Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Invocation and the Plagues of Egypt
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise your God, O Sion. Who shall speak the mighty acts of the Lord: who shall make all His praises heard? At the going out of Israel from Egypt: of the house of Jacob from a barbarous people. Judea was made His sanctuary: Israel His dominion.
For Israel entered into Egypt: and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. There God greatly increased His people: and strengthened them over their enemies. He turned their hearts to hate His people: and to deal deceitfully with His servants. He sent Moses His servant to Pharaoh, and Aaron the chosen one of the Lord. He placed in them the words of His signs, and of His wonders in the land of Ham.
He turned their waters into blood: and killed their fish. Their land brought forth frogs: in the inner chambers of their kings. He spoke, and the dog-fly came: and gnats in all their borders. He gave them hail for rain, fire burning in their land. And He struck their vineyards and their fig trees: and broke the trees of their territory. He spoke, and the locust came: and the caterpillar, of which there was no number. And it devoured all the grass in their land, and all the fruit of their land. He sent darkness, and made it dark: He struck them with fire and apparitions in the dreadful night. He struck every firstborn in their land: the firstfruits of all their labor.
The Exodus from Egypt
He led out the Hebrews with silver and gold: with which they despoiled Egypt. The people of God went forth in exultation: and His chosen ones in joy. Egypt was glad at their departure: because the fear of them had fallen upon them. The Lord spread a cloud for their protection: and fire, to give them light through the night.
The Crossing of the Red Sea
Pharaoh heard that they were enclosed by the Red Sea, and said: I will pursue, and my hand will destroy them. He went in after them with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea: and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel walked through on dry ground: in the midst of it, as in a desert. Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified: the horse and rider He cast into the sea.
Blessed are you, O Israel, who is like you? O people, who are saved in the Lord. He who ascends the heavens is your helper: He Himself is the shield of your aid and the sword of your glory. The Lord is as a man of war: the Almighty is His name. The chariots of Pharaoh and his army He cast into the sea: his chosen princes were submerged in the Red Sea. The depths covered them: they went down into the deep like a stone. In the blast of Your fury, O Lord, the waters were gathered together; the flowing wave stood on either side like walls: until Your people whom You possess had passed through. Your breath blew, and the sea covered the Egyptians: they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You among the strong, O Lord? Who is like You? Magnificent in holiness, terrible yet praiseworthy, and working wonders.
Mary the prophetess led the chorus of women, and sang before them with a timbrel: Let us sing to the Lord gloriously. She foreshadowed the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, mother of Jesus, who freed us from hell: whom therefore all generations shall call blessed.
Manna, Water, and the Defeat of Amalek
The Hebrews asked for meat, and the quail came: God gave them manna, and satisfied them with bread from heaven. Man ate the bread of angels: He sent them food in abundance. At Rephidim He brought forth water from the rock: and watered them, as from a great abyss.
Amalek came, fighting against Israel: while Moses prayed, Joshua crushed him.
The Law of Sinai
On Sinai God descended in fire, smoke, storms, and trumpet blast: with a trumpet voice He promulgated the Decalogue. He gave Moses precepts, judgments, and ceremonies: by which He ratified a covenant with the Hebrews.
The Ark and the Tabernacle
He commanded the making of the ark of the covenant, the Cherubim, and the propitiatory: the table of the showbread and the golden lampstand. The tabernacle, curtains, bars, courtyard: and in it the altar of burnt offerings, with the bronze laver. Also the altar of incense, with frankincense: to Aaron He gave the priesthood of the nation.
The Priestly Vestments of Aaron
He girded him with a belt: and clothed him in a robe of glory. With breeches, tunic, ephod, and breastplate He vested him: He placed on it twelve gems, as the ensigns and glories of the twelve tribes of Israel.
He engraved the Urim and Thummim upon it: so that the truth of doctrine and the perfection of life might be stored in the breast of the priest. On the robe of the ephod was the whole world: He surrounded him with golden bells, very many all around. To make a sound as he walked, to make a ringing heard in the temple: as a memorial for the children of his nation. He placed a golden crown upon his miter: stamped with the sign of holiness and the glory of honor: holy to the Lord.
All these things were wrought by Bezalel and Oholiab: whom the Lord filled with a spirit of wisdom, for making them.
The Golden Calf and the Tablets of the Law
While Moses tarried on Sinai, the Hebrews made a golden calf: and worshiped a graven image. And they exchanged their glory for the likeness of a calf that eats hay. They forgot God, who saved them, who did great things in Egypt: wonders in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea. And He said He would destroy them: had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach, in His sight. Saying: Forgive them this offense: or blot me out of Your book which You have written. Moses stood on the rock: he saw the back and the glory of the Lord. The Lord breathed upon him horns of light: He gave him two tablets inscribed with the Decalogue.
Moses made the tabernacle with its vessels: he erected it as a temple to the Lord.
Doxology
Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise Him in the highest. Praise Him with timbrel and dance: praise Him with strings and organ. Praise Him with cymbals of jubilation: let every spirit praise the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.