< 哥林多后书 2 >
1 我自己定了主意再到你们那里去,必须大家没有忧愁。
For my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit.
2 倘若我叫你们忧愁,除了我叫那忧愁的人以外,谁能叫我快乐呢?
If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the person whom I am paining?
3 我曾把这事写给你们,恐怕我到的时候,应该叫我快乐的那些人,反倒叫我忧愁。我也深信,你们众人都以我的快乐为自己的快乐。
So I wrote as I did because I was afraid that if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also.
4 我先前心里难过痛苦,多多地流泪,写信给你们,不是叫你们忧愁,乃是叫你们知道我格外地疼爱你们。
I wrote to you in sore trouble and distress of heart and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you.
5 若有叫人忧愁的,他不但叫我忧愁,也是叫你们众人有几分忧愁。我说几分,恐怕说得太重。
Now whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent – not to be too severe – pained every one of you.
The man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you;
7 倒不如赦免他,安慰他,免得他忧愁太过,甚至沉沦了。
so that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain.
So I entreat you to assure him of your love.
9 为此我先前也写信给你们,要试验你们,看你们凡事顺从不顺从。
I had this further object, also, in what I wrote – to find out whether you might be relied on to be obedient in everything.
10 你们赦免谁,我也赦免谁。我若有所赦免的,是在基督面前为你们赦免的,
Anyone you forgive, I forgive them, too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven (if I have had to forgive anything), I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ,
11 免得撒但趁着机会胜过我们,因我们并非不晓得他的诡计。
so as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
12 我从前为基督的福音到了特罗亚,主也给我开了门。
When I went to the district round Troas to tell the good news of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master,
13 那时,因为没有遇见兄弟提多,我心里不安,便辞别那里的人往马其顿去了。
I could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my friend; so I took leave of the people there, and went on to Macedonia.
14 感谢 神!常率领我们在基督里夸胜,并借着我们在各处显扬那因认识基督而有的香气。
All thanks to God, who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet perfume of the knowledge of him in every place.
15 因为我们在 神面前,无论在得救的人身上或灭亡的人身上,都有基督馨香之气。
For we are the fragrance of Christ ascending to God – both among those who are in the path of salvation and among those who are in the path to ruin.
16 在这等人,就作了死的香气叫他死;在那等人,就作了活的香气叫他活。这事谁能当得起呢?
To the latter we are a stench which arises from death and tells of death; to the former a fragrance which arises from life and tells of life. But who is equal to such a task?
17 我们不像那许多人,为利混乱 神的道;乃是由于诚实,由于 神,在 神面前凭着基督讲道。
Unlike many people, we are not in the habit of making profit out of God’s message; but in all sincerity, and bearing God’s commission, we speak before him in union with Christ.