Ecclesiastes 4
1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
我又轉目注視在太陽下所行的一切暴行：看，受壓迫者眼淚汪流，卻無人安慰；壓迫人者手中只有權勢，卻無人加以援助。
2 So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
於是我聲稱那已死去的人，比現今還活著的人更為有福。
3 But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
那還沒有出世的人，比這兩等人更為有福，因為他還沒有見到太陽下所行的惡事。
4 I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
我也看出各種勞苦和一切工作的技巧，都是出於人彼此間的競爭：這也是空虛，也是追風。
5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
愚人交臂叉手，是自食己肉。
6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
捧一把安逸，勝過兩把勞苦和追風。
7 Again, I saw futility under the sun.
我又轉睛，看見在太陽下有件空虛的事：
8 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
有個孤獨無伴的人，既沒有兒子，又沒有兄弟，卻時常勞苦不息，他的眼總是貪得無厭，從來不問：「我辛辛苦苦，節制享樂，究竟是為誰﹖」這也是空虛和大不幸。
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
兩人勝過一人，因為兩人工作，酬報優厚：
10 For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
若一個跌倒了，另一個可扶起自己的同伴。哀哉孤獨者! 他若跌倒了，沒有另一人扶起他來。
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
又如兩人同眠，都感溫暖；若孤獨一人，怎能暖和﹖
12 And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
若一人抵不住一人，兩人就能抵住。－－三股繩，不易斷。
13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
一個貧寒而明智的青年，勝過一個年老昏愚，而總不採納忠言的君王。
14 For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
這青年雖在國中出身貧寒，但由獄中出來，執政為王；
15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.
我看見一切在太陽下行走的活人，都擁護青年人，新繼位者，來代替老王。
16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
擁護他為領袖的人民，多得無數；但日後，那些後來的人卻不喜歡他：這也是空虛，也是追風。
