Jeremiæ 4
1 Si reverteris, Israël, ait Dominus, ad me convertere: si abstuleris offendicula tua a facie mea, non commoveberis.
If you will come back, O Israel, says the Lord, you will come back to me: and if you will put away your disgusting ways, you will not be sent away from before me.
2 Et jurabis: Vivit Dominus in veritate, et in judicio, et in justitia: et benedicent eum gentes, ipsumque laudabunt.
And you will take your oath, By the living Lord, in good faith and wisdom and righteousness; and the nations will make use of you as a blessing, and in you will they take a pride.
3 Hæc enim dicit Dominus viro Juda et Jerusalem: Novate vobis novale, et nolite serere super spinas.
For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Get your unworked land ploughed up, do not put in your seeds among thorns.
4 Circumcidimini Domino, et auferte præputia cordium vestrorum, viri Juda, et habitatores Jerusalem: ne forte egrediatur ut ignis indignatio mea, et succendatur, et non sit qui extinguat, propter malitiam cogitationum vestrarum.
Undergo a circumcision of the heart, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem: or my wrath may come out like fire, burning so that no one is able to put it out, because of the evil of your doings.
5 Annuntiate in Juda, et in Jerusalem auditum facite: loquimini, et canite tuba in terra, clamate fortiter, et dicite: Congregamini, et ingrediamur civitates munitas.
Say openly in Judah, give it out in Jerusalem, and say, Let the horn be sounded in the land: crying out in a loud voice, Come together, and let us go into the walled towns.
6 Levate signum in Sion; confortamini, nolite stare: quia malum ego adduco ab aquilone, et contritionem magnam.
Put up a flag for a sign to Zion: go in flight so that you may be safe, waiting no longer: for I will send evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 Ascendit leo de cubili suo, et prædo gentium se levavit: egressus est de loco suo ut ponat terram tuam in solitudinem: civitates tuæ vastabuntur, remanentes absque habitatore.
A lion has gone up from his secret place in the woods, and one who makes waste the nations is on his way; he has gone out from his place, to make your land unpeopled, so that your towns will be made waste, with no man living in them.
8 Super hoc accingite vos ciliciis; plangite, et ululate: quia non est aversa ira furoris Domini a nobis.
For this put on haircloth, with weeping and loud crying: for the burning wrath of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9 Et erit in die illa, dicit Dominus: peribit cor regis, et cor principum, et obstupescent sacerdotes, et prophetæ consternabuntur.
And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king will be dead in him, and the hearts of the rulers; and the priests will be overcome with fear, and the prophets with wonder.
10 Et dixi: Heu! heu! heu! Domine Deus, ergone decepisti populum istum et Jerusalem, dicens: Pax erit vobis: et ecce pervenit gladius usque ad animam?
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! your words were not true when you said to this people and to Jerusalem, You will have peace; when the sword has come even to the soul.
11 In tempore illo dicetur populo huic et Jerusalem: Ventus urens in viis quæ sunt in deserto viæ filiæ populi mei, non ad ventilandum et ad purgandum.
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind from the open hilltops in the waste land is blowing on the daughter of my people, not for separating or cleaning the grain;
12 Spiritus plenus ex his veniet mihi, et nunc ego loquar judicia mea cum eis.
A full wind will come for me: and now I will give my decision against them.
13 Ecce quasi nubes ascendet, et quasi tempestas currus ejus: velociores aquilis equi illius. Væ nobis, quoniam vastati sumus.
See, he will come up like the clouds, and his war-carriages like the storm-wind: his horses are quicker than eagles. Sorrow is ours, for destruction has come on us.
14 Lava a malitia cor tuum, Jerusalem, ut salva fias: usquequo morabuntur in te cogitationes noxiæ?
O Jerusalem, make your heart clean from evil, so that you may have salvation. How long are evil purposes to have a resting-place in you?
