《尤兰提亚之书》英文版自 2006 年起在全球范围内属于公共领域.
翻译: © 2015 Urantia Foundation
THE SOJOURN AT TYRE AND SIDON
在泰尔和西顿的逗留
1955 156:0.1 ON FRIDAY afternoon, June 10, Jesus and his associates arrived in the environs of Sidon, where they stopped at the home of a well-to-do woman who had been a patient in the Bethsaida hospital during the times when Jesus was at the height of his popular favor. The evangelists and the apostles were lodged with her friends in the immediate neighborhood, and they rested over the Sabbath day amid these refreshing surroundings. They spent almost two and one-half weeks in Sidon and vicinity before they prepared to visit the coast cities to the north.
1955 156:0.2 This June Sabbath day was one of great quiet. The evangelists and apostles were altogether absorbed in their meditations regarding the discourses of the Master on religion to which they had listened en route to Sidon. They were all able to appreciate something of what he had told them, but none of them fully grasped the import of his teaching.
2015 156:0.2 六月的这个安息日是极为平静的一天。福音传道者和使徒们都专注于他们就他们前往西顿途中听到主的关于宗教论述的沉思中。他们都能领会他所告知他们内容中的某些,但却没有人能完全把握他教导的要义。
1. THE SYRIAN WOMAN
1. 叙利亚女人
1955 156:1.1 There lived near the home of Karuska, where the Master lodged, a Syrian woman who had heard much of Jesus as a great healer and teacher, and on this Sabbath afternoon she came over, bringing her little daughter. The child, about twelve years old, was afflicted with a grievous nervous disorder characterized by convulsions and other distressing manifestations.
1955 156:1.2 Jesus had charged his associates to tell no one of his presence at the home of Karuska, explaining that he desired to have a rest. While they had obeyed their Master’s instructions, the servant of Karuska had gone over to the house of this Syrian woman, Norana, to inform her that Jesus lodged at the home of her mistress and had urged this anxious mother to bring her afflicted daughter for healing. This mother, of course, believed that her child was possessed by a demon, an unclean spirit.
1955 156:1.3 When Norana arrived with her daughter, the Alpheus twins explained through an interpreter that the Master was resting and could not be disturbed; whereupon Norana replied that she and the child would remain right there until the Master had finished his rest. Peter also endeavored to reason with her and to persuade her to go home. He explained that Jesus was weary with much teaching and healing, and that he had come to Phoenicia for a period of quiet and rest. But it was futile; Norana would not leave. To Peter’s entreaties she replied only: “I will not depart until I have seen your Master. I know he can cast the demon out of my child, and I will not go until the healer has looked upon my daughter.”
1955 156:1.4 Then Thomas sought to send the woman away but met only with failure. To him she said: “I have faith that your Master can cast out this demon which torments my child. I have heard of his mighty works in Galilee, and I believe in him. What has happened to you, his disciples, that you would send away those who come seeking your Master’s help?” And when she had thus spoken, Thomas withdrew.
2015 156:1.4 之后多玛斯试图打发这个女人走,但仅以失败而告终。她对他说:“我对你们主能将这个折磨我孩子的恶鬼赶出去有信心。我听说了他在加利利的大能作为,我也相信他。你们这些他的使徒怎么想要打发那些前来寻求你们主帮助的人走呢?”当她这样说时,多玛斯退出了。
1955 156:1.5 Then came forward Simon Zelotes to remonstrate with Norana. Said Simon: “Woman, you are a Greek-speaking gentile. It is not right that you should expect the Master to take the bread intended for the children of the favored household and cast it to the dogs.” But Norana refused to take offense at Simon’s thrust. She replied only: “Yes, teacher, I understand your words. I am only a dog in the eyes of the Jews, but as concerns your Master, I am a believing dog. I am determined that he shall see my daughter, for I am persuaded that, if he shall but look upon her, he will heal her. And even you, my good man, would not dare to deprive the dogs of the privilege of obtaining the crumbs which chance to fall from the children’s table.”
1955 156:1.6 At just this time the little girl was seized with a violent convulsion before them all, and the mother cried out: “There, you can see that my child is possessed by an evil spirit. If our need does not impress you, it would appeal to your Master, who I have been told loves all men and dares even to heal the gentiles when they believe. You are not worthy to be his disciples. I will not go until my child has been cured.”
2015 156:1.6 就在此时,这个小女孩在他们所有人面前突然剧烈抽搐,这位母亲大喊道:“瞧,你们能看到我孩子被邪灵附体了。若我们的需求并未打动你们,那么它会诉诸于你们的主,我被告知他爱所有人并甚至敢于在外邦人相信他时治愈他们。你们不配做他的使徒。我不会走,直到我孩子被治愈之时。”
1955 156:1.7 Jesus, who had heard all of this conversation through an open window, now came outside, much to their surprise, and said: “O woman, great is your faith, so great that I cannot withhold that which you desire; go your way in peace. Your daughter already has been made whole.” And the little girl was well from that hour. As Norana and the child took leave, Jesus entreated them to tell no one of this occurrence; and while his associates did comply with this request, the mother and the child ceased not to proclaim the fact of the little girl’s healing throughout all the countryside and even in Sidon, so much so that Jesus found it advisable to change his lodgings within a few days.
