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Jeremiah 9

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1 τίς δώσει κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς μου πηγὴν δακρύων καὶ κλαύσομαι τὸν λαόν μου τοῦτον ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός τοὺς τετραυματισμένους θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου 2 τίς δῴη μοι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ σταθμὸν ἔσχατον καὶ καταλείψω τὸν λαόν μου καὶ ἀπελεύσομαι ἀ{P'} αὐτῶν ὅτι πάντες μοιχῶνται σύνοδος ἀθετούντων

1 Well-head were this head of mine, eyes of a fountain these eyes,[1] day nor night should serve me to weep enough for my country’s dead. 2 Oh that some lodging-place in the wilderness for me were dwelling-place, far from the haunts of my own people, that are faithless lovers, rebel subjects all!

1

Quis dabit capiti meo aquam,
et oculis meis fontem lacrimarum,
et plorabo die ac nocte interfectos filiæ populi mei? 2
Quis dabit me in solitudine diversorium viatorum,
et derelinquam populum meum,
et recedam ab eis?
quia omnes adulteri sunt,
cœtus prævaricatorum.

3 καὶ ἐνέτειναν τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡς τόξον ψεῦδος καὶ οὐ πίστις ἐνίσχυσεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἐκ κακῶν εἰς κακὰ ἐξήλθοσαν καὶ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν 4 ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ φυλάξασθε καὶ ἐ{P'} ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν μὴ πεποίθατε ὅτι πᾶς ἀδελφὸς πτέρνῃ πτερνιεῖ καὶ πᾶς φίλος δολίως πορεύσεται 5 ἕκαστος κατὰ τοῦ φίλου αὐτοῦ καταπαίξεται ἀλήθειαν οὐ μὴ λαλήσωσιν μεμάθηκεν ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν λαλεῖν ψευδῆ ἠδίκησαν καὶ οὐ διέλιπον τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι 6 τόκος ἐπὶ τόκῳ δόλος ἐπὶ δόλῳ οὐκ ἤθελον εἰδέναι με 7 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πυρώσω αὐτοὺς καὶ δοκιμῶ αὐτούς ὅτι ποιήσω ἀπὸ προσώπου πονηρίας θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου 8 βολὶς τιτρώσκουσα ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν δόλια τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ λαλεῖ εἰρηνικὰ καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔχει τὴν ἔχθραν 9 μὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ἐπισκέψομαι λέγει κύριος ἢ ἐν λαῷ τῷ τοιούτῳ οὐκ ἐκδικήσει ἡ ψυχή μου

3 Deceitful tongues, treacherous as the hidden archer’s bow, hearts that lord it over their fellow-countrymen, wrong leading to wrong, and my claims forgotten! the Lord says. 4 Neighbour of neighbour beware, kinsman let kinsman never trust; none goes about to overthrow thee more craftily than brother of thine or friend. 5 None but will overreach his fellow with lies; all their schooling is in falsehood, all their striving for ill-gotten gain. 6 In what a nest of treason thou dwellest! And such treason, the Lord says, as will acknowledge no claim of mine. 7 This warning, then, he utters, the Lord of hosts: The fire for them! They must be tried in the crucible; what other choice has my faithless people left me? 8 Tongues that wound like an arrow, with deceit for poison, ever the smooth word of friend laying snare for friend; 9 what, shall I let all this pass me by, the Lord says; shall I not take my fill of vengeance against such a nation as this?

3
Et extenderunt linguam suam
quasi arcum mendacii et non veritatis:
confortati sunt in terra,
quia de malo ad malum egressi sunt,
et me non cognoverunt, dicit Dominus. 4
Unusquisque se a proximo suo custodiat,
et in omni fratre suo non habeat fiduciam:
quia omnis frater supplantans supplantabit,
et omnis amicus fraudulenter incedet. 5
Et vir fratrem suum deridebit,
et veritatem non loquentur:
docuerunt enim linguam suam loqui mendacium;
ut inique agerent laboraverunt. 6
Habitatio tua in medio doli:
in dolo renuerunt scire me, dicit Dominus. 7
Propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Ecce ego conflabo, et probabo eos:
quid enim aliud faciam a facie filiæ populi mei? 8
Sagitta vulnerans lingua eorum,
dolum locuta est.
In ore suo pacem cum amico suo loquitur,
et occulte ponit ei insidias. 9
Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus,
aut in gente hujusmodi non ulciscetur anima mea?

10 ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη λάβετε κοπετὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς τρίβους τῆς ἐρήμου θρῆνον ὅτι ἐξέλιπον παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἀνθρώπους οὐκ ἤκουσαν φωνὴν ὑπάρξεως ἀπὸ πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἕως κτηνῶν ἐξέστησαν ᾤχοντο

10 Sad dirge be made for the hills, lament for all the wide pasture-lands, that are scorched bare, and left untravelled; silent the herdsman’s call; birds that nested there, cattle that grazed there, fled and gone.

