< 耶利米書 16 >
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Thou shalt not take thyself a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3 因為上主關於生在這地方的子女,和這境內生育他們的母親,以及生養他們的父親這樣說:
For thus hath said the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bear them, and concerning their fathers that beget them in this land:
4 「他們必死於死症,沒有人哀悼,沒有人掩埋,有如地面上的糞土。他們反為戰爭和饑荒所毀滅,他們的屍首,必成為天上飛鳥和地上野獸的食物」。
A death through diseases of famine shall they die; they shall not be lamented for; nor shall they be buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be: and by the sword and by famine shall they come to their end; and their carcasses shall be for food unto the fowls of heaven, and unto the beasts of the earth.
5 因為上主這樣說:「你不要進入居喪者之家,去舉哀弔唁,因為我已由這人民撤回了我的平安、慈愛和憐憫──上主的斷語──
For thus hath said the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor to condole with them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, yea, kindness and mercy.
And both the great and the small shall die in this land, — they shall not be buried, and men shall not lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;
7 沒有人為他們舉喪,沒有人與居喪者分食喪餅,以相弔慰;沒有人與居喪或父母者飲一杯慰唁酒。
Nor shall they break bread for them at their mourning, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall they give them to drink the cup of consolation for their father and for their mother.
8 有宴會的家,你 也不要進去,與他們一同坐下吃喝,
And into the house of feasting shalt thou not enter, to sit with them, to eat and to drink.
9 因為萬軍的上主,以色列的天主這樣說:看,我必在你們眼前,在你們的時日內,使這地方再也聽不到歡和喜樂的聲音,新郎和新娘的聲音。
For thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of gladness, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 當你把這一切話告訴這人民,他們必問你說:為什麼上主對我們宣佈了這一切大災禍﹖我們有什麼過犯,我們有什麼罪惡干犯了上主我們的天主﹖
And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt tell this people all these words, and they should say unto thee, Wherefore hath the Lord spoken against us all this great evil? and what is our iniquity? and what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?
11 你就答應說:是因為你的祖先離棄了我──上主的斷語──跟隨了別的神祗,事奉朝拜,而背棄了我,沒有遵守我的法律。
That thou shalt say unto them, Because your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and walked after other gods, and served them, and bowed down unto them, and me they forsook, and my law they kept not;
12 至於你們,你們作惡更甚於你的祖先;看,你們各人隨從自己頑固的惡意生活,不聽從我;
And ye act worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so as not to hearken unto me;
13 所以我必從這地上將你們驅逐,到你們和你的祖先從不認識的地方去,讓你們在那裏日夜事奉別的神祗;我再也不對你們表示憐愛。
Therefore will I hurl you out of this land into the land of which ye had no knowledge, neither ye nor your fathers; and ye will serve there other gods by day and by night; so that I will not grant you any favor.
14 [為此,看,時日必將來臨──上主的斷語──人不再發誓說:領以色列子民由埃及地上來的「上主永在」,
Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when it shall not he said any more, As the Lord liveth, who hath brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 卻要說:領以色列子民由北方,並由衪驅逐他們所至的各地回來的「上主永在」;因為我必領他們回到我已賜給他們祖先的地方]。
But, As the Lord liveth, who hath brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither he had driven them: and I will cause them to return unto their land which I have given unto their fathers.
16 看,我必派許多漁夫上主的斷語──來捕捉他們;以後,我又派許多獵人來, 8各山上,各丘陵和岩石的裂縫間,獵取他們,
Behold, I will send for many fishermen, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after that will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
17 因為我的眼注視他們的一切行徑,他們不能由我面前隱藏,他們的過犯在我眼前也不能隱藏。
For my eyes are directed upon all their ways, they are not hidden from my face, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
18 我首先先要加倍報復他們的過犯和罪惡,因為他們以死屍般的偶像玷污了我的土地,使我的的基業上滿是醜惡的神像」。
And [thus] will I pay them at the first their two-fold iniquity and their sin; because they have defiled my land, filling my heritage with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.
19 上主,我的力量,我的保障,我憂患之日的避難所,萬民必從地極來到你面前說:「我們的祖先承受的只是虛假、空虛和毫無益處的事」。
O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge on the day of trouble, unto thee shall nations come from the ends of the earth, and say, Nothing but falsehood had our fathers inherited, vanity, wherein there is no profit.
How? can a man make unto himself gods, which are yet no gods?
21 為此,看,我必叫他們知道,這此我必叫他們體驗我的手和我的能力,使他們知道我的名字是「上主」。
Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, at this time will I cause them to know, my hand and my might: and they shall know that my name is The Eternal.