Introduction to Psalm 9 (pt 2)

The three psalms of Wednesday at Prime are all, in essence a plea God to intervene to set things right: to arise and act.

Today's installment is largely a complaint: as verse 3 plaintively puts it, why is God standing so afar off, and hiding himself in our hour of need?   Why does God allow evil men to thrive while oppressing the poor and persecuting good men (verses 4, 12-13)?

Psalm 9/2 (10) - Exsúrge, Dómine, non confortétur homo

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Exsúrge, Dómine, non confortétur homo: * judicéntur Gentes in conspéctu tuo.	Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened: let the Gentiles be judged in your sight.
2 Constítue, Dómine, legislatórem super eos: * ut sciant Gentes quóniam hómines sunt.	Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men.
3 Ut quid, Dómine, recessísti longe, * déspicis in opportunitátibus, in tribulatióne?	Why, O Lord, have you retired afar off? Why do you slight us in our wants, in the time of trouble?
4 Dum supérbit ímpius, incénditur pauper: * comprehendúntur in consíliis quibus cógitant.	Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire: they are caught in the counsels which they devise.
5 Quóniam laudátur peccátor in desidériis ánimæ suæ: * et iníquus benedícitur.	For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the unjust man is blessed.
6 Exacerbávit Dóminum peccátor, * secúndum multitúdinem iræ suæ non quæret.	The sinner has provoked the Lord, according to the multitude of his wrath, he will not seek him:
7 Non est Deus in conspéctu ejus: * inquinátæ sunt viæ illíus in omni témpore.	God is not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times.
8 Auferúntur judícia tua a fácie ejus: * ómnium inimicórum suórum dominábitur.	Your judgments are removed form his sight: he shall rule over all his enemies.
9 Dixit enim in corde suo: * Non movébor a generatióne in generatiónem sine malo.	For he has said in his heart: I shall not be moved from generation to generation, and shall be without evil.
10 Cujus maledictióne os plenum est, et amaritúdine, et dolo: * sub lingua ejus labor et dolor.	His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit: under his tongue are labour and sorrow.
11 Sedet in insídiis cum divítibus in occúltis: * ut interfíciat innocéntem.	He sits in ambush with the rich, in private places, that he may kill the innocent.
12 Oculi ejus in páuperem respíciunt: * insidiátur in abscóndito, quasi leo in spelúnca sua.	His eyes are upon the poor man: he lies in wait, in secret, like a lion in his den.
13 Insidiátur ut rápiat páuperem: * rápere páuperem, dum áttrahit eum.	He lies in ambush, that he may catch the poor man: so catch the poor, whilst he draws him to him.
14 In láqueo suo humiliábit eum: * inclinábit se, et cadet, cum dominátus fúerit páuperum.	In his net he will bring him down, he will crouch and fall, when he shall have power over the poor.
15 Dixit enim in corde suo: Oblítus est Deus, * avértit fáciem suam ne vídeat in finem.	For he has said in his heart: God has forgotten, he has turned away his face, not to see to the end.
16 Exsúrge, Dómine Deus, exaltétur manus tua: * ne obliviscáris páuperum.	Arise, O Lord God, let your hand be exalted: forget not the poor.
17 Propter quid irritávit ímpius Deum? * dixit enim in corde suo: Non requíret.	Wherefore has the wicked provoked God? For he has said in his heart: He will not require it.
18 Vides quóniam tu labórem et dolórem consíderas: * ut tradas eos in manus tuas.	You see it, for you consider labour and sorrow: that you may deliver them into your hands.
19 Tibi derelíctus est pauper: * órphano tu eris adjútor.	To you is the poor man left: you will be a helper to the orphan.
20 Cóntere bráchium peccatóris et malígni: * quærétur peccátum illíus, et non inveniétur.	Break the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his sin shall be sought, and shall not be found.
21 Dóminus regnábit in ætérnum, et in sæculum sæculi: * períbitis, Gentes, de terra illíus.	The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: you Gentiles shall perish from his land.
22 Desidérium páuperum exaudívit Dóminus: * præparatiónem cordis eórum audívit auris tua.	The Lord has heard the desire of the poor: your ear has heard the preparation of their heart.
23 Judicáre pupíllo et húmili, * ut non appónat ultra magnificáre se homo super terram.	To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may no more presume to magnify himself upon earth.

