< Isaiah 49 >
1 Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye peoples, from far: the LORD hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name;
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 And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me; and He hath made me a polished shaft, in His quiver hath He concealed me;
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 And He said unto me: 'Thou art My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'
他對我說:你是我的僕人,是我驕矜的「以色列。」
4 But I said: 'I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense 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 And now saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, and that Israel be gathered unto Him — for I am honourable in the eyes of the LORD, and my God is become my 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 Yea, He saith: 'It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the offspring of Israel; I will also give thee for a light of the nations, that My salvation may be unto the end of the earth.'
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 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him who is despised of men, to him who is abhorred of nations, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.
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 Thus saith the LORD: In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
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 Saying to the prisoners: 'Go forth'; to them that are in darkness: 'Show yourselves'; they shall feed in the ways, and in all high hills shall be their pasture;
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 shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for He that hath compassion on them will lead them, even by the springs of water will He guide them.
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 And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be raised on high.
我要使我的一切山嶺變為大路,並把我的街道修高。
12 Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.
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 Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the LORD hath comforted His people, and hath compassion upon His afflicted.
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 hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.'
熙雍曾說過:「上主離棄了我,吾主忘掉了我。」
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
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 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.
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 Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.
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 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, 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 For thy waste and thy desolate places and thy land that hath been destroyed — surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
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 of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears: 'The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.'
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 shalt thou say in thy heart: 'Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?'
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 Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up Mine ensign to the peoples, and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon 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 And kings shall be thy foster-fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.
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 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of the victorious be delivered?
獵物豈能由勇士手中奪回﹖俘虜豈能由強者手中救出﹖
25 But thus saith the LORD: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; and I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy 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 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
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。」