イザヤ書 40
1 あなたがたの神は言われる、「慰めよ、わが民を慰めよ、
“Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
2 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」。
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.
3 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。
The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
4 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。
Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.
5 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」。
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 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。
The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 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。
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.
8 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」。
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
9 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。
You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”
10 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。
Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
11 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。
He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.
12 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。
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?
13 だれが、主の霊を導き、その相談役となって主を教えたか。
Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
14 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。
With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him?
15 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。
Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust.
16 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。
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 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。
All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
18 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。
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
19 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。
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 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。
He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
21 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。
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
22 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、
He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.
23 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。
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
24 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。
And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff.
25 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」。
“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
26 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。
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.
27 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。
Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
28 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。
Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.
29 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。
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 年若い者も弱り、かつ疲れ、壮年の者も疲れはてて倒れる。
Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
31 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。
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.
