Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise? and who knoweth [as well] the explanation of a thing? a man's wisdom enlighteneth his face, and the boldness of his face will be lessened.
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 I [counsel thee], Keep the king's command, and that which regardeth the oath [to him taken] by God.
為了向天主起的誓，你應遵守君王的命令；
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence; engage not in an evil thing; for whatsoever pleaseth him, can he do;
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 Because the word of a king is powerful; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?—
原來君王的話具有威力，誰敢向他說：「你做什麼﹖」
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment will experience no evil thing: and a wise man's heart knoweth both time and the just consequence.
遵守誡命的，不會遇到災禍；智者的心能辨識時機和審斷。
6 Because for every pursuit there is a time and a just consequence; for the evil of man [resteth] heavily upon 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 he knoweth not that which will be; for who can tell him how it will 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 No man hath control over the spirit to detain the spirit; and there is no control over the day of death; and there is no representation in that war; and wickedness will not deliver those that practise it.
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 All this have I seen, and directed my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time when one man ruleth over another to his own injury.
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 Then also did I see the wicked buried, who had gone to their rest; but those who had acted correctly had to go away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. Also this 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 the punishment against evil deeds is not executed speedily, therefore is the heart of the sons of men filled up 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 But let a sinner do evil a hundred times, and [God] withhold long his punishment from him; still do I truly know for certain that it will be well with those that fear God, because they are afraid of 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 And that it will not be well with the wicked, and that he will not endure many days, like the shadow; because he is not afraid of 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 men, unto whom it happeneth in accordance with the deeds of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happeneth in accordance with the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is 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 Therefore do I praise joyfulness, that there is nothing better for man under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful; for this will adhere to him in his toil, during the days of his life which God hath 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 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the employment that is done upon the earth, how even neither by day nor by night sleep is seen in the eyes of some men:
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 Then did I see [in] the whole work of God, that a man is not able to find out the work that is done under the sun; inasmuch as though a man were to toil to seek for it, he would yet not find it; and even if the wise were to think to know it, he would yet not be able to find it.
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。
