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祈求 神懲罰入侵的外族

亞薩的詩。

79  神啊!外族人侵入你的產業,

污穢了你的聖殿,

使耶路撒冷成為廢墟。(本節在《馬索拉文本》包括細字標題)

他們把你僕人的屍首,

給空中的飛鳥啄食;

把你聖民的肉,

給地上的野獸吞噬。

他們在耶路撒冷的周圍把聖民的血像水一般倒出,

沒有人埋葬他們。

我們成為鄰國羞辱的對象,

成為四周的人嗤笑和譏刺的目標。

耶和華啊!要到幾時呢?

你要永遠懷怒嗎?

你的憤恨要像火焚燒嗎?

願你把你的烈怒,傾倒在不認識你的外族人,

和不求告你名的列國身上。

因為他們吞吃了雅各,

使他的住處荒涼。

求你不要記住我們祖先的罪孽;

願你的憐憫快快臨到我們,

因為我們落到極卑微的地步。

拯救我們的 神啊!

求你因你名的榮耀幫助我們;

為你名的緣故,

搭救我們,赦免我們的罪。

10 為甚麼容外族人說:

“他們的 神在哪裡呢?”

願我們親眼看見你在列邦中,

使人知道你要為你僕人所流的血伸冤。

11 願被囚的人的唉哼,達到你面前;

願你用你的大能,使那些已定死罪的人可以存留。

12 主啊!願你把我們鄰國羞辱你的羞辱,

七倍歸還在他們身上。

13 這樣,我們作你的子民,作你牧場上的羊的,

要永遠稱謝你;

我們要世世代代述說你可稱頌的事。

Psalm 79[a]

Prayer for Restoration

A psalm of Asaph.[b]

[c]O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;
    they have profaned your holy temple
    and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
They have given the corpses of your servants
    as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints
    to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and no one is left to bury them.[d]
We have become the scorn of our neighbors,
    mocked and derided by those around us.[e]
[f]How long, O Lord?[g] Will you be angry forever?
    How long will your rage continue to blaze like a fire?
[h]Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that refuse to acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
    that fail to call on your name.[i]
For they have devoured Jacob
    and ravaged his homeland.
Do not hold against us the sins of our ancestors;
    let your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate straits.[j]
[k]Help us, O God, our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and wipe away our sins
    for your name’s sake.[l]
10 Why should the nations ask,
    “Where is their God?”
Before our eyes make it clearly known among those nations
    that you avenge[m] the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of the captives come before you;
    through your great power
    save those who have been sentenced to death.[n]
12 Repay our neighbors sevenfold[o] in their breasts, O Lord,
    for the insults with which they taunted you.
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will offer thanks to you[p] forever;
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 79:1 In this poem the psalmist is speaking of the darkest days of Israel’s history: in 587 B.C., the Chaldeans captured and sacked Jerusalem; the neighboring Moabites and Edomites then attacked them as they were in their death-throes. Israel is aware now that it deserved to be punished for its infidelities, and it appeals to God’s mercy. In this lamentation, the distress of the oppressed calls upon the Lord for redress. The pagans dishonor the divine name; this is tantamount to a defeat for the Lord. In avenging his own, God must first save his honor in the eyes of the world, and his people will be grateful to him. Such is the theme of this national lamentation.
    Must vengeance be paid back seven times (i.e., in full measure) upon one’s neighbors? Christ has told us to pardon seventy times seven (Mt 18:22)—so we cannot take this psalm literally. Still it remains a poignant appeal to God’s mercy, an act of faith in the Lord when everything seems to be collapsing around us. We do not demand the total destruction of our enemies but a salutary punishment, in keeping with the divine justice, which brings evildoers low in order to pardon and save them.
  2. Psalm 79:1 Asaph: see notes on Pss 73–89.
  3. Psalm 79:1 God’s city and temple have been desecrated and so have his worshipers, whose dead bodies have been left unburied. Saints: see note on Ps 16:3.
  4. Psalm 79:3 They have given . . . the flesh . . . to bury them: these verses are cited freely in 1 Mac 7:17 in application to the massacre of sixty pious Jews in Jerusalem during the Maccabean wars.
  5. Psalm 79:4 A secular hostility opposed Israel to its neighbors, as is shown by the oracles of the Prophets against the nations (see Lam 3:45; Zep 2:8).
  6. Psalm 79:5 The divine justice cannot remain inactive in the case of such wickedness, which calls out for retribution.
  7. Psalm 79:5 How long . . . ?: see note on Ps 6:4. Rage: i.e., a jealous rage (see Ps 119:139; Nah 1:2). Blaze like a fire: see Deut 4:24; 6:15; Zep 1:18; 3:8.
  8. Psalm 79:6 Cited in Jer 10:25. Concerning the call for redress, see note on Ps 5:11.
  9. Psalm 79:6 See notes on Pss 5:11; 35.
  10. Psalm 79:8 The exiles beg God to show mercy on them and not hold the sins of their ancestors against them (see 2 Ki 17:7-23; 23:26f; 24:3f; Dan 9:4-14).
  11. Psalm 79:9 The psalmist beseeches God to pardon Israel for his name’s sake so that the Most High may no longer be dishonored and blasphemed by the nations. Then the People of God will praise him from generation to generation.
  12. Psalm 79:9 The divine pardon is always gratuitous; it is the effect of his mercy and love (see Ps 78:38; Ezek 20:44; 36:22; see also note on Ps 65:4).
  13. Psalm 79:10 You avenge: God is the avenger of blood in Israel (see Pss 18:48; 19:15; 58:11f; 94:1; 149:7; Deut 32:43).
  14. Psalm 79:11 Captives . . . those who have been sentenced to death: literally, “the sons of death,” i.e., the exiles in Babylonia (see Ps 102:21) who are under threat of death if they seek to escape.
  15. Psalm 79:12 Sevenfold: a symbolic phrase meaning fullness or superabundance (see Ps 12:7; Gen 4:24; Lev 26:21).
  16. Psalm 79:13 Offer thanks to you: see note on Ps 7:18.

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;(A)
    they have defiled(B) your holy temple,
    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.(C)
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,(D)
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.(E)
They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury(F) the dead.(G)
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn(H) and derision to those around us.(I)

How long,(J) Lord? Will you be angry(K) forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?(L)
Pour out your wrath(M) on the nations
    that do not acknowledge(N) you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;(O)
for they have devoured(P) Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;(Q)
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.(R)
Help us,(S) God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.(T)
10 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”(U)

Before our eyes, make known among the nations
    that you avenge(V) the outpoured blood(W) of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps(X) of our neighbors seven times(Y)
    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,(Z)
    will praise you forever;(AA)
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.