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Jeremiah 50

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1 λόγος κυρίου ὃν ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα

1 And here is the doom the Lord pronounced, with Jeremias for his spokesman, against Babylon and Chaldaea.

1 Verbum quod locutus est Dominus de Babylone et de terra Chaldæorum, in manu Jeremiæ prophetæ.

2 ἀναγγείλατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ ἀκουστὰ ποιήσατε καὶ μὴ κρύψητε εἴπατε ἑάλωκεν Βαβυλών κατῃσχύνθη Βῆλος ἡ ἀπτόητος ἡ τρυφερὰ παρεδόθη Μαρωδαχ 3 ὅτι ἀνέβη ἐ{P'} αὐτὴν ἔθνος ἀπὸ βορρᾶ οὗτος θήσει τὴν γῆν αὐτῆς εἰς ἀφανισμόν καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἕως κτήνους

2 Tell it out, proclaim it for all the world to hear; set up a trophy, and cry the news, leave nothing untold! News of Babylon taken, and Bel thwarted, and Merodach overcome; all the idols put to shame, routed, all the false gods! 3 Here is a people on the march from the north country that shall attack Babylon and turn her land into a desert; man nor beast shall dwell there, all are fled and gone.

2

Annuntiate in gentibus, et auditum facite:
levate signum, prædicate, et nolite celare:
dicite: Capta est Babylon,
confusus est Bel, victus est Merodach,
confusa sunt sculptilia ejus,
superata sunt idola eorum. 3
Quoniam ascendit contra eam gens ab aquilone,
quæ ponet terram ejus in solitudinem,
et non erit qui habitet in ea ab homine usque ad pecus:
et moti sunt, et abierunt.

4 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἥξουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό βαδίζοντες καὶ κλαίοντες πορεύσονται τὸν κύριον θεὸν αὐτῶν ζητοῦντες 5 ἕως Σιων ἐρωτήσουσιν τὴν ὁδόν ὧδε γὰρ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν δώσουσιν καὶ ἥξουσιν καὶ καταφεύξονται πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεόν διαθήκη γὰρ αἰώνιος οὐκ ἐπιλησθήσεται 6 πρόβατα ἀπολωλότα ἐγενήθη ὁ λαός μου οἱ ποιμένες αὐτῶν ἐξῶσαν αὐτούς ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ἀπεπλάνησαν αὐτούς ἐξ ὄρους ἐπὶ βουνὸν ᾤχοντο ἐπελάθοντο κοίτης αὐτῶν 7 πάντες οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτοὺς κατανάλισκον αὐτούς οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν εἶπαν μὴ ἀνῶμεν αὐτούς ἀν{Q'} ὧν ἥμαρτον τῷ κυρίῳ νομῇ δικαιοσύνης τῷ συναγαγόντι τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν

4 So the day shall dawn, the time be ripe at last, the Lord says, when Israel and Juda both together shall come back, weeping as they hasten on their journey to find the Lord their God. 5 For Sion every voice asking, every face towards Sion turned, they will come back, and bind themselves to the Lord by an eternal covenant, never to be forgotten. 6 My people, all this while, has been but a flock gone astray; their shepherds led them by false paths, and left them to roam the hill-side; hill and mountain-side they crossed, and their own resting-place lay forgotten. 7 None passed by but preyed on them; nor did the oppressor’s conscience smite him; had they not set the Lord at defiance, that Lord who was the home of their loyalty, the hope of their race?

4
In diebus illis, et in tempore illo, ait Dominus,
venient filii Israël ipsi et filii Juda simul:
ambulantes et flentes properabunt,
et Dominum Deum suum quærent: 5
in Sion interrogabunt viam, huc facies eorum:
venient, et apponentur ad Dominum fœdere sempiterno,
quod nulla oblivione delebitur. 6
Grex perditus factus est populus meus:
pastores eorum seduxerunt eos,
feceruntque vagari in montibus:
de monte in collem transierunt;
obliti sunt cubilis sui. 7
Omnes qui invenerunt comederunt eos,
et hostes eorum dixerunt: Non peccavimus:
pro eo quod peccaverunt Domino decori justitiæ,
et exspectationi patrum eorum Domino.

