< アモス書 7 >
1 主なる神はこのようにわたしに示された。見よ、二番草のはえ出る初めに主は、いなごを造られた。見よ、その二番草は王の刈った後に、はえたものである。
Yahweh our God showed me [in a vision] that he was going to send locusts [to destroy our crops]. It was going to happen right after the king’s share of the hay had been harvested/cut and before the rest of the hay was ready to be harvested.
2 そのいなごが地の青草を食い尽した時、わたしは言った、「主なる神よ、どうぞ、ゆるしてください。ヤコブは小さい者です、どうして立つことができましょう」。
[And in the vision I saw] those locusts come, and they ate everything that was green. Then I cried out, “Yahweh our Lord, please forgive us! We Israeli people are very helpless; (how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?/we will not be able to survive!)”
3 主はこのことについて思いかえされ、「このことは起さない」と主は言われた。
So Yahweh changed his mind and said, “That will not happen.”
4 主なる神はこのようにわたしに示された。見よ、主なる神はさばきのために火を呼ばれた。火は大淵を焼き、また地を焼こうとした。
Then this is what Yahweh our Lord showed me [in another vision]: He was calling to a fire to [come and] punish [his people]. [In the vision I saw that] the fire dried up the ocean and also burned [everything on] the land.
5 その時わたしは言った、「主なる神よ、どうぞ、やめてください。ヤコブは小さい者です、どうして立つことができましょう」。
Then I cried out again, “Yahweh our Lord, I plead with you, please stop this! We Israeli people are very helpless; how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?”
6 主はこのことについて思いかえされ、「このこともまた起さない」と主なる神は言われた。
So Yahweh changed his mind again, and said, “That also will not happen.”
7 また主はわたしに示された。見よ、主は測りなわをもって築いた石がきの上に立ち、その手に測りなわをもっておられた。
Then Yahweh showed me [another vision]. I saw him standing beside a wall. [It was very straight because] it had been built using a (plumb line/cord with a weight on one end to determine if walls are vertically straight). Yahweh had the plumb line in his hand.
8 そして主はわたしに言われた、「アモスよ、あなたは何を見るか」。「測りなわ」とわたしが答えると、主はまた言われた、「見よ、わたしは測りなわをわが民イスラエルの中に置く。わたしはもはや彼らを見過しにしない。
Yahweh asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then Yahweh said, “Look, I am going to use a plumb line among my Israeli people, [to show that they are like a wall that is not straight]. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.
9 イサクの高き所は荒され、イスラエルの聖所は荒れはてる。わたしはつるぎをもってヤラベアムの家に立ち向かう」。
The places on hills where [the descendants of] [MTY] Isaac worship [idols] will be destroyed. And the other important shrines in Israel will also be destroyed. And I will enable [your enemies] to attack your people with swords and they will get rid of [King] Jeroboam and all his descendants.”
10 時にベテルの祭司アマジヤは、イスラエルの王ヤラベアムに人をつかわして言う、「イスラエルの家のただ中で、アモスはあなたにそむきました。この地は彼のもろもろの言葉に耐えることができません。
Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent [a message] to Jeroboam, the King of Israel. In the message he said, “Amos is plotting against you among the Israeli people [MTY]. [I am worried that] the people of this country will not be able to refute his words.
11 アモスはこのように言っています、『ヤラベアムはつるぎによって死ぬ、イスラエルは必ず捕えられて行って、その国を離れる』と」。
This is what he is saying: ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed by [someone using] a sword, and the people of Israel will be (exiled/forced to leave their land and go to another country).’”
12 それからアマジヤはアモスに言った、「先見者よ、行ってユダの地にのがれ、かの地でパンを食べ、かの地で預言せよ。
Then Amaziah [came to me and] said, “You prophet, get out of here! Go back to the country of Judah! Earn money to [buy food to be able] to live there, and do your prophesying there!
13 しかしベテルでは二度と預言してはならない。ここは王の聖所、国の宮だから」。
Do not prophesy any more here at Bethel, because this is where the national temple, the king’s temple, is!”
14 アモスはアマジヤに答えた、「わたしは預言者でもなく、また預言者の子でもない。わたしは牧者である。わたしはいちじく桑の木を作る者である。
I replied to Amaziah, “I was [previously] not a prophet, and my father was not a prophet; I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.
15 ところが主は群れに従っている所からわたしを取り、『行って、わが民イスラエルに預言せよ』と、主はわたしに言われた。
But Yahweh took me away from taking care of my sheep, and he said to me, ‘Go to Israel and prophesy to my people there!’
16 それゆえ今、主の言葉を聞け。あなたは言う、『イスラエルに向かって預言するな、イサクの家に向かって語るな』と。
You said to me, ‘Do not prophecy saying terrible things will happen to [the people of] Israel; stop saying those things!’
17 それゆえ、主はこう言われる、『あなたの妻は町で遊女となり、あなたのむすこ、娘たちはつるぎに倒れ、あなたの地は測りなわで分かたれる。そしてあなたは汚れた地で死に、イスラエルは必ず捕えられて行って、その国を離れる』」。
Therefore listen to what Yahweh says about you: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed by [your enemies’] swords. Others will measure your land and divide it up [among themselves]; and you yourself will die in a foreign country. And the people of Israel will certainly be forced to leave their country and go (into exile/to live in another country).’”