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

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

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

Alii terminos transtulerunt; diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.

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

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

Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.

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

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

Subverterunt pauperum viam, et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.

shoulder the poor aside, conspire to oppress the friendless;

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

let men go bare, their garments snatched away,

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

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

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

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

Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos, et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.

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

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

Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu, et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.

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

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

Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt, qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.

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

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

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