エレミヤ書 2
1 主の言葉がわたしに臨んで言う、
Yahweh gave me another message
2 「行って、エルサレムに住む者の耳に告げよ、主はこう言われる、わたしはあなたの若い時の純情、花嫁の時の愛、荒野なる、種まかぬ地でわたしに従ったことを覚えている。
[to proclaim to everyone in Jerusalem. He said that I should tell them this] [MET]: “I, Yahweh, remember that you very much wanted to please me [long ago]. [You tried to please me like] a bride [tries to please her husband]; You loved me, and you followed me through the desert [DOU].
3 イスラエルは主のために聖別されたもの、その刈入れの初穂である。すべてこれを食べる者は罪せられ、災にあう」と主は言われる。
[At that time you] Israelis (were set apart/belonged only) to me; [you belonged to me like] the first part of the harvests belong to me [MET]. I promised to punish all those who harmed you, my people, and truly I did send disasters on them. [That happened because I], Yahweh, said [that it would happen].”
4 ヤコブの家とイスラエルの家のすべてのやからよ、主の言葉を聞け。
So, you [descendants of] [MTY] Jacob, all you people of [MTY] Israel,
5 主はこう言われる、「あなたがたの先祖は、わたしになんの悪い事があるのを見て、わたしから遠ざかり、むなしいものに従って、むなしくなったのか。
listen to what Yahweh says: “(What sin did I commit [RHQ] that caused your ancestors to turn far away from me?/Though your ancestors found no fault in me, they turned far away from me.) They worshiped worthless idols, and they themselves became worthless.
6 彼らは言わなかった、『われわれをエジプトの地より導き出し、荒野なる、穴の多い荒れた地、かわいた濃い暗黒の地、人の通らない、人の住まない地を通らせた主はどこにおられるか』と。
They did not say, ‘Yahweh brought us [safely] out of Egypt, and he led us through a desert where there were a lot of pits; he led us where there was no water and where it was very dangerous, through a land where no one lives, and no one even travels. (So where is Yahweh now?/So he should be helping us now!) [RHQ]’
7 わたしはあなたがたを導いて豊かな地に入れ、その実と良い物を食べさせた。しかしあなたがたはここにはいって、わたしの地を汚し、わたしの嗣業を憎むべきものとした。
And when I brought you into a very fertile land, in order that you could enjoy [all] the fruit and [other] good things that you would harvest, you caused the land that I promised to give to you to be unfit for me and to become disgusting/detestable to me.
8 祭司たちは、『主はどこにおられるか』と言わなかった。律法を扱う者たちはわたしを知らず、つかさたちはわたしにそむき、預言者たちはバアルによって預言し、益なき者に従って行った。
[Your] priests also did not say, ‘(Where is Yahweh now?/Yahweh should be helping us now!)’ [RHQ] Those who teach/explain my laws do not [want to] know me, and [your] leaders have rebelled against me. [Your] prophets gave you messages from [their god] Baal, and they worship worthless idols.”
9 それゆえ、わたしはなお、あなたがたと争う、またあなたがたの子孫と争う」と主は言われる。
“So, I will accuse you in court. [In future years], I will say what your children and your grandchildren have done that is wrong. [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said [that it will happen].
10 「あなたがたはクプロの島々に渡ってみよ、また人をケダルにつかわして、このようなことがかつてあったかをつまびらかに、しらべてみよ。
If you go [west] to the island of Cyprus, or if you go [east] to Kedar [land, ] and if you ask people in those places, they will tell you that no people [from their countries] have ever done the wicked things that you people have done!
11 その神を神ではない者に取り替えた国があろうか。ところが、わたしの民はその栄光を益なきものと取り替えた。
The people of no other nation have ever [RHQ] abandoned their gods that they thought were glorious and started to worship gods that are not really gods, but you people have abandoned me, your glorious God, and are worshiping gods that are useless.
12 天よ、この事を知って驚け、おののけ、いたく恐れよ」と主は言われる。
[It is as though everything in] the sky is surprised and dismayed/appalled [about what you have done]; [it is as though] they tremble because they are very horrified.
13 「それは、わたしの民が二つの悪しき事を行ったからである。すなわち生ける水の源であるわたしを捨てて、自分で水ためを掘った。それは、こわれた水ためで、水を入れておくことのできないものだ。
[You], my people, have done two evil things: You have rejected me, the one who is [like] [MET] a fountain [where you can obtain] fresh water, and you [are worshiping gods that are like] [MET] pits in the ground that are cracked and which are not able to hold any water.