The sinner acts as if there were no God...

The evil men of the psalm, who act as if God does not exist, and lurks in ambush to kill (v13), are types, I would suggest, of Judas, consistent with the association of the day with his betrayal.  God gives us free will: we can choose to follow him, or to betray him.   Either way, God uses our choices to advance his providential plan for the world, bringing good even out of evil.  But, the psalm reminds us, there are consequences of our choices both for ourselves and others.

In fact, as several of the commentators, including St Augustine and St Robert Bellarmine have treated the psalm as a little political economy lesson on the tendency of the rich to become greedy and oppress the poor, picking up a theme that runs through many of the books of the prophets as well and providing the basis for the social teaching of the Church.  Some of the commentators also note that spiritual oppression as one of the issues alluded to in this psalm, viewing heresy as a form of oppression: murdering someone spiritually by seducing them from the truth, after all, is far worse a crime than murdering them corporally.

One psalm or two?

In the Septuagint, today's Prime psalm is combined into one with the section of Psalm 9 that is said on Tuesday at Prime in the Benedictine Office.  In the Hebrew Masoretic Text, they become Psalms 9 and 10 respectively, albeit not split at quite the same verses as the Benedictine Psalter has traditionally done.

There are good reasons for believing that they were originally one composition.  In particular, Psalm 9 (and 10) is an acrostic psalm, starting the verses with a letter of the alphabet in order (though with a few missing, perhaps due to text corruption) as an aid to memory.

The two halves of the psalm are, though, quite different in tone and content, so St Benedict's decision to split them is readily understandable.

All the same, as I noted in relation to Tuesday Prime, the Monastic Breviary of 1962 actually places the first two verses of this part of the psalm on Tuesday rather than Wednesday, in order to line it up with Psalm 10 in the Hebrew Masoretic Text.  This seems problematic on several counts.

Firstly, the inclusion of the Exsurge verse gives the psalm a nice structure, with its who halves each framed by an exhortation for God to arise (ie v1&11), that I think helps make clear the psalm's key messasges.

Secondly, it breaks the link to the verse that is used as the antiphon on Wednesday at Prime throughout the year, since this is consigned to Tuesday Prime instead of Wednesday.

Thirdly, it breaks the link with Matins. Psalm 9's original division point echoes the fifth psalm of the first Nocturn, Psalm 67 'Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici eius.  And just to add weight to the view that this echoing is not in the least bit accidental, note that the opening verse of the psalm two on from this at Matins (Psalm 68) shares the identical incipit to that of the third psalm of Prime today, Salvum me fac Domine.

Finally, it undermines the symmetry of the whole hour, for while all three of the psalms of Wednesday Prime ponder the problem of God's seeming indifference to the persecution of the just, the first (in its traditional version) opens by asking God to arise and act; the third includes a response from God that he will now do so (nunc exsúrgam, dicit Dóminus), and a statement of just what he proposes to do.

Arise Lord, let man not prevail

This is also one of those psalms where the Septuagint differs substantially from the received Hebrew version, which appears to be corrupt in many places.  Accordingly, those who normally work from translations such as the Neo-Vulgate, Coverdale or the RSV, all of which follow the Hebrew here, will benefit from a look at the Vulgate and an English version which follows it, such as the Douay-Rheims.

The most dramatic of these differences leads to a diametrically opposite interpretations of the psalm.  In particular, in verse 2, instead of  asking for a 'law-giver' to be appointed over them (Constituite Domine, legislatorem super eos...), a plea for the coming of Christ the king, the Hebrew says 'incite terror over them' (or 'put them in fear'), and has thus been interpreted by some as a prophecy of the anti-Christ.

