< エレミヤ書 23 >
1 主は言われる、「わが牧場の羊を滅ぼし散らす牧者はわざわいである」。
Yahweh declares, “Terrible things will happen to [the leaders] [MET] [of my people—those who are like] shepherds of [the people who are like] my sheep—because they have scattered my people and sent them away, and have not taken care of them.
2 それゆえイスラエルの神、主はわが民を養う牧者についてこう言われる、「あなたがたはわたしの群れを散らし、これを追いやって顧みなかった。見よ、わたしはあなたがたの悪しき行いによってあなたがたに報いると、主は言われる。
So, this is what [I, ] Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli [people worship], say to those leaders: ‘Instead of taking care of my people and [leading them to places where they are safe, like a shepherd does for] his sheep, you have scattered them. So I will punish you for the evil things that you have done.
3 わたしの群れの残った者を、追いやったすべての地から集め、再びこれをそのおりに帰らせよう。彼らは子を産んでその数が多くなる。
But later I will gather those who are still alive, from the countries where I have forced them to go. I will bring them back to their own country, where they will have many children, and their number/population will increase.
4 わたしはこれを養う牧者をその上に立てる、彼らは再び恐れることなく、またおののくことなく、いなくなることもないと、主は言われる。
[Then] I will appoint [other] leaders for my people, leaders who will take care of them. And my people will never be afraid [DOU] of anything again, and none of them will be [like a] lost [sheep].’”
5 主は仰せられる、見よ、わたしがダビデのために一つの正しい枝を起す日がくる。彼は王となって世を治め、栄えて、公平と正義を世に行う。
Yahweh [also] says, “Some day I will appoint for you a righteous man who will be a descendant of King David. He will be a king who rules wisely. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
6 その日ユダは救を得、イスラエルは安らかにおる。その名は『主はわれわれの正義』ととなえられる。
At that time, all the Israeli people [DOU] will be saved [from their enemies], and they will be safe. And his name will be ‘Yahweh, the one who vindicates/defends us.’”
7 主は言われる、それゆえ見よ、人々は『イスラエルの民をエジプトの地から導き出された主は生きておられる』とまた言わないで、
Yahweh [also] says that at that time, people [who are solemnly promising to do something] will no longer say, “[I will do it as surely] as Yahweh lives, who rescued the Israeli people from Egypt.”
8 『イスラエルの家の子孫を北の地と、そのすべて追いやられた地から導き出された神は生きておられる』という日がくる。その時、彼らは自分の地に住んでいる」。
Instead, they will say, “[I will do it] as surely as Yahweh lives, who brought [us] Israeli people back to our own land, from the land to the northeast and from all the [other] countries to which he had exiled us.” And they will live in their own land [again].
9 預言者たちについて。わが心はわたしのうちに破れ、わが骨はみな震う。主とその聖なる言葉のために、わたしは酔っている人のよう、酒に打ち負かされた人のようである。
I am very shocked because of the sacred message that Yahweh has spoken about [what will happen to] the [false] prophets; [it is as though] all my bones shake. I stagger like a man who is drunk after drinking a lot of wine.
10 この地に姦淫を行うものが満ちているからだ。のろいによって地は嘆き、荒野の牧場はかわく。彼らの道は悪く、その力は正しくない。
The land is full of [people who commit] adultery; and [Yahweh] has cursed the land. Even the pastures in the desert are all dried up, because the people do what is evil, and [the false prophets] use their power to do things that are not just/fair.
11 「預言者と祭司とは共に神を汚す者である。わたしの家においてすら彼らの悪を見たと、主は言われる。
Yahweh says, “[Yes, even] the priests and the prophets are ungodly; they do wicked things even in my temple.
12 それゆえ、彼らの道は、おのずから暗黒の中にあるなめらかな道のようになり、彼らは押されてその道に倒れる。わたしが彼らの罰せられる年に、災をその上に臨ませるからであると、主は言われる。
Therefore, [it will be as though] the paths that they walk on are slippery. [It will be as though] they are being chased in the darkness, and there they will fall down, because I will cause them to experience disasters at the time that I will punish them. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
13 わたしはサマリヤの預言者のうちに不快な事のあるのを見た。彼らはバアルによって預言し、わが民イスラエルを惑わした。
[Previously] I saw that the prophets in Samaria were doing something that was wrong; they were prophesying, saying that Baal [gave them the messages that they were proclaiming], and they were deceiving my people.
