< 列王紀上 3 >
1 [撒羅滿與外族結親]撒羅滿與埃及王法郎結親,娶了法郎的公主,接她住在達味城,直等到他建完了自己的宮殿、上主的殿及耶路撒冷四周圍的城垣。
Solomon went to see the king of Egypt. Solomon [made an agreement with him to] marry his daughter. They also made an alliance/agreement [that their armies would not attack each other]. Then Solomon brought the king’s daughter to live in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. [She lived there] until Solomon’s workers had finished building his house and the temple of Yahweh and the wall around Jerusalem.
2 百姓仍然在高丘上獻祭,因為直到那時,還沒有為上主的名建造殿宇。
[At that time] the temple of Yahweh had not yet been built, so the Israeli people were still offering sacrifices at many other places of worship.
3 撒羅滿愛慕上主,遵行他父親達味的律例,只是仍在高丘上獻祭焚香。上主顯現給撒羅滿
Solomon loved Yahweh, and he obeyed all the instructions that his father David had given him. But he also offered sacrifices and burned incense at various altars.
4 撒羅滿王去了基貝紅,為在那裏獻祭,因為那是一個最廣大的高丘。撒羅滿在那裏的祭壇上奉獻了一千全燔祭。
One day the king went to Gibeon [city] to offer a sacrifice there, because that was where the most famous/important altar was. In previous years he had offered hundreds of sacrifices on that altar.
5 撒羅滿在基貝紅時,夜間上主藉著夢顯現給他;天主對他說﹕「你不拘求什麼,我必給你。」
That night, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream. He asked Solomon, “What would you like me to give to you?”
6 撒羅滿說﹕「你的僕人,我的父親達味曾以虔誠、公義及正直的心與你同行,你曾向他表示了偉大的恩德,又為給他保持這偉大的恩德,賜給了他一個兒子,坐在他的寶座上,如同今天一樣。
Solomon replied, “You always greatly and faithfully loved my father David, who served you [well]. You did that because he (was faithful to/faithfully obeyed) you and acted righteously and honestly toward you. And you have showed how greatly and faithfully you loved him by giving to him me, his son, and now I am ruling [MTY] as he did [before he died].
7 上主,我的天主,現在你使你的僕人替代我父親達味為王,但我還太年輕,不知道如何處理國事。
“Now, Yahweh my God, you have appointed me to be the king like my father was. But I am [very young, like] a little child [MET]. I do not know how to lead/rule my people at all [IDM].
8 你的僕人是住在你所選的民族中間,這是一個多得不可統計,不可勝數的大民族。
I am here among the people whom you have chosen. They are a very large group of people; there are very, very many of them, with the result that no one can count them [DOU].
9 為此,求你賜給你的僕人一顆慧心,可統治你的百姓,判斷善惡;否則,誰能統治你這樣眾多的人民呢﹖」
So please enable me to think clearly, in order that I may rule your people [well]. Enable me to know what is good and what is evil. [If you do not do that, ] I will never [RHQ] be able to rule this great group of people who belong to you.”
Yahweh was very pleased that Solomon had requested that.
11 天主於是對他說﹕「因為你求了這件事,而沒有為你自己求長壽,也沒有為你自己求富貴,也沒有要求你敵人的性命,單單為你自己求了智慧,為能辨明正義。
God said to him, “You did not request that you live for many years or that you become very rich or that you be able to kill all your enemies. Instead, you have requested that I enable you to be wise, in order that you will be able to know [and to do] what is right [while you govern these people].
12 我必照你的話作,賞賜你一顆聰明智慧的心,在你以前沒有像你的人,在你以後,也不會興起一個像你的人。
So, I will certainly do what you requested. I will enable you to be very wise [DOU]. The result will be that no one who has lived before you or who will live after you will be as [wise as] you are.
13 你沒有要求的榮華富貴,我也賞賜你,使你在列王中,一生沒有可與你相比的。
I will also give you things that you did not request: I will enable you to become very rich and honored, as long as you live. You will be richer and more honored than any other king.
