1 et nunc Domine omnipotens Deus Israhel
anima in angustiis et spiritus anxius clamat ad te
2 audi Domine et miserere quia Deus es misericors
et miserere nostri quia peccavimus ante te
3 quia tu sedes in sempiternum et nos peribimus in aevum
4 Domine omnipotens Deus Israhel
audi nunc orationem mortuorum Israhel et filiorum ipsorum
qui peccaverunt ante te et non audierunt vocem Domini Dei sui
et adglutinata sunt nobis mala
5 noli meminisse iniquitates patrum nostrorum
sed memento manus tuae et nominis tui in tempore isto
6 quia tu es Dominus Deus noster et laudabimus te Domine
7 quia propter hoc dedisti timorem tuum in cordibus nostris
et ut invocemus nomen tuum et laudemus te in captivitate nostra
quia convertemus iniquitatem patrum nostrorum
qui peccaverunt ante te
8 et ecce nos hodie in captivitate nostra sumus
quo nos dispersisti in inproperium et in maledictum et in
peccatum
secundum omnes iniquitates patrum nostrorum
qui discesserunt a te Domine Deus noster
9 audi Israhel mandata vitae
auribus percipite ut scias prudentiam
10 quid est Israhel quid est quod in terra es inimicorum
11 inveterasti in terra aliena coinquinatus es cum mortuis
deputatus es cum descendentibus in infernum
12 dereliquisti fontem sapientiae
13 si in via Dei ambulasses habitasses in pace
sempiterna
14 disce ubi sit prudentia ubi sit virtus ubi sit intellectus
ut scias simul ubi sit longiturnitas vitae et victus
ubi sit lumen oculorum et pax
15 quis invenit locum eius et quis intravit in thesauros eius
16 ubi sunt principes gentium
et qui dominantur super bestias quae sunt super terram
17 qui in avibus caeli inludunt
18 qui argentum thesaurizant
et aurum in quo confidebant homines
et non est finis adquisitionis eorum
qui argentum fabricant et solliciti sunt
nec est inventio operum illorum
19 exterminati sunt et ad inferos descenderunt
et alii loco eorum exsurrexerunt
20 iuvenes viderunt lumen et habitaverunt super terram
viam autem disciplinae ignoraverunt
21 neque intellexerunt semitas eius
neque filii eorum susceperunt eam
a facie ipsorum longe facta est
22 non est audita in terra Chanaan neque visa est in Theman
23 filii quoque Agar qui exquirunt prudentiam quae de terra est
negotiatores Merrae et Theman
et fabulatores et exquisitores intellegentiae
viam autem sapientiae nescierunt
neque commemorati sunt semitas eius
24 o Israhel quam magna est domus Dei
et ingens locus possessionis eius
25 magnus et non habet finem excelsus et inmensus
26 ibi fuerunt gigantes nominati illi qui ab initio fuerunt
statura magna scientes bellum
27 non hos elegit Deus
neque viam disciplinae dedit illis
et perierunt
28 eo quod non haberent
sapientiam
et perierunt propter insipientiam suam
29 quis ascendit in caelum et accepit eam
et deduxit eam de nubibus
30 quis transfretavit mare et invenit illam
et adtulit illam super aurum electum
31 non est qui possit scire viam eius
neque qui exquirat semitas eius
32 sed qui scit universa novit eam
et invenit eam prudentia sua
qui praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore
et replevit eam pecudibus et quadrupedibus
33 qui emittit lumen et vadit
et vocavit illud et obaudit illi in tremore
34 stellae autem lumen dederunt in custodiis suis et laetatae sunt
35 vocatae sunt et dixerunt adsumus
et luxerunt ei cum iucunditate qui fecit illas
36 hic Deus noster
non aestimabitur alius adversus eum
37 hic adinvenit omnem viam disciplinae
et tradidit illam Iacob puero suo et Israhel dilecto suo
38 post haec in terris visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est
1 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.
3 For thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly.
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.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our forefathers: but think upon thy power and thy name now at this time.
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.
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.
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.
9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom.
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,
11 That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever.
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.
15 Who hath found out her place? or who hath come into her treasures?
16 Where are the princes of the heathen become, and such as ruled the beasts upon the earth;
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?
18 For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are unsearchable,
19 They are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are come up in their steads.
20 Young men have seen light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known,
21 Nor understood the paths thereof, nor laid hold of it: their children were far off from that way.
22 It hath not been heard of in Chanaan, neither hath it been seen 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.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession!
25 Great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable.
26 There were the giants famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war.
27 Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them:
28 But they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness.
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for pure gold?
31 No man knoweth her way, nor thinketh of her path.
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:
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.
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.
35 This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him
36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
37 Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.