Exultavit cor meum in Domino, et exaltatum est cornu meum in Deo meo; dilatatum est os meum super inimicos meos: quia lætata sum in salutari tuo.

My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation.

My heart thrills with joy in the Lord; pride in the God I worship lifts high my head; now can I flout my enemies, happy in thy gift of redress!

Non est sanctus, ut est Dominus, neque enim est alius extra te, et non est fortis sicut Deus noster.

There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God.

Who so holy as the Lord? None, there is none else; there is no stronghold can compare with our God.

Nolite multiplicare loqui sublimia gloriantes; recedant vetera de ore vestro: quia Deus scientiarum Dominus est, et ipsi præparantur cogitationes.

Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let old matters depart from your mouth: for the Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared.

Boast no more, boast no more; those lips must talk in another strain; the Lord is God all-knowing, and overrules the devices of men.

Arcus fortium superatus est, et infirmi accincti sunt robore.

The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with strength.

See how he breaks the great warrior’s bow, girds the feeble with strength;

Repleti prius, pro panibus se locaverunt: et famelici saturati sunt, donec sterilis peperit plurimos: et quæ multos habebat filios, infirmata est.

They that were full before have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry are filled, so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened.

how the rich, for very need, must work as hirelings, while the hungry eat to their heart’s content! See how at last the barren womb bears many, and the fruitful mother is left to languish!

Dominus mortificat et vivificat; deducit ad inferos et reducit.

The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell and bringeth back again.

Lord of death and life, he brings men to the grave and back from the grave;

Dominus pauperem facit et ditat, humiliat et sublevat.

The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and he exalteth.

Lord of poverty and of wealth, he alone humbles, alone exalts,

Suscitat de pulvere egenum, et de stercore elevat pauperem: ut sedeat cum principibus, et solium gloriæ teneat. Domini enim sunt cardines terræ, et posuit super eos orbem.

He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill: that he may sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth are the Lord’s, and upon them he hath set the world.

raising up the poor man out of the dust, the beggar from his dung-hill, to sit among princes and reach the honours of a throne. It is the Lord that poised the round world on its foundations, and holds them in his keeping;

Pedes sanctorum suorum servabit, et impii in tenebris conticescent: quia non in fortitudine sua roborabitur vir.

He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, because no man shall prevail by his own strength.

safely his friends journey, dumb sit his enemies in the darkness; there is no protection for man in man’s strength.

Dominum formidabunt adversarii ejus: et super ipsos in cælis tonabit. Dominus judicabit fines terræ, et dabit imperium regi suo, et sublimabit cornu christi sui.

The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon them shall he thunder in the heavens. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give empire to his king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ.

The Lord will strike terror into his adversaries; hark, how his thunders roll above them in heaven! The Lord will sit in judgement on the remotest people of earth, the Lord will grant dominion and a sceptre of majesty to the king he has anointed.

Et abiit Elcana Ramatha, in domum suam: puer autem erat minister in conspectu Domini ante faciem Heli sacerdotis.

And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest.

And so Elcana went back to his home at Ramatha, while Samuel remained to minister, at the bidding of the priest Heli, in the Lord’s presence.

Porro filii Heli, filii Belial, nescientes Dominum,

Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,

This Heli had two sons that were men of little worth, recked nothing of the Lord’s honour

neque officium sacerdotum ad populum: sed quicumque immolasset victimam, veniebat puer sacerdotis, dum coquerentur carnes, et habebat fuscinulam tridentem in manu sua,

Nor the office of the priests to the people: but whosoever had offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand,

or the duty of his priests to the people. When a man was sacrificing some victim, the priest’s servant used to come up, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, while the meat was still cooking;

et mittebat eam in lebetem, vel in caldariam, aut in ollam, sive in cacabum: et omne quod levabat fuscinula, tollebat sacerdos sibi: sic faciebant universo Israëli venientium in Silo.

