以賽亞書 41
1 群島啊！請肅靜聽我！讓萬民前來！讓他們前來開口說話；讓我們一起互相辯論！
Be silent [and hearken] unto me, O ye Coastlands, And let the Races of Men renew their strength, —Let them approach, then, let them speak, Together, for controversy, let us draw near: —
2 是誰由東方喚醒了那人，使他步步遇到勝利﹖是誰將眾民交付給他，又使列王臣服於他呢﹖他的刀劍使他們化為灰塵，他的弓箭分散他們有如草芥。
Who roused up one from the East, In righteousness, called him to his feet, —Set before him nations And over kings, caused him to rule, His sword, made [them] like dust, His bow like driven chaff:
3 他追擊他們時，平安地經過；他的腳好像沒有踏著道路一樣。
He pursued them passed along safely, —Upon the path of his own feet, entered he not?
4 是誰從原始安排了歷代的事而予以實行成就呢﹖我，上主，是元始，與最末者同在的也是我。
Who hath wrought and performed, Calling the generations, in advance? I, Yahweh, [who am] First, And with them who are last, I, am the Same!
5 群島一見即害怕起來，地極為之震動，遂都聚集前來；
Coastlands have seen, so they fear, The ends of the earth, are in dread, —They have drawn near, and have come:
6 彼此相助，並對自己的同伴說：「勇敢些！」
Every man, to his neighbour, giveth help, —And to his brother, saith Take courage!
7 工匠鼓勵金匠，掄大鎚的鼓勵使小錘的，誇讚鉛工說：「鉛的好！」遂用釘子釘住，使偶像不致動搖。
So, the carver, hath encouraged, the goldsmith, he that maketh smooth with the hammer, him that smiteth the anvil, —Saying of the welding, It is, good, Then hath he fastened it with nails—it must not totter!
8 但是你，我的僕人以色列，我所揀選的雅各伯，我的好友亞巴郎的苗裔，
But, thou, Israel, my Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, —The seed of Abraham my loving one;
9 你是我由地極領來的，是我從遠方召來的，我曾向你說過：「你是我的僕人，我揀選了你，我決不放棄你。」
Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, And from the extremities thereof, have called thee, —And said to thee, My Servant, thou! I have chosen thee and not cast thee off,
10 你不要害怕，因為我與你在一起；你不要驚惶，因為我是你的天主；我必堅固你，協助你，用我勝利的右手扶持你。
Do not fear, for with thee, I am! Look not around, for, I, am thy God, —I have emboldened thee, Yea I have helped thee, Yea I have upheld thee with my righteous right-hand.
11 凡向你洩怒的，必蒙羞受辱；凡同你爭辯的，必要滅亡，化為烏有。
Lo! they shall turn pale and be ashamed—All they who have been incensed against thee, —They shall become as nothing and perish—The men who have been thine accusers:
12 凡與你爭吵的人，你找他們，也找不到。凡與你交戰的人，必化為烏有，歸於虛無，
Thou shalt seek them, but shalt not find them—The men who have contended with thee, They shall become as nothing, and as a thing of nought—The men who have warred against thee;
13 因為是我，上主，你的天主，提攜著你的右手，向你說過：「不要害怕，有我協助你。」
For I, Yahweh thy God am firmly grasping thy right-hand, —Who am saying unto thee Do not fear! I, have become thy helper!
14 雅各伯蟲豸啊！以色列蛆蟲啊！不要害怕，我必協助你－－上主的斷語－－你的救主是以色列的聖者。
Do not fear, Thou worm Jacob, Ye men of Israel, —I, have become thy helper, Declareth Yahweh, And thy redeemer The Holy One of Israel.
