The Latin of the Propers, lesson 2 - Dicit Dominus

The Latin of the Propers, lesson 2 - Dicit Dominus

Dicit Dóminus: Ego cógito cogitatiónes pacis, et non afflictiónis: invocábitis me, et ego exáudiam vos: et redúcam captivitátem vestram de cunctis locis. * Benedixísti, Dómine, terram tuam: avertísti captivitátem Jacob.
The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction: you shall call upon Me, and I will hear you; and I will bring back your captivity from all places. * Lord, Thou hast blessd Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.

This is the introit for the Last Sunday after Pentecost. The first sentence is from the book of Jeremias, and is a prophecy of the Messias. The second sentence is the opening of Psalm 84.

Dicit - He says. Present tense. The -it ending indicates that it is he/she/it that says.
Dóminus - The Lord. There is no word for the in Latin.
Ego - I. Ego isn't usually necessary, since the verb cogito implies it. It is used here for emphasis: It is I that ...
cógito - I think. Main verb, with subject Ego and object cogitationes. The -o ending indicates that I think.
cogitatiónes - thoughts. Cogitatio is a thought, cogitationes is thoughts.
pacis - of peace. Pax is peace. Pacis is the genitive case, indicating possession, of peace.
et - and.
non - not.
afflictiónis - of affliction. Afflictio is affliction. Afflictionis is the genitive case, indicating possession.
invocábitis - You will call upon. Invoco is I call upon. The -abitis ending indicates you will (you plural, that is)
me - me. This is the object of the verb invocabitis. I as a subject is ego; me as an object is me.
exáudiam - I will hear. Exaudio is I hear; the -am ending indicates the future, I will.
vos - you (plural). The object of the verb exaudiam.
redúcam - I will lead back. Reduco is I lead back. The -am ending once again indicates future tense.
captivitátem - captivity. Captivitas is captivity. The -atem ending indicates accusative case, since this is the object of the verb reducam.
vestram - your (plural). Vester is your. The ending is -am to go with captivitatem, the word that vestram describes.
de - out of. A preposition that has a variety of meanings, but is always followed by the ablative case.
cunctis - all. Cunctus is all. The ending here is -is to go with locis, the word it describes.
locis - places. Locus is place. The -is ending indicates plural and ablative case.
Benedixísti - You have blessed. Benedico is I bless. The -isti ending indicates past tense; you (thou) have done something.
Dómine - O Lord. Dominus is Lord. The -e ending is the vocative case, indicating O Lord.
terram - land. Terra is land. The -am ending indicates accusative case, since this is the object of the verb benedixisti.
tuam - your. Tuus is your. The -am ending goes with terram, which is the word described.
avertísti - You have averted/turned away. Averto is turn away. Once again, the -isti ending indicates past tense, you have done something.
captivitátem - the captivity. Captivity is captivitas. The -em ending indicates accusative case, since this is the object of the verb avertisti.
Jacob - of Jacob. Jacob is a proper name, from the Hebrew. Here the ending hasn't changed to indicate of Jacob; sometimes Latin leaves foreign names unchanged, so Jacob could be in any of the cases.

Reminder about Grammar - the cases.

The ending of Latin nouns, and the adjectives that describe them, changes depending on the function of the noun in the sentence. There are six cases - as they are called - to consider.

Nominative - the subject of a verb, that is, whatever is doing what is done.
Vocative - someone or something being addressed.
Accusative - the direct object of a verb, that is, whatever is being acted upon.
Genitive - possessive, belonging to.
Dative - indirect object, indicating to.
Ablative - indicates by, for, or with.

An example will make this clearer. Take the noun Dominus, meaning Lord.

Nominative: Dominus - Lord (subject); e.g. Dominus regnat - the Lord reigns.
Vocative: Domine - O Lord; e.g. Domine, audi me - O Lord, hear me
Accusative: Dominum - Lord (object); Laudo Dominum - I praise the Lord
Genitive: Domini - of the Lord; Voluntas Domini praevalebit - the will of the Lord will prevail
Dative: Domino - to the Lord; Dabo honorem Domino - I will give honour to the Lord
Accusative: Domino - by the Lord; Haec dies a Domino facta est - this day was made by the Lord.