Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora: qui autem noverunt eum, ignorant dies illius.

Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him, know not his days.

Since he, who is omnipotent, determines every event, how is it that those who know him wait in vain for his doom to fall?

Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.

Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by force, and fed them.

Here are men that alter their neighbour’s landmark, drive stolen cattle to pasture,

Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.

They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken away the widow’s ox for a pledge.

rob the orphan of his ass, take the widow’s ox in pawn,

Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.

They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed together the meek of the earth.

shoulder the poor aside, conspire to oppress the friendless;

Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum: vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.

Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their children.

leave others to make their living as best they may, like the wild ass in the desert, waking betimes to scrape food for hungry mouths at home.

Agrum non suum demetunt, et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.

They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed.

Reap they the field that is none of theirs, strip they the vineyard wrongfully seized from its owner;

Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes, quibus non est operimentum in frigore:

They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no covering in the cold:

let men go bare, their garments snatched away,

quos imbres montium rigant, et non habentes velamen, amplexantur lapides.

Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having no covering embrace the stones.

defenceless against cold and rain on the mountain-side, so that they are fain to hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.

They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the poor common people.

Their violence robs the helpless children, despoils the poor and simple;

Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.

From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.

back and side must go bare, and never a stalk left for hungry men to glean;

Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.

They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them, who after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst.

nor any vintager of theirs lies down between the rows at noon, but goes thirsty!

De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere, et anima vulneratorum clamavit: et Deus inultum abire non patitur.

Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged.

A cry goes up from the city streets, where wounded men lie groaning; tell me, does not God allow it to pass unheeded?

Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini: nescierunt vias ejus, nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.

They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.

How they shun the light, these rebels who ignore God’s precepts, leave his paths untrodden!

Mane primo consurgit homicida; interficit egenum et pauperem: per noctem vero erit quasi fur.

The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief.

The murderer must be stirring before daybreak, to catch his helpless prey, or prowl, as the thieves prowl, at night.

Oculus adulteri observat caliginem, dicens: Non me videbit oculus: et operiet vultum suum.

The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye shall see me: and he will cover his face.

For darkness, too, the adulterer waits, no eye must scan his muffled features;

Perfodit in tenebris domos, sicut in die condixerant sibi, et ignoraverunt lucem.

He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light.

under cover of darkness he will break into the house, to keep the tryst made yesterday; no daylight for him.

Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis: et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.

If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.

To him, the first flush of dawn is death’s shadow; deep gloom is the sunshine he walks by.

Levis est super faciem aquæ: maledicta sit pars ejus in terra, nec ambulet per viam vinearum.

He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.

Light as foam on the waters, nor light the doom, surely, that awaits him on earth; not for him the vineyard’s sunny slope!

Ad nimium calorem transeat ab aquis nivium, et usque ad inferos peccatum illius.

Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin even to hell.

Swift as snow melts under the noon-day heat, let his guilty soul pass to the grave,

Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes: non sit in recordatione, sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.

Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree.

unpitied, with worms for its boon-companions, forgotten, overthrown like an unfruitful tree!

Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit, et viduæ bene non fecit.

For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he hath done no good.

The childless woman was his prey; in vain the widow looked to him for mercy;

Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua, et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.

He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.

now, surely, God has pulled the tyrant down; firm he has stood, but now he despairs of life itself!

Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam: oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.

God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways.

Time for repentance God gave him, by his pride misused, but ever on his doings kept a watchful eye;

Elevati sunt ad modicum, et non subsistent: et humiliabuntur sicut omnia, et auferentur, et sicut summitates spicarum conterentur.

They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken.

now, their brief renown over, such men must pass, as all things pass, into the dust, be carried off, swept away like ears of corn!

Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum, et ponere ante Deum verba mea?

And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and set my words before God?

But no, never the day comes! Who dares give me the lie, challenge me in God’s sight?