Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth.

Audite, cæli, quæ loquor: audiat terra verba oris mei.

Listen, you heavens, while I have my say; earth, be attentive to the words I utter;

Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass.

Concrescat ut pluvia doctrina mea, fluat ut ros eloquium meum, quasi imber super herbam, et quasi stillæ super gramina.

here is teaching big with import as the rain, here are warnings that must soak in like the dew, wholesome as showers are to the grass, as moisture to the growing crops.

Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God.

Quia nomen Domini invocabo: date magnificentiam Deo nostro.

The renown of the Lord shall be my theme; to our God belongs majesty;

The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right.

Dei perfecta sunt opera, et omnes viæ ejus judicia: Deus fidelis, et absque ulla iniquitate, justus et rectus.

the God who shelters us, how perfect is all he does, how right are all his dealings! God, faithful and unerring, God, holy and just!

They have sinned against him, and are none of his children in their filth: they are a wicked and perverse generation.

Peccaverunt ei, et non filii ejus in sordibus: generatio prava atque perversa.

And these, his sons, are lost to him, his sons no longer in their defilement; a generation of false aims and rebellious will.

Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee?

Hæccine reddis Domino, popule stulte et insipiens? numquid non ipse est pater tuus, qui possedit te, et fecit, et creavit te?

What, reckless still, inconsiderate still! Is this the return thou wouldst make to that father who calls thee his own, that creator who fashioned thee?

Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee.

Memento dierum antiquorum, cogita generationes singulas: interroga patrem tuum, et annuntiabit tibi: majores tuos, et dicent tibi.

Cast thy mind back to old days; nay, trace the record of each succeeding generation; ask thy father what news he has to tell, thy forefathers, what word they have for thee.

When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel.

Quando dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum Israël.

The Ruler of all has divided the nations apart, sundering Adam’s children and giving to each people its own home, peoples as numerous as the sons that sprang from Israel;

But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance.

Pars autem Domini, populus ejus: Jacob funiculus hæreditatis ejus.

but one was the Lord’s treasured possession, his own people; it was Jacob he had marked out for his own domain.

He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror, and of vast wilderness: he led him about, and taught him: and he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Invenit eum in terra deserta, in loco horroris, et vastæ solitudinis: circumduxit eum, et docuit: et custodivit quasi pupillam oculi sui.

He sought them out in the wilderness, there in the fearful desert spaces, gave them the guidance, taught them the lessons they needed, guarded them as if they had been the apple of his eye.

As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders.

Sicut aquila provocans ad volandum pullos suos, et super eos volitans, expandit alas suas, et assumpsit eum, atque portavit in humeris suis.

(So the eagle that would incite its young to venture in the air now hovers above them, now spreads its wings and takes them up to rest on its own shoulders.)

The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him.

Dominus solus dux ejus fuit, et non erat cum eo deus alienus:

None but the Lord was their guide on that journey, there was no alien god to be found then in their company.

He set him upon high land: that he might eat the fruits of the fields, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest stone,

constituit eum super excelsam terram, ut comederet fructus agrorum: ut sugeret mel de petra, oleumque de saxo durissimo;

And afterwards he settled them in a country of high hills, where they could eat the food their own lands yielded. Honey oozed from its rocks, on its barren uplands the olive could flourish;

Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep with the fat of lambs, and of the rams of the breed of Basan: and goats with the marrow of wheat, and might drink the purest blood of the grape.

butyrum de armento, et lac de ovibus cum adipe agnorum, et arietum filiorum Basan: et hircos cum medulla tritici, et sanguinem uvæ biberet meracissimum.

cheese from the herd, milk was theirs from the flock, the flesh of well-fed lamb and ram, cattle of Basan’s breed, and he-goats; they ate the choicest wheat, drank the heady juice of the grape.

The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his saviour.

Incrassatus est dilectus, et recalcitravit: incrassatus, impinguatus, dilatatus, dereliquit Deum factorem suum, et recessit a Deo salutari suo.

A people so well loved! And now, pampered, they would throw off the yoke. Pampered, full-fed, swollen with pride, they forsook that divine creator, revolted against their deliverer.

They provoked him by strange gods, and stirred him up to anger, with their abominations.

Provocaverunt eum in diis alienis, et in abominationibus ad iracundiam concitaverunt.

He must endure the rivalry of alien worship, must look on indignantly at their detestable doings.

They sacrificed to devils and not to God: to gods whom they knew not: that were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped not.

Immolaverunt dæmoniis et non Deo, diis quos ignorabant: novi recentesque venerunt, quos non coluerunt patres eorum:

Not to their God they offered sacrifice, but to devils, to gods yet untried, upstart gods of yesterday, whom their fathers never held in awe.

Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee.

Deum qui te genuit dereliquisti, et oblitus es Domini creatoris tui.

What, forsake the sheltering Power that gave thee birth, forget the very Lord who created thee?