10
Super montes assumam fletum ac lamentum,
et super speciosa deserti planctum,
quoniam incensa sunt, eo quod non sit vir pertransiens,
et non audierunt vocem possidentis:
a volucre cæli usque ad pecora transmigraverunt et recesserunt.

11 καὶ δώσω τὴν Ιερουσαλημ εἰς μετοικίαν καὶ εἰς κατοικητήριον δρακόντων καὶ τὰς πόλεις Ιουδα εἰς ἀφανισμὸν θήσομαι παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι 12 τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ συνετός καὶ συνέτω τοῦτο καὶ ᾧ λόγος στόματος κυρίου πρὸς αὐτόν ἀναγγειλάτω ὑμῖν ἕνεκεν τίνος ἀπώλετο ἡ γῆ ἀνήφθη ὡς ἔρημος παρὰ τὸ μὴ διοδεύεσθαι αὐτήν 13 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με διὰ τὸ ἐγκαταλιπεῖν αὐτοὺς τὸν νόμον μου ὃν ἔδωκα πρὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν τῆς φωνῆς μου 14 ἀλ{L'} ἐπορεύθησαν ὀπίσω τῶν ἀρεστῶν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν τῆς κακῆς καὶ ὀπίσω τῶν εἰδώλων ἃ ἐδίδαξαν αὐτοὺς οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν 15 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ψωμιῶ αὐτοὺς ἀνάγκας καὶ ποτιῶ αὐτοὺς ὕδωρ χολῆς 16 καὶ διασκορπιῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εἰς οὓς οὐκ ἐγίνωσκον αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπαποστελῶ ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς τὴν μάχαιραν ἕως τοῦ ἐξαναλῶσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ

11 I mean to turn Jerusalem into a heap of dust, the lair of serpents;[2] the cities of Juda shall stand desolate, with none to inhabit them. 12 Come now, who is wise enough to read the riddle, to what spokesman shall the Lord’s proclamation be entrusted, when he tells us why the land lies ruined, burnt up like the wilderness, and never a passer-by? 13 It is because they forsook the commandment I gave them, the Lord says, would not heed my call or follow it; 14 because they had recourse to ill devices of their own, and to the gods of the country-side, whose worship their fathers taught them. 15 This doom, then, the Lord of hosts pronounces, the God of Israel: On wormwood I will feed this people of mine, gall shall be the drink I give them; 16 far away I will scatter them, in countries never they, never their fathers knew; and the sword shall follow close behind, to exterminate them.

11
Et dabo Jerusalem in acervos arenæ,
et cubilia draconum:
et civitates Juda dabo in desolationem,
eo quod non sit habitator. 12
Quis est vir sapiens qui intelligat hoc,
et ad quem verbum oris Domini fiat, ut annuntiet istud,
quare perierit terra, et exusta sit quasi desertum,
eo quod non sit qui pertranseat? 13
Et dixit Dominus:
Quia dereliquerunt legem meam quam dedi eis,
et non audierunt vocem meam,
et non ambulaverunt in ea, 14
et abierunt post pravitatem cordis sui,
et post Baalim, quod didicerunt a patribus suis: 15
idcirco hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël:
Ecce ego cibabo populum istum absinthio,
et potum dabo eis aquam fellis. 16
Et dispergam eos in gentibus
quas non noverunt ipsi et patres eorum,
et mittam post eos gladium,
donec consumantur.

17 τάδε λέγει κύριος καλέσατε τὰς θρηνούσας καὶ ἐλθέτωσαν καὶ πρὸς τὰς σοφὰς ἀποστείλατε καὶ φθεγξάσθωσαν 18 καὶ λαβέτωσαν ἐ{F'} ὑμᾶς θρῆνον καὶ καταγαγέτωσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὑμῶν δάκρυα καὶ τὰ βλέφαρα ὑμῶν ῥείτω ὕδωρ 19 ὅτι φωνὴ οἴκτου ἠκούσθη ἐν Σιων πῶς ἐταλαιπωρήσαμεν κατῃσχύνθημεν σφόδρα ὅτι ἐγκατελίπομεν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἀπερρίψαμεν τὰ σκηνώματα ἡμῶν 20 ἀκούσατε δή γυναῖκες λόγον θεοῦ καὶ δεξάσθω τὰ ὦτα ὑμῶν λόγους στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ διδάξατε τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν οἶκτον καὶ γυνὴ τὴν πλησίον αὐτῆς θρῆνον 21 ὅτι ἀνέβη θάνατος διὰ τῶν θυρίδων ὑμῶν εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐκτρῖψαι νήπια ἔξωθεν καὶ νεανίσκους ἀπὸ τῶν πλατειῶν 22 καὶ ἔσονται οἱ νεκροὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς παράδειγμα ἐπὶ προσώπου τοῦ πεδίου τῆς γῆς ὑμῶν καὶ ὡς χόρτος ὀπίσω θερίζοντος καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ συνάγων

