31

of me, and they were provoking me from the day I brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and until this day». «And Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sins with which he made Judah sin, to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord brought upon him the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, and they captured Manasseh in bonds and bound him in bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.» And he was bound and completely fettered in a prison house, and he was given bread of bran in small measure and a little water with vinegar by measure, so that he might live, and he was constrained and greatly pained. And when he was greatly afflicted, he sought the face of the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the face of the Lord the God of his fathers, and prayed to the Lord God, saying: «O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; who made the heaven and the earth with all their adornment; who bound the sea by the word of your command; who shut up the abyss and sealed it with your fearsome and glorious name, before which all things shudder and tremble at your power; for the majesty of your glory is unbearable, and the anger of your threat against sinners is unendurable; and the mercy of your promise is immeasurable and unsearchable; for you are the Lord, long-suffering, compassionate, and of great mercy, repenting over the evils of men; for you, O God, according to the goodness of your kindness have promised remission through repentance to those who have sinned, and in the multitude of your compassions you have appointed repentance for sinners unto salvation. You, therefore, O Lord, the God of the righteous, have not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who have not sinned against you, but you have appointed repentance for me, the sinner, because I have sinned more than the number of the sand of the sea. My iniquities are multiplied, Lord, my iniquities are multiplied, and I am no longer worthy to look up and see the height of heaven from the multitude of my injustices, being bowed down by many an iron bond, because I provoked your wrath and did evil in your sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.

31

μου, καὶ ἦσαν παροργίζοντές με ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἐξήγαγον τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς Aἰγύπτου καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης». «Καί γε αἷμα ἀθῶον ἐξέχεεν Μανασσῆς πολὺ σφόδρα, ἕως οὗ ἐπλήρωσεν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ στόμα ἐπὶ στόματι, πλὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτοῦ ὧν ἐξήμαρτεν τὸν Ἰούδαν ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς Κυρίου. Καὶ ἤγαγεν Κύριος ἐπ' αὐτὸν τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσούρ, καὶ κατελάβοντο τὸν Μανασσῆν ἐν δεσμοῖς καὶ ἔδησαν αὐτὸν ἐν πέδαις χαλκαῖς καὶ ἤγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα.» Καὶ ἦν δεδεμένος καὶ κατασεσιδηρωμένος ὅλος ἐν οἴκῳ φυλακῆς, καὶ ἐδίδοτο αὐτῷ ἐκ πιτύρων ἄρτος ἐν σταθμῷ βραχὺς καὶ ὕδωρ σὺν ὄξει ὀλίγον ἐν μέτρῳ, ὥστε ζῆν αὐτόν, καὶ ἦν συνεχόμενος καὶ ὀδυνώμενος σφόδρα. Καὶ ὡς βιαίως ἐθλίβη, ἐζήτησεν τὸ πρόσωπον Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐταπεινώθη σφόδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσηύξατο πρὸς Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν λέγων· «Κύριε παντοκράτορ, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν, τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν τοῦ δικαίου, ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν σὺν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ αὐτῶν, ὁ πεδήσας τὴν θάλασσαν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ προστάγματός σου, ὁ κλείσας τὴν ἄβυσσον καὶ σφραγισάμε νος αὐτὴν τῷ φοβερῷ καὶ ἐνδόξῳ ὀνόματί σου, ὃν πάντα φρίσσει καὶ τρέμει ἀπὸ προσώπου δυνάμεώς σου, ὅτι ἄστεκτος ἡ μεγαλοπρέπεια τῆς δόξης σου καὶ ἀνυπόστατος ἡ ὀργὴ τῆς ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἀπειλῆς σου, ἀμέτρητόν τε καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστον τὸ ἔλεος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας σου· ὅτι σὺ εἶ Κύριος μακρόθυμος, εὔσπλαγχνος καὶ πολυέλεος, μετανοῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς κακίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὅτι σύ, ὁ Θεός, κατὰ τὴν χρηστότητα τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης σου ἐπηγγείλω μετανοίας ἄφεσιν τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν, καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου ὥρισας μετάνοιαν ἁμαρτωλοῖς εἰς σωτηρίαν. Σὺ οὖν, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δικαίων, οὐκ ἔθου μετάνοιαν δικαίοις, τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, τοῖς οὐχ ἡμαρτηκόσιν σοι, ἀλλ' ἔθου μετάνοιαν ἐπ' ἐμοὶ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ, διότι ἥμαρτον ὑπὲρ ἀριθμὸν ψάμμου θαλάσσης. Ἐπλήθυναν αἱ ἀνομίαι μου, Κύριε, ἐπλήθυναν αἱ ἀνομίαι μου, καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἄξιος ἀτενίσαι καὶ ἰδεῖν τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ πλήθους τῶν ἀδικιῶν μου, κατακαμπτόμενος πολλῷ δεσμῷ σιδηρῷ, διότι παρώργισα τὸν θυμόν σου καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα στήσας βδελύγματα καὶ πληθύνας προσοχθίσματα.