The Sibyl · a new plain-English translation from the original language
"the soul-nourishing begetter, God the great, ever existing." —
And then, within Egypt's land, a mighty and sacred temple shall rise,
and to it a god-fashioned people shall bring their sacrifices,
and to them the imperishable God shall grant to live.
But when, abandoning the shameless tribes of the Triballi,
the Ethiopians set out to plow up Egypt for their own,
they shall begin the evil, so that all the last things come to pass.
For they shall tear down the great temple of the Egyptian land,
and God shall rain down upon them from the earth his dread wrath,
so as to destroy all the wicked and all the lawless.
And no longer shall there be any mercy left in that land,
because they did not keep what God had entrusted to them.
I saw a threat among the stars of blazing Helios,
and the dread wrath of Selene amid the lightnings;
the stars traveled in birth-pangs of war, and God let them make war.
For against Helios long flames rose up in rebellion,
and the double-horned rushing course of Selene was changed;
Phosphoros held the battle-line, mounting the back of the Lion;
and Capricorn struck the sinew of the young Bull;
and the Bull tore away from Capricorn his day of return;
and Orion drove the Balance away, that it stay no longer;
the Virgin exchanged with the Ram the portion of the Twins;
the Pleiad no longer shone, and the Dragon renounced its belt;
the Fishes went sinking down beneath the Lion's girdle;
the Crab would not remain, for it feared Orion;
the Scorpion came upon the tail through the dread Lion,
and the Dog slipped away from the flame of Helios;
and the might of strong Phaenon set the Water-bearer ablaze.
Heaven itself rose up, until it shook the warring stars;
and in wrath it flung them down headlong upon the earth.
So swiftly, once struck, into the baths of Ocean
they plunged the whole earth; and the starless sky remained.