14 如果你履行我的道路,恪守我的法律和我的命令,一如你父親達味所行的,我必要延長你的壽命。」
If you conduct your life [IDM] as I want you to, and if you obey all my laws and commandments, as your father David did, I will enable you to live for many years.”
15 撒羅滿醒來,纔知道原是一夢;以後他回了耶路撒冷,立在上主的約櫃前,奉獻了全燔祭與和平祭,設宴款待了自己所有的臣僕。撒羅滿斷獄如神
Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that [God had spoken to him in] a dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of [the Sacred Tent where] the Sacred Chest [was], and he offered many sacrifices that were completely burned [on the altar] and offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then he made a feast for all his officials.
One day two prostitutes came and stood in front of King Solomon.
17 一個女人說﹕「我主,我和這個女人同住一房,在這房裏,我靠著她生了一個孩子。
One of them said, “Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there in the house.
18 我生產後第三天,這個女子也生了一個孩子。我們住在一起,在這房裏,除我們二人外,再沒有別人住在這房裏。
Three days after my baby was born, this woman also gave birth to a baby. Only the two of us were in the house; there was no one else there.
19 有一夜,這個女子的兒子死了,是因為她睡覺壓死的。
“But one night this woman’s baby died because she [accidentally] rolled on top of her baby [while sleeping and smothered it].
20 她半夜起來,趁你婢女熟睡時,從我身邊抱去我的兒子,放在她懷裡,把她死了的兒子,放在我懷裡。
So she got up at midnight and took my baby boy who was lying beside me while I was sleeping. She carried him to her bed and brought her dead baby and put it in my bed.
21 當我清早起來,給孩子餵奶時,發覺孩子死了;及至天亮,我仔細一看,發覺他不是我親生的兒子。」
When I awoke the next morning and was ready to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. But when I looked at it closely in the morning light, I saw that it was not my baby!”
22 另一個女人說﹕「不是的,活的是我的兒子,死的是你的兒子。」這個女人說﹕「不是的,死的是你的兒子,活的是我的兒子。」她們倆就這樣在君王面前爭論不休。
But the other woman said, “That is not true! The baby that is alive is mine, and the baby that is dead is yours!” Then the first woman said, “No, the dead baby is yours, and the one that is alive is mine!” And they continued to argue in front of the king.
23 君王說﹕「這一個說﹕活的是我的兒子,死的是你的兒子;那一個說﹕不是的,死的是你的兒子,活的是我的兒子。」
Then the king said, “Both of you are saying, ‘My baby is the one that is alive and the one that is dead is yours.’”
24 君王吩咐說﹕「給我拿把刀來! 」人就給君王拿來了一把刀。
So he said to one of his servants, “Bring me a sword.” So the servant brought a sword to the king.
25 君王遂下令說﹕「把那活孩子劈成兩半﹕一半給這一個,一半給那一個。」
Then the king said to the servant, “Cut the baby that is alive into two parts. Give one part to each of the women.”
26 那活孩子的母親因為愛子心切,就對君王說﹕「我主,請把活孩子給那女人罷! 千萬不要殺他! 」那個女人說﹕「劈開罷! 這孩子不歸我,也不歸你! 」
But the woman whose baby was alive loved her baby very much, so she said to the king, “No, Your Majesty! Do not allow him to kill the baby! Give her the child that is alive!” But the other woman said to the king, “No, cut it in half. Then it will not be her baby or my baby.”
27 君王於是宣判說﹕「將活孩子給這個女人,不要殺他。這個女人實在是他的母親! 」
Then the king said to the servant, “Do not kill the baby. Give the baby to the woman who said ‘Do not cut the baby in half,’ because she is truly the baby’s mother.”
28 全以色列人聽了君王所斷的案件,便都尊敬君王,因為他們見他斷案時,具有天主的智慧。
All the Israeli people heard about what the king had decided, and they revered him. They realized that God had truly enabled him to be very wise, to judge people’s matters fairly.