< 以賽亞書 48 >
1 雅各伯家請聽這話:──你們以以色列的名字自稱,出自猶大之後,奉上主的名字起誓,又稱揚「以色列的天主,」但都不是出自誠心誠意;
“Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by Yahweh’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness—
2 雖然你們自稱是出自聖城,依賴名為「萬軍上主」的以色列的天主──「
for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is his name.
3 那過去的事,我早就預言過了,由我口中所發出的,也叫人聽見了;轉瞬間我行了那事,那事也就成就了。
I have declared the former things from of old. Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. I did them suddenly, and they happened.
4 因為我知道你是頑固的,你的頸項似鐵槓,你的額是銅製的,
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;
5 為此我早就告訴了你,在事未發生之前我就向你說明了,免得你說:「是我的神像行了這事,是我雕刻鑄成的神像命定了這事。」
therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them. My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them.’
6 你既聽見了,也看見了這一切,難道你們不該作證嗎﹖如今我要宣佈新事,即你不知的隱密事。
You have heard it. Now see all this. And you, won’t you declare it? “I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.
7 這些事是現今而不是從前造成的,是今日之前你從沒有聽說過的,免得你說:「看,我早就知道了!」
They are created now, and not from of old. Before today, you didn’t hear them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 你從來沒有聽過,也不知道,也是你的耳朵聞所未聞的。因為我知道你好背信叛逆,你實在可稱為「胎生的叛徒。」
Yes, you didn’t hear. Yes, you didn’t know. Yes, from of old your ear was not opened, for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.
9 但是為了我名的緣故,我暫緩發怒;為了我榮譽的緣故,我抑制了我自己,而沒有消滅你。
For my name’s sake, I will defer my anger, and for my praise, I hold it back for you so that I don’t cut you off.
10 看啊!我只是鍛煉了你,有如銀子,在患難的爐中磨煉了你。
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11 為了我自己,為了我自己的緣故,我必要去行。我豈能讓我的名字受褻瀆﹖我決不將我的光榮讓與別人。」
For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how would my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.
12 雅各伯啊!我所召叫的以色列啊!你聽我說:我就是那位,我是元始, 我也是終末。
“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he. I am the first. I am also the last.
13 我的手奠定了大地,我的右手展開了諸天;我一叫它們,它們就一同出現。
Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up together.
14 你們都集合起來聽罷!邪神中有誰預言了這事呢﹖「我所愛的,必實行我的旨意:攻擊巴比倫和加色丁的苗裔。」
“Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves will do what he likes to Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 只有我,只有我預言了這事,召叫了他,引導了他,使他所行的道路順利。
I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 你們走近我前,聽這話罷!我從起初就沒有在暗處說過話,從實現之時起,我就在那裏。我上主現在即要施行救援。
“Come near to me and hear this: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it happened, I was there.” Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me with his Spirit.
17 你的救主上主,以色列的聖者這樣說:「我是上主你的天主,教訓你為你有益的事,引你走當走的道路。
Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
18 恨不得你一向聽從我的命令! 那麼你的安樂將似江河,你的幸福將似海濤;
Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 你的子孫多如海沙,出於你身的苗裔多似沙粒;你的名字在我前決不會抹去,也決不會被刪除。」
Your offspring also would have been as the sand and the descendants of your body like its grains. His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”
20 你們出離巴比倫,逃出加色丁罷!你們要以歡樂的呼聲宣告此事,叫人聽見,傳佈到地極說:「上主救贖了他的僕人雅各伯。」
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With the sound of joyful shouting announce this, tell it even to the end of the earth; say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 當上主率領他們過曠野時,他們並不覺渴,因為他使水由巖石中流出給他們喝;他分開了巖石,水就湧流出來。
They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out.
“There is no peace”, says Yahweh, “for the wicked.”