Emitte agnum, Domine, dominatorem terræ, de petra deserti ad montem filiæ Sion.

Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion.

Send forth (O Lord) a lamb to be ruler of the land, from Petra in the desert to the hill where queen Sion reigns.

Et erit: sicut avis fugiens, et pulli de nido avolantes, sic erunt filiæ Moab in transcensu Arnon.

And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon.

There they will be, the women-folk of Moab, waiting at the ford of Arnon, like fluttered birds, fledgelings that have taken wing from the nest;

Ini consilium, coge concilium; pone quasi noctem umbram tuam in meridie; absconde fugientes, et vagos ne prodas.

Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about.

there are plans to be made, deliberations to be held; Shelter us, like the shadow, dark as night, that gives shelter at noon-day; hide these fugitives of ours, do not betray them in their wanderings;

Habitabunt apud te profugi mei; Moab, esto latibulum eorum a facie vastatoris: finitus est enim pulvis, consummatus est miser, defecit qui conculcabat terram.

My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot.

let them dwell as exiles in your land; poor Moab, give it sanctuary from threat of the invader! But see, the dust of armies has died down, the guilty wretch has met his end; vanished and gone, who trampled the world under foot!

Et præparabitur in misericordia solium, et sedebit super illud in veritate in tabernaculo David, judicans et quærens judicium, et velociter reddens quod justum est.

And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.

Mercy and faithfulness return; a throne set up in David’s dwelling-place, for a judge that loves right and gives redress speedily!

Audivimus superbiam Moab: superbus est valde; superbia ejus, et arrogantia ejus, et indignatio ejus plus quam fortitudo ejus.

We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength.

The boasting of Moab has long been in our ears; who so boastful as he? Proud, scornful, and overbearing, with dreams that came to nothing.

Idcirco ululabit Moab ad Moab; universus ululabit: his qui lætantur super muros cocti lateris, loquimini plagas suas.

Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes.

So, from one end of Moab to the other, there is a dirge, everywhere a dirge; for yonder folk, that live content behind walls of hardened brick, tidings of ruin.

Quoniam suburbana Hesebon deserta sunt, et vineam Sabama domini gentium exciderunt: flagella ejus usque ad Jazer pervenerunt, erraverunt in deserto; propagines ejus relictæ sunt, transierunt mare.

For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.

The fields about Hesebon lie deserted; alien chieftains have rooted up the vineyard of Sabama, whose shoots once reached as far as Jazer, strayed through the wilderness; forlorn, now, its tendrils, wandering overseas.

Super hoc plorabo in fletu Jazer vineam Sabama; inebriabo de lacrima mea, Hesebon et Eleale, quoniam super vindemiam tuam et super messem tuam vox calcantium irruit.

Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest.

I will weep, then, as Jazer weeps, for the vineyard of Sabama, water Hesebon and Eleale with my tears. That thy vineyard, thy vintage-time should be disturbed by the cry of trampling armies!

Et auferetur lætitia et exsultatio de Carmelo, et in vineis non exsultabit neque jubilabit. Vinum in torculari non calcabit qui calcare consueverat; vocem calcantium abstuli.

And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away.

All joy, all triumph gone from that fruitful land of thine; no mirth, no gaiety left; the presses shall be trampled no more by the labourers we knew; forgotten, now, the cry that used to go up when they trod the grapes.

Super hoc venter meus ad Moab quasi cithara sonabit, et viscera mea ad murum cocti lateris.

Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall.

For Moab, my inmost being thrills like a harp’s strings; my heart goes out to those brick-walled cities of hers.

Et erit: cum apparuerit quod laboravit Moab super excelsis suis, ingredietur ad sancta sua ut obsecret, et non valebit.

And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail.

What shift will she make, when all goes ill with her on the heights? Prayer of hers, recourse to those shrines of hers, shall nothing avail her?

Hoc verbum quod locutus est Dominus ad Moab ex tunc.

This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time:

Such was the word the Lord spoke to Moab, long since,

Et nunc locutus est Dominus, dicens: In tribus annis, quasi anni mercenarii, auferetur gloria Moab super omni populo multo, et relinquetur parvus et modicus, nequaquam multus.

And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many.

and now he declares his purpose: In three years, by the time a labourer’s contract is out, Moab, so populous now, shall be shorn of her glory; shall be left small and weak, a thriving nation no longer.