Ecclesiastes传 道 书 1~4

Chapter 1
1 The words of David's son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:
2 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
3 What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?
4 One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.
5 The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.
6 Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.
7 All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going.
8 All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.
10 Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
11 There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.
12 I, Qoheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
13 and I applied my mind to search and investigate in wisdom all things that are done under the sun. A thankless task God has appointed for men to be busied about.
14 I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
16 Though I said to myself, "Behold, I have become great and stored up wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has broad experience of wisdom and knowledge";
17 yet when I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, I learned that this also is a chase after wind.
18 For in much wisdom there is much sorrow, and he who stores up knowledge stores up grief.

Chapter 2
1 I said to myself, "Come, now, let me try you with pleasure and the enjoyment of good things." But behold, this too was vanity.
2 Of laughter I said: "Mad!" and of mirth: "What good does this do?"
3 I thought of beguiling my senses with wine, though my mind was concerned with wisdom, and of taking up folly, until I should understand what is best for men to do under the heavens during the limited days of their life.
4 I undertook great works; I built myself houses and planted vineyards;
5 I made gardens and parks, and set out in them fruit trees of all sorts.
6 And I constructed for myself reservoirs to water a flourishing woodland.
7 I acquired male and female slaves, and slaves were born in my house. I also had growing herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and provinces. I got for myself male and female singers and all human luxuries.
9 I became great, and I stored up more than all others before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom, too, stayed with me.
10 Nothing that my eyes desired did I deny them, nor did I deprive myself of any joy, but my heart rejoiced in the fruit of all my toil. This was my share for all my toil.
11 But when I turned to all the works that my hands had wrought, and to the toil at which I had taken such pains, behold! all was vanity and a chase after wind, with nothing gained under the sun.
12 For what will the man do who is to come after the king? What men have already done! I went on to the consideration of wisdom, madness and folly.
13 And I saw that wisdom has the advantage over folly as much as light has the advantage over darkness.
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I knew that one lot befalls both of them.
15 So I said to myself, if the fool's lot is to befall me also, why then should I be wise? Where is the profit for me? And I concluded in my heart that this too is vanity.
16 Neither of the wise man nor of the fool will there be an abiding remembrance, for in days to come both will have been forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies as well as the fool!
17 Therefore I loathed life, since for me the work that is done under the sun is evil; for all is vanity and a chase after wind.
18 And I detested all the fruits of my labor under the sun, because I must leave them to a man who is to come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruits of my wise labor under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 So my feelings turned to despair of all the fruits of my labor under the sun.
21 For here is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and to another, who has not labored over it, he must leave his property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune.
22 For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?
23 All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and provide himself with good things by his labors. Even this, I realized, is from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat or drink apart from him?
26 For to whatever man he sees fit he gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering possessions to be given to whatever man God sees fit. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.

Chapter 3
1 There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
6 A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What advantage has the worker from his toil?
10 I have considered the task which God has appointed for men to be busied about.
11 He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
12 I recognized that there is nothing better than to be glad and to do well during life.
13 For every man, moreover, to eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of all his labor is a gift of God.
14 I recognized that whatever God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it, or taking from it. Thus has God done that he may be revered.
15 What now is has already been; what is to be, already is; and God restores what would otherwise be displaced.
16 And still under the sun in the judgment place I saw wickedness, and in the seat of justice, iniquity.
17 And I said to myself, both the just and the wicked God will judge, since there is a time for every affair and on every work a judgment.
18 I said to myself: As for the children of men, it is God's way of testing them and of showing that they are in themselves like beasts.
19 For the lot of man and of beast is one lot; the one dies as well as the other. Both have the same life-breath, and man has no advantage over the beast; but all is vanity.
20 Both go to the same place; both were made from the dust, and to the dust they both return.
21 Who knows if the life-breath of the children of men goes upward and the life-breath of beasts goes earthward?
22 And I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to rejoice in his work; for this is his lot. Who will let him see what is to come after him?

Chapter 4
1 Again I considered all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!
2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.
3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.
4 Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one man for another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5 "The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh"--
6 Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil and a chase after wind!
7 Again I found this vanity under the sun:
8 a solitary man with no companion; with neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and riches do not satisfy his greed. "For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things?" This also is vanity and a worthless task.
9 Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor.
10 If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up.
11 So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm?
12 Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.
13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution;
14 for from a prison house one comes forth to rule, since even in his royalty he was poor at birth.
15 Then I saw all those who are to live and move about under the sun with the heir apparent who will succeed to his place.
16 There is no end to all these people, to all over whom he takes precedence; yet the later generations will not applaud him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
17 Guard your step when you go to the house of God. Let your approach be obedience, rather than the fools' offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.