§7Indignatur ecce Dominus et irascitur et quod ad eum non conuertamini comminatur: et tu miraris aut quereris in hac obstinatione et contemptu uestro, si rara desuper pluuia descendat, si terra situ pulueris squaleat, si uix ieiunas et pallidas herbas sterilis gleba producat, si uineam debilitet grando caedens, si oleam detruncet turbo subuertens, si fontem siccitas statuat, aerem pestilens aura corrumpat, hominem morbida ualitudo consumat, cum omnia ista peccatis prouocantibus ueniant et plus exacerbetur Deus quando nihil talia et tanta proficiant.
Behold, the Lord is indignant and angry, and threatens because you do not turn to Him; and do you wonder or complain in this obstinacy and contempt of yours, if rain descends rarely from above, if the earth is squalid with the neglect of dust, if the barren soil produces scarcely barren and pale herbs, if the beating hail weakens the vineyard, if the overturning whirlwind cuts down the olive, if drought stops up the spring, if a pestilential breeze corrupts the air, if morbid disease consumes man, since all these things come because of provoking sins, and God is more exasperated when such and so great things profit nothing.
fieri enim ista uel ad disciplinam contumacium uel ad poenam malorum, declarat in scripturis sanctis idem Deus dicens: sine causa percussi filios uestros, disciplinam non exceperunt. et propheta deuotus ac dicatus Deo ad haec eadem respondit et dicit: uerberasti eos nec doluerunt: flagellasti eos nec uoluerunt accipere disciplinam. ecce inrogantur diuinitus plagae et nullus Dei metus est: ecce uerbera desuper et flagella non desunt et trepidatio nulla, nulla formido est.
For that these things are done either for the correction of the rebellious or for the punishment of the wicked, the same God declares in the Holy Scriptures, saying: "In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction." And the prophet, devoted and dedicated to God, responded to these same things and says: "You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have scourged them, but they refused to receive correction." Behold, plagues are inflicted from heaven and there is no fear of God; behold, stripes from above and scourges are not lacking, and there is no trembling, no dread.
quid si non intercederet rebus humanis uel ista censura? quanto adhuc maior in hominibus esset audacia facinorum inpunitate secura?
What if even this censure did not intervene in human affairs? How much greater would the audacity of crimes still be in men, secure in impunity?
§8Quereris quod minus nunc tibi uberes fontes et aurae salubres et frequens pluuia et fertilis terra obsequium praebeant, quod non ita utilitatibus tuis et uoluptatibus elementa deseruiant.
You complain that now less abundant springs and wholesome breezes and frequent rain and fertile earth offer you obedience, that the elements do not so serve your utilities and pleasures.
tu enim Deo semis per quem tibi cuncta deseruiunt: famularis illi cuius nutu tibi uniuersa famulantur.
For do you serve God, through whom all things serve you? Do you minister to Him, by whose nod all things minister to you?
ipse de seruo tuo exigis seruitutem et homo hominem parere tibi et oboedire compellis, et cum sit uobis eadem sors nascendi, condicio una moriendi, corporum materia consimilis, animarum ratio communis, aequali iure et pari lege uel ueniatur in istum mundum uel de mundo postmodum recedatur, tamen nisi tibi pro arbitrio tuo seruiatur, nisi ad uoluntatis obsequium pareatur, inperiosus et nimius seruitutis exactor flagellas, uerberas, fame, siti, nuditate et ferro frequenter et carcere adfligis et crucias.
You yourself demand servitude of your servant, and, a man yourself, you compel a man to submit and obey you; and although you have the same lot of birth, the same condition of death, a similar material of bodies, a common nature of souls, and though by equal right and like law one either enters into this world or afterwards departs from the world, yet unless you are served according to your pleasure, unless there is obedience to your will, as an imperious and excessive exacter of servitude, you scourge, you beat, you afflict and torment with hunger, thirst, nakedness, and frequently with iron and imprisonment.
et non agnoscis Dominum Deum tuum, cum sic exerceas ipse dominatum?
And do you not recognize the Lord your God, when you yourself exercise lordship in this way?
§9Merito ergo incursantibus plagis non desunt Dei flagella nec uerbera.
Deservedly, therefore, as plagues rush in, God's scourges and stripes are not lacking.
quae cum nihil istic promoueant nec ad Deum singulos tanto cladium terrore conuertant, manet postmodum carcer aeternus et iugis flamma et poena perpetua, nec audietur illic rogantium gemitus, quia nec hic Dei indignantis terror auditus est qui per prophetam clamat et dicit: audite sermonem Domini, filii Israel, quia iudicium est Domini aduersus incolas terrae, quod neque misericordia neque ueritas neque agnitio Dei sit super terram: execratio et mendacium et caedes et furtum et adulterium diffusum est super terram, sanguinem sanguini supermiscent.
Since these things profit nothing here, nor turn individuals to God by such terror of slaughters, there remains hereafter an eternal prison, and a continuous flame, and perpetual punishment; nor will the groan of those who entreat be heard there, because neither was the terror of an indignant God heard here, who cries out by the prophet and says: "Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord has a judgment against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no mercy, nor truth, nor knowledge of God on the earth: cursing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery are poured out upon the earth, they mingle blood with blood.
idcirco terra lugebit cum uniuersis incolis suis, cum bestiis agri, cum serpentibus terrae, cum uolucribus caeli, et deficient pisces maris, ut nemo iudicet, nemo reuincat. indignari se Deus dicit quod agnitio Dei non sit in terris, et Deus non agnoscitur nec timetur.
Therefore the land shall mourn with all its inhabitants, with the beasts of the field, with the serpents of the earth, with the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea shall fail, so that no one may judge, no one may convict." God says He is indignant because there is no knowledge of God on the earth, and yet God is not recognized nor feared.
delicta mendaciorum, libidinum, fraudium, crudelitatis, impietatis, furoris Deus increpat et incusat, et ad innocentiam nemo conuertitur.
God rebukes and accuses the sins of lies, lusts, frauds, cruelty, impiety, madness, and no one turns to innocence.
fiunt ecce quae uerbis Dei ante praedicta sunt, nec quisquam fide praesentium ut in futurum consulat admonetur.
Behold, those things are happening which were foretold before by the words of God, nor is anyone warned by the faith in present things to consult for the future.
inter ipsa aduersa quibus uix coartata et conclusa anima respirat uacat malos esse et in periculis tantis non de se magis sed de altero iudicare.
Amid the very adversities by which the constrained and shut up soul scarcely breathes, there is leisure to be wicked, and in such great dangers to judge not of oneself, but rather of another.
indignamini indignari Deum, quasi aliquid boni male uiuendo mereamini, quasi non omnia ista quae accidunt minora adhuc sint et leuiora peccatis uestris.
You are indignant that God is indignant, as if by living evilly you deserved anything good, as if all these things which happen were not still less and lighter than your sins.