7

Sorrow for Israel’s Sins

¹Woe is me!
For I am like those who gather summer fruits,
Like those who ⚓glean vintage grapes;
There is no cluster to eat
Of the first-ripe fruit which⚓my soul desires.
²The ⚓faithful man has perished from the earth,
And there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
⚓Every man hunts his brother with a net.
³That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a ⚓bribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme together.
⁴The best of them is⚓like a brier;
The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;
The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;
Now shall be their perplexity.
⁵⚓Do not trust in a friend;
Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your ⚓bosom.
⁶For ⚓son dishonors father,
Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
⁷Therefore I will look to the Lord;
I will ⚓wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

⁸⚓Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
⚓When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lordwill be a light to me.
⁹⚓I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my ⚓case
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
¹⁰Then she who is my enemy will see,
And ⚓shame will cover her who said to me,
⚓“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.
¹¹In the day when your ⚓walls are to be built,
In that day the decree shall go far and wide.
¹²In that day ⚓they shall come to you
From Assyria and the fortified cities,
From the fortress to the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
¹³Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And ⚓for the fruit of their deeds.

God Will Forgive Israel

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell solitarily in a ⚓woodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.
¹⁵“As⚓ in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them ⚓wonders.”
¹⁶The nations ⚓shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
⚓They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
¹⁷They shall lick the ⚓dust like a serpent;
⚓They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth.
⚓They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
¹⁸⚓Who is a God like You,
⚓Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of ⚓the remnant of His heritage?
⚓He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in⚓mercy.
¹⁹He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
²⁰⚓You will give truth to Jacob
And mercy to Abraham,
⚓Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.

7

以色列人的腐敗

¹我有禍了！我好像夏日收割後的果子，
又如收成之後剩餘的葡萄，
沒有一掛可吃的，
也沒有我心所渴想初熟的無花果。
²地上的虔誠人滅盡了，
人世間已無正直的人；
他們都埋伏，為要流人的血，
用羅網獵取自己的弟兄。
³他們雙手善於作惡，
君王和審判官都索取賄賂；
位高的人吐出心中的慾望，
彼此勾結⚓。
⁴他們當中最好的，不過像蒺藜；
最正直的，不過如荊棘籬笆。

你守候的日子，懲罰已經來到，
他們必擾亂不安。
⁵不可倚賴鄰舍，
不可信靠密友；
甚至對躺在你懷中的妻子
也要守住你的口。
⁶因為兒子藐視父親，
女兒抵擋母親，
媳婦抗拒婆婆，
人的仇敵就是自己家裏的人。
⁷至於我，我要仰望耶和華，
等候那救我的上帝；
我的上帝必應允我。

耶和華拯救他的子民

⁸我的仇敵啊，不要向我誇耀。
我雖跌倒，仍要起來；
雖坐在黑暗裏，耶和華卻作我的光。
⁹我要承受耶和華的惱怒，
直到他為我辯護，為我伸冤，
因我得罪了他；
他要領我進入光明，
我必得見他的公義。
¹⁰那時我的仇敵看見這事就羞愧，
他曾對我說：「耶和華－你的上帝在哪裏？」
我必親眼見他遭報，
現在，他必被踐踏，如同街上的泥土。

¹¹你的城牆重修的日子到了！
到那日，邊界必擴展。
¹²到那日，人必從亞述，
從埃及的城鎮，
從埃及到大河，
從這海到那海，
從這山到那山，
都歸到你這裏。
¹³然而，因居民的緣故，
為了他們行事的結果，
這地必然荒涼。

耶和華憐憫以色列

¹⁴求你在迦密⚓的樹林中，
以你的杖牧放你獨居的民，
你產業中的羊羣；
願他們像古時一樣，
牧放在巴珊和基列。

¹⁵我要顯奇事給他們看，
好像出埃及地的時候一樣。
¹⁶列國看見，雖大有勢力仍覺慚愧；
他們必用手摀口，掩耳不聽。
¹⁷他們要舔土如蛇，
又如地上爬行的動物，
戰戰兢兢離開他們的營寨；
他們必畏懼耶和華－我們的上帝，
也必因你而害怕。

¹⁸有哪一個神明像你，赦免罪孽，
饒恕他產業中餘民的罪過？
他不永遠懷怒，喜愛施恩。
¹⁹他⚓必轉回憐憫我們，
把我們的罪孽踏在腳下。
你必將他們⚓一切的罪投於深海。
²⁰你必按古時向我們列祖起誓的話，
以信實待雅各，
向亞伯拉罕施慈愛。