滅所多瑪

The DestructionofSodom

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinths¹of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the opening of his tent in the heat of the day， he looked up and saw three men standing in front of him .He ran from the opening of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. “Sirs，”he said， “if I have deserved your favour ， do not pass by my humble²self without a visit .Let me send for some water so that you may wash your feet and rest under a tree; and let me fetch³a little food so that you may refresh⁴yourselves. Afterwards you may continue the journey which has brought you my way .”They said， Do by all means as you say.?So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said， “Take three measures5of flour quickly， knead⁶it and make some cakes.” Then Abraham ran to the cattle， chose a fine tender calf and gave it to a servant， who hurriedly prepared it. He took curds⁷and milk and the calf he had prepared， set it before them， and waited on them himself under the tree while they ate. They asked him where Sarah his wife was ，and he said， There， in the tent.”The stranger said， “About this time next year I will be sure to come back to you， and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the opening of the tent; and he was close beside it .Both Abraham and Sarah had grown very old， and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing. So Sarah laughed to herself and said.“I am past bearing children now that I am past bearing children now that I am out of my time， and my husband is old.”The Lord said to Abraham， Ehy did Sarah laugh. Is anything impossible for the Lord? In due season I will come back to you ， about this time next year， and Sarah shall have a son. ?

The men set out and looked down towards Sodom， and Abraham went with them to start them on their way … So the Lord said， Yhere is a great outcry over Sodom and Gomorrah; their sin is very grave. I must go down and see whether their deeds warrant the outcry which has reached me . I am resolved to know the truth.?When the men turned and went towards Sodom， Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Abraham drew near him and said， Wilt thou really sweep away good and bad together? Suppose there are fifty good men in the city; wilt thou really sweep it away ，and not pardon the place because of the fifty good men? Far be if from thee to do this-to kill good and bad together; for then the good would suffer with the bad .Far be if from thee . Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?”The Lord said， If I find in the city of Sodom fifty good men， I will pardon the whole place for their sake”…Abraham said， “I pray thee not to be angry .O Lord， if I speak just once more: suppose ten can be found there?”He said， For the sake ofthe ten I will not destroy it.”The two angels came to Sodom in the evening ，and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them he said， “I pray you ，sirs ，turn aside to my humble home， spend the night there and wash your feet ;you can rise early and continue you journey.”No，“they answered， We will spend the night in the street.”But Lot was so insistent¹³that they did turn aside and enter his house .He prepared a meal for them ，baking unleavened¹⁴cakes， and they ate them. Before they lay down to sleep， the men of Sodom， both young and old， surrounded the house-veryone without excep-tion. Bring them out，”they shouted， “so that we can have in-tercourse¹⁵with them.

“Lot went out into the doorway to them， closed the door behind him and said， “No， my friends， do not be so wicked. Look， I have two daughters， both ，virgins; let me bring them out to you ，and you can do what you like with them; but do not touch these men， because they have come under the shelter16 of my roof .”They said， “But of our way! This man has come and settled here as an alien， and does he now take it upon himself to judge us? We will treat you worse than them.?They crowded in on the man Lot and pressed close to smash¹⁷in the door. But the two men inside reached out ，pulled Lot in ，and closed the door. Then they struck the men in the doorway with blindness， both small and great， so that they could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot. “Have you anyone else here， son-sin-law¹⁸，sons， or daughters ，of any who belong to you in the city? Get them out of this place， because we are going to destroy it.?As soon as it was dawn ，the angels urged Lot to go. When he lingered¹⁹ they took him by the hand ，with his wife and his daughters， and， because the Lord had spared him， led him on until he was outside the city . When they had brought them out， they said ，“Flee for your lives; do not look back and do not stop anywhere in the Plain .Flee to the hills or you will be swept away.”And then the Lord rained down fire and brim-stone20 from the skies on Sodom and Gomorrah .He overthrew those cities and destroyed all the Plain， with everyone living there and everything growing in the ground. But Lot’s wife， behind him， looked back， and she turned into a pillar21of salt.

