Isaiah 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

有關大馬士革的神諭：看，大馬士革不再成為城市，將變為一堆廢墟。

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks; and they shall lie down and there shall be none to make them afraid.

她的城邑將永被遺棄，成為羊群的牧場；牠們偃臥在那裏，無人驚擾。

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.

厄弗辣因的保壘將被撤除，大馬士革的主權將要消失，阿蘭的遺民將如以色列子民的光榮－－萬軍上主的斷語。

4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.

到那天，雅各 伯的光榮必要衰落，他肥滿的身軀必要消瘦。

5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; yea, it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

將如收割的人一手在抱麥稈，一手在割麥穗；又如人摘取葡萄，或在勒法因山谷採打橄欖樹，

6 And a gleaning shall be left in it, as at the shaking of an olive-tree: two, three berries above, in the tree-top; four, five in its fruitful boughs, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.

上面總有些殘粒剩下，或兩三粒留在樹梢，或四五個留在果樹的枝梢上－－上主，以色列的天主的斷語。

7 In that day shall man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have regard to the Holy One of Israel.

到那天，人必仰望自己的造主，眼睛必要注視以色列的聖者。

8 And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, nor have regard to what his fingers have made, neither the Asherahs nor the sun-images.

再不願觀看他親手所造的祭壇；也不再顧盼他手指所製的「阿舍辣」和太陽柱。

9 In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken tract in the woodland, and the mountain-top which they forsook before the children of Israel; and there shall be desolation.

到那天，你的堅城，將如希威人和阿摩黎人在以色列子民前所放棄的地域，成為一片荒野，

10 For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plantations, and shalt set them with foreign slips:

因為你忘卻了拯救你的天主，不懷念作你避難所的磐石。為此，你雖栽種阿多尼花木，種植異鄉的枝條；

11 in the day of thy planting wilt thou make [them] to grow, and on the morrow wilt thou make thy seed to flourish; [but] the harvest will flee in the day of taking possession, and the sorrow will be incurable.

你縱然在一日之間使你所栽種的生長，清晨使你所種植的開花，但是收穫卻消失在患難和絕望痛苦的日子中。

12 Ha! a tumult of many peoples! they make a noise as the noise of the seas; — and the rushing of nations! they rush as the rushing of mighty waters.

靜聽！許多民族在喧嚷，喧嚷得有如海嘯；好多百姓在咆哮，咆哮得有如汪洋的怒號。

13 The nations rush as the rushing of many waters; but he will rebuke them, and they shall flee far away, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling [of dust] before the whirlwind:

然而上主一叱責，他必飄逸遠逃，有如為颶風捲去山上的禾湝，有如旋風前的薊絮。

14 behold, at eventide, trouble; before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

晚間盡是恐怖；天還未亮，已無蹤影！這是掠奪我們者的份子，搶劫我們者的命運。