8 ἀπαλλοτριώθητε ἐκ μέσου Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ἀπὸ γῆς Χαλδαίων καὶ ἐξέλθατε καὶ γένεσθε ὥσπερ δράκοντες κατὰ πρόσωπον προβάτων 9 ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐγείρω ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν ἐκ γῆς βορρᾶ καὶ παρατάξονται αὐτῇ ἐκεῖθεν ἁλώσεται ὡς βολὶς μαχητοῦ συνετοῦ οὐκ ἐπιστρέψει κενή 10 καὶ ἔσται ἡ Χαλδαία εἰς προνομήν πάντες οἱ προνομεύοντες αὐτὴν ἐμπλησθήσονται 11 ὅτι ηὐφραίνεσθε καὶ κατεκαυχᾶσθε διαρπάζοντες τὴν κληρονομίαν μου διότι ἐσκιρτᾶτε ὡς βοΐδια ἐν βοτάνῃ καὶ ἐκερατίζετε ὡς ταῦροι 12 ᾐσχύνθη ἡ μήτηρ ὑμῶν σφόδρα μήτηρ ἐ{P'} ἀγαθὰ ἐσχάτη ἐθνῶν ἔρημος 13 ἀπὸ ὀργῆς κυρίου οὐ κατοικηθήσεται καὶ ἔσται εἰς ἀφανισμὸν πᾶσα καὶ πᾶς ὁ διοδεύων διὰ Βαβυλῶνος σκυθρωπάσει καὶ συριοῦσιν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πληγὴν αὐτῆς 14 παρατάξασθε ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα κύκλῳ πάντες τείνοντες τόξον τοξεύσατε ἐ{P'} αὐτήν μὴ φείσησθε ἐπὶ τοῖς τοξεύμασιν ὑμῶν 15 κατακροτήσατε ἐ{P'} αὐτήν παρελύθησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῆς ἔπεσαν αἱ ἐπάλξεις αὐτῆς καὶ κατεσκάφη τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς ὅτι ἐκδίκησις παρὰ θεοῦ ἐστιν ἐκδικεῖτε ἐ{P'} αὐτήν καθὼς ἐποίησεν ποιήσατε αὐτῇ 16 ἐξολεθρεύσατε σπέρμα ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος κατέχοντα δρέπανον ἐν καιρῷ θερισμοῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου μαχαίρας Ἑλληνικῆς ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀποστρέψουσιν καὶ ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ φεύξεται

8 Flee, Israel, from Babylon; from Chaldaea’s land be foremost to depart, like buck-goats that lead the way for their fellows. 9 See what a confederacy of great nations I am mustering, there in the north country, to besiege and take Babylon, death-dealing archers that never speed arrow in vain! 10 Chaldaea shall be a prize of war, the Lord says, and all her spoilers be content. 11 Ay, boast and brag, trample on my own domain, like calves at grass or bellowing bull![1] 12 Shame waits for the mother that bore you, her pride must be lowered in the dust; least regarded of all realms, a desert, pathless and parched! 13 Doomed, all of her, by the Lord’s vengeance to empty desolation; no passer-by but shall stand amazed at Babylon, or hiss derision at her sufferings. 14 To your posts, archers, around the walls of Babylon; shoot, never spare arrow; to the Lord her life is forfeit. 15 Now, raise the cry! Everywhere she is yielding; falls buttress and gapes wall, the Lord is avenged! Ay, take your fill of vengeance, pay her what she has earned. 16 Leave none in Babylon to sow the fields, or carry scythe in harvest-time; fled, each to his own, before the invader’s sword, fled, this way and that, to the countries of their birth.

