Lamentations for Good Friday (Brumel) – complete, version for upper voices

Text and translation

[Lamentationes Hieremiæ Prophetæ, in feria sexta Parasceve]: Antoine Brumel (c.1460-c.1512)

I. Heth. Cogitavit Dominus
Heth. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiæ Sion; tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione: luxitque ante murale, et murus pariter dissipatus est.
The Lord thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: He stretched out a line, He did not withdraw His hand from destruction: therefore, He made the rampart lament; and the wall was equally destroyed.
Teth. Defixæ sunt in terra portæ eius, perdidit et contrivit vectes eius; regem eius et principes eius in gentibus: non est lex, et prophetæ eius non invenerunt visionem a Domino.
Her gates are sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bolts: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
Ierusalem convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.
Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God.

II. Joth. Sederunt in terra
Joth. Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiæ Sion; consperserunt cinere capita sua, virgines Ierusalem accinctæ sunt ciliciis: abiecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Iuda.
The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have thrown ashes upon their heads; the virgins of Jerusalem have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Juda hang their heads to the ground.
Caph. Defecerunt præ lacrimis oculi mei, conturbata sunt viscera mea; effusum est in terra iecur meum super contritione filiæ populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus et lactens in plateis oppidi.
My eyes fail with tears, my innards are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the child and the sucking babe faint in the city squares.
Ierusalem convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.
Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God.

III. Lamed. Matribus suis dixerunt
Lamed. Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis, cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.
They said to their mothers, “Where is the wheat and the wine?” when they fainted as the wounded in the city squares, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
Mem. Cui comparabo te, vel cui assimilabo te, filia Ierusalem? cui exæquabo te et consolabor te, virgo, filia Sion? Magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?
To what shall I compare you? to what shall I liken you, daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal you that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your grief is great like the sea: who can heal you?
Ierusalem convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.
Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God.

IV. Nun. Prophetæ tui viderunt
Nun. Prophetæ tui viderunt tibi falsa et stulta; nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad poenitentiam provocarent; viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et eiectiones.
Your prophets have seen vain and foolish things for you: for they have not revealed your sins, and lead you to challenge your captivity; and have told [seen for] you your burdens and banishment are false.
Samech. Plauserunt super te manibus omnes transeuntes per viam; sibilaverunt et moverunt capita sua super filiam Ierusalem: Hæccine est urbs, dicentes, perfecti decoris, gaudium universæ terræ?
All that pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?”
Aleph. Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis eius.
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
Aleph. Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.
He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
Aleph. Tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die.
Surely, He is turned against me; He turns His hand against me all the day.
Beth. Vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam; et contrivit ossa mea.
He has made my flesh and my skin old; He has broken my bones.
Beth. Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle et labore.
He has built against me, and surrounded me with gall and travail.
Beth. In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.
He has set me in dark places, as they that are forever dead.
Ierusalem convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.
Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God.

V. Gimel. Gircumædificavit adversum me
Gimel. Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar; aggravavit compedem meum.
He has hedged me about, so I cannot get out: he has made my chain heavy.
Gimel. Sed et cum clamavero et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.
Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.
Gimel. Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris; semitas meas subvertit.
He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he has made my paths crooked.
Daleth. Ursus insidians factus est mihi, leo in absconditis.
He was as a bear lying in wait for me, and as a lion in secret places.
Daleth. Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me; posuit me desolatam.
He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: He has made me desolate.