Commodianus: Carmen de Duobus Populis

Quis poterit unum proprie Deum nosse caelorum,
Nisi quem is tulerit + ab errore nefando?
Errabam ignarus spatians spe captus inani,
Dum furor aetatis primae me portabat in auras.
Plus eram quam palea leuior; quasi centum inessent
In umeris capita, sic praeceps quocumque ferebar.

Who will be able properly to know the one God of the heavens,
unless it be one whom He has borne away from nefarious error?
I was wandering, ignorant, walking about, captured by empty hope,
while the frenzy of prime age was carrying me into the airs.
I was lighter even than chaff; as if a hundred heads were in my
shoulders, so headlong was I borne whithersoever.

Non satis his rebus, criminosus denique Marsus
Paene fui factus herbas incantando malignas.
Sed gratias Domino (nec sufficit uox mea tantum
Reddere) qui misero uacillanti tandem adluxit!
Adgressusque fui traditus in codice legis
Quid ibi rescirem; statim mihi lampada fulsit.

Not content with these things, a criminal Marsian at last
I almost was made by incanting malign herbs.
But thanks to the Lord (nor does my voice suffice so much
To render) who at last shone upon me, a wretched, vacillating man!
And I set about and was delivered into the codex of the Law
To ascertain what I might learn there; immediately a lamp flashed for me.

Tunc uero agnoui Deum <dominum> summum in altis,
Et ideo tales hortor ab errore recedant.
Quis melior medicus nisi passus uulneris auctus?
Multi quidem bruti et ignoti, corde sopiti,
Nihil sibi praeponunt cognoscere; more ferino
Quaerunt, quod rapiant aut quorum sanguine uiuant.

Then indeed I recognized God, the supreme <lord>, in the heights,
and therefore I exhort such as these to recede from error.
Who is a better medic, unless one augmented by having suffered a wound?
Many indeed brutish and ignorant, their heart lulled asleep,
they prefer to know nothing for themselves; in a ferine manner
they seek what they may seize, or on whose blood they may live.

Dummodo laetentur saginati uiuere porci,
Ingerunt ut tumulum se pulchrum, dum plaudent diuitiis.
<Diuites> mutabuntur <a> paupera ueste fastidiis.
Sufficeret illis utique, quod promptius edunt.

Provided that fattened pigs rejoice to live,
they heap up for themselves a beautiful tomb, while they applaud riches.
<The rich> will be changed <from> poor clothing out of fastidiousness.
Surely what they eat more readily would suffice for them.

Si pinguis est opibus, sibi sit, si Caesari dignus:
Quid sua praeponunt? fragilis nec respicit ullum.
Communicet immo talis bonitatem in omnes
Cui Summus diuitias, honores addidit altos.

If he is fat with resources, let them be his; if he is worthy of Caesar:
Why do they put their own things first? Fortune is fragile and regards no one.
Nay rather, let such a man communicate his goodness to all,
to whom the Most High has added riches and lofty honors.

Nec enim uitupero diuitias datas a Summo,
Sed culpandus erit, qui superextollitur illis.
Suadeo nunc ergo altos sic et humiles omnes,
Ut legant assidue uel ista uel cetera legis.
Aspice, quam breuis est nobis credita uita
Discite, quapropter moriamur nati, prudentes!

Nor indeed do I vituperate the riches given by the Most High,
But he will be culpable who is over-exalted by them.
I now therefore advise both the high and the humble, all,
That they read assiduously either these things or the other things of the Law.
Behold, how brief is the life entrusted to us
Learn why we, being born, die, O prudent ones!

Quid hebetes morimur, quid profuit lucem uidisse?
Si nihil inquiras, hoc est beluarum adesse.
Certe Deus summus hominem praeposuit aruis
Non feram nec pecudem.

Why, dull, do we die? What has it profited to have seen the light?
If you inquire into nothing, this is to be of brutes.
Surely the Most High God appointed the human over the arable fields,
not a feral beast nor a herd-beast.

Cur nos similemus ad illo
Omnipotens uoluit hominem sibi praebere laudes;
Idcirco futura docuit nos ipse diuinus.
Quem ut crederemus, non tantum uerbo sonauit
Sed et demonstrauit fortia Pharaone decepto.
Non solum hoc fecit: et Noe sub tempora quoque
Ostendit, quae poterat, quoniam Deum nemo quaerebat.

Why do we make ourselves like to that?
The Omnipotent willed that man should render lauds to Himself;
for that reason the Divine One Himself taught us the things to come.
In order that we might believe Him, He did not only sound by word
but also demonstrated mighty things, with Pharaoh deceived.
Not only did He do this: and in the times of Noah as well
He showed what He could, since no one was seeking God.

Mitior exinde paulatim coepit adesse,
Diluuio facto quo posset terra repleri.
Iam paene medietas annorum sex milibus ibat,
Et nemo scibat Dominum, passimque uiuentes.
Sed Deus, ut uidit hominum nimis [ut] pectora clausa,
Adloquitur Abraham, quem Moyses enuntiat ipsum.

A milder temper thereafter gradually began to be present,
the Deluge having been brought about by which the earth could be refilled.
Already almost the half of six thousand years was passing along,
and no one knew the Lord, and they were living everywhere at random.
But God, when he saw [that] the hearts of men were too closed,
addresses Abraham, whom Moses himself enunciates.

Ipse dedit legem populo Pharaone necato,
Et quis esset, Dominus ipse se praedixit ab illo.
Nec una contentus prophetica uoce se promit,
Sed multos adhibuit testes, qui de illo clamant.
Hunc ergo, cum legitis multorum praeconia <uatum>,
Inuenietis eum carnem inuenisse pro nobis.

He himself gave the law to the people, with Pharaoh slain,
and who he was, the Lord himself predeclared himself through him.
Nor, content with a single prophetic voice, does he put himself forth,
but he brought in many witnesses, who cry out about him.
This one, therefore, when you read the proclamations of many <prophets>,
you will find that he has found flesh for us.

Unde nunc erratur, ordinasse talia Summum,
Et quasi subsannant, nec sciunt, quod ab ipso ridentur
Interdum subicio, qualiter praelegi prophetas,
Et rudes edoceo, ubi sit spes uitae ponenda.
Quid Deus in primis uel qualiter singula fecit,
Iam Moyses edocuit; nos autem de Christo docemus.
Non sum ego uates nec doctor iussus ut essem,
Sed pando praedicta uatum oberrantibus austris.

Whence now men err, that the Supreme has ordained such things,
and, as it were, they jeer, nor do they know that by him they are laughed at.
At times I subjoin how I have lectured on the prophets,
and I instruct the unlearned where the hope of life is to be placed.
What God at first, or how he made each several thing,
Moses has already taught; but we teach concerning Christ.
I am not a vates nor a doctor commanded that I should be,
but I unfold the things foretold by the vates to those wandering in errant south-winds.

Ergo mei similes, quos raptim aura deportat,
Quaerite iam portum, ubi sunt pericula nulla.
Agricola doctus tempestiua longe dinoscit
Et, priusquam ueniant, recolligit se<se> sub antra.
Estote prudentes, quod imminet ante uidete
Et, priusquam ueniant clades, prouidete saluti.

Therefore, you who are like me, whom the breeze carries off in haste,
seek now a harbor, where there are no dangers.
A learned farmer discerns seasonable times from afar,
and, before they arrive, gathers himself back beneath the caves.
Be prudent; see beforehand what is impending,
and, before disasters come, provide for your salvation.

Ignauia pueris opus est, non certe robustis:
Si decet hoc rudibus, non conuenit aeuo maturis.
Quam quidem, pars hominum, non sit moderata uetustas,
Sic erit ut perna minime salfacta: putrescat.
Nemo petram subigit nisi solus ignis ad escam:
Saxei sic homines mollescunt sero gehennae.

Sloth is for boys, certainly not for the robust:
If this befits the untrained, it does not suit those mature in age.
Which indeed, O portion of mankind, if it be not moderated by vetusty,
thus it will be like a ham scarcely salted: it rots.
No one subdues rock, save fire alone, to make it food:
So stone-like men grow soft late by Gehenna.

Clamamus in uacuum surdis referenda procellis
Et lumen offerimus caecis sine causa praebentes.
Stat miles ad missa<m>: unus audit, et excutit alter
Nec accipit corde monita, sed perditus errat.
Quis modo relinquit (iudices estote de istis!),
Qui monet aut ille, qui non uult dicto parere?

We cry into the vacuum, things to be borne back to deaf tempests
And we offer light to the blind, proffering it without cause.
The soldier stands at the Mass<m>: one hears, and another shakes it off
Nor does he receive the monitions in his heart, but, lost, he wanders.
Who now is it that abandons (be judges of these!),
the one who warns, or he who is unwilling to obey the dictum?

Spero, reus non est, qui Caesaris dictos obaudit,
Contrarius autem perdit sua<m> uita<m> superbus.
Interdum quod meum est, qui prius erraui, demonstro
Rectum iter uobis, qui adhuc erratis inanes.
Uos tamen eligite, arbitrio uestro placentes,

Quis uelit uenenum aut suauia pocula uitae!

I hope, he is not guilty, who obeys Caesar’s edicts,
But the contrary man, the proud one, ruins his own life.
At times, what is mine, I, who earlier erred, demonstrate
The straight road to you who still err in vain.
You, however, choose, as it pleases your own judgment,

Who would wish poison or the sweet cups of life!

Bonum et malum est in ista natura creatum
Ut homo post fata probetur quis Deo dignus.
Adgredere iam nunc, quisquis es, perennia nosse:
Disce, Deus qui sit uel cuius nomine adsit!
Est Deus omnipotens, unus, a semetipso creatus,
Quem infra reperies magnum et humilem ipsum.

Good and evil is created in this nature
So that a man, after death, may be proved who is worthy of God.
Approach now, whoever you are, to know the perennial things:
Learn who God is, or in whose name he is present!
There is an omnipotent God, one, created from himself,
whom below you will find great and humble himself.

Is erat in uerbo positus, sibi solo notatus,
Qui pater et filius dicitur et spiritus sanctus.
Sed ex quo decreuit mundum componere signis,
Ignem interposuit metuendum angelis ipsis.
Quos tamen distribuit minoris potentiae factos,
Ut regerent caelos et terram et subdita terrae.

He was set in the Word, marked to himself alone,
who is called Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
But from the time when he decreed to compose the world with signs,
he interposed a fire to be feared by the angels themselves.
Whom, however, he distributed, made of lesser potency,
so that they might rule the heavens and the earth and the things subject to the earth.

Hunc ergo nec ipsi nuntii dinoscere possunt,
Qualis sit aut quantus, nisi quod praecepta sequuntur.
Est honor absconsus nobis et angelis ipsis,
Relucet immensa super caelos et sine fine;
Aureum est totum, quod est quasi flammea uirtus.
Illic Dei numen est tantum sine cognita forma,
Illa sunt secreta solo Deo nota caelorum.

This one therefore not even the messengers themselves are able to discern,
what sort he is or how great, except that they follow precepts.
There is an honor hidden from us and from the angels themselves,
it re-shines immense above the heavens and without end;
it is all golden, which is as if a flaming virtue (power).
There the numen of God is only, without a known form,
those are the secrets of the heavens known to God alone.

Haec gloria Dei est unica super angelos omnes,
Hoc Deus est lucis aeternae, hoc spiritus aeui.
In primitiua sua qualis sit, a nullo uidetur,
Detransfiguratur, sicut uult ostendere sese.
Praebet se uisibilem angelis iuxta formam eorum
Et homini fit homo, ceterum Deus urbo probat<ur>.
Idcirco nec poterit tanti Dei forma dinosci;
Quidquid est, unum est, immenso lumine solus;
Ubi facies aut oculi aut os aut membra notantur,
Inde pugillo suo concludere circulum orbis.

This glory of God is unique above all angels,
This is God of eternal light, this is the spirit of the aeon.
In his primordial state what he is like is seen by no one,
He is transfigured, just as he wills to show himself.
He offers himself visible to the angels according to their form,
And to man he becomes man; moreover, God is proved by word.
Therefore neither can the form of so great a God be discerned;
Whatever he is, he is one, alone with immense light;
Where face or eyes or mouth or limbs are marked out,
From there with his fist he encloses the circle of the world.

At tamen cum uoluit sciri de se ipso qui esset,
Numine de tanto fecit se uideri capacem.
Sunt quibus in ignem apparuit uoce locutus;
Sumptus est in carnem, quem regio nulla capebat.
Hic Deus omnipotens, Dominus suae conditionis,
Cum sit inuisibilis, facit se uideri quibusdam.

And yet, when he wished that it be known of himself who he was,
by so great a numen he made himself capable of being seen.
There are those to whom he appeared in fire, speaking with a voice;
He was assumed into flesh, whom no region could contain.
This God Almighty, Lord of his own creation,
although he is invisible, makes himself to be seen by certain ones.

Qui formatur modo, <modo> se diffundit in auras,
Cuius nec initium nec finem quaerere fas est.
Hic sine initio semper est Deus et sine fine,
Qui, prius quam faceret caelum, ferebatur in aeuum;
Quidquid tenet caelum, prospicit ubique de caelo
Et penetrat totum oculis et auribus audit.
Huic ergo placuit carnalem mundi tenorem,
Ut exaltaretur sola sempiterna maiestas.

Who now is formed, <modo> diffuses himself into the airs,
of whom it is not lawful to seek either beginning or end.
This one without beginning is always God and without end,
who, before he made heaven, was borne in the aeon;
whatever heaven contains, he looks out upon everywhere from heaven
and he penetrates the whole with his eyes and hears with his ears.
To him, therefore, the carnal tenor of the world was pleasing,
so that the sole sempiternal majesty might be exalted.

