Jeremiæ 5
1 [Circuite vias Jerusalem, et aspicite, et considerate, et quærite in plateis ejus, an inveniatis virum facientem judicium, et quærentem fidem: et propitius ero ei.
“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justly, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.
2 Quod si etiam: Vivit Dominus, dixerint, et hoc falso jurabunt.
Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”
3 Domine, oculi tui respiciunt fidem: percussisti eos, et non doluerunt; attrivisti eos, et renuerunt accipere disciplinam: induraverunt facies suas supra petram, et noluerunt reverti.
O LORD, do not your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.
4 Ego autem dixi: Forsitan pauperes sunt et stulti, ignorantes viam Domini, judicium Dei sui.
Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the LORD’s way, nor the law of their God.
5 Ibo igitur ad optimates, et loquar eis: ipsi enim cognoverunt viam Domini, judicium Dei sui: et ecce magis hi simul confregerunt jugum; ruperunt vincula.
I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 Idcirco percussit eos leo de silva; lupus ad vesperam vastavit eos: pardus vigilans super civitates eorum: omnis qui egressus fuerit ex eis capietur: quia multiplicatæ sunt prævaricationes eorum; confortatæ sunt aversiones eorum.
Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.
7 Super quo propitius tibi esse potero? filii tui dereliquerunt me, et jurant in his qui non sunt dii. Saturavi eos, et mœchati sunt, et in domo meretricis luxuriabantur.
“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.
8 Equi amatores et emissarii facti sunt: unusquisque ad uxorem proximi sui hinniebat.
They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, et in gente tali non ulciscetur anima mea?
Should not I punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “Should not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Ascendite muros ejus, et dissipate: consummationem autem nolite facere: auferte propagines ejus, quia non sunt Domini.
“Go up on her walls, and destroy, but do not make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not the LORD’s.
11 Prævaricatione enim prævaricata est in me domus Israël, et domus Juda, ait Dominus.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says the LORD.
12 Negaverunt Dominum, et dixerunt: Non est ipse: neque veniet super nos malum: gladium et famem non videbimus.
They have denied the LORD, and said, “It is not he. Evil will not come on us. We will not see sword or famine.
13 Prophetæ fuerunt in ventum locuti, et responsum non fuit in eis: hæc ergo evenient illis.
The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them.”
14 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus exercituum: Quia locuti estis verbum istud, ecce ego do verba mea in ore tuo in ignem, et populum istum in ligna, et vorabit eos.
Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies says, “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.
15 Ecce ego adducam super vos gentem de longinquo, domus Israël, ait Dominus: gentem robustam, gentem antiquam, gentem cujus ignorabis linguam, nec intelliges quid loquatur.
Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and do not understand what they say.
16 Pharetra ejus quasi sepulchrum patens; universi fortes.
Their quiver is an open tomb. They are all mighty men.
17 Et comedet segetes tuas et panem tuum; devorabit filios tuos et filias tuas; comedet gregem tuum et armenta tua; comedet vineam tuam et ficum tuam: et conteret urbes munitas tuas, in quibus tu habes fiduciam, gladio.
They will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword.
18 Verumtamen in diebus illis, ait Dominus, non faciam vos in consummationem.
“But even in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
19 Quod si dixeritis: Quare fecit nobis Dominus Deus noster hæc omnia? dices ad eos: Sicut dereliquistis me, et servistis deo alieno in terra vestra, sic servietis alienis in terra non vestra.
It will happen when you say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 Annuntiate hoc domui Jacob, et auditum facite in Juda, dicentes:
“Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Audi, popule stulte, qui non habes cor: qui habentes oculos, non videtis; et aures, et non auditis.
‘Hear this now, foolish people without understanding, who have eyes, and do not see, who have ears, and do not hear:
22 Me ergo non timebitis, ait Dominus, et a facie mea non dolebitis? qui posui arenam terminum mari, præceptum sempiternum quod non præteribit: et commovebuntur, et non poterunt; et intumescent fluctus ejus, et non transibunt illud.
Do not you fear me?’ says the LORD; ‘Will not you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? Though its waves toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, they still cannot pass over it.’
23 Populo autem huic factum est cor incredulum et exasperans: recesserunt, et abierunt.
“But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.
24 Et non dixerunt in corde suo: Metuamus Dominum Deum nostrum, qui dat nobis pluviam temporaneam et serotinam in tempore suo, plenitudinem annuæ messis custodientem nobis.
They do not say in their heart, ‘Let’s now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’
25 Iniquitates vestræ declinaverunt hæc, et peccata vestra prohibuerunt bonum a vobis:
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
26 quia inventi sunt in populo meo impii insidiantes quasi aucupes, laqueos ponentes et pedicas ad capiendos viros.
For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.
27 Sicut decipula plena avibus, sic domus eorum plenæ dolo: ideo magnificati sunt et ditati.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
28 Incrassati sunt et impinguati, et præterierunt sermones meos pessime. Causam viduæ non judicaverunt, causam pupilli non direxerunt, et judicium pauperum non judicaverunt.
They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, aut super gentem hujuscemodi non ulciscetur anima mea?
“Should not I punish for these things?” says the LORD. “Should not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 Stupor et mirabilia facta sunt in terra:
“An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.
31 prophetæ prophetabant mendacium, et sacerdotes applaudebant manibus suis, et populus meus dilexit talia. Quid igitur fiet in novissimo ejus?]
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
