Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Word came to me from the Lord:

Fili hominis, notas fac Jerusalem abominationes suas,

Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.

And now, son of man, do thou confront Jerusalem with the record of her misdoings.

et dices: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Jerusalem: Radix tua et generatio tua de terra Chanaan: pater tuus Amorrhæus, et mater tua Cethæa.

And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem: Thy root, and thy nativity is of the land of Chanaan, thy father was an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite.

Tell her this, in the name of the Lord God: Root of thee, stock of thee, spring from yonder soil of Chanaan; an Amorrhite it was begot thee, a Hethite bore thee.

Et quando nata es, in die ortus tui non est præcisus umbilicus tuus, et aqua non es lota in salutem, nec sale salita, nec involuta pannis.

And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts.

Born when thou wast, there was none to cut navel-string, in healing water wash thee, with salt harden thee, wrap thee in swaddling-clothes;

Non pepercit super te oculus, ut faceret tibi unum de his, misertus tui: sed projecta es super faciem terræ in abjectione animæ tuæ in die qua nata es.

No eye had pity on thee to do any of these things for thee, out of compassion to thee: but thou wast cast out upon the face of the earth in the abjection of thy soul, in the day that thou wast born.

never an eye melted with pity, none befriended thee; on the bare ground thou wert cast away, a thing of abhorrence, that day of thy birth.

Transiens autem per te, vidi te conculcari in sanguine tuo: et dixi tibi cum esses in sanguine tuo: Vive, dixi, inquam, tibi: in sanguine tuo vive.

And passing by thee, I saw that thou wast trodden under foot in thy own blood: and I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood: Live: I have said to thee: Live in thy blood.

Who but I found thee, as I passed on my way, blood-bespattered as thou wert, and trodden under foot; in that plight preserved thee, bade it live on, this defiled thing?

Multiplicatam quasi germen agri dedi te: et multiplicata es, et grandis effecta, et ingressa es, et pervenisti ad mundum muliebrem: ubera tua intumuerunt, et pilus tuus germinavit: et eras nuda, et confusione plena.

I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field: and thou didst increase and grow great, and advancedst, and camest to woman’s ornament: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair grew: and thou was naked, and full of confusion.

Swift as the wild blossoms I bade thee grow; grow thou didst and thrive, and camest to woman’s estate, the breasts formed, new hair shewing; and still thou wast all naked, and blushing for thy nakedness.

Et transivi per te, et vidi te: et ecce tempus tuum, tempus amantium: et expandi amictum meum super te, et operui ignominiam tuam: et juravi tibi, et ingressus sum pactum tecum, ait Dominus Deus, et facta es mihi.

And I passed by thee, and saw thee: and behold thy time was the time of lovers: and I spread my garment over thee, and covered thy ignominy. And I swore to thee, and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God: and thou becamest mine.

Who but I came upon thee, as I passed on my way? And already thou wert ripe for love; cloak of mine should be thrown about thee, to hide thy shame; my troth I plighted to thee, the Lord God says, and thou wert mine.

Et lavi te aqua, et emundavi sanguinem tuum ex te, et unxi te oleo.

And I washed thee with water, and cleansed away thy blood from thee: and I anointed thee with oil.

Water to wash thee, all thy stains gone, oil I brought to anoint thee;

Et vestivi te discoloribus, et calceavi te janthino, et cinxi te bysso, et indui te subtilibus:

And I clothed thee with embroidery, and shod thee with violet coloured shoes: and I girded thee about with fine linen, and clothed thee with fine garments.

clad thee with embroidery, shod thy feet with leather; of fine linen thy tiring should be, of silk thy wear.

et ornavi te ornamento, et dedi armillas in manibus tuis, et torquem circa collum tuum:

I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets on thy hands, and a chain about thy neck.

How I decked thee with ornaments! Bracelets for those arms, a collar for that neck;

et dedi inaurem super os tuum, et circulos auribus tuis, et coronam decoris in capite tuo.

And I put a jewel upon thy forehead and earrings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

a frontlet on thy brow, rings in thy ears, on thy head a crown magnifical.

Et ornata es auro et argento, et vestita es bysso et polymito et multicoloribus: similam, et mel, et oleum comedisti: et decora facta es vehementer nimis, et profecisti in regnum.

And thou wast adorned with gold, and silver, and wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours: thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil, and wast made exceeding beautiful: and wast advanced to be a queen.

Of gold and silver thy adorning, of fine linen and silk and embroidery thy apparel, of wheat and honey and oil thy nourishment; matchless beauty, too, was thine, such beauty as brought thee to a throne.

