Sapientia 17

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Magna sunt enim judicia tua, Domine, et inenarrabilia verba tua : propter hoc indisciplinatæ animæ erraverunt.	1 Yes, your judgements are great and impenetrable, which is why uninstructed souls have gone astray.
2 Dum enim persuasum habent iniqui posse dominari nationi sanctæ, vinculis tenebrarum et longæ noctis compediti, inclusi sub tectis, fugitivi perpetuæ providentiæ jacuerunt.	2 While the wicked supposed they had a holy nation in their power, they themselves lay prisoners of thedark, in the fetters of long night, confined under their own roofs, banished from eternal providence.
3 Et dum putant se latere in obscuris peccatis, tenebroso oblivionis velamento dispersi sunt, paventes horrende, et cum admiratione nimia perturbati.	3 While they thought to remain unnoticed with their secret sins, curtained by dark forgetfulness, theywere scattered in fearful dismay, 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 The hiding place sheltering them could not ward off their fear; terrifying noises echoed round them;and gloomy, grim-faced spectres haunted them.
5 Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen præbere, nec siderum limpidæ flammæ illuminare poterant illam noctem horrendam.	5 No fire had power enough to give them light, nor could the brightly blazing stars il uminate that dreadfulnight.
6 Apparebat autem illis subitaneus ignis, timore plenus ; et timore perculsi illius quæ non videbatur faciei, æstimabant deteriora esse quæ videbantur.	6 The only light for them was a great, spontaneous blaze -- a fearful sight to see! And in their terror,once that sight had vanished, they thought what they had seen more terrible than ever.
7 Et magicæ artis appositi erant derisus, et sapientiæ gloriæ correptio cum contumelia.	7 Their magical il usions were powerless now, and their claims to intel igence were ignominiouslyconfounded;
8 Illi enim qui promittebant timores et perturbationes expellere se ab anima languente, hi cum derisu pleni timore languebant.	8 for those who promised to drive out fears and disorders from sick souls were now themselves sick withludicrous fright.
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 Even when there was nothing frightful to scare them, the vermin creeping past and the hissing ofreptiles filled them with panic;
10 Cum sit enim timida nequitia, dat testimonium condemnationis : semper enim præsumit sæva, perturbata conscientia :	10 they died convulsed with fright, refusing even to look at empty air, which cannot be eluded anyhow!
11 nihil enim est timor nisi proditio cogitationis auxiliorum.	11 Wickedness is confessedly very cowardly, and it condemns itself; under pressure from conscience italways assumes the worst.
12 Et dum ab intus minor est exspectatio, majorem computat inscientiam ejus causæ, de qua tormentum præstat.	12 Fear, indeed, is nothing other than the failure of the help offered by reason;
13 Illi autem qui impotentem vere noctem, et ab infimis et ab altissimis inferis supervenientem, eumdem somnum dormientes,	13 the less you rely within yourself on this, the more alarming it is not to know the cause of yoursuffering.
14 aliquando monstrorum exagitabantur timore, aliquando animæ deficiebant traductione : subitaneus enim illis et insperatus timor supervenerat.	14 And they, al locked in the same sleep, while that darkness lasted -- which was in fact quite powerlessand had issued from the depths of equal y powerless Hades-
15 Deinde si quisquam ex illis decidisset, custodiebatur in carcere sine ferro reclusus.	15 were now chased by monstrous spectres, now paralysed by the fainting of their souls; for a sudden,unexpected terror had attacked them.
16 Si enim rusticus quis erat, aut pastor, aut agri laborum operarius præoccupatus esset, ineffugibilem sustinebat necessitatem ;	16 And thus, whoever it might be that fel there stayed clamped to the spot in this prison without bars.
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 Whether he was ploughman or shepherd, or somebody at work in the desert, he was stil overtakenand suffered the inevitable fate, for al had been bound by the one same chain of darkness.
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 The soughing of the wind, the tuneful noise of birds in the spreading branches, the measured beat ofwater in its powerful course, the headlong din of rocks cascading down,
19 Omnis enim orbis terrarum limpido illuminabatur lumine, et non impeditis operibus continebatur.	19 the unseen course of bounding animals, the roaring of the most savage of wild beasts, the echorebounding from the clefts in the mountains, all held them paralysed with fear.
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 the light of day and, unhindered, went about its work;
	21 over them alone there spread a heavy darkness, image of the dark that would receive them. Butheavier than the darkness was the burden they were to themselves.