章节研读
Sirach 2 — Trusting the Lord Through Trial
Sirach 2 exhorts the faithful to prepare for trials, trust the Lord, and remain steadfast, promising that those who fear Him will not be put to shame.
经文
- 1.向神的职责 我的儿子，如果你前来侍奉上帝，准备自己忍受试探。Duties toward God My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for temptation.
- 2.坚定你的心意，端正你的心，患难当前，不要急躁。Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be hasty in time of calamity.
- 3.亲近他，不要离开，你将在生命的尽头得到尊荣。Cleave to him and do not depart, that you may be honored at the end of your life.
- 4.凡事忍受，遇到使你谦卑的变化时要忍耐。Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient.
- 5.黄金在火中试验，人在屈辱的熔炉中被考验。For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.
- 6.只管信靠他，他必帮助你；使你的道路平坦，并且仰望他。Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him.
- 7.你们这怕耶和华的人要等待他的慈爱，不要偏离，免得你们跌倒。You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; and turn not aside, lest you fall.
- 8.你们敬畏耶和华的人，要倚靠他，你们的赏赐必不缺乏；You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail;
- 9.你们敬畏耶和华的人，要指望善事，永远的喜乐和怜悯。you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for everlasting joy and mercy.
- 10.考虑古代的世代，看哪，有谁倚靠耶和华却羞愧了呢？有谁存着敬畏耶和华的心却被弃绝了呢？有谁求告他却被忽视了呢？Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked?
- 11.主是仁慈的，富有怜悯，赦免罪恶，在患难的时候拯救。For the Lord is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.
- 12.对胆怯的心和懒惰的手，以及走在两条路上的罪人有祸了！Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands, and to the sinner who walks along two ways!
- 13.哀哉那软弱的心， 因为它没有信靠。所以不得庇护。Woe to the faint heart, for it has no trust! Therefore it will not be sheltered.
- 14.哀哉你们这些失去忍耐的人，你们将来要受主的惩罚时怎么办呢Woe to you who have lost your endurance! What will you do when the Lord punishes you?
- 15.敬畏上帝的人不會違背他的話，愛他的人也會遵守他的道。Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words, and those who love him will keep his ways.
- 16.敬畏上帝的人必寻求他的喜悦，爱他的人必充满律法。Those who fear the Lord will seek his approval, and those who love him will be filled with the law.
- 17.敬畏上帝的人必将使他们的心备好，并且在他面前谦卑自己。Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and will humble themselves before him.
- 18.我们宁愿落在耶和华的手中，不愿落在人的手中，因为他如同他的威严，也是有怜悯。Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, but not into the hands of men; for as his majesty is, so also is his mercy.
这段经文的意思
Sirach 2 opens with a direct charge: anyone who sets out to serve the Lord must first prepare for testing. The chapter frames the religious life not as comfort but as discipline, where steadfastness of heart, patience under affliction, and unwavering cleaving to God are the marks of true devotion.
The chapter uses the image of gold tried in the fire to describe how the Lord tests His servants through humiliation and hardship. It then contrasts the faithful, who hope in God's mercy and are not put to shame, with the timid and double-minded, who lose endurance and therefore will not be sheltered when the Lord visits them.
In its closing movement, Sirach 2 catalogs the character of those who fear the Lord: they do not disobey His words, they keep His ways, they seek His approval, they are filled with His law, and they humble their hearts before Him. The chapter concludes with a confession of faith — better to fall into the hands of the Lord than into the hands of men, because His majesty is matched by His mercy.
背景
Sirach 2 sits within a wisdom collection that opens chapter 1 with a broad meditation on where wisdom comes from and concludes by grounding all wisdom in the fear of the Lord. The second chapter narrows that frame from cosmology to the individual disciple, moving from the universal origin of wisdom to the personal cost of pursuing it. The text presented here contains no surrounding chapter material beyond the verses themselves, so no further contextual claims are drawn from adjacent text.
The chapter's arrangement is deliberate: a call to prepare (verses 1–6), an encouragement drawn from the memory of past generations (verses 7–11), warnings against faintheartedness and double-mindedness (verses 12–14), and a description of the fruits of fearing the Lord (verses 15–18). The final verse, entrusting oneself to the Lord's hands rather than to human hands, functions as the chapter's climactic confession.
常见问题
Why does Sirach say to prepare for temptation before serving the Lord?
Because the chapter treats serving the Lord as a path that involves testing and affliction. Steadfastness, patience, and cleaving to God are presented as the disciplines that carry a disciple through such trials, rather than obstacles to be avoided.
What does the image of gold tested in fire mean in this chapter?
The chapter uses it to teach that just as gold is refined in a furnace, acceptable people are tested through the furnace of humiliation. Hardship is presented as a refining process that proves and purifies the faithful, not as evidence of abandonment.
Who are the 'timid hearts' and the 'sinner who walks along two ways' in verses 12–14?
Within the chapter's own argument, these figures represent those who lack steadfast trust and divided loyalty. The text says the fainthearted have no trust and therefore will not be sheltered, and the double-minded have lost endurance, leaving them exposed when the Lord visits them.