Et egressum est nomen tuum in gentes propter speciem tuam, quia perfecta eras in decore meo quem posueram super te, dicit Dominus Deus.

And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty: for thou wast perfect through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.

All the world heard the fame of thy loveliness; I had made thee so fair, says the Lord God, utterly fair!

Et habens fiduciam in pulchritudine tua, fornicata es in nomine tuo: et exposuisti fornicationem tuam omni transeunti, ut ejus fieres.

But trusting in thy beauty, thou playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and thou hast prostituted thyself to every passenger, to be his.

Fatal beauty, fatal renown, which emboldened thee to play the harlot, lavish thy favours on every passer-by, and be his!

Et sumens de vestimentis tuis, fecisti tibi excelsa hinc inde consuta, et fornicata es super eis sicut non est factum, neque futurum est.

And taking of thy garments thou hast made thee high places sewed together on each side: and hast played the harlot upon them, as hath not been done before, nor shall be hereafter.

That thou shouldst use those garments of thine to make curtains for thy hill-shrines, what age can match the villainy of it?

Et tulisti vasa decoris tui de auro meo atque argento meo, quæ dedi tibi, et fecisti tibi imagines masculinas, et fornicata es in eis.

And thou tookest thy beautiful vessels, of my gold, and my silver, which I gave thee, and thou madest thee images of men, and hast committed fornication with them.

Silver and gold of mine, thy adornment and my gift, should they be turned into gods of male form, at thy harlot’s whim?

Et sumpsisti vestimenta tua multicoloria, et operuisti illas, et oleum meum et thymiama meum posuisti coram eis.

And thou tookest thy garments of divers colours, and coveredst them: and settest my oil and my sweet incense before them.

And these wouldst thou clothe with thy own embroideries, offer them the perfume and incense that was mine by right,

Et panem meum quem dedi tibi, similam, et oleum, et mel, quibus enutrivi te, posuisti in conspectu eorum in odorem suavitatis: et factum est, ait Dominus Deus.

And my bread which I gave thee, the fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before them for a sweet odour; and it was done, saith the Lord God.

set before them the bread, the oil, the honey I gave thee, to appease them with the smell of burnt-sacrifice? More happened besides (he, the Lord God, reminds thee);

Et tulisti filios tuos et filias tuas quas generasti mihi, et immolasti eis ad devorandum. Numquid parva est fornicatio tua?

And thou hast taken thy sons, and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me: and hast sacrificed the same to them to be devoured. Is thy fornication small?

to these gods thou wouldst bring sons and daughters of thine and mine, consecrating them to death. Could not thy wanton desires rest content,

Immolasti filios meos, et dedisti, illos consecrans, eis.

Thou hast sacrificed and given my children to them, consecrating them by fire.

without immolating my own sons as victims to such as these?

Et post omnes abominationes tuas et fornicationes, non es recordata dierum adolescentiæ tuæ, quando eras nuda et confusione plena, conculcata in sanguine tuo.

And after all thy abominations, and fornications, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked, and full of confusion, trodden under foot in thy own blood.

Most foul deeds and most lecherous, that quite put thy youth out of mind, the days when thou wast naked, and overcome with shame, blood-bespattered and trodden under foot.

Et accidit post omnem malitiam tuam (væ, væ tibi! ait Dominus Deus),

And it came to pass after all thy wickedness (woe, woe to thee, saith the Lord God)

And at last, to crown thy misdoings (Fie on thee, fie on thee for shame! says the Lord God),

et ædificasti tibi lupanar, et fecisti tibi prostibulum in cunctis plateis.

That thou didst also build thee a common stew, and madest thee a brothel house in every street.

thou wouldst build thee a brothel, a common stew, in every street;

Ad omne caput viæ ædificasti signum prostitutionis tuæ, et abominabilem fecisti decorem tuum: et divisisti pedes tuos omni transeunti, et multiplicasti fornicationes tuas:

At every head of the way thou hast set up a sign of thy prostitution: and hast made thy beauty to be abominable: and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications.

no cross-roads but should carry the blazon of thy harlotry. O the dishonour done to thy beauty, when thou didst welcome every passer-by to thy favours, insatiable in thy dalliance!

et fornicata es cum filiis Ægypti, vicinis tuis, magnarum carnium: et multiplicasti fornicationem tuam ad irritandum me.

And thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, men of large bodies, and hast multiplied thy fornications to provoke me.

With those lusty neighbours of thine, the Egyptians, thou wouldst play the wanton; these should be my rivals!

