< 耶利米書 51 >
1 上主這樣說:「看,我必要興起毀滅的颶風,襲擊巴比倫和加色丁的居民,
This is what Yahweh says: “I will inspire/motivate [an army] to destroy Babylon [like a powerful] wind [MET], and [also] to destroy the people of Babylonia.
2 給巴比倫派簸手來簸揚她,掃空她的國土,因為在禍患之日,人必四面向她進攻。」
I will send a foreign army to come to get rid of Babylonia [like a strong wind] that blows away chaff. They will attack from every direction on that day of disaster.
3 弓手不要放下自己的弓箭,戰士不要卸下自己的鎧甲,不要憐恤她的青年,卻要殲滅她所有的部隊,
[I will tell them, ] ‘Do not allow the archers [of Babylon] to [have time to] put on their armor or draw their bows. Do not spare the young men of Babylon. Completely destroy their army.’
Their soldiers will fall dead in Babylonia; [they will die after being] wounded in the streets.
5 因為他們的國土,充滿了反抗以色列聖者的罪惡;可是以色列和猶大並未成為寡婦,也未喪失自己的天主,萬軍的上主。
[I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, the Israelis’ God, have not abandoned Israel and Judah. [Even though] their land was full of people who sinned against [me], the Holy God of Israel, I am still their God.
6 你們逃離巴比倫,各救自己的性命,不要因了她的罪過而自遭喪亡,因為現在是上主復仇的時候,上主要對她報復。
[You people of Israel and Judah, ] flee from Babylon! Run away from there! Do not stay there and be killed when I punish [the people of Babylon]! It will be the time when I will get revenge; I will do to them what they deserve.
7 巴比倫在上主手中,曾是個灌醉大地的金爵,萬民飲了她的酒,萬民纔如此狂亂。
Babylon has been [like] [MET] a gold cup in my hand, [a cup that is full of wine] that caused people all over the earth [who drank some of it to become] drunk. [It is as though] the [rulers of] the nations drank the wine from Babylon, and it caused them to become crazy.
8 霎時間,巴比倫傾覆瓦解,你們為她舉哀,拿香料來醫治她的創傷,也許她會痊癒。
But suddenly Babylon will be conquered. [You foreigners who live in Babylon, ] weep for its people. Give them medicine for their wounds; perhaps they can be healed.”
9 我們本願治癒巴比倫,但是她卻不痊癒;我們放下她,各自回歸故鄉,因為她罪惡滔天,直達雲霄。
We [foreigners] would have [tried to] heal them, but [now] they cannot be healed. [So we will not try to help them; ] we will abandon them, and return to our own lands, because [it is as though] the punishment they are receiving is so great that it reaches up to the clouds in sky, [so great that no one can measure it].
10 上主表彰了我們的正義,來,我們在熙雍稱揚上主我們的天主的偉業。
Yahweh has (vindicated us/shown that we were right); [so] let’s proclaim in Jerusalem everything that Yahweh our God has done [for us].
11 磨尖箭矢,裝滿箭囊! 上主已激起瑪待王的銳氣,因為他對巴比倫的計劃,是要將她消滅;是上主報復,為自己的殿宇復仇。
[You enemy soldiers, ] sharpen your arrows! Lift up your shields, [because] Yahweh has incited your kings of Media [and Persia to march with their armies] to Babylon and to destroy it. That is how Yahweh will get revenge on [those foreigners who entered] his temple [in Jerusalem] and defiled it.
12 你們向巴比倫城牆樹立旗幟,加緊防衛,派駐防哨,預設埋伏,因為上主怎樣計劃了,就怎樣實踐他對巴比倫居民所下的斷語。
Lift up a battle flag close to the walls of Babylon! (Reinforce the/Appoint more) guards, and tell the watchmen to stand [in their positions]! Prepare an ambush, because Yahweh is about to accomplish all that he has planned to do to the people of Babylon.
13 啊,你住在多水之旁,富有寶藏;現在到了你的結局,到了切斷你尺度的時刻。
Babylon is [a city] near the great [Euphrates] River, a city in which there are many rich people, but it is time for Babylon to be finished; the time [for the city] to exist is ended.
14 萬軍的上主指著自己起誓說:「我必用像蝗蟲那麼多的人群填塞你,對你高唱凱歌。」
The Commander of the armies of angels has solemnly promised, using his own name, “Your cities will be filled with your enemies; I will cause them to be like [SIM] a swarm of locusts; and they will shout triumphantly [when they conquer your city].”
15 上主以自己的能力創造了大地,自己的智慧奠定了寰宇,以自己的才智展布了諸天。
Yahweh created the earth by his power; he established it by his wisdom, and he stretched out the sky by his understanding.
