When one day the heavens unleash their wrath
Upon the earth, blustering, roaring, raging
Lashing cities and blowing apart the sea without
meaning or mercy, then I will stand against the tribunal
When everything that eyes have seen suddenly
Crumbles to dust, because black riders approach
When the works of man fall and sink
Then I’ll be waving to them, already far away
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
(Day of Reckoning, Day of Sin
The cosmos will set itself ablaze)
Then a host1descends upon us with piercing laughter
Blowing in retribution upon the sick, weak,
And oh so piteous earthly affairs2
To cleanse the wretchedness of man
I will not whimper or beg for mercy
Not crawl upon the ground, but rather stand
The judge will solemnly raise himself up
And then we will see what it was worth, this life
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
1. 'Heer' is a slightly more antiquated way of saying 'army,' so I picked 'host,' which serves the same function in English, while also sounding biblical and having Germanic etymology2. I don't think there's a perfect way of translating 'Erdentreiben' into English word for word. It more or less would mean 'earthly bustling' and is meant to make humans seem like busy little ants (in my opinion). I feel 'earthly affairs' comes closest, but the perfect connotation is lost in translation.