Jeremiah 9
1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
恨不得我的頭髮變成水源，我的眼化為淚泉，好能日夜哭泣我被殺死的女兒──人民!
2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
誰能在o石我找一個旅棧，叫我好離開我的人民，離他們而遠去﹖因為都是些亂之徒，是一群反叛；
3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,”
他們彎起像弓的舌頭，使 在地上得勢的，是虛偽而不是誠實，因為他們變本加厲作惡，全不理睬我──上主的斷語。
4 “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
你們應各自提防自己的近人，不要信任弟兄，因為所有的弟兄都愛好欺詐，一般的近人都好說讒言；
5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
人都欺騙自己的近人，不講實話，使自己的舌頭慣於說謊，謁力行惡，
6 You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,”
不願悔悟，卻強暴上又加強暴，欺詐上又加欺詐，全不理睬我──上主的斷語。
7 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
為此萬軍的上主這樣說：「看，我要將他們淨化，提煉；否則，我將怎樣處理我的女兒──人民──的邪惡﹖
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
他們的舌頭像毒箭，好出詐言；嘴上對鄰友說話溫和，心中卻設計陷害。
9 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
為這些事我豈能不懲罰﹖──上主的斷語──像這樣的一個民族，我豈能不圖報復﹖
10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
我要為群山號咷痛哭，為原野高唱哀歌，因為全都被焚毀，沒有人往來，再聽不到牲畜的聲音；自天空的飛鳥到地上的走獸，都逃去無蹤。
11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
我要使耶路撒冷成為廢壚，成為豺狼的巢穴；使猶大的城市荒涼，無人居住。
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
誰夠聰明，明白這事﹖上主親口吩咐誰公佈這事﹖「為什麼像這地方遭受毀滅，荒蕪得有如無人經過的曠野﹖」
13 And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.
上主說：因為他們離棄了我給他們立的法律，沒有聽從我的聲音，沒有按照法律而行；
14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
反而去順從自己頑固的心，追隨祖先教給他們的巴耳神。
15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
為此萬軍的上主，以色列的天主這樣說：看，我必使這人民吃毒艾，飲毒水；
16 I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
使他們流離到他們和他們祖先素不相識的民族中；派刀劍追擊他們，直至將他們完全消滅。
17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
萬軍的上主這樣說：你們應該明白，快召哀悼的婦女來，派人去叫擅長哭泣的女人來，
18 Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.
叫她們迅速前來，我們啼哭，使我們的眼睛流下眼淚，使我們的睫毛湧出睙水，
19 For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’”
因為從熙雍那裏可以聽到哭聲：我們怎樣崩潰了，受了許多多大的恥辱! 竟要離開本國，拋棄我們的家園!
20 Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.
妳們婦女! 都應聽清上主的話，親耳聆聽衪口授的言詞；教妳們的女兒痛哭，彼此互相學唱哀歌：
21 For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
因為死亡已從我們的窗戶爬進來，進入了我們的宮殿，殲滅了街上的孩童，和廣場上的青年。
22 Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”
你應這樣說──上主的斷語──人的屍體僵臥著，好像在田野裏的糞堆；又像遺留在收割者後面無人拾取的麥束。
23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
上主這樣說：「智者不應誇耀自己的智慧，力士不應誇耀自己的力量，富人不應誇耀自己的財富。
24 But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth— for I delight in these things,”
凡要誇耀的，只應該在「知道和認識我」這件事誇耀，因為在地上是我，上主，施行仁慈、公道和正義，因為我喜愛這樣事──上主的斷語。
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised:
看，時日將到──上主的斷語──我要懲罰所有受過割損而仍存有包皮的人，
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
即埃及、猶大、厄東、阿孟子民、摩阿布和所有住在曠野剃除鬚髮的人，因為這一切民族都未受過割損，至於以色列全家卻是未受過內心的割損」。
