1 Audite verbum istud, quod ego levo super vos planctum: domus Israël cecidit, et non adjiciet ut resurgat.
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter 5, Verses 1-2) Hear this word, which I bring against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land; there is no one to raise her up. LXX: Hear this word, which I will take up against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, it shall not rise again.
2 Virgo Israël projecta est in terram suam, non est qui suscitet eam.
Jerome · AD 420 If, then, the apostle, who was a chosen vessel separated unto the gospel of Christ, by reason of the pricks of the flesh and the allurements of vice keeps his body and brings it into subjection, lest when he has preached to others he may himself be a cast away; and yet, for all that, sees another law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into capt…
3 Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Urbs de qua egrediebantur mille, relinquentur in ea centum; et de qua egrediebantur centum, relinquentur in ea decem in domo Israël.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 3) Because thus says the Lord God: The city from which a thousand went out shall be left with a hundred, and the city from which a hundred went out shall be left with ten in the house of Israel. Similarly in the Septuagint.
4 Quia hæc dicit Dominus domui Israël: Quærite me, et vivetis.
Jerome · AD 420 (Vers. 4, 5.) Because thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: seek me, and you will live, and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Galgala, and do not pass through Bersabee, because Galgala will be taken captive, and Bethel will be useless.
5 Et nolite quærere Bethel, et in Galgalam nolite intrare, et in Bersabee non transibitis, quia Galgala captiva ducetur, et Bethel erit inutilis.
6 Quærite Dominum, et vivite (ne forte comburatur ut ignis domus Joseph, et devorabit, et non erit qui extinguat Bethel:
Cyprian · AD 258 Therefore, while there is time, look to the true and eternal salvation, and, since the end of the world is now at hand, out of fear of God turn your minds to God. Let not your powerless and vain dominion in the world over the just and the meek delight you.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 6.) Seek the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burned with fire, and it devour, and there be none to quench it. LXX: Seek the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be kindled with fire, and it consume it, and there be none to quench the house of Israel.
7 qui convertitis in absinthium judicium, et justitiam in terra relinquitis):
8 facientem Arcturum et Orionem, et convertentem in mane tenebras, et diem in noctem mutantem; qui vocat aquas maris, et effundit eas super faciem terræ; Dominus nomen est ejus:
John Chrysostom · AD 407 When I think of the past tempest, and of the present calm, I cease not saying, "Blessed be God, who maketh all things, and changeth them; who hath brought light out of darkness; who leadeth to the gates of hell, and bringeth back; who chastiseth, but killeth not." And this I desire you too to repeat constantly, and never to desist.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 8 onwards) You who turn judgment into wormwood and abandon righteousness on earth, who makes the Bear and Orion, who turns darkness into morning and darkens day into night. He who calls the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth: His name is the Lord. He who laughs at destruction, bringing devastation upon the strong.
Paulus Orosius · AD 420 What, then, is your opinion about that section of the statement that follows, "He brings about rain upon the just and the unjust"? Surely he who gives, gives when he wishes and gives where he wishes, either by arranging the well- ordered nature or by lavishly bestowing his own munificence.
9 qui subridet vastitatem super robustum, et depopulationem super potentem affert.
10 Odio habuerunt corripientem in porta, et loquentem perfecte abominati sunt.
Tertullian · AD 220 They take the two sons as types of two peoples, the elder Jewish, the younger Christian.… But if I show that the Jew does not fit the type represented by the elder son, it will be admitted, in consequence, that the Christian is not typified by the younger.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 10) They hated the one who reproves at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks truthfully. LXX: They hated the one who reproves at the gates, and they abhorred the holy word. These are the ones whom God derides with devastation and brings upon them destruction.
11 Idcirco, pro eo quod diripiebatis pauperem, et prædam electam tollebatis ab eo, domos quadro lapide ædificabitis, et non habitabitis in eis; vineas plantabis amantissimas, et non bibetis vinum earum.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 11 and following) Therefore, because you plundered the poor and took the choice spoil from them, you will build houses of cut stone but not live in them. You will plant pleasant vineyards but not drink their wine, for I know your many crimes and powerful sins, you who oppress the righteous and take bribes, and push aside the needy in the gate.
12 Quia cognovi multa scelera vestra, et fortia peccata vestra: hostes justi, accipientes munus, et pauperes deprimentes in porta.
