123:0.1 (1355.1) OWING to the uncertainties and anxieties of their sojourn in Bethlehem, Mary did not wean the babe until they had arrived safely in Alexandria, where the family was able to settle down to a normal life. They lived with kinsfolk, and Joseph was well able to support his family as he secured work shortly after their arrival. He was employed as a carpenter for several months and then elevated to the position of foreman of a large group of workmen employed on one of the public buildings then in process of construction. This new experience gave him the idea of becoming a contractor and builder after their return to Nazareth.
123:0.1 (1355.1) 由於他們在伯利恆旅居的不確定性和焦慮，瑪利亞直到他們安全抵達亞歷山卓才讓嬰兒斷奶，在那裡一家人才得以安頓下來過著正常的生活。他們與親戚同住，約瑟夫在他們到達後不久就找到了工作，所以能夠充分地維持他家庭的生計。他受雇為木匠幾個月，然後被提升為一大群工人的領班，這些工人受雇於當時施工中的一棟公共建築。這一新的經歷使他產生了在他們返回拿撒勒後成為一名承包商和建築商的想法。
123:0.2 (1355.2) All through these early years of Jesus’ helpless infancy, Mary maintained one long and constant vigil lest anything befall her child which might jeopardize his welfare or in any way interfere with his future mission on earth; no mother was ever more devoted to her child. In the home where Jesus chanced to be there were two other children about his age, and among the near neighbors there were six others whose ages were sufficiently near his own to make them acceptable play-fellows. At first Mary was disposed to keep Jesus close by her side. She feared something might happen to him if he were allowed to play in the garden with the other children, but Joseph, with the assistance of his kinsfolk, was able to convince her that such a course would deprive Jesus of the helpful experience of learning how to adjust himself to children of his own age. And Mary, realizing that such a program of undue sheltering and unusual protection might tend to make him self-conscious and somewhat self-centered, finally gave assent to the plan of permitting the child of promise to grow up just like any other child; and though she was obedient to this decision, she made it her business always to be on watch while the little folks were at play about the house or in the garden. Only an affectionate mother can know the burden that Mary carried in her heart for the safety of her son during these years of his infancy and early childhood.
123:0.2 (1355.2) 在耶穌無助嬰兒期的這些早期歲月中，瑪利亞保持了一種長期不斷的警戒，以防任何可能危及他的福祉，或以任何方式干擾他未來世間的使命的事降臨到她的孩子身上；沒有哪位母親比她更投入於自己的孩子。在耶穌正巧居住的家中，有另外兩個與他年齡相仿的孩子，而在附近的鄰居中，還有其他六個孩子，他們的年齡與他相近，足以使他們成為可接受的玩伴。起初，瑪利亞傾向於讓耶穌留在她身邊。她擔心如果允許他和其他孩子一起在花園裡玩耍，他可能會發生什麼意外，但約瑟夫在他親戚的幫助下說服了她，這樣的過程會剝奪耶穌學習如何適應同年齡孩子的有益經驗。瑪麗亞意識到，這種過度的庇護和不尋常的保護計劃，可能會使他變得不自在和某種程度的自我中心，最終同意讓這應許之子就像任何其他孩子一樣成長的計劃；雖然她順從了這個決定，但當小孩子們在房子周圍或花園裡玩耍時，她把時刻保持警戒當作自己的職責。只有一位滿懷深情的母親，才能明白瑪麗亞在兒子嬰兒和早期童年期的這些年裡，為她兒子的安全所承擔的重任。
123:0.3 (1355.3) Throughout the two years of their sojourn at Alexandria, Jesus enjoyed good health and continued to grow normally. Aside from a few friends and relatives no one was told about Jesus’ being a “child of promise.” One of Joseph’s relatives revealed this to a few friends in Memphis, descendants of the distant Ikhnaton, and they, with a small group of Alexandrian believers, assembled at the palatial home of Joseph’s relative-benefactor a short time before the return to Palestine to wish the Nazareth family well and to pay their respects to the child. On this occasion the assembled friends presented Jesus with a complete copy of the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. But this copy of the Jewish sacred writings was not placed in Joseph’s hands until both he and Mary had finally declined the invitation of their Memphis and Alexandrian friends to remain in Egypt. These believers insisted that the child of destiny would be able to exert a far greater world influence as a resident of Alexandria than of any designated place in Palestine. These persuasions delayed their departure for Palestine for some time after they received the news of Herod’s death.
123:0.3 (1355.3) 在他們旅居亞歷山卓的兩年中，耶穌享有良好的健康，並持續正常成長。除了少數朋友和親戚外，沒有人被告知耶穌是一個「應許之子。」 約瑟夫的一個親戚將這件事透露給了孟菲斯的幾個朋友，他們是久遠的阿肯那頓的後代，他們和一小群亞歷山卓的信徒，在這拿撒勒家庭返回巴勒斯坦前不久，聚在約瑟夫親戚–恩人的華麗家中，祝福這拿撒勒家庭，並向這個孩子表達他們的敬意。在這一場合，聚集的朋友們贈送給耶穌一部希伯來經文希臘文譯本的完整抄本。但這本猶太聖書直到約瑟夫和瑪利亞最終謝絕了他們孟菲斯和亞歷山卓好友留在埃及的邀請後，才交到約瑟夫手中。這些信徒堅信，這個天命之子若作為亞歷山卓的居民，將會比作為巴勒斯坦任何選定地方的居民發揮更大的世界影響力。在得知希律死亡的消息後，這些遊說使他們延遲了一段時間才動身前往巴勒斯坦。
123:0.4 (1356.1) Joseph and Mary finally took leave of Alexandria on a boat belonging to their friend Ezraeon, bound for Joppa, arriving at that port late in August of the year 4 b.c. They went directly to Bethlehem, where they spent the entire month of September in counsel with their friends and relatives concerning whether they should remain there or return to Nazareth.
123:0.4 (1356.1) 約瑟夫和瑪利亞最終搭乘一艘屬於他們朋友以斯拉恩（Ezraeon）的船離開亞歷山卓，開往約帕，並在西元前4年8月下旬抵達該港口。他們直接前往伯利恆，他們整個9月份都待在那裡，和他們的親戚朋友商議，是否他們應該留下來還是返回拿撒勒。
123:0.5 (1356.2) Mary had never fully given up the idea that Jesus ought to grow up in Bethlehem, the City of David. Joseph did not really believe that their son was to become a kingly deliverer of Israel. Besides, he knew that he himself was not really a descendant of David; that his being reckoned among the offspring of David was due to the adoption of one of his ancestors into the Davidic line of descent. Mary, of course, thought the City of David the most appropriate place in which the new candidate for David’s throne could be reared, but Joseph preferred to take chances with Herod Antipas rather than with his brother Archelaus. He entertained great fears for the child’s safety in Bethlehem or in any other city in Judea, and surmised that Archelaus would be more likely to pursue the menacing policies of his father, Herod, than would Antipas in Galilee. And besides all these reasons, Joseph was outspoken in his preference for Galilee as a better place in which to rear and educate the child, but it required three weeks to overcome Mary’s objections.
123:0.5 (1356.2) 瑪利亞從未完全放棄耶穌應在大衛之城伯利恆長大的想法。約瑟夫並未真正相信他們兒子將成為以色列的一位具君主地位的解救者。此外，他知道他自己實際上並不的是大衛的心後裔；他被列為大衛的後裔是由於他的一位祖先被收養到大衛的血統中。當然，瑪利亞認為大衛之城是培養大衛寶座新候選人最合適的地方，但約瑟夫寧願承擔面對希律·安提帕斯的風險，也不願冒險面對其兄長阿基勞斯。他非常擔心孩子在伯利恆或猶太任何其它城市的安全，並推測阿基勞斯比加利利的安提帕斯更可能追隨他父親希律的險惡政策。而且除了所有這些原因之外，約瑟夫坦率地表達了他更偏愛加利利作為一個養育和教育孩子更好的地方，但他花了三個星期才克服了瑪利亞的反對。
123:0.6 (1356.3) By the first of October Joseph had convinced Mary and all their friends that it was best for them to return to Nazareth. Accordingly, early in October, 4 b.c., they departed from Bethlehem for Nazareth, going by way of Lydda and Scythopolis. They started out early one Sunday morning, Mary and the child riding on their newly acquired beast of burden, while Joseph and five accompanying kinsmen proceeded on foot; Joseph’s relatives refused to permit them to make the trip to Nazareth alone. They feared to go to Galilee by Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and the western routes were not altogether safe for two lone travelers with a child of tender years.
