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.
神の宮に行く時には、その足を慎むがよい。近よって聞くのは愚かな者の犠牲をささげるのにまさる。彼らは悪を行っていることを知らないからである。
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].
神の前で軽々しく口をひらき、また言葉を出そうと、心にあせってはならない。神は天にいまし、あなたは地におるからである。それゆえ、あなたは言葉を少なくせよ。
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.
夢は仕事の多いことによってきたり、愚かなる者の声は言葉の多いことによって知られる。
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.
あなたは神に誓いをなすとき、それを果すことを延ばしてはならない。神は愚かな者を喜ばれないからである。あなたの誓ったことを必ず果せ。
5 It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
あなたが誓いをして、それを果さないよりは、むしろ誓いをしないほうがよい。
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.
あなたの口が、あなたに罪を犯させないようにせよ。また使者の前にそれは誤りであったと言ってはならない。どうして、神があなたの言葉を怒り、あなたの手のわざを滅ぼしてよかろうか。
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].
夢が多ければ空なる言葉も多い。しかし、あなたは神を恐れよ。
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],
あなたは国のうちに貧しい者をしえたげ、公道と正義を曲げることのあるのを見ても、その事を怪しんではならない。それは位の高い人よりも、さらに高い者があって、その人をうかがうからである。そしてそれらよりもなお高い者がある。
9 and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
しかし、要するに耕作した田畑をもつ国には王は利益である。
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.
金銭を好む者は金銭をもって満足しない。富を好む者は富を得て満足しない。これもまた空である。
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).
財産が増せば、これを食う者も増す。その持ち主は目にそれを見るだけで、なんの益があるか。
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.
働く者は食べることが少なくても多くても、快く眠る。しかし飽き足りるほどの富は、彼に眠ることをゆるさない。
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,
わたしは日の下に悲しむべき悪のあるのを見た。すなわち、富はこれをたくわえるその持ち主に害を及ぼすことである。
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.
またその富は不幸な出来事によってうせ行くことである。それで、その人が子をもうけても、彼の手には何も残らない。
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.
彼は母の胎から出てきたように、すなわち裸で出てきたように帰って行く。彼はその労苦によって得た何物をもその手に携え行くことができない。
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].
人は全くその来たように、また去って行かなければならない。これもまた悲しむべき悪である。風のために労する者になんの益があるか。
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).
人は一生、暗やみと、悲しみと、多くの悩みと、病と、憤りの中にある。
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.
見よ、わたしが見たところの善かつ美なる事は、神から賜わった短い一生の間、食い、飲み、かつ日の下で労するすべての労苦によって、楽しみを得る事である。これがその分だからである。
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.
また神はすべての人に富と宝と、それを楽しむ力を与え、またその分を取らせ、その労苦によって楽しみを得させられる。これが神の賜物である。
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.
このような人は自分の生きる日のことを多く思わない。神は喜びをもって彼の心を満たされるからである。
