传道书 7
1 名誉强如美好的膏油；人死的日子胜过人生的日子。
A good name is better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better than a day of birth.
2 往遭丧的家去， 强如往宴乐的家去； 因为死是众人的结局， 活人也必将这事放在心上。
It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living consider what may be in the future.
3 忧愁强如喜笑； 因为面带愁容，终必使心喜乐。
Anger is better than laughter. For through the sadness of the countenance, the soul of one who offends may be corrected.
4 智慧人的心在遭丧之家； 愚昧人的心在快乐之家。
The heart of the wise is a place of mourning, and the heart of the foolish is a place of rejoicing.
5 听智慧人的责备， 强如听愚昧人的歌唱。
It is better to be corrected by a wise man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
6 愚昧人的笑声， 好像锅下烧荆棘的爆声； 这也是虚空。
For, like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of the foolish. But this, too, is emptiness.
7 勒索使智慧人变为愚妄； 贿赂能败坏人的慧心。
A false accusation troubles the wise man and saps the strength of his heart.
8 事情的终局强如事情的起头； 存心忍耐的，胜过居心骄傲的。
The end of a speech is better than the beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.
9 你不要心里急躁恼怒， 因为恼怒存在愚昧人的怀中。
Do not be quickly moved to anger. For anger resides in the sinews of the foolish.
10 不要说： 先前的日子强过如今的日子， 是什么缘故呢？ 你这样问，不是出于智慧。
You should not say: “What do you think is the reason that the former times were better than they are now?” For this type of question is foolish.
11 智慧和产业并好， 而且见天日的人得智慧更为有益。
Wisdom with riches is more useful and more advantageous, for those who see the sun.
12 因为智慧护庇人， 好像银钱护庇人一样。 惟独智慧能保全智慧人的生命。 这就是知识的益处。
For as wisdom protects, so also does money protect. But learning and wisdom have this much more: that they grant life to one who possesses them.
13 你要察看 神的作为； 因 神使为曲的，谁能变为直呢？
Consider the works of God, that no one is able to correct whomever he has despised.
14 遇亨通的日子你当喜乐；遭患难的日子你当思想；因为 神使这两样并列，为的是叫人查不出身后有什么事。
In good times, enjoy good things, but beware of an evil time. For just as God has established the one, so also the other, in order that man may not find any just complaint against him.
15 有义人行义，反致灭亡；有恶人行恶，倒享长寿。这都是我在虚度之日中所见过的。
I also saw this, in the days of my vanity: a just man perishing in his justice, and an impious man living a long time in his malice.
16 不要行义过分，也不要过于自逞智慧，何必自取败亡呢？
Do not try to be overly just, and do not try to be more wise than is necessary, lest you become stupid.
17 不要行恶过分，也不要为人愚昧，何必不到期而死呢？
Do not act with great impiety, and do not choose to be foolish, lest you die before your time.
18 你持守这个为美，那个也不要松手；因为敬畏 神的人，必从这两样出来。
It is good for you to support a just man. Furthermore, you should not withdraw your hand from him, for whoever fears God, neglects nothing.
19 智慧使有智慧的人比城中十个官长更有能力。
Wisdom has strengthened the wise more than ten princes of a city.
20 时常行善而不犯罪的义人，世上实在没有。
But there is no just man on earth, who does good and does not sin.
21 人所说的一切话，你不要放在心上，恐怕听见你的仆人咒诅你。
So then, do not attach your heart to every word that is spoken, lest perhaps you may hear your servant speaking ill of you.
22 因为你心里知道，自己也曾屡次咒诅别人。
For your conscience knows that you, too, have repeatedly spoken evil of others.
23 我曾用智慧试验这一切事；我说，要得智慧，智慧却离我远。
I have tested everything in wisdom. I have said: “I will be wise.” And wisdom withdrew farther from me,
24 万事之理，离我甚远，而且最深，谁能测透呢？
so much more than it was before. Wisdom is very profound, so who shall reveal her?
25 我转念，一心要知道，要考察，要寻求智慧和万事的理由；又要知道邪恶为愚昧，愚昧为狂妄。
I have examined all things in my soul, so that I may know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason, and so that I may recognize the impiety of the foolish, and the error of the imprudent.
26 我得知有等妇人比死还苦：她的心是网罗，手是锁链。凡蒙 神喜悦的人必能躲避她；有罪的人却被她缠住了。
And I have discovered a woman more bitter than death: she who is like the snare of a hunter, and whose heart is like a net, and whose hands are like chains. Whoever pleases God shall flee from her. But whoever is a sinner shall be seized by her.
27 传道者说：“看哪，一千男子中，我找到一个正直人，但众女子中，没有找到一个。”我将这事一一比较，要寻求其理，我心仍要寻找，却未曾找到。
Behold, Ecclesiastes said, I have discovered these things, one after another, in order that I might discover the explanation
which my soul still seeks and has not found. One man among a thousand, I have found; a woman among them all, I have not found.
29 我所找到的只有一件，就是 神造人原是正直，但他们寻出许多巧计。
This alone have I discovered: that God made man righteous, and yet he has adulterated himself with innumerable questions. Who is so great as the wise? And who has understood the meaning of the word?
