< エレミヤ書 3 >

1 もし人がその妻を離婚し、女が彼のもとを去って、他人の妻となるなら、その人はふたたび彼女に帰るであろうか。その地は大いに汚れないであろうか。あなたは多くの恋人と姦淫を行った。しかもわたしに帰ろうというのか」と主は言われる。
“[Moses wrote that] if a man divorces his wife and then she marries another man, her first husband certainly must not [RHQ] take her back again [to be his wife], because that would certainly [RHQ] cause the whole nation to become unacceptable to me. But you have more [idols than] prostitutes have men whom they have slept with! So, [why should I accept you if] you return to me?” [RHQ] says Yahweh.
2 「目をあげてもろもろの裸の山を見よ、姦淫を行わなかった所がどこにあるか。荒野にいるアラビヤびとがするように、あなたは道のかたわらに座して恋人を待った。あなたは姦淫の悪事をもって、この地を汚した。
“Look up at the barren hilltops. On every hilltop there are [RHQ] [idols that you have worshiped]. [It is as though] they are all lovers with whom you have had sex. [It is as though] you have sat along the roadsides like an Arab, waiting [to attack and steal things from] those who pass by. Because of worshiping idols and all the other wicked things that you have done, you have caused the [entire] land to become unacceptable to me.
3 それゆえ雨はとどめられ、春の雨は降らなかった。しかもあなたには遊女の額があり、少しも恥じようとはしない。
That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it. But you are like prostitutes [MET] who are not at all ashamed [for what they have done].
4 今あなたは、わたしを呼んで言ったではないか、『わが父よ、あなたはわたしの若い時の友です。
Now each of you says to me, ‘You are my father! You have loved me ever since I was young!
5 永久に怒られるのですか、終りまで憤られるのですか』と。見よ、あなたはこう言ったけれども、なしうるかぎりのもろもろの悪を行った」。
So surely you will not [RHQ] be angry with me forever!’ But you will not quit sinning!”
6 ヨシヤ王の時、主はまたわたしに言われた、「あなたは、かの背信のイスラエルがしたことを見たか。彼女はすべての高い丘にのぼり、すべての青木の下に行って、そこで姦淫を行った。
[One day] when Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh said to me, “Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have turned away from me, like a woman who has abandoned her husband and sleeps with other men. They have gone up on every hilltop and under every big tree and worshiped idols there [MET].
7 わたしは、彼女がこのすべてを行った後、わたしの所に帰るであろうと思ったが、帰ってこなかった。その不信の姉妹ユダはこれを見た。
I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away [to other countries, like a man] writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery [MET].
8 わたしが背信のイスラエルを、そのすべての姦淫のゆえに、離縁状を与えて出したのをユダは見た。しかもその不信の姉妹ユダは恐れず、自分も行って姦淫を行った。
The people of Judah saw what I did to them. But they are just like the people of Israel. They are not afraid [of what I will do to them]. They also [have turned away from me and are worshiping idols like] women who abandon their husbands and go to other men [MET].
9 彼女にとって姦淫は軽いことであったので、石と木とに姦淫を行って、この地を汚した。
They thought that worshiping idols did not matter to me, so they have made the [entire] land unacceptable to me by worshiping idols of wood and stone.
10 このすべての事があっても、なおその不信の姉妹ユダは真心をもってわたしに帰らない、ただ偽っているだけだ」と主は言われる。
The people of Judah have pretended to return to me, but they have not really done that. [This is true because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
11 主はまたわたしに言われた、「背信のイスラエルは不信のユダよりも自分の罪の少ないことを示した。
Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Israel have turned away from me, but what the people of Judah have done is worse.
12 あなたは行って北にむかい、この言葉をのべて言うがよい、『主は言われる、背信のイスラエルよ、帰れ。わたしは怒りの顔をあなたがたに向けない、わたしはいつくしみ深い者である。いつまでも怒ることはしないと、主は言われる。
So go and tell this to the people of Israel: ‘Yahweh says this to you Israeli people who have turned away from him: I am merciful. I will not continue to be angry with you forever. So return to me.
13 ただあなたは自分の罪を認め、あなたの神、主にそむいてすべての青木の下で異なる神々にあなたの愛を惜しまず与えたこと、わたしの声に聞き従わなかったことを言いあらわせと、主は言われる。
But you must admit/say that you are guilty, and that you have rebelled against me, Yahweh, your God, that you have worshiped idols under big trees everywhere, and you have not obeyed me. You have turned away from me.
