| 訓道篇 | Ecclesiastes |
|---|
| 1良好的聲譽勝於名貴的香液；死日勝於生日。 | 1 A good name is better than good ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. |
| 2往居喪的家去，勝於往宴會的家去，因為喪事是人人的結局，活人應將此事放在心上。 | 2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, For that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart. |
| 3悲哀勝於歡笑，因為愁容能使心靈舒暢。 | 3Sorrow is better than laughter, because when the face is sad the heart grows wiser. |
| 4智者的心是在居喪的家中，愚人的心是在歡笑的家中。 | 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. |
| 5聽智者斥責，勝過聽愚人歌唱。 | 5It is better to hearken to the wise man's rebuke than to hearken to the song of fools; |
| 6愚人的歡笑，就像釜底荊棘的爆炸聲，但這也是空虛。 | 6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the fool's laughter. |
| 7實在，壓榨使智者昏愚，賄胳能敗壞人心。 | 7For oppression can make a fool of a wise man, and a bribe corrupts the heart. |
| 8事情的結局勝過事情的開端；居心寬容，勝過存心傲慢。 | 8Better is the end of speech than its beginning; better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. |
| 9你心裡不要輕易動怒，因為憤怒只停留在愚人胸中。 | 9Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool. |
| 10你不要問：「為什麼昔日勝於今日？」因為這樣的詰問，不是出於智慧。 | 10Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you ask about this. |
| 11智慧與家產都好，對看見天日的人都有益， | 11Wisdom and an inheritance are good, and an advantage to those that see the sun. |
| 12因為受智慧的蔭庇與受金錢的蔭庇無異；但認識智慧的好處，是在於智慧賦與有智慧者生命。 | 12For the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. |
| 13你應觀察天主的作為：他所彎曲的，誰能使之正直？ | 13Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked? |
| 14幸福之日，你應歡樂，不幸之日，你應思慮：幸與不幸，都是天主所為；其目的是為叫人不能察覺自己將來的事。 | 14On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything. |
| 15在我虛度的歲月內，我見了許多事：義人在正義中夭亡，惡人在邪惡中反而長壽。 | 15I have seen all manner of things in my vain days: a just man perishing in his justice, and a wicked one surviving in his wickedness. |
| 16不要過於正義，也不要自作聰明，免得自趨滅亡。 | 16 "Be not just to excess, and be not overwise, lest you be ruined. |
| 17不要作惡無度，也不要糊塗太甚，免得你死非其時。 | 17 Be not wicked to excess, and be not foolish. Why should you die before your time?" |
| 18你的手最好把持這個，也不放棄那個，因為敬畏天主的人，二者兼顧並重。 | 18 It is good to hold to this rule, and not to let that one go; but he who fears God will win through at all events. |
| 19智慧使智者的權勢，勝過本城十個有權勢的人。 | 19Wisdom is a better defense for the wise man than would be ten princes in the city, |
| 20世上沒有一個只行善，而不犯罪的義人。 | 20 yet there is no man on earth so just as to do good and never sin. |
| 21你不要傾心去聽人說的一切閒話，免得你聽到你的僕人詛咒你； | 21Do not give heed to every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speaking ill of you, |
| 22因為你心裡知道，你許多次也詛咒過別人。 | 22for you know in your heart that you have many times spoken ill of others. |
| 23這一切我都用智慧追究過；我宣稱我將成個智者，然而智慧仍離我很遠。 | 23All these things I probed in wisdom. I said, "I will acquire wisdom"; but it was beyond me. |
| 24所有的事，既深遠，又玄奧，誰能窮究？ | 24What exists is far-reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can find it out? |
| 25我又專心致力於認識、考察事物，尋求智慧和事理，得知邪惡就是昏愚，昏愚就是狂妄。 | 25I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason, and I recognized that wickedness is foolish and folly is madness. |
| 26我發覺女人比死亡還苦，她一身是羅網：她的心是陷阱，她的手是鎖鏈；凡博天主歡心的，必逃避她；但罪人卻被她纏住。 | 26More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter's trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are prison bonds. He who is pleasing to God will escape her, but the sinner will be entrapped by her. |
| 27訓道者說：看，這是我所發現的，一一加以比較，好探知事物的原理， | 27Behold, this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another that I might discover the answer |
| 28對此我的心還在追求，但尚未找到：在一千男人中，我發見了一個；在所有的女人中，卻沒有發現一個。 | 28 which my soul still seeks and has not found: One man out of a thousand have I come upon, but a woman among them all I have not found. |
| 29我發現的只有這一件事：天主造人原很正直，但人卻發明了許多詭計。 | 29 Behold, only this have I found out: God made mankind straight, but men have had recourse to many calculations. |
