Ecclesiastes 8

1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

1 谁像有智慧的人呢？ 谁知道事情的原委呢？ 智慧能使人容光焕发， 使冷酷的面孔柔和。

2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

2 我劝你遵守王的命令，因为你曾在上帝面前这样发誓。

3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.

3 不要在王面前鲁莽行事，也不要参与恶行，因为王可以随意行事。

4 For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

4 况且，王的命令至高无上，谁敢质问他：“你在做什么？”

5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

5 遵从王命的必免遭祸患，因为智者心里懂得做事的时机和方法。

6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

6 尽管人面临重重困难，但做任何事都有时机和方法。

7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

7 无人知道未来的事，谁能告诉人将来的事呢？

8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

8 无人能掌管生命 ，留住生命，也无人能掌管死期。无人能免于这场争战，邪恶也救不了作恶者。

9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

9 这一切我都见过了，我用心思考日光之下的一切事。有时人欺压人，使人受伤害。

10 Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.

10 我看见恶人死后被安葬。他们生前出入圣所，还在他们作恶的城中受到称赞，这也是虚空。

11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

11 对犯罪者的刑罚不迅速执行，世人便尽情作恶。

12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

12 虽然罪人作恶多端仍得长寿，我却认为敬畏上帝的人必亨通，因为他们对上帝心存敬畏。

13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

13 然而，恶人得不到祝福，他们必像幻影一样不能长久，因为他们不敬畏上帝。

14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

14 世上有一件虚空的事，就是义人遭受了恶人当受的报应，恶人却享受了义人该享的福乐。我认为这也是虚空。

15 So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

15 因此，我便赞赏享乐，因为在日光之下没有什么比吃喝快乐更好。这是人在上帝所赐的年日里，从劳碌中当得的享受。

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

16 我全心去寻求智慧，观察世上所发生的事，甚至昼夜不眠，

17 I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

17 我看清了上帝的一切作为，便知道人无法理解日光之下所发生的事。尽管人努力不懈地去寻找，也找不到答案；即使智者自以为明白，他其实仍不能参透。