Jeremiæ 18
1 Verbum quod factum est ad Jeremiam a Domino, dicens:
The word that came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:
2 Surge, et descende in domum figuli, et ibi audies verba mea.
Arise and go down to the house of the potter, —and, there, will I cause thee to hear my words.
3 Et descendi in domum figuli, et ecce ipse faciebat opus super rotam.
So I went down, to the house of the potter, —and there he was! making a piece of work on the wheels,
4 Et dissipatum est vas quod ipse faciebat e luto manibus suis: conversusque fecit illud vas alterum, sicut placuerat in oculis ejus ut faceret.
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.
5 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:
Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying:
6 Numquid sicut figulus iste, non potero vobis facere, domus Israël? ait Dominus: ecce sicut lutum in manu figuli, sic vos in manu mea, domus Israël.
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.
7 Repente loquar adversum gentem et adversus regnum, ut eradicem, et destruam, et disperdam illud:
The moment I speak, concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, —to pull up and to break down, and to destroy;
8 si pœnitentiam egerit gens illa a malo suo quod locutus sum adversus eam, agam et ego pœnitentiam super malo quod cogitavi ut facerem ei.
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.
9 Et subito loquar de gente et de regno, ut ædificem et plantem illud.
And, the moment I speak, concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, —to build and to plant;
10 Si fecerit malum in oculis meis, ut non audiat vocem meam, pœnitentiam agam super bono quod locutus sum ut facerem ei.
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.
11 Nunc ergo dic viro Juda, et habitatoribus Jerusalem, 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.
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.
12 Qui dixerunt: Desperavimus: post cogitationes enim nostras ibimus, et unusquisque pravitatem cordis sui mali faciemus.
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!
13 Ideo hæc dicit Dominus: Interrogate gentes: Quis audivit talia horribilia, quæ fecit nimis virgo Israël?
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!
14 Numquid deficiet de petra agri nix Libani? aut evelli possunt aquæ erumpentes frigidæ, et defluentes?
Shall the snow of Lebanon, fail from the rock of the field? Or shall waters from afar, deep, overflowing, be dried up?
15 Quia oblitus est mei populus meus, frustra libantes, et impingentes in viis suis, in semitis sæculi, ut ambularent per eas in itinere non trito,
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.
16 ut fieret terra eorum in desolationem, et in sibilum sempiternum: omnis qui præterierit per eam obstupescet, et movebit caput suum.
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.
17 Sicut ventus urens dispergam eos coram inimico: dorsum, et non faciem, ostendam eis in die perditionis eorum.
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.
18 Et dixerunt: Venite, et cogitemus contra Jeremiam 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 ejus.
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!
19 Attende, Domine, ad me, et audi vocem adversariorum meorum.
Give thou ear O Yahweh unto me, —And hearken unto the voice of mine accusers.
20 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.
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.
21 Propterea da filios eorum in famem, et deduc eos in manus gladii: fiant uxores eorum absque liberis, et viduæ: et viri earum interficiantur morte: juvenes eorum confodiantur gladio in prælio:
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.
22 audiatur clamor de domibus eorum: adduces enim super eos latronem repente, quia foderunt foveam ut caperent me, et laqueos absconderunt pedibus meis.
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.
23 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.
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.
