In finem. Filiis Core ad intellectum.

(To the choir-master. Of the sons of Core. A maskil.)

Unto the end, for the sons of Core, to give understanding.

Deus, auribus nostris audivimus, patres nostri annuntiaverunt nobis, opus quod operatus es in diebus eorum, et in diebus antiquis.

O God, the tale has come to our ears—have not our fathers told it?—of the great things thou didst in their time, in days long ago;

We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old.

Manus tua gentes disperdidit, et plantasti eos; afflixisti populos, et expulisti eos.

it was thy power that gave them a home by rooting out the heathen, crushing and dispossessing nations to make room for them.

Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them: thou didst afflict the people and cast them out.

Nec enim in gladio suo possederunt terram, et brachium eorum non salvavit eos: sed dextera tua et brachium tuum, et illuminatio vultus tui, quoniam complacuisti in eis.

It was not by their own sword that our fathers won the land, it was not their own strength that brought them victory; it was the work of thy hand, thy strength; thy smile shone upon them, in proof of thy favour.

For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them.

Tu es ipse rex meus et Deus meus, qui mandas salutes Jacob.

I too have no King, no God, save thee; who else sent deliverance to Jacob?

Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob.

In te inimicos nostros ventilabimus cornu, et in nomine tuo spernemus insurgentes in nobis.

Through thee we routed our enemies; under thy protection we crushed their onslaught.

Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn: and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us.

Non enim in arcu meo sperabo, et gladius meus non salvabit me:

Not in my bow I trusted, not to my sword I looked for safety;

For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me.

salvasti enim nos de affligentibus nos, et odientes nos confudisti.

thine it was to save us from our enemies, and cover their malice with confusion.

But thou hast saved us from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæculum.

In God was ever our boast; his name we praise unceasingly.

In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Nunc autem repulisti et confudisti nos, et non egredieris, Deus, in virtutibus nostris.

And now? Now, O God, thou hast disowned us, and put us to shame, by refusing to go into battle with our armies.

But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou, O God, wilt not go out with our armies.

Avertisti nos retrorsum post inimicos nostros, et qui oderunt nos diripiebant sibi.

Thou dost put us to flight before our enemies; our ill-wishers plunder us as they will.

Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they that hated us plundered for themselves.

Dedisti nos tamquam oves escarum, et in gentibus dispersisti nos.

Thou hast made us like sheep sold for food, scattered here and there among the heathen;

Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast scattered us among the nations.

Vendidisti populum tuum sine pretio, et non fuit multitudo in commutationibus eorum.

thou hast bartered away thy people without profit, asking no rich amends for thy loss.

Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no reckoning in the exchange of them.

Posuisti nos opprobrium vicinis nostris; subsannationem et derisum his qui sunt in circuitu nostro.

Thou hast turned us into a laughing-stock for our neighbours, mocked and derided by all who dwell around;

Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us.

Posuisti nos in similitudinem gentibus; commotionem capitis in populis.

till the heathen make a by-word of us, and Gentiles toss their heads at us in scorn.

Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking of the head among the people.

Tota die verecundia mea contra me est, et confusio faciei meæ cooperuit me:

Ever my disgrace confronts me; my cheeks are covered with blushes,

All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of my face hath covered me,

a voce exprobrantis et obloquentis, a facie inimici et persequentis.

as I hear nothing but reproach and reviling, see none but enemies, none but persecutors.

At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at the face of the enemy and persecutor.

Hæc omnia venerunt super nos; nec obliti sumus te, et inique non egimus in testamento tuo.

All this has come upon us, and it was not that we had forgotten thee. We have not been untrue to thy covenant,

All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee: and we have not done wickedly in thy covenant.

Et non recessit retro cor nostrum; et declinasti semitas nostras a via tua:

or withdrawn our hearts from thee, that we should let our steps wander away from thy paths.

And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned aside our steps from thy way.

quoniam humiliasti nos in loco afflictionis, et cooperuit nos umbra mortis.

And all the while thou wouldst bring us low, anguish on every side, darkness hanging over us.

For thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction: and the shadow of death hath covered us.

Si obliti sumus nomen Dei nostri, et si expandimus manus nostras ad deum alienum,

If we had forgotten the name of our own God, and spread out our hands in prayer to the gods of the alien,

If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread forth our hands to a strange god:

nonne Deus requiret ista? ipse enim novit abscondita cordis. Quoniam propter te mortificamur tota die; æstimati sumus sicut oves occisionis.

would not he know of it? He can read the secrets of men’s hearts. No, it is for thy sake that we face death at every moment, reckoned no better than sheep marked down for slaughter.

Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Exsurge; quare obdormis, Domine? exsurge, et ne repellas in finem.

Bestir thyself, Lord, why dost thou sleep on? Awake, do not banish us from thy presence for ever.

Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end.

Quare faciem tuam avertis? oblivisceris inopiæ nostræ et tribulationis nostræ?

How canst thou turn thy face away, without a thought for our need and our affliction?

Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our want and our trouble?

Quoniam humiliata est in pulvere anima nostra; conglutinatus est in terra venter noster.

Our pride is bowed in the dust; prostrate, we cannot lift ourselves from the ground.

For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth.

Exsurge, Domine, adjuva nos, et redime nos propter nomen tuum.

Arise, Lord, and help us; in thy mercy, claim us for thy own.

Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake.