Greek: Septuagint (LXX)
English: John Barach
English: John Barach
Chapter 2
The Watchman and the Vision
Waiting for the Word
| 1 ἐπὶ τῆς φυλακῆς μου στήσομαι καὶ ἐπιβήσομαι ἐπὶ πέτραν καὶ ἀποσκοπεύσω τοῦ ἰδεῖν τί λαλήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τί ἀποκριθῶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἔλεγχόν μου. | 2:1 I will stand at my watch and mount upon a rock; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak in me, and what I might answer regarding my argument. |
The Decree to Write
| 2 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη πρός με κύριος καὶ εἶπεν γράψον ὅρασιν καὶ σαφῶς ἐπὶ πυξίον, ὅπως διώκῃ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων αὐτά. 3 διότι ἔτι ὅρασις εἰς καιρὸν καὶ ἀνατελεῖ εἰς πέρας καὶ οὐκ εἰς κενόν· ἐὰν ὑστερήσῃ, ὑπόμεινον αὐτόν, ὅτι ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ μὴ χρονίσῃ. | 2 And the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision, and do so clearly upon a tablet (pyxion), so that the one reading them may run. 3 For the vision is yet for a set time, and it shall rise up at the end, and not in vain; if it should tarry, wait for him, for he will surely come and will not delay." |
The Contrast of Souls
Faith vs. Arrogance
| 4 ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ· ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται. 5 ὁ δὲ κατοινωμένος καὶ καταφρονητὴς ἀνὴρ ἀλαζών οὐδὲν μὴ περάνῃ, ὃς ἐπλάτυνεν καθὼς ὁ ᾅδης τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὗτος ὡς θάνατος οὐκ ἐμπιπλάμενος καὶ ἐπισυνάξει ἐπ' αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ εἰσδέξεται πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντας τοὺς λαούς. | 4 "If he should shrink back (yposteilētai), my soul has no pleasure in him; but the righteous shall live by my faith (ek pisteōs mou). 5 But the wine-drunkard and the scorner, the boastful man, shall accomplish nothing; he who has enlarged his soul like Hades, and like death he is never satisfied; he will gather to himself all the nations and receive to himself all the peoples." |
The First Woe: Greedy Accumulation
| 6 οὐχὶ ταῦτα πάντα παραβολὴν κατ' αὐτοῦ λήμψονται καὶ πρόβλημα εἰς διήγησιν αὐτοῦ; καὶ ἐροῦσιν οὐαὶ ὁ πληθύνων ἑαυτῷ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα αὐτοῦ — ἕως τίνος; — καὶ βαρύνων τὸν κλοιὸν αὐτοῦ στιβαρῶς. 7 ὅτι ἐξαίφνης ἀναστήσονται δάκνοντες αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκνήψουσιν οἱ ἐπίβουλοί σου, καὶ ἔσῃ εἰς διαρπαγὴν αὐτοῖς. 8 διότι σὺ ἐσκύλευσας ἔθνη πολλά, σκυλεύσουσίν σὲ πάντες οἱ ὑπολελειμμένοι λαοὶ δι' αἵματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀσεβείας γῆς καὶ πόλεως καὶ πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν. | 6 "Will not all these take up a parable against him, and a riddle for a narrative about him? And they will say: 'Woe to him who multiplies for himself things that are not his—for how long?—and who weighs down his collar heavily!' 7 For suddenly those who bite him shall rise up, and those who plot against you shall wake up sober (eknēpsousin), and you shall be for a plunder to them. 8 Because you have despoiled many nations, all the remaining peoples shall despoil you, because of the blood of men and the ungodliness of the land, of the city, and of all who dwell in it." |
Woes Against the Unjust Builder
The Second Woe: False Security
