< 何西阿書 12 >

1 厄弗辣因愛好颶風，整日追逐東風，說許多謊話，行許多暴行，既與亞述結盟，又給埃及送油。
Ephraim, feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind, all the day, falsehood and force, doth he magnify, —and, a covenant with Assyria, would they solemnize, and, oil into Egypt, must be borne along.
2 上主要與以色列爭辯，要按他們的行徑懲罰雅各伯，依照他的行為報復他：
But, a controversy, hath Yahweh with Judah, —so that he may bring punishment on Jacob, according to his ways, According to his doings, repay him.
3 他在母胎中就欺騙了他的弟兄，及至壯年又曾與天神搏鬥；
In the womb, took he his brother by the heel; and, in his manly vigour, strove he with God:
4 他與天神博鬥，並且獲得了勝利；他哭了，曾懇求他開恩；在貝特耳再遇見了他，在那裏天主對他說：──
Yea he strove against a Messenger, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him, —At Bethel, he found him, and, there, he spake with us;
5 上主，萬軍的天主，雅威是他的名號x──
And, Yahweh, is God of host, —Yahweh, is his memorial.
6 「至於你，你應當歸向你的天主，遵守仁愛和正義，時刻仰望你的天主。」
Thou, therefore, by thy God, shalt return, —lovingkindness and justice, do thou keep, so wait thou for thy God, continually.
7 厄弗辣因有如客納罕人，手裏拿著欺詐的天秤，喜行欺騙。
A trafficker! in his hand, are balances of deceit, to oppress, he loveth.
8 厄弗辣因說：「我現在實在成了富翁，發了大財。」然而他所獲得的一切，為補贖他所犯的罪孽，仍嫌不夠。
So then Ephraim said, Surely I have gotten me riches, I have found wealth for myself, —in all my toils, they cannot find in me perversity which is sin.
9 自從在埃及地時，我就是上主，你的天主：我必再使你住在帳幕中，如在盛會的節日一樣。
But, I, Yahweh, have been thy God, from the land of Egypt, —I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of appointed meeting.
10 是我向先知們說了話，是我增多了異象，我也必藉先知們消滅他們。
And I will lay my word upon the prophets, yea, I myself, have magnified, vision, —and, by the hand of the prophets, will I use similitudes.
11 在基肋阿得只有罪惡，的確，他們只是虛無；在基耳加耳 他們向牛犢獻了祭，因此他們的祭壇必將成為田畦中的石堆。
If, Gilead, is in sorrow, surely false, have they been, In Gilgal, have they sacrificed, bullocks, —their very altars, shall become as heaps upon the furrows of the field.
12 雅各伯曾逃到阿蘭平原，以色列曾為娶妻而服役，曾為娶妻而放羊。
When Jacob fled to the country of Syria, then Israel served for a wife, and, for a wife, he watched over a flock.
13 上主曾藉一位先知領以色列出離埃及，也藉一位先知保護了他們。
And, by a prophet, Yahweh, brought up, Israel out of Egypt, —and, by a prophet, was he watched over.
14 但厄弗辣因大大激怒了上主，他的血債必要歸到他身上，他的主必要在他身上報復自己受的凌辱。
Ephraim hath provoked, very bitterly, —his own blood, therefore, upon him, will he leave, and, his reproach, shall his Lord, bring back to him.

< 何西阿書 12 >