Devil as lion and serpent; sun of passions
For “our enemy the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may swallow” and as a serpent sending the hissings upon us. Yet may it not come about that he say “I have swallowed,” nor that he overtake in us a day which the scorching sun works; for it has been said: “the sun will not scorch you by day”—for with pleasures and wrath he scorches and provides the error as light and knowledge. Singing psalms, then, we will say: “if the Lord had not been in us, then living they would have swallowed us,” and “the lamp of the impious will be quenched.”
Greek
Klagel. Jerem. 2, 16. «Ὁ« γὰρ ἐχθρὸς «ἡμῶν διάβολος περιέρχεται ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ« καὶ ὡς ὅφις ἐφ' ὴμᾶς ἀφιεὶς τὰ συρίγματα. πλὴν μὴ γένοιτο λέγειν αὐτὸν ὡς κατέπιον , μήτε καταλαβεῖν ἐν ἡμῖν ἡμέραν ἥν ὁ συγκαίων ἥλιος ἀπεργάζεται· εἴρηται γάρ· «ἡμέρας ὁ ἤλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε( ἡδοναῖς γὰρ καὶ θυμῷ συγκαίει καὶ τὴν πλάνην ὡς ὡς φῶς καὶ γνῶσιν παρέχεται. ψάλλοντες οὐν ἐροῦμεν· «εἰ μὴ ὅτι κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, , ἄρα ζῶντας ἂν κατέπιον ἡμᾶς‘, καὶ τὸ «λαμπτὴρ δὲ ἀσεβῶν σβεσθήσεται.
About this text
Origen, Fragments on Lamentations. Original English Translation from the Greek (Klostermann).
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.