Nam, quod erat ante, referre nunc ardua res est;
Sit licet descriptum, non sit nobis cura de illis.
Cum haec, quae uidemus, non possumus tangere tota,
Quis poterit scire, quid sit trans Oceani fine<m>?
Et caelum uidemus, sed illic quid intus agatur,
Nullo datur scire, donec fiat exitus aeui.
Sufficiat tantum de futuro nosse promissa;
Ad illa tendamus cupidi, tota mente deuoti.

For, what was before, to recount now is an arduous matter;
Let it be described, let there be no care for us about those things.
Since these things which we see, we cannot touch in their totality,
Who will be able to know what is beyond the Ocean’s limit?
And we see the heaven, but what is being done within there,
It is granted to no one to know, until the exit of the age takes place.
Let it suffice only to know the promises about the future;
Toward those let us tend, desirous, wholly devoted in mind.

Sicut auis Phoenix meditatur a morte renasci,
Dat nobis exemplum, post funera surgere posse;
Hoc Deus omnipotens uel maxime credere suadet,
Quod ueniet tempus defunctorum uiuere rursum;
Sit licet nunc puluis, iaceant licet ossa nudata,
Integratur homo, ut fuerat, qui mortuus olim,
Et gratia maior tunc erit istius aeui,
Non dolor nec lacrimae tunc erunt in corpore nostro,
Non caro recipiet ferrum, non pustula surget.
Hoc Deus instituet, ut sit illi gloria maior.
Hic fecerat primum hominem, ut esset aeternus,
Sed ruit in mortem neglectis ille praeceptis.

Just as the bird Phoenix meditates to be reborn from death,
it gives us an example that after funerals one can rise;
this the Omnipotent God most of all urges us to believe,
that there will come a time for the defunct to live again;
although now it be dust, although the bared bones may lie,
man is reintegrated, as he had been, who once was dead,
and the grace of that age will then be greater,
no pain nor tears will then be in our body,
the flesh will not receive iron, no pustule will rise.
God will institute this, that there may be to him greater glory.
He had made the first man, that he might be eternal,
but he fell into death, the precepts neglected.

Propter quae storias tantas Deus esse parauit
Ut inuentiones diabuli detegeret omnes.
Rectorem in terra dederat Deus angelum istum:
Qui, dum inuidetur homini, perit ipse priorque.
Interea iustos per ipsos cernit ad actos
Et facinerosa Cain [in] gehenna reseruat.

Because of which God prepared such great stories
that he might uncover all the inventions of the devil.
God had given this angel as a ruler on earth:
who, while he envied man, perished himself, and first.
Meanwhile he discerns the righteous by their very deeds,
and he reserves the wicked Cain [in] Gehenna.

In scelere coepit uersari gens omnis humana,
Nec respicientes, quis esset creator eorum.
Quod Deus excelsus indigne pertulit illud,
Deicere proposuit uniuersa paene creata.
Deicitur et legitur Noe liberatus ab aqua,
Ceteri diluuio perierunt ira caelesti.

In crime the entire human race began to be engaged,
Not regarding who was their creator.
Which the Most High God bore indignantly,
He proposed to cast down almost all created things.
It is said and it is read that Noah was liberated from the water,
the rest perished in the deluge by heavenly ire.

Hinc, sicut initio, paulatim terra repletur.
Cessit prius facinus, sed alter<a> clades adhaesit.
Adgressi sunt stulti turrem fabricare sub astris
Ut quasi per illam possent ascendere caelos.

From here, just as at the beginning, the earth is gradually replenished.
The former crime gave way, but another calamity adhered.
The foolish undertook to fabricate a tower beneath the stars
so that, as if through it, they might be able to ascend the heavens.

Quod Deus ut uidit fieri sub una loquella
Descendit et fecit, loquerentur lingua diuersa.
Quos inde disparsit per insulas terrae semotos,
Ut fierent gentes uario sermone loquentes.
Tunc genus indocile uitam feritatis agebat;
Nemo Deum sciebat, disputabat nemo de uita.

When God saw that this was being done under one speech,
he descended and caused them to speak a diverse tongue.
Those he then scattered through the remote islands of the earth,
so that they might become nations speaking with varied speech.
Then the indocile race was living a life of ferity;
no one knew God, no one disputed about life.

Irrepserat quoniam rudibus temerarius ille
Per latices animae, deprauauit mentes acerbas
Persuasitque dolo coitus infandos amare,
Uiuere rapinis in gaudio sanguine fuso.
Hanc gloriam stulti prosequuntur tempore paruo;
Quo nulla uenia liberat se dicendo seductos.
Si suadet adulter, culpa est tua prosequi talem;
Non ille te damnat, sed tu tua sponte te damnas.

Since that temerarious one had crept in among the rude,
through the waters of the soul, he depraved unripe minds
and by guile persuaded them to love unspeakable couplings,
to live by rapine, in joy with blood poured out.
Fools pursue this glory for a short time;
where no pardon frees them by saying they were seduced.
If an adulterer urges, the fault is yours to pursue such a one;
it is not he who condemns you, but you condemn yourself of your own accord.

Errabant indocti ueteris fallacia hostis,
Obliti Dominum, opera maligna sequentes.
Quod, diu ne fieret grassatio tanta latronis,
Tempore partito miseratus est tandem ablato.
Complacuit illi colloqui cum uno de multis,
Ut faceret populum ad se transeundo dilectum.

The unlearned were erring, by the fallacy of the ancient enemy,
Oblivious of the Lord, following malignant works.
Wherefore, lest for long there should be so great a brigandage of the robber,
with the apportioned time at last taken away, he took pity.
It was pleasing to him to hold colloquy with one out of many,
that he might make for himself a people beloved by passing over to him.

Ex eo ceperunt unum Deum esse profani
Et fieri populus secundum Dei decreta.
Duos enim populos distinxerat ex se Rebecca:
Hic prior est factus, alter ut succederet illi.
In Aegypto primum in Israhel concreuit alumnus;
Inde Deus illos eiecit duce Moyse,
Per quem dedit illis <ipse> legem in monte Sina,
Ut nostra posteritas Dominum cognosceret unum.

From this the profane began to perceive that there is one God
and to become a people according to the decrees of God.
For Rebecca had distinguished from herself two peoples:
the former was made first, the latter so that he might succeed him.
In Egypt at first the nursling, Israel, grew;
thence God led them out, with Moses as leader,
through whom he <himself> gave them the law on Mount Sinai,
so that our posterity might know the one Lord.

Deinde prophetas ex ipsis dicere iussit,
Quod Deus in hominem depretiatur ab illis.
Induxerat eos Dominus in terra promissa,
Ut ibi sub lege uiuerent, donec ipse ueniret.
Gens ingrata bonis noluit iugum ferre praeceptis,
Sed magis in scelere prisco reuoluta florebat;
Nec umquam desinuit: hodie quoque talis habetur;
Praetermisso Deo luxuria<s> saeculi mauult.

Then he ordered prophets from among them to speak,
that God, in becoming man, is depreciated by them.
The Lord had led them into the promised land,
that there they might live under the law, until he himself should come.
The nation, ungrateful for good things, did not wish to bear the yoke of the precepts,
but, rolled back into ancient crime, flourished the more;
nor did it ever cease: even today it is held such;
with God passed over, it prefers the luxuries of the age.

Quod maxime Dominus cogit euitare dilectos;
Abscisos in totum a saeculo praemonet esse.
Si filios dixit, in illius sancta moremur;
Quid foris egredimur adulteri pompa<s> sequentes?
Seductor antiquus per talia decipit omnes:
Immittit luxurias, per quas perdat filios Alti
Agonia mitti, spe<cta>culis ire cruentis
Aut nimis obscenis, impudica nosse pudicis.

What the Lord most of all compels the beloved to avoid;
He forewarns that they be cut off entirely from the world.
If he has said “sons,” let us abide in his holy things;
Why do we go forth outside, following adulterous pomps?
The ancient seducer through such things deceives all:
He sends in luxuries, through which he may destroy the sons of the Most High
to be sent to the arena, to go to bloody spectacles
Or to ones too obscene, for the chaste to know the shameless.

Si fuerat castus, incestus proficit inde
Et placens adridens, quem tunc mala gaudia temptant.
In istis luxuriis populus primitiuus agebat
Et a lege Dei semper recedebat inermis.
Ad quos emundandos saepe Deus misit alumnos
Ut illos corrig<er>ent deprauatos denuo Summo.

If he had been chaste, from there he advances to incestuousness,
and, pleasing and smiling, him then do evil joys tempt.
In these luxuries the primitive people lived,
and from the law of God he always was retreating, unarmed.
To cleanse them God often sent his nurslings,
that they might correct those, depraved, back again to the Most High.

Excipere numquam uoluerunt dicta diuina
Sed uoluntate sua saeuierunt semper inepti.
Mactabant iustos redarguentes illos inique
Dum nollent accipere frenum disciplinae caelestis.
Esaiam serrant, lapidant Hieremiam erecti,
Iohannem decollant, iugulant Zachariam ad aras.

they never were willing to receive the divine sayings
but by their own will the inept always raged.
they slaughtered the just, unjustly redarguing them
while they were unwilling to accept the bridle of celestial discipline.
they saw Isaiah, they stone Jeremiah, standing up,
they behead John, they slit the throat of Zechariah at the altars.

Et uenit et ipse, fuerat qui praedictus ab illis,
Et patitur, quomodo uoluit, sub imagine nostra.
Cuius in exitio omnis prophetia repleta est.
Dixerat hunc Daniel nouissimum esse prophetis.

And he himself came, who had been predicted by them,
and he suffers, as he willed, under our image.
In whose end all prophecy was replete.
Daniel had said that this one was the last among the prophets.

Is erat, quem propter uates de tuba canebant,
In sua uenturum propria, quem sui negarent.
Improuidi semper et dura ceruice recalces,
Dum respuunt forma<m>, sacramenta legis amittunt.
Non illos iustitia, humilis non caro nata refregit,
Nec bonitas tanta aut aegrorum cura de uerbo.

He was the one, on whose account the prophets were singing from the trumpet,
that he would come into his own, whom his own would deny.
Unprovident always, and with a hard neck they recalcitrate,
while they reject the form, they lose the sacraments of the law.
Not did justice break them, nor the humble flesh born,
nor such great goodness, nor the care of the sick by the word.

O pia religio, o tam ueneranda maiestas,
Cuius medicina taliter in terra profecit!
Non ullum de ferro secuit, non emplastro curauit,
Sed sine tormento statim suo dicto sanauit.
Talia uidentes turbabant<ur> mente Iudaei,
Qui magis inuidia ducti sunt in zelo liuoris,
Non respicientes prophetarum dicta sepulti,
Quod ueniret homo talis, qui dispergeret illos.

O pious religion, O so venerable majesty,
whose medicine has thus prospered on earth!
It cut no one with iron, it cured no one with a plaster,
but without torment at once it healed by its own word.
Seeing such things, the Jews were troubled in mind,
who, rather led by envy in the zeal of ill-will,
not regarding the sayings of the prophets, themselves buried,
that such a man would come who would disperse them.

Quousque ueniret Dominus, prophetae caneba<n>t:
Ex eo, quo uenit, tacuit prophetia Iudaeis.
Post quem in exilium deuenerunt corde durato
Nec modo dinoscunt, quapropter sint talia passi.
Praedictum fuerat illis ab Esaia propheta
Et Danihelo similiter perdere terram;
Quam non ante tamen, nisi dux ciuitatis in ipsa
Penderet in ligno, fieret deserta deinde.

Until the Lord should come, the prophets prophesied:
From the time when he came, prophecy fell silent for the Jews.
After whom they came down into exile with a hardened heart
Nor even now do they discern for what reason they have suffered such things.
It had been foretold to them by the prophet Isaiah
and likewise by Daniel, that they would lose the land;
which, however, not before the leader of the city in it
should hang upon the wood; thereafter it would be made desolate.

Desubito qualis obfulsit gloria genti,
Ut fieret populus, populus qui non erat ante!
Non fuit adtonitus Esau dilectus a patre,
Iunior quod frater primitiua toll<er>et ille?
Sic nec sinagoga potuit cognoscere tempus,
Quando et quo duce caderet de suo priuato;
Sicut erat scriptum, quod auis sua tempora norunt,
Nam populus iste non me intellexit adesse.

All of a sudden, what sort of glory shone upon the nation,
so that there came to be a people, a people who had not been before!
Was not Esau, beloved by his father, astonished,
that the younger brother would carry off the firstborn prerogatives?
Thus neither could the synagogue recognize the time,
when and under what leader it would fall from its own prerogative;
just as it had been written, that birds know their seasons,
for this people did not understand that I was present.

Uentum est, ut ipse dominator caeli ueniret:
Secundum scripturas non est computatus ab ipsis.
Praescius hoc fuerat Dominus, quasi cuncta qui nouit;
Idcirco per ora prophetarum ista praedixit.
Gens ceruicosa nimis semperque rebellans
Dum sibi primatum uindicaret, causa resecta est.

It came to pass that the very ruler of heaven came:
According to the Scriptures he was not reckoned by them.
The Lord was prescient of this, as one who knows all things;
Therefore through the mouths of the prophets he foretold these things.
A nation exceedingly stiff-necked and ever rebelling,
While it was claiming primacy for itself, the cause was cut off.

In quorum stadia gentiles esse praefecit;
Dixerat hoc ante: Gentes sperabunt in ipsum.
Nam lapis immissus ipse est in fundamenta Sion
Crederet in quo quis, haberet uitam aeternam.
Hunc sanctum sanctorum Daniel perungii designat
Et exterminari post illum chrisma regale.

