Liber Ieremiae, 6

1. confortamini filii Beniamin in medio Hierusalem et in Thecua clangite bucina et super Bethaccharem levate vexillum quia malum visum est ab aquilone et contritio magna

1. Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.

2. speciosæ et delicatæ adsimilavi filiam Sion

2. I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman.

3. ad eam venient pastores et greges eorum fixerunt in ea tentoria in circuitu pascet unusquisque eos qui sub manu sua sunt

3. The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.

4. sanctificate super eam bellum consurgite et ascendamus in meridie væ nobis quia declinavit dies quia longiores factæ sunt umbræ vesperi

4. Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.

5. surgite et ascendamus in nocte et dissipemus domos ejus

5. Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.

6. quia hæc dicit Dominus exercituum cædite lignum ejus et fundite circa Hierusalem aggerem hæc est civitas visitationis omnis calumnia in medio ejus

6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her.

7. sicut frigidam facit cisterna aquam suam sic frigidam fecit malitiam suam iniquitas et vastitas audietur in ea coram me semper infirmitas et plaga

7. As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.

8. erudire Hierusalem ne forte recedat anima mea a te ne forte ponam te desertam terram inhabitabilem

8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.

9. hæc dicit Dominus exercituum usque ad racemum colligent quasi in vinea reliquias Israël converte manum tuam quasi vindemiator ad cartallum

9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer into the basket.

10. cui loquar et quem contestabor ut audiant ecce incircumcisæ aures eorum et audire non possunt ecce verbum Domini factum est eis in obprobrium et non suscipient illud

10. To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it.

11. idcirco furore Domini plenus sum laboravi sustinens effunde super parvulum foris et super concilium juvenum simul vir enim cum muliere capietur senex cum pleno dierum

11. Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.

12. et transibunt domus eorum ad alteros agri et uxores pariter quia extendam manum meam super habitantes terram dicit Dominus

12. And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.

13. a minore quippe usque ad majorem omnes avaritiæ student et a propheta usque ad sacerdotem cuncti faciunt dolum

13. For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.

14. et curabant contritionem filiæ populi mei cum ignominia dicentes pax pax et non erat pax

14. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.

15. confusi sunt quia abominationem fecerunt quin potius confusione non sunt confusi et erubescere nescierunt quam ob rem cadent inter ruentes in tempore visitationis suæ corruent dicit Dominus

15. They were confounded, because they commmitted abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.

16. hæc dicit Dominus state super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quæ sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris et dixerunt non ambulabimus

16. Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.

17. et constitui super vos speculatores audite vocem tubæ et dixerunt non audiemus

17. And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.

18. ideo audite gentes et cognosce congregatio quanta ego faciam eis

18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.

19. audi terra ecce ego adducam mala super populum istum fructum cogitationum ejus quia verba mea non audierunt et legem meam projecerunt

19. Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law.

20. ut quid mihi tus de Saba adfertis et calamum suave olentem de terra longinqua holocaustomata vestra non sunt accepta et victimæ vestræ non placuerunt mihi

20. To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21. propterea hæc dicit Dominus ecce ego dabo in populum istum ruinas et ruent in eis patres et filii simul vicinus et proximus et peribunt

21. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbor and kinsman shall perish.

22. hæc dicit Dominus ecce populus venit de terra aquilonis et gens magna consurget a finibus terræ

22. Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.

23. sagittam et scutum arripiet crudelis est et non miserebitur vox ejus quasi mare sonabit et super equos ascendent præparati quasi vir ad prœlium adversum te filia Sion

23. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion.

24. audivimus famam ejus dissolutæ sunt manus nostræ tribulatio adprehendit nos dolores ut parturientem

24. We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor.

25. nolite exire ad agros et in via ne ambuletis quoniam gladius inimici pavor in circuitu

25. Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.

26. filia populi mei accingere cilicio et conspergere cinere luctum unigeniti fac tibi planctum amarum quia repente veniet vastator super nos

26. Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

27. probatorem dedi te in populo meo robustum et scies et probabis viam eorum

27. I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way.

28. omnes isti principes declinantum ambulantes fraudulenter æs et ferrum universi corrupti sunt

28. All of these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.

29. defecit sufflatorium in igne consumptum est plumbum frustra conflavit conflator malitiæ enim eorum non sunt consumptæ

29. The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.

30. argentum reprobum vocate eos quia Dominus projecit illos

30. Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.