Ecclesiastes 7
1 Better [is] a name than good perfume, 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 Better to go to a house of mourning, Than to go to a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living lays [it] to his heart.
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 Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.
悲哀勝於歡笑，因為愁容能使心靈舒暢。
4 The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
智者的心是在居喪的家中，愚人的心是在歡笑的家中。
5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
聽智者斥責，勝過聽愚人歌唱。
6 For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
愚人的歡笑，就像斧底荊棘的爆炸聲，但這也是空虛。
7 Surely oppression makes the wise mad, And a gift destroys the heart.
實在，壓榨使智者昏愚，賄賂能敗壞人心。
8 Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.
事情的結局勝過事情的開端；居心寬容，勝過存心傲慢。
9 Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools rests.
你心裏不要輕易動怒，因為憤怒只停留在愚人胸中。
10 Do not say, “What was it, That the former days were better than these?” For you have not asked wisely of this.
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 [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.
智慧與家產都好，對看見天日的人都有益，
12 For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defense, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She revives her possessors.
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 See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?
你應觀察天主的作為：他所彎曲的，誰能使之正直﹖
14 In a day of prosperity be in gladness, And in a day of calamity consider: God has also made this alongside of that, To the intent that man does not find anything 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 The whole I have considered in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wrongdoer prolonging [himself] in his wrong.
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 Do not be over-righteous, nor show yourself too wise, why are you desolate?
不要過於正義，也不要自作聰明，免得自趨滅亡。
17 Do not do much wrong, neither be a fool, why do you die within 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 that you lay hold on this, and also, do not withdraw your hand from that, for whoever is fearing God goes out with them all.
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 The wisdom gives strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.
智慧使智者的權勢，勝過本城十個有權勢的人。
20 Because there is not a righteous man on earth that does good and does not sin.
世上沒有一個只行善，而不犯罪的義人。
21 Also to all the words that they speak do not give your heart, that you do not hear your servant reviling you.
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 For many times also has your heart known that you yourself have also reviled others.
因為你心裏知道，你許多次也詛咒過別人。
23 All this I have tried by wisdom; I have said, “I am wise,” and it [is] 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] that which has been, and deep, deep, who finds it?
所有的事，既深遠，又玄奧，誰能窮究﹖
25 I have turned around, also my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and reason, and to know the wrong of folly, and the madness of foolishness.
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 am finding more bitter than death, the woman whose heart [is] nets and snares, her hands [are] bands; the good before God escapes from her, but the sinner is captured 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 See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason
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 (that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.
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 See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they have sought out many 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。
