Jeremiah 5
1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
請你們巡行耶路撒冷的街道，觀察注意，在她的廣場上搜尋：若他們能找到一人，一個履正義，追求信實的人，我就寬恕這城。
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
雖然他們起誓說：「上主永在! 」其實他們起的誓仍是虛誓。
3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
上主，你的眼睛難道不顧信實﹖你打擊了他們，他們卻毫不覺痛；你使他們挫敗，他們仍拒絕受教，使自己的面孔比火石還要頑硬，不願悔改。
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
我想：「不錯，他們原是無知的平民，不認識上主的道路和衪他們天主的法律。
5 I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
我要去問有權勢的人，與他們談論，因為他們知道火道路和他們天主的法律。」哎! 連他們也都折斷了軛，掙斷了繩索。
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
為此，獅子由叢林出來襲擊他們，曠野的豺狼出來傷害他們，豹子潛伏在他們的城旁，凡出來的人都被撕裂，因為他們罪上加罪，失節有增無已。
7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
如此，我怎能寬恕你﹖你的子孫離棄了我，奉「非神」發誓。我使他們飽食，他們卻去行淫，群集在妓院裏；
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
他們像荒淫雄壯的牡馬，各向自己近人的妻室嘶鳴。
9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
這些事，我怎能不懲罰﹖──上主的斷語──像這些火民族，我怎能不親自報復﹖
10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
請你們登上她的牆上頭，加以毀壞，但不要完全毀滅，該除去她的枝條，因為它們不屬於上主。
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
以色列和猶大家，實在對我不忠，達到極點──
12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
上主的斷語。他們否認上主說：「衪不存在! 災禍不會臨到我們身上，我們也決不會見到戰爭和飢荒；
13 The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
先知們不過是一陣風，他們並沒有上主的話；他們這樣只有自作自受。」
14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
為此，上主萬軍火天主這樣說：「因為他們說了這話，我必使我的話在你的口中成為火，使這人民成為木柴，將他們吞滅。
15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
以色列家! 看，我從遠方給你們引來一個民族──上主的斷語──一個所向無敵的民族，一個支老的民族，一個你們不慬她的語言，也聽不出她說什麼的民族
16 Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
他們的箭有如張口墳墓；他們都是善戰的勇士。
17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
這民族必吃掉你的收穫和食糧，必吃掉你的兒子和女兒，必吃掉你的羊群和牛群，必吃掉你的葡萄和無花果，必以武力蹂躝你依恃的堅城。
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
即在那些時日裏──上主的斷語──我也不對你們加以徹底的毀滅。」
19 And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
假使有人問：「為什麼上主我們的天主對我們做了這一切的事﹖」你當對他們說：「你們怎樣離棄了我，在你們國內事奉了外邦的神祗，你們也該怎樣在不屬於你們的境內事奉外邦人。」
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
你們你們將這事通知雅各伯家，轉告猶大說：
21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
「你們愚昧無知，有目不見，有耳不聞的人民，請聽聽這話：
22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
你們不敬畏我嗎﹖──上主的斷語──你們在我面前不戰憟嗎﹖是我堆集了沙石作海的界限，作為它永不能越過的界限浪雖然洶湧，仍無能為力；雖怒號澎湃，仍不能越過。」
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
但這內心頑固的心民，竟背叛而離去，
24 They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
從不反心自省：「我們應該敬畏上主，我們的天主，因為衪按時降下雨露、秋霜和春雨；又給我們保持固定的收穫時節。」
25 Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
是你們的過犯混亂了這些時令，是罪惡阻止了你們享這幸福。
26 For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
因為在我的人民中發現惡人；他們像隱伏的捕鳥者在窺探，布下羅網捕捉人。
27 Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
猶如籠中滿了飛鳥，他們家中也充滿了欺詐，因此成了有勢力，有錢財的人。
28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
他們肥胖紅潤，作奸犯科，不為孤兒辯護；只求自己享受，也不關懷窮人的權利。
29 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
像這樣的事，我怎能不懲罰﹖──上主的斷語──像這樣的民族，我怎能不親自報復﹖
30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
在國內發生了一件恐怖而可憎的事：
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
先知們說假預言，司祭們爭權奪利，我的人民反以此為樂；到了最後，你們究竟還要作什麼﹖
