Propter quod statuit Dominus Deus noster verbum suum, quod locutus est ad nos, et ad judices nostros qui judicaverunt Israël, et ad reges nostros, et ad principes nostros, et ad omnem Israël et Juda:

Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that he spoke to us, and to our judges that have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel and Juda:

That is why the Lord our God has made good his threats against us; against the rulers of Israel, whether kings or nobles, and against the common folk of Israel and Juda.

ut adduceret Dominus super nos mala magna, quæ non sunt facta sub cælo quemadmodum facta sunt in Jerusalem, secundum quæ scripta sunt in lege Moysi,

That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as never happened under heaven, as they have come to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the law of Moses:

Here was a threat made in the law of Moses, that went beyond all hitherto seen on earth, and yet in Jerusalem it came true;

et manducaret homo carnes filii sui et carnes filiæ suæ.

That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.

that men would be eating the flesh of their own sons and daughters!

Et dedit eos sub manu regum omnium qui sunt in circuitu nostro, in improperium et in desolationem in omnibus populis in quibus nos dispersit Dominus:

And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all the kings that are round about us, to be a reproach, and desolation among all the people, among whom the Lord hath scattered us.

Neighbouring kings had the mastery, and in all the far countries to which the Lord had banished us, we became a thing of scorn and horror.

et facti sumus subtus, et non supra, quia peccavimus Domino Deo nostro, non obaudiendo voci ipsius.

And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because we have sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying his voice.

Slaves are we, that might have ruled; and the reason of it? Because by sinning we offended the Lord our God, and left his voice unheeded;

Domino Deo nostro justitia, nobis autem et patribus nostris confusio faciei, sicut est dies hæc:

To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day.

his was never the fault; for us and for our fathers the blush of shame, as this day can witness.

quia locutus est Dominus super nos omnia mala hæc quæ venerunt super nos:

For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils that are come upon us:

No calamity has befallen us but he, the Lord, had prophesied it;

et non sumus deprecati faciem Domini Dei nostri, ut reverteremur unusquisque nostrum a viis nostris pessimis.

And we have not entreated the face of the Lord our God, that we might return every one of us from our most wicked ways.

and still we would not sue for the divine mercy, but each of us went on straying by false paths.

Et vigilavit Dominus in malis, et adduxit ea super nos: quia justus est Dominus in omnibus operibus suis quæ mandavit nobis,

And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is just in all his works which he hath commanded us:

That is why the Lord’s jealous care was for our undoing; he has but fulfilled what he threatened; in all he has imposed upon us, the Lord our God is without fault.

et non audivimus vocem ipsius ut iremus in præceptis Domini, quæ dedit ante faciem nostram.

And we have not hearkened to his voice to walk in the commandments of the Lord which he hath set before us.

It was our fault if we would not listen to his warnings, would not follow the divine commands which he set before us.

Et nunc, Domine Deus Israël, qui eduxisti populum tuum de terra Ægypti in manu valida, et in signis, et in prodigiis, et in virtute tua magna, et in brachio excelso, et fecisti tibi nomen sicut est dies iste:

And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with thy great power, and with a mighty arm, and hast made thee a name as at this day,

Lord God of Israel, whose constraining hand rescued thy people from Egypt with portents and wonders, with sovereign power signally manifested, and won thee renown that is thine yet,

peccavimus, impie egimus, inique gessimus, Domine Deus noster, in omnibus justitiis tuis.

We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted unjustly, O Lord our God, against all thy justices.

we are sinners! We have wronged thee, revolted against every claim thou hast upon us.

Avertatur ira tua a nobis, quia derelicti sumus pauci inter gentes ubi dispersisti nos.

Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a few among the nations where thou hast scattered us.

But oh, would thy vengeance give over the pursuit! So wide thou hast parted us, and we are left so few.

Exaudi, Domine, preces nostras et orationes nostras, et educ nos propter te, et da nobis invenire gratiam ante faciem eorum qui nos abduxerunt:

Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for thy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in the sight of them that have led us away:

Grant a hearing, Lord, to this our plaint and plea; for thy own honour, be our rescuer still, and win over the hearts of our captors;

ut sciat omnis terra quia tu es Dominus Deus noster, et quia nomen tuum invocatum est super Israël, et super genus ipsius.

That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, and that thy name is called upon Israel, and upon his posterity.

prove to the whole world that thou art the Lord our God, that it was thy name Israel bore, and Israel’s race yet bears.

Respice, Domine, de domo sancta tua in nos, et inclina aurem tuam, et exaudi nos.

Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and incline thy ear, and hear us.

Look down upon us, Lord, from the sanctuary where thou dwellest; thine be the attentive ear,

Aperi oculos tuos et vide: quia non mortui qui sunt in inferno, quorum spiritus acceptus est a visceribus suis, dabunt honorem et justificationem Domino:

Open thy eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord:

the watchful eye! Once breath has left body, and a man lies in the grave, honour and devoir is none he can pay thee;

sed anima quæ tristis est super magnitudine mali, et incedit curva et infirma, et oculi deficientes, et anima esuriens, dat tibi gloriam et justitiam Domino.

But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord.

but let a man be downcast over his great misfortune, so that he goes bowed and tottering, dim eyes and hungry belly, there, Lord, thou shalt have the honour that is thy due.

