1 For great are thy judgments, and cannot be expressed: therefore unnurtured souls have erred.

1 Magna sunt enim judicia tua, Domine,
et inenarrabilia verba tua:
propter hoc indisciplinatæ animæ erraverunt.

2 For when unrighteous men thought to oppress the holy nation; they being shut up in their houses, the prisoners of darkness, and fettered with the bonds of a long night, lay there exiled from the eternal providence.

2 Dum enim persuasum habent iniqui
posse dominari nationi sanctæ,
vinculis tenebrarum et longæ noctis compediti,
inclusi sub tectis,
fugitivi perpetuæ providentiæ jacuerunt.

3 For while they supposed to lie hid in their secret sins, they were scattered under a dark vail of forgetfulness, being horribly astonished, and troubled with strange apparitions.

3 Et dum putant se latere in obscuris peccatis,
tenebroso oblivionis velamento dispersi sunt,
paventes horrende,
et cum admiratione nimia perturbati.

4 For neither might the corner that held them keep them from fear: but noises as of waters falling down sounded about them, and sad visions appeared unto them with heavy countenances.

4 Neque enim quæ continebat illos spelunca sine timore custodiebat,
quoniam sonitus descendens perturbabat illos,
et personæ tristes illis apparentes pavorem illis præstabant.

5 No power of the fire might give them light: neither could the bright flames of the stars endure to lighten that horrible night.

5 Et ignis quidem nulla vis poterat illis lumen præbere,
nec siderum limpidæ flammæ
illuminare poterant illam noctem horrendam.

6 Only there appeared unto them a fire kindled of itself, very dreadful: for being much terrified, they thought the things which they saw to be worse than the sight they saw not.

6 Apparebat autem illis subitaneus ignis, timore plenus;
et timore perculsi illius quæ non videbatur faciei,
æstimabant deteriora esse quæ videbantur.

7 As for the illusions of art magick, they were put down, and their vaunting in wisdom was reproved with disgrace.

7 Et magicæ artis appositi erant derisus,
et sapientiæ gloriæ correptio cum contumelia.

8 For they, that promised to drive away terrors and troubles from a sick soul, were sick themselves of fear, worthy to be laughed at.

8 Illi enim qui promittebant
timores et perturbationes expellere se ab anima languente,
hi cum derisu pleni timore languebant.

9 For though no terrible thing did fear them; yet being scared with beasts that passed by, and hissing of serpents,

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.

10 They died for fear, denying that they saw the air, which could of no side be avoided.

10 Cum sit enim timida nequitia,
dat testimonium condemnationis:
semper enim præsumit sæva,
perturbata conscientia:

11 For wickedness, condemned by her own witness, is very timorous, and being pressed with conscience, always forecasteth grievous things.

11 nihil enim est timor nisi proditio cogitationis auxiliorum.

12 For fear is nothing else but a betraying of the succours which reason offereth.

12 Et dum ab intus minor est exspectatio,
majorem computat inscientiam ejus causæ,
de qua tormentum præstat.

13 And the expectation from within, being less, counteth the ignorance more than the cause which bringeth the torment.

13 Illi autem qui impotentem vere noctem,
et ab infimis et ab altissimis inferis supervenientem,
eumdem somnum dormientes,

14 But they sleeping the same sleep that night, which was indeed intolerable, and which came upon them out of the bottoms of inevitable hell,

14 aliquando monstrorum exagitabantur timore,
aliquando animæ deficiebant traductione:
subitaneus enim illis et insperatus timor supervenerat.

15 Were partly vexed with monstrous apparitions, and partly fainted, their heart failing them: for a sudden fear, and not looked for, came upon them.

15 Deinde si quisquam ex illis decidisset,
custodiebatur in carcere sine ferro reclusus.

16 So then whosoever there fell down was straitly kept, shut up in a prison without iron bars.

16 Si enim rusticus quis erat, aut pastor,
aut agri laborum operarius præoccupatus esset,
ineffugibilem sustinebat necessitatem;

17 For whether he were husbandman, or shepherd, or a labourer in the field, he was overtaken, and endured that necessity, which could not be avoided: for they were all bound with one chain of darkness.

17 una enim catena tenebrarum omnes erant colligati.
Sive spiritus sibilans,
aut inter spissos arborum ramos avium sonus suavis,
aut vis aquæ decurrentis nimium,

18 Whether it were a whistling wind, or a melodious noise of birds among the spreading branches, or a pleasing fall of water running violently,

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.

19 Or a terrible sound of stones cast down, or a running that could not be seen of skipping beasts, or a roaring voice of most savage wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the hollow mountains; these things made them to swoon for fear.

19 Omnis enim orbis terrarum limpido illuminabatur lumine,
et non impeditis operibus continebatur.

20 For the whole world shined with clear light, and none were hindered in their labour:

20 Solis autem illis superposita erat gravis nox,
imago tenebrarum quæ superventura illis erat:
ipsi ergo sibi erant graviores tenebris.

21 Over them only was spread an heavy night, an image of that darkness which should afterward receive them: but yet were they unto themselves more grievous than the darkness.