Day of Disaster
1Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2“You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
5For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,” declares the Lord. 6“Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. 7No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.
8“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. 9For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.
10“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’ 11then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. 12But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
14“However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.
16“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. 18I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”
19Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
20Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”
21“Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
耶和華降災難的日子
1耶和華對我說： 2「你不可在這地方娶妻，也不可生兒育女。 3至於在這地方出生的孩子和他們的父母，耶和華說， 4『他們必死於惡疾，無人哀悼，無人埋葬，他們好像地上的糞便。他們必死於戰爭和饑荒，屍首必成為飛禽走獸的食物。』」 5耶和華對我說：「你不要進入喪家，也不要為他們哀悼悲傷，因為我已收回我賜給這些百姓的平安、慈愛和憐憫。這是耶和華說的。 6他們無論尊卑都要死在這裡，無人埋葬，無人哀悼，也無人為他們的死而割傷身體、剃光頭髮。 7無人用食物安慰哀悼者，也無人給喪父或喪母者一杯安慰酒。 8你不可進入宴樂之家與他們同坐吃喝。」 9因為以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說：「在他們有生之年，我要使這地方的歡樂聲和新郎新娘的歡笑聲從他們眼前消失。
10「當你把這些話告訴他們的時候，他們會質問你，『耶和華為什麼給我們降這大災難？我們有什麼罪？我們哪裡得罪了我們的上帝耶和華？』 11你要對他們說，『耶和華說，這是因為你們的祖先背棄我，去跟隨、供奉、祭拜其他神明；他們背棄我，不遵守我的律法。 12可是，你們的行為比他們更邪惡。看啊，你們心存惡念，一意孤行，不聽從我。 13所以，我要把你們從這裡驅逐到你們和你們祖先都不認識的地方，你們在那裡要日夜供奉其他神明，因為我不再恩待你們。』」
14耶和華說：「時候將到，那時人不再憑把以色列人帶出埃及的耶和華起誓， 15而是憑把他們從北方之地和流亡的列國領回來的永活的耶和華起誓。因為我必領他們回到我賜給他們祖先的地方。」
16耶和華說：「看啊，我要召來許多漁夫把他們捕撈上來，然後我要召來許多獵人去各山嶺和巖穴獵取他們。 17因為我鑒察他們的一切行為，他們在我面前無法隱藏，他們的罪惡逃不過我的眼晴。 18首先，我要讓他們因自己的罪與惡而受加倍的報應，因為他們用沒有生命氣息的可憎偶像玷污我的土地，使可憎之物充滿我的產業。」
19耶和華啊，你是我的力量，
是我的堡壘，
是我患難時的避難所。
萬國都要從地極來朝見你，
說：「我們祖先所拜的神像虛假無用，一無是處。
20難道人可以為自己製造神明嗎？
其實那些神明並不是真神。」
21耶和華說：「所以，看啊，這一次我要讓他們知道我的權柄和能力，他們就知道我名叫耶和華。」