Both interpretations have some support in the Fathers and so are open.  But the Benedictine Office, it seems to me, not least through the use of the preceding verse as an antiphon, to have adopted the obvious meaning of the Septuagint/Vulgate version.  And the verse could also be seen it as referring back to Psalm 2's 'Ego autem constitutus sum Rex...' ('By him I am established as King...'), said at Monday Prime.

This is just pure speculation, but there is another possible reason for changing the divisio point, for the words that open the old start of Wednesday Prime's psalm, Exsurge Domine, are also the title of a bull of Pope Leo X condemning Luther, and so, 'de-emphasising' them may perhaps have been motivated by ecumenical concerns.  The removal of some of the verses of Psalm 13 may also have been linked to this, as I've discussed in relation to that psalm.

That said, many modern Benedictine monasteries, including Solesmes, have adopted the neo-Vulgate psalter, and so de facto take a different view on this, a curious case of modern translators overturning centuries of (liturgically inspired) tradition...

Introduction to Psalm 9 (part 1)

In the Benedictine Office, the first half of Psalm 9 is said on Tuesdays at Prime, closing that hour.

On Tuesdays in the Benedictine Office we are encouraged to focus on our heavenly destiny, and on how to ascend to it (mystically through the saying of the Gradual Psalms from Terce onwards) through the imitation of Christ.  This last psalm of Prime can be seen as a motivational contribution to that theme: it reminds us of the joy of heaven; of the grace God provides to aid us in our struggles; and of the reason we must follow the way of the Cross, least we face the reality of death, judgment and hell.

Psalm 9 part 1: Confitebor tibi Domine

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, pro occultis filii. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for David.
1 Confitébor tibi, Dómine, in toto corde meo: * narrábo ómnia mirabília tua.	I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will relate all thy wonders.
2  Lætábor et exsultábo in te: * psallam nómini tuo, Altíssime.	I will be glad, and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou most high.
3  In converténdo inimícum meum retrórsum: * infirmabúntur, et períbunt a fácie tua.	When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened, and perish before thy face.
4  Quóniam fecísti judícium meum et causam meam: * sedísti super thronum, qui júdicas justítiam.	For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: thou hast sat on the throne, who judgest justice.
5  Increpásti Gentes, et périit ímpius: * nomen eórum delésti in ætérnum, et in sæculum sæculi.	Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6  Inimíci defecérunt frámeæ in finem: * et civitátes eórum destruxísti.	The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: and their cities thou hast destroyed
7  Périit memória eórum cum sónitu: * et Dóminus in ætérnum pérmanet.	Their memory hath perished with a noise: But the Lord remaineth for ever.
8  Parávit in judício thronum suum: * et ipse judicábit orbem terræ in æquitáte, judicábit pópulos in justítia.	He hath prepared his throne in judgment: And he shall judge the world in equity he shall judge the people in justice.
9  Et factus est Dóminus refúgium páuperi: * adjútor in opportunitátibus, in tribulatióne.	And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: a helper in due time in tribulation.
10  Et sperent in te qui novérunt nomen tuum: * quóniam non dereliquísti quæréntes te, Dómine.	And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
11  Psállite Dómino, qui hábitat in Sion: * annuntiáte inter Gentes stúdia ejus:	Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: declare his ways among the Gentiles:
12  Quóniam requírens sánguinem eórum recordátus est: * non est oblítus clamórem páuperum.	For requiring their blood, he hath remembered them: he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor.
13  Miserére mei, Dómine: * vide humilitátem meam de inimícis meis.	Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies.
14  Qui exáltas me de portis mortis, * ut annúntiem omnes laudatiónes tuas in portis fíliæ Sion.	You that lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
15  Exsultábo in salutári tuo: * infíxæ sunt Gentes in intéritu, quem fecérunt.	I will rejoice in your salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they prepared.
16  In láqueo isto, quem abscondérunt, * comprehénsus est pes eórum.	Their foot has been taken in the very snare which they hid.
17  Cognoscétur Dóminus judícia fáciens: * in opéribus mánuum suárum comprehénsus est peccátor.	The Lord shall be known when he executes judgments: the sinner has been caught in the works of his own hands.
18  Convertántur peccatóres in inférnum, * omnes Gentes quæ obliviscúntur Deum.	The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God.
19  Quóniam non in finem oblívio erit páuperis: * patiéntia páuperum non períbit in finem	For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.

