Sapientia 17

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Magna sunt enim judicia tua, Domine, et inenarrabilia verba tua : propter hoc indisciplinatæ animæ 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 sanctæ, vinculis tenebrarum et longæ noctis compediti, inclusi sub tectis, fugitivi perpetuæ providentiæ jacuerunt.	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 cum admiratione nimia 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 quæ continebat illos spelunca sine timore custodiebat, quoniam sonitus descendens perturbabat illos, et personæ tristes illis apparentes pavorem illis præstabant.	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 præbere, nec siderum limpidæ flammæ 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 subitaneus ignis, timore plenus ; et timore perculsi illius quæ non videbatur faciei, æstimabant deteriora esse quæ 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 magicæ artis appositi erant derisus, et sapientiæ gloriæ 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 derisu pleni 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 illos ex monstris perturbabat, transitu animalium et serpentium sibilatione commoti, tremebundi peribant, et aërem 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 Cum sit enim timida nequitia, dat testimonium condemnationis : semper enim præsumit sæva, perturbata conscientia :	10 And perished trembling, reluctant to face even the air that they could nowhere escape.
11 nihil enim est timor nisi proditio cogitationis auxiliorum.	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, majorem computat inscientiam ejus causæ, de qua tormentum præstat.	12 For fear is nought but the surrender of the helps that come from reason;
13 Illi autem qui impotentem vere noctem, et ab infimis et ab altissimis inferis supervenientem, eumdem 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 monstrorum exagitabantur timore, aliquando animæ deficiebant traductione : subitaneus enim illis et insperatus timor supervenerat.	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 Deinde si quisquam ex illis 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 Si enim rusticus quis erat, aut pastor, aut agri laborum operarius præoccupatus esset, ineffugibilem sustinebat necessitatem ;	16 Thus, then, whoever was there fell into that unbarred prison and was kept confined.
17 una enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati. Sive spiritus sibilans, aut inter spissos arborum ramos avium sonus suavis, aut vis aquæ decurrentis nimium,	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 sonus validus præcipitatarum petrarum, aut ludentium animalium cursus invisus, aut mugientium valida bestiarum vox, aut resonans de altissimis montibus echo : deficientes faciebant illos præ 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 quæ superventura illis erat : 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.