Verbum quod factum est a Domino ad Jeremiam, dicens:

The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias, saying:

Here is a message which came from the Lord to Jeremias

Audite verba pacti hujus, et loquimini ad viros Juda, et ad habitatores Jerusalem,

Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

about the covenant: Listen well to the terms of it, and be the spokesmen of it to all the race of Juda, all the citizens of Jerusalem.

et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Maledictus vir qui non audierit verba pacti hujus

And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Cursed is the man that shall not hearken to the words of this covenant,

This warning thou shalt give them from the Lord God of Israel: Cursed be the man who will not obey the terms of this covenant,

quod præcepi patribus vestris, in die qua eduxi eos de terra Ægypti, de fornace ferrea, dicens: Audite vocem meam, et facite omnia quæ præcipio vobis, et eritis mihi in populum, et ego ero vobis in Deum:

Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Hear ye my voice, and do all things that I command you: and you shall be my people, and I will be your God:

the commandment which I enjoined on your fathers when I rescued them from Egypt’s furnace of iron. Give heed to my call, I told them, and do as I bid you; then you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

ut suscitem juramentum quod juravi patribus vestris, daturum me eis terram fluentem lacte et melle, sicut est dies hæc. Et respondi, et dixi: Amen, Domine.

That I may accomplish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said: Amen, O Lord.

So would I fulfil the promise made on oath to their fathers before them; the promise of a land all milk and honey, that land which is yours to-day.So be it, Lord, said I;

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Vociferare omnia verba hæc in civitatibus Juda, et foris Jerusalem, dicens: Audite verba pacti hujus, et facite illa,

And the Lord said to me: Proclaim aloud all these words in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of the covenant, and do them:

and he bade me cry the message aloud all through the townships of Juda, all through the streets of Jerusalem: Listen to the terms of this covenant, and keep them well;

quia contestans contestatus sum patres vestros, in die qua eduxi eos de terra Ægypti, usque ad diem hanc: mane consurgens contestatus sum, et dixi: Audite vocem meam.

For protesting I conjured your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt even to this day: rising early I conjured them, and said: Hearken ye to my voice:

ever since I rescued them from Egypt I have been adjuring those fathers of yours, day in, day out, to listen to me,

Et non audierunt, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam, sed abierunt, unusquisque in pravitate cordis sui mali: et induxi super eos omnia verba pacti hujus quod præcepi ut facerent, et non fecerunt.

And they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear: but walked every one in the perverseness of his own wicked heart: and I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.

and listen they would not. No hearing would they give me, but went each his own way, perverse as ever, till at last I must carry out the threats contained in this covenant, still proclaimed and still defied.

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Inventa est conjuratio in viris Juda et in habitatoribus Jerusalem.

And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy is found among the men of Juda, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Why, the Lord said to me, here is a conspiracy among Juda’s folk, Jerusalem’s folk!

Reversi sunt ad iniquitates patrum suorum priores, qui noluerunt audire verba mea: et hi ergo abierunt post deos alienos, ut servirent eis: irritum fecerunt domus Israël et domus Juda pactum meum quod pepigi cum patribus eorum.

They are returned to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to hear my words: so these likewise have gone after strange gods, to serve them: the house of Israel, and the house of Juda have made void my covenant, which I made with their fathers.

They have gone back to the old guilty ways of their rebellious fathers; they in their turn have betaken themselves to the worship of alien gods; my immemorial covenant with Israel and Juda is void; they have rescinded it!

Quam ob rem hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego inducam super eos mala de quibus exire non poterunt: et clamabunt ad me, et non exaudiam eos.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring in evils upon them, which they shall not be able to escape: and they shall cry to me, and I will not hearken to them.

And now, the Lord says, I mean to visit them with punishment inevitable, punishment inexorable;

Et ibunt civitates Juda et habitatores Jerusalem, et clamabunt ad deos quibus libant, et non salvabunt eos in tempore afflictionis eorum.

And the cities of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go, and cry to the gods to whom they offer sacrifice, and they shall not save them in the time of their affliction.

let Juda and Jerusalem have recourse, if they will, to the gods they honour with their sacrifices, it will avail them nothing in their distress.

Secundum numerum enim civitatum tuarum erant dii tui, Juda: et secundum numerum viarum Jerusalem, posuisti aras confusionis, aras ad libandum Baalim.

