|
Sirach 1 1 With three things I am delighted, for they are pleasing to the LORD and to men: Harmony among brethren, friendship among neighbors, and the mutual love of husband and wife. 2 Three kinds of men I hate; their manner of life I loathe indeed: A proud pauper, a rich dissembler, and an old man lecherous in his dotage. 3 What you have not saved in your youth, how will you acquire in your old age? 你青年时，没有积蓄，到你老时，你能有什么？ 4 How becoming to the gray-haired is judgment, and a knowledge of counsel to those on in years! 白发老人，善于判断；年高的人，会出主意，是多么美好！ 5 How becoming to the aged is wisdom, understanding and prudence to the venerable! 老年人富有智慧；有荣名的人，聪明而有智谋，何其相称！ 6 The crown of old men is wide experience; their glory, the fear of the LORD. 阅历丰富，是老年人的荣冠；敬畏上主，是他们的光荣。 7 There are nine who come to my mind as blessed, a tenth whom my tongue proclaims: The man who finds joy in his children, and he who lives to see his enemies' downfall. 8 2 Happy is he who dwells with a sensible wife, and he who plows not like a donkey yoked with an ox. Happy is he who sins not with his tongue, and he who serves not his inferior. 能与明智的妇女同居，不使牛驴同轭耕作，口舌没有错过，及不事奉自己属下的人，是有福的； 9 Happy is he who finds a friend and he who speaks to attentive ears. 发现明智，和讲给听众的人，是有福的； 10 He who finds wisdom is great indeed, but not greater than he who fears the LORD. 找到智慧和明智的人，是多么伟大！但是无人能超过敬畏上主的人。 11 Fear of the LORD surpasses all else. its possessor is beyond compare. 敬畏上主，超越一切。 12 3 Worst of all wounds is that of the heart, worst of all evils is that of a woman. 最有损害的，是内心的忧愁；最坏的，是妇女的丑行。 13 Worst of all sufferings is that from one's foes, worst of all vengeance is that of one's enemies: 14 No poison worse than that of a serpent, no venom greater than that of a woman. 没有比蛇毒更毒的，没有比妇女发怒更暴哮的。 15 With a dragon or a lion I would rather dwell than live with an evil woman. 我宁愿与狮龙共处，不愿与恶妇同居。 16 Wickedness changes a woman's looks, and makes her sullen as a female bear. 妇人的邪恶，使自己的脸面变色，变成丑黑，有如熊脸，彷佛麻袋。 17 When her husband sits among his neighbors, a bitter sigh escapes him unawares. 她的丈夫一和近人同坐，她就不由地悲伤叹息。 18 There is scarce any evil like that in a woman; may she fall to the lot of the sinner! 一切恶毒，与妇人的恶毒相比，都算轻微；愿罪人的命运，落在她身上。 19 Like a sandy hill to aged feet is a railing wife to a quiet man. 老年人的脚，难上沙坡；安静的丈夫，难以容忍多言的妻子。 20 Stumble not through woman's beauty, nor be greedy for her wealth; 不要因妇女的美丽，陷于罪过；也不要因她美丽，就贪恋她。 21 The man is a slave, in disgrace and shame, when a wife supports her husband. 22 Depressed mind, saddened face, broken heart--this from an evil wife. Feeble hands and quaking knees-- from a wife who brings no happiness to her husband. 23 4 In woman was sin's beginning, and because of her we all die. 罪恶的起源，来自妇女；为了她，我们都要死亡。 24 Allow water no outlet, and be not indulgent to an erring wife. 不要给水留漏洞，连微小的漏洞也不要留，不要给恶妇任何自由。 25 If she walks not by your side, cut her away from you. Footnotes（注解） 1 [1-11] While praising brotherly love, love of neighbor, and conjugal love, the sage condemns their opposites in the arrogant pauper who despises his brother, the fraudulent rich man who cheats his neighbor, and the lecherous old man unfaithful to his wife (Sirach 25:1, 2). This last, sensual from his youth, lacks the mature blessings of judgment and wisdom in old age (Sirach 25:3-6) and the joy of a peaceful household, where honesty and dignity, friendship, wisdom and fear of God prevail (Sirach 25:7-11). 2 [8] Like a donkey yoked with an ox: incompatibility between husband and wife. 3 [12-25] Wickedness in a woman is most grievous, painful and bitter to her husband. Through it she becomes vengeful, dangerous and intolerable, jealous, talkative, intemperate and unchaste. Even her very appearance is changed (Sirach 25:12-17). The worst of all evils, a source of grief, a snare and a disgrace to her husband, she depresses his mind, saddens and breaks his heart, destroys his strength (Sirach 25:18-22). She must not be indulged but made obedient or punished (Sirach 25:24, 25). 4 [23] According to the account in Genesis 3 to which Ben Sirach refers, sin, the cause of death, originated in woman: Eve, the first human being to sin, induced Adam to follow her example. But it is through Adam, as head of the race, that original sin and its punishment of spiritual death are presented by St. Paul (Romans 5) as having entered the world, to become the occasion for the redemptive work of Christ our Lord. |
|
||||||
    |
||||||
