传道书 2
1 我心里说：“来吧，我以喜乐试试你，你好享福！”谁知，这也是虚空。
[Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
2 我指嬉笑说：“这是狂妄。”论喜乐说：“有何功效呢？”
[So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
3 我心里察究，如何用酒使我肉体舒畅，我心却仍以智慧引导我；又如何持住愚昧，等我看明世人，在天下一生当行何事为美。
[So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
4 我为自己动大工程，建造房屋，栽种葡萄园，
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 修造园囿，在其中栽种各样果木树；
I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
6 挖造水池，用以浇灌嫩小的树木。
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 我买了仆婢，也有生在家中的仆婢；又有许多牛群羊群，胜过以前在耶路撒冷众人所有的。
I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
8 我又为自己积蓄金银和君王的财宝，并各省的财宝；又得唱歌的男女和世人所喜爱的物，并许多的妃嫔。
I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
9 这样，我就日见昌盛，胜过以前在耶路撒冷的众人。我的智慧仍然存留。
So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
10 凡我眼所求的，我没有留下不给它的；我心所乐的，我没有禁止不享受的；因我的心为我一切所劳碌的快乐，这就是我从劳碌中所得的分。
I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
11 后来，我察看我手所经营的一切事和我劳碌所成的功。谁知都是虚空，都是捕风；在日光之下毫无益处。
[But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
12 我转念观看智慧、狂妄，和愚昧。在王以后而来的人还能做什么呢？也不过行早先所行的就是了。
Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
13 我便看出智慧胜过愚昧，如同光明胜过黑暗。
And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
14 智慧人的眼目光明，愚昧人在黑暗里行。我却看明有一件事，这两等人都必遇见。
[because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
15 我就心里说：“愚昧人所遇见的，我也必遇见，我为何更有智慧呢？”我心里说，这也是虚空。
So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
16 智慧人和愚昧人一样，永远无人记念，因为日后都被忘记；可叹智慧人死亡，与愚昧人无异。
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 我所以恨恶生命；因为在日光之下所行的事我都以为烦恼，都是虚空，都是捕风。
So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
18 我恨恶一切的劳碌，就是我在日光之下的劳碌，因为我得来的必留给我以后的人。
I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
19 那人是智慧是愚昧，谁能知道？他竟要管理我劳碌所得的，就是我在日光之下用智慧所得的。这也是虚空。
And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
20 故此，我转想我在日光之下所劳碌的一切工作，心便绝望。
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 因为有人用智慧、知识、灵巧所劳碌得来的，却要留给未曾劳碌的人为分。这也是虚空，也是大患。
Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
22 人在日光之下劳碌累心，在他一切的劳碌上得着什么呢？
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 因为他日日忧虑，他的劳苦成为愁烦，连夜间心也不安。这也是虚空。
Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
24 人莫强如吃喝，且在劳碌中享福，我看这也是出于 神的手。
[So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
25 论到吃用、享福，谁能胜过我呢？
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 神喜悦谁，就给谁智慧、知识，和喜乐；惟有罪人， 神使他劳苦，叫他将所收聚的、所堆积的归给 神所喜悦的人。这也是虚空，也是捕风。
God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.
