Liber Ieremiae, 22

1. hæc dicit Dominus descende in domum regis Juda et loqueris ibi verbum hoc

1. Thus saith the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Juda, and there thou shalt speak this word,

2. et dices audi verbum Domini rex Juda qui sedes super solium David tu et servi tui et populus tuus qui ingredimini per portas istas

2. And thou shalt say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest upon the throne of David: thou and thy servants, and thy people, who enter in by these gates.

3. hæc dicit Dominus facite judicium et justitiam et liberate vi oppressum de manu calumniatoris et advenam et pupillum et viduam nolite contristare neque opprimatis inique et sanguinem innocentem ne effundatis in loco isto

3. Thus saith the Lord: Execute judgement and justice, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor: and afflict not the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, nor oppress them unjustly: and shed not innocent blood in this place.

4. si enim facientes feceritis verbum istud ingredientur per portas domus hujus reges sedentes de genere David super thronum ejus et ascendentes currus et equos ipsi et servi et populus eorum

4. For if you will do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house, kings of the race of David sitting upon his throne, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants, and their people.

5. quod si non audieritis verba hæc in memet ipso juravi dicit Dominus quia in solitudinem erit domus hæc

5. But if you will not hearken to these words: I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.

6. quia hæc dicit Dominus super domum regis Juda Galaad tu mihi caput Libani si non posuero te solitudinem urbes inhabitabiles

6. For thus saith the Lord to the house of the king of Juda: Thou art to me Galaad the head of Libanus: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities not habitable.

7. et sanctificabo super te interficientem virum et arma ejus et succident electam cedrum tuam et præcipitabunt in ignem

7. And I will prepare against thee the destroyer and his weapons: and they shall cut down thy chosen cedars, and shall cast them headlong into the fire.

8. et pertransibunt gentes multæ per civitatem hanc et dicet unusquisque proximo suo quare fecit Dominus sic civitati huic grandi

8. And many nations shall pass by this city: and they shall say every man to his neighbor: Why hath the Lord done so to this great city?

9. et respondebunt eo quod dereliquerint pactum Domini Dei sui et adoraverint deos alienos et servierint eis

9. And they shall answer: Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and have adored strange gods, and served them.

10. nolite flere mortuum neque lugeatis super eum fletu plangite eum qui egreditur quia non revertetur ultra nec videbit terram nativitatis suæ

10. Weep not for him that is dead, nor bemoan him with your tears: lament him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

11. quia hæc dicit Dominus ad Sellum filium Josiæ regem Juda qui regnavit pro Josia patre suo qui egressus est de loco isto non revertetur huc amplius

11. For thus saith the Lord to Sellum the son of Josias the king of Juda, who reigned instead of his father, who went forth out of this place: He shall return hither no more:

12. sed in loco ad quem transtuli eum ibi morietur et terram istam non videbit amplius

12. But in the place, to which I have removed him, there shall he die, and he shall not see this land any more.

13. væ qui ædificat domum suam in iniustitia et cenacula sua non in judicio amicum suum opprimet frustra et mercedem ejus non reddet ei

13. Woe to him that buildeth up his house by injustice, and his chambers not in judgement: that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages.

14. qui dicit ædificabo mihi domum latam et cenacula spatiosa qui aperit sibi fenestras et facit laquearia cedrina pingitque sinopide

14. Who saith: I will build me a wide house and large chambers: who openeth to himself windows, and maketh roofs of cedar, and painteth them with vermilion.

15. numquid regnabis quoniam confers te cedro pater tuus numquid non comedit et bibit et fecit judicium et justitiam tunc cum bene erat ei

15. Shalt thou reign, because thou comparest thyself to the cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and it was then well with him?

16. judicavit causam pauperis et egeni in bonum suum numquid non ideo quia cognovit me dicit Dominus

16. He judged the cause of the poor and needy for his own good: was it not therefore because he knew me, saith the Lord?

17. tui vero oculi et cor ad avaritiam et ad sanguinem innocentem fundendum et ad calumniam et ad cursum mali operis

17. But thy eyes and thy heart are set upon covetousness, and upon shedding innocent blood, and upon oppression, and running after evil works.

18. propterea hæc dicit Dominus ad Joachim filium Josiæ regem Juda non plangent eum væ frater et væ fratres non concrepabunt ei væ domine et væ inclite

18. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda: They shall not mourn for him, Alas, my brother, and Alas, sister: they shall not lament for him, Alas, my Lord, or, Alas, the noble one.

19. sepultura asini sepelietur putrefactus et projectus extra portas Hierusalem

19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, rotten and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.

20. ascende Libanum et clama et in Basan da vocem tuam et clama ad transeuntes quia contriti sunt omnes amatores tui

20. Go up to Libanus, and cry: and lift up thy voice in Basan, and cry to them that pass by, for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21. locutus sum ad te in abundantia tua dixisti non audiam hæc est via tua ab adulescentia tua quia non audisti vocem meam

21. I spoke to thee in thy properity: and thoiu saidst: I will not hear: this hath been thy way from thy youth, because thou hast not heard my voice.

22. omnes pastores tuos pascet ventus et amatores tui in captivitatem ibunt et tunc confunderis et erubesces ab omni malitia tua

22. The wind shall feed all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: and then shalt thou be confounded, and ashamed of all thy wickedness.

23. quæ sedes in Libano et nidificas in cedris quomodo congemuisti cum venissent tibi dolores quasi dolores parturientis

23. Thou that sittest in Libanus, and makest thy nest in the cedars, how hast thou mourned when sorrows came upon thee, as the pains of a woman in labour?

24. vivo ego dicit Dominus quia si fuerit Jechonias filius Joachim regis Juda anulus in manu dextera mea inde avellam eum

24. As I live, saith the Lord, if Jechonias the son of Joakim the king of Juda were a ring on my right hand, I would pluck him thence.

25. et dabo te in manu quærentium animam tuam et in manu quorum tu formidas faciem et in manu Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis et in manu Chaldeorum

25. And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, and into the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26. et mittam te et matrem tuam quæ genuit te in terram alienam in qua nati non estis ibique moriemini

26. And I will send thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a strange country, in which you were not born, and there you shall die:

27. et in terram ad quam ipsi levant animam suam ut revertantur illuc non revertentur

27. And they shall not return into the land, whereunto they lift up their mind to return thither.

28. numquid vas fictile atque contritum vir iste Jechonias numquid vas absque omni voluptate quare abiecti sunt ipse et semen ejus et projecti in terram quam ignoraverunt

28. Is this man Jechonias an earthen and a broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein there is no pleasure? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29. terra terra terra audi sermonem Domini

29. O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.

30. hæc dicit Dominus scribe virum istum sterilem virum qui in diebus suis non prosperabitur nec enim erit de semine ejus vir qui sedeat super solium David et potestatem habeat ultra in Juda

30. Thus saith the Lord: Write this man barren, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for there shall not be a man of his seed that shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Juda.