Verbum quod locutus est Dominus de Babylone et de terra Chaldæorum, in manu Jeremiæ prophetæ.

And here is the doom the Lord pronounced, with Jeremias for his spokesman, against Babylon and Chaldaea.

The word that the Lord hath spoken against Babylon, and against the land of the Chaldeans in the hand of Jeremias the prophet.

Annuntiate in gentibus, et auditum facite: levate signum, prædicate, et nolite celare: dicite: Capta est Babylon, confusus est Bel, victus est Merodach, confusa sunt sculptilia ejus, superata sunt idola eorum.

Tell it out, proclaim it for all the world to hear; set up a trophy, and cry the news, leave nothing untold! News of Babylon taken, and Bel thwarted, and Merodach overcome; all the idols put to shame, routed, all the false gods!

Declare ye among the nations, and publish it, lift up a standard: proclaim, and conceal it not: say: Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is overthrown, their graven things are confounded, their idols are overthrown.

Quoniam ascendit contra eam gens ab aquilone, quæ ponet terram ejus in solitudinem, et non erit qui habitet in ea ab homine usque ad pecus: et moti sunt, et abierunt.

Here is a people on the march from the north country that shall attack Babylon and turn her land into a desert; man nor beast shall dwell there, all are fled and gone.

For a nation is come up against her out of the north, which shall make her land desolate: and there shall be none to dwell therein, from man even to beast: yea they are removed, and gone away.

In diebus illis, et in tempore illo, ait Dominus, venient filii Israël ipsi et filii Juda simul: ambulantes et flentes properabunt, et Dominum Deum suum quærent:

So the day shall dawn, the time be ripe at last, the Lord says, when Israel and Juda both together shall come back, weeping as they hasten on their journey to find the Lord their God.

In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together: going and weeping they shall make haste, and shall seek the Lord their God.

in Sion interrogabunt viam, huc facies eorum: venient, et apponentur ad Dominum fœdere sempiterno, quod nulla oblivione delebitur.

For Sion every voice asking, every face towards Sion turned, they will come back, and bind themselves to the Lord by an eternal covenant, never to be forgotten.

They shall ask the way to Sion, their faces are hitherward. They shall come, and shall be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant, which shall never be forgotten.

Grex perditus factus est populus meus: pastores eorum seduxerunt eos, feceruntque vagari in montibus: de monte in collem transierunt; obliti sunt cubilis sui.

My people, all this while, has been but a flock gone astray; their shepherds led them by false paths, and left them to roam the hill-side; hill and mountain-side they crossed, and their own resting-place lay forgotten.

My people have been a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have made them wander in the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

Omnes qui invenerunt comederunt eos, et hostes eorum dixerunt: Non peccavimus: pro eo quod peccaverunt Domino decori justitiæ, et exspectationi patrum eorum Domino.

None passed by but preyed on them; nor did the oppressor’s conscience smite him; had they not set the Lord at defiance, that Lord who was the home of their loyalty, the hope of their race?

All that found them, have devoured them: and their enemies said: We have not sinned in so doing: because they have sinned against the Lord the beauty of justice, and against the Lord the hope of their fathers.

Recedite de medio Babylonis, et de terra Chaldæorum egredimini, et estote quasi hædi ante gregem.

Flee, Israel, from Babylon; from Chaldaea’s land be foremost to depart, like buck-goats that lead the way for their fellows.

Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans: and be ye as kids at the head of the flock.

Quoniam ecce ego suscito, et adducam in Babylonem congregationem gentium magnarum de terra aquilonis, et præparabuntur adversus eam, et inde capietur: sagitta ejus quasi viri fortis interfectoris: non revertetur vacua.

See what a confederacy of great nations I am mustering, there in the north country, to besiege and take Babylon, death-dealing archers that never speed arrow in vain!

For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain.

Et erit Chaldæa in prædam: omnes vastantes eam replebuntur, ait Dominus.

Chaldaea shall be a prize of war, the Lord says, and all her spoilers be content.

And Chaldea shall be made a prey: all that waste her shall be filled, saith the Lord.

Quoniam exsultatis, et magna loquimini, diripientes hæreditatem meam: quoniam effusi estis sicut vituli super herbam, et mugistis sicut tauri:

Ay, boast and brag, trample on my own domain, like calves at grass or bellowing bull!

Because you rejoice, and speak great things, pillaging my inheritance: because you are spread abroad as calves upon the grass, and have bellowed as bulls.

confusa est mater vestra nimis, et adæquata pulveri, quæ genuit vos: ecce novissima erit in gentibus, deserta, invia, et arens.

