“ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came.‘ Master,’ he said,‘ I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed.

那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛，

那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，

那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，

“得到一千银币的奴仆也上前说，‘主人，我知道你为人苛刻，没有播种的地方也要收割，没有撒种的地方也要收获。

那领了六千的也前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，没有撒种的地方，你要收割；没有散播的地方，你要收聚。

“接着，那领了一千两银子的也上前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，不是你播种的地方，你收获；不是你投放的地方，你收集。

那領一千的也來，說：『主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，沒有種的地方要收割，沒有散的地方要聚斂，

那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，

那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，

「得到一千銀幣的奴僕也上前說，『主人，我知道你為人苛刻，沒有播種的地方也要收割，沒有撒種的地方也要收穫。

那領了六千的也前來，說：‘主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，沒有撒種的地方，你要收割；沒有散播的地方，你要收聚。

那領了六千的也上前來，說：「主啊，我知道你是苛刻的人，沒有撒種的地方你就收割；沒有簸散的地方你就收集，

「接著，那領了一千兩銀子的也上前來，說：『主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，不是你播種的地方，你收穫；不是你投放的地方，你收集。

受一千者亦至、曰、主、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、

受一千者至、曰、主也、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、

受一他連得者、曰、主人、我知爾乃忍人、於未播之處而穫、於未散之處而斂、

受一千者繼至、曰：「素知吾主刻薄寡恩、不播而穫、不散而斂；

“ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came.‘ Master,’ he said,‘ I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying,‘ Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,

“ Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said,‘ Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.

“ The man who had received one talent also approached and said,‘ Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.

“ Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said,‘ Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.

“ Then he who had received the one talent came and said,‘ Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter;

“ Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said,‘ Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said,‘ Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,

“ He also who had received the one talent came and said,‘ Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.

“ Then another slave came. He said,‘ Sir, here is your money. I have kept it hidden in a piece of cloth.I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in. You harvest what you did not plant.’“ His master replied,‘ I will judge you by your own words, you evil slave! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant?

“ You who are now living, consider my message. I am saying,“ Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been like a land of deep darkness? Why do my people say,‘ We are free to wander. We won’t come to you anymore’?

But he answered his father,‘ Look! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I have always obeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

“ Not everyone who says to me,‘ Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants will enter.

But you are a mere human being. So who are you to talk back to God? Scripture says,“ Can what is made say to the one who made it,‘ Why did you make me like this?’ ”( Isaiah 29:16; 45:9)

“ We won’t listen to the message you have spoken to us in the Lord’ s name!We will certainly do everything we said we would. We’ll burn incense to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. We’ll pour out drink offerings to her. We’ll do just as we and our people of long ago have done. Our kings and our officials also did it. All of us did it in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food. We were well off. We didn’t suffer any harm.But then we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven. We stopped pouring out drink offerings to her. And ever since that time we haven’t had anything. Instead, we’ve been dying of war and hunger.”

The mind ruled by the power of sin is at war with God. It does not obey God’s law. It can’t.

“ But you treat my name as if it were not holy. You say the Lord’ s altar is‘ unclean.’ And you look down on its food.You say,‘ What a heavy load our work is!’ And you turn up your nose. You act as if you hate working for me,” says the Lord who rules over all.“ You bring animals that have been hurt. Or you bring disabled or sick animals. Then you dare to offer them to me as sacrifices! Should I accept them from you?” says the Lord.

‘ We have gone without food,’ they say.‘ Why haven’t you noticed it? We have made ourselves suffer. Why haven’t you paid any attention to us?’“ On the day when you fast, you do as you please. You take advantage of all your workers.

‘ These people who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said.‘ You have paid them the same as us. We have done most of the work and have been in the hot sun all day.’

“ But you say,‘ What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Listen to me, you Israelites. What I do is always fair. What you do is not.Suppose a godly person stops doing what is right. And they sin. Then they will die because of it. They will die because of the sin they have committed.But suppose a sinful person turns away from the evil things they have done. And they do what is fair and right. Then they will save their life.They think about all the evil things they have done. And they turn away from them. So you can be sure they will live. They will not die.But the Israelites still say,‘ What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ People of Israel, what I do is always fair. What you do is not.

But they say to God,‘ Leave us alone! We don’t want to know how you want us to live.Who is the Mighty One? Why should we serve him? What would we get if we prayed to him?’

“ Why do you call me,‘ Lord, Lord,’ and still don’t do what I say?

“ 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.’ ”