< Isaiah 40 >
1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
「你們安慰,安慰我的百姓罷!」你們的天主說。
2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare has been completed, That her punishment has been accepted, That she has received from the hand of YHWH Double for all her sins.
你們應向耶路撒冷說寬心的話,並向她宣告:她的苦役已滿期,她的罪債已清償,因為她為了自己的一切罪過,已由上主手中承受了雙倍的懲罰。
3 A voice is crying in a wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, Make straight in a desert a highway for our God.
有一個呼聲喊說:「你們要在曠野中預備上主的道路,在荒原中為我們的天主修平一條大路!
4 Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place has become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.
一切深谷要填滿,一切山陵要產平,隆起的要削為平地,崎嶇的要闢成坦途!
5 And the glory of YHWH has been revealed, And all flesh have seen [it] together, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
上主的光榮要顯示出來,凡有血肉的都會看見:這是上主親口說的。」
6 A voice is saying, “Call,” And he said, “What do I call?” All flesh [is] grass, and all its goodness [Is] as a flower of the field:
有個聲音說:「呼喊罷!」我答說:「我呼喊什麼﹖」「凡有血肉的都似草,他的美麗似田野的花;
7 Grass has withered, the flower faded, For the Spirit of YHWH blew on it, Surely the people [is] grass;
上主的風吹來,草必枯萎,花必凋謝。【的確,人民好像草。】
8 Grass has withered, the flower faded, But a word of our God rises forever.
草能枯萎,花能凋謝,但我們天主的話永遠常存。」
9 Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up your voice with power, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, do not fear, say to cities of Judah, “Behold, your God.”
給熙雍傳喜訊的啊!請登上高山!給耶路撒冷報喜訊的啊!請大聲疾呼! 高呼罷!不要畏懼!向猶大各城報告說:你們的天主來了!
10 Behold, Lord YHWH comes with strength, And His arm is ruling for Him, Behold, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage before Him.
吾主上主帶著威能來到,他的手臂獲得了勝利;他的勝利品與他同在,他獲得的酬勞在他面前。
11 He feeds His flock as a shepherd, He gathers lambs with His arm, And He carries [them] in His bosom: He leads suckling ones.
他必如牧人,牧放自己的羊群,以自己的手臂集合小羊,把牠們抱在自己的懷中,溫良地領導哺乳的母羊。
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And has meted out the heavens by a span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And has weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance?
誰曾用手心量過海水,用手掌測量過天,用升斗量過地上的塵土,用天秤稱過高山,用戥子撐過丘陵呢﹖
13 Who has meted out the Spirit of YHWH, And [being] His counselor, teaches Him?
誰曾指揮過上主的心靈;或做過他的參謀,教導過他呢﹖
14 With whom [did] He consult, That he causes Him to understand? And teaches Him in the path of judgment, And teaches Him knowledge? And causes Him to know the way of understanding?
他曾向誰請教過,請他教導自己,指導自己正路,教授自己智識,指示明智的行徑呢﹖
15 Behold, nations [are] as a drop from a bucket, And have been reckoned as small dust of the balance, Behold, He takes up islands as a small thing.
看哪!萬民像桶中的一滴水,如天秤上的一粒沙;看,島嶼重如一粒灰塵。
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
黎巴嫩不夠當柴燒,其中的野獸不足作燔祭。
17 All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
萬民在他面前好像烏有,在他看來只是空虛淨無。
18 And to whom do you liken God, And what likeness do you compare to Him?
你們要把天主同誰相比擬呢﹖你們把他與什麼相對照呢﹖
19 An artisan has poured out the carved image, And a refiner spreads it over with gold, And he is refining chains of silver.
與偶像嗎﹖偶像是工匠鑄造,金匠再包上金子,然後再鑄銀鍊圍起來。
20 He who is poor [by] raised-offerings, Chooses a tree [that is] not rotten, He seeks a skillful artisan for it, To establish a carved image—not moved.
精於選料的人,在選擇一塊不朽的木頭,再尋找一位精明的工匠,將鑄像立定,不致倒下。
21 Do you not know—do you not hear? Has it not been declared from the first to you? Have you not understood [From] the foundations of the earth?
難道你們不知道﹖難道你們沒有聽說﹖難道從起初沒有人告訴過你們﹖難道由大地肇基以來你們沒有細察過嗎﹖
22 He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants [are] as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out the heavens as a thin thing, And spreads them as a tent to dwell in.
他坐在大地的穹窿之上,地上的居民有如蝗蟲一般。他展開天幕有如帷幔,伸開天空有如居住的蓬帳。
23 He who is making princes become nothing, Has made judges of earth formless;
他使王侯化為烏有,叫地上的士紳成為虛無。
24 Indeed, they have not been planted, Indeed, they have not been sown, Indeed, their stock is not taking root in the earth, And He has also blown on them, and they wither, And a whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
他們剛被栽上,剛被種植,剛在土中扎根,他向他們一噓氣,他們一噓氣,他們便立即枯萎,暴風捲枯湝似的將他們捲走。「
25 And to whom do you liken Me, And [to whom] I equal? Says the Holy One.
你們把我同誰比擬呢﹖要我與誰相似呢﹖」聖者如此說。
26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see—who has created these? He who is bringing out their host by number, He calls to all of them by name, By the abundance of His strength And mighty power, Not one is lacking.
你們舉目向上,看看是誰造了這些呢﹖是他按照數目展開了他的萬軍,按照次序一一點名,在這強有力和威能者前,沒有一個敢缺席的。
27 Why say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way has been hid from YHWH, And from my God my judgment passes over?”
雅各伯!你為什麼說﹖以色列!你為什麼講:「上主看不見我的命運!天主忽略了我的案件!」
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The God of the age—YHWH, Preparer of the ends of the earth, Is not wearied nor fatigued, There is no searching of His understanding.
難道你不知道,或者沒有聽說:上主是永生的天主,是創造地極之主嗎﹖他縱不疲倦,決不困乏,他的智慧高深莫測。
29 He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increases might.
他賜給疲倦者力量,賜給無力者勇氣。
30 Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,
少年人能疲倦困乏,青年人能失足跌倒;
31 But those expecting YHWH pass [to] power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!
然而仰望上主的,必獲得新力量,必能振翼高飛有如兀鷹,疾馳而不困乏,奔走而不疲倦。