The hidden mysteries of Christ's Redemption

At the end of psalm 7, King David promised to give God praise.  In Psalm 8, the marvelous works praised were God’s work of creation.  In this psalm, the marvelous works praised take the form of God’s practical help to David in relation to his kingdom in helping him defeat his enemies.

In addition to this literal meaning though, there is of course a Christological one, and in the title of this psalm, in the Septuagint,  'Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for David', the Fathers and Theologians saw a reference to the mysteries of Christ's work of Redemption.  This title can be interpreted as referring not only to Our Lord’s first coming to redeem us (hidden in the sense that the people failed to realize that he was the promised Messiah), but also to his second coming to judge the world, as St Thomas Aquinas, for example, makes clear:

"So, hidden things of a son are as mysteries concerning Christ. For such hidden things of Christ are twofold, Christ's first coming on earth is hidden in reference to his divinity and glory,…Christ's second coming upon this earth will be evident…"

You that lift me up from the gates of death

Tuesday's section of the psalm broadly falls into two sections.  It opens with a hymn of praise for God's work in confounding the devil (verses 1-7).  It then turns to the Second Coming, and our proper preparation for it, in the form of the mission to the world (verse 11) and our trust in God, who will not forsake the poor (verses 9&19).

In fact the psalm emphasizes one of the most fundamental but today often overlooked messages of the Gospel, namely that Our Lord came to bring justice to all not just in the sense of social justice here and now, but above all in the eschatological sense.

Many today seem to think that what we do on this earth doesn't really matter, for all will be saved. But the Gospel message is that what we do think and say really does matter, for as the psalmist points out, ‘God is known for executing judgment’: he knows all and so can judge perfectly, ‘in equity’, based on both our thoughts and actions; and there are consequences for making the wrong choices.

The path to justice, however, the psalm makes clear, is not always as quick and easy as we would desire,  for evil does not give up without making a fight of it (the swords of verse 6, sound referred to in verse 7).   God does offer a key protection to the Church, through whom he ‘rebukes the gentiles’ by preaching the Gospel; opposes idolatry and error; and lifts it up, protecting it from ‘the gates of hell’ (verse 14).   Our way though, is the way of the Cross, and the poor and oppressed are required to show patience (verse 19); some will even be asked to die as martyrs (verse 12).

The three Tuesday Prime psalms together emphasize the duty to pray, worship and give thanks, and to ‘evangelize’.  In them, the psalmist expresses the upwelling of joy that the person truly committed to God feels, and the instinctive response to that, namely the desire to tell others about it (verses 1 &11), to spread the message about what revelation teaches us is right and wrong and thus ‘rebuke the nations’ and entreat them to repent (verses 5).  This duty is surely all the more imperative in the context put here of our rightful desire to avoid condemnation in the coming judgment both of ourselves, but also of our friends, family and the whole world.

The divisio puzzle(s)

Finally, by way of a footnote, a note on the division of the psalm into two.

In the older forms of the Roman Office, psalms (Psalm 118 aside) are never divided.

 St Benedict, however, does so quite frequently, and the final 'psalm' of Tuesday Prime is actually only the first half of Psalm 9.

In some cases, the main motivation for this is presumably to even up the number of verses said on each day at a particular hour: with the split, Tuesday Prime consists of 46 verses of psalmody, making it already one of the longer days of the week at Prime.

But that can't be the only, or even main reason, for in some cases splitting the psalms actually makes the days more uneven in length.  Prime for example, varies in length from a mere 21 verses on Thursday, to 53 on Friday.

A second possible rationale for splitting Psalm 9 is that the saint was following the Hebrew Masoretic Text's (somewhat illogical given that this is one of those alphabetic psalms, and the split occurs mid-way through the alphabet) division of the psalm into two.  Indeed the 1962 Breviarium Monasticum makes the divide occur at the same verse as that in protestant and modern Catholic Bibles.