123:0.6 (1356.3) 到了10月1日，約瑟夫已經說服了瑪利亞和所有他們的朋友，返回拿撒勒對他們來說是最好的。因此，西元前4年10月上旬，他們從伯利恆離開前往拿撒勒，途經呂大（Lydda）和西拖波利（Scythopolis）。他們在一個星期天的清晨出發，瑪利亞和孩子騎著他們新獲得的馱獸，而約瑟夫則和五個陪伴的親戚步行前進；約瑟夫的親戚拒絕讓他們獨自前往拿撒勒。他們不敢經由耶路撒冷和約旦河谷前往加利利，而對於帶著年幼孩子的兩位孤身旅者來說，西部路線也並非全然安全。
123:1.1 (1356.4) On the fourth day of the journey the party reached its destination in safety. They arrived unannounced at the Nazareth home, which had been occupied for more than three years by one of Joseph’s married brothers, who was indeed surprised to see them; so quietly had they gone about their business that neither the family of Joseph nor that of Mary knew they had even left Alexandria. The next day Joseph’s brother moved his family, and Mary, for the first time since Jesus’ birth, settled down with her little family to enjoy life in their own home. In less than a week Joseph secured work as a carpenter, and they were supremely happy.
123:1.1 (1356.4) 在行程第四天，一行人安全抵達目的地。他們悄悄地抵達拿撒勒的家，約瑟夫的一個已婚兄弟已經在此居住了三年多，他看到他們時，確實感到驚訝；他們如此安靜行事，以致於約瑟夫和瑪利亞的家族都不知他們甚至已經離開了亞歷山卓。隔天，約瑟夫的兄弟搬了家，而瑪利亞則自耶穌誕生以來首次與她的小家庭安定下來，在他們自己的家中享受生活。不到一周，約瑟夫找到了木匠的工作，他們極為高興。
123:1.2 (1356.5) Jesus was about three years and two months old at the time of their return to Nazareth. He had stood all these travels very well and was in excellent health and full of childish glee and excitement at having premises of his own to run about in and to enjoy. But he greatly missed the association of his Alexandrian playmates.
123:1.2 (1356.5) 在他們返回拿撒勒時，耶穌大約三歲又兩個月。他在這些旅行中表現得很好，身體健康，並對於擁有屬於他自己的空間可以奔跑玩耍和自在享受，充滿了孩子般的喜悅和興奮。但他非常想念與他亞歷山卓玩伴的相處時光。
123:1.3 (1356.6) On the way to Nazareth Joseph had persuaded Mary that it would be unwise to spread the word among their Galilean friends and relatives that Jesus was a child of promise. They agreed to refrain from all mention of these matters to anyone. And they were both very faithful in keeping this promise.
123:1.3 (1356.6) 在前往拿撒勒的路上，約瑟夫已說服瑪利亞，在他們加利利親戚朋友間散播耶穌是應許之子的話語是不智的。他們同意不向任何人提及這些事。他們倆都非常忠實地遵守這個諾言。
123:1.4 (1357.1) Jesus’ entire fourth year was a period of normal physical development and of unusual mental activity. Meantime he had formed a very close attachment for a neighbor boy about his own age named Jacob. Jesus and Jacob were always happy in their play, and they grew up to be great friends and loyal companions.
123:1.4 (1357.1) 耶穌的整個第四年是一個正常身體發展和不尋常心智活動的時期。同時，他與一位年齡相仿名叫雅各的鄰居男孩建立了一種緊密的情誼。耶穌和雅各在玩耍中總是很快樂，他們長大後成為很好的朋友和忠誠的夥伴。
123:1.5 (1357.2) The next important event in the life of this Nazareth family was the birth of the second child, James, in the early morning hours of April 2, 3 b.c. Jesus was thrilled by the thought of having a baby brother, and he would stand around by the hour just to observe the baby’s early activities.
123:1.5 (1357.2) 這個拿撒勒家庭的生活中的下一個重要事件，是第二個孩子詹姆斯在西元前3年4月2日凌晨時分誕生。耶穌想到有一個新出生的弟弟，便感到非常興奮，他會在旁邊站上幾個小時，只為觀察嬰兒的早期活動。
123:1.6 (1357.3) It was midsummer of this same year that Joseph built a small workshop close to the village spring and near the caravan tarrying lot. After this he did very little carpenter work by the day. He had as associates two of his brothers and several other mechanics, whom he sent out to work while he remained at the shop making yokes and plows and doing other woodwork. He also did some work in leather and with rope and canvas. And Jesus, as he grew up, when not at school, spent his time about equally between helping his mother with home duties and watching his father work at the shop, meanwhile listening to the conversation and gossip of the caravan conductors and passengers from the four corners of the earth.
123:1.6 (1357.3) 就在這同一年的仲夏，約瑟夫在靠近村子泉水源頭和商隊歇腳處附近，建了一個小的工作室。在這之後，他幾乎不再承接按日計酬的木工作。他的合夥人包括他的兩個兄弟和幾位其他技工，他派他們出去工作，而自己則留在店裡製造軛和犁以及做其它木工活。他也從事皮革製作，並使用繩索和帆布工作。而隨著耶穌長大，當他不用上學時，他把時間平均分配在幫忙他母親做家事和觀察他父親在店裡工作，同時聽著來自世界四面八方的商隊領隊和旅客們的談話和閒聊。
123:1.7 (1357.4) In July of this year, one month before Jesus was four years old, an outbreak of malignant intestinal trouble spread over all Nazareth from contact with the caravan travelers. Mary became so alarmed by the danger of Jesus being exposed to this epidemic of disease that she bundled up both her children and fled to the country home of her brother, several miles south of Nazareth on the Megiddo road near Sarid. They did not return to Nazareth for more than two months; Jesus greatly enjoyed this, his first experience on a farm.
123:1.7 (1357.4) 這年7月，在耶穌四歲前的一個月，由於與商隊旅行者接觸，爆發一場惡性腸道疾病，傳遍了整個拿撒勒。瑪利亞對耶穌暴露在這種疾病流行病的危險中感到十分驚慌，便匆忙帶著她的兩個孩子，逃到她兄弟位於拿撒勒以南幾英里，靠近薩里德的米吉多道路旁的鄉間住處。他們兩個多月沒有回到拿撒勒；耶穌非常享受他這第一次待在農場的經歷。
123:2.1 (1357.5) In something more than a year after the return to Nazareth the boy Jesus arrived at the age of his first personal and wholehearted moral decision; and there came to abide with him a Thought Adjuster, a divine gift of the Paradise Father, which had aforetime served with Machiventa Melchizedek, thus gaining the experience of functioning in connection with the incarnation of a supermortal being living in the likeness of mortal flesh. This event occurred on February 11, 2 b.c. Jesus was no more aware of the coming of the divine Monitor than are the millions upon millions of other children who, before and since that day, have likewise received these Thought Adjusters to indwell their minds and work for the ultimate spiritualization of these minds and the eternal survival of their evolving immortal souls.
