Ecclesiastes 5
1 When you enter God’s temple, you should be sure to listen carefully. Doing that is better than offering sacrifices to God [and then not obeying him], which is foolish.
你往天主的殿裏去時，要小心邁步；你前去聽道，勝過愚人獻祭，因為他們只知作惡。
2 Think carefully before you speak [MTY] or before you promise God that you will do something [IDM]. [Do not forget that] God is in heaven [and he is all-powerful] and you are here on the earth, so think carefully before you [make any promises to God].
你不要在天主前冒然開口，你的心也不要急於發言應許，因為天主在天上，你在地下，為此你說話應當簡單。
3 If you are continually thinking [and worrying] about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest [well]. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish.
因為夜夢由於事務繁雜，亂語出於多言。
4 When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not be foolish by delaying in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do [all] the things that you promise God that you will do.
你一向天主許願，就不可拖延償還，因為他不喜歡人怠慢；你許了願，就應速還；
5 It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
不許願好過許而不還。
6 Do not sin by promising to do something and then not doing it. And [when you promise God to do something and do not do it], do not say to God’s priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God will certainly [RHQ] become very angry with you, and he will take from you everything that you [SYN] have worked to acquire.
不要放任你的口，使你陷於罪過，免得你在使者前說是「錯許了。」為何要天主因你這句話而發怒，破壞你手中的工作﹖
7 Promising to do something and not doing it is like [SIM] a dream that has no value; instead, revere God [by doing what you promised him that you would do].
多夢多虛幻，多言多糊塗；你要敬畏天主。
8 Do not be surprised if you see poor [people] being (oppressed/treated cruelly) [by powerful/influential people], or if you see judges making unjust decisions throughout the land. [That happens] because the people who do that are supervised [and cheated by] more important officials [DOU],
你若在某省看見欺壓窮人，違犯公道和正義的事，不必對此驚奇，因為高者之上還有更高者在上鑒察，而他們之上還有更高者。
9 and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
國家全面的利益，在乎有一位關心農業的君王。
10 Everyone who tries to [get as much] money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That also is senseless.
愛錢的，錢不能使他滿足；愛財的，進益不能使他滿足：這也是空虛。
11 The more money that we have, the more people want us to spend our money to buy things for them. So people who have a lot of money do not [RHQ] benefit from it; they see [MTY] it when they get it, but it soon (disappears/is completely spent).
錢財增多，消費的人也隨之增多；財主除飽享眼福外，能有什麼益處﹖
12 Those who work hard sleep peacefully [at night], even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich [people] do not sleep well, because [they worry] about their money.
工人不論吃多吃少，總睡得甘甜；飽食的富人，卻難於安眠。
13 I have seen [another] terrible thing that happens here on the earth [MTY]: People save [up all] their money and become rich, [but] they are not helped by saving a lot of money,
我看見在太陽下有一件慘痛的事：財主積蓄財富，反而害了自己。
14 [because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
生意一次失敗，財產盡失：生了個兒子，手中一無所有。
15 When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by our working hard.
他赤身出離母胎，也照樣赤身歸去；他勞力之所得，絲毫不能帶去。
16 That also seems senseless. People bring nothing [into the world when they are born], and they leave [this world] taking nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit [MET].
這也是一件慘痛的事：他怎樣來，也怎樣去；他操勞追風，究有什麼益處；
17 [Furthermore, rich people] are always miserable [MET] and sad, and depressed/discouraged and often sick and (resentful/thinking that what has happened to them is unfair).
況且他一生在黑暗中生活，遭受許多煩惱、疾病和悲憤的事。
18 So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.
我所認為幸福美滿的事，是人在天主所賞的少數歲月內，有吃有喝，且享受他在太陽下一切勞碌所得的福樂，這原是他應得的一分。
19 If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to (enjoy/be happy with) the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are [also] gifts from God.
的確，天主賞賜人財產和富裕，叫他能享用；能取得應有的一分，能享受勞碌所得的快樂，實是天主的恩賜。
20 Those people do not worry much about [everything that has happened] during the time that they have been alive, because God enables them to be happy doing everything that they do.
那麼，人就不甚顧慮人生歲月的短促，因為天主以喜樂充滿了他的心。