In whose stadia he appointed the Gentiles to be prefects;
He had said this before: The nations will hope in him.
For the stone sent is he himself in the foundations of Zion,
in whom whoever would believe would have eternal life.
This one, as the Holy of holies, Daniel designates to be anointed,
and that after him the royal chrism be abolished.

Dauid illud dixit, clauis configi silentem:
Effoderunt, inquit, manus meas et pedes ipsi.
Salomon quoque tam aperte de illo prophetat,
Occidamus iustum! dicturos esse Iudaeos.

David said this, that the Silent One be affixed with nails:
They have dug, he says, my hands and my feet themselves.
Solomon also so openly prophesies about him,
that the Jews would say, Let us kill the Just One!

Hieremias totidem crucem figurate demonstrat:
Uenite, mittamus lignum in pane! dicentes.
Dux autem ipsorum Moyses praeconiat illis:
Ante tuos oculos pendebit uita necata.

Jeremiah likewise shows the cross figuratively:
Come, let us put wood into the bread! saying.
But their leader Moses proclaims beforehand to them:
Before your eyes the slain life will hang.

Hic pater in filio uenit, Deus unus ubique:
Nec pater est dictus, nisi factus filius esset.
Nec enim reliquit caelum, ut in terra pareret,
Sed, sicut disposuit, uisa est in terra maiestas
De uirtute sua carna<liter na>sci <se fecit>
.............................................
........... licet facere fimbriam unam.
Iam caro <Deu>s erat, in qua Dei uirtus agebat.

Here the Father comes in the Son, one God everywhere:
nor is he called Father, unless he had been made Son.
For he did not leave heaven, so that he might appear on earth,
but, just as he had arranged, majesty was seen on earth
by his power he made himself to be born carnally
.............................................
........... it is permitted to make a single fringe.
Already the flesh was God, in which the power of God was acting.

Quid, quod prophetae canunt, inuisibilem esse uidendum,
Ut claritas tanta fieret homo quoque pro nobis.
Nec populus noster prosilisset in noua lege,
Si non Omnipotens ordinasset ante de nobis.
Hic erat Omnipotens, cuius <in> nomine gentes
Credere omnino, quod propheta dixit Esaias:
Exurget in Israel homo de radice Iesse
In illum sperabunt gentes, cuius signo tuentur.

What of the fact that the prophets sing, that the invisible should be seen,
so that so great a clarity should become man also for us.
Nor would our people have sprung forth into the new law,
if the Omnipotent had not ordained beforehand concerning us.
This was the Omnipotent, in whose name the nations
altogether believe, as the prophet Isaiah said:
There shall arise in Israel a man from the root of Jesse,
in him the nations will hope, by whose sign they are guarded.

Et alter dixit testem illum esse per orbem
Manifestari eum principem nationibus ipsum.
In psalmis canitur: Dominus regnauit a ligno;
Exultet terra, iocundentur insulae multae.
Sic et patriarcha Iacob: benedictio uera
Paruit in gentes; hic erit spes gentium, inquit.

And another said that that witness is through the world
that he himself, the prince, be manifested to the nations.
In the psalms it is chanted: The Lord has reigned from the tree;
Let the earth exult, let many islands rejoice.
Thus also the patriarch Jacob: the true benediction
has appeared among the nations; “he will be the hope of the nations,” he says.

Sub caelo non aliud nomen est nisi Christi praelatum,
In cuius nomine crediderunt gentes ubique.
Non ita suademur credere pro tempore passo
Sed propter futurum tempus in aeterno uiuentes.
Haec speranda nobis spes est sempiterno frunisci
Non ista, quae fragili<s> cito mutat gaudia nostra.

Under heaven there is no other name except Christ’s set forth as pre-eminent,
In whose name the nations have believed everywhere.
Not thus are we persuaded to believe for a passing time
But on account of the time to come, living in the eternal.
This is the hope to be hoped by us: to have fruition of the sempiternal,
Not those things which, being fragile, quickly change our joys.

Sint licet diuitiae prae oculis laute fruendae
Excluderis illis substituta morte caduca;
Aut si perseuera[ue]ris, horrescis ipse uiuendo
Aut si ualetudo fuerit mala, quo tibi uita?
Tormentum est totum, quo uiuimus isto sub aeuo;
Hinc adeo nobis est spes in futuro quaerenda:
Hoc Deus hortatur, hoc lex, hoc passio Christi,
Ut resurrecturos nos credamus in nouo saeclo.
Sic Dei lex clamat: fieret cum humilis Altus,
Cederet infernus, ut Adam leuaretur a morte
Discendit in tumulum Dominus suae plasmae misertus
Et sic per occulta inaniuit fortia mortis.

Granted riches may be before your eyes to be enjoyed lavishly,
yet you are shut out from them when transitory death steps in;
or if you should persevere, you yourself shudder at living,
or if your health should be bad, what is life to you?
It is all torment, that condition under which we live in this age;
hence indeed for us hope is to be sought in the future:
this God exhorts, this the Law, this the Passion of Christ—
that we should believe we will rise again in the new aeon.
Thus the Law of God cries: when the High became lowly,
Hell would yield, so that Adam might be lifted from death.
The Lord descended into the tomb, pitying his plasm,
and thus by hidden means he made void the strong powers of death.

Obrepsit Dominus ueteri latroni celatus
Et pati se uoluit, quo magis prosterneret ipsum.
Ille quidem audax et semper saeuus ut hostis,
Dum sperat in hominem saeuire, uictus a Summo est.
Per quod prius hominem prostrauerat morti malignus,
Ex ipso deuictus; unde nobis uita prouenit.

The Lord stole upon the old robber, concealed,
and willed to suffer, in order that he might the more prostrate him.
He indeed, bold and ever savage as an enemy,
while he hopes to rage against the man, was conquered by the Most High.
By that whereby earlier the malignant one had prostrated man to death,
by that very thing he was vanquished; whence life has come forth for us.

Adam degustato pomo mori iussus abiit;
Cuius de peccato morimur sic et omnis idemque.
Sed iterum dixit Dominus: De ligno uitali
Si sumpserit ille, in aeternum uiuat honestus.
Mors in ligno fuit et ligno uita latebat,
Quo Deus pependit Dominus, uitae nostrae repertor.

Adam, after the apple was tasted, having been ordered to die, went away;
on account of whose sin we die, and so do all, the same.
But again the Lord said: From the vital wood
if he should take, let him live for eternity, honorable.
Death was on the wood, and on the wood life lay hidden,
on which God the Lord hung, the discoverer of our life.

Hoc lignum uitae Dominus praedixerat esse,
Ut, qui credet ei, sic sit quasi sumat abinde.
Et sumit et gustat suauiter Dei summi praecepta
Et discedit, quoniam potior resurgit, a morte.
Qui credit in Christo, de ligno uitae degustat,
Quo fuit suspensus Dominus Moysi praedicto.

This tree of life the Lord had foretold would be,
so that whoever will believe in him may be as though he takes from it.
And he both takes and tastes sweetly the precepts of the supreme God,
and he departs, since he rises superior, from death.
He who believes in Christ tastes from the tree of life,
on which the Lord was suspended, as foretold by Moses.

Hunc ipsum Esaias humilem denuntiat esse
Et nimis deiectum, fuerit quasi serui figura:
Et uidimus illum, nec erat praeclarae figurae,
In plaga depositus homo, sciens omnia ferre.
Hic dolet pro nobis et peccata nostra reportat,
Et pro facinore nostro Deus tradidit illum.
Qui, cum uexaretur, tacuit sicut agnus ad aras.

This very one Isaiah proclaims to be humble
and exceedingly cast down, he would be as the figure of a servant:
and we saw him, and he was not of illustrious figure,
a man laid in affliction, knowing to bear all things.
This one grieves for us and bears back our sins,
and for our crime God delivered him over.
Who, when he was vexed, was silent like a lamb to the altars.

Hic homo iam non erat, sed erat Deus caro pro nobis;
Quod palam apparet, hoc erat Dei nomen oriri,
Quod modo praeclarum nomen apud gentes habetur.
Hoc Malachiel canit propheta, qui et angelus ipse,
Cum et Iudaeorum reprobet sacrificia dicens:
Non erit acceptum mihi sacrificium uestrum,
Sed in omni loco offerunt meo nomini gentes,
Apud quos eximium nomen meum magnificatur,
Qui sine cruore offerunt meo nomini munde.

Nam fuit is ipse humilis latens nomine magno,
Qui de semet ipso per ora prophetica clamat:
Contumax non sum, ait, neque contradico nocenti,
Dorsum quoque meum posui ad flagella caedendum
Maxillasque meas palmis feriendas iniquis
Praebui nec faciem auerti sputis eorum.

This man was now no longer man, but was God incarnate for us;
which plainly appears: this was the Name of God to arise,
which now is held as a most illustrious name among the nations.
This Malachiel the prophet sings, who is also himself an angel,
when he also reproves the sacrifices of the Jews, saying:
Your sacrifice shall not be acceptable to me,
but in every place the nations offer to my Name,
among whom my exceptional Name is magnified,
who without blood offer purely to my Name.

For he himself was humble, hidden under a great Name,
who about himself cries out through prophetic mouths:
I am not contumacious, he says, nor do I contradict the injurer;
I also set my back to be beaten with scourges,
and my cheeks to be struck by unjust palms
I offered, nor did I turn away my face from their spittle.

Stultitia subiit multis, Deum talia passum,
Ut enuntietur crucifixus conditor orbis.
Sic illi complacuit (consilium neminis usus,
Nec alius poterat) taliter uenire pro nobis.
Mortem adinuenit, cum esset inuidus, hostis,
Quam ebibit Dominus passus ex inferno resurgens.

Foolishness came over many, that God suffered such things,
that the crucified founder of the world be proclaimed.
Thus it pleased him (having used the counsel of no one,
nor could any other) to come thus for us.
The enemy, since he was envious, devised death,
which the Lord drank down, having suffered, rising from the underworld.

Idcirco nec uoluit se manifestare, quid esset,
Sed filium dixit se missum fuisse a patre.
Sic ipse tradiderat semet ipsum dici prophetis,
Ut Deus in terris Altissimi filius esset.
Hoc et ipse fremit, humilis in carne cum esset,
Testaturque patrem, ut ora prophetica firmet.

Therefore he did not wish to manifest himself, what he was,
but said that he, the son, had been sent by the father.
Thus he himself had delivered that he should be called by the prophets,
that God on earth would be the son of the Most High.
This too he himself proclaims, being humble in flesh,
and he bears witness to the Father, so that he may confirm the prophetic mouths.

Ex Israel legimus hominem resurgere talem
Et homo est, inquit, et quis eum nouit in ipsis?
Hieremias ait. Hic Deus est noster aequalis
Post haec et in terris uisus est conuersatus humanis.

From Israel we read that such a man is to rise again
“And he is a man,” he says, “and who among them knows him?”
Jeremiah says. This is our God, coequal;
After these things he also was seen on earth and conversed with human beings.

Esaias autem: Tu es Deus, et nesciebamus:
Et Deus in te est, et praeter te non alter habetur.
Et quis in occansum prophetarum lege ueniret?
Cantate Domino, nomen est Deus illi, qui uenit!

But Isaiah: You are God, and we did not know;
And God is in you, and besides you no other is accounted.
And who would come upon the setting, by the law of the prophets?
Sing to the Lord: God is his name, he who comes!

Et psalmus de ipso quartus quadragesimus inquit:
Exaltabor ego in gentibus nomine magno.
Et alibi legimus: Hodie te genui, fili;
Pete, et dabo tibi, et habebis gentes heredes.
Certe iam apparet, qui sit Deus et quis in ipso,
Et cuius in nomine crederemus gentes ubique:
Dictum est Christo meo, teneo cuius dexteram, illud:
Exaudiant gentes, et imperet gentibus ipse.

And the 44th psalm about him says:
I shall be exalted among the nations with a great name.
And elsewhere we read: Today I have begotten you, son;
Ask, and I will give to you, and you will have the nations as heirs.
Surely now it appears who is God and who is in him,
and in whose name the nations everywhere would believe:
It was said to my Christ—whose right hand I hold—this:
Let the nations hear, and let he himself rule the nations.

Quid plurimis opus est, cum res tam aperte probatur,
Cum is, qui taxatur, populus iam in illo laetatur?
Illi autem miseri, qui fabulas uanas adornant
Et magum infamant, canentibus rostra clusissent.
Quales eos dicam, antequam dispersi fuissent,
Quos nec exulatus fregit necessitas ipsa?

What need is there of more, since the matter is so openly proved,
when he who is taxed, the people already rejoices in him?
But those wretches who adorn vain fables
and defame him as a magus would have shut the rostra to the singers.
What shall I call them, before they had been scattered,
whom not even the necessity of exile broke?

Si magus adfuerat, cur ergo prophetae canebant
Uenturum e caelo, ut esset spes gentium ipse?
Si false de ipsis pronuntiant perdere terram,
Quod prouenit de eis, sic eri<n>t et falsa de illo.
Sed quia sunt spreti semper quod cruenti fuerunt,
Contra suum Dominum rebellant dicere magum.

If a magus had been present, why then were the prophets chanting
that he would come from heaven, so that he himself would be the hope of the nations?
If they falsely proclaim, concerning themselves, the loss of the land—
which has come upon them from themselves—so likewise there will be false things about him.
But because they are always despised, in that they have been blood-stained,
against their own Lord they rebel, saying he is a magus.

