1 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.

1 Et nunc, Domine omnipotens, Deus Israël,
anima in angustiis, et spiritus anxius clamat ad te.

2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.

2 Audi, Domine, et miserere,
quia Deus es misericors:
et miserere nostri, quia peccavimus ante te:

3 For thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly.

3 quia tu sedes in sempiternum,
et nos, peribimus in ævum?

4 O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned before thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues cleave unto us.

4 Domine omnipotens, Deus Israël,
audi nunc orationem mortuorum Israël,
et filiorum ipsorum qui peccaverunt ante te,
et non audierunt vocem Domini Dei sui,
et agglutinata sunt nobis mala.

5 Remember not the iniquities of our forefathers: but think upon thy power and thy name now at this time.

5 Noli meminisse iniquitatum patrum nostrorum,
sed memento manus tuæ et nominis tui in tempore isto:

6 For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.

6 quia tu es Dominus Deus noster,
et laudabimus te, Domine:

7 And for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity: for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our forefathers, that sinned before thee.

7 quia propter hoc dedisti timorem tuum in cordibus nostris,
et ut invocemus nomen tuum,
et laudemus te in captivitate nostra,
quia convertimur ab iniquitate patrum nostrorum,
qui peccaverunt ante te.

8 Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to payments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.

8 Et ecce nos in captivitate nostra sumus hodie,
qua nos dispersisti in improperium,
et in maledictum, et in peccatum,
secundum omnes iniquitates patrum nostrorum,
qui recesserunt a te, Domine Deus noster.

9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom.

9 ¶ Audi, Israël, mandata vitæ:
auribus percipe, ut scias prudentiam.

10 How happeneth it, Israel, that thou art in thine enemies' land, that thou art waxen old in a strange country, that thou art defiled with the dead,

10 Quid est, Israël, quod in terra inimicorum es,

11 That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?

11 inveterasti in terra aliena,
coinquinatus es cum mortuis,
deputatus es cum descendentibus in infernum?

12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.

12 Dereliquisti fontem sapientiæ:

13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever.

13 nam si in via Dei ambulasses,
habitasses utique in pace sempiterna.

14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.

14 Disce ubi sit prudentia,
ubi sit virtus, ubi sit intellectus,
ut scias simul ubi sit longiturnitas vitæ et victus,
ubi sit lumen oculorum, et pax.

15 Who hath found out her place? or who hath come into her treasures?

15 Quis invenit locum ejus?
et quis intravit in thesauros ejus?

16 Where are the princes of the heathen become, and such as ruled the beasts upon the earth;

16 Ubi sunt principes gentium,
et qui dominantur super bestias quæ sunt super terram?

17 They that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and made no end of their getting?

17 qui in avibus cæli ludunt,

18 For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are unsearchable,

18 qui argentum thesaurizant, et aurum,
in quo confidunt homines,
et non est finis acquisitionis eorum?
qui argentum fabricant, et solliciti sunt,
nec est inventio operum illorum?

19 They are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are come up in their steads.

19 Exterminati sunt, et ad inferos descenderunt,
et alii loco eorum surrexerunt.

20 Young men have seen light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known,

20 Juvenes viderunt lumen, et habitaverunt super terram,
viam autem disciplinæ ignoraverunt,

21 Nor understood the paths thereof, nor laid hold of it: their children were far off from that way.

21 neque intellexerunt semitas ejus,
neque filii eorum susceperunt eam:
a facie ipsorum longe facta est;

22 It hath not been heard of in Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.

22 non est audita in terra Chanaan,
neque visa est in Theman.

23 The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remember her paths.

23 Filii quoque Agar, qui exquirunt prudentiam quæ de terra est,
negotiatores Merrhæ et Theman,
et fabulatores, et exquisitores prudentiæ et intelligentiæ:
viam autem sapientiæ nescierunt,
neque commemorati sunt semitas ejus.

24 O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession!

24 O Israël, quam magna est domus Dei,
et ingens locus possessionis ejus!

25 Great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable.

25 magnus est, et non habet finem:
excelsus, et immensus.

26 There were the giants famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war.

26 Ibi fuerunt gigantes nominati illi, qui ab initio fuerunt,
statura magna, scientes bellum.

27 Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them:

27 Non hos elegit Dominus,
neque viam disciplinæ invenerunt:
propterea perierunt,

28 But they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness.

28 et quoniam non habuerunt sapientiam,
interierunt propter suam insipientiam.

29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?

29 Quis ascendit in cælum, et accepit eam,
et eduxit eam de nubibus?

30 Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for pure gold?

30 Quis transfretavit mare, et invenit illam, et attulit illam super aurum electum?

31 No man knoweth her way, nor thinketh of her path.

31 Non est qui possit scire vias ejus,
neque qui exquirat semitas ejus:

32 But he that knoweth all things knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts:

32 sed qui scit universa novit eam,
et adinvenit eam prudentia sua
qui præparavit terram in æterno tempore:
et replevit eam pecudibus et quadrupedibus

33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.

33 qui emittit lumen, et vadit,
et vocavit illud, et obedit illi in tremore.

34 The stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they shewed light unto him that made them.

34 Stellæ autem dederunt lumen in custodiis suis,
et lætatæ sunt:

35 This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him.

35 vocatæ sunt, et dixerunt: Adsumus,
et luxerunt ei cum jucunditate, qui fecit illas.

36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.

36 Hic est Deus noster,
et non æstimabitur alius adversus eum.

37 Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.

37 Hic adinvenit omnem viam disciplinæ,
et tradidit illam Jacob puero suo,
et Israël dilecto suo.

38 Post hæc in terris visus est,
et cum hominibus conversatus est.