The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath: because his own sons and daughters provoked him.

Vidit Dominus, et ad iracundiam concitatus est: quia provocaverunt eum filii sui et filiæ.

The Lord was roused to anger when he saw it, saw his own sons and daughters defying him.

And he said: I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be: for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children.

Et ait: Abscondam faciem meam ab eis, et considerabo novissima eorum: generatio enim perversa est, et infideles filii.

I will turn away from them, he said, and see what comes of it; here is a rebellious race, a thankless brood.

They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities: and I will provoke them with that which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation.

Ipsi me provocaverunt in eo qui non erat Deus, et irritaverunt in vanitatibus suis: et ego provocabo eos in eo qui non est populus, et in gente stulta irritabo illos.

They have deserted me for a god that was no god, phantoms have been my rivals; now I will desert them in my turn, for a people that is no people of mine; their rivals shall be men as impious as themselves.

A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell: and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains.

Ignis succensus est in furore meo, et ardebit usque ad inferni novissima: devorabitque terram cum germine suo, et montium fundamenta comburet.

My anger shall be like a raging fire that burns down to the depths of the abyss, that consumes earth and all that earth yields, scorches the very roots of the hills.

I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among them.

Congregabo super eos mala, et sagittas meas complebo in eis.

I mean to heap all my plagues upon them, exhaust all the arrows of my vengeance.

They shall be consumed with famine, and birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents.

Consumentur fame, et devorabunt eos aves morsu amarissimo: dentes bestiarum immittam in eos, cum furore trahentium super terram, atque serpentium.

What famine shall gnaw them, what winged terrors eat them up with destructive fangs! I will send wild beasts, too, to prey on them, poisonous serpents shall creep upon them through the dust.

Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within, both the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in years.

Foris vastabit eos gladius, et intus pavor, juvenem simul ac virginem, lactentem cum homine sene.

Havoc without, terror within doors; for man and maid, for infancy and old age, the same doom!

I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men.

Dixi: Ubinam sunt? cessare faciam ex hominibus memoriam eorum.

Indeed, I had thought to make away with them altogether, blot out their very name from all human remembrance;

But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things.

Sed propter iram inimicorum distuli: ne forte superbirent hostes eorum, et dicerent: Manus nostra excelsa, et non Dominus, fecit hæc omnia.

but no, I held my hand; were these enemies of theirs to provoke me with taunts? Should the victors boast it was their own power, not mine, that had won the day?

They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom.

Gens absque consilio est, et sine prudentia.

How lost they are to right judgement, this people of Israel, how slow of discernment!

O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end.

Utinam saperent, et intelligerent, ac novissima providerent.

Ah, if they would only take thought, and read their lesson, and foresee what is still far away!

How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

Quomodo persequatur unus mille, et duo fugent decem millia? nonne ideo, quia Deus suus vendidit eos, et Dominus conclusit illos?

When they see their thousands put to rout by one man, ten thousand fleeing with two men in pursuit, can they doubt what is the cause of it? It means their own God has relinquished them; that the Lord’s decree has given their enemy the mastery;

For our God is not as their gods: our enemies themselves are judges.

Non enim est Deus noster ut dii eorum: et inimici nostri sunt judices.

that enemy himself will bear witness that his gods are no match for our God.

Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs of Gomorrha: their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most bitter.

De vinea Sodomorum, vinea eorum, et de suburbanis Gomorrhæ: uva eorum, uva fellis, et botri amarissimi.

Does he enjoy my favour? No, says the Lord, he is but a wild vine, such as grows in Sodom, or in the purlieus of Gomorrha, yielding grapes like gall, clusters of bitterness,

Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps, which is incurable.

Fel draconum vinum eorum, et venenum aspidum insanabile.

yielding wine like the adder’s venom, the rankling poison of the viper.

Are not these things stored up with me, and sealed up in my treasures?

Nonne hæc condita sunt apud me, et signata in thesauris meis?

Be sure that I keep the record of his wickedness stored away under seal in my treasure house;

Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their foot may slide: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come.

Mea est ultio, et ego retribuam in tempore, ut labatur pes eorum: juxta est dies perditionis, et adesse festinant tempora.

vengeance is for me; I will repay when the time comes. A slip of the foot, and ruin is upon them; little waiting now before the appointed day comes.

The Lord will judge his people, and will have mercy on his servants: he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed.

Judicabit Dominus populum suum, et in servis suis miserebitur: videbit quod infirmata sit manus, et clausi quoque defecerunt, residuique consumpti sunt.

Never doubt it, the Lord will give his people redress, will take pity on his servants, when he sees their strength so spent, the number of them so dwindled, whether bond or free.

And he shall say: Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?

Et dicet: Ubi sunt dii eorum, in quibus habebant fiduciam?

