以赛亚书 44
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
以色列蒙拣选
44 “我的仆人雅各，
我所拣选的以色列啊，
现在你要留心听。
2 造你、使你在母胎中成形、
帮助你的耶和华说，
‘我的仆人雅各，
我所拣选的耶书仑[a]啊，
不要害怕。
3 我要用水浇灌干渴之地，
使河流滋润干旱之土。
我要用我的灵浇灌你的后裔，
使我的福泽临到你的子孙。
4 他们要滋长如青草，
又如溪旁杨柳。’
5 这个说，‘我属于耶和华’，
那个说，‘我是雅各的子孙’，
还有人手上写着，‘耶和华之民’，
称自己属于以色列。
6 “耶和华，以色列的君王和救赎主，
万军之耶和华说，
‘我是首先的，我是末后的，
除我以外再没有真神。
7 谁能与我相比？让他告诉我。
自从我设立这古老的民族以来所发生的事和将要发生的事，
让他告诉我。
8 不要恐惧，不要害怕，
我不是早已告诉过你们吗？
你们是我的证人。
除我以外还有真神吗？
没有，没有别的磐石，
一个也没有。’”
9 制造偶像的真是无用，他们珍爱的偶像毫无价值。拜神像的人目盲眼瞎，愚昧无知，自找羞辱。 10 制造神像、雕刻无益偶像的是谁？ 11 看啊，制造神像的工匠不过是人，他们必羞愧。让他们一起来对质吧，他们必恐惧、羞愧。 12 铁匠把铁块放在炭火里烧，用他强壮的臂膀挥动铁锤把它打成偶像。他饥饿时就会无力，口渴时就会疲乏。 13 木匠拉线测量木料，用笔勾出形状，用圆规画出模样，仿照人的样子用凿子做成逼真的神像，放在庙宇里。 14 他砍伐香柏木，或从林中选取柏木和橡木。他栽种松树，雨水使它长大。 15 这树可以用来作燃料，他取一些木料生火取暖、烤饼，又制成神像来祭拜，雕成偶像来叩拜。 16 他用一半木头烤肉，饱餐一顿，并用火取暖，说：“啊！我这里有火，真暖和。” 17 他用另一半木头造了一个神，一个偶像，向它俯伏叩拜、祷告说：“你是我的神明，求你拯救我。” 18 他们愚昧无知，因为眼睛被封住以致看不见，心窍被塞住以致不明白。 19 他们无人思想，无人明白，无人醒悟说：“我用一半木头当柴烤饼、烤肉吃，我岂能用另一半木头造可憎的神像？我岂能向一块木头叩拜？” 20 他们以灰为食，心智迷糊，走入歧途，不能自救，也不会说：“我右手拿的神像不是假的吗？”
耶和华救赎以色列
21 “雅各啊，以色列啊，
要记住这些事，
因为你是我的仆人。
我造了你，你是我的仆人；
以色列啊，我不会忘记你。
22 我除去了你的过犯和罪恶，
使它们如云雾消散。
归向我吧，因为我救赎了你。”
23 诸天啊，歌唱吧！
因为耶和华成就了这事。
地的深处啊，欢呼吧！
众山岭和林中的树木啊，
你们都要歌唱！
因为耶和华救赎了雅各，
在以色列彰显了祂的荣耀。
24 在母腹中造你、救赎你的耶和华说：
“我是创造万物的耶和华，
我独自铺展穹苍，开辟大地。
25 我使假先知的预兆无法应验，
使占卜者丑态百出；
我颠覆智者的知识，
使之愚不可及。
26 我使我仆人的话应验，
使我使者的计划成就。
我说耶路撒冷必有人居住，
我说犹大的城邑必重建起来，
从废墟中重建起来。
27 我对深海说，‘枯干吧！
我要使你的河流干涸’；
28 我说塞鲁士是我的牧人，
他必完成我的旨意，
他会下令重建耶路撒冷，
降旨奠定圣殿的根基。
Footnotes
- 44:2 “耶书仑”是以色列的昵称。
Isaiah 44
The Voice
44 Eternal One: Nevertheless, listen to Me, My people:
Jacob, My servant; Israel, My chosen.
2 The Eternal who made you,
who formed you in the womb and promised to help you, has this to say:
Eternal One: Don’t be afraid, My servant Jacob,
My dear Jeshurun—My chosen.
3 Like a devoted gardener, I will pour sweet water on parched land,
streams on hard-packed ground;
I will pour My spirit on your children and grandchildren—
and let My blessing flow to your descendants.
4 And they will sprout among the grasses, grow vibrant and tall
like the willow trees lining a riverbank.
5 One will call out: “I belong to the Eternal.”
Another will say, “Jacob is my people; Israel my honored name.”
Yet others will write “Property of the Eternal” on their hands.
6 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
King of Israel, who paid their ransom, has this to say:
Eternal One: I am at the beginning and will be at the end.
There is no God except for Me.
