传道书 8
1 谁如智慧人呢？ 谁知道事情的解释呢？ 人的智慧使他的脸发光， 并使他脸上的暴气改变。
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 我劝你遵守王的命令；既指 神起誓，理当如此。
I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.
3 不要急躁离开王的面前，不要固执行恶，因为他凡事都随自己的心意而行。
Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him,
4 王的话本有权力，谁敢问他说“你做什么”呢？
for the king’s word is supreme. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 凡遵守命令的，必不经历祸患；智慧人的心能辨明时候和定理。
Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
6 各样事务成就都有时候和定理，因为人的苦难重压在他身上。
For there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy on him.
7 他不知道将来的事，因为将来如何，谁能告诉他呢？
For he doesn’t know that which will be; for who can tell him how it will be?
8 无人有权力掌管生命，将生命留住；也无人有权力掌管死期；这场争战，无人能免；邪恶也不能救那好行邪恶的人。
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 这一切我都见过，也专心查考日光之下所做的一切事。有时这人管辖那人，令人受害。
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 我见恶人埋葬，归入坟墓；又见行正直事的离开圣地，在城中被人忘记。这也是虚空。
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 因为断定罪名不立刻施刑，所以世人满心作恶。
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 罪人虽然作恶百次，倒享长久的年日；然而我准知道，敬畏 神的，就是在他面前敬畏的人，终久必得福乐。
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 恶人却不得福乐，也不得长久的年日；这年日好像影儿，因他不敬畏 神。
But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear God.
14 世上有一件虚空的事，就是义人所遭遇的，反照恶人所行的；又有恶人所遭遇的，反照义人所行的。我说，这也是虚空。
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 我就称赞快乐，原来人在日光之下，莫强如吃喝快乐；因为他在日光之下， 神赐他一生的年日，要从劳碌中，时常享受所得的。
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 我专心求智慧，要看世上所做的事。（有昼夜不睡觉不合眼的。）
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 我就看明 神一切的作为，知道人查不出日光之下所做的事；任凭他费多少力寻查，都查不出来，就是智慧人虽想知道，也是查不出来。
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.