Quia non secundum justitias patrum nostrorum nos fundimus preces et petimus misericordiam ante conspectum tuum, Domine Deus noster:

For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour out our prayers, and beg mercy in thy sight, O Lord our God:

Well for us, O Lord our God, as we pour out our supplications for thy mercy, if we could plead that fathers of ours, kings of ours, did loyally thy will.

sed quia misisti iram tuam et furorem tuum super nos, sicut locutus es in manu puerorum tuorum prophetarum, dicens:

But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying:

But no; thou hadst given them due warning, through those prophets that were servants of thine, before letting thy angry vengeance have its way, and the warning went unheeded.

Sic dicit Dominus: Inclinate humerum vestrum et cervicem vestram, et opera facite regi Babylonis, et sedebitis in terra quam dedi patribus vestris.

Thus saith the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you shall remain in the land which I have given to your fathers.

Bow shoulder and bow neck, said the divine voice, and be vassals to the king of Babylon; and the land I gave to your fathers shall still be your home.

Quod si non audieritis vocem Domini Dei vestri, operari regi Babyloniæ, defectionem vestram faciam de civitatibus Juda, et a foris Jerusalem,

But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to depart out of the cities of Juda, and from without Jerusalem.

Refuse to serve the king of Babylon at my divine bidding, and Jerusalem with her daughter cities shall mourn their loss;

et auferam a vobis vocem jucunditatis et vocem gaudii, et vocem sponsi et vocem sponsæ, et erit omnis terra sine vestigio ab inhabitantibus eam.

And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without any footstep of inhabitants.

no more the cry of joy and mirth, no more the voice of bridegroom and of bride; untrodden the whole land shall be, and uninhabited.

Et non audierunt vocem tuam, ut operarentur regi Babylonis: et statuisti verba tua, quæ locutus es in manibus puerorum tuorum prophetarum, ut transferrentur ossa regum nostrorum et ossa patrum nostrorum de loco suo:

And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: and thou hast made good thy words, which thou spokest by the hands of thy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers should be removed out of their place:

But all thy threats could not persuade them to be the king of Babylon’s vassals; thy servants prophesied in vain. And so thy threats were performed; kings of ours and fathers of ours might not rest quiet in their graves;

et ecce projecta sunt in calore solis et in gelu noctis, et mortui sunt in doloribus pessimis, in fame et in gladio, et in emissione.

And behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and to the frost of the night: and they have died in grievous pains, by famine, and by the sword, and in banishment.

their bones were cast out to endure sun’s heat and night frost, and great anguish they endured in their deaths, from the sword, and famine, and pestilence.

Et posuisti templum in quo invocatum est nomen tuum in ipso sicut hæc dies, propter iniquitatem domus Israël et domus Juda.

And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was called upon, as it is at this day, for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and the house of Juda.

As for the temple that was the shrine of thy name, thou madest it into the thing it is this day, for Israel’s sin, for Juda’s sin.

Et fecisti in nobis, Domine Deus noster, secundum omnem bonitatem tuam et secundum omnem miserationem tuam illam magnam:

And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine:

No greater proof we could have had of thy consideration, of that abundant mercy which is thine.

sicut locutus es in manu pueri tui Moysi, in die qua præcepisti ei scribere legem tuam coram filiis Israël,

As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant Moses, in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel,

And merciful was the promise thou didst make to thy servant Moses, when thou badest him write down thy law for Israel’s acceptance.

dicens: Si non audieritis vocem meam, multitudo hæc magna convertetur in minimam inter gentes, quo ego eos dispergam:

Saying: If you will not hear my voice, this great multitude shall be turned into a very small number among the nations, where I will scatter them:

Out of all this swarming multitude, thou didst say to him, what a sorry remnant of scattered exiles will be left, if my voice goes unheeded!

quia scio quod me non audiet populus: populus est enim dura cervice. Et convertetur ad cor suum in terra captivitatis suæ,

For I know that the people will not hear me, for they are a people of a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their heart in the land of their captivity:

And go unheeded it will; this is a race that ever spurns the yoke. What then if they come back to a right mind, there in the country of their banishment?

et scient quia ego sum Dominus Deus eorum: et dabo eis cor, et intelligent; aures, et audient:

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and they shall understand: and ears, and they shall hear.

What if they learn to recognize that I, the Lord, am their God (the heedful heart, the listening ear, are mine to give them);

et laudabunt me in terra captivitatis suæ, et memores erunt nominis mei,

And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall be mindful of my name.

what if they remember to honour me, to invoke my name, in their exile?

et avertent se a dorso suo duro, et a malignitatibus suis: quia reminiscentur viam patrum suorum, qui peccaverunt in me.

And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, that sinned against me.

What if they follow the example of their fathers, that were sinners before them, repent of their stubborn indifference and of all their ill doings?

Et revocabo illos in terram quam juravi patribus eorum, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob: et dominabuntur ejus, et multiplicabo eos, et non minorabuntur:

And I will bring them back again into the land which I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be masters thereof: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished.

Then they shall come home again; back to the country I promised to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; they shall be masters of it, and their dwindled strength shall thrive anew.

et statuam illis testamentum alterum sempiternum, ut sim illis in Deum, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum: et non movebo amplius populum meum, filios Israël, a terra quam dedi illis.

And I will make with them another covenant that shall be everlasting, to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people, the children of Israel, out of the land that I have given them.

A fresh covenant I will make with them, that shall last for ever; I their God, and they my people; never again will I banish my people, the sons of Israel, from the land I have made theirs.