Ecce ego extendam manum meam super te, et auferam justificationem tuam, et dabo te in animas odientium te filiarum Palæstinarum, quæ erubescunt in via tua scelerata.

Behold, I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will take away thy justification: and I will deliver thee up to the will of the daughters of the Philistines that hate thee, that are ashamed of thy wicked way.

What wonder I should interpose, and abridge the rights thou didst enjoy, handing thee over for a prey to the maids of Philistia, rivals of thy own, and such as blushed to witness thy ill-doings?

Et fornicata es in filiis Assyriorum eo quod necdum fueris expleta: et postquam fornicata es, nec sic es satiata:

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Assyrians, because thou wast not yet satisfied: and after thou hadst played the harlot with them, even so thou wast not contented.

It was not enough; thou must needs dally with the men of Assur, nor might their dalliance content thee;

et multiplicasti fornicationem tuam in terra Chanaan cum Chaldæis, et nec sic satiata es.

Thou hast also multiplied thy fornications in the land of Chanaan with the Chaldeans: and neither so wast thou satisfied.

thou wouldst extend thy trade as far as Chaldaea, where all is for sale, insatiable to the last.

In quo mundabo cor tuum, ait Dominus Deus, cum facias omnia hæc opera mulieris meretricis et procacis?

Wherein shall I cleanse thy heart, saith the Lord God: seeing thou dost all these the works of a shameless prostitute?

Salve is none, says the Lord God, for such a heart as thine, set on following a harlot’s ways.

Quia fabricasti lupanar tuum in capite omnis viæ, et excelsum tuum fecisti in omni platea: nec facta es quasi meretrix fastidio augens pretium,

Because thou hast built thy brothel house at the head of every way, and thou hast made thy high place in every street: and wast not as a harlot that by disdain enhanceth her price,

Never a cross-roads, never a street, but thou hast set up some brothel for public resort; no harlot thou, to bargain over a hateful trade.

sed quasi mulier adultera, quæ super virum suum inducit alienos.

But as an adulteress, that bringeth in strangers over her husband.

Thine was the craving of the false wife, that must ever bring a stranger between her husband’s sheets.

Omnibus meretricibus dantur mercedes: tu autem dedisti mercedes cunctis amatoribus tuis, et dona donabas eis, ut intrarent ad te undique ad fornicandum tecum.

Gifts are given to all harlots: but thou hast given hire to all thy lovers, and thou hast given them gifts to come to thee from every side, to commit fornication with thee.

The price of love other harlots claim, thou wouldst offer; gifts of thine should entice gallants from every side to thy bower.

Factumque est in te contra consuetudinem mulierum in fornicationibus tuis, et post te non erit fornicatio: in eo enim quod dedisti mercedes, et mercedes non accepisti, factum est in te contrarium.

And it hath happened in thee contrary to the custom of women in thy fornications, and after thee there shall be no such fornication: for in that thou gavest rewards, and didst not take rewards, the contrary hath been done in thee.

Never did wanton the like, nor shall again; it is out of all nature, a harlot that gives, not takes.

Propterea, meretrix, audi verbum Domini.

Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.

Here then, poor wanton, is the Lord’s doom;

Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Quia effusum est æs tuum et revelata est ignominia tua in fornicationibus tuis super amatores tuos, et super idola abominationum tuarum, in sanguine filiorum tuorum quos dedisti eis,

Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy money hath been poured out, and thy shame discovered through thy fornications with thy lovers, and with the idols of thy abominations, by the blood of thy children whom thou gavest them:

this message he has for thee. Because all thy bronze was put to such ill use, because thou didst wanton so shamelessly with those lovers of thine, idols most foul, in whose honour the lives of thy own children were sacrificed,

ecce ego congregabo omnes amatores tuos quibus commista es, et omnes quos dilexisti, cum universis quos oderas: et congregabo eos super te undique, et nudabo ignominiam tuam coram eis, et videbunt omnem turpitudinem tuam.

Behold, I will gather together all thy lovers with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all whom thou hast loved, with all whom thou hast hated: and I will gather them together against thee on every side, and will discover thy shame in their sight, and they shall see all thy nakedness.

I mean to have a reckoning with thee. All the gallants that have enjoyed thee, men that love thee and men that hate, I will muster together; muster them from all around, and then lay thy shame bare, expose thy nakedness for all to see.

Et judicabo te judiciis adulterarum, et effundentium sanguinem: et dabo te in sanguinem furoris et zeli.