Shame waits for the mother that bore you, her pride must be lowered in the dust; least regarded of all realms, a desert, pathless and parched!

Your mother is confounded exceedingly, and she that bore you is made even with the dust: behold she shall be the last among the nations, a wilderness unpassable, and dry.

Ab ira Domini non habitabitur, sed redigetur tota in solitudinem: omnis qui transibit per Babylonem stupebit, et sibilabit super universis plagis ejus.

Doomed, all of her, by the Lord’s vengeance to empty desolation; no passer-by but shall stand amazed at Babylon, or hiss derision at her sufferings.

Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but shall be wholly desolate: every one that shall pass by Babylon, shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all her plagues.

Præparamini contra Babylonem per circuitum, omnes qui tenditis arcum: debellate eam, non parcatis jaculis, quia Domino peccavit.

To your posts, archers, around the walls of Babylon; shoot, never spare arrow; to the Lord her life is forfeit.

Prepare yourselves against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow: fight against her, spare not arrows: because she hath sinned against the Lord.

Clamate adversus eam, ubique dedit manum: ceciderunt fundamenta ejus, destructi sunt muri ejus, quoniam ultio Domini est: ultionem accipite de ea: sicut fecit, facite ei.

Now, raise the cry! Everywhere she is yielding; falls buttress and gapes wall, the Lord is avenged! Ay, take your fill of vengeance, pay her what she has earned.

Shout against her, she hath every where given her hand, her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her: as she hath done, so do to her.

Disperdite satorem de Babylone, et tenentem falcem in tempore messis: a facie gladii columbæ unusquisque ad populum suum convertetur, et singuli ad terram suam fugient.

Leave none in Babylon to sow the fields, or carry scythe in harvest-time; fled, each to his own, before the invader’s sword, fled, this way and that, to the countries of their birth.

Destroy the sower out of Babylon, and him that holdeth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the sword of the dove every man shall return to his people, and every one shall flee to his own land.

Grex dispersus Israël: leones ejecerunt eum. Primus comedit eum rex Assur: iste novissimus exossavit eum Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis.

Poor Israel, a flock so scattered! Lions have chased them away; first the Assyrian king would prey on them, and since then yonder Nabuchodonosor, of Babylon, has mangled their bones!

Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria devoured him: and last this Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

Propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Ecce ego visitabo regem Babylonis et terram ejus, sicut visitavi regem Assur:

And now, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I mean to have a reckoning with the Babylonian king, and his realm, as once with Assyria.

Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, as I have visited the king of Assyria.

et reducam Israël ad habitaculum suum: et pascetur Carmelum et Basan, et in monte Ephraim et Galaad saturabitur anima ejus.

And Israel I will restore to his home; Carmel and Basan shall be his pasture-ground again, hill-country of Ephraim and Galaad his hunger shall content.

And I will bring Israel again to his habitation: and he shall feed on Carmel, and Bason, and his soul shall be satisfied in mount Ephraim, and Galaad.

In diebus illis, et in tempore illo, ait Dominus, quæretur iniquitas Israël, et non erit, et peccatum Juda, et non invenietur: quoniam propitius ero eis quos reliquero.

When that day dawns, the Lord says, when the time is ripe for it, guilt shall be found in Israel no more, for the record of Juda’s sins you shall search in vain; the remnant which I leave shall win my pardon.

In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none: and the sin of Juda, and there shall none be found: for I will be merciful to them, whom I shall leave.

Super terram dominantium ascende, et super habitatores ejus visita: dissipa, et interfice quæ post eos sunt, ait Dominus, et fac juxta omnia quæ præcepi tibi.

March on, the Lord says, into the land of tyranny, and call its citizens to account; bale and ban at their heels! All my command see thou execute.

Go up against the land of the rulers, and punish the inhabitants thereof, waste, and destroy all behind them, saith the Lord: and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Vox belli in terra, et contritio magna.

Din of battle sounds through the land, and the crash of ruin;

A noise of war in the land, and a great destruction.

Quomodo confractus est et contritus malleus universæ terræ? quomodo versa est in desertum Babylon in gentibus?

rack and ruin everywhere! And this Babylon was once a hammer to smite the world; now it lies by all the world abandoned!

How is the hammer of the whole earth broken, and destroyed! how is Babylon turned into a desert among the nations!