17 This too the Lord of hosts says, the God of Israel: Search all about, and find mourners, mistresses of their craft, and such as will answer your summons with all haste; 18 no time let them lose in making dole for us; weep every eye, be every eye-lid blubbered with tears. 19 Listen to Sion’s lament: Alas, what scathe, alas, what shame! Our land lies deserted, our homes in ruins! 20 To you, women, the Lord’s word comes; this is matter for your hearing. To daughters of yours, neighbours of yours, teach the sad melody of yonder lament; 21 here is death looking in at our windows, finding its way into our palaces, and soon there will be no children playing out of doors, nor grown men passing to and fro in the streets. 22 A message from the Lord: Like dung they shall lie on the ground, the corpses of the dead, like the sheaf left after reaping is done, that none is at pains to gather.

17
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël:
Contemplamini, et vocate lamentatrices, et veniant:
et ad eas quæ sapientes sunt mittite, et properent: 18
festinent, et assumant super nos lamentum:
deducant oculi nostri lacrimas,
et palpebræ nostræ defluant aquis. 19
Quia vox lamentationis audita est de Sion:
Quomodo vastati sumus,
et confusi vehementer?
quia dereliquimus terram;
quoniam dejecta sunt tabernacula nostra. 20
Audite ergo, mulieres, verbum Domini,
et assumant aures vestræ sermonem oris ejus,
et docete filias vestras lamentum,
et unaquæque proximam suam planctum: 21
quia ascendit mors per fenestras nostras;
ingressa est domos nostras,
disperdere parvulos deforis,
juvenes de plateis. 22 Loquere:

Hæc dicit Dominus:
Et cadet morticinum hominis
quasi stercus super faciem regionis,
et quasi fœnum post tergum metentis,
et non est qui colligat.

23 τάδε λέγει κύριος μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ πλούσιος ἐν τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτοῦ 24 ἀλ{L'} ἢ ἐν τούτῳ καυχάσθω ὁ καυχώμενος συνίειν καὶ γινώσκειν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ποιῶν ἔλεος καὶ κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἐν τούτοις τὸ θέλημά μου λέγει κύριος

23 This, too, is the Lord’s message: Never boast, if thou art wise, of thy wisdom, if thou art strong, of thy strength, if thou art rich, of thy riches; 24 boast is none worth having, save that insight which gives knowledge of me; in all my dealings with mankind so merciful a Lord, the Lord says, so just, so faithful, and a lover of such dealings where they are found.[3]

23
Hæc dicit Dominus:
Non glorietur sapiens in sapientia sua,
et non glorietur fortis in fortitudine sua,
et non glorietur dives in divitiis suis: 24
sed in hoc glorietur, qui gloriatur,
scire et nosse me,
quia ego sum Dominus qui facio misericordiam,
et judicium, et justitiam in terra:
hæc enim placent mihi, ait Dominus.

25 ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται λέγει κύριος καὶ ἐπισκέψομαι ἐπὶ πάντας περιτετμημένους ἀκροβυστίας αὐτῶν 26 ἐ{P'} Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ιουδαίαν καὶ ἐπὶ Εδωμ καὶ ἐπὶ υἱοὺς Αμμων καὶ ἐπὶ υἱοὺς Μωαβ καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα περικειρόμενον τὰ κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀπερίτμητα σαρκί καὶ πᾶς οἶκος Ισραηλ ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίας αὐτῶν

25 A time of reckoning there shall be, the Lord says, for all the nations that practice circumcision, 26 Egypt, Juda, Edom, Ammon, Moab; ay, and the desert folk that clip their foreheads bare. The whole world is uncircumcised; all have hearts uncircumcised, and Israel with the rest.[4]

25
Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus,
et visitabo super omnem qui circumcisum habet præputium, 26
super Ægyptum, et super Juda, et super Edom,
et super filios Ammon, et super Moab;
et super omnes qui attonsi sunt in comam,
habitantes in deserto:
quia omnes gentes habent præputium,
omnis autem domus Israël incircumcisi sunt corde.

[1] ‘Eyes’ of a fountain, in the sense of openings. The Hebrew words for ‘head’ and ‘eye’ are also used for springs of water.

[2] The word in the Hebrew text here represented by ‘serpents’ is generally translated ‘jackals’ by modern commentators.

[3] This paragraph is thought by some to have been accidentally misplaced: it has little apparent connexion with its present context.

[4] vv. 25, 26. This appears to be the sense intended by a passage of considerable obscurity.

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