2 Chronicles
Chapter 15
1 Upon Azariah, son of Oded, came the spirit of God.
那时,天主的神感动了敖德得的儿子阿匝黎雅,
2 He went forth to meet Asa and said to him: "Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him, and if you seek him he will be present to you; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
他便出来迎接阿撒,对他说:"阿撒,全犹大和本雅明人,请听我的话:几时你们与上主同在,上主也与你们同在;如果你们寻求他,他必让你们寻到;但如果你们离弃他,他必离弃你们。
3 For a long time Israel had no true God, no priest-teacher and no law,
将有一段长时期,以色列没有真天主,没有教导的司祭,也没有法律;
4 but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was present to them.
但他们在遭离期间,必回心归向上主,以色列的天主,必寻求他,他必让他们寻到。
5 In that former time there was no peace for anyone to go or come, but there were many terrors upon the inhabitants of the lands.
在那时期内,出入的人,都必得不到平安,各地所有的居民,必要遭受很大的混乱:
6 Nation crushed nation and city crushed city, for God destroyed them by every kind of adversity.
这族攻击那族,这城攻击那城,因为天主必用种种灾祸难为他们。
7 But as for you, be strong and do not relax, for your work shall be rewarded."
至于你们,你们应当坚强,你们的手不要发软,因为你们的作为必获赏报。"
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy (Oded the prophet), he was encouraged to remove the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had taken in the highlands of Ephraim, and to restore the altar of the LORD which was before the vestibule of the LORD.
阿撒一听见这些话和预言,便壮了胆,将在犹大和本雅明全境,以及在厄弗辣因山地所占领的各城内的可憎之物,一概除掉,重修上主门廊前的上主的祭坛,
9 Then he convened all Judah and Benjamin, together with those of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who sojourned with them; for many had fled to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD, his God, was with him.
又召集了犹大和本雅明全民众,以及在他们中间寄居的厄弗辣因人、默纳协人和西默盎人,─因为有许多人由以色列来投奔阿撒,因为他们看见上主,他的天主是与他同在。
10 1 They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign,
阿撒当国第十五年三月,他们聚集在耶路撒冷,
11 and sacrificed to the LORD at that time seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep of the booty they had brought.
当天由所掳获的战利品,取出了七百头牛,七千只羊,祭献给上主,
12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul;
结盟立约,要全心全意寻求上主,他们祖先的天主;
13 and everyone who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
凡不寻求上主以色列天主的,不分老幼,不分男女,一律处死。
14 They swore to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
然后高声欢呼,鸣号吹角,向上主起誓。
15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and sought him with complete desire, so that he was present to them. And the LORD gave them rest on every side.
全犹大人发了这誓,都非常高兴,因为他们是全心起誓,全意寻求上主;因此上主也为他们所寻见,并使他们四境安宁。
16 Maacah, the mother of King Asa, he deposed as queen mother because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah; Asa cut this down, smashed it, and burnt it in the Kidron Valley.
阿撒王废除了他祖母玛阿加作太后的权位,因为她给阿舍辣立了可耻的柱像;阿撒将柱像砍倒,打得粉碎,在克德龙谷焚毁,
17 Although the high places did not disappear from Israel, yet Asa's heart was undivided as long as he lived.
只有以色列的高丘没有废除;阿撒的心一生总是纯全的。
18 He brought into the house of God his father's votive offerings and his own: silver, gold, and various utensils.
他又将他父亲和他自己所献的金银并器具,送入天主的殿内。
19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.
此后,直到阿撒当国三十五年,从没有过战事。
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Footnotes(注解)
1 [10-12] With this description of a covenant ceremony in the third month of a year beginning in the spring, the Chronicler lays a foundation for celebrating the ancient feast of Pentecost (Weeks) as the time for a solemn renewal of the people's covenant with God on Mount Sinai; see Exodus 19:1-3; Lev 23:16 and the note there. This is also the background for Pentecost as the "birthday of the Church."