注 解

1、Terebinthn.[植]松節油

2、Humble adj. 卑下的，微賤的，謙遜的，粗陋的

3、Fetchvt. 接來，取來，帶來

4、Refreshv. (使)精神振作，（使）精力恢復，更新

5、Measure n. 尺寸，量度器，量度標準，方法，測量，措施

6、Kneadvt. 揉（面等）成團，捏制（面包、陶器等），按摩，捏制

7、Curd n.（常用復數）凝塊，凝乳，凝結物

8、Warrantvt. 保證，辯解，擔保，批準，使有正當理由

9、Sweep away一掃而空

10、Pardonvt.原諒，寬恕

11、Suffervt. 遭受，經歷，忍受vi.受痛苦，受損害

12、For the sake of為了……的緣故

13、Insistent adj. 堅持不懈的

14、Unleavened adj. 未經發酵的，沒放酵粉的，未受激發的

15、Intercourse n. 交往，交流

16、Sheltern. 掩蔽處，掩蔽，保護，庇護所

17、Smash v. 打碎，粉碎 n. 打碎，粉碎

18、Sons-in-law 女婿

19、Lingerv. 逗留，閑蕩，拖延，游移

20、Brimstonen.硫黃

21、Pilla n.[建]柱子，棟梁，重要的支持者

天主在幔利的篤薅香樹帝國出現在亞伯拉罕面前。當時氣候正炎熱，亞伯拉罕坐在帳篷門口，抬頭看見有三個人站在他面前。于是他從帳篷門口跑過去招呼他們，他深鞠一躬說：“先生們，如不厭棄，就請到我那里歇息一會。我會叫人去取些水來，這樣你們就可以洗洗腳，在樹下歇息歇息。我去取些食物來，你們吃了可以神清氣爽。然后你們再繼續你們的行程。”他們說：“那就遵照你說的去做吧。”亞伯拉罕就趕快回帳篷去對撒拉說：“快量三碗面粉去做些餅。”然后，亞伯拉罕又跑到牛群那里，挑選出一頭好牛犢交給仆人，讓他很快把牛犢宰了燒好。亞伯拉罕拿著乳酪、牛奶，烤好的小牛肉，放在客人面前，并在樹下侍候他們飲食。他們問他的妻子撒拉在那里，他說：“在帳篷里邊。”陌生人說：“明年這個時候，我一定會再到你這里來，那時你的妻了撒拉會產下一個兒子。”撒拉此時正在帳篷門口聽著，而陌生人就坐離門不遠的地方。亞伯拉罕和撒拉都很老了，撒拉也過了生育年齡，因此她暗自笑著說：“我已經不會生育的了，已不是當年了。我的丈夫也老了。”天主對亞伯拉罕說：“撒拉為什么要笑？對天主來說還有什么不能辦到的事嗎？到那時候我一定會回來的，明年的此刻，撒拉一定會生個兒子的。”

這幾個人動身走了，朝所多瑪城而去。亞伯拉罕送他們上路。……天主說：“所多瑪和蛾摩拉地方罪孽深重，怨聲已經傳到我耳中。我必須到那里去看看他們的所作所為是否和傳到這里的那樣糟糕。我決定去那里了解真象。”當他們轉身走向所多瑪的時候，亞伯拉罕仍舊站在天主面前。他靠近天主說：“你真的打算把善和惡都一起毀滅，不考慮有五十個好人而赦免它嗎？這決不是你的行為方式，你不會把好壞一起消滅掉的，如果那樣好人就會因壞人而受累。你決不能這樣的。難道主宰世界的你就不主持公道嗎？”天主說：“如果我發現所多瑪城里有五十個好人，我一定會為了他們而赦免全城的。”……亞伯拉罕說： “請不要生氣，天主啊，我還要補充一句：要是在那里只是有十個好人呢？”上帝說：“為了這十個人我也不會毀滅那個城市。”

晚上兩位天使到了所多瑪。羅得正坐城門口。他看見他們說：“請各位先生到敝舍去過夜吧，洗腳歇息，明日早起再繼續趕路。”他們回答說：“不用了，我們就在街上過夜就可以了。”但羅得堅持要請他們，他們就到他家中去了。羅得為他們準備飲食，烤硬餅給他們吃。當他們正要睡覺時，所多瑪的人們年輕和年老的全都來了，他們圍著他的房屋。“把他們交出來”，他們喊道，“我們要讓他們嘗嘗我們的厲害。”

羅得走到門口，先把門關上，說：“不，朋友們，不要這么不講道理，聽著，我有兩個女兒，都是處女。我把她們帶出來交給你們。你們可以對她們任意處置，但不要傷害這兩個來人，因為他們是我家的客人。”這群人說：“滾開！你這個人來這里定居，只不過是個外地人。現在居然指責我們？我們對你會比那兩個更厲害。”他們一擁而上，向羅得沖來，要把門砸破。這時屋里的兩人立刻出來把羅得拉進門里，關上門。接著，他們使門外的人不論多少眼睛全都變瞎，看不到門在哪里。

這兩人對羅得說：“你這里還有其他親戚嗎？有女婿、兒子、女兒、或者任何家人嗎？把他們帶走，離開這個地方，因為我們要毀滅這座城市。這城市名聲狼藉，天主派我們來毀滅它的。”

天剛亮，天使們就催羅得趕快離開。正當他舍不得離開時，他們就拉著他的手，把他和妻女一起領到城外；因為天主赦免了他。到了城外，他們說：“逃命吧，不要回頭看，也不要在這平原上停留。逃上山去吧，不然你就會被毀滅的。”接著，天主把火和硫磺象雨一般灑落在所多瑪和蛾摩拉那里。他把這兩座城市變成了平地，摧毀了整個平原。那里的每一個生靈和地上生長的作物都一無存在，羅得的妻子走在最后，她回頭瞧了瞧就立刻變成了一根鹽柱。