約伯記31:1-40

 

31:1 我與眼睛立約，怎能戀戀瞻望處女呢？
31:2 從至上的上帝所得之分，從至高全能者所得之業是甚麼呢？
31:3 豈不是禍患臨到不義的，災害臨到作孽的呢？
31:4 上帝豈不是察看我的道路，數點我的腳步呢？
31:5 我若與虛謊同行，腳若追隨詭詐；
31:6 （我若被公道的天平稱度，使上帝可以知道我的純正；）
31:7 我的腳步若偏離正路，我的心若隨著我的眼目，若有玷污粘在我手上；
31:8 就願我所種的有別人吃，我田所產的被拔出來。
31:9 我若受迷惑，向婦人起淫念，在鄰舍的門外蹲伏，
31:10 就願我的妻子給別人推磨，別人也與她同室。
31:11 因為這是大罪，是審判官當罰的罪孽。
31:12 這本是火焚燒，直到毀滅，必拔除我所有的家產。
31:13 我的僕婢與我爭辯的時候，我若藐視不聽他們的情節；
31:14 上帝興起，我怎樣行呢？他察問，我怎樣回答呢？
31:15 造我在腹中的，不也是造他嗎？將他與我摶在腹中的豈不是一位嗎？
31:16 我若不容貧寒人得其所願，或叫寡婦眼中失望，
31:17 或獨自吃我一點食物，孤兒沒有與我同吃；
31:18 （從幼年時孤兒與我同長，好像父子一樣；我從出母腹就扶助（原文是引領）寡婦。）
31:19 我若見人因無衣死亡，或見窮乏人身無遮蓋；
31:20 我若不使他因我羊的毛得暖，為我祝福；
31:21 我若在城門口見有幫助我的，舉手攻擊孤兒；
31:22 情願我的肩頭從缺盆骨脫落，我的膀臂從羊矢骨折斷。
31:23 因上帝降的災禍使我恐懼；因他的威嚴，我不能妄為。
31:24 我若以黃金為指望，對精金說：你是我的倚靠；
31:25 我若因財物豐裕，因我手多得資財而歡喜；
31:26 我若見太陽發光，明月行在空中，
31:27 心就暗暗被引誘，口便親手；
31:28 這也是審判官當罰的罪孽，又是我背棄在上的上帝。
31:29 我若見恨我的遭報就歡喜，見他遭災便高興；
31:30 （我沒有容口犯罪，咒詛他的生命；）
31:31 若我帳棚的人未嘗說，誰不以主人的食物吃飽呢？
31:32 （從來我沒有容客旅在街上住宿，卻開門迎接行路的人；）
31:33 我若像亞當（或譯：別人）遮掩我的過犯，將罪孽藏在懷中；
31:34 因懼怕大眾，又因宗族藐視我使我驚恐，以致閉口無言，杜門不出；
31:35 惟願有一位肯聽我！（看哪，在這裡有我所劃的押，願全能者回答我！）
31:36 願那敵我者所寫的狀詞在我這裡！我必帶在肩上，又綁在頭上為冠冕。
31:37 我必向他述說我腳步的數目，必如君王進到他面前。
31:38 我若奪取田地，這地向我喊冤，犁溝一同哭泣；
31:39 我若吃地的出產不給價值，或叫原主喪命；
31:40 願這地長蒺藜代替麥子，長惡草代替大麥。約伯的話說完了。

 

“I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.
² For what is our lot from God above,
    our heritage from the Almighty on high?
³ Is it not ruin for the wicked,
    disaster for those who do wrong?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
    and count my every step?

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood
    or my foot has hurried after deceit—
⁶ let God weigh me in honest scales
    and he will know that I am blameless—
⁷ if my steps have turned from the path,
    if my heart has been led by my eyes,
    or if my hands have been defiled,
⁸ then may others eat what I have sown,
    and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
    or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
    and may other men sleep with her.
¹¹ For that would have been wicked,
    a sin to be judged.
¹² It is a fire that burns to Destruction^[a];
    it would have uprooted my harvest.

