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

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 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.

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

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

“ Sir,” Gideon replied,“ if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say,‘ The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

We will do whatever we want. We will burn incense and pour out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven just as much as we like— just as we, and our ancestors, and our kings and officials have always done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles!But ever since we quit burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and stopped worshiping her with liquid offerings, we have been in great trouble and have been dying from war and famine.”“ Besides,” the women added,“ do you suppose that we were burning incense and pouring out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and making cakes marked with her image, without our husbands knowing it and helping us? Of course not!”

Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.As the Scriptures say,“ No one is righteous— not even one.No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”“ Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.”“ Snake venom drips from their lips.”“ Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”“ They rush to commit murder.Destruction and misery always follow them.They don’t know where to find peace.”“ They have no fear of God at all.”Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!

This is what the Lord says:“ Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.

Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence.God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.