馬太福音20:1-16

 

20:1 「因為天國好像家主清早去雇人進他的葡萄園做工，

20:2 和工人講定一天一錢銀子，就打發他們進葡萄園去。

20:3 約在巳初出去，看見市上還有閒站的人，

20:4 就對他們說：『你們也進葡萄園去，所當給的，我必給你們。』他們也進去了。

20:5 約在午正和申初又出去，也是這樣行。

20:6 約在酉初出去，看見還有人站在那裡，就問他們說：『你們為甚麼整天在這裡閒站呢？』

20:7 他們說：『因為沒有人雇我們。』他說：『你們也進葡萄園去。』

20:8 到了晚上，園主對管事的說：『叫工人都來，給他們工錢，從後來的起，到先來的為止。』

20:9 約在酉初雇的人來了，各人得了一錢銀子。

20:10 及至那先雇的來了，他們以為必要多得；誰知也是各得一錢。

20:11 他們得了，就埋怨家主說：

20:12 『我們整天勞苦受熱，那後來的只做了一小時，你竟叫他們和我們一樣嗎？』

20:13 家主回答其中的一人說：『朋友，我不虧負你，你與我講定的不是一錢銀子嗎？

20:14 拿你的走吧！我給那後來的和給你一樣，這是我願意的。

20:15 我的東西難道不可隨我的意思用嗎？因為我作好人，你就紅了眼嗎？』

20:16 這樣，那在後的，將要在前；在前的，將要在後了。（有古卷加：因為被召的人多，選上的人少。）」

 

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius^[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 

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    葡萄園的比喻讓人覺得園主不夠「公平」，因為一般人的感受是：多勞多得，少勞少的。所以一早去的人會向園主抗議：「我們整天勞苦受熱，那後來的只做了一小時，你竟叫他們和我們一樣嗎？」

 

    但是園主回答得更有意思：「朋友，我不虧負你，你與我講定的不是一錢銀子嗎？拿你的走吧！我給那後來的和給你一樣，這是我願意的。我的東西難道不可隨我的意思用嗎？因為我作好人，你就紅了眼嗎？」

 

    在這裡可以做很多的解釋和應用，但是我們若從領受新生命獲得上帝永恆的獎賞來看，是沒有時間先後的問題，重要的是我們有沒有應答上帝的呼召呢？有回應加入上帝國(或天國)的行列的，才可以領受到福分！

 

    而在這段比喻有一個警語：「這樣，那在後的，將要在前；在前的，將要在後了。」

 

    也因此，在救恩上不要比較與妒忌，要為弟兄姊妹的成長來歸榮耀給上帝，因為上帝是成全人的上帝，不是限制人的上帝，更何況我們的生命狀況是聖靈工作的結果，不完全是自己的努力！

 

 

 

列王紀下4:42-44

4:42 有一個人從巴力‧沙利沙來，帶著初熟大麥做的餅二十個，並新穗子，裝在口袋裡送給神人。神人說：「把這些給眾人吃。」
4:43 僕人說：「這一點豈可擺給一百人吃呢？」以利沙說：「你只管給眾人吃吧！因為耶和華如此說，眾人必吃了，還剩下。」
4:44 僕人就擺在眾人面前，他們吃了，果然還剩下，正如耶和華所說的。

 

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

 

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    以利沙行這樣的神蹟，和「五餅二魚」類似！

 

 

列王紀下4:38-41

4:38 以利沙又來到吉甲，那地正有饑荒。先知門徒坐在他面前，他吩咐僕人說：「你將大鍋放在火上，給先知門徒熬湯。」
4:39 有一個人去到田野掐菜，遇見一棵野瓜籐，就摘了一兜野瓜回來，切了擱在熬湯的鍋中，因為他們不知道是甚麼東西；
4:40 倒出來給眾人吃，吃的時候，都喊叫說：「神人哪，鍋中有致死的毒物！」所以眾人不能吃了。
4:41 以利沙說：「拿點麵來」，就把麵撒在鍋中，說：「倒出來，給眾人吃吧！」鍋中就沒有毒了。

 

³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

³⁹ One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰ The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

 

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    以利沙使用麵粉除去野瓜的毒性，使大家可以享用美食！

 

 

列王紀下4:8-37

 

