OATH OF SIBAUD

Lift up your hands toward heaven!
It is here that your fathers have sworn before God
not to betray Him,
And to return their altars to these great sanctuaries
where they came to die for the holy faith.
O God of Sinai; God of the first Christians,
O God of the martyrs, God of our fathers!
As Jacob in the past, you bring back your own
amidst their inherited fields.
Let us never forsake your law,
and fight with us who fight for you!

"Lift up your hands to the sky!
‘Tis here that your fathers have sworn
before God not to betray him,
Loudly addressing these aged rocks:
You have seen our birth and you shall see our death!
The homeland is where your heart is,
For us, it is in these valleys, around these altars,
devoted to the Lord,
Near these great honored burial places!
Let us follow the footsteps of martyrs without fear!
O God who died for us, let us live for you!

"Lift up your hands to the sky!
It is here that your fathers have sworn
before God not to betray Him,
Raising these altars even before their thatched huts,
There they find life and there they want to die.
Let us always be united around these altars
Which shall keep your unique roofs! (stone slab)
May the immortal beams of the sacred flame
shine on these ancient rocks!
We swear to keep faithful to your law!
Lord, be with us who want to be yours!

"Waldensians, by these oaths,
Heaven blessed our fathers,
And in these days is still ready to bless us.
Joining our brothers' hands, let us loudly proclaim:
‘At the altars of my God,
So I want to live and to die!"

(Ami Bost, 1655, Translated by Danielle Seban: http://www.alpinewstart.com/tour.html )