Ecclesiastes
Chapter 7
1 1 A good name is better than good ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, For that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart.
往居丧的家，胜于往宴会的家，因为丧事是人人的结局，活人应将此事放在心上。
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because when the face is sad the heart grows wiser.
悲哀胜于欢笑，因为愁容能使心灵舒畅。
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
智者的心是在居丧的家，愚人的心是在欢笑的家。
5 It is better to hearken to the wise man's rebuke than to hearken to the song of fools;
听智者斥责，胜过听愚人歌唱。
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the fool's laughter.
愚人的欢笑，就像釜底荆棘的爆炸声，但这也是空虚。
7 For oppression can make a fool of a wise man, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
实在，压榨使智者昏愚，贿赂能败坏人心。
8 Better is the end of speech than its beginning; better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit.
事情的结局胜过事情的开端；居心宽容，胜过存心傲慢。
9 Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool.
你心里不要轻易动怒，因为愤怒只停留在愚人胸中。
10 Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you ask about this.
你不要问：＂为什么昔日胜于今日？＂因为这样的诘问，不是出于智慧。
11 Wisdom and an inheritance are good, and an advantage to those that see the sun.
智慧与家产都好，对看见天日的人都有益，
12 For the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
因为受智能的荫庇与受金钱的荫庇无异；但认识智慧的好处，是在于智慧赋于有智慧者生命。
13 Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked?
你应观察天主的作为：他所弯曲的，谁能使之正直？
14 On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything.
15 I have seen all manner of things in my vain days: a just man perishing in his justice, and a wicked one surviving in his wickedness.
在我虚度的岁月内，我见了许多事：义人在正义中夭亡，恶人在邪恶中反而长寿。
16 2 ＂Be not just to excess, and be not overwise, lest you be ruined.
不要过于正义，也不要自作聪明，免得自趋灭亡。
17 3 Be not wicked to excess, and be not foolish. Why should you die before your time?＂
不要作恶无度，也不要糊涂太甚，免得你死非其时。
18 4 It is good to hold to this rule, and not to let that one go; but he who fears God will win through at all events.
你的手最好把持这个，也不要放弃那个，因为敬畏天主的人，二者兼顾并重。
19 Wisdom is a better defense for the wise man than would be ten princes in the city,
智慧使智者的权势，胜过本城十个有权势的人。
20 5 yet there is no man on earth so just as to do good and never sin.
世上没有一个只行善，而不犯罪的义人。
21 Do not give heed to every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speaking ill of you,
你不要倾心去听人说的一切闲话，免得你听到你的仆人诅咒你；
22 for you know in your heart that you have many times spoken ill of others.
因为你心里知道，你许多次也诅咒过别人。
23 All these things I probed in wisdom. I said, ＂I will acquire wisdom＂; but it was beyond me.
这一切我都用智慧追究过；我宣称我将成个智者，然而智慧仍离我很远。
24 What exists is far-reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can find it out?
所有的事，既深远，又玄奥，谁能穷究？
25 I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason, and I recognized that wickedness is foolish and folly is madness.
我又专心致力于认识、考察事物，寻求智慧和事理，得知邪恶就是昏愚，昏愚就是狂妄。
26 More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter's trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are prison bonds. He who is pleasing to God will escape her, but the sinner will be entrapped by her.
我发觉女人比死亡还苦，她一身是罗网：她的心是陷阱，她的手是锁链；凡博天主欢心的，必逃避她；但罪人却被她缠住。
27 Behold, this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another that I might discover the answer
28 6 which my soul still seeks and has not found: One man out of a thousand have I come upon, but a woman among them all I have not found.
对此我的心还在追求，但尚未找到：在一千男人中，我发现了一个；在所有的女人中，却没有发现一个。
29 7 Behold, only this have I found out: God made mankind straight, but men have had recourse to many calculations.
我发现的只有这一件事：天主造人原很正直，但人却发明了许多诡计。
Footnotes（注解）
1 [1] Ointment: applied to the child at birth; a good name remains even after death.
2 [16] St. Jerome explains the warning against excessive justice in reference to the self-righteous man who is so stern that he is never willing to forgive sin in others; cf Eccl 7:20-22.
3 [17] Untimely death was traditionally recognized as a divine punishment of the wicked; cf 1 Sam 2:31-34; Jeremiah 17:11; Psalm 55:23; Proverb 10:27. This warning against presumptuous wickedness is not an endorsement of any lesser degree of misconduct.
4 [18] This rule . . . that one: the sayings cited in Eccl 7:16-17. Others refer this and that to riches and wisdom (cf Eccl 7:12), justice and wisdom, or justice and wickedness. This last supposition makes the author's thought hard to follow.
5 [20] This is to be understood in the sense of Romans 5:12. See note there.
6 [28] The author found sincerity rare among men, but among women still more rare.
7 [29] Calculations: the many vain attempts and schemes of men to attain happiness by their own efforts.
