Wisdom of Solomon · Clementine Vulgate
Wisdom of Solomon 17 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Magna sunt enim judicia tua, Domine, et inenarrabilia verba tua: propter hoc indisciplinatæ animæ erraverunt.
1 For your judgments are great, and hard to interpret; therefore undisciplined souls went astray.
2 Dum enim persuasum habent iniqui posse dominari nationi sanctæ, vinculis tenebrarum et longæ noctis compediti, inclusi sub tectis, fugitivi perpetuæ providentiæ jacuerunt.
2 For when lawless men had supposed that they held a holy nation in their power, they, prisoners of darkness, and bound in the fetters of a long night, kept close beneath their roofs, lay exiled from the eternal providence.
3 Et dum putant se latere in obscuris peccatis, tenebroso oblivionis velamento dispersi sunt, paventes horrende, et cum admiratione nimia perturbati.
3 For while they thought that they were unseen in their secret sins, they were divided from one another by a dark curtain of forgetfulness, stricken with terrible awe, and very troubled by apparitions.
4 Neque enim quæ continebat illos spelunca sine timore custodiebat, quoniam sonitus descendens perturbabat illos, et personæ tristes illis apparentes pavorem illis præstabant.
4 For neither did the dark recesses that held them guard them from fears, but terrifying sounds rang around them, and dismal phantoms appeared with unsmiling faces.
5 Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen præbere, nec siderum limpidæ flammæ illuminare poterant illam noctem horrendam.
5 And no power of fire prevailed to give light, neither were the brightest flames of the stars strong enough to illuminate that gloomy night;
6 Apparebat autem illis subitaneus ignis, timore plenus; et timore perculsi illius quæ non videbatur faciei, æstimabant deteriora esse quæ videbantur.
6 but only the glimmering of a self-kindled fire appeared to them, full of fear. In terror, they considered the things which they saw to be worse than that sight, on which they could not gaze.
7 Et magicæ artis appositi erant derisus, et sapientiæ gloriæ correptio cum contumelia.
7 The mockeries of their magic arts were powerless, now, and a shameful rebuke of their boasted understanding:
8 Illi enim qui promittebant timores et perturbationes expellere se ab anima languente, hi cum derisu pleni timore languebant.
8 For those who promised to drive away terrors and disorders from a sick soul, these were sick with a ludicrous fearfulness.
9 Nam etsi nihil illos ex monstris perturbabat, transitu animalium et serpentium sibilatione commoti, tremebundi peribant, et aërem quem nulla ratione quis effugere posset, negantes se videre.
9 For even if no troubling thing frighted them, yet, scared with the creeping of vermin and hissing of serpents,
10 Cum sit enim timida nequitia, dat testimonium condemnationis: semper enim præsumit sæva, perturbata conscientia:
10 they perished trembling in fear, refusing even to look at the air, which could not be escaped on any side.
11 nihil enim est timor nisi proditio cogitationis auxiliorum.
11 For wickedness, condemned by a witness within, is a coward thing, and, being pressed hard by conscience, always has added forecasts of the worst.
12 Et dum ab intus minor est exspectatio, majorem computat inscientiam ejus causæ, de qua tormentum præstat.
12 For fear is nothing else but a surrender of the help which reason offers;
13 Illi autem qui impotentem vere noctem, et ab infimis et ab altissimis inferis supervenientem, eumdem somnum dormientes,
13 and from within, the expectation of being less prefers ignorance of the cause that brings the torment.
14 aliquando monstrorum exagitabantur timore, aliquando animæ deficiebant traductione: subitaneus enim illis et insperatus timor supervenerat.
14 But they, all through the night which was powerless indeed, and which came upon them out of the recesses of powerless Hades, sleeping the same sleep,
15 Deinde si quisquam ex illis decidisset, custodiebatur in carcere sine ferro reclusus.
15 now were haunted by monstrous apparitions, and now were paralyzed by their soul’s surrendering; for sudden and unexpected fear came upon them.
16 Si enim rusticus quis erat, aut pastor, aut agri laborum operarius præoccupatus esset, ineffugibilem sustinebat necessitatem;
16 So then whoever it might be, sinking down in his place, was kept captive, shut up in that prison which was not barred with iron;
17 una enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati. Sive spiritus sibilans, aut inter spissos arborum ramos avium sonus suavis, aut vis aquæ decurrentis nimium,
17 for whether he was a farmer, or a shepherd, or a laborer whose toils were in the wilderness, he was overtaken, and endured that inescapable sentence; for they were all bound with one chain of darkness.
18 aut sonus validus præcipitatarum petrarum, aut ludentium animalium cursus invisus, aut mugientium valida bestiarum vox, aut resonans de altissimis montibus echo: deficientes faciebant illos præ timore.
18 Whether there was a whistling wind, or a melodious sound of birds among the spreading branches, or a measured fall of water running violently,
19 Omnis enim orbis terrarum limpido illuminabatur lumine, et non impeditis operibus continebatur.
19 or a harsh crashing of rocks hurled down, or the swift course of animals bounding along unseen, or the voice of wild beasts harshly roaring, or an echo rebounding from the hollows of the mountains, all these things paralyzed them with terror.
20 Solis autem illis superposita erat gravis nox, imago tenebrarum quæ superventura illis erat: ipsi ergo sibi erant graviores tenebris.]
20 For the whole world was illuminated with clear light, and was occupied with unhindered works, 21 while over them alone was spread a heavy night, an image of the darkness that should afterward receive them; but to themselves, they were heavier than darkness.