8
Recedite de medio Babylonis,
et de terra Chaldæorum egredimini,
et estote quasi hædi ante gregem. 9
Quoniam ecce ego suscito,
et adducam in Babylonem
congregationem gentium magnarum de terra aquilonis,
et præparabuntur adversus eam, et inde capietur:
sagitta ejus quasi viri fortis interfectoris:
non revertetur vacua. 10
Et erit Chaldæa in prædam:
omnes vastantes eam replebuntur, ait Dominus. 11
Quoniam exsultatis, et magna loquimini,
diripientes hæreditatem meam:
quoniam effusi estis sicut vituli super herbam,
et mugistis sicut tauri: 12
confusa est mater vestra nimis,
et adæquata pulveri, quæ genuit vos:
ecce novissima erit in gentibus,
deserta, invia, et arens. 13
Ab ira Domini non habitabitur,
sed redigetur tota in solitudinem:
omnis qui transibit per Babylonem stupebit,
et sibilabit super universis plagis ejus. 14
Præparamini contra Babylonem per circuitum,
omnes qui tenditis arcum:
debellate eam, non parcatis jaculis,
quia Domino peccavit. 15
Clamate adversus eam,
ubique dedit manum:
ceciderunt fundamenta ejus,
destructi sunt muri ejus,
quoniam ultio Domini est:
ultionem accipite de ea:
sicut fecit, facite ei. 16
Disperdite satorem de Babylone,
et tenentem falcem in tempore messis:
a facie gladii columbæ
unusquisque ad populum suum convertetur,
et singuli ad terram suam fugient.

17 πρόβατον πλανώμενον Ισραηλ λέοντες ἐξῶσαν αὐτόν ὁ πρῶτος ἔφαγεν αὐτὸν βασιλεὺς Ασσουρ καὶ οὗτος ὕστερον τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος 18 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐκδικῶ ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ καθὼς ἐξεδίκησα ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ασσουρ 19 καὶ ἀποκαταστήσω τὸν Ισραηλ εἰς τὴν νομὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ νεμήσεται ἐν τῷ Καρμήλῳ καὶ ἐν ὄρει Εφραιμ καὶ ἐν τῷ Γαλααδ καὶ πλησθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ 20 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ζητήσουσιν τὴν ἀδικίαν Ισραηλ καὶ οὐχ ὑπάρξει καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας Ιουδα καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῶσιν ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι τοῖς ὑπολελειμμένοις ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς λέγει κύριος

17 Poor Israel, a flock so scattered! Lions have chased them away; first the Assyrian king would prey on them, and since then yonder Nabuchodonosor, of Babylon, has mangled their bones! 18 And now, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I mean to have a reckoning with the Babylonian king, and his realm, as once with Assyria. 19 And Israel I will restore to his home; Carmel and Basan shall be his pasture-ground again, hill-country of Ephraim and Galaad his hunger shall content. 20 When that day dawns, the Lord says, when the time is ripe for it, guilt shall be found in Israel no more, for the record of Juda’s sins you shall search in vain; the remnant which I leave shall win my pardon.

17
Grex dispersus Israël:
leones ejecerunt eum.
Primus comedit eum rex Assur:
iste novissimus exossavit eum
Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis. 18
Propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël:
Ecce ego visitabo regem Babylonis et terram ejus,
sicut visitavi regem Assur: 19
et reducam Israël ad habitaculum suum:
et pascetur Carmelum et Basan,
et in monte Ephraim et Galaad saturabitur anima ejus. 20
In diebus illis, et in tempore illo, ait Dominus,
quæretur iniquitas Israël, et non erit,
et peccatum Juda, et non invenietur:
quoniam propitius ero eis quos reliquero.