For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda: and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem thou hast set up altars of confusion, altars to offer sacrifice to Baalim.

No township of thine, Juda, but must have its own deity, no street in Jerusalem but thou wouldst set up there altars abominable, where sacrifice is offered to the gods of the country-side!

Tu ergo noli orare pro populo hoc, et ne assumas pro eis laudem et orationem, quia non exaudiam in tempore clamoris eorum ad me, in tempore afflictionis eorum.

Therefore do not thou pray for this people, and do not take up praise and prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time of their cry to me, in the time of their affliction.

Nor do thou, Jeremias, think to intercede for this people of mine, or take up in their name the burden of praise and prayer; when they cry to me in their distress, hearing they shall have none.

Quid est, quod dilectus meus in domo mea fecit scelera multa? numquid carnes sanctæ auferent a te malitias tuas, in quibus gloriata es?

What is the meaning that my beloved hath wrought much wickedness in my house? shall the holy flesh take away from thee thy crimes, in which thou hast boasted?

A people so well beloved, that so haunts my house, yet stained with crime! What, dost thou think the consecrated flesh will avail to rid thee of thy wanton guilt?

Olivam uberem, pulchram, fructiferam, speciosam, vocavit Dominus nomen tuum: ad vocem loquelæ, grandis exarsit ignis in ea, et combusta sunt fruteta ejus.

The Lord called thy name, a plentiful olive tree, fair, fruitful, and beautiful: at the noise of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and the branches thereof are burnt.

An olive-tree, sturdy and fair and fruitful, so it was the Lord loved to think of thee; and now, at the sound of his majestic voice, fire breaks out in it, and all those shoots are burned away.

Et Dominus exercituum, qui plantavit te, locutus est super te malum, pro malis domus Israël, et domus Juda, quæ fecerunt sibi ad irritandum me, libantes Baalim.

And the Lord of hosts that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee: for the evils of the house of Israel, and of the house of Juda, which they have done to themselves, to provoke me, offering sacrifice to Baalim.

Yes, it is the Lord of hosts, who once planted thee, that has now decreed the undoing of Israel and Juda, undoing for their own ill-doing, when they sacrificed to the gods of the country-side in defiance of me.

Tu autem, Domine, demonstrasti mihi, et cognovi: tunc ostendisti mihi studia eorum.

But thou, O Lord, hast shewn me, and I have known: then thou shewedst me their doings.

Thou, Lord, didst make it all known to me past doubt, warning me beforehand of their devices.

Et ego quasi agnus mansuetus, qui portatur ad victimam: et non cognovi quia cogitaverunt super me consilia, dicentes: Mittamus lignum in panem ejus, et eradamus eum de terra viventium, et nomen ejus non memoretur amplius.

And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more.

Hitherto, I had been unsuspecting as a cade lamb that is led off to the slaughter-house; I knew nothing of the plots they were hatching against me, as they whispered, Let us give him a taste of the gallows-tree; let us rid the world of him, so that his very name will be forgotten!

Tu autem, Domine Sabaoth, qui judicas juste, et probas renes et corda, videam ultionem tuam ex eis: tibi enim revelavi causam meam.

But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest the reins and the hearts, let me see thy revenge on them: for to thee have I revealed my cause.

But thou, Lord of hosts, true judge that canst read the inmost thoughts of man’s heart, let me live to see thee punish them; to thee I have made my plea known.

Propterea hæc dicit Dominus ad viros Anathoth, qui quærunt animam tuam, et dicunt: Non prophetabis in nomine Domini, et non morieris in manibus nostris:

Therefore thus saith the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who seek thy life, and say: Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and thou shalt not die in our hands.

And now the Lord has a word for yonder men of Anathoth, who conspired to kill me, and would have stopped me prophesying in the Lord’s name, on pain of my life.

propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Ecce ego visitabo super eos: juvenes morientur in gladio; filii eorum et filiæ eorum morientur in fame.

Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine.

I will call them to account for it, says the Lord of hosts; by the sword their warriors shall perish, and their sons and daughters by famine.

Et reliquiæ non erunt ex eis: inducam enim malum super viros Anathoth, annum visitationis eorum.

And there shall be no remains of them: for I will bring in evil upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their visitation.

None shall be left; woe betide the men of Anathoth, when the year comes for my reckoning with them.