14 しかしエルサレムの預言者のうちには、恐ろしい事のあるのを見た。彼らは姦淫を行い、偽りに歩み、悪人の手を強くし、人をその悪から離れさせない。彼らはみなわたしにはソドムのようであり、その民はゴモラのようである」。
And [now] I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem doing terrible things. They commit adultery and habitually tell lies. They encourage evil people to continue to do evil things, with the result that the people do not stop sinning. Those prophets are as wicked as the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were.
15 それゆえ万軍の主は預言者についてこう言われる、「見よ、わたしは彼らに、にがよもぎを食べさせ、毒の水を飲ませる。神を汚すことがエルサレムの預言者から出て、全地に及んでいるからである」。
So, this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says about those [false] prophets: “I will give those prophets bitter things to eat and poison to drink, because it is because of them that this land is filled with [people who do] wicked things.”
16 万軍の主はこう言われる、「あなたがたに預言する預言者の言葉を聞いてはならない。彼らはあなたがたに、むなしい望みをいだかせ、主の口から出たのでない、自分の心の黙示を語るのである。
This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Do not pay any attention to what those [false] prophets say to you, because they are just deceiving you. They tell you about visions that they have thought/created [only] in their own minds, not about visions that I have given them.
17 彼らは主の言葉を軽んじる者に向かって絶えず、『あなたがたは平安を得る』と言い、また自分の強情な心にしたがって歩むすべての人に向かって、『あなたがたに災はこない』と言う」。
They habitually say to those who hate me, ‘[Yahweh says that] you will have peace.’ And they say to those who stubbornly do what they want to do, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you [because of your doing those things].’
18 彼らのうちだれか主の議会に立って、その言葉を見聞きした者があろうか。だれか耳を傾けてその言葉を聞いた者があろうか。
But none of them has ever been in a council [meeting] in heaven in order to listen to a message from me. None of them has paid attention to anything that [I], Yahweh, have said.
19 見よ、主の暴風がくる。憤りと、つむじ風が出て、悪人のこうべをうつ。
So, listen to this: I will punish them; it will be [like] a great storm; it will come down [like] a whirlwind, swirling around the heads of those wicked people.
20 主の怒りは、み心に思い定められたことをなし遂げられるまで退くことはない。末の日にあなたがたはそれを明らかに悟る。
I will not stop being angry until I completely accomplish all that I have planned. In the future, you will understand [all of] this clearly.”
21 預言者たちはわたしがつかわさなかったのに、彼らは走った。わたしが、彼らに告げなかったのに、彼らは預言した。
[Yahweh also says, ] “I have not appointed those prophets, but they run [around telling people their messages]. I did not speak to them, but they [continue to] prophesy.
22 もし彼らがわたしの議会に立ったのであれば、わたしの民にわが言葉を告げ示して、その悪い道と悪い行いから、離れさせたであろうに。
If they had been in my council [meetings], they would have been able to speak messages from me, and they would have caused people to turn away from committing evil things.”
23 「主は言われる、わたしはただ近くの神であって、遠くの神ではないのであるか。
Yahweh [also] says, “Am I a God who is only nearby? No, I am a God who is far away, also.
24 主は言われる、人は、ひそかな所に身を隠して、わたしに見られないようにすることができようか。主は言われる、わたしは天と地とに満ちているではないか。
So, no one can hide in some secret place with the result that I cannot see him. I am everywhere, in heaven and on the earth! [That is what I], Yahweh, say!
25 わが名によって偽りを預言する預言者たちが、『わたしは夢を見た、わたしは夢を見た』と言うのを聞いた。
I have heard those prophets prophesy lies, saying that they are telling people messages from me. They say, ‘[Listen to me tell you] the dream that God gave me last night! I [really] had this dream!’
26 偽りを預言する預言者たちの心に、いつまで偽りがあるのであるか。彼らはその心の欺きを預言する。
How long will they continue to do this? How long will those lying prophets continue to prophesy things that come only from their own minds?
27 彼らはその先祖がバアルに従ってわが名を忘れたように、互に夢を語って、わたしの民にわが名を忘れさせようとする。
They think that because of the dreams that they tell to each other, people will forget me, like their ancestors forgot about me when they started to worship Baal.