And thrust it into the kettle, or into the caldron, or into the pot, or into the pan: and all that the fleshhook brought up, the priest took to himself. Thus did they to all Israel that came to Silo.

and this he thrust into pot or pan, great or small, carrying off all that came up with it for the priest’s eating; not an Israelite came to Silo but went away so treated.

Etiam antequam adolerent adipem, veniebat puer sacerdotis, et dicebat immolanti: Da mihi carnem, ut coquam sacerdoti: non enim accipiam a te carnem coctam, sed crudam.

Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee sodden flesh, but raw.

The priest’s servant, too, would come up before the fat was offered, and bid the worshipper give him some meat to cook for the priest; he would take it raw, not stewed already.

Dicebatque illi immolans: Incendatur primum juxta morem hodie adeps, et tolle tibi quantumcumque desiderat anima tua. Qui respondens aiebat ei: Nequaquam: nunc enim dabis, alioquin tollam vi.

And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to day according to the custom, and then take as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered and said to him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will take it by force.

In vain the worshipper protested, It is the custom for the fat to be burned at once; that done, thou shalt take meat to thy heart’s content. No, give it me now, the servant would answer, or I will take it by force.

Erat ergo peccatum puerorum grande nimis coram Domino: quia retrahebant homines a sacrificio Domini.

Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord.

This was heinous sin the young men committed under the Lord’s eye; must they turn away men’s hearts from honouring him with sacrifice?

Samuel autem ministrabat ante faciem Domini, puer accinctus ephod lineo.

But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a child girded with a linen ephod.

Meanwhile, Samuel had begun to minister in the Lord’s presence, girded, though still a boy, with the linen mantle.

Et tunicam parvam faciebat ei mater sua, quam afferebat statutis diebus, ascendens cum viro suo, ut immolaret hostiam solemnem.

And his mother made him a little coat, which she brought to him on the appointed days, when she went up with her husband, to offer the solemn sacrifice.

Every year, his mother made him a little tunic, and brought it with her when she came up with her husband on feast-days for the yearly sacrifice.

Et benedixit Heli Elcanæ et uxori ejus: dixitque ei: Reddat tibi Dominus semen de muliere hac, pro fœnore quod commodasti Domino. Et abierunt in locum suum.

And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home.

And Heli gave a blessing to Elcana and his wife, May the Lord grant thee children by this woman, in return for what thou hast lent him! When they had gone home,

Visitavit ergo Dominus Annam, et concepit, et peperit tres filios, et duas filias: et magnificatus est puer Samuel apud Dominum.

And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters: and the child Samuel became great before the Lord.

the Lord shewed mercy to Anna, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And evermore, boy though he was, Samuel rose higher in the Lord’s favour.

Heli autem erat senex valde, et audivit omnia quæ faciebant filii sui universo Israëli, et quomodo dormiebant cum mulieribus quæ observabant ad ostium tabernaculi:

Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel: and how they lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle:

Heli was now a man of great age, but tales reached him of the exactions his sons made from the Israelites; how they mated, too, with the women that kept watch at the tabernacle door.

et dixit eis: Quare facitis res hujuscemodi quas ego audio, res pessimas, ab omni populo?

And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I hear, very wicked things, from all the people?

What wickedness is this of yours, he said to them, that brings me the complaints of a whole people!

Nolite, filii mei: non enim est bona fama quam ego audio, ut transgredi faciatis populum Domini.

Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress.

Amend your ways; it is ill hearing, that you should lead the Lord’s people into transgression.

Si peccaverit vir in virum, placari ei potest Deus: si autem in Dominum peccaverit vir, quis orabit pro eo? Et non audierunt vocem patris sui: quia voluit Dominus occidere eos.

If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

If man does wrong to man, God’s justice may yet be satisfied; if man sins against the Lord, who shall plead his cause for him? But they paid no heed to their father’s warning; the Lord was resolved to make an end of them.

Puer autem Samuel proficiebat atque crescebat, et placebat tam Domino quam hominibus.