1955 156:1.8 The next day, as Jesus taught his apostles, commenting on the cure of the daughter of the Syrian woman, he said: “And so it has been all the way along; you see for yourselves how the gentiles are able to exercise saving faith in the teachings of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Verily, verily, I tell you that the Father’s kingdom shall be taken by the gentiles if the children of Abraham are not minded to show faith enough to enter therein.”
2015 156:1.8 第二天,当耶稣教导他的使徒,评述有关这个叙利亚女人女儿的治愈,他说道:“一直以来都是这样;你们自己看到了外邦人何以能运用天国福音教导中的拯救信仰。我实实在在告诉你们,若亚伯拉罕的子孙不留心展示足以进入父之王国当中的信仰,那么它就会被外邦人所占用了。”
2. TEACHING IN SIDON
2. 在西顿的教导
1955 156:2.1 In entering Sidon, Jesus and his associates passed over a bridge, the first one many of them had ever seen. As they walked over this bridge, Jesus, among other things, said: “This world is only a bridge; you may pass over it, but you should not think to build a dwelling place upon it.”
2015 156:2.1 进入西顿过程中,耶稣和他的同伴们通过一座桥,他们当中许多人所曾见过的第一座桥。当他们走过这座桥,耶稣在其他事情中间说道:“这个世界只是一座桥;你们会通过它,但你们却不该想要在它之上建造住处。”
1955 156:2.2 As the twenty-four began their labors in Sidon, Jesus went to stay in a home just north of the city, the house of Justa and her mother, Bernice. Jesus taught the twenty-four each morning at the home of Justa, and they went abroad in Sidon to teach and preach during the afternoons and evenings.
2015 156:2.2 当二十四人开始在西顿的劳作,耶稣去到城市正北边茱斯塔和她母亲伯尼斯的家住下。耶稣每天早上在茱斯塔家里教导二十四人,他们则在下午和傍晚期间出外在西顿教导和布道。
1955 156:2.3 The apostles and the evangelists were greatly cheered by the manner in which the gentiles of Sidon received their message; during their short sojourn many were added to the kingdom. This period of about six weeks in Phoenicia was a very fruitful time in the work of winning souls, but the later Jewish writers of the Gospels were wont lightly to pass over the record of this warm reception of Jesus’ teachings by these gentiles at this very time when such a large number of his own people were in hostile array against him.
2015 156:2.3 使徒和福音传道者们因西顿外邦人接受他们讯息的方式而大受鼓舞;在他们短短逗留期间,许多被加入到王国中。在腓尼基这段大约六个周的时期,在赢得灵魂的工作中是一段非常富有成效的时期,不过后来福音书的犹太人作者们惯于轻轻掠过耶稣的教导受到了这些外邦人的热情接受、与此同时他自己民族的一大批人针对他摆出敌对阵势这一记录。
1955 156:2.4 In many ways these gentile believers appreciated Jesus’ teachings more fully than the Jews. Many of these Greek-speaking Syrophoenicians came to know not only that Jesus was like God but also that God was like Jesus. These so-called heathen achieved a good understanding of the Master’s teachings about the uniformity of the laws of this world and the entire universe. They grasped the teaching that God is no respecter of persons, races, or nations; that there is no favoritism with the Universal Father; that the universe is wholly and ever law-abiding and unfailingly dependable. These gentiles were not afraid of Jesus; they dared to accept his message. All down through the ages men have not been unable to comprehend Jesus; they have been afraid to.
1955 156:2.5 Jesus made it clear to the twenty-four that he had not fled from Galilee because he lacked courage to confront his enemies. They comprehended that he was not yet ready for an open clash with established religion, and that he did not seek to become a martyr. It was during one of these conferences at the home of Justa that the Master first told his disciples that “even though heaven and earth shall pass away, my words of truth shall not.”
1955 156:2.6 The theme of Jesus’ instructions during the sojourn at Sidon was spiritual progression. He told them they could not stand still; they must go forward in righteousness or retrogress into evil and sin. He admonished them to “forget those things which are in the past while you push forward to embrace the greater realities of the kingdom.” He besought them not to be content with their childhood in the gospel but to strive for the attainment of the full stature of divine sonship in the communion of the spirit and in the fellowship of believers.
1955 156:2.7 Said Jesus: “My disciples must not only cease to do evil but learn to do well; you must not only be cleansed from all conscious sin, but you must refuse to harbor even the feelings of guilt. If you confess your sins, they are forgiven; therefore must you maintain a conscience void of offense.”
