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 like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 為了向天主起的誓，你應遵守君王的命令；
I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to 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。
Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
4 原來君王的話具有威力，誰敢向他說：「你做什麼﹖」
for the king’s word is supreme. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 遵守誡命的，不會遇到災禍；智者的心能辨識時機和審斷。
Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
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 there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy on him.
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 he doesn’t know that which will be; for who can tell him how it will be?
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。
There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.
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 I have seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another 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。
So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is 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 an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
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 commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent 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 it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear 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。
There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is 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 I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has 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 applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),
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 saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
