< 耶利米書 10 >

1 以色列家啊,要聽耶和華對你們所說的話。
You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:
2 耶和華如此說: 你們不要效法列國的行為, 也不要為天象驚惶, 因列國為此事驚惶。
“Do not act like the people of [other] nations act, and do not be terrified by strange/unusual things that you see in the sky, even though they cause the [people of other] nations to be terrified.
3 眾民的風俗是虛空的; 他們在樹林中用斧子砍伐一棵樹, 匠人用手工造成偶像。
The customs of the people [of other nations] are worthless. [For example], they cut down a tree in the forest. Then a [skilled] worker/craftsman [cuts a section of it and] uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section.
4 他們用金銀妝飾它, 用釘子和錘子釘穩, 使它不動搖。
[Then] people decorate the idol with silver and gold. [Then] they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple/fall over.
5 它好像棕樹,是鏇成的, 不能說話,不能行走, 必須有人抬着。 你們不要怕它; 它不能降禍, 也無力降福。
[Then] the idol [stands there] like [SIM] a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers/melons! It cannot speak, and people must carry it, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of idols, because they cannot harm [anyone], and they cannot do [anything] good [to help anyone].”
6 耶和華啊,沒有能比你的! 你本為大,有大能大力的名。
Yahweh, there is no one like you. You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.
7 萬國的王啊,誰不敬畏你? 敬畏你本是合宜的; 因為在列國的智慧人中, 雖有政權的尊榮, 也不能比你。
You are the king of all the nations! Everyone should [RHQ] revere you, because that is what you deserve. Among all the wise people on the earth and in all the kingdoms where they live, (there is no one like you./who can compare with you?)
8 他們盡都是畜類,是愚昧的。 偶像的訓誨算甚麼呢? 偶像不過是木頭。
Those people who [think that they are] very wise [IRO] are stupid and foolish [DOU]. The idols that they worship are only made of wood! Those idols certainly cannot teach them anything.
9 有銀子打成片,是從他施帶來的, 並有從烏法來的金子, 都是匠人和銀匠的手工, 又有藍色紫色料的衣服, 都是巧匠的工作。
People hammer into thin sheets silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and then they give those sheets of silver and gold to skilled workers/craftsmen to cover the idols. Then they put on those idols expensive purple robes that are made by skilled workers.
10 惟耶和華是真上帝, 是活上帝,是永遠的王。 他一發怒,大地震動; 他一惱恨,列國都擔當不起。 (
But Yahweh is the [only] true God; he is the all-powerful God, the king [who rules] forever. When he is angry, [all] the earth shakes/quakes; and [the people of] the nations cannot endure [what he does] when he is angry [with them].
11 你們要對他們如此說:不是那創造天地的神,必從地上從天下被除滅!)
[You Israeli people], tell this to those people: “Those idols did not make the sky and the earth, and they will disappear from the earth.”
12 耶和華用能力創造大地, 用智慧建立世界, 用聰明鋪張穹蒼。
But [Yahweh] made the earth by his power; he established it [firmly] by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding.
13 他一發聲,空中便有多水激動; 他使雲霧從地極上騰; 他造電隨雨而閃, 從他府庫中帶出風來。
When he speaks [loudly], there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form over every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses.
14 各人都成了畜類,毫無知識; 各銀匠都因他雕刻的偶像羞愧。 他所鑄的偶像本是虛假的, 其中並無氣息,
People are senseless and 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.
15 都是虛無的, 是迷惑人的工作; 到追討的時候必被除滅。
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they [all] will be destroyed.
16 雅各的分不像這些, 因他是造作萬有的主。 以色列也是他產業的支派, 萬軍之耶和華是他的名。
But the God whom we Israelis worship is not like those idols; he is the one who created everything [that exists]; we, the tribe/people of Israel, belong to him; he is the Commander of the armies of angels.
17 受圍困的人哪,當收拾你的財物, 從國中帶出去。
[Yahweh says this to the people of Jerusalem]: “The army of your enemies surrounds your city, so gather up your possessions [and prepare] to leave the city.
18 因為耶和華如此說: 這時候,我必將此地的居民, 好像用機弦甩出去, 又必加害在他們身上, 使他們覺悟。
I will soon throw you out of this land and cause you to experience great troubles, with the result that you will have severe pain (OR, none of you will be left here).”
19 民說:禍哉!我受損傷; 我的傷痕極其重大。 我卻說:這真是我的痛苦, 必須忍受。
[The people replied, “It is as though] we have been [badly] wounded, and we are very grieved; [It is as though] we have a very serious illness, and we must endure the pain.
20 我的帳棚毀壞; 我的繩索折斷。 我的兒女離我出去,沒有了。 無人再支搭我的帳棚,掛起我的幔子。
[It is as though] our [great] tent is destroyed; the ropes [that held it up] have been cut; our children have gone away from us and will not return; there are no people left to rebuild our great tent.
21 因為牧人都成為畜類, 沒有求問耶和華, 所以不得順利; 他們的羊群也都分散。
Our leaders [MET] no [longer] have any sense; they no [longer] ask Yahweh [to (guide them/tell them what to do)], so they will no [longer] prosper, and all those over whom they rule [MET] will be scattered.
22 有風聲!看哪,敵人來了! 有大擾亂從北方出來, 要使猶大城邑變為荒涼, 成為野狗的住處。
Listen! [Our enemies’ armies] in the north are making a [very] big noise/commotion [as they march toward us]. The towns in Judah will be destroyed, [and they will become] a place where jackals/wolves live.”
23 耶和華啊,我曉得人的道路不由自己, 行路的人也不能定自己的腳步。
Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.
24 耶和華啊,求你從寬懲治我, 不要在你的怒中懲治我, 恐怕使我歸於無有。
[So] correct/discipline us, but do it gently. Do not correct/punish us when you are angry, because we would die if you did that.
25 願你將忿怒傾在不認識你的列國中, 和不求告你名的各族上; 因為他們吞了雅各,不但吞了,而且滅絕, 把他的住處變為荒場。
Punish [MTY] [all] the nations whose people do not acknowledge/say that you are God; punish all the nations whose people do not worship you, because they are completely destroying [DOU] [us people of] Israel and they are causing our land to soon be only a desert.

< 耶利米書 10 >