< Jeremiah 51 >
1 Thus said YHWH: “Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb, My withstanders, A destroying wind,
上主這樣說:「看,我必要興起毀滅的颶風,襲擊巴比倫和加色丁的居民,
2 And I have sent fanners to Babylon, And they have fanned her, and they empty her land, For they have been against her, All around—in the day of evil.
給巴比倫派簸手來簸揚她,掃空她的國土,因為在禍患之日,人必四面向她進攻。」
3 Do not let the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have pity on her young men, Devote all her host to destruction.
弓手不要放下自己的弓箭,戰士不要卸下自己的鎧甲,不要憐恤她的青年,卻要殲滅她所有的部隊,
4 And the wounded have fallen in the land of the Chaldeans, And the pierced-through in her streets.
使他們倒斃在加色丁境內,沿途被人刺殺,
5 For Israel and Judah are not forsaken By his God—by YHWH of Hosts, For their land has been full of guilt, Against the Holy One of Israel.
因為他們的國土,充滿了反抗以色列聖者的罪惡;可是以色列和猶大並未成為寡婦,也未喪失自己的天主,萬軍的上主。
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And let each deliver his soul, Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For it [is] a time of vengeance for YHWH—His, He is rendering repayment to her.
你們逃離巴比倫,各救自己的性命,不要因了她的罪過而自遭喪亡,因為現在是上主復仇的時候,上主要對她報復。
7 Babylon [is] a golden cup in the hand of YHWH, Making all the earth drunk, Nations have drunk of her wine, Therefore nations boast themselves.
巴比倫在上主手中,曾是個灌醉大地的金爵,萬民飲了她的酒,萬民纔如此狂亂。
8 Babylon has suddenly fallen, Indeed, she is broken, howl for her, Take balm for her pain, perhaps she may be healed.
霎時間,巴比倫傾覆瓦解,你們為她舉哀,拿香料來醫治她的創傷,也許她會痊癒。
9 We healed Babylon, and she was not healed, Forsake her, and we go, each to his land, For her judgment has come to the heavens, And it has been lifted up to the clouds.
我們本願治癒巴比倫,但是她卻不痊癒;我們放下她,各自回歸故鄉,因為她罪惡滔天,直達雲霄。
10 YHWH has brought forth our righteousnesses, Come, and we recount in Zion the work of our God YHWH.
上主表彰了我們的正義,來,我們在熙雍稱揚上主我們的天主的偉業。
11 Cleanse the arrows, fill the shields, YHWH has stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media, For His purpose [is] against Babylon to destroy her, For it [is] the vengeance of YHWH, The vengeance of His temple.
磨尖箭矢,裝滿箭囊! 上主已激起瑪待王的銳氣,因為他對巴比倫的計劃,是要將她消滅;是上主報復,為自己的殿宇復仇。
12 Lift up an ensign to the walls of Babylon, Strengthen the watch, Establish the watchers, prepare the ambush, For YHWH has both devised and done that which He spoke, Concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
你們向巴比倫城牆樹立旗幟,加緊防衛,派駐防哨,預設埋伏,因為上主怎樣計劃了,就怎樣實踐他對巴比倫居民所下的斷語。
13 O dweller on many waters, abundant in treasures, Your end has come—the measure of your dishonest gain.
啊,你住在多水之旁,富有寶藏;現在到了你的結局,到了切斷你尺度的時刻。
14 YHWH of Hosts has sworn by Himself, That, Surely I have filled you [with] men as the cankerworm, And they have cried against you—shouting.
萬軍的上主指著自己起誓說:「我必用像蝗蟲那麼多的人群填塞你,對你高唱凱歌。」
15 Making [the] earth by His power, Establishing [the] world by His wisdom, Who by His understanding stretched out the heavens,
上主以自己的能力創造了大地,自己的智慧奠定了寰宇,以自己的才智展布了諸天。
16 At the voice He gives forth, A multitude of waters [are] in the heavens, And He causes vapors to come up from the end of the earth, He has made lightnings for rain, And He brings out wind from His treasures.
