Words Unto God from The Depths of My Heart
I
And now, O my lost soul,
What wilt thou do?
Or where wilt thou hide?
Or how wilt thou survive?
Or how wilt thou come out of the prison of sins?
For unnumbered are thy depts,
And incalculable thy payments;
Severe are the rebukes,
And endless, the insults;
Merciless are the angels,
And incorruptible, the judge;
Powerful is the council,
And impartial, the tribunal;
Horrifying are the threats,
And pitiless, the requitals;
Redoubtable are the verdicts,
And denuded, the reprimands;
Fiery are the rivers,
And uncrossable, the streams;
Murky is the darkness,
And beyond visitation;
Unto the corrupt is the pit,
And eternal are the torments;
All-engulfing is Tartarus,
And inevitable are the hoarfrosts.
And now, verily unto thee is the hoard of bitterness,
Odious and oppressive dwellings of intolerable scourges,
O mine unworthy sinful soul,
Wicked, fornicating, covered in stains,
A landmark of absolute impurity!
Behold the fruit of the deeds of thy hands thou shalt inherit,
Thou who hast erred from righteousness,
And hast strayed from purity;
Thou who hast forsaken justice
And the ranks of modesty;
Thou who hast become devoid of the plenitude
Of the riches granted by the Holy Spirit;
Thou who hast provoked unto jealousy
The benefactor, the omnipotent king!
St. Grigor Narekatsi «Lamentations of Narek»