2:1 我兒,你若領受我的言語,存記我的命令,
2:2 側耳聽智慧,專心求聰明,
2:3 呼求明哲,揚聲求聰明,
2:4 尋找它,如尋找銀子,搜求它,如搜求隱藏的珍寶,
2:5 你就明白敬畏耶和華,得以認識上帝。
2:6 因為,耶和華賜人智慧;知識和聰明都由他口而出。
2:7 他給正直人存留真智慧,給行為純正的人作盾牌,
2:8 為要保守公平人的路,護庇虔敬人的道。
2:9 你也必明白仁義、公平、正直、一切的善道。
2:10 智慧必入你心;你的靈要以知識為美。
2:11 謀略必護衛你;聰明必保守你,
2:12 要救你脫離惡道(或譯:惡人的道),脫離說乖謬話的人。
2:13 那等人捨棄正直的路,行走黑暗的道,
2:14 歡喜作惡,喜愛惡人的乖僻,
2:15 在他們的道中彎曲,在他們的路上偏僻。
2:16 智慧要救你脫離淫婦,就是那油嘴滑舌的外女。
2:17 她離棄幼年的配偶,忘了上帝的盟約。
2:18 她的家陷入死地;她的路偏向陰間。
2:19 凡到她那裡去的,不得轉回,也得不著生命的路。
2:20 智慧必使你行善人的道,守義人的路。
2:21 正直人必在世上居住;完全人必在地上存留。
2:22 惟有惡人必然翦除;奸詐的,必然拔出。
My son, if you accept my words
and
store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to
wisdom
and
applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call
out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it
as for silver
and
search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will
understand the fear of the Lord
and
find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in
store for the upright,
he
is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the
course of the just
and
protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and
fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter
your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will
protect you,
and
understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from
men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the
straight paths
to
walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing
wrong
and
rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are
crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
from
the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the
partner of her youth
and
ignored the covenant she made before God.[a]
18 Surely her house
leads down to death
and
her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her
return
or
attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and
keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will
live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will
be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
************
《箴言》強調「智慧」的功能就是保護尋求它的人。而智慧是上帝賜給人最好的禮物,使人靠著智慧可以認識上帝,可以行上帝所喜悅的事,可以避免犯罪而遭受上帝的懲罰,使人得著真正的平安。
我們要感謝上帝,透過《箴言》的作者史我們明白「智慧」的功能,讓我們有動力來尋求「智慧」,使我們真正享受由智慧帶來的好處。而這一切的動力,是來自聖靈在基督耶穌裡的啟示。
也因此,我們要好好倚靠聖靈,在基督裡追求聖潔,保守自己常在上帝的憐憫之中,直到領受上帝所賜的永生!正如猶大書20-21節所說:「親愛的弟兄啊,你們卻要在至聖的真道上造就自己,在聖靈裡禱告,保守自己常在上帝的愛中,仰望我們主耶穌基督的憐憫,直到永生。」