¹³ “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
    whether male or female,
    when they had a grievance against me,
¹⁴ what will I do when God confronts me?
    What will I answer when called to account?
¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

¹⁶ “If I have denied the desires of the poor
    or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
¹⁷ if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless—
¹⁸ but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without garments,
²⁰ and their hearts did not bless me
    for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    knowing that I had influence in court,
²² then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
    let it be broken off at the joint.
²³ For I dreaded destruction from God,
    and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

²⁴ “If I have put my trust in gold
    or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
²⁵ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
    the fortune my hands had gained,
²⁶ if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
    or the moon moving in splendor,
²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed
    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
²⁸ then these also would be sins to be judged,
    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
    or gloated over the trouble that came to him—
³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin
    by invoking a curse against their life—
³¹ if those of my household have never said,
    ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—
³² but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
    for my door was always open to the traveler—
³³ if I have concealed my sin as people do,^[b]
    by hiding my guilt in my heart
³⁴ because I so feared the crowd
    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
    that I kept silent and would not go outside—

³⁵ (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
    let my accuser put his indictment in writing.
³⁶ Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
    I would put it on like a crown.
³⁷ I would give him an account of my every step;
    I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

³⁸ “if my land cries out against me
    and all its furrows are wet with tears,
³⁹ if I have devoured its yield without payment
    or broken the spirit of its tenants,
⁴⁰ then let briers come up instead of wheat
    and stinkweed instead of barley.”

 

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    約伯在此最後的談論，是要說到自己的道德是多麼高超也是沒有瑕疵的！而他的高超的道德是凡事都為別人著想，不是為個人的好處或滿足自己的慾望，更是常常施捨關心困苦人！

 

    讀到約伯這樣的論述，心中感到慚愧，因為和約伯比較起來實在差太多了！然而這樣冰清玉潔的人實在是遭魔鬼的忌妒，所以祂遭受這麼大的災害不是因為上帝的懲罰，而是上帝要證實約伯是真正敬畏主的人！這也就是說他所以有今天，不是因為犯罪而是上帝要證明約伯的敬畏上帝是真實的，有永遠的冠冕為他預備！正如保羅說：「那美好的仗我已經打過了，當跑的路我已經跑盡了，所信的道我已經守住了。從此以後，有公義的冠冕為我存留，就是按著公義審判的主到了那日要賜給我的；不但賜給我，也賜給凡愛慕他顯現的人。」（提摩太後書4:7-8）

 

    主耶穌的兄弟雅各也說：「忍受試探的人是有福的，因為他經過試驗以後，必得生命的冠冕；這是主應許給那些愛他之人的。」（雅各書1:12）

 

    除了約伯為義受苦，主耶穌也是為義受苦，使徒彼得也鼓勵我們要為義受苦，「倘若人為叫良心對得住上帝，就忍受冤屈的苦楚，這是可喜愛的。你們若因犯罪受責打，能忍耐，有甚麼可誇的呢？但你們若因行善受苦，能忍耐，這在上帝看是可喜愛的。你們蒙召原是為此；因基督也為你們受過苦，給你們留下榜樣，叫你們跟隨他的腳蹤行。」（彼得前書2:19-21）

 

    今日的基督徒大多不明白「為義受苦」的意義，但是歷代的信徒卻有這樣的經歷，並且以此為榮！他們認為「為義受苦」也是背十字架跟隨主的表現，是證明自己真為耶穌基督的門徒！

 

    也因為如此使徒此彼得說：「因此，你們是大有喜樂；但如今，在百般的試煉中暫時憂愁，叫你們的信心既被試驗，就比那被火試驗仍然能壞的金子更顯寶貴，可以在耶穌基督顯現的時候得著稱讚、榮耀、尊貴。」(彼得前書1:6-7)

 

    因此為義受逼迫，也是促使我們以喜樂的心盼望耶穌基督再來，並且清楚那是得榮耀的日子，是美的無比的！