Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
凡事都有定期， 天下万务都有定时。
2 There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
生有时，死有时； 栽种有时，拔出所栽种的也有时；
3 There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
杀戮有时，医治有时； 拆毁有时，建造有时；
4 There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
哭有时，笑有时； 哀恸有时，跳舞有时；
5 There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
抛掷石头有时，堆聚石头有时； 怀抱有时，不怀抱有时；
6 There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
寻找有时，失落有时； 保守有时，舍弃有时；
7 There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
撕裂有时，缝补有时； 静默有时，言语有时；
8 There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
喜爱有时，恨恶有时； 争战有时，和好有时。
9 (What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
这样看来，做事的人在他的劳碌上有什么益处呢？
10 I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
我见 神叫世人劳苦，使他们在其中受经练。
11 God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
神造万物，各按其时成为美好，又将永生安置在世人心里。然而 神从始至终的作为，人不能参透。
12 I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
我知道世人，莫强如终身喜乐行善；
13 And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
并且人人吃喝，在他一切劳碌中享福，这也是 神的恩赐。
14 I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
我知道 神一切所做的都必永存；无所增添，无所减少。 神这样行，是要人在他面前存敬畏的心。
15 Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
现今的事早先就有了，将来的事早已也有了，并且 神使已过的事重新再来。
16 Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
我又见日光之下，在审判之处有奸恶，在公义之处也有奸恶。
17 [So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
我心里说， 神必审判义人和恶人；因为在那里，各样事务，一切工作，都有定时。
18 And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
我心里说，这乃为世人的缘故，是 神要试验他们，使他们觉得自己不过像兽一样。
19 because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
因为世人遭遇的，兽也遭遇，所遭遇的都是一样：这个怎样死，那个也怎样死，气息都是一样。人不能强于兽，都是虚空。
20 [People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
都归一处，都是出于尘土，也都归于尘土。
21 No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
谁知道人的灵是往上升，兽的魂是下入地呢？
22 So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
故此，我见人莫强如在他经营的事上喜乐，因为这是他的分。他身后的事谁能使他回来得见呢？