Older versions of the Benedictine Office though, reflected in the Monastic Diurnal and Antiphonale Monasticum, actually split the psalm at a different point, two verses earlier.  I haven't (yet) tracked back how far this tradition goes, but I'm betting its a long way, because I actually think the saint has split the psalm across Tuesday and Wednesday to reflect his programmatic approach to the design of the Office, and more than a few commentators acknowledge that the change in tone in the psalm actually starts at verse 20, not 22, the point of the Masoretic Text divide.

In sum, Tuesday's half of the psalm is far more upbeat than Wednesday's: it sings of Sion, the heavenly city, one of the key themes of that day in the Benedictine Office, and praises the Lord for his coming.   Wednesday's section, on the other hand, is more of a song of lamentation and entreaty in the face of  deceit and betrayal, which is entirely consistent with the themes of that day in the Benedictine Office.   Accordingly, I have maintained the traditional Office dividing point here for expository purposes.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of Psalm 9/1

NT References	Acts 17:31, Rev 19:11 (v8); Mt 16:18 (v13)
RB cursus	Prime Tuesday/Wednesday
Monastic feasts etc
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Matins
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Sunday Matins. 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Lent 2 Tues CO (1-2); Lent 3 GR (3); Passion Tuesday, OF 10-12; Post Pent 1, CO (1-2), Post Pent 3 OF (10-12), Post Pent 4 A (4, 9);

You can also find some short summaries of this part of the psalm, primarily from the Fathers and Theologians here.

The canticle for the Sabbath that God dictated? Deuteronomy 32/1

Saturday in the Benedictine Office, I have suggested previously, calls us to remember Holy Saturday, when the tomb is empty and the Mass is not celebrated, because Christ is preaching to those in Sheol.

It is a day when we can meditate on God's wonderful faithfulness and care of us, set against our constant rejection of him through sin.

In St Benedict’s ordering of the Office, Saturday has but one psalm, Psalm 142.

The reason for this is no doubt in part that the Canticle he set for the day, from Deuteronomy 32, is extremely long (65 verses when arranged for liturgical use). Today I want to look briefly provide something of an introduction to it.

Importance of the Canticle

Before looking at the text itself, it is worth noting that this is an extremely important canticle.

Whereas in the case of the other Lauds canticles St Benedict simply says, in his Rule, to use the Roman ones, he specifically mentions Deuteronomy for Saturday. In this he was carrying over a Jewish tradition that this canticle be recited each Sabbath in the synagogues, a tradition alluded to by St James in Acts 15:21.

This in fact reflects a Scriptural injunction: in Deuteronomy 31 God tells Moses that he is going to die soon, and calls him and Joshua before him within the tabernacle. Appearing as a pillar of cloud, Scripture records that God then dictated the canticle and instructed Moses to make the children of Israel learn it by heart so they would have no excuses as to what the law required, and could not say that they did not know the consequences of not following it.

Modern (and modernist?) commentaries (yes, even the Navarre) tend to reject the idea that it was composed all at once, or dictated in quite so dramatic a fashion, Scripture notwithstanding.  Still, regardless of how literally you interpret the story of its composition, the inclusion of this explanation clearly signals its importance.

The canticle is effectively a summary of all of Deuteronomy, and its mix of rejoicing over God’s care and creation of us, testimony to God’s care of us and man’s infidelity and continuing rejection of him, together with warnings over the consequences of sin.  Its themes are also reflected in many of the psalms of Matins today in the Benedictine Office.

And its references to a perverse generation and should sound very familiar from the New Testament.

Liturgical wreckovation?

Despite all this, the full text of the canticle is likely to be relatively unfamiliar to those who say the 1962 Benedictine Office using the Monastic Diurnal or Breviary (as opposed to the Antiphonale Monasticum) for several reasons.

First, on many Saturdays during the year, the rubrics suggest that it be replaced by the festal canticle, as part of the Saturday Office of Our Lady.

