Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and thou shalt put it about thy loins, and shalt not put it into water.

Hæc dicit Dominus ad me: Vade, et posside tibi lumbare lineum, et pones illud super lumbos tuos, et in aquam non inferes illud.

The Lord’s word came to me: Go and buy a girdle of linen, and put it about thy loins, one that was never yet soaked in water.

And I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins.

Et possedi lumbare juxta verbum Domini, et posui circa lumbos meos.

Girdle I bought me as the Lord had bidden, and wore it;

And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying:

Et factus est sermo Domini ad me secundo, dicens:

and now the Lord spoke again:

Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is about thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

Tolle lumbare quod possedisti, quod est circa lumbos tuos: et surgens vade ad Euphraten, et absconde ibi illud in foramine petræ.

Is the girdle bought and worn? Up, take it with thee to Euphrates river, and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.

And I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.

Et abii, et abscondi illud in Euphrate, sicut præceperat mihi Dominus.

So I went obediently, and hid it away in the Euphrates.

And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there.

Et factum est post dies plurimos, dixit Dominus ad me: Surge, vade ad Euphraten, et tolle inde lumbare quod præcepi tibi ut absconderes illud ibi.

Many days afterwards, the Lord sent me on my travels again to the Euphrates, to recover the girdle hidden there at his command;

And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle out of the place where I had hid it: and behold the girdle was rotten, so that it was fit for no use.

Et abii ad Euphraten, et fodi, et tuli lumbare de loco ubi absconderam illud: et ecce computruerat lumbare, ita ut nulli usui aptum esset.

so thither I went, and unearthed the girdle from its hiding-place, to find it all perished and useless.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:

Whereupon the Lord’s word came to me,

Thus saith the Lord: After this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot.

Hæc dicit Dominus: Sic putrescere faciam superbiam Juda, et superbiam Jerusalem multam:

and this was his message: Not less the great pride of Juda, the great pride of Jerusalem, must perish.

This wicked people, that will not hear my words, and that walk in the perverseness of their heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve them, and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle which is fit for no use.

populum istum pessimum qui nolunt audire verba mea, et ambulant in pravitate cordis sui, abieruntque post deos alienos ut servirent eis et adorarent eos: et erunt sicut lumbare istud, quod nulli usui aptum est.

Here is a rebellious people that will not listen to my call; they must needs take their own false path, courting alien gods and submitting to their worship. No better, then, than yonder useless girdle;

For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all the house of Israel, and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

Sicut enim adhæret lumbare ad lumbos viri, sic agglutinavi mihi omnem domum Israël, et omnem domum Juda, dicit Dominus, ut essent mihi in populum, et in nomen, et in laudem, et in gloriam: et non audierunt.

close as a man’s girdle fits about his loins I had bound Israel and Juda to myself; my people they were to be, my renown and prize and pride; but no, they would not listen.

Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

Dices ergo ad eos sermonem istum: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Omnis laguncula implebitur vino. Et dicent ad te: Numquid ignoramus quia omnis laguncula implebitur vino?

Tell them this, too, from the Lord God of Israel, Flagons must have wine to fill them. And when they answer, it is no news to them that flagons are for wine,

And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

Et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego implebo omnes habitatores terræ hujus, et reges qui sedent de stirpe David super thronum ejus, et sacerdotes, et prophetas, et omnes habitatores Jerusalem, ebrietate.

give them this message from the Lord: Ay, but the people of this land, king of David’s line sitting on David’s throne, priest and prophet and citizens of Jerusalem every one, are flagons waiting to be filled. I mean to bemuse them, as with wine,

And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord: I will not spare, and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy, but to destroy them.

Et dispergam eos virum a fratre suo, et patres et filios pariter, ait Dominus. Non parcam, et non concedam: neque miserebor, ut non disperdam eos.

and then shatter them; brother torn away from brother, and fathers from their children; ruth and respite none shall have, nor be spared in the common ruin.

Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken.

