传道书

第 8 章

1. 谁如智慧人呢?谁知道事情的解释呢?人的智慧使他的脸发光,并使他脸上的暴气改变。
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance.
2. 我劝你遵守王的命令。既指神起誓,理当如此。
Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
3. 不要急躁离开王的面前。不要固执行恶。因为他凡事都随自己的心意而行。
Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4. 王的话本有权力,谁敢问他说,你作什么呢?
Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
5. 凡遵守命令的,必不经历祸患。智慧人的心,能辨明时候和定理。(原文作审判下节同)
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6. 各样事务成就,都有时候和定理。因为人的苦难,重压在他身上。
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.
7. 他不知道将来的事,因为将来如何,谁能告诉他呢?
Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?
8. 无人有权力掌管生命,将生命留住。也无人有权力掌管死期。这场争战,无人能免,邪恶也不能救那好行邪恶的人。
No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9. 这一切我都见过。也专心查考日光之下所作的一切事。有时这人管辖那人,令人受害。
All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
10. 我见恶人埋葬,归入坟墓。又见行正直事的,离开圣地,在城中被人忘记。这也是虚空。
Then too, I saw the wicked buried--those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11. 因为断定罪名,不立刻施刑,所以世人满心作恶。
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.
12. 罪人虽然作恶百次,倒享长久的年日。然而我准知道,敬畏神的,就是在他面前敬畏的人,终久必得福乐。
Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God.
13. 恶人却不得福乐,也不得长久的年日。这年日好像影儿,因他不敬畏神。
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14. 世上有一件虚空的事,就是义人所遭遇的,反照恶人所行的。又有恶人所遭遇的,反照义人所行的。我说,这也是虚空。
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
15. 我就称赞快乐,原来人在日光之下,莫强如吃喝快乐。因为他在日光之下,神赐他一生的年日,要从劳碌中,时常享受所得的。
So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.
16. 我专心求智慧,要看世上所作的事。(有昼夜不睡觉,不合眼的)。
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth--his eyes not seeing sleep day or night--
17. 我就看明神一切的作为。知道人查不出日光之下所作的事。任凭他费多少力寻查,都查不出来。就是智慧人虽想知道,也是查不出来。
then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.