But secondly, even where it is retained (such as during Lent and Advent), the 1962 breviary actually cuts out more than half of it, ending it at verse 27, before even the division point of the original version! Indeed, the Monastic Diurnal for some reason inserts a division into Psalm 142 rather than the canticle as St Benedict actually specified, perhaps by way of a protest?  The result is that the canticle seems to end on a rather odd note, condemning the people who had forgotten God who created them.

Soft soaping?

I can only speculate on the reasons for this bit of liturgical butchery.

Were the verses condemning homosexuality perhaps ones the reformers didn’t want to have modern monks confronted with on a regular basis?

Or was it perhaps the references to God’s judgment?

Or worse still from a liberal perspective, the references to God’s vengeance, that actually conclude the canticle?

Unsurprisingly, the modern Liturgy of the Hours goes even further, slashing the canticle to but twelve verses, and thus transforming it from some hard sayings coupled with a tough warning to a ‘joyful hymn to the Lord who lovingly protects and cares for his people amid the daylong dangers and difficulties’ (Pope John Paul II, in a General Audience on it in 2002).

Can one legitimately add those excluded verses back into the 1962 Office? Given that many monasteries continue to use the older version of the Antiphonale Monasticum which includes the full text of this canticle, I actually do think this is legitimate and even desirable.

Deuteronomy 32

Here is the canticle with the different divisio and endpoints identified:

