智慧篇:Chapter 18

智慧篇:Chapter 18

智慧篇	Wisdom
¹至於你的聖徒，卻有極大的光明。埃及人只聽見他們的聲音，卻看不見他們的面容，遂宣稱那沒有遭受痛苦的為有福，	¹But your holy ones had very great light; And those others, who heard their voices but did not see their forms, since now they themselves had suffered, called them blest;
²對他們表示感激，因他們雖受虐待，卻不圖報復，求他們寬恕以往的敵對行為。	² And because they who formerly had been wronged did not harm them, they thanked them, and pleaded with them, for the sake of the difference between them.
³正與黑暗相反，你賜給了聖徒火柱，在他們不熟識的路上作嚮導，在光榮的旅途中作不為害的太陽。	³Instead of this, you furnished the flaming pillar which was a guide on the unknown way, and the mild sun for an honorable migration.
⁴埃及人理當失掉光明，遭受黑暗的拘禁，因為他們曾拘留過你的子民；正是這些子民想將法律不滅的光明傳到普世。	⁴For those deserved to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness, who had kept your sons confined through whom the imperishable light of the law was to be given to the world.
⁵他們決意要殺盡聖徒的嬰兒時，有一個被棄的嬰兒竟然得救；為懲罰他們，你奪去了他們許多嬰兒，又將他們一齊淹沒在大水之中。	⁵ When they determined to put to death the infants of the holy ones, and when a single boy had been cast forth but saved, As a reproof you carried off their multitude of sons and made them perish all at once in the mighty water.
⁶我們的祖先預先得知了那一夜的事，甚而確實知道自己所相信的誓言多麼可靠，因此都心安神樂。	⁶That night was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage.
⁷所以，你的子民所期待的，就是義人的救援，和仇人的滅亡。	⁷Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes.
⁸你用什麼方法懲罰了仇敵，也用什麼方法光榮了我們，為召叫我們歸向你。	⁸For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
⁹善人的聖潔子孫，都在暗中獻了祭，同心立定了神聖的盟約，為使聖徒們同甘共苦，同唱了列祖的讚美歌曲。	⁹ For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution, That your holy ones should share alike the same good things and dangers, having previously sung the praises of the fathers.
¹⁰敵人混亂的喊聲，從對面響起，到處發出哀悼孩兒的悲鳴。	¹⁰But the discordant cry of their enemies responded, and the piteous wail of mourning for children was borne to them.
¹¹主人與僕人，同受一樣的懲罰；庶民與王公，共遭一樣的苦難。	¹¹And the slave was smitten with the same retribution as his master; even the plebeian suffered the same as the king.
¹²他們一時都遇到同樣的死亡，死了無數的人；以致活人的數目不足以埋葬死人，因為，他們最寶貴的後裔，傾刻之間，都已滅亡。	¹²And all alike by a single death had countless dead; For the living were not even sufficient for the burial, since at a single instant their nobler offspring were destroyed.
¹³那些操行邪術，什麼也不相信的人，因著長子的喪亡，纔承認這民族是天主的兒子。	¹³ For though they disbelieved at every turn on account of sorceries, at the destruction of the first-born they acknowledged that the people was God's son.
¹⁴萬籟俱寂，黑夜已奔馳一半路程時，	¹⁴For when peaceful stillness compassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent,
¹⁵你全能的聖言，由天上的王座，如無情的戰士，降到這應毀滅的地上，	¹⁵Your all-powerful word from heaven's royal throne bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land,
¹⁶帶著你不可收回的成命當作利劍，上觸高天，下踏大地，立在那裏，使各處充滿死亡。	¹⁶bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree. And as he alighted, he filled every place with death; he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.
¹⁷立時可怕的夢境擾亂他們，想不到的恐懼，臨到他們身上，	¹⁷Then, forthwith, visions in horrible dreams perturbed them and unexpected fears assailed them;
¹⁸都半死半活的一個倒在這裏，一個跌在那裏，宣佈他們死亡的原因；	¹⁸And cast half-dead, one here, another there, each was revealing the reason for his dying.
¹⁹因為那些驚嚇他們的惡夢，已預先通知了他們，免得他們死了，還不知道自己究竟為什麼遭了難。	¹⁹For the dreams that disturbed them had proclaimed this beforehand, lest they perish unaware of why they suffered ill.
²⁰義人也嚐試過死亡的折磨，有許多人，在荒野裏，也遭受過災殃；但天主的怒氣並沒有持久，	²⁰But the trial of death touched at one time even the just, and in the desert a plague struck the multitude; Yet not for long did the anger last.
²¹因為無可指摘的人，迅速出頭，代為庇護，以自己的職責作盾牌，用祈禱和贖罪的馨香，阻止了天主的憤怒，使災難停止，顯示出他是你的僕人。	²¹ For the blameless man hastened to be their champion, bearing the weapon of his special office, prayer and the propitiation of incense; He withstood the wrath and put a stop to the calamity, showing that he was your servant.
²²他平息了災禍，並不是由於體力，或武器的威能，而是提起上主與祖先所發的誓，所立的約，以言語說服了刑罰人的上主。	²² And he overcame the bitterness not by bodily strength, not by force of arms; But by word he overcame the smiter, recalling the sworn covenants with their fathers.
²³那時，死人枕藉成堆，他站在當中，攔阻了怒氣，中斷了死亡向活人延及的路線。	²³For when corpses had already fallen one on another in heaps, he stood in the midst and checked the anger, and cut off the way to the living.
²⁴因為，在他的長衣上，帶有整個的世界；在四行寶石上，刻著祖先的榮耀；在他頭戴的冠冕上，嵌有你的尊威。	²⁴ For on his full-length robe was the whole world, and the glories of the fathers were carved in four rows upon the stones, and your grandeur was on the crown upon his head.
²⁵施行毀滅者，對這些禮服表示讓步，表示敬畏；只一試怒就夠了。	²⁵To these names the destroyer yielded, and these he feared; for the mere trial of anger was enough.