Ecclesiastes 3
1 To everything—a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens:
事事有時節，天下任何事皆有定時：
2 A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.
生有時，死有時，栽種有時，拔除栽種的亦有時；
3 A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up.
殺戮有時，治療有時，拆毀有時，建築有時；
4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip.
哭有時，笑有時，哀悼有時，舞蹈有時；
5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.
拋石有時，堆石有時；擁抱有時，戒避擁抱亦有時；
6 A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away.
尋找有時，遺失有時；保存有時，捨棄有時；
7 A time to tear, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak.
撕裂有時，縫綴有時；緘默有時，言談有時，
8 A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.
愛慕有時，憎恨有時；作戰有時，和睦有時。
9 What advantage does the doer have in that which he is laboring at?
工作的人，從勞苦中得了什麼利益﹖
10 I have seen the travail that God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
我觀察了天主交予人類所應從事的事務，得知：
11 The whole He has made beautiful in its season; also, that knowledge He has put in their heart without which man does not find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
天主所行的一切事宜，都很適時，並賜給人認識時事的經歷，但人仍不能明瞭，天主自始至終所做的工作。
12 I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,
於是我明瞭：人類的幸福，只有在此生歡樂享受；
13 indeed, even every man who eats and has drunk and seen good by all his labor, it [is] a gift of God.
但人人有吃有喝，享受自己一切勞苦之所得，也是天主的恩賜。
14 I have known that all that God does is for all time, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God has worked that they fear before Him.
我知道：凡天主所行的事，永恒不變，無一可增，無一可減。天主這樣作，是為叫人敬畏他。
15 What is that which has been? Already it is, and that which [is] to be has already been, and God requires that which is pursued.
現今所有的，早已有過；將來所有有，先前已有過；因為天主必追尋已往的事。
16 And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment—there [is] the wicked; and the place of righteousness—there [is] the wicked.
我在太陽下還看見：正義之處有不義，公平之處有不平。
17 I said in my heart, “The righteous and the wicked God judges, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.”
我心裏想天主必要審判義人和惡人，因為各種事情和行為，在天主那裏都有其定時。
18 I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] beasts.
我想，天主藉此是為使世人認清自己是誰，看清自己與走獸無異。
19 For an event [is to] the sons of man, and an event [is to] the beasts, even one event [is] to them; as the death of this, so [is] the death of that; and one spirit [is] to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole [is] vanity.
的確，世人的命運，同走獸的命運，都是一樣：前者怎樣死，後者也怎樣死；氣息都一樣，人並不優於走獸：因為都是虛無。
20 The whole are going to one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back to the dust.
都同歸於一處；既都出於塵土，也都歸於塵土。
21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?
人的氣息是否向上高升，走獸的氣息是否下降地下，有誰知道﹖
22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it [is] his portion; for who brings him to look on that which is after him?
因此，我看出：人最好還是享受自己勞苦之所得，因為這是他的命運；有誰能領他去看自己身後的事呢﹖