28 夢をみた預言者は夢を語るがよい。しかし、わたしの言葉を受けた者は誠実にわたしの言葉を語らなければならない。わらと麦とをくらべることができようかと、主は言われる。
Allow those [false] prophets to tell people their dreams, but those who have messages that [really] come from me should proclaim those messages faithfully. I, Yahweh, say [that like] straw and grain are certainly very different, [my messages and the messages from those false prophets are certainly very different].
29 主は仰せられる、わたしの言葉は火のようではないか。また岩を打ち砕く鎚のようではないか。
[It is as though] my messages [burn] like a fire; they [strike people’s inner beings like] someone strikes a rock with a hammer and smashes it into pieces.
30 それゆえ見よ、わたしはわたしの言葉を互に盗む預言者の敵となると、主は言われる。
Therefore, [I, ] Yahweh say, 'I oppose all those prophets who steal messages from each other and claim that those messages came from me.
31 見よ、わたしは、『主は言いたもう』と舌をもって語る預言者の敵となると、主は言われる。
I oppose those prophets who speak their own messages but claim that those messages came from me.
32 主は仰せられる、見よ、わたしは偽りの夢を預言する者の敵となる。彼らはそれを語り、またその偽りと大言をもってわたしの民を惑わす。わたしが彼らをつかわしたのではなく、また彼らに命じたのでもない。それで彼らはこの民にすこしも益にならないと、主は言われる。
I oppose those prophets who falsely say that I told them something in a vision, but they are [only] telling lies that cause my people to sin. I did not send those prophets. I did not even appoint them [to be prophets]. And they have no messages that will benefit my people at all.' [That is what I, ] Yahweh, declare.”
33 この民のひとり、または預言者、または祭司があなたに、『主の重荷はなんですか』と問うならば、彼らに答えなさい、『あなたがたがその重荷です。そして主は、あなたがたを捨てると言っておられます』と。
[Yahweh said to me], “If one of those prophets or priests or one of the [other] people asks you, ‘What problem has Yahweh told you about [now]?’, you must reply, ‘You are the problem! And Yahweh says that he will abandon you!’
34 そして、『主の重荷』と言うその預言者、祭司、または民のひとりを、その家族と共にわたしは罰する。
And if any prophet or priest or anyone [else falsely] says, ‘[I have] a prophecy from Yahweh,’ I will punish that person and his family.
35 あなたがたは、みな互に、隣り人に、また兄弟に、こう言わなければならない、『主はなんと答えられましたか』、『主はなんと言われましたか』と。
What you should continually ask each other is, ‘[When you spoke to Yahweh, ] what did he reply? What is he saying [to us]?’
36 しかし重ねて『主の重荷』と言ってはならない。重荷は人おのおのの自分の言葉だからである。あなたがたは生ける神、万軍の主なるわれわれの神の言葉を曲げる者である。
But stop saying ‘[I have] a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ because those who say that are doing it only because they want people to accept their ideas, and by doing that they distort/change the messages that are from our God, the Commander of the armies of angels.
37 あなたは預言者にこう言わなければならない、『主はあなたになんと答えられましたか』、『主はなんと言われましたか』と。
This is what you should ask each prophet: ‘What did Yahweh reply [when you talked to him]? What is he saying [to us]?’
38 もしあなたがたが『主の重荷』と言うならば、主はこう仰せられる、『わたしが人をあなたがたにつかわして、あなたがたは「主の重荷」と言ってはならないと言わせたのに、あなたがたは「主の重荷」という言葉を言ったので、
If he replies, ‘[What I told you] is a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ you should say to him, ‘You have continued to say, “[I received] a prophecy/message from Yahweh” even though I told you to not claim that you have received prophecies/messages from Yahweh.’
39 わたしは必ずあなたがたを捕え移させ、あなたがたとあなたがたの先祖とに与えたこの町と、あなたがたとを、わたしの前から捨て去る。
So I [, Yahweh, ] will get rid of you [false prophets]. I will expel you from my presence. And I will get rid of this city that I gave to you and to your ancestors.
40 そして、忘れられることのない永遠のはずかしめと永遠の恥を、あなたがたにこうむらせる』」。
I will cause people to make fun of you forever. People will never forget that you were disgraced.”