| 訓道篇 | Ecclesiastes |
|---|
| 1我留心考察這一切，終於看出：義人、智者和他們的行為，都在天主手裡；是愛是恨，人不知道；二者都能來到他們身上。 | 1 All this I have kept in mind and recognized: the just, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Love from hatred man cannot tell; both appear equally vain, |
| 2無論是義人，是惡人，是好人，是壞人，是潔淨的人，是不潔淨的人，是獻祭的人，是不獻祭的人，都有同樣的命運；好人與罪人一樣，妄發誓的與怕發誓的也一樣。 | 2in that there is the same lot for all, for the just and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for him who offers sacrifice and him who does not. As it is for the good man, so it is for the sinner; as it is for him who swears rashly, so it is for him who fears an oath. |
| 3太陽之下所發生的一切事中，最不幸的是眾人都有同樣的命運；更有甚者，世人的心都充滿邪惡，有生之日，心懷狂妄，以後與死者相聚。 | 3Among all the things that happen under the sun, this is the worst, that things turn out the same for all. Hence the minds of men are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts during life; and afterward they go to the dead. |
| 4的確，誰尚與活人有聯繫，還懷有希望，因為一隻活狗勝過一隻死獅。 | 4Indeed, for any among the living there is hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion. |
| 5活著的人至少自知必死，而死了的人卻一無所知；他們再得不到報酬，因為連他們的記念也被人遺忘了。 | 5For the living know that they are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them is lost. |
| 6他們的愛好，他們的憎恨，他們的熱誠，皆已消失；在太陽下所發生的一切事，永遠再沒有他們的分。 | 6For them, love and hatred and rivalry have long since perished. They will never again have part in anything that is done under the sun. |
| 7你倒不如去快樂地吃你的飯，開懷暢飲你的酒，因為天主早已嘉納你所作的工作。 | 7Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works. |
| 8你的衣服常要潔白，你頭上不要缺少香液。 | 8At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. |
| 9在天主賜你在太陽下的一生虛幻歲月中，同你的愛妻共享人生之樂：這原是你在太陽下，一生從勞苦中所應得的一分。 | 9Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of the fleeting life that is granted you under the sun. This is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun. |
| 10你手能做什麼，就努力去做，因為在你所要去的陰府內，沒有工作，沒有計劃，沒有學問，沒有智慧。 | 10Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the nether world where you are going.... |
| 11我又在太陽下看見：善跑的不得競賽，勇將不得參戰，智者得不到食物，明白人得不到財富，博學者得不到寵幸， | 11Again I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time of calamity comes to all alike. |
| 12因為他們都遭遇了不幸的時運。因為人不知道自己的時期；當凶險猝然而至的時候，人子為不幸的時運所獲，就像魚被網捕住，又像鳥被圈套套住。 | 12 Man no more knows his own time than fish taken in the fatal net, or birds trapped in the snare; like these the children of men are caught when the evil time falls suddenly upon them. |
| 13在太陽下我又得了一個智慧的經驗，依我看來，大有意義： | 13On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought sublime. |
| 14有座小城，裡面居民不多；有位大王來攻打此城，把城圍住，周圍築了高壘。 | 14Against a small city with few men in it advanced a mighty king, who surrounded it and threw up great siegeworks about it. |
| 15那時，城中有個貧賤卻具有智慧的人，他用自己的智慧，救了本城：可是人們卻忘了這貧賤的人。 | 15But in the city lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and he delivered it through his wisdom. Yet no one remembered this poor man. |
| 16於是我說：智慧遠勝過武力；然而貧賤人的智慧卻被人輕忽，他的話卻沒有人聽。 | 16Though I had said, "Wisdom is better than force," yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words go unheeded. |
| 17智者溫和的言語，比王者在愚人中的吶喊，更受歡迎。 | 17"The quiet words of the wise are better heeded than the shout of a ruler of fools"--! |
| 18智慧勝於武器；一個錯誤能破壞許多好事。 | 18"A fly that dies can spoil the perfumer's ointment, and a single slip can ruin much that is good." |
