< Jeremias 9 >

1 Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? then would I weep for this my people day and night, [even] for the slain of the daughter of my people.
恨不得我的頭髮變成水源,我的眼化為淚泉,好能日夜哭泣我被殺死的女兒──人民!
2 Who would give me a most distant lodge in the wilderness, that I might leave my people, and depart from them? for they all commit adultery, an assembly of treacherous men.
誰能在o石我找一個旅棧,叫我好離開我的人民,離他們而遠去﹖因為都是些亂之徒,是一群反叛;
3 And they have bent their tongue like a bow: falsehood and not faithfulness has prevailed upon the earth; for they have gone on from evil to evil, and have not known me, says the Lord.
他們彎起像弓的舌頭,使 在地上得勢的,是虛偽而不是誠實,因為他們變本加厲作惡,全不理睬我──上主的斷語。
4 Beware you each of his neighbor, and trust you not in your brethren: for every one will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.
你們應各自提防自己的近人,不要信任弟兄,因為所有的弟兄都愛好欺詐,一般的近人都好說讒言;
5 Every one will mock his friend; they will not speak truth: their tongue has learned to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they ceased not, so as to return.
人都欺騙自己的近人,不講實話,使自己的舌頭慣於說謊,謁力行惡,
6 [There is] usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know me, says the Lord.
不願悔悟,卻強暴上又加強暴,欺詐上又加欺詐,全不理睬我──上主的斷語。
7 Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I will try them with fire, and prove them; for I will do [thus] because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.
為此萬軍的上主這樣說:「看,我要將他們淨化,提煉;否則,我將怎樣處理我的女兒──人民──的邪惡﹖
8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful: [one] speaks peaceably to his neighbor, but in himself retains enmity.
他們的舌頭像毒箭,好出詐言;嘴上對鄰友說話溫和,心中卻設計陷害。
9 Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a people as this?
為這些事我豈能不懲罰﹖──上主的斷語──像這樣的一個民族,我豈能不圖報復﹖
10 Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate for lack of men; they heard not the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle: they were amazed, they are gone.
我要為群山號咷痛哭,為原野高唱哀歌,因為全都被焚毀,沒有人往來,再聽不到牲畜的聲音;自天空的飛鳥到地上的走獸,都逃去無蹤。
11 And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling-place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Juda, so that they shall not be inhabited.
我要使耶路撒冷成為廢壚,成為豺狼的巢穴;使猶大的城市荒涼,無人居住。
12 Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and he that has the word of the mouth of the Lord [addressed] to him, let him tell you therefore the land has been destroyed, has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.
誰夠聰明,明白這事﹖上主親口吩咐誰公佈這事﹖「為什麼像這地方遭受毀滅,荒蕪得有如無人經過的曠野﹖」
13 And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not listened to my voice;
上主說:因為他們離棄了我給他們立的法律,沒有聽從我的聲音,沒有按照法律而行;
14 but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them [to worship]:
反而去順從自己頑固的心,追隨祖先教給他們的巴耳神。
15 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:
為此萬軍的上主,以色列的天主這樣說:看,我必使這人民吃毒艾,飲毒水;
16 and I will scatter them among the nations, to them whom neither they nor their fathers knew; and I will send a sword upon them, until I have consumed them with it.
使他們流離到他們和他們祖先素不相識的民族中;派刀劍追擊他們,直至將他們完全消滅。
17 Thus says the Lord, Call you the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;
萬軍的上主這樣說:你們應該明白,快召哀悼的婦女來,派人去叫擅長哭泣的女人來,
18 and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.
叫她們迅速前來,我們啼哭,使我們的眼睛流下眼淚,使我們的睫毛湧出睙水,
19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard in Sion, How are we become wretched! we are greatly ashamed, for we have forsaken the land, and have abandoned our tabernacles!
因為從熙雍那裏可以聽到哭聲:我們怎樣崩潰了,受了許多多大的恥辱! 竟要離開本國,拋棄我們的家園!
20 Hear now, you women, the word of God, and let your ears receive the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and [every] woman her neighbor a dirge.
妳們婦女! 都應聽清上主的話,親耳聆聽衪口授的言詞;教妳們的女兒痛哭,彼此互相學唱哀歌:
21 For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants without, and the young men from the streets.
因為死亡已從我們的窗戶爬進來,進入了我們的宮殿,殲滅了街上的孩童,和廣場上的青年。
22 And the carcases of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather [them].
你應這樣說──上主的斷語──人的屍體僵臥著,好像在田野裏的糞堆;又像遺留在收割者後面無人拾取的麥束。
23 Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth;
上主這樣說:「智者不應誇耀自己的智慧,力士不應誇耀自己的力量,富人不應誇耀自己的財富。
24 but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, says the Lord.
凡要誇耀的,只應該在「知道和認識我」這件事誇耀,因為在地上是我,上主,施行仁慈、公道和正義,因為我喜愛這樣事──上主的斷語。
25 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;
看,時日將到──上主的斷語──我要懲罰所有受過割損而仍存有包皮的人,
26 on Egypt, and on Idumea, and on Edom, and on the children of Ammon, and on the children of Moab, and on every one that shaves his face round about, [even] them that dwell in the wilderness; for all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised [in] their hearts.
即埃及、猶大、厄東、阿孟子民、摩阿布和所有住在曠野剃除鬚髮的人,因為這一切民族都未受過割損,至於以色列全家卻是未受過內心的割損」。

< Jeremias 9 >