他一聲號令使天上的水怒號,使雲彩地極上騰,使雷聲霹靂,造成豪雨,使暴風從他的倉庫出發。
17 Every man has been brutish by knowledge, Everyone has been put to shame—from refining a carved image, For his molten image [is] falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
人都要自覺愚昧無知;每個銀匠必因自己的刻像感到羞慚,因為所鑄的像,只是「虛無」,沒有息;
18 They [are] vanity—a work of errors, They perish in the time of their inspection.
是「虛幻」,是愚弄人的作品;懲罰時期一到,必要盡歸滅亡。
19 The Portion of Jacob [is] not like these, For He is forming the whole, And [Israel is] the tribe of His inheritance, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
那位作雅各伯產業的,與它們卻完全不同,因為他是萬物的造主,以色列是作他產業的支派;他的名字叫「萬軍的上主」。
20 You [are] My shatterer—weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces nations by you, And I have destroyed kingdoms by you,
巴比倫! 你曾是我的鎚子,作戰的武器;我曾用你粉碎萬民,用你毀滅邦國,
21 And I have broken in pieces horse and its rider by you, And I have broken in pieces chariot and its charioteer by you,
用你粉碎戰馬和騎士,用你粉碎戰車和後夫,
22 And I have broken in pieces man and woman by you, And I have broken in pieces old and young by you, And I have broken in pieces young man and virgin by you,
用你粉碎男子和婦女,用你粉碎老翁和幼童,用你粉少男和少女,
23 And I have broken in pieces shepherd and his drove by you, And I have broken in pieces farmer and his team by you, And I have broken in pieces governors and prefects by you.
用你粉碎牧人和牲畜,用你粉碎農夫和耕牛,用你粉碎州牧和監督。
24 And I have repaid to Babylon, And to all inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil that they have done in Zion, Before your eyes,” a declaration of YHWH.
但是,如今我要在你們眼前,報復巴比倫和所有的加色丁居民,對熙雍作的一切惡事──上主的斷語──
25 “Behold, I [am] against you, O destroying mountain,” A declaration of YHWH, “That is destroying all the earth, And I have stretched out My hand against you, And I have rolled you from the rocks, And given you for a burnt mountain.
好事毀滅的山嶺! 看,我要攻擊你──上主的斷語──是你毀滅了整個大地,我要向你伸出我的手,使你從崖石上滾下,使你成為烈火焚毀的山嶺。
26 And they do not take out of you a stone for a corner, And a stone for foundations, For you are continuous desolations,” A declaration of YHWH.
人們不再從你那裏鑿取角石或基石,因為你將永遠為荒丘──上主的斷語。
27 “Lift up an ensign in the land, Blow a horn among nations, Sanctify nations against it, Summon against it the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, Appoint an infant head against it, Cause the horse to ascend as the rough cankerworm.
你們在地上樹立旗幟,在萬民間吹起號角,祝聖萬民向她進攻,召集阿辣辣特和明尼及阿市革納次王國向她進攻,派遣一員大將向他進攻;衝鋒的馬隊,好像刺毛直豎的蚱蜢。
28 Sanctify against it the nations with the kings of Media, Its governors and all its prefects, And all the land of its dominion.
祝聖萬民:瑪待的君王和他的州牧,他所有的監督以及他整個版圖的民眾,向她進攻。
29 And the land shakes, and it is pained, For the purposes of YHWH have stood against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
大地戰慄惶悚,因為上主正在進行攻巴比倫的計劃,使巴比倫地成為無人居住的荒野。
30 The mighty of Babylon have ceased to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Their might has failed, they have become [as] women, They have burned her dwelling places, Her bars have been broken.
巴比倫的兵士放棄作戰,留在堡壘中,失去了勇氣,有如婦人;她的房屋已為火焚毀,她的門閂已被折斷。
31 Runner runs to meet runner, And announcer to meet announcer, To announce to the king of Babylon, For his city has been captured—at the extremity.