16 他一聲號令使天上的水怒號,使雲彩地極上騰,使雷聲霹靂,造成豪雨,使暴風從他的倉庫出發。
When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form in every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses.
17 人都要自覺愚昧無知;每個銀匠必因自己的刻像感到羞慚,因為所鑄的像,只是「虛無」,沒有息;
People are senseless, and they know very little [HYP]; those who make idols are [always] disappointed, because their idols [do nothing for them]. The images/statues that they make are not real [gods]; they are lifeless.
18 是「虛幻」,是愚弄人的作品;懲罰時期一到,必要盡歸滅亡。
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they will [all] be destroyed.
19 那位作雅各伯產業的,與它們卻完全不同,因為他是萬物的造主,以色列是作他產業的支派;他的名字叫「萬軍的上主」。
But the God whom [we] Israelis [worship] is not like those [idols]; he is the one who created everything [that exists]; [we], the people of Israel, belong to him; his name is ‘the Commander of the armies of angels’.
20 巴比倫! 你曾是我的鎚子,作戰的武器;我曾用你粉碎萬民,用你毀滅邦國,
Yahweh says [about the army of Babylonia] (OR, [about a nation that will attack Babylonia)], “You have been [like] [MET] my battle-axe and war-club; with your [power] I have shattered nations and destroyed [many] kingdoms.
With your [power] I have shattered armies [of other nations]: I destroyed [their] horses and their riders, [their] chariots and [their] chariot-drivers.
22 用你粉碎男子和婦女,用你粉碎老翁和幼童,用你粉少男和少女,
With your [power] I shattered men and women, old people and children, young men and young women.
23 用你粉碎牧人和牲畜,用你粉碎農夫和耕牛,用你粉碎州牧和監督。
With your [power] I shattered shepherds and their flocks [of sheep], farmers and their oxen, governors and [their] officials.”
24 但是,如今我要在你們眼前,報復巴比倫和所有的加色丁居民,對熙雍作的一切惡事──上主的斷語──
But, Yahweh [also] says, “[Soon] I will repay/punish [you] people in Babylon and in the rest of Babylonia for all the evil things that you have done in Jerusalem.
25 好事毀滅的山嶺! 看,我要攻擊你──上主的斷語──是你毀滅了整個大地,我要向你伸出我的手,使你從崖石上滾下,使你成為烈火焚毀的山嶺。
[Babylonia is] [APO] like [MET] a great mountain [from which bandits descend] to (plunder/steal things from) people all over the earth. But I, Yahweh, am the enemy of you [people of Babylonia]. I will raise my fist to strike you. I will knock you down from the cliffs and cause you to be [only] a huge pile of burned rubble.
26 人們不再從你那裏鑿取角石或基石,因為你將永遠為荒丘──上主的斷語。
Your [city] will be abandoned forever; [even] the stones in your [city] will never [again] be used for buildings. [Your city will be completely destroyed].”
27 你們在地上樹立旗幟,在萬民間吹起號角,祝聖萬民向她進攻,召集阿辣辣特和明尼及阿市革納次王國向她進攻,派遣一員大將向他進攻;衝鋒的馬隊,好像刺毛直豎的蚱蜢。
[Tell] the nations to lift up a battle flag! [Tell them to] shout the battle-cry! Gather all their armies to fight against Babylon! Prepare the nations to attack Babylon. Summon [the armies of] the kingdoms [north of Babylonia]—from Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander for them, and bring [a great number of] horses; [there must be a huge number of horses]; that [huge number] will resemble [SIM] a swarm of locusts.
28 祝聖萬民:瑪待的君王和他的州牧,他所有的監督以及他整個版圖的民眾,向她進攻。
Prepare the [armies of other nations], armies that will be led by the kings of Media [and Persia], their governors and [their] officials.
29 大地戰慄惶悚,因為上主正在進行攻巴比倫的計劃,使巴比倫地成為無人居住的荒野。
[When they attack Babylon, it will be as though] the earth will shake and writhe [in pain], because [those armies] will accomplish everything that Yahweh has planned to do to Babylon; they will destroy it completely, [with the result that] no one will live there [again].
30 巴比倫的兵士放棄作戰,留在堡壘中,失去了勇氣,有如婦人;她的房屋已為火焚毀,她的門閂已被折斷。
[When their enemies attack], the strongest warriors in Babylon will not fight. They will remain in their barracks, without any strength. They will be as timid/weak as [SIM] women. [The enemy soldiers] will burn the buildings in the city and pull down the bars [of the city gates].
31 跑差的,傳信的,都相繼跑去通報巴比倫王,京城四周已被佔領,
Messengers will go quickly, one after another, to tell the king that his city has been captured.
