傳道書 8
1 有誰相似智者，有誰會解釋事理﹖智慧使人的面容煥發，使嚴肅的容貌變為溫和。
Who is really a wise man, and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? The wisdom of a man, lighteth up his countenance, but, by defiance of countenance, one is disfigured.
2 為了向天主起的誓，你應遵守君王的命令；
I [said], The bidding of the king, observe thou, even out of regard to the oath of God.
3 你不可由他面前倉猝離去，也不可行惡，因為凡他喜歡的事，都可隨意執行。
Not rashly from his presence, shouldst thou go: do not take thy stand in a vexatious thing, —for, whatsoever he pleaseth, he will do.
4 原來君王的話具有威力，誰敢向他說：「你做什麼﹖」
Where the word of a king is, there is power, —who then may say to him, What wouldst thou do?
5 遵守誡命的，不會遇到災禍；智者的心能辨識時機和審斷。
He that observeth the commandment, will not notice a vexatious thing, —and, of time and manner, will the heart of the wise take note.
6 的確，事事都有定時和定案；但重大的負擔仍壓在人身上，
For, to every pursuit, there is a time and a manner, —when, the vexation of man, is great concerning it.
7 因為人不知道將來要發生什麼事，有誰能告訴他，何時要發生﹖
For there is no one who knoweth what shall be, for, when it shall be, who will tell him?
8 沒有人有權將生氣保留不失，也沒有人能支配死期，戰場上沒有人能退役，邪惡救不了作惡的人。
No man, hath power over the spirit, to retain the spirit, and, none, hath power over the day of death, and there is no furlough in war, —neither shall lawlessness deliver them who are given thereto.
9 我看見了這一切，專心研究在太陽下所行的一切事：有時統治人的人，自受其害；
All this, had I seen, and tried to apply my heart to every work which was done under the sun, —at such time as one man had power over another man, to his hurt.
10 有時我看見惡人被抬去安葬，而行義的人卻離開聖處，而在城中被人遺忘：這也是虛幻。
And, thereupon, I considered the lawless when buried, when they had entered, [their graves], that, from the place of the Holy One, they used to go and boast in the city that they had so done, —even this, was vanity.
11 因為懲惡的定案未有迅速執行，世人因此充滿了行惡的偏向。
Because sentence against a wicked work is not executed speedily—on this account, the heart of the sons of men is fully set within them, to commit wickedness.
12 惡人雖百次行惡，仍享長壽，姑且不論；我確實知道，那敬畏天主的人，因他們在天主前起敬起畏，必得幸福；
Though a sinner be committing wickedness a hundred times, and continuing long in his own way, yet I surely know that it shall be well to them who revere God, who stand in awe before him;
13 而惡人必得不到幸福，他的時日如影，決不能久長，因為他不敬畏天主。
but, well, shall it not be to the lawless man, neither shall he lengthen out his days like a shadow, —because he standeth not in awe before God.
14 在世上還有一件虛幻的事：就是義人所遭遇的，反如惡人所應得的；而惡人所遭遇的，反如義人所應得的；我遂說：這也是虛幻。
Here was a vain thing which was done upon the earth—that there were righteous men unto whom it happened according to the work of the lawless, and there were lawless men, unto whom it happened according to the work of the righteous, —I said, that, even this, was vanity.
15 為此，我稱讚快樂，因為在太陽下，人除了吃喝行樂外，別無幸福；因為這是人在天主賞他在太陽下的一生歲月內，從他的勞苦中，所獲得的幸福。
Then extolled I, gladness, in that there was nothing better for a man, under the sun, than to eat and to drink, and to be glad, —since, that, should tarry with him in his toil, for the days of his life which God had given him under the sun.
16 當我專心追求智慧，觀察人在世上，連黑夜白日都不能閉目安眠，所行的工作時，
When I gave my heart, to know wisdom, and to consider the business that was done upon the earth, then surely, by day and by night, there was one who suffered not his eyes, to sleep.
17 我面對天主的一切作為，發覺人決不能知道在太陽下所發生的一切事。人雖然努力研究，終歸無法得知；縱然有智者以為知道了，仍是一無所知。
Then I considered all the work of God, that man could not find out the work that was done under the sun, inasmuch as man toileth in seeking and yet cannot find, —yea, even though the wise man should say he knoweth, yet can he not find it out.
