Did I fight wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes? Then what have I gotten for it? If the dead are not raised,“ Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”( Isaiah 22:13)

我若当日像寻常人，在以弗所同野兽战斗，那于我有什么益处呢？若死人不复活，我们就吃吃喝喝吧！因为明天要死了。

从人的观点看来，我当日在以弗所同野兽搏斗，对我有什么益处呢？如果死人没有复活，“让我们吃吃喝喝吧！因为明天要死了。”

从人的观点看来，我当日在以弗所同野兽搏斗，对我有什么益处呢？如果死人没有复活，“让我们吃吃喝喝吧！因为明天要死了。”

从人的角度看，我在以弗所与那些“恶兽”格斗对我有什么益处呢？如果死人不会复活，“让我们吃喝吧！因为明天我们就死了。”

我在以弗所和野兽搏斗，如果照着人的意思来看，那对我有什么益处呢？如果死人不会复活，“我们就吃吃喝喝吧，因为我们明天就要死了。”

我在以弗所与野兽搏斗，如果按人的意思来说，对我有什么好处呢？如果死人不会复活，就“让我们吃吃喝喝吧，因为明天我们就要死了。”

我若當日像尋常人，在以弗所同野獸戰鬥，那於我有甚麼益處呢？若死人不復活，我們就吃吃喝喝吧！因為明天要死了。

從人的觀點看來，我當日在以弗所同野獸搏鬥，對我有甚麼益處呢？如果死人沒有復活，「讓我們吃吃喝喝吧！因為明天要死了。」

從人的觀點看來，我當日在以弗所同野獸搏鬥，對我有甚麼益處呢？如果死人沒有復活，「讓我們吃吃喝喝吧！因為明天要死了。」

從人的角度看，我在以弗所與那些「惡獸」格鬥對我有什麼益處呢？如果死人不會復活，「讓我們吃喝吧！因為明天我們就死了。」

我在以弗所和野獸搏鬥，如果照著人的意思來看，那對我有甚麼益處呢？如果死人不會復活，“我們就吃吃喝喝吧，因為我們明天就要死了。”

若按人的說法，我當日在以弗所跟野獸格鬥，那於我又有甚麼益處呢？死人如果不能得甦活起來，那『我們喫喫喝喝吧，因為明天就死了！』

我在以弗所與野獸搏鬥，如果按人的意思來說，對我有什麼好處呢？如果死人不會復活，就「讓我們吃吃喝喝吧，因為明天我們就要死了。」

昔我於以弗所、若效常人鬥獸、有何益哉、若死者不見起、毋寧式飲式食、蓋明日死矣、

始我在以弗所、甘受鬥獸之濫刑、若無復生、斯何益哉、寧圖飲食、明日死至矣、

昔我在以弗所、與獸鬥、若僅似常人、有何益哉、

曩在伊弗所、予曾與猛獸格鬥矣；若依人之常情而論、我亦何樂而為此？若死者無復活、則『人生有酒須當醉、明日死來萬事休；』

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,“ Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised,“ Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

And what value was there in fighting wild beasts— those people of Ephesus— if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection,“ Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise,“ Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to- morrow we die.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then“ let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Instead, you are enjoying yourselves at wild parties! You are killing cattle and sheep. You are eating their meat and drinking wine. You are saying,“ Let’s eat and drink, because tomorrow we’ll die.”

I’ll say to myself,“ You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’

“ Come!” they shout.“ Let’s get some wine! Let’s drink all the beer we can! Tomorrow we’ll do the same thing. And that will be even better than today.”

“ You have said,‘ It is useless to serve God. What do we gain by obeying his laws? And what do we get by pretending to be sad in front of the Lord?But now we call proud people blessed. Things go well with those who do what is evil. And God doesn’t even punish those who test him.’ ”

They arrived at Ephesus. There Paul said goodbye to Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and talked with the Jews.

Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the hard times we had in Asia Minor. We were having a lot of trouble. It was far more than we could stand. We even thought we were going to die.In fact, we felt as if we were under the sentence of death. But that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves but on God. He raises the dead to life.God has saved us from deadly dangers. And he will continue to do it. We have put our hope in him. He will continue to save us.

But these people say evil things against whatever they don’t understand. And the very things they do understand will destroy them. That’s because they are like wild animals that can’t think for themselves. Instead, they do what comes naturally to them.

What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses or gives up their very self?

Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life. No one can get rid of an official agreement between people. No one can add to it. It can’t be changed after it has been made. It is the same with God’s covenant agreement.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road to Ephesus. When he arrived, he found some believers there.

A person can’t do anything better than eat, drink and be satisfied with their work. I’m finally seeing that those things also come from the hand of God.

At that time many people became very upset about the Way of Jesus.There was a man named Demetrius who made things out of silver. He made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there.One day he called them together. He also called others who were in the same kind of business.“ My friends,” he said,“ you know that we make good money from our work.You have seen and heard what this fellow Paul is doing. He has talked to large numbers of people here in Ephesus. Almost everywhere in Asia Minor he has led people away from our gods. He says that the gods made by human hands are not gods at all.Our work is in danger of losing its good name. People’s faith in the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be weakened. Now she is worshiped all over Asia Minor and the whole world. But soon she will be robbed of her greatness.”When they heard this, they became very angry. They began shouting,“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”Soon people were making trouble in the whole city. They all rushed into the theater. They dragged Gaius and Aristarchus along with them. These two men had come with Paul from Macedonia.Paul wanted to appear in front of the crowd. But the believers wouldn’t let him.Some of the officials in Asia Minor were friends of Paul. They sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater.The crowd didn’t know what was going on. Some were shouting one thing and some another. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there.The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. They tried to tell him what to say. But he motioned for them to be quiet. He was about to give the people reasons for his actions.But then they realized that he was a Jew. So they all shouted the same thing for about two hours.“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” they yelled.The city clerk quieted the crowd down.“ People of Ephesus!” he said.“ The city of Ephesus guards the temple of the great Artemis. The whole world knows this. They know that Ephesus guards her statue, which fell from heaven.These facts can’t be questioned. So calm down. Don’t do anything foolish.These men haven’t robbed any temples. They haven’t said evil things against our female god. But you have brought them here anyhow.Demetrius and the other skilled workers may feel they have been wronged by someone. Let them bring charges. The courts are open. We have our governors.Is there anything else you want to bring up? Settle it in a court of law.As it is, we are in danger of being charged with a crime. We could be charged with causing all this trouble today. There is no reason for it. So we wouldn’t be able to explain what has happened.”After he said this, he sent the people away.

It seems as if I have kept my heart pure for no reason. It didn’t do me any good to wash my hands to show that I wasn’t guilty of doing anything wrong.

You ask him,‘ What good is it for me not to sin? What do I get by not sinning?’

These people speak evil about things they don’t understand. They are like wild animals who can’t think. Instead, they do what comes naturally to them. They are born only to be caught and destroyed. Just like animals, these people too will die.

Because you are human, you find this hard to understand. So I am using an everyday example to help you understand. You used to give yourselves to be slaves to unclean living. You were becoming more and more evil. Now give yourselves to be slaves to right living. Then you will become holy.

You young people, be happy while you are still young. Let your heart be joyful while you are still strong. Do what your heart tells you to do. Go after what your eyes look at. But I want you to know that God will judge you for everything you do.