Jeremiæ 10
1 [Audite verbum quod locutus est Dominus super vos, domus Israël.
Give ear to the word which the Lord says to you, O people of Israel:
2 Hæc dicit Dominus: Juxta vias gentium nolite discere, et a signis cæli nolite metuere, quæ timent gentes,
This is what the Lord has said: Do not go in the way of the nations; have no fear of the signs of heaven, for the nations go in fear of them.
3 quia leges populorum vanæ sunt. Quia lignum de saltu præcidit opus manus artificis in ascia:
For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.
4 argento et auro decoravit illud: clavis et malleis compegit, ut non dissolvatur:
They make it beautiful with silver and gold; they make it strong with nails and hammers, so that it may not be moved.
5 in similitudinem palmæ fabricata sunt, et non loquentur: portata tollentur, quia incedere non valent. Nolite ergo timere ea, quia nec male possunt facere, nec bene.
It is like a pillar in a garden of plants, and has no voice: it has to be lifted, for it has no power of walking. Have no fear of it; for it has no power of doing evil and it is not able to do any good.
6 Non est similis tui, Domine: magnus es tu, et magnum nomen tuum in fortitudine.
There is no one like you, O Lord; you are great and your name is great in power.
7 Quis non timebit te, o Rex gentium? tuum est enim decus: inter cunctos sapientes gentium, et in universis regnis eorum, nullus est similis tui.
Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
8 Pariter insipientes et fatui probabuntur: doctrina vanitatis eorum lignum est.
But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.
9 Argentum involutum de Tharsis affertur, et aurum de Ophaz: opus artificis et manus ærarii. Hyacinthus et purpura indumentum eorum: opus artificum universa hæc.
Silver hammered into plates is sent from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the expert workman and of the hands of the gold-worker; blue and purple is their clothing, all the work of expert men.
10 Dominus autem Deus verus est, ipse Deus vivens, et rex sempiternus. Ab indignatione ejus commovebitur terra, et non sustinebunt gentes comminationem ejus.
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.
11 Sic ergo dicetis eis: Dii qui cælos et terram non fecerunt, pereant de terra et de his quæ sub cælo sunt!
This is what you are to say to them: The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth will be cut off from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 Qui facit terram in fortitudine sua, præparat orbem in sapientia sua, et prudentia sua extendit cælos:
He has made the earth by his power, he has made the world strong in its place by his wisdom, and by his wise design the heavens have been stretched out.
13 ad vocem suam dat multitudinem aquarum in cælo, et elevat nebulas ab extremitatibus terræ: fulgura in pluviam facit, et educit ventum de thesauris suis.
At the sound of his voice there is a massing of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes the thunder-flames for the rain, and sends out the wind from his store-houses.
14 Stultus factus est omnis homo a scientia: confusus est artifex omnis in sculptili, quoniam falsum est quod conflavit, et non est spiritus in eis.
Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.
15 Vana sunt, et opus risu dignum: in tempore visitationis suæ peribunt.
They are nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.
16 Non est his similis pars Jacob: qui enim formavit omnia, ipse est, et Israël virga hæreditatis ejus: Dominus exercituum nomen illi.
The heritage of Jacob is not like these; for the maker of all things is his heritage: the Lord of armies is his name.
17 Congrega de terra confusionem tuam, quæ habitas in obsidione:
Get your goods together and go out of the land, O you who are shut up in the walled town.
18 quia hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego longe projiciam habitatores terræ in hac vice, et tribulabo eos ita ut inveniantur.
For the Lord has said, I will send the people in flight like a stone from the land at this time, troubling them so that they will be conscious of it.
19 Væ mihi super contritione mea: pessima plaga mea. Ego autem dixi: Plane hæc infirmitas mea est, et portabo illam.
Sorrow is mine for I am wounded! my wound may not be made well; and I said, Cruel is my disease, I may not be free from it.
20 Tabernaculum meum vastatum est; omnes funiculi mei dirupti sunt: filii mei exierunt a me, et non subsistunt. Non est qui extendat ultra tentorium meum, et erigat pelles meas.
My tent is pulled down and all my cords are broken: my children have gone from me, and they are not: no longer is there anyone to give help in stretching out my tent and hanging up my curtains.
21 Quia stulte egerunt pastores, et Dominum non quæsierunt: propterea non intellexerunt, et omnis grex eorum dispersus est.
For the keepers of the sheep have become like beasts, not looking to the Lord for directions: so they have not done wisely and all their flocks have been put to flight.
22 Vox auditionis ecce venit, et commotio magna de terra aquilonis: ut ponat civitates Juda solitudinem, et habitaculum draconum.
News is going about, see, it is coming, a great shaking is coming from the north country, so that the towns of Judah may be made waste and become the living-place of jackals.
23 Scio, Domine, quia non est hominis via ejus, nec viri est ut ambulet, et dirigat gressus suos.
O Lord, I am conscious that a man's way is not in himself: man has no power of guiding his steps.
24 Corripe me, Domine, verumtamen in judicio, et non in furore tuo, ne forte ad nihilum redigas me.
O Lord, put me right, but with wise purpose; not in your wrath, or you will make me small.
25 Effunde indignationem tuam super gentes quæ non cognoverunt te, et super provincias quæ nomen tuum non invocaverunt: quia comederunt Jacob, et devoraverunt eum, et consumpserunt illum, et decus ejus dissipaverunt.]
Let your wrath be let loose on the nations which have no knowledge of you, and on the families who give no worship to your name: for they have made a meal of Jacob, truly they have made a meal of him and put an end to him and made his fields a waste.