Illaqueavi te, et capta es, Babylon, et nesciebas: inventa es et apprehensa, quoniam Dominum provocasti.

I laid a trap for thee, Babylon, and thou wast caught unawares; thy long defiance of the Lord has found thee out and overtaken thee at last.

I have caused thee to fall into a snare, and thou art taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware of it: thou art found and caught, because thou hast provoked the Lord.

Aperuit Dominus thesaurum suum, et protulit vasa iræ suæ, quoniam opus est Domino Deo exercituum, in terra Chaldæorum.

Now the Lord opens his armoury, takes out from it the tools that shall wreak his vengeance; he, the Lord of hosts, has work for them to do in the country of the Chaldaeans.

The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his wrath: for the Lord the God of hosts hath a work to be done in the land of the Chaldeans.

Venite ad eam ab extremis finibus; aperite ut exeant qui conculcent eam: tollite de via lapides, et redigite in acervos: et interficite eam, nec sit quidquam reliquum.

From the furthest confines of the land draw near; open a way for the spoilers; pile up stones from the road in heaps; make an end of her, leave nothing to survive.

Come ye against her from the uttermost borders: open that they may go forth that shall tread her down: take the stones out of the way, and make heaps, and destroy her: and let nothing of her be left.

Dissipate universos fortes ejus: descendant in occisionem: væ eis, quia venit dies eorum, tempus visitationis eorum!

An end of all her warriors, to the slaughter-house with them! Woe betide them, their day has come, the time when they must meet their reckoning.

Destroy all her valiant men, let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them, for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

Vox fugientium, et eorum qui evaserunt de terra Babylonis, ut annuntient in Sion ultionem Domini Dei nostri, ultionem templi ejus.

Listen to the buzz of voices, as the fugitives escaped from Babylon come back to Sion, spreading the news how the Lord has been avenged, how the Lord’s temple has been avenged.

The voice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped out of the land of Babylon: to declare in Sion the revenge of the Lord our God, the revenge of his temple.

Annuntiate in Babylonem plurimis, omnibus qui tendunt arcum: consistite adversus eam per gyrum, et nullus evadat: reddite ei secundum opus suum: juxta omnia quæ fecit, facite illi, quia contra Dominum erecta est, adversum Sanctum Israël.

Archers a many with bent bows, give them orders how the city must fare: Stand about in a ring, let never a man escape, pay it what its deeds have earned; to Babylon do as Babylon did to others, the city that was the Lord’s enemy, defied the holy One of Israel.

Declare to many against Babylon, to all that bend the bow: stand together against her round about, and let none escape; pay her according to her work: according to all that she hath done, do ye to her: for she hath lifted up herself against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

Idcirco cadent juvenes ejus in plateis ejus, et omnes viri bellatores ejus conticescent in die illa, ait Dominus.

In her streets they lie slain, all the flower of her youth, all her brave warriors lie silent now, the Lord says.

Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets: and all her men of war shall hold their peace in that day, saith the Lord.

Ecce ego ad te, superbe! dicit Dominus Deus exercituum: quia venit dies tuus, tempus visitationis tuæ.

Have at thee, says the Lord, the God of hosts; thy day has come, the time when thou must meet thy reckoning!

Behold I come against thee, O proud one, saith the Lord the God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time of thy visitation.

Et cadet superbus, et corruet, et non erit qui suscitet eum: et succendam ignem in urbibus ejus, et devorabit omnia in circuitu ejus.

Stumbles the tyrant and falls, with none there to raise him; and in those cities of his I will kindle such a fire as shall consume all around it.

And the proud one shall fall, he shall fall down, and there shall be none to lift him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Calumniam sustinent filii Israël, et filii Juda simul: omnes qui ceperunt eos, tenent: nolunt dimittere eos.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is great wrong done to Israel and to Juda both; he that has them holds them fast, and let them go he will not.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel, and the children of Juda are oppressed together: all that have taken them captives, hold them fast, they will not let them go.

Redemptor eorum fortis, Dominus exercituum nomen ejus: judicio defendet causam eorum, ut exterreat terram, et commoveat habitatores Babylonis.

Yet they have a strong champion that claims them as his own; his name is the Lord of hosts; right and redress he will bring them in such a fashion as will shake earth, and make the homes of Babylon tremble.

Their redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is his name: he will defend their cause in judgment, to terrify the land, and to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

Gladius ad Chaldæos, ait Dominus, et ad habitatores Babylonis, et ad principes, et ad sapientes ejus.

