Ecclesiastes 12
1 While you are still young, keep thinking about [God], who created you. Do that before [you are old] and you experience many troubles, during the years when you say “I no [longer] enjoy being alive.”
在你年輕的時日，在災禍的日子來到之前，即在你說的那些「沒有歡樂」的日子來到之前，你應記念你的造主；
2 [When you become old], the light from the sun and moon and stars will [seem] dim [to you], and [it will seem that the rain] clouds [always] return [quickly] after it rains.
不要等到太陽、光體、月亮、星辰失光，雨後雲彩再來；
3 Then your [arms that you use to protect] [MET] your bodies will shake/tremble, and your [legs that support] [MET] your bodies will become weak. Many of your [teeth that you use to] grind/chew [your food] will fall out, and your [eyes that you use to] look out of windows will not see clearly.
因為那時，看門者戰慄，大力士屈伏，推磨的婦女因為少而停工，眺望窗外的女人面目昏黑，
4 Your [ears] [MET] will not hear the noise in the streets, and you will not be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing/chirping, [but] you will not be able to hear well the songs that (the birds/people) sing.
兩扇街門將要關閉，磨聲低微，雀鳥息聲，歌女低吟，
5 You will be afraid to be in high places and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on. [Your hair] will become [white like] [MET] the flowers of almond trees. [When you try to walk], you will drag yourself along like [MET] grasshoppers, and you will no longer desire [to have sex]. Then you will [die and] go to your eternal home, and people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
怕上高處，行路危險，杏子被棄，蚱蜢被嫌，續隨子失去效力，因為人要回永久的家鄉，哀悼的人徘徊街頭；
6 [Think much about God now, because] soon our lives will end, [like] [MET] silver chains or golden bowls that break easily, or like pitchers/jugs that are broken at the water fountain, or like broken pulleys at a well.
那時銀鏈將斷，金燈將碎，水罐將破於泉旁，輪子將爛於井邊，
7 Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
灰塵將歸於原來的土中，生氣將歸於天主，因為原是天主之所賜。
8 [So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
訓道者說：虛而又虛，萬事皆虛。
9 I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.
訓道者不但是智者，並且教人獲得知識，在沉思推究之後，編撰了許多格言。
10 I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
訓道者費神尋找適當的語句，忠誠地寫下了真理之言。
11 The things that [I and other] wise people say [teach people what they should do]; they are like [SIM] (goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go). They are like [SIM] nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by [God, who is like] [MET] our shepherd.
智者的話好似錐子，收集起的言論集，好像釘牢的釘子：二者都是一位牧者所賜。
12 [So], my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written, [because] writing proverbs/books is endless, and [trying to] study them all will cause you to become exhausted.
除此之外，我兒，不必再找別的書籍，書不論寫多少，總沒有止境；用功過度，必使身體疲倦。
13 [Now] you have heard all [that I have told you], and here is the conclusion: Revere God, and obey his commandments, because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
總而言之：「你應敬畏天主，遵守他的誡命，因為這是眾人的義務。」
14 And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
因為天主對一切行為，連最隱秘的，不論好壞，都要一一審判。