Canticum Moysis [4] 32:1 Audíte, cæli, quæ loquor: * áudiat terra verba oris mei. 32:2 Concréscat ut plúvia doctrína mea, * fluat ut ros elóquium meum. 32:3 Quasi imber super herbam, et quasi stillæ super grámina. * Quia nomen Dómini invocábo. 32:4 Date magnificéntiam Deo nostro. * Dei perfécta sunt ópera, et omnes viæ ejus judícia: 32:5 Deus fidélis, et absque ulla iniquitáte, justus et rectus. * Peccavérunt ei, et non fílii ejus in sórdibus: 32:6 Generátio prava atque pervérsa. * Hǽccine reddis Dómino, pópule stulte et insípiens? 32:7 Numquid non ipse est pater tuus, * qui possédit te, et fecit, et creávit te? [1962 divisio point] 32:8 Meménto diérum antiquórum, * cógita generatiónes síngulas: 32:9 Intérroga patrem tuum, et annuntiábit tibi: * majóres tuos, et dicent tibi. 32:10 Quando dividébat Altíssimus gentes: * quando separábat fílios Adam. 32:11 Constítuit términos populórum * juxta númerum filiórum Israël. 32:12 Pars autem Dómini, pópulus ejus: * Jacob funículus hereditátis ejus. 32:13 Invénit eum in terra desérta, * in loco horróris et vastæ solitúdinis: 32:14 Circumdúxit eum, et dócuit: * et custodívit quasi pupíllam óculi sui. 32:15 Sicut áquila próvocans ad volándum pullos suos, * et super eos vólitans, 32:16 Expándit alas suas, et assúmpsit eum, * atque portávit in húmeris suis. 32:17 Dóminus solus dux ejus fuit: * et non erat cum eo deus aliénus. 32:18 Constítuit eum super excélsam terram: * ut coméderet fructus agrórum, 32:19 Ut súgeret mel de petra, * oleúmque de saxo duríssimo. 32:20 Butýrum de arménto, et lac de óvibus * cum ádipe agnórum, et aríetum filiórum Basan: 32:21 Et hircos cum medúlla trítici, * et sánguinem uvæ bíberet meracíssimum. 32:22 Incrassátus est diléctus, et recalcitrávit: * incrassátus, impinguátus, dilatátus, 32:23 Derelíquit Deum, factórem suum, * et recéssit a Deo, salutári suo. 32:24 Provocavérunt eum in diis aliénis, * et in abominatiónibus ad iracúndiam concitavérunt. 32:25 Immolavérunt dæmóniis, et non Deo, * diis, quos ignorábant: 32:26 Novi recentésque venérunt, * quos non coluérunt patres eórum. 32:27 Deum qui te génuit dereliquísti, * et oblítus es Dómini, creatóris tui. [1962 endpoint] 32:28 Vidit Dóminus, et ad iracúndiam concitátus est: * quia provocavérunt eum fílii sui et fíliæ. 32:29 Et ait: Abscóndam fáciem meam ab eis, * et considerábo novíssima eórum: 32:30 Generátio enim pervérsa est, * et infidéles fílii. 32:31 Ipsi me provocavérunt in eo, qui non erat Deus, * et irritavérunt in vanitátibus suis: [traditional divisio point] 32:32 Et ego provocábo eos in eo, qui non est pópulus, * et in gente stulta irritábo illos. 32:33 Ignis succénsus est in furóre meo, * et ardébit usque ad inférni novíssima: 32:34 Devorabítque terram cum gérmine suo, * et móntium fundaménta combúret. 32:35 Congregábo super eos mala, * et sagíttas meas complébo in eis. 32:36 Consuméntur fame, * et devorábunt eos aves morsu amaríssimo: 32:37 Dentes bestiárum immíttam in eos, * cum furóre trahéntium super terram, atque serpéntium. 32:38 Foris vastábit eos gládius, et intus pavor, * júvenem simul ac vírginem, lactántem cum hómine sene. 32:39 Dixi: Ubinam sunt? * cessáre fáciam ex homínibus memóriam eórum. 32:40 Sed propter iram inimicórum dístuli: * ne forte superbírent hostes eórum, 32:41 Et dícerent: Manus nostra excélsa, et non Dóminus, * fecit hæc ómnia. 32:42 Gens absque consílio est, et sine prudéntia. * Utinam sáperent, et intellégerent, ac novíssima providérent. 32:43 Quómodo persequátur unus mille, * et duo fugent decem míllia? 32:44 Nonne ídeo, quia Deus suus véndidit eos, * et Dóminus conclúsit illos? 32:45 Non enim est Deus noster ut dii eórum: * et inimíci nostri sunt júdices. 32:46 De vínea Sodomórum vínea eórum, * et de suburbánis Gomórrhæ: 32:47 Uva eórum uva fellis, * et botri amaríssimi. 32:48 Fel dracónum vinum eórum, * et venénum áspidum insanábile. 32:49 Nonne hæc cóndita sunt apud me, * et signáta in thesáuris meis? 32:50 Mea est últio, et ego retríbuam in témpore, * ut labátur pes eórum: 32:51 Juxta est dies perditiónis, * et adésse festínant témpora. 32:52 Judicábit Dóminus pópulum suum, * et in servis suis miserébitur: 32:53 Vidébit quod infirmáta sit manus, * et clausi quoque defecérunt, residuíque consúmpti sunt. 32:54 Et dicet: Ubi sunt dii eórum, * in quibus habébant fidúciam? 32:55 De quorum víctimis comedébant ádipes, * et bibébant vinum libáminum: 32:56 Surgant, et opituléntur vobis, * et in necessitáte vos prótegant. 32:57 Vidéte quod ego sim solus, * et non sit álius Deus præter me: 32:58 Ego occídam, et ego vívere fáciam: percútiam, et ego sanábo, * et non est qui de manu mea possit erúere. 32:59 Levábo ad cælum manum meam, et dicam: * Vivo ego in ætérnum. 32:60 Si acúero ut fulgur gládium meum, * et arripúerit judícium manus mea: 32:61 Reddam ultiónem hóstibus meis, * et his qui odérunt me retríbuam. 32:62 Inebriábo sagíttas meas sánguine, * et gládius meus devorábit carnes, 32:63 De cruóre occisórum, * et de captivitáte, nudáti inimicórum cápitis. 32:64 Laudáte, gentes, pópulum ejus, * quia sánguinem servórum suórum ulciscétur: 32:65 Et vindíctam retríbuet in hostes eórum, * et propítius erit terræ pópuli sui.