跑差的,傳信的,都相繼跑去通報巴比倫王,京城四周已被佔領,
32 And the passages have been captured, And they have burned the reeds with fire, And the men of war have been troubled.
口已被攻陷,要塞已遭火焚;戰士都十分恐惶。
33 For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon [is] as a threshing-floor, The time of her threshing—yet a little [while], And the time of her harvest has come.
因為萬軍的上主,以色列的天主這樣說:「巴比倫女郎有如到了該踐踏的禾場;還有片刻就到收割她的時期。
34 Devoured us, crushed us, has Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, He has set us [as] an empty vessel, He has swallowed us as a dragon, He has filled his belly with my delicacies, He has driven us away.
巴比倫王拿步高把我吞食毀滅,使我變成了空器皿;他彷復一條龍,併吞了我,以我的美味滿足了自己的肚腹,然後將我驅逐。
35 My wrong, and [that of] my flesh, [is] on Babylon—The inhabitant of Zion says; And my blood [is] on the inhabitants of Chaldea—Jerusalem says.
熙雍的居民說:「要對巴比倫報復我身受的凌辱! 」耶路撒冷說:「要對加色丁居民報復我的血債! 」
36 Therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am pleading your cause, And I have avenged your vengeance, And dried up her sea, and made her fountains dry.
為此,上主這樣說:「看,我必為你辯護,報復你的冤仇,乾涸她的河川,枯竭她的泉源。
37 And Babylon has been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
巴比倫必成為一堆瓦礫,豺狼的巢穴;令人恐怖嘲笑,無人居住。
38 They roar together as young lions, They have shaken themselves as lions’ whelps.
巴比倫人像壯獅一樣,一起怒號,像母獅的幼雛一樣,一起咆哮。
39 In their heat I make their banquets, And I have caused them to drink, so that they exult, And have slept a continuous sleep, And do not awaken,” a declaration of YHWH.
在他們激昂時,我必給他們擺設盛宴,使他們酣醉昏迷,長眠不醒──上主的斷語──
40 “I cause them to go down as lambs to slaughter, As rams with male goats.
我必使他們下到屠場,無異羔羊綿羊和山羊。
41 How Sheshach has been captured, Indeed, the praise of the whole earth is caught, How Babylon has been for an astonishment among nations.
怎麼,沙客竟陷落了,全地的光榮竟遭受了劫掠﹖怎麼,連巴比倫在萬民中也變得如此悽涼﹖
42 The sea has come up over Babylon, She has been covered with a multitude of its billows.
海洋衝擊巴比倫,使她全被驚濤怒浪所淹沒;
43 Her cities have been for a desolation, A dry land, and a wilderness, A land—none dwell in them, Nor does a son of man pass over into them.
她的城市盡化為野,乾旱淒涼之地,再沒有人居住,再沒有過客。
44 And I have seen after Bel in Babylon, And I have brought forth that which he swallowed—from his mouth, And nations no longer flow to him, Also the wall of Babylon has fallen.
我必懲罰巴比倫的貝耳,由他口裏奪出他所吞滅的,萬民必不再向他湧來,因為巴比倫的城牆已倒塌。
45 Go forth from her midst, O My people, And let each deliver his soul, Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH,
我的人民! 你們從她那裏出來,各救自己的性命脫免上主忿怒的烈火。
46 And lest your heart be tender, And you are afraid of the report that is heard in the land, And the report has come in [one] year, And after it [another] report in [another] year, And violence [is] in the land, ruler against ruler;
你們不要膽怯,不要害怕地方上流傳的謠言;因為今年傳來這謠言,明年又另有謠言;地方上常有暴亂,暴君互相傾軋。
47 Therefore, behold, days are coming, And I have seen after the carved images of Babylon. And all its land is ashamed, And all its pierced ones fall in its midst.
看,時日將到,我必懲罰巴比倫的偶像;使她全國飽受恥辱,國內死傷遍地。
48 And heavens and earth and all that [is] in them Have cried aloud against Babylon, For the spoilers come to her from the north,” A declaration of YHWH.
上天下地和其中所有的一切,必對巴比倫吶喊歡呼,因為從北方必有破壞者來向她進襲──上主的斷語──
49 “As Babylon [has caused the] pierced of Israel to fall, So they of Babylon have fallen, You pierced of all the earth.
