Esther 11
The dream of Mardochai, which in the ancient Greek and Latin Bibles was into the beginning of the book, but was detached by St. Jerome, and put in this place.
Anno quarto regnantibus Ptolemæo et Cleopatra, attulerunt Dosithæus, qui se sacerdotem et Levitici generis ferebat, et Ptolemæus filius ejus, hanc epistolam phurim, quam dixerunt interpretatum esse Lysimachum Ptolemæi filium in Jerusalem.
In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest, and of the Levitical race, and Ptolemy his son brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy had interpreted in Jerusalem.
Anno secundo, regnante Artaxerxe maximo, prima die mensis Nisan, vidit somnium Mardochæus filius Jairi, filii Semei, filii Cis, de tribu Benjamin:
In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great, in the first day of the month Nisan, Mardochai the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin:
homo Judæus, qui habitabat in urbe Susis, vir magnus, et inter primos aulæ regiæ.
A Jew who dwelt in the city of Susan, a great man and among the first of the king's court, had a dream.
Erat autem de eo numero captivorum, quos transtulerat Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis de Jerusalem cum Jechonia rege Juda.
Now he was of the number of the captives, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem with Jechonias king of Juda:
Et hoc ejus somnium fuit: apparuerunt voces, et tumultus, et tonitrua, et terræmotus, et conturbatio super terram:
And this was his dream: Behold there were voices, and tumults, and thunders, and earthquakes, and a disturbance upon the earth.
et ecce duo dracones magni, paratique contra se in prælium.
And behold two great dragons came forth ready to fight one against another.
Ad quorum clamorem cunctæ concitatæ sunt nationes, ut pugnarent contra gentem justorum.
And at their cry all nations were stirred up to fight against the nation of the just.
Fuitque dies illa tenebrarum et discriminis, tribulationis et angustiæ, et ingens formido super terram.
And that was a day of darkness and danger, of tribulation and distress, and great fear upon the earth.
Conturbataque est gens justorum timentium mala sua, et præparata ad mortem.
And the nation of the just was troubled fearing their own evils, and was prepared for death.
Clamaveruntque ad Deum: et illis vociferantibus, fons parvus crevit in fluvium maximum, et in aquas plurimas redundavit.
And they cried to God: and as they were crying, a little fountain grew into a very great river, and abounded into many waters.
Lux et sol ortus est, et humiles exaltati sunt, et devoraverunt inclytos.
The light and the sun rose up, and the humble were exalted, and they devoured the glorious.
Quod cum vidisset Mardochæus, et surrexisset de strato, cogitabat quid Deus facere vellet: et fixum habebat in animo, scire cupiens quid significaret somnium.
And when Mardochai had seen this, and arose out of his bed, he was thinking what God would do: and he kept it fixed in his mind, desirous to know what the dream should signify.