The places at which people can cross the river [to escape from the city] will be blocked. The dry reeds in the marshes/swamps will be set on fire, and the soldiers of Babylon will be terrified.
33 因為萬軍的上主,以色列的天主這樣說:「巴比倫女郎有如到了該踐踏的禾場;還有片刻就到收割她的時期。
This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says; “Babylon is like [SIM] wheat on the ground where it is about to be threshed by [animals] tramping on it. Very soon [their enemies] will trample on [the city of] Babylon [MET].”
34 巴比倫王拿步高把我吞食毀滅,使我變成了空器皿;他彷復一條龍,併吞了我,以我的美味滿足了自己的肚腹,然後將我驅逐。
[The army of] Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has attacked and crushed us [Israeli people], and we have no strength [left]. [It is as though] they have swallowed us like a [great] monster that filled its belly with all our tasty parts, and then has spit out [what it did not like].
35 熙雍的居民說:「要對巴比倫報復我身受的凌辱! 」耶路撒冷說:「要對加色丁居民報復我的血債! 」
[So] the people of [PRS] Jerusalem say [to Yahweh], “Cause the people of Babylon to suffer like they caused us to suffer! Cause the people of Babylonia to be punished for killing [MTY] our people!”
36 為此,上主這樣說:「看,我必為你辯護,報復你的冤仇,乾涸她的河川,枯竭她的泉源。
And this is what Yahweh replies to the people of Jerusalem: “I will [be like your lawyer to] defend you, and I will avenge you. I will dry up the river in Babylon and [all] the springs of water.
37 巴比倫必成為一堆瓦礫,豺狼的巢穴;令人恐怖嘲笑,無人居住。
Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a place where jackals/wolves live. It will become a place that people are horrified about and will ridicule; it will be a place where no one lives.
38 巴比倫人像壯獅一樣,一起怒號,像母獅的幼雛一樣,一起咆哮。
The people of Babylon will [all] roar like young lions; they will growl like baby lions.
39 在他們激昂時,我必給他們擺設盛宴,使他們酣醉昏迷,長眠不醒──上主的斷語──
But while they are extremely hungry, I will prepare a [different kind of] feast for them. [It is as though] I will cause them to drink wine until they are very drunk, [with the result that] they will fall asleep. But they will never wake up from that sleep!
I will bring them down to a place where they will be slaughtered, like [SIM] [someone who takes] lambs or rams or goats [to where they will be slaughtered for sacrifices].
41 怎麼,沙客竟陷落了,全地的光榮竟遭受了劫掠﹖怎麼,連巴比倫在萬民中也變得如此悽涼﹖
People all over the earth [now] (honor/praise) Babylon; they say that it is a great city. But I will cause it to become a [place about which people of all] nations are horrified.
The [enemies of Babylon] will cover the city [like] huge waves of the sea [DOU].
43 她的城市盡化為野,乾旱淒涼之地,再沒有人居住,再沒有過客。
The towns in Babylonia will become ruins, Babylonia will become a dry desert area. It will be a land in which no one lives and which no one walks through.
44 我必懲罰巴比倫的貝耳,由他口裏奪出他所吞滅的,萬民必不再向他湧來,因為巴比倫的城牆已倒塌。
And I will punish Bel, [the god that the people] of Babylon [worship], and I will cause the people to give back what they have stolen [MET]. [People of other] nations will no longer come to [worship] Bel. And the walls of Babylon will collapse.”
45 我的人民! 你們從她那裏出來,各救自己的性命脫免上主忿怒的烈火。
[Yahweh also says, ] “My people, come out of Babylon! Run away from there! Run, because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [MTY] [with the people of Babylon, and I will get rid of them]!
46 你們不要膽怯,不要害怕地方上流傳的謠言;因為今年傳來這謠言,明年又另有謠言;地方上常有暴亂,暴君互相傾軋。
Do not be discouraged/worried [IDM] or afraid when you hear reports [about what is happening in Babylon]. People will report rumors like that every year, rumors about violent things being done in the land, and rumors about leaders fighting against each other.
47 看,時日將到,我必懲罰巴比倫的偶像;使她全國飽受恥辱,國內死傷遍地。
But it will soon be the time for me to get rid of the idols in Babylon. [People all over] the land will be ashamed [because of being defeated]; and the corpses of their [soldiers] will lie in the streets.
48 上天下地和其中所有的一切,必對巴比倫吶喊歡呼,因為從北方必有破壞者來向她進襲──上主的斷語──
Then all [the angels in] heaven and all the [people on] [PRS] the earth will rejoice, because from the north will come [armies] that will destroy Babylon.