1955 156:2.8 Jesus greatly enjoyed the keen sense of humor which these gentiles exhibited. It was the sense of humor displayed by Norana, the Syrian woman, as well as her great and persistent faith, that so touched the Master’s heart and appealed to his mercy. Jesus greatly regretted that his people—the Jews—were so lacking in humor. He once said to Thomas: “My people take themselves too seriously; they are just about devoid of an appreciation of humor. The burdensome religion of the Pharisees could never have had origin among a people with a sense of humor. They also lack consistency; they strain at gnats and swallow camels.”
3. THE JOURNEY UP THE COAST
3. 沿海岸之行
1955 156:3.1 On Tuesday, June 28, the Master and his associates left Sidon, going up the coast to Porphyreon and Heldua. They were well received by the gentiles, and many were added to the kingdom during this week of teaching and preaching. The apostles preached in Porphyreon and the evangelists taught in Heldua. While the twenty-four were thus engaged in their work, Jesus left them for a period of three or four days, paying a visit to the coast city of Beirut, where he visited with a Syrian named Malach, who was a believer, and who had been at Bethsaida the year before.
2015 156:3.1 在6月28日周二,主和他的同伴们离开西顿,沿海湾去往波菲利昂和赫尔杜阿。他们深受外邦人欢迎,在这周的教导和布道期间,许多人被添加到了王国中。使徒们在波菲利昂布道,福音传道者们则在赫尔杜阿教导。当二十四人以此方式从事他们工作时,耶稣离开他们一段三四天的时期,造访贝鲁特这个海岸城市,他在那儿看望一个名叫玛拉赫的叙利亚人,他是一个信奉者,一年之前曾在伯赛大。
1955 156:3.2 On Wednesday, July 6, they all returned to Sidon and tarried at the home of Justa until Sunday morning, when they departed for Tyre, going south along the coast by way of Sarepta, arriving at Tyre on Monday, July 11. By this time the apostles and the evangelists were becoming accustomed to working among these so-called gentiles, who were in reality mainly descended from the earlier Canaanite tribes of still earlier Semitic origin. All of these peoples spoke the Greek language. It was a great surprise to the apostles and evangelists to observe the eagerness of these gentiles to hear the gospel and to note the readiness with which many of them believed.
2015 156:3.2 在7月6日周三,他们都返回西顿,并在茱斯塔家里待到周日早上,那时他们动身去往泰尔(注:圣经中译为推罗),沿海岸南行,取道萨勒普塔(注:圣经中译为撒勒法),在7月11日周一抵达泰尔。到此时为止,使徒们和福音传道者们逐渐习惯于在这些所谓的外邦人中间工作了,他们实际上主要是从拥有更早闪族出身的较早期迦南部落传下来的。这些民族的人都讲希腊语。使徒们和福音传道者们极为惊奇观察到这些外邦人倾听福音的热切性,留意到他们许多人怀着乐意相信了。
4. AT TYRE
4. 在泰尔
1955 156:4.1 From July 11 to July 24 they taught in Tyre. Each of the apostles took with him one of the evangelists, and thus two and two they taught and preached in all parts of Tyre and its environs. The polyglot population of this busy seaport heard them gladly, and many were baptized into the outward fellowship of the kingdom. Jesus maintained his headquarters at the home of a Jew named Joseph, a believer, who lived three or four miles south of Tyre, not far from the tomb of Hiram who had been king of the city-state of Tyre during the times of David and Solomon.
2015 156:4.1 从7月11日到7月24日,他们在泰尔(注:圣经中译为推罗)教导。每个使徒随身带一个福音传道者,他们以此方式两两在泰尔及其近郊的所有部分教导和布道。这个忙碌海港的多语种人口很乐意听他们讲,许多受洗加入了王国的团契。耶稣在一个名叫约瑟夫的犹太人信奉者家中保有总部,后者住在泰尔南边三四英里(五六公里)处,离大卫和所罗门王时期期间泰尔城邦的国王希兰之墓不远。
1955 156:4.2 Daily, for this period of two weeks, the apostles and evangelists entered Tyre by way of Alexander’s mole to conduct small meetings, and each night most of them would return to the encampment at Joseph’s house south of the city. Every day believers came out from the city to talk with Jesus at his resting place. The Master spoke in Tyre only once, on the afternoon of July 20, when he taught the believers concerning the Father’s love for all mankind and about the mission of the Son to reveal the Father to all races of men. There was such an interest in the gospel of the kingdom among these gentiles that, on this occasion, the doors of the Melkarth temple were opened to him, and it is interesting to record that in subsequent years a Christian church was built on the very site of this ancient temple.