15 Vox enim annuntiantis a Dan, et notum facientis idolum de monte Ephraim.
For a voice is sounding from Dan, giving out evil from the hills of Ephraim:
16 Dicite gentibus: Ecce auditum est in Jerusalem custodes venire de terra longinqua, et dare super civitates Juda vocem suam:
Make this come to the minds of the nations, make a statement openly against Jerusalem, that attackers are coming from a far country and their voices will be loud against the towns of Judah.
17 quasi custodes agrorum facti sunt super eam in gyro, quia me ad iracundiam provocavit, dicit Dominus.
Like keepers of a field they are against her on every side; because she has been fighting against me, says the Lord.
18 Viæ tuæ et cogitationes tuæ fecerunt hæc tibi: ista malitia tua, quia amara, quia tetigit cor tuum.
Your ways and your doings have made these things come on you; this is your sin; truly it is bitter, going deep into your heart.
19 Ventrem meum, ventrem meum doleo; sensus cordis mei turbati sunt in me. Non tacebo, quoniam vocem buccinæ audivit anima mea, clamorem prælii.
My soul, my soul! I am pained to my inmost heart; my heart is troubled in me; I am not able to be quiet, because the sound of the horn, the note of war, has come to my ears.
20 Contritio super contritionem vocata est, et vastata est omnis terra: repente vastata sunt tabernacula mea; subito pelles meæ.
News is given of destruction on destruction; all the land is made waste: suddenly my tents, straight away my curtains, are made waste.
21 Usquequo videbo fugientem; audiam vocem buccinæ?
How long will I go on seeing the flag and hearing the sound of the war-horn?
22 Quia stultus populus meus me non cognovit: filii insipientes sunt et vecordes: sapientes sunt ut faciant mala, bene autem facere nescierunt.
For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.
23 Aspexi terram, et ecce vacua erat et nihili; et cælos, et non erat lux in eis.
Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.
24 Vidi montes, et ecce movebantur: et omnes colles conturbati sunt.
Looking at the mountains, I saw them shaking, and all the hills were moved about.
25 Intuitus sum, et non erat homo: et omne volatile cæli recessit.
Looking, I saw that there was no man, and all the birds of heaven had gone in flight.
26 Aspexi, et ecce Carmelus desertus, et omnes urbes ejus destructæ sunt a facie Domini, et a facie iræ furoris ejus.
Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.
27 Hæc enim dicit Dominus: Deserta erit omnis terra, sed tamen consummationem non faciam.
For this is what the Lord has said: All the land will become a waste; I will make destruction complete.
28 Lugebit terra, et mœrebunt cæli desuper, eo quod locutus sum. Cogitavi, et non pœnituit me, nec aversus sum ab eo.
The earth will be weeping for this, and the heavens on high will be black: because I have said it, and I will not go back from it; it is my purpose, and it will not be changed.
29 A voce equitis et mittentis sagittam fugit omnis civitas: ingressi sunt ardua, et ascenderunt rupes: universæ urbes derelictæ sunt, et non habitat in eis homo.
All the land is in flight because of the noise of the horsemen and the bowmen; they have taken cover in the woodland and up on the rocks: every town has been given up, not a man is living in them.
30 Tu autem vastata, quid facies? cum vestieris te coccino, cum ornata fueris monili aureo, et pinxeris stibio oculos tuos, frustra componeris: contempserunt te amatores tui; animam tuam quærent.
And you, when you are made waste, what will you do? Though you are clothed in red, though you make yourself beautiful with ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes wide with paint, it is for nothing that you make yourself fair; your lovers have no more desire for you, they have designs on your life.
31 Vocem enim quasi parturientis audivi, angustias ut puerperæ: vox filiæ Sion intermorientis, expandentisque manus suas: Væ mihi, quia defecit anima mea propter interfectos!
A voice has come to my ears like the voice of a woman in birth-pains, the pain of one giving birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, fighting for breath, stretching out her hands, saying, Now sorrow is mine! for my strength is gone from me before the takers of life.
