Jeremiæ 3
1 Vulgo dicitur: Si dimiserit vir uxorem suam, et recedens ab eo duxerit virum alterum, numquid revertetur ad eam ultra? numquid non polluta et contaminata erit mulier illa? Tu autem fornicata es cum amatoribus multis: tamen revertere ad me, dicit Dominus, et ego suscipiam te.
...saying: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, may he return unto her again? Will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; and wouldest thou yet return to Me? saith the LORD.
2 Leva oculos tuos in directum, et vide ubi non prostrata sis. In viis sedebas, exspectans eos quasi latro in solitudine: et polluisti terram in fornicationibus tuis, et in malitiis tuis.
Lift up thine eyes unto the high hills, and see: Where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy harlotries and with thy wickedness.
3 Quam ob rem prohibitæ sunt stillæ pluviarum, et serotinus imber non fuit. Frons mulieris meretricis facta est tibi; noluisti erubescere.
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
4 Ergo saltem amodo voca me: Pater meus, dux virginitatis meæ tu es:
Didst thou not just now cry unto Me: 'My father, Thou art the friend of my youth.
5 numquid irasceris in perpetuum, aut perseverabis in finem? ecce locuta es, et fecisti mala, et potuisti.
Will He bear grudge for ever? Will He keep it to the end?' Behold, thou hast spoken, but hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.
6 Et dixit Dominus ad me in diebus Josiæ regis: Numquid vidisti quæ fecerit aversatrix Israël? Abiit sibimet super omnem montem excelsum, et sub omni ligno frondoso, et fornicata est ibi.
And the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king: 'Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel did? she went up upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and there played the harlot.
7 Et dixi, cum fecisset hæc omnia: Ad me revertere: et non est reversa. Et vidit prævaricatrix soror ejus Juda
And I said: After she hath done all these things, she will return unto me; but she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 quia pro eo quod mœchata esset aversatrix Israël, dimisissem eam, et dedissem ei libellum repudii: et non timuit prævaricatrix Juda soror ejus, sed abiit, et fornicata est etiam ipsa:
And I saw, when, forasmuch as backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, that yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot;
9 et facilitate fornicationis suæ contaminavit terram, et mœchata est cum lapide et ligno:
and it came to pass through the lightness of her harlotry, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks;
10 et in omnibus his non est reversa ad me prævaricatrix soror ejus Juda in toto corde suo, sed in mendacio, ait Dominus.
and yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD —
11 Et dixit Dominus ad me: Justificavit animam suam aversatrix Israël, comparatione prævaricatricis Judæ.
even the LORD said unto me — backsliding Israel hath proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Vade, et clama sermones istos contra aquilonem, et dices: Revertere, aversatrix Israël, ait Dominus, et non avertam faciem meam a vobis, quia sanctus ego sum, dicit Dominus, et non irascar in perpetuum.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; I will not frown upon you; for I am merciful, saith the LORD, I will not bear grudge for ever.
13 Verumtamen scito iniquitatem tuam, quia in Dominum Deum tuum prævaricata es, et dispersisti vias tuas alienis sub omni ligno frondoso, et vocem meam non audisti, ait Dominus.
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and ye have not hearkened to My voice, saith the LORD.
14 Convertimini, filii revertentes, dicit Dominus, quia ego vir vester: et assumam vos unum de civitate, et duos de cognatione, et introducam vos in Sion.
Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
15 Et dabo vobis pastores juxta cor meum, et pascent vos scientia et doctrina.
and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 Cumque multiplicati fueritis, et creveritis in terra in diebus illis, ait Dominus, non dicent ultra: Arca testamenti Domini: neque ascendet super cor, neque recordabuntur illius, nec visitabitur, nec fiet ultra.
And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
17 In tempore illo vocabunt Jerusalem solium Domini: et congregabuntur ad eam omnes gentes in nomine Domini in Jerusalem, et non ambulabunt post pravitatem cordis sui pessimi.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18 In diebus illis ibit domus Juda ad domum Israël, et venient simul de terra aquilonis ad terram quam dedi patribus vestris.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.'
19 Ego autem dixi: Quomodo ponam te in filios, et tribuam tibi terram desiderabilem, hæreditatem præclaram exercituum gentium? Et dixi: Patrem vocabis me, et post me ingredi non cessabis.
But I said: 'How would I put thee among the sons, and give thee a pleasant land, the goodliest heritage of the nations!' And I said: 'Thou shalt call Me, My father; and shalt not turn away from following Me.'
20 Sed quomodo si contemnat mulier amatorem suum, sic contempsit me domus Israël, dicit Dominus.
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
21 Vox in viis audita est, ploratus et ululatus filiorum Israël: quoniam iniquam fecerunt viam suam; obliti sunt Domini Dei sui.
Hark! upon the high hills is heard the suppliant weeping of the children of Israel; for that they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 Convertimini, filii revertentes, et sanabo aversiones vestras. Ecce nos venimus ad te: tu enim es Dominus Deus noster.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings. — 'Here we are, we are come unto Thee; for Thou art the LORD our God.
23 Vere mendaces erant colles, et multitudo montium: vere in Domino Deo nostro salus Israël.
Truly vain have proved the hills, the uproar on the mountains; truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 Confusio comedit laborem patrum nostrorum ab adolescentia nostra: greges eorum, et armenta eorum, filios eorum, et filias eorum.
But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Dormiemus in confusione nostra, et operiet nos ignominia nostra: quoniam Domino Deo nostro peccavimus nos, et patres nostri, ab adolescentia nostra usque ad diem hanc: et non audivimus vocem Domini Dei nostri.
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not hearkened to the voice of the LORD our God.'
