今日讀經

悖逆的兒女下埃及

¹耶和華說：禍哉！這悖逆的兒女。他們同謀，卻不由於我，結盟，卻不由於我的靈，以致罪上加罪；“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

²起身下埃及去，並沒有求問我；要靠法老的力量加添自己的力量，並投在埃及的蔭下。They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

³所以，法老的力量必作你們的羞辱；投在埃及的蔭下，要為你們的慚愧。But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.

⁴他們的首領已在瑣安；他們的使臣到了哈內斯。For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

⁵他們必因那不利於他們的民蒙羞。那民並非幫助，也非利益，只作羞恥凌辱。everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They bring neither help nor benefit, but only shame and disgrace.”

論南方牲畜的默示

⁶論南方牲畜的默示：他們把財物馱在驢駒的脊背上，將寶物馱在駱駝的肉鞍上，經過艱難困苦之地，就是公獅、母獅、蝮蛇、火焰的飛龍之地，往那不利於他們的民那裡去。This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.

⁷埃及的幫助是徒然無益的；所以我稱她為「坐而不動的拉哈伯」。Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

刻在版上，傳留後世

⁸現今你去，在他們面前將這話刻在版上，寫在書上，以便傳留後世，直到永永遠遠。Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

⁹因為他們是悖逆的百姓、說謊的兒女，不肯聽從耶和華訓誨的兒女。These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

¹⁰他們對先見說：不要望見不吉利的事，對先知說：不要向我們講正直的話；要向我們說柔和的話，言虛幻的事。They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

¹¹你們要離棄正道，偏離直路，不要在我們面前再提說以色列的聖者。Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

高牆頃刻坍塌

¹²所以，以色列的聖者如此說：因為你們藐視這訓誨的話，倚賴欺壓和乖僻，以此為可靠的，Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,

¹³故此，這罪孽在你們身上，好像將要破裂凸出來的高牆，頃刻之間忽然坍塌；this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant!

¹⁴要被打碎，好像把窯匠的瓦器打碎，毫不顧惜，甚至碎塊中找不到一片可用以從爐內取火，從池中舀水。It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

得救在乎歸回安息

¹⁵主耶和華─以色列的聖者曾如此說：你們得救在乎歸回安息；你們得力在乎平靜安穩；你們竟自不肯。For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”

¹⁶你們卻說：不然，我們要騎馬奔走。所以你們必然奔走；又說：我們要騎飛快的牲口。所以追趕你們的，也必飛快。“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.

¹⁷一人叱喝，必令千人逃跑；五人叱喝，你們都必逃跑；以致剩下的，好像山頂的旗杆，岡上的大旗。A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

耶和華等候要施恩

¹⁸耶和華必然等候，要施恩給你們；必然興起，好憐憫你們。因為耶和華是公平的　神；凡等候他的都是有福的！Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

¹⁹百姓必在錫安、在耶路撒冷居住；你不再哭泣。主必因你哀求的聲音施恩給你；他聽見的時候就必應允你。O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

²⁰主雖然以艱難給你當餅，以困苦給你當水，你的教師卻不再隱藏；你眼必看見你的教師。The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.

²¹你或向左或向右，你必聽見後邊有聲音說：「這是正路，要行在其間。」And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

²²你雕刻偶像所包的銀子和鑄造偶像所鍍的金子，你要玷污，要拋棄，好像污穢之物，對偶像說：「去吧！」So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

地的出產肥美豐盛

²³你將種子撒在地裡，主必降雨在其上，並使地所出的糧肥美豐盛。到那時，你的牲畜必在寬闊的草場吃草。Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.

²⁴耕地的牛和驢駒必吃加鹽的料；這料是用木杴和杈子揚淨的。The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

²⁵在大行殺戮的日子，高臺倒塌的時候，各高山岡陵必有川流河湧。And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

²⁶當耶和華纏裹他百姓的損處，醫治他民鞭傷的日子，月光必像日光，日光必加七倍，像七日的光一樣。The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.

耶和華的名從遠方來

²⁷看哪，耶和華的名從遠方來，怒氣燒起，密煙上騰。他的嘴唇滿有忿恨；他的舌頭像吞滅的火。Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.

²⁸他的氣如漲溢的河水，直漲到頸項，要用毀滅的篩籮篩淨列國，並且在眾民的口中必有使人錯行的嚼環。His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

²⁹你們必唱歌，像守聖節的夜間一樣，並且心中喜樂，像人吹笛，上耶和華的山，到以色列的磐石那裡。You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰耶和華必使人聽他威嚴的聲音，又顯他降罰的膀臂和他怒中的忿恨，並吞滅的火焰與霹雷、暴風、冰雹。And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

³¹亞述人必因耶和華的聲音驚惶；耶和華必用杖擊打他。For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter.

