Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3, Catholic Public Domain Version

1. ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation.

   Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis ejus.

2. 2

   ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.

   Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.

3. 3

   ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long.

   Tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die.

4. 4

   BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.

   Vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam; contrivit ossa mea.

5. 5

   BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.

   Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle et labore.

6. 6

   BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.

   In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.

7. 7

   GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.

   Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar; aggravavit compedem meum.

8. 8

   GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.

   Sed et cum clamavero, et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.

9. 9

   GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths.

   Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris; semitas meas subvertit.

10. 10

    DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding.

    Ursus insidians factus est mihi, leo in absconditis.

11. 11

    DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation.

    Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me; posuit me desolatam.

12. 12

    DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.

    Tetendit arcum suum, et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam.

13. 13

    HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver.

    Misit in renibus meis filias pharetræ suæ.

14. 14

    HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day.

    Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo, canticum eorum tota die.

15. 15

    HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.

    Replevit me amaritudinibus; inebriavit me absinthio.

16. 16

    VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes.

    Et fregit ad numerum dentes meos; cibavit me cinere.

17. 17

    VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.

    Et repulsa est a pace anima mea; oblitus sum bonorum.

18. 18

    VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.”

    Et dixi: Periit finis meus, et spes mea a Domino.

19. 19

    ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.

    Recordare paupertatis, et transgressionis meæ, absinthii et fellis.

20. 20

    ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me.

    Memoria memor ero, et tabescet in me anima mea.

21. 21

    ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope.

    Hæc recolens in corde meo, ideo sperabo.

22. 22

    HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away.

    Misericordiæ Domini, quia non sumus consumpti; quia non defecerunt miserationes ejus.

23. 23

    HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness.

    Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.

24. 24

    HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him.

    Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea; propterea exspectabo eum.

25. 25

    TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.

    Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.

26. 26

    TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God.

    Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.

27. 27

    TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth.

    Bonum est viro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua.

28. 28

    JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself.

    Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit, quia levavit super se.

29. 29

    JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope.

    Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit spes.

30. 30

    JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches.

    Dabit percutienti se maxillam: saturabitur opprobriis.

31. 31

    CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever.

    Quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus.

32. 32

    CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies.

    Quia si abjecit, et miserebitur, secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum.

33. 33

    CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,

    Non enim humiliavit ex corde suo et abjecit filios hominum.

34. 34

    LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,

    Ut conteret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terræ.

35. 35

    LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,

    Ut declinaret judicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi.

36. 36

    LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this.

    Ut perverteret hominem in judicio suo; Dominus ignoravit.

37. 37

    MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command?

    Quis est iste qui dixit ut fieret, Domino non jubente?

38. 38

    MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High?

    Ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona?

39. 39

    MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins?

    Quid murmuravit homo vivens, vir pro peccatis suis?

40. 40

    NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord.

    Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.

41. 41

    NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens.

    Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.

42. 42

    NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.

    Nos inique egimus, et ad iracundiam provocavimus; idcirco tu inexorabilis es.

43. 43

    SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.

    Operuisti in furore, et percussisti nos; occidisti, nec pepercisti.

44. 44

    SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through.

    Opposuisti nubem tibi, ne transeat oratio.

45. 45

    SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.

    Eradicationem et abjectionem posuisti me in medio populorum.

46. 46

    PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us.

    Aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici.

47. 47

    PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief.

    Formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio, et contritio.

48. 48

    PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people.

    Divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus, in contritione filiæ populi mei.

49. 49

    AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest

    Oculus meus afflictus est, nec tacuit, eo quod non esset requies.

50. 50

    AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.

    Donec respiceret et videret Dominus de cælis.

51. 51

    AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city.

    Oculus meus deprædatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meæ.

52. 52

    SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason.

    Venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis.

53. 53

    SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me.

    Lapsa est in lacum vita mea, et posuerunt lapidem super me.

54. 54

    SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.”

    Inundaverunt aquæ super caput meum; dixi: Perii.

55. 55

    COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.

    Invocavi nomen tuum, Domine, de lacu novissimo.

56. 56

    COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries.

    Vocem meam audisti; ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo et clamoribus.

57. 57

    COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.”

    Appropinquasti in die quando invocavi te; dixisti: Ne timeas.

58. 58

    RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life.

    Judicasti, Domine, causam animæ meæ, redemptor vitæ meæ.

59. 59

    RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case.

    Vidisti, Domine, iniquitatem illorum adversum me: judica judicium meum.

60. 60

    RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me.

    Vidisti omnem furorem, universas cogitationes eorum adversum me.

61. 61

    SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.

    Audisti opprobrium eorum, Domine, omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me.

62. 62

    SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long.

    Labia insurgentium mihi, et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die.

63. 63

    SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.

    Sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum vide; ego sum psalmus eorum.

64. 64

    THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.

    Redes eis vicem, Domine, juxta opera manuum suarum.

65. 65

    THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.

    Dabis eis scutum cordis, laborem tuum.

66. 66

    THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.

    Persequeris in furore, et conteres eos sub cælis, Domine.

Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain · Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592)