今日读经

名誉强如美好的膏油

¹名誉强如美好的膏油；人死的日子胜过人生的日子。A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

²往遭丧的家去，强如往宴乐的家去；因为死是众人的结局，活人也必将这事放在心上。It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

³忧愁强如喜笑；因为面带愁容，终必使心喜乐。Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

⁴智慧人的心在遭丧之家；愚昧人的心在快乐之家。The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

智慧人的责备

⁵听智慧人的责备，强如听愚昧人的歌唱。It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.

⁶愚昧人的笑声，好像锅下烧荆棘的爆声；这也是虚空。For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

⁷勒索使智慧人变为愚妄；贿赂能败坏人的慧心。Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸事情的终局强如事情的起头；存心忍耐的，胜过居心骄傲的。The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.

⁹你不要心里急躁恼怒，因为恼怒存在愚昧人的怀中。Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

¹⁰不要说：先前的日子强过如今的日子，是什么缘故呢？你这样问，不是出于智慧。Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

智慧护庇人

¹¹智慧和产业并好，而且见天日的人得智慧更为有益。Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

¹²因为智慧护庇人，好像银钱护庇人一样。惟独智慧能保全智慧人的生命。这就是知识的益处。For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

¹³你要察看　神的作为；因　神使为曲的，谁能变为直呢？Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴遇亨通的日子你当喜乐；遭患难的日子你当思想；因为　神使这两样并列，为的是叫人查不出身后有什么事。In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

不要过分

¹⁵有义人行义，反致灭亡；有恶人行恶，倒享长寿。这都是我在虚度之日中所见过的。In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶不要行义过分，也不要过于自逞智慧，何必自取败亡呢？Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷不要行恶过分，也不要为人愚昧，何必不到期而死呢？Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸你持守这个为美，那个也不要松手；因为敬畏　神的人，必从这两样出来。It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

智慧有能力，人却都有罪

¹⁹智慧使有智慧的人比城中十个官长更有能力。Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰时常行善而不犯罪的义人，世上实在没有。Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹人所说的一切话，你不要放在心上，恐怕听见你的仆人咒诅你。Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.

²²因为你心里知道，自己也曾屡次咒诅别人。For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

寻求智慧却未曾找到

²³我曾用智慧试验这一切事；我说，要得智慧，智慧却离我远。All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.

²⁴万事之理，离我甚远，而且最深，谁能测透呢？What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

²⁵我转念，一心要知道，要考察，要寻求智慧和万事的理由；又要知道邪恶为愚昧，愚昧为狂妄。I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

²⁶我得知有等妇人比死还苦：她的心是网罗，手是锁链。凡蒙　神喜悦的人必能躲避她；有罪的人却被她缠住了。And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

^27–28传道者说：“看哪，一千男子中，我找到一个正直人，但众女子中，没有找到一个。”我将这事一一比较，要寻求其理，我心仍要寻找，却未曾找到。“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

²⁹我所找到的只有一件，就是　神造人原是正直，但他们寻出许多巧计。Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

智慧人遵守王的命令

¹谁如智慧人呢？谁知道事情的解释呢？人的智慧使他的脸发光，并使他脸上的暴气改变。Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

²我劝你遵守王的命令；既指　神起誓，理当如此。Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

³不要急躁离开王的面前，不要固执行恶，因为他凡事都随自己的心意而行。Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.

⁴王的话本有权力，谁敢问他说“你做什么”呢？For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵凡遵守命令的，必不经历祸患；智慧人的心能辨明时候和定理（原文是审判；下节同）。Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

⁶各样事务成就都有时候和定理，因为人的苦难重压在他身上。For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

⁷他不知道将来的事，因为将来如何，谁能告诉他呢？Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

⁸无人有权力掌管生命，将生命留住；也无人有权力掌管死期；这场争战，无人能免；邪恶也不能救那好行邪恶的人。As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

⁹这一切我都见过，也专心查考日光之下所做的一切事。有时这人管辖那人，令人受害。All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

恶人似乎得势

¹⁰我见恶人埋葬，归入坟墓；又见行正直事的离开圣地，在城中被人忘记。这也是虚空。Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.

¹¹因为断定罪名不立刻施刑，所以世人满心作恶。When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

¹²罪人虽然作恶百次，倒享长久的年日；然而我准知道，敬畏　神的，就是在他面前敬畏的人，终久必得福乐。Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

¹³恶人却不得福乐，也不得长久的年日；这年日好像影儿，因他不敬畏　神。Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

¹⁴世上有一件虚空的事，就是义人所遭遇的，反照恶人所行的；又有恶人所遭遇的，反照义人所行的。我说，这也是虚空。There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

称赞快乐

¹⁵我就称赞快乐，原来人在日光之下，莫强如吃喝快乐；因为他在日光之下，　神赐他一生的年日，要从劳碌中，时常享受所得的。So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶我专心求智慧，要看世上所做的事。（有昼夜不睡觉不合眼的。）When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

¹⁷我就看明　神一切的作为，知道人查不出日光之下所做的事；任凭他费多少力寻查，都查不出来，就是智慧人虽想知道，也是查不出来。I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

众人都遭遇死亡

¹我将这一切事放在心上，详细考究，就知道义人和智慧人，并他们的作为都在　神手中；或是爱，或是恨，都在他们的前面，人不能知道。So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.