21 πικρῶς ἐπίβηθι ἐ{P'} αὐτὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐ{P'} αὐτήν ἐκδίκησον μάχαιρα καὶ ἀφάνισον λέγει κύριος καὶ ποίει κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐντέλλομαί σοι 22 φωνὴ πολέμου καὶ συντριβὴ μεγάλη ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων 23 πῶς συνεκλάσθη καὶ συνετρίβη ἡ σφῦρα πάσης τῆς γῆς πῶς ἐγενήθη εἰς ἀφανισμὸν Βαβυλὼν ἐν ἔθνεσιν 24 ἐπιθήσονταί σοι καὶ ἁλώσῃ ὦ Βαβυλών καὶ οὐ γνώσῃ εὑρέθης καὶ ἐλήμφθης ὅτι τῷ κυρίῳ ἀντέστης 25 ἤνοιξεν κύριος τὸν θησαυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν τὰ σκεύη ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἔργον τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων 26 ὅτι ἐληλύθασιν οἱ καιροὶ αὐτῆς ἀνοίξατε τὰς ἀποθήκας αὐτῆς ἐρευνήσατε αὐτὴν ὡς σπήλαιον καὶ ἐξολεθρεύσατε αὐτήν μὴ γενέσθω αὐτῆς κατάλειμμα 27 ἀναξηράνατε αὐτῆς πάντας τοὺς καρπούς καὶ καταβήτωσαν εἰς σφαγήν οὐαὶ αὐτοῖς ὅτι ἥκει ἡ ἡμέρα αὐτῶν καὶ καιρὸς ἐκδικήσεως αὐτῶν

21 March on, the Lord says, into the land of tyranny, and call its citizens to account; bale and ban at their heels! All my command see thou execute. 22 Din of battle sounds through the land, and the crash of ruin; 23 rack and ruin everywhere! And this Babylon was once a hammer to smite the world; now it lies by all the world abandoned! 24 I laid a trap for thee, Babylon, and thou wast caught unawares; thy long defiance of the Lord has found thee out and overtaken thee at last. 25 Now the Lord opens his armoury, takes out from it the tools that shall wreak his vengeance; he, the Lord of hosts, has work for them to do in the country of the Chaldaeans. 26 From the furthest confines of the land draw near; open a way for the spoilers; pile up stones from the road in heaps; make an end of her, leave nothing to survive.[2] 27 An end of all her warriors, to the slaughter-house with them! Woe betide them, their day has come, the time when they must meet their reckoning.

21
Super terram dominantium ascende,
et super habitatores ejus visita:
dissipa, et interfice quæ post eos sunt, ait Dominus,
et fac juxta omnia quæ præcepi tibi. 22
Vox belli in terra, et contritio magna. 23
Quomodo confractus est et contritus malleus universæ terræ?
quomodo versa est in desertum Babylon in gentibus? 24
Illaqueavi te, et capta es, Babylon,
et nesciebas:
inventa es et apprehensa,
quoniam Dominum provocasti. 25
Aperuit Dominus thesaurum suum,
et protulit vasa iræ suæ,
quoniam opus est Domino Deo exercituum,
in terra Chaldæorum. 26
Venite ad eam ab extremis finibus;
aperite ut exeant qui conculcent eam:
tollite de via lapides, et redigite in acervos:
et interficite eam, nec sit quidquam reliquum. 27
Dissipate universos fortes ejus:
descendant in occisionem:
væ eis, quia venit dies eorum,
tempus visitationis eorum!

28 φωνὴ φευγόντων καὶ ἀνασῳζομένων ἐκ γῆς Βαβυλῶνος τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαι εἰς Σιων τὴν ἐκδίκησιν παρὰ κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν

28 Listen to the buzz of voices, as the fugitives escaped from Babylon come back to Sion, spreading the news how the Lord has been avenged, how the Lord’s temple has been avenged.

28
Vox fugientium,
et eorum qui evaserunt de terra Babylonis,
ut annuntient in Sion ultionem Domini Dei nostri,
ultionem templi ejus.