123:2.1 (1357.5) 在回到拿撒勒一年多後，男孩耶穌來到了他人生中首次親自且全心全意的道德抉擇時期；一位思想調整者——來自天堂父親之神性贈的——前來與他同住，此思想調整者先前與瑪可文塔．默基瑟德一起服務過，從而獲得了與一位以凡人肉身之形生活的超凡人存有之化身相關的運作經驗。這一事件發生在西元前2年2月11日。耶穌與其他成千上萬的孩子一樣，並未意識到神性告誡者的到來，這些無論是在那天之前和之後的孩子，同樣接收到這些思想調整者內駐於他們心智中，並為這些心智的終極靈性化和他們演化中不朽靈魂的永恆續存而努力。
123:2.2 (1357.6) On this day in February the direct and personal supervision of the Universe Rulers, as it was related to the integrity of the childlike incarnation of Michael, terminated. From that time on throughout the human unfolding of the incarnation, the guardianship of Jesus was destined to rest in the keeping of this indwelling Adjuster and the associated seraphic guardians, supplemented from time to time by the ministry of midway creatures assigned for the performance of certain definite duties in accordance with the instruction of their planetary superiors.
123:2.2 (1357.6) 在2月的這一天，宇宙支配者們（Universe Rulers）那與邁克爾孩童般化身之完整性相關的直接親身監管，終止了。從那時起，在貫穿整個化身之人類開展過程中，耶穌的監護註定要由這一內駐調整者和相關熾天使守護者所照管，並不時輔以中道受造物的侍奉，這些中道受造物依照他們行星上級的指示，受指派履行某些明確的職責。
123:2.3 (1357.7) Jesus was five years old in August of this year, and we will, therefore, refer to this as his fifth (calendar) year of life. In this year, 2 b.c., a little more than one month before his fifth birthday anniversary, Jesus was made very happy by the coming of his sister Miriam, who was born on the night of July 11. During the evening of the following day Jesus had a long talk with his father concerning the manner in which various groups of living things are born into the world as separate individuals. The most valuable part of Jesus’ early education was secured from his parents in answer to his thoughtful and searching inquiries. Joseph never failed to do his full duty in taking pains and spending time answering the boy’s numerous questions. From the time Jesus was five years old until he was ten, he was one continuous question mark. While Joseph and Mary could not always answer his questions, they never failed fully to discuss his inquiries and in every other possible way to assist him in his efforts to reach a satisfactory solution of the problem which his alert mind had suggested.
123:2.3 (1357.7) 這年8月耶穌五歲了，因此，我們稱這一年為他人生的第五（曆）年。這一年，也就是西元前2年，在他五歲生日前一個多月，耶穌因他妹妹米利暗的到來而十分高興，她生於7月11日晚上。隔日傍晚，耶穌和他的父親就不同生命群體如何作為獨立個體生於世間，進行了一次長談。耶穌早期教育中最寶貴的部分，是來自他父母對他深思熟慮和追根究底詢問的回答。約瑟夫從未失職，他盡力花時間回答兒子的許多問題。從耶穌五歲時起，直到他十歲，他是一個連續不斷的問號。儘管約瑟夫和瑪利亞不能總是回答他的問題，但他們始終充分討論他的訊問，並在他努力找尋他機敏頭腦所提問題的滿意解決方案時，盡可能地協助他。
123:2.4 (1358.1) Since returning to Nazareth, theirs had been a busy household, and Joseph had been unusually occupied building his new shop and getting his business started again. So fully was he occupied that he had found no time to build a cradle for James, but this was corrected long before Miriam came, so that she had a very comfortable crib in which to nestle while the family admired her. And the child Jesus heartily entered into all these natural and normal home experiences. He greatly enjoyed his little brother and his baby sister and was of great help to Mary in their care.
123:2.4 (1358.1) 自從返回拿撒勒以來，他們家一直很忙碌，約瑟夫異常忙碌於建造他的新店舖，並重新開始他的事業。他是如此忙碌，以致於沒時間為詹姆斯造一個搖籃，但這早在米利暗到來之前就已調整過來，因此，她有一個非常舒適的嬰兒床，在家人欣賞她時她便依偎在裡面。孩童期的耶穌全然地融入到所有這些自然而又正常的家庭經歷中。他非常喜愛他的小弟弟和他的新生妹妹，並且在他們的照顧上給了瑪利亞很大幫助。
123:2.5 (1358.2) There were few homes in the gentile world of those days that could give a child a better intellectual, moral, and religious training than the Jewish homes of Galilee. These Jews had a systematic program for rearing and educating their children. They divided a child’s life into seven stages:
123:2.5 (1358.2) 在那個時代的外邦人世界中，很少有家庭能比加利利的猶太家庭給孩子更好的智力、道德和宗教訓練。這些猶太人在養育和教育他們孩子上，有一套系統性的計劃。他們將孩子的生活分為七個階段：
123:2.6 (1358.3) 1. The newborn child, the first to the eighth day.
123:2.6 (1358.3) 1. 新生兒，第一天到第八天。
123:2.7 (1358.4) 2. The suckling child.
123:2.7 (1358.4) 2. 哺乳中的孩子。
123:2.8 (1358.5) 3. The weaned child.
123:2.8 (1358.5) 3. 斷奶的孩子。
123:2.9 (1358.6) 4. The period of dependence on the mother, lasting up to the end of the fifth year.
123:2.9 (1358.6) 4. 依賴母親的時期，一直持續到第五年結束。
123:2.10 (1358.7) 5. The beginning independence of the child and, with sons, the father assuming responsibility for their education.
123:2.10 (1358.7) 5. 孩子開始獨立，而父親則承擔起對於兒子的教育責任。
123:2.11 (1358.8) 6. The adolescent youths and maidens.
123:2.11 (1358.8) 6. 青春期的少年和少女。
123:2.12 (1358.9) 7. The young men and the young women.
123:2.12 (1358.9) 7. 青年男子和青年女子。
123:2.13 (1358.10) It was the custom of the Galilean Jews for the mother to bear the responsibility for a child’s training until the fifth birthday, and then, if the child were a boy, to hold the father responsible for the lad’s education from that time on. This year, therefore, Jesus entered upon the fifth stage of a Galilean Jewish child’s career, and accordingly on August 21, 2 b.c., Mary formally turned him over to Joseph for further instruction.
123:2.13 (1358.10) 加利利猶太人的習俗是由母親負責孩子的培訓，直到其五歲生日，然後，如果孩子是男孩，父親便從那時負起對孩子教育的責任。因此，這一年耶穌進入了加利利猶太人孩子成長歷程的第五個階段，於是，在西元前2年8月21日，瑪利亞正式將他交給約瑟夫，以便進行進一步的教導。
123:2.14 (1358.11) Though Joseph was now assuming the direct responsibility for Jesus’ intellectual and religious education, his mother still interested herself in his home training. She taught him to know and care for the vines and flowers growing about the garden walls which completely surrounded the home plot. She also provided on the roof of the house (the summer bedroom) shallow boxes of sand in which Jesus worked out maps and did much of his early practice at writing Aramaic, Greek, and later on, Hebrew, for in time he learned to read, write, and speak, fluently, all three languages.
23:2.14 (1358.11) 儘管約瑟夫現在直接負責耶穌的智性和宗教教育，但他的母親仍關心他的家庭生活訓練。她教導他瞭解和照料那些沿著環繞住家的花園牆四周生長的藤蔓和花卉。她也在房子屋頂上（夏季的臥室）提供了淺淺的沙盒，耶穌用它來繪製地圖，並進行大量早期的亞蘭文、希臘文，以及後來的希伯來文的書寫練習，而隨著時間的推移他也學會了流利地讀、寫和說所有這三種語言。
123:2.15 (1358.12) Jesus appeared to be a well-nigh perfect child physically and continued to make normal progress mentally and emotionally. He experienced a mild digestive upset, his first minor illness, in the latter part of this, his fifth (calendar) year.
123:2.15 (1358.12) 耶穌在身體上看起來幾乎是個完美的孩子，並在心智上和情感上持續取得正常的進展。在他第五（曆）年的後期，他經歷了一次輕微的消化不適，這是他的第一個小病。
123:2.16 (1359.1) Though Joseph and Mary often talked about the future of their eldest child, had you been there, you would only have observed the growing up of a normal, healthy, carefree, but exceedingly inquisitive child of that time and place.