Nec uolunt audire, quae dixerunt uates in illos,
Quod non intellegerent in totum fine sub ipsa.
Ipse Deus illos descripsit: Pectore clauso
Nec uideant oculis nec intellegant corde durato;
Incrassauit enim cor populi huius iniqui,
Ut nihil agnoscant, donec meo uerbo sanescant.
Praedictus est Deus carnaliter nasci pro nobis,
Ut fieret illis merito cruciatio maior:
Ecce dabit Deus ipse uobis signum ab alto:
Concipiet uirgo et pariet terra caelestem;
Emmanuel autem uocetur, iusserat illos;
Quod lingua Latina 'Deus nobiscum' euoluit.

Nor do they wish to hear what the prophets said about them,
that they would not understand altogether, up to the very end itself.
God himself described them: with breast closed
let them not see with their eyes nor understand with a hardened heart;
for he has thickened the heart of this iniquitous people,
so that they recognize nothing, until by my word they may be healed.
God was foretold to be born carnally for us,
so that for them there might deservedly be a greater torment:
Behold, God himself will give to you a sign from on high:
a virgin will conceive, and the earth will bear the heavenly one;
moreover, he had ordered that he be called Emmanuel;
which the Latin tongue unfolds as "God with us."

Audite, quod ipse nutriretur melle, buturo,
Et uerbum: Samari<m> caperet priusquam loqueretur.
Sed haec est historia clausa, de qua docti reuoluunt,
Ut paruulus lactans sine pugna praedas iniret;
Passio cuius praedicta est taliter ante,
Ut Deus passibilis fieret profuso cruore.
Esaias ait: Tamquam ouis ductus ad aram,
Nec uoce clamauit, patienter omnia gessit.

Hear that he himself would be nourished with honey, with butter,
and the word: that he would seize Samaria before he could speak.
But this is a closed history, which the learned turn over,
that as a little suckling he would, without battle, enter upon spoils;
whose Passion was foretold thus beforehand,
that God would become passible with blood poured forth.
Isaiah says: Like a sheep led to the altar,
nor did he cry out with his voice; he bore all things patiently.

Suffigitur clauis, quod Dauid praedixerat olim;
Quem et potauerunt secundum scripturas acetum.
Et: in uestimentis meis, dixit, sortemque miserunt,
Quod factum, et legimus in illo omnia gesta.
Fuerunt et tenebrae factae tribus horis a sexta
Festinauitque dies inducere sidera noctis.

He is affixed with nails, which David had foretold long ago;
whom also they gave vinegar to drink, according to the Scriptures.
And: “for my garments,” he said, “they cast lots,”
which was done; and we read in it that all things were accomplished.
And darkness, too, was made for three hours from the sixth,
and the day hastened to bring in the stars of night.

Praedictum hoc fuerat fieri per prophetam Amos,
Ut tegeret subito sese per sollemnia sancta.
O mala progenies, <o popule> subdola fronte!
Generaui suboles, dixit Deus, qui me negarent.

This had been predicted to be done through the prophet Amos,
that it should suddenly cover itself during the holy solemnities.
O evil progeny, <O people> with a crafty brow!
I have begotten offspring, said God, who would deny me.

Et dixit: Audite uocem tubae. Nolumus, aiunt.
Hoc dicit Ezechiel: Audient ergo gentes a longe.

And he said: Hear the voice of the trumpet. “We do not wish,” they say.
This Ezekiel says: Therefore the Gentiles will hear from afar.

Uno uolo titulo tangere librum Deuteronomium:
In caput eritis, gentes; nam increduli retro.
Si respuunt certe omnia supra dicta rebelles
S<c>ite quid opponunt, cum res tam aperte dicatur?
Uidete iam ergo, dubii qui nunc usque natati
Quod gentes in Domino fuerint scriptura priores.

With a single title I wish to touch upon the book Deuteronomy:
You shall be at the head, Gentiles; for the unbelievers are behind.
If the rebels indeed reject all the aforesaid things,
Know what they object, since the matter is stated so openly.
See now, then, you who until now have been swimming in doubt,
that the Gentiles in the Lord have been prior in Scripture.

Nunc ergo fas est credere, quem libri designant,
Non idolis uanis, qui frustra pro uita coluntur
Nec istis adiungi uoluptuosis et sine freno,
Qui magis luxurias diligunt quam Summi praecepta.
Non est culpa satis una, qui credere nolunt,
Sed magis infamant: In puteum misimus illum.
Quapropter et Dominus indignatus iurgiat illos:
Propter uos nomen meum blasphematur in gentibus, inquit.

Now therefore it is right to believe in him whom the books designate,
not in vain idols, who are worshiped in vain for life,
nor to be joined to those pleasure-loving and unbridled ones,
who love luxuries more than the precepts of the Most High.
Not one fault is enough for those who are unwilling to believe,
but rather they defame: We have sent him into the pit.
Wherefore also the Lord, indignant, rebukes them:
Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations, he says.

Si missum in puteum, sed resurgere quare clamatur?
Ab inferis, Domine, animam meam imposuisti:
Ego dormiui, ait, et somnum cepi securus
Auxilio Domini surrexi, nihil mali passus.
Et iterum dicit: In infernum non derelinques
Nec dabis sanctum tuum interitum quoque uidere.

If sent into the pit, but why is it cried out that he rise again?
From the lower regions, Lord, you have set my soul:
I slept, he says, and took sleep secure,
By the help of the Lord I rose, having suffered nothing evil.
And again he says: Into the underworld you will not abandon me,
Nor will you allow your holy one to see destruction as well.

Hic personans ait: Fili prophetae, ascendo,
Ut Dominum dicam passum per miseria<m> summum.
Et in libro psalmorum de Domini morte clamatur,
Non ut illi putant Dauid de ipso referre.
Aut si putant illud, congruit uniuersa, quae dixit?

Here, resounding, he says: O son of the prophet, I ascend,
that I may say the Lord suffered through the highest misery.
And in the book of the Psalms there is a cry about the Lord’s death,
not, as they suppose, that David is referring to himself.
Or if they think that, does the whole of what he said agree?

Non est flagellatus Dauid nec cruce leuatus.
Quid? Uaticinantur Iudaei more Saturni,
In fabulas coeunt, cum iam declinetur in illos.

David was not flagellated nor lifted upon the cross.
What? Do the Jews vaticinate in the manner of Saturn,
They resort to fables, when now it is being turned against them.

Non quasi maleficium alapantur cruce leuatum.
Insciis, indoctis, ignorantibus talia fingunt.
Quis Deus est ille, quem nos cruce fiximus?

Not, as though it were a malefice, is the one lifted upon the cross buffeted.
Unknowing, unlearned, ignorant, they fashion such things.
What God is that, whom we fixed to a cross?

aiunt
Nolentes respicere scripturas, corde caecati.
Ecce canit alius repetens iterumque propheta,
Cuius uoce tamen titulatur talis edictus:
Nunc exurgam, ait Dominus, nunc clarificabor,
**xnf hxdltdbou, hxmilhm qxhm dnth xidivtiv;
Nunc intellegitis, nunc erit confusio uestra:
Uana cogitatis, ideo uos ignis habebit.
Haec Esaias ait.

they say
Unwilling to look back to the Scriptures, blinded in heart.
Behold another sings, and again the prophet repeats,
By whose voice nevertheless such an edict is entitled:
Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be glorified,
**xnf hxdltdbou, hxmilhm qxhm dnth xidivtiv;
Now you understand, now there will be your confusion:
You think vain things, therefore the fire will have you.
These things Isaiah says.

Tunc sic et ipsa maiestas,
Cum esset in carne, profitetur ipse quis esset:
Nemo meam animam potuit auferre conatus,
Sed ego sponte eam pono a me meo decreto.
Et sumendi iterum habeo potestatem in illam.
Apertius autem de iusti morte clamatur,
Ut pareat maius induratos esse Iudaeos:
Ecce perit iustus, nec quidem intellegit ullus;
Sed erit in pacem huius sepultura dilecti.

Then thus even Majesty itself,
when it was in flesh, he himself professes who he was:
No one could take away my soul by endeavor,
but I of my own accord lay it down from myself by my decree.
And I have the power of taking it up again.
And more openly a cry is raised about the death of the just man,
so that it may appear more plainly that the Jews are hardened:
Behold, the just man perishes, nor indeed does anyone understand;
but into peace will be the burial of this beloved one.

Quid illi infamant in puteum esse dimissum,
Cum legimus illum sepulturae traditum esse?
Ignominiosi, crudeles, caeci, superbi,
Qui magis de facto deberent lugere, plaudent!
Inspiratus enim Salomon de ipso prophetat
Et magis insequitur plenius ostendere iustum:
Circumueniamus iustum, si [qui] nobis grauis esse uidetur
Qui nostris operibus contrarius ualde resistit;
Exprobrat in totum nihil nostra lege teneri
Adhuc et adfirmat filium Altissimi esse.

What do they slander, that he was let down into a well,
when we read that he was consigned to burial?
Ignominious, cruel, blind, proud,
who ought rather to mourn over the deed, applaud!
For inspired Solomon prophesies about him
and further proceeds more fully to show the just man:
Let us circumvent the just man, if [who] seems to us to be grievous,
who, contrary to our deeds, resists very strongly;
he upbraids that altogether nothing is held by our law,
and moreover affirms that he is the Son of the Most High.

Omnimodo reprobat et nugaces aestimat esse
Abstinet et sese a nobis et in altera uadit;
Nos immundos ait et innouat altera iusta
Et sibi laetatur Dominum patrem esse caelorum.
Ergo, si sermones illius sunt ueri, probemus;
Temptemus hunc Deum uidentes, quid sit in illum
Interrogemus eum omni cum tormento quietum,
Condemnemus eum turpissima morte' dicentes
Haec cum fecissent, capita suspensa mouebant:
Saluum illum faciat pater, aut discendat abinde!
Ut eos caecos Salomon ostendat aperte,
Sic, quasi nunc referat, et fecisse talia culpat:
Dum ista cogitant, ducti sunt in errore nefando
Excaecauit illos malitia sua saeuire.

In every way he reproves and esteems them to be triflers
He abstains and withdraws himself from us and goes to the other way;
He says we are unclean and he innovates other just ordinances
And he rejoices that the Lord of the heavens is his Father for himself.
Therefore, if his discourses are true, let us prove [him];
Let us tempt this one, with God looking on, to see what is in him
Let us interrogate him, with every torment, as he remains quiet,
‘Let us condemn him to a most disgraceful death’ saying
When they had done these things, they were moving their heads, uplifted:
Let the Father save that man, or let him descend from there!
That Solomon may show them to be blind openly,
Thus, as if he were reporting now, he also blames them for having done such things:
While they think these things, they were led into nefarious error
Their own malice has blinded them to rage savagely.

Ecce quia caeci ipsi sunt et alteros aiunt
Dixit illis Salomon: Nescierunt Dei secreta.
Quaecumque dixerunt testes uniuersi priores
In Christo fuerunt facta. Aut in altero dicant?

Behold, because they themselves are blind and they call others so
Solomon said to them: They did not know the secrets of God.
Whatever all the earlier witnesses said
were done in Christ. Or let them say it was in another?

Quod ipsum si cupiunt facere frustrantes in ore,
Ipsi se subsannent, uideant cum plebem in illo.
Quis fuit is iustus, de quo prophetae canebant,
Cum nemo sit iustus in terris, nisi e caelo uenisset
Dauid enim princeps peccauit amando puellam,
Peccauit et Salomon; et tamen paenituit illos.
Cum isti tam clari et insigni reges eorum
Non fuerunt iusti, sed ipsi de iusto canebant,
Nec quidem Esaias uates de se talia dixit,
Qui fuit ab rege Manasse de serra secatus.

If they desire to do that very thing, while frustrating it in their mouth,
let them themselves sneer; let them, together with the plebs, see it in him.
Who was that just man, of whom the prophets were singing,
since no one is just on earth, unless he had come from heaven?
For David the prince sinned by loving a maiden,
and Solomon sinned too; and yet they repented.
Since these so renowned and distinguished kings of theirs
were not just, but they themselves were singing of the Just One,
nor indeed did Isaiah the prophet say such things about himself,
who was cut with a saw by King Manasseh.

Alter lapidatus, alter est mactatus ad aras,
Alterum Herodes iussit decollari reclusum.
Omnes iusti uates alia sunt morte perempti,
Quod Dominus ligno pependit, uoce Moysi:
'Non quasi homo Deus suspenditur', intimat ante;
'Aut non ceu filius hominis minas patitur', inquit.
Sic Dominus ipse cum uenisset, ista secutus:
Oportet me, inquit, reprobari uoce Moysi.

One was stoned, another was immolated at the altars,
another Herod ordered to be beheaded, confined.
All the just prophets were slain by different deaths,
that the Lord hung on the wood, by the voice of Moses:
'Not as a man is God suspended,' he intimates beforehand;
'Or not, like a son of man, does he suffer menaces,' he says.
Thus the Lord himself, when he had come, following these:
'It is necessary for me,' he says, 'to be rejected by the voice of Moses.'

At ego non tota, sed summa fastigia carpo,
Quo possint facilius ignorantes discere uera.
Hi autem iniqui, <qui> subdole uiuere quaerunt,
Iam semel cruenti perseuerant fingere uana.
Infatuan<t> stultos maius euanescere dictis,
Quod crucifixus, cum sic oporteret eundem.

But I do not take the whole, but I pluck the topmost pinnacles,
so that the ignorant may more easily learn the truths.
But these iniquitous men, <who> seek to live craftily,
now, blood-stained, persist in feigning vain things.
They infatuate<t> fools to evanesce more by their words,
that he was crucified, since thus it was fitting for him.