2015 156:4.2 在这两周的时期中,使徒和福音传道者们每天取道亚历山大所建的防波堤进入泰尔举行小型会议,每晚他们大多人会返回城南约瑟夫家的营地。每天信奉者们从城市出来,在耶稣休息处与他交谈。主仅在7月20日下午在泰尔讲过一次话,那时他就父对全人类的爱以及关于子向人类所有种族启示父的使命教导了信奉者。在这一场合,这些外邦人中间对王国福音极有兴趣,以致梅尔卡特神庙的门向他敞开了,十分有趣要记载的是,在随后岁月中,一所基督教教堂就在这所古代神庙的遗址上被建起来了。
1955 156:4.3 Many of the leaders in the manufacture of Tyrian purple, the dye that made Tyre and Sidon famous the world over, and which contributed so much to their world-wide commerce and consequent enrichment, believed in the kingdom. When, shortly thereafter, the supply of the sea animals which were the source of this dye began to diminish, these dye makers went forth in search of new habitats of these shellfish. And thus migrating to the ends of the earth, they carried with them the message of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man—the gospel of the kingdom.
2015 156:4.3 使得泰尔和西顿闻名于世、并对它们世界范围贸易和随后富足贡献极多的染料泰尔紫生产上的许多领头人相信了王国。在那之后不久,当作为这种染料来源的海洋动物的供应开始消失时,这些染料制造者出去寻找这些贝类的新栖息地。他们由此移居到地上四方,随身带着神之父亲身份和人类兄弟情谊的讯息 - 即王国福音。
5. JESUS’ TEACHING AT TYRE
5. 耶稣在泰尔的教导
1955 156:5.1 On this Wednesday afternoon, in the course of his address, Jesus first told his followers the story of the white lily which rears its pure and snowy head high into the sunshine while its roots are grounded in the slime and muck of the darkened soil beneath. “Likewise,” said he, “mortal man, while he has his roots of origin and being in the animal soil of human nature, can by faith raise his spiritual nature up into the sunlight of heavenly truth and actually bear the noble fruits of the spirit.”
2015 156:5.1 在这个周三下午,在耶稣的致辞过程中,他第一次告诉他追随者们关于白色百合的故事,它将纯洁雪白的头高高竖向阳光,而它却植根于下面黑色土壤的污泥之中。“同样,”他说道,“凡人,尽管他将他的出身和存在植根于具有人性本质的动物之壤中,但却能通过信仰将他的灵性本质往上提升,进入天国真理的阳光中,并实际结出高贵的属灵果实。”
1955 156:5.2 It was during this same sermon that Jesus made use of his first and only parable having to do with his own trade—carpentry. In the course of his admonition to “Build well the foundations for the growth of a noble character of spiritual endowments,” he said: “In order to yield the fruits of the spirit, you must be born of the spirit. You must be taught by the spirit and be led by the spirit if you would live the spirit-filled life among your fellows. But do not make the mistake of the foolish carpenter who wastes valuable time squaring, measuring, and smoothing his worm-eaten and inwardly rotting timber and then, when he has thus bestowed all of his labor upon the unsound beam, must reject it as unfit to enter into the foundations of the building which he would construct to withstand the assaults of time and storm. Let every man make sure that the intellectual and moral foundations of character are such as will adequately support the superstructure of the enlarging and ennobling spiritual nature, which is thus to transform the mortal mind and then, in association with that re-created mind, is to achieve the evolvement of the soul of immortal destiny. Your spirit nature—the jointly created soul—is a living growth, but the mind and morals of the individual are the soil from which these higher manifestations of human development and divine destiny must spring. The soil of the evolving soul is human and material, but the destiny of this combined creature of mind and spirit is spiritual and divine.”
2015 156:5.2 正是在这同一布道期间,耶稣利用了他第一个也是唯一一个与他自己行业 - 木工业相关的寓言。在他要“为一个具有灵性禀赋之高贵品格的成长建好根基”的告诫过程中,他说道:“”为了产出属灵果实,你们必须要生于属灵。若你们想要在你们同伴中间过充满灵性的生活,你们必须由灵所教导,由灵所引导。不过不要犯下愚蠢木匠的错误,他浪费宝贵时间适配、测量并刨平他虫蛀的、内部腐烂的木料,之后当他由此将他所木梁上时,却必须要拒绝它,因为它不适合进入建筑的根基,他本想建造这个根基经得起时间和风雨的侵袭。让每个人确保品格的智性和道德根基足够支持不断扩展和不断高贵的灵性本质之超级构造,这种灵性本质以此方式来转化凡人心智,之后,与那重新受造的心智联合起来,来实现具有不朽天命的灵魂之演进,你们的属灵本质 - 即联合受造的灵魂是一种鲜活的成长物,但个人的心智和道德却是人类发展和神圣天命这些更高显现物必须要从中生出的土壤。不断演进灵魂的土壤是人性的和物质性的,但心智和属灵之一结合产物的天命却是灵性的和神圣的。[14][15][16][17][18]
1955 156:5.4 “It is not strange that you ask such questions seeing that you are beginning to know the Father as I know him, and not as the early Hebrew prophets so dimly saw him. You well know how our forefathers were disposed to see God in almost everything that happened. They looked for the hand of God in all natural occurrences and in every unusual episode of human experience. They connected God with both good and evil. They thought he softened the heart of Moses and hardened the heart of Pharaoh. When man had a strong urge to do something, good or evil, he was in the habit of accounting for these unusual emotions by remarking: ‘The Lord spoke to me saying, do thus and so, or go here and there.’ Accordingly, since men so often and so violently ran into temptation, it became the habit of our forefathers to believe that God led them thither for testing, punishing, or strengthening. But you, indeed, now know better. You know that men are all too often led into temptation by the urge of their own selfishness and by the impulses of their animal natures. When you are in this way tempted, I admonish you that, while you recognize temptation honestly and sincerely for just what it is, you intelligently redirect the energies of spirit, mind, and body, which are seeking expression, into higher channels and toward more idealistic goals. In this way may you transform your temptations into the highest types of uplifting mortal ministry while you almost wholly avoid these wasteful and weakening conflicts between the animal and spiritual natures.
