2 Kings 18
1 Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah in the third year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel.
以色列王厄拉的兒子曷舍亞三年，阿哈次的兒子希則克雅登基為猶大王。
2 He was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
他登極時年二十五歲，在耶路撒冷作王凡二十九年；他的母親名阿彼雅，是則加黎雅的女兒。
3 He did what was right in the Lord's sight, following all that his forefather David had done.
希則克雅行了上主視為正義的事，完全像他祖先達味所行的一樣；
4 He removed the high places, smashed the stone idols, and cut down the Asherah poles. He ground to pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, because up to then the Israelites had been sacrificing offerings to it. It was called Nehushtan.
他廢除了高丘，毀壞了石柱，砍倒了木偶，打碎了梅瑟所製造的銅蛇，因為直到那時，以色列子民仍向銅蛇焚香，稱為乃胡市堂。
5 Hezekiah put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel. Among the kings of Judah there was no one like him, neither before him nor after him.
他信賴上主以色列的天主；在他前後的猶大列王中，沒有一個可與他相比的。
6 He stayed faithful to the Lord and did not give up following him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses.
他依靠上主，緊隨不離，謹守上主頒給梅瑟的誡命。
7 The Lord was with him; he was successful in everything he did. He defied the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.
因此，上主與他同在，他無論作什麼，必都順利，且擺脫了亞述王的羈絆，不再作他的藩屬；
8 He defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and the surrounding area, from watchtower to fortified town.
又擊敗了培肋舍特人，直追到迦薩，佔領了他們的土地，攻取了守望台和堅城。
9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, equivalent to the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked Samaria, besieging it.
希則克雅王四年，即以色列王厄拉的兒子曷舍亞七年，亞述王沙耳瑪乃色來進攻撒瑪黎雅，圍困了這城；
10 The Assyrians conquered it after three years. This was during the sixth year of Hezekiah, equivalent to the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel.
三年年底攻下，即希則克雅王六年，以色列王曷舍亞九年，撒瑪黎雅失陷。
11 The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.
亞述王遂將以色列人擄往亞述，徙置在哈拉黑和靠近哥倉河的哈波爾，以及瑪待各城內。
12 This happened because they refused to listen to the Lord their God and broke his agreement—all that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. They refused to listen and did not obey.
這是因為他們沒有聽從上主，他們天主的聲音，違反了他的盟約：凡上主的僕人梅瑟所吩咐的，他們一概沒有聽從，也沒有遵行。
13 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah.
希則克雅王十四年，亞述王散乃黑黎布前來進攻猶大的一切堅城，都佔領了。
14 So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent a message to the king of Assyria who was at Lachish, saying, “I've made a terrible mistake! Please retreat and leave me alone, and I'll pay you whatever you want!” The king of Assyria demanded Hezekiah, king of Judah, pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
猶大王希則克雅於是派遣使者，到拉基士去見亞述王說：「我錯了，請你退兵；凡你向我提出的條件，我都接受。」於是亞述王限令猶大王希則克雅繳納三百「塔冷通」銀子，三十「塔冷通」金子。
15 Hezekiah paid him using all the silver from the Lord's Temple and the treasuries of the royal palace.
希則克雅只得把上主殿內，和王宮府庫所有的銀子都交出來。
16 He even stripped the gold he had used to overlay the doors and doorposts of the Lord's Temple and gave everything to the king of Assyria.
同時，猶大王希則克雅將上主殿宇門上的金子和他自己包鑲在門柱上的金子都剝下來，交給了亞述王。
17 Even so, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his head officer, and his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They approached Jerusalem and made camp beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to where laundry is washed.
亞述王從拉基士打發元帥、衛隊長和大將軍率領大軍到耶路撒冷去見希則克雅。他們就上到耶路撒冷，一來到，就站在上池的水溝旁，漂布田間的大路上，
18 They called for the king. Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with them.
求見君王。希耳克雅的兒子厄里雅金家宰，舍布納書記和阿撒夫的兒子約阿黑史官，出來迎接他們。
19 The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?
大將軍對他們說：「你們去告訴希則克雅說：大王，亞述王這樣說：你所依靠的，算得什麼依靠﹖
20 You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?
你想空口說話，就是戰略和戰鬥的力量嗎﹖如今你靠誰來背叛我﹖
21 Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.
我現在你看，你依靠的埃及是一根破裂的蘆杖；誰依靠這杖，它就刺傷誰的手，且把手刺透；埃及王法郎對所有依靠他的人，就是這樣。
22 If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?
假使你們對我說：我們依靠雅威我們的天主，希則克雅豈不是曾推翻他的高丘和祭壇，且對猶大和耶路撒冷說：你們只應在耶路撒冷的這祭壇前朝拜﹖
23 Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!
如今你可與我的主上亞述王打賭：我給你兩千匹馬，你是否能給這些馬配上騎兵﹖
24 How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
若不能，你怎敢拒絕我主上最小僕人中的一個軍長，而去依靠埃及的戰車和騎兵﹖
25 More than that—would I have come to attack this pace without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
現在，我上來攻打毀滅這地，難道不是雅威的意思嗎﹖雅威曾對我說：你上去攻打這地，加以毀滅! 」
26 Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, together with Shebnah and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
希耳克雅的兒子厄里雅金、舍布納和約阿黑對大將軍說：「請你對你的僕人說阿剌美話，因為我們都懂；你不要對我們說猶太話，因為城牆上的百姓能聽到。」
27 But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
大將軍回答說：「難道我的主上打發我來，只對你的主上和你講這些話，而不是對那些坐在城牆上，和你們一樣該吃自己的糞，喝自己的尿的人，講這些話嗎﹖」
28 Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!
大將軍於是站起來，仍用猶太話大聲喊說：「你們聽大王亞述王的話罷!
29 This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you from me!
大王這樣說：你們別上希則克雅的當，他決不能拯救你們脫離我的手；
30 Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’
也不要讓希則克雅使你們依靠雅威說：雅威必會拯救我們，這城決不會落在亞述王手中。
31 Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!
千萬別聽信希則克雅! 原來亞述王曾這樣說：你們要與我和好，出來歸順我，各人就可以吃自己的葡萄和無花果，各人也可以喝自己井裡的水，
32 I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. But don't listen to Hezekiah, for he's tricking you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’
直到我來領你們到一個與你們本國一樣的地方去，一個有五穀和新酒的地方，一個有食糧和葡萄樹的地方，一個產橄欖油和蜂蜜的地方，叫你們生活下去，而不至於死亡。千萬別聽信希則克雅，因為他欺騙你們說：雅威必拯救我們。
33 Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?
萬國的神中，有那一個由亞述王手中，拯救了自己的國土﹖
34 Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were they able to save Samaria from me?
哈瑪特和阿帕得的神在那裡﹖色法瓦因、赫納和依瓦的神在那裡﹖撒瑪黎雅地的神在那裡﹖難道他們從我手中拯救了撒瑪黎雅﹖
35 Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
在這地域中的神，有那一個由我手中救出了自己的國土﹖難道雅威就能由我手中拯救耶路撒冷嗎﹖」
36 But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
人都不作聲，一句話都沒有回答他，因為君王有命，不要回答他。
37 Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
當下希耳克雅的兒子厄里雅金家宰、舍布納書記和阿撒夫的兒子約阿黑史官，撕裂了自己的衣服，來見希則克雅，將那將軍的話全部告訴了他。
