1 Corinthians 4
1 This is how a person should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the hidden truths of God.
所以，要把自己看作基督的仆人，为“上帝的奥秘”负责。
2 Now what is required of stewards is that they are found to be trustworthy.
不仅如此，承担这一职责之人，还必须值得信赖。
3 But for me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. For I do not even judge myself.
无论你或其他人评判我，我都完全不介意。事实上，我甚至也不会评判自己。
4 I am not aware of any charge being made against me, but that does not mean I am innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
我不记得自己做过错事，但这并不代表我在道德上称得上良善正直，只有主才能评判我。
5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment about anything before the time, before the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his praise from God.
所以，在恰当时机到来之前——即主降临之前，不要做出任何评判。他将照亮那被隐藏的、最黑暗的秘密，袒露人心里的动机。届时，上帝会给每个人应得的称赞。
6 Now, brothers, I applied these principles to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that from us you might learn the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” This is so that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against the other.
那么，兄弟姐妹们，我用我自己和亚波罗给你们做例子，让你们了解，不要超越经文所记内容，不要自高自大，不要偏爱任何人。
7 For who sees any difference between you and others? What do you have that you did not freely receive? If you have freely received it, why do you boast as if you had not done so?
是什么让你如此特别？你拥有了什么，才让上帝不肯给予你？既然是来自上帝的给予，为什么要傲慢地否认这一点？
8 Already you have all you could want! Already you have become rich! You began to reign—and that quite apart from us! Indeed, I wish you did reign, so that we could reign with you.
你以为拥有了所需的一切。你以为自己如此富有。你以为自己是王，不再需要我们。我倒真的希望你就是国王，这样我们就可以与你共同为王！
9 For I think God has put us apostles on display as the last in line in a procession and like men sentenced to death. We have become a spectacle to the world—to angels, and to human beings.
在我看来，上帝将我们这些使徒排在队列的最后，作为一种展示，尽管我们也会向其他人一样死去，但那只是我们在整个宇宙面前、在天使和人类面前，演了一场戏。
10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are held in dishonor.
我们是基督的愚人，但与上帝同在的你却如此智慧。我们软弱，你们强壮！你们受人尊敬，我们被瞧不起！
11 Up to this present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally beaten, and we are homeless.
即使是现在，我们仍然饥渴难耐、衣不蔽体、遭受殴打、无处安身。
12 We work hard, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure.
我们艰难辛苦地劳作。被人咒骂，我们会为其祝福；遭人迫害，我们会忍受；
13 When we are slandered, we speak with kindness. We have become, and are still considered to be, the refuse of the world and the filthiest of all things.
被人毁谤，我们报以善意。直到现在，人们视我们为泥土、这世上最肮脏的垃圾。
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to correct you as my beloved children.
我写这番话并非让你们羞愧，而是把你们当作我最爱的孩子一样给出警告。
15 For even if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
纵然你们有成千上万的基督徒教师，但却没有多少人可以称其为父。因为基督耶稣的缘故，当我与你们分享福音，便可成为你们的父亲。
16 So I urge you to be imitators of me.
所以我请求你们，一定要效法我。
17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, just as I teach them everywhere and in every church.
也正是因为这个原因，我派提摩太去拜访你们。他与主同在，是我最值得信赖、最喜爱的儿子。他将提醒你们我如何追随基督，就像我在各会堂中所作的教导。
18 Now some of you have become arrogant, acting as though I were not coming to you.
有人以为我不会到他们那里去，于是就变得骄傲自负。
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills. Then I will know not merely the talk of these who are so arrogant, but I will see their power.
但只要是主的意愿，我很快就会去往那里。然后了解那些傲慢自负的人都说了什么，知晓他们的能力如何。
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
因为上帝之国并不关注言语，而要看能力。
21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and in a spirit of gentleness?
那么你期待什么？让我带着棍子去殴打你，还是带着爱和温柔的灵出现？
