箴言 1
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
箴言的價值
1 這是大衛的兒子以色列王所羅門的箴言。
2 為使人認識智慧和教誨，
領悟真知灼見；
3 為使人接受勸誡，
為人處事仁義、公平、正直；
4 使愚昧人明智，
使青年有知識和明辨力；
5 使智者聽了長學問，
明哲聽了得指引；
6 使人領悟箴言和比喻，
明白智者的話和謎語。
7 知識始於敬畏耶和華，
愚人輕視智慧和教誨。
8 孩子啊，
你要聽從父親的教誨，
不可背棄母親的訓言。
9 因為這要作你頭上的華冠，
頸上的項鏈。
10 孩子啊，惡人若引誘你，
千萬不要聽從。
11 他們若說：「跟我們來吧，
我們去埋伏殺人，
暗害無辜者取樂；
12 我們要像陰間一樣生吞他們，
整個吞沒他們，
使他們如墜入墳墓的人；
13 我們必得到各樣寶物，
把戰利品裝滿我們的房屋。
14 跟我們一起幹吧，
大家有福同享！」
15 孩子啊，
不要走他們的道，
切莫行他們的路。
16 因為他們奔向罪惡，
急速地去殺人流血。
17 在飛鳥眼前設網羅，徒勞無功。
18 他們埋伏，卻自流己血；
他們伏擊，卻自害己命。
19 這就是貪愛不義之財者的結局，
不義之財終要奪去他們的性命。
智慧的勸誡
20 智慧在大街上高喊，
在廣場上揚聲，
21 在熱鬧的市集宣告，
在城門口演說：
22 「你們愚昧人喜愛愚昧，
嘲諷者以嘲弄為樂，
無知者厭惡知識，
要到什麼時候呢？
23 你們若因我的責備而回轉，
我就向你們顯明我的旨意[a]，
叫你們明白我的話語。
24 我呼喚你們，
你們卻充耳不聞；
我向你們招手，
你們卻視若無睹。
25 你們漠視我的勸誡，
不接受我的責備。
26 因此，
你們遭遇災難時，
我必發笑；
驚恐臨到你們時，
我必嗤笑——
27 那時，恐懼如風暴襲擊你們，
災難如旋風臨到你們，
憂愁和苦難吞沒你們。
28 你們呼求我，
我也不回答；
你們懇切地尋找我，
卻找不到。
29 因為你們厭惡知識，
不願意敬畏耶和華，
30 不接受我的勸誡，
又藐視我的責備。
31 所以，你們必自食其果，
因自己的惡謀而吃盡苦頭。
32 愚昧人背離正道，
自招滅亡；
愚頑人逍遙自在，
毀掉自己。
33 然而，那聽從我的必安然居住，
得享安寧，
不怕災禍。」
Footnotes
- 1·23 「我就向你們顯明我的旨意」希伯來文是「我就將我的靈澆灌你們」。
Proverbs 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. Title and Introduction
Chapter 1
Purpose of the Proverbs of Solomon[a]
1 The proverbs[b] of Solomon,(A) the son of David,
king of Israel:
2 That people may know wisdom and discipline,[c]
may understand intelligent sayings;
3 May receive instruction in wise conduct,
in what is right, just and fair;
4 That resourcefulness may be imparted to the naive,[d]
knowledge and discretion to the young.
5 The wise by hearing them will advance in learning,
the intelligent will gain sound guidance,
6 To comprehend proverb and byword,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 Fear of the Lord[e] is the beginning of knowledge;(B)
fools despise wisdom and discipline.
II. Instructions of Parents and of Woman Wisdom
The Path of the Wicked: Greed and Violence[f]
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and reject not your mother’s teaching;
9 A graceful diadem will they be for your head;
a pendant for your neck.
10 My son, should sinners entice you,
11 do not go if they say, “Come along with us!
Let us lie in wait for blood,
unprovoked, let us trap the innocent;
12 Let us swallow them alive, like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the pit!
13 All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain,
we shall fill our houses with booty;
14 Cast in your lot with us,
we shall all have one purse!”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,
hold back your foot from their path!
16 [For their feet run to evil,
they hasten to shed blood.(C)]
17 In vain a net is spread[g]
right under the eyes of any bird—
18 They lie in wait for their own blood,
they set a trap for their own lives.
19 This is the way of everyone greedy for loot:
it takes away their lives.