123:2.16 (1359.1) 雖然約瑟夫和瑪利亞經常討論他們長子的未來，但如果你在那裡，你將只會觀察到在那個時代那個地區的一個正常、健康、無憂無慮但極其好奇的孩子之成長過程。
123:3.1 (1359.2) Already, with his mother’s help, Jesus had mastered the Galilean dialect of the Aramaic tongue; and now his father began teaching him Greek. Mary spoke little Greek, but Joseph was a fluent speaker of both Aramaic and Greek. The textbook for the study of the Greek language was the copy of the Hebrew scriptures—a complete version of the law and the prophets, including the Psalms—which had been presented to them on leaving Egypt. There were only two complete copies of the Scriptures in Greek in all Nazareth, and the possession of one of them by the carpenter’s family made Joseph’s home a much-sought place and enabled Jesus, as he grew up, to meet an almost endless procession of earnest students and sincere truth seekers. Before this year ended, Jesus had assumed custody of this priceless manuscript, having been told on his sixth birthday that the sacred book had been presented to him by Alexandrian friends and relatives. And in a very short time he could read it readily.
123:3.1 (1359.2) 耶穌在他母親的幫助下，已經精通亞蘭語中的加利利方言；現在他的父親開始教他希臘語。瑪利亞說一點希臘語，但約瑟夫能說流利的亞蘭語和希臘語。學習希臘語的教科書，是那本在他們離開埃及時贈送給他們的希伯來經文——律法和先知書的完整版本，也包括《詩篇》——的抄本。在整個拿撒勒，只有兩部完整的希臘文「經文」（the Scriptures）抄本，而這木匠家擁有其中的一部，這使得約瑟夫的家成了一個備受追捧的地方，也使得耶穌在長大過程中遇到幾近無窮盡的認真學者及真誠的真理尋求者。在這年結束之前，耶穌已經承擔起保管這份無價手稿的責任，他在六歲生日時被告知這本聖書是由亞歷山卓的親戚朋友贈送給他的。而在很短時間內，他便能很容易地閱讀它。
123:3.2 (1359.3) The first great shock of Jesus’ young life occurred when he was not quite six years old. It had seemed to the lad that his father—at least his father and mother together—knew everything. Imagine, therefore, the surprise of this inquiring child, when he asked his father the cause of a mild earthquake which had just occurred, to hear Joseph say, “My son, I really do not know.” Thus began that long and disconcerting disillusionment in the course of which Jesus found out that his earthly parents were not all-wise and all-knowing.
123:3.2 (1359.3) 耶穌童年生活的第一次巨大衝擊，發生在他不到六歲時。對小男孩來說，他父親——至少他的父親和母親一起——似乎什麼都知道。因此，想像一下這個好奇孩子的驚訝，當他問他父親剛剛發生的輕微地震的原因時，聽到約瑟夫說，「我的兒子，我真不知道。」由此開始了那漫長而又令人不安的幻滅，在這個過程中，於耶穌發現他的世間父母並不是全智全知的。
123:3.3 (1359.4) Joseph’s first thought was to tell Jesus that the earthquake had been caused by God, but a moment’s reflection admonished him that such an answer would immediately be provocative of further and still more embarrassing inquiries. Even at an early age it was very difficult to answer Jesus’ questions about physical or social phenomena by thoughtlessly telling him that either God or the devil was responsible. In harmony with the prevailing belief of the Jewish people, Jesus was long willing to accept the doctrine of good spirits and evil spirits as the possible explanation of mental and spiritual phenomena, but he very early became doubtful that such unseen influences were responsible for the physical happenings of the natural world.
123:3.3 (1359.4) 約瑟夫的第一個想法是告訴耶穌地震是由神所引起的，但片刻的反思告誡他，這樣一個答案將立即挑起進一步且更令人尷尬的訊問。即使在耶穌很小的時候，要回答他關於物理和社會現象的問題，也很難不假思索地告訴他那是神或魔鬼所造成的。為了與猶太人民普遍的信仰一致，耶穌長時間願意接受善靈和惡靈的教義，作為對於心智和屬靈現象之可能解釋，但他很早便懷疑這種看不見影響力是自然界之物理事件的原因。
123:3.4 (1359.5) Before Jesus was six years of age, in the early summer of 1 b.c., Zacharias and Elizabeth and their son John came to visit the Nazareth family. Jesus and John had a happy time during this, their first visit within their memories. Although the visitors could remain only a few days, the parents talked over many things, including the future plans for their sons. While they were thus engaged, the lads played with blocks in the sand on top of the house and in many other ways enjoyed themselves in true boyish fashion.
123:3.4 (1359.5) 在西元前1年的初夏，耶穌六歲之前，撒迦利亞和伊莉莎白以及他們的兒子約翰來拜訪這個拿撒勒家庭。耶穌和約翰在這次他們記憶中的第一次探望期間，度過了一段快樂的時光。儘管訪客們只能待幾天，但父母們商討了許多事情，包括他們孩子的未來計劃。當他們忙於談話時，小孩子們則在房頂的沙子裡玩積木，並以真正男孩特有的方式，在許多其它方面享受樂趣。
123:3.5 (1359.6) Having met John, who came from near Jerusalem, Jesus began to evince an unusual interest in the history of Israel and to inquire in great detail as to the meaning of the Sabbath rites, the synagogue sermons, and the recurring feasts of commemoration. His father explained to him the meaning of all these seasons. The first was the midwinter festive illumination, lasting eight days, starting out with one candle the first night and adding one each successive night; this commemorated the dedication of the temple after the restoration of the Mosaic services by Judas Maccabee. Next came the early springtime celebration of Purim, the feast of Esther and Israel’s deliverance through her. Then followed the solemn Passover, which the adults celebrated in Jerusalem whenever possible, while at home the children would remember that no leavened bread was to be eaten for the whole week. Later came the feast of the first-fruits, the harvest ingathering; and last, the most solemn of all, the feast of the new year, the day of atonement. While some of these celebrations and observances were difficult for Jesus’ young mind to understand, he pondered them seriously and then entered fully into the joy of the feast of tabernacles, the annual vacation season of the whole Jewish people, the time when they camped out in leafy booths and gave themselves up to mirth and pleasure.
123:3.5 (1359.6) 在遇到來自耶路撒冷附近的約翰後，耶穌開始對以色列的歷史表現出一種異常的興趣，並詳細詢問安息日儀式、猶太會堂佈道和反復出現的紀念節日的意義。 他父親向他解釋了所有這些節期的含義。第一個是仲冬的節慶點燈，持續八天，從第一晚點燃一支蠟燭開始，之後每晚依次增加一支；這是為了紀念猶大．馬加比恢復摩西宗教儀式後所進行的聖殿之奉獻。接下來的是早春時節的普珥節慶祝，這是以斯帖的節日，也是以色列藉由她而得到拯救的節日。接著是莊嚴的逾越節，成年人盡可能在耶路撒冷慶祝，而在家中的孩子們則會記得整整一週都不可吃有酵餅。後來是初熟節，即收割的聚集；最後，所有當中最為莊嚴的，新年節日，贖罪日。雖然這些慶典和紀念活動中的某一些，對於耶穌年幼的心智來說是難以理解的，但他認真思考它們，然後完全投入到住棚節的喜悅中，這是整個猶太民族的年度假期，也是他們在綠葉成蔭的棚舍露營，沉浸在歡樂和愉悅之中的時刻。
123:3.6 (1360.1) During this year Joseph and Mary had trouble with Jesus about his prayers. He insisted on talking to his heavenly Father much as he would talk to Joseph, his earthly father. This departure from the more solemn and reverent modes of communication with Deity was a bit disconcerting to his parents, especially to his mother, but there was no persuading him to change; he would say his prayers just as he had been taught, after which he insisted on having “just a little talk with my Father in heaven.”