7 If you know any God like Me, tell it now.
Declare and demonstrate any who can compare to Me.
Or if you know and have announced events before their time,
told what is to come, then speak so now.
8 Don’t be afraid. Let your minds be clear of fear.
Haven’t I announced events and revealed what is to come?
From the earliest days, I have done so. You know it—you have seen and know.
So, go ahead, My witnesses: is there a god out there other than Me?
Witnesses: There is no other rock like God. I don’t know a single one.
All of the nations that Israel encounters are involved in some form of idol worship. They imagine these gods and fashion these images in order to satisfy a desire—a God-given desire—to connect with something, with someone out there. Human beings know at some deep, intuitive level that God exists, life is sacred, and there are mysteries more profound than the daily grind. This is why every human civilization exhibits some form of religious life and devotion. But instead of seeking the God who is, people have a tendency to create the gods they want, gods that give them control over the complexities and problems of life. Israel is elected by God for a number of reasons. Perhaps two of the most significant are to bear witness to the one True God and to warn the nations against idolatry. According to Scripture, idol worship is not some neutral, unfortunate habit people get themselves into; it is more than just a waste of time, hope, and effort. It is a dangerous substitute—a counterfeit experience—that adversely misshapes and disorders their lives. To persist in idolatry is to give way to malevolent evils and to miss out on a relationship with the one True God.
9 But whoever does make an idol is not improved or enriched. On the contrary, their passing fancies contribute nothing of value or purpose. Those who look on at such misplaced attention don’t understand what they’re seeing, and the idol-makers will end up embarrassed at best. 10 It’s easy to say, “What pathetic idiocy! Who would do such a thing—make gods that are by definition worthless?” 11 The people who worship them will be shamed and humiliated. After all, people made those gods. Yet it happens all the time. So, let’s put these images, these figurines all together; stand them up—they will tremble with terror and be ashamed.
12 A metalworker shapes the raw materials into tools and then uses them to make little gods by hammering, bending, heating, and cooling the materials. And in the process, he gets tired and hungry; without water he soon grows faint. 13 Likewise, the woodworker measures and marks the wood, chisels and planes it down, marks it with a compass, and carves it until it looks a bit like a human—lovely, maybe—in order to put it in a house. 14 To take it back a bit further, perhaps he cuts down cedars or he carefully selects the cypress or oak himself, watches it, nurtures it until it is ready for his purpose. Perhaps he plants a pine; with sun and rain, it grows tall. 15 When it’s time to harvest, he uses some of the wood for fuel to stay warm, some to heat the oven and bake bread, and some to craft a god. Then the woodworker bows down and worships before the image he just made. 16-17 Do you see the irony? He sits around, warming himself and roasting dinner with wood from the same tree from which he crafted a god to which he bows and worships and prays—one time saying, “I am warmed by the wood fire”; another time saying, “O dear god, save me.”
18-19 So we see again how it is that they’re blind—their eyes shut to the truth in front of them, their hearts and minds refusing to think and really understand what’s going on. So without stopping to think about it, the fool says, “Gosh, I used half of the wood to build a fire, and baked the bread and roasted the meat over its hot coals. After I eat, I think I’ll use the rest of it to make a repulsive god. Maybe I’ll bow down to this leftover lumber.” 20 A fool like this is feeding on ashes—his addled mind and deceived heart lead him nowhere. He can’t figure out how to save himself, much less see the error of his ways and say, “Is this idol in my right hand just a lie?”
Eternal One: Let that be a lesson to you, My people.
21 Don’t forget it, Jacob; O Israel, remember—you are Mine.
I made you; you are My servant; I will not forget you.
22 I have swept away your wrongdoing, as wind sweeps a cloud from the sky:
I have cleared you of your sins, as the sun clears the morning mist.
I have rescued you; come back to Me.
23 Sing, starry sky and every constellation, for what the Eternal has done.
Shout for joy, dark soil underfoot and deep caverns below;
Erupt in joyful songs, mountains and forests, and every tree in them!
Sing joyfully, for the Eternal One has rescued Jacob, His people;
The splendor of God will be revealed in Israel.
24 The Eternal, your rescuing hero who formed you before birth, declares,
Eternal One: I am the Eternal, Creator of all there is and will be.
I alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the blue earth.
25 I confound the lying swindlers who claim to tell the future,
and I make the fortune-tellers look like fools.
I stop the highbrow intellectuals in their tracks,
and I show the fault of their reasoning.
26 But I stand behind the words of My servants,
and I accomplish what they predict.
The one who says about Jerusalem, “This place will be built up again”;
about Judah’s cities, “They will be restored”:
I confirm their predictions. They will rise from their ruins.
27 After all, I am the One who needs only to say “Dry up” to great waters,
and your rivers run dry.
28 I am the one who says of the Persian victor over Babylon,
“Cyrus is My shepherd. He will accomplish what I determine.”
My word goes out concerning Jerusalem:
“It will stand, a glorious city, again”
and of My house within it, “Restoration will begin at once.”
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.