< Jeremiah 50 >

1 This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:
關於巴比倫和加色丁地上主藉耶肋米亞先知所說的話:
2 “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’
你們該在民族間宣布傳揚,該樹起旗幟傳揚,不該隱瞞,說:「巴比倫已陷落了,貝耳遭受了羞辱,默洛達客傾倒了;她的偶像遭受了恥辱,她的神祇傾倒了。」
3 For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
因為有一民族從北方上來,向她進攻,使她的國土化為無人居住,人獸絕跡的荒野。
4 “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
在那些日子裡和在那時期中──上主的斷語──以色列子民要與猶大子民一同歸來,且走且哭,尋覓上主他們的天主,
5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
他們必詢問熙雍的所在,面朝往那裏的道路說:來,讓我們以永久不可忘的盟約依附上主! 」
6 My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
我的人民是一群迷途的羊群,他們的牧人使他們流浪,在群山間徘徊,翻山越嶺地漫遊,忘掉了自己的羊棧。
7 All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
凡遇見他們的,將他們吞噬;他們的仇敵反而說:「我們並沒有過錯,因為是他們得罪了上主,正義的淵源和他們祖先的希望。」
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock.
你們該逃離巴比倫,走出加色丁地,如同羊群前領頭的公山羊。
9 For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
因為,看,我必從北方,發動一群強盛的民族前來進攻巴比倫,列陣向她進攻,就地將她攻陷;他們的箭像是善戰的勇士,從不空手而歸。
10 Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,”
加色丁必遭劫掠,凡劫掠她的,必心滿意足──上主的斷語。
11 “Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph— you who plunder My inheritance— because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
你們搶奪我產業的人,你們儘管喜樂,儘管歡欣:跳躍,好像踏青的小公牛;嘶鳴,有如獲偶的牡馬!
12 your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who bore you will be disgraced. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
你們的母親已遭受極大的恥辱,生養你的,已滿面羞慚。看,她已成為民族中最卑下的,成了曠野、旱地和荒原;
13 Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
在上主的盛怒下,她已無人居住,滿目淒涼:凡經過巴比倫的人,看見的種種慘狀,莫不驚異嗟嘆。
14 Line up in formation around Babylon, all you who draw the bow! Shoot at her! Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD.
一切開張弓弩的射手! 你們應列陣圍攻巴比倫,向她射擊,不要吝惜箭羽,因為她得罪了上主。
15 Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.
你們四周圍繞,向她吶喊! 她必伸手請降,她的城樓必將陷落,她的城牆必要被攻陷,因為這是上主的報復。你們報復她,照她作的還報!
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land.
你們要殲滅巴比倫播種和手持鐮刀收割的人! 面臨無情的刀劍,各人回歸自己的民族,各自逃往自己的故鄉。
17 Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
以色列是獅子追捕的亡羊,首先吞噬她的,是亞述君王;最後咬碎她骨骸的,是拿步高巴比倫王。
18 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
為此,萬軍的上主,以色列的天主這樣說:「看,我要懲罰巴比倫王和他的國土,就如我懲罰了亞述君王一樣。
19 I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
我要領以色列回歸自己的牧場,在加爾默耳和巴商牧放,使他們的心靈在厄弗辣因與基肋阿得山上,獲得滿足。
20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
那些日子裏和在那時期中──上主的斷語──要想尋求以色列的不義,卻一無所有;要想尋猶大的罪惡,卻一無所見;因為我必寬恕我留下的遺民。
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,”
你們該向默辣塔因地推進,進攻培科得的居民,屠殺,徹底將他們消滅──上主的斷語──全照我吩咐的進行。
22 “The noise of battle is in the land— the noise of great destruction.
地上發生了交戰的吶喊,巨大的毀滅。
23 How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
怎麼,威震全地的鎚子也被破碎毀壞了﹖怎麼,巴比倫在萬民中也變得如此悽涼﹖
24 I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.
我給你佈下羅網,你竟被捉住;而你,巴比倫,尚不自覺;你被尋獲,且被捉住,因為你竟敢違抗上主! 」
25 The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
上主開了自已的武庫,搬出了自己洩怒的武器,因為吾主萬軍的上主,在加色丁地有事要完成。
26 Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain. Devote her to destruction; leave her no survivors.
你們從四面八方向她湧來,打開她的倉庫,堆積成堆,徹底消滅,不給她留下殘餘;
27 Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come— the time of their punishment.
屠殺她的一切公牛,叫他們下入屠場! 卜們的災難臨頭,因為他們的日子到了,到了懲罰他們的時候。
28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.
聽從巴比倫地逃命出走的人,在熙雍報告說:「上主我們的天主在復仇,為自己的殿宇雪恥。
29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
你們召集弓手,一切挽弓的人,來向巴比倫進攻,在她周圍紮營,不要讓她有人逃脫,該按照她的作為而報復她,照她所作的對待她,因為她傲慢反對上主,反對以色列的聖者。
30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets, and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,”
為此,她的青年人要倒斃在她的廣場,她所有的戰士都要在那一天內滅亡──上主的斷語──
31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
你這驕橫的人! 看,我來對付你──我主萬軍上主的斷語──因為你的日子到了,到了懲罰你的時候。
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities to consume all those around him.”
驕橫的必要傾覆顛仆,再沒有人來使她復興;我必放火燒毀她的城市,火要吞滅她四周的一切。」
33 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
萬軍的上主這樣說:「以色列子民與猶大子民一同遭受了壓迫;凡俘擄他們的,都扣留他們,不肯釋放。」
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
但是他們的救贖者,名叫萬軍的上主,剛強有力,必要辯護他們的案件,使大地安寧,使巴比倫的居民惶亂。
35 A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
刀劍加於加色丁人──上主的斷語──加於巴比倫的居民,她的公卿和她的謀臣;
36 A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
刀劍加於她的巫士,使他們瘋狂;刀劍加於她的勇士,叫他們驚慌;
37 A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
刀劍加於她的戰馬戰車,加於她境內所有的雜族,使他們柔弱如婦女;刀劍加於她的府庫,使人任意搶奪;
38 A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
刀劍加於她的水源,叫水源涸竭,因為她偶像遍地,人們癡戀這些怪物;
39 So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
為此,她必成為野貓和野狗的巢穴,駝鳥的棲身地,永遠不會有人居住,世世代代不會有居民;
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
恰如天主滅亡了的索多瑪、哈摩辣及附近的城市一樣──上主的斷語──再沒有人居住,再沒有人留宿。
41 Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.
看,有一個民族,從北方來,有一個強盛的異邦和許多君王從地極興起,
42 They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.
緊握弓矛,殘忍無情,像海嘯般喧嚷,騎著戰馬,萬眾一心,嚴陣準備向你進攻,巴比倫女郎!
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
巴比倫王聽到了他們前來的消息,束手無策,不勝憂慮,痛苦得有如臨盆的產婦。
44 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
看哪,好像一隻雄獅,從約但的叢林上來,走向常綠的牧場;同樣,我也要轉瞬間將他們趕走,派我選定的人來統治。誠然,誰是我的對手﹖誰敢向我提出質問﹖誰能對抗我的牧人﹖
45 Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.
為此,請你們聽上主對巴比倫設下的計謀,對加色丁地策劃的策略:連最弱小的羊也一定要被人牽去,他們的牧場也必對他們戰慄。
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.
巴比倫轟然陷落,大地為之震動;哀號之聲,直達萬邦。

< Jeremiah 50 >