[Instrumental] [Verse] For the wicked who refused to know you were punished by the might of your arm, Were pursued by unusual rains and hailstorms and unremitting downpours, and were consumed by fire. For against all expectation, in water which quenches everything, the fire grew more active; For the universe fights on behalf of the righteous. Then the flame was tempered so that the beasts that were sent upon the wicked might not be burnt up, but that these might see and know that they were struck by the judgment of God; And again, even in the water, fire blazed beyond its strength so as to consume the produce of the wicked land. Instead of this, you nourished your people with food of angels and furnished them bread from heaven, ready to hand, untoiled-for, endowed with all delights and conforming to every taste. [Chorus] That your children whom you loved might learn, O LORD, that it is not the various kinds of fruits that nourish, but your word that preserves those who believe you! For what was not destroyed by fire, melted when merely warmed by a momentary sunbeam; To make known that one must give you thanks before sunrise, and turn to you at daybreak. [Instrumental] [Verse] For this substance of yours revealed your sweetness toward your children, and serving the desire of the one who received it, was changed to whatever flavor each one wished. Yet snow and ice withstood fire and were not melted, so that they might know that their enemies' fruits Were consumed by a fire that blazed in the hail and flashed lightning in the rain. But this fire, again, in order that the righteous might be nourished, forgot even its proper strength; For your creation, serving you, its maker, grows tense for punishment against the wicked, but is relaxed in benefit for those who trust in you. Therefore at that very time, transformed in all sorts of ways, it was serving your all-nourishing bounty according to what they needed and desired; [Chorus] That your children whom you loved might learn, O LORD, that it is not the various kinds of fruits that nourish, but your word that preserves those who believe you! For what was not destroyed by fire, melted when merely warmed by a momentary sunbeam; To make known that one must give you thanks before sunrise, and turn to you at daybreak. [Instrumental] [Verse] For the hope of the ungrateful melts like a wintry frost and runs off like useless water. [Chorus] That your children whom you loved might learn, O LORD, that it is not the various kinds of fruits that nourish, but your word that preserves those who believe you! For what was not destroyed by fire, melted when merely warmed by a momentary sunbeam; To make known that one must give you thanks before sunrise, and turn to you at daybreak. [Instrumental] [End]
