1 For thine incorruptible Spirit is in all things.
2 Therefore chastenest thou them by little and little that offend, and warnest them by putting them in remembrance wherein they have offended, that leaving their wickedness they may believe on thee, O Lord.
3 For it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers both those old inhabitants of thy holy land,
4 Whom thou hatedst for doing most odious works of witchcrafts, and wicked sacrifices;
5 And also those merciless murderers of children, and devourers of man’s flesh, and the feasts of blood,
6 With their priests out of the midst of their idolatrous crew, and the parents, that killed with their own hands souls destitute of help:
7 That the land, which thou esteemedst above all other, might receive a worthy colony of God’s children.
8 Nevertheless even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps, forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little.
9 Not that thou wast unable to bring the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or to destroy them at once with cruel beasts, or with one rough word:
10 But executing thy judgments upon them by little and little, thou gavest them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a naughty generation, and that their malice was bred in them, and that their cogitation would never be changed.
11 For it was a cursed seed from the beginning; neither didst thou for fear of any man give them pardon for those things wherein they sinned.
12 For who shall say, What hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall accuse thee for the nations that perish, whom thou made? or who shall come to stand against thee, to be revenged for the unrighteous men?
13 For neither is there any God but thou that careth for all, to whom thou mightest shew that thy judgment is not unright.
14 Neither shall king or tyrant be able to set his face against thee for any whom thou hast punished.
15 Forsomuch then as thou art righteous thyself, thou orderest all things righteously: thinking it not agreeable with thy power to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished.
16 For thy power is the beginning of righteousness, and because thou art the Lord of all, it maketh thee to be gracious unto all.
17 For when men will not believe that thou art of a full power, thou shewest thy strength, and among them that know it thou makest their boldness manifest.
18 But thou, mastering thy power, judgest with equity, and orderest us with great favour: for thou mayest use power when thou wilt.
19 But by such works hast thou taught thy people that the just man should be merciful, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope that thou givest repentance for sins.
20 For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy children, and the condemned to death, with such deliberation, giving them time and place, whereby they might be delivered from their malice:
21 With how great circumspection didst thou judge thine own sons, unto whose fathers thou hast sworn, and made covenants of good promises?
22 Therefore, whereas thou dost chasten us, thou scourgest our enemies a thousand times more, to the intent that, when we judge, we should carefully think of thy goodness, and when we ourselves are judged, we should look for mercy.
23 Wherefore, whereas men have lived dissolutely and unrighteously, thou hast tormented them with their own abominations.
24 For they went astray very far in the ways of error, and held them for gods, which even among the beasts of their enemies were despised, being deceived, as children of no understanding.
25 Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of reason, thou didst send a judgment to mock them.
26 But they that would not be reformed by that correction, wherein he dallied with them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God.
27 For, look, for what things they grudged, when they were punished, that is, for them whom they thought to be gods; now being punished in them, when they saw it, they acknowledged him to be the true God, whom before they denied to know: and therefore came extreme damnation upon them.
1 bonus enim spiritus tuus est in omnibus
2 propter quod hos qui exerrant partibus
corripis
et de quibus peccant admonens adloqueris
ut relicta malitia credant in te Domine
3 et illos enim antiquos inhabitatores sanctae tuae terrae odiens
4 quoniam odibilia tibi opera faciebant
per medicamina et sacrificia iniusta
5 et filiorum necatores sine misericordia
et comestores viscerum hominum
devorationem et sanguinis a
medio sacramento tuo
6 et auctores parentes animarum inauxiliatarum
voluisti perdere per manus parentum nostrorum
7 ut dignam perciperent peregrinationem
puerorum Dei
quae tibi omnium carior est terra
8 sed et his tamquam hominibus pepercisti
et misisti antecessores exercitus tui vespas
ut illos paulatim exterminarent
9 non quia inpotens eras in bello subicere impios iustis
aut bestiis saevis aut verbo duro simul exterminare
10 sed partibus iudicans dabas locum paenitentiae
non ignorans quoniam nequa est natio illorum
et naturalis malitia ipsorum
et quoniam non poterat mutari cogitatio illorum in perpetuum
11 semen enim erat maledictum ab initio
nec timens aliquem veniam dabas peccatis illorum
12 quis enim dicet tibi quid fecisti
aut quis stabit contra iudicium tuum
aut quis in conspectum tuum veniet
vindex iniquorum hominum
aut quis tibi inputabit
si nationes perierint quas tu fecisti
13 nec enim est alius Deus quam tu
cuius cura est de omnibus
ut ostendas quoniam non iniuste iudicasti
14 neque rex neque tyrannus in conspectu tuo
inquirent de his quos perdidisti
15 cum sis ergo iustus iuste omnia disponis
ipsum quoque qui non debet puniri condemnas
exterum aestimas a tua virtute
16 virtus enim tua iustitiae initium est
et ob hoc quod omnium Dominus es
omnibus te parcere facis
17 virtutem enim ostendis tu
qui non crederis esse in virtute
consummatus
et hos qui sciunt audaciam traducis
18 tu autem dominator virtutis cum tranquillitate iudicas
et cum magna reverentia disponis nos
subest enim tibi cum voles posse
19 docuisti autem populum tuum per talia opera
quoniam oportet iustum esse et humanum
et bonae spei fecisti filios tuos
quoniam das locum in peccatis paenitentiae
20 si enim inimicos servorum tuorum et debitos morti
cum tanta cruciasti adtentione et liberasti
dans tempus et locum
per quae possint mutari a
malitia
21 cum quanta diligentia iudicasti filios tuos
quorum parentibus iuramenta et conventiones dedisti bonarum promissionum
22 cum ergo nobis disciplinam das
inimicos nostros multipliciter flagellas
ut bonitatem tuam cogitemus iudicantes
et cum de nobis iudicatur speremus misericordiam
23 unde et illis qui in vita sua insensate et iniuste vixerunt
per haec quae coluerunt dedisti summa tormenta
24 etenim in erroris via diutius erraverunt
deos aestimantes haec quae in animalibus sunt supervacua
infantum insensatorum more viventes
25 propter hoc tamquam pueris insensatis iudicium in derisum dedisti
26 qui autem ludibriis increpationis non correpti sunt
dignum Dei iudicium experti sunt
27 in his enim quae patiebantur moleste ferebant
in quibus patientes indignabantur
per haec quos putabant deos in ipsis cum exterminarentur
videntes illum quem olim negabant se nosse
Deum verum agnoverunt
propter quod et finis condemnationis illis veniet