< Isaiah 41 >

1 Keep silence before me, O isles; and let the people renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
群島啊!請肅靜聽我!讓萬民前來!讓他們前來開口說話;讓我們一起互相辯論!
2 Who raised up the righteous [man] from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made [him] rule over kings? he gave [them] as the dust to his sword, [and] as driven stubble to his bow.
是誰由東方喚醒了那人,使他步步遇到勝利﹖是誰將眾民交付給他,又使列王臣服於他呢﹖他的刀劍使他們化為灰塵,他的弓箭分散他們有如草芥。
3 He pursued them, [and] passed safely; [even] by the way [that] he had not gone with his feet.
他追擊他們時,平安地經過;他的腳好像沒有踏著道路一樣。
4 Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I [am] he.
是誰從原始安排了歷代的事而予以實行成就呢﹖我,上主,是元始,與最末者同在的也是我。
5 The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
群島一見即害怕起來,地極為之震動,遂都聚集前來;
6 They helped every one his neighbor; and [every one] said to his brother, Be of good courage.
彼此相助,並對自己的同伴說:「勇敢些!」
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, [and] he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It [is] ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, [that] it should not be moved.
工匠鼓勵金匠,掄大鎚的鼓勵使小錘的,誇讚鉛工說:「鉛的好!」遂用釘子釘住,使偶像不致動搖。
8 But thou, Israel, [art] my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
但是你,我的僕人以色列,我所揀選的雅各伯,我的好友亞巴郎的苗裔,
9 [Thou] whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said to thee, Thou [art] my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
你是我由地極領來的,是我從遠方召來的,我曾向你說過:「你是我的僕人,我揀選了你,我決不放棄你。」
10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yes, I will help thee; yes, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
你不要害怕,因為我與你在一起;你不要驚惶,因為我是你的天主;我必堅固你,協助你,用我勝利的右手扶持你。
11 Behold, all [they that were] incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that contend with thee shall perish.
凡向你洩怒的,必蒙羞受辱;凡同你爭辯的,必要滅亡,化為烏有。
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, [even] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.
凡與你爭吵的人,你找他們,也找不到。凡與你交戰的人,必化為烏有,歸於虛無,
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying to thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
因為是我,上主,你的天主,提攜著你的右手,向你說過:「不要害怕,有我協助你。」
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
雅各伯蟲豸啊!以色列蛆蟲啊!不要害怕,我必協助你--上主的斷語--你的救主是以色列的聖者。
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat [them] small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
看啊,我使你成為一架鋒利多齒的新打禾機,叫你壓搾高山,壓得粉碎,使丘陵變為碎末。
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, [and] shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
你要簸揚它們,風必將它們捲去,暴風必吹散它們;然而你要因上主而喜樂,因以色列的聖者而誇耀。
17 [When] the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, [I] the God of Israel will not forsake them.
貧困和窮苦的人,若找水而無所獲,他們的舌頭渴得焦燥,我上主必俯允他們,我,以色列的天主必不棄捨他們。
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
我要在禿山上開闢河流,在空谷中噴出泉源;我要使沙漠變為池沼,使乾地化為噴泉。
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together:
我要在沙漠中種植香柏木、皂莢、桃金娘和橄欖樹;在荒野中要把柏樹、榆樹和雲杉樹一起栽植起來;
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
為使人們看見,知道,同時因深思而瞭解:這是上主的手所做的,是以色列的聖者所創造的。
21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong [reasons], saith the King of Jacob.
拿出你的理由來,上主說:呈上你的證據來,雅各伯的君王說。
22 Let them bring [them] forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they [are] that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come.
讓他們前來,告訴我們將要發生什麼事;讓他們告訴我們,那以往的事有什麼意義,好叫我們記在心中;或者讓我們聽聽那要來的事罷,好叫我們知道那事的結果。
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [it] together.
請你們說說那以後要來的事,好叫我們知道你們是神;無論好壞請你們做一下,好叫我們都驚奇害怕。
24 Behold, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination [is he that] chooseth you.
看哪!你們竟是烏有,你們的工作也是虛無;那選擇你們的實在可憎。
25 I have raised up [one] from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as [upon] mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.
我由北方喚起了一個人,他就來了;我由日出之地呼喚了他的名字,他將蹂躪王侯有如泥濘,又如陶工踐踏黏土。
26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and before time, that we may say, [He is] righteous? verily, [there is] none that showeth, verily, [there is] none that declareth, verily, [there is] none that heareth your words.
誰首先說過這事,好叫我們知道,在事前說過,而叫我們說「對啦﹖」實在沒有一個預言過,沒有一個講過,也沒有一個聽見過你們說話。
27 The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
只有我是第一位給熙雍報告過這事,給耶路撒冷遣發了一位報告喜訊的。
28 For I beheld, and [there was] no man; even among them, and [there was] no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
我環視四周,了無一人;他們中沒有一個可做謀士,向他詢問,可回答一句的。
29 Behold, they [are] all vanity, their works [are] nothing: their molten images [are] wind and confusion.
看哪,他們都是烏有,他們的工作是虛無,他們的鑄像是空氣,是空氣。

< Isaiah 41 >