123:3.6 (1360.1) 在這一年期間，約瑟夫和瑪利亞因耶穌的禱告而感到困擾。他堅持以他和他世間父親約瑟夫談話方式一樣，與他的天父交談。這種偏離更為莊重虔誠的與神靈交流的方式，令他的父母感到有點不安，尤其是對他的母親來說，但他們未能說服他改變；他會依照他被教導的方式禱吿，在那之後他堅持「只是與我天上的『父親』聊一聊」。
123:3.7 (1360.2) In June of this year Joseph turned the shop in Nazareth over to his brothers and formally entered upon his work as a builder. Before the year was over, the family income had more than trebled. Never again, until after Joseph’s death, did the Nazareth family feel the pinch of poverty. The family grew larger and larger, and they spent much money on extra education and travel, but always Joseph’s increasing income kept pace with the growing expenses.
123:3.7 (1360.2) 在這一年6月，約瑟夫把拿撒勒的店鋪交給了他的兄弟們，並正式開始他作為建築商的工作。在這年結束前，家庭收入超過了三倍。直到約瑟夫死後，這個拿撒勒家庭再也沒有感到貧窮的困境。這個家庭變得越來越大，他們在額外的教育和旅行上花費了很多錢，不過約瑟夫不斷增加的收入總是能夠跟上日益增加的開支。
123:3.8 (1360.3) The next few years Joseph did considerable work at Cana, Bethlehem (of Galilee), Magdala, Nain, Sepphoris, Capernaum, and Endor, as well as much building in and near Nazareth. As James grew up to be old enough to help his mother with the housework and care of the younger children, Jesus made frequent trips away from home with his father to these surrounding towns and villages. Jesus was a keen observer and gained much practical knowledge from these trips away from home; he was assiduously storing up knowledge regarding man and the way he lived on earth.
123:3.8 (1360.3) 接下來的幾年裡，約瑟夫在迦拿、（加利利的）伯利恆、抹大拉、拿因、塞弗瑞斯、迦百農和隱多珥做了相當多的工作，也在拿撒勒及其附近做了許多建築工程。隨著詹姆斯長大到足以幫助他母親做家務和照料更幼小的孩子時，耶穌經常與父親一起離開家前往這些周圍城鎮鄉村。耶穌是一個敏銳的觀察者，並從這些離開家的旅行中獲得了許多實用的知識；他勤奮地積累關於人及其在世上生活方式的知識。
123:3.9 (1360.4) This year Jesus made great progress in adjusting his strong feelings and vigorous impulses to the demands of family co-operation and home discipline. Mary was a loving mother but a fairly strict disciplinarian. In many ways, however, Joseph exerted the greater control over Jesus as it was his practice to sit down with the boy and fully explain the real and underlying reasons for the necessity of disciplinary curtailment of personal desires in deference to the welfare and tranquillity of the entire family. When the situation had been explained to Jesus, he was always intelligently and willingly co-operative with parental wishes and family regulations.
123:3.9 (1360.4) 這一年，耶穌在調整他強烈情感和劇烈衝動以適應家人合作和家庭紀律的要求上，取得了極大進步。瑪利亞是一個慈愛的母親，但也是一個相當嚴厲的管教者。然而，在許多方面，約瑟夫對耶穌發揮更大的約束力，因為他一貫的做法是和孩子坐下來，充分解釋因考慮到整個家庭福祉和安寧而有必要對個人慾望進行紀律性節制的真正根本原因。當向耶穌解釋過情況後，他總是明智且願意配合父母的願望和家庭的規定。
123:3.10 (1360.5) Much of his spare time—when his mother did not require his help about the house—was spent studying the flowers and plants by day and the stars by night. He evinced a troublesome penchant for lying on his back and gazing wonderingly up into the starry heavens long after his usual bedtime in this well-ordered Nazareth household.
123:3.10 (1360.5) 他的大多閒暇時間——當他母親不需要他幫忙家務時——都用於白天研究花卉、晚上則研究星星。在這個井然有序的拿撒勒家中，他顯示出一種令人困惱的嗜好，那就是在早已過了他通常就寢時間之後，他仍仰躺著，滿懷疑惑地凝視著星空。
123:4.1 (1361.1) This was, indeed, an eventful year in Jesus’ life. Early in January a great snowstorm occurred in Galilee. Snow fell two feet deep, the heaviest snowfall Jesus saw during his lifetime and one of the deepest at Nazareth in a hundred years.
123:4.1 (1361.1) 這確實是耶穌生命中多事的一年。1月初，加利利發生了一場大暴風雪。 積雪深達兩英尺，這是耶穌一生中見過的最大一場雪，也是拿撒勒一百年來最深的一場降雪。
123:4.2 (1361.2) The play life of Jewish children in the times of Jesus was rather circumscribed; all too often the children played at the more serious things they observed their elders doing. They played much at weddings and funerals, ceremonies which they so frequently saw and which were so spectacular. They danced and sang but had few organized games, such as children of later days so much enjoy.
123:4.2 (1361.2) 在耶穌時代，猶太孩子的遊戲生活相當受限；孩子們往往玩的遊戲是依他們觀察到其長輩所做的較為嚴肅的事情。他們經常玩婚禮和葬禮的遊戲，那些是他們如此頻繁看到且極為壯觀的儀式。他們跳舞和唱歌，但很少有像後來孩子們非常喜愛的那種有組織的遊戲。
123:4.3 (1361.3) Jesus, in company with a neighbor boy and later his brother James, delighted to play in the far corner of the family carpenter shop, where they had great fun with the shavings and the blocks of wood. It was always difficult for Jesus to comprehend the harm of certain sorts of play which were forbidden on the Sabbath, but he never failed to conform to his parents’ wishes. He had a capacity for humor and play which was afforded little opportunity for expression in the environment of his day and generation, but up to the age of fourteen he was cheerful and lighthearted most of the time.
123:4.3 (1361.3) 耶穌和一個鄰家男孩以及後來與他的弟弟詹姆斯一起，喜歡在家裡木工店舖中的一個邊遠角落玩耍，他們用刨花和木塊玩得很開心。耶穌總是難以理解某些在安息日被禁止的遊戲有什麼危害，但他從來不違背他父母的心願。他具有在他所處時代和環境中很少有機會表現出來的幽默和遊戲能力，不過在十四歲之前，他大多數時間都是快樂和無憂無慮的。
123:4.4 (1361.4) Mary maintained a dovecote on top of the animal house adjoining the home, and they used the profits from the sale of doves as a special charity fund, which Jesus administered after he deducted the tithe and turned it over to the officer of the synagogue.
123:4.4 (1361.4) 瑪利亞在鄰近住家的牲畜屋舍頂部保有一個鴿舍，他們利用出售鴿子的利潤作為特別的慈善基金，這基金在耶穌扣除什一稅並將稅轉交給猶太教會堂的官員後，由他來管理。
123:4.5 (1361.5) The only real accident Jesus had up to this time was a fall down the back-yard stone stairs which led up to the canvas-roofed bedroom. It happened during an unexpected July sandstorm from the east. The hot winds, carrying blasts of fine sand, usually blew during the rainy season, especially in March and April. It was extraordinary to have such a storm in July. When the storm came up, Jesus was on the housetop playing, as was his habit, for during much of the dry season this was his accustomed playroom. He was blinded by the sand when descending the stairs and fell. After this accident Joseph built a balustrade up both sides of the stairway.
123:4.5 (1361.5) 值到這時為止，耶穌唯一發生過的真正意外，是從向上通往帆布頂臥室的後院石階上摔下。它發生在一場無預期來自東方的7月沙暴期間。攜帶著陣陣細沙的熱風通常在雨季時吹來，尤其是在3月和4月期間。7月發生這樣的風暴是反常的。 當那風暴來臨時，耶穌如往常正在屋頂玩耍，因為在大部分旱季期間，這裡是他慣常的遊戲室。在下台階時，他因為沙子而看不見路，摔了下來。在這場意外之後，約瑟夫在台階兩邊建造了欄杆。
123:4.6 (1361.6) There was no way in which this accident could have been prevented. It was not chargeable to neglect by the midway temporal guardians, one primary and one secondary midwayer having been assigned to the watchcare of the lad; neither was it chargeable to the guardian seraphim. It simply could not have been avoided. But this slight accident, occurring while Joseph was absent in Endor, caused such great anxiety to develop in Mary’s mind that she unwisely tried to keep Jesus very close to her side for some months.
