A friend is the first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out.

当世人离弃你，朋友会留在你身边。

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

我总不撇下你，也不丢弃你。-希伯来书13章5节

A dear friend of mine sent me a text message that said, “I’m so glad we can tell each other the good, the bad, and the ugly!” We have been friends for many years, and we have learned to share our joys and our failures. We recognize we are far from perfect, so we share our struggles but we also rejoice in each other’s successes.

有位挚友曾传送一则简讯给我，其中写道：“真开心我们能分享彼此的好事、坏事和丑事！”我和这位朋友已相识多年，已经学会一起分享开心和失败的经历。我们承认自己并不完美，因此会向对方倾诉自己所面临的挣扎，同时也会为对方的成功而感到高兴。

David and Jonathan had a solid friendship too, beginning with the good days of David’s victory over Goliath (1 Sam. 18:1–4). They shared their fears during the bad days of Jonathan’s father’s jealousy (18:6–11; 20:1–2). Finally, they suffered together during the ugly days of Saul’s plans to kill David (20:42).

大卫和约拿单也拥有一份坚定的友谊，他们的交情始于大卫击败歌利亚那美好的日子（撒母耳记上18章1-4节）。当约拿单的父亲扫罗嫉恨大卫时，在那段痛苦的日子中，他们也同感恐惧（18章6-11节，20章1-2节）。最后，在大卫遭受扫罗追杀的那些艰困日子里，他们也一同受苦（20章42节）。

Good friends don’t abandon us when external circumstances change. They stay with us through the good and the bad days. Good friends also may point us to God in the ugly days, when we may feel tempted to walk away from our Lord.

当风雨飘摇之际，真正的朋友不会离弃我们。无论遭逢好事或坏事，他们都与我们站在同一阵线上。在我们痛苦难熬、几乎要远离上帝时，良朋益友也会导引我们回到上帝面前。

Real friendships are a gift from God because they exemplify the perfect Friend, who remains loyal through the good, the bad, and the ugly days. As the Lord reminds us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

真正的友谊是上帝所赐的礼物，因为友谊具体展现出上帝就是我们最好的朋友。无论境遇是好、是坏，或是艰苦难熬，上帝都永远信实可靠，就如祂曾提醒我们：“我总不撇下你，也不丢弃你。”（希伯来书13章5节）

Dear Lord, I thank You for the good friends 

You have placed in my life, 

but above all, 

I thank You for Your friendship.

亲爱的主，

感谢祢在我生命中赐下良友。

但更重要的是，

感谢祢成为我最知心的朋友。

1 Samuel 20:35-42 New International Version (NIV)

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendshipwith each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witnessbetween you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

撒母耳记上 20:35-42Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

大卫与约拿单泣别

35 次日早晨，约拿单按着与大卫约会的时候出到田野，有一个童子跟随。 36 约拿单对童子说：“你跑去，把我所射的箭找来。”童子跑去，约拿单就把箭射在童子前头。37 童子到了约拿单落箭之地，约拿单呼叫童子说：“箭不是在你前头吗？” 38 约拿单又呼叫童子说：“速速地去，不要迟延。”童子就拾起箭来，回到主人那里。 39 童子却不知道这是什么意思，只有约拿单和大卫知道。 40 约拿单将弓箭交给童子，吩咐说：“你拿到城里去。” 41 童子一去，大卫就从磐石的南边出来，俯伏在地，拜了三拜。二人亲嘴，彼此哭泣，大卫哭得更恸。 42 约拿单对大卫说：“我们二人曾指着耶和华的名起誓说：‘愿耶和华在你我中间，并你我后裔中间为证，直到永远！’如今你平平安安地去吧！”大卫就起身走了，约拿单也回城里去了。

整理：于姊妹