but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say,‘ Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all this.’”

惟恐仇敌惹动我，只怕敌人错看，说：‘是我们手的能力，并非耶和华所行的。’

惟恐仇敌挑衅，他们的敌人误解，说，我们的手得胜了，这一切并非耶和华做的。’

惟恐仇敌挑衅，他们的敌人误解，说，我们的手得胜了，这一切并非耶和华做的。’

但我不愿让敌人夸口，宣称这是他们的胜利，而非我的作为。’

但我惧怕仇人激动我，恐怕敌人误会了，又恐怕他们说：“是我们的手高举了，并不是耶和华作了这一切事。”’

惟恐仇敵惹動我，只怕敵人錯看，說：是我們手的能力，並非耶和華所行的。

惟恐仇敵挑釁，他們的敵人誤解，說，我們的手得勝了，這一切並非耶和華做的。』

惟恐仇敵挑釁，他們的敵人誤解，說，我們的手得勝了，這一切並非耶和華做的。』

但我不願讓敵人誇口，宣稱這是他們的勝利，而非我的作為。』

但我懼怕仇人激動我，恐怕敵人誤會了，又恐怕他們說：“是我們的手高舉了，並不是耶和華作了這一切事。”’

第恐敵人激我、仇人誤視、自謂我手力大、非耶和華所行、

然我慮敵驕肆、佯不知我所作為、反自伐其大能、謂非耶和華所行。

第恐仇人使我忿懥、或作第恐仇人狂怒恐其敵人不認根由、恐敵自謂己手力大、謂此諸事非主所行、

But I was afraid their enemies would make fun of that. I was afraid their attackers would not understand. I was sure they would say,‘ We’re the ones who’ve beaten them! The Lord isn’t the one who did it.’ ”

had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say,“ Our hand is triumphant, it was not the Lord who did all this.”’

But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy, who might misunderstand and say,“ Our own power has triumphed! The Lord had nothing to do with this!”’

if I had not feared provocation from the enemy, or feared that these foes might misunderstand and say,‘ Our own hand has prevailed; it wasn’t the LORD who did all this.’”

Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say,“ Our hand is triumphant, And the Lord has not performed all this.” ’

Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should misunderstand, Lest they should say,“ Our hand is high; And it is not the Lord who has done all this.”’

Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should judge amiss, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, And Jehovah hath not done all this.

if I had not feared insult from the enemy, or feared that these foes might misunderstand and say:‘ Our own hand has prevailed; it wasn’t the Lord who did all this.’”

Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely,[ and] lest they should say, Our hand[ is] high, and the LORD hath not done all this.

But I fear the reaction of their enemies, for their adversaries would misunderstand and say,“ Our power is great, and the LORD has not done all this!”’

were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say,‘ Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’”

Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord; do not let their plans succeed.

For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.Why do the nations say,“ Where is their God?”

You said,‘ I am forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.

Why should the Egyptians say,‘ It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

Then the angel who was speaking to me said,“ Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says:‘ I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’

Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them— the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:“ Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.“ It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:“ Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”“‘ But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said,“ The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

“ I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

“ But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.

The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

“ Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says,‘ Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’

he said,“ Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven,“ This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him:“ What have you done?”At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her.“ Look, Lord, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”

“‘ Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws— by which the person who obeys them will live— and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness.But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,‘ The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

‘ Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.‘ Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say,“ I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.For he says:“‘ By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!