The sword it must be, the Lord says, for the men of Chaldaea, for citizen of Babylon, and prince, and councillor;

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

Gladius ad divinos ejus, qui stulti erunt: gladius ad fortes illius, qui timebunt.

the sword for their wise men, that shall be fools, and their brave men, that shall be cowards;

A sword upon her diviners, and they shall be foolish: a sword upon her valiant ones, and they shall be dismayed.

Gladius ad equos ejus, et ad currus ejus, et ad omne vulgus quod est in medio ejus: et erunt quasi mulieres: gladius ad thesauros ejus, qui diripientur.

the sword for horse and chariot, the sword for all the mixed breed in it, that shall be weak as women, the sword for all their treasure-houses, that shall be given up to plunder.

A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the people that are in the midst of her: and they shall become as women: a sword upon her treasures, and they shall be made a spoil.

Siccitas super aquas ejus erit, et arescent, quia terra sculptilium est, et in portentis gloriantur.

And for their waters, not a sword, but drought to dry them up; is not this a land of idols, that loves to see portents befall?

A drought upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: because it is a land of idols, and they glory in monstrous things.

Propterea habitabunt dracones cum faunis ficariis, et habitabunt in ea struthiones: et non inhabitabitur ultra usque in sempiternum, nec exstruetur usque ad generationem et generationem.

It shall be a lair for serpents and strange monsters, a haunt of the ostrich, but never again shall man dwell there; age after age, it shall never be rebuilt;

Therefore shall dragons dwell there with the fig fauns: and ostriches shall dwell therein, and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, neither shall it be built up from generation to generation.

Sicut subvertit Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham, et vicinas ejus, ait Dominus, non habitabit ibi vir, et non incolet eam filius hominis.

not more ruinously the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha and their neighbour cities, that lie uninhabited, far from the homes of men.

As the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and their neighbour cities, saith the Lord: no man shall dwell there, neither shall the son of man inhabit it.

Ecce populus venit ab aquilone, et gens magna, et reges multi consurgent a finibus terræ.

Here is a people marching from the north country, the Lord says, a great nation from the world’s end, and vassal kings a many.

Behold a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall rise from the ends of the earth.

Arcum et scutum apprehendent: crudeles sunt, et immisericordes: vox eorum quasi mare sonabit, et super equos ascendent, sicut vir paratus ad prælium contra te, filia Babylon.

Bow and shield they ply, and their hard hearts pity none; loud their battle-cry as the roaring of the sea. So they ride on, as warriors ride, poor Babylon, thy enemies.

They shall take the bow and the shield: they are cruel and unmerciful: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses: like a man prepared for battle against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

Audivit rex Babylonis famam eorum, et dissolutæ sunt manus ejus: angustia apprehendit eum, dolor quasi parturientem.

Unnerved the king’s hands droop at the very rumour of it; grief overmasters him, sharp as the pangs of travail.

The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands are grown feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, pangs as a woman in labour.

Ecce quasi leo ascendet, de superbia Jordanis ad pulchritudinem robustam, quia subito currere faciam eum ad illam. Et quis erit electus, quem præponam ei? quis est enim similis mei? et quis sustinebit me? et quis est iste pastor, qui resistat vultui meo?

See how lion from the fens of Jordan sallies out against yonder protected fold! Not less sudden the alarm shall be; and the flock shall have a master of my own choosing. Match for me is none, there is none dare implead me, no rival shepherd may challenge a claim like mine!

Behold he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan to the strong and beautiful: for I will make him run suddenly upon her: and who shall be the chosen one whom I may appoint over her? for who is like to me? and who shall bear up against me? and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?

Propterea audite consilium Domini quod mente concepit adversum Babylonem, et cogitationes ejus quas cogitavit super terram Chaldæorum: nisi detraxerint eos parvuli gregum, nisi dissipatum fuerit cum ipsis habitaculum eorum.

Would you know what the Lord’s design is for Babylon, what plans he is devising against the realm of Chaldaea? Why, he says, it will need but an array of weaklings to dislodge them, pull their dwelling-place down about their ears!

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he hath taken against Babylon: and his thoughts which he hath thought against the land of the Chaldeans: surely the little ones of the flocks shall pull them down, of a truth their habitation shall be destroyed with them.

A voce captivitatis Babylonis commota est terra, et clamor inter gentes auditus est.

Babylon has fallen; earth trembles at the sound of it; a great cry goes up for all the world to hear.

At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard amongst the nations.