| 9 ὦ ὁ πλεονεκτῶν πλεονεξίαν κακὴν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τάξαι εἰς ὕψος νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐκσπασθῆναι ἐκ χειρὸς κακῶν. 10 ἐβουλεύσω αἰσχύνην τῷ οἴκῳ σου, συνεπέρανας λαοὺς πολλούς, καὶ ἐξήμαρτεν ἡ ψυχή σου· 11 διότι λίθος ἐκ τοίχου βοήσεται, καὶ κάνθαρος ἐκ ξύλου φθέγξεται αὐτά. | 9 "Woe to him who gains an evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be plucked out of the hand of evils! 10 You have purposed shame for your house; you have made an end of many peoples, and your soul has sinned. 11 For the stone shall cry out from the wall, and the beetle (kantharos) from the timber shall call these things out." |
The Third Woe: Violence and Vanity
| 12 οὐαὶ ὁ οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν ἐν αἵμασιν καὶ ἑτοιμάζων πόλιν ἐν ἀδικίαις. 13 οὐ ταῦτά ἐστιν παρὰ κυρίου παντοκράτορος; καὶ ἐξέλιπον λαοὶ ἱκανοὶ ἐν πυρί, καὶ ἔθνη πολλὰ ὠλιγοψύχησαν. 14 ὅτι πλησθήσεται ἡ γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὴν δόξαν κυρίου, ὡς ὕδωρ κατακαλύψει αὐτούς. | 12 "Woe to him who builds a city with blood and prepares a city with injustices! 13 Are these things not from the Lord Almighty? And many peoples have failed in the fire, and many nations have become faint-hearted. 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as water shall cover them." |
Woes Against the Drunken Tyrant and the Idolater
The Fourth Woe: Exploitation
| 15 ὦ ὁ ποτίζων τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἀνατροπῇ θολερᾷ καὶ μεθύσκων, ὅπως ἐπιβλέπῃ ἐπὶ τὰ σπήλαια αὐτῶν. 16 πλησμονὴν ἀτιμίας ἐκ δόξης πίε καὶ σὺ καὶ διασαλεύθητι καὶ σείσθητι· ἐκύκλωσεν ἐπὶ σὲ ποτήριον δεξιᾶς κυρίου, καὶ συνήχθη ἀτιμία ἐπὶ τὴν δόξαν σου. 17 διότι ἀσέβεια τοῦ Λιβάνου καλύψει σε, καὶ ταλαιπωρία θηρίων πτοήσει σὲ διὰ αἵματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀσεβείας γῆς καὶ πόλεως καὶ πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν. | 15 "Woe to him who gives his neighbor a murky draft to drink, and makes him drunk so that he may look upon their caves (spēlaia). 16 Drink a surfeit of dishonor instead of glory—and you, be shaken and tremble! The cup of the Lord’s right hand has come around to you, and dishonor has gathered upon your glory. 17 For the ungodliness of Lebanon shall cover you, and the misery of wild beasts shall terrify you because of the blood of men and the ungodliness of the land, of the city, and of all who dwell in it." |
The Fifth Woe: The Silent Idols
| 18 τί ὠφελεῖ γλυπτόν, ὅτι ἔγλυψαν αὐτό; ἔπλασαν αὐτὸ χώνευμα, φαντασίαν ψευδῆ, ὅτι πέποιθεν ὁ πλάσας ἐπὶ τὸ πλάσμα αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιῆσαι εἴδωλα κωφά. | 18 "What does a graven image profit, that they have carved it? They fashioned it as a molten thing, a false fantasy (phantasian pseudē); for the one who fashioned it trusts in his fashioning, to make dumb idols! |
| 19 οὐαὶ ὁ λέγων τῷ ξύλῳ ἔκνηψον ἐξεγέρθητι, καὶ τῷ λίθῳ ὑψώθητι· καὶ αὐτό ἐστιν φαντασία, τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἔλασμα χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου, καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ. | 19 Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Wake up! Arise!' and to the stone, 'Be exalted!' This very thing is a fantasy; this is a plating of gold and silver, and there is no spirit (pneuma) at all in it." |
The Divine Presence
| 20 ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐν ναῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ· εὐλαβείσθω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ. | 20 "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth stand in awe before His face." |