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.
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
2 Quod si etiam: Vivit Dominus, dixerint, et hoc falso jurabunt.
Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing 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 for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
4 Ego autem dixi: Forsitan pauperes sunt et stulti, ignorantes viam Domini, judicium Dei sui.
Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice 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 powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
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 from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
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.
“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
8 Equi amatores et emissarii facti sunt: unusquisque ad uxorem proximi sui hinniebat.
They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, et in gente tali non ulciscetur anima mea?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself 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 through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
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 been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
12 Negaverunt Dominum, et dixerunt: Non est ipse: neque veniet super nos malum: gladium et famem non videbimus.
They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to 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 are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall 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 this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
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 am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
16 Pharetra ejus quasi sepulchrum patens; universi fortes.
Their quivers are like open graves; 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 devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
18 Verumtamen in diebus illis, ait Dominus, non faciam vos in consummationem.
“Yet even in those days,” declares 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.
And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
20 Annuntiate hoc domui Jacob, et auditum facite in Juda, dicentes:
Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Audi, popule stulte, qui non habes cor: qui habentes oculos, non videtis; et aures, et non auditis.
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but 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 you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
23 Populo autem huic factum est cor incredulum et exasperans: recesserunt, et abierunt.
But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
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 have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 Iniquitates vestræ declinaverunt hæc, et peccata vestra prohibuerunt bonum a vobis:
Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
26 quia inventi sunt in populo meo impii insidiantes quasi aucupes, laqueos ponentes et pedicas ad capiendos viros.
For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
27 Sicut decipula plena avibus, sic domus eorum plenæ dolo: ideo magnificati sunt et ditati.
Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and 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 and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
29 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, aut super gentem hujuscemodi non ulciscetur anima mea?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
30 Stupor et mirabilia facta sunt in terra:
A horrible and shocking 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. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
