< 那鴻書 3 >
1 禍哉! 血債的城,滿城欺詐,處處劫掠,搶奪不息。
Terrible things will happen to [Nineveh], that city [that is full of people who] murder [MTY] and lie. [The city is] full of things that were seized [from other countries by their soldiers]; [their armies] continually [LIT] have acted brutally towards people whom they conquered.
But [now listen to the enemy soldiers coming to attack Nineveh]; [listen to them] cracking their whips, and [listen to the] rattle of [their chariot] wheels! [Listen to] their galloping horses and their chariots as they bounce along!
3 騎士躍馬,刀劍晃亮,槍矛閃輝,被殺者眾,死者成堆,屍體無邊,人人為屍體絆倒:
[Look at their] flashing swords and glittering spears as the horsemen race forward! Many [people of Nineveh will be] killed; [there will be] piles of corpses, [with the result that] people will stumble over them.
4 這都是因那嬌艷妖冶的淫婦,行妖術的女巫的許多淫行所致。她以淫蕩欺騙了列邦,用妖術迷惑了萬民。
All [that will happen] because [Nineveh is like] [MET] a beautiful prostitute [who lures men to where they will be ruined]; [Nineveh is a beautiful city] which has attracted/enticed [people of] other nations [to come there]. [The people of Nineveh] taught those people [of other nations rituals of] magic, and caused them to become their slaves.
5 看,我必攻擊你,──萬軍上主的斷語──我必將妳的衣裙掀到妳的臉上,使萬民見到妳的裸體,使列邦看到妳的恥辱:
[So] the Commander of the armies of angels says to [the people of Nineveh]: “I am your enemy, and I will [cause the people in other] nations to see you [completely] humiliated like [MET] [women who have committed adultery are humiliated by] having their skirts lifted high, [with the result that] people can see their naked [bodies].
I will cause rubbish/garbage to be thrown at you; I will show [others] that I despise you very much, and I will cause you to be publicly ridiculed.
7 凡看見妳的,必逃避妳說:「尼尼微終於毀滅了! 」誰會向妳表同情﹖我從哪裏能找到安慰妳人﹖
All those who see you will turn their backs to you and say, ‘Nineveh is ruined, but absolutely no one [RHQ] will mourn for it.’ No one will regret Nineveh being destroyed!”
8 妳哪裏能勝過那位於尼羅上,四面環水的諾阿孟。妳有海洋為屏障,有水為垣牆;
Your city is certainly [RHQ] no safer than Thebes [city] was. [Thebes was an important city] beside the Nile [River]; the river was [like] [SIM] a wall that protected the city [DOU].
9 雇士和埃及是好的力量,力大無窮;普特和利比亞是好的助1 ;
[The rulers of] Ethiopia and Egypt helped Thebes; there was no limit to their power. [The governments of the nearby countries of] Put and Libya were also allies of Thebes.
10 但是好也被擄去,充當俘虜,好的嬰兒也在各街頭被摔死,人抽籤分配好的貴族,用鐵鏈縛住她的縉紳。
But Thebes was captured, and [its people were] (exiled/forced to go to other countries). Their babies were dashed to pieces in the streets [of the city]. [Enemy soldiers] (cast lots/threw small marked stones) to decide who would get each official in Thebes [to become his slave]. All the leaders of Thebes were fastened/tied by chains.
11 妳也要這樣被攻破而消失,妳也要一個安全處為逃避仇敵。
You [people of Nineveh] will similarly become dazed and drunk, and you will search for places to hide [to escape] from your enemies.
12 好的一切堡壘好像早熟的無花果樹,人一搖動,就落在姇食者的口裏。
[Your enemies will cause] the walls around your city to fall down like [SIM] the first figs that fall from fig trees [each year]. [Your city will be captured easily, like] [MET] [figs that fall] into the mouths [HYP] of those who shake the fig trees.
13 看哪! 在妳中間的百姓都是婦女,妳境內的門已為妳的敵人敞開,火已燒毀了妳的門閂。
Look at your soldiers! They will be [as weak/helpless as] [MET] women! The gates of your city will be opened wide [to allow] your enemies [to enter them], [and then] the bars of those gates will be burned.
14 妳應吸水防備圍困,應鞏固妳的堡壘,踏黏土,踩膠泥,緊握磚型。
Store up water [now to use when] your enemies surround the city! Repair the forts! Dig up clay and trample it [to make it soft], and put it into molds to make bricks [to repair the walls]!
15 火要在那裏燒滅妳,刀劍要殲滅妳, [把妳吞食有如蚱蜢。] 妳盡可增多妳的人數有如蚱蜢,多如飛蝗;
[Nevertheless, your enemies] will burn your [city]; they will kill you with their swords; they will kill you like [SIM] locusts [destroy crops].
16 增加妳的商賈,多過天上的星辰! ──蚱蜢一脫殼就飛去了。
In your [city] there are now very many merchants; [it seems that] there are more of them than there are stars. But [when your city is being destroyed, those merchants will take the valuable things and disappear] [like] [SIM] locusts that strip the leaves from plants and [then] fly away.
17 妳的守衛正如蝗蟲,妳的官吏正像一群蚱蜢;冷天蟄伏在牆上,但太陽一昇起,就飛去了,沒有人知道牠們究在何處。
Your leaders are [also] like a swarm of [SIM] locusts [DOU] that crowd together on the stone fences/walls on a cold day, and [then] fly away when the sun comes up, and no one knows where they have gone.
18 亞述王! 你的牧者已酣睡,你的貴族已永眠,你的人民已散在各山上,無人再能聚集。
O King of Assyria, your officials will [all] be dead [EUP]; your important people will lie down and rest [forever]. Your people will be scattered over the mountains, and there will no one to gather them [together].
19 你的瘡痍無法治療,你的創傷是致命傷。凡聽到你這消息的,都朝你鼓掌,因為有誰沒有時常受你虐待﹖
You [are like someone who] has a wound that cannot be healed; [it will be] a wound that causes him to die. And all those who hear about what has happened to you will clap their hands [joyfully]. [They will say, ] “Everyone has [RHQ] suffered because he continually was [very] cruel to us.”