15 看啊，我使你成為一架鋒利多齒的新打禾機，叫你壓搾高山，壓得粉碎，使丘陵變為碎末。
Lo! I have made of thee a new pointed threshing sledge, owning teeth, —Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, And, hills—like chaff, shalt thou make:
16 你要簸揚它們，風必將它們捲去，暴風必吹散它們；然而你要因上主而喜樂，因以色列的聖者而誇耀。
Thou shalt fan them and, a wind, shall carry them away, And, a whirlwind, scatter, them, —But, thou, shalt exult in Yahweh, And, in the Holy One of Israel, shalt thou boast thyself.
17 貧困和窮苦的人，若找水而無所獲，他們的舌頭渴得焦燥，我上主必俯允他們，我，以色列的天主必不棄捨他們。
As for the oppressed and the needy. Seeking water when there is none, Their tongue with thirst being parched I—Yahweh, will answer them, The God of Israel, I will not forsake them:
18 我要在禿山上開闢河流，在空谷中噴出泉源；我要使沙漠變為池沼，使乾地化為噴泉。
I will open, On bare hills rivers, and In the midst of plains, fountains, —I will make The desert, a lake of water, and Parched land, springs of water;
19 我要在沙漠中種植香柏木、皂莢、桃金娘和橄欖樹；在荒野中要把柏樹、榆樹和雲杉樹一起栽植起來；
I will set in the desert! Cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil-tree, —I will place, in the waste plain, Cypress, holm-oak, and sherbin-cedar, together
20 為使人們看見，知道，同時因深思而瞭解：這是上主的手所做的，是以色列的聖者所創造的。
That men may see and observe and consider and understand at once, That, the hand of Yahweh, hath done this, That the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21 拿出你的理由來，上主說：呈上你的證據來，雅各伯的君王說。
Bring near your contention, Saith Yahweh, —Advance your defences, Saith the King of Jacob:
22 讓他們前來，告訴我們將要發生什麼事；讓他們告訴我們，那以往的事有什麼意義，好叫我們記在心中；或者讓我們聽聽那要來的事罷，好叫我們知道那事的結果。
Let them advance them, and tell us, What shall happen, —Things known in advance—what they were, tell ye, That we may lay them to our heart and mark the after-story of them, Or, things yet to come, let us hear:
23 請你們說說那以後要來的事，好叫我們知道你們是神；無論好壞請你們做一下，好叫我們都驚奇害怕。
Tell ye the events which shall be here-after, That we may perceive that gods, ye are, —Surely ye must do something—good or bad, That we may be amazed and behold it, at once.
24 看哪！你們竟是烏有，你們的工作也是虛無；那選擇你們的實在可憎。
Lo! ye, are, of nought, And your work is a puff of breath, —An abomination, he that chooseth you!
25 我由北方喚起了一個人，他就來了；我由日出之地呼喚了他的名字，他將蹂躪王侯有如泥濘，又如陶工踐踏黏土。
I have roused up one from the North, and he hath come, From the rising of the sun, calleth he on my Name, —And he hath come, on deputies, as though they were mortar, And as a potter treadeth clay.
26 誰首先說過這事，好叫我們知道，在事前說過，而叫我們說「對啦﹖」實在沒有一個預言過，沒有一個講過，也沒有一個聽見過你們說話。
Who hath told in advance, that we might know, And beforetime, that we might say Right! Nay, there is none who can tell. Nay, there is none who can let us hear, Nay, there is none who can understand what ye utter.
27 只有我是第一位給熙雍報告過這事，給耶路撒冷遣發了一位報告喜訊的。
He who is First, [can say], To Zion, Lo! there they are! And to Jerusalem, A herald of good-tidings, do I give.
28 我環視四周，了無一人；他們中沒有一個可做謀士，向他詢問，可回答一句的。
So I look, And there is not, a Man! Even among these And there is none to advise, —That, when I ask them, can answer a word.
29 看哪，他們都是烏有，他們的工作是虛無，他們的鑄像是空氣，是空氣。
Lo! as to all of them, Vanity—nothingness, are their works, Wind and emptiness, their molten images!