2015 156:5.4 “你问这类问题并不奇怪,因为你正开始像我知晓父一般知晓他,而不像早期希伯来先知们那样朦胧看他。你清楚知道我们先辈如何有意在几近发生的每件事中看到神。他们在所有自然事件中以及人类经历的每样不寻常插曲中寻找神之手。他们将神与善恶关联在一起。他们认为他令摩西的心变软,令法老的心变硬。当人有一种强烈冲动想做某事,无论好坏,他藉着说:“上主对我说,做这做那,去这去那”有对这些不寻常情绪做出解释的习惯。相应地,由于人们如此经常而又如此强烈地遇到试探,这就变成了我们先辈的习惯来相信神引他们到那儿经历考验、惩罚或加强。不过你的确现在了解更多了。你知道人们时常被他们自己的自私欲望以及他们动物本性的冲动引入试探之中。当你们以此方式收拾他受试探时,我告诫你们,当你们诚实而又真诚地认出试探的本质,你们要智能地将寻求表达的身心灵能量重新转向更高渠道,朝向更理想的目标。以此方式你们将你们的试探转化成最高类型的提升性凡人侍奉,而你们会几近完全避免这些动物本质和灵性本质之间破坏性和削弱性的冲突。[20][21][22][23]
1955 156:5.5 “But let me warn you against the folly of undertaking to surmount temptation by the effort of supplanting one desire by another and supposedly superior desire through the mere force of the human will. If you would be truly triumphant over the temptations of the lesser and lower nature, you must come to that place of spiritual advantage where you have really and truly developed an actual interest in, and love for, those higher and more idealistic forms of conduct which your mind is desirous of substituting for these lower and less idealistic habits of behavior that you recognize as temptation. You will in this way be delivered through spiritual transformation rather than be increasingly overburdened with the deceptive suppression of mortal desires. The old and the inferior will be forgotten in the love for the new and the superior. Beauty is always triumphant over ugliness in the hearts of all who are illuminated by the love of truth. There is mighty power in the expulsive energy of a new and sincere spiritual affection. And again I say to you, be not overcome by evil but rather overcome evil with good.”
2015 156:5.5 “不过让我警告你们仅通过人类意志力,用另一种所谓上乘欲望代替一种欲望的努力,来越过试探的愚蠢做法。若你们想要真正胜过较低劣本性的试探,你们必须要来到那一灵性优势之地,你们在那真正而又真实地发展出了一种对那些更高和更为理想主义行为形式的实际兴趣和热爱,你们的心智渴望用那些行为形式代替这些你们承认为试探的低劣理想主义行为习惯。你们将会用这一方式通过灵性转化而得以解脱,而不是被凡俗欲望的欺骗压抑渐趋负担过重。旧有低劣之物,在对崭新上乘之物的热爱中会被忘记。在所有被真理之爱启发的人心中,美好总会战胜丑恶。在一种崭新而又真诚灵性深情的逐出性能量中,存在一种强大的力量。我再次对你们说,不要被恶所战胜,而是用善来战胜恶。”[24][25][26]
1955 156:5.6 Long into the night the apostles and evangelists continued to ask questions, and from the many answers we would present the following thoughts, restated in modern phraseology:
2015 156:5.6 使徒和福音传道者们继续问问题直到深夜,从许多回答中我们想要呈现以现代措辞重述的以下思想:
1955 156:5.7 Forceful ambition, intelligent judgment, and seasoned wisdom are the essentials of material success. Leadership is dependent on natural ability, discretion, will power, and determination. Spiritual destiny is dependent on faith, love, and devotion to truth—hunger and thirst for righteousness—the wholehearted desire to find God and to be like him.
1955 156:5.8 Do not become discouraged by the discovery that you are human. Human nature may tend toward evil, but it is not inherently sinful. Be not downcast by your failure wholly to forget some of your regrettable experiences. The mistakes which you fail to forget in time will be forgotten in eternity. Lighten your burdens of soul by speedily acquiring a long-distance view of your destiny, a universe expansion of your career.
