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

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.

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.

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.

And Gideon said to him,“ Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying,‘ Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster.But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”And the women said,“ When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,as it is written:“ None is righteous, no, not one;no one understands; no one seeks for God.All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”“ Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”“ The venom of asps is under their lips.”“ Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”“ Their feet are swift to shed blood;in their paths are ruin and misery,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 speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Thus says the Lord:“ Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.