123:4.6 (1361.6) 這次意外是無法預防的。它不能歸咎於中道世間守護者們的疏忽，已經委派了一名第一類中道者和一名第二類中道者來看顧這個孩子；也不能歸咎於守護熾天使。這本就是無法避免的。 但這起發生在約瑟夫外出待在隱多珥時的小意外，導致瑪利亞心中產生了極大的焦慮，以致於她不智地試圖在接下來的幾個月裡將耶穌緊緊地留在她身邊。
123:4.7 (1361.7) Material accidents, commonplace occurrences of a physical nature, are not arbitrarily interfered with by celestial personalities. Under ordinary circumstances only midway creatures can intervene in material conditions to safeguard the persons of men and women of destiny, and even in special situations these beings can so act only in obedience to the specific mandates of their superiors.
123:4.7 (1361.7) 物質性意外——具物理本質的尋常事件——不會被天界人格隨意干涉。在一般情況下，只有中道受造物能干預物質條件以保護天命男女的人身安全，而且即使在特殊情況下，這些存有也只在服從其上級的特定指令下才能如此行事。
123:4.8 (1361.8) And this was but one of a number of such minor accidents which subsequently befell this inquisitive and adventurous youth. If you envisage the average childhood and youth of an aggressive boy, you will have a fairly good idea of the youthful career of Jesus, and you will be able to imagine just about how much anxiety he caused his parents, particularly his mother.
123:4.8 (1361.8) 而這只是隨後發生在這個好奇而又富冒險精神的年輕人身上的許多此類小意外中的一個。如果你想像一個有衝勁男孩的一般童年和青少年時期，你將會對耶穌的年輕生涯有一個相當好的了解，你也能想像他給他的父母帶來多少焦慮，尤其是他的母親。
123:4.9 (1362.1) The fourth member of the Nazareth family, Joseph, was born Wednesday morning, March 16, a.d. 1.
123:4.9 (1362.1) 這個拿撒勒家庭的第四位成員約瑟夫，於西元1年3月16日星期三早上誕生。
123:5.1 (1362.2) Jesus was now seven years old, the age when Jewish children were supposed to begin their formal education in the synagogue schools. Accordingly, in August of this year he entered upon his eventful school life at Nazareth. Already this lad was a fluent reader, writer, and speaker of two languages, Aramaic and Greek. He was now to acquaint himself with the task of learning to read, write, and speak the Hebrew language. And he was truly eager for the new school life which was ahead of him.
123:5.1 (1362.2) 耶穌此時七歲了，這是猶太孩子應該在猶太會堂學校開始他們正式教育的年齡。因此，在這年8月，他在拿撒勒開始了他多采多姿的學校生活。這小男孩已經可流利地閱讀、書寫和講說亞蘭語和希臘語這兩種語言。他現在正要使自己熟悉學習讀、寫和說希伯來語的這任務。他對即將到來的嶄新學校生活懷著真切的渴望。
123:5.2 (1362.3) For three years—until he was ten—he attended the elementary school of the Nazareth synagogue. For these three years he studied the rudiments of the Book of the Law as it was recorded in the Hebrew tongue. For the following three years he studied in the advanced school and committed to memory, by the method of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the sacred law. He graduated from this school of the synagogue during his thirteenth year and was turned over to his parents by the synagogue rulers as an educated “son of the commandment”—henceforth a responsible citizen of the commonwealth of Israel, all of which entailed his attendance at the Passovers in Jerusalem; accordingly, he attended his first Passover that year in company with his father and mother.
123:5.2 (1362.3) 他在拿撒勒猶太會堂的小學讀了三年，直到他十歲。在這三年裡，他學習了以希伯來語記錄的《律法書》的基礎知識。在接下三年中，他在高等學校學習，並透過反覆朗誦的方式熟記神聖律法的更深教導。在他十三歲期間，他從這間猶太會堂學校畢業，被猶太教會堂主管以一名受教育的「戒律之子」——自此以後成為以色列聯邦一名負責任的公民——交給他的父母，所有這一切都意味著他必須參加在耶路撒冷舉行的逾越節；因此，那一年他與父母一起參加了他的第一個逾越節。
123:5.3 (1362.4) At Nazareth the pupils sat on the floor in a semicircle, while their teacher, the chazan, an officer of the synagogue, sat facing them. Beginning with the Book of Leviticus, they passed on to the study of the other books of the law, followed by the study of the Prophets and the Psalms. The Nazareth synagogue possessed a complete copy of the Scriptures in Hebrew. Nothing but the Scriptures was studied prior to the twelfth year. In the summer months the hours for school were greatly shortened.
123:5.3 (1362.4) 在拿撒勒，學生們圍成一個半圓坐在地上，而他們的老師，領誦者，即猶太會堂的一位官員，坐著面對他們。他們從《利未記》開始，然後繼續學習其它律法書籍，接著學習先知書和《詩篇》。拿撒勒的猶太會堂有一本希伯來「經文」的完整抄本。 在十二歲之前他們只學「經文」。在夏季的月份中，上學的時間大大縮短。
123:5.4 (1362.5) Jesus early became a master of Hebrew, and as a young man, when no visitor of prominence happened to be sojourning in Nazareth, he would often be asked to read the Hebrew scriptures to the faithful assembled in the synagogue at the regular Sabbath services.
123:5.4 (1362.5) 耶穌很早就精通希伯來語，作為一個年輕人，當沒有具聲望的訪客恰巧在拿撒勒逗留時，他時常被邀請在定期的安息日禮拜上，向聚集在猶太會堂的信徒朗讀希伯來經文。
123:5.5 (1362.6) These synagogue schools, of course, had no textbooks. In teaching, the chazan would utter a statement while the pupils would in unison repeat it after him. When having access to the written books of the law, the student learned his lesson by reading aloud and by constant repetition.
123:5.5 (1362.6) 當然，這些猶太會堂學校沒有任何教科書。在教導方面，領誦者將會說出一句話，而學生們將會齊聲跟著他複誦。當能接觸到書面的律法書本時，學生會透過朗讀和不斷重複來學習他的課程。
123:5.6 (1362.7) Next, in addition to his more formal schooling, Jesus began to make contact with human nature from the four quarters of the earth as men from many lands passed in and out of his father’s repair shop. When he grew older, he mingled freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring for rest and nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of Greek, he had little trouble in conversing with the majority of the caravan travelers and conductors.
123:5.6 (1362.7) 接下來，除了他更為正式的學校教育外，由於來自各地的人出入他父親的維修店，耶穌開始接觸到來自地球四面八方的人類本性。當他長大後，他自在地與那些停留在泉水源頭附近休息補給的商隊往來。由於他能說流利的希臘語，他在與大多數商隊旅客和領隊交流上幾乎毫無困難。
123:5.7 (1362.8) Nazareth was a caravan way station and crossroads of travel and largely gentile in population; at the same time it was widely known as a center of liberal interpretation of Jewish traditional law. In Galilee the Jews mingled more freely with the gentiles than was their practice in Judea. And of all the cities of Galilee, the Jews of Nazareth were most liberal in their interpretation of the social restrictions based on the fears of contamination as a result of contact with the gentiles. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying in Jerusalem, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
123:5.7 (1362.8) 拿撒勒是一個商隊驛站和旅行交會點，人口主要是外邦人；與此同時，它被廣泛地認為是一個自由闡釋猶太傳統律法的中心。在加利利，猶太人與外邦人的往來比在猶太地更為自由。而在加利利所有城市當中，拿撒勒的猶太人在解釋社會限制上最為自由，這些社會限制是基於與外邦人接觸會受到污染的恐懼而產生的。這些狀況導致了耶路撒冷的一句俗語，「拿撒勒還能出什麼好東西嗎？」
123:5.8 (1363.1) Jesus received his moral training and spiritual culture chiefly in his own home. He secured much of his intellectual and theological education from the chazan. But his real education—that equipment of mind and heart for the actual test of grappling with the difficult problems of life—he obtained by mingling with his fellow men. It was this close association with his fellow men, young and old, Jew and gentile, that afforded him the opportunity to know the human race. Jesus was highly educated in that he thoroughly understood men and devotedly loved them.