29 παραγγείλατε ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα πολλοῖς παντὶ ἐντείνοντι τόξον παρεμβάλετε ἐ{P'} αὐτὴν κυκλόθεν μὴ ἔστω αὐτῆς ἀνασῳζόμενος ἀνταπόδοτε αὐτῇ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν ποιήσατε αὐτῇ ὅτι πρὸς τὸν κύριον ἀντέστη θεὸν ἅγιον τοῦ Ισραηλ 30 διὰ τοῦτο πεσοῦνται οἱ νεανίσκοι αὐτῆς ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις αὐτῆς καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ πολεμισταὶ αὐτῆς ῥιφήσονται εἶπεν κύριος 31 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σὲ τὴν ὑβρίστριαν λέγει κύριος ὅτι ἥκει ἡ ἡμέρα σου καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἐκδικήσεώς σου 32 καὶ ἀσθενήσει ἡ ὕβρις σου καὶ πεσεῖται καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀνιστῶν αὐτήν καὶ ἀνάψω πῦρ ἐν τῷ δρυμῷ αὐτῆς καὶ καταφάγεται πάντα τὰ κύκλῳ αὐτῆς

29 Archers a many with bent bows, give them orders how the city must fare: Stand about in a ring, let never a man escape, pay it what its deeds have earned; to Babylon do as Babylon did to others, the city that was the Lord’s enemy, defied the holy One of Israel. 30 In her streets they lie slain, all the flower of her youth, all her brave warriors lie silent now, the Lord says.[3] 31 Have at thee, says the Lord, the God of hosts; thy day has come, the time when thou must meet thy reckoning! 32 Stumbles the tyrant and falls, with none there to raise him; and in those cities of his I will kindle such a fire as shall consume all around it.

29
Annuntiate in Babylonem plurimis,
omnibus qui tendunt arcum:
consistite adversus eam per gyrum,
et nullus evadat:
reddite ei secundum opus suum:
juxta omnia quæ fecit, facite illi,
quia contra Dominum erecta est,
adversum Sanctum Israël. 30
Idcirco cadent juvenes ejus in plateis ejus,
et omnes viri bellatores ejus conticescent in die illa,
ait Dominus. 31
Ecce ego ad te, superbe!
dicit Dominus Deus exercituum:
quia venit dies tuus,
tempus visitationis tuæ. 32
Et cadet superbus, et corruet,
et non erit qui suscitet eum:
et succendam ignem in urbibus ejus,
et devorabit omnia in circuitu ejus.

33 τάδε λέγει κύριος καταδεδυνάστευνται οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα ἅμα πάντες οἱ αἰχμαλωτεύσαντες αὐτοὺς κατεδυνάστευσαν αὐτούς ὅτι οὐκ ἠθέλησαν ἐξαποστεῖλαι αὐτούς 34 καὶ ὁ λυτρούμενος αὐτοὺς ἰσχυρός κύριος παντοκράτωρ ὄνομα αὐτῷ κρίσιν κρινεῖ πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιδίκους αὐτοῦ ὅπως ἐξάρῃ τὴν γῆν καὶ παροξυνεῖ τοῖς κατοικοῦσι Βαβυλῶνα 35 μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοὺς Χαλδαίους καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Βαβυλῶνα καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μεγιστᾶνας αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς συνετοὺς αὐτῆς 36 μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοὺς μαχητὰς αὐτῆς καὶ παραλυθήσονται 37 μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἅρματα αὐτῶν μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοὺς μαχητὰς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν σύμμικτον τὸν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς καὶ ἔσονται ὡσεὶ γυναῖκες μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῆς καὶ διασκορπισθήσονται 38 ἐπὶ τῷ ὕδατι αὐτῆς ἐπεποίθει καὶ καταισχυνθήσονται ὅτι γῆ τῶν γλυπτῶν ἐστιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς νήσοις οὗ κατεκαυχῶντο 39 διὰ τοῦτο κατοικήσουσιν ἰνδάλματα ἐν ταῖς νήσοις καὶ κατοικήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ θυγατέρες σειρήνων οὐ μὴ κατοικηθῇ οὐκέτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα 40 καθὼς κατέστρεψεν ὁ θεὸς Σοδομα καὶ Γομορρα καὶ τὰς ὁμορούσας αὐταῖς εἶπεν κύριος οὐ μὴ κατοικήσῃ ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐ μὴ παροικήσῃ ἐκεῖ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is great wrong done to Israel and to Juda both; he that has them holds them fast, and let them go he will not. 34 Yet they have a strong champion that claims them as his own; his name is the Lord of hosts; right and redress he will bring them in such a fashion as will shake earth,[4] and make the homes of Babylon tremble. 35 The sword it must be, the Lord says, for the men of Chaldaea, for citizen of Babylon, and prince, and councillor; 36 the sword for their wise men, that shall be fools, and their brave men, that shall be cowards; 37 the sword for horse and chariot, the sword for all the mixed breed in it, that shall be weak as women, the sword for all their treasure-houses, that shall be given up to plunder. 38 And for their waters, not a sword, but drought to dry them up; is not this a land of idols, that loves to see portents befall?[5] 39 It shall be a lair for serpents and strange monsters,[6] a haunt of the ostrich, but never again shall man dwell there; age after age, it shall never be rebuilt; 40 not more ruinously the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha and their neighbour cities, that lie uninhabited, far from the homes of men.[7]

