Hæc dicit Dominus: Super tribus sceleribus Moab, et super quatuor non convertam eum, eo quod incenderit ossa regis Idumææ usque ad cinerem.

Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Moab, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath burnt the bones of the king of Edom even to ashes.

This, too: Thrice forfeit Moab, and forfeit once again, that burned the king of Edom’s bones to dust;

Et mittam ignem in Moab, et devorabit ædes Carioth: et morietur in sonitu Moab, in clangore tubæ.

And I will send a fire into Moab, and it shall devour the houses of Carioth: and Moab shall die with a noise, with the sound of the trumpet:

fall fire on Moab, to burn down all the strongholds of Carioth! With tumult and the bray of trumpets, Moab shall go to his death;

Et disperdam judicem de medio ejus, et omnes principes ejus interficiam cum eo, dicit Dominus.

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all his princes with him, saith the Lord.

ruler of theirs I will strike down in their midst, and all his vassals shall perish with him, the Lord says.

Hæc dicit Dominus: Super tribus sceleribus Juda, et super quatuor non convertam eum, eo quod abjecerit legem Domini et mandata ejus non custodierit: deceperant enim eos idola sua, post quæ abierant patres eorum.

Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Juda, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath cast away the law of the Lord, and hath not kept his commandments: for their idols have caused them to err, after which their fathers have walked.

This, too: Thrice forfeit Juda, and forfeit once again, that spurned the Lord’s law and left his bidding undone, so mazed were they by the false gods their fathers had gone a-courting;

Et mittam ignem in Juda, et devorabit ædes Jerusalem.

And I will send a fire into Juda, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem.

fire fall on Juda, to burn down all the strongholds of Jerusalem!

Hæc dicit Dominus: Super tribus sceleribus Israël, et super quatuor non convertam eum, pro eo quod vendiderit pro argento justum, et pauperem pro calceamentis.

Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath sold the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of shoes.

And this, too: What of Israel? Thrice forfeit Israel like the rest, and forfeit once again, that for a debt, though it were but the price of a pair of shoes, will make slaves of poor, honest folk.

Qui conterunt super pulverem terræ capita pauperum, et viam humilium declinant: et filius ac pater ejus ierunt ad puellam, ut violarent nomen sanctum meum.

They bruise the heads of the poor upon the dust of the earth, and turn aside the way of the humble: and the son and his father have gone to the same young woman, to profane my holy name.

Ground in the dust, the poor man’s rights, shouldered aside, the claim of the unbefriended! See where father and son, to my name’s dishonour, bed with one maid!

Et super vestimentis pignoratis accubuerunt juxta omne altare, et vinum damnatorum bibebant in domo Dei sui.

And they sat down upon garments laid to pledge by every altar: and drank the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.

See where they lie feasting beside the altar, at the very shrine of their God, no cloak there but is some borrower’s pledge, no stoup of wine but is some debtor’s forfeit!

Ego autem exterminavi Amorrhæum a facie eorum, cujus altitudo, cedrorum altitudo ejus, et fortis ipse quasi quercus; et contrivi fructum ejus desuper, et radices ejus subter.

Yet I cast out the Amorrhite before their face: whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was strong as an oak: and I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots beneath.

Was it for such men as these I exterminated the Amorrhites, a race tall as the cedar, hardy as the oak, root and fruit of them doomed to destruction?

Ego sum qui ascendere vos feci de terra Ægypti, et duxi vos in deserto quadraginta annis, ut possideretis terram Amorrhæi.

It is I that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I led you forty years through the wilderness, that you might possess the land of the Amorrhite.

These are the men I rescued from Egypt, guided them, all those forty years, through the wilderness, to make the domain of the Amorrhites theirs!

Et suscitavi de filiis vestris in prophetas, et de juvenibus vestris nazaræos. Numquid non ita est, filii Israël? dicit Dominus.

And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not so, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?

Tell me, men of Israel, the Lord says, what avails it that I should call sons of yours, from their boyhood’s days, to serve me as prophets and Nazirites?

Et propinabitis nazaræis vinum, et prophetis mandabitis, dicentes: Ne prophetetis.

And you will present wine to the Nazarites: and command the prophets, saying: Prophesy not.

Ever you tempt the Nazirites with wine, ever you forbid the prophet to raise his voice in prophecy.

Ecce ego stridebo subter vos, sicut stridet plaustrum onustum fœno.

Behold, I will screak under you as a wain screaketh that is laden with hay.

Henceforth, you shall seek my help in vain; waggon-axle overladen with sheaves groans not so reluctant as I!

Et peribit fuga a veloce, et fortis non obtinebit virtutem suam, et robustus non salvabit animam suam:

And flight shall perish from the swift, and the valiant shall not possess his strength, neither shall the strong save his life.

Speed shall be no profit to the speedy, strength to the strong; warrior shall not escape,

et tenens arcum non stabit, et velox pedibus suis non salvabitur, et ascensor equi non salvabit animam suam:

And he that holdeth the bow shall not stand, and the swift of foot shall not escape, neither shall the rider of the horse save his life.

nor bowman stand firm; the fleet of foot, nay, the very horseman shall have no deliverance;

et robustus corde inter fortes nudus fugiet in illa die, dicit Dominus.

And the stout of heart among the valiant shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.

a day is coming, the Lord says, when tried valour shall be fain to throw arms away, and take flight.