123:5.8 (1363.1) 耶穌主要在他自己家裡接受了他的道德培訓和靈性教化。他從領誦者那裡獲得了許多他智性和神學教育。但他的真正教育——那種為應對生活中難題之實際考驗的心智與心靈素養——則是透過與其同胞的往來而獲得的。正是這種與同胞的密切交往，無論是年輕或年長、猶太人或外邦人，為他提供了解人類的機會。耶穌是受過高等教育的，因為他完全理解人，並全心全意地熱愛他們。
123:5.9 (1363.2) Throughout his years at the synagogue he was a brilliant student, possessing a great advantage since he was conversant with three languages. The Nazareth chazan, on the occasion of Jesus’ finishing the course in his school, remarked to Joseph that he feared he “had learned more from Jesus’ searching questions” than he had “been able to teach the lad.”
123:5.9 (1363.2) 在他整個猶太會堂的歲月裡，他是個聰明的學生，由於他精通三種語言而擁有極大優勢。拿撒勒的領誦者在耶穌完成他學校課程時，和約瑟夫談到，他擔心「他從耶穌探究性的問題中所學到的」比他「能教給這小男孩的」還要多。
123:5.10 (1363.3) Throughout his course of study Jesus learned much and derived great inspiration from the regular Sabbath sermons in the synagogue. It was customary to ask distinguished visitors, stopping over the Sabbath in Nazareth, to address the synagogue. As Jesus grew up, he heard many great thinkers of the entire Jewish world expound their views, and many also who were hardly orthodox Jews since the synagogue of Nazareth was an advanced and liberal center of Hebrew thought and culture.
123:5.10 (1363.3) 在耶穌的整個學習課程期間，他從猶太會堂定期的安息日佈道中學到了許多，並從中獲得了極大的啟發。邀請那些在安息日停留於拿撒勒的傑出訪問者向猶太會堂演說，是一種慣例。 隨著耶穌成長，他聽過整個猶太人世界的許多偉大思想家闡述他們的觀點，也包括許多並非正統的猶太人，因為拿撒勒的猶太會堂是希伯來思想和文化的一個先進而又自由的中心。
123:5.11 (1363.4) When entering school at seven years (at this time the Jews had just inaugurated a compulsory education law), it was customary for the pupils to choose their “birthday text,” a sort of golden rule to guide them throughout their studies, one upon which they often expatiated at their graduation when thirteen years old. The text which Jesus chose was from the Prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free.”
123:5.11 (1363.4) 在七歲入學時（當時猶太人剛開始義務教育法），學生照慣例選擇他們的「生日文本，」這是一種在他們整個學習期間指導他們的黃金法則，他們在十三歲畢業時通常要闡述的文本。耶穌選擇的文本來自先知以賽亞：「上主神的靈在我身上，因為上主已膏抹我；他派遣我把好消息帶給謙卑的人，醫治傷心的人，向被擄的人宣告自由，並釋放靈性的囚徒。 」
123:5.12 (1363.5) Nazareth was one of the twenty-four priest centers of the Hebrew nation. But the Galilean priesthood was more liberal in the interpretation of the traditional laws than were the Judean scribes and rabbis. And at Nazareth they were also more liberal regarding the observance of the Sabbath. It was therefore the custom for Joseph to take Jesus out for walks on Sabbath afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb the high hill near their home, from which they could obtain a panoramic view of all Galilee. To the northwest, on clear days, they could see the long ridge of Mount Carmel running down to the sea; and many times Jesus heard his father relate the story of Elijah, one of the first of that long line of Hebrew prophets, who reproved Ahab and exposed the priests of Baal. To the north Mount Hermon raised its snowy peak in majestic splendor and monopolized the skyline, almost 3,000 feet of the upper slopes glistening white with perpetual snow. Far to the east they could discern the Jordan valley and, far beyond, the rocky hills of Moab. Also to the south and the east, when the sun shone upon their marble walls, they could see the Greco-Roman cities of the Decapolis, with their amphitheaters and pretentious temples. And when they lingered toward the going down of the sun, to the west they could make out the sailing vessels on the distant Mediterranean.
123:5.12 (1363.5) 拿撒勒是希伯來民族二十四個祭司中心之一。 但加利利的祭司階層在傳統律法的闡釋上，比猶太的文士和拉比更為自由。在拿撒勒，他們對安息日的遵守也更加自由。因此，約瑟夫習慣在安息日下午帶著耶穌出去散步，他們最喜歡的短途旅行之一就是爬上他們家附近的高山，從那裡他們可以欣賞到整個加利利的全景。在晴朗的日子裡，往西北方向，他們能看到迦密山的連綿山脊延伸到大海；許多次耶穌聽他父親講述以利亞的故事，那長串希伯來先知行列中最早的先知之一，以利亞譴責了亞哈，並揭露了巴力的祭司。往北面，黑門山白雪皚皚的山峰宏偉壯麗地聳立著，獨佔天際，幾近3,000英尺高的山坡上終年積雪，閃耀著潔白光輝。往東遠眺，他們能辨識出約旦河谷，以及再遠處摩押山的岩石山丘。同樣往南及往東，當太陽照耀到德卡波利斯的那些希臘–羅馬城市的大理石牆上時，他們能看到這些城市以及其圓形劇場和誇飾的聖堂。而當他們流連忘返直到接近太陽下山時，往西他們能辨認出在遙遠地中海上的船隻。
123:5.13 (1364.1) From four directions Jesus could observe the caravan trains as they wended their way in and out of Nazareth, and to the south he could overlook the broad and fertile plain country of Esdraelon, stretching off toward Mount Gilboa and Samaria.
123:5.13 (1364.1) 耶穌能從四個方向觀察到商隊列車進出拿撒勒，往南他能俯瞰廣闊肥沃的以斯德倫平原地區，綿延至基利波山和撒瑪利亞。
123:5.14 (1364.2) When they did not climb the heights to view the distant landscape, they strolled through the countryside and studied nature in her various moods in accordance with the seasons. Jesus’ earliest training, aside from that of the home hearth, had to do with a reverent and sympathetic contact with nature.
123:5.14 (1364.2) 當他們沒有爬上高處眺望遠方風景時，他們在鄉間漫步，研究大自然依照季節而衍生出的各種風貌。耶穌的最早訓練，除了家中爐邊的教導以外，還與對大自然懷著敬意且具共鳴的接觸有關。
123:5.15 (1364.3) Before he was eight years of age, he was known to all the mothers and young women of Nazareth, who had met him and talked with him at the spring, which was not far from his home, and which was one of the social centers of contact and gossip for the entire town. This year Jesus learned to milk the family cow and care for the other animals. During this and the following year he also learned to make cheese and to weave. When he was ten years of age, he was an expert loom operator. It was about this time that Jesus and the neighbor boy Jacob became great friends of the potter who worked near the flowing spring; and as they watched Nathan’s deft fingers mold the clay on the potter’s wheel, many times both of them determined to be potters when they grew up. Nathan was very fond of the lads and often gave them clay to play with, seeking to stimulate their creative imaginations by suggesting competitive efforts in modeling various objects and animals.
