Sapienza 17

NOVA VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Magna sunt enim iudicia tua et inenarrabilia; propter hoc indisciplinatae animae erraverunt.	1 For great are your judgments, and hardly to be described; therefore the unruly souls were wrong.
2 Dum enim persuasum habent iniqui posse dominari nationi sanctae, captivi tenebrarum et longae noctis compediti, inclusi sub tectis, fugitivi perpetuae providentiae iacuerunt.	2 For when the lawless thought to enslave the holy nation, shackled with darkness, fettered by the long night, they lay confined beneath their own roofs as exiles from the eternal providence.
3 Et dum putant se latere in obscuris peccatis, tenebroso oblivionis velamento dispersi sunt, paventes horrende, et umbris perturbati.	3 For they who supposed their secret sins were hid under the dark veil of oblivion Were scattered in fearful trembling, terrified by apparitions.
4 Neque enim, quae continebat illos, spelunca sine timore custodiebat, quoniam sonitus descendentes perturbabant illos, et phantasmata tristi vultu maerentia apparebant.	4 For not even their inner chambers kept them fearless, for crashing sounds on all sides terrified them, and mute phantoms with somber looks appeared.
5 Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen praebere, nec siderum limpidae flammae illuminare poterant illam noctem horrendam.	5 No force, even of fire, was able to give light, nor did the flaming brilliance of the stars succeed in lighting up that gloomy night.
6 Apparebat autem illis tantum subitaneus ignis timore plenus, et timore perculsi illius, quae non videbatur, visionis aestimabant deteriora esse, quae videbantur;	6 But only intermittent, fearful fires flashed through upon them; And in their terror they thought beholding these was worse than the times when that sight was no longer to be seen.
7 et magicae artis appositi erant derisus, et in sapientia gloriae correptio cum contumelia.	7 And mockeries of the magic art were in readiness, and a jeering reproof of their vaunted shrewdness.
8 Illi enim, qui promittebant timores et perturbationes expellere se ab anima languente, hi cum ridiculo timore languebant.	8 For they who undertook to banish fears and terrors from the sick soul themselves sickened with a ridiculous fear.
9 Nam, etsi nihil turbulenti illos terrebat, transitu animalium et serpentium sibilatione commoti, tremebundi peribant, et aerem, quem nulla ratione quis effugere posset, negantes se videre.	9 For even though no monstrous thing frightened them, they shook at the passing of insects and the hissing of reptiles,
10 Formidinis enim suae propriae nequitia dat testimonium, cum sit condemnata; semper autem praesumit saeva perturbata conscientia.	10 And perished trembling, reluctant to face even the air that they could nowhere escape.
11 Nihil enim est timor nisi proditio auxiliorum, quae sunt a cogitatione;	11 For wickedness, of its nature cowardly, testifies in its own condemnation, and because of a distressed conscience, always magnifies misfortunes.
12 et, dum ab intus minor est exspectatio, maiorem computat inscientiam eius causae, quae tormentum praestat.	12 For fear is nought but the surrender of the helps that come from reason;
13 Illi autem per impotentem vere noctem et ab impotentis inferni speluncis supervenientem, eundem somnum dormientes,	13 and the more one's expectation is of itself uncertain, the more one makes of not knowing the cause that brings on torment.
14 aliquando a monstris exagitabantur phantasmatum, aliquando animae deficiebant proditione: subitaneus enim illis et insperatus timor infundebatur.	14 So they, during that night, powerless though it was, that had come upon them from the recesses of a powerless nether world, while all sleeping the same sleep,
15 Itaque, si quisquam illic decidisset, custodiebatur in carcere sine ferro reclusus.	15 Were partly smitten by fearsome apparitions and partly stricken by their souls' surrender; for fear came upon them, sudden and unexpected.
16 Sive enim rusticus quis erat aut pastor aut agri laborum operarius praeoccupatus, ineffugibilem sustinebat necessitatem, una enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati.	16 Thus, then, whoever was there fell into that unbarred prison and was kept confined.
17 Sive spiritus sibilans aut inter spissos arborum ramos avium sonus suavis aut numerus aquae decurrentis nimium aut sonus durus praecipitatarum petrarum	17 For whether one was a farmer, or a shepherd, or a worker at tasks in the wasteland, Taken unawares, he served out the inescapable sentence;
18 aut ludentium animalium cursus invisus aut mugientium ferissimarum bestiarum vox aut resonans de cavitate montium echo deficientes faciebant illos prae timore.	18 for all were bound by the one bond of darkness. And were it only the whistling wind, or the melodious song of birds in the spreading branches, Or the steady sound of rushing water,
19 Omnis enim orbis terrarum limpido illuminabatur lumine et non impeditis operibus continebatur;	19 or the rude crash of overthrown rocks, Or the unseen gallop of bounding animals, or the roaring cry of the fiercest beasts, Or an echo resounding from the hollow of the hills, these sounds, inspiring terror, paralyzed them.
20 solis autem illis superposita erat gravis nox, imago tenebrarum, quae illos recepturae erant: ipsi ergo sibi erant graviores tenebris.	20 For the whole world shone with brilliant light and continued its works without interruption;
	21 Over them alone was spread oppressive night, an image of the darkness that next should come upon them; yet they were to themselves more burdensome than the darkness.