But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both the Lord and men.

And Samuel’s boyhood went on; still as he grew he advanced in favour both with God and with men.

Venit autem vir Dei ad Heli, et ait ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Numquid non aperte revelatus sum domui patris tui, cum essent in Ægypto in domo Pharaonis?

And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy father’s house, when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharao?

And now a messenger from the Lord came to Heli, and this was the Lord’s warning to him: It was to men of thy clan that I revealed myself openly, when they still dwelt in Egypt as Pharao’s servants;

Et elegi eum ex omnibus tribubus Israël mihi in sacerdotem, ut ascenderet ad altare meum, et adoleret mihi incensum, et portaret ephod coram me: et dedi domui patris tui omnia de sacrificiis filiorum Israël.

And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father’s house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.

and I chose Levi among all the tribes of Israel to hold the priestly office, mounting up to my altar and burning incense before me, and wearing the sacred mantle in my presence; to this clan of thine I gave a part in every sacrifice Israel should offer.

Quare calce abjecistis victimam meam, et munera mea quæ præcepi ut offerrentur in templo: et magis honorasti filios tuos quam me, ut comederetis primitias omnis sacrificii Israël populi mei?

Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat the firstfruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?

And now you spurn the due ordering of sacrifice and oblation in my sanctuary; the sons of Heli must have a privilege higher than my own; yours must be the first taste of every sacrifice my people Israel bring to me!

Propterea ait Dominus Deus Israël: Loquens locutus sum, ut domus tua, et domus patris tui, ministraret in conspectu meo usque in sempiternum. Nunc autem dicit Dominus: Absit hoc a me: sed quicumque glorificaverit me, glorificabo eum: qui autem contemnunt me, erunt ignobiles.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me: but whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise me, shall be despised.

Listen, then, to the Lord’s decree. My purpose was that thou and thy clan should be my ministers for ever; but now never speak of that (the Lord says); honour is for those that honour me, for those that make light of me, only contempt.

Ecce dies veniunt, et præcidam brachium tuum, et brachium domus patris tui, ut non sit senex in domo tua.

Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

Behold, a time is coming when I mean to cripple thee, cripple that clan of thine; no kinsman of thine shall reach old age.

Et videbis æmulum tuum in templo, in universis prosperis Israël: et non erit senex in domo tua omnibus diebus.

And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.

Thou shalt see a rival in my sanctuary, and Israel all prosperity; but in thy kindred no old man shall be left living.

Verumtamen non auferam penitus virum ex te ab altari meo: sed ut deficiant oculi tui, et tabescat anima tua: et pars magna domus tuæ morietur cum ad virilem ætatem venerit.

However I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die when they come to man’s estate.

My altar shall still have descendants of thine to minister at it; but it shall be a sight to make thy eyes fail and thy heart faint, when so many of thy race die in their early manhood.

Hoc autem erit tibi signum, quod venturum est duobus filiis tuis, Ophni et Phinees: in die uno morientur ambo.

And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: In one day they shall both of them die.

And for a token of this, thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are destined to fall, both of them, in a single day.

Et suscitabo mihi sacerdotem fidelem, qui juxta cor meum et animam meam faciet: et ædificabo ei domum fidelem, et ambulabit coram christo meo cunctis diebus.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul, and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my anointed.

Afterwards, I will find myself a priest that shall be a faithful interpreter of my mind and will; I will endow him, too, with a faithful posterity, to enjoy the favour of the king I have anointed.

Futurum est autem, ut quicumque remanserit in domo tua, veniat ut oretur pro eo, et offerat nummum argenteum, et tortam panis, dicatque: Dimitte me, obsecro, ad unam partem sacerdotalem, ut comedam buccellam panis.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house, shall come that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

To him thy descendants, if any such are left, will come cringing for a silver piece and a crust of bread; Only the common portion of a priest, they will say; only a mouthful of bread, and I am content!