33
Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum:
Calumniam sustinent filii Israël,
et filii Juda simul:
omnes qui ceperunt eos, tenent:
nolunt dimittere eos. 34
Redemptor eorum fortis,
Dominus exercituum nomen ejus:
judicio defendet causam eorum,
ut exterreat terram,
et commoveat habitatores Babylonis. 35
Gladius ad Chaldæos, ait Dominus,
et ad habitatores Babylonis,
et ad principes, et ad sapientes ejus. 36
Gladius ad divinos ejus, qui stulti erunt:
gladius ad fortes illius, qui timebunt. 37
Gladius ad equos ejus, et ad currus ejus,
et ad omne vulgus quod est in medio ejus:
et erunt quasi mulieres:
gladius ad thesauros ejus, qui diripientur. 38
Siccitas super aquas ejus erit, et arescent,
quia terra sculptilium est, et in portentis gloriantur. 39
Propterea habitabunt dracones cum faunis ficariis,
et habitabunt in ea struthiones:
et non inhabitabitur ultra usque in sempiternum,
nec exstruetur usque ad generationem et generationem. 40
Sicut subvertit Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham,
et vicinas ejus, ait Dominus,
non habitabit ibi vir,
et non incolet eam filius hominis.

41 ἰδοὺ λαὸς ἔρχεται ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ ἔθνος μέγα καὶ βασιλεῖς πολλοὶ ἐξεγερθήσονται ἀ{P'} ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς 42 τόξον καὶ ἐγχειρίδιον ἔχοντες ἰταμός ἐστιν καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσῃ φωνὴ αὐτῶν ὡς θάλασσα ἠχήσει ἐ{F'} ἵπποις ἱππάσονται παρεσκευασμένοι ὥσπερ πῦρ εἰς πόλεμον πρὸς σέ θύγατερ Βαβυλῶνος 43 ἤκουσεν βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος τὴν ἀκοὴν αὐτῶν καὶ παρελύθησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ θλῖψις κατεκράτησεν αὐτοῦ ὠδῖνες ὡς τικτούσης 44 ἰδοὺ ὥσπερ λέων ἀναβήσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ Ιορδάνου εἰς τόπον Αιθαμ ὅτι ταχέως ἐκδιώξω αὐτοὺς ἀ{P'} αὐτῆς καὶ πάντα νεανίσκον ἐ{P'} αὐτὴν ἐπιστήσω ὅτι τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ καὶ τίς ἀντιστήσεταί μοι καὶ τίς οὗτος ποιμήν ὃς στήσεται κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου 45 διὰ τοῦτο ἀκούσατε τὴν βουλὴν κυρίου ἣν βεβούλευται ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα καὶ λογισμοὺς αὐτοῦ οὓς ἐλογίσατο ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Χαλδαίους ἐὰν μὴ διαφθαρῇ τὰ ἀρνία τῶν προβάτων αὐτῶν ἐὰν μὴ ἀφανισθῇ νομὴ ἀ{P'} αὐτῶν 46 ὅτι ἀπὸ φωνῆς ἁλώσεως Βαβυλῶνος σεισθήσεται ἡ γῆ καὶ κραυγὴ ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἀκουσθήσεται

