Isaiah 49
1 Listen to me, you people of the islands! Pay attention, you who live far away! The Lord called me before I was born; he gave me my name while I was still in my mother's womb.
諸島嶼，請聽我！遠方的人民，請靜聽！上主由母腹中就召叫了我，自母胎中就給我起了名字。
2 The words he gave me to speak are like a sharp sword. He has protected me by covering me with his hand. He put me in his quiver like a sharp arrow, keeping me safe there.
他使我的口好似利劍，將我掩護在他的手蔭下，使我像一支磨光的箭，將我隱藏在他的箭囊中。
3 He told me, “You are my servant, Israel, and I will reveal my glory through you.”
他對我說：你是我的僕人，是我驕矜的「以色列。」
4 But I replied, “I've worked for nothing! I've exhausted myself, and for what? Even so, I leave it with the Lord to do what's right, and my reward is with my God.”
但是我說：「我白白勤勞了，我枉費了氣力而毫無益處；但是我的權利是在上主那裏，我的報酬在我的天主面前。」
5 Now my Lord is going to speak, the one who formed me in the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to himself. I am honored in the Lord's sight, and my God has given me strength.
我在上主眼中是光榮的，天主是我的力量。那由母胎形成我作他的僕人，將雅各伯領回到他前，並把以色列聚在他前的上主，如今說：「
6 He says, “It's nothing much for you to be my servant to bring back the tribes of Jacob, those people of Israel that I've preserved. I'm also going to make you a light for the foreigners so that my salvation may reach everybody.”
你作我的僕人，復興雅各伯支派，領回以色列遺留下的人，還是小事，我更要使你作萬民的光明，使我的救恩達於地極。」
7 This is what the Lord says, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to the one who was despised and detested by the nation, to the one who is the servant of rulers: Kings will see you and stand up, and princes will bow down to you, because the Lord, who is trustworthy, the Holy One of Israel, has chosen you.
上主，以色列的救主和聖者，向那極受輕慢，為列國所憎惡，且作統治者奴役的人這樣說：「列王必要見而起立，諸侯必要見而下拜：這是因為上主忠實可靠，以色列的聖者揀選了你的緣故。」
8 This is what the Lord says: I will answer you at the proper time; I will help you on the day of salvation. I will take care of you, and I will give you to the people as my agreement with them, to restore the land and to reassign the parts that have been abandoned.
上主這樣說：在悅納的時候，我俯允了你；在救恩的日期，我幫助了你；我必保護你，使你作為人民的盟約，復興國家，分得荒蕪的產業，
9 Tell the prisoners, “Come out!” Tell those living in darkness, “Come into the light!” Like sheep they will feed along the roads and in the pastures on hills that once were barren.
好向俘虜說：「你們出來罷！」向在黑暗中的人說：「你們出現罷！」他們將在各路上被牧放，他們的牧場是在一切荒嶺上。
10 They won't be hungry or thirsty, and they won't get hot in the sun, for the one who loves them will lead them to springs, and guide them to water.
他們不餓也不渴，熱風和列日也不損傷他們，因為那憐憫他們的率領著他們，引領他們到水泉傍。
11 I will turn all my mountains into a road; my highways will be really high!
我要使我的一切山嶺變為大路，並把我的街道修高。
12 Look at these people coming from far away! Look at these people coming from the north, and from the west, and from Upper Egypt.
看啊！有的由遠方而來，有的由北方和西方而來，還有些由息寧而來。
13 Heavens, shout for joy! Earth, celebrate! Mountains, sing out in happiness! The Lord has come to care for his people, and he will treat his suffering people kindly.
諸天要歡樂，大地要踴躍，山嶺要歡呼高唱，因為上主安慰了他的百姓，憐恤了他受苦的人們。
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has given up on me; the Lord has forgotten about me.”
熙雍曾說過：「上主離棄了我，吾主忘掉了我。」
15 Really? Can a mother forget her nursing baby? Can she forget to be kind to the child she carried in her womb? Even if she could forget, I will never forget you!
婦女豈能忘掉自己的乳嬰﹖出為人母的，豈能忘掉親生的兒子﹖縱然她們能忘掉，我也不能忘掉你啊﹖
16 Look at your names I've written on the palms of my hands! I'm always thinking about your walls.
看哪！我已把你刻在我的手掌上，你的城牆時常在我的眼前。
17 Soon your children will come running back. Your destroyers, those that devastated your land, will be gone.
建築你的工人急速動工，那毀滅你和破壞你的，要離你遠去。
18 Take a look around. See all your children gathering and coming back to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you will wear them all as jewelry, proudly putting them on like a bride.
你舉目四望罷！他們都已集合到你這裏來；我永遠生活－－上主的斷語－－他們必如裝飾品穿戴在你身上，把你裝扮得有如新娘。
19 Your ruined towns and abandoned places and devastated lands will be crowded with people, while those who took over your country will be long gone.
至於你的廢址，你那荒蕪和遭蹂躪之地，如今為你的居民都太狹小了，因為吞噬你的人已遠離他去。
20 The children born during your time of mourning in exile will say, “This place is too crowded for me! Make room so I have a place to live!”
連你在不孕期中所生的子女也要說給你聽：「這地方為我太狹小了，請給我一個住處罷！」
21 Then you will say to yourself, “Who gave birth to all these children for me? My children were killed and I was unable to have more; I was exiled and thrown aside—so who brought these children up? Look, I was abandoned, so where did they come from?”
那時你心裏會問：「誰給我生育了這些人呢﹖我原是不妊不孕的，【且是流放被逐的，】這些人是誰給我養大的﹖看！我本是孤苦零丁的，他們卻是從那裏來的﹖」
22 This is what the Lord God says, Watch as I give the signal to the nations, as I raise my flag to let everyone know. They will bring them back, carrying your sons in their arms, and lifting your daughters onto their shoulders.
吾主上主這樣說：「看！我要向列邦高舉我的手，向萬民樹起我的旗幟；他們必要把你的兒子抱在懷中帶來，把你的女兒放在肩上背來。
23 Kings will be your child-minders; queens will be your nurses. They will bow low before you, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, and that those who put their trust in me will never be ashamed.
列王要作你的養父，皇后要當你的保姆。他們要在你面前俯伏在地，並要舔去你腳上的塵土；那時你將知道：我是上主；凡仰賴我的，決不會蒙羞。」
24 Can loot be taken from a warrior? Can prisoners be rescued from a dictator?
獵物豈能由勇士手中奪回﹖俘虜豈能由強者手中救出﹖
25 But this is what the Lord says: Even the prisoners of warriors will be won back; even loot will be recovered from a dictator. I will fight with your enemies, and I will rescue your children.
但是，上主這樣說：「俘虜必要由勇士手中奪回，獵物必要由強者手中救出。我必與同你爭奪的人爭奪，我必拯救你的子孫。
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh and drink their own blood like wine. Then everyone will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
我要使壓迫你的人吃自己的肉，喝自己的血如喝新酒。如此，凡有血肉的人都知道我是上主，是你的拯救者，是你的救主，是雅各伯的大能者。」
