1“If you, Israel, will return,
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
then the nations will invoke blessings by him
and in him they will boast.”
3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
Disaster From the North
5“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’
6Raise the signal to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
even terrible destruction.”
7A lion has come out of his lair;
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins
without inhabitant.
8So put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”
10Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats!”
11At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”
13Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!
14Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15A voice is announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16“Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.
17They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,’ ”
declares the Lord.
18“Your own conduct and actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”
19Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry.
20Disaster follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22“My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”
23I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.
24I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
25I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.
26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely.
28Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back.”
29At the sound of horsemen and archers
every town takes to flight.
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.
All the towns are deserted;
no one lives in them.
30What are you doing, you devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewels of gold?
Why highlight your eyes with makeup?
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers despise you;
they want to kill you.
31I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,
a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
my life is given over to murderers.”
1耶和華說：「以色列啊，
如果你回轉，
回轉歸向我，
從我眼前除掉可憎的神像，
不再離開我；
2如果你本著誠實、正直、公義，
憑永活的耶和華起誓，
你必成為萬國的祝福，
得到他們的尊敬4·2 「你必成為萬國的祝福，得到他們的尊敬」或譯「萬國必得到耶和華的祝福，並以祂為榮」。。」
3耶和華對猶大人和耶路撒冷人說：
「要開墾你們的荒地，
不要在荊棘中撒種。
4猶大人和耶路撒冷的居民啊，
你們要自行割禮，
除掉心中的污垢，歸向耶和華。
不然，我必因你們的惡行而發烈怒，如火燃燒，
無人能夠撲滅。
5「你們要在猶大傳講，在耶路撒冷宣告，
『要在全國吹響號角。』
高聲呼喊，
『要集合起來，
我們要逃進堅城。』
6你們要向錫安舉起旗幟，
趕快逃亡，不要遲延，
因為我要從北方降下災禍，
大肆毀滅。」
7毀滅列國者已出動，
如獅子衝出巢穴，
要使你們的土地荒涼，
城邑淪為廢墟，無人居住。
8為此，你們要腰束麻布，
嚎啕大哭，
因為耶和華向我們發的烈怒還沒有止息。
9耶和華說：「到那天，君王必嚇壞，官長必喪膽，祭司和先知必驚駭。」 10我說：「唉！主耶和華啊，你完全欺騙了這群百姓和耶路撒冷人，因為你說，『你們會安享太平。』其實劍鋒已抵著他們的咽喉了。」
11那時，耶和華必對這群百姓和耶路撒冷人說：「一陣熱風從荒野光禿的山頭吹向我的子民，不是為揚場、吹淨糠秕。 12那是我發出的一陣強風。現在我要宣告我對他們的審判。」
13看啊，仇敵必如雲湧來，
他的戰車快如旋風，
他的戰馬比飛鷹還快。
我們有禍了！
我們滅亡了！
14耶路撒冷啊，
要洗去你內心的邪惡，
這樣你才能得救。
你心懷惡念要到何時呢？
15從但傳來消息，
從以法蓮山區報出惡訊。
16耶和華說：「你們去通知列國，
向耶路撒冷宣告，
『圍攻的人從遠方來，
向猶大的城邑高聲喊殺，
17像看守田園一樣包圍耶路撒冷，
因為耶路撒冷背叛了我。』
這是耶和華說的。
18你的所作所為給你招致這災禍，
你是罪有應得，你會痛徹心肺！」
19我的心啊，我的心啊！
我傷心欲絕，煩躁不安。
我無法保持緘默，
因為我聽見了號角聲和戰爭的吶喊。
20惡訊頻傳，山河破碎，
我的帳篷忽然倒塌，
幔子頃刻破裂。
21我還要看這旌旗、
聽這號聲到何時呢？
22耶和華說：「我的子民愚頑，
不認識我，
是蒙昧無知的兒女，
善於行惡，不知行善。」
23我俯瞰大地，
只見一片空虛混沌；
我觀看天空，毫無亮光。
24我眺望群山，只見大山在顫抖，
小山在搖晃。
25我四下觀看，只見杳無人煙，
飛鳥絕跡。
26我四下觀看，只見良田變荒野，
城邑都在耶和華的烈怒下淪為廢墟。
27耶和華說：「遍地將要荒涼，
然而我不會徹底毀滅大地。
28因此，地要悲哀，
天要昏暗，
因為我言出必行，
我心意已決，絕不反悔。」
29各城的人聽到騎兵和弓箭手的吶喊，
都紛紛逃命。
有的跑入叢林，有的爬進巖洞。
各城荒棄，無人居住。
30你這荒涼的城啊！
你在做什麼？
縱然你穿上紅袍，
戴上金飾，
描眉畫眼，
又有什麼用呢？
你的情人藐視你，
要殺害你。
31我聽見好像婦人分娩時的喊叫聲，
好像婦人生頭胎時的痛苦呻吟。
那是少女錫安的喊叫聲，
她在喘息，伸出雙手說：
「噢！我有禍了，
我要死在殺戮者手上了。」
