Utinam dirumperes cælos, et descenderes; a facie tua montes defluerent;

Wouldst thou but part heaven asunder, and come down, the hills shrinking from thy presence,

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence.

sicut exustio ignis tabescerent, aquæ arderent igni: ut notum fieret nomen tuum inimicis tuis; a facie tua gentes turbarentur.

melting away as if burnt by fire; the waters, too, boiling with that fire! So should the fame of thee go abroad among thy enemies; a world should tremble at thy presence!

They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence.

Cum feceris mirabilia, non sustinebimus; descendisti, et a facie tua montes defluxerunt.

Of thy marvellous doing, we ourselves cannot bear the sight; so it was when thou camest down, and the hills shrank away before thee, long ago.

When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away.

A sæculo non audierunt, neque auribus perceperunt; oculus non vidit, Deus, absque te, quæ præparasti exspectantibus te.

Such things as were never known from the beginning, as ear never heard, eye never saw, save at thy command, thou, O God, hast made ready for all that await thy aid.

From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee.

Occurristi lætanti, et facienti justitiam; in viis tuis recordabuntur tui. Ecce tu iratus es, et peccavimus; in ipsis fuimus semper, et salvabimur.

Graciously thou goest out to meet them, loyal lovers of thine that keep thee ever in mind, ever follow thy bidding. And now thou art angry with us; we have sinned; so it has been a long while, and shall we find deliverance?

Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved.

Et facti sumus ut immundus omnes nos, et quasi pannus menstruatæ universæ justitiæ nostræ; et cecidimus quasi folium universi, et iniquitates nostræ quasi ventus abstulerunt nos.

We are men defiled; what are all our claims on thy mercy? No better than the clout a woman casts away; we are like fallen leaves, every one of us, by the wind of our own transgressions whirled along.

And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Non est qui invocet nomen tuum; qui consurgat, et teneat te. Abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostræ.

There is none left that calls on thy name, that bestirs himself to lay hold of thee. Thou hidest thy face from us, broken men caught in the grip of their wrong-doing.

There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity.

Et nunc, Domine, pater noster es tu, nos vero lutum; et fictor noster tu, et opera manuum tuarum omnes nos.

Yet, Lord, thou art our father; we are but clay, and thou the craftsman who has fashioned us;

And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands.

Ne irascaris, Domine, satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis nostræ; ecce, respice, populus tuus omnes nos.

wilt thou crush us, Lord, with thy anger, wilt thou keep our sins ever in mind? We are thy people, all of us.

Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see we are all thy people.

Civitas Sancti tui facta est deserta, Sion deserta facta est, Jerusalem desolata est.

A desert, the city thy chosen servant knew, a desert, the Sion we love; Jerusalem lies forlorn.

The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate.

Domus sanctificationis nostræ et gloriæ nostræ, ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri, facta est in exustionem ignis, et omnia desiderabilia nostra versa sunt in ruinas.

Given over to the flames, the house that was our sanctuary and our pride, the house in which our fathers praised thee; all that we loved lies in ruins;

The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins.

Numquid super his continebis te, Domine; tacebis, et affliges nos vehementer?

Lord, wilt thou have patience still? Wilt thou keep silent still, and overwhelm us with calamity?

Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us vehemently?