5:1 你且呼求,有誰答應你?諸聖者之中,你轉向哪一位呢?
5:2 忿怒害死愚妄人;嫉妒殺死癡迷人。
5:3 我曾見愚妄人扎下根,但我忽然咒詛他的住處。
5:4 他的兒女遠離穩妥的地步,在城門口被壓,並無人搭救。
5:5 他的莊稼有飢餓的人吃盡了,就是在荊棘裡的也搶去了;他的財寶有網羅張口吞滅了。
5:6 禍患原不是從土中出來;患難也不是從地裡發生。
5:7 人生在世必遇患難,如同火星飛騰。
5:8 至於我,我必仰望上帝,把我的事情託付他。
5:9 他行大事不可測度,行奇事不可勝數:
5:10 降雨在地上,賜水於田裡;
5:11 將卑微的安置在高處,將哀痛的舉到穩妥之地;
5:12 破壞狡猾人的計謀,使他們所謀的不得成就。
5:13 他叫有智慧的中了自己的詭計,使狡詐人的計謀速速滅亡。
5:14 他們白晝遇見黑暗,午間摸索如在夜間。
5:15 上帝拯救窮乏人脫離他們口中的刀和強暴人的手。
5:16 這樣,貧寒的人有指望,罪孽之輩必塞口無言。
5:17 上帝所懲治的人是有福的!所以你不可輕看全能者的管教。
5:18 因為他打破,又纏裹;他擊傷,用手醫治。
5:19 你六次遭難,他必救你;就是七次,災禍也無法害你。
5:20 在饑荒中,他必救你脫離死亡;在爭戰中,他必救你脫離刀劍的權力。
5:21 你必被隱藏,不受口舌之害;災殃臨到,你也不懼怕。
5:22 你遇見災害饑饉,就必嬉笑;地上的野獸,你也不懼怕。
5:23 因為你必與田間的石頭立約;田裡的野獸也必與你和好。
5:24 你必知道你帳棚平安,要查看你的羊圈,一無所失;
5:25 也必知道你的後裔將來發達,你的子孫像地上的青草。
5:26 你必壽高年邁才歸墳墓,好像禾捆到時收藏。
5:27 這理,我們已經考察,本是如此。你須要聽,要知道是與自己有益。
“Call if you will, but who will
answer you?
To
which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 Resentment kills a
fool,
and
envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen a
fool taking root,
but
suddenly his house was cursed.
4 His children are far
from safety,
crushed
in court without a defender.
5 The hungry consume his
harvest,
taking
it even from among thorns,
and
the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not
spring from the soil,
nor
does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to
trouble
as
surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I
would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders
that cannot be fathomed,
miracles
that cannot be counted.
10 He provides rain for
the earth;
he
sends water on the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on
high,
and
those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans
of the crafty,
so
that their hands achieve no success.
13 He catches the wise
in their craftiness,
and
the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon
them in the daytime;
at
noon they grope as in the night.
15 He saves the needy
from the sword in their mouth;
he
saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope,
and
injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
so
do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[a]
18 For he wounds, but he
also binds up;
he
injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities
he will rescue you;
in
seven no harm will touch you.
20 In famine he will
deliver you from death,
and
in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected
from the lash of the tongue,
and
need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at
destruction and famine,
and
need not fear the wild animals.
23 For you will have a
covenant with the stones of the field,
and
the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that
your tent is secure;
you
will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that
your children will be many,
and
your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the
grave in full vigor,
like
sheaves gathered in season.
27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
So
hear it and apply it to yourself.”
*************
提幔人以利法在這裡說的好想比前一章說得更有智慧,但是聽在約伯的耳中還是讓他非常難過,因為還是說約伯是有過失,所以會遭今天患難!他要約伯做的是要悔改認罪,將來才會盟上帝的賜福!
以利法的說法和許多基督徒對人的勸說很像,讓我們讀了之後頗扎心的,讓我們感覺到為甚麼勸人要信靠主耶穌無效的原因:因為我們一直在定人的罪,讓人的尊嚴受損,人為了面子問題情願不要信!
對於未信的人還不明白真理,聽了以後心中不悅當然沒有進一步接受福音的心。對於信主的人,他們心中感覺主已經赦免了他們的罪,為何還要說他們有罪呢?所以也聽不進去!
因此,我們勸告人不是責備他們的罪,而是要說到上帝的接納,要他們來尋求上帝的幫助,相信上帝必定透過耶穌基督施恩典和憐憫給我們,必定帶領我們經過險境道平安之處!
這也讓我們學習在危機竟輔導之中,不是責備在先,而是邀請一起來經歷上帝的慈愛恩惠,不是說上帝正義的審判。認罪的事使要聖靈會感動人,人自然會俯伏在上帝面前。但是在患難開始,上帝不是要人懊悔與認罪,而是要靠上帝的恩待脫離困境!
其實我們也經歷過危機和困境,要將心比心,想想我們期盼的是什麼?正如主耶穌說:「你們雖然不好,尚且知道拿好東西給兒女,何況你們在天上的父,豈不更把好東西給求他的人嗎?所以,無論何事,你們願意人怎樣待你們,你們也要怎樣待人,因為這就是律法和先知的道理。」(馬太福音7:11-12)