Philippi Melanthonis Epigrammatvm Libri Tres

Therefore, burning, he strikes the Sineian rock again,
And with his staff compels it to yield from its stone.
And that which is rigid, pours forth the stream widely over the vast places,
Whence the army may draw sweet waters for itself.
By this example, God shows that He feeds the needy,
Whom He Himself directs to His own militia.
But yet, such spectacles signify something greater,
Which it is helpful to remember much.
As the lawgiver Moses was commanded to split the rock,
So Christ has wounds on account of the Law.
The Law remains immovable, it punishes and hates sin,
And God proposes many signs of wrath.
But so that human nature would not perish entirely,
And so that this image of God would not be founded in vain.
The Son interceded for us before the Father, and approaches
The punishment which the wrath of the just God had sanctioned.
The Law, therefore, struck the innocent Christ, and from there
Flowed the pleasant streams of new life.
But why does Moses tremble? That fear was a presage
Of the mourning that would exist in the people to come.
The people who heard the law and the voice of God together,
This same people dared to lay hands upon Christ the Lord,
The chests of Moses shudder at this future crime,
And they are stunned, moved by a pain not yet known.
Often the leaders of the people strike You, greatest Christ,
When they prefer their own laws to Your sayings.
And blind, they think it a merit not to dissolve the laws,
Which ought to have yielded of their own accord to the voice of God.