Jeremiæ 9
1 Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, et oculis meis fontem lacrimarum, et plorabo die ac nocte interfectos filiæ populi mei?
How I wish my head was a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! Then I would weep day and night over all my people who have been killed.
2 Quis dabit me in solitudine diversorium viatorum, et derelinquam populum meum, et recedam ab eis? quia omnes adulteri sunt, cœtus prævaricatorum.
I wish I had a temporary shelter in the desert—I would give up on my people and leave them, because they're all adulterers, a bunch of traitors!
3 Et extenderunt linguam suam quasi arcum mendacii et non veritatis: confortati sunt in terra, quia de malo ad malum egressi sunt, et me non cognoverunt, dicit Dominus.
Their words are like arrows shot from a bow. Lies win out over the truth throughout the country. They go from one evil thing to the next, forgetting all about me, declares the Lord.
4 Unusquisque se a proximo suo custodiat, et in omni fratre suo non habeat fiduciam: quia omnis frater supplantans supplantabit, et omnis amicus fraudulenter incedet.
Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
5 Et vir fratrem suum deridebit, et veritatem non loquentur: docuerunt enim linguam suam loqui mendacium; ut inique agerent laboraverunt.
Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
6 Habitatio tua in medio doli: in dolo renuerunt scire me, dicit Dominus.
Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Ecce ego conflabo, et probabo eos: quid enim aliud faciam a facie filiæ populi mei?
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Look, I'm going to test them and purify them like metal in a furnace. What else can I do because of what my people have done?
8 Sagitta vulnerans lingua eorum, dolum locuta est. In ore suo pacem cum amico suo loquitur, et occulte ponit ei insidias.
Their words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
9 Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus, aut in gente hujusmodi non ulciscetur anima mea?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
10 Super montes assumam fletum ac lamentum, et super speciosa deserti planctum, quoniam incensa sunt, eo quod non sit vir pertransiens, et non audierunt vocem possidentis: a volucre cæli usque ad pecora transmigraverunt et recesserunt.
I will weep and wail for the mountains, I will sing a funeral song over the pastures in the countryside, because they have been so badly burned that no one can pass through, and there are no cattle to make any noise. The birds have flown and the wild animals have run away.
11 Et dabo Jerusalem in acervos arenæ, et cubilia draconum: et civitates Juda dabo in desolationem, eo quod non sit habitator.
I'm going to make Jerusalem into a heap of rubble, a place where jackals live. I will destroy the towns of Judah, leaving them empty.
12 Quis est vir sapiens qui intelligat hoc, et ad quem verbum oris Domini fiat, ut annuntiet istud, quare perierit terra, et exusta sit quasi desertum, eo quod non sit qui pertranseat?
Who is wise enough to understand this? Has the Lord told anyone so they can explain what's happened? Why has the land been destroyed and burned so it's like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
13 Et dixit Dominus: Quia dereliquerunt legem meam quam dedi eis, et non audierunt vocem meam, et non ambulaverunt in ea,
The Lord replied, It's because they have given up keeping my laws that I placed before them. They haven't followed them; they haven't done what I told them.
14 et abierunt post pravitatem cordis sui, et post Baalim, quod didicerunt a patribus suis:
On the contrary, they have followed their own stubborn way of thinking, and went to worship the Baals, just as their forefathers taught them.
15 idcirco hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Ecce ego cibabo populum istum absinthio, et potum dabo eis aquam fellis.
So this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I will give these people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink.
16 Et dispergam eos in gentibus quas non noverunt ipsi et patres eorum, et mittam post eos gladium, donec consumantur.
I'm about to scatter them among nations unfamiliar to them and their forefathers, and I will send enemies with swords to chase after them until I have wiped them out.
17 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Contemplamini, et vocate lamentatrices, et veniant: et ad eas quæ sapientes sunt mittite, et properent:
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Be aware of what's happening! Call for the professional women mourners, ask for the best of them.
18 festinent, et assumant super nos lamentum: deducant oculi nostri lacrimas, et palpebræ nostræ defluant aquis.
Have them come as quickly as possible, and sing a funeral song about us, so we can cry our eyes out, so our tears will flow like streams.
19 Quia vox lamentationis audita est de Sion: Quomodo vastati sumus, et confusi vehementer? quia dereliquimus terram; quoniam dejecta sunt tabernacula nostra.
The sound of weeping comes from Zion, “We're completely devastated! We're totally ashamed, because we've had to abandon our country, because our houses have been demolished.”
20 Audite ergo, mulieres, verbum Domini, et assumant aures vestræ sermonem oris ejus, et docete filias vestras lamentum, et unaquæque proximam suam planctum:
Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
21 quia ascendit mors per fenestras nostras; ingressa est domos nostras, disperdere parvulos deforis, juvenes de plateis.
Death has slipped in through our windows; it has come into our fortresses. It has killed the children playing in the streets and the young people gathering in the town squares.
22 Loquere: Hæc dicit Dominus: Et cadet morticinum hominis quasi stercus super faciem regionis, et quasi fœnum post tergum metentis, et non est qui colligat.
Tell everyone this is what the Lord says: Dead bodies will be left where they fall like manure in the fields, lying there like stalks of freshly-cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to collect them.
23 Hæc dicit Dominus: Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua, et non glorietur fortis in fortitudine sua, et non glorietur dives in divitiis suis:
This is what the Lord says: The wise shouldn't boast about their wisdom. The strong shouldn't boast about their strength. The rich shouldn't boast about their riches.
24 sed in hoc glorietur, qui gloriatur, scire et nosse me, quia ego sum Dominus qui facio misericordiam, et judicium, et justitiam in terra: hæc enim placent mihi, ait Dominus.
Anyone who wants to boast should boast that they really know and understand me, recognizing that I am the Lord who acts with trustworthy love, who shows fairness, and who does what is right everywhere on earth, because these mean the most to me, declares the Lord.
25 Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, et visitabo super omnem qui circumcisum habet præputium,
Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
26 super Ægyptum, et super Juda, et super Edom, et super filios Ammon, et super Moab; et super omnes qui attonsi sunt in comam, habitantes in deserto: quia omnes gentes habent præputium, omnis autem domus Israël incircumcisi sunt corde.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads—all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the Israelites are spiritually uncircumcised.
