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耶和華的回答

我要站在哨崗,立在城樓,

留心看耶和華在我裡面說甚麼,

怎樣使我答覆自己的怨訴。

耶和華回答我說:

“把異象寫下,清楚地記在泥版上,

使讀的人容易明白,

因這異象關乎一定的日期,

很快就要實現,決不徒然;縱有遲延,仍當等候,

因為它一定會來到,絕不耽誤。”

迦勒底人自高自大,心不正直;

然而義人必因信得生(“必因信得生”或譯:“必因他的信實得生”)。

財富(傳統作“酒”,今照死海古卷譯作“財富”)使人奸詐狂傲,不得安寧;

擴張慾望,如同陰間;

又像死亡,永不滿足。

他們招聚萬國,集合萬民,都歸自己。

第一禍

這些國民豈不都用譬喻、諷刺、暗語指著他們說:

“那些濫得他人財物的,

滿載別人抵押品的,有禍了!

他們這樣要到幾時呢?”

你的債主(“你的債主”或譯:“咬你的”)豈不忽然起來?

擾亂你的豈不醒起?

你就成了他們的擄物。

因你搶掠多國,殺人流血,

向全地各城和其中所有居民施行暴力,

所以剩下的人也必搶掠你。

第二禍

你這為自己的家積聚不義之財,

在高處搭窩,以逃避災害的,

有禍了!

10 你剪除多國的民,反害了自己;

你所謀算的,使你的家蒙羞。

11 石頭必從牆裡呼叫,

梁木必在樹中應聲。

第三禍

12 你這用人血做城,憑邪惡立鎮的,

有禍了!

13 眾民勞碌得來的,被火焚燒;

列國辛勞而得的,終歸無有。

這不都出於萬軍之耶和華嗎?

14 認識耶和華之榮耀的知識,必充滿全地,好像眾水遮蓋海洋一樣。

第四禍

15 你這請鄰舍喝酒,卻把毒物混入,

使他醉倒,

為要見他赤裸的,有禍了!

16 你滿有羞辱,沒有尊榮,你也喝到露出下體來吧!

耶和華右手的杯必傳回來給你,使極大的羞辱取代你的尊榮。

17 因你向黎巴嫩使用暴力,殺滅驚嚇野獸;又殺人流血,向全地各城和其中所有居民施行暴力,就必受到報應(“報應”原文作“遮蓋”)。

第五禍

18 雕刻的像有甚麼用處呢?不過是匠人雕刻出來的;

鑄造的像、虛假的教師,有甚麼用處呢?

匠人竟倚靠自己所做,那不能說話的假神。

19 你這對木頭說“起來”,

對啞石說“醒吧”的人,有禍了!

它怎能教導你呢?

看哪!它包金鑲銀,裡面卻全無氣息。

20 然而耶和華在他的聖殿裡,全地當在他面前肅靜。

The Lord answers Habakkuk

I will stand at my place on the wall of the city. I will watch from there. I will wait to see what God will say to me. I have complained to him and now I will see how he answers me.

The Lord answered me. He said:

‘Write down what I will show to you. Make it very clear on the page where you write it. Then someone can easily read it, and he can tell the message to other people. What I will show to you must happen at the time that I have decided. That is a future time, but it will certainly happen, as I have said. It may not happen very soon, but you must be patient. What I show to you will certainly happen at the right time, so wait for it.

Look now! The enemy is very proud. They do not want to do what is right.[a] But righteous people will live because of their faith in God.

Wine will destroy that proud enemy.[b] They do not stop attacking other people. They never have enough for themselves. They are like death that is so hungry that it eats as much as it can. The deep hole of death eats everything. The cruel enemy is like that! They want all the nations to belong to them. They catch everyone to be their prisoners.

But one day, their prisoners will laugh at them. The people will insult that proud nation with songs and proverbs. They will say, “You have stored for yourselves many valuable things that do not belong to you. It will be very bad for you! You have robbed other nations so that you can be rich. This will not continue much longer!”

The people that have lent their riches to you will suddenly attack. They will come to take back their things and you will be very afraid. Now they will come to rob you! You have robbed many nations. You have murdered people in many lands. You have destroyed towns and the people who live in them. Now the people who remain will come to rob you.

It will be very bad for anyone who cheats other people so that he can make his family rich. He thinks that his riches will make him safe. He thinks that he is too high up for any trouble to reach him. 10 But the cruel things that you have done will bring shame to your family. You decided to destroy people from many countries. Because of that, you will pay with your own life. 11 The stones in the walls of your houses will cry out against you. The beams in your roof will also shout aloud.

12 It will be very bad for anyone who kills people so that he can build a city for himself. It will be bad for anyone who does wicked things to make his town great.

13 Listen! The Lord Almighty has commanded this: All the work that people do to get things for themselves is useless. The things that the nations work so hard to get will become smoke! 14 But people everywhere will one day recognize the Lord's great glory. Those people will fill the whole earth, as the waters fill the sea.

15 It will be very bad for you! You cause your neighbours to become drunk.[c] You are so angry that you make them drink too much wine. You are happy when they are so drunk that you can see their bare bodies. 16 But it is you who will become ashamed, not great. You will become drunk so that people see you with no clothes on! The Lord has a cup of wine in his right hand. He is ready to give it to you as a punishment. You will no longer be great, but you will be ashamed.

17 You have done cruel things to the people in Lebanon. You destroyed their animals. The Lord will punish you for the things that you have done, and you will be very afraid. You have murdered people. You have destroyed the land and the towns and the people who live in them.

18 What value does an idol have? What help can it give? Somebody has made it as the image of a false god. It can only tell false messages. Why should its maker trust it for help? He has used wood or metal to make it and it cannot speak!