²凡临到众人的事都是一样：义人和恶人都遭遇一样的事；好人，洁净人和不洁净人，献祭的与不献祭的，也是一样。好人如何，罪人也如何；起誓的如何，怕起誓的也如何。It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

³在日光之下所行的一切事上有一件祸患，就是众人所遭遇的都是一样，并且世人的心充满了恶；活着的时候心里狂妄，后来就归死人那里去了。This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

⁴与一切活人相连的，那人还有指望，因为活着的狗比死了的狮子更强。There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

⁵活着的人知道必死；死了的人毫无所知，也不再得赏赐；他们的名无人记念。For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶他们的爱，他们的恨，他们的嫉妒，早都消灭了。在日光之下所行的一切事上，他们永不再有分了。Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.

欢喜吃喝，尽力做事

⁷你只管去欢欢喜喜吃你的饭，心中快乐喝你的酒，因为　神已经悦纳你的作为。Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

⁸你的衣服当时常洁白，你头上也不要缺少膏油。Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

⁹在你一生虚空的年日，就是　神赐你在日光之下虚空的年日，当同你所爱的妻，快活度日，因为那是你生前在日光之下劳碌的事上所得的分。Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

¹⁰凡你手所当做的事要尽力去做；因为在你所必去的阴间没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧。Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

快跑的未必能赢

¹¹我又转念：见日光之下，快跑的未必能赢；力战的未必得胜；智慧的未必得粮食；明哲的未必得资财；灵巧的未必得喜悦。所临到众人的是在乎当时的机会。I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

¹²原来人也不知道自己的定期。鱼被恶网圈住，鸟被网罗捉住，祸患忽然临到的时候，世人陷在其中也是如此。For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

被遗忘的穷智慧人

¹³我见日光之下有一样智慧，据我看乃是广大，I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

¹⁴就是有一小城，其中的人数稀少，有大君王来攻击，修筑营垒，将城围困。There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

¹⁵城中有一个贫穷的智慧人，他用智慧救了那城，却没有人记念那穷人。Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

¹⁶我就说，智慧胜过勇力；然而那贫穷人的智慧被人藐视，他的话也无人听从。And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

¹⁷宁可在安静之中听智慧人的言语，不听掌管愚昧人的喊声。The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.

¹⁸智慧胜过打仗的兵器；但一个罪人能败坏许多善事。Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

承受产业的孩子

¹我说那承受产业的，虽然是全业的主人，但为孩童的时候却与奴仆毫无分别，What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.

²乃在师傅和管家的手下，直等他父亲预定的时候来到。He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father.

³我们为孩童的时候，受管于世俗小学之下，也是如此。So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.

时候满足，神差遣祂的儿子

⁴及至时候满足，　神就差遣他的儿子，为女子所生，且生在律法以下，But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵要把律法以下的人赎出来，叫我们得着儿子的名分。to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

⁶你们既为儿子，　神就差他儿子的灵进入你们（原文是我们）的心，呼叫：“阿爸！父！”And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

⁷可见，从此以后，你不是奴仆，乃是儿子了；既是儿子，就靠着　神为后嗣。So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.

为何还要作奴仆

⁸但从前你们不认识　神的时候，是给那些本来不是神的作奴仆；Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

⁹现在你们既然认识　神，更可说是被　神所认识的，怎么还要归回那懦弱无用的小学，情愿再给他作奴仆呢？But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

¹⁰你们谨守日子、月份、节期、年份，You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

¹¹我为你们害怕，惟恐我在你们身上是枉费了工夫。I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.

加拉太人当初的接待

¹²弟兄们，我劝你们要像我一样，因为我也像你们一样。你们一点没有亏负我。I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

¹³你们知道我头一次传福音给你们，是因为身体有疾病。You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.

¹⁴你们为我身体的缘故受试炼，没有轻看我，也没有厌弃我，反倒接待我，如同　神的使者，如同基督耶稣。And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

¹⁵你们当日所夸的福气在哪里呢？那时你们若能行，就是把自己的眼睛剜出来给我，也都情愿。这是我可以给你们作见证的。What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

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¹⁶如今我将真理告诉你们，就成了你们的仇敌吗？Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

热心的真假与保罗的苦心

¹⁷那些人热心待你们，却不是好意，是要离间你们（原文是把你们关在外面），叫你们热心待他们。Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.

¹⁸在善事上，常用热心待人原是好的，却不单我与你们同在的时候才这样。Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you.

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¹⁹我小子啊，我为你们再受生产之苦，直等到基督成形在你们心里。My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

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²⁰我巴不得现今在你们那里，改换口气，因我为你们心里作难。how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.

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夏甲和撒拉的比方

²¹你们这愿意在律法以下的人，请告诉我，你们岂没有听见律法吗？Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?

²²因为律法上记着，亚伯拉罕有两个儿子，一个是使女生的，一个是自主之妇人生的。For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

²³然而，那使女所生的是按着血气生的；那自主之妇人所生的是凭着应许生的。His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.

²⁴这都是比方：那两个妇人就是两约。一约是出于西奈山，生子为奴，乃是夏甲。These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.

²⁵这夏甲二字是指着阿拉伯的西奈山，与现在的耶路撒冷同类，因耶路撒冷和她的儿女都是为奴的。Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶但那在上的耶路撒冷是自主的，她是我们的母。But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷因为经上记着：不怀孕、不生养的，你要欢乐；未曾经过产难的，你要高声欢呼；因为没有丈夫的，比有丈夫的儿女更多。For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

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我们是自主妇人的儿女

²⁸弟兄们，我们是凭着应许作儿女，如同以撒一样。Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

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²⁹当时，那按着血气生的逼迫了那按着圣灵生的，现在也是这样。At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.

³⁰然而经上是怎么说的呢？是说：“把使女和她儿子赶出去！因为使女的儿子不可与自主妇人的儿子一同承受产业。”But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

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³¹弟兄们，这样看来，我们不是使女的儿女，乃是自主妇人的儿女了。Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

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