訓道篇: Chapter 5

訓道篇:Chapter 5

訓道篇	Ecclesiastes
¹你不要在天主前冒然開口，你的心也不要急於發言應許，因為天主在天上，你在地下，為此你說話應當簡單。	¹Be not hasty in your utterance and let not your heart be quick to make a promise in God's presence. God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.
²因為夜夢由於事務繁雜，亂語出於多言。	² For nightmares come with many cares, and a fool's utterance with many words.
³你一向天主許願，就不可拖延償還，因為他不喜歡人怠慢；你許了願，就應速還；	³When you make a vow to God, delay not its fulfillment. For God has no pleasure in fools; fulfill what you have vowed.
⁴不許願好過許而不還。	⁴You had better not make a vow than make it and not fulfill it.
⁵不要放任你的口，使你陷於罪過，免得你在使者前說是「錯許了。」為何要天主因你這句話而發怒，破壞你手中的工作？	⁵Let not your utterances make you guilty, and say not before his representative, "It was a mistake," lest God be angered by such words and destroy the works of your hands.
⁶多夢多虛幻，多言多糊塗；你要敬畏天主。	⁶Rather, fear God!
⁷你若在某省看見欺壓窮人，違犯公道和正義的事，不必對此驚奇，因為高者之上還有更高者在上鑒察，而他們之上還有更高者。	⁷If you see oppression of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be shocked by the fact, for the high official has another higher than he watching him and above these are others higher still--.
⁸國家全面的利益，在乎有一位關心農業的君王。	⁸ Yet an advantage for a country in every respect is a king for the arable land.
⁹愛錢的，錢不能使他滿足：愛財的，進益不能使他滿足：這也是空虛。	⁹The covetous man is never satisfied with money, and the lover of wealth reaps no fruit from it; so this too is vanity.
¹⁰錢財增多，消費的人也隨之增多；財主除飽享眼福外，能有什麼益處？	¹⁰Where there are great riches, there are also many to devour them. Of what use are they to the owner except to feast his eyes upon?
¹¹工人不論吃多吃少，總睡得甘甜；飽食的富人，卻難於安眠。	¹¹Sleep is sweet to the laboring man, whether he eats little or much, but the rich man's abundance allows him no sleep.
¹²我看見在太陽下有一件慘痛的事：財主積蓄財富，反而害了自己。	¹²This is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches kept by their owner to his hurt.
¹³生意一次失敗，財產盡失：生了個兒子，手中一無所有。	¹³Should the riches be lost through some misfortune, he may have a son when he is without means.
¹⁴他赤身出離母胎，也照樣赤身歸去；他勞力之所得，絲毫不能帶去。	¹⁴As he came forth from his mother's womb, so again shall he depart, naked as he came, having nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.
¹⁵這也是一件慘痛的事：他怎樣來，也怎樣去；他操勞追風，究有什麼益處；	¹⁵This too is a grievous evil, that he goes just as he came. What then does it profit him to toil for wind?
¹⁶況且他一生在黑暗中生活，遭受許多煩惱、疾病和悲憤的事。	¹⁶All the days of his life are passed in gloom and sorrow, under great vexation, sickness and wrath.
¹⁷我所認為幸福美滿的事，是人在天主所賞的少數歲月內，有吃有喝，且享受他在太陽下一切勞碌所得的福樂，這原是他應得的一分。	¹⁷Here is what I recognize as good: it is well for a man to eat and drink and enjoy all the fruits of his labor under the sun during the limited days of the life which God gives him; for this is his lot.
¹⁸的確，天主賞賜人財產和富裕，叫他能享用；能取得應有的一分，能享受勞碌所得的快樂，實是天主的恩賜。	¹⁸Any man to whom God gives riches and property, and grants power to partake of them, so that he receives his lot and finds joy in the fruits of his toil, has a gift from God.
¹⁹那麼，人就不甚顧慮人生歲月的短促，因為天主以喜樂充滿了他的心。	¹⁹ For he will hardly dwell on the shortness of his life, because God lets him busy himself with the joy of his heart.