各位讀者好：

又到了一年一度的耶誕假期，世界各地都能夠感受到節慶的氣氛，特別是在商業促銷的推波助瀾下。耶誕節能夠沿續至今，當然也不會是件簡單或偶然的事情。耶誕節已經成了人類文化、生活方式之一，但耶誕樹、耶誕禮物與耶誕派對，就是代表耶誕節了嗎？當然不是，回顧人類的歷史，耶誕節最深刻的意義，就是昭告世人：God is coming! （神來了！）

在此耶誕假期，我們將選錄英文舊約與新約聖經中的部份章節，並作字彙上的註解，與讀者們“重溫神話”！首先讓我們先來讀一讀舊約聖經創世紀篇─神六日創世、第七日安息的故事。

Old Testament – Genesis

Genesis :創世紀

1:1 At the first God made the heaven and the earth.

起初神創造天地。

1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

地是空虛混沌，淵面黑暗，神的靈運行在水面上。

1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

神說：要有光，就有了光。

1:4 And God, looking on the light, saw that it was good: and God made a division between the light and the dark,

神看光是好的，就把光暗分開了。

1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

神稱光為晝，稱暗為夜，有晚上、有早晨，這是頭一日。

1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

神說：諸水之間要有蒼穹，將水分為上、下。

1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

神就造出空氣，將空氣以下的水，空氣以上的水分開了，事就這樣成了。

1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.　

神稱蒼穹為天，有晚上、有早晨、是第二日。

1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven come together in one place, and let the dry land be seen: and it was so.

神說：天下的水要聚在一處，使乾地露出來，事就這樣成了。

1:10 And God gave the dry land the name of Earth; and the waters together in their place were named Seas: and God saw that it was good.

神稱旱地為地，稱水的聚處為海，神看著覺得很好。

1:11 And God said, Let grass come up on the earth, and plants producing seed, and fruit-trees giving fruit, in which is their seed, after their sort: and it was so.

神說：地要長出青草和結種子的菜蔬，並有結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子 都包著核，事就這樣成了。

1:12 And grass came up on the earth, and every plant producing seed of its sort, and every tree producing fruit, in which is its seed, of its sort: and God saw that it was good.

於是地發生了青草，和結種子的菜蔬，各從其類，並結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子都包著核。神看著覺得挺好的。

1:13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

有晚上，有早晨，是第三日。

1. void: 空

2.division: 分開

3. Firmament: 蒼穹

4. grass: 青草

5. plant: 植物

6. seed: 種子

1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the arch of heaven, for a division between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for marking the changes of the year, and for days and for years:

神說：天上要有光體，可以分晝夜，作記號，定節令、日子、年歲

1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

並要發光在天空，普照在地上，事就這樣成了。

1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

於是神造了兩個大光，大的管晝，小的管夜，又造眾星。

1:17 And God put them in the arch of heaven, to give light on the earth;

神就把這些光擺列在天空，普照在地上，

1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

管理晝夜，分別明暗，神看著覺得很好。

1:19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

有晚上，有早晨，是第四日。

1:20 And God said, Let the waters be full of living things, and let birds be in flight over the earth under the arch of heaven.

神說，水要多多滋生有生命的事物，要有雀鳥飛在地面以上，天空之中。

1:21 And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of winged bird: and God saw that it was good.　

神就造出大魚，和水中所滋生各樣有生命的動物，各從其類，又造出各樣飛 鳥，各從其類，神看著是好的。

1:22 And God gave them his blessing, saying, Be fertile and have increase, making all the waters of the seas full, and let the birds be increased in the earth.　

神就賜福給這一切，說：滋生繁多，充滿海中的水，雀鳥也要多生在地上。

1:23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

有晚上，有早晨，是第五日。

1:24 And God said, Let the earth give birth to all sorts of living things, cattle and all things moving on the earth, and beasts of the earth after their sort: and it was so.

神說，地要生出活物來，各從其類，牲畜，昆蟲，野獸，各從其類，事就這 樣成了。

1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after its sort, and the cattle after their sort, and everything moving on the face of the earth after its sort: and God saw that it was good.

於是神造出野獸，各從其類，牲畜，各從其類，地上一切昆蟲，從其類，神看著是好的。

1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us: and let him have rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every living thing which goes flat on the earth.

神說，我們要照著我們的形像，按著我們的樣式造人，使他們管理海裡的魚，空中的鳥，地上的牛，以及地上所爬的一切生物。

1:27 And God made man in his image, in the image of God he made him: male and female he made them.　

神就照著自己的形像造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。

1:28 And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.

神就賜福給他們，又對他們說，要生養眾多，遍滿地面，治理這地，也要管理海裡的魚，空中的鳥，和地上各樣行動的生物。

1:29 And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed: they will be for your food.

神說，看哪，我將遍地上一切結種子的菜蔬，和一切樹上所結有核的果子，全賜給你們作食物。

1:30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have given every green plant for food: and it was so.

至於地上的走獸，和空中的飛鳥，並各樣爬在地上有生命的物 ，我將青草賜給他們作食物，事就這樣成了。

1:31 And God saw everything which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

神看著一切所造的都甚好，有晚上，有早晨，是第六日。

2:1 And the heaven and the earth and all things in them were complete.

天地萬物都造齊了。

2:2 And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.

到第七日，神造物的工作已經完畢，就在第七日歇了他一切的工作，安息了。

2:3 And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy: because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.　

神賜福給第七日，定為聖日，因為在這日神歇了他一切創造的工，就安息了。

2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

創造天地的來歷，在神造天地的日子，乃是這樣。

1.beasts: n. 野獸

2. sort: n. 種類

3.cattle: n. 牛

4.flat: adv. 平坦地

5. blessing: n. 祝福

6. fertile : adj. 肥沃的

7. plant: n. 植物

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