Jeremiah 18
1 The word that came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:
Verbum, quod factum est ad Ieremiam a Domino, dicens:
2 Arise and go down to the house of the potter, —and, there, will I cause thee to hear my words.
Surge, et descende in domum figuli, et ibi audies verba mea.
3 So I went down, to the house of the potter, —and there he was! making a piece of work on the wheels,
Et descendi in domum figuli, et ecce ipse faciebat opus super rotam.
4 Then was marred, the vessel that he was making, while yet it was clay in the hand of the potter, —so he turned and made of it another vessel, as seemed right in the eyes of the potter to make it.
Et dissipatum est vas, quod ipse faciebat e luto manibus suis: conversusque fecit illud vas alterum, sicut placuerat in oculis eius ut faceret.
5 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying:
Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:
6 Like this potter, can I not deal with you O house of Israel? Demandeth Yahweh: Lo! as clay in the hand of the potter, So, are, ye, in my hand O house of Israel.
Numquid sicut figulus iste, non potero vobis facere, domus Israel, ait Dominus? Ecce sicut lutum in manu figuli, sic vos in manu mea, domus Israel.
7 The moment I speak, concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, —to pull up and to break down, and to destroy;
Repente loquar adversum gentem et adversus regnum, ut eradicem, et destruam, et disperdam illud.
8 and that nation return from its wickedness against whom I have spoken, then will I repent concerning the calamity which I had devised to bring upon it.
Si pœnitentiam egerit gens illa a malo suo, quod locutus sum adversus eam: agam et ego pœnitentiam super malo, quod cogitavi ut facerem ei.
9 And, the moment I speak, concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, —to build and to plant;
Et subito loquar de gente et de regno, ut ædificem et plantem illud.
10 and it commit wickedness in mine eyes, in not hearkening unto my voice, then will I repent concerning the good wherewith I had said I would do it good.
Si fecerit malum in oculis meis, ut non audiat vocem meam: pœnitentiam agam super bono, quod locutus sum ut facerem ei.
11 Now, therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the men of Judah and concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, —Lo! I am fashioning against you calamity, and devising against you, a device, —Return I pray you every man from his wicked way, And amend your ways and your doings.
Nunc ergo dic viro Iuda, et habitatoribus Ierusalem, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego fingo contra vos malum, et cogito contra vos cogitationem: revertatur unusquisque a via sua mala, et dirigite vias vestras et studia vestra.
12 And, since they will say, Hopeless! For after our own devices, will we walk, And, every one, the stubbornness of his own wicked heart, will we do!
Qui dixerunt: Desperavimus: post cogitationes enim nostras ibimus, et unusquisque pravitatem cordis sui mali faciemus.
13 Therefore, Thus saith Yahweh, Ask I pray you among the nations, —Who hath heard such things as these? A very horrible thing, hath, the virgin, Israel done!
Ideo hæc dicit Dominus: Interrogate Gentes: Quis audivit talia horribilia, quæ fecit nimis virgo Israel?
14 Shall the snow of Lebanon, fail from the rock of the field? Or shall waters from afar, deep, overflowing, be dried up?
Numquid deficiet de petra agri nix Libani? Aut evelli possunt aquæ erumpentes frigidæ, et defluentes?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me, Unto vanity, have they been burning incense; And it hath caused them to stumble In their ways The roads of age-past times, To walk in by-paths—A way not cast up.
Quia oblitus est mei populus meus, frustra libantes, et impingentes in viis suis, in semitis sæculi, ut ambularent per eas in itinere non trito:
16 To make their land a desolation The hissings of age-abiding times, —Every one that passeth by her, shall be astonished and wag his head.
ut fieret terra eorum in desolationem, et in sibilum sempiternum: omnis qui præterierit per eam obstupescet, et movebit caput suum.
17 Like an east wind, will I scatter them before the enemy, —The back and not the face, will I let them see in the day of their distress.
Sicut ventus urens dispergam eos coram inimico: dorsum, et non faciem ostendam eis in die perditionis eorum.
18 Then said they, —Come ye and let us devise against Jeremiah devices, For the law shall not perish from the priest, Nor, counsel, from the wise, Nor, the word from the prophet: Come and let as smite him with the tongue, And let us not give ear to any of his words!
Et dixerunt: Venite, et cogitemus contra Ieremiam cogitationes: non enim peribit lex a sacerdote, neque consilium a sapiente, nec sermo a propheta: venite, et percutiamus eum lingua, et non attendamus ad universos sermones eius.
19 Give thou ear O Yahweh unto me, —And hearken unto the voice of mine accusers.
Attende Domine ad me, et audi vocem adversariorum meorum.
20 Shall, evil, be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my life, —Remember how I stood before thee To speak in their behalf what was good! To turn back thine indignation from them.
Numquid redditur pro bono malum, quia foderunt foveam animæ meæ? Recordare quod steterim in conspectu tuo, ut loquerer pro eis bonum, et averterem indignationem tuam ab eis.
21 Therefore, give thou up their sons to the famine And deliver them into the hands of the sword, And let their, wives, become, childless and widows, And let, their men, be slain by death, Their young men be smitten by the sword in battle.
Propterea da filios eorum in famem, et deduc eos in manus gladii: fiant uxores eorum absque liberis, et viduæ: et viri earum interficiantur morte: iuvenes eorum confodiantur gladio in prælio.
22 Let there be heard a cry out of their houses, When thou shalt bring in upon them a troop, suddenly, —Because they digged a pit to capture me, And snares, did they hide for my feet.
Audiatur clamor de domibus eorum: adduces enim super eos latronem repente: quia foderunt foveam ut caperent me, et laqueos absconderunt pedibus meis.
23 But, thou, O Yahweh, knowest all their counsels against me to put me to death, Put thou no propitiatory-covering over their iniquity, And their sin from before thee, do not thou blot out, —But let them be overthrown before thee, In the time of thine anger, deal thou effectively with them.
Tu autem Domine scis omne consilium eorum adversum me in mortem: ne propitieris iniquitati eorum, et peccatum eorum a facie tua non deleatur: fiant corruentes in conspectu tuo, in tempore furoris tui abutere eis.
