Ne jucunderis in filiis impiis, si multiplicentur: nec oblecteris super ipsos, si non est timor Dei in illis.

A brood of disloyal sons, let not thy eye dwell on these with pleasure; the fear of God lacking, let not a multitude of children be thy comfort.

Rejoice not in ungodly children, if they be multiplied: neither be delighted in them, if the fear of God be not with them.

Non credas vitæ illorum, et ne respexeris in labores eorum.

Not on such lives as these set thy hopes, little regard have thou for such doings as theirs;

Trust not to their life, and respect not their labours.

Melior est enim unus timens Deum, quam mille filii impii:

better one son who fears God than a thousand who grow up rebellious;

For better is one that feareth God, than a thousand ungodly children.

et utile est mori sine filiis, quam relinquere filios impios.

better die childless than have rebels to succeed thee.

And it is better to die without children, than to leave ungodly children.

Ab uno sensato inhabitabitur patria: tribus impiorum deseretur.

Through one man that is well-minded a whole country may thrive, and sinners, a whole race of them, may be extinguished;

By one that is wise a country shall be inhabited, the tribe of the ungodly shall become desolate.

Multa talia vidit oculis meus, et fortiora horum audivit auris mea.

much proof of this my own eyes have seen, and stronger proof yet are the tales that have come to my hearing,

Many such things hath my eyes seen, and greater things than these my ear hath heard.

In synagoga peccantium exardebit ignis, et in gente incredibili exardescet ira.

of fire breaking out where sinners were met in company, fires of vengeance to consume a disobedient race.

In the congregation of sinners a fire shall be kindled, and in an unbelieving nation wrath shall flame out.

Non exoraverunt pro peccatis suis antiqui gigantes, qui destructi sunt confidentes suæ virtuti.

Those giants of long ago who perished in the pride of their strength, did they find pardon of their guilt?

The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who were destroyed trusting to their own strength:

Et non pepercit peregrinationi Lot, et execratus est eos præ superbia verbi illorum.

Lot’s neighbours, did God spare them? Did he not attest his hatred of their insolence,

And he spared not the place where Lot sojourned, but abhorred them for the pride of their word.

Non misertus est illis, gentem totam perdens, et extollentem se in peccatis suis.

destroying a whole nation without pity, for the sinfulness that defied him?

He had not pity on them, destroying the whole nation that extolled themselves in their sins.

Et sicut sexcenta millia peditum, qui congregati sunt in duritia cordis sui: et si unus fuisset cervicatus, mirum si fuisset immunis.

And what of those six hundred thousand that marched out into the desert, men of stubborn heart? Stiff-necked if he had been like the others, Caleb himself should not have had God’s pardon.

So did he with the six hundred thousand footmen, who were gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if one had been stiffnecked, it is a wonder if he had escaped unpunished:

Misericordia enim et ira est cum illo: potens exoratio, et effundens iram.

His to pity, his to punish; intercession avails with him, but in full flood comes his vengeance;

For mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive, and to pour out indignation:

Secundum misericordiam suam, sic correptio illius homines secundum opera sua judicat.

his severity, no less than his clemency, judges men by their deeds.

According as his mercy is, so his correction judgeth a man according to his works.

Non effugiet in rapina peccator, et non retardabit sufferentia misericordiam facientis.

Never may sinner enjoy his ill-gotten gains in safety, nor the hope of the generous be disappointed.

The sinner shall not escape in his rapines, and the patience of him that sheweth mercy shall not be put off.

Omnis misericordia faciet locum unicuique, secundum meritum operum suorum, et secundum intellectum peregrinationis ipsius.

No generous act but shall win God’s consideration; he weighs each man’s merits, knows how each passed his time on earth.

All mercy shall make a place for every man according to the merit of his works, and according to the wisdom of his sojournment.

Non dicas: A Deo abscondar: et ex summo, quis mei memorabitur?

Never think to hide thyself away from God; never tell thyself, from that great height none shall regard thee;

Say not: I shall be hidden from God, and who shall remember me from on high?

in populo magno non agnoscar: quæ est enim anima mea in tam immensa creatura?

that thou wilt pass unnoticed amidst the throng of humanity, thy soul a mere speck in the vast fabric of creation.

In such a multitude I shall not be known: for what is my soul in such an immense creation?

