Cantabo dilecto meo canticum patruelis mei vineæ suæ. Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei.

I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place.

A song, now, in honour of one that is my good friend; a song about a near kinsman of mine, and the vineyard that he had. This friend, that I love well, had a vineyard in a corner of his ground, all fruitfulness.

Et sepivit eam, et lapides elegit ex illa, et plantavit eam electam; et ædificavit turrim in medio ejus, et torcular exstruxit in ea; et exspectavit ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas.

And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

He fenced it in, and cleared it of stones, and planted a choice vine there; built a tower, too, in the middle, and set up a wine-press in it. Then he waited for grapes to grow on it, and it bore wild grapes instead.

Nunc ergo, habitatores Jerusalem et viri Juda, judicate inter me et vineam meam.

And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard.

And now, citizens of Jerusalem, and all you men of Juda, I call upon you to give award between my vineyard and me.

Quid est quod debui ultra facere vineæ meæ, et non feci ei? an quod exspectavi ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas?

What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes?

What more could I have done for it? What say you of the wild grapes it bore, instead of the grapes I looked for?

Et nunc ostendam vobis quid ego faciam vineæ meæ: auferam sepem ejus, et erit in direptionem; diruam maceriam ejus, et erit in conculcationem.

And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.

Let me tell you, then, what I mean to do to this vineyard of mine. I mean to rob it of its hedge, so that all can plunder it, to break down its wall, so that it will be trodden under foot.

Et ponam eam desertam; non putabitur et non fodietur: et ascendent vepres et spinæ, et nubibus mandabo ne pluant super eam imbrem.

And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.

I mean to make waste-land of it; no more pruning and digging; only briars and thorns will grow there, and I will forbid the clouds to water it.

Vinea enim Domini exercituum domus Israël est; et vir Juda germen ejus delectabile: et exspectavi ut faceret judicium, et ecce iniquitas; et justitiam, et ecce clamor.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry.

Alas, it is the house of Israel that the Lord called his vineyard; the men of Juda are the plot he loved so. He looked to find right reason there, and all was treason; to find plain dealing, and he heard only the plaint of the oppressed.

Væ qui conjungitis domum ad domum, et agrum agro copulatis usque ad terminum loci! Numquid habitabitis vos soli in medio terræ?

Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?

Woe upon you, that must ever be acquiring house after house, field after neighbouring field, till all the world goes wanting! Would you have the whole land to yourselves to live in?

In auribus meis sunt hæc, dicit Dominus exercituum; nisi domus multæ desertæ fuerint, grandes et pulchræ, absque habitatore.

These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: Unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant.

The news of all this has reached me, says the Lord of hosts; see if I do not leave these many houses, these fine great houses of yours, lonely and untenanted.

Decem enim jugera vinearum facient lagunculam unam, et triginta modii sementis facient modios tres.

For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels.

Wait, till you find ten acres of vine-land yielding but one flagon of wine, thirty bushels of seed-corn yielding but three.

Væ qui consurgitis mane ad ebrietatem sectandam, et potandum usque ad vesperam, ut vino æstuetis!

Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be inflamed with wine.

Woe upon you, the men who must be up betimes to go a-drinking, and sit late into the evening, till you are heated with wine!

Cithara, et lyra, et tympanum, et tibia, et vinum in conviviis vestris; et opus Domini non respicitis, nec opera manuum ejus consideratis.

The harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands.

Still you must have zither and harp, tambour and flute and wine for your entertainment; you give no thought to God’s dealings, to the world his hands have made.

Propterea captivus ductus est populus meus, quia non habuit scientiam, et nobiles ejus interierunt fame, et multitudo ejus siti exaruit.

Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst.

It is this inconsiderateness that has made my people homeless exiles, their nobles starving, and common folk parched with thirst;

Propterea dilatavit infernus animam suam, et aperuit os suum absque ullo termino; et descendent fortes ejus, et populus ejus, et sublimes gloriosique ejus, ad eum.

Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it.

that is why the abyss hungers for you, opens its greedy jaws, till all alike, the nobles of Sion and her common sort, that boast and triumph now, go down to its depths.

Et incurvabitur homo, et humiliabitur vir, et oculi sublimium deprimentur.

And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low.