14 イスラエルは奴隷であるか、家に生れたしもべであるか。それならなぜ捕われの身となったのか。
You Israeli people, you were certainly not [RHQ] slaves when you were born; you were captured [by your enemies].
15 ししは彼に向かってほえ、その声を高くあげて、彼の地を荒した。その町々は滅びて住む人もない。
[Your enemies] [MET] roared [like] lions, and they destroyed your land. [Now] your towns have been burned, and no one lives in them.
16 メンピスとタパネスの人々もまた、あなたのかしらの冠を砕いた。
Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, [cities in Egypt], have [defeated you] [and] shaved your heads [to show that you are their slaves].
17 あなたの神、主があなたを道に導かれた時、あなたは主を捨てたので、この事があなたに及んだのではないか。
But it is [RHQ] because you abandoned [me], Yahweh, that these disasters have happened to you.
18 あなたがナイルの水を飲もうとして、エジプトへ行くのは何のためか。またユフラテの水を飲もうとして、アッスリヤへ行くのは何のためか。
So (why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Egypt?/it certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Egypt) [RHQ]. Why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Assyria who live near the [Euphrates] River?
19 あなたの悪事はあなたを懲しめ、あなたの背信はあなたを責める。あなたが、あなたの神、主を捨てることの悪しくかつ苦いことであるのを見て知るがよい。わたしを恐れることがあなたのうちにないのだ」と万軍の神、主は言われる。
[It is because] you have been [very] wicked that I [PRS] will punish you. It is because you have turned away from me that I [PRS] will condemn you. [When I do that], you will realize that painful and evil [DOU] things will happen to you because you have forsaken [me], Yahweh, your God, and you no [longer] revere me. [That will certainly happen because] I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, have said it.
20 「あなたは久しい以前に自分のくびきを折り、自分のなわめを断ち切って、『わたしは仕えることをしない』と言った。そして、すべての高い丘の上と、すべての青木の下で、遊女のように身をかがめた。
Long ago, you stopped obeying [me] [MET], and you would not allow [me] to lead you [MET]; you refused to worship [me]. Instead, you worship idols that are under trees on the top of every hill, and your young women have sex with [EUP] [men at those places].
21 わたしはあなたを、まったく良い種のすぐれたぶどうの木として植えたのに、どうしてあなたは変って、悪い野ぶどうの木となったのか。
[It is as though] [MET] you were a grapevine that I planted when it was a cutting from a very good vine. So now it is disgusting that [RHQ] you have become [like] a rotten worthless vine.
22 たといソーダをもって自ら洗い、また多くの灰汁を用いても、あなたの悪の汚れは、なおわたしの前にある」と主なる神は言われる。
Your guilt from your sins is like [MET] very bad stains on a cloth, and you cannot get rid of those stains even by using very strong soap. [This is true because I], Yahweh, have said it.
23 「どうしてあなたは、『わたしは汚れていない、バアルに従わなかった』と言うことができようか。谷の中でのあなたの行いを見るがよい。あなたのしたことを知るがよい。あなたは御しがたい若いらくだであって、その道を行きつもどりつする。
You say that you have not sinned. You say ‘We have not become unacceptable to God; we have not worshiped Baal.’ But think about [the disgusting things that you do very eagerly] in [Hinnom] Valley [outside Jerusalem]. You are like desperate female camels, running here and there [to find male camels to have sex with].
24 あなたは荒野に慣れた野の雌ろばである、その欲情のために風にあえぐ。その欲情をだれがとどめることができようか。すべてこれを尋ねる者は苦労するにおよばない、その月であればこれに会うことができる。
You are [like] wild female donkeys in the desert. They sniff the air to find where the male donkeys are, and no one can [RHQ] restrain them. The male donkeys that want them do not become tired searching for them, because at mating time they find them [easily].
25 あなたの足が、はだしにならないように、のどが、かわかないようにせよ。ところが、あなたは言った、『それはだめだ、わたしは異なる国の者を愛して、それに従って行こう』と。
You constantly run here and there [to find idols to worship], with the result that your sandals are worn out, and your throats have become dry. [I told you to stop doing that], but you said, ‘We cannot stop, because we love foreign gods, and we must worship them.’”