2015 156:5.8 不要因为发现你是人类而气馁。人类本性或许易于趋向邪恶,但它却并非是罪恶的。不要因未能全然忘记你某些令人遗憾的经历而沮丧。你未能在时间中忘记的错误,会在永恒中被忘记。通过快速获得对你天命的一种远程视图、即对你生涯的一种宇宙扩展而减轻你灵魂的负担。
1955 156:5.9 Make not the mistake of estimating the soul’s worth by the imperfections of the mind or by the appetites of the body. Judge not the soul nor evaluate its destiny by the standard of a single unfortunate human episode. Your spiritual destiny is conditioned only by your spiritual longings and purposes.
2015 156:5.9 不要犯下以心智之不完美或身体之欲望估算灵魂价值的错误。不要以一场单一不幸人类插曲的标准评判灵魂,并评估它的天命。你的灵性天命仅受到你灵性渴求和灵性意图的制约。
1955 156:5.10 Religion is the exclusively spiritual experience of the evolving immortal soul of the God-knowing man, but moral power and spiritual energy are mighty forces which may be utilized in dealing with difficult social situations and in solving intricate economic problems. These moral and spiritual endowments make all levels of human living richer and more meaningful.
2015 156:5.10 宗教是知神之人不断进化的不朽灵魂专有的灵性体验,不过道德力量和灵性能量却是可被利用来处理困难社会局面和解决复杂经济问题的强大力量。这些道德和灵性禀赋,会令所有层次人类生存更为丰富、更有意义。
1955 156:5.11 You are destined to live a narrow and mean life if you learn to love only those who love you. Human love may indeed be reciprocal, but divine love is outgoing in all its satisfaction-seeking. The less of love in any creature’s nature, the greater the love need, and the more does divine love seek to satisfy such need. Love is never self-seeking, and it cannot be self-bestowed. Divine love cannot be self-contained; it must be unselfishly bestowed.
1955 156:5.12 Kingdom believers should possess an implicit faith, a whole-souled belief, in the certain triumph of righteousness. Kingdom builders must be undoubting of the truth of the gospel of eternal salvation. Believers must increasingly learn how to step aside from the rush of life—escape the harassments of material existence—while they refresh the soul, inspire the mind, and renew the spirit by worshipful communion.
1955 156:5.13 God-knowing individuals are not discouraged by misfortune or downcast by disappointment. Believers are immune to the depression consequent upon purely material upheavals; spirit livers are not perturbed by the episodes of the material world. Candidates for eternal life are practitioners of an invigorating and constructive technique for meeting all of the vicissitudes and harassments of mortal living. Every day a true believer lives, he finds it easier to do the right thing.
2015 156:5.13 知神之个人不会因不幸而气馁,不会因失望而沮丧。信奉者对纯物质性巨变所引起的抑郁是免疫的;灵性生活者不会因物质世界的插曲而被扰乱。永生之候选者们是一种应对凡间生活变迁和困扰的激发精神之建设性手段的践行者。一个真正的信奉着生活的每一天,都会发现更容易做正确之事。
1955 156:5.14 Spiritual living mightily increases true self-respect. But self-respect is not self-admiration. Self-respect is always co-ordinate with the love and service of one’s fellows. It is not possible to respect yourself more than you love your neighbor; the one is the measure of the capacity for the other.
2015 156:5.14 灵性生活会极大增强真正自尊。但自尊并不是自恋。自尊总是与对同伴的爱和服务相协调。尊重自身比热爱邻人更多是不可能的;一方是对另一方能力的量度。
1955 156:5.15 As the days pass, every true believer becomes more skillful in alluring his fellows into the love of eternal truth. Are you more resourceful in revealing goodness to humanity today than you were yesterday? Are you a better righteousness recommender this year than you were last year? Are you becoming increasingly artistic in your technique of leading hungry souls into the spiritual kingdom?
2015 156:5.15 随着岁月流逝,每个真正的信奉者会在吸引同伴进入到对永恒真理的热爱上变得更为熟练。你是否今天比昨天更为足智多谋,向人类展示善?你是否今年比去年成为一个更好的正义推荐者?你是否在引领饥渴灵魂进入灵性王国的手段上渐趋变得有艺术性?
1955 156:5.16 Are your ideals sufficiently high to insure your eternal salvation while your ideas are so practical as to render you a useful citizen to function on earth in association with your mortal fellows? In the spirit, your citizenship is in heaven; in the flesh, you are still citizens of the earth kingdoms. Render to the Caesars the things which are material and to God those which are spiritual.
1955 156:5.17 The measure of the spiritual capacity of the evolving soul is your faith in truth and your love for man, but the measure of your human strength of character is your ability to resist the holding of grudges and your capacity to withstand brooding in the face of deep sorrow. Defeat is the true mirror in which you may honestly view your real self.