The low-born must fall, the high-born abate his pride; the eyes of the boaster will be downcast;

Et exaltabitur Dominus exercituum in judicio; et Deus sanctus sanctificabitur in justitia.

And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice.

doom, by which the Lord of hosts will be exalted, just award, by which the God of holiness will shew holier yet!

Et pascentur agni juxta ordinem suum, et deserta in ubertatem versa advenæ comedent.

And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness.

There, with his flocks browsing undisturbed, the stranger shall enjoy the rich pastures you left a wilderness.

Væ qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis, et quasi vinculum plaustri peccatum!

Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart.

Woe upon you, that lightly harness yourselves to ill-doing, and draw down upon you, as with a strong rope, its guilt!

qui dicitis: Festinet, et cito veniat opus ejus, ut videamus; et appropiet, et veniat consilium sancti Israël, et sciemus illud!

That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it.

What is this, you say, that the Holy One of Israel threatens? Quick, no waiting; let us know the worst, and with all speed!

Væ qui dicitis malum bonum, et bonum malum; ponentes tenebras lucem, et lucem tenebras; ponentes amarum in dulce, et dulce in amarum!

Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

Woe upon you, the men who call evil good, and good evil; whose darkness is light, whose light darkness; who take bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Væ qui sapientes estis in oculis vestris, et coram vobismetipsis prudentes.

Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits.

Woe upon you, that think yourselves wise, and boast of your own foresight!

Væ qui potentes estis ad bibendum vinum, et viri fortes ad miscendam ebrietatem!

Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness.

Woe upon you, heroes of the tankard, brave hearts round the mixing-bowl,

qui justificatis impium pro muneribus, et justitiam justi aufertis ab eo!

That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him.

that take bribes to acquit the guilty, and rob the innocent of his rights!

Propter hoc, sicut devorat stipulam lingua ignis, et calor flammæ exurit, sic radix eorum quasi favilla erit, et germen eorum ut pulvis ascendet; abjecerunt enim legem Domini exercituum, et eloquium sancti Israël blasphemaverunt.

Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel.

See how stubble is eaten away by the fire that licks round it, melting away into the heat of the flame; so the root of them will turn to smouldering embers, and the fruit of them will go up like flying ashes; men who reject the law of the God of hosts, who defy every warning from the Holy One of Israel.

Ideo iratus est furor Domini in populum suum, et extendit manum suam super eum, et percussit eum: et conturbati sunt montes, et facta sunt morticina eorum quasi stercus in medio platearum. In his omnibus non est adversus furor ejus, sed adhuc manus ejus extenta.

Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

That is why the Lord’s anger against his people has been so fierce; that is why his hand has been raised to smite them, so that the mountains trembled at it, and corpses lay unregarded like dung in the streets. But even so his anger is not yet appeased, his hand threatens us still.

Et elevabit signum in nationibus procul, et sibilabit ad eum de finibus terræ: et ecce festinus velociter veniet.

And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly.

And now he will raise up among the distant nations one people to be a signal to the rest; he will whistle it up from the ends of the earth, swiftly and suddenly it will answer his call.

Non est deficiens neque laborans in eo; non dormitabit, neque dormiet; neque solvetur cingulum renum ejus, nec rumpetur corrigia calceamenti ejus.

There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken.

Not a man in those ranks that will faint or lag behind; none grows weary or falls asleep; never a belt is unbuckled, never a shoe-string loosed.

Sagittæ ejus acutæ, et omnes arcus ejus extenti. Ungulæ equorum ejus ut silex, et rotæ ejus quasi impetus tempestatis.

Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the flint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest.

Sharp arrows this people has, and all its bows are ready bent; it has horses with hoofs like flint, and chariot-wheels like the rushing of the storm.

Rugitus ejus ut leonis; rugiet ut catuli leonum: et frendet, et tenebit prædam, et amplexabitur, et non erit qui eruat.

Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it.

No lion roars so loud; it will roar as lion-cubs do, growling and holding its prey fast, encircling it so that none can bring rescue.

Et sonabit super eum in die illa sicut sonitus maris: aspiciemus in terram, et ecce tenebræ tribulationis, et lux obtenebrata est in caligine ejus.

And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof.

Sounds of dread shall usher in that day, loud as the roaring of the sea; look where you will, all shall be dark with misery; light itself will be darkened by the shadow of its coming.