41 Here is a people marching from the north country, the Lord says, a great nation from the world’s end, and vassal kings a many. 42 Bow and shield they ply, and their hard hearts pity none; loud their battle-cry as the roaring of the sea. So they ride on, as warriors ride, poor Babylon, thy enemies. 43 Unnerved the king’s hands droop at the very rumour of it; grief overmasters him, sharp as the pangs of travail.[8] 44 See how lion from the fens of Jordan sallies out against yonder protected fold! Not less sudden the alarm shall be; and the flock shall have a master of my own choosing. Match for me is none, there is none dare implead me, no rival shepherd may challenge a claim like mine! 45 Would you know what the Lord’s design is for Babylon, what plans he is devising against the realm of Chaldaea? Why, he says, it will need but an array of weaklings to dislodge them, pull their dwelling-place down about their ears![9] 46 Babylon has fallen; earth trembles at the sound of it; a great cry goes up for all the world to hear.

41
Ecce populus venit ab aquilone,
et gens magna, et reges multi
consurgent a finibus terræ. 42
Arcum et scutum apprehendent:
crudeles sunt, et immisericordes:
vox eorum quasi mare sonabit,
et super equos ascendent,
sicut vir paratus ad prælium contra te, filia Babylon. 43
Audivit rex Babylonis famam eorum,
et dissolutæ sunt manus ejus:
angustia apprehendit eum,
dolor quasi parturientem. 44
Ecce quasi leo ascendet,
de superbia Jordanis ad pulchritudinem robustam,
quia subito currere faciam eum ad illam.
Et quis erit electus, quem præponam ei?
quis est enim similis mei?
et quis sustinebit me?
et quis est iste pastor, qui resistat vultui meo? 45
Propterea audite consilium Domini
quod mente concepit adversum Babylonem,
et cogitationes ejus
quas cogitavit super terram Chaldæorum:
nisi detraxerint eos parvuli gregum,
nisi dissipatum fuerit cum ipsis habitaculum eorum. 46
A voce captivitatis Babylonis commota est terra,
et clamor inter gentes auditus est.

[1] The sense of the Hebrew text is probably ‘heifer treading out the corn or neighing stallion’.

[2] The Latin version here seems to have misunderstood the Hebrew text, which refers to the opening of store-rooms and the piling up of their contents as forfeit to the Lord and therefore unavailable for booty (Jos. 6.17, 18; 7.11, 12).

[3] Repeated from 49.26.

[4] ‘Shake earth’; or perhaps (deriving the Hebrew verb from a different root) ‘bring repose to earth’.

[5] There is here a play upon words in the Hebrew; ‘sword’ and ‘drought’ differ only by a single point. The second half of the verse is of doubtful interpretation. Herodotus affirms (i. 191) that Cyrus took Babylon by diverting the course of the Euphrates.

[6] Literally, ‘dragons and fig-fauns’. Cf. Is. 34.14, where the Latin version renders the same Hebrew phrase ‘demons and onocentaurs’. There can be no certainty what creatures are really alluded to; some think wild cats and jackals.

[7] Repeated from 49.18.

[8] vv. 41-43. Repeated from 6.22-24.

[9] vv. 44, 45. Repeated from 49.19-21.

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