格林多后书 2 Corinthians Chapter 4
2 Corinthians
Chapter 4
1 1 Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown us, we are not discouraged.
为此，我们既蒙垂青，获得了这职务，我们决不胆怯；
2 Rather, we have renounced shameful, hidden things; not acting deceitfully or falsifying the word of God, but by the open declaration of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
反而戒绝了一切可耻的隐瞒行为，不以狡猾行事，也不变通天主的道理，只是借着显示真理，在天主前将我们自己举荐于众人的良心。
3 And even though our gospel is veiled, 2 it is veiled for those who are perishing,
但如果说我们的福音也被蒙住了，那只是为丧亡的人蒙着，
4 in whose case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
因为今世的神已蒙蔽了这些不信者的心意，免得他们看见基督──天主的肖像──光荣福音的光明。
5 For we do not preach ourselves 3 but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.
因为我们不是宣传我们自己，而是宣传耶稣基督为主，我们只是因耶稣的缘故作了你们的奴仆。
6 4 For God who said, ＂Let light shine out of darkness,＂ has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of (Jesus) Christ.
因为那吩咐‘光从黑暗中照耀’的天主，曾经照耀在我们心中，为使我们以那在【耶稣】基督的面貌上，所闪耀的天主的光荣的知识，来光照别人。
7 5 6 But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
但我们是在瓦器中存有这宝贝，为彰显那卓著的力量是属于天主，并非出于我们。
8 7 We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
我们在各方面受了磨难，却没有被困住；绝了路，却没有绝望；
9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;
被迫害，却没有被弃舍；被打倒，却没有丧亡；
10 8 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
身上时常带着耶稣的死状，为使耶稣的生活也彰显在我们身上。
11 For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
的确，我们这些活着的人，时常为耶稣的缘故被交于死亡，为使耶稣的生活也彰显在我们有死的肉身上。
12 9 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
这样看来，死亡施展在我们身上，生活却施展在你们身上。
13 10 Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ＂I believed, therefore I spoke,＂ we too believe and therefore speak,
但我们既然具有经上所载的：‘我信了，所以我说’那同样的信心，我们也信，所以也说，
14 knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.
因为我们知道那使主耶稣复活的，也要使我们与耶稣一起复活，并使我们与你们一同站在他前。
15 Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.
其实，这一切都是为了你们，为使获得恩宠的人越增多，感谢也越增加，好归光荣于天主。
16 11 12 Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
为此，我们决不胆怯，纵使我们外在的人日渐损坏，但我们内在的人却日日更新，
17 For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
因为我们这现时轻微的苦难，正分外无比地给我们造就永远的光荣厚报，
18 as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
因为我们并不注目那看得见的，而只注目那看不见的；那看得见的，原是暂时的；那看不见的，才是永远的。
Footnotes(注解)
1 [1-2] A ministry of this sort generates confidence and forthrightness; cf 2 Cor 1:12-14; 2:17.
2 [3-4] Though our gospel is veiled: the final application of the image. Paul has been reproached either for obscurity in his preaching or for his manner of presenting the gospel. But he confidently asserts that there is no veil over his gospel. If some fail to perceive its light, that is because of unbelief. The veil lies over their eyes (2 Cor 3:14), a blindness induced by Satan, and a sign that they are headed for destruction (cf 2 Cor 2:15).
3 [5] We do not preach ourselves: the light seen in his gospel is the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:4). Far from preaching himself, the preacher should be a transparent medium through whom Jesus is perceived (cf 2 Cor 4:10-11). Your slaves: Paul draws attention away from individuals as such and toward their role in relation to God, Christ, and the community; cf 1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 4:1
4 [6] Autobiographical allusion to the episode at Damascus clarifies the origin and nature of Paul's service; cf Acts 9:1-19; 22:3-16; 26:2-18. ＂Let light shine out of darkness＂: Paul seems to be thinking of Genesis 1:3 and presenting his apostolic ministry as a new creation. There may also be an allusion to Isaiah 9:1 suggesting his prophetic calling as servant of the Lord and light to the nations; cf Isaiah 42:6, 16; 49:6; 60:1-2, and the use of light imagery in Acts 26:13-23. To bring to light the knowledge: Paul's role in the process of revelation, expressed at the beginning under the image of the odor and aroma (2 Cor 2:14-15), is restated now, at the end of this first moment of the development, in the imagery of light and glory (2 Cor 4:3-6).
5 [4:7-5:10] Paul now confronts the difficulty that his present existence does not appear glorious at all; it is marked instead by suffering and death. He deals with this by developing the topic already announced in 2 Cor 3:3, 6, asserting his faith in the presence and ultimate triumph of life, in his own and every Christian existence, despite the experience of death.
6 [7] This treasure: the glory that he preaches and into which they are being transformed. In earthen vessels: the instruments God uses are human and fragile; some imagine small terracotta lamps in which light is carried.
7 [8-9] A catalogue of his apostolic trials and afflictions. Yet in these the negative never completely prevails; there is always some experience of rescue, of salvation.
8 [10-11] Both the negative and the positive sides of the experience are grounded christologically. The logic is similar to that of 2 Cor 1:3-11. His sufferings are connected with Christ's, and his deliverance is a sign that he is to share in Jesus' resurrection.
9 [12-15] His experience does not terminate in himself, but in others (12.15; cf 2 Cor 1, 4-5). Ultimately, everything is ordered even beyond the community, toward God (2 Cor 4:15; cf 2 Cor 1:11).
10 [13-14] Like the Psalmist, Paul clearly proclaims his faith, affirming life within himself despite death (2 Cor 4:10-11) and the life-giving effect of his experience upon the church (2 Cor 4:12, 14-15). And place us with you in his presence: Paul imagines God presenting him and them to Jesus at the parousia and the judgment; cf 2 Cor 11:2; Romans 14:10.
11 [16-18] In a series of contrasts Paul explains the extent of his faith in life. Life is not only already present and revealing itself (2 Cor 4:8-11, 16) but will outlast his experience of affliction and dying: it is eternal (2 Cor 4:17-18).
12 [16] Not discouraged: i.e., despite the experience of death. Paul is still speaking of himself personally, but he assumes his faith and attitude will be shared by all Christians. Our outer self: the individual subject of ordinary perception and observation, in contrast to the interior and hid, den self, which undergoes renewal. Is being renewed day by day: this suggests a process that has already begun; cf 2 Cor 3:18. The renewal already taking place even in Paul's dying is a share in the life of Jesus, but this is recognized only by faith (2 Cor 4:13, 18; 2 Cor 5:7).