Direxit opera eorum in manibus prophetæ sancti.

With Moses set apart for his spokesman, to what good issue he brought all their enterprises!

She prospered their works in the hands of the holy prophet.

Iter fecerunt per deserta quæ non habitabantur, et in locis desertis fixerunt casas.

Through desert solitudes they journeyed on, pitching their camp far from the haunts of men;

They went through wildernesses that were not inhabited, and in desert places they pitched their tents.

Steterunt contra hostes, et de inimicis se vindicaverunt.

boldly they confronted their enemy, and overcame his malice.

They stood against their enemies, and revenged themselves of their adversaries.

Sitierunt, et invocaverunt te, et data est illis aqua de petra altissima, et requies sitis de lapide duro.

When they were thirsty, on thy name they called, and out of the rock’s sheer face water was given to heal their thirst, out of the hard flint.

They were thirsty, and they called upon thee, and water was given them out of the high rock, and a refreshment of their thirst out of the hard stone.

Per quæ enim pœnas passi sunt inimici illorum a defectione potus sui, et in eis cum abundarent filii Israël lætati sunt:

Strange likeness between the punishment that befell their enemies, who went thirsty while Israel had drink to their heart’s content,

For by what things their enemies were punished, when their drink failed them, while the children of Israel abounded therewith and rejoiced:

per hæc, cum illis deessent, bene cum illis actum est.

and the relief of their want Israel now experienced!

By the same things they in their need were benefited.

Nam pro fonte quidem sempiterni fluminis, humanum sanguinem dedisti injustis.

Thou who once, into defiling blood, hadst troubled the sources of a living stream,

For instead of a fountain of an ever running river, thou gavest human blood to the unjust.

Qui cum minuerentur in traductione infantium occisorum, dedisti illis abundantem aquam insperate,

to avenge a murderous edict against new-born children, didst now give thy people abundant water to drink, by means unlooked for.

And whilst they were diminished for a manifest reproof of their murdering the infants, thou gavest to thine abundant water unlooked for:

ostendens per sitim quæ tunc fuit, quemadmodum tuos exaltares, et adversarios illorum necares.

How ill it had gone with their adversaries in Egypt, that thirst of theirs in the desert plainly shewed them;

Shewing by the thirst that was then, how thou didst exalt thine, and didst kill their adversaries.

Cum enim tentati sunt, et quidem cum misericordia disciplinam accipientes, scierunt quemadmodum cum ira judicati impii tormenta paterentur.

in mercy schooled, yet sorely tried, they learned to know what torments the wicked had undergone, forfeit to thy vengeance.

For when they were tried, and chastised with mercy, they knew how the wicked were judged with wrath and tormented.

Hos quidem tamquam pater monens probasti; illos autem tamquam durus rex interrogans condemnasti.

For Israel, only a test of their faith; only a father’s correction; for Egypt, as from a king, stern scrutiny and stern doom.

For thou didst admonish and try them as a father: but the others, as a severe king, thou didst examine and condemn.

Absentes enim, et præsentes, similiter torquebantur.

Tidings from far away, that racked the Egyptians no less than their own former sufferings;

For whether absent or present, they were tormented alike.

Duplex enim illos acceperat tædium et gemitus, cum memoria præteritorum.

anguish redoubled, as they groaned over the memory of things past!

For a double affliction came upon them, and a groaning for the remembrance of things past.

Cum enim audirent per sua tormenta bene secum agi, commemorati sunt Dominum, admirantes in finem exitus.

That the same plague of thirst which had tortured themselves should be the source of Israel’s rejoicing! Then indeed they felt the Lord’s power, then indeed they wondered at the revenge time had brought;

For when they heard that by their punishments the others were benefited, they remembered the Lord, wondering at the end of what was come to pass.

Quem enim in expositione prava projectum deriserunt, in finem eventus mirati sunt, non similiter justis sitientes.

wondered at Moses, whom their insolence had long ago disinherited, when they exposed him with the other children. Thirst, that had been Egypt’s enemy, had no terrors for the just.

