< Esias 58 >

1 Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities.
你大聲呼喊,不要停止,提高你的喉嚨,有如號筒,向我的百姓宣佈他們的過犯,向雅各伯家指明他們的罪孽。
2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgement of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgement, and desire to draw near to God,
他們固然天天尋找我,喜歡認識我的道路,好似一個行義而沒有背棄天主法令的民族,向我要求正義的措施,祈望天主與之接近:「
3 saying, Why have we fasted, and you regard not? [why] have we afflicted our souls, and you did not know it? Nay, in the days of your fasts you find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power you wound.
為什麼我們守齋而你看不見,我們克苦而你不理會呢﹖」看哪!你們在守齋日仍然苦心經營,勒索你們所有的工人。
4 If you fast for quarrels and strifes, and strike the lowly with [your] fists, therefore do you fast to me as [you do] this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying?
看哪!你們一面守齋,一面爭吵,打架,以惡拳打人;你們不必再如今天一樣守齋了,免得你們的嘈雜在高處可以聽到。
5 I have not chosen this fast, nor [such] a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though you should bend down your neck as a ring, and spread under you sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall you call a fast acceptable.
難道這就是我所中意的齊戒嗎﹖難道這就是人們克己的日子嗎﹖難道低頭如同蘆葦,以苦衣和灰塵舖床,你就稱為齋戒,稱為上主悅納的日子嗎﹖
6 I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord; but do you loose every burden of iniquity, do you untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account.
我所中意的齊戒,豈不是要人解除不義的鎖鏈,廢除軛上的繩索,使受壓迫者獲得自由,折斷所有的軛嗎﹖
7 Break your bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to your house: if you see one naked, clothe [him], and you shall not disregard the relations of your own seed.
豈不是要人將食糧分給飢餓的人,將無地容身的貧窮人領到自己的屋裏,見到赤身露體的人給他衣穿,不要避開你的骨肉嗎﹖
8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall speedily spring forth: and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall compass you.
若這樣,你的光明將要射出,有如黎明,你的傷口將會迅速地復原;你的救援要走在你前面,上主的光 榮要作你的後盾。
9 Then shall you cry, and God shall listen to you; while you are yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If you remove from you the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech;
那時,你如呼喊,上主必要俯允;你若哀求,他必答說:「我在這裏!」你若由你中間消除欺壓、指手畫腳的行為和虛偽的言談,
10 and [if] you give bread to the hungry from your heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light spring up in darkness, and your darkness [shall be] as noon-day:
你若把你的食糧施捨給飢餓的人,滿足貧窮者的心靈;那麼,你的光明要在黑暗中升起,你的幽暗將如中午。
11 and your God shall be with you continually, and you shall be satisfied according as your soul desires; and your bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain [from] which the water has not failed.
上主必要時常引領你,在乾枯之地,使你心滿意足,並使你的骨頭堅強有力;你將成為一座灌溉的樂園,一個總不涸竭的水泉。
12 And your old waste desert [places] shall be built up, and your foundations shall last through all generations; and you shall be called a repairer of breaches, and you shall cause your paths between to be in peace.
你的後裔將重建往日的廢址,你要豎起那久遠的基礎,人要稱你為:「缺口的修補者,」「廢墟的興建者,」為叫人居住。
13 If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, so as not to do your pleasure on the holy days, and shall call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; [if] you shall not lift up your foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of your mouth,
假使你在安息日限止你的腳步,在我的聖日停止你的營業,稱安息日為喜樂,為上主可敬的聖日;假使你尊崇聖日,而不去旅行,不苦心經營或談論生意,
14 then shall you trust on the Lord; and he shall bring you up to the good places of the land, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.
那時你將喜樂於上主。我要使你駕臨地之高處,使你享受你祖先雅各伯的產業:這是上主親口說的。

< Esias 58 >