Sic enim disposuit propter primitiui ruinam;
Non solum pro illo, et pro nobis uenit e caelo.
Constituit populum nouum suo nomine firmum,
Iuxta prophetias compleuit omnia Christus.
Ecce noua facio, Esaias clamat in ipso,
Et nemo priora reputet nec antiqua sequatur.

Thus indeed he has disposed on account of the primal ruin;
Not only for that one, and for us he came from heaven.
He constituted a new people, firm in his name,
According to the prophecies Christ fulfilled all things.
Behold, I make new things, Isaiah cries in him,
And let no one reckon the former things nor follow the ancient.

Haec noua sunt hodie sub nostra lege profecta,
gentes in Christo credi<di>mus dicto Moysi.
Ille duos populos praedixerat esse futuros,
Et quidem minorem populum praecellere dixit.
Sed isti nequitiae pleni iam desperato furore:
Lex nobis est data, dicunt, uos unde uenistis?

These new things today have proceeded under our Law,
the nations have believed in Christ, as Moses said.
He had foretold that two peoples would be in the future,
and indeed he said that the lesser people would excel.
But these men, full of iniquity, now with desperate fury:
“The Law has been given to us,” they say, “you—whence have you come?”

Si nobis obsistunt, putant et resistere Summo,
Qui uoluit nobis bonus esse .......
Nec illud respiciunt ceruicosi, setis rectis
Quid? semper innocuos cruciarunt lege uitata.
Sic Deo fecerunt, quod erant consueti, crudeles,
Et filios sese audent adhuc dicere Summi.

if they oppose us, they think also that they are resisting the Highest,
who willed to be good to us .......
nor do the stiff‑necked regard that, with bristles erect;
what? they have always tormented the innocent, the law being evaded.
thus they did to God, as they were accustomed—cruel as they were—,
and they still dare to call themselves sons of the Highest.

Iam qualiter <dominus> resurrexit, supra notaui,
Non de uoce mea, sed dicta prophetica dixi.
Praedixerat autem discipulis cuncta de sese,
Qualiter a populo pateretur Petro negante;
Et quia de tumulis resurgeret tertio die,
Dixerat et ipsud, et compleuit omnia dicta.
At ubi surrexit, uenit ad apostolos ipse
Et stetit illis in medio: Pax uobis, inquit.

I have already noted above how <the Lord> rose again,
not from my own voice, but I spoke prophetic sayings.
Moreover, he had foretold to the disciples all things about himself,
how he would suffer by the people, with Peter denying;
and that from the tomb he would rise again on the third day,
he had said this as well, and he fulfilled all the sayings.
But when he rose, he himself came to the apostles
and stood in their midst: “Peace to you,” he said.

Inter quos discipulos non adfuit unus orantes;
Cui cum referrent, discredere coepit et addit:
Si prius non digitum misero, ubi claui fuerunt
Aut ubi percussus de lancea, non ego credo.
Tunc die Dominica rursus remeauit ad illos
Et stetit illis in medio: Pax uobis, inquit.
Et statim adgreditur Thomam incredulum illum:
Accede propius et contange corpus ut ante.

Among those disciples, one was not present, while they were praying;
to whom, when they reported it, he began to disbelieve and adds:
If I do not first put my finger where the nails were,
or where he was struck with the lance, I do not believe.
Then on the Lord’s Day he returned again to them
and stood in their midst: Peace to you, he says.
And immediately he addresses that incredulous Thomas:
Come nearer and touch the body as before.

Non ego sum umbra, mortuorum qualis habetur:
Uestigium umbra non facit; considera uulnus.
Extendit palmas; at ille tangere coepit
Et manum in latere, fuerat quod lancea fixa,
Misit et exinde prostrauit se<se> precando:
Tu Deus et Dominus uere meus! Contra quem
Haec quia uidisti, credidis<ti>, sed illi felices
Posteri, qui credunt audito nomine tantum.

I am not a shade, such as is thought of the dead:
a shadow makes no footprint; consider the wound.
He stretched out his palms; but that man began to touch
and his hand at the side, where the lance had been fixed,
he put, and from that point he prostrated himself in prayer:
You are truly my God and Lord! In answer to him
Because you have seen these things, you have believed; but blessed are
the posterity who believe at the mere hearing of the name.

Quadraginta dies cum illis ex ordine fecit,
Edocuit illis multa, quae saeculo uenirent.
Post cuius ascensum miracula multa fecerunt,
De uerbo curabant infirmos in nomine Christi.
Qui si talis erat, qualem isti perfidi dicunt,
Fortia non fierent testium de uerbo per illum.

He spent forty days with them in due order,
He instructed them in many things that would come upon the age.
After whose ascension they performed many miracles,
By the word they were curing the infirm in the name of Christ.
Who, if he were such as those perfidious say,
Mighty deeds would not be wrought, as witnesses attest, by the word through him.

Ascendit in caelos, sicut et scriptura canebat:
Excipite regem, principes, caelorum in altis!
Quid amplius opus est recitare cuncta de lege?
Sufficiunt ista rudibus, bono corde tuenda.

He ascended into the heavens, just as Scripture too was singing:
Receive the king, O princes, in the heights of the heavens!
What further need is there to recite all things from the law?
These things suffice for the simple, to be kept with a good heart.

Quod si nec ipsi uolunt scire Deum ista legendo,
Ipsi sibi reputent, quo uenerint, illo quo nolunt.
Nil nisi cor faciunt, ceterum de uita siletur.
Quid iuuat in uano saecularia prosequi terris,
Et scire diuitiis regum, de bellis eorum?

But if they themselves do not even wish to know God by reading these things,
Let them themselves reckon for themselves where they have come—to that which they do not wish.
They do nothing except in the heart; as for the rest, about their life there is silence.
What does it avail, in vain, to pursue secular things on earth,
and to know about the riches of kings, about their wars?

Insanumque forum cognoscere iure peritum,
Quod iura uacillant, praemio ne forte regantur?
Sit licet defensor, sit licet diuinus orator,
Nil morte proficiet, si uiuus in Christo negauit.
Immo prius quaerat, ubi sit sua uita redacta,
Si fuerit sapiens; si ceterum, uituperatur.

and to know the insane forum, skilled in law,
because the laws vacillate—are they perhaps ruled by reward?
Let him be a defender, let him be a godlike orator,
he will profit nothing at death, if alive he denied Christ.
Nay rather let him first seek where his life has been brought,
if he has been wise; if otherwise, he is vituperated.

Illi legunt iura et discunt proloquia mira,
Sed superant miseros, pro quibus loquuntur, agendo.
Infelix est ille, qui uenerit illis in ore;
Illi ferunt laudes et ille uictoria<m> damnis.
Stat miser in medio mutus, cui plus dolet intus;
Illi tonant ore et ille silentio nummis.

They read laws and learn marvelous prolocutions,
but they surpass the wretched, for whom they speak, by acting.
Unhappy is he who comes upon their lips;
they bear lauds, and he a victory with damages.
The wretch stands mute in the midst, to whom it hurts more within;
they thunder with the mouth, and he, by silence, with coins.

Obstrepit interea uox adornata diurnum
Et saepe fit causa melior mala pluscula dando.
Hinc pretium quae<rit> sapiens, hinc uincere gaudet,
Etsi praue gerat, dum sit modo uictor, aegrotat.
Nil sua de causa tractat, cum lucra conatur;
Spem subit alterius et sua posterga remittit.

Meanwhile the voice, adorned for the day, makes a din,
and often the cause becomes better by giving a few little evils.
From this the wise man seeks a price, from this he rejoices to conquer,
even if he carry it out crookedly; so long as he is the victor, he sickens.
He treats nothing for its own cause, when he strives for lucre;
he undertakes another’s hope and sends his own to the back.

Multi de successu rapiuntur saeculi silua;
Dum gaudent in breuia, remanent a gratia Christi;
Dum cupiunt multa oculo, dum augere quaerunt,
Nec Deus est illis aliquid nisi saeculi uita.
Pro uentre satagit, agon est pro ipso diurnum,
Et uerum agonem spernit pro aeterna salute.
Quisque quasi uigilat sacculo, laudatur acutus;
Nam qui Deum sequitur, copria iudicatur ab ipsis.

Many are swept away by the success of the world’s forest;
while they rejoice in short‑lived things, they remain apart from the grace of Christ;
while they desire many things with the eye, while they seek to augment,
nor is God anything to them except the life of this age.
He toils for the belly; there is a diurnal agon for it,
and he spurns the true agon for eternal salvation.
Each, as if he kept vigil over his little purse, is praised as sharp;
for the one who follows God is judged “dung” by them.

O nimium felix, saecularia si quis euitet!
Sit stultus aliis, sapiens dum sit Deo summo.
Ipsa spes est tota, Deo credere, qui ligno pependit;
Foeda licet res est, sed utilis uitae futurae.

O exceedingly happy, if anyone should evade the secular things!
Let him be foolish to others, so long as he be wise to God Most High.
The whole hope itself is this: to believe in God, who hung upon the wood;
foul though the thing is, yet it is useful for the future life.

Nam populus ille primitiuus illo deceptus
Quod filium dixit, cum sit Deus, pristinus ipse.
Hic praeibat eos in columna nubis et ignis,
Quando de Aegypto liberauit illos ad unum.
Hic crudele nefas imperat de unico nato,
Ut probaret Abraham, cui dixit 'Parce!' e caelo
Angelus.

For that primitive people was deceived by this,
that he said 'son,' although he is God, the very original himself.
He used to go before them in a column of cloud and of fire,
when from Egypt he liberated them to a man.
He commands a cruel nefarious deed concerning the only-begotten son,
so that he might prove Abraham, to whom an Angel from heaven said, 'Spare!'
Angel.

Et Deus est, hominem totidemque se fecit,
Et quidquid ualuerit, faciet, ut muta loquantur.
Balaam caedenti asinam suam colloqui fecit
Et canem, ut Simoni diceret: Clamaris a Petro!
Paulo praedicanti discerent ut multi de illo
Leonem populo fecit loqui uoce diuina.

And he is God, and he likewise made himself man,
and whatever he can, he will do, so that the mute may speak.
He caused Balaam’s she-ass, as he was beating her, to converse,
and a dog, so that it might say to Simon: You are called by Peter!
While Paul was preaching, so that many might learn about him,
he made a lion speak to the people with a divine voice.

Deinde, quod ipsa non patitur nostra natura,
Infantem fecit quinto mense proloqui uulgo.
Hic erat uenturus commixto sanguine nostro,
Ut uideretur homo, sed Deus in carne latebat.
Non senior ueniet nec angelus, dixit Esaias,
Sed Dominus ipse ueniet se ostendere nobis.

Then, what our nature itself does not permit,
he made an infant in the fifth month to speak out publicly.
He was going to come with our blood commixed,
so that he might seem a man, but God was hidden in flesh.
Not an elder will come nor an angel, said Isaiah,
but the Lord himself will come to show himself to us.

Hunc mare pertimuit, hunc uenti, hunc tartarus ipse;
Agnouit Dominum omnis creatura latentem.
Solus nequam populus centriam erexit ad illum:
'Absit, ut sic Dominus uenerit in tali figura!'
Hic sicut in terra super fluctus maris inibat
Et uentis imperat, placidum ut redderet aequor.
si Hic lege<m> tartaream derupit uerbo praesenti
Et leuat de tumulis Lazarum die quarta fetentem.

Him the sea greatly feared, him the winds, him Tartarus itself;
every creature recognized the Lord lying hidden.
The wicked people alone raised a sentence against him:
'Far be it that the Lord should have come in such a figure!'
He, just as upon the earth, went upon the billows of the sea
and he commands the winds, so as to render the level sea placid.
thus He broke asunder the Tartarean law by a present word
and lifts from the tombs Lazarus, stinking on the fourth day.

Nam qui ferebatur, cum fuisset obuius illi:
Surge, inquit, iuuenis! Et <re>surrexit ille de ferculo.
Archisinagogae filiam deprecatus a patre
Iam exanimata<m> plangentibus suscitat illam.

For the one who was being carried, when he had come face to face with him:
“Rise,” he says, “young man!” And he rose from the bier.
Having been implored by the father about the archisynagogue’s daughter,
now exanimate, with the mourners lamenting, he raises her.

Mutum loqui fecit et surdum audire praesertim
Et caecum ex utero natum, ut uideret in auras.
Post XXXVIII annis paralyticum surgere iussit,
Quem admirarentur grabatum in collo ferentem.
.........................................
Cuius uestimento tacto profluuio sanata est.

He made the mute speak and, especially, the deaf hear,
and made the blind man, born from the womb, see the open air.
After 38 years he ordered the paralytic to rise,
whom they marveled at, carrying his pallet upon his neck.
.........................................
by touching his vestment she was healed of her issue.

Quinque panes fregit hominum in milia quinque
Et quattuor milia iterum de septem refecit.
Plenius ut sese Dominus demonstraret adesse,
In nuptias fuerat inuitatus matre cum ipsa;
Quod fuit rogatus, subueniret uino defecto,
Tunc iussit implere ydrias uelocius aqua,
Quod prius gustauit et sic ministrari praecepit.
Nec sic potuerunt Dominum cognoscere factis
Sed insanierunt, quasi nequam perdere morti.

He broke five loaves for five thousand men
And four thousand again he refected from seven.
That the Lord might more fully show himself to be present,
he had been invited to the nuptials with his mother herself;
when he was asked to succor the wine that had failed,
then he ordered the hydrias to be filled more swiftly with water,
which he first tasted and thus commanded to be served.
Nor even thus could they recognize the Lord by his deeds
but they ran mad, as wicked men, to destroy him unto death.