For whom they scorned before, when he was thrown out at the time of his being wickedly exposed to perish, him they admired in the end, when they saw the event: their thirsting being unlike to that of the just.

Pro cogitationibus autem insensatis iniquitatis illorum, quod quidam errantes colebant mutos serpentes et bestias supervacuas, immisisti illis multitudinem mutorum animalium in vindictam;

So lost to piety were these Egyptians, such foolish reasonings led them astray, that they worshipped brute reptiles, and despicable vermin. And swarms of brute beasts thou didst send to execute thy vengeance,

But for the foolish devices of their iniquity, because some being deceived worshipped dumb serpents and worthless beasts, thou didst send upon them a multitude of dumb beasts for vengeance:

ut scirent quia per quæ peccat quis, per hæc et torquetur.

for the more proof that a man’s own sins are the instrument of his punishment.

That they might know that by what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented.

Non enim impossibilis erat omnipotens manus tua, quæ creavit orbem terrarum ex materia invisa, immittere illis multitudinem ursorum, aut audaces leones,

Thy power knows no restraint, the power that created an ordered world out of dark chaos. It had been easy to send a plague of bears upon them, or noble lions;

For thy almighty hand, which made the world of matter without form, was not unable to send upon them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions,

aut novi generis ira plenas ignotas bestias, aut vaporem ignium spirantes, aut fumi odorem proferentes, aut horrendas ab oculis scintillas emittentes;

or to form new creatures, of a ferocity hitherto unknown, breathing fiery breath, churning out foul fumes, terrible sparks darting from their eyes,

Or unknown beasts of a new kind, full of rage: either breathing out a fiery vapour, or sending forth a stinking smoke, or shooting horrible sparks out of their eyes:

quarum non solum læsura poterat illos exterminare, sed et aspectus per timorem occidere.

so that men would die of fear at their very aspect, without waiting for proof of their power to do harm.

Whereof not only the hurt might be able to destroy them, but also the very sight might kill them through fear.

Sed et sine his uno spiritu poterant occidi, persecutionem passi ab ipsis factis suis, et dispersi per spiritum virtutis tuæ: sed omnia in mensura, et numero et pondere disposuisti.

Nay, without more ado thou mightest have overthrown them with a single blast; all at once their sins should have found them out, thy fierce breath whirled them away; but no, all thou doest is done in exact measure, all is nicely calculated and weighed.

Yea and without these, they might have been slain with one blast, persecuted by their own deeds, and scattered by the breath of thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight.

Multum enim valere, tibi soli supererat semper: et virtuti brachii tui quis resistet?

No moment passes but thou, if thou wilt, canst shew thyself supreme; that arm has power there is no withstanding;

For great power always belonged to thee alone: and who shall resist the strength of thy arm?

Quoniam tamquam momentum stateræ, sic est ante te orbis terrarum, et tamquam gutta roris antelucani quæ descendit in terram.

the whole world, matched against thee, is but a scruple on the balance, is but a drop of dew, falling to earth at sunrise.

For the whole world before thee is as the least grain of the balance, and as a drop of the morning dew, that falleth down upon the earth.

Sed misereris omnium, quia omnia potes; et dissimulas peccata hominum, propter pœnitentiam.

Only thou art all-merciful, as befits the Almighty, and dost overlook our human slips, in hope of our repentance.

But thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all things, and overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance.

Diligis enim omnia quæ sunt, et nihil odisti eorum quæ fecisti; nec enim odiens aliquid constituisti aut fecisti.

All things thou lovest, nor holdest any of thy creatures in abhorrence; hate and create thou couldst not,

For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any thing hating it.

Quomodo autem posset aliquid permanere, nisi tu voluisses? aut quod a te vocatum non esset conservaretur?

nor does aught abide save at thy will, whose summoning word holds them in being.

And how could any thing endure, if thou wouldst not? or be preserved, if not called by thee?

Parcis autem omnibus, quoniam tua sunt, Domine, qui amas animas.

They are thine, and thou sparest them; all things that live thou lovest, thou, the Master of them all.

But thou sparest all: because they are thine, O Lord, who lovest souls.