He will ask, What has become of those gods of yours, once so well trusted,

Of whose victims they ate the fat, and drank the wine of their drink offerings: let them arise and help you, and protect you in your distress.

de quorum victimis comedebant adipes, et bibebant vinum libaminum: surgant, et opitulentur vobis, et in necessitate vos protegant.

that shared, once, the fat of your victims, the wine you poured in libation? Will they not bestir themselves, and come to your aid, protect you in your hour of need?

See ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Videte quod ego sim solus, et non sit alius deus præter me: ego occidam, et ego vivere faciam: percutiam, et ego sanabo, et non est qui de manu mea possit eruere.

Now you shall learn that I alone am God; there are no others to rival me; it is mine to kill and to quicken, mine to smite and to heal; from my power there is no deliverance.

I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say: I live for ever.

Levabo ad cælum manum meam, et dicam: Vivo ego in æternum.

See, I lift up my hand, and swear by my own eternal being

If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, and my hand take hold on judgment: I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me.

Si acuero ut fulgur gladium meum, et arripuerit judicium manus mea: reddam ultionem hostibus meis, et his qui oderunt me retribuam.

that I am whetting this bright sword of mine, to execute speedy judgement; I mean to take vengeance, now, on my enemies, requite them for all their malice.

I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, of the blood of the slain and of the captivity, of the bare head of the enemies.

Inebriabo sagittas meas sanguine, et gladius meus devorabit carnes; de cruore occisorum et de captivitate, nudati inimicorum capitis.

Now to glut my arrows with their blood, now to flesh this sword of mine with the slaughter of my enemies, warriors slain in battle and unhelmeted captives!

Praise his people, ye nations, for he will revenge the blood of his servants: and will render vengeance to their enemies, and he will be merciful to the land of his people.

Laudate, gentes, populum ejus, quia sanguinem servorum suorum ulciscetur: et vindictam retribuet in hostes eorum, et propitius erit terræ populi sui.

Do honour, you nations, to the Lord’s people; he means to avenge the blood of his servants, to punish their enemies, to be reconciled once again with the land of Israel.

So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle in the ears of the people, and Josue the son of Nun.

Venit ergo Moyses, et locutus est omnia verba cantici hujus in auribus populi, ipse et Josue filius Nun.

So when Moses had performed his errand, reciting the whole of this song in the hearing of the assembled people, with Josue the son of Nun at his side,

And he ended all these words, speaking to all Israel.

Complevitque omnes sermones istos, loquens ad universum Israël,

he made an end of all his long discourse to the Israelites,

And he said to them: Set your hearts on all the words, which I testify to you this day: which you shall command your children to observe and to do, and to fulfil all that is written in this law:

et dixit ad eos: Ponite corda vestra in omnia verba, quæ ego testificor vobis hodie: ut mandetis ea filiis vestris custodire et facere, et implere universa quæ scripta sunt legis hujus:

in these words, Pay good heed to the appeal I have made to you this day, and hand it on to your children, bidding them hold fast to all the terms of this law and carry them out faithfully.

For they are not commanded you in vain, but that every one should live in them, and that doing them you may continue a long time in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

quia non incassum præcepta sunt vobis, sed ut singuli in eis viverent: quæ facientes longo perseveretis tempore in terra, ad quam, Jordane transmisso, ingredimini possidendam.

These duties are not lightly enjoined on you; to every man of you they are life itself. Only by performing them can you hope for long enjoyment of this land across Jordan which is to be your home.

And the Lord spoke to Moses the same day, saying:

Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen in eadem die, dicens:

It was on the same day that the Lord said to Moses,

Go up into this mountain Abarim, (that is to say, of passages,) unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho: and see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of Israel to possess, and die thou in the mountain.

Ascende in montem istum Abarim, id est, transitum, in montem Nebo, qui est in terra Moab contra Jericho: et vide terram Chanaan, quam ego tradam filiis Israël obtinendam, et morere in monte.

Climb this mountain of Abarim (that is, of the Further Side; it is the same as mount Nebo, in the Moabite country opposite Jericho), and view the land of Chanaan, which I mean to give the sons of Israel for their own. On that mountain thou art to die.

When thou art gone up into it thou shalt be gathered to thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered to his people:

Quem conscendens jungeris populis tuis, sicut mortuus est Aaron frater tuus in monte Hor, et appositus populis suis:

This height climbed, thou must needs become a part of thy people, as thy brother Aaron died and became a part of his people on Mount Hor.

Because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel, at the waters of contradiction in Cades of the desert of Sin: and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel.

quia prævaricati estis contra me in medio filiorum Israël ad aquas contradictionis in Cades deserti Sin: et non sanctificastis me inter filios Israël.

You disobeyed me, in full sight of the whole people, at the Water of Rebellion in the desert of Sin, when you did not vindicate my holiness before the sons of Israel.

Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter into it.

E contra videbis terram, et non ingredieris in eam, quam ego dabo filiis Israël.

Thou shalt have sight, nevertheless, of this land which is my gift to the Israelites, the land it shall not be thine to enter.