Woe to the Obstinate Nation
1“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent,
rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit that leads them astray.
29And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
with his rod he will strike them down.
32Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.
依靠埃及徒劳无益
1耶和华说：
“我悖逆的儿女有祸了！
他们推行的计划并非我的心意，
他们与人结盟并非出于我的灵，
以致罪上加罪。
2他们不求问我便去埃及，
要得到法老的保护，
寻求埃及的荫庇。
3然而，法老的保护必成为你们的羞愧，
埃及的荫庇必成为你们的耻辱。
4虽然他们的官长已在琐安，
使臣已到哈内斯，
5但他们必因无用的埃及人而蒙羞，
那些人带不来任何助益，
只带来羞愧和耻辱。”
6以下是关于南地动物的预言：
他们用驴驮着财物，
用骆驼驮着珍宝，
穿过公狮、母狮、蝮蛇和飞蛇出没的艰险之地，
前往一个对他们毫无益处的国家。
7埃及的帮助是徒然的，
所以我称她为“没用的拉哈伯30:7 “拉哈伯”埃及的别名，也有“海怪”之意。”。
8现在，你去当着他们的面把这些话刻在版上，
记在书卷上，
永远留给后世作明证。
9因为他们是悖逆的民族，
是说谎的儿女，
不肯听从耶和华的教导。
10他们对先见说：
“你们不要再看异象了。”
对先知说：
“不要再教导我们正道。
给我们说些好听的话，
讲些虚幻的事吧。
11闪开此道！离开此路！
不要再给我们讲以色列圣者的事。”
12因此，以色列的圣者说：
“因为你们藐视我的话，
依仗欺压之能和诡诈之术，
13你们这罪必像一堵断裂、凸起的高墙，
摇摇欲坠，瞬间倒塌，
14又像瓦器一样被无情地摔碎，
找不到一块可以用来从火炉中取炭或从水池里舀水的碎片。”
15主耶和华——以色列的圣者说：
“你们回转并安息，就必得拯救；
你们安静并信靠，就必得力量。
但你们却不肯。
16你们说，‘不，我们要骑马奔逃。’
所以你们必奔逃。
你们又说，‘我们要骑快马逃跑。’
所以追赶你们的人必疾驰如飞。
17他们一人叱喝，
必吓得你们千人逃跑；
他们五人叱喝，
你们必全部逃跑，
剩下的像山顶上的旗杆、高岗上的旗帜。”
18然而，耶和华正在等候，
准备施恩给你们，
祂必怜悯你们。
因为耶和华是公正的上帝，
等候祂的人有福了！
19住在耶路撒冷的锡安百姓啊，你们必不再哭泣。祂听到你们的呼求后，必恩待你们；祂听见后，必应允你们。 20虽然主让你们吃苦受难、历尽艰辛，但你们的教师必不再隐藏，你们必亲眼看见你们的教师。 21不管你们向左还是向右，都会听见背后有声音说：“这是正路，走在上面吧！” 22你们必抛弃自己那些镀金和包银的偶像，把它们当作污秽之物丢掉，对它们说：“去吧！”
23你们撒种，主必降雨，并使你们五谷丰登。那时，你们的牲畜必在宽阔的草场上吃草； 24耕田的牛和驴必吃用叉子和铲子扬净、拌上盐的饲料。 25在你们的敌人被杀戮、城楼倒塌的日子，你们的高山冈陵上必有溪水奔流。 26耶和华包扎祂子民的创伤，医治他们的伤口时，月亮必发出太阳般的光辉，太阳的光辉必增加七倍，灿烂得好像七个太阳同时发光。
27看啊，耶和华的名从远方来，
伴着滚滚浓烟，
祂的怒气如烈火，
祂口中充满愤怒，舌头好像烈焰。
28祂的气息像淹到人颈项的洪流。
祂必用毁灭的筛子筛净列国，
并把嚼环放在列邦口中，
引他们走上歧途。
29但你们必欢唱，好像晚上庆祝节期；你们必充满喜乐，好像人们吹着笛子登耶和华的山、到以色列的磐石那里。 30耶和华必使人听见祂威严的声音，在愤怒、烈焰、暴雨、狂风和冰雹中让人看见祂降罚的臂膀。 31亚述人听见耶和华的声音必心惊胆战，祂必用杖击打他们。 32耶和华的刑杖每责打他们一下，必伴随着击鼓弹琴的声音。祂必在战场上挥手击打他们。 33焚烧之地陀斐特早预备好了，是为亚述王预备的，又宽又深，堆满了火和木柴，耶和华的气息必如同一股硫磺火点燃那些木柴。
