ORATIO HABACUC PROPHETÆ, PRO IGNORANTIIS.

A PRAYER OF HABACUC THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.

A prayer of the prophet Habacuc for Shigionoth.

Domine, audivi auditionem tuam, et timui. Domine, opus tuum, in medio annorum vivifica illud; in medio annorum notum facies: cum iratus fueris, misericordiæ recordaberis.

O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.

I have heard, Lord, the tale of thy renown, awe-stricken at the divine power thou hast. Reveal that power in these latter days, in these latter days make it known once more! And though we have earned thy anger, bethink thee of mercy still.

Deus ab austro veniet, et Sanctus de monte Pharan: operuit cælos gloria ejus, et laudis ejus plena est terra.

God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.

God coming near from Teman, the holy One from yonder hills of Pharan! See how his glory overspreads heaven, his fame echoes through the earth;

Splendor ejus ut lux erit, cornua in manibus ejus: ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus.

His brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:

the brightness that is his, like light itself, the rays that stream from his hand, masking its strength;

Ante faciem ejus ibit mors, et egredietur diabolus ante pedes ejus.

Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.

pestilence his outrider, the wasting sickness in his train!

Stetit, et mensus est terram; aspexit, et dissolvit gentes, et contriti sunt montes sæculi: incurvati sunt colles mundi ab itineribus æternitatis ejus.

He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.

There stood he, and scanned the earth; at his look, the nations were adread; melted were the everlasting mountains, bowed were the ancient hills, his own immemorial pathway, as he journeyed.

Pro iniquitate vidi tentoria Æthiopiæ; turbabuntur pelles terræ Madian.

I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.

I saw the Ethiop quail in his tent, the dwellings of Madian astir with terror.

Numquid in fluminibus iratus es, Domine? aut in fluminibus furor tuus? vel in mari indignatio tua? Qui ascendes super equos tuos, et quadrigæ tuæ salvatio.

Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.

Is it the rivers, Lord, that have awaked thy anger; should it be the rivers? Or has the sea earned thy vengeance, that thou comest thus mounted on thy horses, on thy victorious chariot;

Suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum, juramenta tribubus quæ locutus es; fluvios scindes terræ.

Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.

that bow of thine brought into full play, which grants to Israel the assurance of thy succour? Earth is torn into ravines;

Viderunt te, et doluerunt montes; gurges aquarum transiit: dedit abyssus vocem suam; altitudo manus suas levavit.

The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.

the mountains tremble at the sight. Fierce falls the rain-storm, the depths beneath us roar aloud, the heights beckon from above;

Sol et luna steterunt in habitaculo suo: in luce sagittarum tuarum ibunt, in splendore fulgurantis hastæ tuæ.

The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.

sun and moon linger in their dwelling-place; so bright thy arrows volley, with such sheen of lightning glances thy spear.

In fremitu conculcabis terram; in furore obstupefacies gentes.

In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.

Nay, if thou ride through the world so angrily, with thy disdain striking the nations dumb,

Egressus es in salutem populi tui, in salutem cum christo tuo: percussisti caput de domo impii, denudasti fundamentum ejus usque ad collum.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.

it is to rescue thy own people, rescue thy own anointed servant, that thou goest out to battle. Down fall the turrets in yonder castle of godlessness, down sink the foundations to their very base;

Maledixisti sceptris ejus, capiti bellatorum ejus, venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me: exsultatio eorum, sicut ejus qui devorat pauperem in abscondito.

Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.

lights thy ban on its princes, on the heads of its warriors, whose blustering rage would overthrow me, confident now as some petty tyrant who oppresses the poor in secret.

Viam fecisti in mari equis tuis, in luto aquarum multarum.

Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.

Over the sea, over the ooze beneath its waves, thou hast made a path for thy horses to tread.

Audivi, et conturbatus est venter meus; a voce contremuerunt labia mea. Ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis, et subter me scateat: ut requiescam in die tribulationis, ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrum.

I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.

Such was the tale that set my whole frame trembling; at the rumour of it my lips quivered with fear; there was a faintness overcame my whole being, my steps faltered as I went. Now with tranquil heart let me await this day of doom; upon the enemies of our people it is destined to fall.

Ficus enim non florebit, et non erit germen in vineis; mentietur opus olivæ, et arva non afferent cibum: abscindetur de ovili pecus, et non erit armentum in præsepibus.

For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.

What though the fig-tree never bud, the vine yield no fruit, the olive fail, the fields bear no harvest; what though our folds stand empty of sheep, our byres of cattle?

Ego autem in Domino gaudebo; et exsultabo in Deo Jesu meo.

But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.

Still will I make my boast in the Lord, triumph in the deliverance God sends me.

Deus Dominus fortitudo mea, et ponet pedes meos quasi cervorum: et super excelsa mea deducet me victor in psalmis canentem.

The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.

The Lord, the ruler of all, is my stronghold; he will bring me safely on my way, safe as the hind whose feet echo already on the hills.(For the chief singer, to the harp’s music. )