49 為了以色列被剌殺的人,巴比倫也該傾覆,就如全地被刺殺的人,曾為了巴比倫而倒斃。
Like [the soldiers of Babylon] killed the people of Israel and [also] killed others all over the world [HYP], [the people of] Babylon must also be killed.
50 你們逃脫了刀劍的人! 快走,不要停留;從遠方懷念上主,思戀耶路撒冷。
You [Israeli people] who have not been killed [MTY], get out of Babylon! Do not wait! [Even though you are in a land] far away [from Israel], think about Yahweh, and think about Jerusalem!”
51 我們聽到了侮辱,感到恥辱,滿面羞慚,因為外方人闖進了上主殿宇的聖所。
[The Israeli people say], “We are ashamed. We are completely disgraced [DOU], because foreigners have entered Yahweh’s temple [and (defiled it/caused it to become unfit for worship)].”
52 為此,看,時日將到──上主斷語──我必懲罰她的偶像,使她國內的人都負傷呻吟;
Yahweh replies, “[That is true], but there will soon be a time when I will destroy the idols in Babylon, and throughout Babylonia there will be wounded people who will groan.
53 即使巴比倫爬上諸天,即使她盤據高處不可侵犯,我仍要派破壞者來自她進襲──上主的斷語。
Even if [the walls around] Babylon could extend up to the sky, and if its walls/fortifications were extremely strong, I will send [armies] that will destroy the city. [That will surely happen because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.”
54 聽從巴比倫發出的喧嚷,從加色丁人地發生的絕大破壞!
Listen to [the people of] Babylon crying [for help]! And listen to the sounds of things being destroyed all over Babylonia!
55 是上主在毀滅巴比倫,消弭其中嘈雜的聲音;敵人洶湧而來,有如汪洋怒濤,揚聲吶喊。
Yahweh will be destroying Babylon. He will cause the loud noises in the city to cease.
56 果然,破壞者已來到巴比倫,她的勇士都已被擒,她的弓弩盡被折斷,因為上主是報復的天主,他必嚴厲加以報復。
Enemy troops will surge against the city like [SIM] a great wave. They will capture the city’s mighty soldiers and break their weapons. [That will happen] because Yahweh is a God who punishes [his enemies] justly; he will punish them as they deserve.
57 我必使她的諸侯和謀士,州牧和監督以及勇士飲醉,長眠不醒──名為萬軍上主君王的斷語。
The king, the Commander of the armies of angels says, “I will cause the city officials and wise men, the army captains and soldiers [in Babylon] to become drunk. They will fall asleep, but they will never wake up [again]!”
58 萬軍的上主這樣說:「巴比倫廣闊的城牆要被夷為平地,她高大的城門要被火焚盡:這樣百姓只有白白徒勞,萬民的辛苦,也只有付之一炬。」
Yahweh also says, “The thick walls around Babylon will be flattened to the ground. The city gates will be burned. People [from other countries] will work hard [to save the city], but it will be (in vain/useless), because everything [that they have built] will be destroyed by fire.”
59 以下是瑪赫色雅的孫子,乃黎雅的兒子色辣雅同猶大王漆德克雅,在他為王第四年,同往巴比倫去時,耶肋米亞先知對他吩咐的話,那時辣雅身為行營總督。
Seraiah was the man who made arrangements for the King of Babylon [whenever he traveled]. He was the son of Neraiah and grandson of Mahseiah. When he was about to go to Babylon with King Zedekiah, after Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, the prophet Jeremiah gave him a message.
60 耶肋米亞在一本書上記錄了要降在巴比倫的一切災禍,所記錄的全是於巴比倫的事。
Jeremiah had written on a scroll a list of all the disasters that he had written about, disasters that would soon occur in Babylon.
61 耶肋米亞對色辣雅說:「你一到了巴比倫,就應設法宣讀這一切話,
He said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, read [aloud] everything that I have written [on this scroll].
62 然後說:上主,關於這地你親自說過,要將它消滅,使這地無人居住,成為人和走獸絕跡的荒野。
Then pray, ‘Yahweh, you said that you will thoroughly destroy Babylon, with the result that people and animals will no [longer] live there. You said that it will be desolate forever.’
63 你朗誦完了這本書以後,在書上繫上一塊石頭,把書拋在幼發拉的河中,
[Then], when you have finished reading [what I have written on] the scroll, tie it to a [heavy] stone and throw it into the Euphrates [River].
64 然後說:巴比倫也要如此沉沒,再也不能由我給她招來的災禍中復興。」耶肋米亞的話至此為止。
Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon [and its people] will disappear and never exist again, because of the disasters that Yahweh will cause to occur there’” That is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.