123:5.15 (1364.3) 在他八歲之前，拿撒勒的所有母親和年輕婦女都認識他，她們在離他家不遠的泉水源頭見過他並與他交談，泉水源頭也是整個城鎮聯絡和閒談的社交中心之一。這年耶穌學會了幫家裡的母牛擠奶和照顧其它牲畜。在這一年和接下來的一年期間，他也學會了製作乳酪和織布。當他十歲時，他是一個熟練的織布機操作者。大約在這個時候，耶穌和鄰居男孩雅各成了在流動泉水旁工作的陶匠納森的好朋友；當他們觀看納森靈巧的手指在陶輪上塑造粘土時，他們倆多次決定長大後要成為陶匠。納森非常喜愛這些小男孩，並經常給他們粘土玩，透過鼓勵在塑造各種物件和動物上進行競賽，以尋求激發他們的創造性想像力。
123:6.1 (1364.4) This was an interesting year at school. Although Jesus was not an unusual student, he was a diligent pupil and belonged to the more progressive third of the class, doing his work so well that he was excused from attendance one week out of each month. This week he usually spent either with his fisherman uncle on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near Magdala or on the farm of another uncle (his mother’s brother) five miles south of Nazareth.
123:6.1 (1364.4) 這是在學校裡有趣的一年，雖然耶穌不是個不尋常的學生，但他是一個勤奮的學生，屬於班級上較為進步的三分之一，他的功課做得如此的好，使他每個月可有一周不用上課。這周他通常和他的漁夫舅舅在靠近抹大拉的加利利海岸邊度過，或是待在拿撒勒南面五英里處另一個舅舅（他母親的兄弟）的農場裡。
123:6.2 (1364.5) Although his mother had become unduly anxious about his health and safety, she gradually became reconciled to these trips away from home. Jesus’ uncles and aunts were all very fond of him, and there ensued a lively competition among them to secure his company for these monthly visits throughout this and immediately subsequent years. His first week’s sojourn on his uncle’s farm (since infancy) was in January of this year; the first week’s fishing experience on the Sea of Galilee occurred in the month of May.
123:6.2 (1364.5) 儘管他的母親對於他的健康和安全變得過度擔憂，但她逐漸接受了這些離家的旅行。耶穌的舅舅和舅媽們都很喜歡他，在他們中間因而產生了熱烈的競爭，以確保在這一年和接下來的幾年裡，在這些每個月的拜訪中確保得到他的陪伴。他在他舅舅農場的第一次為期一週的旅居（自嬰兒以來）是在這一年的1月；在加利利海第一次為期一週的捕魚經歷則發生在5月。
123:6.3 (1364.6) About this time Jesus met a teacher of mathematics from Damascus, and learning some new techniques of numbers, he spent much time on mathematics for several years. He developed a keen sense of numbers, distances, and proportions.
123:6.3 (1364.6) 大約此時，耶穌遇到了一位來自大馬士革的數學教師，並學習了一些新的算術技巧，他花了大量時間在數學上長達好幾年。他對數字、距離和比例發展出一種敏銳的感知力。
123:6.4 (1364.7) Jesus began to enjoy his brother James very much and by the end of this year had begun to teach him the alphabet.
123:6.4 (1364.7) 耶穌開始非常喜歡他的弟弟詹姆斯，到了這一年年底，他已經開始教他字母表。
123:6.5 (1364.8) This year Jesus made arrangements to exchange dairy products for lessons on the harp. He had an unusual liking for everything musical. Later on he did much to promote an interest in vocal music among his youthful associates. By the time he was eleven years of age, he was a skillful harpist and greatly enjoyed entertaining both family and friends with his extraordinary interpretations and able improvisations.
123:6.5 (1364.8) 這年耶穌安排用乳製品來換取豎琴課程。他對於與音樂相關的所有事物，都懷有非比尋常的喜好。後來，他也極力促進他的年輕同伴間對於聲樂的興趣。到他十一歲時，他是一個熟練的豎琴師，非常享受用他非凡的演繹和精湛的即興表演娛樂家人和朋友。
123:6.6 (1365.1) While Jesus continued to make enviable progress at school, all did not run smoothly for either parents or teachers. He persisted in asking many embarrassing questions concerning both science and religion, particularly regarding geography and astronomy. He was especially insistent on finding out why there was a dry season and a rainy season in Palestine. Repeatedly he sought the explanation for the great difference between the temperatures of Nazareth and the Jordan valley. He simply never ceased to ask such intelligent but perplexing questions.
123:6.6 (1365.1) 儘管耶穌持續在學校取得令人羨慕的進展，但對於父母或老師來說，並非一切都一帆風順。他執意提出許多涉及科學和宗教的令人尷尬的問題，特別是關於地理和天文的問題。他尤其堅持要找出為何巴勒斯坦會有旱季和雨季。他一再尋求有關拿撒勒和約旦河谷間巨大溫差的解釋。他完全無法停止詢問這類聰明但卻令人費解的問題。
123:6.7 (1365.2) His third brother, Simon, was born on Friday evening, April 14, of this year, a.d. 2.
123:6.7 (1365.2) 他的第三個弟弟西蒙，出生於這一年（西元2年）的4月14日星期五傍晚。
123:6.8 (1365.3) In February, Nahor, one of the teachers in a Jerusalem academy of the rabbis, came to Nazareth to observe Jesus, having been on a similar mission to Zacharias’s home near Jerusalem. He came to Nazareth at the instigation of John’s father. While at first he was somewhat shocked by Jesus’ frankness and unconventional manner of relating himself to things religious, he attributed it to the remoteness of Galilee from the centers of Hebrew learning and culture and advised Joseph and Mary to allow him to take Jesus back with him to Jerusalem, where he could have the advantages of education and training at the center of Jewish culture. Mary was half persuaded to consent; she was convinced her eldest son was to become the Messiah, the Jewish deliverer; Joseph hesitated; he was equally persuaded that Jesus was to grow up to become a man of destiny, but what that destiny would prove to be he was profoundly uncertain. But he never really doubted that his son was to fulfill some great mission on earth. The more he thought about Nahor’s advice, the more he questioned the wisdom of the proposed sojourn in Jerusalem.
123:6.8 (1365.3) 在2月份，耶路撒冷拉比學院的一位老師拿鶴，前來拿撒勒觀察耶穌，他曾前往耶路撒冷附近撒迦利亞家裡執行過類似的任務。他在約翰父親的鼓動下來到拿撒勒。儘管起初他對於耶穌的坦率，以及以非傳統方式表達自己與宗教事物的關聯感到震驚，他將其歸因於加利利遠離希伯來學習和教化中心，並建議約瑟夫和瑪利亞允許他將耶穌帶回耶路撒冷，在那裡耶穌可以在猶太文化中心享有教育和培訓的優勢。瑪利亞遲疑是否同意；她確信她的長子會成為彌賽亞，猶太人的解救者；約瑟夫猶豫不決；他同樣被說服耶穌長大將成為一個天命之人，但那天命最終會是什麼他極為不確定。但他從未真正懷疑過他的兒子將在世上完成某個偉大的使命。他越是思考拿鶴的建議，他便越質疑在耶路撒冷旅居的提議是否明智。
123:6.9 (1365.4) 由於約瑟夫和瑪利亞的這種意見分歧，拿鶴請求允許將整件事擺在耶穌面前。耶穌聚精會神地聆聽，與約瑟夫、瑪利亞和鄰居石匠雅各（他的兒子是耶穌最喜愛的玩伴）交談，然後，在兩天之後他報告說，由於在他父母和提供意見者之間存在這樣一種意見分歧，而且由於他覺得沒有能力承擔這一決定的責任，對任何一方都沒有強烈的感覺，考慮到整個情形，他最終決定要「與我在天上的『父』交談」；雖然他並非完全確定答案，他仍覺得他應留在家裡「與我的父母一起」，並補充說到，「他們如此愛我，比起那些只能看到我身體並觀察我心智但幾乎不能真正瞭解我的陌生人，他們應該能為我做更多，並更加安全地引導我。 」他們都驚歎不已，拿鶴便動身返回耶路撒冷。直到多年後，耶穌離家的話題才又被重新提出來討論。