08月12日──謹守你的舌 Control your tongue
讀 經：雅各書3章1-12節
(New living translation)
1
Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church,
for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many
mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could
also control ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its
mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to
go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small
thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of
fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set
your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one
can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes
it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made
in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same
mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of
water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree
produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water
from a salty spring.
1
我的弟兄們，不要多人作師傅，因為曉得我們要受更重的判斷。
2 原來我們在許多事上都有過失；若有人在話語上沒有過失，他就是完全人，也能勒住自己的全身。
3 我們若把嚼環放在馬嘴裡，叫牠順服，就能調動牠的全身。
4 看哪，船隻雖然甚大，又被大風催逼，只用小小的舵，就隨著掌舵的意思轉動。
5 這樣，舌頭在百體裡也是最小的，卻能說大話。看哪，最小的火能點著最大的樹林。
6 舌頭就是火，在我們百體中，舌頭是個罪惡的世界，能污穢全身，也能把生命的輪子點起來，並且是從地獄裡點著的。
7 各類的走獸、飛禽、昆蟲，水族，本來都可以制伏，也已經被人制伏了；
8 惟獨舌頭沒有人能制伏，是不止息的惡物，滿了害死人的毒氣。
9 我們用舌頭頌讚那為主、為父的，又用舌頭咒詛那照著神形像被造的人。
10 頌讚和咒詛從一個口裡出來！我的弟兄們，這是不應當的！
11 泉源從一個眼裡能發出甜苦兩樣的水麼？
12 我的弟兄們，無花果樹能生橄欖麼？葡萄樹能結無花果麼？鹹水裡也不能發出甜水來。
金 句：「耶和華阿，求你禁止我的口，把守我的嘴」（詩篇141章3節）
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.
伯納得．巴魯曾是一位野心勃勃的年輕生意人。他央求富有的摩根（J.P.Morgan）與他合伙投資在德州開採硫磺礦。地質學家對於此計劃給予相當樂觀的評價，但是仍難免有一些風險。在巴魯說「你過去曾下過比這個更大的賭注」這句話之前，摩根對此項目頗感興趣。
Burnad Baru was an ambitious young businessman. He begged rich Morgan (J.P. Morgan) to form a partnership with him to invest mining sulfur ore in the Texas. The geologist gave the quite optimistic appraisal regarding this plan, but still unavoidably had some risks. Before Baru said "Your gambling stake was greater than this one in the past " , the Morgan regarding this project was quite interested.
摩根凝視著他，冷冷的說：「我從不賭！」。「賭」這個字封殺了這個雙方可能合作投資的構想。因為摩根認為投資值得尊重，但是賭博卻是一項罪惡。
Morgan stared at him, saying coldly: "I never do bet!". "Gambling" this
character forced out this both sides possibly to cooperate the investment
conception. Because Morgan thought the investment was worth respecting, but
gamble actually was an evil.
假如一句不得體的話就會導致上百萬的損失，想一想邪惡的話所可能帶來的傷害有多大，邪惡的話會讓人失去聲譽、破壞最親密的關係。
If an inappropriate speech could cause over million losses, thinking the evil speech might possibly bring how great the injury. The evil speech would let the person lose the prestige, destroy the most intimate relations.
雅各費盡口舌警告我們舌頭的力量。他說操縱一匹馬、駕駛一艘船、或是管教訓練各種動物、飛鳥、爬蟲、海洋生物均比駕馭舌頭來得容易（雅各書3章3-8節）。他稱：「舌頭就是火，是從地獄裡點著的」（3章6節）「是不止息的惡物，滿了害死人的毒氣」（3章8節）。
Jacob did considerable talking and persuading to warn our tongue's strength. He
said operating a horse, driving a ship, or teaching and training each kind of
animals, birds, reptiles, marine animals was easier than controlling the tongue
(James 3:8) He said, "The tongue is a fire, and it is set from the hell" (3:6)
"It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison." (3:8).
每天禱告可以給我們帶來智慧：「耶和華阿，求你禁止我的口，把守我的嘴」（詩篇141篇3節）。
The daily prayer may bring the wisdom to us: "Take control of what I say, O
Lord, and guard my lips." (Psalm 141:3).
耶和華阿，求你緊守我的嘴
控制我的口，
幫助我審視我的心思與意念
帶領我所說的每句言語。
O Lord, guard my lips
Control my mouth,
Help me to examine my thought and will
Guide my each spoken language.
不經思考的言語就像是漫無目標的亂射。
Spoken language without thinking sounds like the purposeless random shoots.