4:8 一日，以利沙走到書念，在那裡有一個大戶的婦人強留他吃飯。此後，以利沙每從那裡經過就進去吃飯。
4:9 婦人對丈夫說：「我看出那常從我們這裡經過的是聖潔的神人。
4:10 我們可以為他在牆上蓋一間小樓，在其中安放床榻、桌子、椅子、燈臺，他來到我們這裡，就可以住在其間。」
4:11 一日，以利沙來到那裡，就進了那樓躺臥。
4:12 以利沙吩咐僕人基哈西說：「你叫這書念婦人來。」他就把婦人叫了來，婦人站在以利沙面前。
4:13 以利沙吩咐僕人說：「你對她說：你既為我們費了許多心思，可以為你做甚麼呢？你向王或元帥有所求的沒有？」她回答說：「我在我本鄉安居無事。」
4:14 以利沙對僕人說：「究竟當為她做甚麼呢？」基哈西說：「她沒有兒子，她丈夫也老了。」
4:15 以利沙說：「再叫她來。」於是叫了她來，她就站在門口。
4:16 以利沙說：「明年到這時候，你必抱一個兒子。」她說：「神人，我主啊，不要那樣欺哄婢女。」
4:17 婦人果然懷孕，到了那時候，生了一個兒子，正如以利沙所說的。
4:18 孩子漸漸長大，一日到他父親和收割的人那裡，
4:19 他對父親說：「我的頭啊，我的頭啊！」他父親對僕人說：「把他抱到他母親那裡。」
4:20 僕人抱去，交給他母親；孩子坐在母親的膝上，到晌午就死了。
4:21 他母親抱他上了樓，將他放在神人的床上，關上門出來，
4:22 呼叫她丈夫說：「你叫一個僕人給我牽一匹驢來，我要快快地去見神人，就回來。」
4:23 丈夫說：「今日不是月朔，也不是安息日，你為何要去見他呢？」婦人說：「平安無事。」
4:24 於是備上驢，對僕人說：「你快快趕著走，我若不吩咐你，就不要遲慢。」
4:25 婦人就往迦密山去見神人。神人遠遠地看見她，對僕人基哈西說：「看哪，書念的婦人來了！
4:26 你跑去迎接她，問她說：你平安嗎？你丈夫平安嗎？孩子平安嗎？」她說：「平安。」
4:27 婦人上了山，到神人那裡，就抱住神人的腳。基哈西前來要推開她，神人說：「由她吧！因為她心裡愁苦，耶和華向我隱瞞，沒有指示我。」
4:28 婦人說：「我何嘗向我主求過兒子呢？我豈沒有說過，不要欺哄我嗎？」
4:29 以利沙吩咐基哈西說：「你束上腰，手拿我的杖前去；若遇見人，不要向他問安；人若向你問安，也不要回答；要把我的杖放在孩子臉上。」
4:30 孩子的母親說：「我指著永生的耶和華，又敢在你面前起誓，我必不離開你。」於是以利沙起身，隨著她去了。
4:31 基哈西先去，把杖放在孩子臉上，卻沒有聲音，也沒有動靜。基哈西就迎著以利沙回來，告訴他說：「孩子還沒有醒過來。」
4:32 以利沙來到，進了屋子，看見孩子死了，放在自己的床上。
4:33 他就關上門，只有自己和孩子在裡面，他便祈禱耶和華，
4:34 上床伏在孩子身上，口對口，眼對眼，手對手；既伏在孩子身上，孩子的身體就漸漸溫和了。
4:35 然後他下來，在屋裡來往走了一趟，又上去伏在孩子身上，孩子打了七個噴嚏，就睜開眼睛了。
4:36 以利沙叫基哈西說：「你叫這書念婦人來」；於是叫了她來。以利沙說：「將你兒子抱起來。」
4:37 婦人就進來，在以利沙腳前俯伏於地，抱起她兒子出去了。

 

⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

¹⁴ “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

¹⁸ The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

²² She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

²³ “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! ²⁶ Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

²⁷ When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

²⁸ “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. ³³ He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

 

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    以利沙面使一位婦人經歷兩件是，就是使無便有，以及使死人復活！

 

    這是上帝的作為，不僅行在亞伯拉罕的身上，也行在這婦人的身上！

 

    當然我們也要在主耶穌裡經歷這兩件是，因為耶穌基督的拯救也是：使無便有，以及使死人復活！

 

 

 

 

列王紀下4章

    列王紀下4:1-7  ,  列王紀下4:2-4 ,

    列王紀下4:8-37  , 列王紀下4:8-10  ,

     列王紀下4:11-17 ,

    列王紀下4:38-41  ,

    列王紀下4:42-44 ,