Ecce cælum et cæli cælorum, abyssus, et universa terra, et quæ in eis sunt, in conspectu illius commovebuntur.

Why, the very heavens, and the heavens that are above the heavens, the great deep, and the whole earth with all it contains, shrink away at the sight of him;

Behold the heaven, and the heavens of heavens, the deep, and all the earth, and the things that are in them, shall be moved in his sight,

Montes simul, et colles, et fundamenta terræ, cum conspexerit illa Deus, tremore concutientur.

mountains and hills and earth’s foundations tremble at his glance;

The mountains also, and the hills, and the foundations of the earth: when God shall look upon them, they shall be shaken with trembling.

Et in omnibus his insensatum est cor, et omne cor intelligitur ab illo.

all these have a heart, though it be a heart void of reason, and there is no heart but its secrets are known to him.

And in all these things the heart is senseless: and every heart is understood by him.

Et vias illius quis intelligit, et procellam quam nec oculus videbit hominis?

There is no fathoming his ways, no piercing the dark cloud man’s eyes have never seen;

And his ways who shall understand, and the storm, which no eye of man shall see?

Nam plurima illius opera sunt in absconsis: sed opera justitiæ ejus quis enuntiabit, aut quis sustinebit? longe enim est testamentum a quibusdam, et interrogatio omnium in consummatione est.

all but a few of his doings are hidden away. His acts of retribution who can understand, or who can bear? Far, far removed is that covenant of his from some men’s thoughts; and yet in the end all shall undergo his scrutiny.

For many of his works are hidden: but the works of his justice who shall declare? or who shall endure? for the testament is far from some, and the examination of all is in the end.

Qui minoratur corde cogitat inania, et vir imprudens et errans cogitat stulta.

Away with these fancies of shallow minds, these fond dreams of error!

He that wanteth understanding thinketh vain things: and the foolish, and erring man, thinketh foolish things.

Audi me, fili, et disce disciplinam sensus, et in verbis meis attende in corde tuo:

Wilt thou but listen to me, my son, thou shalt learn a wiser lesson. Give me thy heart’s heeding,

Hearken to me, my son, and learn the discipline of understanding, and attend to my words in thy heart.

et dicam in æquitate disciplinam, et scrutabor enarrare sapientiam: et in verbis meis attende in corde tuo, et dico in æquitate spiritus virtutes quas posuit Deus in opera sua ab initio, et in veritate enuntio scientiam ejus.

and instruction thou shalt have in full measure, wisdom both profound and clear. Give me thy heart’s heeding, and thou shalt share with me knowledge of the wonderful endowments God gave his creatures when first he made them; all the lore I have shall be truly told thee.

And I will shew forth good doctrine in equity, and will seek to declare wisdom: and attend to my words in thy heart, whilst with equity of spirit I tell thee the virtues that God hath put upon his works from the beginning, and I shew forth in truth his knowledge.

In judicio Dei opera ejus ab initio, et ab institutione ipsorum distinxit partes illorum, et initia eorum in gentibus suis.

From the first, all God’s creatures are at his beck and call; to each, when he first made it, he gave its own turn of service, the principle that determines its own nature.

The works of God are done in judgment from the beginning, and from the making of them he distinguished their parts, and their beginnings in their generations.

Ornavit in æternum opera illorum: nec esurierunt, nec laboraverunt, et non destiterunt ab operibus suis.

To each, for all time, its own office is assigned, nor lack they, nor tire they, nor cease they from work,

He beautified their works for ever, they have neither hungered, nor laboured, and they have not ceased from their works.

Unusquisque proximum sibi non angustiabit in æternum:

nor, for all time, can any of them infringe upon its neighbour’s rights;

Nor shall any of them straiten his neighbour at any time.

non sis incredibilis verbo illius.

his word there is no gainsaying.

Be not thou incredulous to his word.

Post hæc Deus in terram respexit, et implevit illam bonis suis:

This done, on earth he let fall his regard, and filled earth with his blessings;

After this God looked upon the earth, and filled it with his goods.

anima omnis vitalis denuntiavit ante faciem ipsius, et in ipsam iterum reversio illorum.

covered the face of it with the living things that breathe there, and into its bosom bade them return.

The soul of every living thing hath shewn forth before the face thereof, and into it they return again.