(Alleluia.)

Alleluja.

Alleluia.

Praise the Lord, the Lord is gracious; his mercy endures for ever;

Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.

Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

what tongue can recount all the great deeds of the Lord, can echo all his praise?

Quis loquetur potentias Domini; auditas faciet omnes laudes ejus?

Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? who shall set forth all his praises?

Blessed are they who abide ever by his decrees, ever do the right!

Beati qui custodiunt judicium, et faciunt justitiam in omni tempore.

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all times.

Remember me, Lord, with loving thoughts towards thy people, come and strengthen me with thy aid,

Memento nostri, Domine, in beneplacito populi tui; visita nos in salutari tuo:

Remember us, O Lord, in the favour of thy people: visit us with thy salvation.

to witness the prosperity of thy chosen servants, to rejoice with thy people that rejoices, to share the glory of thy own domain.

ad videndum in bonitate electorum tuorum; ad lætandum in lætitia gentis tuæ: ut lauderis cum hæreditate tua.

That we may see the good of thy chosen, that we may rejoice in the joy of thy nation: that thou mayst be praised with thy inheritance.

We have taken part in our fathers’ sins; we are guilty men, rebels against thee.

Peccavimus cum patribus nostris: injuste egimus; iniquitatem fecimus.

We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity.

So it was with our fathers in Egypt; unremarked, thy wonderful doings, unremembered, thy abundant mercies; even at the Red Sea they must prove rebellious.

Patres nostri in Ægypto non intellexerunt mirabilia tua; non fuerunt memores multitudinis misericordiæ tuæ. Et irritaverunt ascendentes in mare, mare Rubrum;

Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies: And they provoked to wrath going up to the sea, even the Red Sea.

Yet, for his own honour, to make known his power, he delivered them,

et salvavit eos propter nomen suum, ut notam faceret potentiam suam.

And he saved them for his own name’s sake: that he might make his power known.

checking the Red Sea, so that it dried up, and leading them through its depths as safely as if they trod the desert sands.

Et increpuit mare Rubrum et exsiccatum est, et deduxit eos in abyssis sicut in deserto.

And he rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up: and he led them through the depths, as in a wilderness.

From a cruel tyrant’s grasp he rescued them, claimed them for his own;

Et salvavit eos de manu odientium, et redemit eos de manu inimici.

And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them: and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

and the water overwhelmed their pursuers, till not one of them was left.

Et operuit aqua tribulantes eos; unus ex eis non remansit.

And the water covered them that afflicted them: there was not one of them left.

They believed, then, in his promises, sang songs, then, in his honour,

Et crediderunt verbis ejus, et laudaverunt laudem ejus.

And they believed his words: and they sang his praises.

but soon they forgot what he had done, and could not wait upon his will.

Cito fecerunt; obliti sunt operum ejus: et non sustinuerunt consilium ejus.

They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they waited not for his counsel.

They must needs give way to their cravings in the wilderness, challenge God’s power, there in the desert,

Et concupierunt concupiscentiam in deserto, et tentaverunt Deum in inaquoso.

And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they tempted God in the place without water.

till he granted their will, then sent a wasting sickness to plague them.

Et dedit eis petitionem ipsorum, et misit saturitatem in animas eorum.

And he gave them their request: and sent fulness into their souls.

Faction raised its head in the camp against Moses, against Aaron, the Lord’s chosen priest;

Et irritaverunt Moysen in castris; Aaron, sanctum Domini.

And they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of the Lord.

and now earth gaped, swallowing up Dathan, overwhelming Abiron and his conspiracy;

Aperta est terra, et deglutivit Dathan, et operuit super congregationem Abiron.

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan: and covered the congregation of Abiron.

fire broke out in their company, and the rebels perished by its flames.

Et exarsit ignis in synagoga eorum: flamma combussit peccatores.

And a fire was kindled in their congregation: the flame burned the wicked.

They made a calf, too, at Horeb, casting a golden image and worshipping it,

Et fecerunt vitulum in Horeb, et adoraverunt sculptile.

They made also a calf in Horeb: and they adored the graven thing.

as if they would exchange the glory that dwelt among them for the semblance of a bullock at grass.

Et mutaverunt gloriam suam in similitudinem vituli comedentis fœnum.

And they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass.

So little they remembered the God who had delivered them, those portents of his in Egypt,

Obliti sunt Deum qui salvavit eos; qui fecit magnalia in Ægypto,

They forgot God, who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,

strange things seen in the land of Cham, terrible things down by the Red Sea!

mirabilia in terra Cham, terribilia in mari Rubro.

wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the Red Sea.

What wonder if he threatened to make an end of them? But Moses, the man of his choice, stood in the breach to confront his anger, to ward off destruction.

Et dixit ut disperderet eos, si non Moyses, electus ejus, stetisset in confractione in conspectu ejus, ut averteret iram ejus, ne disperderet eos.

And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

And now they poured scorn on the land of their desire, distrusting his promise;

Et pro nihilo habuerunt terram desiderabilem; non crediderunt verbo ejus.