19 It will be very bad for anyone who says to a piece of wood, “Wake up!” It will be bad for anyone who says to a stone that cannot speak, “Get up and help me!” It cannot teach you! It has gold or silver to make it look nice, but it is not alive.

20 But the Lord rules from his holy temple. Everybody on the earth should be quiet in front of him.’

Footnotes

  1. 2:4 The proud enemy is the Babylonian army. God will use them to punish his people. But in the end he will punish the Babylonians because they are proud and cruel.
  2. 2:5 ‘Wine’ or ‘Riches’.
  3. 2:15 The neighbours are probably the nations near to Babylon that Babylon has attacked.

I will stand at my watch(A)
    and station myself on the ramparts;(B)
I will look to see what he will say(C) to me,
    and what answer I am to give to this complaint.[a](D)

The Lord’s Answer

Then the Lord replied:

“Write(E) down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald[b] may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;(F)
    it speaks of the end(G)
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait(H) for it;
    it[c] will certainly come
    and will not delay.(I)

“See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person(J) will live by his faithfulness[d](K)
indeed, wine(L) betrays him;
    he is arrogant(M) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
    and like death is never satisfied,(N)
he gathers to himself all the nations
    and takes captive(O) all the peoples.

“Will not all of them taunt(P) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!(Q)
    How long must this go on?’
Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.(R)
Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.(S)
For you have shed human blood;(T)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.(U)

“Woe to him who builds(V) his house by unjust gain,(W)
    setting his nest(X) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin(Y) of many peoples,
    shaming(Z) your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones(AA) of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed(AB)
    and establishes a town by injustice!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,(AC)
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?(AD)
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory(AE) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.(AF)

15 “Woe to him who gives drink(AG) to his neighbors,
    pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
    so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16 You will be filled with shame(AH) instead of glory.(AI)
    Now it is your turn! Drink(AJ) and let your nakedness be exposed[e]!(AK)
The cup(AL) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
    and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence(AM) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.(AN)
For you have shed human blood;(AO)
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

18 “Of what value(AP) is an idol(AQ) carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image(AR) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.(AS)
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’(AT)
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;(AU)
    there is no breath in it.”(AV)

20 The Lord is in his holy temple;(AW)
    let all the earth be silent(AX) before him.

Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
  2. Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
  3. Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
  4. Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith
  5. Habakkuk 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger

La fede di Abacuc

(A)Io starò al mio posto di guardia,
mi metterò sopra una torre,
e starò attento a quello che il Signore mi dirà,
e a quello che dovrò rispondere circa la rimostranza che ho fatta.
Il Signore mi rispose e disse:
«Scrivi la visione,
incidila su tavole,
perché si possa leggere con facilità;

perché è una visione per un tempo già fissato;
essa si affretta verso il suo termine e non mentirà;
se tarda, aspettala;
poiché certamente verrà; e non tarderà.

Egli è pieno d'orgoglio, non agisce rettamente;
ma il giusto per la sua fede vivrà[a]. Cause del giudizio contro l'oppressore

(B)«Certo, il vino è traditore;
l'uomo arrogante non può starsene tranquillo;
egli allarga la sua bocca come il *soggiorno dei morti;
come la morte, non si può saziare,
ma raduna presso di sé tutte le nazioni,
raccoglie intorno a sé tutti i popoli.

E tutti questi non lo canzoneranno con proverbi,
sarcasmi, enigmi?
Diranno:
“Guai a chi accumula ciò che non è suo!
Fino a quando?
Guai a chi si carica di pegni!”

I tuoi creditori non spunteranno forse all'improvviso?
I tuoi oppressori non si desteranno?
Allora tu diventerai loro preda.

Poiché tu hai saccheggiato molte nazioni,
tutto il resto dei popoli ti saccheggerà,
a causa del sangue umano sparso,
della violenza fatta ai paesi,
alle città e a tutti i loro abitanti.

Guai a colui che è avido d'illecito guadagno per la sua casa,
per mettere il suo nido in alto
e scampare alla mano della sventura!

10 Tu hai designato la vergogna per la tua casa,
sterminando molti popoli,
e hai peccato contro te stesso.

11 Poiché la pietra grida dalla parete
e la trave risponde dall'armatura di legno.

12 Guai a colui che costruisce la città con il sangue
e fonda una città sull'*iniquità!

13 Non è forse volere del Signore
che i popoli si affatichino per il fuoco
e le nazioni si stanchino per nulla?

14 Poiché la conoscenza della gloria del Signore riempirà la terra
come le acque coprono il fondo del mare.

15 Guai a colui che dà da bere al prossimo,
a te che gli versi il veleno fino a ubriacarlo,
per guardarlo nella sua nudità!

16 Tu sarai saziato d'infamia anziché di gloria;
bevi anche tu ed esibisci la tua nudità!
La coppa della destra del Signore si riverserà su di te,
e l'infamia coprirà la tua gloria.

17 Poiché la violenza fatta al Libano
e la devastazione che spaventava le bestie ricadranno su di te,
a causa del sangue umano sparso,
della violenza fatta ai paesi,
alle città e a tutti i loro abitanti.

18 A che serve l'immagine scolpita, perché l'artefice la scolpisca?
A che serve l'immagine fusa che insegna la menzogna,
perché l'artefice confidi nel suo lavoro
e fabbrichi idoli muti?

19 Guai a chi dice al legno: “Svègliati!”
e alla pietra muta: “Àlzati!”
Può questa istruire?
Ecco, è ricoperta d'oro e d'argento,
ma non c'è in lei nessuno spirito.

20 Ma il Signore è nel suo *tempio santo;
tutta la terra faccia silenzio in sua presenza!»

Footnotes

  1. Abacuc 2:4 +Ro 1:17; Ga 3:11; Eb 10:38.