Do not say,“ Why were the old days better than these days?” for it is not wise to ask that.

不要说：先前的日子强过如今的日子，是什么缘故呢？你这样问，不是出于智慧。

不要说：为什么先前的日子强过现今的日子呢？你这样问不是出于智慧。

不要说：为什么先前的日子强过现今的日子呢？你这样问不是出于智慧。

不要问为什么过去比现在好，因为这样问不明智。

你不要说：“为什么从前的日子胜过现在的呢？”你这样问，不是出于智慧。

不要说：“为什么先前的日子好过现在的日子呢？”因为你这样问不是出于智慧。

不要說：先前的日子強過如今的日子，是甚麼緣故呢？你這樣問，不是出於智慧。

不要說：為甚麼先前的日子強過現今的日子呢？你這樣問不是出於智慧。

不要說：為甚麼先前的日子強過現今的日子呢？你這樣問不是出於智慧。

不要問為什麼過去比現在好，因為這樣問不明智。

你不要說：“為甚麼從前的日子勝過現在的呢？”你這樣問，不是出於智慧。

你不要說：『為甚麼先前的日子比如今這些日子好呢？』因為你問到這事、並不是出於智慧。

不要說：「為什麼先前的日子好過現在的日子呢？」因為你這樣問不是出於智慧。

勿謂今不如古何耶、詢此、乃不智也、

勿是古非今、而尚論其事、此非智者所為也。

爾勿問云、緣何今日不如昔日、爾如是問、則非出於智慧、

Do not say,“ Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Don’t say,“ Why were things better in the good old days?” It isn’t wise to ask that kind of question.

Say not,“ Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Don’t long for“ the good old days.” This is not wise.

Don’t say,“ Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Do not say,“ Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Do not say,“ Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

Don’t say,“ Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Say not thou, What is[ the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

Don’t say,“ Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.

Gideon said to him,“ Pardon me, but if the LORD is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said,‘ Did the LORD not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles.But ever since we stopped sacrificing and pouring out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven, we have been in great need. Our people have died in wars or of starvation.”The women added,“ We did indeed sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. But it was with the full knowledge and approval of our husbands that we made cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her.”

Although they claimed to be wise, they became foolsand exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four- footed animals or reptiles.Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,senseless, covenant- breakers, heartless, ruthless.Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,just as it is written:“ There is no one righteous, not even one,there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”“ Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.”“ Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”“ Their feet are swift to shed blood,ruin and misery are in their paths,and the way of peace they have not known.”“ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

The LORD looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one!

This is what the LORD says:“ Where is your mother’s divorce certificate by which I divorced her? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold because of your sins; because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother.

The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.