13 Ideo prudens in tempore illo tacebit, quia tempus malum est.
14 Quærite bonum, et non malum, ut vivatis; et erit Dominus Deus exercituum vobiscum, sicut dixistis.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And so, where the good God is, there are the good things that David desired to see and believed that he would see, even as he says, "I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.(Ps. 27:13)"' They indeed are the good things that endure always, that cannot be destroyed by change of time or of age.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 Seek good and not evil, that you may live, and so it will be the Lord God the Almighty with you; in the manner that you said, We have hated evil and loved good, and establish judgment in the gates, so that the Lord God the Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 It was the old custom that the elders should sit at the gate to make out by judicial trial the quarrels of persons at strife, in order that they should never enter the city at variance and should dwell there in harmony. And hence the Lord says by the prophet, "Establish judgment at the gate."
15 Odite malum et diligite bonum, et constituite in porta judicium: si forte misereatur Dominus Deus exercituum reliquiis Joseph.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 And again it signifies Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes. For as I have already said before, since Ephraim came from Joseph, for this reason he is also signified by his father's name.
16 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus exercituum, dominator: In omnibus plateis planctus; et in cunctis quæ foris sunt, dicetur: Væ, væ! et vocabunt agricolam ad luctum, et ad planctum eos qui sciunt plangere.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 16, 17.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the ruler: In all the streets there will be lamentation, and in all the public squares people will say, 'Alas! Alas!' They will summon the farmer to mourning and those skilled in lamentation to lament. And in all the vineyards there will be lamentation, for I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.
17 Et in omnibus vineis erit planctus, quia pertransibo in medio tui, dicit Dominus.
18 Væ desiderantibus diem Domini! ad quid eam vobis? Dies Domini ista, tenebræ, et non lux.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Perhaps we will understand what has been written if we deal with a Gospel text spoken by the Savior, which expresses it in this way: "Work while it is day.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 18-20.) Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for it? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Since there were some buoyed up by audacity and temerity who resisted the prophetic oracles, raging against them, calling the divine pronouncements false and demanding the fulfillment of the prophecies, the Lord declares these people lamentable for longing to see darkness instead of light.
19 Quomodo si fugiat vir a facie leonis, et occurrat ei ursus; et ingrediatur domum, et innitatur manu sua super parietem, et mordeat eum coluber.
Braulio of Zaragoza · AD 651 I am pierced by one wound and tortured with much grief, the bond of bitterness does not permit the tongue to perform its function, and it is easier to weep than to talk.
20 Numquid non tenebræ dies Domini, et non lux; et caligo, et non splendor in ea?
21 Odi, et projeci festivitates vestras, et non capiam odorem cœtuum vestrorum.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 This brings us to a conclusion on another matter of great importance. The observances regarding sacrifices, sabbaths, new moons, and all such things prescribed by the Jewish way of life of that day—they are not essential.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verses 21, 22.) I hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not take the smell of your heavens. But if you bring me burnt offerings and your gifts, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fat of your animals. LXX: I have hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not be pleased with your assemblies.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 The word would be especially fitting for those from Judah and Benjamin. For the tribes in Samaria to the worship of idols being wholly attached, they were found to be very slothful and greatly negligent of the laws given through Moses; but those in Jerusalem sacrificed on the high places to Baal and offered libations to the host of heaven, yet in addition to this they pretended…
22 Quod si obtuleritis mihi holocautomata, et munera vestra, non suscipiam; et vota pinguium vestrorum non respiciam.
23 Aufer a me tumultum carminum tuorum; et cantica lyræ tuæ non audiam.
Apostolic Constitutions · AD 380 And besides, before His coming He refused the sacrifices of the people, while they frequently offered them, when they sinned against Him, and thought He was to be appeased by sacrifices, but not by repentance. For thus He speaks: "Why dost thou bring to me frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a remote land?
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 What shall I say to those who worship Astarate or Chemosh, the abomination of the Sidions, or the likeness of a star, a god a little above them to these idolaters, but yet a creature and a piece of workmanship, when I myself either do not worship two of those into whose united name I am baptized, or else worship my fellow servants, for they are fellow servants, even if a little…
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 23) Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the music of your harp. LXX: Take away from me the sound of your songs, and I will not listen to the melody of your instruments.
24 Et revelabitur quasi aqua judicium, et justitia quasi torrens fortis.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 24) And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a strong torrent. LXX: And it will roll like water, and justice like an impassable torrent.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 And judgment shall roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent. The righteous verdict against them will be like an impassable torrent, that is, dragging away what falls into it and sparing nothing. For when God drives someone into destruction and troubles, who is the one who will save? Who is the one who will help and deliver from judgment?
25 Numquid hostias et sacrificium obtulistis mihi in deserto quadraginta annis, domus Israël?
Acts · AD 62 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 25 and following) Did you offer to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
26 et portastis tabernaculum Moloch vestro, et imaginem idolorum vestrorum, sidus dei vestri, quæ fecistis vobis.
27 Et migrare vos faciam trans Damascum, dicit Dominus: Deus exercituum nomen ejus.