26 盗びとが捕えられて、はずかしめを受けるように、イスラエルの家は、はずかしめを受ける。彼らはその王も、そのつかさも、その祭司も、その預言者もみなそのとおりである。
[Yahweh says this]: “A robber is disgraced when he is caught. And all of you, including your kings and priests and prophets, are similarly disgraced.
27 彼らは木に向かって、『あなたはわたしの父です』と言い、また石に向かって、『あなたはわたしを生んでくださった』と言う。彼らは背をわたしに向けて、その顔をわたしに向けない。しかし彼らが災にあう時は、『立って、われわれを救いたまえ』と言う。
You say to [a piece of] wood [that is carved to become a sacred idol], ‘You are our father!’ And you say to a stone [that you have set up], ‘You are our mother!’ You have rejected [IDM] me, but when you experience troubles, you cry out to me to rescue you.
28 あなたが自分のために造った神々はどこにいるのか。あなたが災にあう時、もし彼らがあなたを救えるなら、立ってもらうがよい。ユダよ、あなたの神々は、あなたの町の数ほど多いからである。
Why do you not [RHQ] cry out to the gods that you made? You have as many gods as you have cities [and towns] in Judah. So why do you not plead with them to rescue you when you experience disasters?
29 あなたがたは、なぜわたしと争うのか。あなたがたは皆わたしにそむいている」と主は言われる。
You complain that it was wrong for me [not to have rescued you], but you have all rebelled against me.
30 「わたしがあなたがたの子どもたちを打ったのはむだであった。彼らは戒めを受けず、あなたがたのつるぎは、たけりたつししのように、預言者たちを滅ぼした。
I punished some of you, but you did not learn anything from my doing that. You have killed many of the prophets that I [sent to you], like [SIM] fierce lions kill [other animals].
31 あなたがたこの世代の人よ、主の言葉を聞け。わたしはイスラエルにとって、荒野であったであろうか。暗黒の地であったであろうか。それならなぜ、わたしの民は『われわれは自由だ、もはやあなたのところへは行かない』と言うのか。
You people of Israel, pay attention to what I say. I have certainly [RHQ] never [abandoned you] in a desert; I have never [left you] in a land full of darkness. So, why do you, my people, say ‘We are free from God’s control; we will not return to [worship] God any more’?
32 おとめはその飾り物を忘れることができようか。花嫁はその帯を忘れることができようか。ところが、わたしの民の、わたしを忘れた日は数えがたい。
A young woman would certainly never [RHQ] forget [to wear] her jewelry, and a bride would never [RHQ] forget to wear her wedding dress, but you my people have forgotten me for many years.
33 あなたは恋人を尋ねて、いかにも巧みにその方に足を向ける。それゆえ悪い女さえ、あなたの道を学んだ。
You know how to easily find [gods from other countries] whom you can love. You can find them as easily as a prostitute [can find men to sleep with].
34 また、あなたの着物のすそには罪のない貧しい人の命の血がついている。あなたは彼らが押し入るのを見たのではない。しかも、すべてこれらの事にもかかわらず、
Although you have on your clothes the blood of poor people whom you have murdered, people who (were innocent/had not done things that are wrong),
35 あなたは言う、『わたしは罪がない。彼の怒りは、決してわたしに臨むことがない』と。あなたが『わたしは罪を犯さなかった』と言うことによって、わたしはあなたをさばく。
you say ‘We have not done anything that is wrong; so surely [Yahweh] is not angry with us.’ But I will punish [MTY] you [severely] for saying ‘We have not sinned.’
36 あなたはなぜ軽々しくさまよって、その道を変えようとするのか。あなたはアッスリヤに、はずかしめを受けたように、エジプトにもまた、はずかしめを受ける。
Previously you requested [the army of] Assyria to help you, but they were not able to help you. Now you have requested [the army of] Egypt to help you, but they will not be able to help you, either.
37 あなたはまた両手を頭に置いて、そこから出て来る。主があなたの頼みとする者どもを捨てられたので、あなたは彼らによって栄えることがないからだ。
They will capture you, and you will be [their prisoners] [MTY], led to Egypt, [very ashamed] with your hands on your heads. That will happen because I, Yahweh, have rejected those [nations] that you are relying on, and they will not be able to help you at all.”