14 主は言われる、背信の子らよ、帰れ。わたしはあなたがたの夫だからである。町からひとり、氏族からふたりを取って、あなたがたをシオンへ連れて行こう。
But you belong to me. So I will take you, one from [each] city and two from [each] clan, and bring you [back] to Jerusalem [from the countries to which you were exiled].
15 わたしは自分の心にかなう牧者たちをあなたがたに与える。彼らは知識と悟りとをもってあなたがたを養う。
[If you do that], I will appoint for you leaders with whom I am pleased, leaders who will guide you [well] because they will know and understand [what pleases me].
16 主は言われる、あなたがたが地に増して多くなるとき、その日には、人々はかさねて「主の契約の箱」と言わず、これを思い出さず、これを覚えず、これを尋ねず、これを作らない。
And when you become very numerous [DOU] in your land, you will not need to talk about the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments. You will not think about it, and you will not want to make a new one.
17 そのときエルサレムは主のみ位ととなえられ、万国の民はここに集まる。すなわち主の名のもとにエルサレムに集まり、かさねて、かたくなに自分の悪い心に従うことはしない。
At that time people will say, “Jerusalem is [the place where] Yahweh’s throne is.” [People from] all nations will come there to worship me. And they will no longer stubbornly do the evil things that they desire.
18 その日には、ユダの家はイスラエルの家と一緒になり、北の地から出て、わたしがあなたがたの先祖たちに嗣業として与えた地に共に来る。
At that time you people [MTY] of Israel and the people of Judah will return from [being (exiled/forced to live) in] lands to the northeast. You will return to the land that I gave to your ancestors to belong to them [forever].
19 どのようにして、あなたをわたしの子どもたちのうちに置き、万国のうちで最も美しい嗣業である良い地をあなたに与えようかと、わたしは思っていた。わたしはまた、あなたがわたしを「わが父」と呼び、わたしに従って離れることはないと思っていた。
You people of Israel, I wanted to accept you to be my children. I wanted to give you [this] delightful land. It is a land more desirable/pleasant than the land of any other nation! I wanted you to call me ‘father’, and I wanted you to never turn away from me.
20 イスラエルの家よ、背信の妻が夫のもとを去るように、たしかに、あなたがたはわたしにそむいた』と主は言われる」。
But you have abandoned me like wives who have abandoned their husbands.’” [That is what] Yahweh said, and [I told it] to the people of Israel.
21 裸の山の上に声が聞える、イスラエルの民が悲しみ祈るのである。彼らが曲った道に歩み、その神、主を忘れたからだ。
People will hear a noise on the barren hilltops. It will be the noise made by people weeping and pleading [for God to be merciful to them]. They will be admitting/saying that they have forgotten Yahweh their God, and that they turned away from behaving as God wanted them to.
22 「背信の子どもたちよ、帰れ。わたしはあなたがたの背信をいやす」。「見よ、われわれはあなたのもとに帰ります。あなたはわれわれの神、主であらせられます。
Yahweh will say to them, “You Israeli people, come back to me! [If you do that], I will cause you to never turn away from me again.” [The people will reply], “We are returning to you, because you are Yahweh, our God.
23 まことに、もろもろの丘は迷いであり、山の上の騒ぎも同じです。まことに、イスラエルの救はわれわれの神、主にあるのです。
We did not get any help from [the idols that we worshiped on] the hilltops; we did not get any help from making all that noise up there.
24 しかし、われわれの幼少の時から、恥ずべきことが、われわれの先祖のほねおって得たもの、すなわちその羊、その牛、およびそのむすこ、娘たちをことごとくのみ尽しました。
From the time when we were young, the shameful [god Baal] has taken away [from us] everything that our ancestors worked hard to acquire. He has taken away their flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle], their sons and their daughters.
25 われわれは恥の中に伏し、はずかしめにおおわれています。それはわれわれと先祖とが、われわれの幼少の時から今日まで、われわれの神、主に罪を犯し、われわれの神、主の声に従わなかったからです」。
So, now we should lie down feeling very ashamed [DOU], because we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our God, and we have never obeyed him.”

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