2015 156:5.17 对不断进化灵魂灵性能力的量度,是你对真理的信仰和你对人类的热爱,而对你人性品格力量的量度,则是你抵制怨恨之持有能力,以及你在面对深切悲痛时抵挡焦虑的能力。失败是你可以尝试观看你真我的真实镜子。
1955 156:5.18 As you grow older in years and more experienced in the affairs of the kingdom, are you becoming more tactful in dealing with troublesome mortals and more tolerant in living with stubborn associates? Tact is the fulcrum of social leverage, and tolerance is the earmark of a great soul. If you possess these rare and charming gifts, as the days pass you will become more alert and expert in your worthy efforts to avoid all unnecessary social misunderstandings. Such wise souls are able to avoid much of the trouble which is certain to be the portion of all who suffer from lack of emotional adjustment, those who refuse to grow up, and those who refuse to grow old gracefully.
2015 156:5.18 当你年纪渐长,并在王国事务上更有经验时,你是否在与麻烦凡人打交道上变得更为老练,在与顽固同伴一起生活上变得更为容忍?老练是社会杠杆的支点,容忍则是一个伟大灵魂的标记。若你拥有这些罕见而又迷人的禀赋,随着岁月流逝,你会在你避免所有不必要社会误解的值得努力中变得更为机敏熟练。这类明智灵魂能够避免许多麻烦,而后者必定是所有缺乏情感调节而受苦之人、那些拒绝成长之人以及那些拒绝优雅变老之人的一部分。
1955 156:5.19 Avoid dishonesty and unfairness in all your efforts to preach truth and proclaim the gospel. Seek no unearned recognition and crave no undeserved sympathy. Love, freely receive from both divine and human sources regardless of your deserts, and love freely in return. But in all other things related to honor and adulation seek only that which honestly belongs to you.
1955 156:5.20 The God-conscious mortal is certain of salvation; he is unafraid of life; he is honest and consistent. He knows how bravely to endure unavoidable suffering; he is uncomplaining when faced by inescapable hardship.
2015 156:5.20 意识到神的凡人必定得救;他无惧生活,他诚实如一。他知晓如何勇敢忍受无可避免的痛苦;在面对无法逃避的困难时毫不抱怨。
1955 156:5.21 The true believer does not grow weary in well-doing just because he is thwarted. Difficulty whets the ardor of the truth lover, while obstacles only challenge the exertions of the undaunted kingdom builder.
2015 156:5.22 在他们准备好从泰尔动身之前,耶稣也教导了他们许多其他事情。
1955 156:5.23 The day before Jesus left Tyre for the return to the region of the Sea of Galilee, he called his associates together and directed the twelve evangelists to go back by a route different from that which he and the twelve apostles were to take. And after the evangelists here left Jesus, they were never again so intimately associated with him.
2015 156:5.23 在耶稣离开泰尔返回加利利海地区之前这一天,他将他的同伴们召集到一起,并指示十二名福音传道者依照一条不同于他和十二使徒所采取的路线回去。在福音传道者们在这儿离开耶稣之后,他们再也没有如此亲密与他相伴。
6. THE RETURN FROM PHOENICIA
6. 从腓尼基返回
1955 156:6.1 About noon on Sunday, July 24, Jesus and the twelve left the home of Joseph, south of Tyre, going down the coast to Ptolemais. Here they tarried for a day, speaking words of comfort to the company of believers resident there. Peter preached to them on the evening of July 25.
2015 156:6.1 大约在7月24日周日中午,耶稣和十二人离开了泰尔南边的约瑟夫家,沿海岸前往托勒密。他们在这儿逗留一天,向一群常驻那里的信奉者讲了抚慰的话语。彼得在7月25日晚上向他们布道。
1955 156:6.2 On Tuesday they left Ptolemais, going east inland to near Jotapata by way of the Tiberias road. Wednesday they stopped at Jotapata and instructed the believers further in the things of the kingdom. Thursday they left Jotapata, going north on the Nazareth-Mount Lebanon trail to the village of Zebulun, by way of Ramah. They held meetings at Ramah on Friday and remained over the Sabbath. They reached Zebulun on Sunday, the 31st, holding a meeting that evening and departing the next morning.
2015 156:6.2 在周二他们离开了托勒密,取道提比里亚大路往东面内陆行进到约塔帕塔附近。周三他们在约塔帕塔停留,并在王国事情上进一步指导信奉者们。周四他们离开约塔帕塔,取道拉玛,沿着拿撒勒-黎巴嫩山小路,北行去往西布伦村。周五他们在拉玛举行了会议,并留下过完安息日。他们在31日周日抵达西布伦,那晚举行了一次会议,并在第二早离开。
1955 156:6.3 Leaving Zebulun, they journeyed over to the junction with the Magdala-Sidon road near Gischala, and thence they made their way to Gennesaret on the western shores of the lake of Galilee, south of Capernaum, where they had appointed to meet with David Zebedee, and where they intended to take counsel as to the next move to be made in the work of preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
2015 156:6.3 离开西布伦,他们朝向靠近吉斯卡拉的、与抹大拉-西顿大路的交汇处行进,从那儿他们去向迦百农南边、加利利湖西岸的革尼撒勒,在那儿他们约定了与大卫•西庇太见面,并在那儿打算就宣扬王国福音工作中要做的下一步进行商量。
1955 156:6.4 During a brief conference with David they learned that many leaders were then gathered together on the opposite side of the lake near Kheresa, and accordingly, that very evening a boat took them across. For one day they rested quietly in the hills, going on the next day to the park, near by, where the Master once fed the five thousand. Here they rested for three days and held daily conferences, which were attended by about fifty men and women, the remnants of the once numerous company of believers resident in Capernaum and its environs.
