} Φέρ', ὦ γεραιέ, κρᾶτα τοῦ τρισολβίου ὀρθῶς προσαρμόσωμεν, εὔτονον δὲ πᾶν σῶμ' ἐξακριβώσωμεν εἰς ὅσον πάρα. {ΙΩΣΗΦ} Ὦ φίλτατον πρόσωπον, ὦ νέα γένυς, ἰδοὺ καλύπτρᾳ τῇδε σὴν κρύπτω κάραν· τὰ δ' αἱμόφυρτα καὶ κατηλοκισμένα μέλη σὰ καὶ μέρη πέπλοις καινοῖς σκέπω, πλευρὰν νυγεῖσαν πᾶσαν ᾑματωμένην. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Ναὶ πρὸς Θεοῦ, συνέρξατ'· ἐν δέοντι γάρ, ὡς ἐγγύς ἐστι νυκτὸς ἤδη καὶ κνέφας. Ὀρθώσατ' ἐκτείνοντες ὀλβίαν δέρην· μικρὸν τόδ' οἰκούρημα φίλῳ ∆εσπότῃ. Κομίζετ' αὐτόν, ὡς ἰδοῦσ' ἐν ὄμμασιν ποῦ κείσεται Παῖς, κεῖσε θρηνοῦσα μενῶ, ἕως τρίτον λάμψειεν ἦμαρ γλυκύ μοι. Ὢ πένθος οἷον οἷον ἐκράνθη, Τέκνον· κοινὸν τόδ' ἄχος πᾶσιν ἡγοῦμαι βροτοῖς· κοινὸν τόδ' ἄχος πάντας ἀέλπτως φθάνει· φθάσοι δὲ καὶ πάγκοινον εἴθε χάρμα μοι. {ΙΩΣΗΦ} Ἕπεσθέ μοι, φέρωμεν ὄλβιον βάρος, ὃ πόλλ' ἀνατλὰς μυρίοις αἰτήμασιν ἔσχον, τόδ' εὑρὼν κοιράνου δωρήματι, γυμνόν, τρισύλῳ κείμενον ξύλῳ λαβών. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Φεῦ φεῦ, πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦδε, φῶτες, ἀτρέμας χρωτὸς χεροῖν ἅπτεσθε τοῦ Θεοβρότου· καὶ πρόσφορ' αἴρεθ', ἕλκετ' αὖτε ξύντονα. Ἰδοὺ γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐγγὺς καὶ τάφος. Ὤμοι, γυναῖκες, γῆς Γαλιλαίας τέκνα, ἤδη τέθειται καὶ καλύπτεται λίθῳ. ∆εῦτ' ἴτε, κοῦραι, καὶ κατιδοῦσαι νέκυν, προσείπατ' αὐτὸν καὶ προπέμψατε χθονός, ὡς οὔποτ' ἄλλον τοῦ γένους ῥύστην, ἰώ· ὄψεσθε, κεἰ μὴ ταῦτ' Ἰουδαίοις δοκεῖ. Χωρεῖτε, χωρεῖτ'· οὐκέτι βλέπειν φέρω τάφῳ τεθέντα καὶ καλυφθέντ' ἐν πέτρᾳ, ὃς ἐκ πέτρας ἔβλυσεν ὕδωρ πατράσι καὶ νῦν πέτρας ἔρρηξεν ᾐωρημένος, νεκρῶν τε τάφους ἠνέῳξε δυνάμει. Στῶμεν δὲ μικρόν, ὡς προσείπω τὸν νέκυν. Οἴχῃ, ποθεινὸν Τέκνον, εἰς ᾅδου δόμους, κρύπτῃ δὲ κρύψιν, ἣν σὺ κρυβῆναι θέλεις, ἥκων ἐς ἀΐδαο πανζόφου στέγην, ᾅδῃ δὲ πικρότατον κέντρον ἐμβάλῃς. Οἴχῃ νεκρῶν κευθμῶνα καὶ σκότου πύλας, θέλων φαεῖναι καὶ καταυγάσαι γένος, Ἀδὰμ ἀναστῆσαί τε πατέρα βροτῶν, ὧν οὕνεκ' εἶδος προσλαβὼν θνητὸν φέρεις. Ἥκεις τ'