友弟德传 Judith Chapter 9
Judith
Chapter 9

1 Judith threw herself down prostrate, with ashes strewn upon her head, and wearing nothing over her sackcloth. While the incense was being offered in the temple of God in Jerusalem that evening, Judith prayed to the Lord with a loud voice:

友弟德于是俯伏在地,将灰撒在头上,露出所穿的苦衣;其时耶路撒冷的天主圣殿内,正奉献晚香祭。友弟德就大声呼求上主说:

2 1 "Lord, God of my forefather Simeon! You put a sword into his hand to take revenge upon the foreigners who had immodestly loosened the maiden's girdle, shamefully exposed her thighs, and disgracefully violated her body. This they did, though you forbade it.

上主,我祖先西默盎的天主!你曾将刀交在他手里,去报复外方人,因为他们解开了一个处女的腰带,加以玷污;袒露了她的股部,加以羞辱;破坏了她的贞操,加以作贱;虽然你曾说:不要这样作,他们却作了。

3 2 Therefore you had their rulers slaughtered; and you covered with their blood the bed in which they lay deceived, the same bed that had felt the shame of their own deceiving. You smote the slaves together with their princes, and the princes together with their servants.

因此,你让他们的首领遭受杀戳,使那因欺骗受染污的床榻,反而受骗,染满了血污;仆役与首领君主与王位,你一律加以打击。

4 Their wives you handed over to plunder, and their daughters to captivity; and all the spoils you divided among your favored sons, who burned with zeal for you, and in their abhorrence of the defilement of their kinswoman, called on you for help.

你又使他们的妻室,遭人抢去,女儿被人俘虏,使你所爱的子民平分那些人的赃物;你的子民为了你的嫉愤而嫉愤,憎恨自己的血液所受的玷污,而哀求了你的援助。

5 "O God, my God, hear me also, a widow. It is you who were the author of those events and of what preceded and followed them. The present, also, and the future you have planned. Whatever you devise comes into being;

天主,我的天主!求你也俯听我这个寡妇! 是你作了这些过去、将来以及现在的事;是你计划了现在和将来的事;那现在发生的事,也正是你所计划的。

6 the things you decide on come forward and say, 'Here we are!' All your ways are in readiness, and your judgment is made with foreknowledge.

你所决定的事好象前来说:看,我们在这里。因为你的一切行径,早已准备;你的判决已预先知道。

7 "Here are the Assyrians, a vast force, priding themselves on horse and rider, boasting of the power of their infantry, trusting in shield and spear, bow and sling. They do not know that

亚述人拥有雄厚的军队,自负有骏马,有铁骑,矜夸步兵的武力,自恃坚甲利兵,凭着弓箭和投石器,却不知道你乃是消弭战争的上主。

8 " You, the Lord, crush warfare; Lord is your name. Shatter their strength in your might, and crush their force in your wrath; for they have resolved to profane your sanctuary, to defile the tent where your glorious name resides, and to overthrow with iron the horns of your altar.

上主乃是你的名号!愿你以你的德能击毁他们的势力,用震怒屈服他们的强权,因为他们已决意要亵读你的圣所,要污辱你尊名所居的帐幕,要用斧砍去你祭坛的四角。

9 See their pride, and send forth your wrath upon their heads. Give me, a widow, the strong hand to execute my plan.

你看他们的骄傲,愿你的震怒,降在他们的头上,赐我这寡妇的手有能力,去完成我所图谋的事!

10 With the guile of my lips, smite the slave together with the ruler, the ruler together with his servant; crush their pride by the hand of a woman.

愿你用我口舌的巧言花语,去打击他们的奴仆和主人,主帅与官员!愿你用一个女人的手,去减灭他们的威风!

11 "Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your power depend upon stalwart men; but you are the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the supporter of the weak, the protector of the forsaken, the savior of those without hope.

你的力量,不在乎人多;你的威能,并不靠强力;但你却是谦卑者的天主,弱小者的扶助,无力者的保护,无靠者的依赖,失望者的救主。

12 "Please, please, God of my forefather, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all you have created, hear my prayer!

你的确是我祖先的天主,以色列祖业的天主,天地的主宰,水的创造者万有的君王,你俯听我的祈求罢!

13 Let my guileful speech bring wound and wale on those who have planned dire things against your covenant, your holy temple, Mount Zion, and the homes your children have inherited.

愿你使我巧妙的言辞,去伤害,去杀死那些想出阴谋,破坏你的圣约、圣殿、熙雍山和你子民所占居的家乡的人!

14 Let your whole nation and all the tribes know clearly that you are the god of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone."

愿你使你的众民族众支派都知道:你是天主,万能全权的天主;除你以外以色列族没有别的保护者。"

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Footnotes(注解)

1 [2] The maiden: Dinah, Jacob's daughter, who was violated by Shechem, the Hivite (Genesis 34:2).

2 [3] Because Shechem had deceived and violated Dinah, her brothers, Simeon and Levi, tricked Shechem and the men of his city into being circumcised, and then slew them while they were confined to bed from the circumcision; cf Genesis 34:13-29.