Quod ipsum concedit, quoniam sic pati decreuit
Si tamen crediderint, ueniam tunc demum habebunt.
Hic est primogenitus per prophetas ante praedictus,
Ut uocitaretur in terris Altissimi proles.
Felices, hominum spem suam in isto qui ponunt
Nam insipientes tamquam maledictum euitant.

He grants that very thing, since he has decreed thus to suffer
If, however, they believe, then at last they will have pardon.
This is the Firstborn, foretold beforehand through the prophets,
That he might be called on earth the Offspring of the Most High.
Blessed are those among men who place their hope in this one
For the foolish avoid him as though a malediction.

Aeternitas illi praeparatur, Christo qui credit,
Ut socius Dei sit homo post funera uiuens.
Lex et prophetae docent, qui sunt Dei digni caelorum
Et quibus absconsa reuelantur aurea saecla.
Per tot uates numero de filio Dei clamatur,
Et cluserunt oculos fili Dei primi uocati;
xhjljwj ffhto non xznt wjhowdfti ljgjndo,
Sed perseuerantes: Nos sumus electi!

Eternity is prepared for him who believes in Christ,
so that man, living after death, may be a companion of God.
The Law and the Prophets teach who are worthy of the heavens of God
and for whom the hidden golden ages are revealed.
Through so many seers in number it is cried out about the Son of God,
and the first-called of the Son of God closed their eyes;
xhjljwj ffhto non xznt wjhowdfti ljgjndo,
but persevering: We are the elect!

dicentes.
Adhuc infatuant profanos balneis ire,
Quos faciunt mundos ipsi Deo summo placere.
Aqua lauat sordes, non intima cordis iniqua,
Nec sacra sacrilega poterunt lauare curata.

saying.
They still befool the profane to go to the baths,
whom they make clean to please the Most High God himself.
Water washes filth, not the iniquities of the inmost heart,
nor will sacrilegious rites, though carefully administered, be able to wash.

Non ita praecepit Dominus sacra ferre malignis;
Et locus iterum, ab idolis mundos haberi:
Nemo sibi faciat simulacrum daemonis, inquit;
Nam dixit et illis: Idolis seruire nolite.
Si Deus praecepit ab idolis ualde caueri,
Quid illi decipiunt gentes puros esse lauacris?
Immo cum recipiunt tales, docere deberent
Seruire non aliis, nisi tantum Summo placere.

The Lord did not thus command to bear sacred things to the wicked;
and the place, again, to be held clean from idols:
“Let no one make for himself a simulacrum of a demon,” he says;
for he also said to them: “Do not serve idols.”
If God has commanded to beware greatly of idols,
why do those men deceive the nations that they are pure by baths?
Nay rather, when they receive such persons, they ought to teach
to serve no others, but to please only the Most High.

Dum facinus quaerunt obumbrare Christi de morte,
Aperiunt ualuas passim, ut intretur ad illos
Hinc ergo depereunt, qui se putant puros ab aqua
Posse Dei fieri, conscientes ante latroni.
Nunc colit in uano quodlibet, nunc sancta requirit,
Nescit ubi primum occurrat inscius ille,
Ac idolis seruit, iterum tricesima quaerit;
Nunc azima sequitur, qui castum sederat ante.
Hoc Deo non placuit participes daemonum esse,
Qui legem instituit, fieret quo transitus inde.

While they seek to obscure the crime concerning Christ’s death,
they open gates all over, so that one may enter to them.
Hence therefore they perish, who think that, pure by water, they can be made God’s,
being previously privy to the brigand. Now he worships in vain whatever, now he seeks holy things,
he does not know where first that unknowing one should turn,
and he serves idols, again he seeks the thirtieth-day rites;
now he follows the Azymes, who had sat chaste before.
This did not please God, to be partakers of demons,
He who instituted the Law, by which a passage might be made from there.

Sunt tibi praepositas duas uias: elige, quam uis,
Nec enim te findes, ut possis ire per ambas;
Sed tamen ex ipsis opportunam quaerere debes;
Nec cadas in fauces latronum, cautior esto.
Unum quaere Dominum, qui quaerit hostia nulla,
Ut possis abolitus <re>surgere saeclo nouato.
Quid malos attendis et iudicas sanctos iniquos,
Qui tibi nullum uerbum de lege demonstra<n>t?
De uirtute Dei refertur, quam fecit in illos;
** N_m dc qs_ f_at_ qaclcp_t_ diacpc nolsnt
Sbmmbo homi`id^b pbmmbo m^nibrpqrb <`>orbntip,
Qsoq Dominsq nsmqs_m notsit dom_pc moncndo.

Two ways are set before you: choose which you wish,
for you will not split yourself so as to be able to go by both;
but yet from these you must seek the opportune one;
and do not fall into the jaws of robbers; be more cautious.
Seek one Lord, who seeks no victims,
so that, your former guilt abolished, you may rise again with the world renewed.
Why do you attend to the wicked and judge the holy unjust,
who show you no word from the law?
It is reported of the virtue of God, which he wrought in them;
** [corrupt line: unreadable]
[corrupt line: unreadable],
what our Lord teaches us by admonishing.

Ssffiacpct illiq ncp ign_si_m t_nt_ fcaiqqc
Et di`bob: S`oimtrm pi` bo^t, modo `obdbob f^p bpt.
% Sbd Dominrp impb obp`ro^rit pbnprp boorm,
+ Indsp_sit coq qiast Ph_p_oncm in inqiq;
1 Nca npcacq copsm dixit cx_sdipc qc scllc
8 Et db tboo^ pr^ mooib`it illop io^trp.
? Csm filioq illoq stiqsc i_m dixcp_t _ntc
F Nb`bppb rolrbo^t bono `oodb rirbob n^top;
L Qs_ndo n_tcp g_sdct, asm qit bonsq filisq illi;
T Qsod qi m_lsq fscpit, cxcapctsp odio n_tsm.

The supplied lines appear to be enciphered or corrupted (non-standard characters and systematic letter substitutions), so a reliable English translation is not possible from this text as-is. If you can provide an uncorrupted or plaintext version of the Latin (or the cipher key), I will translate it immediately and preserve the original line breaks and formatting.

[ Contp_pism nsllsq n_titsp qibi filism cqqc,
a Ex`lrditro omnip `^oit^p `ordblb db n^to,
g Nca f_ait hcpcdcm illsm cx _qqc qsopsm,
n Qs_c qi npisq notcpit aonqsmcpc, g_sdct in illsm.
v Imnism ct q_cssm qsbolcm, pci qs_c typ_nnsm,
, Nca obsism n_titsp gcnitop aommotsq _b illo.
Quid isti praesumunt, cum sint adhortati, dicentes:
Ex omni populo nos sumus carissimi Summo?

[ Illegible/garbled text,
a Illegible/garbled text,
g Illegible/garbled text,
n Illegible/garbled text.
v Illegible/garbled text,
, Illegible/garbled text.
What do these presume, since they have been exhorted, saying:
Out of all the people we are most dear to the Most High?

Parricida patris semper et superbus in illo
Carus esse potest aut heres iure uocari?
Quanto magis Dominus, superant cui fili legendi!
Mansuetis, humilibus, obsequio plenis alumnis
Diuidunturque bona, non impiis neque tyrannis.

A parricide of his father and ever haughty toward him—
can he be dear or be called heir by right?
How much more the Lord, for whom the sons to be chosen are in surplus!
To the meek, the humble, alumni full of obedience,
the goods are distributed, not to the impious nor to tyrants.

Adoptati fuerant manifeste fili Iudaei,
Sed in testamento consecuti sunt impii nomen.
Ipsi sibi reputent: Scelere commisso cruenti
Qui poterant utique participes esse bonorum?
Quid nobis strident, quid nos aemulantur heredes?

The Jewish sons had manifestly been adopted,
but in the testament they have obtained the name of impious.
Let them reckon it to themselves: blood-stained, with crime committed,
how could they in any case be participants of the goods?
Why do they hiss at us, why do they rival us, the heirs?

Fecissentque bonum, et erant in parte legati.
Nec hodie tacent et Christo credere nolunt,
Qui fuerat illis salutaris lege praedictus;
De quo iam audistis qualiter prophetae canebant:
Uenturum in terras Dominum, quem gentes adorabunt
Hunc certe nos ipsum admonent cognoscere Summum,
Qui renouat hominem, peccata pristina donat.
Nam et comminatur deorum cultoribus ipse:
Sacrificans periet idolis in morte secunda.

And they would have done good, and they were in the portion of the bequest.
Nor today do they keep silent and they are unwilling to believe in Christ,
who had been to them salutary, foretold by the Law;
of whom you have already heard how the prophets sang:
that the Lord would come into the lands, whom the nations will adore.
These indeed warn us to recognize this very One as the Supreme,
who renovates the human being, remits former sins.
For he himself also threatens the worshipers of the gods:
the one sacrificing to idols will perish in the second death.

Quisque deos ergo sequitur fabricatos in auro,
Argento uel lapide, ligno uel aeramine fusos,
**iuxix infjlix mittjtzw in ignj wjfjhtzx,
Nec ibi permoritur, sed dat cruciatus iniquos.
Sunt homines pecorum similes in ista natura,
Qui nolunt accipere frenum Dei summi uagantes;
Cum ipsi non durant seruorum talia ferre,
In quorum saepe discendunt sanguine diri.
Dicentes adiciunt: 'Nihil est post funera nostra;
Dum uiuimus.

Therefore each follows gods fabricated in gold,
in silver or stone, in wood or in bronze cast,
**iuxix infjlix mittjtzw in ignj wjfjhtzx,
nor does he die there, but he suffers unjust torments.
They are men similar to cattle in this nature,
who, wandering, are unwilling to accept the frenum of the Most High God;
though they themselves do not endure to bear such things from slaves,
in whose blood the cruel often are drenched.
Saying they add: 'There is nothing after our funerals;
while we live.

hoc est'. et incumbunt more suillo;
'Nulla sit luxuria, quae nos pertranseat aeuo;
Dum tempus est uitae, perfruamur omnia saecli.'
Indisciplinati clementiam Dei refugant
Strenia<s> sectantes, quasi sola uita sit ipsa.
Sic re<ce>dunt a Deo, qui promittit uiuere semper:
Contra bonum pugnant, cum sit repugnandum iniquo.
Errauimus omnes manifesto, saeculo suasi,
Sed gratia Domini prouocamur credere legi.

'this is it.' and they lean in with a swinish manner;
'Let there be no luxury which may pass us by in our lifetime;
While there is time of life, let us fully enjoy all the things of the age.'
The undisciplined shun the clemency of God,
pursuing Strenia<s>, as if life itself were the only thing.
Thus they re<ce>de from God, who promises to live forever:
They fight against the good, when it is the iniquitous that must be resisted.
We have all erred manifestly, persuaded by the age,
but by the grace of the Lord we are provoked to believe the law.

Propterea uenit et fecit trophaea latenter
Et fuit homo Deus, ut nos in futuro haberet.
Sed plurimi pereunt, qui putant utrisque placere,
Idolis atque Deo, placeat cum nemo duobus.
Unus est in caelo Deus caeli, terrae marisque,
Quem Moyses docuit ligno pependisse pro nobis.

Therefore he came and made trophies secretly
And God was man, so that he might have us in the future.
But very many perish, who think to please both,
Idols and God, since no one pleases two.
There is one in heaven, the God of heaven, earth, and sea,
whom Moses taught to have hung on the wood for us.

Unde quidem errant ignaui talia passum,
Non satis intenti mysterio Dei secretum.
Inuidia diaboli mors introiuit in orbem,
Quam Deus occulte destruxit uirgine natus.
Qua natiuitate excordantur caeci Iudaei,
Infatuant stulto<s> scelere commisso cruenti.

Whence indeed the slothful err, such things having been suffered,
not sufficiently intent upon the secret of the mystery of God.
Through the envy of the devil death entered into the world,
which God secretly destroyed, born of a virgin.
By which nativity the blind Jews lose their wits,
and, blood-stained, are infatuated by the foolish crime committed.

Nemo potest ullum excusamen dicere postquam,
Cum modo sit nobis facultas data credendi.
Non uenit in uano Deus in terris e caelo,
Sed uenit, ut faceret populum suo nomine dictum.
Quem si quis confessus non erit in ista natura,
Perdit et quod uixit, et in poena<s> sero declamat;
Aut certe dum sperat <ex>pectans credere canus,
Excluditur diuius ab aeterna uita defunctus.

No one is able to say any excuse any longer, since just now the faculty has been given to us to believe.
God did not come in vain on earth from heaven,
but he came to make a people called by his name.
Whom, if anyone shall not have confessed in this nature,
he loses even what he has lived, and late he declaims in punishment<s>;
Or certainly, while he hopes, <ex>pecting to believe when gray-headed,
he is excluded, severed from eternal life, once deceased.

Ergo iam ad illum citius recordari debemus,
Qui nobis post obitum pollicetur reddere uitam.
Insuper hoc addit, immortales esse futuros
Et frui, quod oculus non uiderat ante, uidendo.
Sex milibus annis prouenient ista repletis,
Quo tempore nos ipsos spero iam in litore portus.

Therefore now we ought more quickly to recall him,
who promises to render life back to us after death.
Moreover he adds this, that we shall be immortal
and enjoy, by seeing, what the eye had not seen before.
These things will come to pass when six thousand years are filled up,
at which time I hope that we ourselves will already be on the shore of the port.