And I will judge thee as adulteresses, and they that shed blood are judged: and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

Such punishment thou shalt have as unfaithful wives have, or murderers; to my jealous anger thy life must make amends;

Et dabo te in manus eorum, et destruent lupanar tuum, et demolientur prostibulum tuum: et denudabunt te vestimentis tuis, et auferent vasa decoris tui, et derelinquent te nudam, plenamque ignominia:

And I will deliver thee into their hands, and they shall destroy thy brothel house, and throw down thy stews: and they shall strip thee of thy garments, and shall take away the vessels of thy beauty: and leave thee naked, and full of disgrace.

I mean to leave thee at their mercy. Ruined thy bower, ransacked thy brothel shall be; thy garments stripped off thee, plundered thy fair adornment; naked they shall leave thee, and overcome with shame.

et adducent super te multitudinem, et lapidabunt te lapidibus, et trucidabunt te gladiis suis:

And they shall bring upon thee a multitude, and they shall stone thee with stones, and shall slay thee with their swords.

Hue and cry they shall raise against thee, stone thee and put thee to the sword;

et comburent domos tuas igni, et facient in te judicia in oculis mulierum plurimarum. Et desines fornicari, et mercedes ultra non dabis:

And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and shall execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and thou shalt cease from fornication, and shalt give no hire any more.

house of thine the flames shall not spare. Before all womankind they will make an example of thee; no more dalliance, no more hired lovers now.

et requiescet indignatio mea in te, et auferetur zelus meus a te: et quiescam, nec irascar amplius.

And my indignation shall rest in thee: and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will cease and be angry no more.

Then at last my vengeance shall be complete, my jealous anger appeased; thou shalt have a respite from my ill-will.

Eo quod non fueris recordata dierum adolescentiæ tuæ, et provocasti me in omnibus his, quapropter et ego vias tuas in capite tuo dedi, ait Dominus Deus, et non feci juxta scelera tua in omnibus abominationibus tuis.

Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these things: wherefore I also have turned thy ways upon thy head, saith the Lord God, and I have not done according to thy wicked deeds in all thy abominations.

So forgetful of thy youth, so obstinate in thy provocations, what wonder if I pay thee what thou hast earned? the Lord says. Yet even now I have not requited thee as thy most foul crimes have deserved.

Ecce omnis qui dicit vulgo proverbium, in te assumet illud, dicens: Sicut mater, ita et filia ejus.

Behold every one that useth a common proverb, shall use this against thee, saying: As the mother was, so also is her daughter.

Like mother, like daughter; so runs the proverb, and of thee it shall be spoken.

Filia matris tuæ es tu, quæ projecit virum suum et filios suos: et soror sororum tuarum es tu, quæ projecerunt viros suos et filios suos: mater vestra Cethæa, et pater vester Amorrhæus.

Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that cast off her husband, and her children: and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who cast off their husbands, and their children: your mother was a Cethite, and your father an Amorrhite.

Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that was false to husband and child; false to husband and child were those sisters of thine; thy mother a Hethite, thy father an Amorrhite, sure enough.

Et soror tua major, Samaria, ipsa et filiæ ejus, quæ habitant ad sinistram tuam: soror autem tua minor te, quæ habitat a dextris tuis, Sodoma, et filiæ ejus.

And thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister that dwelleth at thy right hand is Sodom, and her daughters.

Here was thy elder sister on thy left, Samaria, thy younger sister on thy right, Sodom, with daughter towns both of them.

Sed nec in viis earum ambulasti, neque secundum scelera earum fecisti pauxillum minus: pene sceleratiora fecisti illis in omnibus viis tuis.

But neither hast thou walked in their ways, nor hast thou done a little less than they according to their wickednesses: thou hast done almost more wicked things than they in all thy ways.

Didst thou follow their example, share their misdoings? Nay, that was not enough for thee; it should go hard but thou wouldst outdo them in their crimes.

Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus, quia non fecit Sodoma soror tua, ipsa et filiæ ejus, sicut fecisti tu et filiæ tuæ.

As I live, saith the Lord God, thy sister Sodom herself, and her daughters, have not done as thou hast done, and thy daughters.

As I am a living God, the Lord says, never were Sodom and her daughters guilty as thou and thine.

Ecce hæc fuit iniquitas Sodomæ sororis tuæ: superbia, saturitas panis et abundantia, et otium ipsius et filiarum ejus: et manum egeno et pauperi non porrigebant:

Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her daughters: and they did not put forth their hand to the needy, and to the poor.

Pride was the fault of her, this sister of thine; pride and a full belly; the peace and plenty she and her daughters had, with no thought for the poor that stood in need!

et elevatæ sunt, et fecerunt abominationes coram me: et abstuli eas sicut vidisti.

