< Isaiah 40 >

1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.
あなたがたの神は言われる、「慰めよ、わが民を慰めよ、
2 "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins."
ねんごろにエルサレムに語り、これに呼ばわれ、その服役の期は終り、そのとがはすでにゆるされ、そのもろもろの罪のために二倍の刑罰を主の手から受けた」。
3 The voice of one who calls out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD. Make his roads straight.
呼ばわる者の声がする、「荒野に主の道を備え、さばくに、われわれの神のために、大路をまっすぐにせよ。
4 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level, and the rough places a plain.
もろもろの谷は高くせられ、もろもろの山と丘とは低くせられ、高底のある地は平らになり、険しい所は平地となる。
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see the salvation of God together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
こうして主の栄光があらわれ、人は皆ともにこれを見る。これは主の口が語られたのである」。
6 The voice of one saying, "Cry." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
声が聞える、「呼ばわれ」。わたしは言った、「なんと呼ばわりましょうか」。「人はみな草だ。その麗しさは、すべて野の花のようだ。
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
主の息がその上に吹けば、草は枯れ、花はしぼむ。たしかに人は草だ。
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the LORD stands forever."
草は枯れ、花はしぼむ。しかし、われわれの神の言葉はとこしえに変ることはない」。
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Look, your God."
よきおとずれをシオンに伝える者よ、高い山にのぼれ。よきおとずれをエルサレムに伝える者よ、強く声をあげよ、声をあげて恐れるな。ユダのもろもろの町に言え、「あなたがたの神を見よ」と。
10 Look, the LORD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
見よ、主なる神は大能をもってこられ、その腕は世を治める。見よ、その報いは主と共にあり、そのはたらきの報いは、そのみ前にある。
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
主は牧者のようにその群れを養い、そのかいなに小羊をいだき、そのふところに入れて携えゆき、乳を飲ませているものをやさしく導かれる。
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
だれが、たなごころをもって海をはかり、指を伸ばして天をはかり、地のちりを枡に盛り、てんびんをもって、もろもろの山をはかり、はかりをもって、もろもろの丘をはかったか。
13 Who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has instructed him as his counselor?
だれが、主の霊を導き、その相談役となって主を教えたか。
14 From whom did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?
主はだれと相談して悟りを得たか。だれが主に公義の道を教え、知識を教え、悟りの道を示したか。
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Look, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
見よ、もろもろの国民は、おけの一しずくのように、はかりの上のちりのように思われる。見よ、主は島々を、ほこりのようにあげられる。
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
レバノンは、たきぎに足りない、またその獣は、燔祭に足りない。
17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
主のみ前には、もろもろの国民は無きにひとしい。彼らは主によって、無きもののように、むなしいもののように思われる。
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
それで、あなたがたは神をだれとくらべ、どんな像と比較しようとするのか。
19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
偶像は細工人が鋳て造り、鍛冶が、金をもって、それをおおい、また、これがために銀の鎖を造る。
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.
貧しい者は、ささげ物として朽ちることのない木を選び、巧みな細工人を求めて、動くことのない像を立たせる。
21 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?
あなたがたは知らなかったか。あなたがたは聞かなかったか。初めから、あなたがたに伝えられなかったか。地の基をおいた時から、あなたがたは悟らなかったか。
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
主は地球のはるか上に座して、地に住む者をいなごのように見られる。主は天を幕のようにひろげ、これを住むべき天幕のように張り、
23 who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
また、もろもろの君を無きものとせられ、地のつかさたちを、むなしくされる。
24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
彼らは、かろうじて植えられ、かろうじてまかれ、その幹がかろうじて地に根をおろしたとき、神がその上を吹かれると、彼らは枯れて、わらのように、つむじ風にまき去られる。
25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
聖者は言われる、「それで、あなたがたは、わたしをだれにくらべ、わたしは、だれにひとしいというのか」。
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their host by number. He calls them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
目を高くあげて、だれが、これらのものを創造したかを見よ。主は数をしらべて万軍をひきいだし、おのおのをその名で呼ばれる。その勢いの大いなるにより、またその力の強きがゆえに、一つも欠けることはない。
27 Why do you say, Jacob, and why do you assert, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"
ヤコブよ、何ゆえあなたは、「わが道は主に隠れている」と言うか。イスラエルよ、何ゆえあなたは、「わが訴えはわが神に顧みられない」と言うか。
28 And now, haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
あなたは知らなかったか、あなたは聞かなかったか。主はとこしえの神、地の果の創造者であって、弱ることなく、また疲れることなく、その知恵ははかりがたい。
29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
弱った者には力を与え、勢いのない者には強さを増し加えられる。
30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
年若い者も弱り、かつ疲れ、壮年の者も疲れはてて倒れる。
31 But those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
しかし主を待ち望む者は新たなる力を得、わしのように翼をはって、のぼることができる。走っても疲れることなく、歩いても弱ることはない。

< Isaiah 40 >