6Canticle of Moses 32:1 Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, * let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth. 32:2 Let my doctrine gather as the rain, * let my speech distill as the dew, 32:3 As a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass. * Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: 32:4 Give ye magnificence to our God. * The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: 32:5 God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right. * They have sinned against him, and are none of his children in their filth: 32:6 They are a wicked and perverse generation. * Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? 32:7 Is not he thy father, * that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee? [1962 divisio] 32:8 Remember the days of old, * think upon every generation: 32:9 Ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: * thy elders and they will tell thee. 32:10 When the Most High divided the nations: * when he separated the sons of Adam, 32:11 He appointed the bounds of people * according to the number of the children of Israel. 32:12 But the Lord’s portion is his people: * Jacob the lot of his inheritance. 32:13 He found him in a desert land, * in a place of horror, and of vast wilderness: 32:14 He led him about, and taught him: * and he kept him as the apple of his eye. 32:15 As the eagle enticing her young to fly, * and hovering over them, 32:16 He spread his wings, and hath taken him * and carried him on his shoulders. 32:17 The Lord alone was his leader: * and there was no strange god with him. 32:18 He set him upon high land: * that he might eat the fruits of the fields, 32:19 That he might suck honey out of the rock, * and oil out of the hardest stone, 32:20 Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep * with the fat of lambs, and of the rams of the breed of Basan: 32:21 And goats with the marrow of wheat, * and might drink the purest blood of the grape. 32:22 The beloved grew fat, and kicked: * he grew fat, and thick and gross, 32:23 He forsook God who made him, * and departed from God his saviour. 32:24 They provoked him by strange gods, * and stirred him up to anger, with their abominations. 32:25 They sacrificed to devils and not to God: * to gods whom they knew not: 32:26 That were newly come up, * whom their fathers worshipped not. 32:27 Thou hast forsaken the God that beget * and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee. [1962 end] 32:28 The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath: * because his own sons and daughters provoked him. [divisio] 32:29 And he said: I will hide my face from them, * and will consider what their last end shall be: 32:30 For it is a perverse generation, * and unfaithful children. 32:31 They have provoked me with that which was no god, * and have angered me with their vanities: 32:32 And I will provoke them with that which is no people, * and will vex them with a foolish nation. 32:33 A fire is kindled in my wrath, * and shall burn even to the lowest hell: 32:34 And shall devour the earth with her increase, * and shall burn the foundations of the mountains. 32:35 I will heap evils upon them, * and will spend my arrows among them. 32:36 They shall be consumed with famine, * and birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite: 32:37 I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, * with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents. 32:38 Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within, * both the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in years. 32:39 I said: Where are they? * I will make the memory of them to cease from among men. 32:40 But for the wrath of the enemies * I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, 32:41 And should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, * hath done all these things. 32:42 They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom * O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end. 32:43 How should one pursue after a thousand, * and two chase ten thousand? 32:44 Was it not, because their God had sold them, * and the Lord had shut them up? 32:45 For our God is not as their gods: * our enemies themselves are judges. 32:46 Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, * and of the suburbs of Gomorrha: 32:47 Their grapes are grapes of gall, * and their clusters most bitter. 32:48 Their wine is the gall of dragons, * and the venom of asps, which is incurable. 32:49 Are not these things stored up with me, * and sealed up in my treasures? 32:50 Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, * that their foot may slide: 32:51 The day of destruction is at hand, * and the time makes haste to come. 32:52 The Lord will judge his people, * and will have mercy on his servants: 32:53 He shall see that their hand is weakened, * and that they who were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed. 32:54 And he shall say: Where are their gods, * in whom they trusted? 32:55 Of whose victims they ate the fat, * and drank the wine of their drink offerings: 32:56 Let them arise and help you, * and protect you in your distress. 32:57 See ye that I alone am, * and there is no other God besides me: 32:58 I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, * and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. 32:59 I will lift up my hand to heaven, * and I will say: I live for ever. 32:60 If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, * and my hand take hold on judgment: 32:61 I will render vengeance to my enemies, * and repay them that hate me. 32:62 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, * and my sword shall devour flesh, 32:63 Of the blood of the slain * and of the captivity, of the bare head of the enemies. 32:64 Praise his people, ye nations, * for he will revenge the blood of his servants: 32:65 And will render vengeance to their enemies, * and he will be merciful to the land of his people.