為了以色列被剌殺的人,巴比倫也該傾覆,就如全地被刺殺的人,曾為了巴比倫而倒斃。
50 You escaped of the sword, go on, do not stand, Remember YHWH from afar, And let Jerusalem come up on your heart.
你們逃脫了刀劍的人! 快走,不要停留;從遠方懷念上主,思戀耶路撒冷。
51 We have been ashamed, for we heard reproach, Shame has covered our faces, For strangers have come in against the sanctuaries of the house of YHWH.
我們聽到了侮辱,感到恥辱,滿面羞慚,因為外方人闖進了上主殿宇的聖所。
52 Therefore, behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have seen after her carved images, And the wounded groan in all her land.
為此,看,時日將到──上主斷語──我必懲罰她的偶像,使她國內的人都負傷呻吟;
53 Because Babylon goes up to the heavens, And because she fortifies the high place of her strength, Spoilers come into her from Me,” A declaration of YHWH.
即使巴比倫爬上諸天,即使她盤據高處不可侵犯,我仍要派破壞者來自她進襲──上主的斷語。
54 “A voice of a cry [is] from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldean.
聽從巴比倫發出的喧嚷,從加色丁人地發生的絕大破壞!
55 For YHWH is spoiling Babylon, And has destroyed her great voice, And her billows have sounded as many waters, Their voice has given forth a noise.
是上主在毀滅巴比倫,消弭其中嘈雜的聲音;敵人洶湧而來,有如汪洋怒濤,揚聲吶喊。
56 For a spoiler has come in against her—against Babylon, And her mighty ones have been captured, Their bows have been broken, For the God of recompenses—YHWH—certainly repays.
果然,破壞者已來到巴比倫,她的勇士都已被擒,她的弓弩盡被折斷,因為上主是報復的天主,他必嚴厲加以報復。
57 And I have caused her princes to drink, And her wise men, her governors, And her prefects, and her mighty ones, And they have slept a continuous sleep, And they do not awaken—an affirmation of the King, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
我必使她的諸侯和謀士,州牧和監督以及勇士飲醉,長眠不醒──名為萬軍上主君王的斷語。
58 Thus said YHWH of Hosts: The wall of Babylon—The broad one—is made utterly bare, And her high gates are burned with fire, And peoples labor in vain, And nations in fire, and have been weary!”
萬軍的上主這樣說:「巴比倫廣闊的城牆要被夷為平地,她高大的城門要被火焚盡:這樣百姓只有白白徒勞,萬民的辛苦,也只有付之一炬。」
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet has commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in his going with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign—and Seraiah [is] a quiet prince;
以下是瑪赫色雅的孫子,乃黎雅的兒子色辣雅同猶大王漆德克雅,在他為王第四年,同往巴比倫去時,耶肋米亞先知對他吩咐的話,那時辣雅身為行營總督。
60 and Jeremiah writes all the calamity that comes to Babylon on one scroll—all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
耶肋米亞在一本書上記錄了要降在巴比倫的一切災禍,所記錄的全是於巴比倫的事。
61 And Jeremiah says to Seraiah, “When you enter Babylon, then you have seen, and have read all these words,
耶肋米亞對色辣雅說:「你一到了巴比倫,就應設法宣讀這一切話,
62 and have said: YHWH, You have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even to livestock, for it is a continuous desolation.
然後說:上主,關於這地你親自說過,要將它消滅,使這地無人居住,成為人和走獸絕跡的荒野。
63 And it has come to pass, when you finish reading this scroll, you bind a stone to it, and have cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,
你朗誦完了這本書以後,在書上繫上一塊石頭,把書拋在幼發拉的河中,
64 and said, Thus Babylon sinks, and she does not arise, because of the calamity that I am bringing in against it, and they have been weary.” Until now [are the] words of Jeremiah.
然後說:巴比倫也要如此沉沒,再也不能由我給她招來的災禍中復興。」耶肋米亞的話至此為止。