Wisdom 18

NEW JERUSALEM	VULGATA
1 For your holy ones, however, there was a very great light. The Egyptians, who could hear them but notsee them, cal ed them fortunate because they had not suffered too;	1 Sanctis autem tuis maxima erat lux, et horum quidem vocem audiebant, sed figuram non videbant. Et quia non et ipsi eadem passi erant, magnificabant te ;
2 they thanked them for doing no injury in return for previous wrongs and asked forgiveness for theirpast il -wil .	2 et qui ante læsi erant, quia non lædebantur, gratias agebant, et ut esset differentia, donum petebant.
3 In contrast to the darkness, you gave your people a pil ar of blazing fire to guide them on theirunknown journey, a mild sun for their ambitious migration.	3 Propter quod ignis ardentem columnam ducem habuerunt ignotæ viæ, et solem sine læsura boni hospitii præstitisti.
4 But well those others deserved to be deprived of light and imprisoned in darkness, for they had kept incaptivity your children, by whom the incorruptible light of the Law was to be given to the world.	4 Digni quidem illi carere luce, et pati carcerem tenebrarum, qui inclusos custodiebant filios tuos, per quos incipiebat incorruptum legis lumen sæculo dari.
5 As they had resolved to kill the infants of the holy ones, and as of those exposed only one child hadbeen saved, you punished them by carrying off their horde of children and by destroying them al in the wildwater.	5 Cum cogitarent justorum occidere infantes, et uno exposito filio et liberato, in traductionem illorum, multitudinem filiorum abstulisti, et pariter illos perdidisti in aqua valida.
6 That night had been known in advance to our ancestors, so that, wel knowing him in whom they hadput their trust, they would be sure of his promises.	6 Illa enim nox ante cognita est a patribus nostris, ut vere scientes quibus juramentis crediderunt, animæquiores essent.
7 Your people thus were waiting both for the rescue of the upright and for the ruin of the enemy;	7 Suscepta est autem a populo tuo sanitas quidem justorum, injustorum autem exterminatio.
8 for by the very vengeance that you exacted on our adversaries, you glorified us by calling us to you.	8 Sicut enim læsisti adversarios, sic et nos provocans magnificasti.
9 So the holy children of the good offered sacrifice in secret and with one accord enacted this holy law:that the holy ones should share good things and dangers alike; and forthwith they chanted the hymns of theancestors.	9 Absconse enim sacrificabant justi pueri bonorum, et justitiæ legem in concordia disposuerunt ; similiter et bona et mala recepturos justos, patrum jam decantantes laudes.
10 In echo came the discordant cries of their enemies, and the pitiful wails of people mourning for theirchildren could be heard from far away.	10 Resonabat autem inconveniens inimicorum vox, et flebilis audiebatur planctus ploratorum infantium.
11 One and the same punishment had struck slave and master alike, and now commoner and king hadthe same sufferings to endure.	11 Simili autem pœna servus cum domino afflictus est, et popularis homo regi similia passus.
12 Struck by the same death, al had innumerable dead. There were not enough living left to bury them,for, at one stroke, the flower of their offspring had perished.	12 Similiter ergo omnes, uno nomine mortis, mortuos habebant innumerabiles : nec enim ad sepeliendum vivi sufficiebant, quoniam uno momento quæ erat præclarior natio illorum exterminata est.
13 Those whose spel s had made them completely incredulous, when faced with the destruction of theirfirst-born, acknowledged this people to be child of God.	13 De omnibus enim non credentes, propter veneficia ; tunc vero primum cum fuit exterminium primogenitorum, spoponderunt populum Dei esse.
14 When peaceful silence lay over all, and night had run the half of her swift course,	14 Cum enim quietum silentium contineret omnia, et nox in suo cursu medium iter haberet,
15 down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your al -powerful Word like a pitiless warrior intothe heart of a land doomed to destruction. Carrying your unambiguous command like a sharp sword,	15 omnipotens sermo tuus de cælo, a regalibus sedibus, durus debellator in mediam exterminii terram prosilivit,
16 it stood, and fil ed the universe with death; though standing on the earth, it touched the sky.	16 gladius acutus insimulatum imperium tuum portans : et stans, replevit omnia morte, et usque ad cælum attingebat stans in terra.
17 Immediately, dreams and gruesome visions overwhelmed them with terror, unexpected fearsassailed them.	17 Tunc continuo visus somniorum malorum turbaverunt illos, et timores supervenerunt insperati.
18 Hurled down, some here, some there, half dead, they were able to say why they were dying;	18 Et alius alibi projectus semivivus, propter quam moriebatur causam demonstrabat mortis.
19 for the dreams that had troubled them had warned them why beforehand, so that they should notperish without knowing why they were being afflicted.	19 Visiones enim quæ illos turbaverunt hæc præmonebant, ne inscii quare mala patiebantur perirent.
20 Experience of death, however, touched the upright too, and a great many were struck down in thedesert. But the Retribution did not last long,	20 Tetigit autem tunc et justos tentatio mortis, et commotio in eremo facta est multitudinis : sed non diu permansit ira tua.
21 for a blameless man hurried to their defence. Wielding the weapons of his sacred office, prayer andexpiating incense, he confronted Retribution and put an end to the plague, thus showing that he was yourservant.	21 Prosperans enim homo sine querela deprecari pro populis, proferens servitutis suæ scutum, orationem et per incensum deprecationem allegans, restitit iræ, et finem imposuit necessitati, ostendens quoniam tuus est famulus.
22 He overcame Hostility, not by physical strength, nor by force of arms; but by word he prevailed overthe Punisher, by recal ing the oaths made to the Fathers, and the covenants.	22 Vicit autem turbas non in virtute corporis, nec armaturæ potentia : sed verbo illum qui se vexabat subjecit, juramenta parentum et testamentum commemorans.
23 Already the corpses lay piled in heaps, when he interposed and beat Retribution back and cut off itsapproach to the living.	23 Cum enim jam acervatim cecidissent super alterutrum mortui, interstitit, et amputavit impetum, et divisit illam quæ ad vivos ducebat viam.
24 For the whole world was on his flowing robe, the glorious names of the Fathers engraved on the fourrows of stones, and your Majesty on the diadem on his head.	24 In veste enim poderis quam habebat, totus erat orbis terrarum ; et parentum magnalia in quatuor ordinibus lapidum erant sculpta, et magnificentia tua in diademate capitis illius sculpta erat.
25 From these the Destroyer recoiled, he was afraid of these. This one experience of Retribution wasenough.	25 His autem cessit qui exterminabat, et hæc extimuit : erat enim sola tentatio iræ sufficiens.