Audi, Israël: tu transgredieris hodie Jordanem, ut possideas nationes maximas et fortiores te, civitates ingentes, et ad cælum usque muratas,

Listen, Israel; this day thou art to cross the Jordan, and beyond it there are great nations to be dispossessed, more than a match for thee, with huge cities walled as high as heaven;

Hear, O Israel: Thou shalt go over the Jordan this day; to possess nations very great, and stronger than thyself, cities great, and walled up to the sky,

populum magnum atque sublimem, filios Enacim, quos ipse vidisti et audisti, quibus nullus potest ex adverso resistere.

a strong folk and tall, the breed of Enac, that thou hast seen or heard tell of; none can withstand them.

A people great and tall, the sons of the Enacims, whom thou hast seen, and heard of, against whom no man is able to stand.

Scies ergo hodie quod Dominus Deus tuus ipse transibit ante te, ignis devorans atque consumens, qui conterat eos, et deleat atque disperdat ante faciem tuam velociter, sicut locutus est tibi:

And this day will prove that it is the Lord thy God that passes on before thee, like fire that swallows up and consumes all before it, beating them down and making an end of them, scattering them before thee all in a moment, in fulfilment of the promise he gave thee.

Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God himself will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming fire, to destroy and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face quickly, as he hath spoken to thee.

ne dicas in corde tuo, cum deleverit eos Dominus Deus tuus in conspectu tuo: Propter justitiam meam introduxit me Dominus ut terram hanc possiderem, cum propter impietates suas istæ deletæ sint nationes.

But do not flatter thyself, when the Lord thy God destroys them thus at thy onslaught, do not flatter thyself it was for any merit of thine he gave thee possession of this land thou hast invaded, when in truth it was the wickedness of those other nations that brought them to ruin.

Say not in thy heart, when the Lord thy God shall have destroyed them in thy sight: For my justice hath the Lord brought me in to possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness.

Neque enim propter justitias tuas, et æquitatem cordis tui ingredieris, ut possideas terras earum: sed quia illæ egerunt impie, introëunte te deletæ sunt: et ut compleret verbum suum Dominus, quod sub juramento pollicitus est patribus tuis, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob.

No, if thou dost invade and conquer their lands, it is for no merit of thine, no right dispositions of thine; they are to perish at thy onslaught in punishment of their own ill-deeds, and because the Lord must needs fulfil the promise which he made on oath to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

For it is not for thy justices, and the uprightness of thy heart that thou shalt go in to possess their lands: but because they have done wickedly, they are destroyed at thy coming in: and that the Lord might accomplish his word, which he promised by oath to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Scito ergo quod non propter justitias tuas Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi terram hanc optimam in possessionem, cum durissimæ cervicis sis populus.

Be well assured thou hadst no claim to the possession of this fair land the Lord thy God is bestowing on thee, a stiff-necked nation as thou art.

Know therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this excellent land in possession for thy justices, for thou art a very stiffnecked people.

Memento, et ne obliviscaris, quomodo ad iracundiam provocaveris Dominum Deum tuum in solitudine. Ex eo die, quo egressus es ex Ægypto usque ad locum istum, semper adversum Dominum contendisti.

What, has memory failed thee? Remember what provocation thou didst give the Lord thy God, out in the desert. From the very day of thy leaving Egypt, all the way to the place where thou standest, there has been nothing but rebellion against the Lord.

Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou camest out of Egypt unto this place, thou hast always strove against the Lord.

Nam et in Horeb provocasti eum, et iratus delere te voluit,

At Horeb itself thou didst challenge him, and in his anger he would have destroyed thee.

For in Horeb also thou didst provoke him, and he was angry, and would have destroyed thee,

quando ascendi in montem, ut acciperem tabulas lapideas, tabulas pacti quod pepigit vobiscum Dominus: et perseveravi in monte quadraginta diebus ac noctibus, panem non comedens, et aquam non bibens.

I went up to the mountain where I was to receive the two stone tablets that recorded the covenant the Lord was making with you and on the mountain, without food and drink, I spent forty days and forty nights.

When I went up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you: and I continued in the mount forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water.

Deditque mihi Dominus duas tabulas lapideas scriptas digito Dei, et continentes omnia verba quæ vobis locutus est in monte de medio ignis, quando concio populi congregata est.

There I received two stone tablets, inscribed by his own divine fingers with all those commandments he gave you on the mountain, from the heart of the flames, when the people met there in full assembly.

And the Lord gave me two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and containing all the words that he spoke to you in the mount from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled together.

Cumque transissent quadraginta dies, et totidem noctes, dedit mihi Dominus duas tabulas lapideas, tabulas fœderis,

Forty days and as many nights had passed when he gave me the two stone tablets that recorded the covenant, and said,

And when forty days were passed, and as many nights, the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant,

dixitque mihi: Surge, et descende hinc cito: quia populus tuus, quem eduxisti de Ægypto, deseruerunt velociter viam, quam demonstrasti eis, feceruntque sibi conflatile.

Bestir thyself, go back down the mountain with all speed; they have been quick to leave the paths thou didst shew them, this people thou didst bring out of Egypt with thee, and have made themselves a molten image.

And said to me: Arise, and go down from hence quickly: for thy people, which thou hast brought out of Egypt, have quickly forsaken the way that thou hast shewn them, and have made to themselves a molten idol.