Tunc homo resurget solis in agone reductus
Et gaudet in Deo reminiscens, quid fuit ante;
Qui, sicut audiuit fragilis in pristina carne,
Cum sit incorruptus, recognoscit ante promissa.
Quam gloria<m> mirans homini prouenisse sic inquit:
Qualiter audiui prius, sic singula cerno.
Haec pariter omnes clamant ab inferno leuati:
Quemadmodu<m> ante audiuimus, ecce uidemus!

Then man will rise again, brought back alone into the agony
And he rejoices in God, remembering what he was before;
He who, just as he heard when fragile in pristine flesh,
although he is incorrupt, recognizes the promises given before.
Wondering at what glory has come to man, thus he says:
Just as I heard before, so I behold each particular.
These things alike all cry, lifted from the inferno:
Just as we heard before, behold we see!

Cedet dolor omnis a corpore, cedet et ulcus,
Nec erit anxietas ulla nisi gaudia semper.
Quisque tribus credit et sentit unum adesse,
Hic erit perpetuus in aeterna saecla renatus.
Sed quidam hoc aiunt: Quando haec uentura putamus?

All pain will withdraw from the body, and the ulcer will withdraw as well,
nor will there be any anxiety, but only joys forever.
Each person who believes the Three and senses the One to be present,
this one will be perpetual, reborn into eternal ages.
But some say this: When do we think these things will come?

Accipite paucis, quibus actis illa sequantur.
Multa quidem signa fient tantae termini pesti,
Sed erit initium septima persecutio nostra.
Ecce <iam> ianua<m> pulsat et cogitur esse,
Quae cito traiciet Gothis irrumpentibus amne.

Receive in brief, with which things done, those will follow.
Many indeed signs will arise of the end’s so great pestilence,
But the beginning will be our seventh persecution.
Behold, <now> it knocks at the door<m> and is compelled to be,
Which will quickly cross the river with the Goths bursting in.

Rex Apollion erit cum ipsis, nomine dirus,
Qui persecutionem dissipet sanctorum in armis.
Pergit ad Romam cum multa milia gentis
Decretoque Dei captiuat ex parte subactos.
Multi senatorum tunc enim captiui deflebunt
Et Deum caelorum blasphemant a barbaro uicti.

The king Apollyon will be with them, dread by name,
who will wreak persecution of the saints by arms.
He goes on to Rome with many thousands of the nation,
and, by the decree of God, takes captive those in part subdued.
Many of the senators then, as captives, will bewail,
and, conquered by the barbarian, blaspheme the God of the heavens.

Hi tamen gentiles pascunt Christianos ubique,
Quos magis ut fratres requirunt gaudio pleni.
Nam luxuriosos et idola uana colentes
Persecuntur enim et senatum sub iugo mittunt.
Haec mala percipiunt, qui sunt persecuti dilectos:
Mensibus in quinque trucidantur isto sub hoste.

These Gentiles nevertheless nourish Christians everywhere,
whom, all the more as brothers, they seek out, full of joy.
For the luxurious and those worshiping vain idols
they do indeed persecute, and they send the Senate under the yoke.
These evils are received by those who have persecuted the beloved:
In five months they are butchered under that enemy.

Exsurgit interea sub ipso tempore Syrus,
Qui terreat hostes et liberet inde senatum.
Ex infero redit, qui fuerat regno praeceptus
Et diu seruatus cum pristino corpore notus.
Dicimus hunc autem Neronem esse uetustum,
Qui Petrum et Paulum prius puniuit in urbem.

Meanwhile at that very time a Syrian arises,
who will terrify the enemies and free the senate from there.
He returns from the lower world, he who had been appointed to the kingdom,
and long preserved, recognizable with his pristine body.
We say, moreover, that this is the ancient Nero,
who earlier punished Peter and Paul in the City.

Ipse redit iterum sub ipso saeculi fine[m]
Ex locis apocryphis, qui fuit reseruatus in ista.
Hunc ipse <se>natus inuisum esse mirantur;
Qui cum apparuerit, quasi deum esse putabunt.
Sed priusquam ille ueniat, prophetabit Helias
Tempore partito, medio ebdomadis axe[m].
Completo spatio succedit ille nefandus,
Quem et Iudaei simul tunc cum Romanis adorant.

He himself returns again at the very end of the age,
from apocryphal places, he who had been reserved in these.
The senate itself marvels that this man is detested;
and when he has appeared, they will think him to be as a god.
But before he comes, Helias will prophesy
with the time apportioned, at the mid-axis of the hebdomad.
When the span is completed, that nefarious one succeeds,
whom both the Jews then together with the Romans adore.

Quamquam erit alius, quem expectent ab oriente,
In nostra caede tamen saeuient cum rege Nerone.
Ergo cum Helias in Iudaea terra prophetat
Et <signo> signat populum in nomine Christi;
De quibus quam multi quoniam illi credere nolunt,
Supplicat iratus Altissimum, ne pluat inde:
Clausum erit caelum ex eo nec rore madescet,
Flumina quoque iratus in sanguine uertit.
xtjwjlix tjwwf njh xzdft fontibzx fqzfj,
Ut famis inuadat, erit tunc et lues in orbe.

Although there will be another, whom they await from the east,
yet in our slaughter they will rage with King Nero.
Therefore, when Elijah prophesies in the land of Judea
and with a sign he signs the people in the name of Christ;
of these, since very many are unwilling to believe him,
he, angered, supplicates the Most High that it may not rain from there:
the heaven will be shut from then on, nor will it be wetted with dew,
and, angered, he also turns the rivers into blood.
xtjwjlix tjwwf njh xzdft fontibzx fqzfj,
so that famine may invade; then there will also be a pestilence in the orb.

Ista quia faciat, cruciati nempe Iudaei
Multa aduersus eum conflant in crimina falsa,
Incenduntque prius senatum consurgere in ira
Et dicunt Heliam inimicum esse Romanis.
Tunc inde confertim motus senatus ab illis
Exorant Neronem precibus et donis iniquis:
Tolle inimicos populi de rebus humanis
Per quos et dii nostri conculcantur neque coluntur.
At ille suppletus furia precibusque senatus
Uehiculo publico rapit ab oriente prophetas.

Because he does those things, the Jews indeed, afflicted,
concoct many false charges against him,
and first they inflame the senate to rise in ire
and say that Elijah is inimical to the Romans.
Then from there the senate, en masse moved by them,
prevail upon Nero by prayers and iniquitous gifts:
Remove the enemies of the people from human affairs,
through whom even our gods are trampled and are not worshiped.
But he, filled with fury and by the prayers of the senate,
snatches the prophets from the East by public conveyance.

Qui satis ut faciat illis uel certe Iudaeis,
Immolat hos primum et sic ad ecclesias exit.
Sub quorum martyrio decima pars corruit urbis
Et pereunt ibi homines septem milia plena.
Illos autem Dominus quarto die tollit in auras,
Quos illi uetuerant sepulturae condi iacentes
Suscita<n>turque solo immortales facti de morte,
Quos inimici sui suspiciunt ire per auras.

He, in order to do enough for them or at any rate for the Jews,
immolates these first and thus goes out against the churches.
Under whose martyrdom a tenth part of the city collapses,
and there seven thousand persons in full perish.
But the Lord on the fourth day lifts them into the air,
whom they had forbidden, as they lay, to be consigned to sepulture;
and they are raised from the soil, made immortal from death,
whom their enemies look up and behold going through the air.

Territi nec sic sunt, sed magis intra crudescunt
Ad populum Christi execrantes odio toto.
Indurauit enim Altissimus corda nefanda,
Sicut Pharaoni prius indurauerat aures.
Hic ergo rex durus et iniquus, Nero fugatus,
Pelli iubet populum Christianum ipsa de urbe,
Participes autem duo<s> sibi Caesares addit,
Cum quibus hunc populum persequatur diro furore.

Terrified they are not even thus, but they grow more savage within,
execrating the people of Christ with total hatred.
For the Most High has hardened their unspeakable hearts,
just as he had previously hardened Pharaoh’s ears.
Therefore this hard and iniquitous king, Nero, driven into flight,
orders the Christian people to be expelled from the city itself,
moreover he adds two Caesars to himself as partners,
with whom he may persecute this people with dire fury.

Mittunt et edicta per iudices omnes ubique,
Ut genus hoc hominum faciant sine nomine Christi.
Praecipiunt quoque simulacris tura ponenda
Et, ne quis lateat, omnes coronati procedant.
In ista historia si fidelis ire negauit,
Feliciter exit: sin uero, de turba fit unus.

They also send edicts through all the judges everywhere,
so that they may make this race of men to be without the name of Christ.
They also command that incense be set before the simulacra,
and, lest anyone lie hidden, let all proceed crowned.
In this history, if a faithful person refuses to go,
he goes out happily; but if indeed he goes, he becomes one of the crowd.

Nulla dies pacis tunc erit nec oblatio Christo,
Sed cruor ubique manat, quem describere uincor;
Uincunt enim lacrimae, deficit manus, corda tremescunt,
Quamquam sit martyribus aptum tot funera ferre;
Per mare, per terras, per insolas atque latebras
Scrutaturque diu, exsecratos uictima ducunt.
Haec Nero tunc faciet, triennii tempore toto
Et anno dimidio statuta tempora complet.
Pro cuius facinore ueniet uindicta letalis,
Ut urbis et populus ille cum ipso tradatur,
Tollatur imperium, quod fuit inique repletum,
Quod per tributa mala diu macerabat omnes.

No day of peace then will be, nor oblation to Christ,
but blood everywhere wells forth, which to describe I am conquered;
for tears conquer, the hand fails, hearts tremble,
although it is apt for martyrs to bear so many funerals;
through the sea, through lands, through islands and lairs and hiding places
and he searches long, and they lead the execrated as victims.
These things Nero then will do, for the entire time of a three-year period
and with a half year he completes the established times.
For whose crime there will come lethal vindicta,
so that that city and that people be delivered over with him,
let the empire be taken away, which had been replete with iniquity,
which through evil tributes for a long time was wasting all.

Exurgit iterum in istius clade Neronis
Rex ad oriente<m> cum quattuor gentibus inde,
Inuitatque sibi quam multas gentes ad urbem,
Qui ferant auxilium, licet sit fortissimus ipse,
Implebitque mare nauibus cum milia multa,
Et si quis occurrerit illi, mactabitur ense;
Captiuatque prius Tyrum et Sidona subactas,
Nam inde finitimas gentes terrore fatiscunt.
Hinc lues, hinc bella, hinc fames, hinc nuntia dura
Miscenturque simul, quo fiat turbatio mentis.
Interea fremitum dat tuba de caelo repente,
Cuius omni loco sonitus praecordia turbat.

He rises up again, in the ruin of that Nero,
a king from the east with four peoples from there,
and he invites to himself very many peoples to the city,
to bring him aid, although he himself is most brave;
and he will fill the sea with ships with many thousands,
and if anyone shall meet him, he will be slaughtered by the sword;
and first he takes Tyre captive and has subjugated Sidon,
for from there the neighboring peoples collapse with terror.
Hence plague, hence wars, hence famine, hence harsh tidings
are mingled all together, whereby a turmoil of mind is made.
Meanwhile a trumpet suddenly gives a roar from heaven,
whose sound in every place disturbs the heart’s depths.

Uidebitur et tunc igne quadriga per astra
Et facula currens, nuntiet ut gentibus ignem.
Siccatur fluuius Euphrates denique totus,
Ut uia paretur regi cum gentibus illis.
Persae, Medi simul Caldaei, Babyloni uenibunt,
Immites et agiles, qui nesciant ulli dolore<m>
Hic ergo exoriens cum coeperit inde uenire,
Turbaturque Nero et senatus proxime uisum.

And then a quadriga of fire will be seen through the stars
and a running torch, so that it may announce fire to the nations.
The river Euphrates at last is dried up entirely,
so that a way may be prepared for the king with those nations.
The Persians, the Medes, likewise the Chaldaeans, will come to Babylon,
fierce and agile, who know no pain at all.
He therefore, arising from the east, when he begins to come from there,
Nero is thrown into turmoil, and the senate, at the sight close at hand.

Et ibunt illi tres Caesares resistere contra;
Quos ille mactatos uolucribus donat in escam.
Exercitus quorum necesse est uictorem adorent
Cumque redeuntes in urbe mente mutata
Spolian<t> templa et quidquid est intus in urbe,
Diripiunt mactantque uiros ingenti cruore;
Nouissime nudam adigunt incendio facta<m>,
Ut neque uestigium eius appareat ultra.
Cuius in exitio tabescunt corda potentium
Nec se adinueniunt, in quo sin<t> tempore, bruti.

And those three Caesars will go to resist against him;
whom, once slaughtered, he gives to the birds for food.
whose armies must adore the victor;
and when, returning into the city with their mind changed,
they despoil the temples and whatever is within the city,
they plunder and slaughter men with immense gore;
lastly, made bare, they drive her to a conflagration,
so that not even a trace of her appears any longer.
at whose destruction the hearts of the potentates melt away,
nor do they find themselves, in what time they are, brutish.

Haec quidem gaudebat, sed tota terra gemebat;
Uix tamen adinuenit illi retributio digna.
Luget in aeternum, quae se iactabat aeterna,
Cuius et tyranni iam tunc iudicantur a Summo.
Stat tempus in finem fumante Roma maturum,
Et merces aduenient meritis partita locorum.

This indeed was rejoicing, but the whole earth was groaning;
Yet scarcely did a worthy retribution find her.
She mourns forever, she who was vaunting herself eternal,
and whose tyrants even then are judged by the Most High.
The time stands ripe for the end, Rome smoking,
and the wages will come, apportioned according to the merits of the places.

