“Creation,
Serving you
Who made it,
Exerts itself to punish the unrighteous.
In kindness,
It relaxes on behalf of those
Who trust in you.
Therefore at that time also,
Changed into all forms,
It served your all-nourishing bounty,
Aaccording to the desire of those who had need,
Thus your children,
Whom you loved,
O Lord!
Might learn
That it is not the production of crops
That feeds humankind.
But your word sustains
Those who trust in you.
What was not destroyed by fire
Was melted
When simply warmed by a fleeting ray of the sun.
This was to make it known
That one must rise before the sun
To give you thanks.
One must pray to you
At the dawning of the light.
The hope of an ungrateful person
Will melt like wintry frost.
This hope will flow away like waste water.”
Creation serves God by punishing the unrighteous. However, it gives bounty to those whom you love, your children, your sons (οἱ υἱοί σου). People should learn that it is not the production of crops that feeds people, but the word of the Lord (Κύριε) that sustains them. Thus fire can destroy or warm a crop. Therefore, humans should rise in the morning before sunlight to give thanks and pray to God. Otherwise, the hope of an ungrateful person will melt like frost. Their hope will flow away like waste water.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 