Ecclesiastes 7
1 A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.
良好的聲譽勝於名貴的香液；死日勝於生日。
2 It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.
往居喪的家去，勝於往宴會的家去，因為喪事是人人的結局，活人應將此事放在心上。
3 Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.
悲哀勝於歡笑，因為愁容能使心靈舒暢。
4 The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.
智者的心是在居喪的家中，愚人的心是在歡笑的家中。
5 It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.
聽智者斥責，勝過聽愚人歌唱。
6 Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
愚人的歡笑，就像斧底荊棘的爆炸聲，但這也是空虛。
7 The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
實在，壓榨使智者昏愚，賄賂能敗壞人心。
8 The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.
事情的結局勝過事情的開端；居心寬容，勝過存心傲慢。
9 Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
你心裏不要輕易動怒，因為憤怒只停留在愚人胸中。
10 Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.
你不要問：「為什麼昔日勝於今日﹖」因為這樣的詰問，不是出於智慧。
11 Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
智慧與家產都好，對看見天日的人都有益，
12 Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.
因為受智慧的蔭庇與受金錢的蔭庇無異；但認識智慧的好處，是在於智慧賦與有智慧者生命。
13 Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?
你應觀察天主的作為：他所彎曲的，誰能使之正直﹖
14 In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.
幸福之日，你應歡樂，不幸之日，你應思慮：幸與不幸，都是天主所為；其目的是叫人不能察覺自己將來的事。
15 These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.
在我虛度的歲月內，我見了許多事：義人在正義中夭亡，惡人在邪惡中反而長壽。
16 Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?
不要過於正義，也不要自作聰明，免得自趨滅亡。
17 Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?
不要作惡無度，也不要糊塗太甚，免得你死非其時。
18 It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
你的手最好把持這個，也不要放棄那個，因為敬畏天主的人，二者兼顧並重。
19 Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.
智慧使智者的權勢，勝過本城十個有權勢的人。
20 There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.
世上沒有一個只行善，而不犯罪的義人。
21 Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
你不要傾心去聽人說的一切閒話，免得你聽到你的僕人詛咒你；
22 Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
因為你心裏知道，你許多次也詛咒過別人。
23 All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
這一切我都用智慧追究過；我宣稱我將成個智者，然而智慧仍離我很遠。
24 Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
所有的事，既深遠，又玄奧，誰能窮究﹖
25 I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
我又專心致力於認識、考察事物，尋求智慧和事理，得知邪惡就是昏愚，昏愚就是狂妄。
26 And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.
我發覺女人比死亡還苦，她一身是羅網：她的心是陷阱，她的手是鎖鏈；凡博天主歡心的，必逃避她；但罪人卻被她纏住。
27 Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
訓道者說：看，這是我所發現的，一一加以比較，好探知事物的原理，
28 For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
對此我的心還在追求，但尚未找到：在一千男人中，我發現了一個；在所有的女人中，卻沒有發現一個。
29 This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
我發現的只有這一件事：天主造人原很正直，但人卻發明了許多詭計。