And they were lifted up, and committed abominations before me: and I took them away as thou hast seen.

So it was they rebelled against me, ever I must see foul deeds done, till I rid myself of them, as thou seest.

Et Samaria dimidium peccatorum tuorum non peccavit: sed vicisti eas sceleribus tuis, et justificasti sorores tuas in omnibus abominationibus tuis quas operata es.

And Samaria committed not half thy sins: but thou hast surpassed them with thy crimes, and hast justified thy sisters by all thy abominations which thou hast done.

Nor was Samaria in her turn half so guilty as thou. It remained for thee to outvie thy sisters in crime, till thy more abominable doings put them in countenance.

Ergo et tu porta confusionem tuam, quæ vicisti sorores tuas peccatis tuis, sceleratius agens ab eis: justificatæ sunt enim a te: ergo et tu confundere, et porta ignominiam tuam, quæ justificasti sorores tuas.

Therefore do thou also bear thy confusion, thou that hast surpassed thy sisters with thy sins, doing more wickedly than they: for they are justified above thee, therefore be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, thou that hast justified thy sisters.

Their lesser guilt, that somewhat excuses them, is the measure of thy shame; of that shame thou must bear the brand, while thy sisters go free.

Et convertam restituens eas conversione Sodomorum cum filiabus suis, et conversione Samariæ et filiarum ejus, et convertam reversionem tuam in medio earum,

And I will bring back and restore them by bringing back Sodom, with her daughters, and by bringing back Samaria, and her daughters: and I will bring those that return of thee in the midst of them.

When I reverse the doom of exile against Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, then, in their company, thy own exiles shall return;

ut portes ignominiam tuam, et confundaris in omnibus quæ fecisti consolans eas.

That thou mayest bear thy shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, comforting them.

a sorry boast for thee, that thou hast cheered, in such fashion, their loneliness!

Et soror tua Sodoma et filiæ ejus revertentur ad antiquitatem suam, et Samaria et filiæ ejus revertentur ad antiquitatem suam, et tu et filiæ tuæ revertemini ad antiquitatem vestram.

And thy sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and thou and thy daughters shall return to your ancient state.

Only when Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, to their former state return, is there any hope for thy daughters and for thee.

Non fuit autem Sodoma soror tua audita in ore tuo in die superbiæ tuæ,

And Sodom thy sister was not heard of in thy mouth, in the day of thy pride,

Time was, when no mention of Sodom’s name might soil thy proud lips;

antequam revelaretur malitia tua, sicut hoc tempore in opprobrium filiarum Syriæ, et cunctarum in circuitu tuo filiarum Palæstinarum quæ ambiunt te per gyrum.

Before thy malice was laid open: as it is at this time, making thee a reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of Palestine round about thee, that encompass thee on all sides.

that was before thy own sins came to light, that now disgrace thee before Syria’s daughters, Philistia’s daughters, thy watchful neighbours north and south.

Scelus tuum et ignominiam tuam tu portasti, ait Dominus Deus.

Thou hast borne thy wickedness, and thy disgrace, saith the Lord God.

Now it is thy turn, the Lord God says, to undergo the shame of thy guilt.

Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Et faciam tibi sicut despexisti juramentum, ut irritum faceres pactum:

For thus saith the Lord God: I will deal with thee, as thou hast despised the oath, in breaking the covenant:

And this is his doom: False to thy oath, thou hast forsworn our covenant, and thou shalt have the punishment thou hast earned.

et recordabor ego pacti mei tecum in diebus adolescentiæ tuæ, et suscitabo tibi pactum sempiternum.

And I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth: and I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant.

That covenant I made with thee in thy youth shall not be forgotten; nay, I will ratify it eternally,

Et recordaberis viarum tuarum, et confunderis, cum receperis sorores tuas te majores cum minoribus tuis: et dabo eas tibi in filias, sed non ex pacto tuo.

And thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed: when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

but humbled thou shalt be with memories of past days, when thou must needs take thy sisters, older and younger, to thyself. Daughters of thine they shall be, strangers to the covenant no longer.

Et suscitabo ego pactum meum tecum, et scies quia ego Dominus:

And I will establish my covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,

My covenant thus ratified with thee, thou shalt know my power at last;

ut recorderis, et confundaris, et non sit tibi ultra aperire os præ confusione tua, cum placatus tibi fuero in omnibus quæ fecisti, ait Dominus Deus.

That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and mayest no more open thy mouth because of thy confusion, when I shall be pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.

remembering still, shamefaced and tongue-tied still, even when I have pardoned all thy ill-doing, says the Lord God.