Sabiduría · Vulgata Clementina
Sabiduría 14 Vulgata Clementina
1 [Iterum alius navigare cogitans, et per feros fluctus iter facere incipiens, ligno portante se, fragilius lignum invocat.
1 Again, one preparing to sail, and about to journey over raging waves, calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the vessel that carries him.
2 Illud enim cupiditas acquirendi excogitavit, et artifex sapientia fabricavit sua.
2 For the hunger for profit planned it, and wisdom was the craftsman who built it.
3 Tua autem, Pater, providentia gubernat: quoniam dedisti et in mari viam, et inter fluctus semitam firmissimam,
3 Your providence, O Father, guides it along, because even in the sea you gave a way, and in the waves a sure path,
4 ostendens quoniam potens es ex omnibus salvare, etiam si sine arte aliquis adeat mare.
4 showing that you can save out of every danger, that even a man without skill may put to sea.
5 Sed ut non essent vacua sapientiæ tuæ opera, propter hoc etiam et exiguo ligno credunt homines animas suas, et transeuntes mare per ratem liberati sunt.
5 It is your will that the works of your wisdom should not be ineffective. Therefore men also entrust their lives to a little piece of wood, and passing through the surge on a raft come safely to land.
6 Sed et ab initio cum perirent superbi gigantes, spes orbis terrarum ad ratem confugiens, remisit sæculo semen nativitatis quæ manu tua erat gubernata.
6 For in the old time also, when proud giants were perishing, the hope of the world, taking refuge on a raft, your hand guided the seed of generations of the race of men.
7 Benedictum est enim lignum per quod fit justitia;
7 For blessed is wood through which comes righteousness;
8 per manus autem quod fit idolum, maledictum est et ipsum, et qui fecit illud: quia ille quidem operatus est, illud autem cum esset fragile, deus cognominatus est.
8 but the idol made with hands is accursed, itself and he that made it; because his was the working, and the corruptible thing was called a god.
9 Similiter autem odio sunt Deo impius et impietas ejus;
9 For both the ungodly and his ungodliness are alike hateful to God;
10 etenim quod factum est, cum illo qui fecit tormenta patietur.
10 for truly the deed will be punished together with him who committed it.
11 Propter hoc et in idolis nationum non erit respectus, quoniam creaturæ Dei in odium factæ sunt, et in tentationem animabus hominum, et in muscipulam pedibus insipientium.
11 Therefore also there will be a visitation among the idols of the nation, because, though formed of things which God created, they were made an abomination, stumbling blocks to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the foolish.
12 Initium enim fornicationis est exquisitio idolorum, et adinventio illorum corruptio vitæ est:
12 For the devising of idols was the beginning of fornication, and the invention of them the corruption of life.
13 neque enim erant ab initio, neque erunt in perpetuum.
13 For they didn’t exist from the beginning, and they won’t exist forever.
14 Supervacuitas enim hominum hæc advenit in orbem terrarum, et ideo brevis illorum finis est inventus.]
14 For by the boastfulness of men they entered into the world, and therefore a speedy end was planned for them.
15 [Acerbo enim luctu dolens pater, cito sibi rapti filii fecit imaginem; et illum qui tunc quasi homo mortuus fuerat, nunc tamquam deum colere cœpit, et constituit inter servos suos sacra et sacrificia.
15 For a father worn with untimely grief, making an image of the child quickly taken away, now honored him as a god which was then a dead human being, and delivered to those that were under him mysteries and solemn rites.
16 Deinde interveniente tempore, convalescente iniqua consuetudine, hic error tamquam lex custoditus est, et tyrannorum imperio colebantur figmenta.
16 Afterward the ungodly custom, in process of time grown strong, was kept as a law, and the engraved images received worship by the commandments of princes.
17 Et hos quos in palam homines honorare non poterant propter hoc quod longe essent, e longinquo figura eorum allata, evidentem imaginem regis quem honorare volebant fecerunt, ut illum qui aberat, tamquam præsentem colerent sua sollicitudine.
17 And when men could not honor them in presence because they lived far off, imagining the likeness from afar, they made a visible image of the king whom they honored, that by their zeal they might flatter the absent as if present.
18 Provexit autem ad horum culturam et hos qui ignorabant artificis eximia diligentia.
18 But worship was raised to a yet higher pitch, even by those who didn’t know him, urged forward by the ambition of the architect;
19 Ille enim, volens placere illi qui se assumpsit, elaboravit arte sua ut similitudinem in melius figuraret.
19 for he, wishing perhaps to please his ruler, used his art to force the likeness toward a greater beauty.
20 Multitudo autem hominum, abducta per speciem operis, eum qui ante tempus tamquam homo honoratus fuerat, nunc deum æstimaverunt.
20 So the multitude, allured by reason of the grace of his handiwork, now consider an object of devotion him that a little before was honored as a man.
21 Et hæc fuit vitæ humanæ deceptio, quoniam aut affectui aut regibus deservientes homines, incommunicabile nomen lapidibus et lignis imposuerunt.]
21 And this became an ambush, because men, in bondage either to calamity or to tyranny, invested stones and stocks with the Name that shouldn’t be shared.
22 [Et non suffecerat errasse eos circa Dei scientiam, sed et in magno viventes inscientiæ bello, tot et tam magna mala pacem appellant.
22 Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while they live in a great war of ignorance, they call a multitude of evils peace.
23 Aut enim filios suos sacrificantes, aut obscura sacrificia facientes, aut insaniæ plenas vigilias habentes,
23 For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating secret mysteries, or holding frenzied revels of strange customs,
24 neque vitam, neque nuptias mundas jam custodiunt: sed alius alium per invidiam occidit, aut adulterans contristat,
24 no longer do they guard either life or purity of marriage, but one brings upon another either death by treachery, or anguish by adultery.
25 et omnia commista sunt: sanguis, homicidium, furtum et fictio, corruptio et infidelitas, turbatio et perjurium, tumultus bonorum,
25 And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,
26 Dei immemoratio, animarum inquinatio, nativitatis immutatio, nuptiarum inconstantia, inordinatio mœchiæ et impudicitiæ.
26 confusion about what is good, forgetfulness of favors, ingratitude for benefits, defiling of souls, confusion of sex, disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness.
27 Infandorum enim idolorum cultura omnis mali causa est, et initium et finis.
27 For the worship of idols that may not be named is a beginning and cause and end of every evil.
28 Aut enim dum lætantur insaniunt, aut certe vaticinantur falsa, aut vivunt injuste, aut pejerant cito.
28 For their worshipers either make merry to madness, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or lightly commit perjury.
29 Dum enim confidunt in idolis quæ sine anima sunt, male jurantes noceri se non sperant.
29 For putting their trust in lifeless idols, when they have sworn a wicked oath, they expect not to suffer harm.
30 Utraque ergo illis evenient digne, quoniam male senserunt de Deo, attendentes idolis, et juraverunt injuste, in dolo contemnentes justitiam.
30 But on both counts, the just doom will pursue them, because they had evil thoughts of God by giving heed to idols, and swore unrighteously in deceit through contempt for holiness.
31 Non enim juratorum virtus, sed peccantium pœna, perambulat semper injustorum prævaricationem.]
31 For it is not the power of things by which men swear, but it is the just penalty for those who sin that always visits the transgression of the unrighteous.