傳道書 2
1 我心裏說：「來吧，我以喜樂試試你，你好享福！」誰知，這也是虛空。
[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 我指嬉笑說：「這是狂妄。」論喜樂說：「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 我心裏察究，如何用酒使我肉體舒暢，我心卻仍以智慧引導我；又如何持住愚昧，等我看明世人，在天下一生當行何事為美。
[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 我為自己動大工程，建造房屋，栽種葡萄園，
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 修造園囿，在其中栽種各樣果木樹；
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，用以澆灌嫩小的樹木。
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 我買了僕婢，也有生在家中的僕婢；又有許多牛群羊群，勝過以前在耶路撒冷眾人所有的。
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 我又為自己積蓄金銀和君王的財寶，並各省的財寶；又得唱歌的男女和世人所喜愛的物，並許多的妃嬪。
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 這樣，我就日見昌盛，勝過以前在耶路撒冷的眾人。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，我沒有留下不給它的；我心所樂的，我沒有禁止不享受的；因我的心為我一切所勞碌的快樂，這就是我從勞碌中所得的分。
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 後來，我察看我手所經營的一切事和我勞碌所成的功。誰知都是虛空，都是捕風；在日光之下毫無益處。
[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 我轉念觀看智慧、狂妄，和愚昧。在王以後而來的人還能做甚麼呢？也不過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 我便看出智慧勝過愚昧，如同光明勝過黑暗。
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，愚昧人在黑暗裏行。我卻看明有一件事，這兩等人都必遇見。
[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 我就心裏說：「愚昧人所遇見的，我也必遇見，我為何更有智慧呢？」我心裏說，這也是虛空。
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 智慧人和愚昧人一樣，永遠無人記念，因為日後都被忘記；可歎智慧人死亡，與愚昧人無異。
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 我所以恨惡生命；因為在日光之下所行的事我都以為煩惱，都是虛空，都是捕風。
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 我恨惡一切的勞碌，就是我在日光之下的勞碌，因為我得來的必留給我以後的人。
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，誰能知道？他竟要管理我勞碌所得的，就是我在日光之下用智慧所得的。這也是虛空。
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，我轉想我在日光之下所勞碌的一切工作，心便絕望。
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 因為有人用智慧、知識、靈巧所勞碌得來的，卻要留給未曾勞碌的人為分。這也是虛空，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 人在日光之下勞碌累心，在他一切的勞碌上得着甚麼呢？
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 因為他日日憂慮，他的勞苦成為愁煩，連夜間心也不安。這也是虛空。
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 人莫強如吃喝，且在勞碌中享福，我看這也是出於上帝的手。
[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 論到吃用、享福，誰能勝過我呢？
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 上帝喜悅誰，就給誰智慧、知識，和喜樂；惟有罪人，上帝使他勞苦，叫他將所收聚的、所堆積的歸給上帝所喜悅的人。這也是虛空，也是捕風。
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.
