| 1 ὁ δὲ Εφραιμ πονηρὸν πνεῦμα ἐδίωξεν καύσωνα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν κενὰ καὶ μάταια ἐπλήθυνεν καὶ διαθήκην μετὰ Ἀσσυρίων διέθετο καὶ ἔλαιον εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐνεπορεύετο 2 καὶ κρίσις τῷ κυρίῳ πρὸς Ιουδαν τοῦ ἐκδικῆσαι τὸν Ιακωβ κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσει αὐτῷ |
1 Ephraim, that would still play shepherd to the wind, still hunt in the track of the storm, and nothing hoard up but treachery, nothing but his own ruin! See him making treaties with the Assyrian, sending tribute of oil to Egypt! 2 On Juda’s part the Lord takes up the quarrel, will call Jacob to account,[1] for ill deeds and ill designs rewarding him. |
1
Ephraim pascit ventum,
et sequitur æstum;
tota die mendacium et vastitatem multiplicat:
et fœdus cum Assyriis iniit,
et oleum in Ægyptum ferebat. 2
Judicium ergo Domini cum Juda,
et visitatio super Jacob:
juxta vias ejus, et juxta adinventiones ejus reddet ei. |
| 3 ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ ἐπτέρνισεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν κόποις αὐτοῦ ἐνίσχυσεν πρὸς θεὸν 4 καὶ ἐνίσχυσεν μετὰ ἀγγέλου καὶ ἠδυνάσθη ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ων εὕροσάν με καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτόν 5 ὁ δὲ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ἔσται μνημόσυνον αὐτοῦ |
3 Here was one that took precedence of[2] his brother even in the womb; strength was his, of celestial strength the rival. 4 Did he not hold his own in contest with an angel, and prefer, with tears, his suit? Ay, and what of that encounter at Bethel, when the promises came to us 5 from him, the Lord of hosts, from the God whose name we remember yet? |
3
In utero supplantavit fratrem suum,
et in fortitudine sua directus est cum angelo. 4
Et invaluit ad angelum, et confortatus est;
flevit, et rogavit eum.
In Bethel invenit eum,
et ibi locutus est nobiscum. 5
Et Dominus Deus exercituum,
Dominus memoriale ejus. |
| 9 ἐγὼ δὲ κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἀνήγαγόν σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἔτι κατοικιῶ σε ἐν σκηναῖς καθὼς ἡμέρᾳ ἑορτῆς 10 καὶ λαλήσω πρὸς προφήτας καὶ ἐγὼ ὁράσεις ἐπλήθυνα καὶ ἐν χερσὶν προφητῶν ὡμοιώθην |
9 I, the Lord, thy God in Egypt, and thy God still! Once again thou shalt dwell in tents, as in the days when I kept tryst with thee;[4] 10 once again I will bestow[5] utterance upon the prophets. Mine it is, by the prophets’ means, to grant clear vision, to speak in parables. |
9
Et ego Dominus Deus tuus ex terra Ægypti:
adhuc sedere te faciam in tabernaculis, sicut in diebus festivitatis. 10
Et locutus sum super prophetas,
et ego visionem multiplicavi,
et in manu prophetarum assimilatus sum. |
[1] Literally, ‘And there is a quarrel to the Lord with Juda, and to the calling to account of Jacob’. In view of 11.12, it does not seem likely that the Lord’s quarrel here is against Juda.
[2] ‘Took precedence of’; literally, ‘dogged the heels of’. The incident related in Gen. 25.25 is cited here as an example, not of Israel’s treachery, but of God’s favour for his own people.
[3] The meaning of verses 7 and 8 is obscure, and much disputed.
[4] That is, when the Tabernacle of Appointment went with Israel through the desert. Or, possibly, the sense may be ‘as in the days of solemn observance’, i.e. the Feast of Tent-dwelling (Lev. 23.34).
[5] The Latin version here has ‘And I used to bestow’; but a reference to the past seems out of place here.
[6] The language of this verse is strained, and the sense doubtful; some think there is an error in the manuscripts. The Hebrew for ‘stone-heaps’ is gallim, and there is possibly a play upon words.
[7] Little can be said for certain about these verses, except that those editors are wrong who would print verse 12 after verse 5, and verse 13 after verse 10. Evidently they must be taken together, but it is hard to see the force of their minute parallelism; possibly there is an allusion to Assyria and Egypt as places of exile; cf. 11.11.
Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd