傳道書 5
1 你往天主的殿裏去時，要小心邁步；你前去聽道，勝過愚人獻祭，因為他們只知作惡。
Keep thy foot, whensoever thou goest to the house of God; and [when thou art] near to hear, let thy sacrifice [be] better than the gift of fools: for they know not that they are doing evil.
2 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。
Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 因為夜夢由於事務繁雜，亂語出於多言。
For through the multitude of trial a dream comes; and a fool's voice is with a multitude of words.
4 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；
Whenever thou shalt vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he has] no pleasure in fools: pay thou therefore whatsoever thou shalt have vowed.
5 不許願好過許而不還。
[It is] better that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 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﹖
Suffer not thy mouth to lead thy flesh to sin; and say not in the presence of God, It was an error: lest God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the works of thy hands.
7 多夢多虛幻，多言多糊塗；你要敬畏天主。
For [there is evil] in a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear thou God.
8 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。
If thou shouldest see the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of judgment and of justice in the land, wonder not at the matter: for [there is] a high one to watch over him that is high, and high ones over them.
9 國家全面的利益，在乎有一位關心農業的君王。
Also the abundance of the earth is for every one: the king [is dependent on] the tilled field.
10 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。
He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver: and who has loved gain, in the abundance thereof? this is also vanity.
11 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﹖
In the multitude of good they are increased that eat it: and what virtue has the owner, but the right of beholding [it] with his eyes?
12 工人不論吃多吃少，總睡得甘甜；飽食的富人，卻難於安眠。
The sleep of a servant is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but to one who is satiated with wealth, there is none that suffers him to sleep.
13 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。
There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, [namely], wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.
14 生意一次失敗，財產盡失：生了個兒子，手中一無所有。
And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and [the man] begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
15 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。
As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, he shall return back as he came, and he shall receive nothing for his labour, that it should go [with him] in his hand.
16 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；
And this is also an evil infirmity: for as he came, so also shall he return: and what is his gain, for which he vainly labours?
17 況且他一生在黑暗中生活，遭受許多煩惱、疾病和悲憤的事。
Yea, all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and much sorrow, and infirmity, and wrath.
18 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。
Behold, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing [for a man] to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labour in which he may labour under the sun, [all] the number of the days of his life which God has given to him: for it is his portion.
19 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。
Yea, and [as for] every man to whom God has given wealth and possessions, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to receive his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
20 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。
For he shall not much remember the days of his life; for God troubles him in the mirth of his heart.
