Verbum Domini quod factum est ad Sophoniam, filium Chusi, filii Godoliæ, filii Amariæ, filii Ezeciæ, in diebus Josiæ, filii Amon, regis Judæ.

The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of Chusi, the son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of Ezechias, in the days of Josias, the son of Amon king of Juda.

To Sophonias, that was descended from Ezechias through Amarias, Godolias and Chusi, this message came from the Lord, at the time when Josias son of Amon reigned in Juda.

Congregans congregabo omnia a facie terræ, dicit Dominus:

Gathering, I will gather together allthings from off the face of the land, saith the Lord:

Fall to I must, and weed yonder plot of ground, the Lord says;

congregans hominem et pecus, congregans volatilia cæli et pisces maris: et ruinæ impiorum erunt, et disperdam homines a facie terræ, dicit Dominus.

I will gather man, and beast, I will gather the birds of the air, and the fishes of he sea: and the ungodly shall meet with ruin: and I will destroy men from off the face of the land, saith the Lord.

rid it, says he, of man and beast, of bird in air and fish under water; and down shall the godless come too, never a man left alive upon it.

Et extendam manum meam super Judam et super omnes habitantes Jerusalem: et disperdam de loco hoc reliquias Baal, et nomina ædituorum cum sacerdotibus;

And I will stretch out my hand upon Juda, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and I will destroy out of this place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the wardens of the temples with the priests:

All Juda, all the citizens of Jerusalem, shall feel the stroke. Not a trace shall they leave behind, yonder gods of the country-side, acolyte and priest of theirs not a memory;

et eos qui adorant super tecta militiam cæli, et adorant et jurant in Domino, et jurant in Melchom;

And them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops of houses, and them that adore, and swear by the Lord, and swear by Melchom.

forgotten, all that worship the host of heaven from the roof-tops, all that worship …, take they their oaths to the Lord, or swear they by Melchom;

et qui avertuntur de post tergum Domini, et qui non quæsierunt Dominum, nec investigaverunt eum.

And them that turn away from following after the Lord, and that have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.

forgotten, all that turn their backs on the Lord, and will neither seek nor search for him.

Silete a facie Domini Dei, quia juxta est dies Domini: quia præparavit Dominus hostiam; sanctificavit vocatos suos.

Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim, he hath sanctified his guests.

Silence, there, to greet the Lord! Here is day of his appointing, here is great sacrifice of his preparing; all his guests bidden, all their cleansing done.

Et erit: in die hostiæ Domini, visitabo super principes, et super filios regis, et super omnes qui induti sunt veste peregrina;

And it shall come to pass in the day of the victim of the Lord, that I will visit upon the princes, and upon the king’s sons, and upon all such as are clothed with strange apparel:

The Lord’s sacrifice! A day of reckoning it shall be, king and prince I will call to account, all that go clad in foreign bravery,

et visitabo super omnem qui arroganter ingreditur super limen in die illa, qui complent domum Domini Dei sui iniquitate et dolo.

And I will visit in that day upon every one that entereth arrogantly over thethreshold: them that fill the house of the Lord their God with iniquity and deceit.

all that spurn yonder threshold, and fill the house of the Lord their God with deeds of treachery and wrong.

Et erit in die illa, dicit Dominus, vox clamoris a porta piscium, et ululatus a Secunda, et contritio magna a collibus.

And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the Second, and a great destruction from the hills.

What an outcry that day, the Lord says, from the Fishmongers’ Gate, what lamenting from the New Town! How the hill-sides will echo to the noise of your ruin!

Ululate, habitatores Pilæ: conticuit omnis populus Chanaan, disperierunt omnes involuti argento.

Howl, ye inhabitants of the Morter. All the people of Chanaan is hush, all are cut off that were wrapped up in silver.

Ay, lament indeed, you that dwell in Mortar Valley; of the merchant folk no more is heard; here is an end of all that trafficked in silver.

Et erit in tempore illo: scrutabor Jerusalem in lucernis, et visitabo super viros defixos in fæcibus suis, qui dicunt in cordibus suis: Non faciet bene Dominus, et non faciet male.

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and will visit upon the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil.

Time, then, to call for lamps, and search Jerusalem through! Trust me, I will find them out, spoiled natures, like wine that has settled on its lees, the men who think to themselves, From the Lord nothing is to hope, nothing to fear.

Et erit fortitudo eorum in direptionem, et domus eorum in desertum: et ædificabunt domos, et non habitabunt; et plantabunt vineas, et non bibent vinum earum.

And their strength shall become a booty, and their houses as a desert: and they shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them: and they shall plant vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them.

Ransacked their wealth shall be, and their homes ruined; houses they build they shall never dwell in, vineyards they plant they shall drink of never.

Juxta est dies Domini magnus: juxta est, et velox nimis. Vox diei Domini amara: tribulabitur ibi fortis.

The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation.

Nearer, nearer comes the great day of the Lord’s reckoning, ay, and soon; bitter the bruit of its coming; here is peril to cow the bravest heart.

Dies iræ dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiæ, dies calamitatis et miseriæ, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebulæ et turbinis,

That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,

Day of vengeance, day of strain and stress, day of ransack and ruin; dim and dark, overcast with cloud and storm!

dies tubæ et clangoris super civitates munitas, et super angulos excelsos.

A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks.

City is none so well fortified, pinnacle is none so high in air, but shall hear braying of trumpets and the battle-cry.

Et tribulabo homines, et ambulabunt ut cæci, quia Domino peccaverunt; et effundetur sanguis eorum sicut humus, et corpora eorum sicut stercora.

And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and theirblood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as dung.

Guilty wretches, they shall grope in the dark, flesh and blood of them cheap as dust and dung;

Sed et argentum eorum et aurum eorum non poterit liberare eos in die iræ Domini : in igne zeli ejus devorabitur omnis terra, quia consummationem cum festinatione faciet cunctis habitantibus terram.

Neither shall their silver and their gold be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: all the land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy destruction of all them that dwell in the land.

silver and gold of them powerless to buy off the Lord’s present vengeance. Burns through the land the fire of his slighted love; takes full toll, and speedily, of all that dwell there.