2015 156:6.4 在与大卫的简短会议中,他们得知许多领导者那时在靠近格拉撒的湖对岸被聚集到了一起,相应地,就在那晚,一艘船带他们过去了。他们在山里静静休息了一天,在第二天去往了附近的公园,主在那儿曾喂养过五千人。他们在这儿休息了三天,并每天举行会议,大约有五十个男女参加,即常驻迦百农及其近郊的一度众多信奉者中的余者。
1955 156:6.5 While Jesus was absent from Capernaum and Galilee, the period of the Phoenician sojourn, his enemies reckoned that the whole movement had been broken up and concluded that Jesus’ haste in withdrawing indicated he was so thoroughly frightened that he would not likely ever return to bother them. All active opposition to his teachings had about subsided. The believers were beginning to hold public meetings once more, and there was occurring a gradual but effective consolidation of the tried and true survivors of the great sifting through which the gospel believers had just passed.
2015 156:6.5 当耶稣不在迦百农和加利利、即在腓尼基的逗留时期,他的敌人们认为整个运动被打破了,并断定耶稣匆忙撤离表明他是彻底害怕了,以致他不可能回来打扰他们了。对他教导的所有活跃反对大致平息了。信奉者们开始再次举行公开会面了,福音信奉者们刚经历的大筛选中经过考验的真正幸存者,出现了一种逐渐但却有效的团结。
1955 156:6.6 Philip, the brother of Herod, had become a halfhearted believer in Jesus and sent word that the Master was free to live and work in his domains.
2015 156:6.6 希律的兄弟菲利普成了耶稣的一个半心信奉者,并发送消息说主可以在他领地内自由生活工作。
1955 156:6.7 The mandate to close the synagogues of all Jewry to the teachings of Jesus and all his followers had worked adversely upon the scribes and Pharisees. Immediately upon Jesus’ removing himself as an object of controversy, there occurred a reaction among the entire Jewish people; there was general resentment against the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin leaders at Jerusalem. Many of the rulers of the synagogues began surreptitiously to open their synagogues to Abner and his associates, claiming that these teachers were followers of John and not disciples of Jesus.
2015 156:6.7 将所有犹太人的犹太教会堂对耶稣和他所有追随者教导关闭的命令,对文士和法利赛人产生了相反的作用。在耶稣将自己作为一个争议对象移除之际,在整个犹太人中间出现了一种反应;有一种针对耶路撒冷法利赛人和犹太公会领袖们的普遍怨恨。许多犹太教会堂的掌管者开始暗中对艾伯纳和他的同伴们开放他们的犹太教会堂,声称这些导师是约翰的追随者,而非耶稣的门徒。
1955 156:6.8 Even Herod Antipas experienced a change of heart and, on learning that Jesus was sojourning across the lake in the territory of his brother Philip, sent word to him that, while he had signed warrants for his arrest in Galilee, he had not so authorized his apprehension in Perea, thus indicating that Jesus would not be molested if he remained outside of Galilee; and he communicated this same ruling to the Jews at Jerusalem.
2015 156:6.8 即便希律•安提帕斯也经历了一场内心的转变,在得知耶稣正在他兄弟菲利普领地内的湖对岸逗留时,发送消息给他,尽管他已签署了在加利利对他的逮捕令,但他并未授权他在比利亚被捕,由此表明,如果耶稣留在加利利以外,他不会被骚扰;他也向耶路撒冷的犹太人传达了这同一裁定。
1955 156:6.9 And that was the situation about the first of August, A.D. 29, when the Master returned from the Phoenician mission and began the reorganization of his scattered, tested, and depleted forces for this last and eventful year of his mission on earth.
2015 156:6.9 那便是大约在公元29年8月1日的情形,此时主从腓尼基的使命返回,并开始为他在世上使命这最后多事一年重组他分散的、经受过考验的、所剩无几的力量。
1955 156:6.10 The issues of battle are clearly drawn as the Master and his associates prepare to begin the proclamation of a new religion, the religion of the spirit of the living God who dwells in the minds of men.
2015 156:6.10 随着主和他的同伴们准备开始宣扬一种新的宗教、即永活之神居于人类心智中的属灵类宗教,诸多斗争问题便被清楚引出了。