And they set at nought the desirable land. They believed not his word,

and the camp was all disaffection. So the Lord, finding they would not listen to his voice,

Et murmuraverunt in tabernaculis suis; non exaudierunt vocem Domini.

and they murmured in their tents: they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord.

lifted his hand and threatened to smite them down, there in the wilderness;

Et elevavit manum suam super eos ut prosterneret eos in deserto:

And he lifted up his hand over them: to overthrow them in the desert;

they should be lost among the peoples, scattered wide through the world.

et ut dejiceret semen eorum in nationibus, et dispergeret eos in regionibus.

And to cast down their seed among the nations, and to scatter them in the countries.

They dedicated themselves to Beelphegor, in honour of the dead gods sat down to feast;

Et initiati sunt Beelphegor, et comederunt sacrificia mortuorum.

They also were initiated to Beelphegor: and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

till their wicked ways roused God’s anger, and a plague fell upon them.

Et irritaverunt eum in adinventionibus suis, et multiplicata est in eis ruina.

And they provoked him with their inventions: and destruction was multiplied among them.

Nor might the destruction cease, till Phinees rose up and made amends,

Et stetit Phinees, et placavit, et cessavit quassatio.

Then Phinees stood up, and pacified him: and the slaughter ceased.

winning himself such title to God’s favour as shall be remembered, age after age, eternally.

Et reputatum est ei in justitiam, in generationem et generationem usque in sempiternum.

And it was reputed to him unto justice, to generation and generation for evermore.

They provoked his anger, too, at the waters of Meriba, so that Moses was punished for their sake;

Et irritaverunt eum ad aquas contradictionis, et vexatus est Moyses propter eos:

They provoked him also at the waters of contradiction: and Moses was afflicted for their sakes:

because, in his heart’s bitterness, he broke out into open complaint.

quia exacerbaverunt spiritum ejus, et distinxit in labiis suis.

because they exasperated his spirit. And he distinguished with his lips.

Not theirs to root out the heathen, as the Lord had bidden them;

Non disperdiderunt gentes quas dixit Dominus illis:

They did not destroy the nations of which the Lord spoke unto them.

they mingled with the heathen instead, and learned their ways;

et commisti sunt inter gentes, et didicerunt opera eorum;

And they were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works:

worshipping carved images, to their own undoing,

et servierunt sculptilibus eorum, et factum est illis in scandalum.

and served their idols, and it became a stumbling-block to them.

sacrificing their sons and daughters in honour of devils.

Et immolaverunt filios suos et filias suas dæmoniis.

And they sacrificed their sons, and their daughters to devils.

Innocent blood, the blood of their own sons and daughters, was poured out in worship to the idols of Chanaan; with blood the whole land was polluted,

Et effuderunt sanguinem innocentem, sanguinem filiorum suorum et filiarum suarum, quas sacrificaverunt sculptilibus Chanaan. Et infecta est terra in sanguinibus,

And they shed innocent blood: the blood of their sons and of their daughters which they sacrificed to the idols of Chanaan. And the land was polluted with blood,

so heinous the guilt of its people, so wanton their ways.

et contaminata est in operibus eorum: et fornicati sunt in adinventionibus suis.

and was defiled with their works: and they went aside after their own inventions.

Then God’s anger blazed up against his people, his chosen race became abominable to him,

Et iratus est furore Dominus in populum suum, et abominatus est hæreditatem suam.

And the Lord was exceedingly angry with his people: and he abhorred his inheritance.

and he handed them over to the Gentiles; despised slaves,

Et tradidit eos in manus gentium; et dominati sunt eorum qui oderunt eos.

And he delivered them into the hands of the nations: and they that hated them had dominion over them.

they were oppressed by their enemies, bowed down under the yoke.

Et tribulaverunt eos inimici eorum, et humiliati sunt sub manibus eorum;

And their enemies afflicted them: and they were humbled under their hands:

Again and again he brought them deliverance, but ever there were fresh shifts to provoke him, there was fresh guilt to drag them in the dust.

sæpe liberavit eos. Ipsi autem exacerbaverunt eum in consilio suo, et humiliati sunt in iniquitatibus suis.

many times did he deliver them. But they provoked him with their counsel: and they were brought low by their iniquities.

And still, when he saw their distress, when he heard their appeals to him,

Et vidit cum tribularentur, et audivit orationem eorum.

And he saw when they were in tribulation: and he heard their prayer.

the thought him of his covenant availed them; in his great mercy he would relent;

Et memor fuit testamenti sui, et pœnituit eum secundum multitudinem misericordiæ suæ:

And he was mindful of his covenant: and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

their very captors should be moved to pity.

et dedit eos in misericordias, in conspectu omnium qui ceperant eos.

And he gave them unto mercies, in the sight of all those that had made them captives.

Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather us again, scattered as we are among the heathen, to praise thy holy name, to triumph in thy renown.

Salvos nos fac, Domine Deus noster, et congrega nos de nationibus: ut confiteamur nomini sancto tuo, et gloriemur in laude tua.

Save us, O Lord, our God: and gather us from among the nations: That we may give thanks to thy holy name, and may glory in thy praise.

Blessed be the God of Israel from all eternity to all eternity; let all the people cry, Amen, Alleluia.

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israël, a sæculo et usque in sæculum; et dicet omnis populus: Fiat, fiat.

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say: So be it, so be it.