Wisdom in Person Gives a Warning[h]
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the open squares she raises her voice;(D)
21 Down the crowded ways she calls out,
at the city gates she utters her words:
22 [i]“How long, you naive ones, will you love naivete,
23 How long will you turn away at my reproof?
[The arrogant delight in their arrogance,
and fools hate knowledge.]
Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit,
I will acquaint you with my words:
24 ‘Because I called and you refused,
extended my hand and no one took notice;(E)
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
and my reproof you ignored—
26 I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom;
will mock when terror overtakes you;
27 When terror comes upon you like a storm,
and your doom approaches like a whirlwind;
when distress and anguish befall you.’
28 Then they will call me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me, but will not find me,
29 Because they hated knowledge,
and the fear of the Lord they did not choose.
30 They ignored my counsel,
they spurned all my reproof;
31 Well, then, they shall eat the fruit[j] of their own way,
and with their own devices be glutted.
32 For the straying of the naive kills them,
the smugness of fools destroys them.
33 But whoever obeys me dwells in security,
in peace, without fear of harm.”(F)
Footnotes
- 1:1–7 The prologue explains the purpose of the book. The book has a sapiential, ethical, and religious dimension: to bring the inexperienced to knowledge and right conduct, to increase the facility of those already wise for interpreting proverbs, parables and riddles, and to encourage the fulfillment of one’s duties to God.
- 1:1 Proverbs: the Hebrew word mashal is broader than English “proverb,” embracing the instructions of chaps. 1–9 and the sayings, observations, and comparisons of chaps. 10–31.
- 1:2 Discipline: education or formation which dispels ignorance and corrects vice. Note the reprise of v. 2a in v. 7b.
- 1:4 Naive: immature, inexperienced, sometimes the young, hence easily influenced for good or evil.
- 1:7 Fear of the Lord: primarily a disposition rather than the emotion of fear; reverential awe and respect toward God combined with obedience to God’s will.
- 1:8–19 A parental warning to a young person leaving home, for them to avoid the company of the greedy and violent. Two ways lie before the hearer, a way that leads to death and a way that leads to life. The trap which the wicked set for the innocent (v. 11) in the end takes away the lives of the wicked themselves (v. 19). This theme will recur especially in chaps. 1–9. A second theme introduced here is that of founding (or managing) a household and choosing a spouse. A third theme is the human obstacles to attaining wisdom. Here (and in 2:12–15 and 4:10–19), the obstacle is men (always in the plural); in 2:16–19; 5:1–6; 6:20–35; chap. 7; 9:13–18, the obstacle to the quest is the “foreign” woman (always in the singular).
- 1:17 A difficult verse. The most probable interpretation is that no fowler lifts up the net so the bird can see it. The verse might be paraphrased: God does not let those who walk on evil paths see the net that will entrap them. The passive construction (“a net is spread”) is sometimes used to express divine activity. Verse 16 is a later attempt to add clarity. It is a quotation from Is 59:7 and is not in the best Greek manuscripts.
- 1:20–33
Wisdom is personified as in chaps. 8 and 9:1–6. With divine authority she proclaims the moral order, threatening to leave to their own devices those who disregard her invitation. All three speeches of Woman Wisdom have common features: a setting in city streets; an audience of simple or naive people; a competing appeal (chap. 7 is the competing appeal for chap. 8); an invitation to a relationship that brings long life, riches, repute.
The structure of the speeches is: A: setting (vv. 20–21); B: Wisdom’s withdrawal, rebuke and announcement (vv. 22–23); reason and rejection I (vv. 24–27); reason and rejection II (vv. 28–31); summary (v. 32); C: the effects of Wisdom’s presence (v. 33). Wisdom’s opening speech is an extended threat ending with a brief invitation (v. 33). Her second speech is an extended invitation ending with a brief threat (8:36). The surprisingly abrupt and harsh tone of her speech is perhaps to be explained as a response to the arrogant words of the men in the previous scene (1:8–19).
- 1:22–23 There is textual confusion. Verse 22bc (in the third person) is an addition, interrupting vv. 22a and 23a (in the second person). The addition has been put in brackets, to separate it from the original poem. The original verses do not ask for a change of heart but begin to detail the consequences of disobedience to Wisdom.
- 1:31 Eat the fruit: sinners are punished by the consequences of their sins. Wisdom’s voice echoes that of the parents in vv. 8–19. The parents mediate wisdom in vv. 8–19, but here Wisdom herself speaks.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.