Inde tamen pergit uictor in terra Iudaea,
Quem ipsi Iudaei expectant uincere Roma<m>
Multa signa facit, ut illi credere possint,
Ad seducendos eos quoniam est missus iniquus;
Quem tamen e caelo increpat uox reddita Summi.
De Persida homo immortalem esse se dicit.
Nobis Nero factus Antichristus, ille Iudaeis;
Isti duo semper prophetae sunt in ultima fine.

Thence, however, the victor proceeds into the land of Judaea,
whom the Jews themselves expect to conquer Rome
He performs many signs, so that they may be able to believe him,
for the seducing of them, since he is an iniquitous one sent;
whom, however, a voice returned from heaven of the Most High rebukes.
From Persia the man says himself to be immortal.
For us Nero has become Antichrist, for the Jews, that man;
these two are always prophets at the ultimate end.

Urbis perditio Nero est, hic terrae totius;
De quo pauca tamen suggero, quae legi secreta.
Displicet interea iam sero Iudaeis et ipsis,
Susurrantque simul, quoniam sint fraude decepti.
Exclamant pariter ad caelum uoce deflentes,
Tunc Deus omnipotens, terminet ut cuncta, quae dixi,
Producet populum celatum tempore multo.

Nero is the perdition of the city, this one of the whole earth;
of whom nevertheless I suggest a few things, which I read as secret.
Meanwhile he displeases, now too late, even the Jews themselves,
and they whisper together, since they have been deceived by fraud.
They cry out together to heaven with a weeping voice,
then Almighty God, that He may bring to an end all the things which I have said,
will bring forth the people concealed for a long time.

Sunt autem Iudaei trans Persida flumine clausi,
Quos usque in finem uoluit Deus ibi morari.
Captiuitas illos ibidem redegit ut essent;
Ex duodena tribu noue<m> semis ibi morantur.
Mendacium ibi non est, sed nec est odium ullum;
Idcirco nec moritur filius suus ante parentes;
Nec mortuos plangunt nec lugunt more de nostro,
Expectant quoniam resurrectionemque futuram,
Non animam ullam uescuntur additis escis,
Sed olera tantum, quod sit sine sanguine fuso.

However, there are Jews beyond Persia, shut in by a river,
whom God has willed to remain there until the end.
Captivity has constrained them to be there;
Of the twelvefold tribe nine and a half dwell there.
There is no mendacity there, nor any hatred at all;
Therefore no son dies before his parents;
Nor do they bewail the dead nor mourn after our manner,
since they await the future resurrection,
They do not consume any animate creature with their meals,
but only vegetables, which are without blood being shed.

Iustitia pleni illibato corpore uiuunt,
In illis nec genesis exercit impia uires.
Non febres accedunt in illis, non frigora saeua,
Obtemperant quoniam uniuersa candide legis;
Quae nos et ipsi sequemur pure uiuentes;
Mors tantum aderat et labor, nam cetera surda.
Hic erat populus, qui nunc est extra repositus.

Full of justice, they live with an unsullied body,
in them impious genesis does not exert its powers.
No fevers come upon them, nor cruel chills,
since all things obey the law in purity;
which we too ourselves will follow, living purely;
only death was present and toil, for the rest were deaf.
This was the people, who now is set aside outside.

Siccato fluuio repetet in terra Iudaea;
Cum ipsis et Deus ueniet implere promissa;
Qui per totum iter exultat Deo praesente.
Omnia uirescunt ante illos, omnia gaudent,
Excipere sanctos ipsa creatura laetatur:
Omni loco fontes exurgunt esse parati,
Qua graditur populus Summi cum terrore caelesti.
Umbraculum illis faciunt nubes, ne uexentur a sole,
Et ne fatigentur, substernunt se montes et ipsi;
Praemittetur enim ante illos angelus Alti,
Qui ducatum eis pacificum praestet eundo.

With the river dried, he will return into the land of Judea;
with them God too will come to fulfill the promises;
who throughout the whole journey exults with God present.
All things grow green before them, all things rejoice,
creation itself rejoices to receive the saints:
in every place fountains spring up to be ready,
where the people of the Most High goes, with celestial terror.
The clouds make a canopy for them, lest they be vexed by the sun,
and lest they grow weary, the mountains themselves spread beneath them;
for an angel of the Most High will be sent before them,
who, by going, may furnish for them a pacific leading.

Hi sine labore leuiter gradiuntur euntes
Et quasi leones, qua transeunt, omnia uastant.
Nec legio ulla quidem poterit resistere contra,
Si bellum intulerit, cum sit Deus ipse cum illis.
Expugnant gentes, ciuitates quoque deponunt,
Permissione Dei uiduant colonias omnes,
Auro uel argento locupletanturque praedando
Et sic honestati hymnos pariterque decantant.

These, without toil, go lightly as they journey
And, as lions, wherever they pass, they lay waste all things.
Nor indeed will any legion be able to resist them,
if it bring war, since God himself is with them.
They storm nations, and lay cities low as well,
by the permission of God they bereave all colonies,
and by plundering they are enriched with gold or silver,
and thus they together chant hymns for honor.

Mox autem properant sanctae ciuitati paternae,
Expauescit enim terribilis ille tyrannus
Et fugit ad reges Boreae cum concitu magno,
Unde rapit populum, ut stet quasi contra <re>pugna<n>s.
Cum properant autem exercitu Dei rebelles
Sternunturque solo ab angelis proelio facto
<Et prensus ad>ulter ipsius et pseudopropheta
Mittunt<ur in stagnum sub i>gnea p<o>ena uiuentes.
Quorumque pri<m>ores, praeposit<i> siue legati,
In loco seruorum rediguntur sancti<s> iniqui.
Interea sancti intrant in colonia sancta
Qui Dei promissa capiant sine fine laetantes.

Soon, however, they hasten to the holy paternal city,
for that terrible tyrant takes fright
and flees to the kings of the North with a great mustering,
whence he snatches up the people, so that he may stand, as it were, fighting in opposition.
But when the rebels hasten against the army of God,
they are laid low upon the ground by the angels, once battle has been joined,
and, having been seized, his adulterer and the pseudoprophet
are sent alive into the lake under fiery punishment.
And their chieftains, the praepositi or legates,
are reduced by the saints into the place of slaves.
Meanwhile the saints enter into the holy colony
that they may take hold of the promises of God, rejoicing without end.

Exorant Deum pro mortuis uti resurgant,
Quod ipse promisit olim de anastasi prima.
Incipiet Deus iam tunc inimicis irasci,
Statu<tu>sque dies quoniam aduenit iniquis.
Cum coeperit autem mundum iudicare per ignem,
Deuitatque pios et cadit super impios ignis.

They implore God for the dead, that they may rise again,
which he himself once promised concerning the first anastasis.
God will then begin to be angry with the enemies,
and the appointed day, since it has arrived, for the unjust.
But when he begins to judge the world by fire,
the fire avoids the pious and falls upon the impious.

Uix remanent pauci, qui referant talia facta,
Et qui reseruantur, ut seruiant iustis, euadunt.
Post persecutione<m> sanctorum et funera tanta
Imminet ut ueniat dies detestabilis, ardens.
Ecce canit caelo rauca, sed ubique resultans,
Quae pauida<t> totum orbem in ruina cadentem.

Hardly a few remain, who might recount such deeds,
and those who are reserved, that they may serve the just, escape.
After the persecution of the saints and so great funerals
there looms the coming of a detestable, burning day.
Behold, a raucous voice sings in the sky, yet resounding everywhere,
which makes the whole world, falling into ruin, afraid.

Sol fugit incaute, subito fit noctis imago,
Et Deus exclamat: Quamdiu me ferre putasti?
Cuius signo dato pestis ruit aethere toto,
Cum strepitu tonitrui discendit impetus ignis.
Tunc aliud atque aliud fulmen iactatur ab astris,
Ignea tempesta fugit reseruata tot annis,
Rugit pestifera clades, tremit excita tellus,
Nec, quo se auertat, prouidet gens omnis humana.

The Sun flees incautiously, suddenly there is the image of night,
and God cries out: How long did you suppose you could endure me?
At whose sign given a pestilence rushes through the whole aether,
with the din of thunder there descends an onrush of fire.
Then one thunderbolt after another is hurled from the stars,
a fiery tempest speeds forth, reserved for so many years,
the pestiferous disaster roars, the roused earth trembles,
nor does the whole human race foresee where to turn itself.

Stellae cadunt caeli, iudicantur astra nobiscum:
Turbantur caelicolae, agitur dum saecli ruina.
Suppetium nullum tunc erit et clamor inanis;
Non nauis accipiet hominem, non ulla latebra;
Nec illi subueniunt, quos ante pro magno colebant:
Quisque sibi satagit, sed nihil proficit illi;
His tantum proficiet, qui fuerint Christo notati;
Ros ad illos erit, nam ceteris poena letalis.
Pars incredulorum seruatur molliter usta,
Ut genus ipsorum iterum se in ultimo plangat.

The stars of heaven fall, the stars are judged with us:
the heaven-dwellers are troubled, while the ruin of the age is underway.
There will be no succor then, and the clamor is vain;
no ship will receive a man, nor any hiding-place at all;
nor do those help them, whom before they revered as great:
each one busies himself for himself, but nothing profits him;
it will profit only those who have been marked for Christ;
dew shall be for them, but for the rest a lethal penalty.
A portion of the unbelievers is reserved, softly seared,
that their kind may bewail itself again at the last.

Quocumque se uertunt homines, uis ignea feruit;
Aer ipse mundi, qui placebat ante, crematur.
Quod strepitus caeli ingruentes fulmine dicam,
Cum ira tot annis collecta funditur omnis?
Hinc ignis, hinc tonitrua, hinc turbines, tot mala, feruunt,
Raptaturque polus subi<ta> ui mortis in umbram.

Wherever men turn themselves, a fiery force seethes;
the very air of the world, which before was pleasing, is burned.
What shall I say of the crashes of heaven advancing with lightning,
when the wrath gathered through so many years is poured out entire?
Here fire, here thunders, here whirlwinds—so many evils—seethe,
and the pole is snatched by the subi<ta> force of death into shadow.

Partim terra tremens laxat fu<ndamenta...>
<Par>tim tonitrua disrumpunt moenia firma;
<Atque disturbantur m>uri sicut puluis in auras;
Saxa uolant, uen<tis tremescunt> tecta domorum.
Uastantur patriae, prosternitur ciuitas omnis
.......t ........os caelum uestigio tradat.
Tot crepitus, tantos fragores t<otque> ruinas
Quis po<te>rit ferre aut na<u>fragia tanta <fugire>?
Quid misera mater faciet tunc paruolo dulci?

Partly the trembling earth loosens the fo<undations...>
<Par>tly thunderclaps disrupt the firm walls;
<And the w>alls are disturbed like dust into the breezes;
Rocks fly, the roofs of houses quiver with the wi<nds' quaking>.
Devastated are the fatherlands, every city is overthrown
.......t ........os let heaven reveal by a footprint.
So many cracklings, so great crashes, and s<o many> ruins
Who will be a<ble> to endure or to <flee> such great shipwr<u>ecks?
What will the wretched mother then do for her sweet little one?

At si pater natum piet, quid proficit illi?
Uae refugis Domini, uae et sine Christo n<e>fa<n>dis,
Quorum et laeta<n>tes iudicantur pie flentes!
Pla<ngit in>terea mugitibus tota natura
Donec cesset furia <tandem comp>leta caelestis.

But if a father expiates for his son, what does it profit him?
Woe to the fugitives from the Lord; woe also to the nefarious without Christ,
of whom even those rejoicing are judged, piously weeping!
Meanwhile all nature laments with bellowings
until at last the heavenly fury, once completed, ceases.

Tunc mensibus septem remundabitur terra per ignem
Et qui f<uit> humilis ueniens de caelo uidetur.
Cum illo descendunt angeli claritatis aeternae,
Rumpun<tur> et tumuli, exurgunt corpora iusta;
Quae rapiunt nubes et portant <obui>a<m Ch>risto
In a<e>ra, Dominum excipiunt sancti uiuentes.
Suscitat e<t> illos, ut uideant gloriam eius,
Quem cruce fixerunt; sed denuo reddet in imis.

Then for seven months the earth will be re-cleansed through fire
And he who was humble, coming from heaven, is seen.
With him descend the angels of eternal brightness,
And the tombs are burst asunder, the just bodies arise;
which the clouds snatch and carry to meet Christ
into the air, the living saints receive the Lord.
He also raises even those, that they may see his glory,
whom they fastened to the cross; but he will return them again to the depths.

Uae miser<is> illis! Testis est necatus ab illis.
Quod poenis ipsorum prouidi dolo t..mus istic
Haec non de inuidia canimus, sed fixa uidemus.

Woe to those wretched ones! The witness is slain by them.
Because, provident, we here fear their own penalties by guile,
These things we do not sing from envy, but we see them fixed.

Cum iusti laetantur, <il>li in inferno cremantur;
Dau<id> illis dixit: Domine, redde ill<is> iniqua!
Et si non crediderint, in umbra mortis habebunt.
<H>ic utique poterat plebi suae laeta precari
Cur <magis op>tauit: Discendant uiu<i> deorsum
Ceteri qui fuera<n>t in aduentum Christi de sanctis?

When the just rejoice, they are burned in hell;
David said to them: Lord, render to them iniquities!
And if they do not believe, they will have it in the shadow of death.
Here surely he could pray joyful things for his people—
Why did he rather desire: Let them go down alive downward
The others who would have been among the saints at the advent of Christ?

De duobus populis fugit i<..>gia Su<mmi>
... haec maior faciet immutentur ei cito. amen.

Of the two peoples flees the i<..>gia of the Most High
... this greater one will make that they be changed for him quickly. amen.