傳道書 1
1 在耶路撒冷作王、大衛的兒子、傳道者的言語。
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 傳道者說：虛空的虛空， 虛空的虛空，凡事都是虛空。
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 人一切的勞碌， 就是他在日光之下的勞碌，有甚麼益處呢？
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 一代過去，一代又來， 地卻永遠長存。
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 日頭出來，日頭落下， 急歸所出之地。
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 風往南颳，又向北轉， 不住地旋轉，而且返回轉行原道。
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 江河都往海裏流，海卻不滿； 江河從何處流，仍歸還何處。
Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
8 萬事令人厭煩， 人不能說盡。 眼看，看不飽； 耳聽，聽不足。
Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
9 已有的事後必再有； 已行的事後必再行。 日光之下並無新事。
Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
10 豈有一件事人能指着說這是新的？ 哪知，在我們以前的世代早已有了。
There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
11 已過的世代，無人記念； 將來的世代，後來的人也不記念。
The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
12 我傳道者在耶路撒冷作過以色列的王。
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 我專心用智慧尋求、查究天下所做的一切事，乃知上帝叫世人所經練的是極重的勞苦。
I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
14 我見日光之下所做的一切事，都是虛空，都是捕風。
I examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down the wind!
15 彎曲的，不能變直； 缺少的，不能足數。
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 我心裏議論說：我得了大智慧，勝過我以前在耶路撒冷的眾人，而且我心中多經歷智慧和知識的事。
I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 我又專心察明智慧、狂妄，和愚昧，乃知這也是捕風。
So I decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold of the wind.
18 因為多有智慧，就多有愁煩； 加增知識的，就加增憂傷。
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