Rursumque ait Dominus ad me: Cerno quod populus iste duræ cervicis sit:

This, too, the Lord said to me, Here is a race that will not bear the yoke;

And again the Lord said to me: I see that this people is stiffnecked:

dimitte me ut conteram eum, et deleam nomen ejus de sub cælo, et constituam te super gentem, quæ hac major et fortior sit.

let me have my way, and efface their very memory on earth, and thou thyself shalt be at the head of a greater people, a stronger people than this.

Let me alone that I may destroy them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and set thee over a nation, that is greater and stronger than this.

Cumque de monte ardente descenderem, et duas tabulas fœderis utraque tenerem manu,

So I went down the mountain, that was all aflame, with one stone tablet in either hand;

And when I came down from the burning mount, and held the two tables of the covenant with both hands,

vidissemque vos peccasse Domino Deo vestro, et fecisse vobis vitulum conflatilem, ac deseruisse velociter viam ejus, quam vobis ostenderat:

and when I saw what sin you had committed against the Lord your God, forsaking all at once the path he had shewn you, and making yourselves a molten calf,

And saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made to yourselves a molten calf, and had quickly forsaken his way, which he had shewn you:

projeci tabulas de manibus meis, confregique eas in conspectu vestro.

I flung down the two tablets from my hands and broke them, there in your presence.

I cast the tables out of my hands, and broke them in your sight.

Et procidi ante Dominum sicut prius, quadraginta diebus et noctibus panem non comedens, et aquam non bibens, propter omnia peccata vestra quæ gessistis contra Dominum, et eum ad iracundiam provocastis:

And now for another forty days and forty nights I lay at the Lord’s feet, without food or drink, in amends for the sin you had committed against the Lord, your defiance of his displeasure;

And I fell down before the Lord as before, forty days and nights neither eating bread, nor drinking water, for all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and had provoked him to wrath:

timui enim indignationem et iram illius, qua adversum vos concitatus, delere vos voluit. Et exaudivit me Dominus etiam hac vice.

so great was my fear of that vengeful anger of his, roused now and ready to destroy you. And once again the Lord listened to me.

For I feared his indignation and anger, wherewith being moved against you, he would have destroyed you. And the Lord heard me this time also.

Adversum Aaron quoque vehementer iratus, voluit eum conterere, et pro illo similiter deprecatus sum.

Aaron, too, he would have destroyed in his grievous anger, and for him, too, I must offer entreaty.

And he was exceeding angry against Aaron also, and would have destroyed him, and I prayed in like manner for him.

Peccatum autem vestrum quod feceratis, id est, vitulum, arripiens, igne combussi, et in frusta comminuens, omninoque in pulverem redigens, projeci in torrentem, qui de monte descendit.

As for this abomination of yours, this calf you had made, I took it up and gave it to the flames; then I cut it in pieces and ground it all to dust, which I threw into the stream that flows down the mountain side.

And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took, and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the mountain.

In incendio quoque, et in tentatione, et in Sepulchris concupiscentiæ provocastis Dominum:

At the Place of Burning, too, and at the Place of Challenge, and at the Graves of Greed, you roused the Lord’s anger;

At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the graves of lust you provoked the Lord:

et quando misit vos de Cadesbarne, dicens: Ascendite, et possidete terram, quam dedi vobis, et contempsistis imperium Domini Dei vestri, et non credidistis ei, neque vocem ejus audire voluistis:

and when he sent you out to battle from Cades-Barne, bidding you go and take possession of the land he had given you for your home, you defied the will of the Lord your God, and refused to trust him or listen to his commands;

And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying: Go up, and possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to his voice:

sed semper fuistis rebelles a die qua nosse vos cœpi.

always you have been rebels since the day when I first knew you.

But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know you.

Et jacui coram Domino quadraginta diebus ac noctibus, quibus eum suppliciter deprecabar, ne deleret vos ut fuerat comminatus:

And I spent forty days and forty nights lying at the Lord’s feet, praying him not to carry out his threat of destroying you.

And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had threatened:

et orans dixi: Domine Deus, ne disperdas populum tuum, et hæreditatem tuam, quam redemisti in magnitudine tua, quos eduxisti de Ægypto in manu forti.

Lord God, I said in my prayer, do not make an end of this people of thine, this dear possession thou didst claim for thyself so signally, when thou didst rescue them from Egypt in the Egyptians’ despite.

And praying, I said: O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed in thy greatness, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.

Recordare servorum tuorum Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob: ne aspicias duritiam populi hujus, et impietatem atque peccatum:

Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; turn away thy eyes from the sin they have committed, this stubborn, rebellious people of thine.

Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: look not on the stubbornness of this people, nor on their wickedness and sin:

ne forte dicant habitatores terræ, de qua eduxisti nos: Non poterat Dominus introducere eos in terram, quam pollicitus est eis, et oderat illos: idcirco eduxit, ut interficeret eos in solitudine:

Wilt thou let it be said in the land from which we escaped, The Lord was their enemy; he promised them a home, but had no power to win it for them, and only led them out so as to make an end of them in the desert?

Lest perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou hast brought us, say: The Lord could not bring them into the land that he promised them, and he hated them: therefore he brought them out, that he might kill them in the wilderness,

qui sunt populus tuus et hæreditas tua, quos eduxisti in fortitudine tua magna, et in brachio tuo extento.

They are thy people, thy dear possession, rescued by thee so signally, with such display of thy power!

Who are thy people and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out by thy great strength, and in thy stretched out arm.