Ecclesiastes 2
1 [Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
わたしは自分の心に言った、「さあ、快楽をもって、おまえを試みよう。おまえは愉快に過ごすがよい」と。しかし、これもまた空であった。
2 [So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
わたしは笑いについて言った、「これは狂気である」と。また快楽について言った、「これは何をするのか」と。
3 [So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
わたしの心は知恵をもってわたしを導いているが、わたしは酒をもって自分の肉体を元気づけようと試みた。また、人の子は天が下でその短い一生の間、どんな事をしたら良いかを、見きわめるまでは、愚かな事をしようと試みた。
4 I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
わたしは大きな事業をした。わたしは自分のために家を建て、ぶどう畑を設け、
5 I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
園と庭をつくり、またすべて実のなる木をそこに植え、
6 I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
池をつくって、木のおい茂る林に、そこから水を注がせた。
7 I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
わたしは男女の奴隷を買った。またわたしの家で生れた奴隷を持っていた。わたしはまた、わたしより先にエルサレムにいただれよりも多くの牛や羊の財産を持っていた。
8 I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
わたしはまた銀と金を集め、王たちと国々の財宝を集めた。またわたしは歌うたう男、歌うたう女を得た。また人の子の楽しみとするそばめを多く得た。
9 So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
こうして、わたしは大いなる者となり、わたしより先にエルサレムにいたすべての者よりも、大いなる者となった。わたしの知恵もまた、わたしを離れなかった。
10 I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
なんでもわたしの目の好むものは遠慮せず、わたしの心の喜ぶものは拒まなかった。わたしの心がわたしのすべての労苦によって、快楽を得たからである。そしてこれはわたしのすべての労苦によって得た報いであった。
11 [But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
そこで、わたしはわが手のなしたすべての事、およびそれをなすに要した労苦を顧みたとき、見よ、皆、空であって、風を捕えるようなものであった。日の下には益となるものはないのである。
12 Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
わたしはまた、身をめぐらして、知恵と、狂気と、愚痴とを見た。そもそも、王の後に来る人は何をなし得ようか。すでに彼がなした事にすぎないのだ。
13 And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
光が暗きにまさるように、知恵が愚痴にまさるのを、わたしは見た。
14 [because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
知者の目は、その頭にある。しかし愚者は暗やみを歩む。けれどもわたしはなお同一の運命が彼らのすべてに臨むことを知っている。
15 So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
わたしは心に言った、「愚者に臨む事はわたしにも臨むのだ。それでどうしてわたしは賢いことがあろう」。わたしはまた心に言った、「これもまた空である」と。
16 Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
そもそも、知者も愚者も同様に長く覚えられるものではない。きたるべき日には皆忘れられてしまうのである。知者が愚者と同じように死ぬのは、どうしたことであろう。
17 So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
そこで、わたしは生きることをいとった。日の下に行われるわざは、わたしに悪しく見えたからである。皆空であって、風を捕えるようである。
18 I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
わたしは日の下で労したすべての労苦を憎んだ。わたしの後に来る人にこれを残さなければならないからである。
19 And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
そして、その人が知者であるか、または愚者であるかは、だれが知り得よう。そうであるのに、その人が、日の下でわたしが労し、かつ知恵を働かしてなしたすべての労苦をつかさどることになるのだ。これもまた空である。
20 I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
それでわたしはふり返ってみて、日の下でわたしが労したすべての労苦について、望みを失った。
21 Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
今ここに人があって、知恵と知識と才能をもって労しても、これがために労しない人に、すべてを残して、その所有とさせなければならないのだ。これもまた空であって、大いに悪い。
22 So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
そもそも、人は日の下で労するすべての労苦と、その心づかいによってなんの得るところがあるか。
23 Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
そのすべての日はただ憂いのみであって、そのわざは苦しく、その心は夜の間も休まることがない。これもまた空である。
24 [So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
人は食い飲みし、その労苦によって得たもので心を楽しませるより良い事はない。これもまた神の手から出ることを、わたしは見た。
25 There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
だれが神を離れて、食い、かつ楽しむことのできる者があろう。
26 God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.
神は、その心にかなう人に、知恵と知識と喜びとをくださる。しかし罪びとには仕事を与えて集めることと、積むことをさせられる。これは神の心にかなう者にそれを賜わるためである。これもまた空であって、風を捕えるようである。
