Translation of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke (19:1-10)
At that time, Jesus entering in, walked through Jericho. And behold there was a man named Zachæus, who was the chief of the publicans, and he was rich; and he sought to see Jesus Who He was, and he could not for the crowd, because he was of low stature. And running before, he climbed up into a sycamore-tree that he might see Him, for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus was come to the place, looking up, He saw him, and said to him, Zachæus, make haste and come down, for this day I must abide in thy house. And he made haste and came down, and received Him with joy. And when all saw it, they murmured, saying that He was gone to be a guest with a man that was a sinner. But Zachæus standing, said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wronged any man of anything, I restore him fourfold. Jesus said to him, This day is salvation come to this house; because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
On Zacchaeus
by Cyrillona
Late 4th Century Deacon and Poet.
Contemporary of St. Ephrem the Syrian,
Possibly a nephew.
[zayn] The Accursed One has armed his blade against us,
and brandishes his sword to frighten us,
but among the hosts of those who have
not sinned,
among them it has melted like wax.
The Evil One trembles, for the companies of the just
have grown to be more than his band,
and his own troops are in revolt against him
and take refuge in the Son of Mary.
Bernardo Strozzi, mid-17th c.
Zacchaeus the chief escaped from him,
10 for his Lord met him and received him well.
The sycamore was a harbor on the path;
he came down from it weary and found rest.
The splendor of Jesus shone before him
who reclined on the tree in the path,
insomuch that the shadow cast upon the bough
became luminous in appearance!
[ḥeth] Eve succumbed, besieged
by counsel which made her an exile;
Mary arose radiant—
20 she reclaimed the grace of the matriarch.
The serpent mixed sin in secret
and mingled (it) with the blood of death for Eve,
and that she might not be loath to drink it,
he filled her full of sins in the guise of a friend.
Our Lord mixed wine with his blood;
he confected the medicine of life ʼtill it
brimmed over.
His sweet savor descended and overpowered
the lethal salt of death.
Sins so beset Eve in Eden
30 that, succumbing, they drove her from the garden,
and because she inclined her ear to the voice
of the serpent,
she became estranged from that garden.
The crippled serpent crippled Eve;
Mary became feet for her mother.
The maiden bore up the aged woman,
that she might draw life-breath in her former place.
Eve grew old and bent;
she begat Mary and was made young;
and her daughter’s child took it upon himself
40 to atone for the sins of his ancestor.
[ṭeth] She had hidden there in our dough
the leaven of death and grief;
Mary strove to remove it,
so that all creation would not be corrupted.
He hid his floods in the virgin,
life flowed from the glorious maid;
his streams caught upon and climbed the mountains,
and the depths and torrents climbed higher
than them still!
This news about the Son brought low the Evil One,
50 whose soldiers too fell upon their faces.
He revealed himself (to them) when they
questioned him,
and they withered like straw, for they could not
bear him.
The sweet maid bore the Good Fruit
and placed it with her hands in the manger.
The nations ate it and, by its savor,
the serpent’s bite was healed.
[yod] The Ocean of Mercies flowed forth
to wash away the impurity of Zacchaeus,
and because compassion is greater than sin,
60 the sinner arose without punishment.
Jesus, though smitten by adversaries,
see how he was not angry with sinners;
in his mercy he was like a shepherd,
and he went out and sought out that errant one.
He swore this by himself, that they might
have faith in him:
“I take no pleasure in those who perish;
in one sinner, if he repents,
the Father rejoices with his angels.”
Not a single day has he allowed
70 fury and wrath to remain upon us;
he has taken care that we might become like him,
for he abundantly forgives those who go astray.
[kaph] The Just One does not wish to destroy us,
and he teaches the means (for salvation),
that he might aid us;
the watchers on high revere him,
but by those on earth, see how he is condemned!
His stern and terrible rebuke
do tears appease and mollify;
he draws his bow to terrify us—
80 mercy opposes it and it goes slack!
When he was passing next to the sycamore,
he saw the debtor, and regarded (him),
and stopped;
just as with Simon (Peter), so also he rejoiced
in Zacchaeus, whom he brought down
from the sycamore.
The Just One had commanded that, for the
one who has gone astray,
the Judgment should be mournful,
(but) his mien was merry when he met
that Inquisitor who bears mercy!
How timid, nonetheless, was Zacchaeus—
90 he was afraid to seek mercy;
but how forthright was our Lord—
he was eager to grant mercy.
Your God is just and kind—
fear, O sinners, but also be confident,
for he forgives the sins of those who repent,
but wrath has claim on those who refuse.
[lamad] In Zacchaeus he calls out to you sinners,
that you may see his love, for how anxious is he!
For he casts his nets like a fisherman,
100 that the leader of your cohort may rejoice in you.
He took the penitent from the sycamore
and straightway planted him in the Garden;
he saw him stripped of glory, like Adam;
he wove for him a garment of mercy
and clothed him.
Confess our Lord, who sought out and came
to the debtor who was found owing,
and made a path on which we should go,
that he might mete out (to us) the mercy
which he bore.
I have entered into your house instead of
the sycamore;
110 I shall live in the mystery which I embrace,
for your cross is higher than the bough—
multiply the floods of your mercy upon me!