³²耶和華必將命定的杖加在他身上；每打一下，人必擊鼓彈琴。打仗的時候，耶和華必掄起手來，與他交戰。And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished.

³³原來陀斐特又深又寬，早已為王預備好了；其中堆的是火與許多木柴。耶和華的氣如一股硫磺火使他著起來。For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

禍哉，下埃及求幫助的

¹禍哉！那些下埃及求幫助的，是因仗賴馬匹，倚靠甚多的車輛，並倚靠強壯的馬兵，卻不仰望以色列的聖者，也不求問耶和華。Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.

²其實，耶和華有智慧；他必降災禍，並不反悔自己的話，卻要興起攻擊那作惡之家，又攻擊那作孽幫助人的。Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.

³埃及人不過是人，並不是　神；他們的馬不過是血肉，並不是靈。耶和華一伸手，那幫助人的必絆跌，那受幫助的也必跌倒，都一同滅亡。But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

耶和華保護耶路撒冷

⁴耶和華對我如此說：獅子和少壯獅子護食咆哮，就是喊許多牧人來攻擊牠，牠總不因他們的聲音驚惶，也不因他們的喧嘩縮伏。如此，萬軍之耶和華也必降臨在錫安山岡上爭戰。For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.

⁵雀鳥怎樣搧翅覆雛，萬軍之耶和華也要照樣保護耶路撒冷。他必保護拯救，要越門保守。Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”

現今要歸向耶和華

⁶以色列人哪，你們深深地悖逆耶和華，現今要歸向他。Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel.

⁷到那日，各人必將他金偶像銀偶像，就是親手所造、陷自己在罪中的，都拋棄了。For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.

⁸亞述人必倒在刀下，並非人的刀；有刀要將他吞滅，並非人的刀。他必逃避這刀；他的少年人必成為服苦的。“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.

⁹他的磐石必因驚嚇挪去；他的首領必因大旗驚惶。這是那有火在錫安、有爐在耶路撒冷的耶和華說的。Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

要靠主喜樂

¹弟兄們，我還有話說，你們要靠主喜樂。我把這話再寫給你們，於我並不為難，於你們卻是妥當。Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

防備妄自行割的

²應當防備犬類，防備作惡的，防備妄自行割的。Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

³因為真受割禮的，乃是我們這以　神的靈敬拜、在基督耶穌裡誇口、不靠著肉體的。For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

保羅從前引以為傲的

⁴其實，我也可以靠肉體；若是別人想他可以靠肉體，我更可以靠著了。though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

⁵我第八天受割禮；我是以色列族、便雅憫支派的人，是希伯來人所生的希伯來人。就律法說，我是法利賽人；circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

⁶就熱心說，我是逼迫教會的；就律法上的義說，我是無可指摘的。as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

以認識基督為至寶

⁷只是我先前以為與我有益的，我現在因基督都當作有損的。But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

⁸不但如此，我也將萬事當作有損的，因我以認識我主基督耶穌為至寶。我為他已經丟棄萬事，看作糞土，為要得著基督；More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

⁹並且得以在他裡面，不是有自己因律法而得的義，乃是有信基督的義，就是因信　神而來的義，and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

¹⁰使我認識基督，曉得他復活的大能，並且曉得和他一同受苦，效法他的死，I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

¹¹或者我也得以從死裡復活。and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

向著標竿直跑

¹²這不是說我已經得著了，已經完全了；我乃是竭力追求，或者可以得著基督耶穌所以得著我的（所以得著我的：或譯所要我得的）。Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

¹³弟兄們，我不是以為自己已經得著了；我只有一件事，就是忘記背後，努力面前的，Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

¹⁴向著標竿直跑，要得　神在基督耶穌裡從上面召我來得的獎賞。I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵所以我們中間，凡是完全人總要存這樣的心；若在甚麼事上存別樣的心，　神也必以此指示你們。All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well.

¹⁶然而，我們到了甚麼地步，就當照著甚麼地步行。Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.

要效法我

¹⁷弟兄們，你們要一同效法我，也當留意看那些照我們榜樣行的人。Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.

¹⁸因為有許多人行事是基督十字架的仇敵。我屢次告訴你們，現在又流淚地告訴你們：For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹他們的結局就是沉淪；他們的神就是自己的肚腹。他們以自己的羞辱為榮耀，專以地上的事為念。Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

我們是天上的國民

²⁰我們卻是天上的國民，並且等候救主，就是主耶穌基督從天上降臨。But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹他要按著那能叫萬有歸服自己的大能，將我們這卑賤的身體改變形狀，和他自己榮耀的身體相似。who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.