Jeremiæ 6
1 Confortamini, filii Benjamin, in medio Jerusalem: et in Thecua clangite buccina, et super Bethacarem levate vexillum, quia malum visum est ab aquilone, et contritio magna.
Put yourselves under covert, ye children of Benjamin, away from the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the horn in Tekoa, and set up a signal on Beth-cherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction.
2 Speciosæ et delicatæ assimilavi filiam Sion.
The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.
3 Ad eam venient pastores et greges eorum; fixerunt in ea tentoria in circuitu: pascet unusquisque eos qui sub manu sua sunt.
Shepherds with their flocks come unto her; they pitch their tents against her round about; they feed bare every one what is nigh at hand.
4 Sanctificate super eam bellum: consurgite, et ascendamus in meridie: væ nobis, quia declinavit dies; quia longiores factæ sunt umbræ vesperi!
'Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon!' 'Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out!'
5 Surgite, et ascendamus in nocte, et dissipemus domus ejus.
'Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.'
6 Quia hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Cædite lignum ejus, et fundite circa Jerusalem aggerem. Hæc est civitas visitationis: omnis calumnia in medio ejus.
For thus hath the LORD of hosts said: hew ye down her trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; everywhere there is oppression in the midst of her.
7 Sicut frigidam fecit cisterna aquam suam, sic frigidam fecit malitiam suam. Iniquitas et vastitas audietur in ea, coram me semper infirmitas et plaga.
As a cistern welleth with her waters, so she welleth with her wickedness; violence and spoil is heard in her; before Me continually is sickness and wounds.
8 Erudire, Jerusalem, ne forte recedat anima mea a te; ne forte ponam te desertam, terram inhabitabilem.
Be thou corrected, O Jerusalem, lest My soul be alienated from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Usque ad racemum colligent quasi in vinea reliquias Israël. Converte manum tuam quasi vindemiator ad cartallum.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer upon the shoots.
10 Cui loquar, et quem contestabor ut audiat? ecce incircumcisæ aures eorum, et audire non possunt: ecce verbum Domini factum est eis in opprobrium, et non suscipient illud.
To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is dull, and they cannot attend; behold, the word of the LORD is become unto them a reproach, they have no delight in it.
11 Idcirco furore Domini plenus sum; laboravi sustinens. Effunde super parvulum foris, et super consilium juvenum simul: vir enim cum muliere capietur; senex cum pleno dierum.
Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the babes in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12 Et transibunt domus eorum ad alteros, agri et uxores pariter, quia extendam manum meam super habitantes terram, dicit Dominus:
And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
13 a minore quippe usque ad majorem omnes avaritiæ student, et a propheta usque ad sacerdotem cuncti faciunt dolum.
For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
14 Et curabant contritionem filiæ populi mei cum ignominia, dicentes: Pax, pax! et non erat pax.
They have healed also the hurt of My people lightly, saying: 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace.
15 Confusi sunt, quia abominationem fecerunt: quin potius confusione non sunt confusi, et erubescere nescierunt. Quam ob rem cadent inter ruentes: in tempore visitationis suæ corruent, dicit Dominus.
They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea, they are not at all ashamed, neither know they how to blush; therefore they shall fall among them that fall, at the time that I punish them they shall stumble, saith the LORD.
16 Hæc dicit Dominus: State super vias, et videte, et interrogate de semitis antiquis quæ sit via bona, et ambulate in ea: et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris. Et dixerunt: Non ambulabimus.
Thus saith the LORD: Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said: 'We will not walk therein.'
17 Et constitui super vos speculatores: Audite vocem tubæ. Et dixerunt: Non audiemus.
And I set watchmen over you: 'Attend to the sound of the horn', but they said: 'We will not attend.'
18 Ideo audite, gentes, et cognosce, congregatio, quanta ego faciam eis.
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is against them.
19 Audi, terra: ecce ego adducam mala super populum istum, fructum cogitationum ejus: quia verba mea non audierunt, et legem meam projecerunt.
Hear, O earth: Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not attended unto My words, and as for My teaching, they have rejected it.
20 Ut quid mihi thus de Saba affertis, et calamum suave olentem de terra longinqua? Holocautomata vestra non sunt accepta, et victimæ vestræ non placuerunt mihi.
To what purpose is to Me the frankincense that cometh from Sheba, and the sweet cane, from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto Me.
21 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego dabo in populum istum ruinas: et ruent in eis patres et filii simul; vicinus et proximus peribunt.
Therefore thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them, the neighbour and his friend, and they shall perish.
22 Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce populus venit de terra aquilonis, et gens magna consurget a finibus terræ.
Thus saith the LORD: Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth.
23 Sagittam et scutum arripiet: crudelis est et non miserebitur. Vox ejus quasi mare sonabit: et super equos ascendent, præparati quasi vir ad prælium adversum te, filia Sion.
They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion; their voice is like the roaring sea, and they ride upon horses; set in array, as a man for war, against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 Audivimus famam ejus; dissolutæ sunt manus nostræ: tribulatio apprehendit nos, dolores ut parturientem.
'We have heard the fame thereof, our hands wax feeble, anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.'
25 Nolite exire ad agros, et in via ne ambuletis, quoniam gladius inimici, pavor in circuitu.
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, and terror on every side.
26 Filia populi mei, accingere cilicio, et conspergere cinere: luctum unigeniti fac tibi, planctum amarum, quia repente veniet vastator super nos.
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
27 Probatorem dedi te in populo meo robustum: et scies, et probabis viam eorum.
I have made thee a tower and a fortress among My people; that thou mayest know and try their way.
28 Omnes isti principes declinantes, ambulantes fraudulenter, æs et ferrum: universi corrupti sunt.
They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron; they all of them deal corruptly.
29 Defecit sufflatorium; in igne consumptum est plumbum: frustra conflavit conflator, malitiæ enim eorum non sunt consumptæ.
The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire; in vain doth the founder refine, for the wicked are not separated.
30 Argentum reprobum vocate eos, quia Dominus projecit illos.
Refuse silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
