< Ecclesiastes 8 >
1 Who knows the wise? and who knows the interpretation of a saying? A man's wisdom will lighten his countenance; but a man of shameless countenance will be hated.
有誰相似智者,有誰會解釋事理﹖智慧使人的面容煥發,使嚴肅的容貌變為溫和。
2 Observe the commandment of the king, and [that] because of the word of the oath of God.
為了向天主起的誓,你應遵守君王的命令;
3 Be not hasty; you shall go forth out of his presence: stand not in an evil matter; for he will do whatever he shall please,
你不可由他面前倉猝離去,也不可行惡,因為凡他喜歡的事,都可隨意執行。
4 even as a king having power: and who will say to him, What do you?
原來君王的話具有威力,誰敢向他說:「你做什麼﹖」
5 He that keeps the commandment shall not know an evil thing: and the heart of the wise knows the time of judgement.
遵守誡命的,不會遇到災禍;智者的心能辨識時機和審斷。
6 For to every thing there is time and judgement; for the knowledge of a man is great to him.
的確,事事都有定時和定案;但重大的負擔仍壓在人身上,
7 For there is no one that knows what is going to be: for who shall tell him how it shall be?
因為人不知道將來要發生什麼事,有誰能告訴他,何時要發生﹖
8 There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; and there is no power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in the day of the battle; neither shall ungodliness save her votary.
沒有人有權將生氣保留不失,也沒有人能支配死期,戰場上沒有人能退役,邪惡救不了作惡的人。
9 So I saw all this, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun; all the things wherein man has power over man to afflict him.
我看見了這一切,專心研究在太陽下所行的一切事:有時統治人的人,自受其害;
10 And then I saw the ungodly carried into the tombs, and [that] out of the holy place: and they departed, and were praised in the city, because they had done thus: this also is vanity.
有時我看見惡人被抬去安葬,而行義的人卻離開聖處,而在城中被人遺忘:這也是虛幻。
11 Because there is no contradiction made on the part of those who do evil quickly, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully determined in them to do evil.
因為懲惡的定案未有迅速執行,世人因此充滿了行惡的偏向。
12 He that has sinned has done evil from that time, and long from beforehand: nevertheless I know, that it is well with them that fear God, that they may fear before him:
惡人雖百次行惡,仍享長壽,姑且不論;我確實知道,那敬畏天主的人,因他們在天主前起敬起畏,必得幸福;
13 but it shall not be well with the ungodly, and he shall not prolong his days, [which are] as a shadow; forasmuch as he fears not before God.
而惡人必得不到幸福,他的時日如影,決不能久長,因為他不敬畏天主。
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are righteous persons to whom it happens according to the doing of the ungodly; and there are ungodly men, to whom it happens according to the doing of the just: I said, This is also vanity.
在世上還有一件虛幻的事:就是義人所遭遇的,反如惡人所應得的;而惡人所遭遇的,反如義人所應得的;我遂說:這也是虛幻。
15 Then I praised mirth, because there is no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry: and this shall attend him in his labour all the days of his life, which God has given him under the sun.
為此,我稱讚快樂,因為在太陽下,人除了吃喝行樂外,別無幸福;因為這是人在天主賞他在太陽下的一生歲月內,從他的勞苦中,所獲得的幸福。
16 Whereupon I set my heart to know wisdom, and to perceive the trouble that was wrought upon the earth: for there is that neither by day nor night sees sleep with his eyes.
當我專心追求智慧,觀察人在世上,連黑夜白日都不能閉目安眠,所行的工作時,
17 And I saw all the works of God, that a man shall not be able to discover the work which is wrought under the sun; whatever things a man shall endeavour to seek, however a man may labour to seek it, yet he shall not find it; yes, how much soever a wise man may speak of knowing it, he shall not be able to find it: for I applied all this to my heart, and my heart has seen all this.
我面對天主的一切作為,發覺人決不能知道在太陽下所發生的一切事。人雖然努力研究,終歸無法得知;縱然有智者以為知道了,仍是一無所知。