< Daniel 3 >

1 King Nabuchodonosor made a statue of gold, of sixty cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up in the plain of Dura of the province of Babylon.
拿步高王製造了一尊高六十肘,寬六肘的金像,立在巴比倫省的杜辣平原上。
2 Then Nabuchodonosor the king sent to call together the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, the rulers, and governors, and all the chief men of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
拿步高王就派人召集總督、省長、知縣、參謀、司庫、法官、警官和各省官長,前來參與拿步高立像的開光典禮。
3 Then the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, and rulers, and the great men that were placed in authority, and all the princes of the provinces, were gathered together to come to the dedication of the statue, which king Nabuchodonosor had set up. And they stood before the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
於是總督、省長、知縣、參謀、司庫、法官、警官和各省官長都聚集前來,參與拿步高王立像的開光典禮,都站在拿步高立的像前。
4 Then a herald cried with a strong voice: To you it is commanded, O nations, tribes, and languages:
傳令官高聲呼喊說:「各民族、各邦國、各異語人民! 這是給你們下的令:
5 That in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, and of the flute, and of the harp, of the sackbut, and of the psaltery, and of the symphony, and of all kind of music; ye fall down and adore the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up.
你們幾時聽到角、笙、琴、瑟、箏、簫及各種樂器齊奏,就當俯伏朝拜拿步高王立的金像。
6 But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
凡不俯伏朝拜的,應當立刻投在烈火窯中。」
7 Upon this therefore, at the time when all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music: all the nations, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
因此,當在場的人聽見角、笙、琴、瑟、箏、簫及各種樂器齊奏時,各民族、各邦國、各異語人民都俯伏朝拜了拿步高王所立的金像。
8 And presently at that very time some Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,
當時,有幾個加色丁人前來控告猶太人,
9 And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:
對拿步高王啟奏說:「大王萬歲!
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man that shall bear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and adore the golden statue:
大王! 你發出了諭令,要所有聽見角、笙、琴、瑟、箏、簫及各種樂器齊奏的人,都應立刻俯伏朝拜金像,
11 And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
誰不俯伏朝拜,就應立即把他投入烈火窯中。
12 Now there are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree: they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.
然而有幾個你所委任管理巴比倫省政務的猶太人,即沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥,大王! 他們不尊重你的諭令,不恭敬你的神,也不朝拜你所立的金像。」
13 Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded that Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago should be brought: who immediately were brought before the king.
拿步高勃然大怒,遂下令傳沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥來;這幾個人就被帶到君王前,
14 And Nabuchodonosor the king spoke to them, and said: Is it true, O Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue that I have set up?
拿步高便對他們說:「沙得辣客、默沙客、阿貝得乃哥! 你們是真存心不恭敬我的神,不朝拜我立的金像嗎﹖
15 Now therefore if you be ready at what hour soever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, harp, sackbut, and psaltery, and symphony, and of all kind of music, prostrate yourselves, and adore the statue which I have made: but if you do not adore, you shall be cast the same hour into the furnace of burning fire: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?
現在你們準備好,一聽見角、笙、琴、瑟、箏、簫及各種樂器齊奏,就俯伏朝拜我製造的像;若是你們不朝拜,你們就立刻被投入烈火窯中,看有什麼神能由我手中將你們救出﹖」
16 Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago answered and said to king Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter.
沙得辣客 、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥回答拿步高王說:「關於這事,我們無須回答;
17 For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, O king.
如果我們所恭敬的天主肯救我們,大王! 他必會救我們脫離火窯和脫離你的手;
18 But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.
如果他不肯,大王! 你應當知道,我們仍然不願意恭敬你的神,也不朝拜你所立的金像。」
19 Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury: and the countenance of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated.
拿步高一聽這話,怒火填胸,立刻對沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥變了臉,下令要人將火窯燒得比往常更熱七倍,
20 And he commanded the strongest men that were in his army, to bind the feet of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.
又命軍中的幾個壯士將沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥捆起來,投入烈火窯中。
21 And immediately these men were bound and were cast into the furnace of burning fire, with their coats, and their caps, and their shoes, and their garments.
這三個人穿著外氅、長袍、頭巾和其他的衣服,被捆起來,投入烈火窯中。
22 For the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace was heated exceedingly. And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.
由於君王的命令急迫,火窯又燒得猛烈,火燄反將投擲沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥的那些人燒死了。
23 But these three men, that is, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning fire.
至於沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥三個人,被捆著落入烈火窯中。
24 Then Nabuchodonosor the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said to his nobles: Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, and said: True, O king.
那時拿步高王十分驚慌,急忙站起,問他的臣僕說:「我們不是把他們三個人全捆起來拋入烈火窯中了嗎﹖」僕人回答君王說:「大王,實在是! 」
25 He answered, and said: Behold I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
君王又問說:「怎麼我看見有四個人無拘無束地在火中行走,絲毫沒有受傷,而且那第四個人的外貌,彷彿是神的兒子。」
26 Then Nabuchodonosor came to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and said: Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, ye servants of the most high God, go ye forth, and come. And immediately Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago went out from the midst of the fire.
於是拿步高走近烈火窯口,說道:「至高天主的僕人沙得辣客、默沙客、和阿貝得乃哥,你們出來罷! 」沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥即從火中出來。
27 And the nobles, and the magistrates, and the judges, and the great men of the king being gathered together, considered these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, and that not a hair of their head had been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell of the fire had passed on them.
省長、太守、總督和君王的臣僕一齊前來,查看這幾個人,見烈火在他們身上一點不發生作用,連他們頭上的一根頭髮都沒有燒掉,他們的外氅也沒有變色,他們身上也沒有一點火的氣味。
28 Then Nabuchodonosor breaking forth, said: Blessed be the God of them, to wit, of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that believed in him: and they changed the king’s word, and delivered up their bodies that they might not serve, nor adore any god, except their own God.
於是拿步高說道:「沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥的天主,是可讚美的! 他打發了自己的天使來,救護那些信賴自己的僕人,他們敢違背王命,寧願捐軀,除自己的天主以外,不願事奉叩拜其他任何神祇。
29 By me therefore this decree is made, that every people, tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed, and their houses laid waste: for there is no other God that can save in this manner.
為此我今頒發詔書,無論那一個民族,那一邦國,那一個異語人民,凡對沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥的天主敢出言不恭的,必被萬剮凌遲,他們的住宅必成為廢墟,因為沒有其他的神能像他這樣施行拯救。」
30 Then the king promoted Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, in the province of Babylon.
然後君王在巴比倫省擢陞了沙得辣客、默沙客和阿貝得乃哥。

< Daniel 3 >