Audite, et auribus percipite: nolite elevari, quia Dominus locutus est.

Hear and heed and humble yourselves; it is the Lord who speaks.

Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains: you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness.

Date Domino Deo vestro gloriam antequam contenebrescat, et antequam offendant pedes vestri ad montes caliginosos: exspectabitis lucem, et ponet eam in umbram mortis, et in caliginem.

Give God his due, ere the shadows fall, and your feet begin to stumble on the dark mountain-ways. For day you shall long, but he will have turned it into night; dark as death the lowering of the storm.

But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.

Quod si hoc non audieritis, in abscondito plorabit anima mea a facie superbiæ: plorans plorabit, et deducet oculus meus lacrimam, quia captus est grex Domini.

Sirs, if you will not listen now, give me leave to hide myself away and bemoan your proud hearts; weep I must and wail, and my eyes run down with tears, if the Lord’s flock is doomed to captivity.

Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head.

Dic regi et dominatrici: Humiliamini, sedete, quoniam descendit de capite vestro corona gloriæ vestræ.

To king and queen-mother say this, Come down and take your places with the rest, discrowned of your royalty.

The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity.

Civitates austri clausæ sunt, et non est qui aperiat: translata est omnis Juda transmigratione perfecta.

Shut off are the cities of the south, entry is none; dispeopled lies Juda, of all her sons dispeopled.

Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle?

Levate oculos vestros et videte, qui venitis ab aquilone: ubi est grex qui datus est tibi, pecus inclytum tuum?

New-comers from the north country, look about you and see! … … Ah, Jerusalem, what has become of the flock once entrusted to thee, thy honourable care?

What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thy own head: shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, as a woman in labour?

Quid dices cum visitaverit te? tu enim docuisti eos adversum te, et erudisti in caput tuum. Numquid non dolores apprehendent te, quasi mulierem parturientem?

What wilt thou say when thou art called to give account of it? Thy enemies are such as thou hast taught how to attack thee; thy schooling has recoiled on thy own head; sharper than travail-throes the anguish that shall overtake thee.

And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled.

Quod si dixeris in corde tuo: Quare venerunt mihi hæc? propter multitudinem iniquitatis tuæ revelata sunt verecundiora tua, pollutæ sunt plantæ tuæ.

And wilt thou find room for surmise, why this should have befallen thee? Doubt not it is thy own wrong-doing that has stripped thee naked, and plunged thy steps deep in defilement.

If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you also may do well, when you have learned evil.

Si mutare potest Æthiops pellem suam, aut pardus varietates suas, et vos poteritis benefacere, cum didiceritis malum.

Sooner may Ethiop turn white, leopard’s hide unmarked, than Juda unlearn the lesson of ill-doing and amend.

And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.

Et disseminabo eos quasi stipulam quæ vento raptatur in deserto.

Far and wide I will scatter thy sons, like straws caught in the desert wind;

This is thy lot, and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and hast trusted in falsehood.

Hæc sors tua, parsque mensuræ tuæ a me, dicit Dominus, quia oblita es mei, et confisa es in mendacio.

such is the fortune sent thee, such thy retribution exactly awarded, because thou hast forgotten me, and in lying fables put thy trust.

Wherefore I have also bared thy thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared.

Unde et ego nudavi femora tua contra faciem tuam, et apparuit ignominia tua:

That is why I will pull thy skirts about thy ears and manifest thy shame;

I have seen thy adulteries, and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication: and thy abominations, upon the hills in the field. Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me: how long yet?

adulteria tua, et hinnitus tuus, scelus fornicationis tuæ: super colles in agro vidi abominationes tuas. Væ tibi, Jerusalem! non mundaberis post me: usquequo adhuc?

adulteries of thine, and lasciviousness, and all the guilt of thy debauchery, the foul deeds I have seen done on hill-tops, in the open country-side. Fie on thee, Jerusalem, that wilt not come back to me and be cleansed! Shall it last for ever?